Sometimes covering sports turns into a Dr. Seussian affair. That seems to be the case after a Sunday baseball matchup between the Blue Jays and Yankees blew minds in a serious way when Toronto catcher Alejandro Kirk faced off at the plate against Yankees pitcher Jake Cousins, who happens to be Kirk Cousins’ cousin.
The titillating wordplay and cross-pollination of the MLB and the NFL did not go unnoticed by the ever-present internet. X/Twitter handle Blue Jays Today captured a screenshot when Kirk was at the plate and the box score showed “Kirk / Cousins,” punctuating the momentous occasion with the caption “Kirk just faced Cousins who is Kirk Cousins cousin.”
There are so many glorious layers to unpack in this one that it may in fact go down in history as the most exquisite natural occurrence of the week (sorry, solar eclipse).
For starters, let’s break down this Cousins family tree. Most sports fans know that Kirk is an NFL quarterback, formerly of the Minnesota Vikings and currently gearing up for a fresh start (and fat contract) with the Atlanta Falcons. Seeing Kirk/Cousins on the screen of a Major League Baseball game may on its own have induced a fair amount of chuckles, giggles or “huh, look at that”s.
Now, couple that with the knowledge that the pitcher in the aforementioned matchup, Jake Cousins, is the actual cousin of Kirk Cousins. What?! Do you grasp the epic singularity of what’s afoot here?! Kirk’s last name happens to be a type of blood relation between family members, and Jake is that very relative to Kirk! Forgive me but am I the only one having a double rainbow moment over this?!
