“It’s hard to beat a person who never gives up.”  These words were spoken by George Herman Ruth, or as he is famously called, Babe Ruth.  Even though Smalls may not have known who he was, and at one point thought he was a “wimpy deer,” he eventually found out that in order to prove yourself worthy, hard work is involved.  You cannot go through a season waiting in the outfield saying to yourself “Please catch it, please catch it.”

So what separates the hard workers from the hardly working?  Sometimes they are easy to spot, sometimes a baseball player’s numbers do the work for you, maybe it’s the sound of the boos and cheers coming from the crowd that make you think differently of a player.  Let’s take a look at some things that could be spotted in a MLB player to prove himself worthy of admiration, or disapproval.

Mike Trout, you know him for robbing homeruns, and stealing bases faster than you can say “He’s going!”  His hustle and work ethic is to be respected and envied. He is batting .314 with 107 hits, 55 RBIS, and 13 bombs.  He has 20 stolen bases so far this year and even though he has not mirrored his dominant performance from last year, don't let that make you think you can sleep on the Trout Man.  A player like him rarely comes around, so keep an eye on him.  He's a true contender.

Sticking to the theme of newbies, another player in his sophomore year is Bryce Harper.  Harper not only started this season with a double homerun game, his first two at-bats, but his hustle even caused him an injury.  Harper has 44 hits, 24 RBIs, and is tied with Trout in homeruns.  The appealing aspect of Harper is he is just the type of player you want your children to look up to, and you can tell he is not fake about it.  He works hard and is humble, and even though his batting average is under .300, every fan of his (and don’t deny your man crush) knows there more to Harper than just numbers.

So what defines a pretender?  Saying "that guy doesn't hustle," seems too easy.  There's more to it than that.  Remember baseball is America's Pastime.  Sometimes you see players lose sight of that.

For instance, Josh Hamilton.  He was once known for taking up rounds at Home Run Derbies and one of the most feared hitters a pitcher had to face. His numbers prove this.  In 2010 Hamilton was a beast.  He hit for .359, 32 homeruns, 100 RBI’s, and a .633 slugging average.  His numbers continued to dominate.  However a famous 162nd game in Oakland last year where Josh made an error for a routine catch in the outfield, made A’s fans rejoice, and Rangers fans hang their heads.  In the post-game interview with Hamilton, he smiled the whole time and it almost seemed like a comedic situation to him, when that game meant they were out of the playoffs. 

Remember the infamous photo of Trout looking behind him at the scoreboard and realizing he and the Halos were no longer hopefuls for playoffs?  You could sense the heartbreak in his body language.  You can’t fake that.

However, think about it this way.  When you combine these two personalities, you get a typical MLB team, and most of the time it is successful.  You need the diverse personalities getting along, forming a union and see how they work together.  That is America’s Pastime. It’s almost brilliant.

Remember Sandlot?  Smalls and Benny eventually grew up to make a team, mind you it was in different ways, but still, they were a duo in baseball heaven.