What’s the definition of irony? Getting the autograph of a player who flipped you the bird. I’ll see if I can make that happen on August 17th.

I want to talk about character this week. It may not be important as a scouting tool for minor league players, but I think it’s underrated. Over the years I’ve gotten familiar with the character of many ballplayers who’ve come through Birmingham, as Barons or with the opposing teams. I’ve taken a lot of flack for being such a big fan of David Cook. He may not be a prospect to many, but he would bring a lot to any team he plays for. He applies to the old cliché of doing things that don’t show up in the box score. On top of the fact that he’s unflappable, he may as well be nicknamed “Iceman.” He may consider himself an organizational guy and just be happy to be playing affiliate ball, but in my opinion it would be a tragedy if he never got a shot in the Majors, regardless of the team.

Thankfully, there have been more good guys than bad over the last few seasons. I’ll always be a fan of Gio Gonzalez. If you ever had a chance to meet him, you couldn’t help but be a fan. He could run for mayor in whatever city he plays in and win. Not many ballplayers come up to you and shake your hand and ask you how you’re doing. He goes out of his way to earn your fanhood. Speaking of going out of his way, players like Micah Schnurstein and the recently traded Aaron Poreda qualify for that. I’ll always be a fan of Micah Schnurstein, even though it seems that he’s retired, because he personally gave me one of his $250 baseball gloves. In his words, I deserved it because I showed up every night to support the team. Needless to say, I wasn’t thrilled a year ago when he turned down a demotion to Winston-Salem and was released. Aaron Poreda did the same thing for a kid who’s always out at Regions Park shortly before he was promoted to Chicago. Fernando Hernandez and Brian Omogrosso have also shown exceptional friendliness towards myself and other fans. I can speak to the quality of the character of players like Chris Getz, a baseball rat in the truest form, the recently traded Adam Russell, who’s nicer than you’d expect, Clevelan Santeliz, the class clown of the Barons, John Shelby III and many others.

Unfortunately, there are some jerks and bums along the way too. Many of you will be happy to know that Chris Young and Jerry Owens were not very nice at all. Nobody will be surprised to know that Robert Valido was known as the “Butcher of Birmingham.” He had more attitude than talent. I’m sure that the fans in Bowie have soured on him. He would be out of baseball if he was older than 24. Watching him play for parts of three seasons took it’s toll on me. Thomas Collaro seemed annoyed by loyal fan support. Of course, he didn’t earn the nickname “Mongo” because he hustled and was a smart player. Good luck in the Atlantic League, Tommy. The one player who boiled my blood to no end was Chris Kelly. The worst third basemen I’d ever seen. If he could strike out on two pitches, he would. He was the last player to get his uniform dirty, he had stone hands, lead feet and a thick head. I bit my tongue for three months in an attempt not to heckle him. I even held it at the end of the last game in 2007. I had to listen to his parents bicker behind me for a week and a half, his dad making excuses for his poor play while his mom got on him about it. I breathed a sigh of relief when I found out he wasn’t returning for the 2008 season. He’s toiling away in the Can-Am League now.

It may seem like I’m rambling on, but I think it is important to pass along to all of you the guys you should root for and hope for their success. If you need any more convincing, I think Gordon Beckham had exceptional character, especially on the field. He went all out 100%, not like a guy holding back until he got to the show. Even if he is a player with the ladies…

Next time on JPNese…well, I’ll take suggestions on Soxtalk this week for that.

Cheers,
JPN