It’s no secret around these parts that we love ourselves some Ron Hunt. Indeed, Hunt is the posterchild for gritty baseball and the trailblazer who made the careers of other gritty luminaries possible. Ever self-aware, Hunt famously stated “Some people give their body to science. I gave mine to baseball.”

With that in mind, we are pleased to induct Ron Hunt as the first addition to the Hall of GRIT’s ranks. Since there’s not really a Hall of GRIT (HOG) building, we can’t offer Ron a formal induction ceremony. But that’s alright because we’re about 99% certain that he would decline our invitation, tell us to shove our imaginary HOG plaque up our ass and get the hell off his lawn (more on that in a bit).

So, who was Ron Hunt and why is he deserving of enshrinement in the newly-created Hall of GRIT? Well, for starters, The New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract had these laudatory words for Hunt:

Ron Hunt was about as bad a player as you can be with a .400 on-base percentage. He couldn’t run and he had no power … He was an arthritic second baseman with a poor arm … Hunt was not well liked by fans or by other players … He rarely struck out, but almost never hit the ball hard.

Nevertheless, Ron’s career wasn’t without accolades. Check out the resume:

• Second in the 1963 NL Rookie of the Year voting to Pete Rose.
• 25th place in the 1963 NL MVP race (one vote).
• All-Star selection (1964)
• All-Star selection (1966)
• 15th place in the 1969 NL MVP race (eight votes).
• 26th place in the 1973 NL MVP race (one vote).
• Second prize in a beauty pageant during a hotly-contested Monopoly game with Cleon Jones.

We made up that last one to fill out the list. According this 1964 Sports Illustrated article titled “The Mets’ Throwback To Cobb”, Ron actually hated interacting with people.

Nothing on or off the field ignites a display of emotion in him, and his sad, frozen expression and his somnolent eyes ( Roger Craig used to call him Nap Time) have a way of making a visitor feel uneasy. He makes it plain that it is an imposition to try to open a conversation with him. Talking breeds familiarity, and Hunt does not like to be familiar with people.

“I’m very moody,” he says. “I don’t like people around me. I just don’t have anything to say to them. No, Casey and I don’t talk much. I sit a good distance away from him in the dugout, and I like it that way.”

Holding both the single-season and career records for GRIT3, Hunt’s career statistics are inarguable proof that during the 1960s and 70s, Ron Hunt played Major League baseball. And “Pigpen” didn’t just play the game. He played it the “right way”–as inefficiently as humanly possible.

Offensively, Hunt wasn’t a slugger by any means. Not even the pitching-dominated era (career AIR of 92) during which he played can justify his .347 slugging percentage. But that’s not to say he was particularly good at hitting for average. A career .273 hitter, he managed a .300+ line just twice: .303 for the Mets in 1964, and .309 for the Expos in 1973. He wasn’t very fast. With a four-factor speed score of 4.0 (a loose estimate of speed), Hunt ranks in the bottom half of all players.

Fielding wasn’t really his strong suit either. According to Baseball-Reference, he was worth about 5 runs below average as a second baseman over his career.

So, if not offense and if not defense, what was Pigpen’s value to a baseball team? In short, his abnormally high threshold for pain.

Mets coach Don Heffner assessed Hunt’s game in 1964 for the Sports Illustrated article:

If he has a failing, I’d say it’s the way he makes the double play. He doesn’t do anything mechanically wrong. He has a good arm, and he gets the ball away quickly, but he never tries to avoid the runner. He just stays in there, and he is taking a lot of physical abuse he doesn’t have to take.

Hunt’s masochism wasn’t limited to defense. If there was one area of the game at which he excelled, it was stepping into an inside fastball. During his twelve year career, Hunt racked up a then-record 243 plunkings. During the 1971 season, Hunt made 638 plate appearances–fifty times, he ended up on first due to a HBP. This supernatural talent for baseball magnetism allowed Hunt to extend his career when, by any rational appraisal, he should have been put out to pasture. Hunt’s 50 HBP in 1971 is a modern baseball record, second only to Hughie Jennings’ 51 HBP in 1896.

But Ron wasn’t just a glutton for punishment. The scrappy-go-gutsy second sacker also knew how to use his head. Again, Heffner describes the cerebral secret weapon in Hunt’s gritty arsenal.

