Chipper Jones Gets 2000th Hit

Atlanta Braves third baseman Larry Chipper Jones has quietly passed the 2,000 hit milestone.

Chipper Jones said he didn’t need no stinkin’ rehab assignment, and he’s proving it. He’s 9-for-19 with three walks in five games since going directly to the lineup after a three-week stint on the disabled list, no minor-league tuneup required.

“So far, so good,” said the Braves third baseman, who recorded his 2,000th career hit on a first-inning single in Sunday’s loss at Cleveland. He added a double in the seventh inning, then was robbed of a potential two-run hit in the eighth when left fielder Jason Michaels made a diving catch.

“It’s a pretty cool milestone,” Jones said. “You think about 2,000 hits, it’s a lot of hits. Being able to get 2,000 hits was certainly a goal. “I want to work on the next 1,000. I don’t know if I’ll play long enough. We’ll see.”

Jones has the most hits in Atlanta Braves history, 100 more than Dale Murphy, but 1,599 behind the great Hank Aaron‘s all-time franchise record. He had 3,600 with the Braves of Milwaukee and Atlanta.

“Yeah, that’s not gonna happen,” Jones said. “I’m definitely not gonna play that long.”

He needs two doubles to join Eddie Murray and Chili Davis as the only switch-hitters with at least 2,000 hits, 400 doubles and 350 home runs. Jones is the only switch-hitter with at least 300 homers (369) and a .300 career average (.305).

He has spent much of the past three seasons on the disabled list with various injuries, but when healthy, Jones has been on a torrid pace since last summer. In 98 games since June 24, he has hit .353 with 31 doubles, 31 homers, 78 RBIs, a .433 on-base percentage and a .706 slugging percentage.

I’m not sure if Chipper is going to make it to the Hall of Fame but he could if he manages another five or six solid seasons. His body is starting to fall apart, though, from years of wear and tear. A few seasons playing in the outfield, which made it much harder for him to make the All-Star team, didn’t help him, either.

John Smoltz Melancholy over Braves’ Missed Playoff Opportunities

Atlanta Braves veteran pitcher John Smoltz talked about his long run with the team and its lamentable playoff performance with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution‘s David O’Brien.

You might think coming back to play in Cleveland for the first time since the 1995 World Series would cause a flood of great memories for John Smoltz. You would be wrong.

This correspondent was quite surprised by the initial reaction when I asked Smoltz for memories of the ’95 World Series, which the Braves won in six games for Atlanta’s first and only World Series championship. Instead of smiling and excitedly recalling how the Braves captured their sport’s ultimate title, Smoltz seemed almost melancholy. He really did. Then I began to realize that, viewed from another perspective, that ‘95 memory could conjure visions of all the unrealized opportunities rather than the one the Braves actually fulfilled. Stay with me here. I’ll explain.

Smoltz said the Braves viewed the 1991 World Series vs Minnesota as a “win,” though they had lost the series seven games. A win because of how far they had come, from last in their division in 1990 to NL pennant winner. “It’s a little bit different there [in the 1995 Cleveland series],” Smoltz said. “Because it’s about in ‘95, the year we won, and what we’ve done since. “It’s our only one [World Series title]. Everybody knows the story on that. It’s neat that we won one, but we had a lot of chances to win more. So when you think about Cleveland, that’s when we won. It’s the only time you can feel good about a city or a team, when you think, that’s when we won.”

But at the same time, Smoltz was saying, he couldn’t think of winning vs. Cleveland without also thinking of losing the last game of every other postseason they went to over 14 years. After losing to Minnesota in ‘91, the Braves also lost in return trips to the World Series vs. Toronto in 1992, and to the Yankees in 1996 (ding-ding-ding, huge disappointment alert) and 1999. The Braves haven’t been back to the World Series since, and they lost in the first round of the playoffs in four consecutive years (2002-05) before ending their streak of 14 consecutive division titles last season.

