How do you put a red tag in Tom Glavine's locker?

Dear Frank Wren,


I know you are new at this job. This team is mostly the work of your predecessor and you cannot be entirely to blame for the Braves being 26-26 (I guess you really can't be given the credit either). Also, you were not the GM during the run of 14 straight division titles. You may not be entirely familiar with the team from that era. I can sum up the team for you in 6 names: Bobby Cox, Chipper Jones, Greg Maddux, John Smoltz, Tom Glavine, and Leo Mazzone. You may know Bobby and Chipper as they are still your manager and third baseman, respectively. There were others than were part of that run, integral members even, however to Braves fans everywhere - those 6 names are the Mount Rushmore of Atlanta baseball (perhaps with Hank Aaron thrown in as well). This spring you lost out on bidding for John Smoltz to the Boston Red Sox. Fans were a bit upset, but understanding that these are tough economic times, Smoltz certainly doesn't need the money, and after all you tried. You offered him a contract. Then you redeemed yourself and re-signed Tom Glavine for one more year. It was a smart deal, requiring Tom to make it to the majors before the incentives kicked in. Tom was looking at off season surgery and is 43 years old. If he wasn't going to make a full recovery from surgery you weren't on the hook for millions of dollars.
Let's fast forward to this spring when you were faced with Tim Hudson not coming back until mid-season and Glavine being delayed at least a month as he recovered from surgery. At this point Tommy Hanson, the greatest pitching prospect since Phil Hughes (ok bad example there) was throwing the cover off the ball in spring training. However, you decided to start him in AAA. You can claim you wanted Tommy to gain more experience all you want - but everyone who knows baseball knows that the Matt Wieters', David Price's, and Tommy Hanson's of the world are not brought up at the beginning of seasons to allow another year before they are arbitration eligible. Its a weird rule that I am sure saves the club money, but has absolutely nothing to do with baseball. This is the guy you wouldn't trade for Jake Peavy, he was in the minors with a sub 2.00 ERA and he was being left to dominate AAA hitters so the Braves could get another year of his services at a discount.

Ok Mr Wren - so far I am with you. These have all been shrewd moves to help a team with a smaller pay-role compete. Then you went and cut Tom Glavine and ruined everything. Yesterday, after throwing eleven scoreless innings in the minors Tom Glavine was cut by the Atlanta Braves. That's right Mr. Wren, you decided to chop off a face from Mount Rushmore. It would have cost the Braves 1 million dollars when he was called up and another 1.5 million if he stayed up in the majors for 30 days. Tom had done everything you had asked of him. He had signed the incentive laden contract. He was 43 and had surgery to repair his arm. He went to the minors and rehabbed exceedingly well. And then this guy, who has won 305 games, who is responsible his fair share of the 14 straight division titles, who has been a model citizen in Atlanta for nearly 20 years, was shown the door.

And naturally, that's when you decide to call up Tommy Hanson, the same day you cut Tommy Glavine. I know your staff is doing well, but you can't tell me there isn't room on that 25 man roster for a guy who has thrown 11 scoreless innings in the minors and is on Mount Rushmore of your team.

You simply don't cut this guy. Never. He leaves and retires when he is ready. Look at Boston - Big Papi isn't hitting his weight, hell he isn't hitting Dustin Pedroia's weight, but each day Terry Franconia puts him in the lineup. He has earned the right to decide when its time.

Congratulations Frank, you took what should be the most exciting start of the season for the Braves, Tommy Hanson's debut, and thrown it under the rubble by cutting a HOFer on the same day.

If you want I am sure many teams will take Chipper Jones off your hands for a player to be named later.

Best of luck down the stretch,
No Run Support

Thinking unconventionally late in games

I was at the Braves/Diamondbacks game last Friday. The Braves won 4-3 and scored the walk off run in the bottom of the 9th on a Yunel Escobar sac fly. Right before the winning run was scored, AJ Hinch had a chance to make an unconventional managerial move that I think should be standard practice.

The situation:

Tie game (3-3) bottom of the 9th inning.
Braves have the bases loaded and there are no outs.
On third is Jordan Schafer. If you know the Braves you know Schafer is the fastest guy on the team (also you are impressed he was actually on base).

At this point AJ Hinch visited the mound to talk to his pitcher. This was the perfect opportunity to bring in a 5th infielder to cut down the run at the plate. Hinch did nothing, and Yunel Escobar hit a routine fly to center that Schaffer tagged on and won the game.

The ending of the game proves my point for me, there is really very little chance of the batter hitting a fly ball shallow enough that the outfielder can throw him out, but deep enough that the infielder can't make the play. This is really the only reason you have outfielders at this point - for the very rare case of the in-between blooper. By bringing in another infielder you cut down on the number of ground balls that get through in the infield. You already have the infield drawn in, increases the chances a ball get through, to cut down the run at the plate, why not give yourself another glove? Would it have changed this game? No, not at all. But I would argue that it would save many more games than it would cost. You rarely see this from a seasoned manager, let alone a 37 year old under qualified guy who has only been on the job a few weeks, so I understand why Hinch went with convention. But the non-convention may have saved him the game.

