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October 2006
Showcasing Salty, Escobar?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
If there were any lingering questions about Jarrod Saltalamacchia’s hitting, they should have quickly been answered in the Arizona Fall League.
In his first six games, the switch-hitting catcher hit .565 with three homers and 12 RBIs.
The 21-year-old is still a little raw behind the plate, but he can hit — his struggles early last season at Class AA Mississippi notwithstanding.
What the Braves will do with Saltalamacchia, however, is a question. Brian McCann is the catcher of the present and the future in Atlanta. Saltalamacchia could eventually move to first base, as has long been rumored. Or would the Braves consider trading him? The Arizona Fall League is a perfect place to be showcased.
Shortstop Yunel Escobar is also putting on a show with the Peoria Javelinas. The Cuban was hitting .360 in 12 games, with eight RBIs. With Edgar Renteria in Atlanta and Elvis Andrus one of baseball’s top shortstop prospects, Escobar could also be expendable if the right deal came along.
General manager John Schuerholz has promised to be active this winter. To get the team back to the playoffs, he’s going to have to be creative.
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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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Cardinals in … No, I can’t
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
So many people are predicting a Tigers sweep or, at best, one or two wins for the Cardinals, it raises concern for me. When the popular sentiment is this overwhelming, my intuition says to go the other way.
And so, after much analysis and a look far deeper than the glaring, obvious reasons to pick Detroit, I’m going to predict … oh, I can’t do it.
I’ve gotta go Tigers, too. Like a sheep. But I’ll at least be daring and say six games. Bit whup, huh? Bold, courageous, I know. That’s me….
By the way, the Tigers go 19-31 in their final 50 regular-season games and the Cardinals go 22-28 in their last 50. Guess that shoots a hole in the theory so many of us have espoused about one reason the Braves have fared so poorly in the postseason — because they clinch the division too early and aren’t able to flick the switch out of cruise control when the postseason begins….
Actually, on second thought, it doesn’t. Instead, it’s a reflection of two things, in my opinion: 1. Jim Leyland is the rare manager with the ability to get his players back into the right mindset and get max effort from his guys when it counts, and 2. NL competition in this postseason was injury-depleted and/or simply underperformed against the Cardinals in the first two rounds, and St. Louis got enough good pitching from Suppan and Weaver — Jeff Weaver? — to beat the Mets, whose hitters slipped when they needed to carry the team….
Just saw that an AP poll shows 48 percent of fans don’t want Bonds to break Hank Aaron’s record. Just 48? Are the other 52 percent feeling sorry for the maligned Mr. Bonds, or perhaps sensing some inner beauty others are missing?…
Jeff Weaver facing the Tigers in the World Series is an underplayed story and such delicious irony. But since it’s a touchy subject for TV as to the final straw for why Weaver got booted by Tigers prez Dave Dombrowski in 2002 — let’s just say it reportedly involved smoking something in the back of the team plane — it’ll probably not get the full treatment. Besides, it’s easier to focus on so many other storylines in this series….
Nine teams have filled the 10 spots in the World Series field during the past five years. Nine teams. Amazing. Only the Cardinals have made more than one appearance in that span….
Mickey Lolich won three games for the Tigers in their 1968 World Series win vs. St. Louis, including Game 7 on two days’ rest. Can you imagine that happening today? Today we do backflips celebrating a starter if he pitches an inning of relief on two days’ rest in the postseason, and spend multiple paragraphs discussing the decision to pitch a guy on three days’ rest instead of four….
OK, the Drive-By Truckers. Let’s just say if the World Series is remotely as entertaining as that 2-1/2 hour spectacle that the preeminent present-day Southern rock band put on Friday night at the Majestic Theatre only blocks down the street from Comerica Field, well, then it’ll be a Series to remember.
The DBT’s — Athens-based but most of them from Alabama — were amazing. What a show. At the end, sweat-soaked and inebriated front man Patterson Hood told the crowd it was the greatest (expletive here) audience the band had played in front of all year, and he might have meant it. The place was jumpin’ and the band was so tight, playing before an adoring packed house in smoke-filled, steamy old converted movie theatre.
Fans of the band should know they played EVERY big song off their last four albums and even a few off the first two. Even went all the way back and played Bulldozers and Dirt, a song they put out as a single before their first CD came out.
