Milwaukee Brewers: The Best and Worst Players Weekend Uni’s

Top Two

2. Manny Pina – “Pineapple”

I believe this all started back when Eric Thames hit a walk-off HR and in his postgame interview referred to Pina as Manny Pineapple. Ever since then, the name has stuck with Brewers fans and his teammates alike. Manny Pineapple just kinds of rolls off the tongue and it’s fun to say.

I’m not sure if there’s a reason they went with Pineapple outside of Pina and pineapple starting with the same letters. Perhaps Manny Pina just really likes to eat pineapple. But it’s a fun nickname that fans have really taken to and showcases how the fans identify with this team. Thames called Pina, “Manny PIneapple” once and that was all it took for the fans to run with it.

If Thames never brought it up in that postgame interview, most of us would probably be confused as to why Pina’s nickname is a fruit. But it all makes sense now.

1. Eric Thames – “Sang Namja”

This is the most epic nickname in baseball this weekend. After spending three years playing in Korea, it makes sense that Thames’ nickname would be a Korean phrase. What is this phrase you may ask? Sang Namja literally translates to “Real Man” but  it loosely means “Badass”. Man, that’s awesome. MLB wouldn’t allow vulgarities on these jerseys for obvious reasons but Thames got away with it.

The people at MLB who got his jersey nickname request probably just thought, “Oh cool, a Korean word that I don’t really know what it means but must be special to his time in Korea, how cool”, not even knowing it meant “Badass”. That’s probably the most badass thing about this is that Thames got away with it.

His nickname in Korea was “God” but that probably wouldn’t have gone over well back in the States so he went with something even more awesome. Frankly, Thames is a badass and the way he took the Milwaukee Brewers by storm during his first season season only adds to it. He’s big, he’s strong, he’s a sang namja.

Honorable Mentions

Jimmy Nelson – “Big Sweat”. He’s big and he sweats a lot. It works.

Brent Suter – “The Raptor”. His walkup song is the them to Jurassic Park and he runs like a raptor. Makes perfect sense.

Eric Sogard – “Nerd Power”. Predictable but he hasn’t been hitting with much power. Maybe “Nerd Plate Discipline” would work.

Brett Phillips – “Maverick”. I love it, but he’s not going to be here to wear it.

Michael Blazek – “Jus Blaze”. See above.

Stephen Vogt – “I believe”. I BELIEVE IN STEPHEN VOGT! I BELIEVE IN STEPHEN VOGT!

Next: Early returns on Niel Walker look promising

Hopefully these jerseys will help the Milwaukee Brewers break out of their slump and get the bats going against the best team in baseball this weekend. This team is fun to watch and they have a lot of fun themselves. These jerseys should bring out the best in the Brewers both in performance and entertainment.