The History of Mooch
Mooch? Mooch
Everyone has heard of the NL Central, but there is an equally weird division chat that has flown under the radar in the NL. The legend begins with the man named, Geno Scaramucci, or as we affectionately know him, Mooch. The original Dodgers GM in Season 2 has transformed into a cult hero in the NL West. With his return to the league in season 3, he was drafted by the Dodgers with their first pick in the draft, a foregone conclusion to most pundits who figured the Tucker would take his former GM to strengthen the leadership group in LA.
Season 3 also brought about new channels for divisions, which is where the NL-Mooch-West was born. Originally the chat was focused on roasting the dumpster fire that was the season 2 and 3 Padres, but on one fateful Saturday in December. Rockies player, Henrik Omega uttered the famous words of the channel that has shaped the division for a year.
This was the first "Mooch" in the NL West and started a trend. The NL West quickly adopted the new slogan and the messages began pouring in with mentions of "Mooch." The legend grew and grew, finally gaining recognition from the OOTC, first from Pete Jones, who was an avid moocher in her time in the league office and was the one to rename the division chat to its current name of NL-Mooch-West. The second OOTC member to comment on the legend of Mooch was Sam Wood who compared the fledgling legend to the NL Central.
Mooching evolved over time, initially it was just "Mooch" back and forth with the other members, but then people took it to the next level. The creative players in the league began adapting pop culture references to include Mooch in them. During the holiday season, a couple Moochers began singing an adaptation of the popular Christmas song, "12 Days of Christmas."
The legend of Mooch turned one today and shows no signs of stopping. We survived the Padres dismal seasons, the onslaught of new players and the traitors that tried to overthrow the Mooch from within (Hamilton and the Diamondbacks). The legend of Mooch shall continue to be one that doesn't make sense to those outside the NL West but it is one we will cherish forever.
Image Credit to Nori Aru