Archive for the ‘baseball’ Category
May 2012 Milwaukee Brewers: Not Hitting on All Cylinders
As I write this, the Milwaukee Brewers are losing, 5-4, in the bottom of the 11th inning against the Minnesota Twins; so far, they’ve lost three in a row and are at the bottom of the National League Central Division standings. But even if they win this game, the Brewers obviously aren’t firing on all thrusters just yet (or hitting on all cylinders, either; take your pick of clichés). They aren’t hitting well, fielding well, pitching all that well, and their baserunning is suspect.
Now, as former Brewers first base coach Davey Nelson said last night on Brewers Extra Innings on WTMJ-AM 620 radio last evening (he was host Dan O’Donnell’s guest), it’s difficult to win games when you can’t hit, pitch, or field. (Nelson put it a bit more diplomatically, but this is the substance of what he said.) A caller added that the Brewers couldn’t run the bases overly well, either, as even big stars like Ryan Braun and Corey Hart have made odd baserunning errors in recent days; Nelson then added poor baserunning to his assessment.
All I could do when I heard this was laugh.
As for today’s game, it’s now over. With two outs in the bottom of the 11th, the Brewers had the light-hitting Cesar Izturis up, and all he could do was send a line-out to the shortstop. Brewers lose, 5-4, due to a home run hit by the light-hitting Twins SS Trevor Plouffe (he had been hitting .143 before he hit the game-winning HR in the top of the 11th).
At any rate, today’s game featured some clutch hitting by Ryan Braun and Aramis Ramirez, and some good table setting by Nyjer Morgan and Corey Hart. But it also featured two errors (one odd one by RF Hart where he may have lost the ball in the sun; he should’ve caught the ball in foul territory, but it instead bounced off his glove), some questionable baserunning, and a dearth of clutch hitting as six Brewers were left on base.
The Brewers have now lost four in a row, twice to the lowly Twins, twice to the lowly Astros. Their current record is 16-24; they are one game ahead of the Chicago Cubs due to the fact that the Cubs haven’t yet played their game against the White Sox so the Cubs’ record is currently 15-24. Most likely, the Brewers will be in last place again tomorrow. (The Twins’ record has improved to 14-26 due to their two wins over the Brewers.)
I don’t know what the Brewers can do at this point to improve as a team, except work on fundamentals such as bunting, baserunning, and fielding. Rickie Weeks is hitting well below .200, while Aramis Ramirez is stuck in the low .200s; these two hitters were expected to do far better than they’ve done thus far. (Even with Ramirez’s well-known penchant for slow season starts, he was still expected to have more than 21 RBI at this point.) Even the guys who are hitting, like Braun, catcher Jonathan Lucroy (a surprising .333), Nori Aoki, and Corey Hart (hitting only .252, but with 8 HR and 18 RBI, which is fourth-best on the team), can’t make up for the guys who aren’t doing much of anything.
Brewers manager Ron Roenicke says that the Brewers need to show more personality on the field, basically blaming the whole clubhouse for being quiet and reserved. I’m not certain how showing more personality would win games, considering the 1962 Mets had loads of personality, yet won only 40 games. But that’s Roenicke’s story and he’s sticking to it.
The usual way to fire up a team is to fire the manager, but the Brewers gave Roenicke a two-year contract extension earlier this season so that’s highly unlikely to happen. The second way would be to fire a coach — perhaps pitching coach Rick Kranitz, as the Brewers’ team ERA is 5.20 — horrible — and the Brewers are dead last in the majors in this particular statistic (which probably is the main reason they’re not winning too many games). Individual pitchers, such as Zack Greinke or Shaun Marcum among the starters, or Kameron Loe and to an extent Manny Parra among the relievers, have been OK; it’s the fact that others who were expected to do well like Yovani Gallardo have done very poorly that has caused the team ERA to balloon up.
The Brewers need to get something going in some area. Whether it’s clutch hitting, fielding, pitching (definitely pitching) or baserunning, the Brewers need to improve. Until or unless it does, the Brewers will remain mired in the bottom of the NL Central.
May Baseball: Brewers in Extras, Rottino Sent Back to AAA
Currently, as of 11:56 PM on Friday, May 11, 2012, the Milwaukee Brewers are tied with the Chicago Cubs, 7-7. They’re about to go to the thirteenth inning; all position players and all non-starting pitchers have been used, with the only two players available being starting pitchers Yovani Gallardo (who pitched two days ago) and Marco Estrada (who’s supposed to pitch Sunday), which leaves Brewers reserve pitcher Vinnie Chulk as the pitcher of record . . . this is a game, believe it or not, where the Brewers were ahead, 1-0, until the top of the seventh inning.
