The Players Who Annoy You Thread

[crewcrazy]

- Juan Pierre

- Jack Wilson

- David Eckstein

- Ryan Ludwick

- Skip Schumaker

- Bronson Arroyo

- Joba Chamberlain

- Red Sox fans

[Patrick425]

Ahhh...the semi-annual David Eckstien hatred thread. I will never understand it. Ok, I get it, many of you don't feel he deserves a spot on an MLB roster based on his stats. Maybe you are right. However, there are probably others that the same argument could be made for, but never show up on this list.

 

What I can never understand is that some people seem to hate him because he hustles?? Yes, what a horrible trait to have. I can see hating guys like Sheffield, Bonds, and Zambrano, but Eckstein? It'snot his fault that he continues to get a spot on ML rosters every year. Or, hey, here's a thought...maybe there is more to being a good baseball player than stats. Ohhh...blasphimy..how could there possibly more to playing baseball, than puting up good stats?? Maybe quality MLB managers like LaRussa and Scioscia saw things they like in Eckstein that go beyond stats. Intangible qualities that can not be caught on paper that Eckstein brings to the table.

 

Or, maybe it's some huge scandal. Some deep dark secrets that Eckstein knows about MLB that he threatens the league with every year unless they find a way to get him on a roster. Yeah, that must be it.

[JumpinMacFlash]

Richard Hidalgo and Chris Truby

[Tbadder]

Roger Clemens (a sanctimonious jerk)

Derek Jeter (a Yankee, nuff said)

Bob Gibson (first class jerk, bent on all things macho)

Cap Anson (no body actively pursued intolerance and ignorance like Anson--a real nazi)

Babe Ruth (destroyed a perfectly good game, introduced AL style game--fat slobs who hit homers--whoopie!)

Earl Weaver (the Eckstein of managers, both of them need to be spiked in the groin by Ty Cobb)

[Brian the Automator]

What I can never understand is that some people seem to hate him because he hustles?? Yes, what a horrible trait to have.

Sprinting to 1st base on a walk doesn't make you a hustler. It makes you a dork.

[Patrick425]

Sprinting to 1st base on a walk doesn't make you a hustler. It makes you a dork.

I guess Pete Rose was a dork then.

[DougJones43]

Sprinting to 1st base on a walk doesn't make you a hustler. It makes you a dork.

I guess Pete Rose was a dork then.

Have you ever looked at his haircut? Come on...

 

To answer the question:

Rickie Weeks

Julian Tavarez

David Eckstein

A-Rod (he's a real fancy boy)

Kevin Mench

Carlos Zambrano

[pitchleague]

I can't believe that I have to disagree with Brian. Hustling doesn't make you a dork. Why would you even say that? That doesn't make any sense.

 

I've never really been "mad" at Brian or this site, but that comment really bugs me.

 

edit: It's almost like this is straight from "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" and Brian is King Arthur and I (and other people who "hustle" in sports) are the peons slopping around in the mud. "What I object to is you automatically treating me like an inferior. . . . "

[trwi7]

I can't believe that I have to disagree with Brian. Hustling doesn't make you a dork.

 

It does on a walk. They don't call it a walk for nothing. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif

[jeffh]

Lance Berkmen- just never liked him.

[bucks2281]

Players that sprint to first when they walk bug me. So add David Eckstein and So Taguchi to my list.

 

Alfonso Soriano: he obviously thinks very highly of himself

Juan Pierre: few casual fans understand that he's not very good at baseball

TGJ: I cringe when people tell me that he's the CF in 2009. His ridiculous lack of power will get old VERY quickly.

2008 St. Louis Cardinals: please go away!

Joba Chamberlain: I'm sick of hearing about him

Jason Kendall: he likely wouldn't be on this list if he wore some batting gloves

Dan Uggla: his ASG performance was historically awful!

[Brian the Automator]

I never said hustling makes you a dork. I'm saying sprinting to 1st base on a walk makes you a dork.

[jeffh]

oh forgot the entire Chicago tubs team.

[brains and braun]

Frank Robinson. If you ask me to explain, I fear I may use one of my three strikes. Suffice it to say that he has treated various generations of my family shabbily over the years. And how has Julian Tavarez not made this thread?

Pete Rose: 'cuz he was such a swell guy.

Curt Flood: for ushering baseball into the modern era.

Jose Canseco: see Pete Rose.

Jeffrey Leonard: for playing up to his number.

Franklin Stubbs:see above

Brewer players on the '93-2004 teams (too numerous to mention): for sucking

Gary Sheffield/Barry Bonds: for crimes against baseball/humanity

Daryl Strawberry/Doc Gooden: for flushing it (both literally and figuratively)

and finally, Ken Griffey Jr: for missing company softball game due to gigantism (most likely caused by consuming too much nerve tonic)

[JimH5]

1. Ben Sheets--Win 18 games for once and shut me up.
2. Eric Gagne--Drug User and Non Apologist.
3. Albert Pujols--Awesome talent, but something still doesn't seem right to me.
4. Lance Berkman--I think he wears eyeliner.
5. Dustin Pedroia/Kevin Youkilis--Both guys seem awfully chippy to me.
6. Carl Pavano--That was just stealing money.
7. Jeff Kent--More of a lifetime achievement award.
8. Robinson Cano--No Hustle=No Love
9. Pudge Rodriguez--40 lb. weight loss, and hasn't really ever faced the music.
10. Darin Erstad--13 years in the league, and I don't think I've ever seen him smile.

