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Age-old questions Henderson wore out his welcome, but Juan Gone isn't donePosted: Wednesday March 26, 2003 4:26 PM
This is it. Not simply my final spring training mailbag, but my final piece of work as a Sports Illustrated writer. After more than six years at the magazine, I'm leaving to tackle a new challenge. I won't say what, exactly, it is, only that it involves Emmanuel Lewis, french fries, a man named Marc Lieberman, three Fine Young Cannibals CDs and a breakfast treat. In departing, I request a brief moment to reflect on the life of a hardball scribe. When I initially joined SI, I naively believed baseball writing involved funny anecdotes, lunch with Gary Sheffield and a couple of five-minute background chats with random teammates. In truth, covering the sport is a delicate, artful balance of persistence and patience over a nine-month marathon. It is sticking around an extra 50 minutes to double check on B.J. Surhoff's ankle sprain, then pounding out a game story in 10. It's being blown off by men who have no business treating you like yesterday's mold, then taking a boyish joy in seeing those same fellas make an incredible play in a big game. I have tried my best, but -- truthfully -- writing for a big magazine is something of a spoil. I fly in, I'm given time with a subject, I leave. Wham, bam, easy. In no way do I compare to the game's great beat writers -- tireless troopers who spend their days and nights, weekends and holidays, watching (ugh) the Brewers play the Cubs or (egad) the Tigers meet the Rangers. Not for the money -- this I can guarantee -- but the love. The passion. The joy. From Tyler Kepner, Buster Olney and Rafael Hermoso of The New York Times to Hal McCoy of the Dayton Daily News; from Jeff Horrigan of the Boston Herald to Drew Olson of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel; from Ross Newhan and Jason Reid of the Los Angeles Times to Jose De Jesus Ortiz of the Houston Chronicle; from Dave Buscema of The Times Herald-Record to Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle to Joel Sherman of The New York Post to Teddy Greenstein of the Chicago Tribune to Dave Sheinin of the Washington Post to Mark Saxon of the Oakland Tribune to Carrie Muskat of MLB.com. There are dozens upon dozens of dazzling, fantastic, baseball-soaked writers who generally don't receive the attention afforded to one who pens for a weekly magazine. It is not fair. So, again, this is -- peace out -- my farewell to baseball, a game that has afforded me the pleasure of finding an empty seat on a weekend night at Dodger Stadium. There's a warm breeze coming in from the outfield, and I'm slowly unwrapping the foil from my third Dodger Dog. Hey, let's play two ... Why isn't Rickey Henderson in a uniform somewhere? The guy is in better shape than most players half his age and he has valuable experience. I loved him when he played here for the Padres. What's up?
Bill, I love Rickey Henderson. LOVE him. He was a better player than Cal Ripken. Better than Robin Yount. Better than George Brett, Kirby Puckett, Dave Winfield and Alvaro Espinoza, too. Back in the mid-1980s, when speed was the name of the game, Henderson was baseball's ultimate weapon. In 1985 with the Yankees, for example, he hit .314, slugged 24 homers, stole 80 bases and had a .419 on-base percentage. Awesome. That said, Rickey is a pain in the butt. At age 43, he was a marginal player with Boston last season (.223, eight steals), but still -- against all logic -- whined about spending too many innings on the bench. Once upon a time, when Henderson was a superstud, the baggage was tolerable. Now, who needs it? Answer: Nobody. The Kansas City Royals will not regret cutting Mark Quinn, as you predicted in a recent mailbag. The two biggest reasons why are Ken Harvey and Dee Brown. Harvey is a darkhorse Rookie of the Year candidate, and Brown looks impressive this spring after being hampered by injuries last year. Brown will fill the defensive void left by Quinn, and Harvey the offensive void. True or not?
Tim, the Kansas City Royals will not regret cutting Quinn because they are incapable of regret. That's what happens when you run an organization into the ground, forgetting about its fans and history, and turning a once-great franchise into the Devil Rays. This sort of indifference allows a team to trade a cornerstone player like Jermaine Dye for Neifi Perez and say, "Ho, hum." Is Harvey a darkhorse Rookie of the Year candidate? Yes. He's a 6-foot-2, 240-pound mass of muscle who compares favorably to Frank Thomas and Mo Vaughn in their early days. Harvey's 20 homers at Class AAA Omaha last year were impressive, and -- given the chance -- he could easily match that total in Kansas City this season. And yet ... What difference does it make? The Royals will develop Harvey, he'll become a star, then they'll unload him for two mediocre pitching prospects, Warren Morris and a six pack of stale McNuggets. Oh yeah -- Brown is a bust. Zero plate discipline, zero growth over the past two seasons. Sorry. How has Jason Kendall looked this spring? He seemed ready for stardom a couple years back and then got hurt. Is now the time for him?
