PRONKMAS IS HERE!! BLESS YOU JOLLY🎄

As a die hard Indians fan I will always love Pronk. He is from North Dakota. I remember hearing him say he had a graduating class of 8 people, 4 boys and 4 girls. He promised his parents two things, he would always be top 10 in GPA and would have a date to the prom. He is a Cleveland Legend.

Pronk being a real word has to be the biggest information drop of the whole vid

Travis Hafner was primarily a Designated Hitter. He played over 1,000 games at DH and less than 100 at 1B.

“Pronk” is one of the biggest “what ifs” in Major League Baseball history. He was so damn good during that little stretch, and I honestly thought he was going to be one of the leagues best hitters for the next decade or so. It’s a shame what injuries can do to players.

Man I'll tell you, playing MLB 06 The Show and having to pitch through that Sizemore, Peralta, V Mart and Hafner lineup was spooky.

I love the Konerko shoutout we need a full video about him one of the most underrated hitters of his era

Pronk!!! Feel like not too many people even remember him because of how brief his peak was, but that dude was a monster. I remember him being a beast in both MVP Baseball 2005 (🐐) and the very first MLB The Show in 2006. Cleveland had some great young players on those mid 2000s teams.

Forgot about this guy. Dude was fun to watch. I'm so glad I grew up during this era of baseball.

Pronk was simply insane. One of the best pure hitters I’ve seen in Cleveland, along with Manny Ramirez, Albert Belle, Grady Sizemore, Jose Ramirez and Jim Thome.

Bro, Adam LaRoche deserves a video too! In an era where 1B players were either fat or buffed/juiced, he was this skinny constant power hitter (an extremely underrated one as well)

I always talk about Melvin Mora’s 2004 season. Gave up the legend Mike Bordick for him but what a nice little forgotten run he had. An All time Underrated Oriole.

As a Twins fan I never forgot about Travis Hafner. The Twins had so many pitchers that relied on weak contact to get outs and Hafner had some moonshots.

Don't forget the record-tying six grand slams in 2006. That shoulder injury was the end for Hafner. I remember that he started off the 2007 season right where he left off the previous year before the broken hand, but about a month later the Indians faced Ervin Santana and the Angels. Hafner struck out four times, including on a pitch that hit him in the foot, and I knew something was wrong. From that point, his power was mostly gone. Five years of injuries and weak grounders to second base followed. It was frustrating to watch.

Travis Hafner, a name I've haven't heard in a long time. Admittedly the MLB game on mobile has him in game along with his 06 season. Shame he couldn't stay healthy, I think he definitely would be remembered by more than us Stat nerds.

Hafner was one of my favorites from the mid 2000s and was also the first jersey I ever got. Still wear it to this day!

Adam Dunn was before his time. He'd make bank and actually be appreciated in todays game.

Yup, you convinced me. I consider myself a pretty knowledgeable baseball fan, but I had no idea Hafner was as good as he was during his prime years. You did a fabulous job making your case. No hyperbole, just solid facts. Keep up the great work!

Pronk was my favorite player when i was little. he was so so so good and it really hurt when he couldn’t stay healthy.

Travis Hafner is right up there with one of my favorite Rays of all-time, Carlos Pena, in the 'was only really relevant for a short period of time, but when they were good, they were DAMN good' club. Just something about a hard-hitting lefty power bat, feels like we don't have as many of those types of hitters anymore.

Definitely a legend for us Cleveland fans. I got to see him hit a grand slam in person during that 3 year run and the crowd went absolutely nuts. He seemed like a really cool guy as well.

The first baseball game I ever went to with my dad was Rangers vs. Indians in Arlington. The day before, Hafner got beaned and broke his hand, so he had to miss the game I went to. However, I instead got to see Hafner's replacement, Kevin Kouzmanoff, hit a 1st inning grand slam on the first pitch he ever saw in the major leagues. That's my personal Travis Hafner story.

The upper deck in right field was nicknamed "Pronkville" because he would regularly plant baseballs there. During the celebrity softball game in '19, he actually hit a softball that cleared the right field fence. Guy had amazing power when healthy.

