AJC > Sports > Braves > Blog > Archives > 2007 > September > 18
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
A batting title for Chipper?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Chipper for a batting title. Still seems kinda strange, doesn’t it? For all the great things he’ss done in his career, for the steady and professional hitter, it’s still really interesting to me that he’s got a shot - and a very real one now - at the National League batting title.
Entering Tuesday night’s game, Chipper was at .339, Matt Holliday at .334, Edgar Renteria, Hanley Ramirez and Chase Utley at .333. And Chipper is hot. He’s hitting .426 (20-for-47) in September. Holliday has cooled to merely mortal, hitting .333 (19-for-57) in September.
Chipper was a .304 career hitter coming into this season, so it’s not like this is completely foreign. He hit .330 in 2001 and .327 in 2002. But he had some serious hitters to chase those years. Larry Walker won in 2001 hitting .350. Barry Bonds won in 2002 hitting .370.
So why now? He’s 35. What he might lose in durability he makes up for in knowledge of pitchers and experience at the plate? He’s got Mark Teixeira hitting behind him, getting him more fastballs. He’s drawing walks. He’s got 74 walks in 122 games, his highest rate in four years.
And maybe there’s been some drop-off among elite batting average type-guys around the league. It never hurt that Tony Gwynn retired. Bonds isn’t the same guy. Walker is gone.
I kept waiting for Chipper to drop back because it’s just seems so impossible to maintain such a super high average. But here we go, a dozen games to play, and it’s in his sights. Will he get it? What say you, denizens?
And a good trivia question for you perhaps. (Not as good as the one in the Braves broadcast last night, asking who won the AL batting title the year Terry Pendleton won the last NL one for the Braves in 1991? Julio Franco was the answer. Cool.) What two former Braves won the NL batting title since Terry Pendleton in 1991, albeit with other teams? Answer below.
Some other thoughts on this gorgeous Tuesday afternoon….There’s been lots of discussion, and rightly so, about what happens with Yunel Escobar next year. Will Edgar Renteria be traded to make room for Escobar at shortstop and get the Braves some help in the rotation? Will Kelly Johnson move back to the outfield to make room for Escobar at second?
I say, what about Martin Prado? I guess there are some players who just get lost in the shuffle sometimes. But I think he’s got to be a guy that forces the Braves to make a tough decision somewhere. Isn’t he a darn solid player? How about the defense he played in the game Tim Hudson started in New York? How about the clutch hit he got Friday night in DC?
He was lights-out in Richmond this year. One hit on his final day shy of winning the International League batting title. Didn’t he outplay Kelly Johnson in spring training? Prado hit .354 (17-for-48) while Johnson hit .254 (16-for-63). Granted the job was not really open. Spring training was about getting Kelly comfortable at his new position and back in action after his elbow surgery.
But I’m just saying, I see value in Prado, even if it means working him into a trade for a starter.
Just read about what Pedro Martinez said about how tired he is following rehab for shoulder surgery he had last October and that if he faces another serious injury in the next several years, he’d retire: “If anything goes wrong, Hasta la vista, baby.” He said he was as tired as if he’d pitched all year.
You have to appreciate his honesty. Also makes you (or does me) appreciate what Mike Hampton is dealing with. I know he gets a lot of heat in these parts for getting hurt all the time, but you don’t hear him saying something like that. For all the disappointment and the rigors of rehab, he doesn’t complain. And he’s been back in the clubhouse for a while now, traveling with the team, and being his jovial, good teammate self here in recent weeks. There’s something to be said for that.
Is it just me, or are we passing into a strange phase of the season now. I just got this e-mail from a reader:
“If the Braves are out of it next weekend, any chance they’d hit Biggio a couple of times? He’s sitting at 285 HBP, two behind Hughie Jennings who has held the record since 1901. Maybe a nice going-away gesture to drill him and get him the record.”
So do we think this is an Astros fan? Or is it a Braves fan that has an old vendetta against the Braves’ ole friend and Killer Bee? I can’t see the Braves wanting to put extra runners on base in that park, record or no record. But maybe they come inside a little and maybe Biggio and his body armor leans in. You never know.
Did anyone else see that crack from Michael Gearon Jr. in Tim Tucker’s story Sunday on the latest yadda ya with the Hawks/Thrashers ownership dispute? About how the Thrashers were the only Atlanta franchise to “win any division in the last two years?” That’s weak, if you ask me. Somebody let me know when the Thrashers get to about say, seven or eight divisions, or perhaps maybe win a game in the postseason. Then his smack-talking will ring a little less ridiculous.
Batting titles? Gary Sheffield won it in 1992 with the Padres when he hit .330. Andres Galarraga won one in 1993 with Colorado when he hit .370.
