My Favorite Baseball Player

Yesterday, I discussed on Twitter how we (journalists/fans) determine our favorite baseball players and athletes.  We're talking about the players who make us love baseball; the types of players who make us light up with more cliches than Monday Night Football.  Every time I went on the hunt for criteria for my favorite players, I found myself in a soupy mess of "plays with heart" and "overcame the odds."  I tip-toed around the word "hustle" and nearly nuzzled up to "gives 100 percent."  Channeling Johnny Cash, I asked myself "what have I become?"
So, I set out on a quest (a quest can take less than 20 minutes, can't it?) to find my favorite baseball player of all-time without citing a single cliche. 
My favorite baseball player is David Eckstein. (I know what you are thinking:  Impossible!  No freekin' way on this planet you can say David Eckstein is your favorite player without saying "heart," "hustle," or "overcome adversity."  You can't avoid "he's a winner" and "leader in the clubhouse.")  Nevertheless, here's my explanation: 
Eckstein was done.  Career over.  Minor Leaguer for life or real estate salesman.  He was 25-years old and was waived by the Boston Red Sox after never appearing in a major league game.  At the time he was let go, Eckstein was hitting .246  with an OPS under .700 in 119 games with Pawtucket.  He was picked up by the Angels, where in 15 games in triple-A where he put up three home runs, eight doubles and an OPS that would make Albert Pujols blush. Eckstein made the roster in 2001 and went on to win the World Series in '02 and '06, where he won the series MVP.
Before you say "small sample size," in those 15 games that determined his successful career, hear me out.  There was a time where I felt it was time to quit.  My college coach said I had great stuff and control, but couldn't throw hard enough to get hitters out (low 80s on a good day) and he refused to put me in.  Of course, it was more complicated than that, but the bottom line was that after my freshman season, I walked away from baseball. 
While I don't regret moving on and working tirelessly on my career in sports writing and broadcasting, I understand Eckteins position.  Where I walked away, Eckstein excelled in his final shot at ever being a Major League Baseball player. While I'm sure there are 10,000 statisticians who would argue (and logically prove) that Eckstein's fork-in-the-road 15 games and his World Series numbers are nothing more than a fleeting hot streak, I can't help but believe Eckstein found/finds a place that those less determined and committed can not.
*please feel free to point out that David Eckstein is well-known for sacrifice bunting