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Home > Jeff Schultz > Archives > 2008 > March
March 2008
Braves open with a fizzle
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Washington, D.C. — President Bush made the three-mile trek from his home on Pennsylvania to throw out the first pitch in Washington’s new stadium Sunday night. The thinking was if Bush could get his pitch close enough to home plate, he could quiet some boos and possibly even start in place of Odalis Perez.
As it turned out, this was not a night for Washington punch lines.
The Braves lost their season opener, 3-2, to one of the teams that nobody is picking to win the National League East. They lost to the worst Opening Day pitcher in baseball this year, Odalis Perez, and were held to one earned run by a team that had a staff ERA of 4.58 a year ago.
Chipper Jones, who accounted for the Braves’ only earned run with a fourth-inning homer, summed up the evening best when he said: “[Ryan] Zimmerman put us out of our misery,” a reference to the game-winning home run in the Nationals’ ninth.
Odalis Perez vs. Tim Hudson.
Who were you going to take?
“Openers stink sometimes,” Jeff Francoeur said.
Yeah, well, unless you live in D.C. Fans here just wanted memories of the Nationals’ first game in their new ballpark to be better than the Senators’ last game at RFK Stadium, when fans spilling onto the field to take souvenirs — including first base — forced the team to forfeit its finale in 1971 against the Yankees. And they were winning.
A Washington Post story on the ugly ending recalled: “Two groundskeepers lifted their shovels under police guard to dig up the pitching rubber. Four other officers stood over home plate. One of them said, ‘They just told us to guard home plate.’ He didn’t say for what.”
Baseball fans in D.C. have been waiting for something to celebrate. Somehow, it figured to be the construction of a stadium before a well-built team. The euphoria of baseball’s return in 2005 was tempered by the realization that the transplanted Expos weren’t very good. Montreal made the playoffs only once (1981). The Nationals have merely continued that tradition, finishing a total of 51 games out of first place over the last three seasons.
Fans didn’t spill onto the field Sunday night. But after Zimmerman’s homer off of Peter Moylan, players reacted like they had just clinched something far more significant than the first of 162 games. Then again, Washington hasn’t seen a lot of victories in or near the White House recently.
Given their lack of familiarity with Nationals Park, most of the Braves’ players arrived at the stadium six hours early for an 8:15 p.m. game. “We took infield and outfield practice,” center fielder Mark Kotsay said. “It’s probably the only time we’ll take infield and outfield practice all season.”
It sounded good in theory. It looked worse in reality.
Hudson seemed to pitch the first inning in a daze. He was dented for two runs and three hits, including a double. Strange things continued to happen. In the Braves’ second, Brian McCann lined a hit off the right-field wall, but was thrown out at second trying to stretch it into a double. In the next inning, Kelly Johnson singled but was picked off.
So much for the warm-up.
Hudson settled down after the first. After throwing 29 pitches in the first inning, he threw only 49 in the next five innings, retiring 19 straight. Strangely, that wasn’t good enough.
“Sometimes, you just have to wonder, with the way they won tonight, the new stadium and everything, maybe it just wasn’t meant to be,” Francoeur said. “I just want to get back home.”
Perez had an earned run average of 5.87 over the last two years with Los Angeles and Kansas City. Some thought he wouldn’t even make the Washington roster in spring training. But a series of injuries and flops elsewhere on the staff led to his implausible opening night assignment. What does he do? He strikes out two in the first inning and holds the Braves to a run and four hits in five innings.
Hudson, meanwhile, was 4-0 against the Nationals last season with a 0.60 ERA.
“I never thought I’d be losing 2-1 going into the ninth,” he said.
He had company.
Permalink | Comments (56) | Post your comment | Categories: Braves/MLB
Cox deserves farewell tour, but doesn’t want one
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
There will be no rocking chair tour. Rocking chair tours lead to ceremonies. Ceremonies need honorees. Honorees require attention. Attention is so not Bobby Cox. It’s like his own personal attention deficit disorder.
But take a good look Sunday night. The Braves play the first of 162, and it’s likely to be the final opener and the final 162 that we’ll see Bobby Cox in a uniform. It will be at least six months before he says much on the matter. He made that mistake one day last spring and, well, attention had him cornered.
“This year and next year and that’s it,” Cox had said.
Some now believe he was only hinting at the possibility of maybe someday thinking that the end might not be far away. (Feel free to add a few more qualifiers.)
“I’d like to start doing the things I need to do instead of the things I want to do — like manage,” he continued.