That ‘06 season was especially crazy in the quality of HR hit. He tied the MLB record with 6 grand slams that season

PLEASE make a video about Rich Hill. One of the craziest careers in modern history and I feel like no one talks about how absurd it was that in his mid-30s, he went from being a minor league journeyman who's career was probably over to being one of the games most dominating SPs for a couple years

Thank you for more Cleveland vids! Best team we have had since the 90s was the 07 team (yes beating the 16 team that almost won the WS) we love to see it! Pronk!!!

Hafner is one of those guys who fascinate me. Can be a HoFer for a short period, but don't figure it out for long enough. I know injuries can play a role, and he got a late start, but he is part of a rather long list of players who fit into this category.

Just looked at his stats and lord have mercy he was unreal for 3 years and fell off a cliff. Shocked he only hit 213 homers. Even this guy had a .279 avg…it’s kind of mind boggling that power hitters today are getting away with .200-.250 batting averages.

One thing to remember about that 2006 AL MVP race is that at that time, team success was still a huge factor for the voters. Both Hafner and Ortiz were on teams that missed the playoffs (the Indians had a losing record and were 4th in their division) while Morneau and Jeter were on division championship teams.

I randomly think of how underrated Travis Hafner. Thank you for justifying that thought haha

4:47 I remember that downturn VERY well because I had tickets to that game against Minnesota that they went into down 1 game. The night before, my friend (who I went to that game with) spent over an hour talking on the phone about how excited we were that they had been playing so well and they idea of them pulling into a first place tie. As you so clearly showed, though, that’s NOT how things went down.

DUDE NO WAY A PRONK VIDEO AFTER A CHOO VIDEO🙌🙌🙌

It always brings me joy when Jolly does a video on a player that I consider a MVP Baseball 2005 legend!

Thanks for doing more Cleveland videos :)

I'll be honest. I'm from Montreal. We had a team, for 35 years, ending in 2004. Since 2005, I've only watched the playoffs sporadically. Essentially, I'd watch if there was a good story, or underdog team I could get behind. I was highly impressed with your knowledge, research, presentation and storytelling prowess. After watching just one vid, I'm really excited to see what else you have to offer. I'll make you a gentleman's agreement. I'm going to Like this vid and subscribe. (Which I was going to do anyway. LoL). But, if you are interested in stats and the history of MLB, I'd love to see you remind people about us! We didn't lose out team, (Nos Amours). They were STOLEN FROM US!! And that was after 35 years of treating us like crap and setting us up to fail :( It's a sad, long Winter, withhout Spring training to look forward to... Anyway, if we could ever go back, start over and do it again, we would!! Without another thought. Maybe this time former Expo, Dave Martinez, would be managing the same franchise to a World Series victory, but just this once, let it be in the same place I got my first signed ball. It's sitting on my desk right now and it says Dave Martinez 1991 :) Strange, how the only real sliver of a connection, between the Montreal Expos and the World series winning Washington Nations, is our 1990's, little gang's favorite player. We spent 1$ to sit in those right-field bleachers. It must be lonely out there because he would actually talk to us, between pitchers and we would chant Dave, Dave! Whenever he made a great play, or got a hit... Never lose your nostalgia my friends and if possible... Just do me a favor, if you have a second in your video. Or feel like looking at some old stats. Remind people about us every once in a while :) Or even read one of the great books out there and a lot of them, might make for a good future video. I promise everyone, our story doesn't have the best ending but one thing...one thing the Expos never were, was boring!! ;) Happy Holidays and good luck for the rest of the team's. Always remember, 'On opening day, everyone is in first place.' Cheers from Canada pocketrocket8909@zoho.com If anyone wants to talk ball, puck or life! They're all the same in my book ;)

You’re so good at picking fire topics!!! Merry Christmas, Jolly 💙

Pronk is by far my favorite Cleveland Indian/Guardian. My buddy who works in the front office of the Guardians now, got me into Tribe Time as a kid when Hafner was on fire!