“In ’91, we don’t feel like we failed,” Smoltz said. “’Ninety-one felt like a win. ‘92 was the closest thing to feeling like we failed, then ‘93 was, of course, the first real major disappointment [six-game NLCS loss to Philadelphia, after the Braves had a 2-1 series lead]. To win it in ‘95 was so gratifying, took all the pressure off. But then ‘96 was horrific [the Braves’ epic World Series collapse vs. the Yankees, when they lost four consecutive games after winning the first two]. “And really,” Smoltz said, “nothing’s been the same since then.”

Wow. You want candor, you got it. I’m standing in a hallway outside the visitor’s clubhouse at the Metrodome in Minnesota on Thursday, listening to Smoltz. And I’m thinking, damn, the only player who’s been through every one of the Braves’ postseasons isn’t glossing over anything. Sure, it’s nice to have the unprecedented run of division titles. But if you don’t think there’s a hole in Smoltz’s competitive heart where another couple of World Series championships belong … folks, he feels this.
[...]

“The last few years we were in the playoffs and World Series, a lot of things had to go right [if the Braves were to win],” he said. “In ‘95 and ‘96, those were two of the toughest [best] teams that we’ve had.”

[...]

There’s no disputing one thing he said: It’s never been the same for the Braves since they blew that 2-0 lead vs. the Yankees in the ‘96 debacle. The Braves went 35-24 with a .262 batting average and 2.61 ERA in postseason games from 1991 through the first two games of the 1996 World Series. Beginning with the four straight losses to the Yankees in ’96, the Braves have gone 28-38 with a .239 batting average and 3.71 ERA in their past 66 postseason games.

Not much doubt about that. The Braves should have won the 1995 Series, having started up 2-0 and truly dominating the Yankees on the road. Instead, they had a monumental collapse in Atlanta and limped back into Yankee Stadium to lose game it in Game 6.

Smoltz is right, too, that the teams that went back to the playoffs after than just weren’t as good. Ted Turner sold the team and after that everything had to be done on a budget. Soon, they were being outspent 2-to-1 and then 3-to-1 by the likes of the Yanks and Red Sox.

Former New York Yankee Clete Boyer dead at age 70

He was a member of five New York Yankee World Series teams. He also had 2 brothers, Ken and Cloyd, who played in the major leagues. Being an old Strat-O-Matic, I ‘m well acquainted with Clete. He was an excellent glove man, but not much of a hitter. RIP

NEW YORK – Clete Boyer, the third baseman for the champion New York Yankees teams of the 1960s who made an art form of diving stops and throws from his knees, died Monday. He was 70. Boyer died in an Atlanta hospital from complications of a brain hemorrhage, son-in-law Todd Gladden said.

“He wanted to be cremated and he wanted his ashes to go in a Yankee urn,” Gladden said.

Boyer played from 1955-71 with the Yankees, Kansas City Athletics and Atlanta. He helped the Yankees reach the World Series in five straight years from 1960-64, when they won two titles.

Boyer’s death came on the 50th anniversary of the day he joined the Yankees, completing a dozen-player trade between New York and the A’s.

“He was a great Yankee and a tough guy. He never talked too much but he was extremely hardworking. A wonderful third baseman, and had fire in his belly,” Yankees owner George Steinbrenner said through a spokesman.

In 1964, Boyer and his brother, Ken, became the first brothers to homer in the same World Series game. They did it in Game 7, and nodded to each other as they rounded the bases.

The St. Louis Cardinals won the Series and Ken was the NL MVP that season. An All-Star third baseman, he died in 1982 at age 51.

Another brother, Cloyd, pitched in the majors from 1949-55. There were 14 children in the Boyer family.

Cletis Leroy Boyer was a career .242 hitter with 162 home runs and 654 RBIs. Decent stats, but it was fielding that became his signature.

Boyer added an air of flamboyance to a Yankees team that otherwise played with a conservative precision.