All of that sturm und drang, though, pales in comparison to the latest twist of the Vinny Rottino saga. Rottino was called up by the New York Mets on May 4, 2012, played in three games, went 0 for 4 during that time, and now has been sent back to AAA Buffalo. The main reason Rottino was sent down is that Mets IF Ronny Cedeno was reinstated from the 15-day DL.
Some of what Rottino is dealing with has to do with being the 26th guy on a 25 man roster; that is, he’s good enough to play in the majors, though probably not every day, and the Mets know this or they’d never have called him up. They also have to know that Rottino is a guy who does better if he plays every day or every other day — that doesn’t mean he’ll never stick in the majors, but the timing has to be right for him.
Rottino’s career, thus far, seems to be plagued by bad timing. This, of course, is entirely out of Rottino’s control. All Rottino can do is prepare himself, persist, and hit the cover off the ball at Buffalo. If he does this, let’s hope the right opportunity will finally arise as Rottino truly deserves it.
By the way, the Brewers are now batting in the bottom of the 13th inning. The game’s still tied, 7-7. The Cubs are now out of relief pitchers and have used their very last player, catcher Geovany Soto, off the bench. Rickie Weeks got hit on the left wrist and may have hurt himself badly; he can’t get the batting glove off his hand and is wincing in pain. Ryan Braun is about to bat; let’s hope he can end this game so the Brewers can find out what’s wrong with Weeks already.
UPDATE: Braun, too, was hit by a pitch (in the back); the Cubs final reliever, Lendy Castillo, was wild and didn’t get warned. Aramis Ramirez lined a single into center, then came the hero of the day night — Corey Hart. Hart had already hit a 2 R HR in the 9th to tie the game at 7, then hit a seeing-eye single that drove in the eighth and final run for the Brewers. Brewers win, 8-7; Hart goes 4 for 7 with a HR, double, and two singles, and drove in 3. Chulk gets the win (his first win since August 19, 2007 in the majors); he’s 1-0.
Monday Odds and Ends
Today’s post contains a number of quick updates. (Ready, set . . . go!)
First, Milwaukee Brewers SS Alex Gonzalez, after being placed on the 15-day DL on May 6, 2012, found out that he tore his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL); Gonzalez will now be out for the entire year. This might not seem so bad, except for the fact that Gonzalez is the third Brewers player to go down with a season-ending injury, joining first baseman Mat Gamel and pitcher Chris Narveson on the long-term disabled list.
Second, the Wisconsin recall primaries are tomorrow, May 8, 2012. Please get out there and vote; remember that in the 21st district, the only real Democrat is former state Senator John Lehman. In the gubernatorial primary, the four real Ds are Tom Barrett, Kathleen Falk, Doug LaFollette, and Kathleen Vinehout.
Third, I’m attempting to broaden my horizons regarding digital publications, as I’ve joined a workshop toward that end. While I still hope to find a publisher (or at least an agent) this year, it’s important to learn everything I can about e-publishing in case I do decide to go that route.
That’s about it — now, I’d best get back to editing (as a non-fiction manuscript I’ve been working on with two writers is due to be turned in later this week).
Baseball Round-up: Brewers News, Rottino Called Up by Mets
Folks, if I were a member of the Milwaukee Brewers organization, I’d be panicking right now. After first losing P Chris Narveson, then 1B Mat Gamel to season-ending injuries, the Brewers have placed CF Carlos Gomez on the 15-day DL. Now, the Brewers probably will have to place SS Alex Gonzalez on the DL as well, because today he slid into second base attempting to steal, and had to be assisted off the field.
****************
UPDATE: Tom Haudricourt points out in today’s game blog at the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel online that this is the fourth consecutive day where a Brewers player has exited the game (Gamel, Braun, Gomez, and now Gonzalez). MLB.com Brewers beat writer Adam McCalvy wrote that Gonzalez will be going to the DL as of tomorrow, and said that 3B Taylor Green and SS Edwin Maysonet (here’s his prior major league statistics; he’s a lifetime .276 hitter in very limited play) will be called up from AAA Nashville. Green can play 2B, 1B, and possibly the OF; Maysonet also plays 2B.
Note that this update doesn’t change my initial assessment about who’s going to play the outfield, now that there’s only three healthy outfielders (Corey Hart, Norichika Aoki, and Nyjer Morgan), with Braun playing anyway due to an Achilles injury.
This also doesn’t change my initial assessment regarding first base, either; right now we have Travis Ishikawa and Brooks Conrad, who aren’t good long-term solutions. It might be better for Braun and the Brewers if he must continue to play despite his injury to be shifted to first base. Braun came up as a third baseman, knows the infield, and is the best athlete on the club, so this might not be so onerous as it might appear.