So thankful I found this channel! You do an amazing job with these videos keep up the amazing work!

My late brother was a huge Guardians fan and had a make-a-wish that was granted to watch a series behind the plate, take a tour of Progressive Field and meet Pronk. This brings back fond memories watching games with him 😊

It’s really crazy how many players were amazing and either had short peaks, or injuries, retired early. Some are just forgotten. I loved your video about the top players forgotten to history. Lots of gems on that.

Wasn't Hafner a DH? I don't remember him playing first base other than for NL games.

I LOVE Travis Hafner! He was always one of the players I picked when I would play expansion mode in baseball games. He was a hell of a power hitter in his day and I just love watching him rake.

Cleveland fan here--thank you for showing pronk love!! I still do his batting stance at the cages sometimes

Looking at that list of 1st baseman one guy I COMPLETELY forgot about was Richie Sexson. He had a couple year stretch where he was one of the best power hitters in the game.

Hafner is a legend in North Dakota. The Buffalo Wild Wings I went to has a portrait of him.

I always wondered what happened to him, he was SO good in the mid to late 2000’s, sad that injuries did him in…thank you for your video!

merry Christmas jolly thanks for all the content this year :)

Adam laroch what a throw back I hadn’t heard that name in a long time loved using him in mlb 07 the show

Really well done content, subbed!

Never heard @JollyOlive Instant subscribe. Best sports commentary ever. Most hilarious stats I've ever heard. 🤣

Hell yeah bro. I love this!

You’re my favorite account on KZfaq man. Great stuff as always. To this day the furthest hit ball I’ve seen in my life was Travis Hafner at Angel stadium, and it was a cold night. He nearly hit it over the right field fields crew equipment area. Keep it up Jolly Olive!

Thank you for making this! Him and Grady were my childhood

Two great ballplayers from North Dakota who grew up about 60 miles from each other, Erstad and Hafner, were taken in two consecutive drafts. As a young baseball fan growing up in North Dakota just another 60 miles away through the '90s and early '00s, I was a big fan of these guys when they got to the big leagues. Went to school with some of Erstad's cousins and he came once to visit our school. That was a great day.

I remember going to indians games as a kid and chanting pronk the donk with my dad 😂 I completely forgot about that, thanks for the refreshed memory and have a merry Christmas, friend!

Thank you for making this. Pronk was my favorite player as a kid growing up in Ohio. I am still buying his cards to this day, and I keep his bobblehead on my desk during baseball season.

It's awesome to see Pronk remembered. Got to meet him at Spring Training when he first joined Cleveland. Nice guy and he could smash the hell out of a baseball.

This is probably the only one of these types of “unsung baseball hero” vids I totally believe. I knew absolutely nothing about this player until now and it’s kind of a travesty how underrated he appears to be. What a great player. Geesh

Cleveland fan my entire life. Loved Hafner! Awesome video, new subscriber!

This is such a great channel! Awesome video!

I remember Hafner even though I'm not a Cleveland fan, because he was such a great pickup on my fantasy team back in those days.

I love videos like this bc as someone who wasn't yet a baseball fan at the time I'm kinda oblivious to players who went a bit under the radar or didn't get their deserved recognition. I knew Hafner was good, but I didn't know he was *that* good

Love your videos Jolly, hope you had a great Christmas! Would love to see a video on Marco Estrada. Especially his few years in Toronto when he was one of the more underrated and undervalued pitchers in baseball, using that fastball and change-up combo. Cheers!!

Love videos on these really good forgotten hitters

I really like your channel man. Love seeing the guys some forgot about

Loved growing up watching Hafner, I was at the game he tied Don Mattingly for for the most grand-slams hit in a season back in 2006. Long live Pronkville. Last I heard he still lives around Cleveland and does a lot a charity work in the area, outstanding guy!

I just discovered your channel and am hooked! Great quality and presentations.

Soothing voice, great delivery. I enjoy your videos. Nice job

As a Sox fan, Pronk was a key reason I was a tad nervous when the Indians were on the schedule 😂. His is the only non-Sox baseball jersey I own. That short period of dominance was fun to watch.