If enough managers do this and it starts saving games it will become conventional wisdom. There is a similar evolution occurring in the NBA when teams are up by 3 with little time left on the clock, they foul the other team before they can get a shot off. Its a bit counter intuitive, but its the right move to make, and someday so will bringing in the 5th infielder.

Naming names...

Why do we accept some forms of cheating and not others in baseball?

Stealing signs, doctoring the baseball, selling a catch on a trapped ball in the outfield are all common tactics seen in baseball over the years.

The Giants won the 1951 pennant on the "Shot heard round the world" by Bobby Thompson. In reading several books and articles recently it seems that the Giants almost certainly cheated and stole signs during the season. This wasn't the typical staring at the third base coach and figuring out the indicator (which by the way was common practice on both my high school and college team). They had a telescope in center-field picking up the catcher's signs. The Giants actually had an employee relay the signs and tip off the hitters. Despite this known cheating, I challenge anyone to not get goose bumps when they hear the scratchy radio call of, "The Giants win the pennant! The Giants win the pennant!"


Gaylord Perry, a 1991 Hall of Fame Inductee, wrote a book entitled "Me and the Spitter: an autobiographical confession." Throwing a spitball is illegal. It gives the pitcher an unfair advantage. Perry admitted to cheating and no one seems to have any issue. Could you imagine if Mark McGwire wrote a book entitled: "Me and the Roid's: How I juiced my way to 62 and beyond" (by the way, how great of a title is that?). Do you think it may hinder his HOF chances? Considering he only garnered 21.9% of the vote in 2009. This was a man who saved baseball in 1998. And has NEVER been convicted of anything. And has NEVER admitted anything. Do I think Big Mac took some illegal substances? Sure, I am not naive and I wasn't born yesterday. I am willing to be tthat Big Mac, Clemens, Bonds, Sosa, Tejada, Pudge, and the like all took some sort of PED. And I know Pettite, Giambi, Manny, and A-rod did.

You may be asking, Jacob what's your point?

Throwing a spitter is exactly like steroids, it gives on player an unfair advantage over another player. I would argue that throwing the spitter is actually a worse offense because you are physically altering a ball that is in the game. The problem is with the public perception. We understand the spitter, or at least the basic advantages a spitter gives you. It makes the ball move more than a normal ball, it breaks sharper and gives the pitcher an advantage. We have absolutely no idea what steroids do. Bonds, McGwire, Clemens - all of these guys were at the top of their game before steroids. And there are plenty of convicted steroid users that never even made the majors. Our problem is we have no way to quantify the contribution of steroids to a player's career. And baseball is a game obsessed with counting everything. There is also the problem of damage to one's body and providing a good role model for children etc, etc. But for the on field changes, we have no idea what steroids do to a person's baseball ability. And so we have decided to get upset, and black-list everyone who has ever been whispered to be associated with the roids. No HOF for them. This is beyond terrible. This is what McCarthy did to suspected Commies back in the day and we are doing it with ball players today. People are guilty until it can be proven beyond a reasonable doubt and that is no way for America's past time to do business.

Look I have no problem with people getting upset and shunning all cheaters in baseball. But, you have to ban all cheaters. Everyone who throws the spitter, steals a sign, lies about their age, tips pitches to the other team, uses and PED, uses any other illegal drugs, etc., etc. We cannot pick and choose which cheaters to ban and which to embrace. You have to get as upset about Kenny Rogers using some sort of illegal substance in the WS in 2006 as you do about Barry Bonds hitting 73 home runs under questionable circumstances.

There's really nothing like seeing a guy realize he's not done yet

The title of this post is a quote from Sports Nite - and today it applies perfectly to Dontrelle Willis. The Tigers traded for Willis last year and to say he's a disappointment would be a bit of an understatement. He has been a colossal failure on the mound. He walked everyone, he couldn't find his fast ball. All the critics of the trade snickered as his ERA was 9.38 in 8 games for the Tigers last year. He spent most of last season in the minors working on his delivery, his control, and his head. There are not many, if any, former Cy Young award winners who would take a minor league assignment. And even fewer who would take it seriously. This spring was supposed to be the re-birth of the D-train. He was going back to the care-free, fun loving, crazy windup throwing lefty we have all come to love. And then the pressure seemed to get to him. He was placed on the DL for anxiety (which tops Joel Zumaya's guitar hero injury as the strangest DL trips for a Tigers pitcher I can remember). Once again Willis met the challenge with determination and a smile. He has thrown well at several stops in the minors and tonight is taking the ball for the Tigers against the Twins. If he falls apart again, this may be the end of his career. There are only so many opportunities a guy can have. However, if he can regain his form, his control, and his confidence - there's really nothing like seeing a guy realize he's not done yet. Usually it goes the other way. Here's hoping the D-train gets it back on the tracks.

