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Knew a pitcher they called "The Usher".  He told me it was because, When hitters came up, he'd "sit em down!".  His uncle told me it was actually cause he got so excited one time when friends and family could finally come see a game, he hopped up into the stands to greet them and help them find their seats. One of the team employees yelled to him "what are you doing.....they got Ushers for that, Jeff."

Paula:

"RAMBO" Mike Diaz, Pirates OF. The promotion dept with the Pirates used photos of Mike climbing over the LF wall in a "Rambo" costume.

When signed with Lotte, he was required to use the name "Rambo". I watched Mike play in the Tokyo Dome. "that is another story"

Mike and I operated baseball clinics in Santa Rosa. He is a very good hitting instructor. Now in Hawaii.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Diaz

Bob

A kid that played 14U with my son was a very good overall athlete. He could run, throw, and hit as good as the best players in North Texas……in practice.  He (and his mom) were very impressed with himself so his teammates (sarcastically) dubbed him “The Messiah.”  Problem was the kid never learned how to use his athletic ability to be a good baseball player. He ran into outs on the base paths, he never hit a cut off man with any throw, he threw to the wrong base, missed signs from 3B coach regularly, would pop up w/ a 3-0 count, etc.  He was a showcase superstar that had no clue how to play the game - and wouldn’t listen to those that tried to help him. It was frustrating to watch him and he eventually played his way into sitting the bench. But not soon enough for my liking.

Sweet Cakes

I was an assistant coach of an 18u Gold softball team. We had a two hour wait before our next tournament game. The girls were sitting in the shade having snacks.

One of the girls said she had to go to the bathroom. We were on the far side of  a four diamond complex on each side of the street. The facilities were as far away in the complex as possible. This girl opted for the nearby porta potty. By Sunday afternoon in the summer these things are usually gross.

When the girl returned a teammate sarcastically asked her how was her trip. The girl said if wasn’t so bad. She said it was reasonably clean and there was a sink with soap.

All of a sudden a bunch of girls shrieked. One screamed, “Oh my God! You washed you hands with a urinal cake.”

The girl got up and ran screaming through the middle of four fields to the bathroom facilities on the other side of the street. When she returned her hands were red she scrubbed them so hard.

My daughter is 33 now. She’s still friends with this girl. She still refers to her as Sweet Cakes and calls her Sweets when they’re together.

My son was called Sparky by his high school teammates. Soph year rounding first base on a gapper he wiped out, rolled and got to his feet without losing too much momentum. So he got tagged for “stop, drop and roll.”

He said his consolation was he didn’t have to live down his nickname like one of his teammates … Sharts. You don’t want the story. You can guess.

Last edited by RJM

A kid that played 14U with my son was a very good overall athlete. He could run, throw, and hit as good as the best players in North Texas……in practice.  He (and his mom) were very impressed with himself so his teammates (sarcastically) dubbed him “The Messiah.”  Problem was the kid never learned how to use his athletic ability to be a good baseball player. He ran into outs on the base paths, he never hit a cut off man with any throw, he threw to the wrong base, missed signs from 3B coach regularly, would pop up w/ a 3-0 count, etc.  He was a showcase superstar that had no clue how to play the game - and wouldn’t listen to those that tried to help him. It was frustrating to watch him and he eventually played his way into sitting the bench. But not soon enough for my liking.

We had a LL and CYO superstar in our area his dad called Meal Ticket. The kid never lost a game on the small field. He was 5’8”. He threw mid 70’s. The dad thought the kid was going to the majors. My son’s all star team wanted to face him and beat him so badly. Meal Ticket’s team didn’t win when he wasn’t pitching.

When I started a 13u travel team I wasn’t interested in Meal Ticket. I wanted kids I felt had potential to be quality high school prospects and teach them how to play the game. The problem with Meal Ticket was dad was 5’5”. Mom was 5’. Dad also had a reputation of calling the game for his son from the stands. And being an overall pain in the arse.

Since I didn’t pursue Meal Ticket the dad pursued me. He thought there would be MLB scouts at our 13u travel games. Due to dad’s reputation not one travel team pursued Meal Ticket. Meal Ticket washed out of the game after soph year of high school. He was still 5’8” throwing upper 70’s.

Meal Ticket’s dad was a schmuck. My son became good friends with Meal Ticket through a travel teammate who had come up through that same LL and high school. They all golf together.

Last edited by RJM

We had a Hollywood on my son’s youth team because he was always smiling and an aspirational “Iceman” who didn’t really grow into the name until HS—as a kid he broke down crying on the mound a lot. Husband was “Sweet” in HS because his shot was so smooth. Also Woody in college which my son has gotten a lot from HS up. Nothing as cool as Rambo yet… lol

Golf is not a verb...   

* and before all the Google Masters point out that several dictionaries actually say golf IS a verb, I'm just pointing out that using it this way is dangerous and somehow causes a wrinkle in the fabric of the universe.  And I ain't even a grammar snob.  I don't hardly never even play golf.

Nothing gets by teammates in a dugout especially among 11year olds.  There was a kid on my son's travel team that threw extremely hard for an 11 year old before they got on the larger field.    He was constantly blowing it by kids.  One of the other travel team parents coined the phrase "VNG" or "Virginia Natural Gas" because of his consistent velocity on the mound.   The name stuck but his teammates called him "VNG" for a vastly different reason.    Again, nothing gets by teammates in a dugout.

Last edited by fenwaysouth
@fenwaysouth posted:

Nothing gets by teammates in a dugout especially among 11year olds.  There was a kid on my son's travel team that threw extremely hard for an 11 year old before they got on the larger field.    He was constantly blowing it by kids.  One of the other travel team parents coined the phrase "VNG" or "Virginia Natural Gas" because of his consistent velocity on the mound.   The name stuck but his teammates called him "VNG" for a vastly different reason.    Again, nothing gets by teammates in a dugout.

To your point, which is absolute truth, one of my college teammates was nicknamed “Johnny P” - which seems logical because his first name was John and his last name began with the letter P.  But that wasn’t the reason at all.  Johnny P could have had quite the career in the porn industry had he been so inclined. Thankfully he wasn’t. But nothing  gets by teammates in a locker room either.

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