Who's the Face of Your Franchise

[Borealis]

Is this the transitional year where Digger assumes the leadership role? Is he now the face of the franchise?

I think this is an interesting concept: Who is the face of your (any of us) franchise... and why? This could be a fun discussion!

So Kevin made this comment this morning, and I thought it was an interesting idea. Who is the Face of Your Franchise. I'm not sure who would be the Face of Aurora: Ice Cold and his post-season failures? John Knight? Or someone new, just bursting onto the scene, like Cory Pierce.

Some would seem obvious: Fireworks in Tempe and Pat Lily in Bakersfield. Who's your Face, or who do you think is someone else's Face?

[Tyler]

West Virginia would be Rafael Suarez due to longevity, though Ronald Harmon may be close.

[Mike Branda]

Seoul Crushers face of the franchise is ...DRUM ROLL!!! RF Kiyonori Kato


Kato bar anything bad will be the face for many many years

[Arroyos]

Maybe someday, we can only hope, Gunner MacGruder will be the face of the Yuma franchise. But for the time being, David Goode remains the face of our franchise, in spite of the fact he no longer plays for us. His father attends all our games, and David's $12 million dollar contract remains the biggest single mistake Yuma has ever made.


Though absent from Yuma for a couple of years
He remains the face of the team stuck down here
On the Sonoran desert, near the Arizona line
Where he once played ball for the Bulldozer nine

Davey, Davey Goode
The 12 million dollar man!

[klewis]

As previously stated, undeniably the face of Florida's franchise is Tsumemasa Morimoto. He has been with us since the beginning of time (2007). We have seen him grow up from being a 20 year old tyke to a Royal Raker. The fans love him so much that we were forced to trade away Ronald Harmon. We hope he can be with the team for his entire career - bringing the all-time HR and RBI record to Jacksonville.

Before Morimoto, there was Ice Cold Richardson. But that era has been long forgotten.

Edit: I know the current WV face of the franchise is Suarez. I'm sure when baseball fans think of West Virginia, they still think of Riley similarly to how fans equate Bird to the Celtics or Jordan to the Bulls. I wonder how many years or accolades Suarez will need to rack up to surpass Riley's fondness in the Charleston area.

[John]

Does the face have to be a player? I'd be hard pressed to think of a player who serves as the face of the San Antonio Calzones of Laredo, largely because no player sticks around long enough to be remembered. To me, the identity of the team is wrapped up in GM Matt "Trader" Higgins. He's put his mark on the franchise with his aggressive style. When I think "San Antonio", that's the first name that pops into my mind.

[Matt]

I'm thinking it would be these guys.....

[klewis]

Does the face have to be a player? I'd be hard pressed to think of a player who serves as the face of the San Antonio Calzones of Laredo, largely because no player sticks around long enough to be remembered. To me, the identity of the team is wrapped up in GM Matt "Trader" Higgins. He's put his mark on the franchise with his aggressive style. When I think "San Antonio", that's the first name that pops into my mind.

I don't see a problem with that. Billy Beane is pretty much the face of the A's since the aftermath of the departures of Giambi, Tejada, and the Big 3. So, I concur. Trader Matt is the face of the Calzones. On a similar note, I sort of think of Morris Cooley as the face of the Maulers especially now with the leaving of that treacherous Memoto.

[Matt]

Does the face have to be a player? I'd be hard pressed to think of a player who serves as the face of the San Antonio Calzones of Laredo, largely because no player sticks around long enough to be remembered. To me, the identity of the team is wrapped up in GM Matt "Trader" Higgins. He's put his mark on the franchise with his aggressive style. When I think "San Antonio", that's the first name that pops into my mind.

I don't see a problem with that. Billy Beane is pretty much the face of the A's since the aftermath of the departures of Giambi, Tejada, and the Big 3. So, I concur. Trader Matt is the face of the Calzones. On a similar note, I sort of think of Morris Cooley as the face of the Maulers especially now with the leaving of that treacherous Memoto.

You guys just aren't going to let me escape blame for this mess, are you?

