Aly ♥ Baseball: I Still Miss Gregor Blanco

It's four in the morning, and I've been having an extremely hard time getting back to sleep. This happens on occasion, and it really can't be helped. I tried to read, but I should know better than to read the Internet if I want to get back to sleep. And yet, somehow, I still manage to ignore that knowledge. Many sleepless hours have been wasted reading Wikipedia.

The point is, I read this post by Andrew Stoeten. ~~It features a video of Gregor Blanco's bat flip... you know, the one that landed standing up.~~ It featured a video of someone wearing #1 which made me think of Gregor Blanco. It made me really upset. Way more upset than a normal person should be over a baseball player's trade. This happened almost a year ago, Aly. Time to get over it, now.

Sorry. Not going to happen. I'm not a normal person. I'm an avid fan, as friend Jennifer would say, and I really adored Gregor Blanco. I don't care if he DID talk to the media with some attitude regarding his belonging in the Majors instead of the Minors. I don't care that the Braves don't keep "troublemakers" around. If his mouthing off was a problem, then I could go on a tirade about why half the team should already be traded away. It was a stupid trade and complete bs, plain and simple. He proved time and again how much he could contribute, and he proved that he was more than capable and good enough to be in the majors. The hustle. The speed. The plain GETTING ON BASE. And yet, that didn't matter. Because he mouthed off a little, a WHILE ago. I don't buy it.

Anyway. Back to why I'm still awake. I read Andrew Stoeten's post and watched that bat flip video, and, really, at this hour, I obviously do not have full possession of faculties. Or, at least, rationality. I was seized with a sudden urge to watch videos of one of my favorite Braves, Gregor Blanco.

Fact: It is completely irrational to be upset over a worthless trade at 4:35 AM almost a year later.
Fact: Insomnia does not lead to reason; it leads to being lost in confusion.
Fact: I don't care if you don't care, as long as he doesn't go.

All right. Now that I've gotten my embarrassingly bad attempt at working the Cardigans into this post out of the way, I'll move on with my point. The point being: I miss Gregor Blanco, damnit. And this isn't one of my usual "I Heart Venezuelans" sentimentality. This is a legitimate gripe. I've loved him since he was a rookie in 2008. And watching video highlights of him as a Brave? Not a very good cure to insomnia. See, kids? This is what reading [the Internet] gets you. Instead of gaining any useful knowledge that could help you make use of your time productively, you stay up until 5 AM mourning the loss of a favorite player because somebody on the Internet ~~wrote something about a bat flip~~ posted something that reminded me of Greg White.

I couldn’t find a good clip of the bat flip, so you’ll just have to do with the clip that is posted on the ScoreBuzz. Edit: It appears that the bat flipper is Tony Pena, Jr.

Edit (08/23): The actual bat-flipper is not Tony Pena, Jr. nor is it Gregor Blanco. Instead, it is Gregor's fellow countryman... you guessed it. Martín Prado. How could I forget this?!?! I am a terrible fan.

Otherwise, here are some nice Gregor highlights/pictures: