Admittedly, it isn't fair to William Bloomquist to lump him with such a hack as Cook. But the analogy fits - he is the favorite of many a casual Mariners fan, but his performance over the years has done nothing to justify this. He is a fast, decent fielding, poor hitting utility player who thinks he should be a starter. (He shouldn't - .260 with no power and meh defense does not a starter make.) The problem here isn't that Bloomquist is an awful player - he isn't, and he is quite good at his role - but that so many fans are incapable of seeing his true talent level. They are simply enamored by his grit and hustle. (Gristle?)The Mariners front office, which is notorious for loving fan favorites and being poor judges of baseball talent, thus have placed a much higher value on Bloomquist and other 'scrappy' type players than they should. That probably led them to the ridiculous signing of Miguel Cairo last off-season. Bad idea. In short, the Mariners philosophy is messed up as long as they put a higher priority on retaining fan-friendly favorites than acquiring players with talent. Milton Bradley is a notoriously difficult and bad-PR guy, but he can hit the crap out of a baseball. I'd rather have him than 5 Willie Bloomquists, and I don't think the Mariners would. That's scary.
Among Bloomquists various nicknames are Wee Willie, Willie Broomstick, Willie F***ing Bloomquist (or just WFB), Willie Ballgame, and The Ignitor. Those are not the nicknames of a superstar baseball player. Backyard Baseball, maybe. (Angels broadcaster Rex Hudler loves the guy and calls him The Mighty Bloomquist, but Rex Hudler has the IQ of a sponge cake so I don't care what he thinks.)
Willie Bloomquist is not a star, nor should he be treated like one. But as a wise man once said, we should all have a little Willie Bloomquist in us.
No comments:
Post a Comment