mattschaeffer29

Baseball was a huge part of my life growing up. Little League Baseball had to be some of the best times of my life, and despite playing little league before things got more serious, there were always kids with whom one could always tell what position they were destined to play. With spring and little league drafts right around the corner, I figured that I would analyze little league stereotypes by position. These interpretations are taken from my experiences growing up in the little league farm system, set at around 8-10 years old before anything gets too serious.

Pitcher: Pitchers are typically great athletes. In little league, you find yourself on the mound for one of two reasons: you can get the ball over the plate, or you throw extremely hard. Watch out for the guys who throw extremely hard; they often lack accuracy and you can end up taking a shot in the numbers.

Catcher: This kid almost always has ridiculously long hair, for reasons unknown. Can also be the more obese kid who no one really knows where to put because he is far too un-athletic to put in the outfield

First Baseman: This dude is the biggest kid on your team and also happens to be extremely uncoordinated. When hitting, he’s typically in the 4-7 spot, and when he makes contact, the ball tends to fly out really far. However, his strikeout percentage is higher than his batting average.

Second Baseman: This is the smallest guy on the team. In terms of baseball ability, the man on second usually isn’t too bad but also has the potential for one of those five-error days. This kid would have potential to be a really good player if he was about 5 inches taller and 20 pounds heavier.

Shortstop: Best athlete and overall stud on your team. When he’s not on the baseball field, this is the kid who is out at one of the three other sports he plays and excels at. When he gets older, he is going to be at least a two-sport varsity athlete in high school and have the “hottest girlfriend” while still managing to somehow make honor roll every semester.

Third Baseman: This is the kid who may not be great at fielding but boy does he have an arm. He may be a little on the chubbier side but this kid can also rake. He’s kind of nuts, has a lot of anger issues and is definitely going to the military or into law enforcement where he can get his anger out.

Left Field: This is the kid who kind of just shows up to games because it’s something to do. He’s not really good but he isn’t the worst player either. He has the stigma of the kid who tries to be cool all the time but is going to be a degenerate as he gets older because he doesn’t work hard at anything.

Center Field: This guy is usually a good athlete but not really a great baseball player. He is one of the funniest kids you will ever meet because his natural skillset will allow him to get away with cracking jokes. The center fielder is usually going to be one of the most liked kids on the team. A lot of the time this guy ends up starring in another sport, like being a soccer player, and a being really good one at that.

Right Field: This guy is a waste of space. He bats last, maybe gets a foul tip or two a season and is almost always on the team just because his parents force him to go outdoors and play baseball. He is scared of the ball and no one understands why because he is never even close to the ball. His parents can also be kind of delusional and request more playing time for who knows what reason when they know their kid already doesn’t want to be there.

Henrik Lundqvist has been a constant bright light in the New York Rangers crease for the last 11 years. He is the 12^th goalie ever to reach the 400-win mark, doing it in the fastest span in NHL history. Yet, despite this success, Lundy has only been to one Stanley Cup with nothing to show for it. He is arguably one of the best goaltenders of all time, but there is reason to doubt that he will ever win the cup with the Rangers. Lundqvist has been on a Rangers team capable of winning the Stanley Cup on a pretty regular basis, but his only Stanley Cup Final was a decimation to the LA Kings in 5 games, a team that was clearly more talented. Solid goaltending is one of the hardest constants to find in hockey and the Rangers have a goalie any team would pick to build from the net outwards with.

Henrik came into the league in 2005-2006 winning 30 games in only 53 appearances. He has a career high of 39 wins in the 2011-2012 only to lose to interstate rivals New Jersey Devils in the Eastern Conference Final with Adam Henrique crushing Rangers fans’ hopes with a famous goal. He has a career low in wins during the following lockout shortened season in 2012-2013, with 24, still a relatively high mark. He has been incomparably consistent throughout his career, carrying the Rangers to the playoffs for years. Following the 2016-playoff series against the Penguins, Hank was criticized following the Rangers early exit, yet he was hung out to dry by his easily-overwhelmed and abysmal defense. If the Rangers were going to win that series, Lundqvist would have had to stand on his head game in and game out, which is really too much to ask from any goalie.

Since his 2007 season, Lundqvist has 0.60 Goals Saved Per Game, meaning that for every ten games he plays, he saves 6 goals from going in, which is more than enough to call Lundy a game-altering goaltender. A goalie of similar status, Carey Price of the Montreal Canadiens, is nearly half as effective in this statistical category, really showing Lundy’s game-to-game impact. This speaks volumes about how good of an overall goalie Henrik is, but at the same time exposes how bad the Rangers defense has been in regards to complementing their Swedish Wall.

Henrik Lundqvist has been a staple of excellence and dominance for more than a decade at Madison Square Garden. The Rangers have truly wasted one of the best goaltenders of all time, a near shoe-in as a first ballot hall-of-famer. He will go down in history as the best goaltender to have never won a title. The good news for Rangers fans is that he is still a Vezina-caliber goalie and probably still has a few good years in him. Perhaps his title chase can be successful yet. As Rangers fans are left with only a few years to admire King Henrik, time is running out for him to solidify his legacy as a winning goalkeeper.