Wednesday, August 11, 2004

"It's my life. Baseball is my life".

Call me a pessimist (you'd be right, by the way), but I'm more excited for the next few years than for this one. Visions of Hanley to Pokey to Minky keep distracting me from awkward losses to the Devil Rays, and Jason Varitek keeps morphing into Kelly Shoppach. The homegrown talent is already starting to make itself known; look at Kevin Youklis and his line:

OBP SLG OPS
.382 .460 .842

...and that's in 51 games. Those are better than most major leaguers can eke out. Give the guy a season, teach him to play third, and he'll be one of your best players.

Speaking of Hanley, I think he's rapidly outgrowing the "punk" reputation he earned in the lower-A leagues. I never held much stock in those rumors--heck the guy's only 20 years old. I'm 20 years old, which means I know a lot of 20 year-olds, and none of us are bastions of maturity. After reading a recent interview with him, a few things stood out.

First, Hanley's approach to hitting:
RSN: What is your approach at the plate?

HR: I like to stay through the middle and hit the ball at the pitcher's head. I like to see what they throw and then react to their pitches. I like to hit fastballs but can stay back and hit curves, too.

Gotta love quotes like that. It also indicates that he's willing to take pitches; something that always got on my nerves about Nomar. Watching him field, he also seems to set his feet before throwing, as opposed to Nomar's fluid, all-in-one-motion approach.

Also, this:
RSN: What's important to Hanley Ramirez on the field?

HR: Winning makes me happy.

RSN: What if the team loses, but you have a great game?

HR: Sometimes you play hard but don't have the luck. If you play hard and run the bases hard, that's all you can do. So it's okay, but I'd rather win.

Winning makes me happy.

Heck, Hanley, it makes us happy too. All through the interview, Ramirez comes off as a consummate team player-he loves to win, gets along well with his teammates (and future teammates as well-he's friends with Manny. But then again, who isn't?), and doesn't care where he plays. Still, he does give a little hint as to his arrogance:
RSN: Did your father teach you how to play?

HR: I was born with talent -- no one person taught me. It's like I was meant to play baseball.

...but then again, shortstops are like fighter pilots. Without a little bit of cockiness, they're dead in the air.

I'm rooting for Hanley hardcore. If he makes it, he'll be the first player that I'll have grown up with-a guy who's my peer, age-wise, and one who I can look at without as much of the hero-worship I have for other, older players. The title of this post/article/whatever is a direct quote from Hanley's interview. I'm using it because I've heard it so many times before, from so many different players, and only a few of them have meant it. With Hanley, I'll get to see firsthand whether he's one of those few.