AJC > Sports > Columnists > Archives > 2006 > September > 12 > Entry
DEL.ICIO.USIt was just a feeling in the spring
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Furman Bisher
Say it ain’t so, John. Yogi Berra says it ain’t over till it’s over, but actually, it has been over for the Braves since somebody strained the first oblique. I sensed it during spring training. Couldn’t exactly put it in words, or maybe I didn’t have the guts.
It wasn’t that there was something missing. I guess it was something internal, like your stomach growling, the feeling that no way could John Schuerholz keep pulling rabbits out of his hat. Every move he made in 2005 had worked out, and I know I repeat myself, but he was a magician. Kids who were just new to shaving, and some who looked as if they never had, came in the fastest way they could get here from Richmond or Pearl, Miss. Emergency call. Most of them packing for two or three days, expecting to head back to the farm.
Jeff Francoeur never looked back. Then Brian McCann. They were the keys, and we’ve been through all that before. They’ve carried on without a hitch. My All-Star catcher for years to come is McCann. Excuses usually don’t impress the fans, but the Braves must have led the league in pulled hamstrings, groins, tendons and rotators, and back spasms and ankles and wrists and some joints I didn’t even know people had. Are they brittle or out of shape? Then there was a heavy load of the wounded on the payroll, Mike Hampton in particular, Brian Jordan, John Thomson, and later, Horacio Ramirez, again.
It got so bad they were pulling guys in off the street. Ken Ray. Chad Paronto. Tyler Yates. Wayne Franklin. They went as far as Australia trying to find a live arm, the pharmaceutical salesman, Peter Moylan. The earned-run average wasn’t that bad in a season of ERA depression. But when John Smoltz got jolted again the other night, that was the sound of the last shoe dropping.
The infield at times was made up of guys who might have just got off the bus. Chipper and Marcus Giles couldn’t put many healthy games together. I won’t contend that Edgar Renteria was a disappointment, but he didn’t measure up to that particular brand of shortstopping established by Rafael Furcal. Made a lot of errors as well. He was happy to get out of Boston, but I’m not certain it was reflected in his season here. In the long run, the deal that sent Wilson Betemit to the Dodgers looks worse by the day, with Chipper Jones in and out of the infirmary.
There were some bright sides. Adam LaRoche, for instant, who showed up every day. Chuck James gave Atlanta a fresh impression of Mableton. He became the one starter they could count on, winner of nine of 12 decisions. Macay McBride established himself in the bullpen. I don’t know that anybody expected a .337 season out of Matt Diaz, including him, but he eventually became the left fielder. Oscar Villarreal got a few breaks that jacked up his record, but when you check in with a 9-1 record you don’t have to apologize for a 4.15 earned-run average.
If you care to have a look at a sort of ‘06 edition of the ‘05 Braves, turn south, brother. The Marlins charged onto the scene with a second baseman named Uggla, a pitcher named Anibal, an outfielder named Abercrombie, and there in the middle of the crowd, old Wes Helms, another one the Braves traded away. They picked up an outfielder named Cody Ross who had been turned away by both the Dodgers and Reds. He whacked two home runs in a game against the Braves, then three more against the Mets, a guy from nowhere.
The Braves get a chance to let some of their air out of their balloon later in the week, but small consolation that will be. On the other hand, who’s to wail and moan? Nothing is forever, even the AFLAC duck.
Permalink | Comments (28) | Post your comment | Categories: Braves / MLB, Furman Bisher
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By Greg
September 12, 2006 09:15 PM | Link to this
Bisher clearly is out of touch if he didn’t think something was missing from the Braves this spring. No closer. No setup man. And NO SPEED. Unless you have a killer lineup, you have to have speed to win consistently in the NL.
By aaron
September 12, 2006 10:14 PM | Link to this
what a sad season cant wait til next year. JS please i beg you dont be arrogant. it didnt work mannn . we need some changes. giles cant hit lead off face it ship him out .now i know we cant get rid of injury prone larry jones or just pay me mike hampton but we have some decent pitchers who can be traded. hudson giles ship em out ship em all out. get a hitting coach that can WORK with swing at anything that is thrownnnnn Francoeur. we need a leadoff guy and some guys who can get on base. no ton of strike outs please. please your the GM of the decade acty like it cuz your arrogance has cost us a chance to get into the post season. JS please get it done this is heart breaking to this brave fan i know you all feel me
By KJ
September 13, 2006 01:09 AM | Link to this
Brian Jordan getting injured was a blessing. It forced Cox to stop platooning LaRoche and he has really blossomed since the All-Star break. Not to mention Jordan stinking up the joint with 200-300 undeserved AB’s.
