Who Are Your Favorite Non-Met Players?

Nick Swisher I’ve always liked because he seems like a cool guy. I hate facing him, but Roy Halladay is a hell of a pitcher and I really enjoy watching him do his thing. I can’t not love Brian Wilson. Also, I hate the Rockies but Tulo’s a damn good player who I enjoy watching.

This voluptuous Venezuelan is regularly the inspiration of my dirty rosterbation habit..

And I used to like Giambi back when he was an A and before the steroid use came out.

I like pitchers who can make baseballs defy physics.

short, dirty, corn rows and a giant dip in at all times. minny man ram.

and jay buhner is all right, mainly because of this.

plus points for quirky behavior

Now, probably Mauer. Down to earth guy, easy going and someone who can just rake, even while playing catcher. As Piazza basically being my favorite all time Met, I gotta love catchers who can hit. Plus, his glove is way better than Mike’s was although he doesnt hit the light-tower shots #31 did, his AVG is just as impressive

Albert Pujols,
Derek Jeter,
Joe Mauer,
Roy Halladay,
Mariano Rivera,
Mark Teixeira,
Henry Aaron,
Ryne Sandberg,
Cal Ripken Jr.,
Ken Griffey Jr.,
Greg Maddux,
Craig Biggio,
Dale Murphy,
Robin Yount,
Don Mattingly,
George Brett,
Rod Carew,
PETE ROSE,
JIM PALMER,
Carl Yastrzemski,
Johnny Bench,
Bob Gibson,
Roberto Clemente,
Carlton Fisk,
Catfish Hunter,
Tim Raines,

He definitely never played for the Mets, though I saw him pitch with Toronto.

Have his autographed jersey framed in my house. Classy guy.

Bert Blyleven, Edgar Martinez, Hoyt Wilhelm, Dan Quisenberry, Tim Wakefield, Pat Neshek, just off the top of my head.

Jeff Keppinger was here so briefly he should qualify, I’ll give him an honorable mention.

Tragically, Vladimir Guerrero qualifies. Thanks, Wilpons…

Albert Pujols (Shea Stadium)
King Felix (TV)
Pat Neshek (TV)
Cal Ripkin, Jr. (Was at the Hall of Fame in 2007, saw his speech)
Greg Maddux (Shea)
Jim Abbott (TV)
Yu Darvish (TV)
Eri Yoshida (TV)
Yutaka Enatsu (from the ‘60s and ’70s, and I never actually saw him, but he’s too much of a bad ass not to like)
Satchel Paige (see above)

That’s all I can think of right now.

Is he a prick? Sure. But I can appreciate his excellence on the field and his “I don’t give a fuck about what you think of me” attitude off of it. Another favorite of mine would be Zack Greinke.

And when is Cannongeyser gonna continue the Moneyball book club? I was enjoying it.

Frank Thomas might just be my favorite player of the past two decades. The guy was a sabermetric porn star before I even knew what sabermetrics was. Had five seasons with an OBP over .450, including his ridiculous .353/.487/.729 MVP season in 1994.

Brandon Morrow
A guy I picked up early on last season in fantasy baseball and fell in love with. Young flamethrowers who take a long time finding themselves have a certain appeal, I suppose. It’s beautiful to see how they can start a game off so elegantly and fall apart suddenly (in a non-Oliver Perez fashion and for a team I have no emotional interest in) I saw his almost no hitter and was cheering like a cross between a Blue Jays fan and a proud father.

Chipper Jones
Nemesis

Ozzie Smith
Watching him field was a delight.

Kent Hrbk
No vowels in his last name. It really fucked with me in my baseball card collecting days.

There was nothing better than watching those two just dominate a game in their primes

i was always partial to arky vaughn.

Cal Ripken Jr.
Jim Abbott
Ozzie Smith
Ichiro Suzuki
Todd Helton
Ken Griffey Jr
Sal Fasano (just for the facial hair)
Greg Maddux

brian roberts

and for no particular reason(s)

Dave Parker
Gaylord Perry
Tom Brunansky
Paul Splittorf
Willie Stargell
Joe Carter
Mark Fidrych
Dave Steib
Mike Schmidt
Joaquin Andujar
Ron Guidry
Bob Horner

those are the names that popped up quickly upon reading the post

Always liked George Brett and Tony Gwynn.

Because watching him hit an inside the park homerun is entertaining.

