Everyone, including yours truly, had written off Placido Polanco at the beginning of the season. It was a particular ill-considered dismissal on my part because Polly has long been a favorite of mine. Nevertheless, as he struggled mightily at the plate I joined the mob and called for his head...or at least his job.
Last night he became the 269th major league player to reach 2000 hits for a career. His batting average has climbed above .280. He is a lifetime .301 hitter. He still fields his position admirably. All of this proves several things, not the least of which is how little most of us know. The other major conclusion to draw from Polly's rise is that the injuries he suffered the last few seasons took an enormous toll on him and the off-season surgery he had prior to the start of 2012 clearly restored his health.
Hats off to you, Placido Polanco. You are and remain a professional hitter in the true sense of the word.
Postscript: And I thought I was a glass half empty guy....
Posters on other sites are already predicting Polly won't hold up. Well, duh, he is getting up there in age and is going to need some time off, but to predict his decline seems a bit premature as long as, and this is a big one, Charlie can refrain from running him into the ground. Now, we know Charlie loves his veterans and hasn't much interest in days off if he thinks he can win without them. We shall see. Nothing detracts from Polly's major achievement nor from his recovery...so far.