The highlights for me were the inclusion of possibly my favorite two Truckers songs, “Outfit” and “Carl Perkins’ Cadillac,” during the encore. Tremendous. As were the steamrollin’ versions of “Ronnie and Neil,” “Life in the Factory,” “Marry Me”, “Decoration Day,” “Sin City,” “Butt&@ville” (they ended the show with a long, smokin’ version of this)…
Too many songs to remember. And their cover of Alice Cooper’s “Eighteen” … stunning.
Anyone who ever gets a chance to see the DBTs, it’s the best $20 you’ll spend. I felt like I should have left them some more money on the way out the door.
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Lefties needed to beat Mets
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
If this NL postseason has told us anything, other than the power-laden Mets lineup can put a lot of crooked numbers on the scoreboard in a hurry, it’s that teams serious about beating the Mets next season better invest in lefties.
Are you listening, Braves? A healthy Mike Hampton coupled with Chuck James — and maybe Horacio Ramirez — would be a great first step, but the Braves simply must add another quality lefty reliever to go with Macay McBride.
No excuses, it has to be done — not just to stop the Mets, but that’s one good reason to do it.
Make no mistake, the Mets are going to be the team to beat again next year. They’ve got speed, power and swagger, and they’ll spend money to refortify their starting rotation this winter. Count on that.
But as great as this Mets lineup is, a team with good lefty pitchers can beat it as it’s currently constructed. These Mets can destroy right-handed pitching, but put them up against a team with a couple of good left-handed starters and a couple of solid lefty relievers, and things would get interesting.
In the division series vs. L.A., the Mets hit .321 with seven extra-base hits, 15 RBIs and an .862 OPS in 78 at-bats vs. right-handers, and .208 with one extra-base hit, three RBIs and a .571 OPS vs. lefties.
So far in the LCS vs. St. Looie, they’ve hit .243 with 14 extra-base hits, 16 RBIs and an .832 OPS in 115 at-bats vs. righties, and .222 with one extra-base hit, four RBIs and a .561 OPS in just 18 at-bats vs. lefties. (That’s right, only 18 at-bats vs. lefties in four games against the Cardinals, who just don’t have strong lefty pitching.)
The Mets in the regular season hit .268 with an .896 OPS vs. right-handers, but only .254 (15th in the NL) with a .738 OPS vs. lefties. Huge difference, obviously.
Things will get interesting in the World Series vs. Detroit, assuming the Mets get there.
And they will get there, after what they did last night, when they denied the Cardinals the opportunity to put a stranglehold on the series. Game 5 is set for St. Louis tonight, but it almost certainly won’t be played until tomorrow, or at least that’s the way it looks this afternoon as I sit here looking at rain that’s been falling for 6 hours. It’s 40-something degrees, windy, wet, miserable).
Amazing how a few powerful swings and 12 runs can turn around a series, which is what’s happened with these Mets. Carlos Inc. has helped them regain the home-field advantage, with Beltran and Delgado fueling a resurgent offense.
If the Mets win Game 5 — and remember they have Glavine going against Jeff Weaver, so there’s a good chance they’re going to win — the series is over. No way the Cardinals win two games at Shea.
In other news, if you guys only knew how many people come up to me in the pressbox and ask whether the Braves are going to trade Andruw Jones… Believe me, they’re going to get a lot of offers. He’s a special player, the kind who sells tickets, or at least that’s what a lot of teams believe. No word yet from sources on how strongly the Braves might push to re-sign him this winter.
OK, enough baseball, or at least enough until I get over to the ballpark.
Wanted to put in another plug for this fantastic group from Athens, the Whigs. Dare I say the best band to come out of Athens since REM? Maybe, folks. Maybe.
Save your money and don’t even think of buying the new Killers CD. It stinks. Buy the Whigs’ CD, “Give ‘Em All a Big Fat Lip.” This is real rock and roll.
The Strokes are millionaires bloated on their own fame and worried more about dating models and actresses than living up to the hype that followed them on their solid first album. They’ve put out two CDs since, one terrible and one mediocre. The Whigs are what the Strokes should’ve and could’ve (maybe) become.
(Why am I picking on the Strokes? Because they p’d me off, being so disappointing since their first album that had so much promise.)
I say maybe could’ve been because I don’t know if the Strokes really have the musical chops of these latest lads from Athens, and I KNOW the lead singer doesn’t have this dude from the Whigs’ voice. This band is awesome, folks, and believe me, I don’t even know them, so I’m just plugging it because it’s great.
