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Thursday, August 18, 2005
Long overdue, bygone great’s honor still short
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Furman Bisher
Ah, at last, the world has come to notice Herman Long, much too long after he was a Boston Beaneater, before they were Braves. Today he finally enters the Hall of Fame, but still not the right one. The Braves have two shortstops in the Cooperstown Hall of Fame, Davy Bancroft and Rabbit Maranville, but neither record is a match for Long’s, an 1890s player swallowed up in the flow of time.
He was a little fellow, 5 feet 8, about 160 pounds, but he packed some dynamite. In the days when the ball was like a clump of lead, he hit 91 home runs in 16 seasons, and in 1900, when he hit 12 for the second time, he became the first shortstop to lead the major leagues in home runs. Bancroft hit 32 lifetime, Maranville 28.
His lifetime batting average was .280, including four seasons over .300. He drove in 100 runs or more twice. He still holds the franchise record for stolen bases, 43l.
Enough of his offensive side, Dan Daniel, a renowned New York sportswriter said of him, “He was never excelled in the brilliancy of his fielding.” Grantland Rice himself included him as the shortstop on his own “most graceful team.” Walter Barnes, a Boston writer, wrote of him “a brilliant fielding shortstop and master of inside baseball.”
So with all these credentials, why isn’t Herman Long in Cooperstown? Oh, the Braves Hall of Fame, into which he will be inducted (posthumously, of course) is late but nice, but still far from what he deserves. For several years, I bombarded the Veterans Committee of the baseball hall with all these credentials, a splendid defensive shortstop who could hit with power and run the bases, and what else would you care for, gentlemen? There were many joining me, but failing in our passion.
It’s probable that all shortstops of that general era were overshadowed by Honus Wagner at Pittsburgh, but none was so obviously qualified as Long. Wagner even pilfered Long’s nickname “The Flying Dutchman,” further detracting from his fame. He was also known as “Germany,” reflecting his family heritage.
Long came along in an era of some powerful sluggers, Wagner, Ed Delahanty, Bobby Lowe and Hugh Duffy, who still holds the National League record with his .440 batting average, but the tough little shortstop got in his licks and made his presence felt on both sides of the ball. Yes, some rules differed from the rules today, but as they say in golf, you play it as it lies.
Braves Hall of Fame inductions
• When; where: 11:30 a.m. today; Turner Field, 755 Club
• Inductees: Longtime Braves scout Paul Snyder; Boston Beaneater Herman Long
• Tickets: Event is sold out
Permalink | Comments (6) | Categories: Braves / MLB, Furman Bisher
Aaron singing the praises of A. Jones
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Jeff Schultz
Andruw Jones had 39 home runs entering Thursday, just eight off the Braves’ franchise record. The top 10:
Hank Aaron 47 — 1971
Eddie Mathews 47 — 1953
Eddie Mathews 46 — 1959
Hank Aaron 45 — 1962
Chipper Jones 45 — 1999
Hank Aaron 44 — 1957
Hank Aaron 44 — 1963
Hank Aaron 44 — 1966
Hank Aaron 44 — 1969
Dale Murphy 44 — 1987
Andres Galarraga 44 — 1998
I don’t mean to interrupt another bullpen bonfire or what-did-Jeff-Francoeur-have-for-breakfast moment with something so insignificant. But Andruw Jones â€â€? he doesn’t stink.
It’s somewhat ironic that in a season when Andruw Jones is finally living up to everybody else’s expectations, getting referenced in MVP debates and is about to break a Braves franchise home run record shared by Hank Aaron and Eddie Mathews, he has dropped into the shadows.
“Good,” Jones said Thursday. “Just the way I like it.”
He is sitting in front of his locker before a game against Los Angeles, wearing a Samurai headband. The writing translates to either “Kamikaze,” “Warrior” or “Eat At Joe’s” â€â€? Jones isn’t sure. A Japanese TV station gave it to him, and he just thought it looked cool.
In other years, we might think, “What a talented goofball. When will he grow up?”
We don’t think that any more.
Hank Aaron â€â€? even he doesn’t think that any more.
“I have to be honest with you: I wasn’t exactly excited about what Andruw was doing before,” Aaron said, cognizant he was speaking of a player who had hit 30-plus home runs five times. “But it seems like his whole demeanor has changed. His approach is different â€â€? the way he wants to be depended on. He wants to set the example for the kids. He wants them to follow in his footsteps.
“I was never worried about Andruw’s baseball ability. My concern was for his approach to the game in the off-season. Sometimes kids spend too much time reading yesterday’s news. What you do in baseball today has nothing to do with what you’re going to do tomorrow. Baseball is a 12-month game. Andruw is beginning to realize that.
Much was made of Jones’ rejuvenated dedication to the game this off-season, his hitting in a home batting cage in December, his maturity. Then, after a 10-home run spring, the season opened and he went splat. After 21 games, he was hitting .182 with two home runs.
“People asked me, ‘What happened?’” Jones said. “I said, ‘I don’t know.’ I wasn’t doing anything different.”
Patience started to pay off. So, apparently, did his belief of his importance to the team. After a solid May, Chipper Jones suffered a foot injury in early June. Jones, hitting sixth in the order, said he went to hitting coach Terry Pendleton. “I told T.P., ‘If you want me to help this team, I need to be in the middle of the lineup.’”
We call this, the light going on. Jones hit .317 with 13 homers in June and was named National League player of the month. The Braves’ resident legend took notice.
“The thing that impressed more than anything else about this year is the way he played when Chipper was out,” Aaron said. “Nobody could get him out, and he didn’t really have anybody around him [in the batting order]. It was like for the first time, Andruw said, ‘OK guys, and jump on my back.’”
Jones hit his 38th homer, a career high, Wednesday night, moving to within nine of the franchise record held by Aaron and Mathews. He was on a season pace entering Thursday. But Jones is asked about the record and the MVP talk and he barely responds.
“I don’t think about hitting 50 homers,” he said. “I think about being consistent.”
He says he recently “went through a funk. I was tired and I let it bother me at the plate. I don’t want to let my mind shut my body down.”
That’s an interesting way to put it. But it makes perfect sense for a player whose career had been punctuated by spectacular strikeouts between spectacular moments.
Aaron again: “Andruw has always been the type of player who everybody said, ‘Oh, he’s hitting the ball well.’ But then maybe the next week, he’d stop. That consistency has finally come about. He’s finally got it together.”
Permalink | Comments (17) | Categories: Braves / MLB, Jeff Schultz
The Bradley Jinx can’t stop Francoeur
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Mark Bradley
I was getting worried. I’d written a little something about the greatness of Jeff Francoeur — it ran in Monday’s AJC — and usually what happens after I write something like that is the guy goes 0-for-50. See, I have this reputation.
Our copydesk people used to expect whatever college basketball team I ranked No. 1 to lose its first game, which happened, believe it or not, three times in the ’80s alone.
And you might recall a certain World Series when, after Game 2, I wondered how the ‘27 Yankees might match up against the unbeatable ‘96 Braves. (Those Braves, you’ll also recall, didn’t win another game, making me the toast of the New York media over the winter.)
Sure enough, Francoeur responded to the Bradley Treatment by having a lousy (for him) game Tuesday. He didn’t hit a home run. He didn’t throw anybody out. He actually made an error. Just as I was starting to wonder if the old mojo was working once again, Francoeur had a big Wednesday. He hit a homer. (Also a triple.) He threw out Odalis Perez. And I felt altogether better.
Even I can’t jinx this guy. He’s too good.
Permalink | Comments (8) | Categories: Quick Hit
