Talent versus hustle

Jim Caple of ESPN.com admits that, given a choice between the two, he'd rather see talented baseball players than ones who hustle on every play. Fair enough. I think most people would rather see Barry Bonds and Kerry Wood slack off than someone like me play his guts out.*

But Caple's missing an important fact here. Virtually everyone who plays in the major leagues has a considerable level of talent. So there's not really a trade-off between players who work hard and players who have innate ability.

I want to see players that hustle. Not because for a couple million dollars a year they can run out groundballs. If the money's what's motivating players to do anything, fine. It's rather sad if that's the case, but that's the way it goes. I want to see players hustle because it's an indication you care, you want to win, and are willing to put in the effort necessary to get it done.

Take tonight's Phillies game against the Cardinals. Albert Pujols, the best hitter this side of Barry Bonds, grounded out to the left side of the infield twice. Neither time did he run hard down to first base. Granted, Pujols doesn't have the best speed, and a ground ball to the shortstop is almost always going to be an out for him. But it's not always. Errors happen. A throw can go errant, the first baseman can bobble the ball. In close games like tonight's, the little things make a difference. And players who don't run out ground balls aren't doing the little things.

I watch baseball to see two teams go all out for the victory. When you don't give your full effort, you're cheating yourself and the fans out of a good, competitive game. Even if you're Albert Pujols. You're a professional athlete! You can run 90 feet.

*I played baseball from 2nd grade through 8th grade. I was awful. As in really really bad. As in gleeful-when-I-made-solid-contact-with-the-ball-even-if-I-got-out bad. My saving grace: I was small and had a small strike zone. I walked a lot. And since Little League catchers aren't all that adept at, er, catching,** that gave me plenty of opportunity to get into scoring position and score runs. Ah, Little League...

**I know. I played catcher.