“Thinking plays, I call them. Bunting with two strikes. Diving into first. Stealing home at just the right time. That’s the kind of baseball he plays.”

With this unabashed mancrush for gritty baseball, it’s strange that the Mets languished during the mid-1960s. And, while the Mets earned a World Series victory in 1969, Hunt wasn’t a part of the celebration. The Mets shipped Hunt to the Dodgers after the 1966 season. Hunt spent one season in Los Angeles before being shipped to the San Francisco Giants. It was San Francisco where Hunt (probably) got in with the wrong crowd, discovered hallucinogenics and made up his mind to unite his human flesh in eternal matrimony to horse flesh. From 1968 until his retirement in 1974, Hunt lead the NL in HBP.

Toward the end of his career, when asked about his records for being hit by pitches, Ron offered perchance the grittiest words ever uttered: “They may be dumb records, but they’re the only ones I got.”

Congratulations, Ron.

Each Friday or thereabout, we hope to recap the previous week’s gritty highlights. This is all a part of our efforts to be the Internet’s number one source of grit-related baseball information as well as baseball-related grit information.

Coming off the Grit-Summer Classic, the competition for the 2009 GRIT crown is heating up. In this first installment of TWIG, we’ll check out some notably gritty (and non-gritty) performances and find out how the leaderboard is shaping up for the second half. Let’s get right to it.

Movers

1.10: Jason Kendall, MIL

0.73: David Eckstein, SDP

Jason Kendall took a chainsaw to David Eckstein’s 3.5 point lead with a performance gritty enough to bump his season total to 10.11.

Although Kendall hit .364 on the week, the notorious serial muderer showed his usual lack of power, posting an OMS of -.009. Eckstein lost ground, dropping three-fourths of a point as he remained on the shelf (the one for injured players, not the one where he usually nests) with a strained right hamstring.

A relative stranger to the disabled list, Lil’ Davey is learning quickly that a pile of GRIT can’t earn you more GRIT like interest in a savings account or ants in an ant farm or cabbages in a cabbage patch. GRIT must be paid for. And in the gritconomy, the only acceptable forms of payment are blood, pain and tears (of pain). However, if the previous three years are any indicator, Eckstein’s current stint on the DL should be his only one of the season.

3.11: Shane Victorino, PHI

The winner of the Final Man vote for the NL All-Star team, Victorino headed home from St. Louis jonesing for an opportunity to show off his gritty bona fides. Show them off he did. Over the past week, Victorino put up this undeniably gritty line:

You see that .059 OMS? Those two caught steals on two attempts? A HBP and a SH? That line is grittier than one-finger poi. Between Victorino and Jimmy Rollins, the top of the Phillies’ lineup possesses two of the only five players with DTRM3 scores above 10.

3.88: Albert Pujols, STL

Uncle Albert continues his assault on the bottom-end of the record book. With a GRIT3 of -53.40, Albert has an opportunity to put together one of the most non-gritty seasons ever.

Holding everything equal, if Pujols gets 650 PA this season he would finish with a final GRIT3 score of -84.45. That would place his 2009 season second only to Barry Bonds’ unholy 2004 campaign where the macrocephalic slugger drew 120 intentional passes.

6.79: Atlanta Braves

Over the past week, the Braves went 6-1 while outscoring their opponents 47 to 15. Depending heavily on the long ball for the offensive outburst, the Braves’ team GRIT total plummeted owing to the contributions of Garrett Anderson ( 1.27), Yunel Escobar ( 1.69), Chipper Jones ( 1.82), and Brian McCann ( 2.05). Continue reading ‘This Week in GRIT 7/25/09′

This week’s Public Display of GRIT comes by way of The Onion for Selfless Jason Kendall Sacrifices Bunt, Self For Good Of Team, Advancement Of Runners. We made an effort to pull just one excerpt, but doing so would have prevented our readers from enjoying everything that this has to offer.

MILWAUKEE – In an act of selflessness not often seen amongst ego-driven American athletes, who typically look only to further their own personal agendas, hero Milwaukee Brewers player Jason Kendall placed a bunted ball back to the pitcher Tuesday with full knowledge that he himself would be eliminated from scoring contention for the duration of the contest’s fifth inning. Receiving upon his return to the dugout a mere smattering of high fives from his ignorant teammates and but one hand-clap from the staff of coaching elders, Kendall was not properly greeted as a hero responsible for the very 90-foot advancement of teammates Mat Gamel and J.J. Hardy to second and third base respectively. Due to his undying devotion to the singular cause of winning, even at the cost of his own personal downfall, Jason Kendall is the greatest player to ever play the game of baseball.

