Let’s linger for a moment on this word, “scrappy.” It’s a linguistic spitball, this word, scuffed up and coated in foreign substances, and it has bucked and dived across nearly the whole of professional baseball’s history, entering the lexicon at the tag end of the 19th century with one meaning and leaving the next century with quite another.
The first player so labeled was probably John Carroll. He stood 5-foot-7 and played the outfield for the most part, ending his career with Cleveland in 1887. “Scrappy” was his nickname, for reasons now lost to history, though it’s likely it referred to a pugnacious disposition, i.e., he was prone to scraps. It’s difficult to know, though, because the christening of Scrappy Carroll went on behind the back of the Oxford English Dictionary, which locates the first use of “scrappy,” in this sense, in 1895, nearly a decade after Carroll had left the game. According to Jonathan Lighter, editor of The Historical Dictionary of American Slang, this usage of “scrappy” was at least popularized, if not coined, on our baseball diamonds.
“‘Scrappy,’ in those days, meant that you would fight at the drop of a hat,” says John Thorn, editor of Total Baseball.
…”Scrappy” approached the new century, then, as “the consolation prize of baseball adjectives—like saying a girl has a nice sense of humor,” Thorn says. The model was established by the relentlessly overpraised 5-foot-7 shortstop David Eckstein, who had the good fortune of being a slow, limp-armed, dink-and-dunking mediocrity who was not so bad at the plate as to prevent two of his teams from winning the World Series, and who not incidentally is as white as the fresh-fallen snow. Eckstein remains the sort of guy who makes Fox announcers sound like the front row of a Jonas Brothers show. He even won a World Series MVP with the Cardinals in 2006, mostly on the strength of a few doubles, of which at least one would’ve been caught had the Tigers not penciled in the moai of Easter Island in left field. (Poor Craig Monroe is probably still trying to get a read on that line drive.)
And now, in the twilight of Eckstein’s career and at the dawn of the Post-Steroid Era, the mantle has been passed to Pedroia. Today, “scrappy” serves as an implicit rebuke to the super-sized stars of the so-called Steroid Era, in much the same way it once carved out a fatuous distinction between white ballplayers and black and Latino ballplayers—the old spitball dancing once more on baseball’s ill winds. Pedroia has had to endure a lot of facile comparisons to Eckstein, whose game bears as much resemblance to Pedroia’s as it does to Manute Bol’s. Last year, with his big whip of a swing, Pedroia hit a robust .326 and rapped 73 extra-base hits, the 10th-best total all-time for any player 5-foot-9 or shorter. In addition, Pedroia’s 54 doubles came against 52 strikeouts, and he whiffed on only 8 percent of the pitches he swung at. “You used to see those kinds of numbers,” Theo Epstein says. “Like, Joe DiMaggio hit 30 homers and struck out 18 times or something. You don’t see that anymore. …I think [‘scrappy’] is just a convenient label for him. But it doesn’t really define who he is.”
Scrappy or not, Dustin Pedroia can flat-out hit. At least so far he can.
Unless it's the high inside fastball.
Former Yankee Nick Green made the Red Sox roster. At least until Lugo gets off the DL.
And Miggy Cairo is the 25th man on the Phillies roster.
If Cano had Pedroia's work ethic, he'd be a HoFer.
I caught a link to the Pedroia article over at Lohud and read the whole thing. While Alex chose a classy excerpt here about what it meant to be a "scrappy" ballplayer, of course Pete Abraham chose to continue his vendetta against ARod by immediately focusing on Pedroia calling ARod a dork. He then wondered if ARod was a clown (Trot Nixon), a fraud (Yankee teammates), or a dork (Pedroia).
Abraham constantly rips, bashes, insults and makes fun of ARod at every opportunity and then some. It's only gotten worse with the steroids thing, Selena Robert's book, Arod's injury, etc. It's been evident for some time that Abraham has an intense personal dislike for ARod, to the point it makes me think ARod must have dissed Abraham at some point in the past. A lot of the readers of Abraham's Yankee blog become as infuriated as I do which usually results in Pete jumping into the readers comments with some denials and phoney justification. Abraham also has a penchant for banning commenters who question his motives. ( Yeah, I'd be one of them).
I really like the inside Yankee info that Abraham is privy to and publishes on his blog, but his treatment of ARod really sours me on what otherwise would be a great blog.
Finally, as for Pedroia, one would think that with the allegations his brother is facing out in California for child molestation, Dustin might hesitate with the trash talking and name calling at this point in time, but I guess not.
I think Pete Abe just likes to rile people up. He knows blogs are supposed to be edgy, and posting that kind of thing brings traffic.
It's not just A-Rod. Remember that post he put up making fun of TJ Beam's looks? And the post where he claimed Bubba Crosby trashed Joe Torre and the Yankees? Even after the beat writer who wrote the Crosby interview told Pete he was mischaracterizing it, Pete kept saying Bubba trashed the Yanks, and even led his readers to believe there would be some kind of smackdown when Bubba face the NY press. (There wasn't.)
Wow, Pedroia. I had no idea he was that good. My kind of player, all the way.
I wonder if, in what may or may not be a "post-steroid era," we'll see a return to what I like to call baseball, where making contact is more highly valued and therefore honed as a skill from little league through triple A and beyond.
I know, I know, I'm a broken record, sue me. I just swoon over the art of batsmanship, the foundation of which I believe is consistent, solid contact.
