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Major League Baseball’s first Players Weekend begins tonight with the Blue Jays’ uniforms being shown off at the Rogers Centre against the Minnesota Twins.
Some of the best nicknames include Bringer of Rain (Josh Donaldson), Joey Bats (Jose Bautista), No Panic (Roberto Osuna), Tulo (Troy Tulowitzki) and Stro-Show (Marcus Stroman).
One of the most infuriating parts of the weekend is the actual name: Players Weekend. Shouldn’t it be possessive — i.e. Players’ Weekend?
The neon-coloured uniforms will also feature a unique MLB logo featuring an evolution from little league to pro baseball.
Of course, some players aren’t a fan of the festivities.
"I'm more of an old-school guy, so I'm not a big fan of it," Brett Gardner told Andrew Marchand of ESPN. "It doesn't really matter what I think. I'll play and hopefully we'll win."
As expected, Gardner doesn’t have a special nickname for this weekend.
Losing to Team Mexico 6-2 on Thursday, Canada was eliminated from the Little League World Series after one win in the classic. Canada, in its first game, defeated Venezuela, but subsequently collected only one hit in a game against Japan.
Emotions flared in Thursday’s game between the New York Yankees and Detroit Tigers, with eight players being ejected and a slew of intentional bean balls. It was the most ejections in a game this season, and the five Yankees ejected were the most by a team this season.
Even though there were some scary moments in the game (when Dellin Betances threw at a batters’ head, for instances), the brawl provided for some funny GIFs, at the very least.
Brett Gardner is ANGRY.
— Randall J. Sanders (@RandallJSanders) August 24, 2017
C.C. Sabathia is entertained. pic.twitter.com/5EMNPNNYMi
At the hands of Kevin Kiermaier, Alex Cobbs and the Tampa Bay Rays, the Blue Jays were shut out last night, losing 2-0 in a game where two catches and one replay review changed the final outcome. A review in the fifth inning on a Josh Donaldson RBI double proved that the ball was foul, keeping the Blue Jays off the board.
The Blue Jays start a homestand tonight against “Big Sexy” (Bartolo Colon) and the Minnesota Twins. J.A. Happ — Happer for Players Weekend (grrr...) — working on six days of rest, gets the start after allowing five runs in five innings against the Chicago Cubs in his last outing.
Follow Mark on Twitter @MarkColley.