That way, Corey Hart could be put in CF as he has good speed and is blessed with the best arm (outside of Braun, who is ailing) in the outfield. Morgan could be put in RF (possibly platooning with Conrad, who’s a better OF than he is at 1B), and Aoki, who has a very suspect arm despite his excellent speed, in left field.
Now, back to my regularly scheduled post.
*****************
The player who really could’ve helped them right now is 32-year-old utilityman Vinny Rottino, who was called up yesterday by the New York Mets. Rottino, who had a good Spring Training with the Mets and was the last player sent down to the minors, hit .317 at AAA Buffalo with 1 HR, 14 RBI, 13 runs scored, 8 doubles, and 1 triple. He had a fourteen game hitting streak going at Buffalo when he was called up.
Here’s a link to a very nice Mets blog that discussed the Rottino call-up:
Rottino has played the outfield exclusively for the Bisons this season, but played first base, third base, and catcher along with the OF in Spring Training. The Mets know Rottino is versatile, is a patient hitter, and has a calming, steady presence on the bench; better yet, Rottino is a fine defender and makes very few mental mistakes.
The best news in this case is that Rottino finally is is an organization that’s told him the flat, exact truth: they told him when he was sent down (reading between the lines in Peter Jackel’s last story about Rottino in the Racine Journal-Times) that he’d be the first position player called up, and he has been. Being in an organization that’s told Rottino the truth and values what he’s done thus far has to be a huge emotional lift, which Rottino deserves due to his persistence, faith in himself and his abilities, and all of his hard work.
But as this article by Peter Jackel from 2007 shows, Rottino is a lot more than just a guy with a great attitude. Then-Brewers pitcher Jeff Suppan had this to say about Rottino:
“What is great about Vinny is he is able to play a lot of different positions and he plays them well,” Suppan said. “He had to wait a little while to get some good opportunities in the big leagues, but I think in the years to come, he’s going to be a mainstay.”
And here’s what then-Brewers hitting coach Jim Skaalen had to say:
“He knows he belongs up here,” Skaalen said. “Through the hard work he’s put in over the years coming from where he’s come from – an undrafted player – and the odds that are against someone in that situation, he’s obviously a fighter or he wouldn’t be here. And now he’s fought himself and worked himself to this level and he’s not going to be denied now.
“That’s the way it is with guys who play at this level. They expect to be here, they’re comfortable in this environment and they know they’re as good as anybody else who’s out there.”
Ultimately, the main thing to remember about Rottino is this: he’s a baseball player. And he’s a very good one. This is not a publicity stunt by the Mets; it’s not charity. Rottino has earned his opportunity and I believe he will make the most of it.
More people need to know about Vinny Rottino and his long journey to the major leagues. If they did, they’d realize the value in refusing to give up no matter what the odds.
Mat Gamel Tears ACL, Out for the Year
Folks, in last night’s game (May 1, 2012), Milwaukee Brewers first baseman Mat Gamel ran to catch a foul ball in San Diego. There’s a drainage ditch there, right where the stands meet the field and wall, that’s caused problems before — but the Padres organization has yet to fix it. This piece of information is essential to have when you consider that Gamel, in stumbling, then falling due to the drainage ditch, tore his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and is now projected to be out for the entire year.
This is really bad news for Gamel. He’s only 26. He’s had a rough go of it in the Brewers organization; for whatever reason, every season the Brewers minor league system seemingly had Gamel playing a different position. He started out at third base, had a flirtation with the outfield for a while, and then eventually was moved to first base last year due to the Brewers’ certain knowledge that Prince Fielder would leave after the 2011 season due to Fielder’s demands for a huge payday — one the Brewers couldn’t provide.
So here Gamel is; he’s finally ensconced in the major leagues, playing every day, at first base. Then he has this injury due to something the Padres really should’ve fixed at least four years ago — this odd drainage ditch right near the wall at Petco Park, which has caused players to miss time or be put on the disabled list (DL) before — and is now out for the entire year. Gamel’s season ends with a .246 average, 1 home run, 6 RBI, 3 SB, 4 walks, and 15 strikeouts in 21 games played.
As for the Brewers, they’re now in crisis mode according to several sources — Brewers Extra Innings announcer Dan O’Donnell (a show on the Brewers Radio Network, carried by Brewers flagship radio station WTMJ-AM in Milwaukee, WI), FSN Wisconsin announcers Craig Coshun and Jerry Augustine (the latter a former Brewers pitcher during their glory days in the late 1970s/early 1980s), and Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel Brewers beat writer Tom Haudricourt (see this link for more details) — as their only extant options are these: move RF Corey Hart to first base on a long-term basis, or sign and/or trade for someone else who’s capable of hitting big league pitching.
