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Guys everyone should like, and if you don't, you're a terrible person


Beau Vine

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OK, I'm trying to name one from every team., and I'm putting a star by the guys I feel very strongly about:

National League

East

  • Atlanta Braves -- Albies *
  • Miami Marlins -- Realmuto
  • New York Mets -- Thor
  • Philadelphia Phillies -- Can't find one.  Fuck Philadelphia
  • Washington Nationals -- Soto

Central

  • Chicago Cubs -- Lester or Baez or Bryant *
  • Cincinnati Reds -- Hamilton
  • Milwaukee Brewers -- Can I count Brett Phillips?  If not, Cain *
  • Pittsburgh Pirates -- Harrison
  • St. Louis Cardinals -- Carpenter

West

  • Arizona Diamondbacks -- You know *
  • Colorado Rockies -- Arenado
  • Los Angeles Dodgers -- Turner
  • San Diego Padres -- Hosmer?
  • San Francisco Giants -- Posey or McCutcheon *
 

American League

East

  • Baltimore Orioles -- Struggling here, choosing Adam Jones
  • Boston Red Sox -- Mookie *
  • New York Yankees -- Fuck the Yankees, but Helobius is right -- Judge
  • Tampa Bay Rays -- Archer
  • Toronto Blue Jays -- Pillar

Central

  • Chicago White Sox -- Not a clue; too shitty 
  • Cleveland Indians -- Lindor *
  • Detroit Tigers -- ???  Niko Goodrum is starting to intrigue me
  • Kansas City Royals -- Salvy, that poor bastard
  • Minnesota Twins -- How can you not like Joe Mauer?

West

  • Houston Astros -- Altuve *
  • Los Angeles Angels -- Trout has done too much damage to my teams, so Ohtani
  • Oakland Athletics -- no strong opinions about any of these guys
  • Seattle Mariners -- I have always loved Mike Leake; I don't expect anyone to agree with me
  • Texas Rangers -- Beltre *
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Present players only?

Having seen oakland play recently, I got respect for jed lowrie. I want to hate him but I can't. I like him, he's a baseball player. 

Of all time though, I think Ichiro wins this hands down

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I like Lowrie, too, except for the fact that he's so fragile.  He nearly got hurt again about 5 minutes ago.  He also played with one of my former students in the minors, and he said Lowrie was a prima donna.  Or pre-Madonna.  You choose.

And yeah, Ichiro is an all-timer.  I nearly put him for Seattle because I'm not convinced he's really retired.

Edited by Beau Vine
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I really hate that I don’t hate Betts at all. The Sox best players have always been such easily hateable douchebags until that asshole came along. A guy on the Yankees that seems to be generally loved by all is Gregorious. Super interactive on social media, is almost always smiling/laughing on the field and is always at the forefront of Yankees charity work.

For the Reds I’d add Votto, he’s long been my favorite NL player. Him throwing that foul ball almost out of Wrigley field last year was hilarious. 

 

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I’d put Farquhar in there for CWS just because he survived a brain hemorrhage. Hopefully he can make it back and if he does I bet he takes it one day at a time and enjoys the shit out of playing baseball for a living, nearly dying in the dugout has to give you a bit of perspective.

Astros bias showing, but I would put Musgrove in there for the Pirates.

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5 hours ago, spystud13 said:

The double faceguards of Hoskins is pretty fun, plus we have Jorge’s cannon for Philly. 

Yeah, Hoskins is exactly the kind of player for this list. He even yelled at one of our asshole fans recently.

I would put Scherzer over Soto on the Nats based on experience.

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9 hours ago, shakahorn said:

I know he's hurt, but how can you can not like Miggy for Detroit?  Great player, albeit on the downside of his career, played 3b and RF back in the day, love to watch him interact with the other team whenever someone gets on first.  

Stuff like this:

Quote

Included in the 41-page report released by the Florida state attorney's office Wednesday regarding the DUI arrest of Detroit Tigers star Miguel Cabrera was a sworn statement detailing the slugger's threatening encounters at a local restaurant.

Fletcher Nail, the manager on duty at Cowboys Bar-B-Q & Steak Co. on Feb. 16, said Cabrera entered the restaurant after it had stopped serving customers.

Nail said he tried to escort Cabrera out, when Cabrera said, "You don't know me ... I will kill you."

Nail said he responded with "Yes, sir, but you still have to leave."

Cabrera then issued another threat, according to Nail: "I know all you, and I will kill all of you and blow this place up."

According to Nail's statement, Cabrera left the restaurant and got into a verbal altercation with a guest before speeding off.

 

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8 hours ago, Helobious said:

I really hate that I don’t hate Betts at all. The Sox best players have always been such easily hateable douchebags until that asshole came along. A guy on the Yankees that seems to be generally loved by all is Gregorious. Super interactive on social media, is almost always smiling/laughing on the field and is always at the forefront of Yankees charity work.

For the Reds I’d add Votto, he’s long been my favorite NL player. Him throwing that foul ball almost out of Wrigley field last year was hilarious. 

