AJC > Sports > Columnists > Archives > 2006 > January > 18
Wednesday, January 18, 2006
Still auditioning a closing act
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Jeff Schultz
The Braves’ annual “Winter FanFest” takes place in two weeks, just 12 days before pitchers and sacrificial closers are scheduled to report to spring training. The way I figure it, the timing couldn’t be better.
Fans can run the bases. Collect autographs. Maybe even enter the Dan Kolb Memorial Virtual Reality Bullpen: Walk to the mound, chew a wad of plastic explosives and blow a bubble.
But FanFest also presents general manager John Schuerholz with a wonderful opportunity to screen potential candidates for the Braves’ closer role this season.
“Sure — we’ll have a casting call,” he joked Wednesday. “We’re looking for a bargain.”
Last Friday, Tampa Bay dealt closer Danys Baez to Los Angeles for two pitching prospects. That the Devil Rays didn’t trade Baez to the Braves didn’t crush Schuerholz so much as it punctuated an unfamiliar string of whiffs by the front office.
The Braves’ annual fall descents notwithstanding, Schuerholz has been without peer in finding replacement parts to keep this team moving. Landing shortstop Edgar Renteria to replace Rafael Furcal was merely the latest example.
That’s what made developments in the first of week of December so stunning. It started when Kyle Farnsworth, the intended closer, signed a free agent contract with the New York Yankees. To understand the extent to which this blindsided the Braves, consider Schuerholz’s comments Wednesday: “There was an assumption we made going into the offseason that he would choose to stay here. We didn’t have a Plan B, C or D. We went into scramble mode.”
Schuerholz proceeded to negotiate “with virtually every free agent closer out there. We didn’t come up with anyone, obviously.”
The three primary targets — Trevor Hoffman (San Diego), Bob Wickman (Cleveland) and Todd Jones (Detroit) — all signed elsewhere.
At this point, Schuerholz checked his breath. But, no, that seemed fine.
In retrospect, it’s remarkable the Braves even reached the postseason, given the combustible elements in the bullpen. They went from John Smoltz to 24 blown saves. Only three teams had more than that: Colorado (26) and Tampa Bay (26) finished last and San Francisco (28) was under .500. The Braves’ .613 percentage for converted save opportunities was third-worst in the majors, also trailing only two last place teams: the 106-loss Kansas City Royals (.581) and Colorado (.587).
Schuerholz is still baffled by Kolb’s meltdowns. He had only 11 saves in 18 tries, a 3-8 record and a 5.93 ERA. “The guy saved 60 games the previous two years. Nothing bothered him. He had the countenance of an ax murderer.”
The closer situation now?
“We don’t have one at the moment,” Schuerholz said.
That’s it. No punchline.
But this is when Schuerholz suggests everybody take a deep cleansing breath. If he’s worried, he’s not showing it. Three-plus seasons of closer domination by Smoltz makes it easy to forget the blur of reclamation projects this club went through in the ’90s. Anybody still holding an Alejandro Peña, Juan Berenguer, Greg McMichael, Chris Hammond or Kerry Ligtenberg trading card?
Chris Reitsma had only 15 saves in 24 chances last season.
Joey Devine earned the distinction of becoming the first pitcher in major league history to allow two grand slams in his first two appearances.
Oscar Villarreal, acquired from Arizona, is trying to come back from arm problems. He’s rehabbing in the Mexican League.
Reitsma. Devine. Villarreal. They represent the Braves’ gold-silver-bronze in the closer derby.
Remember. Cleansing breath.
“You read all of the stories about roster construction philosophies around the league,” Schuerholz said. “Half the teams say the most important thing is the closer. The other half say starting pitcher. The other half say something else. Actually there can’t be another half. I’m sounding like Yogi Berra.”
(Something seems more askew here than the Braves’ bullpen. Schuerholz is cracking jokes. We now continue… . )
“Our philosophy is good closers are important, but we’ll find somebody,” he said. “We’ll find somebody who can throw strikes and has the stuff and the gumption to pitch in those circumstances. As my old friend Dan Quisenberry used to say, ‘When you’re a closer, you have to pitch like your hair’s on fire.’”
Except that right now, flames have a different connotation for the Braves. So if you’re planning on attending FanFest, feel free to bring a glove.