[RU Rah Rah]

I think I fall into the non-sprinting-to-first-on-a-walk camp. I think it's an attention-getter; the batter seems to be saying, "Hey, everyone, look at me hustle!" (That was Rose's M.O., clearly.)

[Mike Felder]

10. Darin Erstad--13 years in the league, and I don't think I've ever seen him smile.

That's because he played college football at Nebraska! He is super-duper intense and a leader and every team wants him even though he hits for crap! No, it does not matter that he was a punter. Being on a football field makes you gritty and intense no matter where you play!

 

I also am tired of Eckstein. To me, sprinting to first base on a walk is just as much of a "look at me" thing as staring down a home run you just hit. Why else are you doing it if not to draw attention to yourself? And yes, I would say the same thing about Pete Rose too.

[Blindcheck]

ERstad is one my favorites...being a Cornhusker fan...makes me a bit biased...But Erstand donated $1 Million to the University of Nebraska....You don't see many athletes give back to the university that gave them a free education and helped them reach their goal as a professional athlete.

 

Also, if you have ever turned a walked into a double...it is sure worth looking like a dork if you always sprint to First Base.

[Postseason2006]

Lance Berkman - always whinning when we play the Astros and his half hour HR trot

Shambrano - the way he wears his cap and his antics

ElClownso Sorrimano - pose after not hitting homers and his taunts in Miller Park

Jose Velverde - his antics on the mound

Bill Hall - and his pose after he makes contact

Derek Lee - the fact he argues ball and strikes with his miniscule strike zone

Jim Edmonds - his bush league attitude now that he's with the ScRubs.

Jason Giambi - Never cared for him when he took the HGH and money to NY.

HGH Clemens - His beaming of Piazza, the bat tossing incident at Piazza, and his total demeanor.

[Brian the Automator]

Also, if you have ever turned a walked into a double...it is sure worth looking like a dork if you always sprint to First Base.

Has that ever happened for him? Does it happen outside like little league?

[logan82]

Brian the Automator wrote:

Has that ever happened for him? Does it happen outside like little league?

Braun did it last year and he didn't even dash down to 1B like a dork.

 

June 22, 2007

[JumpinMacFlash]

Ryan Dempster - because he's a Cub and he does that stupid glove waggle before every pitch

[AmyintheSouth]

Yuku for eating this post because I wasn't logged in...

 

Albert Pujols - for whining about not winning the MVP the year he got a ring and for dissing Tom Glavine.

Ryan Ludwick - because when people come out of nowhere and kill your team, they are annoying.

Rick Ankiel - when I need a heartwarming comeback, I'll go to Josh Hamilton, thanks

AJ Pierzynski - the guy is cursed with jerk face. He could be a very nice guy (which I hear he isn't) but he has the face of a jerk and is therefore cursed.

Joba Chamberlain - another case of jerkface and for the Joba Rules, because the Yankees did not invent being careful with young pitchers

Evan Longoria - not his fault, but it annoys me that a guy is an All-Star before he's done being a rookie

Scott Rolen - from his rookie year, this guy has bugged me. And I was like 12.

David Eckstein - his general presence

Ted Lilly - because when he's playing a team you hate, he lasts 3 innings and when he's playing your team, he turns into Cy Young

Craig Counsell - his batting stance makes me physically uncomfortable.

Troy Tulowitzki - yet another case of jerk face and also for making me have to explain why Braun is better to people who do not even watch the NL approximately 500 times last year

Nick Swisher - once more, he has jerk face and also one of the most elaborate throwing it up to the Big Baby Jesus moves I've seen a guy do for a single.*

 

Regarding Hunter Pence: I couldn't stand him for most of last year but he's totally grown on me. Not in the way that I want him to succeed but he is just one goofy looking goober and it makes me giggle every time.

 

*which he apparently has an excellent and sweet reason for doing and now I pretty much feel like a jerk.

[Glennron]

Nick Swisher - once more, he has jerk face and also one of the most elaborate throwing it up to the Big Baby Jesus moves I've seen a guy do for a single.

 

Sorry, couldn't bite my tongue on this one as he's probably my favorite non-Brewer:

 

"Swisher was very close to his paternal grandmother Betty Lorraine Swisher, who raised him after his parents' divorce and died from brain cancer in 2005; he famously has her initials tattooed on his chest. He points at the sky after every hit to acknowledge her and has her initials inked on the knob of his bats and usually on his batting gloves or shoes.^{[7][/sup] To honor her further, he decided to grow his hair and donate it to Pantene Beautiful Lengths, a program that creates free wigs for cancer patients"}

 

Granted that's from wikipedia, but I doubt someone would make that up. Plus, does anyone else have more fun in any profession? I doubt it.

 

As for my actual list:

 

Hunter Pence

A-Ram

Zambrano

Aaron Miles/Adam Kennedy/Felipe Lopez/any Cardinal middle infielder

Coco Crisp

Most Twins position players that aren't Mauer or Morneau. Seriously, learn how to hit, you can't bunt and steal every at bat.

 

Jeff Suppan (to be fair, any pitcher that nibbles with a lead, Claudio Vargas was up there last year)

[zurch1818]

1. Big Z

2. Aramis Ramirez

3. Russell Branyan