The All-Grit Team
by Jeff Sackmann on Jul 14, 2008 12:20 PM CDT
in Statistical Analysis
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PrintI'm not exactly an authority on grit, but it was about time someone named an All-Grit Team. All-Star Week seemed appropriate.
- C Jason Kendall
- 1B Platoon: Doug Mientkiwicz / Kevin Millar
- 2B Mark Grudzielanek
- 3B Ryan Freel
- SS David Eckstein
- LF Scott Podsednik
- CF Aaron Rowand
- RF Eric Byrnes
If a DH were needed, the all-grit team would do one of two things:
- Bat the pitcher, because truly gritty players are throwbacks to when pitchers could hit for themselves
- Go with Willie Bloomquist.
The bench is a little unbalanced--in addition to the eight starters, 1B platoon, and Bloomquist, that leaves four or five spots. Again, these guys are throwbacks, so a 10-man pitching staff would have to do the job. That leaves two roster spots for Craig Counsell (team captain) and Nick Punto and three more for backup catchers. Doesn't really matter which ones, though I think Paul Bako has to be on the team.
It doesn't matter that there aren't any backup outfielders, because any truly gritty player can play anywhere in the diamond. In that sense, there are twelve backup outfielders. Similarly, it doesn't really matter which outfielders are assigned to which position, since any of the three could play center, but they, of course, will play wherever they're needed.
I haven't figured out what to do about the pitching staff, since pitchers aren't generally considered gritty in the same way that position players are. It seems that gritty pitchers are generally guys who have hung on past their prime (like Jamie Moyer) or lefty relievers (like Brian Shouse) or both.
You may note that I didn't include a batting lineup--the list above is just the fielding alignment. That's going to be a serious problem for manager Gabe Kapler--left to their own devices, everyone on this team would bat second.
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Terrible
How is Darin Erstad not on this list? Preening peacocks like Eric Byrnes are too pretty to be gritty.
by Marty McSuperFly on Jul 14, 2008 12:28 PM CDT reply actions
But Byrnes runs into walls!
Walls, I tell you!
Maybe Erstad can get a roster spot if the all-grit team is willing to go with only three catchers.
Also, cheese.
by Jeff Sackmann on Jul 14, 2008 12:31 PM CDT up reply actions
Theriot, Pedroia, and Youkilis
I think these guys could find there way on that list too, especially Youkilis, that guy’s face just screams Grit.
I'm not sure...
Youk and Pedroia might be too good. It’s tough to be both all-grit and all-star these days.
Also, cheese.
by Jeff Sackmann on Jul 14, 2008 12:51 PM CDT up reply actions
Pitcher nominations
I would think a gritty pitcher can hit for power (though that would be a liability for grittiness if they weren’t a pitcher) and pitches despite injury…
Coffee is for closers
oooh...
I’ve got two pitcher nominations
Jeff Cirillo
Rick Ankiel
Position players who CAN pitch.
by PagsBrewCrew on Jul 14, 2008 3:52 PM CDT up reply actions
Backup backstop
Joe Dillon has to be somewhere on that list of backup catchers. Just because he’s never played the position before doesn’t mean he wouldn’t be a grit-perfect fit.
You couldn’t probably bring him in as an 8th-inning setup guy, too. Frankly, I was stunned Dillon didn’t have a place on the team as I was reading the post. Eric Byrnes? He’s still chasing his dog somewhere out in McCovey Cove.
by Bay View Brewer on Jul 14, 2008 1:08 PM CDT reply actions
Damn keys
Should have typed “You COULD probably bring him in as an 8th-inning setup guy, too.” Stupid typing machine thingy …
by Bay View Brewer on Jul 14, 2008 1:09 PM CDT up reply actions
Not to take this thread a different direction...
...but it is interesting that all of the players on the list are white….no black players, no Hispanics, no Asians…
I certainly don’t think it is an issue with Jeff, but rather how the public/press as a whole perceive players.
the "other" races
...are too quick to be gritty:P
by PagsBrewCrew on Jul 14, 2008 3:53 PM CDT up reply actions
I am sure when the human genome project is completed...
We will find that race and grittiness are related.
It’s like the sickle cell thing.
White people genetically adapted “grit” due to environmental conditions in Europe rewarding grit.
by Braun Holio on Jul 14, 2008 10:28 PM CDT up reply actions
Me too...
But I dominate our “hustling up the line” category.
by Braun Holio on Jul 14, 2008 10:30 PM CDT up reply actions
Pedro and Wakefield deserve spots
Anyone willing to brawl with a 194 year old Don Zimmer and threaten to hit other players in the head before/during/after deserves to be on the team. Are you gonna tell him no?
And Wakefield has to be gritty. I swear I have more athletic ability that he does.
yeah
before I gave up on including pitchers, Wakefield was on the list. Pretty much any knuckleballer is in the running.
Also, cheese.
by Jeff Sackmann on Jul 14, 2008 2:32 PM CDT up reply actions
I would include the Turnbow types, too
Throwing as hard as they can with no idea where it’s going. They are basically throwing a knuckball, it just arrives faster.
by Getting Yosted on Jul 14, 2008 2:37 PM CDT up reply actions 1 recs
In a pinch
Freel and Bloomquist could play the outfield.
The best lineup using 2008 stats, combining Mientkiewicz vs. RHP and Millar vs. LHP into one guy named Millkiewicz and using an average NL pitcher, would be:
Millkiewicz
Rowand
Eckstein
Erstad
Grudzielanek
Podsednik
Freel
Pitcher
Kendall
They would score a gritty 4.213 runs per game, placing them 13th in the current NL ahead of the Dodgers, Giants, Padres, and Nationals.
Obscure baseball records and more at my blog, Recondite Baseball.
Bases loaded BB/HBP
Something I refer to as an “Overbay RBI”.
C. Magruder scored, R. Weeks to second on balk
so...
who do the all-grit allstars play against?
the all-gimp allstars, including blind, dumb and deaf individuals? or the all-git allstars, featuring the assholes of the world (ala CBS’s “anti-allstar” list)
They play Barry Bonds, by himself.
A player so ungritty that he sucks the scrappiness out of his opponents hearts like a massive black hole.
"My thing is that you guys eat meat all day and you can't hit a ball. That's my thing." - P. Fielder
Podsednick/Byrnes
I don’t think of them as being gritty, just crappy and kind of fast. Otherwise, that is one gritty all-star team! The team jersey-washers are going to have their hands full after the game.
As for the Grit Hall of Fame, I found this endlessly entertaining link:
Grit Analyzed
"My thing is that you guys eat meat all day and you can't hit a ball. That's my thing." - P. Fielder
I have way too many of these guys on my fantasy team
No wonder I am in last place lol
Its all about the Bullpen this season that is the key.
Me too...
But I dominate our “hustling up the line” and “giving 110%” categories.
by Braun Holio on Jul 14, 2008 10:31 PM CDT up reply actions
Historical All-Grit Team
I love this post! I’m trying to get suggestions for a Historical All-Grit Team over at my blog. If anyone has any ideas, leave them in the comments section.
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