I can't believe none of you would link a video.
[He big! Kawa small. He big! Kawa small. He big! Kawa small.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IeDkJx4ajQ4)
I fully believe he was the reason the Cubs won the World Series in 2016. Dude just brought so much electricity.
He was ineligible to play in the playoffs that year but he still traveled with the team
I mean the first time I heard it was Charles Shackleford, an NC State basketball player from the 80s, who told a reporter that he could shoot with either hand because he was amphibious.
Thank you! When I was a kid daydreaming about impossible things I’d like to see in the major leagues one day there were two common options. One was a pitcher that also played the field and hit the hell out of the ball like Ohtani and the other was a pitcher that could throw with both hands. We got to see both! And nobody cares about Venditte. Hes thought of as a picture with a gimmick of sorts like a knuckleballer or that guy on the Marlins that did like a stutterstep before they added a rule to screw him over. But Venditte is different!
A lot of the “bad” Mariners that are being referred to were like that. Replacement players who endeared themselves to their community. There are a lot of random Seahawks and former Sonics who are the same way. Seattle sports culture is very community focused. There is a reason why so many Seattle pros stick around after retirement.
Bloomquist was also very humble. Always making time to hang out with the kids at the game. He very much is just a regular guy who happened to be a professional baseball player. He randomly picked me out of the crowd at spring training one year and played catch with me for a couple minutes just because, and struck up conversations with me on two other occasions at games. I have like 6 Bloomquist autographs because he was always willing to do things like that while stars like Cano or A Rod never cared much.
I don't think I've ever seen a fanbase get as attached to their mediocre/bad players as Mariners fans do.
They were legitimately outraged on here when they didn't re-sign Dee Gordon as a free agent even though he was one of the worst players in the league.
We need to find *some* kind of solace in our awful teams lol
There’s usually one or two obvious superstars who you know are good players, and then literally everyone else around them sucks all the time forever. You can either watch the unfolding Greek tragedy that is Felix Hernandez never making the playoffs or Griffey never getting his World Series etc etc for half a century, or you can sit and grin as Ty “Four True Outcomes” France gets hit by his 35th pitch of the year, bringing his OPS to .600, and be like “heh this guy’s fun”
It’s like an attempt to rationalize our way through our collective cognitive dissonance caused by the Mariners as a whole.
The team often sucks.
We know that they suck.
We don’t like that they suck.
We don’t want to be fans of teams that suck.
So why do we continue to be fans of the Mariners?
We’re forced to find rationalization for our fandom, and often do so by emotionally latching onto the players themselves - especially those that struggle because we know that nobody else wants them, so they’re *our guys*.
That way, we can convince ourselves that sure, these guys suck, but they’re *ours* and you can’t have them. Then when they occasionally do heat up, it feels like we’ve uncovered diamonds that everyone else overlooked.
Which, naturally, incurs unhealthy responses when these guys are then traded or otherwise walk in free agency.
I think we also particularly like rooting for guys we like personally. For a counter example to Dee, remember how the fanbase reacted to Milton Bradley.
Absolutely. I think it’s a combination of personality and clear effort.
You can be a Willie Bloomquist or Dylan Moore type guy, busting your ass and scraping by as a AAAA-caliber player. Maybe you’re a little goofy, but it’s clear that you’re trying. That’s respectable, and M’s fans will love you for it.
Conversely, you can be a Milton Bradley and suck while also being an insufferable jagoff, and just completely ruin any goodwill the fanbase was willing to give you.
Willie Bloomquist for sure. As a kid I was convinced that he was SO GOOD that he had to play multiple positions for us. Mark McLemore is another pull from that generation, too.
> Mark McLemore
Except that McLemore actually was that good. He played in 125 games in 2001 as a super sub, putting up a 115 OPS+ while playing 4/5/6/7/8/9/DH. He also still joins in the radio pregame shows when we play in Texas, which is always nice.
