Another week means it’s time for another Personal Display of GRIT.

On this installment, we pay a visit to the Orioles Hangout. This fringe messageboard community is a pretty tight knit group who are known for their staunch isolationism. Shrouded in mystery and the repugnant stench of failure, little is known about the board’s ongoings. Much like black holes, most of what we do know about the Orioles Hangout was ascertained by registering its effects on nearby online communities (e.g. relative changes in the presence of Brian Roberts trade rumors and Andy MacPhail sweatervest pictures) . With your appetite thoroughly whetted, let’s take a look!

What caught our attention this week was a post by member tsand72. Titled “This team has no baseball soul,” tsand72 delves in to the main problem facing the Orioles: a complete and total lack of hustle/grittiness/moxie/mojo/scrappiness.

Take it away, tsand72.

Throw out the stats.

Open your eyes.

Every time I sit down to watch the O’s I’m looking for one thing: Soul. Grit. Grime.

I can’t say that I’m familiar with “sitting down to watch the O’s”, but I have the sneaking suspicion that if I were, I’d be looking for the remote. But tsand72 looks for soul, grit and grime. So (questionable Oriole fanaticism aside) we’ll give him the benefit of the doubt and assume that he is a reputable gentleman and scholar of the highest degree.

I saw it in the first few days of the season. Jones had it.

Had it? Are we talking about grit? Adam Jones isn’t really gritty. In fact, he’s kinda sorta good. Especially during those first weeks of the season.

Are we talking about venereal disease? Or is that the other Adam Jones?

The veteran Zaun was ooozing it.

Ok. So we are talking about venereal disease. But for the record, Zaun’s pretty gritty. Damn shame about his VD, though.

It was infectious and actually made the first week or so fun to watch.

Apparently, lots of the Orioles had it. If only Zaun had clubhouse cancer, this outbreak could’ve been easily prevented.

There isn’t much of it there, though. What was there during the first few weeks of baseball this season started to dwindle… and guess where it was completely LOST… ??

After the final regimen of Azithromycin was administered?

…. it was the day the Red Sox staged a 2 out rally to tie the O’s and push them into extra innings.

Thanks for just coming out and saying it. That would’ve probably been about my 137th guess.

Guess what? In that game, Bergeson had it. And Trembly ripped it out of him and stomped into the dug out floor. That was the end of the season… right then and there… on many levels.

And we’re off. Just so we’re all on the same page, the Orioles’ season ended when their manager removed Brad Bergeson’s syphilis with his bare hands and cast it aside? That sounds surprisingly Biblical.

Since that day, the Orioles have been flying around firing a bunch of blanks. They sorely lack what winners have: Gamers.

Aha! Firing blanks? So Trembly didn’t just rip out the syphilis? Maybe Orioles baseball is worth watching after all.

But tsand72 is right about one thing. You can’t be gritty without a pair of gamers. Having a healthy and functional set of gamers is what separates the men from, well, everyone else who don’t have gamers.

You know who didn’t have gamers? The very non-gritty John Kruk (Career GRIT3 of -76.31). You know who retired from baseball mid-game in 1995? John Kruk. Maybe Kruk wouldn’t have tucked tail and ran for the nearest Sizzler buffet (seriously) if he had a set of gamers like Lenny Dykstra or Tim Flannery. But it was probably easy for him to tuck tail, since he didn’t have any gamers.

Example: The Mets. On paper they are winners. On the field? They don’t got it. Therefore, they are losers. Their talent doesn’t overcome the lack of baseball grit.

You see, I don’t know about this. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, and sometimes it rains. But at the end of the day, grit’s not something you want to add to your team lightly. Yeah, you may think those sportscasters are right and that you want a “gritty little sparkplug” that will get your team’s engine revving. But in reality, if you sprinkle a little grit in to an engine, you’re probably going to wind up needing an overhaul in the near future. So just think about that for a while. I obviously haven’t.

The Phillies? Well, going into last year they were hardly the favorites. But guess what… they have it. Shane Victorino is case and point. He’s got the baseball mojo and he uses it to his advantage. Grit and determination… and this all comes from a guy that who was hardly heralded (and when I lived in Philly no one counted on him as a possible “real” replacement for Bobby Abreu (incidentally… Abreu is the perfect example of a player that doesn’t have it. He’s a stat sheet stuffer that brings nothing onto the field. No drive to dive or go hard into the wall… he’s the first to hit bombs in 6 run game… but the last to be clutch when the team needs it). Don’t get me wrong… Victorino has talent. But his baseball mojo pushes him to a higher level.

