Baseball Players Personalities based on Position (illustrated)
zulu asked for a ramble on what baseball players positions do (or don't) say about their personalities. It really is a ramble because I sort of meander all over the place. Also, it's illustrated because I'm not going to miss a chance to do a Giants pic spam.
The first thing I thought when I saw this request is how gay culture seems to have decided that pitchers top and catchers bottom. And if you just look at the game, you'd think that stereotype makes sense.
Matt Cain pitches to Buster Posey during Spring Training.
Thing is, Posey probably told Cain what pitch to throw. The catcher pretty much runs the entire game--he calls the pitches and directs the defense. And while pitchers can shake off the catcher's suggestion and throw what they want, they usually don't. When Matt Cain threw his perfect game, he didn't shake Posey off once and after the game praised Posey for the way he called the game.
So yeah, most catchers are control freaks and the whole "likely to bottom because they're the receivers" thing doesn't ring true.
Closers have a reputation for being weird/eccentric and a little high strung. I'm not sure how universal this is, but there certainly are some weird closers out there, including the two most recent Giants closers.
Closer Sergio Romo "Romobombs" Pablo Sandoval.
There are a lot of starting pitchers who either shut down or turn into real assholes just before they start. Since they don't play every day and since pitching depends on the mental game as much as the physical, they usually want to start focussing and going over their mental game plan before the game starts. It depends on the pitcher, though. Some act the way they do any other day and some start getting grumpy and broody the day before they pitch.
Ryan Voglesong is a totally sweet guy, but you don't want to get on his bad side the day before he pitchers.
Other than that, I can't think of too many positions that have corresponding personality traits. Almost all ballplayers are really superstitious, regardless of the position they play.
Last year Hunter Pence went on a tear and gave an almost incoherent speech before a post-season elimination game and since the team won, they insisted he do it before every subsequent game of the post-season.
Brandon Belt got into all kinds of trouble when he sat in Matt Cain's place on the bench during Cain's perfect game and then again when he didn't throw the ball around the infield properly after an out in Tim Lincecum's no hitter. He also hit a home run in both games, so I'm thinking they should just let him do go against superstitions and do his own thing. He didn't screw it up (or hit a homer) during Yesmeiro Petit's almost perfect game and actually jokingly took the blame for it.
Brandon Belt watching his home run leave the park during Tim Lincecum's no hitter. (and no that's not an excuse for a gratuitous Belt pic. Not at all.)
So yeah, they're a superstitious bunch and trust me, it's catching. I have a cheap orange nail polish I started wearing during the post-season in 2010 and because we won the Series that year, I wore it again in 2012. Next time we make it to the post-season, I'll be wearing it again. :)
Sinful Colors' Courtney Orange aka That World Series Nail Polish
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