Last week, I created the Homer Bush Award for LVP (Least Valuable Player), named in honor of the worst baseball player (for one season) in the last decade. I originally was going to do pitchers next, but sometimes an urge strikes you so hard that you just can’t resist writing about something else.

This weekend, that something else is the embodiment of grit and hustle; all five feet, seven inches of him, David Eckstein. After the normal inundation I got of Eckstein love from the main steam media and paying attention to and watching the NLCS, the guys at Fire Joe Morgan have really made me appreciate all that Eckstein brings to the table. In fact, I was so awed, I had to go out and create another award for the 2006 World Series MVP.

The David Eckstein Award: Handed to the League’s Most Overrated Player.

I’m sick of it. Eckstein this, Eckstein that. I’m tired of hearing about how great he is at doing the little things. I’m fed up with having to listen to every single media outlet claim he’s the most overlooked player in the game. (Read that last sentence again if you don’t get the irony) It’s almost gotten to Derek Jeter level proportions.

Except for one big difference. As much as I don’t like him, Derek Jeter is a very good player. He normally is overrated (not this season), but it was calling a very good player great.

In Eckstein’s case, the media is calling him great when in reality, he’s not even good.

“Good” of course is relative. I can’t play baseball like Eckstein can. But when compared to the guys who actually can play the game, 5’7 doesn’t measure up.

In short, he’s an average guy who doesn’t walk a ton, hits for no power, doesn’t steal bases, has good range but cannot throw to save his life. He’s a leadoff hitter who gets on base 35 percent of the time and just stands there.

This will look like my Mets biasness, but let’s compare him to Jose Reyes. The reason I’m doing this is because the first two lines of their splits, average and OBP, are both similar. They’re also, in theory, similar players; slick fielding shortstops who use their ability to handle the bat, bunt and create havoc on the base paths to become the supposed sparkplugs at the top of their team’s order.

Eckstein: BA: .292, OBP: .350

Reyes: BA: .300, OBP: .354

So as you can see, Reyes and Eckstein are essentially the same at getting on base. They both have high averages and decent walk rates. That’s fine. But there are quite a few players who can do that and yet sit in MLB because no one likes a singles hitter who can’t do anything else. Let’s see what happens when the rest of their games are compared.

Eckstein: Slug: .344, OPS: .694, XBH: 21, SB: 7/13

Reyes: Slug: .487, OPS: .841, XBH: 66, SB: 64/81

And suddenly, the comparison looks idiotic. Reyes has three times as much extra base hit power as Eckstein does, so his .300 average is far more useful than Eckstein’s. Then we look at stolen bases, where Reyes again dominates. It’s not because of the quantity but the quality. Eckstein was thrown out almost as many times as he made it, meaning anytime he attempts to steal, he’s hurting his team. Reyes’ success rate was 79%. So Reyes is also much more valuable when he does get on via the single or walk, because he’s more liable to create with his speed. That makes Reyes’ .354 OBP far more valuable than Eckstein’s.

It’s like Eckstein is like Reyes; if you took away the latter’s power, speed and arm. And if you do that, then you don’t have much of a shortstop now, do you?

But then Reyes was, by most accounts, the best shortstop in the National League this season, so perhaps that’s not an entirely fair comparison. The whole point of this Eckstein love fest is that he’s not a superstar, but a great guy and teammate who does everything you need to win.

Well how about the fact that in the same NL Central, Bill Hall of the Milwaukee Brewers played shortstop thanks to the season ending injury to JJ Hardy and hit over 30 home runs. But before that Hardy injury, Hall was all over the place, starting at third, second, short and even in the outfield. That is the definition of a team player, one who was also in the top five in OPS for shortstops. Why is he not considered overlooked and underappreciated? And why is Eckstein more valuable a player and teammate than a guy who can fill in anywhere on the field and provide you with above average offensive production?

Overall in the NL, 17 shortstops had at least 300 plate appearances. Of those, Eckstein ranked 10th. But that’s misleading. You see the gap between Eckstein and the ninth place guy, Felipe Lopez was 45 points. That’s roughly the gap between Eckstein and 14th place Royce Clayton on the other side. So in reality, Eckstein is far similar to Jack Wilson and Craig Counsell than he is to the mediocre Lopez. Ironic since before there was Eckstein, there was Counsell, who scored the winning run of the two World Series he was a part of. That meant he was a winner with plenty of grit and hustle. (It couldn’t be that fluky as it is, he happened to be on base when two singles got through in walk off spots)

By the way, if we expand the SS with 300 AB to all of baseball, Eckstein comes in at 22nd. That would be behind such stalwarts as Alex Gonzalez, Juan Uribe.

Zach, your Mariners should try to trade for Eckstein. After all, Yuniesky Bettencourt is only OPSing .713, 19 points higher than Eckstein, and by all accounts is a better fielder. But he just doesn’t have that winning attitude that makes the difference on teams. Maybe if the Mariners had that sparkplug, Richie Sexson and Felix Hernandez would start to act like Albert Pujols and Chris Carpenter. And you know what, maybe Joel Pineiro would pitch like Jeff Suppan did and Jose Lopez would have a two week stretch that Yadier Molina did. All of that… it was Eckstein.