[DanD]

I'd have to say the current FotF is Rob Raines:

He's been the most consistent and healthy player. He's also been in the line-up almost every game for the past three years.

However, I'd say Raines and Guillén are kind of a superstar duo. Ortega is getting close to making it a 'core' group, but he's not nearly as popular as the two sluggers. Maybe if he wins some hardware in the near future...

[Maulers]

Does the face have to be a player? I'd be hard pressed to think of a player who serves as the face of the San Antonio Calzones of Laredo, largely because no player sticks around long enough to be remembered. To me, the identity of the team is wrapped up in GM Matt "Trader" Higgins. He's put his mark on the franchise with his aggressive style. When I think "San Antonio", that's the first name that pops into my mind.

I don't see a problem with that. Billy Beane is pretty much the face of the A's since the aftermath of the departures of Giambi, Tejada, and the Big 3. So, I concur. Trader Matt is the face of the Calzones. On a similar note, I sort of think of Morris Cooley as the face of the Maulers especially now with the leaving of that treacherous Memoto.

I think that this is correct; I think of MC as the true face of the Maulers, even before Memeto's treachery. Cooley's imprint is on every major (and minor) move that the Maulers have made since at least before the 2010 season, when (as head scout) he secretly engineered the Maulers' shocking run to the Pan-Atlantic title and then paid for it with a nervous breakdown.

And John is clearly correct that Matt is the face of the Calzones.

[Bill]

I'm sure historically Pat Holman was the face of the Duluth franchise, though personally I have a hard time overlooking his very mediocre 2013 campaign. Miguel Cortez is probably a close second. These two players have really been the only stable and successful parts of a relatively unstable organization.

However I think 2014 will change that somewhat. Hopefully Barker and Jones and maybe Sutherland can become the new faces of the Warriors going forward.

[Hitmen]

Hmm... now this one isn't that easy for me.

If I go on seniority it would have to be inning eater SP Jerry Jones or pop-corn chucking manager Tracy Evans.

But I think I am going to go with the new-school idea. New GM Holleb Kasprowicz took a 71-91 Hitmen and turned them into a 94-68 contender in one season of work. Looks like his previous winning experience in my fictional league rubbed off on the team.

DH Anthony Hough has been swinging the lumber since being called up in 2012. He is probably leading the pack of youngsters at the moment who could be called the face of the franchise. Although in the coming years he will have stiff competition from youngsters Lawrence Jones, Mario Tessier, Lee Kohler, Nick Rose, and Shou-chien Jung who managed to ink himself a nice deal for the future and is quickly becoming a fan favorite with his speed and defensive work in the field. Although if a future pitcher by the name of Encarn can translate his skills into major league talent, then he could easily steal the title.

Now if I was going by popularity on the team alone, then fireball hurling reliever Bryant Duncan is our face of the franchise. Interesting bit of early news out of the clubhouse this offseason is that pitching coach Kumanosuke Nii is trying to convince Holleb to give Duncan a try as a starter in 2014, although Holleb is steadfast in keeping his shutdown bullpen as is as the Hitmen bullpen was ranked as one of the best in the IL in their run to the playoffs in 2013.

[klewis]

In response to Aurora, I see Ice Cold as more of Giambi on the Yankees. He was the superstar the Yankees acquired but the face was still the homegrown Jeter.

Similarly, I would have to vote for either Slappy or McDonald. The only problem with McDonald is that (for some reason) I don't view McDonald as a flashy player. He is just a quiet player that gets things done under the radar. He is arugably the best second basemen in the history of our league yet no one really knows about him.

I think the future is Pierce though.

[Borealis]

I agree about Ice Cold and Giambi, and it's funny what you say about McDonald - I think he's a totally under-rated, but not face material. Pierce, the reigning Royal Raker and currently 2nd in this years voting (although, where's the love for Al Edwards?) may be the Face, but I think Aurora's talent is such that we may have a multi-headed demon: Pierce, Bradley, Knight. We may be talking Edwards in another year or two.

I totally agree with the likes of Trader Matt or Morris Cooley, non-players also taking on the face of the franchise. You could argue that Steinbrenner was the face of the yanquis.