According to this report by Bob Nightengale in USA Today, Japanese sort of free agent pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka has chosen the nickname "D-Mat" for himself.
I'm going out on a limb here that in Japan, Matsuzaka didn't go by that nickname.
Gregg Doyel of CBS Sportsline is not sanguine about Matsuzaka's chances of becoming a star in North America.
If my nickname consisted of the first letter of my first name and first three letters of my last name (A-Rod, D-Mat, etc.), it would not sound very cool.
In fact, it would sound a lot like a high-tech mattress company.
B-Tim, however, sounds kind of cool. Go with it, Bob.
I think 'Apple Jack' is a good nickname for Matsuzaka.
Matsuzaka is from Aomori prefecture in Japan which is famous for their apples. Apple Jack has a 3-syllable rhythm, shortens to Jack, has mutations as needed 'That was a real poison apple from Apple Jack for strike three' etc. It can be shortened even further as AJ. It's a tip of the cap to his home region. The K sound pairs nicely with the K sound in MatuzaKa.
As far as I get a vote in these things (1 in 6.5 billion) my choice is Apple Jack. Pass it on.
K-Fed? Missed the bus a while ago. K-Mart? Well, he gets paid enough to ignore it. Even her handlers must have told her J-Lo was an inside joke gone terribly wrong. So if he doesn't want to get stuck being called Door-Mat (I thought the same thing, 3) for the rest of his life, he needs a well-placed fastball right between that English-language writer's front teeth to save the world from needless imperialism.
"Gyro Gearloose" and the over on outdoing Fat ... Toad, but not reach Fernandomania.
I think Boras earns some of the hatred because he is so willing to have younger clients sit out a year. So he gets maybe a few hundred grand for them a year later, but pushes them a year farther away from going to free agency, where they can make the big bucks. I think he takes advantage of some of these kids: after all, he might not be their agent when the big payday comes, so better for him to get his when he can.
Meanwhile, someone like JD Drew loses a year of prime earning time, plus to this day he can't even stop for a quick cheesesteak in Philly for fear of getting whacked.
vr, Xei
Alex Cabrera was called A-Cab. Would Michihiro Ogasawara be nicknamed M-Oga?
Fortunately Ogasawara has a great nickname already: Guts.
In fact, it would sound a lot like a high-tech mattress company.
B-Tim, however, sounds kind of cool. Go with it, Bob.
i'm glad you didn't combined A-Rod & F-her
http://sports.yahoo.co.jp/hl?c=npb&a=20061104-00000002-ykf-spo
Although Hideki Matsui, who has a perfectly good nickname already, quipped that "Well, does that mean people will have to start calling me H-Mat"?
Matsuzaka is from Aomori prefecture in Japan which is famous for their apples. Apple Jack has a 3-syllable rhythm, shortens to Jack, has mutations as needed 'That was a real poison apple from Apple Jack for strike three' etc. It can be shortened even further as AJ. It's a tip of the cap to his home region. The K sound pairs nicely with the K sound in MatuzaKa.
As far as I get a vote in these things (1 in 6.5 billion) my choice is Apple Jack. Pass it on.
"Gyro Gearloose" and the over on outdoing Fat ... Toad, but not reach Fernandomania.
Meanwhile, someone like JD Drew loses a year of prime earning time, plus to this day he can't even stop for a quick cheesesteak in Philly for fear of getting whacked.
i'm set in my ways!! & no one will change my mind! down with Boras!
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