My Favorite Baseball Player on Each Team (PART 2)
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by Romiezzo
I believe several people have been wanting me to post Part 2 of this article for a very long time now. So, here it is. Sorry, it's really short, and it only has 3 players, but I believe that the articles I'm writing are (ver much) in depth. I left off with the Chicago Cubs. Today, I'm only going to post 3 more teams starting with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Plus, I have been and am going to be really busy lately, since I have school, and APs, and all that junk. If you want to review part one, I'm going to stop at here it is.
And please remember guys, that I'm not basing my decisions based how they are currently doing. These players COULD be players that I liked in the past who WERE really good, but are now declining when it comes to the stats.
My favorite players from the Tampa Bay Devil Rays to the Los Angeles Dodgers are:
Tampa Bay Devil Rays: Carl Crawford
I don't know why, but whenever I think of the Devil Rays, I do not think of them as a losing team, but instead, I believe they're just a bunch of good athletes with a lot of potential, but not much teamwork and experience. The player who I think deserves the most recognition is the player who I picked: Carl Crawford. It was definitely a tough call between him and Scott Kazmir. They are two really good players who would definitely have better numbers and a lot more recognition if they played for teams who were consistent playoff contenders. Carl Crawford is one of those underrated players when it comes to defense and arm strength. People usually think of him more of a speedy guy who gets a lot of hits for the Devil Rays, but take a look at his fielding stats. In his 5 1/2 seasons so far, he has a career fielding percentage of about .992 with a range factor of 2.27, while the average range factor by an outfielder would have been 1.75 with all of those years combined. Even though he has great defence, you cannot help seeing all of the things he does offensively for a team like the Devil Rays. In four out of the past five full seasons he has played in the Bigs, Crawford led the league in stolen bases 3 times, and currently leads the league in stolen bases this year with 47 (7 more than Brian Roberts, who is in second place). He has also led in triples from 2004-2006. In 2006, he hit 18 homers and stole 58 bases, which marked him as first in the power/speed number category. He is definitely a truly great player who loves the game, and is definitely fun to watch, in my opinion.
Sleepers: Scott Kazmir, B.J Upton, Delmon Young
===Arizona Diamondbacks: Randy Johsnon=== 
Don't you just miss the long hair? Don't you just miss the memories, such as hitting the bird, and striking out John Kruk in the All-Star game. I grew up liking baseball in the mid-90s. There was always something about Randy Johnson that made him so great to watch, as well as respect as a baseball player. The Big Unit has done so much in his Big League career and is definitely a shoe-in for the Hall of Fame. He is tied with Greg Maddux for second most Cy Young awards in a career with five, and is also tied for the most consecutive Cy Young awards with 4 (1999-2002). He is (or was) known for having one of the best sliders and fastballs during his time playing, and, in case you didn’t know, he was a strikeout machine back in the good ol’ days. He is still third of all time for the most strikeouts in a career with 4616, and third for the most strikeouts in a season with 372. He is also 2 nd of all time with the most 300+ strikeout seasons in a career with 5 (only one behind Nolan Ryan). He is a 10 time All-Star, and a one-time World Series champion, which he won ‘’with’’ the Arizona Diamondbacks; he was World Series MVP with Curt Schilling that year as well. It is a shame that he couldn’t stay healthy for the last couple of years. If he had, he would definitely be past Roger Clemens for the most strikeouts, in my opinion, and he would have had a higher probability of being considered a better pitcher than Roger Clemens by several baseball fans. He, Sandy Koufax, (and sometimes Steve Carlton, but only when it comes to strikeouts) are always talked about when it comes to the best left-handed pitchers, and it’s always great to look back and say, “I remember watching that guy play.” Most people can’t say that about Sandy Koufax nowadays, so watching the Big Unit pitch is definitely something I’ll look back to.
Sleepers: Eric Byrnes, Orlando Hudson, Brandon Webb? (ehh..)
===Los Angeles Dodgers: Russell Martin=== 
Russell Martin: When you hear of that guy, what do you think? I’ll tell you what I think. He definitely has a lot of potential to be one of the best catchers in the business. I am saying that because he has only played for two years, but from I’ve seen, he is amazing. He is just like what Joe Mauer is to the Minnesota Twins and what Brian McCann is to the Atlanta Braves: a good, young catcher with a good bat, and a good leader. He is definitely one of those guys on the field that (in their heads) say, “I am willing to do anything to win a baseball game.” He is definitely a good catcher to have in your lineup, and I will tell you why. First of all, his bat. He is a key factor to the Dodgers’ offence. He is currently batting .298 with 17 homers and 81 RBIs. How often do you see that from a catcher in his second year? Secondly, and this may be a surprise to some of you, but his speed is pretty decent, especially for a catcher. He already has 21 stolen bases, which proves that he’ll do anything to get in scoring position just to get a run for the Dodgers. Thirdly, he has succeeded in many big game situations. In extra innings, this season, he hit a walk off grand slam. Before that, in his very first game of his career, he hit a two run double; later on that day, he tagged out a guy at the plate, and the Dodgers ended up winning that game, 4-3. You can tell the Martin definitely loves what he does for a profession, and that he’ll do whatever it takes to win games, and to make his fans happy.
Sleepers: Nomar Garciaparra, Derek Lowe