We have learned in sports that there’s an open-door nature to retirement announcements. But those were strong words from a man not known for off-the-cuff remarks, particularly about himself. They are words he will never repeat because he came to understand the firestorm they caused in the organization last time. But they were words he meant.
Just a hunch: Get the chair ready.
Take a good look Sunday night. The Braves play their first of 162 under Cox, and we’re never going to see another one like him.
Rare is the athlete so dedicated to his sport that when he hurts his right arm, he goes outside and tries to learn how to throw left-handed. Rare is the manager who knows the game so well that he can take off the uniform, put on a suit, step into the front office, turn a farm system right side up and help build one of the strongest organizations sports has ever seen. Rare is when that same man can take off the suit, put back on the uniform, go back down to the dugout and win more games than anybody else during his tenure.
Cox has been all of those things.
Now he is telling all, “I’m leaving everything open.” Responses have been programmed. It’s an achievement merely when you can get him to bite on a hypothetical.
Question: Hypothetically, if this was your final season, you don’t seem like the type who would want a retirement tour.
Answer: “No, I don’t want that. And that’s part of it. If I do [retire], it’ll just be over.”
There will be enough to keep him busy. He’ll turn 67 in May (the Mets are in town). How busy does a 67-year-old need to be? He has a wife, three daughters, grandkids, a farm. He wants to travel. What must it be like on the road without the airport-hotel-stadium triangle?
The Dodgers signed him in 1959 and baseball has been his life ever since. He showed up at Dodgertown in Vero Beach and was overwhelmed by the number of players. “They didn’t have a draft in those days — they just found you and signed you,” he said. “There must have been 700 players there. We had three Triple-A teams with the Dodgers, two Double-As, four Cs, four Ds, a couple of Bs. I didn’t know anybody.”
Cox’s signing bonus was $40,000. At the time, he was driving a 1949 Ford he had bought in high school for $75. He thought about his newfound wealth.
“I wanted to buy a Corvette,” he said. “But I thought I shouldn’t.”
So he kept the Ford two more years.
Then he bought another used car.
Players hear these stories all the time. It’s one reason they struggle so much with thoughts of his retirement. When asked about playing for Cox, Chipper Jones said, “You don’t really have to see him. But you know how you feel when your dad’s watching you, peeking out the window to see what you’re doing in the front yard? That’s the way Bobby is. He doesn’t have to be overly verbal or hands on. You know who’s in charge.”
And then: “I think I’m going to have to negotiate a deal with him that he can’t retire until I retire.”
Jones doesn’t believe this is Cox’s last season, for the same reason many can’t believe it: He can’t imagine him doing anything else.
“They’ll have to cut his uniform off when they put him in the coffin,” Jones said. “Bobby’s happiest when he’s at the ballpark — sitting in the dugout with his spikes on, in full uniform and with a stogie at noon time for a 7 o’clock game. He’s just taking in the sights and sounds and smells of a big-league ballpark. It’s been in his blood. You can’t take that out of somebody.”
Baseball will always be in Bobby Cox. But before long, Bobby Cox is going to be in a rocking chair, farewell tour or not.
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Hawks remain consistently inconsistent
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
In what should be the natural order of things, the Hawks did what prospective playoff teams are supposed to do Wednesday night, stepping on an opponent that sits below them on the NBA food chain.
If this qualified as normalcy, having the public-address announcer pitch playoff tickets during the game might not seem so presumptuous. Unfortunately, this team and this season are trend-less.
“We’ve got 11 more one-game playoffs,” Joe Johnson said, and then he gave a little laugh when asked if he had his team figured out yet.
One night after doing a faceplant in Chicago, the Hawks drifted through the first quarter against a Milwaukee team that has been traveling roadkill all season (now 6-29 on the road). The Bucks scored 37 points. It was as if the Hawks believed they were pre-ordained to make the playoffs, which is sort of odd considering that hasn’t happened in nine years and several thumbs ago.
That Atlanta rebounded from potential humiliation to win 115-96 at least says something about the team’s resolve (for one night). But Johnson, who in a gutty performance followed 48 minutes in Chicago with 28 points in 40 minutes Wednesday, wasn’t in a celebrating mood. He has seen too much.
“I’m happy we won,” he said. “But I just thought the effort wasn’t really there [early] tonight, whether we were playing back-to-back or not. We didn’t know our defensive coverages.
“It’s up to us as players to not let that happen. When we come out and give a lack of effort like we did in the first quarter, we’re hurting ourselves. We’ve got to look at where we are in the standings.”
