The Most Exciting Players I’ve Seen
J.D. Arney at Red Reporter has written a great post about exciting players he’s seen over the years. As you might expect, his list contains a fair amount of Reds. Actually, it contains only Reds, because — well, he’s the Red Reporter. Get it?
Anyway, I thought it might be fun to take this concept and extend it. Here are the most exciting players I’ve ever seen:
C: I’m not sure that I’ve encountered any “exciting” catchers. (I’m guessing Ivan Rodriguez, but I’ve only seen him play once or twice.) Maybe early Benito Santiago. I enjoyed watching Mike Piazza play for the Padres in 2006, even though he was well past his prime by then. My all-time favorite at the position is probably Mike Scioscia, who I grew up watching.
1B: Rod Carew was near the end of his career when I saw him play for the Angels, as was Eddie Murray when he played for the Dodgers. I’m going to call this a toss-up between Fred McGriff (’91-’92) and Adrian Gonzalez. I also really loved the way Andres Galarraga handled himself at the position, although I didn’t get to see him nearly as often. Great footwork for such a big dude.
2B: Technically, Steve Sax was pretty exciting, but I don’t think that’s quite what we’re going for here. I have only vague recollections of Bobby Grich toward the end of his career and Roberto Alomar at the beginning of his. I grew up in an era of very unexciting second basemen — Glenn Hubbard, Ron Oester, Tommy Herr, Johnny Ray, etc. I’ll go with Craig Biggio, with an honorable mention to Ryne Sandberg. If I’d watched more of the American League, I’m sure that Frank White and Lou Whitaker would be here as well.
3B: Ken Caminiti. Yeah, it may have been tainted by PEDs, but he carried the ‘96 Padres on his back. I’ll always have fond memories of that. Honorable mention goes to Mike Schmidt, who obviously was the much better player but whom I didn’t see nearly as often.
SS: I almost feel obligated to say Ozzie Smith, but I didn’t see him play a lot. The guy I grew up watching, Bill Russell, may have been the least exciting I’ve ever seen at the position. Alfredo Griffin was exciting, but not always in a good way. Tony Fernandez? Eh, not quite. Dick Schofield? No. Cal Ripken? Robin Yount? Alan Trammell? Didn’t see them enough. Same with Barry Larkin. You know who I’m going to say? This is almost by default and he was a terrible hitter, but I think it might be Shawon Dunston. Wait, how about Omar Vizquel. Way to commit, huh?
OF: Rickey Henderson. Dude was playing a completely different game.
OF: Tim Raines. Not just because of all the Hall of Fame attention. He wasn’t quite as disruptive as Henderson, but pretty much everyone in the history of baseball falls short by that standard. Raines was plenty troublesome.
OF: Tony Gwynn. Easily the best hitter I’ve ever seen.
OF: Eric Davis. I’m stealing one from J.D.’s list here because, man, Davis was unreal in the outfield. Probably the best defensive outfielder I’ve seen.
OF: Kenny Lofton. Yeah, Lofton. I’m thinking specifically of his playoff performances with the Indians in the mid-’90s. Electric player.
OF: Bo Jackson. Probably the best athlete I’ve ever seen play baseball. He had holes in his swing the size of Montana, but the guy could hit the ball a mile. He’s also the fastest man I’ve seen from the right side. I distinctly remember him knocking three infield singles in one of his first big-league games. My recollection is that at least two of those were routine grounders that would have been outs with anyone else at the plate.
Well, that was fun. How about you? Who makes your list?
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5 opinions for The Most Exciting Players I’ve Seen
Larry
Jan 21, 2008 at 11:12 am
Our perceptions are founded on somewhat different times and very different geographical locations. That said; though Mantle was a catalyst toward my baseball devotion, by the time I understood any of what I was looking at (other than score,) The Mick was in his sad decline stage. Ditto Mays. I never saw Musial or Williams play, either, so my outfield is peopled by more recent players:
C: Gary Carter, even though I saw all of Bench’s career. Carter came later, and upped the ante. Jorge Posada may yet raise it another couple bucks.
