Baseball has a long history of excellent nicknames, but this Toronto Blue Jays prospect may have just taken the cake – err, meat. While he may have been born with the name Peyton Williams, at the ballpark, the first baseman can be heard going by the moniker of “The Iowa Meat Truck.”
At 6-foot-5 and 255-pounds, he certainly lives up to the name he earned thanks to a T-shirt he wore to a player meeting three years ago. Williams, who was born in Des Moines, IA, and attended the University of Iowa, showed up for the meeting wearing a shirt featuring the logo of his neighbour’s company, Iowa Meat Truck.
His teammates and coaches with the Jays’ high-A affiliate in Vancouver loved it and a nickname was born. “I wore the Iowa Meat Truck (shirt) to a meeting and the coaches loved it,” Williams told MLB.com earlier this year. “So they said that every time I hit a double or a home run, I’ve just got to honk the horn. Our announcer up in Vancouver was wondering what the celebration was, so I told him and he loved it. Then, whenever something happened, he’d try to work it in there. My neighbor back home loves it. He’s loving it.”
What contest did the Iowa Meat Truck win?
While the fantastic nickname was a hit with his team and their fans, it wasn’t until last month when things really started to get rolling for the Iowa Meat Truck. In May, MLB.com launched an online fan poll to pick out the best nickname in the minors – with Williams overwhelming the competition. With 28,621 points, ‘The Iowa Meat Truck’ beat out ‘The Password’ Jhostynxon Garcia of the Pittsburgh Pirates by almost 6,000 in the final polls.
“I think it’s pretty cool,” Williams told the outlet. “The big thing is everyone likes a nickname that’s they’ve never seen before. No one’s really ever heard of a nickname being ‘The Iowa Meat Truck,’ so I think, I think that’s why everyone kind of gets drawn to that one.” After Williams and Garcia, the top five finishers were third-place Lord Tubbington (Cleveland’s Jace LaViolette), Tugboat Matt Wilkinson of San Francisco in fourth and “Big Christmas” Jhonkensy Noel of Baltimore in fifth.
We should also give special mention to Jonah Tong “The Canadian Cannon” of the New York Mets, who hails from Markham, Ont., and finished ninth in voting. “I love it, the fans love it,” Williams said. “I don’t think there’s any reason to slow down on the nicknames. I think more people need nicknames. I think that’s what fans get drawn to. I think I have a good fan base, and it’s because people get drawn to the nickname, so it’s easy to get drawn to liking me. I think other guys need to get their nicknames out there. It’s a fun thing to get fans connected to you.”
Is The Iowa Meat Truck a good prospect?
While his nickname certainly is ready for the big leagues, Williams still has some developing to do as a player. He currently is not ranked among the top 30 prospects in the Blue Jays franchise, but he is having a solid season with single-A Dunedin. The 25-year-old first baseman is batting .345 with a homer and eight RBIs since moving up from Vancouver earlier this year.
