Ryan Theriot. American Hero

I freely admit having a pretty huge man crush on shortstop Ryan Theriot. There are some pretty good reasons to give Theriot some love. He has been one of the few brights spots for a otherwise dreary Cubs season to this point. Ryan leads the team in hits, stolen bases, and runs scored. He has been a rock for the Cubbies, playing in 116 of 118 games this year. He has also been the Cubs most economically efficient player, pulling down just $500,000 this season. In case you're counting, that's $16,500,000 less than Soriano, $1,700,000 less than Aaron Freakin' Miles, and $600,000 less than the immortal Neal Cotts.

Theriot has not always been the Cubs golden boy. After he was drafted into the Cubs organization, he was told that he did not have the range or the arm to play shortstop and that he had to become a switch-hitter. Theriot proved them wrong, making up for range and his arm with hustle, and hitting consistently from the right side. He did not really show much promise in the minors before being called up. Theriot's career batting average in the minors was only .271 and hit only 5 homers in 6 minor league seasons. He surprised everyone, and now he is hitting .300 with 7 homers and has established himself as the Cubs spark plug at the top of the lineup. Theriot is a true success story that Cubs fans can get behind. Plus he creates some humor for the team with his power improvement as this clip proves.