Almost forgotten, or at least ignored by team officials, was that coach Mike Woodson won his 100th game. That only took four years.
This is the strangest of playoff races. There is no guarantee that either Woodson or general manager Billy Knight will be back next season. There’s a reasonable chance neither will. The Hawks have some talent, but the team still too often lacks chemistry and, as Johnson and others have noted, effort — remarkable considering they are clinging to a half-game lead with 11 games remaining.
It’s certainly debatable whether the Hawks have converted many believers. The crowd at Philips Arena was announced as 14,832. A survey of the stands would indicate only 6,000 of that number had an actual body. The rest must have been tickets distributed in a dumpster.
If the Hawks have any desires to take this playoff run seriously and pick up some fans in the process, this would be a really good time to wake up.
“You’ve got to win all of these games,” said guard Mike Bibby, who played on five playoff teams with Sacramento. “You at least have to beat the teams that are behind you. Chicago’s behind us. New Jersey’s behind us. We could’ve gotten two games right there. If you win games like that, maybe you can end their season early and give [our] guys some rest.”
They just haven’t been the type to make it easy on themselves.
The other night, they led New Jersey by 10 points at halftime, then were outscored 34-20 in the third quarter, and lost. They led at Chicago 53-51 on Tuesday night, then were outscored in the third 28-14, and lost again.
After the Bulls game, Johnson said, “We came out lackadaisical.”
How does that happen in a playoff race?
Conventional wisdom was that the Bibby trade would, if not turn the Hawks into a title threat, at least make them a solid playoff team. Hasn’t happened. The team is only 9-12 since the trade, not counting the do-over victory over Miami (Bibby played only the replayed 51.9 seconds).
“When we play together on defense, like I know we can, we’re real tough to beat,” Bibby said. “But we have to have that concept of helping each other.”
It’s not a difficult concept. Some of the chemistry problems can be traced to Bibby’s late arrival, others to coaching and mismatched roster (still). But when a team’s players seem to float in and out of consciousness at a time when focus should be the last problem, it’s clear the issues go deeper than that.
“We’ve got to stop having mental lapses,” Bibby said.
That would be a start.
Until then, we’ll keep guessing what comes next.
Permalink | Comments (32) | Post your comment | Categories: Hawks/NBA
A ranking of the teams that consume us
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
In the past several months, Atlanta sports fans have witnessed the firings, scorched-earth reassignments or sudden exits of three coaches and three executives, which is a remarkable achievement considering the Hawks’ season hasn’t even ended yet and the Thrashers’ general manager isn’t going anywhere (except, of course, the draft lottery).
If you’re wondering why the masses are counting down to Opening Day and already getting lost in 2009 BCS dreams, it’s because the landscape otherwise looks like desert. For that reason, we submit our inaugural rankings of the eight area sports teams that most consume our thoughts. Should indoor football or women’s basketball unexpectedly raise a pulse in the coming months, we’ll adjust to a top 10 next year.
Until then, the countdown begins at …
8. THRASHERS
Before being hired in 1998, Don Waddell made his mark building minor-league organizations in San Diego and Orlando. The problem: He’s still building minor-league organizations. Other than retaining Ilya Kovalchuk (for now), the Thrashers fail in every conceivable category: ownership (Bruce Levenson, the “hockey guy” in the Atlanta Spirit group, has fumbled in management and public relations), roster building, player development, coaching, franchise stability, direction and fan development. The worst news isn’t that things are bad now, but that there’s no reason to believe they’ll get better any time soon. Oh, and ticket prices just went up.
7. GEORGIA BASKETBALL
Now that we’re past Euphoria Weekend, a question: was the SEC tournament a jumpstart or an aberration? Coach Dennis Felton deserved to return for another season regardless of last week. But one improbable run doesn’t discount that the program had significant issues. If Felton’s players don’t go to tutoring sessions or they obliterate the conduct code, that’s on him, not athletics department policies or the result of a Jim Harrick hangover. If fan support doesn’t increase, it’s at least partly because Felton needs to throw himself into more pep rallies. But if Felton’s players suddenly are tuning him in and this recruiting class is as good as he thinks, they won’t need any more miracles.
6. GEORGIA TECH BASKETBALL
Four years ago, the Yellow Jackets reached the national finals. The fact that it wasn’t the start of something big doesn’t mean Paul Hewitt can’t coach or recruit. But it does mean he has failed to accomplish the one thing we presumed was a lock: building a consistent, winning program. Never mind going to the Final Four once in a while. The Jackets lost to UNC-Greensboro and Winthrop in the first 10 days of this season. They are 27-37 in the ACC with one NCAA tournament win in the past four seasons. Not good enough. Hewitt, notwithstanding his oversensitivity to criticism, certainly knows it. We’ve seen his upside. But the upside is collecting dust.
