I first became aware of Feliciano because he has a card in the 2001 Royal Rookies baseball card set. Don't remember it? No surprise, the brand lasted two years. It's endearing legacy is its 2000 version contains one of Miguel Cabrera's first cards ever.

Anyway, he'd always been one of those nondescript, low-power guys who kept hanging on in the minors, despite never being too flashy or having any great skill to speak of (well, he was fast early on).

When that sort of guy reaches 30 and is still going, I gotta root for him to make the big leagues. To have that level of grit and determination to stick around so long is admirable.

Feliciano had been in the Mets system for a few years, constantly bubbling under, hitting .300 campaign after campaign, but never getting the call. I kept thinking, "they gotta give him a shot eventually, right?"

Well, they did, in his fourth year in their system. Sure, he didn't do too well at the big league level -- most 31-year-old rookies don't -- but he finally made it, and that's what matters.

He stuck around in their system through 2011, then went on his way. He signed an autograph through the mail for me when he was a manager in the minors some years later, so that's the coda to my personal Feliciano tale.

As of this writing, he is a coach for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.