Kyle Schwarber in the NLDS. (Getty Images/David Banks)
DOWNTOWN — Two longtime Chicago media professionals have submitted competing nicknames for the Cubs' new slugger Kyle Schwarber.
And, in the interest of full disclosure, one of them is me.
I've suggested "Vavoom," drawn from a character on a "Felix the Cat" TV series of the late '50s and early '60s. Vavoom certainly resembles Schwarber, but what makes the name particularly appropriate is the power of sound, in that his immense voice brings down avalanches and puts fear in the hearts of arch enemies — not unlike the way the sound of the ball coming off Schwarber's bat strikes fear into the hearts of opposing pitches.
"Vavoom!" Sounds like Schwarber's Bud-sign-topping blast against the St. Louis Cardinals in the last playoff series, doesn't it? You don't even have to have even heard about Felix the Cat.
My longtime Reader colleague Neil Tesser, however, prefers Sluggo, after another cartoon character, this one the pugnacious and pugnosed sidekick in Ernie Bushmiller's "Nancy" comic strip.
I have to admit, there's a resemblance there, but after that, what does he got?
So you make the call. What's a better nickname for Schwarber, Vavoom or Sluggo? Or do you have a suggestion of your own?
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