[The nineteenth in a series: I’m picking one player that I associate with a team (whether they spent the majority of their career there or not) that I would strongly consider adding to my official want lists. They may not always be superstars, or the most popular, and honestly they may not always be my favorite player from the team, but that’s what will make this fun, no?]
Let’s return to the series with a timely post. The Cubs are starting a road set against the Washington Nationals. It should be a hard fought “battle” and a nice little test for our first place team.
Supposedly there is talk of expanding MLB and housing another team in Canada again. I’m sure it’s a ways of to decide on team names, but I think I’d be against Expos. On one hand, it would be fun to see the return of what is essentially a cult-classic (if such thing can exist in this manner), but it may be better to let the new team forge its own identity.
He’s disappointed his border is green instead of red
For this team, we have our third tie. It may seem like an unusual choice, but my picks are Delino DeShields and Marquis Grissom. I’m originally from Rockford and that formerly second biggest city in Illinois used to be the minor league affiliate for the Expos. Back in my youth, my family would occasionally go to the Expos games and guess who were the big stars in the system in that time? Yup, it was those two. Rockford pride. Cheap Trick and all that stuff.
Shiny X
Current player runner-up: Ryan Zimmerman
Harper’s too pricey, otherwise he’d be the pick. He may have attitude at times, but it seems to come from a place of passion for the game. Werth is fine, but I don’t really care. R. Zim gets little attention on a good team. He flies under the radar.
Still waiting…
Retired player runner-up: Tim Raines
If it weren’t for the Rockford connection, Rock would be#1. I’m in the camp that says let fewer players into the Hall of Fame, but Raines shouldn’t be excluded. I don’t understand the argument against him. Let the guy pick up the phone, am I right?
The Series So Far
Angels – (tie) Jim Abbott & Vladimir Guerrero
Astros
Athletics
Blue Jays
Braves – Steve Avery
Brewers – Bob Eucker
Cardinals – Jim Edmonds
Cubs
Diamondbacks – Randy Johnson
Dodgers – Jackie Robinson
Giants – Kevin Mitchell
Indians – Jim Thome
Mariners
Marlins – Giancarlo Stanton
Mets – (tie) Darryl Strawberry & Dwight Gooden
Nationals/Expos – (tie) Marquis Grissom & Delino DeShields
Orioles – Adam Jones
Padres
Phillies – Mike Schmidt
Pirates – Andrew McCutchen
Rangers – Nolan Ryan
Rays/Devil Rays
Red Sox
Reds – Eric Davis
Rockies – Carlos Gonzalez
Royals
Tigers – Alan Trammell
Twins
White Sox – Paul Konerko
Yankees
[…] Felix Hernandez Marlins – Giancarlo Stanton Mets – (tie) Darryl Strawberry & Dwight Gooden Nationals/Expos – (tie) Marquis Grissom & Delino DeShields Orioles – Adam Jones Padres Phillies – Mike Schmidt Pirates – Andrew McCutchen Rangers – […]