Pronk v. Pronk

Robert Amesbury's "Big Fish Devours Little Fish". I am very cultured.
As you may know, Cleveland's Travis Hafner is nicknamed "Pronk". You've also likely heard that his nickname was given to him by former teammate Bill Selby during spring training of 2003 when people would sometimes refer to him as "The Project" and other times "Donkey" for the way he looked when running the bases. But did you know that Pronk is also a style of Dutch art? And did you also know that Hafner shares more in common with the style of art than either donkeys or projects? Bet you didn't, did ya now?

Pronk-Art is described as:

On Pronk

"Now feels like a good time to pick a word or phrase, something short, and go after it, using the available equipment of intellectual retrieval, to see where we get." -Nicholson Baker, The Size of Thoughts

And for a description of Pronk art:

In Antwerp de Heem also began to paint his celebrated abundant displays on carpet-covered tables piled high with ornate silver platters and baskets of huge, expensive fruit, and glistening lobsters. These works are usually embellished with exquisite trappings, precious metal vessels, and delicate glassware. An outstanding very large, early one at the Louvre was in the collection of Louis XIV before 1683. The Dutch call lavish still-lifes of this type 'pronk stilleven' (pronk means sumptuous or ostentatious). The term is traditionally used to categorize overt displays of magnificent banquets and luxury items painted from the mid- to the late decades of the century.

"Sumptuous and ostentatious" eh? That is probably how Anderson Cooper would describe both "Pronks" (HEY-O!). Also, both are on display this week: Pronk can be seen at: Boston Sculptors Gallery, 486 Harrison Ave., through May 20. 617-482-7781, bostonsculptors.com, Jacobs Field and Camden Yards.

Maybe we aren't giving Indians fans enough credit for creating the most deep and creative nickname for any player in the history of sport. Or maybe we know exactly the level of depth and sophistication with which Indians fans relate art to their favorite players: