3/4/09

The Best and the Worst

Just thinking about how great Brett Gardner is got me thinking about my favorite, whether justifiably or not, and least favorite players of the past 10 or 15 years. So here's a list in no particular order:

Favorites:
JD Closser
Yorvit Torrealba
Ryan Spilborghs
Melky Cabrera
Our Lord The Savior Joba Chamberlain
Clint Barmes
Brett Gardner
Bubba Crosby
Ricky Ledee
Aaron Rowand
Orlando Hudson
Hanley Ramirez
Carl Crawford
Francisco Liriano
Aaron Small
Chone Figgins
Chuck Knoblauch
Alfonso Soriano
Ian Kinsler
Miguel Cairo
Brian McCann
Paul O'Neill
Joakim Soria
JJ Hardy
Kelley Shoppach
Troy Tulowitzki
Joey Votto

The Hated:
Manny Ramirez
Pedro Martinez
John Rocker
Eric Byrnes
Jason Varitek
Jonathan Papelbon
Curt Schilling
Carl Pavano
AJ Burnett(I'm trying to change...)
Denny Neagle
Trot Nixon
Francisco Rodriguez
Barry Bonds
Brett Myers
Brian Giles
Chipper Jones
Jose Canseco
Sammy Sosa


Thoughts? Additions? Subtractions? Reasons? Questions? Let's hear em in the comments.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

You've liked a lot of really crappy players and hated a lot of very good ones.

Anonymous said...

Haha. Yes. I have liked some pretty bad players. But, I've liked those guys because it's just fun to see the awe on their faces as they get to play in the bigs. A lot of them work really hard, which I like. Others I've seen do great things, even if it was only one time. I saw Clint Barmes' opening day walkoff home run a few years back. And I won 20 bucks betting that Spilly would hit a grand slam at one game, which he did. JD Closser used to throw me balls at Rockies games when I was younger. During the 90's everyone loved the big name guys like Jeter, Mo, Jorge, Pettitte, Clemens, and Cone, and I didn't want to be so mainstream, so I became a big fan of Ricky Ledee and Chuck Knoblauch. I always tend to like Yankee second baseman (Soriano, Knoblauch, Cairo, Cano)and Colorado catchers (Closser, Torrealba). And some of the guys I named I just like because they are great players, but don't let it go to their heads.

I have good reasons for my other list. Manny is ridiculously selfish and his Manny being Manny act is really old. Pedro was the face of Boston, and then played for the Mets, so I have to hate him. Rocker said lots of rude things about New York. Eric Byrnes talked trash in 07, and then his team lost to the Rox in the NLCS. Varitek hit A-Rod(I would too, but it was a bad time to do that). He also is way overrated. Papelbon dances like a little doofus. Schilling and Nixon questioned A-Rod's "yankeeness." They were in no position to do that. I don't consider him a "true Yankee" but Red Sox players shouldn't be questioning him. Carl Pavano is a complaining loser. Burnett is always injured and has just never seemed really friendly. Denny Neagle hired a hooker when he played in Colorado. K-Rod celebrates way too much after saves. And he's already talking trash with the Mets. Barry Bonds used steroids and is terrible with the press and the fans. Brett Myers beat his wife. Brian Giles beat his girlfriend. Chipper Jones cheated on his wife with a Hooters waitress. Jose Canseco talks about steroids too much, and used them too much. And Sammy Sosa, I just never warmed up to him. The corked bat thing was bad. The possible steroid use was bad. He just wasn't someone I ever liked.