Marlins' nicknames for Players' Weekend
Sweet Lew, El Nueve, Grandyman among player-selected names
MIAMI -- When the Marlins take the field on Aug. 23-25 during Players¡¯ Weekend, they also will be putting their personalities on the line.
Back by popular demand, Players¡¯ Weekend returns for its third season, allowing players on all 30 MLB clubs to sport whatever name they desire on the back of their jerseys. To help fans match the name with the player, here¡¯s the list of nicknames the Marlins will wear during their three-game series with the Phillies at Marlins Park.
MARLINS
Sandy Alcantara: "SANDMAN"
Jorge Alfaro: "EL OSO"
Spanish for The Bear.
Brian Anderson: "ANDY"
Not because of ¡°Toy Story.¡± Rather than morph, say, a first initial and part of his last name, Anderson was shortened to "Andy."
Jon Berti: "BIRDMAN"
Jeff Brigham: "BRIGHAM"
Lewis Brinson: "SWEET LEW"
The nickname was coined by a travel agent when Brinson was playing Rookie ball. And besides, as Brinson says, "I¡¯m a sweet guy. I¡¯m an easygoing guy."
Starlin Castro: "ALL STARLIN"
Castro is a four-time All-Star.
Wei-Yin Chen: "WEIGH-IN"
Get it?
Adam Conley: "ACON"
Garrett Cooper: "COOPALOOP"
Many just call him, "Coop." But Cooper had some fun with it, and added "aloop."
Isan Diaz: "DIAZ"
The rookie second baseman was promoted from Triple-A New Orleans in early August and didn¡¯t have much time to select a catchy nickname.
Jarlin Garcia: "THE ELEPHANT"
A year ago, Garcia had some fun with his first name and used ¡°Jarlin the Marlin.¡± This year, the lefty reliever went with ¡°The Elephant.¡± The reason is simple. He really likes elephants.
Curtis Granderson: "GRANDYMAN"
The nickname Grandy really caught on when Granderson was in the Minor Leagues, and during his days playing for the Yankees, announcer John Sterling dubbed the veteran outfielder "Grandyman¡± on his home run calls.
¡°Guys started calling me ¡®Grandy¡¯ in general. That¡¯s where ¡®Grandy¡¯ came from," Granderson said. "And then a mixture between John Sterling with the Yankees who did the ¡®Grandyman¡¯ call to just players in general going ¡®Grandy, man.¡¯ It was just morphed into that over time.¡±
Tayron Guerrero: "EL DE BOCACHICA"
The guy from Bocachica, the Columbian city Guerrero is from.
Elieser Hernandez: "LILO"
Hernandez has been told he looks like Lilo from the animated movie, ¡°Lilo & Stitch¡±
Bryan Holaday: "HOLLY"
Tyler Kinley: "TK"
Jose Quijada: "EL Q"
Martin Prado: "PRATT"
Harold Ramirez: "EL PRI"
Like saying, ¡°Hey, cuz.¡± Was called ¡°Pri¡± since he was playing youth ball.
Miguel Rojas: "MIGGY RO"
Caleb Smith: "SMITTY"
Ryne Stanek: "STANNY"
Neil Walker: "WALK"
Jose Urena: "EL NUEVE"
Loosely translated to: The Man. Or the main guy. Someone of stature.
Jordan Yamamoto: "YAMI"