 

Yeah, I disliked the Red Sox during the Ortiz years. Ortiz always somehow got a pass on the PED stuff, and I was getting really annoyed that he was being discussed as an easy Hall of Famer before it was clear that Bagwell would get in (because they played the same position and Bagwell was sooooo much better; of course, since Bagwell got in, my dislike for Ortiz has pretty much diminished, which makes little sense, but my thoughts don't always make sense). Ortiz also just kind of carried himself like a douche, and guys like Papelbon and Varitek and Pedroia were kind of annoying too. (I always liked Pedro, but he was a little before those guys' time.)

But Mookie is great, and I like Benintendi, Bradley, Bogaerts. Can't really say I hate the Red Sox anymore. 

I never really hated the Yankees either; Judge seems like a good dude, always liked Stanton, etc. 

Always kind of rooted for Segura in Seattle after his infant child passed away during the season a few years ago. And Adam Jones has been super charitable in Blatimore (I'm sure a lot of these guys have; Jones has been giving a hell of a lot of money away for a long time). 

Edited by Hank Chinaski
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Jose Ramirez and Javy Baez. Baez is obvious, but Ramirez doesn't get enough love. He's like 5'7" and pushy and always looks like he's nonplussed by everything, and he just mashes. Hits for average, hits for power, and is surprisingly fast. He's on pace 45 HR and 35 SB. Easily one of the most fun hitters to watch at the plate.

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1 hour ago, TheFlagship said:

I don’t really like Matt Carpenter, but I don’t think I could like anyone on the cardinals to be fair 

Fuck elkins hs and all the cardinals

 

Agreed with Christian Yelich, I like that dude

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i would second the votto suggestion.  i like how fiery he is with the fans, and the one encounter with the reds fan who interfered with him.  plus, whenever he's a total dick, he seems to make up for it by making cool gestures to the fans, giving them bats, signed balls, etc.  he seems like a throwback who's trying to win, not trying to be everyone's friend.

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55 minutes ago, Beau Vine said:

WTF?

I wish I could find the clip of Lester's press conference after he threw his no-hitter, about a year after his cancer went into remission.

Forgot he had cancer. Fuck, I’m an asshole. I just specifically remember not liking him on Boston, but I’m clearly the asshole 

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50 minutes ago, David Dennison said:

I love Altuve, but my answer for the Astros would be Charlie Morton.

I had to rec this post. I love the story his agent told about calling Charlie to give him the Astros offer when he was a free agent. His agent told him it was 2 years at $7M, and he said great that's $3.5M a season - let's do it. His agent said no it's $7M per season, and Morton said somebody wants to pay me $7M a season? Come playoff time old Charlie proved his worth. Wonder if Crane ever bought him that wheelbarrow that Bregman recommended?

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1 hour ago, InkaUtexas said:

McCutchen? 

i couldn't find the video, but mlb had the "this" line of commercials a few years ago, and there was one where cutch and another teammate ran to the rescue when a member of ground crew got caught underneath the tarp during a crazy rainstorm.  may not have even been in pittsburgh.  the end of the commercial shows cutch standing on his portion in the rain like he's part of the crew.  i like him for that alone.

someone better at internets can probably find it. 

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13 hours ago, spystud13 said:

Shit, I would almost add Aguilar & Shaw to Mil too. Them bitches are halfway likable. 

 

4 hours ago, youdunnf'dup said:

Also, yet another nominee for Milwaukee. I’ve always thought Lorenzo Cain was a likable guy. He always looks like he’s having fun when he’s playing. Fuck it, Milwaukee might just be my NL team this year.

f bud and his usurpers.  Never forget.

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18 hours ago, Hank Chinaski said:

You have to appreciate Trout - he's a generational talent that does everything really well. 

I'm totally with you on Altuve, Lindor and Betts - those guys are great. 

I also love Votto. 

My only thing with trout is that he has literally zero personality. Once in a lifetime type of player, but he doesn’t seem very marketable 

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8 minutes ago, youdunnf'dup said:

My only thing with trout is that he has literally zero personality. Once in a lifetime type of player, but he doesn’t seem very marketable 

He plays in LA but each year he barely cracks the top 10 in jersey sales. I also can't think of any name brands that he's sponsored by. You know he has a bunch of sponsors you just won't see him in many ads. He's also never won a playoff game in his career, and we're in year 8 already. Probably the greatest baseball player of all-time and he's doing it as under the radar as you possibly can. I really do wonder how many non-baseball fans would even recognize him if he sat next to them on a bus. A big part of that's on him, but I'd put most of it on the MLB. They need to market their stars better. 

Edited by Helobious
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2 hours ago, Goo Punch said:

C- Pudge

1B- Sean Casey

2B- Brandon Phillips

SS- Ozzie

3B- Chipper

RF- Larry Walker

CF- Kenny Lofton

LF- Manny Ramirez

DH- Papi

SP- Pedro

 

Jesus fucking Christ, Papi & Ramirez are two of the most hateable players I've ever seen play competitive sports. Ramirez with his PED use, extreme lack of hustle, and pissy not giving a shit attitude during games were so hard to watch. Interesting that Papi was a 27 year-old nobody until he became teammates with Ramirez, I can't imagine why he got so good all of a sudden. Papi also threw child-like temper tantrums whenever things didn't go his way and was extremely disliked by opposing players. Fuck both those showboating douches into eternity. 

