A special group deserves a killer moniker.
When a Red Sox team has felt special, they’ve earned themselves—or self-chosen—an endearing moniker. Johnny Damon’s “Idiots” of 2004 really feels like the catalyst of this, not to forget the Cowboy up rallying cry from Kevin Millar in 2003. The Beards is an all-time favorite of mine, and watching the 2013 World Series victory as a high school senior with a fake beard on my just post-pubescent face brings back great memories. Even in 2018, if it didn’t apply to all the team, having The Killer B’s in Benintendi, Bradley Jr, and Betts (still crying about this one) just made for some absolute fun television in the dog days of summer.
For the first time in what feels like forever since then, this team may have earned itself the right to a nickname. Not just with this 10-game win streak that’s on the line again this afternoon in Chicago, but with the development of the young talent and the outstanding performers on this roster.
Garrett Crochet is a true pig, maybe the rotation is the Pig Sty. Alex Bregman feels like Papa Bear to these kids with all his communication and teaching moments — there could be something there. Even the kids themselves have the best nicknames, as we had fun with Roman Anthony back in January and all the variations being tossed around for Ceddanne Rafaela now: Nuff Cedd, Ceddy Wap, Ceddy Ballgame, the list goes on.
So with the vibes this club is giving off, what nicknames would we give them?
The Ice Monsters
If that Ceddanne celebration didn’t say it all, I don’t know what did. This team has had absolute ice in its veins the last month and a half. Between dominating starting pitching, a resurgent offense post-Devers trade, and the success in one-run games, this team finally has it put together. Nothing is rattling them right now, and hopefully that’s here to stay. I purposefully stayed away from The Ice Horses out of respect for the one and only Michael Chavis! Kings felt a little generic, but Monsters was on point with their Wally head celebration.
— Jake Reiser
I don’t know, something ancient maybe?
I was thinking long and hard about this with Romy/Roman Gonzalez and Roman Anthony with like The Senate (too Palpatine?) or something but it never really felt right. How to stand on the shoulders of The Idiots and Fear the Beard? I thought maybe Maglione which is Italian for sweater and also recognizes fiber arts like knitting or, say, crochet. AD (After Devers) seemed too pointed. The Coffee Achievers? I’m not sure that reference is still relevant. Breggy and the Kids almost works but that’s longer than I think we want here. Maybe just Wonder Sox.
— Mike Carlucci
The Renaissance Men
Let’s keep with the Italian theming here. Not only do these Sox embrace their inner Leon Battista Alberti, who was an initiator of Renaissance theory and stated “a man can do all things if he will,” but they also have a chance to bring a Red Sox style Renaissance to the city of Boston itself.
After coming off the high of breaking the curse in 2004 and winning multiple titles, the franchise stumbled its way to six last place finishes in the twelve year stretch from 2012 through 2023, which has the dubious distinction of being the most in all of baseball during that time. Along with the struggles came a huge slip in relevance as the team lacked star power and was no longer defined by the historical curse. There was no longer a hook, the casuals lost interest, and we slipped into The Dark Ages.
However, there’s something different about this group. Something that’s sucking the region back in. Games are suddenly on at outdoor summer parties, young kids are wearing Red Sox attire, and the Sox are reestablishing their foothold as the most talked-about team in town on sports radio. The Renaissance Men are indeed poised and on their way to bringing a Red Sox Renaissance back to Boston, and boy is it wonderful!
— Matt Gross
The Dropouts
Outside of a few players, the key pieces of the 2025 Red Sox are young. Roman Anthony doesn’t know that he’s too young to be drawing a pinch-hit walk against one of the league’s best closers in the ninth inning. Marcelo Mayer doesn’t know that he’s not supposed to be hitting two home runs against the Rays. Carlos Narvaez doesn’t know that he’s not supposed to be batting cleanup and playing elite defense as a rookie.
I want to call them idiots, but that name is taken by the 2004 Red Sox. This brand of delusion is a little different than the 2004 Red Sox, though. There’s no “curse” hanging over their heads. Those Red Sox had a “curse” hanging over their heads. These Red Sox don’t remember the 2004 ALCS. Ignorant is a word I want to use to describe the 2025 Red Sox, but that’s not catchy. Instead of directly calling them dumb, I’ll call them “The Dropouts”.
— Jacob Roy
The Rugrats The Kantians
I don’t want to be painfully basic and just say we bring back the whole “Let the Kids Play” marketing that MLB pushed a few years back, but that is really what watching this Red Sox team feels like. Perhaps for some more creativity, we can dub them the Rugrats, and someone out there can edit their faces onto the Rugrats poster if it hasn’t been done already.
This then brings to question, though, is it really ethical to call them the Rugrats when the majority of them probably didn’t even watch that growing up? Perhaps I’ll reach back into my ethics in journalism archives and see if Kant would see the veracity in this.
— Avery Hamel