Dave O’Brien covered it in a recent article comparing Furcal & Renteria but the extra stolen bases Furcal has wasn’t worth the extra $7m in salary per year. Their numbers are almost identical.
By Harold
September 13, 2006 01:10 AM | Link to this
Once again, Furman Bisher is brilliant at hind sight
By Bear Bryant
September 13, 2006 02:06 AM | Link to this
Bisher,
Here’s a tip for you: John Schuerholz and Wally Butts conspired to throw the NL East.
Write it and lose another lawsuit.
By hop
September 13, 2006 03:36 AM | Link to this
the old adage is streaks don’t last forever and sadly for the braves theirs did not neither.
to bring the club back up to be contender in ‘07 will test JS skills as never before. the braves are getting old in some areas,but have youth movement that will fill some holes ,but need help in some others.
pitching both starting and bullpen need to be address, defense up the middle is not as strong, especially at SS and a new leadoff hitter is critical.
it is my guess the braves will not come close to matching the mets once again and they will win once aqain in 07.
By jed
September 13, 2006 03:50 AM | Link to this
Everybody says you can’t trade Chipper. I understand all that—injury-prone & $$ salary…BUT why can’t you trade him to an AL team that needs a DH? Wouldn’t that make sense??
By Head Coach
September 13, 2006 04:30 AM | Link to this
Yep , I kept asking myself at the end of spring training. How can this team compete with Reitsma for a closer and Giles as a leadoff hitter ? Add all the injuries on the pitching and it was a disaster waiting to happen. I have nothing against Renteria but he only replaced the SS position , not Furcal’s defense and speed. No team can compete in a nine inning game without a table setter to jumpstart the offense in the first inning and a lights out closer to finish the ninth inning. Francoeur said the obvious , they are a homerun hitting team and thats the problem. The offense is one dimensional and completely dependent on the longball. No speed or nearly enough littleball. the inability to hit and run , bunt , advance runners , put the ball in play. To many strikeouts and Chipper’s inability to stay healthy long enough to play anymore than a 100 games. Andruw is the streakhitter extrodinare , he strikeouts way to much and his .265 career batting AVG stinks. Then add in the blowpen , plus all the injuries and its no suprise this team has been below .500 for more than half the season(the entire second half). Schuerholz : Go find a leadoff hitter , resign Wickman and or Baez , stockpile all the pitching you can get your hands on and trade Giles for more bullpen help or a leadoff hitter. I dont suppose JS knows who Gregor Blanco is ????
By saywhat
September 13, 2006 08:36 AM | Link to this
Renteria “made a lot of errors,” huh? Renteria has 11 errors this year. Furcal has 24. I can’t possibly see how paying Furcal an extra $6-7M would have made this team better.
By ChampDawg
September 13, 2006 09:11 AM | Link to this
The team DOESN’T need a major overhaul. Blown saves and inconsistent starting pitching (esp. Hudson) are the difference in no playoffs and another NL east title. We don’t need to trade away the veterans… Chipper, Andruw, and Smoltz are the face of this franchise and balance with the younger guys. The offense is fine. Trade Giles, Jordan, Hudson, Pratt, etc. for pitching and some speed at the top of the lineup and we’ll be back in the race next season.
By Shaun
September 13, 2006 09:14 AM | Link to this
The reasons the Braves didn’t win this year, in no particular order:
1)Pitching injuries. Hampton, Thomson, Davies, Ramirez, Reitsma—true, none of them are Cy Young candidates. But all could give you solid innings, more solid than the pitchers the Braves were forced to rely on.
2) Going into the season without a good backup plan in the bullpen. Yes, injuries cost the Braves in this area. But they went into spring training with Reitsma as the closer and Devine as the possible set-up guy and “backup closer.” I know it was only a few games, but shouldn’t Schuerholz have known based on last season that Devine was a question mark? There had to be someone out there he could have signed besides Tyler Yates, Mike Remlinger, Ken Ray or Chad Paronto, or Wayne Franklin.
