Anyone have any favorite players that...

[zevon]

Mickey Hatcher.
He had a little kid's excitement about the game. I met him a few times at charity functions and he was a genuinely nice man too.

Today, Eckstein. Same spark plug enthusiasm.

[The Loveable Losers]

John Kruk. A role model for softball players everywhere.

Outstanding!

I remember a story about Kruk. He was at a team function fundraiser with a bunch of 'high society' types. He was smoking, drinking and eating like...well, like John Kruk. A woman there looked at him, gasped and said something to the effect that she was shocked that a professional athelete would do those things.

Kruk's reply: "I ain't an athelete...I'm a ball player"

[schmidty]

John Kruk. A role model for softball players everywhere.

Kruk was great. Lots of fun players on that early 90s Phils team -- Dykstra, Daulton, Schilling. The team I loved growing up was the mid 70s to early 80s Phillies. Getting to root for that team growing up (and having them deliver on a title) really helped make me a baseball fan. Aside from the usual suspects that everyone knows about (Schmidt, Carlton, Rose, Bowa, McGraw) there were other guys that I remember fondly. I loved Greg "The Bull" Luzinski. Looking back at his stats, I forgot how good a hitter he was for a few years there. And Gary Maddox. Describing his range in CF, it was said that 2/3 of the earth is covered by water ... and the other third is covered by Gary Maddox. For some reason I really liked pitch-hitter extraordinaire Greg Gross. Maybe it was the funny name. Maybe it was that the guy was so committed to excellence in such a thankless role.