AJC > Sports > Columnists > Archives > 2007 > October > 02
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
Braves make big mistake letting Andruw go
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Terence Moore
Bad move.
Terrible move.
Actually, this is an atrocious move for the Braves, because manager Bobby Cox had it right for eternity when he said of Andruw Jones, who ranks 1a, 1b or 1c among baseball’s center fielders for the ages, “He has RBIs in his glove.”
It didn’t matter that Jones often looked ridiculous for long stretches after swinging and missing at pitches in search of reaching the farthest dark hole. Who cared that his batting average spent two seasons going south instead of north? No, he wasn’t much in the clutch this year, and yes, his agent is Scott Boras, the bogeyman for teams wishing to sign one of Boras’ clients below the amount of the national debt.
And, yes, the Braves can ease some of the post-Jones trauma with the signing of free agent Torii Hunter, the former center fielder and slugger for the Minnesota Twins. He also has a magic glove, and even though he can’t slug with Jones, he is more consistent at the plate with his ability to sustain hitting streaks.
That said, with the new folks at Liberty Media claiming they are willing to increase the payroll, the Braves’ Designated Geniuses should have discovered ways to acquire much-needed starting pitching while keeping Jones. In fact, Jones was part of the solution regarding that starting pitching. He is the hidden reason the Braves produced Cy Glavine, Cy Smoltz and Cy Maddux, along with all of those consecutive years of team ERAs that ranked first or second in baseball. He caught everything. He threw out everybody. He made the spectacular routine. He did so through an 11th year with the Braves that will produce a 10th Gold Glove, but management will shove Jones out the door by allowing him to become a free agent while yawning.
Well, mostly yawning. As a lifetime Braves player who contributed heavily to the franchise’s record 14 consecutive division titles, Braves officials will continue to say nice things about Jones as they wave good-bye. Still, the bottom line remains: He’s gone, and he’s only 30, and history comes to mind. Not in a good way, especially if the baseball gods wish to spank the Braves for their short-sightedness.
Consider 1966. That was the first year Frank Robinson played for the Baltimore Orioles, and it was the first year of David Justice’s life.
Let’s start with Robinson, the undisputed star of the Cincinnati Reds for nearly a decade. He was traded to the Orioles for nothing worth mentioning before that 1966 season, because Reds owner Bill DeWitt said Robinson was “an old 30.” All that a creaky Robinson did in his first season with the Orioles was take the American League’s Triple Crown Award, lead them to their first world championship and grab World Series MVP honors. He eventually pushed the Orioles to three more pennants and another world championship (over the Reds), and then trotted to Cooperstown from there.
As for Justice, the batting hero of the Atlanta Braves’ only world championship in 1995, he suffered a shoulder injury early during that next season, and then he was dealt to the Cleveland Indians before the following year for nothing worth mentioning.
He was …
That’s right, 30.
Justice immediately slugged the Indians to their second World Series in three years. He later joined the New York Yankees, where he became the MVP of the AL championship series before helping to lead the pinstripe bunch to another world championship. When he ended his career with a playoff trip with the Oakland A’s, he had reached the playoffs six times after his trade from the Braves. He also retired as the all-time postseason leader in games played, at bats, extra-base hits, runs, hits, total bases, walks and RBIs.
This isn’t to say Jones will become Robinson or even Justice during his post-Braves career.
This is to say why even take the chance?
Permalink | Comments (172) | Categories: Braves / MLB, Terence Moore
Falcons’ new No. 1 trumps ex-backup
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Furman Bisher
Commenting for this blog will open on Wednesday morning:
Fate, as it turns out, does indeed have a sense of humor, acidic though it may be. Here they were, two quarterbacks in the crosshairs. Matt Schaub, traded away last March for two draft choices; and Joey Harrington, hired to fill the hole Michael Vick left in the Falcons’ scheme of things. It was pure irony.
All those seasons Schaub had spent patiently waiting for the chance that was never going to come. He was 26 years old, going on 27, which was Vick’s age. How long could a fellow be expected to suffer in silence? Then out of the blue came the trade. He was now offensive foreman in his own shop. Then within a month, all hell broke loose, catastrophe in Surry County, Va., and you know the rest of that diabolical mess.
Just before all this splashed across the board, this elderly columnist had written a theme suggesting that the Falcons had traded the wrong quarterback to Houston. Should have been Vick. It was done with tongue inserted into cheek, well aware that such a trade would never have been possible, with all the contractual baggage Vick represented. And said so. “Preposterous,” was the word I used.
Had nothing to do with any inkling I’d had, or any nightmare. Mostly concern about all the red flags flying over Vick’s head, an accumulation of them in his time here. He was even giving VapoRub a bad name. Owner Arthur Blank was too heavily invested to have any exit available. Besides, how was he to have even any underground knowledge of Vick’s absorption with fighting dogs. (Just for safety sake, considering our nervous newspaper, I should insert “alleged.”)
I didn’t get much mileage out of it, beyond the sniping from those sports orators, but what else did I expect? Five months later, word merchants are still barking about it in our precinct. That’s OK, a hazard of the trade. Just delirious that I could be of such interest.