Now, some of you might be saying, “What about Brooks Conrad, who’s hitting quite well in AAA ball?” While Conrad is hitting exceptionally well thus far — a .400 batting average, 5 HR and 13 RBI — the season is still young, and Conrad’s lifetime batting average of .229 in three-plus years of playing time isn’t exactly reassuring.** Conrad, 32, can play a number of positions, which is definitely a plus, and is a credible short-term answer, along with current Brewers utilityman Travis Ishikawa (the latter a strong defensive first baseman). But a long-term answer, he probably isn’t.
At this point, if I were the Brewers organization, I’d immediately start working Corey Hart out at first base. I’d have him start playing late innings at the position, to get used to it (this, incidentally, would help keep his big bat in the game in later innings, too). And until he was ready to play full games at first base, I’d probably divide the playing time between Conrad and Ishikawa as the best available options.
But this season doesn’t look too good right now, not with two substantial, season-ending injuries already in Gamel and pitcher Chris Narveson, which is one reason O’Donnell was panicking tonight on his radio show. (Bad enough that the Brewers are now 11-14 and just lost a game to former Brewers pitcher Jeff Suppan, now of the Padres, even though Suppan hadn’t pitched in the major leagues since 2010. Or that Rickie Weeks is only hitting .180 and looks horrid at the plate.)
————-
Note: For those of you saying, “Well, Barb, you keep extolling Vinny Rottino, and his stats aren’t that great, either!,” here’s my answer: Rottino’s not had a solid chance to play every day, or even every third or fourth day, in the majors. Conrad has. ‘Nuff said.
April 30, 2012: Career Night for Ryan Braun
Remember this date: April 30, 2012. Why? Because it was the night Milwaukee Brewers LF Ryan Braun hit 3 home runs and a triple. Braun accounting for 15 total bases, raised his batting average to .294, his HR total to 7 (which now leads the team), his RBI total to 16 (which also leads the team), and he’s now scored 17 runs.
This, obviously, is the best hitting night of Braun’s career. It’s the first time he’s hit 3 HRs in a game. It’s the first time he’s accounted for so many total bases in a game. And it gave him a way to silence the critics over his 2011 MVP Award (especially due to the PED controversy, which Braun has put behind him after his not-guilty verdict by arbitrator Shyam Das), too — a “win-win-win,” all things considered.
But you’d never have expected this sort of output from Braun going into last night, because the Brewers played the San Diego Padres in Petco Park. This particular ballpark is known as a pitcher’s park, where “baseballs go to die” — and is about as antithetical to hitting and hitters as it’s possible to be. In fact, it’s so antithetical to hitting that Braun is the very first player to ever hit 3 HRs in one game there — and Petco Park has been open since 2004.
Braun didn’t let that stop him, nor did he let his so-so stats coming into the game (before his monster night, Braun was hitting .263 with 4 HRs and 11 RBI) stop him, either.
A few of Braun’s words, quoted from the Reuters article:
“I’ve been pretty terrible the first few weeks, really inconsistent with my swing. I’m glad I was able to have a good game and contribute to a victory.”
That you did, sir.
A really good article from the Washington Post reminds readers that as of the first of this year, San Diego started considering whether to bring the fences in due to the lack of overall offense. Here’s the first few paragraphs of this excellent article by Matt Brooks:
“
Big, beautiful and barely half-full most nights, San Diego’s Petco Park has long been considered a pitching oasis and wasteland for power hitters.
“In four of its eight seasons of existence, the Padres’ home stadium has ranked 29th or 30th (dead last) in home runs per game. And with power alleys of 401 feet in left field and 400 in right, it’s easy to see why.”
Ryan Braun heads for home after his third straight round-tripper. (Denis Poroy – GETTY IMAGES)
Here’s what Braun says about bringing in the fences at Petco Park (courtesy of the same Washington Post article by Brooks, referenced above):
“There’s no doubt this is one of the more challenging if not the most challenging place to hit home runs in the league,” he told reporters. “I think for fans, you want to see offense. Offense is exciting when teams are scoring runs. It’s a lot of fun for the fans to watch. So I think if they did do that, it would make it more of a neutral ballpark. As of right now it certainly favors pitchers pretty substantially.”
Even so, Braun had a career night. We can only imagine what he’d have done in a different ballpark, but it’s hard to believe that anything could top three HRs (none being “cheapies”) and a triple.