Between these guys, My Morning Jacket, Drive-By Truckers and Kings of Leon, the South has at least four bands than can be compared favorably with any four new or relatively new rock bands from any corner of the world.
Seriously. Think about it. That’s pretty cool. It’s like the heyday of Southern rock all over, only with a bit more of a hip edge.
Not saying any of these bands will be the towering force that the Allmans or Skynyrd was, but they’re all great bands, and two from Athens, DBT (aren’t they from Athens, sort of?) and the Whigs.
OK, gotta get to the park to watch the rain. Later.
Should the Braves Bring Back Glavine?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A few thoughts before catching the No. 7 Train to Shea Stadium for the NLCS opener….
Actually, just one main thought. Or question. Or whatever.
I’m wondering if most of you in Braves Nation, or at least those here at Braves and The Man In Black, would want to bring 290-game winner Tom Glavine back to Atlanta so he can win 300 in a Braves uni. Well, would ya?
And if so, how much would you be willing to give him? Because the Mets are almost certainly going to offer Glavine more than $10 mill for next season, assuming they ask him to renegotiate rather than exercise the team option on his contract that would cost them about $14 mill.
Would you give Glavine, who is 40, a two-year contract? Much as I believe it’s generally insane to give 40-year-old pitchers multi-year deals, I’d probably make an exception with Glavine, given that he’s NEVER been on the disabled list and his smooth mechanics and non-power approach could sustain good health for years to come.
Of course, he might also be a pitch away from his first major arm injury. But the same could be said for any pitcher, regardless of age. Again, the fact he hasn’t been seriously hurt or had any surgeries tells me he’d be worth the risk.
Of course, if you give Glavine a two-year, $20 mill contract (just throwing out figures here, it might take more than that), you’d certainly have to trade Horacio Ramirez and the $3-4 mill or so that he’ll probably make, and send Kyle Davies back to Triple-A or trade him (unlikely and not advisable, given his youth, his talent, and the fact that you’re probably not going to get a great deal for him right now).
But who’d you rather have? Think of a rotation with Smoltz, Hudson and three lefties _ Glavine, Hampton and Chuck James. And Davies in the wings, rebuilding his confidence at Triple-A and ready if any of those guys gets hurt or needs a 15-day DL stint during the season. Or putting up great numbers in the minors and rekindling trade interest and prospect status.
(Speaking of Hampton, as I’m writing this I just this moment got a callback from Schuerholz for a story I was doing on Wainwright yesterday. Too late for the story, but I did use the call to ask him about a few other things, including Hampton’s progress down in Florida, where Schuerholz and Bobby Cox and all the scouts were having their organizational meetings this week. They watched Hamptoin throw in an instructional league game, and Schuerholz said: “He threw fine. Nice, easy arm action.”)
(Oh, and here was the quote I needed for yesterday’s story, too late for that but not for our fine bloggers. Here’s what he said when I asked him if they were reluctant to include Wainwright in the J.D. Drew trade.
“Your assumption is correct. The deal literally almost didn’t get done when they insisted on him being in the deal. We didn’t want to trade him. That was too much [Wainwright, along with Ray King and Jason Marquis, in a deal for Drew]. “We got Eli Marrero [included] in the deal, looking for a utility player. It wasn’t Eli Marrero for Wainwright, I don’t mean that, but the package got expanded…. “We lost Sheffield and we needed someone [Drew] to generate offense, and he certainly did that. “We had a really high regard for Adam, and I’m not surprised that he’s done what he’s done.” He added, “That [closer] is the role they need him in right now, but that’s not going to be his role.” Obviously he meant Wainwright would be back starting in the future, and Cards GM Walt Jocketty indicated as much to me Tuesday.)
ANYWAY, back to our blog.
If healthy, that’s a strong rotation for the Braves, the one I mentioned above. If Hudson has any kind of bounce-back season, it’s potentially _ POTENTIALLY _ as good as any NL rotation.
And remember, one of the only things the Mets didn’t do exceptionally well this season was hit left-handed pitching. They hit .268 with a .796 OPS vs. righties, but only .254 with a .738 OPS vs. lefties. Since most of their core guys are under contract and they aren’t going to be making great changes to their lineup _ why on earth would they? _ I don’t see that stat changing too radically next season.
OK, I know, Mets fans _ your team isn’t likely to let Glavine go without throwing a lot of cash at him. But remember, Tom still lives in Atlanta, always will. All things being equal, he’d have stayed in Atlanta to begin with. But of course, all things weren’t equal.
