Good Swag
Hey all! Sorry I went back to lurking and hoarding my potatoes for a bit. I just walked with my bachelor's this weekend, and the leadup was a little hectic. I'm back now, I think, just in time for the stars to align and the team to hit its stride! Here's my first guest post, to make up for my prolonged absence.
So Doc, that note about Zunino staring down CB "The Balk Affair" Bucknor (seriously, does anyone remember that extra-innings balk he called on Furbush a few years back? The one where Furbush literally didn't move an inch? He inspires the same visceral hatred in me that some feel for Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump. I might literally spit on that man if I ever see him in an airport). It reminded me of something that struck me recently. I remember that back when Nick Franklin was trying to beat out Brad Miller and Chris ".514 SLG" Taylor, I made Nick a personal Best Bet based mostly on the way he carried himself. He had an aura that said, "Yeah I'm a rookie. What of it? I already know I'm good, and it really doesn't matter to me when you come around and agree with me." It was swagger, but not put-on for anyone else's sake. Just the kind of swagger that comes from supreme self-confidence, combined with a chip on your shoulder because you know no one else believes in you like you do. Y'know, the way 75% of the Seattle Seahawks carry themselves.
What first made me think of good ol' Nick (who was clearly the wrong horse to back in that race, in retrospect), was a J-Rod AB last night. Dyson, who is batting .339 this month, lofted a high-away heater into left field for a lazy flyout. He threw his bat and jerked his head in disgust. Not in a Michael Saunders, yelling "****" so loud you can hear him on the broadcast show of emotional pyrotechnics. He just knew he was better than that, and wasn't going to give himself a pass. He was showing himself up as punishment. I blinking loved it.
That swagger reminded me of Nick. I commented to a friend that we hadn't really had that kind of position player swagger since him. Cano, Cruz and Kyle have swag, but the conventional blue-collar baseball kind. The understated calm, "I'm just having fun at the park because I'm so good that I can enjoy myself a little" kind. Which is fun to watch in its own right, and lends itself well to established stars. No matter how much I love my namesake #24, it's odd to see a star with a chip still on his shoulder. That's a young man's game. We just haven't had many young men who fit the bill for a long, long time.
Then it struck me, Zunino is like this too right now. Gamel has been from day one. As has Mitch. Ditto Heredia. Literally our entire outfield has the bearing of a young Dougie Fresh, proving a point with each catch and daring people to call them pedestrian. Most importantly, they're like that because they all believe they're already good, and they feel no obligation to carry themselves like scared rookies. This is the corollary to the move that sent away Ketel "Deer in Headlights" Marte: you want mentally strong players, not weak ones. You want guys who get around Edgar, and the Big Three MOTO, and Felix, and feed off it. Guys who feel like they belong. That's a lot of how you get UP seasons, right? Talented players and positive thinking. We've had overperformance from so many hitters this year, we've gotta consider that it's somewhat intentional.
Give Jerry his due. Maybe swagger is the new market inefficiency.