JEA
08-23-2006, 12:22 AM
(I apologize if this has already been posted in another thread.)
I heard tonight that Adam Dunn won the Heart and Hustle Award. After hitting google, I found this description of the award:
"The Major League Baseball Players Alumni Association has launched the Heart and Hustle Award. It goes to the player "who demonstrates the passion for the game of baseball and best embodies the values, spirit and traditions of the game of baseball." All 30 teams recognize an individual nominee from their club, and the nominees are selected by former players from that particular team. Later this summer, some 3,200 of the 5,000 living former players who are members of the association will vote for this year's winner."
I want to comment on this award, but I've spent enough time lurking around RedsZone to know I'm venturing into dangerous waters. And I plead that this doesn't turn into a pro/anti Dunn argument because there's potential for a really interesting discussion here.
Let me preface my comments by saying that I am extremely grateful that Adam Dunn is a part of the Cincinnati Reds. I believe he is one of the game's most underrated players who just happens to have what is perhaps the most outspoken fan club. I understand that his faults are far outweighed by his strengths, which at this point, put him among very unique company in the game's history.
With that said, I have absolutely no idea how Adam Dunn won this award.
My disbelief has nothing to do with Adan Dunn's on-field performance; it has more to do with his competition.
When I think of "heart and hustle," the first person who comes to mind is Ryan Freel. It's a no-brainer to me. He is the epitome of hustle, and his love for the game is obvious. Read the stories and check out the photos of the Reds off the field events, and you always see Freel. A few weeks ago he was at the Reds' summer baseball league. I saw him in an ad for the Cincinnati public library encouraging kids to read. He is also one of the guys you see often signing autographs before a game. He's scrappy and old-school and a throwback and all those other things that crusty old retired baseball guys just love to see in today's players. He makes the highlight reels, he plays with no fear and he gets his uniform dirty. He is, to the average baseball fan, simply cool. And to the MLBPAA guys, he's one of them.
Dunn, on the other hand, is one of those guys the old-timers just can't seem to appreciate. His average stinks, they say, and he strikes out too much and doesn't get the runners over and in. He doesn't hustle, they say. He looks out of shape and loafs it. They remember a handful of botched defensive plays and believe them to be daily occurences. OBP, OPS, runs created and win shares? How many MLBPAA vets can even define, let alone explain, these stats?
So I ask, how did Dunn win this award? I'm stumped. Have the alumni wised up? Did they even really choose him or was the choice pushed upon them? Do they love home runs a whole lot more than I realized?
My questions really have nothing to do with Dunn's actual value to the club. Instead, it has to do with his reputation in baseball's community of retired players, who usually don't seem to be his biggest proponents. Whether you love or hate Dunn, you have to admit that he doesn't have the greatest reputation of "heart and hustle" in most baseball circles.
So how exactly did Dunn win this award?
(EDIT: I forgot to mention that Freel's alcohol-related charges could seriously impact his adherence to the "values" part of the award. That could be another reason voters didn't choose him.)
I heard tonight that Adam Dunn won the Heart and Hustle Award. After hitting google, I found this description of the award:
"The Major League Baseball Players Alumni Association has launched the Heart and Hustle Award. It goes to the player "who demonstrates the passion for the game of baseball and best embodies the values, spirit and traditions of the game of baseball." All 30 teams recognize an individual nominee from their club, and the nominees are selected by former players from that particular team. Later this summer, some 3,200 of the 5,000 living former players who are members of the association will vote for this year's winner."
I want to comment on this award, but I've spent enough time lurking around RedsZone to know I'm venturing into dangerous waters. And I plead that this doesn't turn into a pro/anti Dunn argument because there's potential for a really interesting discussion here.
Let me preface my comments by saying that I am extremely grateful that Adam Dunn is a part of the Cincinnati Reds. I believe he is one of the game's most underrated players who just happens to have what is perhaps the most outspoken fan club. I understand that his faults are far outweighed by his strengths, which at this point, put him among very unique company in the game's history.
With that said, I have absolutely no idea how Adam Dunn won this award.
My disbelief has nothing to do with Adan Dunn's on-field performance; it has more to do with his competition.
When I think of "heart and hustle," the first person who comes to mind is Ryan Freel. It's a no-brainer to me. He is the epitome of hustle, and his love for the game is obvious. Read the stories and check out the photos of the Reds off the field events, and you always see Freel. A few weeks ago he was at the Reds' summer baseball league. I saw him in an ad for the Cincinnati public library encouraging kids to read. He is also one of the guys you see often signing autographs before a game. He's scrappy and old-school and a throwback and all those other things that crusty old retired baseball guys just love to see in today's players. He makes the highlight reels, he plays with no fear and he gets his uniform dirty. He is, to the average baseball fan, simply cool. And to the MLBPAA guys, he's one of them.
Dunn, on the other hand, is one of those guys the old-timers just can't seem to appreciate. His average stinks, they say, and he strikes out too much and doesn't get the runners over and in. He doesn't hustle, they say. He looks out of shape and loafs it. They remember a handful of botched defensive plays and believe them to be daily occurences. OBP, OPS, runs created and win shares? How many MLBPAA vets can even define, let alone explain, these stats?
So I ask, how did Dunn win this award? I'm stumped. Have the alumni wised up? Did they even really choose him or was the choice pushed upon them? Do they love home runs a whole lot more than I realized?
My questions really have nothing to do with Dunn's actual value to the club. Instead, it has to do with his reputation in baseball's community of retired players, who usually don't seem to be his biggest proponents. Whether you love or hate Dunn, you have to admit that he doesn't have the greatest reputation of "heart and hustle" in most baseball circles.
So how exactly did Dunn win this award?
(EDIT: I forgot to mention that Freel's alcohol-related charges could seriously impact his adherence to the "values" part of the award. That could be another reason voters didn't choose him.)