The Happy Youngster (real name: Nick Yohanek), you'll recall, was the guy who caught Marlins rookie Chris Coghlan's first home run, then demanded a bounty from the Marlins in return.

Miller Park Drunk came up with this t-shirt. And here's Right Field Bleachers' take:

"The Happy Youngster" makes me sick. This guy is pathetic, greedy and delusional to think his novelty "celebrity" is anything more than a hokey gimmick. Grow up, guy. Give foul and non-milestone homerun balls to kids instead of hoarding them for your stupid collection/obsession that somehow validates you life. Kids grow up imagining hitting a big league homer. This guy was fortunate enough to do it, and you wedged your dorky head and unjustifably inflated ego into his moment to - what? - score a few tickets and a signed bat. Eat shit, geek.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's Tom Haudricourt weighs in:

Maybe he should also detail how he held up Geoff Jenkins for his 200th home run ball a few years by demanding Prince Fielder autographed bats, etc. Nothing like holding balls for the highest ransom, huh? He talks about classy moves in his blog. Would you call that a classy move on his part? Why should Geoff Jenkins have to go and ask Prince Fielder to sign stuff so Jenkins can retrieve a milestone homer? If you were a true Brewers fan, wouldn't you make it easy on a player who was the face of the franchise all those years?

And here are some Milwaukee fans who wandered over to the Miami Herald's Fish Bytes blog:

BrewCityBill: On behalf of all TRUE Brewers fans, I apologize! This guy's a serial a-hole who brings down good name of the hardworking people of Milwaukee. Our mamas raised us better than that. Peace.

Happy_Youngster Sucks_My_Cock: Happy Youngster sucks. I wish he wasn't a Brewers fan. I like how he tries to play it off as I just asked nicely. This guy is a give me, give me, give me, give me type of person. He is only concerned with what he gets out of a deal. ... Don't cut this guy any slack. Hammer him. To me, this guy is more worthless than Steve Bartman

Jay: As a Brewers fan, I hope that guy takes the next ball into the stands off a sensitive area.

Ray: It is one thing to negotiate for items from the player that hit the ball, But to make that player beg a team mate for it is wrong, He did the same thing to Jeff Jenkins wanting a signed bat from Prince. This guy is a tool and he gives all Brewer's fans a bad name.

Drew: Happy Youngster also likes to push other people out of the way to get his cherished HR balls. He should be banned from Miller Park....or at least banned from the bleachers. He gives all us brewer fans a bad name.

And he's not a real cop - he's one of those rent-a-cops you see late night at the mall. Paul Blart has more clout than this guy.

Joe: It'd be one thing if this "misunderstanding" was a one time thing. He's been known to do the same thing to Brewer players.

As a Brewer fan, I apologize to Coghlan for the crap he had to deal with.

Lloyd in Green Bay: Don't think all us Brewers fan are like Happy Youngster. Most of us are longsuffering diehards and also very nice and respectful people. Sorry one of our so called "fans" is a selfish greedy idiot

Cooper: That guy is a jerk. I say this as a Brewers fan. I am ashamed he is also a fan of the Brewers. Please don't judge all Brewers fans by this dolt. ... I have other names for the guy, but I am not sure how much language is allowed here.

So who created this monster, you might wonder? Well, none other than our pottymouthed friend Matt Vasgersian! On his web site, the Happy Youngster recounts the day in 1999 he caught two balls in the same game:

As the celebration in the left field bleachers ensued, Brewers TV announcer and former big league catcher Bill "Rock" Schroeder stated to all of Wisconsin and beyond, "There's a ball for a happy youngster."

An identity was born.

After the 1999 season, I spoke with Bill Schroeder's broadcasting partner Matt Vasgersian (the best in the business...boy, do I miss him). I revisited that Saturday evening game of '99 and he remembered the call. He even remembered who hit the home runs (bizarre!?) He suggested I start wearing a bright yellow shirt with "Happy Youngster" emblazoned on the front. He gave me his e-mail address and told me to let him know when I'd be at the park the following season so they could give me a quick plug on TV.

The identity had laid dormant until Tuesday, May 16th, 2000. That's the game the yellow shirt made its debut. I e-mailed Vasgersian as he instructed. I told him I'd be in the front row of the left field bleachers with my new uniform...well, a bright yellow shirt.

Yohanek credits Vasgersian with making "the nickname household during the 2000 season," though of course most of those households fall somewhere in the vicinity of the Menomonee River Valley. Below, watch a video of the Happy Youngster in younger, happier days (look for the cameo by Vasgersian, in which he somehow manages to not say anything offensive):

The Happy Youngster is a douchebag who makes us all look bad [Miller Park Drunk]
In the News [Right Field Bleachers]
Fan Drives Hard Bargain for Coghlan's First Home Run Ball [Fish Bytes]

On the night Rick Sutcliffe showed up shitfaced in the booth during a Padres broadcast: "There were people out there who thought we set Rick up… and that really pissed me off."

