In today’s Moose Tracks, poster chicagomariner shared an instant classic quote from Josh Naylor on his new teammate, Brendan Donovan.
“He has, like, a boring game, but he’s so elite at it.”
Rarely has 12 words captured the essence of what has made baseball hum for generations for many fans. While the last 30 years has seen a very gradual shift in the acceptance of boisterous celebrations and allowing players to express their individuality more, baseball culture still has a large place in its heart
for the no-frills, lunch-pail type ballplayer who quietly excels at their position, with the bat, or both. Yes, these descriptors often fall along racial lines and have a long, long history of coded racism, which we will not be discussing in the comments, but I feel obliged to mention here because otherwise I’m part of the problem of normalizing the narrative.
I digress! So, Josh Naylor, who himself is politely Canadian off the field and occasionally very demonstrative on the field, has recognized and tagged Donovan as one of those elite yet boring type of ballplayers. Disgraced former Mariners Team President Kevin Mather once infamously described pitcher Marco Gonzales as “boring” in the Rotary Club meeting Zoom video that got him removed from the organization. While I don’t think Marco was quite elite during his time with the Mariners, he was certainly effective for a few seasons and one of the better pitchers the team had during a tough stretch of rebuilding.
So my question for y’all is, what other Mariners players come to mind as “boring, yet elite” ballplayers? Let’s hear some picks in the comments, and feel free to stray from the Mariners because I can already think of plenty of other MLB players, most notably that guy in Anaheim who loves weather.
