Not enough has been said here on SLAE (in fact, not enough has been said here lately, period) about one of the great young players in baseball. Anyone who watches the game today knows about Matt Kemp's athletic gifts. He has speed and burst like a good running back, power, a penchants for great plays on defense, and a nice arm. He is now hitting .313/.372/.494 and has a nice OPS of .866. He has 16 homeruns, 76 RBI, and, oh by the way, is 24 years old. All those things would be enough to make me worship at the altar of the Bison.
What I really enjoy about Kemp, though, is the emotion he brings to the game. He, of all the younger Dodgers, really seems to have benefited from Manny's presence and, I think, it has most to do with the fun Manny has while playing. Watching Kemp, he is smiling, laughing, talking throughout the game. He makes a great catch, he yells over to Either. He gets a gork single, he is laughing with Mariano Duncan at first base. He hits a home run, and you can seem him enjoying the moment with his teammates in the dugout.
Not enough players these days enjoy sports that way -- the way that sports need to be enjoyed. There are certainly enough things in our day-to-day life to be serious about, and sports should not be one of them. Certainly we fans are going to take these games WAY too seriously (football season is less than a month away, after all), but losing ourselves to the emotion of the game is part of the fun. From the players, I want to see reminders that these games are entertainment. I want something to make me smile, something that inspires me to not take life so seriously (if only for a little while). More than anything, I think that is what we need from our sports these days.
That and a World Series championship!
You hit the nail on the head with this one. I think this is also why Manny is beloved by fans (for the most part...at least outside of Boston) despite his transgressions and the steroid cloud now hanging over him. He's a lunatic, but at least he appears to enjoy playing baseball. Contrast that with a guy like Alex Rodriguez, who appears to treat the game as a burden. I don't blame a guy like ARod one bit. It would be a tremendous burden on me if I was the best or second best player in baseball, but the fans still approached me with luke-warm interest. But Manny just doesn't seem to care. He enjoys himself, and that rubs off on his fans and teammates.
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