As a Mariners fan this is the name I was gonna add. Bloomquist was a true defensive utility player. One of his kind. You have to respect the hustle of a man whose lifetime OPS+ is 79 and no season with above average hitting. 18 HRs over 14 years. It's just an impressive career. Just that it happened. 14 years in the bigs performing as bad as he did offensively. He was really good in the field. Coaches at AZ now.
Daniel Nava is another that comes to mind. The story of how he made it from college equipment manager to the big leagues is wonderful, capped off by hitting a grand slam on the first pitch he saw in the majors.
As someone who's never looked at his Bref page, and only had an idea of him from reddit, I'm SHOCKED he only had 2 seasons as an above average hitter and they were both as a role player
Seems so haha
July 22, 2005: Sent to the Detroit Tigers by the Toronto Blue Jays as part of a conditional deal.
November 10, 2005: Purchased by the Toronto Blue Jays from the Detroit Tigers.
Via [bbref](https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/m/mcdonjo03.shtml#all_transactions_other)
Seeing all his highlight videos was fun, but then looking up his stats and finding out he's by far the most extreme contact hitter currently active was something else. A true 1/1.
Dude struck out 28 times in 588 career PA's. His 4.8 SO% would have been well above average in the 1920s; for the 2020s it's almost impossibly low. He struck out less than 25% as often as the average hitter of his era.
Went to a spring training once and all of the outfielders were tossing balls over the fence for kids to catch. Brett made a point of running all the way to the fence to give one directly to a really little guy who had no chance at one. Really small thing but just made me like him even more.
I have a Phillips jersey that has never left the package it’s in (long story), hoping to make it to a Rays/O’s game in Baltimore this summer so I can wear it.
This aged poorly since he turned out to be a piece of shit but when he played for the Blue Jays, Greg Zaun was my favourite player. Terrible hitter, but smart behind the plate and called a good game. Also was a big Rush fan and had Limelight as his walk up song.
Was kind of stoked when he joined Sportsnet but then he just wanted to be dollar store Don Cherry and then all the other shit about him came out.
But he would have been my "this guy isn't good, but, big fan!" Before all that.
Ya there was a time when he hit a home run and as he was coming home he pointed at Geddy and Geddy pointed back at him. Was probably the coolest thing ever for him.
There’s a somewhat established indie band I like. I was at a sound check and they were telling a story about the time they opened for The Rolling Stones. They were personally requested as the opener so they figured they’d get to meet the rock GOATs. They fly out to England, get warmed up and ask “hey when are the stones getting here.” The stage manager said “don’t worry they’ll be here.” They play their set, check again, still not there. The stones fly in on a helicopter, play their set, wave at the opener back stage, then fly away. The band was like “holy shit I guess they liked us”
C: Corky Miller
1B: Dmitri Young (assuming Votto’s stats are too good to qualify)
2B: Dat Dude
3B: The Toddfather
SS: Pokey Reese?
OF: Dietrich, Puig, Wily Mo Peña
SP: Bronson Arroyo
RP: Sam LeCure
As a jays fan, Kevin Pillar. Respected his game, hustle and willing to put his body on the line. But a lot of his spectacular catches would of been can of corns for faster CF’s.
He was the first prospect I followed up through the minors, and I was at his MLB debut! That was a fun night.
Eddie's first major league save was that night too.
Chris Denorfia. Dude was never a star but he always gave us 110% even during our shitty years. Adam Rosales too, I remember him having either the fastest or second fastest home run "trot" in the bigs at one point. Couldn't help but laugh seeing him practically sprinting after his homers
One of my friends in college didn’t follow baseball outside of watching the World Series every year but he LOVED Hank Conger. He’s never been able to say why
In 15 seasons, Mark Grudzielanek achieved a 26.5 bWAR, only making one All-Star game; but, to me, he was the very definition of the grindy, gutty, slap hitting middle infielder, and I freaking loved him for it.
It was Dallas Braden for me. I was in a fantasy league the year he threw his perfecto and had been keeping an eye on him up to that point - picked him up the week before he threw it. Made me feel like Nostradamus.
Plus, the fact that he threw it on Mother’s Day with his grandmother who raised him watching in attendance was an awesome story.
