An eight-time All-Star and three-time American League MVP, Angels outfielder Mike Trout will one day go down as one of the greatest players in MLB history. Kiké Hernandez will not.
A career .240 hitter who has largely filled a utility role since debuting for the Astros in 2014, Hernandez is no one’s idea of a star. But apparently that hasn’t stopped fans from showing up in huge numbers to buy his jersey. According to figures released Wednesday, Hernandez’s No. 5 Red Sox jersey is the ninth-highest seller in MLB ahead of Trout (10th), Gerrit Cole (14th), Freddie Freeman (17th) and Mets ace Jacob deGrom (18th), among other household commodities.
That’s hard to fathom, though Hernandez’s ties to two of the country’s largest media markets, Boston and Los Angeles (where he spent six of his first seven MLB seasons), would explain the 29-year-old’s surprisingly wide reach. Kiké’s extensive playoff experience with the Dodgers (58 postseason appearances), putting him in front of a national audience like clockwork each fall, is another factor to consider.
A textbook overachiever who has made the most of his relatively slight frame (5’11”/190), Hernandez’s cult following could also be attributed to his blue-collar aesthetic, making him precisely the type of lovable underdog fans swoon over. The Puerto-Rican-born Hernandez has long been a favorite in the Latin community, particularly in Los Angeles, which boasts one of the largest Hispanic populations in the country.
I’m not sure what it says about our viewing tastes that a position-less novelty like Hernandez would be a bigger draw than a generational talent like Trout, but here we are. This narrative has, in some form or another, followed Trout throughout his entire career. Stuck on a dead-end team that isn’t even the most popular in its own city, Trout’s greatness has gone criminally underappreciated. Trout’s mild-mannered stylings in contrast to more outspoken players like Trevor Bauer, one of the league’s foremost social media presences, and Fernando Tatis, a bat-flipping, dreadlock-sporting showman of the highest order, has also hurt him in that regard. Not that it matters much to Trout, a no-frills superstar who would rather have his bat and glove do the talking.
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