Brew Crew Ball points out that Braun’s 15 TBs are a Brewers franchise record. And with his 13 multi-homer games, Braun has moved into seventh place, all-time, on the Brewers leader board (first on the list is Prince Fielder, second is Gorman Thomas, and third is Brewers Hall of Famer Robin Yount).
Congratulations, Ryan Braun!
(And in case you were wondering, here’s the video from MLB.com of Braun’s historic night.)
2012 Brewers Pluses, Minuses, and Oddities thus far
Folks, so far 2012 is shaping up to be a very strange year for the Milwaukee Brewers.
For example, if I had to grade the starters right now, I’d say they’re a net minus for the team. (This when they were expected to be a major strength.)
Consider, please, that the ace of the staff right now is #4 starter Shaun Marcum. Marcum’s current ERA is 3.46, his record is 1-1, he’s pitched 13 innings thus far and he has 12 strikeouts. The aces we’re supposed to be able to depend on, Yovani Gallardo and Zack Greinke, have each had one good game and one bad game thus far — they, too, are 1-1, and Greinke has 12 Ks right along with Marcum to lead the team thus far. But it gets murky after that — Gallardo’s ERA is 5.91 while Greinke’s is even worse at 6.75. Both have pitched exactly 10 2/3 innings, while Gallardo has somehow walked 7 men thus far (Greinke has only walked 1, but that’s not much of a comfort when almost every other statistic he has is abysmal).
And as for #3 starter Randy Wolf, he’s has had two bad outings thus far, which is why his ERA is a whopping 10.61 in only 9 1/3 innings. Wolf said he “stunk” a few days ago, and that he will do better; he’s a proud man, and I’m well aware that no professional baseball player ever goes out on to the field and wants to do so poorly — especially to start the season. But this just isn’t good.
And #5 starter Chris Narveson, who pitched so well in his first start, pitched poorly today; he now stands with an ERA of 7.00 with 9 innings pitched, 5 Ks and 4 walks. While he’s not expected to be a shining light (as he is the #5 starter), he is expected to be competent; Narveson most likely will improve right along with Wolf and the others, but this is a most inauspicious start to the 2012 for the entire starting rotation.
As for the relief pitching, here we’re looking at oddities instead; while there are some minuses (John Axford’s had two bad outings, though he does have two saves, while Francisco Rodriguez has had one bad outing), there are two big pluses thus far — the pitching of Manny Parra, coming back after being out all last season with back and arm issues, and the pitching of Kameron Loe. Both of them have sub-3 ERAs; Loe has consistently gotten the ground-ball outs he needs to get to be a successful pitcher, while Parra has 8 Ks thus far (better than some of the starters).
And the rest of the relievers have been pretty good, too; Jose Veras has pitched well thus far, as has Marco Estrada; even Tim Dillard has done surprisingly well (don’t let his ERA of 7.11 fool you, as that’s due to one, bad outing). So the guys expected to do well — Axford and K-Rod — mostly haven’t, but the rest of ’em have. I’d rank that an oddity.
Now, we get to the fielding, which is just plain awful and is a huge net minus for the team. Ryan Braun, who’s hitting pretty well, has already made an unusual throwing error (he was off-balance the other day against Atlanta, threw to third base, was off the mark, and a run scored), while Carlos Gomez, probably the best fielding outfielder on the team, has already made two errors.
But the infielders have been by far worse; Alex Gonzales, who’s supposed to be such a good defender, has three errors already (though one wasn’t his fault as Mat Gamel wasn’t where he was supposed to be; really, Gonzales shouldn’t have had to be charged with that as that’s where the “team error” stat should come into play — which is why MLB needs to adopt that rule, stat). Rickie Weeks at second base has one, while Mat Gamel has two . . . and Aramis Ramirez has one.
So the team defense so far has lacked quite a bit.
As for the hitting, only one regular player is doing very well and being productive, and that’s Corey Hart. He’s hitting .321 thus far with 4 homers, 8 RBI, and 3 doubles. Ryan Braun has done the best otherwise, as he’s hitting .343 with 1 HR, 4 RBI, 2 stolen bases and 4 doubles.
The biggest net plus when it comes to this team thus far is the catching tandem of Jonathan Lucroy and George Kottaras. Lucroy is hitting .364 with 2 HR and 6 RBI, while Kottaras is also hitting .364 (a statistical anomaly, that) with 3 HR and 6 RBI.
But there’s still some real problems with the hitting; the team as a whole is only batting .228, while Weeks and Ramirez are batting below .200. (Ramirez in particular has been terrible, as he’s batting only .114.)