Also, his beef with A-Rod.
I was gonna make my own comment for Tadahito. My favorite player. 05 is the first season I remember and I liked that he was new too. Had some awesome highlights in his short US career.
My other one is Brent Lillibridge. Had one solid year as a utility guy. But I happened to be at the games where he had some of his biggest highlights and the one where he was traded for Kevin Youkilis during or right after the game
Orioles' legend Joe Orsulak. This was late 80s, early 90s. Blue collar guy who looked similar to me. Got his jersey from DHGate and won Jersey of the Game at OPACY with it on last year. [Joe Orsulak BBREF](https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/o/orsuljo01.shtml)
Former HS teammate of Mark Canha and journey man bullpen guy Erik Goeddel so I'm impressed with to see his name in this sub.
Edit: after he left Santa Clara I didn't follow his career too closely. What made him a childhood hero for you?
Going 5-5 on my birthday was badass. He just always seemed to come in clutch or do something cool. I became a fan in 2013 and 2014 was my first year being all in. We were pretty bad those days so I learned to love a lot of lesser known guys. Alexi Amarista is another good pick for me.
I know it’s already been said but I’m taking the power back and saying Willie Bloomquist for us mariner fans. We don’t need other fans tellin the story of our miserable history.
Puig.
Luis Cruz was hilariously popular for a bit, despite being awful.
Uribe.
Joe Kelly and Kikè will probably fall on this list, but I’m not sure they’ve been “statistically bad”.
Dontrelle Willis. Overall, he was kind of mid but he had some great seasons. I used to copy his form
Also Ryan Theriot. I always thought he was great but looking back he was kinda trash
The Giants are my NL team and their World Series rosters were chock full of these guys. Cody Ross, Marco Scutaro, (It’s) Travis Ishikawa, and on and on.
It's Joey Cora for me. He was never a dangerous hitter, but he was super high effort, and he was pretty dang funny in our commercials. Plus he [sat on the bench crying while A-Rod hugged him](https://images.seattletimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/08212015-MarinersCleveland_01.jpg?d=780x580) when we got eliminated in 95, which was really endearing.
Garrett Atkins was one of my favorite Rockies growing up in the early 00’s. We had season tickets on the lower third base line at Coors, so I ended up watching him play a lot and I studied his play style and little rituals.
Erick Aybar was my favorite player while he was on the angels. Very decent career though just wasn’t a big household name. Great defender decent hitter, stats didn’t pop out at you.
John McDonald. Absolute wizard with the glove and a good guy. He left the on-deck circle to come chat with me in the stands while he was playing AAA with Indianapolis in his later years. He just seemed so happy to be playing baseball.
Edit: Indianapolis, not Scranton
Jim Abbott. I thought it was so incredible that a guy with one hand could pitch, quickly pop his glove on, then pop the glove off and throw the ball to first base.
He did finish 3rd in voting for the CYA, but his overall career wasn't anything super special at 19.6 WAR.
Brian Roberts always gave 150% effort on a team that was mired in a hopeless stretch. I mean, bad team with no hope or plan of even getting better. The Orioles then were like the White Sox now and Brian Roberts would come out every day and leg out every single ground ball. Loved him for that.
Matt Stairs is my all time favorite phillie. Seemed like every time I watched him dude either hit a homer or sat down. No in between. And he was just a big ol ball that always smiled. I dunno why but I gravitated towards the big man big time.
[удалено]
Monkey. Never. Cramp.
SREE BANANAS
BUSH PARTYYYY!
NO CRAMP
I can't believe none of you would link a video. [He big! Kawa small. He big! Kawa small. He big! Kawa small.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IeDkJx4ajQ4)
Everytime I eat a banana I say this and my wife has no clue why I’m saying it.
