Average Baseball Players

Richard Hidalgo’s 2000 season owns 17% of my brain

that today is the 22-year anniversary of Reds CF Ken Griffey Jr.’s game against the Cubs in which he went 1-4 with a single and a RBI sacrifice fly? It’s true!

Opening Day is always a special day but in 2002, it was a day fans at Cinergy Field in Cincinnati will not soon forget. Not only did they witness Ken’s magnificent performance which helped the Reds win in walk-off fashion against the Cubs by a score of 5-4, they were also witness to many other magnificent performances!

A Delino DeShields stolen base? Oh yeah, they got to see one of those.

A flawless one-batter relief performance from Kyle Farnsworth ? You better believe they’ll be telling their grandkids about that one.

There’s no way Jason LaRue hit a double that day too, is there? Think again, fellas!

Fellas, what a game it was! Also, what a career it was for Ken Griffey Jr.! Mostly known for his accomplishments as a member of the White Sox, Ken also took his talents to Seattle and Cincinnati during his playing days. His main highlights included having 8 career sacrifice bunts and a guest appearance in an 1992 episode of ‘The Simpsons.’ I couldn’t find much more about this guy’s career. Sorry, fellas!

One more thing - Happy April Fool’s Day, fellas!

With the start of the MLB regular season being just 97 days away, I figured today would be a wonderful opportunity to honor the wonderful career of Franklin Gutiérrez who had 97 career home runs!

Anyone that knows me knows that ‘Mr. 3000’ starring the late, great Bernie Mac is one of my 26 favorite baseball movies of all time. I think a spin-off featuring Franklin and his quest to reach 100 career homers would be a box-office smash hit. Give the people what they want and make a comeback, Franklin!

Given his movie star looks, I believe Franklin would have the ability to star as himself in this hypothetical film, fellas!

Not only does Gutiérrez have unmatched handsomeness, his range in the outfield was unrivaled by his MLB peers. With a 2010 Gold Glove to his name, Franklin earned the nickname of “Death to Flying Things” due to his ability to track down everything hit in the air at Safeco Field. Oddly enough, “Death to my Self-Worth and Joy” is the nickname I gave to my wife after she took the kids and house in our divorce. Am I right, fellas?

Franklin played in 12 MLB seasons from 2005 to 2017 with Seattle, Cleveland, and the LA Dodgers. He led the league in defensive WAR in 2009, had 31 career sacrifice bunts, and has the 69th best stolen base percentage of all-time (80.41%). Nice!

After his playing days ended, Franklin rejoined the Mariners organization as a special assignment coach. Although he may not be able to teach players how to look as naturally cool as he did in the outfield, I know he is helping them get better one fly ball at a time. They’re lucky to have him back!

I don’t know about anything financially, but I do know that there is nothing better than deferring tomorrow’s problems!