Twin Spellings

This time around, the work was done for me.

I spent an evening last week doing what I often do: watching sports. The menu was chock full of mouth-watering delights. I caught portions of the Stanley Cup, the NBA playoffs and a few baseball games.

When my channel-surfing thumb led me to ESPN's Baseball Tonight, I came across an error that had me reminiscing about "A Uniform Mess," which I blogged about in mid-April. That particular post dealt with a team name misspelled on the front of a jersey, though I pointed out at the time that it's "not unheard of for a player's last name to be misspelled." How prophetic. Allow me to explain, man to man.

In a June 6 game against the Kansas City Royals, Minnesota Twins pitcher Jeff Manship assumed a new identity. Hi went bye, and he became Jeff Mansihp. Why did he abandon ship? Perhaps he was tired of being associated with a last-place team sporting the worst record in the American League — a sinking sihp, if you will. I don't blame him.

Ironic, isn't it, that Jeff's surname contains the letters needed to spell mishap? You can't keep a good Manship down, however. He made a name for himself against the Royals, pitching one scoreless inning of relief in Minnesota's 4-2 victory. That name is Manship.