KANSAS CITY ¨C Royals right-hander Brad Keller had little doubt what he wanted his nickname to read on the back of his jersey for Players¡¯ Weekend, which runs Friday through Sunday when the Royals are in Cleveland.

Keller is going with ¡°YELDARB.¡± That's his given name, Bradley, spelled backwards. And there is a story to that.

¡°When I was little, when I first started to learn to write my name,¡± Keller said, ¡°I used to write my name backwards. I always wrote it, ¡®Yeldarb.¡¯¡±

? Every team¡¯s Players¡¯ Weekend nicknames

And why did Keller do that?

¡°I have no idea,¡± Keller said, laughing. ¡°I really don¡¯t. I just did. I think my parents probably thought there was something wrong with me.¡±

Keller said he stopped writing his name backward before he got to the first grade. And now he plans on giving his jersey with ¡°YELDARB¡± on it to his parents.

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¡°They used to even call me ¡®Yeldarb,¡¯¡± Keller said.

Here¡¯s a look at all the Royals¡¯ Players¡¯ Weekend nicknames.

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Humberto Arteaga: "ARTY"

Scott Barlow: "SCOOTS McGOOTS"

Barlow explains that this past Spring Training he purchased a scooter and could be seen buzzing around Surprise, Ariz., with it, and around camp. Teammate Kyle Zimmer dubbed him, ¡°Scoots.¡± That eventually morphed into ¡°Scoots McGoots,¡± and we¡¯ll just leave it at that.

Cheslor Cuthbert: "ISLAND BOY"

Cuthbert is from the Corn Islands in Nicaragua.

Hunter Dozier: "BULLDOZ"

Danny Duffy: "GORDO"

Duffy is on the injured list, but he could be activated in time for Players¡¯ Weekend. He said Alex Gordon and him decided to switch their nicknames in Spring Training.

¡°So many times in Spring Training we¡¯d be shagging fly balls in the outfield, and I¡¯d catch one and fans would yell, ¡®Hey Gordo, throw me the ball,¡¯ and vice versa,¡± Duffy said. ¡°So, we just decided to make it easier for everyone.

¡°And then, just the other day, I¡¯m walking into the stadium with red shorts on and someone yells, ¡®Hey Gordo. Go Big Red [Nebraska]!¡¯ I mean, do I really look sculpted like Gordo?¡±

Cam Gallagher: "GALLY"

Alex Gordon: "DUFFMAN"

Tim Hill: "TIM JIM"

Hill explained that his full given name is Timothy James Hill. While he was growing up, his family called him, ¡°Tim Jim.¡± He¡¯ll be using this nickname just once, he said, and then give the jersey to his mother. ¡°She deserves it,¡± Hill said.

Jakob Junis: "JUNE BUG"

Junis said teammates started calling him that in the Minor Leagues. ¡°I have no idea why,¡± he said.

Brad Keller: "YELDARB"

Ian Kennedy: "E"

Kennedy said that when he was growing up, coaches and family all called him, ¡°E,¡± short for Ian. To this day, his grandmother still calls him, ¡°E,¡± and he plans to give her this jersey.

Jorge Lopez: "EL PICHU"

Lopez said this was a nonsensical nickname that was given to him as a young boy in Puerto Rico. ¡°It doesn¡¯t really mean anything,¡± Lopez said, ¡°other than I was a little boy trying to act big and throw hard like the big boys. So, they called me a little ¡®Pichu.¡¯¡±

Nicky Lopez: "SHORTS"

Lopez said he got this nickname from his father while growing up. ¡°I was pretty tiny growing up,¡± Lopez said. ¡°So, that one kind of stuck. I didn¡¯t really have a growth spurt until I got to high school. But I was always ¡®Shorts¡¯ to my dad before that.¡±

Richard Lovelady: "LOVE"

Kevin McCarthy: "MAC"

Whit Merrifield: "WHITLEY"

Adalberto Mondesi: "ACE"

Mondesi, who is on the 10-day injured list, uses this nickname as a tribute to his friend, the late Yordano Ventura.

Mike Montgomery: "MONTY"

Ryan O'Hearn: "BROHEARN"

Salvador Perez: "EL NI?O"

Royals fans know the story behind this. Former teammate Eric Hosmer gave Perez this nickname early in the Minors when Hosmer was in awe of ¡°the boy,¡± and what he could do on the baseball field. It stuck.

Brett Phillips: ¡°MAVERICK¡±

While some people assume this comes from the character in ¡°Top Gun,¡± it¡¯s actually from an old, popular television series called, ¡°Maverick,¡± starring James Garner, whose character was named ¡°Bret Maverick.¡± Phillips¡¯ grandfather loved the show and used to call Phillips¡¯ father, whose real name was Brett James Phillips, ¡°Bret Maverick.¡±

¡°Then, when my dad came of age to have a family, he wanted to name a child, 'Brett Maverick Phillips,¡¯" Phillips said. "So, I was named that."

There was one problem, though.

"When I was younger, any time my mom [Jody] or my sister [Brittany] would yell out 'Brett,' both my dad and I would answer," Phillips said. "So, my mom said, 'This isn't going to work.' So, they started calling me Maverick instead."

Glenn Sparkman: "SPARKY"

Jorge Soler: "EL CRUDO"

Coach Pedro Grifol said this nickname in Cuba essentially means ¡°raw¡± or ¡°ripped,¡± and ¡°well-cut,¡± in terms of one¡¯s physique. That¡¯s fitting.

Bubba Starling: "BUBS"

Josh Staumont: "STAUMONT"

Meibrys Viloria: "EL FRESCO"

Viloria said this essentially translates into ¡°swagger,¡± or just someone who likes to play around. And anyone who has seen Viloria¡¯s bat flips know that is appropriate.

Kyle Zimmer: "ZIM"