tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8308814967611371361.post5979037799756240227..comments2009-08-18T13:35:17.902-05:00Comments on wezen-ball.com: Finding Joe Shlabotniklarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17314820003835656973noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8308814967611371361.post-9965283104975125552009-05-01T00:55:00.000-05:002009-05-01T00:55:00.000-05:00Cody Ransom is actually a pretty good Shlabotnik p...Cody Ransom is actually a pretty good Shlabotnik pick. He's most famous for this game: http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/LAN/LAN200410020.shtml<br /><br />where his 9th inning error on a routine ground ball setup Steve Finley's grand slam that cost the Giants the division.Paul Dylanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07192176088488705736noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8308814967611371361.post-91111468221848445482009-04-30T13:54:00.000-05:002009-04-30T13:54:00.000-05:00Good choices. The Bannister choice in particular. ...Good choices. The Bannister choice in particular. I almost asked Joe about who would be his Duane Kuiper of today, but it seemed a little too obvious that he would choose Banny, so I didn't.<br /><br />Rivas is an interesting choice. I've never watched him, so does he have a fan base already? I can think of players like Jose Uribe in San Francisco who probably had a bigger fanbase than he should have (they really loved the "Jo-se Ooooooooooooooo-Ri-be!" introduction). I wonder if Rivas is like that (or if there are others in that same vein).larhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17314820003835656973noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8308814967611371361.post-44192348258499093462009-04-28T11:59:00.000-05:002009-04-28T11:59:00.000-05:00I nominate Luis Rivas, even though I hate watching...I nominate Luis Rivas, even though I hate watching him play baseball with every fiber of my soul. Rivas, like Kuiper, was an everyday player early in his career, playing regularly for my beloved Twins for most of his first six seasons in the league despite not being very good at all either on offense or defense. Actually, they may as well be the same player. Terrible offense (Kuiper 82 OPS+, Rivas 78), middling to poor defense. The only difference, it seems to me, is that the league has caught on to Rivas' general uselessness a lot faster.<br /><br />That said, I have to acknowledge that there are people out there who, inexplicably, must worship Oh-for-three-vas, in the same way I impulsively became a Terry Mulholland fan in 1986 because I liked his baseball card, or a Johnny Moses fan because of the switch-hitting, the mustache, and the speed.The Common Manhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09994070642805307798noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8308814967611371361.post-56168933998080872932009-04-28T10:33:00.000-05:002009-04-28T10:33:00.000-05:00He may have had a little too much success to be a ...He may have had a little too much success to be a true Joe Shlabotnik, but I'll nominate Brian Bannister. Sure, he may have gotten too much pub from Posnanski and from sabermetricians who both appreciate his intellectual side and think he can't pitch. But as far as a guy who never wowed the scouts, was never a prospect, and gets it done with hard work rather than super-human skills, I think he fits the bill. Yeah, he can still throw the ball harder than you or I could, but we can appreciate the fact that he was a walk-on in college, converted to pitching because he wasn't good enough to be a position player, and got to where he is because of hard work, love of the game, and a willingness to study the game to learn how he could make himself better. He may be my favorite current Royal, based on his personality and work ethic more than on his abilities or stats. He's a guy I'll root for wherever he goes, and no matter how good or bad he ends up being.Bretthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13312404601698917806noreply@blogger.com