I remember the at bat where Pronk broke out. He had just come back from the minors and I don't recall the exact game, but he started fouling off pitches on a particular at bat. I don't know how many he fouled off, it was anywhere form 9 pitch to a 13 pitch at bat, but I remember posting somewhere that Hafner had arrived. And soon after he started hitting with power.

One of my favorite fantasy draft players in MLB 2k7!

I loved his batting stance and sweet lefty swing he had. His MOONSHOT he hit in KC is one of the most aesthetically pleasing home runs I have ever seen

As a Die-Hard Mets fan, love the lid bro. Great Channel. I love nerding out on baseball

Pride of North Dakota right there. Thanks jolly

Great subject for the video. The video title doesn't exaggerate in the least. Hafner was a beast - until he fell off the face of the earth.

This dude was a machine in fantasy baseball

Hard to believe Lew Ford got more MVP votes than he did his first full year...what a blast from the past seeing that name today 😂

Thank you. You made your case; very convincing.

Man great video 👍🏼

Excellent video... Thank you for all your great content.. I would personally love a Mike Piazza video

When I used to do fantasy draft on I can't remember which MLB the show Haffner would never get pick on the first few rounds but was a guarantee 40 plus home run player if you simulated the season. Amazing power.

Good argument. Thanks for your hard work.

new sub. baseball lover. look forward to the content. thanks, man

Great video. Subscribed. Loved using Travis in the old 2K games

I remember as a kid watching him with bases loaded and 2 outs hit a line drive to right fielder that would be a single for anyone else but he got thrown out at first. Still was one of my favorite players but that memory will always stick with me lol

Wore #48 till I got to high school. Man I loved when he played. Pure

PRONK! His stance epitomized power and he was the heart of that underrated Cleveland lineup.

Loved Pronk. Always pulled for him. Nice, controlled swing.

When I was a kid I played a ton of MLB 06: Road to the show On my team, we had myself, Richie Sexson, and Travis Hafner. We probably hit a combined 150+ HR each year. Good times and I am happy that you reminded me of this memory!

I remember watching him growing up as a Ohioan. He was beyond underrated. Him, Grady and Cliff were so good...too bad the only one with long term success was Cliff.

I remember meeting him at Jacobs Field growing up, he was one of my favorite players to watch

My favorite player growing up as a kid!!! Been a Cleveland fan since birth (not by my choice, obviously (looking at you Browns)) and this guy was such a crazy hitter. Nobody could be Thome, but man, he was so much fun to watch hit. Hope Pronk is doing well today

I remember seeing Hafner at AAA Buffalo in 2003 along with Brandon Phillips, Victor Martinez, Jhonny Peralta and Cliff Lee

Hafner was 27 by the time he played a full season in Cleveland. Four straight years of very productive power stats and BA and not just in some inflated WAR way (where stat nerds try to equate a .190 hitter w/ being as important as Tony Gwynn etc.) He still put up solid numbers (especially if you extrapolate to a 162-game season) after his 2008 year when he played just 57 games. Only in his last two injury-reduced years did he not hit particularly well when he was mid-30's anyway.

For those who don't know, a big part of the reason Hafner didn't make the 2006 All Star team is because, at the time, AS rosters reflected the rules of the ballpark where the game would be played, meaning no DH for AS games in NL parks. That year was an NL year, so the race to make the AL team lumped all 1Bmen and DHs into one pool for just a few spots. There was always going to be a lean towards actual 1Bmen to make the team, which is why Ortiz was the only true DH to make the team. Glad those silly days are behind us!

Loved that batting stance and 500 foot swing

I never forgot Travis. That dude was scary watch stride to the plate in the 2007 alcs.

This appearing on my timeline has made my day. Pronk gave the Tribe life in those three years fr. Now I'll just hit the subscribe button.

Pride of Sykston, ND. One of 3 great ND players from that era

As a MN Twins fan of the time, I certainly remember this chap. Dangerous