I love this paragraph so much, I’d like to marry it and get it pregnant. Shane Victorino does have the mojo. We noted so earlier this year. And he’s right on about Bobby Abreu. Bobby Abreu is about as gritty as staying home on a Friday night with season 2 of “The Facts of Life” and a pint of french vanilla Häagen-Dazs. Bobby Abreu treats his body like a temple. That’s not gritty. This past off-season, Abreu’s main competition among free agent right-fielders was Milton Bradley. Bradley’s a lot grittier than Abreu. You know why? Because he doesn’t make it easy for himself. Bradley and Abreu might give you similar levels of production, but Milton’s going to do it after alienating his fans, throwing down a full boat of race cards, upending the table, and and snapping every ligament in his body. Now that’s gritty

You want some Mojo? Watch a Dustin Pedroia. I personally really DISLIKE (read: loathe) the Red Sox. But they are a team that rides on a lot of talent and uses their mojo to push themselves to the limit.

Note for you amateur bloggers at home, take note of what tsand72 did here. When you’re blogging about the Yankees or Red Sox, it is of vital importance to explicitly mention that you dislike these two teams. If you can do it in ALLCAPS, even better. The same goes for the Cowboys and Patriots in football. If you fail to mention your distaste for either of them, then it’s likely that your audience will not take you seriously as they will assume you LOVE the Yankees/Red Sox like the rest of the uninformed general public. Heed my words. Don’t assume that your readers are knowledgeable. I know mine aren’t. That’s why I’ll just go on record right now. I HATE THE YANKEES. AND THE RED SOX. They broke baseball and they’re on ESPN ALL OF THE TIME. For this they deserve your contempt.

The Orioles are absolutely flat. Roberts? Flat. Weiters? Relatively Flat. Jones? He can have it… but he’s not sure if he wants it. Markakis? Flat.

As far as I can see, Reimold looks like he could be a gamer. Bergeson looks like he could be a gamer…

But what is left after that?

Now, hold it just a minute right there. Have you forgotten Melvin Mora? He’s got a GRIT3 of 8.67! That’s second only to Chone Figgins among third basemen. He has eighteen children. FAMILY VALUES.

Or what about Cesar Izturis? He’s got a GRIT3 of 5.78, only a hundredth of a point behind Shane Victorino. He leaks veteran leadership from his loins. He uses that to polish the GOLD GLOVE that he won a few years ago.

Cesar’s GRIT3 would be higher but he’s only received 373 PAs. Robert Andino got the majority of the other playing time at shortstop and he hasn’t disappointed in the GRIT3 department; as of this writing, he’s sitting at 1.43.

I have a buddy who does work for MLB TV. He’s been in and out of the O’s clubhouse and other team’s clubhouses up and down the east coast for the last few years… and when the team let go of Millar he spoke up. He told me that, as far as he could tell, Millar was the only baseball “force” (again, we’re talking “baseball in the blood” kind of a leader) in the clubhouse. According to him it was painfully obvious that Roberts and Markakis were dead-as-doornails when it came to leadership.

Frankly, that’s one person’s opinion. But it shows.

I feel your pain but, seriously — just take a look at Cesar Izturis’ mantle, please? That Gold Glove is literally slathered in veteran leadership.

The Orioles have a lot of deficits to overcome. Payroll limitations (as compared to the beasts of the east). A relentlessly competitive division. A bad owner. The landing of a new organization in the dc-bmore metro area. And 12 straight seasons of losing. Yes, 12. One-Two. The Pirates just set a sports record by nailing down 17 straight losing seasons. A laughable sight… but we are right on their hind-quarters. And we are picking up speed.

But, IMO, one of the biggest deficits on the Orioles isn’t a lack of young talent… it’s the lack of players that know how to PLAY to win. Lack of players with the baseball mojo. Players with grit. Outside of Greg Zaun, who is an old-school roll-up the sleeves blue-collar kind of player, there really is no veteran who “has it” that can pass it on to the younger kids. There is no “Ray Lewis” type of personality that forces it upon the newbies.