Pedro's alright with me.

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5 hours ago, Helobious said:

Papi also threw child-like temper tantrums whenever things didn't go his way and was extremely disliked by opposing players. 

You cannot be serious.

Quote

Cubs third baseman Kris Bryant called Ortiz his hero, Angels center fielder Mike Trout went out of his way to thank him, and Fernandez told Ortiz that his jersey would be the only one displayed prominently at his house.

"An honor," Fernandez said, "just to see a superstar like that, who has given so much to this game, who has helped so many people. To see him in his last All-Star Game, it was a humbling experience, seeing how time really flies."

Ortiz's day began with a speech.

He stood in the middle of the home clubhouse wearing a gray All-Star Game T-shirt and called this "an unbelievable ride." He urged his AL teammates to "bring something to the table for your ballclub" on a daily basis, no matter how their bodies feel, and told them to set an example when they return to their teams for the second half, because, as Ortiz said, "Everybody now in your ballclub is going to be searching, looking for you guys, like, 'That's the guy that we need to follow up, so we can be in that room next year.'"

 

 
Ortiz's ASG farewell speech
Ortiz's ASG farewell speech 03:47 Jul. 12th, 2016

 

And then he said: "Let's whoop some [butt]. Because playing at home, there's nothing like playing at home [in the World Series]."

"It's just the person that he is," Bogaerts said. "He motivates us every day and he always sends such a positive message to everyone."

Ortiz approached the batter's box to a standing ovation with two outs in the bottom of the first. Cueto mixed his pitches up, then threw a couple of fastballs and could hear his dugout urging him to keep throwing them straight. The at-bat lasted eight pitches and resulted in a groundout to first base, on a ball that left Ortiz's bat at 96 mph.

"He's Big Papi," Cueto said, "and he's going to retire this year, and he's going to go through the big door with his head up."

 

 
Rizzo fields hot shot
Rizzo fields hot shot 00:22 Jul. 12th, 2016

 

Ortiz later lamented his second and final at-bat, particularly the man who pitched to him.

"I was supposed to hit a home run," he said. "My boy [Fernandez] told me that he was going to throw me nothing but fastballs, and the first pitch was a changeup. We have to discuss that later."

Fernandez basically told Ortiz he was going to groove batting-practice fastballs down the middle if they ever faced off, but it didn't necessarily turn out that way.

Fernandez started with an 80-mph pitch off the plate, which he claimed to be a fastball, then came back with three straight 95-mph heaters, one of which Ortiz barely fouled off. Then came a 90-mph pitch that missed away, a 96-mph fastball that was fouled off, and, with the count full, a sweeping curveball that brushed Ortiz back and prompted a walk.

Ortiz smiled, playfully pointed at Fernandez and shared a laugh with Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo, who was 8 years old when Ortiz made his Major League debut in 1997. A pinch-runner, Edwin Encarnacion, was called upon, and Ortiz walked off.

 

 
Big Papi introduced at ASG
Big Papi introduced at ASG 00:23 Jul. 12th, 2016

 

The second half of the final season of his historic career awaits.

It will begin with his slash line at .332/.426/.682, his home-run total at 22, and his Red Sox at 49-38.

"He's not retiring," Trout claimed, once again. "I don't think so. It's pretty special what he's doing. I talk to him all the time, tell him that he's not going to retire. But it's how his body's holding up. He's 40 years old; he might have some bad feet. But you have to give it to him -- 40 years old, going out there every day playing, putting up good numbers."

 

 

 

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6 hours ago, Helobious said:

Not one AL East player (the guys who faced him the most) mentioned anywhere in there.

you're delusional if you don't know that Papi is one of the more well-liked and well-respected players of his era. no shit that his most direct rivals weren't gushing over him the way other players were; that doesn't mean he wasn't extremely popular among players and fans alike.

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20 hours ago, TheFlagship said:

I don’t really like Matt Carpenter, but I don’t think I could like anyone on the cardinals to be fair 

I don't like him either.

 

From the Astros camp, if someone told me they did not like Evan Gattis, I'd probably cut them.

Tony Kemp seems to be a good dude too.  Needs more PT to make the national conscience.

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22 hours ago, bschoolprof said:

I hate the Yankees, but I like Didi and Judge.  They can be my wingman anytime.  

This.

I like both of those guys.

 

Shithead in LF can die in a fire.

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20 hours ago, Goo Punch said:

C- Pudge

1B- Sean Casey

2B- Brandon Phillips

SS- Ozzie

3B- Chipper

RF- Larry Walker

CF- Kenny Lofton

LF- Manny Ramirez

DH- Papi

SP- Pedro

 

Weird list of “likeable” guys. I’m a Braves fan and I wouldn’t put Chipper in my top 10 of likeable Braves over the past 25 years. 

Also, being a Braves fan...fuck Kenny Lofton. 

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