TAMPA BAY RAYS NICKNAMES
Player/Manager/Exec.	Nickname(s)	Reason for nickname(s)
Willy Aybar	Wally Aybar	Reference to Wally Pipp, the Yankees starting first baseman that was benched due to a headache in favor of Lou Gehrig who then started the next 2,130 games. Aybar lost his starting third base job to Evan Longoria when he went on the DL with a sore hamstring
Grant Balfour	The Mad Australian	Slightly "Mad" on the mound and all Australian
Reid Brignac	Briggy Baseball; Cajun God of Baseball	Brignac is one of those natural baseball players. Everything he does is just "baseball pretty"; A nickname based on his Louisiana roots, given to him by Rays fans shortly after being drafted. Almost always typed with a snicker
Carl Crawford	Superman; C.C.	He is just one of those supernatural baseball players. Maybe the only one; C.C. are his initials
Wade Davis	Big Dub	He is big, and "Dub" is short for W, his first initial
Andrew Friedman	World B. Friedman	A play on his last name and reference to the former basketball player World B. Free
Jeremy Hellickson	Hellboy	A play on his last name
JP Howell	Dude	Matches his laid back surfer-boy persona. The Dude abides
Evan Longoria	Dirtbag	Longoria played college baseball at Long Beach St whose mascot for the baseball team is "The Dirtbags". Longoria is also a throwback player that would find a way to get his uniform dirty in a sterile environment
Dan Johnson	Daaaan Johnson	The epitome of a 4-A player
Joe Maddon	Papa Joe; JoeMa	Due to the nurturing nature of the Rays' skipper. JoeMa is a play on his name
Dioner Navarro	Navi; Pudgito	Navi is a play on his name; Pudjito is a reference to being chubby and younger than Ivan "Pudge" Rodriguez
Jeff Niemann	The Giraffe; The Big Nyquil	Dude has a very long neck; The Big Nyquil relates to his size and performances that can lull you to sleep
Carlos Pena	El Gato; El Gato del Crimen	El Gato is spanish for 'The Cat' and may be a reference to the Cat-like reflexes as one of the top defensive first basemen in baseball; El Gato Del Crimen is Spanish for "The Crime Cat" a reference to former Devil Rays' first baseman Fred "The Crime Dog" McGriff
Fernando Perez	Nando; Nando Calrissian	Nando is short for Fernando; Nando Calrissian is in reference to "Lando Calrissian" from the "Star Wars" saga
David Price	King David	A reference to the biblical King David who was the favored son despite being the youngest and it was his late appearance and ability to defeat Goliath that led the Israelites over the heavily favored and steroid-ridden Philistines.
Sean Rodriguez	Rodzilla; S-Rod	A combination of his last name and Ben Zobrist's nickname. Rodriguez is the heir-apparent to Zobrist's role as "Super-Utility" player. While Ben Zobrist's nickname is a reference to a gorilla, Rodriguez' is more in line with Godzilla; S-Rod is an unoriginal nickname given to all players with the last name "Rodriguez."
James Shields	James the Greater; Big Game	Reference to St. James the Greater, who was one of Jesus' disciples. He was referred to as "The Greater" to distinguish himself from the other disciple named James as James Shields is distinguished from the Rays other Ace, Scott Kazmir; Big Game is a nickname bestowed upon Shields by minor league teammates for his propensity to come up big when the team needs him most.
Andy Sonnanstine	The Duke	Windup and pitching style are very reminsiscent of Orlando 'El Duque' Hernandez, Andy's hispanic brother from another mother, another right hander that can dominate without an overpowering fastball
Rafael Soriano	MFIKY	From his days in Atlanta. The nearly unpronounceable nickname stands for "Mother F****er I'll Kill You" and refers to his don't eff with me demeanor on the mound.
BJ Upton	Bossman	B. J. stands for "Bossman Junior" as his dad was nicknamed the "Bossman"
Ben Zobrist	Zorilla; Benny Boo Boo	The first was given to him by Joe Maddon; The second is a nickname among friends of the shortstop as discovered on his wife's MySpace page