RSSMajor League Not So Happy Endings
Mar 14
Sports baseball, Red Sox, Spring Training Comments Off
Each and every spring training, there are fantastic and inspiring stories about players battling back from terrible situations and illnesses. This year, Jon Lester returns to the Red Sox after a brief bout with cancer. There is an annual parade of pitchers who return to the mound after missing significant time for Tommy John surgery. Too many to list, but this year’s crop is headed by Mike Hampton. And each town has its own feel-good story about an unknown player who has battled odds and clawed his way to the major leagues. I think the Boston representative at this year’s conference is probably Davern Hansack. But, despite the warm weather, the overwhelming optimism, and the exuberance of March baseball, each year also brings several careers to their close in less than glamorous circumstances.
When a career ends during spring training, there’s no way to avoid the thought that it smacks of failure. The news this Monday night that the Rockies had released Javy Lopez reminded me of this sadder part of spring. Here’s a guy who was an offensive force as a catcher and an integral part of the Braves’ post-season run for nearly a decade. This very well might be the end for him, unable to make the roster of a team that won 76 games last season. And earlier this spring, Keith Foulke retired before ever throwing a single pitch for the Cleveland Indians. Though a surly guy and a complete enigma, he is a former star who really should be remembered as a legend for his curse-breaking performance in the 2004 season and post-season for the Red Sox. But, he’s going down as another injured failure of 2007. Last year, we lost definite Hall of Famer (in my opinion) Jeff Bagwell when his shoulder just couldn’t make it through another season (he officially announced retirement in December 2006, but he was done when he couldn’t make it through spring a year ago). We also lost possible Hall of Famer and the inaugural big-name steroid bust Rafael Palmeiro in 2006 when no one would touch him with a 10 foot pole and he simply failed to get a contract offer.
But, the most gut-wrenching story of 2007 is that of Bernie Williams. And I grant you, this one’s not really over yet, but it doesn’t look promising. After 16 years, 4 World Championships, hundreds of big hits (seriously, whenever he would come up against the Sox in a big situation, I just knew he was going to kill us), and endless class, the Yankees didn’t guarantee him a job this spring. They invited him to camp on a minor league non-guaranteed contract and Bernie said no thanks. There is still a chance that he changes his mind or if there are more injuries to the Yankees they may upgrade their offer, but the most likely scenario is that Bernie ends up retiring because he doesn’t want to play anywhere else. After such a dignified career as one of the leaders of this most recent rise of the evil empire, it’s unfortunate that Bernie likely won’t get to take those victory laps and retire on his own terms.
With so many great players whose bodies or skills give out on them sooner than they’d hoped, this time of year becomes a changing of the guard. And I’m old enough now that players I watched come up as prospects and rookies are now breaking down and retiring. By now, most teams know who will make their rosters and when we really start paying close attention in a few weeks, we may notice some names are missing. It takes just a little bit of the sunshine and flowers out of spring training that everyone is getting older and not everyone can make it to April. Or we might just not notice.
More Notes from the Cheap Seats
Jeremy Burnitz retired on March 11th after failing to get any contract offers this off-season. He bounced around a lot in his career, but hit 30 home runs in a season 5 times and finished with over 300 for his career. He was a premier power hitter at the end of the 1990′s and ends his career after 14 seasons in the majors.
Brian Jordan, turning 40 years old in 2 weeks, has also failed to get himself a contract for 2007 so far. He hasn’t produced much in the past several years, but he was an exciting player to watch in St. Louis and Atlanta from the mid 1990′s through 2001. He may be best known for carrying on the Bo Jackson tradition playing in both the NFL and Major Leagues. He was a rising football star when he gave it up to try for a longer career in baseball. He won’t be going to the Hall of Fame, but he drove in 100 runs in a season twice and compiled more than 1,400 hits. As far as I know, he hasn’t announced his retirement, but once March has passed, the likelihood of a phone call coming to his agent gets very slim.
*On the other end is Curt Schilling, who seemed poised to spend 2007 basking in those standing ovations after previously announcing this would be his last season. Quite definitively, if my memory is correct. But, now, as you may have heard, Curt may continue to pitch until 2015. He says he’s talked it over with his family and everyone agrees that Curt should pitch beyond this year. And frankly, I agree. If he’s still got what he’s had for the past decade, he’s better than most big league pitchers, even at 40 years old. But, the drama escalated when the Red Sox chose not to take him up on his public offer to sign a one year extension for 2008 at his 2007 salary. Another brilliant strategic decision by Theo Epstein? Or another horrific blunder when it comes to the pitching staff? Funny, at this point, Theo seems to be known for both.