“In all my years of playing with him, he only made one bad throw to me,” former Yankees second baseman Bobby Richardson said by telephone from his home in South Carolina.

“When I made the double play, I could just about close my eyes, put my glove up and the ball would be there,” he said. “I would consider him one of the best players defensively. And when we got in the World Series and the lights came up, he made those great, great plays.”

Boyer’s lone Gold Glove came in 1969 in Atlanta; he might’ve earned more had it not been for the peerless Brooks Robinson.

“He was in the Brooksie era. He didn’t get as much attention as Brooksie,” said Yankees manager Joe Torre, a former Boyer teammate with the Braves.

“Plus, he was a little goofy,” he said. “Certainly, it helps you play the game.”

After finishing with Atlanta, Boyer played in Japan. He later coached under Billy Martin with Oakland and the Yankees.

Boyer was part of an exceptional Yankees infield in the 1960s that included Richardson, shortstop Tony Kubek and first basemen Moose Skowron.

Richardson said he was with Boyer last month in New York for a reunion of the 1961 Yankees infield. “We had three or four, we looked forward to them,” Richardson said.

The Yankees beat Cincinnati in the 1961 World Series. Boyer’s best Series performance came in 1962, when he hit .318 with a home run and four RBIs in the seven-game victory over San Francisco.

Chipper Jones Closing on Dale Murphy’s Atlanta HR Record

Chipper Jones is leading the National League in home runs — and he’s only four away from Dale Murphy‘s Atlanta Braves career record.

Dale Murphy was in his last season with the Atlanta Braves in 1990 when a skinny high school shortstop walked into the clubhouse. Murphy had no idea the kid, Chipper Jones, would be the player to break his record for most home runs with Atlanta. Then Murphy watched Jones hit. "It was obvious he was a great talent," Murphy said.

Now 35, Jones leads the NL with 10 homers and has 367 for his career, only four behind Murphy's Atlanta record.

"I could see this coming a few years ago," Murphy said Wednesday in a telephone interview from his home in Alpine, Utah. "But when he was a high school kid walking through our clubhouse, I didn't think that. It seems like yesterday."

Murphy's Atlanta total could be passed by both Chipper Jones and Andruw Jones (347) this season. "I was thankful to hold it for a while," Murphy said. "I knew quite a few years ago it wouldn't stand with Chipper and Andruw coming along."

The surprise is how quickly Chipper Jones has closed in on Murphy's total. Jones' eight homers in April tied his first-high, set in 1998.

"I feel very lucky to have the numbers I have," Jones said. "I've gotten some results so, hopefully, when I feel like I am locked in, I'll be putting up some really good numbers." Jones isn't complaining because he's been healthy. Jones averaged 155 games per season from 1995-2003, winning the 1999 NL MVP award and posting eight straight 100-RBI seasons. But injuries, including chronic feet problems, have limited him to an average of 119 games during the last three seasons. Jones played in only 110 games last year but still hit .324 with 26 homers and 86 RBIs.

Keep in mind that this is the Atlanta Braves record. A fellow by the name of Henry Aaron hit all but the last 22 of his Major League-leading 755 home runs (that’s 733 for the math challenged) for the Milwaukee and Atlanta Braves. That record’s safe, even if a chemically-enhanced Barry Bonds will likely pass Hammerin’ Hank on the Major League charts later this year.

Ryan Langerhans Traded Again

Ryan Langerhans is a man on the move. Sunday, he was traded from the Braves to the A’s. Wednesday, he was traded to the Nats.

Outfielder Ryan Langerhans was traded Wednesday night for the second time in a week, going from the Oakland Athletics to the Washington Nationals for outfielder Chris Snelling. Langerhans, obtained Sunday from Atlanta, went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts and a walk against Boston in two games for Oakland. He started both games in center field and misplayed a liner for an error that led to a run in the Red Sox 6-4 win Wednesday.

