This article (commenting on how, basically, all major league players start of as shortstops when they're kids) reminded of a chapter in ‘Fever Pitch’ (excellent soccer book, not
crappy baseball movie) that goes through the numbers of exactly how
mind-bendingly awesome of a baseball player you have to be before you can SUCK
LIKE A WHIRLWIND at a major league level. The fact they’re all
shortstops is a symptom of that.
So (because I feel like writing an essay), if we use David Cooper as
our symbol of an archetypal ‘not very good’ major league player:
There are 750 players on the major league rosters (25 man).
There are 11.5 million baseball players of all ages in the USA alone. Perhaps double that worldwide.
Therefore a generous estimate is that for every 15,333 player who
pick up a bat, David Cooper will have been better than all of them. A
fairer global number might be nearer 30,000. And not just a bit better.
He will have been incredibly, mind-blowingly better than nearly all of
them. He will have been the best player his high school ever saw, by a
huge margin.
In fact, Cooper went to a good baseball school, that’s had at least 8
players drafted (thanks Baseball Reference), in the perhaps one of if
not the best places in the world to grow up if you want to get drafted
(California), but Cooper was much better than any of those earlier high
school stars had been. Probably outstandingly better. Only one other person made it from his school to the MLB – who played in a total of 26
games over two seasons.
Then, he went to college, posting .359/.449/.682 with 19 home runs
and 55 RBIs in his junior year, got drafted high (one behind Brett
Lawrie) and stormed through the minor leagues, breaking records and
winning titles.
In other words, the guy has never known anything but success at
everything he’s done in baseball. By any normal criteria, he is more
than a phenomenon. David Cooper is, as far as people like me are
concerned, as close to the perfect baseball machine as I am ever likely
to encounter.
But David Cooper is not very good. David Cooper’s career was being
written off by most even before he got to the major league level, and
he’s done nothing much to alter anybody’s opionion of him since he
arrived.
Why? He’s ‘weak’ defensively (by which we mean he’s incredibly strong
and talented defensively, but not quite as good as about 500 other
people in the known universe), and doesn’t hit with enough power to be a
first baseman (by which we mean he hits with a huge and astonishing
amount of power, but not as much as the 30-40 other people in the entire
universe who also are not great defenively, and who are therefore
competing for first base/DH jobs).
All of which qualifies me, an out-of-condition, fat, middle-aged ass sitting at home, to say:
a) Cooper, you suck.
b) What moron ever drafted that piece of useless shit.
This article (commenting on how, basically, all major league players start of as shortstops when they're kids) reminded of a chapter in ‘Fever Pitch’ (excellent soccer book, not crappy baseball movie) that goes through the numbers of exactly how mind-bendingly awesome of a baseball player you have to be before you can SUCK LIKE A WHIRLWIND at a major league level. The fact they’re all shortstops is a symptom of that.
So (because I feel like writing an essay), if we use David Cooper as our symbol of an archetypal ‘not very good’ major league player:
Therefore a generous estimate is that for every 15,333 player who pick up a bat, David Cooper will have been better than all of them. A fairer global number might be nearer 30,000. And not just a bit better. He will have been incredibly, mind-blowingly better than nearly all of them. He will have been the best player his high school ever saw, by a huge margin.
In fact, Cooper went to a good baseball school, that’s had at least 8 players drafted (thanks Baseball Reference), in the perhaps one of if not the best places in the world to grow up if you want to get drafted (California), but Cooper was much better than any of those earlier high school stars had been. Probably outstandingly better. Only one other person made it from his school to the MLB – who played in a total of 26 games over two seasons.
In fact there’s evidence of how good Cooper was: http://www.lodinews.com/sports/article_ff187a90-42a8-11e1-b3d0-0019bb2963f4.html?mode=image&photo=1
Then, he went to college, posting .359/.449/.682 with 19 home runs and 55 RBIs in his junior year, got drafted high (one behind Brett Lawrie) and stormed through the minor leagues, breaking records and winning titles.
In other words, the guy has never known anything but success at everything he’s done in baseball. By any normal criteria, he is more than a phenomenon. David Cooper is, as far as people like me are concerned, as close to the perfect baseball machine as I am ever likely to encounter.
But David Cooper is not very good. David Cooper’s career was being written off by most even before he got to the major league level, and he’s done nothing much to alter anybody’s opionion of him since he arrived.
Why? He’s ‘weak’ defensively (by which we mean he’s incredibly strong and talented defensively, but not quite as good as about 500 other people in the known universe), and doesn’t hit with enough power to be a first baseman (by which we mean he hits with a huge and astonishing amount of power, but not as much as the 30-40 other people in the entire universe who also are not great defenively, and who are therefore competing for first base/DH jobs).
All of which qualifies me, an out-of-condition, fat, middle-aged ass sitting at home, to say:
a) Cooper, you suck.
b) What moron ever drafted that piece of useless shit.
Life is not fair.