Selfish or Dumb

The knock on Frank Thomas, if there is one, is he was a selfish player.  In part, this means he didn’t hide keeping track of his stats.  It also means some sportswriters didn’t like him.  The label is never stuck on anyone who gives good quote.

Basically, all players are either selfish or dumb.  Hitters want to dominate in as many categories as possible; ditto pitchers.  With Thomas, of course he wanted to hit homeruns and generate a ton of rbi’s.  What, he should have been trying to move runners along instead, like a number two- or eight-hitter?  I also once heard Jim Palmer referred to as selfish, as if a starter wanting to win games is a bad thing for the team.

Now, a dumb player is a selfish player without the requisite skills.  “Why did he try to pull an outside pitch?” or “What’s he swinging at?” or “Why’s he nibbling at the corners all the time?” was never said of Thomas or Palmer.  Any team with 90-plus losses, though, is full of dumb players.  And their fans are left to dream of selfish ones.