If Alex Cora had his druthers, Major League Baseball would have brought back the nickname jerseys when they reintroduced Players’ Weekend last year after a four-year hiatus.

“I liked when they had the uniforms, to be honest with you,” the Red Sox manager said Saturday afternoon. “That made it different… I thought it was better three or four years ago.”

Several of his players agree. They can wear custom cleats, gloves, and batting gloves throughout the season, but the jerseys were unique to Players’ Weekend.

“I do too,” concurred Rob Refsnyder. “The only thing that’s really different is the bat. I just had ‘Ref’ on it when I did it. It was pretty boring. But it would be cool to see everyone’s nicknames again. I don’t know why they took them away.”

“I definitely miss the players’ nicknames on the back of the jerseys,” said right-hander Dustin May, who debuted in August ‘19, weeks before MLB’s last round of Players’ Weekend uniforms. “Mine would be ‘Code Red,’ that’s the nickname I like. A lot of guys in the minor leagues (called me) Code Red like my hair. Or Red Alert.”

Lucas Giolito wouldn’t mind bringing the jerseys back, but he would leave his old choice in the past.

“I put ‘Bigfoot’ on the back, an inside joke with the White Sox,” he told the Herald. “I’m just a big clumsy dude and there was one night where a bunch of us were hanging out in a hotel room on the road and I did something where I got up and I knocked a bunch of stuff on the table over, and it was Tim Anderson who was like, ‘Damn, Bigfoot, watch where you’re going!’ And everyone was laughing. I was like, OK that’s pretty good.”

Giolito thought Alex Bregman could do better than ‘A-BREG,’ his choice for Players’ Weekend ‘19, or ‘AB,’ which the All-Star third baseman guessed he wold go with if MLB brings the jerseys back.

“It wasn’t like a nickname where I’d go around the clubhouse and (teammates) would be like, ‘What’s up, Bigfoot?’ But it was a little inside thing, so I put that on my jersey because my only nickname is Gio and that wasn’t creative enough to put on the back,” Giolito said. “You want it to be relatively creative.”

Teammates’ choice

While several members of the Red Sox weren’t sure what they’d put on their own jerseys, they were full of ideas for others.

“I don’t know what (Ceddanne) Rafaela would have on his back. I would put ‘Flacco,’ skinny one,” said Cora. “I hope they do it again, I hope they bring the uniforms back.”

The back of Trevor Story’s jersey would read “True Story,” a manager favorite. The veteran shortstop has the nickname on his belt, instead.

If left up to May, Walker Buehler’s jersey would have ‘Butane’ on the back, a callback to “when he was younger and he was throwing really hard,” the righty explained.

“The best one would be ‘El Rey,’” said Bregman of Romy Gonzalez.

“I feel like probably Marcelo (Mayer) or Romy would probably have the funniest nickname,” agreed reliever Garrett Whitlock. “I feel like I can’t give myself a nickname, I feel like that defeats the purpose. I would probably let someone pick the nickname for me.”

Not Tanner Houck, though.

“He would make me something that I probably couldn’t wear,” Whitlock joked of his best friend on the team. “I have no idea, just knowing Tanner that’s what he would do.”

Liam Hendriks is in a similar situation. The veteran reliever would stick with ‘SLYDAH,’ his jersey choice years ago which mimics the way the Australia native pronounces the word ‘slider.’

“A lot of the ones that most people call me aren’t socially acceptable to put on the back of a jersey,” Hendriks said with a smile.

Staff selections

“I hate the ‘Skipper’ part of (managing), so I’d use ‘Skipper’ just to make a point of it,” said Cora.

“I think when I had mine, it was just ‘Bails,” said pitching coach Andrew Bailey, whose last playing season was ‘17. “Pretty unoriginal, but I don’t really have a ton of good nicknames.”

Then, Bailey remembered one.

“Back when I played, they used to call me ‘Boom Boom,’ because one of the older veterans that I played with had me come out to ‘Boom Boom Pow’ by the Black Eyed Peas,” he said.

First-timers

Many younger Red Sox weren’t in the majors, or even drafted in ‘19, the last time the league allowed players to replace their surnames with nicknames on the back of their Players’ Weekend jerseys.

“Your nickname would be ‘Beast,’” Greg Weissert said to Garrett Crochet.

“You would be ‘Wizard,’” Crochet responded.

“That’s what Goose calls me,” Weissert said, explaining that pitching advisor Glenn ‘Goose’ Gregson gives everyone nicknames during spring training.

Crochet’s Goose-assigned moniker? ‘Crowbar.’

Let’s get visual

In 2018, Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Brad Boxberger became the first player to opt for a visual nickname. The back of his Players’ Weekend jersey had a box emoji and a hamburger emoji side by side above his No. 31.

Giolito thinks some of his Red Sox teammates would go that route, especially the “Gen-Z guys,” would go that route.

He, Weissert and Crochet were among several players who said they would like to see Jarren Duran go with a lizard emoji.

“Because he runs like a lizard,” said May, who noted that he could have a siren emoji on his own jersey. “Or another one for me would be Mayday.”

“I would really like something with the lizard for Duran, just the way he runs I think that would be pretty funny,” agreed infielder Abraham Toro. “Mine is pretty easy: the bull, just because my last name.”

Either the word ‘Bull’ or emoji form. Toro isn’t too picky.

“Do they have a wheat emoji,” wondered Bailey. “I’m thinking Whitlock, you could do like, Wheat-lock.”

Or perhaps a microphone emoji for Giolito, who said he has “no desire to ever be a manager,” but would like to get into “media stuff” when his pitching days are behind him.

City Connect magic

In the meantime, the Red Sox have plenty of other options in their lockers.

“Shoot – every weekend we wear something different here,” Cora pointed out.

The Red Sox are the undisputed poster team for the league’s City Connect series. They were the first club to unveil a uniform, inaugurating the program with Boston Marathon-inspired ensembles in April 2021, and yellow and blue designs became so popular that the Red Sox opted to phase out their longtime navy jerseys this year in order to keep them around. (MLB and Nike implemented a “4+1” rule, limiting teams to four core uniforms plus City Connects, before the ‘23 season.)

Their new Fenway Greens have been another grand slam City Connect launch, both within the club and with fans. On Friday night, Boston walked it off for an MLB-leading 10th time, including five as the Green Sox.

On Saturday, they were the Yellow Sox again. They entered the contest 42-17 all-time – and 7-3 this season – in their original City Connects.

There’s another reason Cora isn’t exactly high on the current Players’ Weekend attire.

“A lot of 0-fers yesterday,” he quipped, referring to the three-hit performance by his lineup Friday night, “So I know the bats look great, but I bet there’s a lot of guys that are going to go back to their regular bats.”