Mr Gallardo, you are all that is man.

Score from Wednesday April 29th.

Final Brewers 1, Pirates 0
WP: Y. Gallardo (3-1) S: C. Villanueva (2)
LP: I. Snell (1-3)
HR: MIL - Y. Gallardo (2)

Yovani Gallardo did all he could to put the "I" in team. His final stats for the night 8.0 IP 2 H 11 Ks. Oh, and he hit a solo homerun when his team won 1-0. Basically the Brewers other 8 players combined to make 16 defensive outs and not much else. I heard this was only the 4th time in the past 100 years when a pitcher struck out over 10, hit a homer, and won 1-0. In the midst of NBA and NHL playoffs this game has gotten a bit lost. Sadly, Yovani is always going to have an * next to his name in the record book - since his opponent was the Pirates.

Enjoy the weekend games!

Long live the bird and other thoughts...

I apologize for the delays in postings. Life got busy and sadly the blog is the first thing I drop when things get busy. I have had many thoughts from the first few weeks of the season and I will try to summarize here as best I can.

1. Mark Fidrych passed away earlier this month. Fidrych had two great seasons for the Tigers in the late 70s. Often I have been asked which player in history would I have most liked to have seen from the past. There are many great answers the Babe, Jackie Robinson, Willie Mays, would all be acceptable answers. However, my answer has always been Mark Fidrych in 1976. He went 19-9 for a terrible Tigers team. His starts became rock concerts. He would sell out the stadium and deliver a fantastic performance.

2. Speaking of the Tigers - so far so good. No one is going to run away with the AL Central, and for the first month the Tigers have risen to the top of the mediocrity. Brandon Inge is hitting, and finally getting noticed for playing unreal defense at third. Seriously, every-time watch baseball tonight he has a Web Gem. The guy has a cannon and great great hands - which makes for a great third baseman.

3. Of all the teams that are playing above their heads KC, Toronto, Pittsburgh, and Sand Diego, I believe that Toronto has the best chance to sustain this level of play. The rest of the division is worse than everyone thought and we are just now learning how great of a manager Cito Gaston really is.

4. Enjoy the games this week. Game of the week: Saturday 3:55 pm Tigers vs Indians on Fox. Cumberland's finest, Aaron Laffey, faces the Tigers in Mo-town.

Look for more posts coming soon.

0-2... eight straight times.

The first Saturday baseball game on Fox was fantastic. Red Sox just beat the Angels 5-4. The last out of the game was a classic. With bases loaded and two outs Papelbon and Howie Kendrick embarked on a classic battle. Any base hit would win the game for the Angels, any out and the game would go to the Sox. Papelbon started Kendrick with two consecutive sliders which put Kendrick in a quick 0-2 hole. Kendrick then proceeded to foul off the next seven 0-2 offerings. That's right seven. This was great drama for a game in April.

I have put some thought into this from Papelbon's side, and I think I like it. (Kendrick did all he could fouling of seven tough pitches before stroking a ball right to end the game).

I know you never want to give the hitter anything to hit when you have them 0-2. Especially with the bases load. Especially with 2-outs in the ninth with a one run lead. However, I like the mentality from a closer - here is comes - bet you can't hit it. Ok, you fouled it off, here it comes again. And again. And again. And again. And again. And again. And again. Game over.

Other thoughts as we wrap up the first week of the season:

- The Blue Jays may be a bit better than people have given them credit for. Also, the Indians may be a bit worse.

- I was talking to my friend, who is a Braves fan. We were discussing the Braves giving up 8 seventh inning runs turning a 10-3 lead into an 11-10 deficit and eventual 12-11 loss. I think he had the right mentality: Every bullpen is going to blow some games. You might as well get all of the kinks out in one night. Think of the Seinfeld episode when George wants to get fired from the Yankees. He not only wants to get fired, He wants to go out with a bang, with people proclaiming, "Wow, now that guy got canned." Same mentality from Philly earlier this week, "Wow that bullpen blew a lead!" Anything worth doing is worth doing right.

- Currently, I watching Kawakami's first major league start for Atlanta. He is down 1-0 going into the bottom of the second. The game should be 0-0. Jeff Francoeur had Ryan Zimmerman thrown out at the plate, but Brian McCann moved too far in front of the plate to receive the throw. There should be a stat for this. The other stat I want: Hitters batting 8th in the order in the NL. The situation - they come to bat with two-out and nobody on base. If they reach base they allow the pitcher to bat and turn the order over for the next inning. This is quietly a big deal through the season. Willie Harris just did this for the Nationals, who will now have the top of their order up in the third, instead of Lannan leading off. Its always the little things.