This is why I call the hitting an oddity thus far; there are some people hitting, a few you’d expect to do well (Hart and Braun), a few you wouldn’t who are doing well (the catchers), and a few you expect to do well who aren’t (Weeks and Ramirez.
All of this adds up to a 4-6 record and a highly unpredictable and frustrating season thus far.
Hallelujah! Brewers OF Ryan Braun Wins Appeal; Will Not be Suspended (UPDATED)
Folks, I told you this would happen, and it did.
Today, Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Ryan Braun won his appeal and will not be suspended 50 games for performance-enhancing drugs (read: steroids). Apparently, he was able to prove a problem with the “chain of custody” (that is, how the urine sample was handled before it got to the lab); Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel writer Tom Haudricourt said, in essence, that the Brewers breathed a big sigh of relief after hearing this.
Apparently MLB itself isn’t happy that Braun won his appeal, but that’s just too bad about them; the fact is, arbitrator Shyam Das agreed with the Major League Players Association and with Braun himself, and that’s what matters. (Anything else is just a fig leaf for MLB, and should be discounted.)
Here’s a link to Haudricourt’s story:
http://m.jsonline.com/140213003.htm?ua=iphone&dc=smart
UPDATE FOLLOWS:
Ryan Braun has released a statement, which the Journal-Sentinel has at this link:
http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/sports/140218803.html
Here’s an excerpt from that statement:
I am very pleased and relieved by today’s decision.
It is the first step in restoring my good name and reputation. We were able to get through this because I am innocent and the truth is on our side.
We provided complete cooperation throughout, despite the highly unusual circumstances.
I have been an open book, willing to share details from every aspect of my life as part of this investigation, because I have nothing to hide. I have passed over 25 drug tests in my career, including at least three in the past year.
Later in the statement, after Braun thanked the many people (including the Brewers organization) he felt he should, he said this:
This is not just about one person, but about all current and future players, and thankfully, today the process worked.
Despite the challenges of this adversarial process, I do appreciate the professionalism demonstrated by the Panel Chair and the Office of the Commissioner.
As I said before, I’ve always loved and had so much respect for the game of baseball.
Everything I’ve done in my career has been with that respect and appreciation in mind.
I look forward to finally being able to speak to the fans and the media on Friday and then returning the focus to baseball and working with my Brewers teammates on defending our National League Central title.
And friends and teammates of Braun have not been shy saying they’re very pleased to hear this, either.
Brewers closer John Axford, on Twitter, said this regarding Braun:
All I can say is that Braun has exemplary character is continuing to handle this in an unbelievable manner.
#ThereBetterBeSomeApologies
And Green Bay Packers QB Aaron Rodgers, who is a good friend of Ryan Braun’s, said this via Twitter:
MLB and cable sports tried to sully the reputation of an innocent man. Picked the wrong guy to mess with. Truth will set u free
#exonerated
My own take, as you know, is that back in December, I said that I believed Braun would be found innocent or at minimum be vindicated and this suspension would not hold up. Here’s a bit from that blog, written on December 10, 2011:
Braun has been an outstanding player from the time the Brewers brought him up. He won the Rookie of the Year Award in 2007. His lifetime numbers are comparable to his MVP numbers; over his last five seasons, he’s averaged 36 HRs and 118 RBIs a season, and has hit over .300 every year except 2008 (when he “only” hit .285); his lifetime batting average, over five complete seasons, is .312.
So I don’t really see where Braun could’ve been taking anything that was of an enhancing nature, especially if he’s never tested positive before (and indeed, he hasn’t).
Then on December 22, 2011, I pointed out that Braun knew the one minor leaguer, Brendan Katin, who’d successfully fought his appeal, and that maybe this meant something for him. And Katin said that he didn’t believe Braun was dirty; he said he was “shocked” to hear of an impending suspension, as it didn’t really make any sense. My conclusion was as follows:
In other words, Braun’s test could be a false positive of the sort Katin had happen to him; just because it hadn’t yet happened as far as anyone’s aware in the majors yet, that doesn’t mean it can’t happen. Tests are handled by humans, thus are inherently flawed, and it is possible that a completely innocent man could be caught in the cross-hairs, just like Katin was back in 2007.
My view remains that Braun is innocent until and unless he is proven guilty, not the reverse — and that I fully expect that Braun will be exonerated. (emphasis added)
So as I said before, I fully believed Braun would be vindicated. I was right, and I’m not afraid to tell you all “I told you so,” either.
Now, the Brewers, their fans, and Braun himself can breathe a sigh of relief; as for MLB, they should realize that tests can be messed up and not every player who tests positive initially is a dirty player. Rather than being mad at arbitrator Shyam Das, they should be grateful that Das is an independent person and used his head for more than a hatrack.
