Favorite MLB Players

I wanted to talk a bit about my favorite MLB players. This will help you get an idea of who I like/liked in the game of baseball. For this list I will only post players who I have seen play, so players after 1990 (I was born in '87, but obviously can't remember those). I will also only pick each player one so I will not pick Griffey for Seattle and Cincinnati. I will try to pick each person for the team they were with longest to keep it interesting.

Atlanta
Deion Sanders
It's primetime. The two sport athlete and perhaps best Seminole all around athlete ever. Perhaps best all around athlete ever period. Deion was the best.

Arizona
Stephen Drew
FSU legend. What is not to like?

Baltimore
Cal Ripken Jr.
How can it not be Cal? I did love Brady and Devo though. Cal was everything that was right with baseball in the 90s and perhaps saved the game.

Boston
JD Drew
One of FSU's greatest players ever. One of the only tolerable Red Sox ever.


Cincinnati
Eric Davis
This guy was enjoyable to watch. Loved him in Cincinatti and Baltimore.

Chicago Cubs
Jerry Hairston Jr.
One of my least favorite trades was sending Hairston to Chicago for Sosa.

Chicago White Sox
Frank Thomas
The Big Hurt was the coolest baseball nickname. He absolutely killed the ball.

Cleveland
Kenny Lofton
Loved the spectacular catches.

Colorado
Todd Helton
I like Helton and not much else from that team.

Detroit
Justin Verlander
One of the harder picks. Love Verlander and couldn't think of one I liked more besides Pudge. Can't use Pudge twice.

Houston
Craig Biggio
My aunt went to college with Craig Biggio. One of the all-time greats.

Kansas City
Bo Jackson
Bo knows baseball. Who didn't love Bo Jackson?

Los Angeles Angels
Tim Salmon
Just always like him.

Los Angeles Dodgers
Eddie Murray
Murray didn't do as much with the Dodgers, but his Oriole history made me root for him while he was there.





Miami
Randy Choate
Former FSU pitcher gives him an edge over the other Marlins.

Milwaukee
JJ Hardy
I always liked JJ Hardy even before he came to Baltimore. I was overjoyed when he came our way.

Minnesota
Kirby Puckett
I loved the bowling ball belly and him still being athletic. Love the effort and joy he brought to the game. Love that he stuck with the Twins his whole career.

Montreal (eventhough the expos no longer exist, I added them in addition to the Nats because I remember them)
Vladimir Guerrero
Loved him in Montreal with his cannon. Not so much in Baltimore.

New York Mets
Billy Wagner
Wagner was from VA and was lights out as a closer. I love how he kept battling back.

New York Yankees
Mike Mussina
I never hated Mouse like many O's fans did. Always supported him while rooting against the dang yankees.

Oakland
Rickey Henderson
Greatest leadoff hitter of all time. My second favorite leadoff hitter (Brady was #1)

Philadelphia
Jaime Moyer
Jaime Moyer is the man. You have seen me post on Moyer already. Incredible longevity.

Pittsburgh
Brian Giles
This was probably the toughest pick for me. I have not liked many Pirates. I liked Brian Giles though.



San Diego
Tony Gwynn
He did all the little things and he did them with a smile.


San Fransisco
Buster Posey
I took a class with Posey at FSU. He is a superstar. Anybody that follows FSU baseball has to love Buster Posey.

Seattle
Ken Griffey Jr.
What is there to say about Jr. that hasn't already been said? The guy was the pure athlete in an era of cheaters. Griffey is the gold standard.


St. Louis
John Mabry
Mabry was actually my favorite baseball player in his time. Mostly because he was a distant relative, but Mabry is a class act. He sent some baseballs to my brothers and sister when we found out we were related. He was actually a solid baseball player eventhough he is best known for being the other first baseman in St. Louis. I will post more on Mabry at another time. Class Act.

Tampa Bay
Paul Sorrento
The only real reason I love Sorrento is that he was an FSU legend. When I found out players went to FSU or I saw them play there I rooted for them nonstop. Sorrento was a great baseball player in his day.

Texas
Ivan Rodriguez
I posted about Rodriguez on his retirement. Best catcher of all time.

Toronto
Roberto Alomar
Robbie Alomar is the second best player I have seen play. The only one that was better was Griffey and it was pretty close. Alomar did everything amazing. It was a pleasure to see him play for the Orioles a couple of seasons.

Washington
Ryan Zimmerman
I'm not the biggest fan of anybody the Nationals have had. I do like Jerry Hairston, but I already used him. I decided to pick Zimmerman because I love the way he plays and if I could pick anyone on the Nationals roster out of position players, he would be it.


-Noland

Pudge to Retire

When I was just getting into baseball, I had three favorite non Oriole baseball players. Those players were Ken Griffey Jr., Kirby Puckett, and Ivan "Pudge" Rodriguez. I just loved the way that those three guys played. They gave such great effort and they were so good. I would dream that one day they would come to the Orioles. We actually had a deal in place to bring Pudge to Baltimore, but Captain Angelos didn't want to give up Jeffrey Hammonds. What can you do though? Unfortunately, Mr. Puckett is no longer with us, having passed away in 2006. Mr. Griffey I have talked about several times before and he recently retired and then there was Pudge.

Rodriguez has now spent 21 seasons in the bigs. Most of his pro seasons were with the Texas Rangers and he will retire as a Ranger Monday, but he also spent time with the Florida Marlins, Detroit Tigers, New York Yankees, Houston Astros, and Washington Nationals. Rodriguez won the World Series in 2003 in his only season with the Marlins and also played in the World Series in 2006 with Detroit.

Pudge also has several records and accolades. He holds the records for most games caught. Rodriguez has 13 gold gloves and 14 all star games to his credit. He was the 1999 American League MVP and the 2003 NLCS MVP. Though he is best known for his defense, Pudge also has 7 silver sluggers. He is a surefire Hall of Famer.

In addition to all of his awards, are all of the impressive stats. Rodriguez was highest amoung active players in career caught stealing percentage and is even higher than my boy Matt Wieters there. He has 2,844 hits and while that is short of the magical 3,000 it isn't short by much and it is good for 44th best all time. In his long career the man has hit 311 home runs and 572 doubles (21st). Pudge has 1332 RBI, and 4,451 total bases, while also having 934 extra base hits.

This man is a living legend and we all got to see him play for a long time.

-Noland