We need it so freak-in bad.

I normally charge for this, but you’ve given me a lot of material to work with so allow me to give you a freebie. Pseubermetrics’ position-by-position guide to grittifying the hell out of the Orioles’ lineup.

C – Give Greg Zaun the majority of the starts next year. Let Wieters learn the trade from one of the game’s grittiest backstops.
1B – Two words. Ty Wigginton. Ship Aubrey Huff to someone who wants a declining slugger with a girl’s name.
2B – Get rid of Roberts. He’s seriously dragging your team down. Stick Ryan Freel in there and watch that grit just pile up.
SS – Izturis and Andino are great here.
3B – Same goes for Mora. MacPhail knows what he’s doing on the left side of the infield.
LF – I like Felix Pie here. He’s been showing off some pop as of late, but I have a hunch that he’s just trying to impress Trembley. Give him some the assurance of playing over Reimold and I bet he’ll quit cutting corners.
CF – Not a lot of good options here. Like you said, Adam Jones just doesn’t have it. Figgins is on the market this year. He’d be a great choice. Willy Taveras might be worth a shot too.
RF – Go out and grab Milton Bradley from the Cubs. Like I mentioned earlier, if you want grit, you want Milton Bradley. The Cubs will probably pay the Orioles to take him off their hands.
DH – Designated hitters aren’t gritty. Let your pitchers hit, you pansy. Sacrifice. Steal bases. Hit behind runners. Small ball! That’s how baseball is supposed to be played.

The Orioles gracefully submit to the Red Sox and have done so on a yearly basis. The Red Sox, on the other hand, are like a wolf that stumbles across a wounded rabbit… and their players, despite their dominant record, are all too happy to roll up their sleeves, get down-and-dirty, and scrap/pound on the baseball diamond to pull out victories from an inferior opponent.

I just don’t see this ship righting itself until the Orioles “get it.” It just ain’t lookin’ good.

I couldn’t agree more, but I think we’ve made a lot of progress here. We learned a lot about the Orioles and maybe even a little bit about ourselves. Just follow that plan of action up there and with minimal shuffling of personnel, you can rest assured that the Orioles will have one of the grittiest lineups in baseball. While grit might not win you many games, it should make you popular with sportscasters and other knowledgeable baseball folk — and that’s what ultimately counts.

Of course, that’s just one person’s opinion. But it shows.

And how.

Ed. Why did nobody inform me of FJM’s glorious return today at Deadspin? Especially before I wrote some poor imitation of an FJM article that was actually already written 10 hours earlier? Please return to your regular programming while I continue punching my groin in between reading new FJM. FML.

Well, it’s been way too long since we’ve made a post here. We’ve got a couple posts half finished that we’ve picked at and intended to finish up today, but then this came across the desk and jumped to the front of the queue. Without further ado, we present by way of Bleacher Report and J Panchina, baseball’s “10 Scrappiest Players“.

They may or may not play every day, but every time they step on the field you’re ensured that they’re giving it their all.

Whether it’s diving for out of reach grounders, running hard to first every time they make contact, or fearlessly tracking down flies headed straight toward the fence, these players make the most out of their time on the field.

Scrappiness and grittiness are pretty much interchangeable as far as baseball’s concerned, so we’re going to assume that J Panchina merely forgot about GRIT3, flipped a coin, and went with “scrappiest” in lieu of “grittiest.” Good to have you on board, J!

Although grinders usually go somewhat unnoticed not being as flashy and naturally talented as some of their teammates, these guys will always have a place in my heart. I love seeing players who maybe weren’t given the best physical attributes and natural talent (hey we weren’t all born with Mauer’s swing) who make the roster due to their sheer guts, determination, and effort.

Hear hear!

I also love watching players who aren’t very good at baseball. When I watch baseball, I pay attention to the worst player on the field. That way, I get to live vicariously through them and imagine what it’s like to be a real Major Leaguer.

Earlier this year, I saw the Twins play the Royals and had the complete and utter privilege to watch Nick Punto start at shortstop. Man, that guy is gritty! It was so great to watch him stumble around the baseball field on his undersized peg legs. He ended up going 0-4 (just like I would have done if nobody ever had the “good sense” to shatter my boyhood dreams at an early age).