The contract the Mets gave him, with the fourth-year option included, was worth a significant amount more than what the Braves offered, despite what some might have you believe. And remember, the Braves only raised their offer to anything comparable to the Mets’ proposal near the end of heated negotiations.
But that’s done. Past is past. I just want to know from Braves fans here, given Tom’s slightly (slightly?) polarizing effect with some fans, what the majority opinion would be about possibly bringing him back to win 300th and beyond in a Braves uniform.
Not for nostalgia, but to help the Braves try to reel in the Mets next season and help them get back to the postseason. Imagine how much Glavine and Hampton together might help James next season. The kid’s got a world of talent, and tips on a nightly basis from those two could only help him rise quicker and get the most he possibly can out of his abilities….
On another note, I forgot to mention this a while back, but it’s never too late for a laugh. If this wasn’t the least surprising news of the past few weeks, I don’t know what was: J.D. Drew, who signed with the Dodgers for five years and $55 million after the 2004 season, says he will not exercise an opt-out clause included in his contract.
“I don’t plan on [using] it,” Drew said. “I’ve enjoyed my time living in Los Angeles.”
Uh, yeah.
One can live well, even in L.A., on $11 mill per year. That’s what J.D. is owed over the next three seasons _ $33 mill. If he’d have opted out of that contract, the state might have stepped in and demanded a psychological assessment. No team is going to give injury-prone J.D. an $11 mill-a-year deal at this stage, not unless he plays 150 games next season and hits 40 homers and drive in 120 runs, proving he can put together back-to-back productive seasons.
A peek into Andruw’s thoughts
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Cleaning out notepads from the last couple weeks of the season, I came across an interview I did with Andruw Jones in Colorado, on the last trip of the season. Thought I’d share some of it here that I didn’t use (and why I didn’t use it, I don’t know).
A couple things he said that were interesting and perhaps revealing. You decide.
I started by asking him about playing in Colorado, could he imagine playing all his home games there, considering his stunning stats at Coors Field (.351 average, 12 homers, 34 RBIs, 1.161 OPS in 39 games) and the vast outfield expanses where his defensive skills were always evident.
Andruw: “I’m not a cold-weather guy. I don’t even like spring training when it’s cold. When it’s cold, I need to be in the house. I don’t think about it [when I’m playing], but I hate it.”
(Cross a few cities off his list of possibilities should he leave the Braves).
I asked him about playing since the whole waivers stuff made headlines and about his contract status; he’s signed through 2007.
“I don’t think about it. I just let it be. Like I said, I’ve got one more year left. Maybe next year in the middle of the season, if they want to talk, we can work out a deal. I would love to stay in Atlanta. I like it here. I’ve got my house here, my family likes it here.”
On the Braves’ outlook after their first losing season since 1990:
“I think next year we’re going to have a good team again. We’ve got good guys here, and we know our [starting] rotation. We just have to build up the bullpen the right away, and we’ll be fine.”
On whether the possibility of Bobby Cox retiring and not being here for the length of a possible multi-year extension for Jones might affect the center fielder’s decision whether to re-up with the Braves:
“He will [be here],” Andruw said of Cox.
Even if you sign, say, a four-year extension?
“Yeah,” Jones said. “He’ll be here.”
(I found this interesting, since Chipper Jones a couple months back said he couldn’t imagine Bobby Cox retiring, and indicated he wouldn’t be surprised if the manager is still here a few years more).
I asked Andruw what Cox has meant to him and how much he influences his desire to remain a Brave.
“Great person, great manager,” he said. “Being on a competitive team is one thing. Playing at home [where you live full-time] is another thing. But especially playing for him, that’s the best thing.
“So many managers out there are great people. But he’s on a totally different level. He comes and talks to you when he needs to talk to you. He tells you what he wants or what’s on his mind. Some managers don’t do that.”
Considering how much wear and tear he’s put on his body, breaking in so young, playing virtually every day and banging into walls and making sliding catches, I asked him how much longer he thought he could play.
“I’m going to push for 10 more years,” he said (and I had to ask again to make sure I was hearing right.) “We’ll see what happens, but yeah, I’d like to have 10 more years and then I’m done.”
Would he consider playing DH in the American League to stick around a long time?
“If I had to, but I don’t want to,” he said. “I want to stay at one position my whole career. I like how Willie Mays did it. He played one position his whole career. That’s awesome.
