Flanagan: Whose idea was it to give Joakim Soria “The Mexicutioner” nickname?

Not Angel “The Railroad Killer” Resendiz…he had reached the end of the line by then.

You’ve seen Joakim Soria’s new nickname, “The Mexicutioner,” in Royals game stories, heard it on radio, and lately it has been spotted on increasingly popular T-shirts.

Bob Dutton, Royals beat writer for The Star, says the The Mexicutioner nickname didn’t start with him. WHB’s Kevin Kietzman, who did launch the T-shirts, also said he can’t claim to be the origin of the nickname.

Both agree that the nickname appeared to start on the excellent baseball website, ranyontheroyals. (It seems that during a chat in mid-May on potential Royals nicknames, a contributor to the site named Quentin Marsh came up with “The Mexicutioner,” at least that’s what a link sent this way would suggest.)

While some folks think the nickname may be offensive or racially insensitive, Soria isn’t one of them.

“He likes it,” Dutton said. “He wears the T-shirt and so do a lot of other Royals.”