Seattle Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh might just be the best player in baseball this year. There's no need for equivocation when it comes to his nickname, though. "Big Dumper" is the finest sobriquet in the league, and no arguments to the contrary will be heard.
Having an opposing player named Big Dumper come to town is also easy fodder for local broadcasters, who get to regale viewers with the nickname's backstory—it's what you think it is: he has a huge ass—alongside their astonishment at Raleigh's MVP-caliber numbers. But leave it to Michael Kay, one of the weirdest and most curmudgeonly announcers in baseball, to sneer at the majesty of Raleigh's backside.
Raleigh had a homer and a walk in Tuesday night's 10–3 loss to the Yankees, and after he reached base in the sixth inning, Kay decided the time to discuss Big Dumper had arrived. Kay's producers, sensing where the conversation was headed, teed him up with a long, tight shot of the dumper in question.
"I don't know if we need that, guys," Kay grumbled as Raleigh's ass filled the screen. A few beats later, after the broadcast had returned to the action on the field, Kay piped up again to announce his displeasure at being confronted with the ass: "I truly hope that our brilliant director, Dan Barr, is done with that shot ... We've seen it, we know why the nickname is the nickname, and we're good."
Speak for yourself, Michael!
