Happy holidays! And really, what would a holiday season be without our annual edition of “Overrated and Over-hated”?
Here, we embrace life’s gray areas. We acknowledge that our species often gets overly worked up about various issues, and that in reality, many people and issues get either too much love (overrated) or too much venom (over-hated) and should instead be viewed with less intensity and certainty.
Your 2017 version, focusing on baseball and touching on other troll-worthy subjects, follows:
Sandy Alderson:Over-placated by his players’ insistence of good health.
Jose Altuve: He isn’t over-anything. Just wanted to give him his due.
Jake Arrieta: Overrated
Dusty Baker: Overrated
Dellin Betances:Over-hated by Randy Levine
Greg Bird:Over-hated by an anonymous person in the Yankees’ front office
Bitcoin: Overrated
Bob Bowman: Like that of so many people caught in the Pervnado, the behavior of the genius behind MLBAM was over-tolerated for far too long before Rob Manfred pushed him out.
Tom Brady: Over-hated
Jay Bruce: Overrated
Bunting:Over-hated, at least by one guy.
Mickey CallawayAPMickey Callaway:Is his Mets bullpen vision over-innovated? Time will tell. But I like the thinking.
Yoenis Cespedes: Over-hated
Chief Wahoo:Over-debated. He’s got to go already.
Gerrit Cole: Overrated
Terry Collins: Over-hated. But it was time to move on.
“Curb Your Enthusiasm” Season 9: Over-machinated. Routinely going over 30 minutes per episode hurt more than it helped.
Yu Darvish: Overrated
Kevin Durant:Over-delicate-d
Dennis Eckersley:Over-hated by the team he broadcasts
Jacoby Ellsbury: Over-hated
Wilmer Flores: Overrated
Mike Francesa: Over-hated. Back afta this.
Teams are over-concentrated on it. So much can change, even in a year.
Brett Gardner: Over-hated
The 1916 Giants:Over-commemorated. Everyone knows the difference between a winning streak and an unbeaten streak.
Joe Girardi:Over-deliberated, even if that epic screw-up didn’t necessarily cost him his job.
Vladimir Guerrero: Overrated
John Hart:Over-skated. How did he not pay a bigger price for the Braves’ malfeasance?
Matt Harvey:Over-devastated
Trevor Hoffman: Overrated
Eric Hosmer: Over-hated
Derek Jeter: Overmatched, thoroughly.
Aaron Judge: Over-hated.
Colin Kaepernick: Over-hated
Clayton KershawGetty ImagesClayton Kershaw: Over-associated with his shaky October numbers. If only one of his teammates could have picked up the slack…
Evan Longoria: Overrated
J.D. Martinez: Overrated
Omar Minaya: Over-hated
Joe Morgan:Over-fixated on illegal PED users and over-compassionate-d toward his fellow Hall of Famers who committed far worse transgressions.
New Year’s resolutions: Overrated
Shohei Ohtani: Overrated
Protective netting at Yankee Stadium:Overdue
Rich Rodriguez: Overrated
Amed Rosario: While it’s all good, he should stay mindful of getting over-social-media-ted.
Gary Sanchez: Over-hated
Dominic Smith: As he’s the first to acknowledge, he has over-masticated and must be more disciplined.
Giancarlo Stanton: Overrated
John Stearns: Over-hated
“Stranger Things”: Overrated
Noah Syndergaard:Over-weighted
Ronald Torreyes: Overrated. But still darn lovable.
Omar Vizquel: Overrated
The Wilpons: Their only roadmap to reaching over-hated calls for them to open up the vault and move to Playoffville.
World Baseball Classic: Over-celebrated. Can you remember anything about it besides Team USA winning?
David Wright: Over-hated
The Yankees’ hair policy:Over-hated. This is a much better way to honor George Steinbrenner than, say, firing and trading everyone.
Let’s catch up on Pop Quiz questions:
1) From Joe Polvere of Emerson, NJ: In a 2003 episode of “The Simpsons,” Bart and Millhouse imitate two pitchers of the era. Name the two pitchers.
2) From Sam Lerman of Queens: In a 1994 episode of “Law & Order,” a doctor mentions a former Mets and Yankees pitcher who suffered a memorable injury at his home. Name the pitcher.
–Your Pop Quiz answers:
1) Tomo Ohka and Esteban Yan
2) Bobby Ojeda
If you have a tidbit that connects baseball with popular culture, please send it to me at kdavidoff@nypost.com.
