Note: this post is not strictly about baseball. If such things offend you, I'll warn you ahead of time so you can like skip through it. Sports bigot.

I don't know if you've noticed, but we're in something of a golden of fandom. Consider our MVPs, Joe Mauer and Albert Pujols (but don't take them, please, Henny Youngman fans.) (that's how we appeal to older audiences around here). Mauer is 26 years old. This past season, he became the first catcher to win the AL batting title since Joe Mauer the year before. Who in turn was the first catcher to win it since Joe Mauer in 2006. Who in turn was the first catcher to win the AL batting title. He's added pop to his game, leading the league in slugging percentage with a man-sized .587 mark. He's got a great eye at the plate, boasting a career OBP of .408. And he's not just a glorified first baseman/DH type playing catcher, a la Mike Piazza; reviews of his defense, while not uniform, are generally positive. In short, Mauer is fulfilling the Prophecy of Torii Hunter, who was led to wonder the following after yet another Mauer Pauer Hauer (TM Joe Posnanski): “What Joe Mauer is doing is sick. He's 23 years old. What's he going to do when he gets man muscles?” The answer, apparently, is dominate pitching like almost no catcher before him.

As for Pujols, he is, as we all know, already an all-timer. I've examined him here, but it's worth recapping. He leads all active players in career batting average, is second in OBP, and first in slugging. His OPS and OPS+ are both first among active players, and fourth of all-time. He hits a home run at the astonishing rate of 1 per 14 at-bats, which is seventh-best all-time. And all that from a guy who's also won a batting title and stolen 61 bases. By the way – those 61 career steals are more than the number of times he's struck out in four different seasons, and four of the remaining five, he's struck out less than 70 times. He's been a great glove man at first, has three MVP trophies on his shelf already, and was in the top-3 of voting four other times. And ohbytheway, he's going to be 30 next season.  But of course, there's far more to fan nirvana, if you'll pardon my hyperbole, than two superstars. Jump with me for a celebration of the game's best and brightest, and maybe some turkey.

The point is, we're seeing two players here who are easily the kind of players that we, to use the old phrase, will be telling our grandkids about. And, hey, how about Tim Lincecum, the little kid with the goofy delivery that won 2 Cy Young awards in his first three seasons? Or Zack Greinke, who has one of the most unique professional careers of anyone in the league right now, and managed to post an all-time great season last year? Or Ryan Howard, the late-blooming but thunderous slugger? Or Chase Utley, who if he keeps playing the way he does, will force his way into the best 2B of all-time argument? Or hit-and-quote machine Ichiro Suzuki, who came to our shores and electrified everyone with his speed and incomparable bat control? Or Hanley Ramirez, the shortstop with a booming bat and lightning legs? Or Felix Hernandez, the phenom who, at 23, is easily among the top 3 starters in the AL? Or another young bat in Miguel Cabrera, who I guarantee you is better than you think, and apparently has a Mickey Mantle-esque talent for rolling out of bed hungover and smacking taters? Or Justin Verlander and Ubaldo Jimenez, who can both hit triple digits with the heater in the 9^th inning? Or CC Sabathia, who seemingly defies physics to be one of the best pitchers in the league? Or Johan Santana? Or young guns Clayton Kershaw and Matt Cain? What if Jake Peavy comes back strong? And that's not even mentioning HOF locks like Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter, and Manny Ramirez. Or (dare I say?) Chipper Jones. How about Troy Tulowitzki, Ryan Braun, Prince Fielder, Ryan Zimmerman, Evan Longoria, Justin Upton, Matt Kemp...do you see what I'm saying? We've an embarrassment of riches on our hands.

There is just so much to be excited for as a fan today, and not only in baseball. The NBA has a plethora of transcendent players (James, Bryant, Paul, Wade, Duncan, Garnett, and Anthony off the top of my head), the NFL has the best league-wide quarterbacking it's ever seen (record number of quarterbacks over 100 passer rating), and hockey's got two or three of the most exciting young superstars in its hallowed history (Ovechkin and Crosby, if not Malkin). Oh...I forgot to warn you about the non-baseball part. I was kind of on a roll there. But hey, isn't part of the Thanksgiving celebration to celebrate other cultures?

Ok, maybe not so much that as it is eating enormous amounts of food and falling asleep on the couch while watching football. But while you're doing so, take some time to be thankful that there just isn't much more you could ask for as a sports fan. Except, you know, to be asleep during the Lions game.  Happy Thanksgiving, everyone.

Comments (2)

Name

Email

Website

Title

Comment

smaller | bigger

Subscribe via email (registered users only)

Add Comment