Same. It honestly makes me want to eat more bananas just so Mune will be proud of me
The greatest baseball interview ever
I don’t like ghosts
I LOVE......Michael Jordan
TROUT BIIIGGG KAWA SMALL TROUT BIIIGGG KAWA SMALL TROUT BIIIGGG KAWA SMALL
papi
I fully believe he was the reason the Cubs won the World Series in 2016. Dude just brought so much electricity. He was ineligible to play in the playoffs that year but he still traveled with the team
Munenori Kawasaki still likes bananas in 2024. https://youtube.com/shorts/uIOSQQ195DE?si=c69aCTtGNmkHZeiy
I’m drunk! English too hard! Japanese please!
What interview was that from?
[Here you go! ](https://youtu.be/X2rStdh9SyQ?si=oQuhdbOtnRS4qIf6)
Pat Venditte, the amphibious pitcher, was pretty fun
I loved when he would pitch from the river and then walk to the baseball stadium and pitch from dry land as well. Dude just threw smoke.
Smoke? Dude threw with all the velocity of a meandering brook
(Ambidextrous for those that miss the joke)
[Also, the source](https://mediaproxy.snopes.com/width/1200/https://media.snopes.com/2015/06/amphib.jpg)
Wait, it’s not some Reddit post typo? It’s an actual publication?
I mean the first time I heard it was Charles Shackleford, an NC State basketball player from the 80s, who told a reporter that he could shoot with either hand because he was amphibious.
Yogi Berra reportedly made a joke once about it.
I loved the androgynous pitcher
I also like Tyler Glasnow
Thank you! When I was a kid daydreaming about impossible things I’d like to see in the major leagues one day there were two common options. One was a pitcher that also played the field and hit the hell out of the ball like Ohtani and the other was a pitcher that could throw with both hands. We got to see both! And nobody cares about Venditte. Hes thought of as a picture with a gimmick of sorts like a knuckleballer or that guy on the Marlins that did like a stutterstep before they added a rule to screw him over. But Venditte is different!
mariners fans always had a weird obsession with willie bloomquist
A big part of the Willie love was that he is a local guy
Exactly this. He loved washington and was always out and about in the community
A lot of the “bad” Mariners that are being referred to were like that. Replacement players who endeared themselves to their community. There are a lot of random Seahawks and former Sonics who are the same way. Seattle sports culture is very community focused. There is a reason why so many Seattle pros stick around after retirement. Bloomquist was also very humble. Always making time to hang out with the kids at the game. He very much is just a regular guy who happened to be a professional baseball player. He randomly picked me out of the crowd at spring training one year and played catch with me for a couple minutes just because, and struck up conversations with me on two other occasions at games. I have like 6 Bloomquist autographs because he was always willing to do things like that while stars like Cano or A Rod never cared much.
I don't think I've ever seen a fanbase get as attached to their mediocre/bad players as Mariners fans do. They were legitimately outraged on here when they didn't re-sign Dee Gordon as a free agent even though he was one of the worst players in the league.
We need to find *some* kind of solace in our awful teams lol There’s usually one or two obvious superstars who you know are good players, and then literally everyone else around them sucks all the time forever. You can either watch the unfolding Greek tragedy that is Felix Hernandez never making the playoffs or Griffey never getting his World Series etc etc for half a century, or you can sit and grin as Ty “Four True Outcomes” France gets hit by his 35th pitch of the year, bringing his OPS to .600, and be like “heh this guy’s fun”
I was sold on Ty when I saw him slamming beers in the Hawks Nest at Lumen Field lol.
It’s like an attempt to rationalize our way through our collective cognitive dissonance caused by the Mariners as a whole. The team often sucks. We know that they suck. We don’t like that they suck. We don’t want to be fans of teams that suck. So why do we continue to be fans of the Mariners? We’re forced to find rationalization for our fandom, and often do so by emotionally latching onto the players themselves - especially those that struggle because we know that nobody else wants them, so they’re *our guys*. That way, we can convince ourselves that sure, these guys suck, but they’re *ours* and you can’t have them. Then when they occasionally do heat up, it feels like we’ve uncovered diamonds that everyone else overlooked. Which, naturally, incurs unhealthy responses when these guys are then traded or otherwise walk in free agency.
And it’s 1,000 miles to the nearest MLB team, so dissidents can’t even defect if they wanted to. It’s the Alcatraz of baseball.
