Colby Erasmus

I have a co-worker who gets Colby Rasmus' name wrong on a regular basis. I don't have the heart to correct him, partly because it's been going on for so long, and partly because I find it hilarious. Instead of Rasmus, he calls him Erasmus. It's probably a fairly common mistake, as Desiderius Erasmus is a famous historical figure from the 16th century.

This is Colby Rasmus

image credit: Brad White/Getty Images North America

This is Desiderius Erasmus

image credit: Web Gallery of Art - nice name, guys.

Similarities include:

• Stoic expression
• Interesting head-wear
• Swagger sleeve

Some of the differences, besides the 520 year gap in age, include the following.

Erasmus is credited with coining the term "In the land of the blind, the one eyed man is king". Haunting words. Words that can only be matched by feelings evoked by the song 'songified' by YouTube user 'TheAHAR'.

In the outfield of the Blue Jays, the one-sleeved man is king.

While Desiderius Erasmus was busy polishing the Latin in the New Testament, one can imagine that people praised his efforts. Minstrels may have written songs on lutes, and we know he was immortalized in paintings. I don't think they went to the same extreme as YouTube user 'WYLMITENG' did with her video "Colby Fire Burning in the Outfield", but men can dream.



Erasmus is also credited with creating the term "Pandora's Box" after an error in translating Pandora by  Hesiod. There is no error in stating that Colby Rasmus is handy with the bat, as evidenced by the video uploaded by YouTube user 'nwhdave'.



Finally, cars did not exist in Erasmus' time, but they sure do now and Colby Rasmus wants to make sure you get a deal on one. The day after Colby hits a 'dinger', go see Bob Bannerman (on Don Mills Road, North of Eglinton, South of Lawrence) to buy a new car, and you'll get $1,000 in Colby Cash! Whether or not that's legal tender redeemable for goods and services is still up for debate, but I'm sure it's better than Canadian Tire money.

image credit: Me, dangit.

So there you have it. The few similarities and glaring differences between a man who plays baseball for the Toronto Blue Jays who has videos to link to on YouTube, and a man I read a bit about on Wikipedia before posting this. I hope we all learned a little something, and I hope my co-worker never stops messing up Rasmus' name.