Passion: One of the rare highlights this past season occurred when the cheerful Cody Ross (pictured) got called out on strikes after taking ball four in a 5-4 loss to the Yankees on Sept. 12 and then nearly went “baby seal” on home-plate umpire Alfonso Marquez. The season was already lost, but Ross was still engaged and enraged. Winding up with your bat on the home-plate umpire isn’t usually recommended, but fans of all kinds loved the fact that Ross still cared that much. Dustin Pedroia sets the benchmark in this department.