Who's Bad(ass)?

After watching tennis player Serena Williams win her 17th Grand Slam tournament this weekend, I commented on my personal Facebook page that I thought Serena was a "badass."  My friends at Merriam-Webster define "badass" as "1. ready to cause or get into trouble : <pretending to be a badass gunslinger — L. L. King>2 of formidable strength or skill <such a badass guitar player — N'Gai Croal>"  I was referring to Serena with the second meaning of the word - she is an extraordinary tennis player who can out-play and out-last anyone; someone you just couldn't imagine yourself beating no matter how good you were (like Hussein Bolt on the running track or Lebron James on the basketball court - sheer dominance). 

So that got me thinking...  Which baseball players, past and present, qualify as "badasses?"  Here is my list, divided into three parts:  The past, the present, and the wanna-bees (my top five in no particular order).

BADASSES OF THE PAST:

Roberto Clemente - Hello!  Who showed "formidable strength or skill" more than this guy?  No one dared to try and score from second or third base knowing Clemente was in right field.  He was about as formidable as they get.

Pete Rose - Yes, he made stupid decisions in his personal life, but at the plate, on the bases, and on the field he was quite the man.  They didn't nickname him "Charlie Hustle" for nothing!

Randy Johnson - At 6'10, "The Big Unit" just had to stand on the mound to look intimidating.  His 100-mile-an-hour fastball and hard slider were ridiculous, and he didn't win five Cy Young Awards for being sweet and charming.

Jackie Robinson - Who said badasses had to be flamboyant and arrogant (insert picture of Rickey Henderson here)?  #42 got the job done quietly and professionally, and was the classiest badass ever.

Nolan Ryan - He just exuded "badass-ness."  He had no problem hitting batters on purpose, throwing no-hitters (7 of them) or striking out bazillions (5,714 in his career, with no one even close to that record).  He may look old and haggard now, but he was pretty fearless in his day.

BADASSES OF TODAY:

Ichiro Suzuki - Ichiro is the most badass current player, hands-down (despite being a Yankee).  He can still hit, throw, and run with the best of them, and recently hit his 4.000th hit as a professional (counting his years playing in Japan).  Derek Jeter can't even say that (yet).

David Ortiz - He may seem more like a big teddy bear, but "Big Papi" is definitely badass.  He knows how to get his teammates and fans worked up and excited, and his passion for the game and charitable work off the field make him one cool dude.

José Fernandez - Who?  This guy has such an interesting story that he definitely makes my list.  He unsuccessfully tried defecting from Cuba three separate times and spent time in jail after each attempt.  On the fourth try, his mother fell overboard in turbulent waters and he jumped in to rescue her.  He is my pick for Rookie of the Year, especially since he one-hit the Nationals recently. 

Mike Trout - Last year's Rookie of the Year in the American League, Trout has not suffered from the "Sophomore Slump."  He's currently batting .338 with 23 home runs and 32 stolen bases, and can make a leaping catch in the outfield to steal a home run off anyone.  Seeing him make one of those amazing catches was the highlight of my trip to Camden Yards this season.

Yasiel Puig - Another Cuban defector (though his story isn't nearly as heartwarming as Fernandez's), Puig became the first player in major league history to record at least 34 hits and seven home runs in his first 20 games and set Dodger records for most hits through 20 games.  Some people say he's not very friendly, but since this is not a list of guys I'd like to see become the next Pope, I have to include him.

WANNA-BE BADASSES:

Bryce Harper - Bryce has the potential of being one badass baseball player, but his season has been plagued with injuries, so he didn't make the cut.

Prince Fielder - Yes, he's one big dude, but he just doesn't do it for me.  He also doesn't look very smart.

Derek Jeter - Sorry, Derek; you're too goody-two-shoes to be considered a badass.  I still like you though!

Jayson Werth - Looking like a member of the Duck Dynasty doesn't automatically get you on my list.  He's having a great second-half of the season, but has been to inconsistent in the past couple of years to make the list.

Then there are the guys I had to leave out.  They're pretty awesome but just not badass enough for me:  Justin Verlander (too quiet), Chris Davis (he needs to be this good for a few more seasons), Andrew McCutchen (my favorite current Pirate), and Mariano Rivera (one classy, superhuman guy) - all players I respect and would love to meet, but I had to draw the line somewhere. 