Quite a plummeting in the stock of a guy who looked to be a big time pro when first called up by the Braves a couple years back.

One Month In – The April Baseball Update

On field performances took a backseat in the final weekend of major league baseball’s first month. The untimely death of Cardinals relief pitcher Josh Hancock cast a pall over a rather extraordinary month of early season baseball. Cardinal fan Wil Leitch of the site Deadspin offered a touching remembrance of Josh, which captures the relationship that fans have to the men who play the games they love.

The relationship that we, as fans, have with the athletes we follow is as genuine as it is bizarre. Not a single day has gone by since Opening Day 2006, when Hancock first appeared on the Cardinals’ roster, that he has not been on our mental radar. We cheered him, we cursed him, we forgot about him, we repeated the process; he occupied a real place in our lives. We did not know him, and we were not particularly curious to do so; if he got batters out, he made us happy, and that was enough. His sudden departure — shocking, horrible, insane — makes us feel as if we have lost something that we never realized we had. We want to go back and cheer harder for him, forgive his mistakes more easily … treat him as human in a way we never did as a mere fan. He shifts from middle reliever to human being only in death; this can drive a fan mad with guilt and confusion.

But we did not know him. Many did, in far more depth than our parents’ fleeting encounter 10 days ago. To those, he was never a middle reliever. He was just Josh, quiet, friendly, reserved, living the contradictory life of a Major League Baseball player who toils in relative anonymity. We cannot pretend to have known him, or to understand the anguish of those who did. We can only know that we have lost something small but real, and hope and pray that those who lost more than that can find some sort of peace.

I encourage you to read the rest.

Returning to the exploits on the field, Mark Buehrle and Troy Tulowitzki both joined very exclusive baseball fraternities. Buehrle hurled the 16th no hitter in White Sox history.

Mark Buehrle became the first White Sox pitcher since Joe Horlen in 1967 to throw a no-hitter at home, and the first in USCF [US Cellular Field] history. He was tantalizingly close to pitching the 18th perfect game in major league history. A 5th inning walk to Sammy Sosa was the lone blemish on Buehrle’s pitching line, and he would erase the baserunner two pitches later by picking Sosa off of first base.

Tulowitzki turned the first unassisted triple play since Rafael Furcal nabbed a line drive touched second and then caught the runner retreating to first base. Only the thirteenth such play in the 107 seasons since 1901, but the fifth since 1992. David Pinto has the details, plus a the link to the list of all 13 unassisted triple plays.

Troy Tulowitzki turns the rare unassisted triple play against Atlanta. His play prevented Atlanta from scoring in four straight innings, and the Braves ended up losing in eleven frames 9-7.

Baseball’s leaderboard at the one months mark has a few surprises. The Brewers, a fashionable spring training pick to win their division are proving to be fashionable, leading the six team division, with the defending World Series Champion Cardinals five and a half games off the pace tied with Houston and the Cubs in the cellar. In second place the Pirates, even with Adam LaRoche and his abysmal batting average. Cincinnati can’t decide who they want to be, contender or pretender. Check back in a month and they may still be a game under .500, and still vacillating on competing.

The new-look Diamondbacks are pacing the field, in the NL West, a division that only two seasons ago almost didn’t have a team over .500. This year only the Rockies have won fewer than they lost. The Dodgers, Giants and Padres are all chasing the youthful leaders.

Atlanta is enjoying a revival in the NL East, with the Mets keeping pace with them. Florida and Philly are off the pace, but both have enough talent to make a run. The Nationals are as bad as advertised, illustrating that just because a team plays in RFK doe snot mean that baseball has returned to the Nation’s Capital.

In the junior circuit, The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Orange County, California, USA, Earth, have won eight of their last ten to sit atop the heap in the West. Oakland’s solid rotation and regular second half dashes keep hopes up in the other city by the bay. Seattle’s collection of aging-veteran-has-beens and youthful rushed-to-the-majors-never-will-bes are keeping Ichiro company in what might be his last season in Seattle. Texas rounds out the field in what may be the weakest division in baseball.

