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Originally Posted by SteelSD
Hard work and hustle are always appreciated. Always. The problem is that most- if not all- fans have no earthy clue how hard a player works.
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It also means that fans that mean well, but identify with visable signs of hustle can also overlook the actual "behind-the-sceens" hard work (which is usually far more valuable).
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I copied part of my quote to demonstrate that we are saying the same thing. I agree that fans often overvalue the wrong forms of hustle. I place a premium on hard work, most casual fans want to see some tanagable "result" of hard work. Unfortunatley, those tangable results in many cases have nothing to do with producing runs.
But I'm glad you brought up "Chuck" Norris Hopper. The oft derided player who acomplished....
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was recalled from Class AAA Louisville, where he was an International League All-Star and the Bats' Most Valuable Player (98g, .347, 25sb)...was the leading votegetter among IL All-Star outfielders...led the IL and ranked second in all of Class AAA with the highest batting average in Louisville franchise history (.347)...was Louisville's first batting champion since Cardinals farmhand Dmitri Young led the league in 1996...his BA ranked 12th among all minor league hitters...while with the Bats he struck out just 25 times in 383 plate apps...
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Not too shabby. I imagine it took many hard hours of workouts, watching tape, time spent in the cage, etc to obtain what shoud be considered an acomplishment and the mark of the type of player that would be handy to have around......Yet here at Reds zone he's mocked as a result of the insinuation that he should replace Dunn (which is a horrable, horrable idea). That's what I meant about the "rush to be clever". This kid worked hard and achieved some good things in AAA, I'd call that hustle. Does that equal MLB success, maybe, maybe not. Do I want an entire team of Hoppers? Of course not. Do I want to see Hopper in the line-up every day? Oh God no.
But because he's somehow linked to Dunn, and becuase he's been praised by a certian evil radio broadcaster it's snide comments about [/insert dripping sarcasim and rolled eyes] "he's a run producer" [/end sarcasim] and routine mockery. Here's a kid who could be a usefull 4th OF type for a couple of years (especially considering the age of Jr, the injury-proneness of Hamilton and we don't want to see Freel out there every day) yet on RZ he's cast aside.