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Awesome night card, pt. 117


I never thought I'd say it, but I like Adrian Gonzalez.

His move from San Diego to Boston has changed my attitude from "get this f----- out" to "now, THAT'S what a baseball player should be."

I just like the way he goes about the game, his approach, and his attitude. I was too busy hating on the Padres before to realize any of this then, but I suppose it was there, too, when he was a pathetic Padre.

And that made me think, there must be other players that I have gone from disliking to enjoying. Most of those players probably wound up playing on my favorite team. That's the best way to get me to suddenly like a player.

In fact, here are a few:

1. Gary Sheffield. I liked him for only a short time with the Dodgers (somewhere around that 43-home run season) and then he reminded me why I disliked him before he arrival with the Dodgers. But it was fun while it lasted.

2. Jesse Orosco: I don't think I could ever forgive Orosco for his role with the Mets in '86 against the Red Sox, but playing for the '88 World Champ Dodgers did a lot to erase most of the hard feelings. And then he returned in 2001!

3. David Wells: Let's face it. If he's not on your team, he's a fat-ass loser. If he's on your team, it's awesome in a beer softball league kind of way.

4. Willie Randolph: I spent most of my childhood wishing Hal McRae would knock his head off. But then Randolph became a Dodger and really there wasn't much in Randolph's personality that I could find to dislike.

5. Manny Ramirez: This one is obvious. I didn't dislike him as much as many fans when he was with Boston, but I thought he was a wacko. When he joined the Dodgers, I was overjoyed. Suspicious, but overjoyed. And you know how the rest went.

6. John Candelaria: He always seemed to a Dodger nemesis. But I liked having him on the Dodgers, even if he was at the end of his career.

I'm sure there are others who I realized "weren't so bad."

There are also those who I didn't enjoy even when they came to the Dodgers. People like Kevin Brown, Jeff Kent and Luis Gonzalez. I would imagine if my worst nightmare came true and someone like Mark Teixeira or Brian Wilson suddenly became a Dodger, they would fall into this category.

But what about you? Have there been players that you always disliked, but through some unexpected act -- whether they joined your favorite team or just a team that you can tolerate -- became a player that you liked?

And, yes, I know there are some of you that used to like Adrian Gonzalez, but now you don't because he's a Red Sox player. But we don't acknowledge Yankee fans' feelings on this blog.

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Night Card Binder candidate: Adrian Gonzalez, 2008 Topps Update & Highlights World Cup insert set, Card #11
Does it make the binder? Yes.

Comments

mjdt375 said…
I never liked Pete Rose no matter who he played for. I also didn't like Gary Carter when he played for the Mets. But when he played for the Expos he wasn't as hateful. Roger Clemens was more less hated by me as a Redsox than as a Yankee.
Anonymous said…
Couldn't stand Doug Gilmour playing for the Blues. In baseball? Hmm.

I hated the fact that Paul Molitor always killed us, but I didn't really dislike Molitor himself. Same for Dave Stewart. Rickey Henderson, maybe.
Spiegel83 said…
Here are some players that I used to like then disliked when they switched teams:

1. Barry Zito from Oakland to Frisco

2. Russell Martin from LA to New York

3. Paul LoDuca from LA to Florida to New York


Players I disliked then liked when they became Doyers:

1. Jeff Kent

2. Jeff Weaver

3. Derek Lowe