AJC > Sports > Braves > Blog > Archives > 2006 > October > 26
Thursday, October 26, 2006
Rain, ratings make for gloomy Series
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Record-low temperatures, record-low TV ratings, two teams hitting below the Mendoza Line … Welcome to the World Series from Hell.
Skip the pie and pass the smokes.
At least if you’re Tigers manager Jim Leyland, who said he burned through a carton of cigarettes during the nearly 2-hour rain delay before Wednesday night’s game was finally banged.
Now, we’re going to assume that Jim was exaggerating (slightly), since he’d have to smoke a fistful at a time to get through a carton in two hours.
But we can say from first-hand observation, he’s the first and only man I’ve seen do the two-fisted version of smoking. This was in 1997-98 when Jim managed the Marlins and I was covering the team for the Sun-Sentinel in Fort Lauderdale. More than once, I remember sitting in his office while he worked on a cigarette and cigar at the same time. Impressive. Frightening.
OK, I’ll take a moment for everyone to take a deep breath, let that thought rattle around a moment … now let’s move on.
In the news: Cleveland, so far, is the one team that’s known to have strong interest in trading for Marcus Giles. It’s not known what they’d be willing to give up for him, but look for this thing to start humming soon after the World Series, though it’s not likely to happen until we get closer to the Winter Meetings in December. Most trades won’t happen before then….
Yes, the Braves are among teams interested in Japanese lefty Kei Igawa, 27, an ace for the past five seasons with the Hanshin Tigers. But the price tag for Japanese players can get prohibitive in a hurry because of the bidding fee that major league teams pay just to win negotiating rights.
If the Yankees, Mariners or another team that’s had success with Japanese players decided to get into a bidding war, the costs can reach into the million of dollars just to have the rights to then negotiate a multi-year, multi-millions contract with the player. Unless it’s a sure-thing proposition, only the biggest spenders can afford to make a mistake on such a player….
Might the Braves be better off signing a familiar lefty for a short-term deal? I don’t know, maybe, say, the 40-year-old Mets lefty, Tom Glavine?
OK, I’ll leave it at this: Given than Glavine will get a $3 million buyout if he turns down the Mets’ offer to pick up or renegotiate his option, the Braves might possibly be able to sign him to a one-year deal for, say, $7-8 mill. Because if you combine that $7-8 mill with the $3 mill buyout, he’d in effect be getting $10-11 million for one season to live at home and get his 300th win in a Braves uniform _ provided he stays healthy and wins 10 games in 2007. If he turns that down, we’d probably deduce that pitching at home isn’t THAT important to him….
Here’s a shocking development. Gary Sheffield is upset to learn the Yankees plan to exercise the $13 million option on his contract for 2008.
“This will not work, this will not work at all,” Sheffield told the New York Post. “I don’t want to play first base a year for them. I will not do that.”
Sheff was out from May 29 to Sept. 22 with a balky wrist that required surgery, and for the season he hit .298 with six homers and 25 RBIs in just 39 games. He played first base for the first time in his major league career after he returned in September, because the Yankees have stockpiled so many millionaire outfielders they don’t know what to do with them.
“I don’t know what they’re [Yankees] going to do,” Sheffield said, speaking not about the other millionaire outfielders but about himself, his favorite topic of discussion most of the time. “Maybe they picked it up just to trade me. If they do that, if I just [go] to a team for one year, there’s going to be a problem.”
Nice. Every time I defend Sheff or say what a good dude he’s been with most reporters and teammates through the years, he reminds everyone why he has such a me-first reputation. Because every 2-3 years, he sullies his rep by saying something that reminds everyone what is first and foremost on his mind — ego and money, in a dead heat.
When he was with the Dodgers, he complained about not making as much as teammates Darren Dreifort and Shawn Green. When he was a Brave, he talked about how much he loved playing for Bobby Cox and everything, then jumped when Boss George made him an offer.
When I covered him with the Marlins, he told a few of us only two hours before a game that then-Florida GM Dave Dombrowksi was a liar and that it was the hardest thing in the world for Sheff to do to go out on the field and play hard for the guy.
Early on in the 1998 season with the stripped-down Marlins, after several of his ’97 championship teammates had been traded away to strip payroll, Sheff said playing with the rookie-laden Marlins was like playing for the Bad News Bears. That didn’t exactly sit well with a couple of Marlins just starting out their major league careers, like Kevin Millar.
Anyway … it’s maddening watching the good Sheff/bad Sheff thing. Can be the best teammate in the world at times, and other times one of the worst. Or at least one of the most distracting and bitter.
He’s angry now mostly because the Yankees picking up his option won’t allow him to test the free agent market and sign a more lucrative three-year deal at a time when salaries are likely to rise. This from a guy who’s been saying since 1998 that he might retire the next year.
Like I said, I loved covering the guy and he was a pleasure to deal with — most of the time….
Speaking of Sheffield, I was looking at Jim Edmonds’ career postseason numbers and decided to compare them with a couple of present Braves and a former one — Sheffield.
Edmonds has played in 59 postseason games (212 at-bats) and hit .288 with 28 extra-base hits (13 homers), 41 RBIs, a .380 OBP and .542 slugging percentage (.922 OPS).
Chipper Jones has played 92 postseason games (333 at-bats) and hit .288 with 31 extra-base hits (13 homers), 47 RBIs, a .411 OBP and .459 slugging (.870 OPS).
Andruw Jones has played 75 postseason games (238 at-bats) and hit .273 with 18 extra-base hits (10 homers), 33 RBIs, a .365 OBP and .433 slugging (.798 OPS).
Sheffield has played 44 postseason games (161 at-bats) and hit .248 with 12 extra-base hits (six homers), 19 RBIs, a .401 OBP and .398 slugging (.799 OPS).
Conclusion: Edmonds has clearly been the best postseason performer of the bunch, and Sheffield the worst. Anyone have a disagreement with that?…
Two notable anniversaries on this date (Oct. 26) in World Series history:
1996 After two one-sided losses at home, the Yankees storm back to win the next four games and, on this date, take their first World Series since 1978 with a 3-2 victory over the defending champion Braves in Game 6. Ouch.
1997: Florida’s Edgar Renteria hits a two-out single in the bottom of the 11th inning of Game 7 to drive in Craig Counsell for a 3-2 win against Cleveland that gave the five-year old Marlins the World Series championship sooner than any other expansion team.
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