Then by pure coincidence, what should happen? The Texans came calling on Sunday afternoon at the Georgia Dome.
Schaub vs. Harrington in a pass-off. As it turned out, our guy got the best of their guy. (No cheering in the press box, please.) Harrington was the winning pitcher, and it should have been two in a row had it not been for the tantrums of DeAngelo Hall in the Carolina game. Against the Texans, Hall was a perfect gamesman, sat out his penalty in the first quarter, then was noticeable mainly by his inactivity the rest of the way. The stats sheet showed he had one tackle.
Harrington, meanwhile, was having his day — 23 completions out of 29 passes for 223 yards and two touchdowns. Good day’s work even for Brett Favre. That gave him a rating of 121.7 for the day, whatever that means. I never have been able to fathom that rating thing.
Schaub wasn’t having a bad day, but in all fairness, he was operating without his three leading receivers and his main man running the ball, Ahman Green. (And let me say this about Ron Dayne, the backup: There is no trace of a Heisman Award winner in him.) Schaub has the stronger arm, no question. He has a cannon, and he did launch one pass that covered 45 yards. But if you believe in ratings, he fell 20 points short of the Duck from Oregon.
Best part of it all was getting to see Bobby Petrino get on the winning side, after all the troubles he has seen. Caught up in a maelstrom of bad news and controversy, a balm to his tortured psyche. “We needed that,” he said. But, “I’d rather get more touchdowns than so many field goals.”
He held the game ball Blank had presented him, and he looked somewhat like a little boy who’d just won his high school game. He isn’t a big fellow, but you don’t measure a coach’s efficiency by size. Don’t forget, two times at Carroll College, in Montana, he was the NAIA All-American quarterback, and you don’t do that being nice and easy.
Well, it’s over. The Falcons have met Schaub, and the Falcons have won, and maybe that settles that. Our guy Harrington has the Falcons even with the Bears and ahead of the Chargers. Pretty good for a guy picked up on the fly.
Permalink | | Categories: Falcons / NFL, Furman Bisher
Glavine’s still got game
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Jeff Schultz
THE TUESDAY COUNTDOWN…
10: Say this for Tom Glavine: When he ends a relationship, he takes a statistical wrecking a ball to that sucker.
9: Tommy G’s final two starts with the Braves came in the 2002 playoffs: He lost both, allowing 13 earned runs on 17 hits and seven walks in 7 2/3 innings (ERA: 15.26). Glavine’s final three starts with the New York Mets: 0-2, 17 earned runs (including four home runs) on 25 hits in 10 1/3 innings (ERA: 14.81). So much for the goal of leaving them wanting more.
8: OK, that said, yes, Glavine would still be an asset to the Braves. Putting aside all of the warm-and-fuzziness of Glavine retiring as a Brave, we’re not about an objective of him being a staff ace. Given what we all saw this season, is there really a belief that he’s not good enough to be a No. 3 or possibly 4 starter in this rotation for one season? He threw 200 1/3 innings this season. His arm was dead at the end. But 200 1/3 innings would’ve ranked third on the Braves’ staff, right behind John Smoltz (205 2/3), and way ahead of Chuck James (161 1/3). What would that have meant for the rotation? And the bullpen? And playoff chances?
7: Do agents and defense attorneys hang together at Starbucks the day God hands out a conscience? I mean, how does Leigh Steinberg, Ricky Williams’ agent, say, “Ricky is extremely excited about the prospect of playing in the NFL again,” without his head exploding? Ricky Williams hasn’t been excited about playing since the last time his baggie was empty and he searched between the couch cushions for stray seeds.
6: I sat with my daughter the other day, drinking “Smart Water” while watching “The Hills.” The water never had a shot.
5: The NHL has trouble getting attention in the United States. So the league decided to open the season in London. Well. That makes sense. I figured between the loss of an ESPN contract and post-lockout fallout that the NHL couldn’t fall further off the radar, but Gary Bettman met the challenge. Raise your hand if you realized two NHL games already have been played.
4: Back to the Braves: I understand the need to improve the pitching. But does anybody realize the team actually finished third in the National League in team earned run average (4.11) but only 11th in fielding?
3: How important is team ERA? If this season proves anything, it’s that there’s no automatic formula. Chicago finished second and Arizona fourth in team ERA. But Colorado was eighth and Philadelphia 13th. Batting average? Colorado was first, Arizona 16th. Defense? Colorado was first, Arizona eighth. Now, if a GM can build a team that goes .500 most of the year and then 14-1 down the stretch, you’ve got a chance.
2: Kobe Bryant showed up for the first day of Lakers’ training camp and said his off-season comments criticizing management and demanding a trade “were misconstrued.” Bryant never specified which of his comments on the 27 ESPN shows he went on “were misconstrued,” but I’m sure he’ll get around to it.
1: Coming next week: Kobe Bryant on “The Hills.”
Permalink | Comments (55) | Categories: Jeff Schultz, Quick Hit