After the game, I followed him back to the team’s hotel and watched him unload all of the Twins’ equipment from the bus.

What a life! He gets to handle Joe Mauer’s catching gear!

Later on, he sat in his hotel room and played Nintendo 64. He’s such a regular guy. Playing N64 is exactly what I would’ve been doing if I hadn’t been watching Nick Punto from a hotel fire escape at that moment.

Where were we?

So, here’s a list honoring the scrappiest players in the game.

Right. Let’s do it!

No. 10 Eric Byrnes, Diamondbacks

Byrnes can be found diving all around Chase Field, making spectacular plays. He’s fearless in the outfield, runs whenever he can, and slides hard every time there’s a close play.

Eric Byrnes gets a lot of acclaim as a gritty hustler extraordinaire. SportsCenter helps his cause because he falls around the outfield and makes shoestring catches. Baseball Reference even lists his nicknames as “Crash Test Dummy and Pigpen”.

Eric Byrnes is in the midst of his grittiest season since 2005. But this is because he’s never really been that gritty — at least not from an offensive standpoint. He hits for too much power and strikes out too often to really be gritty. And, he’s been hurt the last two years which is definitely not gritty. Gritty players play through injuries; they don’t succumb to them.

Eric Byrnes has shown time and time again, that he is talented enough to hit for extra bases. That’s not gritty.

No. 9 Nate McLouth, Braves

McLouth is always giving it his all. Even when he was on the Pirate’s he never seemed to care too much about the standings, he only cared about making the most of every at bat.

Okay, I have to take issue here again. Nate McLouth is also not gritty. Like Eric Byrnes, he gets mislabeled as “gritty” because he hustles. But a player who hustles successfully is simply talented. Look at McLouth’s stolen base numbers — the guy is 74 for 83 over his career. Last year, his GRIT3 was -15.69 and he’s shied away from stepping in to as many pitches this year.

Sorry, J, but you’re 0 for 2.

No. 8 Augie Ojeda, Diamondbacks

Listed at 5’8’’ 165, this little guy knows how to play the game. The scrappy shortstop can be seen hustling down the line on every ball he makes contact with. You gotta respect a player like that.

All right, now we’re talking!

This little bastard is most definitely gritty. He put up a very solid 8.05 GRIT3 last year and is above 5 on the current season. He’s a bit of a free swinger seeing only 3.72 pitches per PA over his career, but his short stature allows him to draw some walks. And his tiny frame keeps him from hitting for much power — only 7 home runs over his 1,115 lifetime PAs and a slugging average of .314.

Ojeda’s probably not someone I’d put in the top 10, but at least we’re headed in the right direction.

No. 7 Aaron Rowand, Giants

His face first catch into the fence was enough to get him on this list. Always putting the game first, and his body second, he’s as scrappy as outfielders come.

Like Ojeda, Rowand’s probably not someone I’d put in the top 10, but he deserves consideration. Since his coming out party with the White Sox’ championship team in 2005, Rowand has notched positive GRIT3 in each season no matter where he’s gone. His 2005 total of 17.13 was good for 7th in the Majors and he posted 8.56, 3.80, and 7.08 over the next three seasons with the Phillies and Giants. Rowand seems to get off on pain whether it’s at the plate, in the field, and probably off the field. As such, he’s consistently been among the league leaders in HBP.

Gritty? Oh yeah. Top 10 Gritty? Maybe.

No. 6 Reed Johnson, Cubs

Reed is one of my favorite players because he’s such a grinder. He struggles to find an outfield spot on the Cubs, but he really gives maximum effort when he’s on the field. He bunts, runs, and dives for balls. This all out effort has taken a toll on his body, and he’s had a few stints on the DL this season, but hopefully he’ll be healthy next year, and the Cubs can use him next season to bring a spark into their line up.

No arguments here. The man wears a merkin on his chin and was in gymnastics as a child. If you want to live a non-gritty life that’s free from childhood ridicule, participating in gymnastics as a kid is just about the worst way to go about making it happen.