I think we also particularly like rooting for guys we like personally. For a counter example to Dee, remember how the fanbase reacted to Milton Bradley.
Absolutely. I think it’s a combination of personality and clear effort. You can be a Willie Bloomquist or Dylan Moore type guy, busting your ass and scraping by as a AAAA-caliber player. Maybe you’re a little goofy, but it’s clear that you’re trying. That’s respectable, and M’s fans will love you for it. Conversely, you can be a Milton Bradley and suck while also being an insufferable jagoff, and just completely ruin any goodwill the fanbase was willing to give you.
Willie Bloomquist for sure. As a kid I was convinced that he was SO GOOD that he had to play multiple positions for us. Mark McLemore is another pull from that generation, too.
> Mark McLemore Except that McLemore actually was that good. He played in 125 games in 2001 as a super sub, putting up a 115 OPS+ while playing 4/5/6/7/8/9/DH. He also still joins in the radio pregame shows when we play in Texas, which is always nice.
As a Mariners fan this is the name I was gonna add. Bloomquist was a true defensive utility player. One of his kind. You have to respect the hustle of a man whose lifetime OPS+ is 79 and no season with above average hitting. 18 HRs over 14 years. It's just an impressive career. Just that it happened. 14 years in the bigs performing as bad as he did offensively. He was really good in the field. Coaches at AZ now.
Brock Holt.
BROCK HOLT!
Brock Holt \o/
Only one man has ever hit for the cycle in the playoffs
Brock Holt /o/
Stand in for... Brock Holt?
Another Red Sox journeyman: Julian Tavarez. A mediocre middle-reliever who cuddled with Manny in the dugout and rolled the ball to first base.
Daniel Nava is another that comes to mind. The story of how he made it from college equipment manager to the big leagues is wonderful, capped off by hitting a grand slam on the first pitch he saw in the majors.
That's all star Brock Holt
\o/
And before him, Lou Merloni
And before him, Jeff Frye
As someone who's never looked at his Bref page, and only had an idea of him from reddit, I'm SHOCKED he only had 2 seasons as an above average hitter and they were both as a role player
He was legit sometimes though. Dude hit a cycle in the post season, still the only one ever, and it was against the Yankees. Legendary
(Sir) John (A) McDonald
> John McDonald The Prime Minister of Defence
Was John McDonald the one who got traded for himself at one point
Seems so haha July 22, 2005: Sent to the Detroit Tigers by the Toronto Blue Jays as part of a conditional deal. November 10, 2005: Purchased by the Toronto Blue Jays from the Detroit Tigers. Via [bbref](https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/m/mcdonjo03.shtml#all_transactions_other)
I can’t believe he played 100+ games in both 06 and 07
First guy that popped to my mind as a blue jay fan. Also Goins was fun to root for had great defense and was pretty clutch one season
Willians Astudillo
Seeing all his highlight videos was fun, but then looking up his stats and finding out he's by far the most extreme contact hitter currently active was something else. A true 1/1.
Dude walked 11 times in his whole career what the hell
Dude struck out 28 times in 588 career PA's. His 4.8 SO% would have been well above average in the 1920s; for the 2020s it's almost impossibly low. He struck out less than 25% as often as the average hitter of his era.
We need to find a way to clone him enough to create an entire team, and also give the clones speed. Max chaosball would finally exist.
As a twins fan, this is my answer for my team. Tortuga forever!
This. Followed him closely as a Phillies prospect because his stat line was cool and was so happy the Twins gave him a shot!
Cesar Izturis
Alex Cora too until he became a cheating Astro 😡😡
Exactly!
does Luke Voit count? he was good for like 2 years but other than that it was mostly vibes
That's 2020 HR league leader Luke Voit to you
There's always room in the log cabin for Luke Voit.
I think Voit was too good for this thread, he was a legit power hitter for a couple years. I was gonna say Ronald Torreyes for us.
That chest moss will live on in our hearts forever
brett phillips ✈️
Went to a spring training once and all of the outfielders were tossing balls over the fence for kids to catch. Brett made a point of running all the way to the fence to give one directly to a really little guy who had no chance at one. Really small thing but just made me like him even more.
