Shelley Duncan. You're so great. So great at the plate, Shelley Duncan!

Statement: Calling up Shelley Duncan may be the best move this team has done all season.

Justification:
In short... he's fun to watch and I'm sure the other guys are finding his energy infectious. The long version:

He is desperate to learn from everyone. Every at bat he is watching intently, he is always talking to the veterans and the coaches. He doesn't believe that just because he was called up that he deserves anything, just because he's there he's still going to grow and learn.

• The son of longtime pitching coach Dave Duncan and the brother of Cardinals outfielder, Chris, Duncan was batting .295 with 25 home runs and 79 RBIs in 91 games at Triple-A. He called Friday "the biggest moment of my life," and said he was "speechless" when manager Dave Miley summoned him back to the ballpark from the team hotel in Indianapolis. "It was a numb feeling, I guess you could say," Duncan said. "I didn't really know how to feel. When I told my dad, hearing him on the phone, that's when I started getting a little choked up."

His unfettered enthusiasm and genuine love of the game. He gets as excited when someone else scores a home run etc as when he does. He's positively vibrating with excitement waiting to congratulate his team mates (although some do look a little worried about being beaten to death in the celebrations).

• "I don't know how much everybody knows about me and stuff," Duncan said. "I really appreciate it. The one thing I can guarantee you is that I'm going to play hard every single day. I go from there. It makes it fun when I hear that support."

He is a patient batter. True, he has hit home runs, but he has also walked and singled. He doesn't panic and try to force anything which is impressive for a rookie (albeit a 27 year old one).

• "I understood that I needed to be focused from pitch one," Duncan said. "You can't go in there and try to do something or press. I understood that I needed to stay focused and be myself and stick to my plan. I'm confident in myself that I can be successful doing that."

His throwing arm is pretty damn impressive too. Given more opportunity his fielding will become more stable.

• "A lot of times people see you working your way back from surgery, they place a judgment on you, and leave that judgment there," Duncan said yesterday. "So, I always knew I had a good arm - just never really had a chance to show it."

Conclusion:
Not all stats show the true value of a player. If there was a 'gold glove' for Dugout attitude, he'd win by a mile. Thank you Shelley for showing us how it's done.