Daily Dirt: From grilled meatballs to a pitcher named Noah

We’re into day two of the MLB season and I’m still on a backdoor slider high … Welcome to Vol. 253 of The Daily Dirt.

1. Yay or Nay?

Yay: The addition of grilled meatballs to the concessions lineup at Busch Stadium in St. Louis. Those HAVE to be amazing. (PUBLISHER’S NOTE: The Busch Grilled Meatballs come in two flavors, roasted garlic marinara and barbecue. Available at the Terrace Grill in Section 428…conveniently near the Budweiser Terrace, which is my preferred perch at Busch III. I’m cheap when it comes to tickets. JRG)

Nay: The pork patty melt at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City. Start with pulled pork and add fried onions, cheese and bacon. So far, so good, right? But then the Royals took that perfectly acceptable (if not stroke-causing) collection of foods and went ballistic by putting them in between two pieces of funnel cake, dusting it with powdered sugar and turning it into one of the most monstrous sandwiches you’ve ever seen.

Yay: The first name of Bill, which is the most common in MLB history. There have been 549 big-league players with that first name.

Nay: The first name of Noah. The Angels’ Noah Syndergaard is the only MLB player to ever be named Noah.

Yay: When it comes to doughnuts, the basic glazed model is the most popular in the United States, according to thethings.com. 

Nay: Maple frosted doughnuts are only No. 7. That, I believe, is a borderline crime.

2. Overrated or Underrated? In honor of MLB Opening Weekend, a baseball theme:

Overrated:  The Seattle Mariners, who have not been to the postseason since 2001. For some reason, they are the trendy pick to win the American League West. Come on, they’re the Mariners. 

Underrated: The Toronto Blue Jays, who despite all the preseason love they have been getting, might be even better than advertised. This team’s lineup resembles the pop of an elite slow-pitch softball team, and that pitching rotation has the look of five aces. Remember the name Alek Manoah.

Overrated: Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw. In his prime, the lefty was the best in either league. But he’s now well past his prime. He remains a great guy off the field, but that dominating presence on the mound is now a thing of the past.

Underrated: New York Mets pitcher Max Scherzer, who at age 37 remains as dominating as he was seven or eight years ago.

Overrated: Anthony Rizzo, who somehow managed to sign a two-year, $32 million contract with the Yankees after posting batting averages of .249, .248 and .222 the last three seasons. And over the course of those three years he hit a combined 33 home runs.

Underrated: Fernando Tatis Jr. There is no ceiling for this guy, and once he returns from the injured list it will be fun to see if he can carry the San Diego Padres past the heavily favored Dodgers in the National League West.

3. Some more advertising slogans gone wrong.

Gold medal: McDonald’s dropped a major public relations bomb when it first introduced its popular Big Mac sandwich to France. The Golden Arches did not realize that promoting the “Gros Mec” actually translated into “Big Pimp”.

Silver medal: When Clairol brought its “Mist Stick” curling iron to Germany, it not know that “mist” was German slang for manure. That resulted in some crappy sales.

Bronze medal: Pepsi’s popularity in China got off to a bad start when the soft drink giant failed to realize its “Come alive with Pepsi” slogan translated into “Pepsi brings your ancestors back from the dead”.

Steve Thought O’ The Day — Steve feels even though Fernando Tatis Jr. can better handle an inside fastball, he has one distinct advantage over the Padres’ budding superstar. “I have better hair,” Steve said.