Vinny Rottino Redux, AKA Rottino’s Persistence Pays Off
More people should be like Vinny Rottino.
As most of you who follow this blog know, I’ve been keeping an eye on the Racine-born Rottino. His quest to become a major league baseball player is compelling for many reasons, but the biggest and best reason to follow Rottino’s story is because he refuses to give up on himself.
Rottino knows he has the talent to play in the major leagues, and because he knows that, he is willing to do whatever it takes to make it.
Racine Journal-Times sportswriter Peter Jackel wrote a very nice article about Rottino in yesterday’s edition; the headline read, “Irresistible force: Resilient Rottino Rewarded with Another Shot.” (I really like that alliteration there; whoever wrote that headline did a great job.) Take a look at that article here:
Jackel points out in his article that Rottino was the Milwaukee Brewers minor league player of the year in 2004 — his second year in the minors — and though he’s had some at-bats and a bit of playing time here and there with the Brewers, and last year with the then-Florida Marlins, Rottino has never had extended playing time with any major league team (as he’s also spent time in the Los Angeles Dodgers’ minor league system, too).
But the New York Mets wanted Rottino because of his tough-minded, hard-nosed attitude; this is why they signed him last November. As Paul Depodesta, the Mets Vice President of Player Development, said in Jackel’s article,
“Vinny’s hard-nosed style of play absolutely played a role in our decision to sign him. We know he’ll fit well with our manager, Terry Collins, who shares Vinny’s passion and intensity, and he’ll be appreciated by the fans in New York.”
This is a great deal more than is usually said about any guy who’s expected to be a career minor leaguer (or as the baseball types have it, a “four-A” player — someone who is really good in AAA, but isn’t quite good enough to play in the big leagues).
Podesta also says in the article that one of the reasons the Mets signed Rottino is because he can play a number of positions, including at least two of three of the most-valued positions — catcher, center field, and shortstop. Rottino was a shortstop in high school and college, so he knows that position well. He plays all three OF positions, though he really doesn’t have the speed to be an everyday center fielder. And he is a very good catcher — a dependable backup — which is a neat trick considering he didn’t even start learning the position until he was around 26 years old.
Rottino will be 32 in early April. He knows he’s not a prospect anymore — Jackel even said so in his article — but he has a lot to give any organization that gives him a chance. Rottino can hit left-handers rather better than his major league average (a sample-sized 36 ABs) indicates. Rottino has “gap power” — meaning he’s not a home run hitter, but he’s a reliable threat for doubles and the occasional triple. He’s a contact hitter who rarely makes stupid mistakes (and if he does make one, he immediately corrects it and doesn’t compound his error; I cannot imagine Rottino making the mistake Jerry Hairston, Jr., made in the Brewers NLCS on that double-error play, for example), he won’t run you out of innings, and he has deceptive speed — even at his somewhat advanced age for a ballplayer, he had 17 SBs last year, which led his triple-A team, the New Orleans Zephyrs. (Not bad for a catcher, huh?)
Anyway, I know Rottino can play, so if he gets a shot, he’ll do well.
The rest of us need to learn from his example; keep trying, and don’t give up, no matter what you do. All you can do is give yourself the best chance to make it in your field — in my case, that’s writing and editing, and I am somewhat older than most people who are hoping to make it in this business (let’s just say “older than Rottino” and be done with it, OK?) — and keep working on your “tool set” every day. (For Rottino, he takes lots of batting and fielding practice. For someone like me, that means something along the lines of, “Write something every day.” And considering I’m a musician, too, the days I am able to circumvent my carpal tunnel syndrome and practice my saxophone count as advancing toward my goals, too.)
You see, like Rottino, all I can do is to “keep (myself) in the game.” So if there is an opportunity, I’ll be practiced and versatile enough to seize that opportunity before it’s gone; I cannot make the opportunity, but I can definitely prepare myself to seize upon it whenever that opportunity finally presents itself.
Rottino himself said it best, though; when Jackel asked him what will happen if Rottino doesn’t make it in the bigs this time, Rottino said he’d keep trying (this was summed up by Jackel in the article). Then he said this:
“I think God has got me on this path for some reason and I’ll find out why someday.”
I am so glad that I’m not the only one who wonders about this sort of meandering path (though it seems to me that Rottino’s path has been slightly less circuitous than my own).
But I will not stop, folks; I plan to be like Vinny Rottino. I know I have the talent, and I know I will persevere. With perseverance and talent, I hope to seize upon any opportunity that comes to hand. Because that’s literally the only way to win.
Good luck, Vinny — and may the wind be at your back.