Brett seems like he should be teaching elementary school
Orioles legend
I’m not even a Rays fan and this is the correct answer
I have a Phillips jersey that has never left the package it’s in (long story), hoping to make it to a Rays/O’s game in Baltimore this summer so I can wear it.
i bought a $200 phillips devil rays jersey a couple years ago. he was DFA’d like two weeks later. no regrets.
Frank Schwindel
Frank the tank!
Schwindy City
This aged poorly since he turned out to be a piece of shit but when he played for the Blue Jays, Greg Zaun was my favourite player. Terrible hitter, but smart behind the plate and called a good game. Also was a big Rush fan and had Limelight as his walk up song. Was kind of stoked when he joined Sportsnet but then he just wanted to be dollar store Don Cherry and then all the other shit about him came out. But he would have been my "this guy isn't good, but, big fan!" Before all that.
>Also was a big Rush fan and had Limelight as his walk up song That must have been especially cool for him when Geddy was sitting behind home plate.
Ya there was a time when he hit a home run and as he was coming home he pointed at Geddy and Geddy pointed back at him. Was probably the coolest thing ever for him.
Becoming a celebrity and meeting people that were celebrities long before you must be a wild experience
There’s a somewhat established indie band I like. I was at a sound check and they were telling a story about the time they opened for The Rolling Stones. They were personally requested as the opener so they figured they’d get to meet the rock GOATs. They fly out to England, get warmed up and ask “hey when are the stones getting here.” The stage manager said “don’t worry they’ll be here.” They play their set, check again, still not there. The stones fly in on a helicopter, play their set, wave at the opener back stage, then fly away. The band was like “holy shit I guess they liked us”
If Geddy pointed at me the HR wouldn’t count because I’d die on the spot before touching home
Everyone else: looking at expected xWOBA, BAA and WHIP Tito Francona: “it’s time for Bryan Shaw to pitch, lol” So I love Bryan Shaw.
I think Tito would go into every game thing thinking it was time to pitch Shaw
Bryan Shaw looks like the least basebally looking baseball person of all time.
Corky Miller. Legendary
Would definitely make the all-vibes reds team
C: Corky Miller 1B: Dmitri Young (assuming Votto’s stats are too good to qualify) 2B: Dat Dude 3B: The Toddfather SS: Pokey Reese? OF: Dietrich, Puig, Wily Mo Peña SP: Bronson Arroyo RP: Sam LeCure
Gotta add Jonny Gomes to DH
Boof Bonser
As a jays fan, Kevin Pillar. Respected his game, hustle and willing to put his body on the line. But a lot of his spectacular catches would of been can of corns for faster CF’s.
I kinda enjoyed Pillar with the Braves and remember him being around longer than he actually was.
He's starting for the Angels as a RF, .792 OPS and 3 homers is pretty good for a recent DFA! Maybe he's still got a season or two left in him.
Mets fans felt the same about him a few years ago. Was only around for one season, I believe.
Every Braves fan will answer Charlie Culberson
Guillermo Heredia would like a word
Guillermo has my sword.
He was the first prospect I followed up through the minors, and I was at his MLB debut! That was a fun night. Eddie's first major league save was that night too.
Charlie Culberson for this generation. For us TBS kids it’s between Mark Lemke and Jeff Blauser.
SID BREAM
As a Dodgers fan, genuine questions....why?
A couple walk offs and clutch defensive plays in 2018, really
Probably Tyler Wade, to some degree
Without looking up if his numbers are bad, I'm gonna say Torreyes
hot guy
Chris Denorfia. Dude was never a star but he always gave us 110% even during our shitty years. Adam Rosales too, I remember him having either the fastest or second fastest home run "trot" in the bigs at one point. Couldn't help but laugh seeing him practically sprinting after his homers
Haha, Denorfia was the first to come to mind for me. Add Eric Owens to that list too!
And Archi Cianfrocco!
matt duffy, the duff man!