He hits HR when he feels like it, his trademarked batting preparation, nonsense adds and ASG antics.

b/c I really liked all the guys you mentioned (except Mickey Tettleton, gotta be honest and admit I don’t really have much of a memory of him – I know who he is, just never really stood out to me as a player).

Anyway, my list would probably look like:

1a) Maddux – just loved watching him pitch, to the point that I didn’t even care that he pitched for our archrival. Went to this game in 2001 on a whim w/my dad (I had baseball practice in Queens, and we just decided to go), scalped tickets 4 rows behind home plate, and watched pitching brilliance. It was incredible, even though the Mets lost.
1b) Pedro – so different from Maddux in how he pitched, but just as dominant. I love good pitching.
3) Pujols – I’ve seen him in person 3 times. He’s hit 4 homeruns. He’s pretty much that good all the time. Best hitter I’ve ever seen (I saw Bonds 5 times – 0 homers. Fuck Bonds).
4) Tony Gwynn – fat dude who could hit the hell out of the ball. As I’ve learned more about sabermetrics I’ve realized that maybe Gwynn wasn’t quite as good as I thought when he was playing, but he was still a damn fine player.
5) Berine/Mo/Paul O’Neill – I hate the Yankees franchise, but I always liked these 3 guys from their 90’s team (and Mo obviously still going strong). Bernie winning Gold Gloves was absurd, but the dude was an awesome hitter. O’Neill was a very solid hitter whom I would have killed to have had on the Mets, plus he was fun as hell to watch in right field (I sat in the section right next to the bleachers once, and the whole game just watched O’Neill curse into his glove and talk to himself. It was great). And Mo is just incredible – enjoy what he’s doing, b/c nobody is ever going to be this good again. I know ERA for relievers isn’t a very useful stat, but when a guy has had 10 seasons of a sub-2.00 ERA (including 7 of the last 8 years), there’s some aspect of it that has to be repeatable. Over his last 975 innings, he’s got a 2.02 ERA and 4.29 K/BB. He’s just absurd.

And all time, for guys I never saw play, Mickey Mantle is my favorite player ever. My dad started out as a Yankees fan (pre-1962), and the Mick was his favorite player when he was a kid, so I’ve always appreciated him. The more I’ve learned about Sabermetrics, the more I’ve realized that despite being considered an all-time great, he’s actually probably underrated – most casual fans think Joe D was better than him, which is absurd. I’m thoroughly convinced that had Mantle not torn up his knee as a rookie, drank himself into bad shape and had a bunch of other injuries throughout his career, he’d be ranked up there with Ruth and Mays and whoever else as the greatest player of all-time (and, as a CF who was a better hitter than Mays, quite possible above both of them), but the fact that he didn’t have that career path doesn’t make what he actually did any less impressive.

Just some current Major Leaguers off the top of my head…

Albert Pujols – one in a life-time player.

Brian Wilson – love his personality, and hes just darn right fun to watch him pitch.

Josh Johnson – can’t stand facing him, but hes another pitcher I love to watch. I guess I’m a sucker for mid-90’s fastballs and upper-80’s sliders (see Wilson ).

Orlando Hudson – I’ve just always been a fan of his, though I’m not too sure why. Great defensive 2B with a good bat, and he grew up a Mets fan!

Ichiro – who doesn’t?

Brian McCann – incredibly underrated catcher; has good power, good on-base skills, and he can even hold his own vs LHP.

Tim Lincecum – very fun pitcher to watch. Its funny how he went from a flamethrower with a wicked hook to a long-haired lower-90’s fastball/wicked change-up pitcher. He still has the hook, but his change is his money pitch, unlike when he first came up. His delivery is just full of awesomeness too.

Sammy Gervacio – the Claw. ’Nuff said.

Brandon Morrow – admittedly I’ve only seen him pitch a handful of times, but hes entertaining. His pure stuff, particularly the slider, can be flat out nasty.

Vlad Guerrero – like Ichiro, how can you NOT like him? The dude has made an incredible career out of not walking and swinging at pitches 2 feet outside the strikezone.

Joe Mauer – because hes go damn good.

Felix Hernandez – another guy I want to see pitch more than I have, but hes another pitcher than is downright fun to watch. His stuff is filthy good.

Adam Dunn – who doesn’t enjoy mammoth homeruns? Hes also really, really good at getting on-base. Its too bad defense has brought his career value down so much.

Carlos Marmol – horrible control, crazy ability to miss bats. Hes clearly one of those guys thats fun to watch when hes on another team but would drive me absolutely crazy if he was on my team.

There are probably many more that are escaping me now…. and that’s just current players.

Greg Maddux: There was something about watching him pitch that made it feel like you were watching the baseball equivalent of Michelangelo painting the Sistine Chapel. He was an artist, but also played the part of cold-blooded genius too.

Vladimir Guerrero: What a freak of nature. Be careful about intentionally walking him, as he might just rip the IBB pitch off the wall for a 2-run double. I was so happy when he ripped the 2-run double off Phil Hughes that all but sealed Texas’ trip to the World Series.

Evan Longoria: The guy pretty much has no weakness on the field. His swing is a thing of beauty.

Mariano Rivera: Like Maddux, a brilliant artist and a cold-blooded machine at once. Plus, he seems like a really cool guy, which gets him bonus points playing for the Evil Empire.

Tim Lincecum: You gotta love a skinny long-haired stoner being one of the great pitchers in the game. His delivery is insane too.

It might be a bit Red Sox heavy due to getting to watch a bunch of these guys play in Pawtucket on the road to the show.

Jason Varitek – Tough competitor, great leader, tough as nails catcher. The heart and soul of the 04 and 07 Red Sox. Even though they brought in first Victor Martinez then Jarred Saltalamacchia to replace him, he’s still around. Nothing but respect for the real El Capitan.

Joe Mauer – Yeah, there the amazing numbers but I don’t think you can really appreciate how good of a player Mauer is until you see him play everyday. Since moving to the Twin Cities this summer, I have and my appreciation for Mauer has grown exponentially.

Randy Choate – More that the mere mention of Choate pisses of my best friend (Yankees fan) beyond belief.

Dustin Pedroia – If announcers would drop the David Eckstein comparisons (And really other than them both being short and white, there are none) then they could fully appreciate everything Pedroia has done. Hard worker, shown that you can improve your defense if you put the work in as he went from a negative -2 Rdrs to a +12 and +14 the following years.

Trot Nixon – (Do the 41 plate appearances in 2008 count?) He was the perfect mix of SABR and old school, hard nosed guy who put his body on the line and would put up good OBP and OPS. Underrated defender in Fenway, where Right Fielders basically have to be a second Center Fielder.

Mark Fidrych.

That Is All.

cc sabathia- my buddy is from cleveland, which is when i began to appreciate him.

scott rolen- met him a couple times when he was on the phillies and he was a really nice guy.

cal ripken jr.- i don’t even have to explain this one

ken griffey jr.- he’s the reason that i wear my hat backwards.

barry bonds- idgaf about steroids or the fact that he’s a prick.

pat burrell- i know he’s most closely associated with the phillies, and for killing the
mets, but he was mostly viewed as a disappointment by philthies fans, so i started to like him.

craig biggio- i honestly have no idea way.

vladimir guerrero- i went through a phase where i thought the expos were awesome.

eric gagne- even though he won a cy young award when he wasn’t even the most valuable pitcher on his own team (also, i love welcome to the jungle.)

on the list yet. I watched him take batting practice once at Shea he was hitting line drive homeruns into that picnic section they used to have.

I used to love watching Cleveland back in the day when they were competing against the Yankees. MANNY RAMIREZ and KENNY LOFTON were a lot fun to watch. especially the way Manny acted he was ridiculous. The man with the sweetest swing growing up is KEN GRIFFEY. I think anyone that like baseball likes that guy. I also have to say that JOE MAUER currently has the sweetest swing in the game though and at time he can look like Griffey. One young pitcher I like watching is MAT LATOS he has the crazy hair and is an amazing pitcher.

A few years ago:
Randy Johnson—He may have even been underrated. Those season strikeout numbers are completely absurd and won’t be touched for a long time; he had 372 in 2001. 372! His intimidation and his Game 7 performance in the 2001 World Series sealed my admiration for him. Few guys would come back out for multiple innings the day after throwing 104 pitches.

Oliver Perez (the Pirate!)—He looked like he was going to blossom into a superstar after 2004. When he was traded to the Mets in 2006, I was ecstatic, even though he sucked. Despite his Mets legacy, his NLCS Game 7 performance will always paint him in a positive light for me. But I digress.