Any chance we could land Pedroia in some kind of swindle?
[3] Very interesting point. And it's true, if Cano can reach his potential, I won't have to worry about landing Pedroia.
I do hope that ten years from now we see a return to fundamentals due to an overall decrease in home runs.
I wonder if that's possible.
I'd love to see a return to big ball parks (not necessarily a higher mound, though) that make thirty home runs a real accomplishment so that the texture of the game is (from my perspective) deepened.
[5] randym77,
I'm sure your correct with your point about Abraham liking to stir things up to create traffic, and he's certainly poked fun at other players in the past. But this ARod thing has gone way above and beyond that. There's another factor at play in the ARod dynamic here that isn't quite clear. Abraham isn't a Yankee fan. Maybe if he were he'd ease up a bit. Perhaps he sees himself as another Mike Lupica. Heaven help us.
BTW, I remember him making fun of TJ Beam's looks. That's rather ironic coming from a guy (Abraham) that has a face that is remarkably similar to my neighbor's St. Bernard.
[6] Japan in the WBC did real well with making contact, rather than waiting on the three run homer. And it's how the Netherlands beat the DR. Good old fashioned baseball.
[4] "A lot of the readers of Abraham’s Yankee blog become as infuriated as I do which usually results in Pete jumping into the readers comments with some denials and phoney justification."
To say a lot of readers might be a stretch, I'd say it's 50-50. I love Pete Abe, I don't disagree with anything he's written about ARod. Plus, some of it is done to be funny or get a reaction and people then start going off on Pete's weight, looks, etc. It gets real personal for no reason. I don't think Pete Abe is malicious. The problem is that some feel ARod parted the Red Sea, so anything he does is automatically twisted on the "evil media" and ARod gets no blame for anything he does. I wish I lived a life so charmed.
I think Pete Abe is more of a class act than ARod. I've never met ARod and I never met Pete Abe, but I think I'd enjoy a beer, or a bowl, more with Pete than ARod.
[8] Why does he have to be Yankee fan? I don't get that. Why don't we get a bunch of "Baghdad Bobs" to report on the Yankees? Even when the Yanks lose, the "Baghdad Bobs" will report a win.
I think that's a great idea, the Yanks will always win a championship and we'll all live happily ever after.
Or when A-Rod kisses a mirror, "Baghdad Bobs" will report that A-Rod was caught making out with Megan Fox.
[10] I think Pete Abe is more of a class act than ARod. I’ve never met ARod and I never met Pete Abe, but I think I’d enjoy a beer, or a bowl, more with Pete than ARod.
I don't think that's a particularly fair comparison given the disparate scrutiny and pressure that each is subjected to. A-Rod, like many, if not most ridiculously famous people, is hard pressed to lead a normal life, which has to severely distort a person's perceptions. Plus, everything you hear about or from A-Rod is largely filtered by the media.
As a result, A-Rod is naturally going to be suspicious of people, and more likely to keep his guard up at all times.
Ham, otoh, is a normal guy who offers daily musings on his widely read (at least by Yankee fans) blog.
So maybe you would enjoy a beer more with Ham, but I think that says more about you and Pete being in more in comparable situations in life than anything about either individual's class or lack thereof.
I enjoyed the article on Pedroia, not in the least because it was so well written. It's easy to see why Pedroia looks up to Jeter and why Jeter was willing to invest time in him at the WBC. I get a bit worried though when they start referring to any player as the face of the post-steroid era in baseball. After all, isn't that how they were trying to paint A-Rod prior to his recent revelations?
I love Pete Abe's blog and read it several times daily. It's not just the fabulous job that he does reporting on the Yanks but also his "attitude" that I love. I grew up in the NY area but have lived in the Genteel South for many, many years now. Pete has that prototypical New York in-your-face way of dealing with anyone or anything that offends his sensibilities. I love it. Obviously, A-Rod does offend Pete's sensibilities, probably on an ongoing basis.
[8] I don't think it has anything to do with Pete's being a Yankee fan or not.
I think he picks on the players he can get away with picking on. Usually, that's the little guys, like "Future hall of famer" Kevin Thompson. And A-Rod, the Yankee pariah.
[10]
Dimelo,
Sure there are people who comment at Lohud who agree with Abraham, or have no problem with his ARod putdowns, but there are a lot of Red Sox fans and Met fans, among others, who are weighing in there. Most of the true Yankee fans are sick and tired of Pete's eagerness to post another derogative thread on Alex every chance he gets. It seems to me that any true Yankee fan that wants to see the Yankees do well would want to be supportive of ARod, like him as a person or not, simply to see him productive on the field. How Alex does in the next 10 years is going to have a lot to do with the Yankees fortunes in that time.
Now I follow the Yankees closely every day, and I'm very aware of all ARod's foibles over the years, which honestly, are too many to list. And I certainly think he has himself mostly to blame. But he's just a human being, who makes mistakes, and really, he hasn't done anything that bad. But he's simply an easy target for people right now, and is singled out on numerous times. I still haven't heard anyone explain why his was the only name leaked from the list of 104 players that had positives tests back in 2003. Why only his name? The thing is, all the vitriol directed at ARod makes me root for him all the more.
[11] Abraham doesn't have to be a Yankee fan. I simply mentioned that if he were, and truly cared about the Yankees, perhaps he would go a little easier on Alex.