“That’s what I want to do, finish as a center fielder, not a DH or first baseman. But we’ll see. It depends how long you can stay healthy.”
Going back to that 10-more-seasons goal, I asked him if that indicated how much he still enjoys playing baseball.
“It’s not a bad job, with the schedule and all,” he said, smiling.
Then he turned serious. “This game is what I do for a living.”
A few days later, back in Atlanta during the final homestand, I asked Andruw again about the waivers thing, when he found out through the media in early August that he’d been placed on waivers (along with many other marquee players in what amounted to a procedural move by the Braves).
I asked him if there was any lingering tension between him and John Schuerholz after Jones had said publicly that he should have at least been notified by someone in the front office and had the situation explained to him.
His answer, in full: “Me and Schuerholz talked already. When we got back from that roadtrip he told me, ‘I should have picked the phone up and called you and told you what’s going on or what’s not going on.’ I said I appreciate that. Only thing I said was, I wish someone had told me something, and he said, ‘I should have, because we have a good relationship and I should have picked up the phone and called you.’
“I said I don’t have a problem, and now I understand what was going on with the waiver thing. I said I don’t have any problem, I don’t want to get traded because of that or anything.
“I know he can’t tell me anything, but what he told me after we got back from that road trip is that if something happens, ‘I’ll call you and tell you what’s going on.’ So we’ll see. It’s a business, and sometimes GMs like to keep things secret from the players. I understand that part.”
OK, so that’s the rest of my Andruw stuff. Stay tuned in coming weeks for possible updates. I’ve heard nothing yet, but that’s to be expected since Braves are just now having organizational meetings and really getting into discussing next year’s team….
On an entirely unrelated matter, everyone’s following the ongoing saga of the Yankees/Torre/A-Rod, etc., and A-Rod’s horrible recent postseason results have been bandied about on ESPN and elsewhere.
What hasn’t been given is his earlier career performance to give it context and underscore just how far he’s slipped in the postseason. Rodriguez hit .363 (33-for-91) with 14 extra-base hits (six homers), 16 RBIs and a 1.062 OPS in the first 23 postseason games of his career.
In 12 postseason games since, beginning with Game 4 of the 2004 ALCS vs. Boston, he’s hit .091 (4-for-41) with one double, ZERO RBIs and a .424 OPS. He’s got twice as many errors (two) as extra-base hits in that span.
But I’m wondering why so few have pointed out Gary Sheffield’s equally absysmal postseason work in that same period (other than the fact that Sheff makes quite a bit less than A-Rod and doesn’t seem to rub people wrong in the same way).
Anyway, here’s what Sheff has done in exactly the same postseason stretch, beginning with Game 4 vs. Boston on Sept. 17, 2004: He’s hit .160 (8-for-50) with ZERO extra-base hits, three RBIs and a .396 OPS, including .236 on-base percentage….
One more thing, Braves fans:
It was on this day a year ago when Chris Burke’s18th-inning homer ended the longest postseason game in baseball history, Houston beating Atlanta 7-6, to advance into the NLCS. The Braves’ late five-run lead was erased by an eighth-inning grand slam by Lance Berkman and a two-out ninth inning solo homer by Brad Ausmus, just above the outstretched glove of Andruw Jones.
Ah, such wrenching memories for Braves Nation. Damn you, Kyle Farnsworth.
And now for something pleasant that came out of the Lone Star State:
“Nothin’”, by Townes Van Zandt (a great Texan)
Hey mama, when you leave/don’t leave a thing behind/I don’t want nothin’/I can’t use nothin’
Take care into the hall, and if you see my friends/tell them I’m fine/not using nothin’
Almost burned out my eyes/threw my ears down to the floor/I didn’t see nothin’/I didn’t hear nothin’
I stood there like a block of stone/knowin’ all I had to know/and nothin’ more/man, that’s nothin’
As brothers our troubles are/locked in each others arms/and you better pray/they never find you
Your back ain’t strong enough/for burdens doublefold/they’d crush you down/down into nothin’
Being born is going blind/and buying down a thousand times/to echoes strung/on pure temptation
Sorrow and solitude/these are the precious things/and the only words/that are worth rememberin’
McCann tops NL in couple of categories
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A few leftover notes while still wondering what a usually sound baserunner (J.D. Drew) was doing trying to score on that play today against the Mets…
Braves catcher Brian McCann finished 11 points (and 10 plate appearances) shy of the NL batting title, but led the majors in two important hitting categories.