Hello, time. Goodbye, time. The Pirates owe Kendall $50 million over the next five years, which is akin to paying a giraffe to play the flute. Back in the day, ex-GM Cam Bonifay believed Kendall to be a franchise cornerstone. There's a reason Bonifay's now an assistant in Tampa. Early on in his career, Kendall looked like a potential multi-faceted weapon. He could run, hit for average, hit for power and drive in lots of runs. He still makes good contact, but, well, there ain't much else there. He's a mediocre major league receiver, and his offense is slipping. If Pittsburgh could trade him for my laptop, it would. But there's no way I'm making that deal ... In the mid-to-late '90s, Juan Gonzalez was one of the premier power hitters in baseball. And then came the injuries. What can we expect from him this season, and in the future?
Nobody in baseball had a more frustrating 2002 than Gonzalez, whose glorious return to Texas proved cruddy. Thanks to torn muscle fibers and a strained ligament in his right thumb, Juan Gone was limited to 70 games, in which he produced only eight homers. He never looked comfortable at the plate, and hated -- absolutely hated -- seeing single-digit home run totals on the scoreboard. Is he finished? No way. Gonzalez is a proud man and, at age 33, far from being done. I'll be 1,000 times more shocked if he hits only 10 home runs than if he swats 50 and wins the AL MVP award. How do you think Preston Wilson and Jose Hernandez will fare in the thin Colorado air?
On the All-Time Terrible Idea List, this falls right above Twisted Sister's remake of Leader of the Pack and my asking Michele Sheehan to the Mahopac High School senior prom. Wilson is a wonderful talent, but his ego is the size of Star Jones' grocery list. With Florida last year, the center fielder struck out 140 times while playing in a park that doesn't help power hitters. In Colorado, he'll be eagerly salivating at the sight of Coors Field's easy-to-reach bleachers. If Wilson doesn't whiff 180 times, it's only because he's injured. As for Hernandez, well, what's there to say about a guy who actually did strike out 180 times (188, to be exact)? Ol' Jose reminds me of my first car, a sleek '93 red Geo Metro convertible with all the trimmings: Sweet package, good numbers ... but not much there. To quote Alison Zarchan, a regular reader of this column, "there's a reason six-team journeymen are six-team journeyman." The Rockies are in trouble. Jeffrey, how are ya, babe? Lookie here, what do you think of Jeff D'Amico? Can he put a good season together?
Love your work, my brother. Keep it up. I have no brother named Bucky. I've never had a brother named Bucky. If I did have a brother named Bucky, I'd make my parents change it to Enrique or Table or Angus or something. As for Jeff D'Amico, I think he'd be much better off as Bucky D'Amico. That way he wouldn't be the Jeff D'Amico who's Pittsburgh's fifth starter, or the Jeff D'Amico who was a rising star with Milwaukee a few years ago but now is fighting to survive as a major leaguer (6-10, 4.94 ERA with the Mets last year). Why did you say Derek Lowe is a superstar when he's only had one good year? Before last season he was a dud and this spring he has stunk. Maybe he will revert to the form of his prior years.
Maxie, I was sorta joking last week. Lowe isn't a superstar, but he did have a superstar-ish 2002. He has one of the deadliest sinkers in the league, and 21 wins are 21 wins. Give the man credit. I know Boston fans have a chip in their craniums allowing them to process only negative brain waves, but try and ignore spring training results. A lot of journalists seem to think Minnesota will fall apart this year, and I'm not sure why. The Twins kept an overwhelming majority of the team together in the offseason (Old Man Pohlad finally busted out the pocketbook!). The core of the lineup, the locker room chemistry and the confidence all remain intact. Their team defense is insane, pitching is solid and they have a decent enough offense to produce consistent run support. Now all these young guys have some meaningful playoff experience, and they play baseball the way it's supposed to be played -- as a team. Why all the negativity and pessimism?
Joe, the answer is obvious. Do you really think any self-respecting baseball writer wants to attend a World Series in Minneapolis? I mean, c'mon. Do you know how friggin' cold that place is in October!? And finding a decent hotel? Impossible. Seriously, I have no clue what you're talking about. Save for a few morons, the Twins are everyone's pick to win the Central. They have nearly their entire team back and free-agent signee Kenny Rogers might even be an upgrade over the injured Eric Milton. This is a fantastic team that -- should everything go right -- could battle for the Fall Classic. Ichiro Suzuki and Hideki Matsui would be sure Hall of Famers if they had started their careers in the majors, but since they are already 29 and 28 years old, respectively, they have limited their opportunity to make the Hall. What do you think about the Japanese players' chances of making it to Cooperstown, and what would it take for them to do so?
I agree with you 100 percent, and I think it's garbage that they're punished for playing elsewhere first. In his seven full seasons of Japan League baseball, Ichiro never hit below .342 or struck out more than 52 times. Yet, if he ends his major league career with, say, 2,000 hits and a .330 average, the Japanese totals mean squat. They don't add to his Hall chances, and Ichiro disappears with Don Mattingly and Tim Raines into the good-but-not-great abyss. With more and more Japanese players proving themselves at home, then arriving in the U.S., this is something the Hall needs to examine. And one more thing: Why is it that, for example, Joe Torre's records as a manager and player can't combine into one candidate profile? You either get in as a player or -- completely separately -- as a skipper. But if a man is really good at both, shouldn't that merge into greatness? Just a thought.
Sports Illustrated senior writer Jeff Pearlman is a regular contributor to SI.com.
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