In baseball, you don't always want a team of the 9 greatest players in the league. It's always good to have a clubhouse leader, or a player that brings energy. Team chemistry is something I think is very underrated, and personally, I would much rather watch a team that's having fun, than watch a dull team, that wins. Even though I do think that teams with good team chemistry are more likely to succeed...
Yadier Molina had a batting average of .270, and hit just 4 home runs over the course of the year. What makes Molina so valuable, is his ability to lead a team. I remember an analyst on MLB Network, talk about the Cardinals record with Molina, and without Molina, and it was incredible. I don't remember exactly what the record was, but it was drastic.
Salvador Perez had another great year last year, hitting over 20 home runs, with an average 10 points lower than Molinas. I don't watch the Royals much during the regular season, but I do know that he took a beating during the postseason, and still managed to get named World Series MVP. Would you rather have Perez or Molina?
Jake Peavy plays with a ton of emotion. He's always getting fired up after a big play, giving credit to other players, and always being an overall great team player. Something that I always remember Jake Peavy by, is a double play turned in the 2014 NLDS against the Nationals. Also when Travis Ishikawa hit the walk off to send the Giants to the World Series; he wasn't wearing his glasses, and he didn't know the ball was gone, so he started mobbing Ishikawa at third base...
Out of all the players that I've listed, Hunter Pence is my favorite. In 2012, he played only 59 games with the Giants, and hit only .219 during that stretch. It wasn't because the Giants had a great team in 2012, it was because they had great, "team chemistry." In 2014, after the last game of the regular season ended, Pence gave a speech to the crowd, saying that they'll make it past the wild card game, which they did. And they won the World Series.
Adrian Gonzalez is a fun player, but he ranks nowhere near the others on this list.
Now for my favorites in the American League... Elvis Andrus and Adrian Beltre! These two seem to be having fun all the time. I'm not sure if they're more like brothers, or father and son. Beltre is definitely the more experienced one, and at times, he teaches Andrus.
Other times, Beltre and Andrus are messing around in the dugout, having fun on the field, and throwing things at each other. It's like watching two best friends play a game of wiffle ball in the backyard. Success doesn't involve only skill, it involves having a little fun too!
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Thank you for reading!
(One player I forgot on this list is Miguel Cabrera, who I probably should have replace with Adrian Gonzalez)
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