While driving around this morning I listened to our local Sunday morning sports talk radio show. I know my expectations shouldn’t be high for that sort of thing, but I heard something really disturbing. The host was discussing the homerun derby participants for tomorrow night and claimed that none of the eight players intrigued him at all. Here are the eight contestants:
Justin Morneau
Grady Sizemore
Evan Longoria
Josh Hamilton
Ryan Braun
Chase Utley
Dan Uggla
Lance Berkman
I can understand how people would like to see some of the big name bashers compete — Alex Rodriguez, Ryan Howard, Adam Dunn, and Manny Ramirez, for example. But this host’s point was that he just wasn’t interested in of any of the eight guys actually participating. To me, if you have no interest in the storylines of these guys, you’re not really a baseball fan.
- Justin Morneau was the 2006 AL MVP and is beloved here in Rochester because of his time on the Twins’ AAA team. Seems strange that a local radio host has no interest in a local boy.
- Grady Sizemore is one of the ten best players in the game today and probably the most complete player — power, patience, speed, and defense. If Joe DiMaggio was reincarnated, he’d be Grady Sizemore.
- Evan Longoria is the best rookie in the majors, the best player on the most surprising team, and recently signed a nine-year contract after only eight major league games. Nope, nothing interesting there.
- Josh Hamilton has been one of the biggest baseball talents for almost a decade, but only recently overcame personal demons and fulfilled his potential. There will be a movie about him some day.
- Ryan Braun, well, if there’s anything he’s good at in baseball, it’s hitting homeruns. He’s hit the second-most homeruns over the past year.
- Lance Berkman has hit the fifth most homeruns over the past two years, just ahead of Albert Pujols.
- Dan Uggla was a Rule V draft pick a few years ago and has turned into an All-Star. In 2008 he appears to have figured out his fielding issues and is once again an offensive force. Oh, and he’s tenth on the two-year homerun list.
- Chase Utley has been a more productive player than the two reigning NL MVPs the past two seasons and is one of the top ten players in the majors. If you want interesting, the Vegas under/over for the number of times Utley gets hit with a pitch in the homerun derby is 1.5.
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Sky is a baseball fan and racket sport afficianado living in upstate NY. His favorite color is orange and is just about ready to give up on his life-long dream to become the next Magnus ver Magnuson (World's Strongest Man). His favorite baseball teams are the Yankees and Red Sox, proving that there's hope in the Middle East.
July 14th, 2008 at 9:03 am
Place Your Bets…
Great line: …the Vegas under/over for the number of times [Chase] Utley gets hit with a pitch in the homerun derby is 1.5. [link: skyking162.com]…
July 14th, 2008 at 11:41 am
I think people just haven’t gotten to know these guys yet.
These are all younger players with less established reputations that many fans may not recognize. (I mean, I watch alot of baseball, but I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t recognize Uggla, Utley or Braun if they walked by me)
Josh Hamilton’s an interesting one too.
I didn’t appreciate Josh Hamilton fully until I saw him up close in BP.
He has one of most powerful looking swings I have ever seen. It’s not a graceful power like a Griffey or Arod, it’s a “violent” power that simply looks awesome.
Same thing, to a lesser extent with Ryan Braun (though I’ve never seen him play in person).
Also, do you think this is the first HR Derby with 2 Rule 5 players?
Or 2 2Bs? (Seriously the “Power Hitting 2B”? Where did that come from? Was Bret Boone a pioneer?)
July 14th, 2008 at 11:51 am
People should know Berkman, Sizemore, Morneau, and Utley, based on how long they’ve been around. And I think people DO know Braun, as evidenced by his huge fan vote (and 2007 fantasy baseball awesomeness.) Uggla, Hamilton, and Longoria are somewhat acceptable as not being household names, yet.
Do you think face recognition is that important to people? If so, will all these guys be hugely popular after the Derby?
Who’s the other Rule 5 guy?
July 14th, 2008 at 3:42 pm
[…] time someone is hit by a pitch (h/t skyking via Balls, Sticks, and […]
July 14th, 2008 at 6:23 pm
Hamilton.
Yeah, Berkman is probably recognizable, but Morneau, Sizemore and Utley have been in the league, what, 3-4 years? I mean, I’ve been thinking about Sizemore since 2000, when he spurned the Washington Huskies to play pro ball, but clearly I have issues. Most people only start thinking about a player once he starts producing in the majors. (you are an outlier, as it were)
I think the big thing is that it used to be that guys entered this thing that had established reputations for HR greatness. I don’t think there’s any question that this question has the least total HRs of any HR derby participant set ever (by a long shot). Not a necessarily a bad thing, but I think the implication from your radio host is that Evan Longoria with 16 career HRs wouldn’t have been allowed near this contest in anytime before this year.
It’s like how the slam dunk contest used to get Michael Jordan and Dominique Wilkens, and now gets Jamario Moon and Gerald Green.
July 16th, 2008 at 11:35 am
Evidently I grossly underestimate how long it takes for people to learn about good major league baseball players. Four years? Yikes.
Josh Hamilton won’t have to wait that long, though. Yikes.
July 21st, 2008 at 6:23 am
Always good to read about baseball and its players, I’ve played since a kid..
Can I ask though - how did you get this picked up and into google news?
Very impressive, is it something that is just up to Google or you actively created?
Obviously this is a popular blog with great data so well done on your seo success..