1b: Hands down, Keith Hernandez. The most exciting (perhaps foolhardy,) intense, intimidating fielder of my lifetime, and a professional hitter who, in his prime, appeared to be as clutch as anyone in the game. And he had a beautiful swing.
2b: Oddly, no one jumps to mind. Bobby Grich, maybe?
SS: Ozzie, Ozzie, Ozzie. And he kinda learned to hit as he aged, too.
3b: Mike Schmidt. I really enjoyed watching Brooks and Graig play, but Schmidt has to rank as one of the great third basemen all time, doesn’t he?
OF: Ken Griffey, Jr. (Wow, how did you leave him off your list? OK, he’s become a shell of his former self, but Man!) Then no one, no one, no one. Then
OF: Eric Davis. The original Crash Davis. He coulda been a contender, but for one brief shining moment, he was The Man.
OF: Carlos Beltran. Quiet, steady - with some minor dips and peaks, fast, powerful, and to all appearances, a very plus fielder.
And a note: Alex Rodriguez is hands down the best ballplayer I have ever seen. He has an insufficient body of work at either SS or Third, but the one season I watched him live in Seattle just blew me away. He was the whole package, and even out of position, I don’t see that he has materially changed.
anthony
Jan 21, 2008 at 11:41 am
I can’t come up with all the positions but here are a few that stick out:
C: Tony Pena. The most exciting catcher I’ve ever seen. Sitting on his butt with one leg folded under, firing the ball down to first on pick off attempts and just generally being a high energy guy.
P: Nolan Ryan was exciting, awe inspiring even. When he was on he was the very definition of unhittable.
OF: Bo Jackson was electrifying in the field, at the plate and on the bases. Even with his short career the man is a combination of Paul Bunyan and Bill Braske. The stories people tell about Bo remind me of the stories you hear about Negro Leaguers.
OF: Dave Parker in the field, Reggie Jackson at the plate in the World Series. Ichiro is amazing too, you always have the feeling that you’re going to see something no one has ever seen before.
I hate to say it but a Barry Bonds at bat with the game on the line was always one of the most exciting things in baseball. Seeing a juice induced Barry homerun was a marvel of science.
Geoff Young
Jan 21, 2008 at 12:21 pm
Larry: Good stuff. I forgot about Carter. Didn’t see much of Hernandez, but the description reminds me of another guy that I probably should have included: J.T. Snow.
Anthony: Good call on Parker and Ichiro. I remember Parker’s great arm. That reminds me, I could’ve included Ellis Valentine and Vlad Guerrero on that basis.
Ryan
Jan 22, 2008 at 1:28 am
I won’t go through every position, but here are a few that stand out to me:
2B: I never saw Biggio or Sandberg in person, so Robbie Alomar was the best for me. The fact that he won 10 Gold Gloves and 4 Silver Slugger Awards is a testament to his all-around skills.
SS: Cal Ripken Jr.– no doubt about it. In the late 90s / early 2000s we got used to power at the shortstop position because of A-Rod, Tejada and to some extent, Nomar. But the fact is, Ripken was basically a freak of nature at the position for most of his career.
3B: With all due respect to Mike Schmidt, my vote goes to George Brett. I think he only won one Gold Glove, but he was the best hitting third baseman I’ve ever seen.
OF: Ken Griffey Jr.– Injuries have obviously taken their toll, but in his prime he was as good as anyone who has ever played the game.
OF: Ricky Henderson–I’m actually not a big fan of his, but he’s the only position player I’ve ever seen who could completely dominate a baseball game.
OF: Bo Jackson– Unfortunately, I didn’t see him play until he was with the White Sox (after his football injury), but he was one of the most talented athletes we’ll ever see.
Honorable mention: Ichiro– With his speed, even routine groundouts are fun to watch.
Good idea for a post. This was fun.
Geoff Young
Jan 22, 2008 at 4:57 pm
Wish I’d seen more of the AL guys. The one chance I had to see Ripken came in his final season. We drove up to Anaheim (60-70 mins away), but he never got into the game. Oh well.
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