New York Gave The Ellsbury ‘Doughboy’ a Mean Nickname for Us

Jacoby Ellsbury's jump to the New York Yankees inspired New York's tabloids to use the same headline.

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When big news hits New York, it’s always a pleasure to imagine what groan-worthy puns the city’s warring tabloid newspapers will devise. So it feels like a letdown that, in reacting to Jacoby Ellsbury’s move to the Yankees, the New York Post and New York Daily News settled on the same headline: “Ellsbury Doughboy.” Buzzfeed captured the sports page images:

New York Post and Daily News made the same Jacoby Ellsbury pun because it was just too easy pic.twitter.com/qV9LaygzzC — BuzzFeed (@BuzzFeed) December 4, 2013

No wonder neither paper could resist the line. It pretty succinctly tells the story of Ellsbury’s move to the Yankees, announced late Tuesday: moolah. The size of the seven year, $153 million contract is more interesting than the simple fact that he’s leaving us for the Bronx. Ellsbury, a fairly private, business-like player, never felt like a guy that wouldn’t take a good offer from our mortal enemies. So, no one was surprised. (Okay, actually Lil’ Wayne, of all people, expressed surprise on his Twitter.)

I kant believe this dude Ellsbury! Sleeping with the enemy — Lil Wayne WEEZY F (@LilTunechi) December 4, 2013

But that’s also what makes the double “Doughboy” pun a letdown. We’ve seen it before. His reputation as a mercenary means it’s floated around him for a long time. People called him Doughboy when he charged $125 for autographs. Still, the headline is getting more than twice the attention it would have received had it appeared in just one paper, simply because it’s funny that the two rivals ran with the same thing. That added momentum suggests that it stands a pretty good chance of becoming the agreed-upon jeer next time he steps to the plate at Fenway. After all, surprising or not, we do need to say rude things about anyone who wears pinstripes.