May 13--Anthony Rizzo and Kris Bryant are developing into quite a tag team for the Cubs, and after their back-to-back home runs in the bleachers reopener Monday, Rizzo compared them to another famous tandem from back in the day.
"He jokes around with it -- the 'Bash Brothers' and all that thing," Bryant said. "We have fun with it. He's just a good guy for me to learn from and watch how he goes about his business. I'm definitely having a whole lot of fun with him so far."
The Bash Brothers was the name given to A's sluggers Jose Canseco and Mark McGwire in 1987, when McGwire was Rookie of the Year with a league-leading 49 home runs and Canseco hit 31 homers with 113 RBIs.
I asked Bryant if he was even born when the Bash Brothers played together.
"Was I?" he said. 'I don't know. I was born in '92."
Bryant was born on Jan. 4, 1992. The Bash Brothers actually were together from 1986 until Canseco was traded to the Rangers on Aug. 31, 1992. Ironically, one of the players for whom Canseco was traded was Jeff Russell, father of Cubs reliever James Russell (Ruben Sierra and Bobby Witt also went to the A's).
Anyway, Bryant knows all about them.
"Yeah, the whole forearm-smash thing," he said. "We don't have big enough forearms."
Of course, one of the reasons McGwire and Canseco had such big forearms is that both were chemically enhanced sluggers. Canseco eventually wrote a tell-all book about his misdeeds, while McGwire denied juicing for years until returning to baseball as a coach with the Cardinals.
If Bryant and Rizzo turn into a pre-eminent power-hitting duo, perhaps they can get their own catchy nickname like the "Mash Brothers" or the "Bleacher Creatures."
I'm sure the Cubs' marketing department is already brainstorming.
Personally, I prefer "Brizzo," a combination nickname like celebrity couples such as "Brangelina," "Bennifer" and "Kimye." I can almost hear Len Kasper yelling "Briiiiiiiiizo"after back-to-back homers.
Oh, Pancho: Joe Maddon's news conferences sometimes go off on a tangent, as happened Tuesday night when he was asked by a New York Times reporter about Bartolo Colon, who pitched with the Angels when Maddon was coaching there under Mike Scioscia.
Asked why Colon, a former PED user who turns 42 in a couple weeks, is still effective, Maddon replied: "Because his favorite burro on the farm was named Pancho, and he always wanted to be like Pancho, the hardest animal on the farm, and he still is."
Maddon went on to laud Colon's "feel for what he's doing," and said "he really knows what he's doing out there."
So is there really a burro named Pancho?
"I used to write Pancho on the lineup card whenever he pitched," Maddon said.
But did he really have a burro?
"That's the word on the Dominican street," he said. "If I see him, I'm definitely going to call him Pancho."
So it was real?
"It's Dominican lore," he said. "I think he did. I think he does. What's the life expectancy of a good burro these days? I have no idea. Pancho could still be around."
Looking ahead: If the Sox hope to trade Alexei Ramirez this summer, they may have to hurry up. According to the New York Post, Rockies shortstop Troy Tulowitzki will meet with his agent Thursday to decide whether to demand a trade.
"To say that it is not a possibility would be silly," agent Paul Cohen told the Post's Joel Sherman.
It's not a surprise that Tulowitzki wants out, but why they would announce a meeting about it is a sign of the times.
The Sox remain committed to Ramirez, who has a $10 million club option in 2016. But if they fall out of contention, he would seem to be one of the first to go because of his talent. But the market for Ramirez obviously would be smaller if Tulowitzki is also available in late July.
Powerball: Marlins slugger Giancarlo Stanton became the fourth player in history to hit a ball out of Dodger Stadium, according to ESPN. He joined Willie Stargell, who did it twice in 1969 and '73, Mike Piazza (in '97) and McGwire (in '99).
The 478-foot shot hit the back of the canopy above the left-field pavilion, surpassing Alex Rodriguez's 477-foot homer on April 17 at Tropicana Field as the longest of the year. The Marlins were crushed 11-1, but at least Stanton can say his mammoth homer was called by Vin Scully.