Wanna guess where Eckstein rated on the ESPN ranking for runs created per 27 outs for shortstops? 16th. The top of the bottom half. Eckstein is almost average! And the difference between Eckstein and the top seven shortstops is more than the difference between Eckstein and Ronnie Cedeno (aka my second worst player in the NL this year). In other words, the Tigers, Yankees, Mets, Orioles, Dodgers, Brewers, and Marlins would be hurt more by replacing their starting shortstop with Eckstein than the Cardinals would by replacing Eck with Cedeno.

If you throw in defense, then maybe Eckstein moves up on the list slightly. You have to dismiss range factor (calculated by put outs plus assists divided by innings) because that’s determined by the pitcher more than anything else. Players who play behind ground ball pitchers will always have a healthy advantage. For more evidence notice that all the leaders in RF play behind at least one heavy ground ball pitcher; Rafael Furcal (Derek Lowe, Greg Maddux), Jack Wilson (Paul Maholm, Zach Duke) Jhonny Peralta (Jake Westbrook), Adam Everett (Andy Pettitte, Roy Oswalt), Clint Barmes (Aaron Cook), Eckstein (Chris Carpenter, Jeff Suppan) and Miguel Tejada (Eric Bedard). The exceptions are Michael Young and Juan Uribe, so perhaps their range is what it’s cracked up to be. The others just have the fortune of playing behind heavy ground ball pitchers.

So if we go on Zone Ratings instead, Eckstein does look decent coming in fifth behind Everett, Uribe, Omar Vizquel and Reyes. But remember, all defensive stat systems are dicey.

Of course we could always try to use Win Shares figure out a player’s overall worth (though we still run into a similar defense problem). According to the rating system used by Hardball Times, Eckstein has the same rating (12) as Adam Everett. They come in tied for 9th in the NL. One ahead is Khalil Greene and one behind is Jack Wilson. None of those guys are going to be mistaken for a playoff MVP, with good reason; they’re considered mediocre to bad baseball players.

In addition, I guess because he was traded in season, Hardball Times has Felipe Lopez’s ratings for both the Nationals and Reds, which if you combine the two gives him 16 Win Shares and drops Eckstein (and Everett) to tenth. If we include the AL, Eckstein drops to 17th, which is just below where he was for RC/27 outs.

There may not be one stat to tell us how good a player is, but it seems as though the numbers are pretty consistent on this one. At best, David Eckstein is around the16th best shortstop in baseball, meaning over half the teams in the game currently have a better guy to fill the position.

And if by Win Shares Ratings, we took the 16th best players at every position and fielded a team; it would look something like this:

C Dave Ross
1B Lyle Overbay
2B Mark Ellis
3B Melvin Mora
SS David Eckstein
RF Mark DeRosa
CF Endy Chavez
LF Frank Catalanotto

Wow… pack of all stars there. Note there are some former grit and hustle type guys on the list (read: mediocre white guys whom white media guys love because they look somewhat like them) such as Catalanotto, Ellis and Overbay.

Now tell me, which one of these players would you want on your team? Which of these guys are you beating down the door for? Would you be willing for your team to give up a top prospect for any of them? A “B” level guy? A “C” guy with mediocre upside?

You might do the latter, but again it comes down to the fact that these guys aren’t that valuable because in any given off season, you can find them around making close to the major league minimum. They’re guys who are borderline starters (Chavez, Catalanotto, DeRosa) or veterans who are consistent but will never be anywhere near the top of their position (Ellis, Overbay, Eckstein).

The problem is David Eckstein is not an overachiever; he’s doing what his talent has provided him. In terms of odds, yes, a man of his stature and build is not usually going to be a major leaguer, but make no mistake, if Eckstein didn’t have talent he wouldn’t be in the big leagues no matter how hard he worked. A player cannot play above his talent level. He can underachieve, but he cannot play beyond himself. And Eckstein’s prime was an .750 OPS at short, which is solid. But now at the age of 30, the .694 OPS is more likely what can be expected going forward.

At this stage, the only people amazed by this or any incarnation of Eckstein are the mainstream media themselves (The guy has been around for five years; the novelty has worn off by now). Unlike many players today, who are perfectly sculptured as at least 6’1, 210 pound ideals, Eckstein is a guy who doesn’t look like a ball player. In fact he looks more like the guys covering him, not only racially but physically. They say to themselves: “I couldn’t do that, so he shouldn’t be able to either.” So when he does go out and play somewhat well, it amazes them.

And yes, race is a factor as well. There are guys who are roughly equivalent size wise to Eckstein (5’7, 165). Jose Reyes is 6’0, 160. But he isn’t white; neither are guys like Furcal (5’8, 198), Pedro Martinez (5’10, 180) or Ichiro (5’9, 172). Because they’re of a different race and from places other than the United States, reporters, who are mostly white, see them as different. It’s almost as if because Ichiro is Japanese or the others are Dominican, they are expected to be talented.

