'Tis the Season

For small-town local papers to appreciate the conquering heroes who possess the good sense and natural athletic gifts to flee their two stoplight prisons! The kind of towns in which the sports headline "Big Pirates Too Much for Mossyrock" are not out of place.

While Adam Lind may seem like a life-long Blue Jay and Toronto native, he's actually from the Outer Mongolian reaches of Indiana. The Jays mashing lefty finally emerged from Jimmy Chitwood's shadow in his hometown of Anderson to garner a mention in the Anderson Herald Bulletin's year-end editorial. After fulfilling MY lifelong dream of mention in the same breath as Octomom, Lind is held up as an example to the teeming masses as a done-good story.

Highland graduate Adam Lind, the Toronto Blue Jays designated hitter/outfielder, wasn’t in town to make a difference, but his exploits on the baseball diamond made him a local celebrity and, of course, a role model for sports-minded youngsters.

That's right kids, learn to use the entire field with power and you too can experience the joy of local architecture greater than 10 stories tall.

While listicles are a great way to encapsulate the now-ending decade for pageview hungry bloggers, local sports scribes aren't immune to the allure of lists and two hour lunches. Jays stud Travis Snider is honored as the second best high school athlete of the decade by Evertt County Washington's Heraldnet! Travis Snider's high school numbers are surely eye-popping, but let's not count out his contributions as starting fullback for some other dude!

As a senior, the burly yet relatively fast outfielder batted .500 with 45 runs batted in and 11 home runs, helping nationally ranked Jackson go 27-0 and win the Class 4A state baseball championship. An Arizona State University recruit, Snider instead opted to go pro and was a first-round Major League Baseball draft pick of the Blue Jays, who gave Snider a $1.7 million signing bonus. Before deciding to focus on baseball, Snider was a standout football player. He was Johnie Kirton's lead blocker in 2002 when Kirton rushed for 2,675 yards.

Snohomish County's online news source goes to great lengths to explain why local stud Grady Sizemore does NOT qualify as prep athlete of the decade. Awesome to think of Travis Snider using his burly yet relatively fast abilities to run game all over a rainy pine-encircled burb.

Aaron Hill is no stranger to the spotlight in Toronto, where he's quickly being positioned as Face of the Franchise. Tell that to the good people of Visalia California and you're sure to get some odd looks. A quick poll of elementary school attendees at Hill's first annual baseball camp showed support for the hometown boy could use some boosting.

Several of the campers were asked who their favorite Major League Baseball player was and Jeter was one of the names repeated more than once.

The campers, who were fourth through eighth graders, listed off players like Manny Ramirez, Albert Pujols, David Ortiz and Evan Longoria as their favorites.

Poor Aaron Hill. Can't a man come right the fuck out of nowhere to knock 36 dingers earn some respect around here?? Also awesome are the comments that follow this Visalia Times-Delta piece which immediately claim Hill's All Star game exposure is due in large part to Chase Utley's injury and withdrawal from the game. Visalia California &mdash baseball hotbed.

I shouldn't tease these small town papers and players of lily white humble beginnings. Hell, much puffier puff pieces appear in every paper in Toronto when born in South Africa, raised 3000 KM away Steve Nash comes to town. It is awesome to see guys like Aaron Hill make the most of the tax breaks available to them and give back to their community. Jesus, doesn't this cynicism switch have an off position? Hope everybody had a good Christmas!

Image Courtesy of Picasa User Stumpekyle