He led the majors with a .368 average (70-for-190) with runners on base and .471 (24-for-51) with runners in scoring position and two outs.
In the latter category, McCann finished 36 points ahead of Cardinals slugger Albert Pujols, whose .435 average was the second-highest in the the majors.
With runners on, McCann’s .368 nosed out American League MVP candidates Joe Mauer (.367) and Derek Jeter (.366). Freddy Sanchez (.364) was second in the NL.
Pittsburgh’s Sanchez won the NL batting title with a .344 average, ahead of Florida’s Miguel Cabrera and Pujols (.331). McCann’s .333 average would have ranked third if he had enough plate appearances to qualify.
Folks, the 22-year-old catcher from Duluth is in some pretty heady company…
Another 22-year-old Brave, Jeff Francoeur, had 29 homers and 103 RBIs in his first full season. He hit a solid .320 (55-for-172) with runners in scoring position and batted .302 (31-for-102) with team-highs of nine homers and 33 RBIs in late-and-close situations.
Wanted to point out some of his good stats so I wouldn’t be accused of Frenchy-bashing when I point out that he swung at a major-league high 52.2 percent of first pitches, and no one else, not even Vlad Guerrero (49.2) was as high as 50.
In fact, other than those two free-swingers, no one else swung at more than 45 percent of first pitches in either league….
Coincidentally, Guerrero (11) and Francoeur (9) had the most errors among major league right fielders. Francoeur was second in RF assists (13) behind Colorado’s Brad Hawpe (16)….
Francoeur hit .248 (120-for-483) with a .278 OBP against right-handers and .292 (49-for-168) with a .335 OBP against lefties….
Chipper Jones led the NL with a .355 road batting average, with Florida’s Miguel Cabrera a distant second (.323)….
The Braves’ best in close-and-late situations? Andruw Jones (.349, 29-for-83) and Matt Diaz (.338, 22-for-65)….
Macay McBride was sixth-best among NL relievers in highest percentage of inherited runners stranded (79.6). Only seven of 49 runners he inherited scored….
Lefty hitters had a .181 average (19-for-105) against McBride, and right-handers hit .312 (34-for-109) against him, though it’s worth noting the latter stat improved significantly in the second half….
You might have already heard that broadcaster Don Sutton won’t be back doing Braves games on TBS in 2007, ending a run of 17 seasons with the network. The Hall of Fame pitcher was one of five TBS/Turner South broadcasters last season, and since Turner South was bought and absorbed by FSN, which is doing the majority of Braves games, TBS no longer had use for so many broadcasters.
Beyond that, I’m told that Pete Van Wieren might be doing radio only. Pete’s under contract with the Braves, not TBS. There was outcry among fans a couple years back when Pete and Skip Caray were taken off TBS and assigned to radio only _ so much outcry that both were back on TV by midseason….
I don’t know about the other TBS guys, who’s coming back n what roles, but an announcement will likely come soon about the arrangement for radio/TV next season.
As of Sunday, Fox Sports Net broadcaster Jeff Torborg told me he didn’t know yet what FSN’s broadcaster alignment would be for the 2007 season.
Braves give their playoff thoughts
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I asked five Braves how closely they’ll be watching the playoffs.
Bobby Cox, manager: “In the past, it was hard to be knocked out and watch two days later. But I always follow the postseason, whether we are playing or not. I guess I’ll get to watch a little more on TV this year. I don’t root for teams, but I sure will for guys like Tom Glavine and Greg Maddux, our old players. I still care a lot about them. There are a lot of ex-Braves with the Dodgers. And I always want the National League to win the World Series. I’ll watch a lot, but I am going down to Florida for our instructional league. I haven’t done that for a while because we were always playing in October.”
Jeff Francoeur, outfielder: “Absolutely I’ll be watching on TV. I know people say it hurts too much to watch if you’re out of it, but I don’t really feel that way. I’ll pull for the National League in the World Series, and you usually want to see a team from your division do well. This year, though, there are also a lot of ex-Braves on the Dodgers. I’m going down to Florida to spend some time at the beach, but I’ll be following the playoffs. If you’re a baseball player, I think you should be a baseball fan.”
Brian McCann, catcher: “I’m not going to lie and say that I’ll be watching a lot of it. I want to take a little time to get away from baseball. I’m going to take a trip. Probably, I’ll go down to my parents’ condo in Florida. I’m sure I’ll watch some, but probably not a lot. I don’t care who wins. Not at all. I don’t even care if it’s the National League or the American League who wins the World Series.”
