Like many, perhaps even most professional athletes, 36-year-old / 14-year MLB veteran Curtis Granderson is on social media, at least on Twitter. Also like most professional athletes, he does not use this platform to gloat or as an attempt to promote himself; heaven knows he has no need to whatsoever.

When news that the veteran outfield had been traded from the NL East fourth place Mets to the NL West first place Dodgers late Friday night on (wait for it…) Twitter, within hours Granderson used the popular platform to graciously and humbly express his gratitude to his (many) fans in New York and also his immediate (and growing) new fan base in Los Angeles, and to his teammates on both ends of the deal. In doing so, he not only left his former team in good graces but arrived with his new team the same way. Heck, he even managed to squeeze in the fans of Detroit, where he began his major league career back in 2004.

The 6′-1″ / 200-pound Blue Island, Illinois native and former 2003 third-round draft pick by the Tigers out of the University of Illinois wasted no time making an impact with his new team on Saturday afternoon at Comerica Park in Detroit for game-3 of a three-game interleague series against his first major league team when he reached second base – yes, second base – on a two-out fielding error by Tigers shortstop Nicholas Castellanos. As he has done throughout his entire professional career, Granderson busted it out of the batters box and ran full speed on what normally would have been a routine pop out. Instead, Granderson reached second base standing up without a throw. This simple play showed – or at least should have shown – every Dodger fan on the planet exactly what Curtis Granderson is all about. It also proved to his new teammates that he is there to win.

Granderson’s hustle out of the box on what should of been a routine pop out to short put him in scoring position, which is exactly what he did. (Video capture courtesy of SportsNet LA)

In the off-chance that there are still any Dodger fans out there who are reluctant to embrace the Granderson acquisition – especially since it meant sending struggling fan-favorite center fielder Joc Pederson back to Triple-A Oklahoma City to create room on the 25-man roster for the veteran outfielder – that reluctance was (or at least should have been) removed with what Granderson tweeted out after the Dodgers eventual 3-0 Dodgers win over the Tigers in which he scored what proved to be the game-winning run because of his hustle.

If you still are not impressed by Curtis Granderson or pleased to see him in a Dodger uniform, the same uniform that the great Jackie Robinson wore, I don’t know what else I can tell you to change your mind. In fact, I’m not even going to try.

Welcome to the Dodgers Grandy!