2006 Arquimedez Pozo Awards
The wait is over! Tonight, I’ll present the 2006 Arquimedez Pozo Award for the Best Name in Major League Baseball. The competition this season was the best in recent memory, and I had to leave several excellent candidates on the cutting room floor to make way for our ten finalists and our eventual winner. There are some familiar names on the list, but not many: only 4 players from last year’s final ten made the cut this season. Who survived? Who has replaced those who didn’t? And will 2005 winner Ambiorix Burgos repeat his title despite the younger competition?
Before I present the Top Ten and the 2006 winner, I’d like to mention that his year, after awarding the retroactive Pozos last week, I decided to open up the balloting a bit and include anyone who has played at least one game in a Major League uniform in 2006. This is a bit more equitable than last year’s system, in which only players that were on an active roster at the time of the award were eligible.
With that out of the way, I now present: The 2006 Pozos.
10. Joe Winkelsas, RP, Milwaukee Brewers
Some sounds are simply funny as hell. ‘Winkle’ is one of those sounds.
9. Colter Bean, RP, New York Yankees
The Yankees have been lagging in the Pozos for some time now, so their fans will be thrilled - no doubt - to see that the drought is over. The man responsible for squeaking into the final ten is Colter Bean, whose name suggests nothing more than an odd 1950’s era cartoon character (see Bailey, Beetle).
8. Boof Bonser, SP, Minnesota Twins
Boof! It’s a nickname - Bonser’s real first name is a pedestrian ‘John’ - but it has the kind of star power that nets people Pozo Final Ten nods. The alliteration is key here, as also is the odd quality of the last name itself; combined, the full name is particularly impressive. Still, Boof! is the real attraction here, with an off-the-charts recognition factor and a quality that almost demands an exclamation point - never mind the fact that He’s the only Major Leaguer in recent memory with a name that would have fit in as a Batman sound effect.
7. Chone Figgins, CF, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
The first returnee on the list, Figgins looks like he’ll be a Pozo Award power for many years. He drops here from 6th to 7th overall, suggesting some high-placing names further down.
6. Kiko Calero, RP, Oakland A’s
Our second returnee still may have the most fun name to say in the majors (yes, even better than Boof!). He has also prompted me to notice an interesting trend in the Majors: the abundant number of relief pitchers with odd names. Calero was one of 5 RP’s in last year’s list, and is one of an amazing 6 this year. It’s important to note here that the Red Sox have a paucity of odd names in their own bullpen; this is a weakness that Theo will almost certainly try to rectify at the deadline.
5. Sendy Rleal, RP, Baltimore Orioles
One letter. That’s all that separates our 5th place nominee from being just another schlub in a lousy bullpen. One letter between nothingness and renown. Without that ‘L’ - so oddly placed, so intrusive, so cacophonous - Would you have ever heard of the man? There would certainly be little memorable about his pitching line, or his team. Luckily for him - nd, really, for you - his ancestors, somewhere along the line, opted for boldness. ‘Real’, or even ‘Rheal’, just wasn’t good enough. In went the ‘L’, and a Pozo finalist was born. While I don’t like setting the one-letter precedent, Rleal has simply let me no choice.
4. Coco Crisp, CF, Boston Red Sox
Though I still have a few reservations about the trade that sent Coco Crisp to the Red Sox, I was unqualifiedly thrilled about one thing: finally, the Red Sox had a Pozo-worthy name on their roster. Last year, the best we could do was Adam Hyzdu; the year before only Doug Mientkiewicz would have come even close to the top 10. In fact, the Red Sox haven’ had a decent Pozo shot since 2000 - the year of Hipolito Pichardo. Now, however, it seems they will be a Pozo power for years to come, with Crisp locked up over the next few seasons. And yes,he placed higher than the lone Yankee rep. Truly, the battle has been joined.
3. Yhency Brazoban, RP, Los Angeles Dodgers
Yhency has had a tough couple of years since he won the Pozo Award back in ‘04. First he failed somewhat spectacularly as Eric Gagne’s backup in LA, posting a 5.33 ERA over 72 innings after a promising rookie campaign. Now, in 2006, he has spent much of the season on the disabled list. To add insult to injury, he has slipped an additional spot on the Pozo list; still, having a better name than all but 2 of the hundreds of men to play the game in 2006 is quite an achievement.