Yesterday we unveiled the American League All-GRIT team. As promised, today we’re turning our attention to the vastly superior National League.

C: Jason Kendall, Milwaukee Brewers (9.01)

At this rate, Jason Kendall might need a new mantle. The veteran catcher is making a habit of racking up GRIT hardware. The winner of a 2008 GRITTY and second only to Ron Hunt in career GRIT3, Jason continued his assault on the record books with a very impressive first half. Leveraging a gaudy .047 OMS (OBP Minus SLG), Kendall’s body has made more contact with the baseball than his bat. Were it not for five intentional walks, Kendall would have no doubt made a run at the league lead in GRIT3 at the halfway point. As it stands, he’ll have to settle for second place to David Eckstein and a starting nod in the Grit-Summer Classic.

Russell Martin, Los Angeles Dodgers (7.05)

1B: Nick Johnson, Washington Nationals (7.47)

In the biggest landslide in Grit Summer Classic history, Nick Johnson lapped the field on the way to earning the start at first base for the Senior Circuit. Johnson’s GRIT3 of 7.23 was fourth highest in the Majors. With a median GRIT3 score of -6.83 among starting first basemen, Johnson’s 7.23 was head and shoulders above his nearest competitor. This, despite the fact that he’s posted a decidedly non-gritty OPS+ of 123. Take the Majors’ 12th highest DIRT score and combine it with an above average DTRM; what do you have? You have proof that even semi-talented players can overcome their talent to post some grittastic numbers. Well done, Nick. In a close matchup, Kotchman gets the backup slot over the Mets’ Daniel Murphy because the Braves don’t have a viable player at any other position.

Casey Kotchman, Atlanta Braves (1.59)

2B: David Eckstein, San Diego Padres (12.52)

In perhaps the biggest non-surprise of the year, Lil Davey ran away from the rest of the pack to grab the start at second base. First in the Majors in DIRT; 27th in DTRM3; 14th in OMS among players with 200 PA.Aside from playing baseball, there’s probably nothing at which Eckstein isn’t good. Schumaker continues the tradition of differently-abled Cardinal middle infielders, narrowly edging out the Mets’ Luis Castillo (3.90).

Skip Schumaker, St. Louis Cardinals (4.03

3B: Andy LaRoche, Pittsburgh Pirates (7.39)

Andy LaRoche has amassed a surprisingly gritty first half for the Pirates with a GRIT3 of 7.39. Oddly enough, his teammate and older brother, Adam, posted a -7.94. Andy’s GRIT3 is high thanks to his willingness to get dirty. While we here at NTSHCO appreciate his impressive 4.34 DIRT score, the Pirates’ equipment manager may be less than thankful.

Emilio Bonifacio, Florida Marlins (5.85), Geoff Blum, Houston Astros (3.12)

SS: Alex Cora, New York Mets (4.25)

Since ariving in the majors in 1998, Alex has continued the Cora family tradition of being a defensively-gifted, offensively-incapable middle infielder. Cora’s also put up his numbers despite a torn ligament in his right thumb. Flushing9 points out Cora’s grittiness and recalls his epic 18-pitch at bat off Matt Clement in 2004. Let’s be clear: home runs aren’t gritty. They are cheap ways of scoring easy runs. That said, if you must hit a home run, an 18-pitch at bat is probably the grittiest way to do it.

Rafael Furcal, Los Angeles Dodgers (4.90); Ryan Theriot, Chicago Cubs (4.15); Augie Ojeda, Arizona Diamondbacks (3.76)

LF: Nyjer Morgan, Pittsburgh Pirates (7.88)

Morgan, along with LaRoche, formed the MLB’s grittiest pairing of teammates during the first half. With an OMS of -.005, Morgan, like Span, is pretty good at getting on base but not much further. For taking the long way home, Nyjer Morgan grabs the nod over longtime grit-star, Juan Pierre. It appears Washington GM Mike Rizzo wants to maintain the grittiness of the Nationals outfield. Rizzo recently traded his 2008 GRITTY winner Lastings Milledge in a multiplayer trade that netted Morgan. Look for Morgan to partner with new teammates Nick Johnson and Austin Kearns to form a human grit pyramid in DC.

