I'd Be Scrappy If I Were White
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by user DNL
After thinking it over, I'm more and more convinced that there are non-white players who can accurately be described as "scrappy." Or, rather, that there are a lot of players out there who would be described as scrappy but for the color of their skin.
So, I've decided to create a list, and I need everyone's help.
I've created a page called List of baseball players who could accurately be described as "scrappy," had they been born Caucasian. I'd like your help and the help of your friends in building this list. Read the rest, then go and edit that page.
Here's my thought process, but feel free to modify if as you deem appropriate.
I put together a list of all the guys -- white guys, as noted before -- who were described as scrappy. In the end, I came up with this list of examples of scrappiness which I can truly relate to.
I tried to determine what each of these guys had in common, and came up with:
- Position -- either middle infield or some sort of weird utility use. Rose is an issue there, kind of, but he played some 2B and was basically a Bill Hall-type who could play anywhere -- so, a "utility" player without the negative connotation.
- "Doubles-Power." That's a nice way of saying that the guy isn't hitting a lot of homers.
- "Good speed." That's a nice way of saying that the guy isn't stealing 50 bases.
- The ability to stay employed even when it's clear you suck.
I think that's pretty much it. You'll note that Craig Biggio doesn't make my list. I think that's because he's just too good. Eight seasons of 20+ homers. Won a SB crown and was #2 in another year, swiping 50. He's a victim of reverse-scrappy-racism -- people think he's scrappy because he's white and gets hit by pitches. But he's not.
You'll also note that Pete Rose did make my list. He belongs. He's one of those guys who, probably, wasn't all that talented, but worked hard and hated to lose. "Charlie Hustle," after all. Not to put much stock into RBI, but let's put it this way: Rose is #1 overall in career hits, and #86 in RBI. Above him are such luminaries such as Ruben Sierra, Gary Gaetti, and Chili Davis.
From that, I came up with a couple of benchmarks. Position is straight-forward.
- At least 8 years in the bigs. I guess this should nix Joe McEwing, who had seven "full" years and then two cups of coffee, but whatever. The basic idea is that you should be able to hang around well after it's clear that you're mostly junk.
- More career SB than HR.
- No more than 15 homers in a season more than once; twice if you play for 10+ years.
- No leading the league in SB.
- No more than 3 times in the top 5 in SB.
- A lot of times caught stealing. We don't want you to be a good basestealer, just "gritty".
- At least one season as a full-time starter.
- Can't be a defensive specialist.
- Bonus Points: Top 10 finishes in HBP. Do Biggio proud!
- Bonus Points: Roughly as many triples as homers. This suggests that you're not really fast, because you have so few homers, but you're probably going to tough it out for the extra base. Think Rose (135 triples, 160 homers).
Before we get to my list, here are some guys who I thought would make it, but didn't:
- Harold Reynolds. In 1987, he stole 60 bases, to lead the league. It's too bad, because I think he's as close as it comes otherwise. Check out 1988 -- 35 stole bases and 29 (!) times caught. Only 26 doubles to 11 triples. That's just wrong. The dude just couldn't help himself, running around with reckless abandon. What was he on, crack? Do they sell that at Boston Market?
- Rey Sanchez. Would make it, but he wasn't gritty -- just "all glove".
- Marco Scutaro. Hasn't played long enough. Also has too few stolen bases. That'll change once he's in Kansas City.
- Randy Velarde. 100 homers, 78 SB. Also has an unassisted triple play. The runners were in motion, and someone hit a soft liner to him. He touched second and tagged the guy coming from first. That's a very un-scrappy way to turn an unassisted triple play. Pete Rose would have dove into second, just to get dirty. That's scrappy. Randy Velarde isn't scrappy, so I'm glad he had too many homers.
On to the list:
- Miguel Cairo. 118 SB, cracking top 10 only once. 27 career homers. Put up a .251/.296/.324 line in 2005 with the Mets, in 327 AB -- and has picked up another 300 or so since with the Yankees. Bonus points: 4th in the AL in HBP (14) in 2004. Double-bonus: 25 career triples, for a 3B:HR ratio of 0.925. Sweet.
- Felix Milan. The Wally Backman of the 1973 Mets! Swiped 67 bases (to 43 caught stealing). 22 homers. 38 triples doesn't really get him a bonus, but seven years out of 13 in the top 10 in HBP -- including one league lead -- does. Welcome to the club!
- Jose Vizcaino. 18 seasons. EIGHTEEN seasons. 38 homers. That's two a year! That's awful! 47 triples, 74 SB, 62 CS. That's atrocious! And he certainly wasn't in for his glove -- the guy had 948 games at shortstop, and another 700+ at the other three infield positions combined. He's like the Latino version of Joe McEwing, only that his career was almost three times as long.
- Marlon Anderson. 59 homers, 66 stolen bases. If his first name were David and he could get a tan, the Royals would have given him a three year, $6 million deal. Speaking of which, where'd Tony Graffanino go?
- Julio Franco. Okay, he obviously is still paying, long since it's been determiend that he was crappy. I mean, he's been crappy since 1997. Sure, he was 38 at the time, but still. Anyway: 173 homers, 281 SB, 23 year career. Never cracked the top 5 in SB, although -- one slight negative -- did make top 10 four times. A big positive: On 3-0 counts, he'll step out of the batter's box as the pitch is coming in; a kind of "screw you" to a pitcher, but in a subdued kind of way. Oh, and he's 48 and still playing.
- Willie Randolph. Yes, Willie Randolph. A bit high on the SB side, with 271 over 18 years, but 65 triples to 54 homers is near-perfect. Managed to get almost 300 at basts with the Mets in 1992.
So, instead of leaving your players in the comments, edit this master list. Be a good wiki-user!