Notice I left out Barry Bonds, Mark McGuire, Roger Clemens, and Lenny Dykstra - all of them linked to steroids or performance-enhancing drugs.  That, in my mind, does not make you a badass.  And Ryan Braun?  Even when we didn't suspect him of taking PEDs, he wasn't all that in my opinion.

So there you have it - my just-for-fun list of badass baseball players.  Feel free to comment (you know who you are!); I would love to see if you agree with me or not.

"O" What a Game!

One of the many things I like about baseball is that for the most part, I know when a game is going to end.  If the home team is leading, the game only goes on for 8 1/2 innings.  If the visitors are leading, you go to the bottom of the ninth and hope that your team can make a comeback.  However, if the home team comes back to tie it, they have to go on to extra innings (not one of my favorite things).  At that point, you have no idea whether the game is going to end in the tenth, the thirteenth, or as was the case in yesterday's Orioles-Red Sox game, the seventeenth inning.  Yes, the first-place O's beat the struggling Red Sox in a six hour marathon, which my cousin-in-law said that at times it felt like watching a cricket match.  And sometimes, when you have these long games, you end up using up all your pitchers and the manager then has to get creative.  In yesterday's game, Orioles' manager Buck Showalter told DH and infielder Chris Davis to warm up and go pitch the sixteenth inning.  Davis had not pitched since his days in junior college back in 2006, but he surprised everyone with a 91mph fastball and a split-finger pitch that confused Red Sox batters.  Davis had gone 0-8 including 5 strikeouts, so why not try pitching, since hitting obviously wasn't going well?  The O's ended up winning 6-9, sweeping the Red Sox and winning their last 5 games.  I am very happy for the Orioles and their fans - I hope the players got a good night's rest and are ready to take on the 18-10 Texas Rangers at Camden Yards starting tonight.  Go O's!

But what about that other team in the DC area?  Well the Nationals (also in first place) had an interesting game last night, losing to the Phillies 9-3.  The game got testy right from the start, when Phililes' pitcher Cole Hamels deliberately hit Nationals' left fielder Bryce Harper on the back in the bottom of the first inning (Hamels admitted after the game that he did mean to hit Harper as a "welcome to the big leagues" gesture).  Harper answered by scoring a run, but not in a traditional fashion.  With Hamels distractedly throwing pickoff attempts to first base, Harper stole home and scored the Nationals' first run.  I was so excited to see such a seldom-done feat that I called everyone into the living room to watch the replay.  When I was a little girl, my father used to tell me how he saw Puerto Rican baseball player Victor Pellot (known in the US as "Vic Power") steal home twice in one game; now my son can tell his kids that he saw Bryce Harper do the same thing.  It was pretty cool!

Unfortunately, the game's excitement pretty much ended there for the Nationals (except for Nats' pitcher Jordan Zimmermann hitting Cole Hamels in the top of the third).  In the sixth inning, right fielder Jayson Werth broke his left wrist trying to field a ball - the same wrist he had broken before that caused him to miss the entire 2006 season.  While Werth's lack of hitting won't be missed, he is an excellent right fielder and will be hard to replace out there.  The Nationals lost 9-3, but they won the series and are still in first place.  Now they go on to Pittsburgh, where I have a bet going with a co-worker.  If the Pirates win the series, he owes me a cookie and vice versa.  I can taste the chocolate chips now...

So this whole thing about hitting batters on purpose... what's that all about?  Despite being female, I like to think that I know as much about baseball as many men out there; but this hitting batters thing, I think that's a guy thing that I'll never understand.  Nolan Ryan was a big bully in his day, hitting batters on purpose or pitching them way inside to make them flinch.  Why is that?  I find that so immature!  And then later in the game, the pitcher from the team whose batter was hit feels obligated to hit a batter too.  Then the umpires are obligated to issue a warning and the fans have to boo.  Is all this really necessary?  At least we don't have bench-clearing brawls anymore, like we did during the "steroid era" - I saw many a fight involving Manny Ramirez, Roger Clemens, and now-in-prison Lenny Dykstra.  Those episodes were considered "entertaining," yet one guy spits at an umpire and his Hall of Fame membership gets questioned!  Just because you're playing a boy's game doesn't mean you have to act like little boys - grow up and stop hitting each other!  That's about as stupid as the intentional walk!

OK, cleansing breath... time to think about more positive things, like the fact that Albert Pujols FINALLY hit a home run and Robinson Canó hit a grand slam yesterday.  See how exciting baseball can still be without people hitting each other?  Let's just all get along, and everything will be fine.