Aug 19 2017 12:37 PM
Curtis Granderson.
Almost everything you wanted a Met to be. Community minded. Engaging. Kept an even keel in times of adversity and times of success. Stayed in great shape into his later years. His great shape wasn't one of the mesomorph roidy great shapes either. From Cubs territory but disliked the Cubs. Can I marry you?
Funny. Ran the We Follow Lucas Duda Instagram account and somehow Lucas appreciated him for it. Held on to Lucas' leg as Luke left the clubhouse, making sure Duda's last minutes as a Met were as awkward as most of his career was. Certainly most of his off-the field career.
Hit everywhere in the lineup. Didn't care about being moved. Played all three outfield positions. Didn't care about being moved.
You know how you can tell a terrible person? A self-loathing person? the quite-possibly-a-racist person? Everybody you've ever encountered who said, "I HATE the way he puts his glove on his head when he's not using it! For INTERVIEWS! Why does he DO that?!!" He does it so we can spot the racist, guy.
One of the worst hole-diggers in Mets history. When a guy is hitting like Babe Ruth since May 16, but his overall stat line still doesn't look particularly good, that's a guy who dug a terrible hole the first six weeks.
Had a strange swing where he liked the pitch at his knees, but didn't loop under it like most lefthanders. So he put a tennis-like topspin on most of his drives to right. This led to a lot of his hardest hit balls dying at the fence, but on the other hand, he hit as many homers as anybody during his time here. He was never going to reach the Shea Bridge with that swing but it sure worked for him.
Didn't bunt against the shift.
Showed a lot of sock and loose-ish pants. Reportedly did it to emulate the uniforms of the Negro Leagues.
Generous in his willingness to be the face of the franchise during David Wright's extended absences, even in his first season. I can't imagine how distracting that is, being the go-to quote guy, the guy who gives a tour of the clubhouse to the child with cancer, the guy who has to pose with the celebrity guest or the corporate bigwig presenting an over-sized check to the Katz Women's Center. I can't imagine how distracting that all is when you're trying to get out of a slump.
His last swing was a grand slam.
Folks talked shit. He didn't bite back.
His wife seems pretty and real nice.
Did I mention he's simply a model ballplayer?
