AJC > Sports > Braves > Blog > Archives > 2007 > March > 13
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
Hoss doesn’t get benefit of doubt
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Nothing like a relatively serious Mike Hampton injury and a relatively nothing Chipper Jones injury to get Braves Nation all bent out of shape in the middle of spring training, now is there?
The uproar over Hampton’s injury _ seriously, a pitcher pulling an oblique muscle taking batting practice, while in the final lap of rehab from elbow surgery? _ is understandable.
I mean, if I were an impartial fan I’d be ready to scream, or laugh to keep from screaming, at the remarkable string of injuries the left-hander has endured, including what surely was a record five DL stints in one season (2005).
But for everyone to be up in arms over Chipper’s slightly sprained ankle yesterday tells me everyone’s just waiting for Hoss to come up lame so they can pile on. (By the way, no word yet on whether he’s in lineup tonight vs. Houston).
Like he said yesterday, if it were a regular season game he wouldn’t have come out. And it’s not as if Jones asked out; Bobby saw him limp and pulled him, seeing no reason to have him push it the second week of March.
Here’s what I’m going to suggest, and feel free to not give it a moment’s consideration if you don’t want to: Unless and until Chipper goes on the DL this season or misses more than a couple games with an injury, why not just see if perhaps he can stay healthy and we can talk about something else in the interim?
By that I mean, he’s had two years where he’s played 110 and 109 games, back-to-back injury-plagued years. But he did play 157 games a year for eight straight 100-or-more RBI seasons through 2003. And his 137 games in 2004 were _ are you ready for this? _ more than J.D. Drew has played in six of his eight full seasons in the majors. Yes, six out of eight.
Ken Griffey Jr. hasn’t played as many 130 games in any of the past six seasons, and played fewer than 110 in four of the past five.
Granted, Drew and Griffey are hardly the guys you want to measure yourself against in terms of durability and reliabity, but I’m just pointing out that relatively speaking, Chipper has been an iron man for most of his career. Compared to them _ or to Hampton, for that matter _ Chipper is Cal Ripken Jr.
Hey, if he gets hurt again early this season, lands on the DL, then we’ll all write about how injury-prone he is, as we should. I’m just suggesting that right now, while he’s having no problems with his chronic feet and his troublesome oblique _ hey, that’s alliteration, or rhymin’ as Mark Bowman would say _ maybe, just maybe, the dude is headed for the type of season he had for eight consecutive years, rather than one like he’s had the past couple. Maybe.
(Blogmaster EDIT NOTE: OK, as was pointed out to me much later, this isn’t actual example of alliteration. In fact, it’s simple rhymin’, so my insult on Bowman actually came back and bit me. Touche.)
As for Hampton, he’s one of my favorite guys to talk to, absolutely hilarious, and he’s worked his butt off to get back. But I’m afraid at 34, the man is breaking down. I mean, his string of injuries _ back, knee, elbow, oblique, tonsils (just seeing if you’re reading _ are just mind boggling.
That said, are all the bloggers and e-mailers (I get a lot, believe me) that suggest the Braves are idiots for not cutting bait and releasing these two guys, are all you folks just not up to speed with baseball’s economics? I think maybe too many people don’t even think about this stuff before they make such suggestions, or they just assume baseball is like the NFL.
For any of you folks who aren’t aware _ veteran baseball players are on guaranteed contracts. Period. You can release them, send them to Richmond, whatever else some of you suggest, but you’re still going to have to pay them.
So why would the Braves, out of frustration over Hampton’s injuries _ again, Hampton isn’t dogging it, he’s just breaking down _ send the lefty to Richmond or release him? You going to pay him $29.5 million over the 2006-07 seasons to sit at home or pitch for Richmond? Sure, that’d make a lot of sense.
And say what you will about Chipper, but I think most Braves fans realize what he’s meant for the organization over the years. He’s likely headed for the Hall of Fame someday, wearing a Braves cap. He’s one of the three or four best switch-hitters in history, by virtually any statistical measure.
And keep in mind, until last year, Chipper Jones never finished a completed season on a team that was not in first place _ not in Little League, high school, the minor leagues, or the majors. That’s astonishing.
Maybe some of you believe it’s just wild coincidence, but some might suggest that’s the definitition of a winner. Hoss can be moody, and he pulls for the damn Gators, and he doesn’t like real country (Johnny, Waylon, Hank, the Possum) as much as the watered-down pop country.
But he’s had a helluva career, and most of you folks have no idea how important he’s been and continues to be to most of these young guys’ development. If you ever have a chance to talk to any of them _ Francoeur, Langerhans, McCann _ just ask them.
Has he come up short in several postseasons? Absolutely. But so have most other Braves, including Andruw Jones and former Brave Gary Sheffield, a couple of other pretty fair hitters.
OK, I’m rambling. I’ll stop.
Night game tonight… Great pitching matchup of Tim Hudson vs. Houston’s Roy Oswalt. Three night games in four days. That’s not what spring training is about, dammit, especially not with the NCAA Tournament starting and Kansas playing Friday night. But we’ll keep our nose to the grindstone (I know, you folks are really feeling sorry for me).
Hey, how about that West Region? Five of the blue-blood programs _ Duke, Kentucky, Indiana, UCLA, Kansas _ all in the same region. Of course, a few of them aren’t exactly having typical stellar seasons, but still, pretty rich.
Bike Week is not for the meek: But man, is it fun. I was only over there for a day, but that’s a blast, riding around Daytona with tens of thousands of other folks on bikes of every description, from the biggest Harley cruisers to Japanese racing bikes to maxed-out $50,000 choppers and everything between, including several others I saw on Triumphs like mine.
But I can’t get into many details here, other than to say the scenery is spectacular and those people do not hold back when it comes to having a good time. In any way.
Something about seeing a pretty lady riding a Harley on a beautiful 78-degree Florida day, with low humidity and breeze coming off the ocean a block away. Yeah, that ain’t bad.
Where else can you see members of the Outlaws motorcycle club riding side-by-side with senior citizens on Honda Gold Wings? Everyone living in chrome-and-leather harmony, at least for 10 days. Good stuff.
In preparation for seeing the fine-in-every-sense Lucinda Williams tomorrow night here at the Hard Rock Live in Orlando, here’s another of her gems:
“PINEOLA” by Lucinda Williams
When Daddy told me what happened/I couldn’t believe what he just said/Sonny shot himself with a 44/And they found him lyin’ on his bed
I could not speak a single word/No tears streamed down my face/I just sat there on the living room couch/Starin’ off into space
Mama and Daddy went over to the house/To see what had to be done/They took the sheets off of the bed/And they went to call someone
Some of us gathered at a friend’s house/To help each other ease the pain/I just sat alone in a corner chair/I couldn’t say much of anything
We drove on out to the country/His friends all stood around/Subiaco Cemetery/Is where we lay him down
I saw his mama, she was standin’ there/His sister, she was there too/I saw them look at us standin’ around the grave/And not a soul they knew
Born and raised in Pineola/His mama believed in the Pentecost/She got the preacher to say some words/So his soul wouldn’t be lost
Some of us, we stood in silence/Some bowed their heads and prayed/I think I must’ve picked up a handful of dust/And let it fall over his grave
I think I must’ve picked up a handful of dust/And let it fall over his grave