If you want to see a player stand out despite stature and really succeed, take a hard look at Pedro Martinez. Any fan of the game can tell you how a prototypical right handed power pitcher is built; tall, heavy with thick legs. Imagine Roger Clemens (6’4, 235), Brad Penny (6-4, 260) or for a more recent example, Felix Hernandez (6’3, 230).

Then look at Martinez. The guy is just 5’11 and 180 pounds, yet at one time brought it at over 95 MPH. At his peak, there may have been no better pitcher in the history of the game. And it wasn’t as if he didn’t overcome long odds; most scouts said he’d never hold up because of his small stature. Remember, he was traded when he was just a youngster in a deal for Delano DeShields where most people thought it was the Expos, not the Dodgers who traded Pedro, who got hosed. Why? Because Martinez was considered too small to compete.

Looking back, no one ever stops to say “man Pedro Martinez, he’s the epitome of grit and hustle. He worked harder than everyone else to be a success when so many counted him out.” Yet that’s what history tells us happened. In terms of what he did with his supposed stature, Martinez overcame longer odds and had far greater success than Eckstein ever could dream of.

The difference is that reporters don’t see themselves in Pedro Martinez. He doesn’t remind them of that small kid on their team who tried hard but couldn’t cut it. David Eckstein looks like that guy in every way, shape and form. In a game filled by ridiculously talented black men, Latinos who have a “natural gift” for it and Asians who are the crème de la crème of their own leagues, the majority white media sees a white guy not all that different from them and falls in love. Sure Roger Clemens and Jason Giambi are white as well, but they’re huge men that don’t transcend the every man. Eckstein does. To a lesser extent so do the Craig Counsells, Frank Catalanottos and such.

But their reasoning is faulty and results in a dramatic over shift which is inherently insulting to everyone else who plays the game, and the fans of the sport as well.

A few years back, Spike Lee drew criticism when he blasted people saying Larry Bird was the hardest worker in the game back in the 80’s. His logic was that the comment was inherently racist; it implied Bird was great because he had an ethic that the more talented black players did not possess. They relied on their abilities; Bird worked to be the best. It makes Bird a more likeable figure and almost paints him as the good guy when looking back at the epic rivalries of the 80’s.

Lee’s point wasn’t that Bird wasn’t a hard worker; it was arguing that Bird was a phenomenally talented basketball player who used his gifts and ethic to make himself one of the top players in the game. That’s no different than Magic Johnson or Isiah Thomas or later on, Michael Jordan. However, it makes Bird look better if he overcame a talent deficiency (his whiteness) to equal or surpass his black rivals (because white people work harder than minorities). The underlying racism is apparent.

Eckstein is the same deal. Anyone who watches Jose Reyes, knows the guy loves to play the game. Early on in his career he suffered through injuries, so much so that his first manager, Art Howe, never believed he’d ever stay on the field for a full season. He’s now played two straight injury free campaigns. That didn’t just happen overnight. He worked his behind off in every way possible to overcome his injury problems and succeeded.

David Eckstein doesn’t work any harder than Jose Reyes does. He doesn’t play the game any differently. He bunts, he runs, he slides, he stands in on double plays. But he doesn’t do any of those things nearly as well as Reyes yet when Eckstein does those things it’s “the little guy who plays the game right.”

No, it’s the guy with less talent playing the game the only way he can. A pitcher who can only lay down sacrifices doesn’t work more than a guy like Jason Marquis who can lace it into centerfield for a base hit. The former just doesn’t have the talent of the latter, so he does what he can to help the team. However you’d rather the guy who could get the hit at the plate, not the guy who has to give up an out to contribute.

And that’s what this, in the end, comes down to. David Eckstein doesn’t have the talent of the top players, so he is not a top player. Therefore he is not as valuable as those guys. His contributions are made to be mountains when they are in fact mole hills.

Ironically this is in a game where players are measured by their performance. As David said to me on this subject; “Remember that we’re supposed evaluate baseball like we would with any job; with performance and results.”

So I leave you with the comparison I opened with- in a specific situation.

Runner on third, one out. Reyes/Eckstein coming up to the plate. The Eckstein media supporter gushes over the fact he can squeeze better than anyone. The Reyes supporter knows that Reyes could squeeze and possibly beat it out for a hit. But they also know that he could hit the ball in the alley, and pick up three bases or maybe hit it out of the yard.

The Mets let Reyes swing away because he can do all of that. The Cardinals call for a squeeze because Eckstein cannot.

Tell me, which player do you think Tony LaRussa would rather have up in that spot; the player who tries hard and is slightly below average, or the player who tries hard and is well above average?

Not even LaRussa could mess this choice up.

Though I’m sure many a media people would try to sell you on why they’d rather have Mr. Grit and Hustle up, if they actually say Eckstein they’re off their rocker. And it proves why I gave the most overrated player award this title.

So I present to you the inaugural winner of the David Eckstein Award for most overrated player in baseball:

David Eckstein, shortstop, St. Louis Cardinals.

Homer Bush Awards: NL, AL