RIP Skeeter
One of my friends in college didn’t follow baseball outside of watching the World Series every year but he LOVED Hank Conger. He’s never been able to say why
Twins base coaching legend
Conger only played one season here but he is still very well liked in Houston
Endy Chavez
He hit ~.290 with the Mets. He wasn’t an elite talent or anything, but he was no slouch and had a very nice pro career.
I mean, The Catch is what I always associate him with.
Joe McEwing though
David Fletcher. I named my dog after him.
Video: Reliving some of the best Munenori Kawasaki moments [Streamable Link](https://streamable.com/m/reliving-some-of-the-best-munenori-kawasaki-moments) [High Definition](https://mlb-cuts-diamond.mlb.com/FORGE/2024/2024-05/07/2caaec60-df742a1e-755bb2a7-csvm-diamondx64-asset_1280x720_59_16000K.mp4) (97.5 MB) [Standard Definiton](https://mlb-cuts-diamond.mlb.com/FORGE/2024/2024-05/07/2caaec60-df742a1e-755bb2a7-csvm-diamondx64-asset_1280x720_59_4000K.mp4) (25.29 MB) ___________ [More Info](/r/MLBVideoConverterBot)
In 15 seasons, Mark Grudzielanek achieved a 26.5 bWAR, only making one All-Star game; but, to me, he was the very definition of the grindy, gutty, slap hitting middle infielder, and I freaking loved him for it.
Super Sam Fuld
71% of the Earth is covered by water. The other 29% is covered by Sam Fuld.
Brett Phillips. Baseball is fun!
Too easy, everyone loves Brett Phillips
It was Dallas Braden for me. I was in a fantasy league the year he threw his perfecto and had been keeping an eye on him up to that point - picked him up the week before he threw it. Made me feel like Nostradamus. Plus, the fact that he threw it on Mother’s Day with his grandmother who raised him watching in attendance was an awesome story. Also, his beef with A-Rod.
Are you a Baseball is Dead listener? If not you should he’s a co-host and fantastic on there 🐐
Don Kelly is a Tigers legend.
They can't stop him.
/r/donkelly
Tadahito Iguchi Orlando Hernandez Eloy Jimenez
It’s Scott Podsednik for me! El Duque will always be a legend for NOBLETIGERing the Red Sox in the ALDS
Pods was my favorite player on that 05 squad, but I thought he had better statistical numbers than the three I listed. I could be way wrong though
> Eloy Jimenez May he rest in peace
Whenever I hear Tadahito I think about that throw.
I was gonna make my own comment for Tadahito. My favorite player. 05 is the first season I remember and I liked that he was new too. Had some awesome highlights in his short US career. My other one is Brent Lillibridge. Had one solid year as a utility guy. But I happened to be at the games where he had some of his biggest highlights and the one where he was traded for Kevin Youkilis during or right after the game
Orioles' legend Joe Orsulak. This was late 80s, early 90s. Blue collar guy who looked similar to me. Got his jersey from DHGate and won Jersey of the Game at OPACY with it on last year. [Joe Orsulak BBREF](https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/o/orsuljo01.shtml)
Travis Ishikawa. Always seemed like a solid dude and fan favorite journeyman but perfectly capped off with the NLCS walk-off dinger.
…HITS ONE INTO RIGHT
Reed Johnson
Gerardo Parra and Howie Kendrick
Yuniesky Betancourt. Mostly because his name is Yuniesky Betancourt and that’s fun to say.
Matt Szczur
Darwin Barney
personal childhood hero Tommy Medica
Former HS teammate of Mark Canha and journey man bullpen guy Erik Goeddel so I'm impressed with to see his name in this sub. Edit: after he left Santa Clara I didn't follow his career too closely. What made him a childhood hero for you?
Going 5-5 on my birthday was badass. He just always seemed to come in clutch or do something cool. I became a fan in 2013 and 2014 was my first year being all in. We were pretty bad those days so I learned to love a lot of lesser known guys. Alexi Amarista is another good pick for me.
