Munenori Kawasaki Resists Categorization

I’m sure you are, by now, acquainted with the anti-statistical crowd who bemoan their inability to encompass the little things in baseball: running out ground balls, going from first to third, concocting really good shaving cream pies for postgame interviews. Perhaps some of this belief system stems from a naturally cautious personality, or an anachronistic Rockwell-based worldview. It could even be based on the simple desire for mystery, the resistance to a science that seeks to boil down the game in the same manner that killed checkers. It is probably none of those things, however. It is probably because of Munenori Kawasaki.

In his meager playing time this season, Kawasaki is hitting .194/.265/.210. He has been caught stealing twice in three tries, and his UZR is negative. He has, as ballplayers go, not been good. But to say this is to take a very narrow definition of goodness, if not a fascist one. It’s the mentality of the factory manager who looks at output instead of people. How do we define Munenori Kawasaki, and ourselves? Is it by our jobs, by the things we create to be consumed by other people? Or is it by how we respond to the forces of nature that toss us from one moment in life to the next? By this alternate set of standards, as evidenced by this footage of the Mariners celebrating their (extra-inning, walkoff) victory over the Boston Red Sox, Kawasaki is a very good player indeed:

 

 

It’s this joie de vivre, a seemingly uncontrollable and unfocused delight that has led Jeff Sullivan to dub Kawasaki “the most .giffable Mariner”, although I’m not sure who else could challenge him for the league-wide title.

His player page unfortunately lacks a single statistic: Munenori Kawasaki is performing at a 1.000 clip in terms of being Munenori Kawasaki. Someday, perhaps, when FanGraphs unveils its FIIP (fielding-independent indecent planking) metric, history will absolve his ISO. But while it remains debatable as to whether Kawasaki helps his team win, there’s little doubt that he helps baseball win.

(H/T to intrepid reader Andrew Hedden for the suggestion, and to Lookout Landing commenter ArrwCtchr for creating the images, if they are, in fact, two different people. Also, long bow to Jeff Sullivan, as mandated by international copyright law, for inventing the .gif file.)