The Jalen Brunson All-Stars of Baseball

The New York Knicks are in the NBA Finals for the first time since 1999.

It’s news that transcends sports, with all the celebrities you see sitting courtside, and the fact that it is the New York market, where everything gets the largest spotlight possible.

However, even though it’s the team with the most eyes on it, overcoming a draught that’s lasted almost three decades, what’s special about this particular Knicks team is that Jalen Brunson leads them.

Brunson is undersized and a second-round draft pick, but the conversation surrounding him has immediately been: “Should he be on the Mount Rushmore of greatest Knicks ever?” if he brings them a championship.

In terms of talent, he might not have reached the heights of first overall draft pick Patrick Ewing. Still, he may go down as the most BELOVED Knick ever, from transforming the culture and identity of the team to what could be a winner from his loyalty and unabashed grit in the clutch.

Baseball operates similarly, in that the fan favorite is not necessarily the most talented player on the roster. The day-in, day-out consumption of a team you watch for 162 games makes you develop a special kind of relationship with what someone can bring to a team.

These are some of the Jalen Brunson All-Stars around the league- the fan favorites that exemplify the “I would do anything for this person” relationship that fan bases have for some particular members of their squad that they live and breathe. 

Arizona Diamondbacks // Geraldo Perdomo, SS

Yes, Corbin Carroll may be the future of the franchise, and Ketel Marte is possibly the best second baseman in the sport, but Geraldo Perdomo is the man in the desert. It may be because he’s not talked about enough in the realm of elite shortstops in such a loaded position, but Perdomo was indispensable to their run to the World Series in 2023 with one of the most unique approaches at the plate.

They chose to extend him rather than anyone else as the clubhouse leader at just 25 despite being loaded with infielders at the time, and even though he’s having a down start to 2026, this guy had the quietest 7 WAR season of all-time last year and was 4th in NL MVP voting. If the snakes are alive and in contention, he’ll have more opportunities to bounce back and get the clutch hits that he cashed in on last year, now that Arizona has gotten more runners on base as of late.

Atlanta Braves // Matt Olson, 1B

If you think about it, it’s actually REALLY important for the Atlanta Braves sentimentally to get Matty O a World Series ring. He wasn’t there for the title they won in 2021, and in 2022, rather than make Freddie Freeman a “one-jersey, statue” guy, that CHOSE Olson that offseason. He was the younger, taller, and handsome man option, and they immediately gave him an 8-year deal to make him the man at first base going forward.

Olson’s done nothing but say and do all the right things and play literally every game since signing! He’s an iron man of the franchise and Mr. Dependable, who the fans love, adore, and need to be validated with that ring. Amidst all of the bad luck and injuries and Freddie winning titles in LA, it hasn’t been Olson’s fault, apart from having a relatively down year in 2024. But on a team where this core has all been extended going forward, Matt is the man.

Cincinnati Reds // Eugenio Suarez, 3B

It’s quite remarkable the impact that Eugenio Suarez has had on franchises in just small pockets. He was loved and adored in Cincinnati before being traded to Seattle, as he was the “extra” piece in the Jesse Winker deal. He had his worst season in Seattle, but was the fan favorite there. He was adored in Arizona as the 50+ homer man last season, and then he chose to come back to Cincinnati on a bargain one-season deal just because his family loved his time there.

He literally trademarked the “good vibes only” mindset in each locker room that he’s in and is unrelentingly positive despite being a feast or famine batter where he’s either clubbing homers or struggling to make contact, and despite Elly De La Cruz being the star that all of the kids are going to imitate in little league, there’s not a single person in Cincy that will say a bad word about Geno despite the slow start and they fully-endorsed bringing him back.

Los Angeles Dodgers // Kike Hernandez, UTIL

If you go to a Los Angeles Dodgers game, the best players may be anyone from Shohei Ohtani, Freddie Freeman, Mookie Betts, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow, Kyle Tucker, Teoscar Hernandez (should I continue), but the most beloved player on the franchise is Kike Hernandez. He’s the goofball who turns Super Saiyan in October.

He’s got the iconic 3-homer NLCS game, he dances all the time, and on a Dodger team that is entirely buttoned-up and professional most of the time when they have an embarrassment of riches, he’s the one who will spice it up with dancing and trash talk to get the boys awake in October. Ironically, on a team with more money and resources than any team in sports, Kike Hernandez is the “gotta bring him back” guy year after year.

San Francisco Giants // Jung Hoo Lee, OF

Not a lot has gone right in the new era of San Francisco Giants baseball and the moves that GM Buster Posey has made. But they took a risk in bringing over Jung Hoo Lee as an international signing from the KBO for 6 years. Still, the man has the “Jung Hoo Crew” section already after he led the team in batting average last year, hit electrifying triples into the gap by the Bay, and has the bonus cool factor of being “Grandson of the Wind.”

Even if Matt Chapman is yelling at teammates, even if Tony Vitello is getting crucified by the media, even if the Rafael Devers trade is looking like a disaster, a simple line-drive base hit from Jung Hoo Lee is enough to remind Giants fans why they tune in to the game day after day.

Seattle Mariners // Josh Naylor, 1B

Josh Naylor was traded to Seattle at the deadline last year and got a Naylor’s Sailors fan section in a matter of weeks. The round infectious ball of energy was somehow stealing bases faster than Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani, earning the moniker “Naylor Swift”, and it was a revelation in Seattle. Bringing him back as the first order of business this season on a 5-year deal, any Mariners fan will tell you, was THE move they had to make this offseason.

Sure, Julio Rodriguez’s beautiful eyes are on the cereal box, and Cal Raleigh was your MVP runner-up; the ball-knowers that watch all 162 games in the Pacific Northwest are likely to have the Naylor jersey and a Sailor hat, despite it taking less than a full season.