Patrick Saunders wrote a column in the Denver Post about new Rockies manager Walt Weiss. A word cloud from the piece, some from Saunders, some from other players or managers, some from Weiss himself:
- “Dirty”
- “Gritty”
- “caked with infield dirt”
- “cheeks streaked with a mixture of sweat and eye black”
- “a blue-collar player, blue-collar all the way”
- “ultimate professional”
- “down-and-dirty player”
- “an intense competitor”
- “intense competitor”
- “a grinder guy”
Just in case you weren’t clear on how the story lines in Colorado were going to be framed next season.
I would love it, though, if one day I saw a player referred to as “kind of a white collar guy” who “keeps his jersey clean” and is “a moderate competitor.”
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- kiwicricket - Nov 12, 2012 at 11:59 AM
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One of my most vivid Weiss-ism’s is when ESPN used to harp on about that ragged, fungal spore producing glove of his. Even the glove he used had to be gritty.
And if I remember correctly, a ball blew through the webbing in an important game…
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- sabathiawouldbegoodattheeighthtoo - Nov 12, 2012 at 12:09 PM
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reminds me of a headline in the Onion a few years back: Darin Erstad Grounds Into Gritty, Veteran Inning-Ending Double Play
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- paperlions - Nov 12, 2012 at 12:14 PM
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All of those things are great, really, they are….but talent, that is actually the most important thing teams need. Is it best to have both? Of course, but a grit-challenged talented team will win a lot more games than a gritty talent-challenged team.
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- personalspaceinvader - Nov 12, 2012 at 1:39 PM
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Yes, but is he a good clubhouse guy? I had Tracy ranked at a 1.8 CHGAR (Club-House Guy Above Replacement). Instead of their lack of effective pitching (which has been overblown), the 2012 Rockies suffered from a dramatic loss of Veteran Grit Over Replace Player (VGORP) when Tulowitzki went down.
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- tfbuckfutter - Nov 12, 2012 at 3:09 PM
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Dusty Baker just tried to sign him to play Shortstop.
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- rjmarrella - Nov 12, 2012 at 9:10 PM
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In Philly, Dale Murphy appeared on posters with Dykstra and they were titled “Mr. Clean and Mr. Dirty”
