Merry Christmas! First, let’s catch up on last week’s Pop Quiz question.
From Sam Lerman of Queens: In a 1989 episode of “The Golden Girls,” Dororthy (Bea Arthur) sarcastically tells Rose (Betty White) that she fears Sophia (Estelle Getty) might not be her mother, but rather that of a legendary Yankees player. Name the player.
Blame Twitter, or blame the old-school media trying to keep up with the times. Maybe just blame the times themselves. Or it could very well be I’m a fuddy-duddy trying to recapture an era that never actually existed.
But it seems to me that our level of discourse continues to sink, especially when it comes to sports. Gray area is frowned upon. People, teams and ideas are either historically great or epically poor. You’re either a genius or a moron. Sometimes you’re both, depending on the subject.
So in an effort to lower the volume (or, perhaps, secretly raise it in a passive-aggressive manner), here’s my annual Overrated and Over-hated list for 2014. Primarily involving Major League Baseball, since that’s my gig, while throwing in a few holiday bonuses:
Sandy Alderson: Over-calibrated
Billy Beane: Over-hated
Carlos Beltran: Let’s give him a mulligan for 2014 and see what 2015 looks like.
Robinson Cano gets much more flak than he deserves.EPACraig Biggio: Overrated. He’s Cooperstown worthy, but when there are only 10 spots on the ballot…
Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens: Equally over-hated
Madison Bumgarner: Neither
Robinson Cano: Hilariously, embarrassingly over-hated
Brian Cashman: Over-traded. His busiest year on the trade front since 2000, I’d reckon.
Terry Collins: Over-elated? We’ll see.
Michael Cuddyer: Overrated
Ike Davis: Overrated
Jacob deGrom: I got no problem with him. Just didn’t want him to feel left out.
Lucas Duda: Over-hated
Jacoby Ellsbury: Overrated
Expanded instant replay: Over-hated
Emailing: Overrated, evidently. I’ve got to start being more careful.
Mets ace Matt Harvey in his element: with a model, at the Rangers gameAnthony J. CausiWilmer Flores: Overrated
Joe Girardi: Over-hated
Roger Goodell: Under-hated
Curtis Granderson: Over-hated
Hanukkah: Overrated
Matt Harvey: I don’t know, but my god, has an inactive player ever asked for, and received, more attention? How stupid.
Chase Headley: Over-hated
Infield shifts: Over-hated
Derek Jeter: Overrated, over-hated and over-celebrated
Kansas City: Over-hated
Kansas City Royals: Overrated
Clayton Kershaw: Over-hated. So he has room for improvement in the postseason.
Lacking closer’s experience: Overrated
Jon Lester: Underappreciated by the Red Sox
“Let It Go”: Over-hated
Kevin Long: Over-hated
Rob Manfred: Over-hated (by Jerry Reinsdorf, at least)
Johnny Manziel: Overrated
The Padres’ outfield trades: Overrated
Michael Pineda: Over-lubricated
Hanley Ramirez: Overrated
David Robertson: A little of both
Alex Rodriguez: Over-sedated. We miss you, A-Rod! Do or say something crazy!
Bud Selig: We’ll miss ya! Or will we?APRich Rodriguez: Overrated
Max Scherzer: Over-hated
Bud Selig: See Jeter
John Stearns: Over-hated
The Steinbrenners and the Wilpons: As long as both teams underwhelm, it’s hard to either overrate or over-hate.
Masahiro Tanaka: Overrated.
Mark Teixeira: Overrated
Troy Tulowitzki: Overrated
World Cup: Overrated
David Wright: Over-hated
Your Pop Quiz answer is Phil Rizzuto. If you have a tidbit that connects baseball to popular culture, please send it to me at kdavidoff@nypost.com.