Alfonso Soriano—My favorite Yankee for a number of years.

David Ortiz, the 2004 Red Sox—I loved the 2004 Red Sox team.

Cal Ripken Jr.—I always took him in Backyard Baseball 2001.

Tony Gwynn—A very solid player who was screwed by the strike in his pursuit of .400 by the 1994 strike.

Now:
Buster Posey—I love him. No need to say anything more. It’s unrequited love.

Dustin Pedroia—I love the little overachiever. He’s different from Eckstein in that he’s actually a star-caliber player.

Josh Hamilton—It’s not just that I love a comeback. It’s that he’s so absurdly talented.

Carlos Gonzalez—Like Hamilton, is enormously talented. I love his swing—looks like he has a lot fewer holes than most lefties because it’s level through the zone with a late upper cut.

Brian Wilson!

Roy Halladay-best pitcher in the game today, and is fun to watch.

Tony Gwynn- miss watching him play, fantastic hitter

Greg Maddux-best pitcher of the 90s. Dominated the steroid age with command.

Brandon Morrow-emerging star, has electric stuff

Randy Johnson-dominant pitcher, so intimidating. His performance in the 2001 Playoffs was uncanny.

Rafael Palmiero-The most beautiful swing I have ever seen. Steroids or not, Rafael’s swing was simply astonishing.

McGwire and Sosa. 6 years old and watching baseball so, so intently. I love them forever for that.

Griffey: For having his name on two baseball games and, well, being a hell of a lot cooler than anyone else in the entire world.

BJ Upton for going to high school down the street, giving me an autograph, and being nicknamed Bossman. I’ll always have a particular affinity for anyone from my hometown: Justin Upton, Cuddyer, Zimmerman, Reynolds.. all give me a lot of pride and, well, it always made me feel good that kids who grew up no differently than I did could make it all the way even if I couldn’t.

Tim Lincecum for his awesome 2007 AAA stat line. I remember it like you would remember any internet meme: 5 starts, 31 innings, 46:11 K:BB ratio, and an epic 0.29 ERA. That was awesome. I was so excited for his debut. I liked him before he had his image (apparently people like stoners… I never feel the love though), so everyone else can just suck it!

Albert Pujols amazes me. I must watch him play, because I’m not going to see someone like this for a long time.

And I suppose I should list some Rockies.. Ubaldo isn’t the best pitcher in the league but he’s the most fun for me to watch right now (some Dickey aside). Tulo is the shit but the chant they do for him just hurts my head. I’ve always loved Seth Smith’s skillset. Very similar to Dan Murphy, but he’s a plus defensive outfielder. It upsets me he doesn’t get any love, or a starting job.

dustin pedroia

former players are probably ken grifey jr and larry walker.

Jamie Moyer. Legend. Beyond that, Tim Lincecum and Felix Hernandez.

Frank Thomas and Junior Griffey

but for some reason now I hold disdain for nearly everyone for one reason or another. I guess I like Jiminez, but I’m sure once he throws a perfect game against us that will be out the window too. I kind of like Mark Reynolds mostly for his luscious locks, before we traded for him Castillo was one of my favorite players.

Met him on a train leaving NYC once. Super super super nice guy, good sense of humor, class act all the way around. I didn’t even know it was him, we were just making small talk and he mentioned he played baseball, but said that I’d never heard of him. I’m glad he wasn’t creeped out that I not only knew who he was, but knew his stat lines from the past 3 seasons.

I started going to games in 1955. My favorite non-Mets, in no particular order, are:
Jackie Robinson, Warren Spahn, Phil Niekro, Roberto Clemente, Frank Robinson, Sandy Koufax, Tommy Davis, Albert Pujols, Roy Campanella, Duke Snider, Carl Erskine, Don Newcombe, Rod Carew, Vida Blue, Minnie Minoso, Maury Wills, Orel Hershiser, Frank Howard, and Pee Wee Reese.

any knuckleballer or other oddity

I saw Jim Abbot’s no-hitter, so he has a special place in my heart. First yankee game I ever went to, totally on a whim because the mets weren’t in town and my dad wanted to go to a baseball game

1. He pitched for the Providence Grays, who would be my local team if I lived in the 1880s
2. He pitched 40 out of 43 games. That’s freaking awesome

and sometimes not even them. i also like players i can imagine playing for the Mets soon, like Mauer last year. you guys are a bunch of traitors.

