Baseball is letting its guard down for the weekend of Aug. 25-27 when the Twins are in Toronto to play the Blue Jays.
Rather than wearing traditional uniforms, MLB teams will spend that weekend in custom cleats, socks and jerseys that have a nickname of the players’ choice on the back. Here are the nicknames the Twins are going with:
- Brian Dozier – “Doz”
- Jose Berrios – “Orlandito”
- Ervin Santana – “Magic”
- Max Kepler – “Rozycki”
- Byron Buxton – “Buck”
- Ehire Adrianza – “Guarenero”
- Miguel Sano – “Boqueton”
- Jason Castro – “Stro”
- Glen Perkins – “Perk”
- Jorge Polanco – “Chulo”
- Adalberto Mejia – “Volador”
- Joe Mauer – “Mauer”
- Eduardo Escobar – “El de la Pica”
- Phil Hughes – “Peej”
- Chris Gimenez – “G”
- Robbie Grossman – “Grossman”
- Buddy Boshers – “Buddy”
- Ryan Pressly – “Pressly”
- Tyler Duffey – The Doof”
- Taylor Rogers – “Rogers”
- Hector Santiago – “Bulldoze”
- Kyle Gibson – “Gibby”
- Eddie Rosario – “Baudidou”
- Bartolo Colon – “Morales”
“It’ll be fun,” Dozier said in the Twins’ press release. “There’s a patch with our handwriting about the most influential people in our life in baseball. It’s tough because I’ve had a lot of people that have impacted me, but I just put the people of Fulton, Mississippi. It’s my small hometown, and they mean a lot to me.”
Yeah, we know what you’re thinking: Why the hell is Mauer going with “Mauer”? Same goes for Ryan Pressly, Taylor Rogers and Robbie Grossman. Thank god this isn’t a creativity contest.
We’ve reached out to the Twins for explanations on the rest of the nicknames and here’s what we got.
Kepler’s “Rozycki” nickname isn’t a nickname at all. It’s actually his father’s last name. He’s the son of professional ballet dancers, Kathy Kepler and Marek Rozycki.
Adrianza’s “Guarenero” appears to be a salute to his hometown of Guarenas, Venezuela.
Berrios’ nickname of Orlando is actually the pitcher’s middle name.
Sano’s “Boqueton” is because the big bopper likes to talks a lot.
Polanco chose “Chulo” which is a Spanish term of endearment which translates to pretty boy.
Rosario’s “Baudidou” is what his best friend calls him.
Also, note that Glen Perkins is included in the release. That might mean he’ll be called up after 16 months of rehabbing injuries in time for the inaugural Players Weekend.