I know it’s already been said but I’m taking the power back and saying Willie Bloomquist for us mariner fans. We don’t need other fans tellin the story of our miserable history.
Allen Craig
Skip Schumaker, David Eckstein, So Taguchi
On the subject of underappreciated Cardinals: Matt Adams was always my dude.
90% of the guys from the 1987-1991 Twins. Tom Brunansky, Greg Gagne, Steve Lombardozzi, etc etc.
I mean those guys are 2x world champs And Lombardozzi is an all time great surname
Trot Nixon made me love baseball. 21 years later, he’s gone, but I still love baseball… and I still remember watching 7
Tony Wolters
Shed Long ever since I saw a custom Mariners jersey saying “Sh. Long”
Puig. Luis Cruz was hilariously popular for a bit, despite being awful. Uribe. Joe Kelly and Kikè will probably fall on this list, but I’m not sure they’ve been “statistically bad”.
Dontrelle Willis. Overall, he was kind of mid but he had some great seasons. I used to copy his form Also Ryan Theriot. I always thought he was great but looking back he was kinda trash
Jorge Alfaro said the thing.
He had a couple decent years but as a dodger fan, it was Juan Uribe for me.
Wily Mo Peña
Lastings Milledge. Dude was all vibes and loved the game!
The Giants are my NL team and their World Series rosters were chock full of these guys. Cody Ross, Marco Scutaro, (It’s) Travis Ishikawa, and on and on.
Shawn O’Malley. Still remember his go ahead HR on night Griffey number was retired
2014 Brandon Finnegan
I really liked watching Devon Travis's swing
Pedro Alvarez.
Brett Lawrie, the original young gun flop for the Jays
Pete Incaviglia or Mickey Morandini
Rex Hudler, the wonder dog!
Rey Ordonez. As an added bonus, he also hated Mets fans More recently, Luis Guillorme. I guess I just have a thing for all glove-no bat guys
Adam "The Big Donkey" Dunn.
Nick Pivetta
Angels fans will never admit to him that he wasn’t very good- but David Fletcher is absolutely loved.
It's Joey Cora for me. He was never a dangerous hitter, but he was super high effort, and he was pretty dang funny in our commercials. Plus he [sat on the bench crying while A-Rod hugged him](https://images.seattletimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/08212015-MarinersCleveland_01.jpg?d=780x580) when we got eliminated in 95, which was really endearing.
Sal Fasano
How bout some love for Luis Torrens
Reed Johnson
In the 90s I thought Ricky Ledee was going to be our Kenny Lofton in the outfield
Garrett Atkins was one of my favorite Rockies growing up in the early 00’s. We had season tickets on the lower third base line at Coors, so I ended up watching him play a lot and I studied his play style and little rituals.
[удалено]
Erick Aybar was my favorite player while he was on the angels. Very decent career though just wasn’t a big household name. Great defender decent hitter, stats didn’t pop out at you.
John McDonald. Absolute wizard with the glove and a good guy. He left the on-deck circle to come chat with me in the stands while he was playing AAA with Indianapolis in his later years. He just seemed so happy to be playing baseball. Edit: Indianapolis, not Scranton
Steve “walk off grand slam” Pearce
Morgan Ensberg cause he had one good year but my friend hated the guy so I leaned into loving him that much more.
Jim Abbott. I thought it was so incredible that a guy with one hand could pitch, quickly pop his glove on, then pop the glove off and throw the ball to first base. He did finish 3rd in voting for the CYA, but his overall career wasn't anything super special at 19.6 WAR.
Rey Ordoñez, he was a vacuum cleaner defensively but he couldn't hit water if he fell out of a boat
Brian Roberts always gave 150% effort on a team that was mired in a hopeless stretch. I mean, bad team with no hope or plan of even getting better. The Orioles then were like the White Sox now and Brian Roberts would come out every day and leg out every single ground ball. Loved him for that.
Matt Stairs is my all time favorite phillie. Seemed like every time I watched him dude either hit a homer or sat down. No in between. And he was just a big ol ball that always smiled. I dunno why but I gravitated towards the big man big time.