Saltalamacchia is the biggest NOB

March 2, 2018 1:44 PM

A look back at the looks on the backs (of sports uniforms, particularly player names). [via Now I Know]
posted by not_on_display (25 comments total)

Let us recall also the tale of Eric Stuckenschneider, who got this close to making the majors in the late 1990s with an amazing 16 character last name. Here's his jersey from Spring Training with the Oakland Athletics.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 2:16 PM on March 2, 2018 [2 favorites]

And a look back at typos in uniforms.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 2:18 PM on March 2, 2018 [4 favorites]

Sadly, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain just has ‘Chamberlain’ on his shirt.
posted by Bloxworth Snout at 2:21 PM on March 2, 2018

But full marks to Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink.
posted by Bloxworth Snout at 2:24 PM on March 2, 2018 [5 favorites]

Channel 17!
posted by jessamyn at 2:28 PM on March 2, 2018 [1 favorite]

I really can't believe that the Yankees finally had NOBs in 2017 just to put the players dumb nicknames on there.
posted by selfnoise at 2:30 PM on March 2, 2018 [2 favorites]

But what about John Smiley? That's got to be the longest name...there's a mile between the first and last letters.

I'll see myself out.
posted by Elly Vortex at 2:34 PM on March 2, 2018 [13 favorites]

elvin!
posted by box at 2:45 PM on March 2, 2018

Thanks for that blast from the past... except that I had mercifully forgotten those vertically lettered NOBs from 1999, and now I'll have to work to do it again.
posted by languagehat at 2:56 PM on March 2, 2018 [2 favorites]

Japanese baseball star Ichiro Suzuki joins MLB's Seattle Mariners. Suzuki, who has worn his first given name on his jersey during his career in Japan (he started doing it when he was on a Japanese minor league team with several other Suzukis, all of whom simply wore their first given names to avoid confusion), requests and receives permission from MLB to keep wearing his first given name, which he will end up doing throughout his MLB career (except while playing for the New York Yankees, who don't use NOBs, from 2012 through 2014).

FTFT
posted by J.K. Seazer at 3:07 PM on March 2, 2018 [4 favorites]

I still think the Chad Johnson/Ochocinco thing is one of the best things that's ever happened in sports.

Chad: I want my jersey to read Ochocinco instead of Johnson.
League: No. Only your actual, legal name can be on your jersey.
Chad: Only my legal name, you say? Hmmm...

I'm still not sure why he didn't have it legally changed to "Ocho Cinco" instead of "Ochocinco". Maybe he was afraid that the league would only let him put "Cinco" on the back? That would also be hilarious because that would mean another trip to the courthouse for another name change.
posted by mhum at 3:11 PM on March 2, 2018 [2 favorites]

i'm reminded of someone heckling ol' Salty at a game I went to by saying "boo! you're a bum!" and then spelling his entire name out at him.
posted by vogon_poet at 3:12 PM on March 2, 2018 [2 favorites]

WRT HE HATE ME; did we figure out Who is the hater?
posted by indianbadger1 at 3:20 PM on March 2, 2018

I had mercifully forgotten those vertically lettered NOBs from 1999

To a British person this forgetting sounds even more merciful than it really is.
posted by howfar at 4:15 PM on March 2, 2018 [1 favorite]

I don't think "nob" is quite as universally penile in the USA is it?
posted by howfar at 4:18 PM on March 2, 2018 [1 favorite]

I think an American would have to be thinking on the level of Beavis and Butthead to find something funny about "nobs".
posted by J.K. Seazer at 4:21 PM on March 2, 2018 [2 favorites]

I saw this when it came out on the Chickasaw twitter feed because Ed "Wahoo" McDaniel was a Chickasaw.
posted by Quonab at 5:12 PM on March 2, 2018 [1 favorite]

Kentucky's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander necessitated some creative type compression.
posted by HillbillyInBC at 8:02 PM on March 2, 2018

I’m 100% sure I’m one of the fans that boo’d Johnny LeMaster into putting “Boo” on his jersey.

Candlestick Park was awful and just brought out the worst in everyone including 8 year olds. LeMaster was a terrible hitter but a great fielder and I hope he’s enjoying his retirement despite being the most hated Giant.

Also, Vida Blue (coolest baseball name ever! With possible exception of fellow A Coco Crisp) always wore “Vida” on his back.
posted by Slarty Bartfast at 9:07 PM on March 2, 2018 [2 favorites]

He mostly wore "Blue" on his jersey when he was with the A's.
posted by Chrysostom at 9:19 PM on March 2, 2018 [1 favorite]

It's not a novelty nameplate per se, but I've always enjoyed the fact that Matt Dumba, hockey player with the Minnesota Wild, used to wear the number 55. So the back of his jersey read...
posted by ZaphodB at 9:38 PM on March 2, 2018 [2 favorites]

I still think the New Jersey Devils should be kicking themselves for never having signed the much-travelled Miroslav Šatan (and giving him a unique yet appropriate three-digit jersey number).
posted by hangashore at 10:58 PM on March 2, 2018 [2 favorites]

In 2001, Johannes Vennegoor of Hesselink scored 22 goals for PSV Eindhoven football club. The Pro Shop in Amsterdam called me and politely asked me to order a different kit.
posted by Brocktoon at 2:07 AM on March 3, 2018 [2 favorites]

I grew up in Chicago, and I well remember the '59 White Sox. Folks used to say that it was a good thing that Ted Kluszewski was such a big guy, or his name wouldn't have fit.
posted by gteffertz at 5:10 PM on March 3, 2018 [2 favorites]

Let us recall also the tale of Eric Stuckenschneider, who got this close to making the majors in the late 1990s with an amazing 16 character last name.

Sheez, he put up some pretty good numbers in AAA, how the heck did he miss getting a call-up?
Maybe the big-league front office types were leery of that last name on more than one level, fearing the inevitable heckling that such a last name would draw at purportedly family-friendly venues:

"Hey, Stuck-inside-her, why don't you try pulling out, maybe you could make some contact once in a while."
posted by e1c at 12:01 PM on March 5, 2018 [1 favorite]