Prince Fielder signs with Tigers; 9 years, $214 million
Folks, there are reports all over the Internet that former Milwaukee Brewers first baseman Prince Fielder has signed a deal with the Detroit Tigers; the deal is reported as being $214 million over the course of nine years, or an average $23.78 million per year.
See this story from Ken Rosenthal for further details:
Here’s a relevant quote:
On the long list of Scott Boras shockers, this one ranks near the top.
Boras’ top free-agent client, first baseman Prince Fielder, has agreed to a nine-year, $214 million contract with the Tigers, according to major-league sources.
Fielder’s deal with the Tigers does not include an opt-out provision, a source said.
Tigers general manager David Dombrowski recently told ESPN.com that Fielder, “doesn’t fit for us. He’s looking for a long-term deal and that just doesn’t fit.”
Either Dombrowski was shading the truth, or Tigers owner Mike Ilitch — who has worked well with Boras in the past — made a last-minute call to sign Fielder.
So, see, it’s not just me who’s shocked. Rosenthal is obviously shocked, too.
The reason this deal surprised so many people, including me, is because of how long it took on the one hand (as we’re only about a month away from when pitchers and catchers must report to Spring Training) while on the other hand, the team that ended up landing Fielder — the Tigers — wasn’t even on the radar screen until now. (This last bit is very reminiscent of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim’s pursuit of Albert Pujols; no one on the outside of the negotiations had any idea that the Angels were interested in Pujols, much less that they’d lay out big money for him.)
At any rate, the Tigers’ plans apparently include having Fielder play some first base and DH other days; they already have a first baseman in Miguel Cabrera (who hits from the right side, and is a power hitter), but Cabrera is no better defensively than Fielder and presumably wouldn’t mind DHing now and again.
Now, as a Brewers fan, I wasn’t surprised at all to see that Fielder is moving on. It was obvious that he didn’t want to re-sign here; he had an opportunity to do that last year, and even at the end of this year, he had the opportunity to accept arbitration and come back for another year — Brewers set-up man Francisco Rodriguez (“K-Rod,” one of the best closers in the game), decided to do this even though the Brewers have a particularly good closer in John Axford — one who set team records last year and one who isn’t being paid very much. (Axford should be getting a lot more than he is; at this point, he’s making just over the major league minimum and that really seems unfair. But I digress.)
This situation has happened before, albeit with C.C. Sabathia. Sabathia helped the Brewers get to the 2008 playoffs; the Brewers clinched the “wild card” spot on the final day of the season, and they wouldn’t have done so without Sabathia’s stellar performance (he went 11-2 with a 1.65 ERA in 17 starts with the Brewers). But Sabathia, as good as he was, was a half-season rental; Fielder was developed by the Brewers farm system and his entire career (six full seasons and part of a seventh) was spent in Milwaukee up until now.
Still, unlike Ryan Braun, who accepted a contract below market value in order to stay in Milwaukee because he apparently likes the stability of knowing he’ll be financially solvent (good thing, too, but other than Evan Longoria, there isn’t a single player in MLB who’s anywhere near as interested in his long-term financial future as Braun), Fielder obviously wanted to go wherever he’d get the most money. And he does have ties to Detroit; his father played there, and Fielder took batting practice there as a pre-teen — part of the “Fielder legend” says that Fielder hit several HRs in batting practice when he was twelve, though I’m unsure that’s factually correct. (Fielder has enormous power, and even as a child he probably had a great deal of it also. But Fielder himself cast aspersions on some of these legends while he was in Milwaukee, saying, in effect, “Don’t believe everything you hear, but isn’t it a nice story?”)
I just hope that whatever Fielder is getting out of this deal is worth it to him, because it’s one thing to be a “Big Man On Campus” like he was for the Brewers; it’s another to become the highest-paid player on the team, as he will be for the Tigers. The media in Detroit isn’t as friendly as the media in Milwaukee, and even if they were, Fielder’s contract will make him much more of a target than he’s ever been in Milwaukee. This is something he’s not likely to understand until he’s lived with it for a while; I just hope the learning curve for him won’t be too steep along the way.
Granted, Fielder is a big man (in many senses, including his heart) and I’m sure he can handle it. But it will be much more difficult for his family and friends to deal with the media on days where he goes 0 for 4 with a couple of Ks (even a guy who strikes out as little as Fielder does, proportionately, has a few days like this a year) than it’s ever been in Milwaukee.
All I can say now is, “Enjoy the contract, Prince. Play well. And don’t forget your fans in Milwaukee.” Because assuredly, we will not forget about you anytime too soon.
Barb Caffrey's Blog 