Ok now hear me out before you disagree with me :)

Every year in baseball there is a player or two who come out of nowhere to make a tremendous impact on the Hobby. Their RCs rise 500% in the beckett at a time, and a frenzy is on. This year, of course, the man is Dontrelle Willis, possibly followed on a smaller scale by Rich Harden. Other past examples include Francisco Rodriguez and Albert Pujols.
Most people would call these guys "surprise stars", but i think the hobby needs its own flashy collective term for these guys. Such that everytime a guy comes put on nowhere to put up impressive numbers, collectors could just go "he's a ___"
I propose we name this term "Willis" after the current hotman, and for the following reasons:
1. it is easily tracible and explainable
2. "Willis" is very flashy
3. It can be used in a variety of horrible puns

Do not be disencouraged by the proposition of something new, change always begins small
And yes, i honestly think this should be done...it isnt a joke (well, maybe minutely)

Zach's Rant #3

The only problem is that if we implemented this sytem years earlier, we'd call guys "Ankeil's" and the term is thought of much different today then it was in 99/00. I however do like Willis because I am a pun man myself. How about we call them "Hams" after the Royals Rookie of the Year (94 I think) Bob Hamelin.

thats the whole thing...it can be anyone, and they dont necessarily need to be good down the road, just need one collective flashy term...hey i would go for "hams" too

Hams can convey two meanings - its alludes to Bob Hamelin's 94 Campaign, and the fact that most of these guys are hams...hmmm...they're also considered flashes in the pan...maybe we could call them bacon? Or would it be ham fried steaks? Geez, all this talk about breakfast food and I need to go to bed. Just my luck.

breakfast, only 6 hours away :)

Why are you people up at 1 or 2 in the morning posting?
Somewhat detracting from the joking that is going on, isn't phenom the word for them? Or rookie phenom. Something like that. I personally do not like the idea of using someone else's name to describe other hot rookies that come up. I will just stick with phenom.

Well, I think the idea may work because baseball does use a term known as the "Mendoza line" after some guy who couldn't hit.

I always wondered what the Mendoza line was.

its a term they use for someone hitting under like 180 or something I think it was some guys career batting average that couldnt hit for squat....

Brien Taylor, Kevin Maas, Todd VanPoppel, Jerome Walton this is nothing new fellas now you just have to figure out who to hold on too :D...... oh and LOL at Bob Hamelin!!!!

yep, theyre all hams...

How about "lost investment"? LOL
Remember Joe Charboneau?

who?
lol

The "Mendoza Line" refers to ex-Seattle Mariners shortstop Mario Mendoza. Mario was one of those all glove, no wood types and kept his job in the bigs playing a great D.

George Brett coined the phrase, because Mendoza was able to stay in the majors despite a .200 level batting average. Today, when someone is batting below the .200 level, they're below the Mendoza line, and their job is in jeopardy.

Hey Jayjay, you left out a name of a supposed phenom that stirred up the card world in 1990 and never did anything. Jerome Walton from the cubs.

Originally posted by CaliforniaSoxfan
Hey Jayjay, you left out a name of a supposed phenom that stirred up the card world in 1990 and never did anything. Jerome Walton from the cubs.

read my post again bro!..... it's all good tho

see, my point proven
so "hams" or "willis" you guys?