Wow. This is seriously one of the greatest threads of all time. When I saw this thread title, I thought "What a fckin 2nd grade question." But you really never stop and think who your favorite baseball player is and see some of these names come up. It's a breath of fresh air from all of these Calculator Huggers who want to talk about vig and odds all of the time. There is a certain purity to the question that I think is missing from a lot of adults who pretend to like the game only because they have money on it. Sometimes, some things that are the most basic in life are the most brilliant.
I also find it interesting and amusing that the only form of life that Daryl Strawberry is anyones favorite baseball is in the degenerate gambling community. Yet he is mentioned twice in this thread out of like 6 posts. Only in the degenerate gambling world is 33% of the population a huge Daryl Strawberry fan.
Anyway....
I thought Chase Utley was also a very good answer. A very creative overall answer and because of the way the guy plays, he does generate a lot of interest. His teammate Ryan Howard is the easy choice. Big black guy that crushes homeruns. But Chase Utley is a very good baseball player.
I like a guy like Ichiro because of the impact he has had on the game. There were always a few Japs here and there that were big leaguers, but
they were all pitchers. Ichiro broke the barrier that said that Japanese guys could HIT the damn ball, too. And I think a major barrier was broken for baseball and made it a truly global game.
I also like Victorino from the Phillies and Johnny Gomes from Tampa. These two guys play the game the right way. They hustle and create excitement. It is so refreshing to see a guy hustle on the baseball field and not "big league" it. Meaning saggy pants, iPods in the OF, jogging to first base, signing a contract only because it is the same first two digits as your uniform number, and sleeping in the locker-room until it is time to pitch.
Overall, my favorite pitcher right now is Josh Beckett. Pitching is the name of the game and when you got a guy like this that has had all of the pressure of a top 2 pick and highly touted guy, and it doesnt intimidate you, and you go out and still shut people down when it matters the most and give your team a guaranteed 1 game lead when it matters most in the postseason....i am a fan.
I also find it interesting and amusing that the only form of life that Daryl Strawberry is anyones favorite baseball is in the degenerate gambling community. Yet he is mentioned twice in this thread out of like 6 posts. Only in the degenerate gambling world is 33% of the population a huge Daryl Strawberry fan.
Anyway....
I thought Chase Utley was also a very good answer. A very creative overall answer and because of the way the guy plays, he does generate a lot of interest. His teammate Ryan Howard is the easy choice. Big black guy that crushes homeruns. But Chase Utley is a very good baseball player.
I like a guy like Ichiro because of the impact he has had on the game. There were always a few Japs here and there that were big leaguers, but
they were all pitchers. Ichiro broke the barrier that said that Japanese guys could HIT the damn ball, too. And I think a major barrier was broken for baseball and made it a truly global game.
I also like Victorino from the Phillies and Johnny Gomes from Tampa. These two guys play the game the right way. They hustle and create excitement. It is so refreshing to see a guy hustle on the baseball field and not "big league" it. Meaning saggy pants, iPods in the OF, jogging to first base, signing a contract only because it is the same first two digits as your uniform number, and sleeping in the locker-room until it is time to pitch.
Overall, my favorite pitcher right now is Josh Beckett. Pitching is the name of the game and when you got a guy like this that has had all of the pressure of a top 2 pick and highly touted guy, and it doesnt intimidate you, and you go out and still shut people down when it matters the most and give your team a guaranteed 1 game lead when it matters most in the postseason....i am a fan.
