Message #950947

[PebbleBall]

Miami Marlins’ Mike Stanton now going by Giancarlo Stanton

BY DAVID J. NEAL
dneal@MiamiHerald.com

The nameplate above No. 27’s Marlins clubhouse locker looked like a prank about the Marlins’ brightest young outfielder. It read “Giancarlo Stanton.”

And, heaven knows, the Marlins have a short, strange history with malleable nomenclature (see: “Nuñez, Leo”).

This was no prank, but an official embracing of an official name. Giancarlo Cruz Michael Stanton is now “Giancarlo Stanton” on the Marlins roster and in your program this season.

Baseball aficionados have known Stanton at least by surname since 2010 as a power-hitting prospect. “Mike” Stanton continued to grow into his potential last season with 34 home runs and 87 RBI with a less starry lineup around him in the batting order than he will have this season.

Those who knew Stanton through elementary school knew him as “Giancarlo.” Or, however they could manage to say it.

“No one could pronounce it right,” Stanton told The Associated Press. “Everyone thought it was two words. Gene-carlo, Juan-carlo, Gionne-carlo. You have seven periods in school, so seven times a day: ‘No, that’s not the name.’ ”

Making “Mike” the preferred first name “was just easier,” he told the AP. “If you can’t pronounce that, then there’s something wrong with you.”

http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/02/29/2668487/miami-marlins-mike-stanton-now.html