I don’t think it’s as bad as some fans think; the Braves still aren’t the Royals or Pirates or Cubs. And the streak had to end sometime. At least we still have plenty of young talent to rise again soon.
Maybe the Braves would be better off had Schuerholz traded some veterans like Maddux or Glavine a year before their contracts expired for some young talent on other teams. It’s hard to knock and nit-pick because every GM has weaknesses and he’s one of the best in history. But when’s the last time he raided another team’s farm system, ala Terry Ryan or Billy Beane? I know it’s a necessity for those teams, but it’s smart for any team.
Schuerholz may have sacrificed the streak, but if Terry Ryan could get Joe Nathan, Francisco Liriano and Boof Bonser for A.J. Pierzynski, imagine what Schuerholz could have gotten for Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine.
It’s kindof strange that Schuerholz trusts young players as much as any GM, but only trusts his own young players.
By Ken
September 13, 2006 09:17 AM | Link to this
Acknowledging all the problems mentioned to this point. BUT, if they had held the lead in only half of the games they led, the Braves would be 7 or 8 games up in the wild card instead of 5 down. If you make the playoffs, who knows what can happen. Then sportwrtiters would have been writing: “I knew the Braves had a championship team all along.”
By Shaun
September 13, 2006 09:23 AM | Link to this
Ken,
Good point. Yeah, many of those close losses were because of the bullpen but most close losses are just the result of bad luck. Teams show no consistency in winning or losing close games which is evidence that winning the close ones have nothing to do with ability.
By TG
September 13, 2006 11:40 AM | Link to this
Classic “Bravesthink” here - it couldn’t possibly be the Mets had the better team this year, it must be injuries and everything else. Face it, you got out GM’ed, out-managed, out trainered, out hustled and outplayed all year long.
Give the Mets a little credit, if anything have some class as the season ends.
By Gota love em
September 13, 2006 11:44 AM | Link to this
The braves had no closer, no left fielder, Jordan platooning at 1st, Pratt catching backup. We had a bullpen full of nobodies who could not pitch and the whole starting rotation was on the DL. Add Chipper and Giles who can’t stay healthy and its a club up for disaster. If the fans know this then JS certainly should have.
Instead of doing something he held tight with the no-talent players like Jordan and Langerhans. Added more inexperienced pen arms and let the dice fall where they may. He held onto the money that Chipper freed to sign nobody. He should have known that any change would have been better then doing nothing.
For the first time ever, I was embarrassed for the braves and this never should have happened. A tweek here and a slide there would have been wonderful. Like taking Giles out of the leadoff and using Renteria (35) steals in past could have worked. They did nothing to try to creat a break. Nothing, I got sick of it and turned them off. I might not turn them back on and I know I will let my season tickets sit this year. No purchase for me. I would rather get the flu.
By ugadawg
September 13, 2006 12:45 PM | Link to this
While I, too, was disappointed in Hudson’s performance this year, trading him would be ridiculous. If I was going to bet on any pitcher on the staff turning things around, it would be him. He signed here for less money than he could have commanded, and to trade him simply because he didn’t meet expectations this year would be a flat-out slap in the face.
That would take a lot of respectability away from the Braves organization, in my opinion.
By Stan
September 13, 2006 12:45 PM | Link to this
FOR THE LAST TIME… JOHN SCHUERHOLTZ IS NO MAGICIAN!!!
Last years team and this years team were built the same way… NOT for championships.
Last year the Braves won in spite of bad GM moves (Kolb, Jordan, Mondesi) through incredible good luck.
This year, the bad moves (no closer til July, trading Betemit for nothing) caught up as you can’t depend on incredible good luck.
Payroll, Injuries, rookies, etc. are not excuses… this team was built to play under .500.
THAT FALLS SQUARELY ON THE GM!
