Searching for Coco Crisp
by Alex
Now that member of the All-World Name Team Coco Crisp has left Cleveland, Indians fans must look elsewhere for their crazy name fix. Members of the current 25-man roster leave little hope, what with your Jason Michaels and Jason Johnsons. I'm looking for the Coco Crisps of the future. Of the current Indians minor leaguers, here are the brightest hopefuls:
Unfortunately, Bear and Fausto, who I believe have two of the weaker names, are the only two nominees with a real chance to have more than a cup of coffee. But don't fret too much, there's a chance your Boodle Clarks and Doodle Hicks of the world will make the leap. And don't forget that the Indians scouting department in the past few seasons has been responsible for trading for guys like Milton Bradley, Coco Crisp, and just recently Bubbie Buzachero. There is always hope.
- Alfred Ard - OF (R) Alfie, as I imagine everyone affectionately calls him, kind of sucks. In 2004, he was the Tribe's 30th round draft pick. The chances of him reaching the majors are slim to nil.
- Bear Bay - SP (AA) We may never know whether Bear is named after scenic Bear Bay Lodge in Alaska, but Indians beat reporters may have a chance to ask him themselves pretty soon. The Indians got Bay from the Cubs in exchange for Cliff Bartosh. Bay isn't a true "prospect," but would make for decent bullpen filler.
- Bubbie Buzachero - RP (AAA) Though Bubbie will never be a Bubbe, he stands a chance as more bullpen filler for the Indians. The Tribe acquired Bubbie from Toronto for Brian Tallet this off-season--yet more evidence of the aptitude of the Indians scouting department.
- Fausto Carmona - SP (AAA) For some, Carmona has long been a touted prospect. The initial weirdness of his name might have worn off for them. It's clear that Sr and Sra Carmona are Goethe-lovers. One must wonder whether he has a brother Werther.
- Rodney Choy Foo - SS (High A) While his name conjures up a black kung fu warrior with a humongous afro from the 70's, Rodney is actually Hawaiian. Barring an act of LeBron, Choy Foo stands no chance to be a future contributor for the Tribe.
- Boodle Clark - 3B (Short-season A) Imagine a .206/.307/.282 hitter in short-season A named John Clark. Would anybody ever notice? But change "John" to "Boodle," and what do you have? Only one of the most exciting prospects in funny name history.
- Cirilo Cumberbatch - OF (Short-season A) A Panamaniac, Cirilo has put up average or so numbers in his very short professional career. His greatest asset, besides his name, is age. Cirilo was only 19 last season.
- Doodle Hicks - SP (R) Ideally, Doodle would appear right after Boodle, but the alphabet is an uncaring maiden. I'm not totally sure Doodle actually exists, The Baseball Cube has no stats for him nor does he appear on Burlington's roster. The only evidence is that the Indians definitely drafted Doodle in the 28th round two seasons ago, and that the Burlington Indians ran a ridiculous "Boodle Doodle Noodle" promotion last season. If Doodle is real, he might be our best shot at replacing Coco.
- Juan Valdes - OF (Low A) Known mostly for his delicious Colombian coffee, Juan has slowly advanced through the lower rungs of the Indians organization. He is an unpromising player, at best, and looks to be somewhat of a bust considering the team selected him in the 5th round two years ago.
- Jonathan Van Every - OF (AA) Van Every is a Three True Outcomes king: in 2005, he walked 15%, homered 8%, and struck out 34% of his plate appearances. Unless he cuts down on strikeouts, Van Every likely won't be more than a September call-up.
Unfortunately, Bear and Fausto, who I believe have two of the weaker names, are the only two nominees with a real chance to have more than a cup of coffee. But don't fret too much, there's a chance your Boodle Clarks and Doodle Hicks of the world will make the leap. And don't forget that the Indians scouting department in the past few seasons has been responsible for trading for guys like Milton Bradley, Coco Crisp, and just recently Bubbie Buzachero. There is always hope.

3 Comments:
Back to the Indians, has anyone seen the outrageous prices the Indians are asking to cable companies to air their games. I'm not a cable company fanboi by any means, they rip you off every way they can, but the Indians are really screwing this thing up trying to make more money by having their own station sell the games/broadcast the games whatever. Roger Brown's column earlier this week pointed out the Cox Cable Company's new website which shows how the Indians are going to screw all of us fans. I'm so sick of team executives...it's so hard to be a fan in Cleveland when your teams stink anyway, and they want to make it harder for us to watch their games and make us pay more to our cable companies in the meantime. What a croc...
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