Permalink | Comments (39) | Categories: Braves / MLB, Jeff Schultz
McBride savors hometown, Braves future
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Furman Bisher
Sylvania — This evening will be a glowing occasion in this town, the capital of Screven County. Of such proportion that Sylvania required a bypass for U.S. 301. The Chamber of Commerce holds its annual dinner tonight and the main speaker will be Macay McBride, 23, rather youthful for such an occasion, but Macay and Sylvania fit hand in glove. His life is right here.
“Only place I ever want to live,” he said, at the wheel of his Silverado on the way to the hunting field. He was a high draft pick of the Braves, coming out of high school in 2000, 24th in the first round in 2001. Promising left-handers such as he are hard to find, clean-living homebodies, cheeks aglow with good health. Amazing, the number of major league players who come from the Sylvanias of America. Smalltown heroes, revered by neighbors and showered with pride.
One of the first things Macay did with the million he got to sign was buy about 500 acres of land out near Brier Creek, more a languid river than a creek in its flow down to the Savannah. He wasn’t necessarily following the advice of the late humorist Will Rogers — “Invest in land. They’re not making any more.” — he was establishing himself for his future with his then bride-to-be, Dru. Another thing he did was buy himself a second-hand pickup, since replaced, and a farm utility vehicle for his dad, Joey, who works at the Southern Co.’s Vogtle Plant.
This is big hunting and fishing land, and this week the Sylvania folk had their annual quail hunt on the farm of the Don Shepherds, Don Sr., Jr. and III. Macay supplied his golf cart, once painted Bulldog red and black, now camouflaged for hunting. Once in awhile he’d take a shot, but mainly his day was a walk through the fields of broom sedge and briars and a discussion of his future in baseball. When he arrived with the Braves in midseason, he came mainly as a starter. Here, Bobby Cox used him mainly in special situations.
“I don’t mind doing this,” he said, “but I don’t want to be a left-handed specialist all my life. You can make a good living in the bullpen, but I think I’m better than that. I’d rather be a starter, a full pitcher. I just want to be able to have a good life here when I’m through.”
The hunting fields and the fishing streams of Screven County will be forever in his blood. At home, he’s up and out by 7 o’clock in the morning. Life in the big leagues affords him the pleasure of sleeping in on the road. “I’ll tell you,” he said, “life in the minor leagues is the worst of all, those early morning flights.
“You get to bed about midnight after the game, then you get about three hours sleep and get to the airport and catch a 7 o’clock flight, fly out and play again that night. It’s a tough life.”
With the Braves, he has bonded with other young ones into a closely knit group. “We stay together, sort of like the same things and we want to win, Jeff Francoeur, Brian McCann, Ryan Langerhans and Pete Orr. You don’t see that on other teams. They kid me a lot about my country ways. When Jeff replied to our wedding invitation, he penciled in, ‘I guess you’ll give me directions on what dirt road to take.’?”
He laughed gently. “They’re just city slickers.”
He has spent time with the new pitching coach, Roger McDowell, only on the telephone. “He’s going to be different from Leo, but it’s not going to be a great change. I don’t blame Mazzone for going back to his home state to hook up with an old friend. I was just surprised that he wasn’t making more than he was after all those great seasons with the Braves.”
Camp Roger, as I’d suppose it has been re-christened, begins shortly, then off to spring training and reunion with the young clan. But he’ll never be far away from Sylvania. Home, someone once said, is where the heart is, and that’s where his heart is, and the birds and the fish will never be safe. “I’ve never lived anywhere else, don’t want to live anywhere else.”
Permalink | Comments (12) | Categories: Braves / MLB, Furman Bisher
No Fun League indeed
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Terence Moore
This is exactly what the late Pete Rozelle wanted: Parity.
Or is that mediocrity?
Here we are heading to the Final Four of this NFL season, and there isn’t anything close to a team that resembles those two sets of powerhouses for Green Bay and Dallas, the Raiders during their first coming to Oakland, the San Francisco 49ers of Montana or Young, the Steel Curtain or even Tom Brady’s Patriots.
What a bummer. Never have two wild cards reached the Super Bowl, but it could happen this time involving the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Carolina Panthers. Then again, the home teams could win on Sunday, with the Denver Broncos handling the Steelers in the AFC championship game and the Seattle Seahawks taking care of the Panthers in the NFC championship game.
Who really knows? Those who say they can predict Sunday’s winners either are convinced that Miss Cleo was legit or rank as such loyal fans of the Steelers, Panthers, Broncos or Seahawks that they can’t see reality through team-colored glasses. There are enough plusses and minuses for each of these four teams to envision any of them winning or losing by a little or doing the same by a lot.
