BREAKING NEWS:”Celebrating Colby Rasmus: Happy Birthday to the Star!”..

Today is Colby Rasmus’ 38th birthday.

In 2005, Colby was selected in the first round, 28th overall. 6th place went to Ricky Romero.

For three years running, he was included among Baseball America’s top 100 prospects. In 2007, #29; in 2008, #5, and in 2009, #3.

Colby reached the majors in 2009, where he hit.251/.307/.407 with 16 home runs and received several votes for Rookie of the Year. After that, Colby enjoyed a successful 2010 season, hitting 23 home runs and scoring 276/.361/.498 to earn a 4.3 bWAR. He appeared to be developing into the player that the prospects list said he would be.

2011 wasn’t quite as successful. In addition to not getting along with manager Tony La Russa, Rasmus was hitting 246/.332/.420. La Russa was not a slow-talking Southerner; he was a pretty fast-talking, “genius” manager. Colby was also a square peg in a round-hole baseball environment, as I used to say.

The Blue Jays executed two multi-player deals on July 27. One in which the Jays received Edwin Jackson and Mark Teahen from the White Sox.

In exchange for Colby, Trever Miller, Brian Tallet, P.J. Walters, and Marc Rzepczynski, the Cardinals received Jackson, Octavio Dotel, Corey Patterson, and Marc Rzepczynski in the second, more noteworthy deal. Jackson completed the rotation that the Cardinals needed to strengthen their bullpen, and they went on to win the World Series that season, so I’m sure they are pleased with the trade. Not to mention that La Russa didn’t want to see Rasmus. The Jays had high expectations for a young talent.

I requested a scouting report from Viva El Birdos’ DanUpBaby. He stated in it:

Features like HOME RUN ACTION, INTERMITTENTLY IMPRESSIVE DEFENSE ACTION, and DEBATABLY USEFUL SPEED ACTION are included with your COLBY RASMUS. Fans of MAKING THINGS HAPPEN on offense or TONY LA RUSSA, please refrain from exposing your COLBY RASMUS to direct sunlight.

He never performed to the level we expected. He hit.276/.338/.501 with 22 home runs in 118 games in 2013, which was a respectable season. However, he struggled with persistent ailments, was erratic, and struck out far too often.

His season in 2014 was not good. He was not content. He declared:

Due to the constant nudging and prodding from so many people, I’ve lost a little bit of that drive. And occasionally I had the impression of a zoo animal. You know, you just keep jabbing at it, and eventually, they will bite you back.

It was very clear that he was depressed. He appeared to have problems, at least with his father, like many other people do. I don’t want to place blame on parents, but when we do anything, most of us hear our parents in our minds. Thus, when he quit the squad, I stated:

Everybody has internal voices that convince them they are unworthy. Most of us pick up the ability to move on, forget about, and move on. A few use it as motivation to perform better: “I’ll show them.” It appears that Colby is unable of doing that. He keeps in mind and carries around all the small jabs. It’s simple to say he should move on from his issues with Tony LaRussa, but he finds it difficult to stop talking about them.

He spent a few seasons as an Astros player. The 2017 season began with him with the Rays, but he left to return home. The Orioles signed him for the 2018 season, but he again left to return home. It stuck this time.

I thought he was cute. Sometimes he revealed aspects of his personality to us. He appeared to be having a good time during the “winter tour.” I relished the times when he grinned. The tiny profile shows him stopping for a chicken hot dog and his unit. The different hairstyles weren’t my taste.