Javier Baez 2014 ROY-MVP-World Series MVP Thread

[Slaky]

I thought GRITty players made the little things look dramatic because of the extra effort required due to the fact that they weren't very good at sports.

ChuckD wants to declare Baez gritty and we can't say no. Creators always have last say on what is or isn't correct, just ask George Lucas.

Pay attention. Baez doesn't make enough contact to be gritty. And he's making the plays, so he's flashy.

Yeah baby that's the co-sign I needed.

[CBStew]

Holy crap this guy.

How many plays did he make that made your eyes pop out of your head? 3? 4?

Baez has to be one of the flashiest (and I mean in this in a good way) players to come along in quite some time. Almost everything he does has a flair to it that not many players have.

He made a nice play last night charging in on a ball (good) but on slo-mo it became clear that he fielded it with a glove-side backhand (bad; also wtf?). But it looked really cool at full speed (good) and he got the out (good).

Flair usually means doing things the hard way and making them look unnecessarily cool.

Interesting. That sounds similar to the grit definition -- "doing things inefficiently (i.e. the hard way)" and "reaping less success in terms of tangible results."

"Making them look unnecessarily cool" implies success, so if gritty guys continue to do things inefficiently but start to succeed, they're just some sort of league-average glory boys?

GRIT guys do things the hard way but make them look really boring and lame. No one likes a try hard. Javy makes difficult things look smooth and rad. Like a hot girl ripping a guitar solo behind her head. Or opening a bottle with your forehead. You could just use a bottle opener. But why not wow 'em if you can.

Wait. Wait. Wait.  "Opening a bottle with your forehead."   I can think of two ways of doing that.  1. Using your eye socket. 2.  Crashing the bottle over your head.  Depending on the definition, I guess that either one could be "rad", but no amount of persuasion could make me think that either of those are smooth.

[ChuckD]

Holy crap this guy.

How many plays did he make that made your eyes pop out of your head? 3? 4?

Baez has to be one of the flashiest (and I mean in this in a good way) players to come along in quite some time. Almost everything he does has a flair to it that not many players have.

He made a nice play last night charging in on a ball (good) but on slo-mo it became clear that he fielded it with a glove-side backhand (bad; also wtf?). But it looked really cool at full speed (good) and he got the out (good).

Flair usually means doing things the hard way and making them look unnecessarily cool.

Interesting. That sounds similar to the grit definition -- "doing things inefficiently (i.e. the hard way)" and "reaping less success in terms of tangible results."

"Making them look unnecessarily cool" implies success, so if gritty guys continue to do things inefficiently but start to succeed, they're just some sort of league-average glory boys?

GRIT guys do things the hard way but make them look really boring and lame. No one likes a try hard. Javy makes difficult things look smooth and rad. Like a hot girl ripping a guitar solo behind her head. Or opening a bottle with your forehead. You could just use a bottle opener. But why not wow 'em if you can.

Wait. Wait. Wait.  "Opening a bottle with your forehead."   I can think of two ways of doing that.  1. Using your eye socket. 2.  Crashing the bottle over your head.  Depending on the definition, I guess that either one could be "rad", but no amount of persuasion could make me think that either of those are smooth.

#1 is flashy because it's the wrong way to open a bottle, but (I'm assuming) the person doing it makes it look easy and you still get the correct end result (beer drinkage).
#2 is gritty because it's the wrong way to open a bottle, you don't get to drink the beer, and skin + blood + glass shards = gritty.

[Slaky]

Holy crap this guy.

How many plays did he make that made your eyes pop out of your head? 3? 4?

Baez has to be one of the flashiest (and I mean in this in a good way) players to come along in quite some time. Almost everything he does has a flair to it that not many players have.

He made a nice play last night charging in on a ball (good) but on slo-mo it became clear that he fielded it with a glove-side backhand (bad; also wtf?). But it looked really cool at full speed (good) and he got the out (good).

Flair usually means doing things the hard way and making them look unnecessarily cool.

Interesting. That sounds similar to the grit definition -- "doing things inefficiently (i.e. the hard way)" and "reaping less success in terms of tangible results."

"Making them look unnecessarily cool" implies success, so if gritty guys continue to do things inefficiently but start to succeed, they're just some sort of league-average glory boys?

GRIT guys do things the hard way but make them look really boring and lame. No one likes a try hard. Javy makes difficult things look smooth and rad. Like a hot girl ripping a guitar solo behind her head. Or opening a bottle with your forehead. You could just use a bottle opener. But why not wow 'em if you can.

Wait. Wait. Wait.  "Opening a bottle with your forehead."   I can think of two ways of doing that.  1. Using your eye socket. 2.  Crashing the bottle over your head.  Depending on the definition, I guess that either one could be "rad", but no amount of persuasion could make me think that either of those are smooth.

#1 is flashy because it's the wrong way to open a bottle, but (I'm assuming) the person doing it makes it look easy and you still get the correct end result (beer drinkage).
#2 is gritty because it's the wrong way to open a bottle, you don't get to drink the beer, and skin + blood + glass shards = gritty.

We are on the same page.

[WTB...A RING FFS!!]

How the fuck am I this late after the game the one to be bumping the thread for Javy's act of heroism today?

[Chuck to Chuck]

How the fuck am I this late after the game the one to be bumping the thread for Javy's act of heroism today?

Because you don't give a shit about your mother?

[Bort]

How the fuck am I this late after the game the one to be bumping the thread for Javy's act of heroism today?

Because you don't give a shit about your mother?

To be fair, I don't give a shit about his mother, either.

[WTB...A RING FFS!!]

How the fuck am I this late after the game the one to be bumping the thread for Javy's act of heroism today?

Because you don't give a shit about your mother?

No dbag, I was just finishing work and about to go the mom's.

[ChuckD]

How the fuck am I this late after the game the one to be bumping the thread for Javy's act of heroism today?

Because you don't give a shit about your mother?

No dbag, I was just finishing work and about to go the mom's.

[Bort]

How the fuck am I this late after the game the one to be bumping the thread for Javy's act of heroism today?

Because you don't give a shit about your mother?

No dbag, I was just finishing work and about to go the mom's.

Loor and I make go the mom's.

[Tonker]

How the fuck has this thread ended up on Page 3?

[Slaky]

How the fuck has this thread ended up on Page 3?

Never again

[WTB...A RING FFS!!]

If Javy can just hit league avg/oba/slg/ops he's gotta stay because his defense is fucking amazing. I know we've had a few great defenders, but this guy is ridiculous.

[D. Doluntap]

Grand slams are good for VORP. God I love Baez in the same way I loved Big Z.

[WTB...A RING FFS!!]

Difference is that Baez doesn't seem to be the emo, hot-headed powderkeg and is will to play anywhere to help out.