Channeling Ted Turner

According to Yahoo.com, Major League Baseball will relax its uniform rules for “Players Weekend” on Aug. 25-27, allowing players to have their nicknames on the backs of their jerseys and a patch to commemorate someone in their development.

Cubs infielder Javier Baez could wear “Javy,” for instance. But considering WGN is televising the Cubs’ Aug. 25 game, it might want to persuade Baez to use the nickname “Channel,” honoring an advertising ploy from the 1970s.

For a stretch of the 1976 season, owner Ted Turner’s Braves wore nicknames on their jerseys as a marketing gimmick. Turner persuaded pitcher Andy Messersmith to use “Channel” as his nickname, even though it wasn’t.

Turner’s idea was to advertise the local station that televised Braves games, so Messersmith, who wore No. 17, would have “Channel 17” on his back. Unfortunately for Turner, Commissioner Chub Feeney was upset with the ploy and banned the nickname from being used, so Messersmith changed to “Bluto.”

If Baez chose the nickname, he would be “Channel 9” — the longtime station number of WGNTV.