Welcome to The Pregame Lineup, a weekday newsletter that gets you up to speed on everything you need to know for today's games, while catching you up on fun and interesting stories you might have missed. Thanks for being here. The great Paul Simon once sang, "You can call me Al." But when it comes to baseball players, well, you actually can't.
That's because for nearly a decade there hasn't been a big leaguer strictly named Al since a guy who actually had an excess of Al's in his name -- Al Alburquerque, also the source of a classic WFAN rant from Mike Francesa, if you're in need of a good laugh today. It's quite possible we'll never see one again, considering the name Al has not cracked the top 100 most popular boy names in the United States since … 1967.
We decided to dig deep into this idea of long-lost baseball names, after the Rays called up a 6-foot-3, 250-pound first baseman by the name of Bob Seymour. Before him, there had not been a big league Bob since pitcher Bob Howry in 2010.
There was a span in baseball history where you could practically go bobbing for Bobs. In 1971, there were 24 players across the Majors who went by Bob, and that's excluding the many other Bobbys. The World Series-winning Pirates alone had five Bobs to their name that year. Three plaques in Cooperstown have Bob carved in bronze -- Gibson, Feller and Lemon, and that's not even mentioning Uecker's inclusion as a broadcaster.
Just like Al, Bob has not been listed in the top 100 among U.S. boy names since before 1960. Since 2017, the most popular has been Liam, and it's ranked inside the top 10 since 2012. Baseball got its first Liam when Australian Liam Hendriks debuted in 2011, and Liam Hicks joined him in 2025. It stands to reason that trend will only continue upward, just as the Bob and the Al trend has dropped like a 12-6 curveball.
But these things are obviously difficult to predict. For 40 years, we had not seen an Otto in the bigs, and now there are two (Lopez and Kemp). Before 2014, only one Carson had ever graced a Major League field (Carson Bigbee, from 1916-26), but in 2025, there are eight of them, with the most recent, Carson Williams, just debuting over the weekend, and No. 1 Mets prospect Carson Benge waiting in the wings.
This is all to say that times change. Names fall in and out of favor. For right now, a hulking 26-year-old Tampa Bay slugger carries with him the heavy burden of the Bob name, keeping it from becoming obsolete.
-- Scott Chiusano
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While we're on the subject of names, what's in a nickname? In the Minor Leagues, it could really be anything. This weekend, MLB Pipeline's Ben Weinrib provided a glimpse into the wacky world of prospect nicknames, revealing another side of some of baseball's future stars. Some are unforgettable. Some defy explanation. All are fun. Here are our three of our favorites: Peyton Williams, 1B, Double-A New Hampshire "The Iowa Meat Truck" The 6-foot-5, 255-pound slugger is a big boy, and unsurprisingly, hails from Des Moines, Iowa. One day he arrived at the ballpark wearing a T-shirt for his neighbor's business that sells and delivers premium meats, and the rest is history. Williams celebrates hits by pretending to honk a horn like a trucker, leaning into the jovial and inescapable moniker. Johanfran Garcia, C, High-A Greenville (Red Sox No. 28)
"The Username" Garcia's older brother is Red Sox prospect Jhostynxon Garcia, who was promoted to the Majors last week and may have the best nickname in baseball, "The Password," a play on his uniquely difficult-to-spell first name. But Jhostynxon isn't in the Minors anymore. So his little brother makes this list for what is clearly a clever play on the original moniker. Slater de Brun, OF, Rookie-level FCL Orioles (Orioles No. 6) "Lil Slayyy" The 37th overall pick in this year's Draft, de Brun has an alter-ego as a musician/music producer named Lil Slayyy, who writes and sings country songs. We wonder how well he knows John Denver's "Thank God I'm a Country Boy." -- Joe Trezza |
FREE BASEBALL AND WE DON'T MEAN EXTRAS |
• For everything the iconic Bob Uecker was, he was always just one of the Brewers. And on Sunday, all the Brewers were Ueck. • Tung-Yuan Little League pitcher Lin Chin-Tse took a perfect game into the fifth inning against Las Vegas' Summerlin South Little League in the Little League World Series championship game on Sunday as Chinese Taipei won its first LLWS title since 1996.
• Paul Skenes dropped his career ERA to 2.02 with seven scoreless innings in his 50th career start on Sunday. Only one pitcher in the Live Ball Era has a lower mark through 50 starts, and it's not by much.
• "He looked pretty good," Tigers backup catcher Jake Rogers said of the winner of Saturday's pregame Jake Rogers lookalike contest.
• It looks like a three-game break was just what the doctor ordered for Kyle Tucker.
• Blue Jays manager John Schneider has "Bieber Fever," and the rest of Toronto is sure to follow after Shane Bieber hurled six strong innings in his team debut. |
BIG DUMPER CHASING ANOTHER MILESTONE |
The Padres and Mariners are both in the thick of the postseason hunt, but this week, there's a different prize on the line: The Vedder Cup. What is the Vedder Cup, you ask? It's the official name of the season series between San Diego and Seattle, both cities where Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder has lived. The name isn't new, but this is the first year the rivalry has been formally recognized -- complete with a trophy featuring a guitar provided by Vedder himself. A huge baseball fan, Vedder is a frequent presence at games and has even thrown out a first pitch in the Emerald City. Even so, having a rivalry series named after you is no small achievement, making the Vedder Cup a unique honor for the Rock & Roll Hall of Famer.
The second leg of the set (the M's swept the Friars in San Diego in May), begins tonight and continues through Wednesday. So if you're in the Seattle area, you won't want to miss this clash of contenders. And as an added bonus, tonight's game features a Special Ticket Offer for Marvel Super Hero Night, which includes a Mariners-themed Fantastic Four Jersey.
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