Not Your Father’s Shortstops

Have you noticed the National League shortstops this season? These are not the players I remember watching as a kid — Bill Russell, Davy Concepcion, Rafael Ramirez, Rafael Santana, Larry Bowa, Tim Foli, et al. Sure, Adam Everett is around, but most of the other guys manning the position now wield a potent bat.

Cal Ripken created a big stir when he first came into the big leagues. Redefined the position, they said. Alan Trammell. Robin Yount. And later, of course, the big three of Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter, and Nomar Garciaparra.

Those guys all called the American League home. What did the NL have? Barry Larkin (who hopefully will have better luck than Trammell did when it comes time for the Hall of Fame folks to hand out keys to the executive washroom), and that’s about it.

Now, though, we’ve got J.J. Hardy, Hanley Ramirez, Jose Reyes, Edgar Renteria, and Jimmy Rollins tearing up the league. Renteria and Rollins have been around a while, but those other three might have untapped upside, which is a scary thought.

Troy Tulowitzki and Stephen Drew aren’t there yet, but they will be. Remember that Reyes hit .273/.300/.386 in his first full season.

Hardy leads the league in home runs. He now has 28 for his career, or three more than Foli knocked over 16 seasons. Yeah, I think the game has changed a little in 30 years…