Grind, grinder, grinding

I still remember many years ago hearing a college coach refer to a player as a "grinder."

It fit. It was a compliment. I've used the term in reference to engineers who work in our organization.

I "grind" when I have too. I'll take 9 grinders on my team any day.

Son wasn't a grinder in HS, he was a player. He was lucky, he threw the ball and it left his hand and was spotted over 90. He really didn't have to grind.

He began to grind in college, he was learning that he had to really begin working harder than he ever had before, just throwing over 90 wasn't going to make it.

3 surgeries post college and going on 4 spring trainings have made him a grinder, for sure.

No, the word isn't used here that much, more than likely, because they don't know, but that's ok, they will learn just like I am, still.

I have always thought of grinders as players that are willing to sacrifice their bodies to make a play. Take one off the chest to knock it down keeping the ball in front. Diving to get to a ball in the gap. Making every effort possible to get to a foul ball. Getting dirty, and leaving it all on the field.

I think most baseball people love grinders.

Like TPM says, if you are 6'3 and 210 hitting bombs or throwing 95 you don't have to grind as early as others. But utimately I believe the game rewards the grinders. At least that is my hope.

But the talent and skill has to be there first. You can't be a grinder just because you try to play the game and grind it out without great success.

A non grinder can scale the wall. A grinder has to run through the wall. The non grinder may have looked more athletic clearing the wall, but the bottom line is both got to the other side.

I once defined a kid as someone who would bite the nails out of the wall and spit them back at you to win. That's how I always looked at players who had less gifts but were determined to get it done.

Nice topic and one that is near and dear to my heart...

I believe there are many definitions for grinders and some of it is short term and some of it long term. Like floridafan says, some guys are known as grinders because they play with their uniforms dirty and basically are willing to sell out to make a play. Another form of grinding is the long term aspect of it. Showing up every day with a smile and prepared to work. Yes it is work taking ground ball after ground ball after ground ball or pitching/catching a bullpen and convincing yourself you enjoy that. The fun of baseball is playing the game. To my son's credit, he tells me he enjoys practicing but I am not sure if I believe him

Sometimes players who are tagged as grinders, I believe their talent sometimes can be taken for granted. Somtimes, a player who is willing to grind - for years and years - can end up being one of the more talented players as well over the long run. Combine a grinder's mentality with talent and you have one heck of a ballplayer.

quote:

I think most baseball people love grinders.

I think a lot has to do with position, let's face it, pitchers don't get dirty. A relief guy takes the mound to get one important out, may not be considered hard work for a day's pay and not considered a grinder. So far from the truth.

Some guys quit grinding when they get to a certain point, you see this often in proball. Others really begin the grind just then, it's all relevant to position and talent as well.

To me, it's more about what is done when NOT on the field, that means how much time are you actually preparing to get better. That is what the word is all about in my opinion.

quote:

Originally posted by TPM:
I think a lot has to do with position, let's face it, pitchers don't get dirty. A relief guy takes the mound to get one important out, may not be considered hard work for a day's pay and not considered a grinder. So far from the truth.

To me, it's more about what is done when NOT on the field, that means how much time are you actually preparing to get better. That is what the word is all about in my opinion.

I generally agree with that, that grinding is what you do off the field.

Pitchers indeed can be grinders.

I would encourage everyone of our members (and their sons regardless of position) here to read the following Sports Illustrated article on Roy Halliday. He has become the epitome of a grinder but as he mentioned in the article, he was not always that way.

What Makes Roy Run

There ya go CD, Roy actually could stop grinding, but he's driven by another force, and it's not about money anymore.

Good stuff.

Never heard grinder used for baseball players. Muckers and grinders in hockey are the guys who kill penalties, check the opponents scorers, win face offs, go in the corners, and even scrap if they have to... They aren't 'stars' but they do very important things, often unnoticed, to help the team win. I guess baseball has guys like that, too. I would consider a long reliever a grinder.

Grinders are guys who may not be playing much but keep working hard every single day until that opportunity comes.

Grinders are guys who may be in an 0-for-12 slump but don't take it to the plate with them the next time and don't let it keep them from helping the team defensively.

Grinders are guys who play the game the exact same way whether their team is up 10-0, down 10-0, or tied 5-5.