Tim Hudson, pitcher: “I’ll be rooting for Oakland. I have to. I was there for six years. I’m still close to a lot of the guys, although the A’s have a lot of new faces. I want them to do well. I think this might be their year. I’ll definitely try to tune in when they’re playing.”
John Smoltz, pitcher: “I enjoy watching the playoffs. I think it is the greatest time of the year, right up there with March Madness. And I will be rooting for the Tigers. I don’t have a whole lot of people that I know over there, but I grew up loving the Tigers. Detroit is deserving of this great turnaround. There are so many good stories. The Tigers have a tremendous hill to climb, but I think they have a chance. With the Yankees, a lot depends on Randy Johnson. I think the Yankees have by far the best team on paper.”
How interested are you in this year’s playoffs, the first non-Braves postseason since 1990? And who do you think will win it all?
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No joy in Mudville the day after
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
There was no red, white and blue bunting being hung from the seating-deck facades at Turner Field. No workout day before a division series. No blow-dried TV guys or cliche’-filled group interview sessions.
Just an empty Braves clubhouse, Bobby Cox stopping by to chat, a few stadium employees walking around doing whatever, and a few disappointed autograph seekers outside the fence of the players’ parking lot. Kind of sad, really.
But Braves fans will be pleased to know this: Straight from a conversation today with a highly placed Braves official, I can assure you that payroll will not be reduced in 2007 or for the foreseeable future. Might even be raised “a few dollars.” That, the man told me, was definite, no question.
Thus the never-ending saga of the pending team sale is largely irrelevant, for the sake of fans and players.
I mean, it’s not going to affect any of you. Same management, same payroll, so who cares if the team is sold in November or … whenever? If it doesn’t affect the payroll or the front office or anything else that affects what we see put on the field, I don’t see why it’s of much interest. One corporation of another.
Unless Liberty backs out — and I’m told that’s not close to happening — and an individual steps in to buy the team, then we’re not going to see an owner wearing a Braves cap sitting in the owners’ box seats next to the dugout anytime soon.
As for those fans outside the players’ lot this morning: Hey, everybody around here is new at this no-postseason thing, and those fans figured they’d catch the players coming to empty their lockers like they’ve done after the final postseason game for the past decade and a half. But things change.
Since the Braves knew it was all ending with Sunday’s regular season finale, most of them had already packed their belongings and took them home. Others, mostly locals like Brian McCann and Jeff Francoeur, left locker stalls full, figuring they could stop by any time in the coming weeks. Besides, they’ll be back working out before long.
(By the way, one look at the lockers of housemates Francoeur and McCann indicates they’re the new Odd Couple, with Francoer playing the role of fastidious Felix Unger and McCann as the disheveled Oscar Madison. Francoeur’s locker is neat as can be; McCann’s look like he backed in a dump truck full of equipment and junk and let it fall into the stall.)
Coaching changes are probably going to be announced in a day or, with Eddie Perez replacing Bobby Dews as bullpen coach. Third-base coach Fredi Gonzalez is expected to take the Florida job, unless some other team (Giants, Nats) promises him the moon and he decides to wait a while and drive up the price.
But I think the Marlins are moving quickly. Like this week.
Also, bench coach Pat Corrales is expected to step down. Braves would promote from within to replace Gonzalez and Corrales, from what I’m told. Don’t know who the minor league coaches or managers being promoted would be, but wouldn’t surprise me if Jeff Blauser is in the mix after a year managing Double-A Mississippi.
Some have asked about Dews. It was his idea to step down from the bullpen job, only because he’s 67 and the wear and tear of squatting and warming up pitchers has finally started to catch up with him. He’ll move into some sort of special-assistant or advisory role and be at spring training and home games, from what I understand.
Gonna miss Dewsy and Corrales in the clubhouse, that’s for sure. Both really, really good guys. Dewsy’s a prince, both a grizzled baseball lifer and a writer of poetry and short stories. Corrales is as cranky as me on a bad day. God, I’m gonna miss him.
In case you’re wondering, Terry Pendleton will be back unless some team makes him a managerial job offer he can’t refuse, and pitching coach Roger McDowell will definitely be back. Though it was never announced when he signed with the Braves nearly a year ago, McDowell actually got a two-year contract, not a one-year deal like the rest of the coaches.
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