His fearless catches are well-known, but he puts up very good GRIT3 numbers by showing the same fearlessness at the plate. Coming in to this season, Johnson was plunked once every 29.9 plate appearances. Among players to debut after 1900, only 6 have been plunked at a faster rate:

Player	HBP	PA	Rate
F.P. Santangelo	83	2073	24.98
Ron Hunt	243	6158	25.34
Craig Wilson	90	2311	25.68
Carlos Quentin	39	1023	26.23
Sal Fasano	47	1245	26.49
Jason LaRue	102	2928	28.71
Reed Johnson	92	2676	29.09
Fernando Vina	157	4742	30.20
Charlie Babb	45	1376	30.58
Bert Daniels	72	2236	31.06

No. 5 David Eckstein, Padres

Back in his prime, the 2006 Wold Series MVP was the epitome of a scrappy player. The 5’7’’ second baseman-shortstop continues to make the most of his limited ability and physic. He’ll do anything to get on base, and he’s not afraid to lean into a pitch if necessary.

Lil’ Davey’s #1 in my book. He should be #1 in your book, too. Unless we’re reading different books. I’m reading George Will’s Bunts; is that what you’re reading?

Whatever. Eckstein’s number one. End of story. I don’t care if he sucks at the hard sciences.

No. 4 Chone Figgins, Angels

The 5’8’’ utility man will play whenever and where ever he can. He’s extremely scrappy and truly makes the most out of his limited physique.

I’m not going to argue this. J’s clearly done his homework. After coming on strong with a 2008 GRITTY earning 8.46, Figgins has continued to hang near the top of the GRIT3 leaderboard in 2009. He’s currently sitting at 8.11 which puts him at 17th in the Majors.

What’s his secret? A complete and total revulsion to the idea of hitting for extra-bases. His career ISO of .096 and OMS of -0.025 prove that Chone knows that, to be truly gritty, you should earn each and every base one at a time.

No. 3 Brett Gardner, Yankees

It’s got to be tough when you’re on arguably the most talented team in baseball, full of sluggers, and you’ve got to prove yourself with your wheels and defense. That is just what Gardner is doing. Every day he’s playing he’s legging out hits, laying down bunts, and improving the team.

I’m going to go out on a limb here and suggest that the author is being victimized by the cognitive bias known as the “Contrast effect“. With GRIT3 totals of 0.43 and 0.68 during 2008 and 2009 respectively, Gardner is barely above average in terms of his grittiness.

Gardner’s probably viewed as being “very gritty” for two reasons. First, nobody else on the Yankees is gritty. Only Jose Molina (0.79) has a higher GRIT3 during this year for New York. Combine that with the fact that New York is neck-and-neck with Texas for the least grittiest of all teams, and Gardner comes across as gritty. This unwarranted praise is likely multiplied by the extensive media coverage which the Yankees receive.

If you assert that Mark Teixeira is gritty frequently enough, it will eventually become gospel. Mark Teixeira isn’t gritty, and neither is Brett Gardner.

No. 2 Shane Victorino, Phillies

This guy is amazing. He was an integral player on last year’s World Championship Phillies team. This guy does it all; he sprints down the line, he takes great routes, hustles in the outfield, and can lay down a bunt. If you want a championship team, you need at least one player like Victorino on the roster.

You’re totally right. Shane Victorino runs well. And he can bunt. That makes him invaluable. And gritty!

Seriously, Victorino’s gritty. He’s far from being the second grittiest, but at this point I think it’s apparent that J’s not ordering these correctly.

NEEEEEEXT

No. 1 Dustin Pedroia, Red Sox

Dustin Pedroia is the definition of a grinder. The little second baseman does whatever he can to improve the team, and he’s the reason for much of the Sox’s success over the last few years. He certainly brings a fire to the lineup, and invigorates his teammates.

I’m a bit conflicted here. In 2007, Pedroia put up a healthy GRIT3 of 8.31 on his way to winning the AL ROY on Boston’s championship squad. That was solid enough to land him 18th place in the Majors despite seeing less action than many of those ahead of him. However, last year, Pedroia’s grittiness took a nosedive to -3.01 — 904th out of 1026 players. Pedroia’s not the grittiest player in the Majors.

Whether or not he merits consideration for a top 10 list depends on which is the real Dustin Pedroia.

That’s all for this week. Make sure to check back in a few for some more PDG and our next Hall of GRIT induction.