Give me dominance. Give me players for a team who have large chunks of folks who love them and hate them. But back to reality, where Sunday’s winners will produce mostly shrugging around the globe.
I’m yawning already.
Permalink | Comments (47) | Categories: Quick Hit, Terence Moore
Wildcat Wackos making Tubby blue
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Terence Moore
Athens — While Tubby Smith still has his reputation along with his limbs in tact, he should go. RUN. Get out of the Commonwealth of Kentucky as quickly as he can. He should knock the bluegrass from the bottom of his shoes as he races all the way to sanity. That’s because coaching Wildcats basketball is insanity. I mean, they’re setting one of the most prolific leaders in college basketball on fire.
Seriously.
If you go to www.firetubbysmith.com, you’ll find a picture of a dapper Smith in flames as he squats in his customary position on the Kentucky sideline.
SPRINT, Tubby. Git. Do not pass go or collect $200 before it’s too late. Kentucky legend Joe B. Hall wants Smith to stick around for a while. Even so, Hall understands as much as anybody that anything less than winning big and emphatically with the Wildcats will make your old Kentucky home slightly uncomfortable. “I certainly had my share of hate mail and suggestions, but nobody tried to kill my dog or send me a moving van or anything like that,” said Hall, easing into a chuckle over the phone from Lexington, Ky., while recalling his 13 seasons coaching the Wildcats through 1985.
Added Hall, “I was very philosophical about it. I worked very hard when I was coach and put everything I had into it. If I wasn’t successful, I was prepared to go back to Cynthiana, Ky., and become a mailman.”
What Smith should become is an NBA coach or a college skipper for a more appreciative fan base. That he spent his first season at Kentucky winning a national championship in 1998 isn’t impressive to the Wildcat Wackos who attribute such a thing to Smith inheriting Rick Pitino’s players. Never mind that Smith entered this year winning nearly 80 percent of his games at Kentucky. Plus, two of his last three teams came within a couple of shots of reaching the Final Four.
At Kentucky, it’s about what are you doing this millisecond. So here were the Wildcats, entering Tuesday night’s game against Georgia at Stegeman Coliseum, looking shaky enough to make those Wildcat Wackos rush to add more flames to that Tubby Web site. Among other horrors, the Wildcats lost at home to Vanderbilt for the first time since Gerald Ford was in the Oval Office. They also were blasted by Indiana and Kansas, two premier programs that the Wildcat Wackos swear rank maybe six fastbreaks behind Kentucky.
Translated: In order for Smith to douse those flames, Kentucky had to beat Georgia, and then everybody else during the rest of his Wildcat career. Given the second coming of Randolph Morris, they just might. The 6-foot-10 sophomore from Atlanta’s Landmark Christian was stifling inside while leading the Wildcats in scoring for the third straight time since his reinstatement by the NCAA. They won 69-54 with a sizzling second half.
Which means it didn’t matter that the Wildcats didn’t have what former Georgia coach Hugh Durham used to call “that Big Blue Mist” of Kentucky fans forming a large and loud ring around the top of the coliseum. Those among the vast Wildcat Nation are too peeved with Smith these days to travel like they used to.
Once, Smith was at Georgia, where he led the Bulldogs to a combined 45-19 record and consecutive trips to the NCAA tournament. This was before he lost his mind after the 1996-97 season and decided to follow Pitino, the designated for Kentucky after he brought the Wildcats back to prominence from its dark years of probation.
As the late Al McGuire used to say, “The person who follows a dictator is always assassinated.” Hall had it worse than Smith, because Hall succeeded Adolph Rupp, the ultimate dictator. This is the same grumpy, disagreeable Rupp who is depicted in the new movie “Glory Road,” which is about the all-black Texas Western team knocking off Rupp’s all-white Kentucky team for the 1966 national championship. Hall was Rupp’s assistant back then.
What a difference 40 years and integration can make. Now just four of Kentucky’s players are white, and its coach is black. “I had been coaching nine years before I came to Kentucky, and I never had a team that didn’t have a black player, so I could foresee this in Kentucky’s future,” said Hall, who spends his retirement doing a radio show with former Louisville coach Denny Crum. “There are pressures for Tubby, but his success overall as a coach makes it predictable that he will survive.”
Yeah, but Smith shouldn’t take that chance when he can bolt.
Like now.
Permalink | Comments (36) | Categories: Terence Moore, UGA / SEC