Nomar. Loved him during his hey-day.

Yes, Chipper Jones. Most Mets fans hate him, but he’s one of the most worthy adversaries the Mets ever had. He plays the game the right way. Never juiced. Named his daughter Shea. C’mon, what else do ya need?

He elevated his game from a Punch & Judy hitter and became a great player in all aspects (except power). When my nephew was a kid, I took him to a Mets – Padres game and told him to watch Gwynn so that one day he could tell his grandchildren that he saw Tony Gwynn play. I’ve never said that about anyone else.

Some others in no particular order:

Craig Biggio: I saw a double header where he caught the first game and palyed CF in the night cap — and he made a great diving catch. Also, we have the same birthday. (He’s exactly 10 years younger than me and Bill Buckner is exactly 10 years older.)

Joe Morgan: Forget his ESPN career. He was the best 2B ever IMO, and yes, he was a smart player too, Got on base, had pop, great fielder. He also had a great timing mechanism at the plate — his right elbow would flap like a chicken.

Bruce Sutter: I know his HOF credentials have been ripped, but I loved his splitter. Nobody could match it; he would make All Stars look like Little Leaguers.

Ichiro: My favorite current player. He looks like he could do anything he wants.

Jim Abbott: Most inspirational. He would always say, “Treat me like a pticher, not a pitcher with one hand.” I had a classmate in high school who was also missing a hand but played sports and never let it stop him. And one out of left field….

John Boccabella. An obscure catcher for the Expos in the Parc Jarry era. As a player, I didn’t care, but I loved it when the Montreal PA announcer would say his name.

Agree that Gil Hodges should be in the HOF as a player.
From 1949 to 1957 and 1959, his OPS stats were great, as was his fielding and leadership.
If you compare his wOPAs to those of recently elected Roberto Alomar, those of Hodges are probably better.

I’ll do it by position:

C = Johnny Bench
1B = Poo Holes
2B = Joe Morgan (the player – not the broadcaster)
SS = Rey Ordonez ( fellow Cuban )
3B = Mike Schmidt
OF = Ken Griffey Jr.
OF = Rickey Henderson
OF = Barry Bonds (hey, whatever).
SP = Roy Halladay (only because I can’t pick Nolan Ryan)
RP = Mariano Rivera

1. Ozzie Smith – I loved to watch him play defense.
2. Rickey Henderson – I was a huge fan when he was coming up, and his stint with the Mets was too brief for me to consider him anything but a non-Met.
3. Ichiro – He’s a great player who I like to imagine played in the Deadball Era in a previous life.
4. Tim Lincecum – One of the most enjoyable pitchers to watch play.
5. Andre Dawson & Dale Murphy – I was fascinated by these two when they were in their prime. To this day, one of my baseball fantasies is for the Mets to have three such 30/30 players in the outfield.

1.Carlos Zambrano

1b Grace
2b Alomar(he was a Met?)see also Baerga
3b Schmidt
Ss Dunston(He was old here)
Lf Rickey
Cf Bernie
Rf O’Neill
P Maddux

Include: Roberto Clemente, Mark (the Bird) Fidrich, Sandy Koufax, Bob Gibson, David Eckstein, Willie McCovey and Hank Aaron.

Craig Biggio, because he was a little dude who was awesome at baseball (the anti-Eckstein), and because he played college ball at Seton Hall, which is the closest thing to a hometown college team where I grew up.

Mariano Rivera (I hate to say), because he’s awesome and continues to be awesome at an advanced age and just goes about his business without spreading herpes or telling us about his Edge. (And the commercial he IS in is funny, too.)

Jim Abbott, because he actually did it.

Tim Lincecum, because he’s so much fun to watch.

Vlad Guerrero, because, let’s be honest, even though taking pitches and drawings walks is valuable, it’s way more entertaining to watch guys swing at (and drive) pitches a foot outside and six inches below their knees.

Bill Buckner, because we’ll always have Game 6.

Mark Grace, because he gave us “slump busters”.

Larry Walker, because he seems like he’d be a good dude to sit down and have a Molson with.

Cody Ross, because even though he seems like an asshole who doesn’t know how to smile, anybody who beats up on the Braves and the Philth back-to-back in the playoffs is OK by me.