By wg
September 13, 2006 12:49 PM | Link to this
Hey champdawg. Who is going to take Jordaon (who is retiring) and or Pratt and give you anything for them? Do you think the rest of the gms are stupid. You sound like a New York (Mets and Yankees) fan. They all talk about dumping their crap and getting someone to give up good players in return. Pratt is fine. The most any backup catcher will play in a season (especially with an allstar in front of him) is once a week anyway. There is nobody on the team that you can get equal value for except maybe AJ and possibley Giles, but I certainly hope JS is not entertaining Coco Crisp for a replacement. They are not happy with him in Boston and he can’t lead off. Sign Wickman and Smoltz today and get it over with. The core of young players is exceptional and given some more experience, Langerhans could probably play center and pickup his production. He is the one young player that was probably brought up too soon. Don’t forget Kelly J. He is due back. Let’s get back to the winning formula. PITCHING, PITCHING, PITCHING.
By Phil
September 13, 2006 01:47 PM | Link to this
The Braves just had a whole lot of bad luck in 2006 which they were destined run into at some point. I still think the talent is there and in 2007 they should be back with just a little tweaking here and there. We have the makings of a very good offense, especially if Chipper ever stayed healthy. Hampton will come back next season and be of great help. A rotation of Smoltz-C. James, Hampton, Hudson and someone would be better than anyone else in our division. The bullpen pitched much better in the 2nd half, lets just hope they can resign Wickman or bring in a replacement. I dont think Baez is closer material though he’d be a good MR if they chose to keep him. The team traded Betemit in order not to just get a reliever but to also acquire Aybar, whom they thought could be a future lead-off hitter. Anyway the team’s not in bad shape at all like some what make them out to be. Keep your head up, we’ll be back and hungry next year.
By The Man
September 13, 2006 02:29 PM | Link to this
Furman Bisher likes men.
By Jonathan Lowery
September 13, 2006 03:26 PM | Link to this
“Edgar Renteria was a disappointment” - After I read this I didn’t need to read anymore!!
That has to be the most ridiculous statement I have read in a while. I think MOST fans would agree that McCann and Renteria have been our most consistant players ALL season.
Maybe we’re not watching the same team.
By Adam
September 13, 2006 03:37 PM | Link to this
Losing once in a while isn’t always bad. The Braves have won so much in the past 14 years and haven’t always had the team that should have won. They understand that talent alone doesn’t make a team a winner. To be honest, they had no business winning the division last year, but because the Braves do the little things well and Cox understands the “big picture” they pulled it off. This year the big mistake which everyone seems to agree with was going into the season with the idea that the bullpen will “take care of itself” like it always has in the past.
I would bet top dollar that going into next year the Braves will have learned from this season and the bullpen will not be such an issue. Injuries have also played a big role this year. Every team deals with them, but the Braves injuries happened to spots in the pitching staff where there wasn’t much backup.
By Train Wreck Bystander
September 13, 2006 03:37 PM | Link to this
Renteria has been one of the bright spots this season.
You just put that in there to see if anyone was reading, didn’t you?
By SF BravesFan
September 13, 2006 03:38 PM | Link to this
I must differ with Bisher regarding Renteria. Renteria (until the last few weeks) has been a model of professionalism, consistency and one of the top Braves players in 2006. He has been a more consistent fielder than Furcal (11 vs 24 errors)and while not the roadrunner, has adequate speed. I love Renteria’s plate discipline—pitch selection, hits to right field, moving runners. His skills are the ones that so many other young Braves need to observe and emulate (since it is obvious that Pendleton is unable to do so). Oh yes, Renteria saved us $7MM this year. He has my vote.
By batrol
September 13, 2006 04:58 PM | Link to this
Why does Bisher even bother writing this crap? I would rather read Terrence Moore’s racist ramblings than this. It appears ol’ Furman didn’t watch too many games this year.
By ChopTalk
September 13, 2006 06:10 PM | Link to this
Renteria lots of errors? Are you crazy? He only has 11, and has been a solid 300 avg. hitter in ‘06. Not to mention he is in contention for comeback play of the year. He has been an asset not a liability.
By Jack
September 13, 2006 07:01 PM | Link to this
It’s time to get rid of the Chop!
Stop the Chop!
By Head Coach
September 14, 2006 01:35 AM | Link to this
Furman didnt call Renteria a disappointment , he compared him to Furcal. Yes , Renteria has had a fine season and is a candidate for the comeback player of the year. But , no he isnt a leadoff hitter and lacks the arm and defensive range of Furcal. Nor does he have the speed and baserunning ability of Furcal. I think what furman is trying to say is : Renteria replaced the SS but not the leadoff hitter.