CHICAGO -- He's faster than a speeding baseball moving toward the left-center field or right-center field stands. He's able to leap above the Guaranteed Rate outfield fence in a single bound.
Why, of course, he's … White Sox center fielder Adam Engel.
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In watching Engel steal three home runs in one week from Greg Bird, Kyle Higashioka and Yonder Alonso, it's of little wonder his Players' Weekend jersey name will be Man of Steal. But while there is a strong Superman theme to the choice to be worn from Friday through Sunday in Detroit for the White Sox, it's not totally based on Engel's other-worldly defensive abilities.
"I had a roommate in college, named Coco Johnson," said Engel of his Louisville teammate. "He gave me the nickname Man of Steal.
"We just played together in college and just going through like workouts and stuff and just on-field stuff, I don't know, he's like man, he used to call me Superman: 'You are a Man of Steal.' It just kind of stuck."
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Engel is a fan of the man who is more powerful than a locomotive. It's a superhero fandom theme supported by his wife, Jaime.
"Yeah, I really like Superman, and my wife is a bigger Superman fan than I am," Engel said. "She's got a Superman S, [her car has] the wheel cover on the back with the S.
"She's had that before we were married. But she's a bigger Superman fan than I am, which is kind of funny. I love [Players' Weekend]. I think it's really cool. It's a really good idea. The players have fun with it. Any time you can add fun to an already pretty fun game, it's a win-win."