Grinders are guys who are willing to put team goals ahead of individual ones, and they can be a star shortstop, a backup outfielder who can pinch-run, a No. 1 starter, or a situational reliever. Grinders understand how their roles fit the bigger team picture.

Grinders are guys who provide unspoken leadership by how hard they play the game and practice the game day-in and day-out.

Grinders are guys who the coaches don't have to worry about in terms of attitude in the dugout and preparedness on the field.

Baseball at all levels is a sport where you need grinders because of the length of the season and the many ups and downs that come along with that. I hear all the time how guys have to find a way to work through the grind. The dedicated ones do.

Golf is the sport I've heard the term grinder mentioned the most recently. Tiger, Phil, Ernie, Bubba Watson and others easily bombing it over 300 yards aren't deemed grinders. Guys with percieved less talent like Fred Funk, Chris DeMarco and others are considered grinders.

When I hear the term I think of guys who have to work extra hard to scrap and claw for whatever success they attain. That is probably more rewarding than things coming easy.

The best of the best are probably the most talented guys grinding.

Grinder and good make up could be interchangable terms.

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Grinder and good make up could be interchangable terms.

That is a good obsevation. I don't believe that those with limited talent are the grinders. I believe it best identifies those who love the game and will sacfifice their body to make the impossible play possible. This requires talent.

At the same time there are athletes so gifted that everyone wants them on their team for one aspect of their game or another. A strong arm, a power bat, lightning speed.

However, I believe that a 5 tool player must be a "grinder". They have to be willing to sacrifice to attain that level of skill and talent.

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Originally posted by catfish342:
Grinders are guys who play the game the exact same way whether their team is up 10-0, down 10-0, or tied 5-5.

Those guys are referred to as samers, they play the exact same way every game, no matter what the circumstances, different than grinders.

Grinders(to me anyway) are the guys that know they have to do extra stuff to improve (for whatever reason) or just to stay in the game. Those are the hitters asking for more cage time, or pitchers asking for extra BP, or working extra reps in the gym, or running farther, eating better meals to be in better shape, giving up the nightlife for a better nights sleep, etc.

I don't think you can determine who is a grinder and who is not by watching a game, but rather what they do before or after the game is what determines it.
JMO.

Grinder: Dustin Pedroia

Not a grinder: JD Drew

If you were a player, would you like hearing someone else refer to you as a grinder?

You guys are making me think, but I have always viewed the expression positively. My son has usually been a top performer on every team he has played on and I believe I have heard him referred to as a grinder...a player that gives all he has for the game, for the moment. To me a grinder is an exciting player, the player that will charge a foul ball in front of the dugout and lay out in an attempt to get the out. The player that will go through a fence for you.

If a grinder is a person who needs constant work to be effective in the game, then that is not how I have heard the term used. It has always been used positively around here.

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Originally posted by greenmachine:
If you were a player, would you like hearing someone else refer to you as a grinder?

Yup, I sure would.
My thoughts on a grinder:
The player who feels he needs to earn everything, and if he does, he feels he hasn't earned or proven anything and grinds at it even harder because there is a new goal or pinnacle than the one where he is.
He has to earn the respect of his coaches, earn playing time, earn the respect of his teammates and peers, earn the respect of his opposition, the umpires and needs to earn the respect of the game itself.
He rarely allows himself to believe he has earned anything, because there is another out in a game, another strike or pitch in an AB, another game to be played tomorrow, another opportunity to "earn" the opportunity to play and play better than he did today.
He prepares himself as if he needs to earn everything. Is the first one to practice, last to leave, first to the field, last to leave, first to the weight room, last to leave, and he grinds every minute he is there.
He is the one who gives all the credit for any success to his coaches and teammates because he is still working on "earning" and "proving" and grinding. He is never satisfied, because even if others view him as the best, someone better, like him, might be right behind.
Grinding is a mental process of "earning" and "proving" that shows up in how a player prepares and competes each pitch,each AB, each inning, each game and each season.

Thank you Infielddad.

Things cut both ways imho. My baseball son is referred to as a grinder or a blue collar player and that pleases me for the most part, but I am convinced that works against him sometimes as I am convinced some people under-rate his talent because of that label.

I've said this before however, he is a grinder because he simply is one. I never taught him to be that way - he simply just is. I wish I could take the credit for him but it is just in his nature.

And just what is your son doing these day?

RJm, I like that scale the wall, run thru the wall analogy...so true.