Zoltan is a hand gesture in which a person has their hands stacked on top of each other in order to form a letter "Z". Originally used in the 2000 stoner film Dude, Where's My Car? , the Zoltan hand gesture also became popular in 2012 with members of the Pittsburgh Pirates, as well as residents of Pittsburgh rallying around the team.
During the film Dude, Where's My Car?, the two main characters, Jesse Montgomery III (Ashton Kutcher) and Chester Greenburg (Seann William Scott), run into a group of UFO cultists led by Zoltan (Hal Sparks). Whenever the name Zoltan was said while they explained their plan to Jesse and Chester they would do the hand gesture. It is during this otherwise minor scene in the film that the Zoltan hand gesture is first used. [1]
During the early part of the 2012 Major League Baseball season, the Pittsburgh Pirates were visiting the Atlanta Braves for a weekend series when the team was watching Dude, Where's My Car? in the visiting clubhouse at Turner Field. According to Pirates second baseman Neil Walker, the team thought that the Zoltan hand gesture was so bad that they decided to adopt it as a form of team bonding. [2] At the time, the Pirates had endured a major North American professional sports record 19 consecutive losing seasons which, fittingly, started after the Pirates lost to the Braves at Fulton County Stadium in Atlanta in Game 7 of the 1992 National League Championship Series when Francisco Cabrera cracked a bottom-of-the-9th-inning, two-out, two-run single that scored David Justice and Sid Bream.
Soon, the team started using the Zoltan as a way for players to congratulate their teammates after an accomplishment such as a home run or a double play. Over time, Pirates fans noticed the players (in particular, de facto team leader Andrew McCutchen) making the hand gesture and started doing it as well. [3] This led to merchandise sales of t-shirts with the Zoltan on the shirts. After a Twitter campaign to encourage the "real" Zoltan to appear at a game, Hal Sparks flew to Pittsburgh on July 25, 2012, to throw out the ceremonial first pitch, and was on hand to see the Pirates win 3-2 over the Chicago Cubs. Also there to support the team was Hal's girlfriend, Summer Soltis, whose family is from the area and are Pirates fans. [4] Despite picking up a cult following in Pittsburgh and helping the team contend in the playoff race well into September, the Pirates finished with a 79-83 record, extending their major North American professional sports record to 20 consecutive losing seasons.
The Pirates used the Zoltan again the following season, this time not only ending their losing seasons streak but clinching a wild card spot in the 2013 playoffs. [5] The Zoltan was still popular enough in Pittsburgh that when the Pittsburgh Steelers signed Romanian-born punter Zoltán Meskó in September 2013, Meskó declined to do the Zoltan himself for reporters, feeling that it's the Pirates hand signal and didn't want to take it from them (he was released in late October 2013). [6]
Hal Harry Magee Sparks III is an American stand-up comedian, actor, musician, political commentator, television and radio host and television personality. He made contributions to VH1, hosting E!'s Talk Soup, and played the roles of Michael Novotny on the American television series Queer as Folk, Donald Davenport in Lab Rats and the voice of Tak in Tak and the Power of Juju television series and video games.
Dude, Where's My Car? is a 2000 American stoner comedy film directed by Danny Leiner. The film stars Ashton Kutcher and Seann William Scott as two best friends who find themselves unable to remember where they parked their vehicle after a night of recklessness, ultimately uncovering a conspiracy that threatens the universe. Supporting cast members include Kristy Swanson, Jennifer Garner, and Marla Sokoloff. Though the film was panned by most critics, it was a box office success and has managed to achieve a cult status. The film's title became a minor pop-culture saying, and was commonly reworked in various pop-cultural contexts during the 2000s.
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Zoltán is a Hungarian masculine given name. The name days for this name are 8 March and 23 June in Hungary, and 7 April in Slovakia. "Zoli" is the short version of Zoltán. "Zoli" is commonly used.
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Neil Martin Andrew Walker is an American former professional baseball second baseman and current broadcaster. He played 12 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Pittsburgh Pirates, New York Mets, Milwaukee Brewers, New York Yankees, Miami Marlins, and Philadelphia Phillies.
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Charles Alfred Morton IV is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Atlanta Braves of Major League Baseball (MLB). The Braves selected Morton in the third round of the 2002 Major League Baseball draft. He has also previously played for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Philadelphia Phillies, Houston Astros, and Tampa Bay Rays. Morton was a World Series champion in 2017 and 2021 and an All-Star in 2018 and 2019. Morton is the active pitcher with the most career batters hit by pitch with 180.
The Georgia Bulldogs baseball team represents the University of Georgia in NCAA Division I college baseball.
The 2009 Pittsburgh Pirates season was the 128th season of the franchise and the 123rd in the National League. This was their ninth season at PNC Park. The season is the franchise's second season under the management of John Russell. With this season, the Pirates became the first franchise in professional sports to have a losing record in 17 consecutive seasons, passing the Philadelphia Phillies of 1933–1948 with 16. The Pirates finished sixth and last in the National League Central with a record of 62–99. The Pirates were attempting to improve on their 2008 record, and conquer a winning record and make it to the playoffs for the first time since 1992. However, after going 11–10 in April, the Pirates suffered losing streaks. After an 8-game losing streak on May 3–10, the Pirates never reached above the .500 mark again, and failed to reach their goal.
Zoltán Meskó is a former American football punter. He was drafted by the New England Patriots in the fifth round of the 2010 NFL Draft. He played college football at Michigan. Born in Romania, Meskó emigrated with his family to the United States and eventually settled in Ohio. There he was discovered as a potential kicker for his school's football team, the Twinsburg Tigers, and became one of the best high school football kickers in the nation, excelling as both a punter and placekicker. After earning top honors in his state, Meskó was recruited by several college football teams. He selected Michigan over several schools including Indiana, Ohio State, and USC.
The Phillies–Pirates rivalry is a Major League Baseball (MLB) rivalry between the Philadelphia Phillies and Pittsburgh Pirates. Both clubs are members of MLB's National League (NL); the Phillies are members of the NL East division, while the Pirates are members of the NL Central division. The rivalry was considered by some to be one of the best in the NL. The rivalry started when the Pittsburgh Pirates entered NL play in their fifth season of 1887, four years after the Phillies.
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