Juan Pierre, Los Angeles Dodgers (4.69)

CF: Willy Taveras, Cincinnati Reds (5.58)

Willy Taveras hits singles and is pretty fast. He also plays centerfield. Obviously, in the mind of Dusty Baker, this makes him the only choice for the leadoff role in the Reds’ lineup. Of Taveras’ 286 ABs, 252 have occurred in the leadoff spot. This has given Willy a great opportunity to put his outstanding .585 OPS and -.009 OMS to best possible use. And put it to use he has; at the break, Willy Taveras’ Win Probability Added (WPA) of -2.14 is second only to Chris Young for worst in the majors.

Dexter Fowler, Colorado Rockies (1.36)

RF: Austin Kearns, Washington Nationals (3.35)

Austin Kearns holds down right field for the NL in the inaugural Grit-Summer Classic. Prior to his trade to the Nationals, Kearns was dependable for a slugging percentage on the high side of .450. Since coming to Washington, his inner gritster has been able to flourish. A recipient of a 2008 GRITTY Honorable Mention, Kearns’ GRIT3 scores have remained high even after the Nats moved from spacious RFK Stadium to the much more hitter-friendly Nationals Park.

Milton Bradley, Chicago Cubs (2.86)

P: Jamie Moyer, Philadelphia Phillies (.69)

Jamie Moyer is gritty. He’s 46 years old and gets by throwing an 81mph fastball. His arm is held together by hot dog casings and old wads of Bazooka Joe. He eats sunflower seeds and craps sunflower seed shells. He once shot a man in Reno because he wasn’t adhering to gun safety best practices. Oh, and what’s more? He’s leading the NL’s pitchers in GRIT3. Check out his line: .048/.276/.048. You’re probably asking yourself, “is that even possible?” And now, you’re probably chastising yourself after realizing the error of your ways. Anything is possible. It’s Jamie Freakin’ Moyer.

By our count, it’s July. That means it’s time for watching fireworks, grilling meat, and taking a break from the MLB season to partake in three days of hyper-commercialized exhibition baseball. But the MLB All-Star break is sadistic as it celebrates the superstars while ignoring the journeymen and castoffs who really, really want to be superstars, but just happen to have less talent.

For these poor, tired, huddled yeomen yearning to be Type A Free Agents, we offer the Grit-Summer Classic. An invitation to the Grit-Summer Classic comes with enough fanfare to befit each participant’s dreadful, yet well-intentioned first-half performance. With the MLB All-Star Game monopolizing Downtown St. Louis for its self-indulgent festivities, this year we set up shop across the river in beautiful quaint nearby East St. Louis.

We used three basic rules to determine the rosters for the Grit-Summer Classic. First, we made an effort to field rosters which contain the grittiest players at each position. We also endeavored, just as in the other All-Star Game, to include at least one player from each team. And lastly, with the Grit-Summer Classic scheduled to be played alongside the All-Star Game, any players on the All-Star rosters were deemed unfit to play in the Grit-Summer Classic.

In this first installment, we’ll go over the American League roster; tomorrow we’ll post the National League squad.

C: Kelly Shoppach, Cleveland Indians (6.61)

The Cleveland Indians have split their catching duties between two players. One of them is among the best hitting catchers in the game; the other is Kelly Shoppach. While Victor Martinez backs up Joe Mauer in the ASG, Shoppach gets the start in East St. Louis. Shoppach heads in to the Classic sporting far and away the highest DIRT3 score in baseball at 3.21. With a league leading 14 HBP, he either enjoys the crisp sensation of a two-seamer on his flesh or he’s making an effort to sleep with the wives of opposing pitchers. Either way, it’s a damn gritty way of getting on base. Gerald Laird and Dioner Navarro just barely edge out Kurt Suzuki.

Gerald Laird, Detroit Tigers (5.40), Dioner Navarro, Tampa Bay Rays (3.29)

1B: Jason Giambi, Oakland Athletics (5.09)

It’s been a long fall for Jason Giambi. Early in the decade, the Oakland first baseman was on top of the game. AL MVP in 2000; runner up to Ichiro the following year. A stint with the Yankees, a tumor, and an admission of PED use later, Giambi finds himself as the grittiest first baseman in the AL over the first half of 2009. With a paltry slugging percentage of .365 and a sub-Mendoza average of .192, it’s not hard to see why. Giambi is backed up at first by 2008 GRITTY recipient Ryan Garko.

