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Home > Jeff Schultz > Archives > 2008 > April > 20
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Rookie from Curacao stabilizes Braves’ staff
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
It will be some time before there’s a change for the coveted honor of “Greatest Player To Come Out Of Willemstad.”
But given the ascent of Jair Jurrjens — and the simultaneous faceplant of Andruw Jones — we may be witnessing the pecking order in Curacao in mid-morph.
Jurrjens is rapidly becoming the iron man of the Braves’ decomposing pitching staff. He pitched seven innings against Los Angeles on Sunday, allowing only one run on three hits with a career-high eight strikeouts in a 6-1 win.
He also leads the staff in innings pitched (25 1/3). That’s not what anybody projected. But given we’re not out of April yet and the Braves have five pitchers (two starters) on the disabled list, they can adjust.
Three of Jurrjens’ strikeouts came against Jones, the former Brave and, for that matter, the former threat. Now, striking out Jones might not be considered a monumental achievement anymore, given his .169 average and 21 strikeouts in 59 at-bats. But it’s as close to a cold slap as you can feel in Curacao.
Jurrjens, 22, was a batboy when his older brother played in the same youth leagues with Jones (nine years his senior).
“I saw him when he was a little bitty guy,” Jones said Sunday. “He used to hang around with his dad and come to the games to watch his brother play.”
Jurrjens joked that, “Maybe the whole island” was watching Sunday. For their own health, let’s assume the Detroit Tigers had their eyes closed.
Jurrjens was penciled in as the Tigers’ fifth starter until they decided to deal him as part of the Edgar Renteria trade. It’s early. But if Jurrjens’ first four starts this season aren’t an aberration, Frank Wren will be hard-pressed to make a better trade in his tenure. Jurrjens potentially could be at or near the top of the rotation for several years.
“He knows how to change speeds already at a young age,” Braves manager Bobby Cox said. “He’s got a great arm. I talked to people in Detroit, and I’ve heard nothing but good stuff. Who knows? All we saw in spring training was good, so we’ve grown to expect it.”
He won his first start of the year against Pittsburgh (also the Braves’ first win). He allowed four runs in seven innings in a 4-3 loss at Colorado, hardly a crumbling act. In his third start, he yielded only two runs in six innings against Florida — but lost when the team was blanked, 4-0.
Then came Sunday. Jurrjens faced 28 batters and allowed only six to reach base (three in scoring position, other than a two-out, fourth-inning homer by Russell Martin). The Braves led the Dodgers only 2-1 when Jurrjens left after seven innings, stranding 12 runners. But a four-run eighth blew it open, and the Braves — who already have seen starters John Smoltz, Mike Hampton and Tom Glavine hit the DL this season — won again behind the 22-year-old on a gray-hair rotation.
He threw 114 pitches. He wasn’t tired. “I know my pitch count was up, but I felt good,” he said.
He was stunned when he first heard about the trade to Atlanta. He was a Braves fan as a kid, but the Tigers had signed him as a non-drafted free agent and made him the first pitcher in the majors to come out of Curacao.
“I wasn’t so happy because I grew up playing with the Tigers — it was like leaving a family,” he said. “But after talking with my family and my agent, I felt better. Now I’m really happy I’m here. Not a lot of people play for their favorite team.”
Now he will become an island favorite. Jones visited his former teammates in the Braves’ clubhouse Saturday and spoke with Jurrjens. “He’s doing really good — I’m proud of him,” he said. “I told him to just stay strong and everything will be fine.”
The two are headed in opposite directions. But Jurrjens couldn’t assume anything when he faced Jones for the first time in the first inning. This was the legend from his home island.
“I tried not to look at him because I know I’d have to smile,” Jurrjens said. “So I looked away.”
Then he struck him out. He did it again in the fourth and the sixth. Change may be afoot at the top in Willemstad.
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Colangelo returns pride to USA Basketball
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Chicago — In the past few days, we have seen Dennis Felton shave his mustache and Mike Woodson shave his head.
Given this unexpected intersection of hoops dreams and extreme grooming makeovers, what would this mean for Mike Krzyzewski’s suspiciously consistent jet-black ‘do if the U.S. Olympic basketball team suddenly gets crazy and, like, even beats Puerto Rico?
The NBA playoffs began this weekend. The league is composed of the best players in the world. As Krzyzewski said the other day, while discussing the game’s growth overseas: “We’ve had somewhat of an arrogance in our basketball community and in our country, in terms of saying, ‘It’s our game.’ Well, it’s not our game. It’s the world’s game.”
Here’s the problem with that statement: There are approximately 450 players in the NBA. That breaks down as: 375 are from here, 75 from somewhere else.
Maybe it’s not just our game anymore. But I kind of like the odds.
This past week, U.S. Olympic officials, coaches and athletes congregated in Chicago for a media summit, part of the buildup for this summer in Beijing.
Noteworthy was how members of USA Basketball suddenly were as humble as the rower.
When the United States began sending pros to the Olympics in 1992, it seemed less about reaffirming superiority (a given) than it was a global marketing venture. But after going 24-0 with three gold medals in three Olympics, the U.S. team became Exhibit A for all that was wrong about this decision.
Players didn’t seem to care. They went to Athens for the plane ticket, the vacation and the suite aboard the Queen Mary 2. The threat of losing a shoe contract would’ve been a greater motivator than winning a gold medal.
They lost their first game. By 19 points. To Puerto Rico. They went 5-3. The U.S. Olympic record before Athens: 109-2. They won a bronze medal. No word if anybody melted it down for paper clips.
The Acropolis had more living creatures.
“I was embarrassed,” said Jerry Colangelo, the long-time Phoenix Suns executive and a Hall of Famer. “I was embarrassed to watch those games — I can’t be any more honest than that. It was a sad moment to see the state of basketball, as far as the U.S. was concerned.”
What bothered him most?
“The body language. The performance. The attitude.”
Note: He didn’t say anything about talent.
Body language, effort and attitude aren’t problems in the playoffs. They shouldn’t be problems in the Olympics.
Eight months after Athens, USA Basketball asked Colangelo to become its managing director. He demanded, and was given, total autonomy. He named Krzyzewski the coach. Thirty-three players — including the Hawks’ Joe Johnson — were selected to the senior national team. From that, the 12-man Olympic roster (and three alternates) will be named. Colangelo has had face-to-face meetings with each player.
“They were told, ‘When you walk through this door, check your ego. This is about we. This is about us. This is about the USA.’ We’ve talked to them as much as we can about their attitudes. [A repeat of Athens] is just flat out not going to happen — because if it does they’re gone.”
The playoffs are the best time of the year in the NBA, less because of the talent than the fact the best teams win. If the U.S. team does another faceplant in China, you wonder if momentum will increase to go back to sending college players.
Colangelo is aware of the big picture: “There has to be a goal. There has to be an objective other than just fixing and painting the house. That goal is to win a gold medal, but more important is how we do it. We want continuity.”
“We’re a team now, we’re not a selection of All-Stars,” Krzyzewski said. “We want to set a program that will make other players want to be a part of the Olympics. We have a unique opportunity to set the standard.”
Funny. That used to come naturally.
