

Matt Williams (Jonathan Newton/The Washington Post)

Baseball is filled with nicknames. When you spend almost every day of seven months together, it’s only natural. Inside a clubhouse, a name is chopped in half and an “ie” or “y” is tacked on the end. Matt becomes Matty, Desmond is Desi and Wilson turns in Willy. Nationals Manager Matt Williams has a nickname for nearly every player, and uses them often, with his players in conversation, when referring to them with reporters or talking about them to coaches. Baseball has its own language — “heater” means fastball and “picker” means glove — and names are no different.

“Unless you have a nickname coming into it, you’ll get one pretty quick in this game,” said Rochy, aka Adam LaRoche.

Williams’s nicknames for players are no different than any manager’s. Players have their own set of nicknames for each other, and not all can be repeated here. (Rochy did admit that he refers to Jayson Werth as “Sunshine” because “he’s always in such a good mood and such a bright spot in our days.”)

Williams usually adopts the monikers players have long held. Ian Desmond has been Desi forever and Tyler Clippard has always been Clip, so Williams picks those up. But he arrives at nicknames quickly. The day after the Nationals signed utility man Kevin Frandsen in the final week of spring training, Williams already had a nickname for him. It was Jeff.

“The entire day he called me Jeff,” Frandsen said. “The whole time. I was, ‘Sick, I got a nickname already!’ I grew up watching him in the Bay Area. I used to imitate his stance all the time. So dude has got a nickname for me. All right!”

Williams even used Frandsen’s wrong name with reporters a few times before realizing his mistake. He apologized to Frandsen, who still thinks it is hilarious. Frandsen’s real nickname is Franny, which sounds funny if you’ve never heard it before, and Williams uses it when cameras are on.

“It’s how everybody communicates in the clubhouse,” Williams said, who is called Skip or Matty by all. “It’s kinda the way baseball is.”

To Williams, reliever Craig Stammen is Stammer. Stammen said he isn’t called that name often. He has had a variety of nicknames in his life — Craigeroo, Stam, Trigger, Craiger — and Stammer is used less often. (Former Nationals Manager Davey Johnson used to pronounce Stammen’s last name “Staymen”.) Stammer didn’t know Williams called him that until it was point out recently.

“I don’t know if he’s said it to my face,” said Stammer, smiling. “I know he’s said it on interviews. I can’t remember.”

In baseball, Anthony Rendon picked up the nickname Tony, which he never had before. Growing up, he was always either Anthony or Ant. Some people occasionally call him Rendy or Tone now, along with Tony. What does Williams call him? Anthony or Tony Two Bags.

“He only calls me Tony Two Bags because that’s what’s floating around out there,” Tony said. “He’ll be like, ‘Two Bags? What’s happening, what you got?'”

One of the best nicknames on the team belongs to veteran back-up outfielder Scott Hairston. Depending on how long he has been on a team, Hairston said his name morphs into Scottie (if he is on a team for a short time) to Hairy (if he is on a team for a couple years). To Williams, Hairston is Hairy.

“It’s just adding a ‘y’ at the end and that’s not significant to how hairy I am,” said Hairy, who is in fact bald. “Especially how much time we spend together, you just get tired of calling a person by the same name all the time.”

These are Williams’ most frequently-used name for each player; not all are included and not all are necessarily nicknames.

PLAYERS

Aaron Barrett –Bear

Jerry Blevins — Blev

Asdrubal Cabrera — Asdrubal (or Cabby)

Tyler Clippard — Clip

Ian Desmond — Desi

Ross Detwiler — Det

Danny Espinosa — Danny or Espi

Doug Fister — Doug (teammates, however, have several variations: Dougie, Fist, Dougie Fresh)

Kevin Frandsen — Franny (or Jeff)

Gio Gonzalez — Gio

Scott Hairson — Hairy

Bryce Harper — Bryce or Harp

Adam LaRoche — Rochy

Jose Lobaton — Loby

Tyler Moore — T-Mo

Wilson Ramos — Willy

Anthony Rendon — Anthony or Tony Two Bags

Denard Span — Spanny

Steven Souza Jr. — Souz

Rafael Soriano — Sori

Craig Stammen — Stammer

Drew Storen — Drew

Stephen Strasburg — Stras or Stephen

Matt Thornton — Matt (or Thorny)

Blake Treinen — Blake

Jayson Werth — Jayson (or J-Dub)

Ryan Zimmerman — Zim

Jordan Zimmermann — Zim or Jordan (“He calls me Jordan,” Zimmermann said. “In the interviews, he uses Jordan all the time. When he comes and gets the ball from me, he says ‘Nice job, Zim.'”)

COACHES

Bobby Henley — Hen

Randy Knorr — Cave (short for Caveman, a nickname he picked up as a player because of his frame). “That’s from the past,” Williams said. “I just jumped on.”

Matt LeCroy — Lee

Steve McCatty — Cat

Rick Schu — Schuie

Tony Tarasco — T

Mark Weidemaier — Weids (Williams said this is his favorite nickname on the team)