2. Ambiorix Burgos, RP, Kansas City Royals
The influx of youth has claimed another victim at the top of the Pozo list, as Amborix Burgos has been dethroned. It is perhaps fitting that tonight, with his Royals losing due to shoddy relief, Burgos gets this additional unhappy news. It was, however, a difficult decision; Ambiorix is a tough act to follow for anyone. Indeed, it took a very special name to unseat him. So, while we congratulate Burgos on continuing to have a particularly awesome name, we must now also congratulate this year’s Pozo Award Winner…
1. Angel Pagan, OF, Chicago Cubs
Angel. Pagan. A name divided against itself cannot stand… but it can triumph. I don;t usually go for wordplay over tone, preferring the sound of a name to its potential meaning. But Pagan’s dichotomy is poetic in its religious theme, a clash of beliefs in a single name. It speaks of internal struggle, of an unfinished identity, and - in the end - of a true champion. Congratulations, Angel, on being named the 2006 Arquimedez Pozo Award winner.
Now that the final 10 is complete, I also wanted to add a team-by-team nominee list. The following 30 players - including all the names above - are their teams’ Pozo winners (Pozo top ten placing in parentheses):
AL East:
Baltimore Orioles - Sendy Rleal (5)
Boston Red Sox - Coco Crisp (4)
New York Yankees - Colter Bean (9)
Tampa Bay Devil Rays - Rocco Baldelli
Toronto Blue Jays - Ty Taubenheim
AL Central:
Chicago White Sox - Ross Gload
Cleveland Indians - Fausto Carmona
Detroit Tigers - Placido Polanco
Kansas City Royals - Ambiorix Burgos (2)
Minnesota Twins - Boof Bonser (5)
AL West:
Los Angeles Angels - Chone Figgins (7)
Oakland A’s - Kiko Calero (6)
Seattle Mariners - J.J. Putz
Texas Rangers - Rod Barajas
NL East:
Atlanta Braves - Macay McBride
Florida Marlins - Dan Uggla
New York Mets - Bartolome Fortunato
Philadelphia Phillies - Fabio Castro
Washington Nationals - Micah Bowie
NL Central:
Chicago Cubs - Angel Pagan (1)
Cincinnati Reds - Esteban Yan
Houston Astros - Wandy Rodriguez
Milwaukee Brewers - Joe Winklesas (10)
Pittsburgh Pirates - Yurrendell DeCaster
St. Louis Cardinals - So Taguchi
NL West:
Arizona Diamondbacks - Brandon Medders
Colorado Rockies - Choo Freeman
Los Angeles Dodgers - Yhency Brazoban (3)
San Diego Padres - Terrmel Sledge
San Francisco Giants - Eliezer Alfonso
Congratulations to all the nominees and winners.
Important Pozo Award Update:
I just came across this post, on the This Day in Baseball Blog, which shows that the date 8/24 holds a mystical power over baseball names. It was, for one, the birthdate of Arquimedez Pozo himself. But that’s not all: the list of Pozo-worthy names on that day include Mets Pozo winner Bartolome Fortunato, among many others. Therefore, I decree the following: August 24th will, from this point forward, be the day on which the Pozo Award is announced.
If, you know, I’m still doing this in a year.
July 18th, 2006 at 8:54 am
I continue to be baffled how a single Colon has never made the list. I thought there may have been a decent chance this year with Roman.
And are you intentionally trying to block out your memories of your time in Canadia, or are Pozo’s only eligible for US players, or perhaps you having trouble deciding between an AJ and a BJ.
Also, I hate to inform you, but Joe Winkelsas retired. So Mil would probably be best served by Corey Heart, Gabe Gross or Dave Bush. I would also nominate the Cubs’ Will Ohman.
July 18th, 2006 at 9:43 am
Ok, so the Jays thing is weird. And also fixed.
And Winklesas may have retired, but he’s still eligible given his appearances this season.
As for the Colon’s and the Gross’s and the Bush’s… eh. I mean, cheap laugh, sure, but there’s nothing really outstanding about it, you know? How can it be the best name in the majors when a bunch of other dudes could have the same one? I mean, there are like 5 Colons. The President is named Bush. I’ll take a Yhency Brazoban any day.
July 18th, 2006 at 10:55 am
I know, I know on the cheap laughs and all. Roman does bring it to a new level. And Putz was included last year, so all cheap laughs are not off limits.
Okay, so eligibility is now based on within any given year. You used to have to be on the active roster to qualify (so last year Termel Sledge was not eligible), now its just in the year. things are getting easier..
On a lighter note - while you have sponsored Pozo’s page, the sponsorship of A-Rod’s page is pretty funny:
http://www.baseball-reference.com/r/rodrial01.shtml
July 18th, 2006 at 2:52 pm
i actually heard on ESPN at some point that boof bonser legally changed his name to boof - he’s no longer john at all. although it would be even better if he changed his name to boof! bonser. i want to see somebody with punctuation in their name!
July 18th, 2006 at 3:30 pm
Wow. See, that’s the kind of commitment to weirdness that I like to see. If I’d known that before balloting, Boof! might have appeared higher on the list. Thanks for the heads up.