Rangers Welcome Darvish, Potential Nicknames Abound
By Cecilio's Scribe on Jan 21, 2012 with Comments 0
Yu Da Man? (Photo: Getty Images)
The Texas Rangers officially welcomed 25-year old pitcher Yu Darvish yesterday in Arlington. The hard-throwing former Japanese league star was one of the hottest names of the offseason with Texas scoring the righty just before a 5 p.m. deal deadline this past Wednesday. Darvish will rock #11 and just how good he will be stateside remains to be seen. One things for sure, though. Darvish’s name has inspired widespread speculation and discussion of possible nicknames. It seems his moniker lends itself rather well to creative spinoffs. We’re always for nicknames and hate the fact that their prevalence in professional sports seems to be dwindling.
Yu’s rather unique first name and surname, the creation of a Japanese mother and Iranian father, give us plent of ideas. So, what do we think are some early candidates for a Yu Darvish nickname? Let’s do this…
Whirling Darvish: The simplest and most glaringly obvious. Yu might not have the twirly delivery of some other Japanese imports like Hideo Nomo, it’s stil a clear early favorite. Speed. Confusion. Deception. It can work on a number of levels. Which takes us to number two…
Hurling Darvish: Plays on the known expression above, but with a more relevant, dare I say, twist. Hurler. Hurling. Get it?
DarVader: Will Yu be a force with Rangers? Who knows, but success could bring with it a Star Wars-inspired nickname. Should it go that route, he’s also got one more thing figured out – entry music.
Will the Force Be Strong with This One?
Da Yu: It’s like Miami does it, but completely different. Take the first and last names and flip them around. First two letters of each…boom. Da Yu. You know you dig it.
Y.U.K.: Say it out loud. It’s like Y2K, remember all that hype? Just a little word play here. In this case, the “K” standing for the strikeout prowess (or supposed) and the Yu…well, put two and two together.
Darvelous: Can’t you just hear Billy Crystal now? “Yu…Yu look Darvelous!”
Yuda: Jedi Master? We shall see. If so, to call him Yuda whould be pretty baller.
That’s all we’ve got so far. Please chime in on the comments. Ohh, the t-shirt potential for those fans down in Texas.