Ryan Garko, Cleveland Indians (2.43)

2B: Placido Polanco, Detroit Tigers (7.09)

Polanco has made a nice career out of providing some serious grit wherever he goes. This is especially true since arriving in Detroit during the 2005 season. Since becoming a Tiger, Polanco’s GRIT3 scores have all been near the top of the MLB leaderboards. With 6 HBP and another 5 SH, Polanco’s DTRM score of 7.27 should ensure that his 2009 campaign will continue the trend. Boston’s Dustin Pedroia easily outpaced the White Sox’s Chris Getz for the second spot.

Dustin Pedroia, Boston Red Sox (5.79)

3B: Melvin Mora, Baltimore Orioles (4.82)

Did you know that Melvin and his wife have like 10 kids or something? It’s like The Brady Bunch except he’s the biological father to all of them and they live in the urban wasteland of Baltimore. Additionally, he’s posted some respectable DIRT3 and DTRM3 scores with the 16th lowest TLNT3 score among players with 200+ PA. Add it up and you have a recipe for sitcom gold and a starting nod in the Grit-Summer Classic.

Chone Figgins, Los Angeles Angels (3.39); Adrian Beltre, Seattle Mariners (1.40)

SS: Marco Scutaro, Toronto Blue Jays (8.19)

Marco Scutaro picked up where he left off last season when he won the 2008 GRITTY for second basemen, staking his place among the league’s gritty elite in the middle infield. With a first half GRIT3 of 8.19, only Kendall and Eckstein were grittier. But, with a first half DTRM3 of 2.69, Marco was in a class all by himself. Marco further flaunted his grit cred by posting a Contact% of 94.2%, second in the league to Luis Castillo. With no other viable Ranger gritsters to choose from, Andrus’ inclusion bumps Nick Punto from the team. While Punto had some extremely impressive statistics (MLB-leading OMS of .096 and the lowest TLNT3 of -1.96), his lack of playing time undercut his ability to rack up quite enough GRIT3 (4.22).

Nick Green, Boston Red Sox (4.99), Elvis Andrus, Texas Rangers (1.99)

LF: Denard Span, Minnesota Twins (7.21)

Span grabs the start in left for the AL over division rival David DeJesus chiefly due to his solid DTRM3 score of 6.31. While his .381 OBP suggests a bit of talent, his SLG of .388 betrays the fact that Span doesn’t want to make things easy on himself by taking extra bases. As his better-than-MLB-average DIRT3 and TLNT3 scores mostly cancelled one another out, it was his OMS of -.007 which gave him a slight edge over DeJesus. At only 25 years of age, look for Span to play some more baseball next year.

David DeJesus, Kansas City Royals (6.03)

CF: Brian N. Anderson, Chicago White Sox (4.98)

Brian Anderson made a name for himself after replacing grinderball poster child, Aaron Rowand in centerfield for the White Sox. Most White Sox fans feared Anderson was unable to hit. When he received substantial playing time in 2006, he wasted no time proving those doubters correct. Ever since, he’s stuck around as a last resort. With an OMS of .003 so far, Anderson has proven himself to be an affable, well-meaning black hole of offense.

Ryan Sweeney, Oakland Athletics (3.92)

RF: Jose Guillen, Kansas City Royals (4.06)

Really? Jose Guillen? It must be a false positive, right? Guillen’s played for nine teams in thirteen seasons and given his track record of spending no more than two full seasons with any club, he’ll probably be on his tenth by this time next year. In a way though, I suppose it’s logical that he of all people would trigger a false positive. First, his insufferability is a bit of an obstacle that impedes his success. It could be that he’s just a miserable prick because he doesn’t want to have things come too easily. The truly gritty have to work to overcome shortcomings on their way to mediocrity. Also, he’s slugging .376 while playing in the AL Central– a known hotbed of gritfluenza. When you look at it that way, Guillen might fit in pretty well here.

Nick Markakis, Baltimore Orioles (3.09)

P: Koji Uehara, Baltimore Orioles

Koji Uehara gets the starting nod because he happens to have a higher GRIT3 than any other starting pitcher in the American League. That’s not saying a whole lot, but by many accounts, he is said to be ‘crafty‘, the pitching equivalent of ‘gritty.’