"The little guy has big guts...He's not afraid of anything."

I am 5-foot-5. This is relevant for one reason: On Wednesday, I stood next to Danny Herrera. He is 1 inch taller than I. And he is a good relief pitcher for the Cincinnati Reds.

"I'm 5-6," Herrera said. "My first year of professional ball, I listed myself as 5-8, but they had me at 5-8, 145 pounds. That made me feel like I was some frail guy, which I'm not. I weigh 165, 170 pounds. I used to lie about my height, but I don't do that anymore. I am 5-foot-6."

Herrera is the shortest major league pitcher -- according to listings, which aren't always accurate -- since 5-6 Bobby Shantz, who retired after the 1964 season with 119 victories and an American League Most Valuable Player award in 1952. Herrera, 24, is no Shantz, but as a left-handed specialist, he has a 1.96 ERA with 18 strikeouts in 23 innings.

"The first time I saw him was last year during the week of the Kentucky Derby, and we figured he would have to leave the team that Saturday to go ride one of the horses," said Nationals outfielder Adam Dunn, who was Herrera's teammate last season in Cincinnati. "I've never faced him. But I haven't faced anyone his size since I was 11 or 12 years old."

Herrera has heard it all and seen it all.

"The best one was last year," he said. "I was at [Triple-A] Louisville. One of our catchers, Albert Colina, who is a really big guy, picked me up and put me in his lap as he sat in the bullpen. Then he stuck his arm inside my jacket, and up my back. He wouldn't let me go. I thought, 'What is he doing?' Then, whenever I would talk, he would move his lips. Everyone was cracking up. He was the ventriloquist, and I was puppet. That was the best one."

One of the great beauties of baseball is that the players come in all shapes and sizes more than in any other major sport. Even pitchers. Longtime player and manager Sparky Anderson once said, "There's nothing better than a big pitcher," but the game has had its share of short or small pitchers, including, among others, Clark Griffith, Shantz, Whitey Ford, Ron Guidry, John Franco, Billy Wagner, Mike Hampton, Tim Hudson, Tim Lincecum and Pedro Martinez. In his first year of pro ball, Martinez weighed 138 pounds and threw 93 mph. Legend has it that Steve Dalkowski, who never played in the major leagues, was the hardest thrower ever. He was 5-9.

Read the rest of Tim Kurkjian's article at: espn/mlb