First impressions mean a lot.
On the field, Austin Davis' introduction to the Red Sox could have gone better. He came in during the eighth inning Saturday night, threw a wild pitch and then, after a strikeout of Kevin Kiermaier, ultimately a run to score thanks to Francisco Mejia's RBI single.
But, fortunately for Davis, the lefty reliever will probably get a little lee-way going forward. Great nicknames will do that.
"Big Fudge."
So, how did this moniker find its way to the 28-year-old, who came to the Red Sox from Pittsburgh in exchange for Michael Chavis?
Start with the "Big" portion of the equation.
“Well, I was a little fat coming out of college,” Davis told NBC Sports Philadelphia after announcing his "Players' Weekend" nickname in 2018. “I was pushing 255, so I was a little overweight, and there was one instance that kind of made it stick." (He went on to add that he lost the weight while pitching in Nicaragua during the 2015 offseason.)
But there is more.
“We were at a pool party and I sat down on a chair and the chair broke out from under me and that kind of solidified 'Big Fudge.' They always called me fat or tubby, just joking, but when I broke through a chair, that’s when 'Big Fudge' was born, I guess you could say," he added, explaining that the name was also used in the television show "How I Met Your Mother."
Will the name stick with the Red Sox? That remains to be seen.
“The teammates do not call me Big Fudge,” he told MassLive.com Saturday when asked about the story. “They did not know that. They were like, ‘What is this all about?’ I was like, ‘I know. I’ve got to do it for the guys (back home).’ So that’s my nickname.”