5. HAWKS
Here’s the dichotomy: The Hawks have a good starting five and a solid bench. But it’s almost like having nice oriental rugs under a leaky roof. Players can’t win if they’re poorly coached (Mike Woodson). Since GM Billy Knight dragged his feet in getting a point guard, he needs to draw some blame for this playoff scramble and the team being slow to gel. Knight’s also the one who hired Woodson, only to decide belatedly to fire him, only to be shot down by owners. Who will be in power after this season - and what gives you confidence the right decisions (starting with Smith’s contract) will be made? Until then: wet rugs.
4. GEORGIA TECH FOOTBALL
Ran into Paul Johnson at the airport the other day. Saw him charm a Georgia fan, who then wished Johnson good luck this fall (other than in the season finale). So there’s one step up the mountain. Credit athletics director Dan Radakovich for trying to shake up a sleepy athletics department and apathetic fan base. His decision to fire Chan Gailey probably had more to do with that than seven-win seasons. But Johnson still has to prove he can: 1) recruit in a major conference; 2) win with his triple-option offense in the ACC; 3) excite the masses. If he can do the first two, the third will follow.
3. FALCONS
I know: Why so high? Thomas Dimitroff gets a blank slate. In this town, the unknown trumps the known of others. An NFL team can change its fortunes quickly if it makes the right moves, and Dimitroff’s off to a good start. He has trimmed payroll, dumped gimpy veterans and malcontents and stockpiled draft picks. He signed running back Michael Turner. Six wins next season would be an accomplishment. But Dimitroff seems like he knows what he’s doing. The big unknowns: the quality of the draft picks, the head coaching abilities of Mike Smith and the ability of owner Arthur Blank to actually let his football people make football decisions.
2. BRAVES
They’ve had a longer run of success than any other Atlanta sports entity, even with missing the playoffs the past two years. This season, either the starting rotation explodes or they’re in the World Series. But they’re in the conversation again. John Schuerholz-to-Frank Wren has been a relatively seamless transition. Bobby Cox: still here. The lineup: Chipper Jones-Mark Teixeira-Jeff Francoeur-Brian McCann hitting 3-4-5-6. The operation: Still a model for anybody looking to start a franchise. If there’s one question, it’s ownership’s payroll limitations that could submarine the chances of re-signing Teixeira.
1. GEORGIA FOOTBALL
Yes, preseason projections have mutated beyond even the usual absurd Georgia standards. I believe AJC.com now has a rule that we must have at least a five-inch blog every time somebody burps in Butts-Mehre Hall. That said, this program has no flaws right now. The Dogs are north of everybody in money, fans, stability and direction. Mark Richt, who always had the ability to recruit, last year became a better coach. Gauge the program this way: It’s not merely that this year’s Bulldogs will be in the national-title hunt, but that it’s difficult to project when they won’t be. They stand alone.
Permalink | Comments (126) | Post your comment | Categories: Braves/MLB, Falcons/NFL, Hawks/NBA, Tech/ACC, Thrashers/NHL, UGA/SEC
Jeff Schultz-Bio
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Jeff Schultz grew up in Los Angeles as one of the few sports fans who actually arrived at games on time. Walking through the Coliseum tunnel for Rams games, reading the columns of the late Jim Murray and seeing the Odd Couple’s Oscar Madison pull a half-eaten sandwich out of his bathrobe formed the basis of his pursuit for a career in sports writing.
Schultz has worked at the Journal-Constitution since 1989. He has been honored by the Associated Press Sports Editors (APSE), Cox Newspapers and Georgia Press Association, among others. But he most cherishes winning a “Gold Press Card” from California State University Long Beach because it was the last time he was dumb enough to shoot tequila.
Prior to coming to the AJC, Schultz worked for the San Jose Mercury News and the Los Angeles Daily News, covering the NFL, the NHL and the NBA. He co-authored a book on the San Francisco 49ers, “Team of the Decade,” which remains the highest-selling book he has ever written.
He began his career with a part-time job for the Santa Monica Evening Outlook, earning $5 per story to cover high school football games. His first assignment led to one coach initially claiming he had been misquoted after a loss, when the story included the comment, “Either we’re the worst football team in the league or I’m the worst coach.” The coach later admitted to the quote. Schultz has had trust issues ever since.