Defending Erin Andrews from the scorn she gets from some of her peers: "That's what the role is. It's a puffy, fluffy role… It's what the role was kinda supposed to be."

On other, more egotistical broadcasters: "My father didn't work in the business. Nothing was handed to me."

On downtown St. Louis, a town he otherwise enjoys visiting despite recent dustups with the natives: "I hate downtown St. Louis… build a friggin' convenience store." (Yeah, fuckos! There is nowhere to get a fucking Corn Nut in that shithole.)

There's way more. Vasgersian talks about his days at the XFL, his brief stint as a child actor, why Whitlock's "absolution" for his Donovan McNabb gaffe annoyed him, the right way to show hot chicks on camera, and shitloads of other good stuff.

I know the Deadcast, up to this point, has been a work in progress. But I think, this time, we've got a solidly entertaining product for you from start to finish, in no small part because Vasgersian makes for such enthusiastic, excellent company. My thanks to him for coming on and letting it all hang out.

This week's podcast is available for your listening pleasure right here. You can also find the new Deadcast in the iTunes Music Store here. Special thanks to Liberated Syndication for hosting us. Got an email you want read over the air? Send it to me here. Now sit back, relax, and listen as we bitch about the Turks.

Whitlock makes a good point about how Vasgersian simply made a mistake and even defends the joke and agrees that the EMT in the clip did have a striking resemblance to Eagles' quarterback Donovan McNabb. He seems more offended that Vasgersian's broadcast crew of Mitch Williams and Billy Ripken, scared into oversensitivity mode by years of PC training, let the joke hang there in shame so Vasgersian could wallow in on-air embarrassment. For whatever reason, Whitlock used this moment to chastise bloggers — including Dash's pretty harmless post — for blowing this up into something bigger than it is. Point taken, I guess. But Vasgersian apologized and, from what I hear, is actually coming on The Deadcast next week. Oh, and just like he did over at KSK, he also chimed into our comments section and mea culpa'd. So, I don't think we're really too guilty of any kind crime that require Whitlock's Racial Apology Czar oversight.

Of course, because Jason loves to hate Deadspin in the way he thinks we love to hate, he once again brought up my Man Law breaking against Stu Scott from Super Bowl XLI:

You know for several years I've been irate with the editors of Deadspin about what they did to Stuart Scott at a Super Bowl. They published a story about looking over Scott's shoulder and reading a text message from a female friend during booty-call hours.

Given the fact that Scott is black and his female friend was white some people believe Will Leitch and AJ Daulerio committed a "hate crime." I've always leaned toward ruling it as simple "hating," a jealous act committed by cowards with no respect or appreciation for Man Laws.

Having two lawyers debate this issue would be a terrific, must-see episode of "Race Court with Judge Jason." If convicted of the more serious "hate crime," Scott would be allowed to whip Leitch and Daulerio's asses on national television. If I ruled it misdemeanor "hating," Leitch and Daulerio would be fined $1,000, sentenced to a year of probation and required to attend manhood training.

That would be absurdly brilliant in a very "Breaking Bonaduce" sort of way, but I don't think Mr. Scott would lower himself to such depths. Unless there's a cute, white ring card girl he could take home with him later. Come to think of it, I think Judge Jason would tag-a-long for that sort of thing as well. I promise I won't write about it. Lesson learned.

I'll Be The Judge On Racial Apologies [Fox Sports]

The throw from catcher Nick Hundley hit Hawpe in the back of the neck, just below the lip of his batting helmet, as he was diving back into second base. Paramedics took all precautions, placing Hawpe in a neck brace before slowly taking him off the field on a cart. It was a similar injury to one that killed a high school player last week, but thankfully, Hawpe seems to have "only" suffered a concussion. Coming out of a segment about it on the nightly sports broadcast is always an awkward transition, but Matt Vasgersian—who was also the first man to break the MLB Network's f-bomb barrier—thought he had the answer. He did not.

For those, who can't watch/hear the clip: Vasgersian went back to the tape to point out that one of the EMTs looked like Donovan McNabb. (He looks nothing like Donovan McNabb.) His "quip" was met with stunned silence from his broadcast partners and an in-ear reminder from his producer, "You know we're live, right?"

Ouch. I think Norm MacDonald's OJ joke got a warmer reception.

Another Awkward Moment in Television History Featuring Matt Vasgersian [Bugs & Cranks]