The Central by contrast looks to be the strongest. Kansas City is scuffling, again, for what the fifteenth straight year? Meanwhile Cleveland has gotten off to a good start, showing the promise of the team that nearly hunted down the White Sox in 2005. The Twins and Tigers, last season’s central division post season participants are both a game and a half back. The White Sox are a game further behind. The ChiSox have to worry about the slimness of their run differential at this point. At one game over .500, their record is a little better than it should be with a 95-97 run scored versus runs allowed ratio. And remember Buehrle’s no-no night also feature multiple homeruns from Jim Thome (now on the DL) and a grand slam from Jermaine Dye.

Finally, baseball’s overhyped division, the American League East. The Red Sox are off to a hot start, behind a very stingy pitching staff. Their combination of good pitching and acceptable hitting has them ahead of the Blue Jays, Orioles and Devil Rays, oh and the last place Yankees. With the talent that New York has, they are unlikely to remain cellar dwellers for long, but the potential Vesuvius that is George Steinbrenner has let it be known the play of the Yankees to date has been unacceptable. Heads may roll in New York, which would spell the definitive end of the calm years of Yankee success that began in 1995 and produced the great Championship teams of the late 90′s. Teams, that featured homegrown stars and complementary role players and unlike the current Yankee incarnation did not have the bloated payroll, and aging all stars at every position.

May begins with a full slate of games tonight. And baseball’s season continues forward.

Smoltz signs extension with Braves

ESPN.com news services

The Atlanta Braves have reached an agreement on a contract extension with pitcher John Smoltz, ESPN The Magazine’s Buster Olney reports.

As part of the agreement, Smoltz will receive $14 million in 2008. The deal includes a vesting option for the 2009 season that automatically kicks in if Smoltz pitches in at least 200 innings in 2008. There also is a team option for 2010.

Financial details for the 2009 season is not yet known.

I personally was glad to see this deal get done. I couldn’t imagine John Smoltz ending his career with another team. He was originally with the Tigers but never made it to the big league club. Smoltz was traded to the Braves on August 12, 1987 for starting pitcher Doyle Alexander. Alexander was a 36 year old that actually did great after the trade going 9-0 with a 1.53 ERA in 11 starts helping the Tigers win the AL East pennant. Alexander later went 0-2 in the ALCS with an ERA of 10.00 and 20-29 for the Tigers the next two seasons. Smoltz has won a Cy Young award, and is currently 195-138 with a 3.28 ERA, 2800 strike outs, and 154 saves and only 5 blown saves.

The Braves have currently surrounded Smoltz in the rotation with Tim Hudson and Chuck James, and a given him a great bullpen that includes Bob Wickman, Mike Gonzalez, and Rafael Soriano. The Braves also have future Hall-of-Famer Chipper Jones and young studs Brian McCann and Kelly Johnson, not to mention young veterans like Edgar Renteria and Andruw Jones.

Andruw Jones, more than likely, won’t be in a Braves uniform next year. Braves GM John Schuerholz knows what he is doing though. If he can’t retain Jones then he will replace him with some very good talent, possibly Rays CF Rocco Baldelli or Elijah Dukes.

Getting this deal done with Smoltz was huge for the Braves future. This shows that they are set on winning. Smoltz has stated that he wouldn’t mind going elsewhere if it meant playing for a team that is out to win it all. Smoltz and the Braves have made it clear that they both want to win. This deal also prove how good of a GM John Schuerholz truly is. Pure genius!

What’s baseball got to do with it?

via BallBug

Forbes has an article about the Business of Baseball. Given that Forbes is a business magazine not a sports magazine its list of baseball 10 best general managers will be the subject of some debate.

Being an Orioles’ fan, I hardly think that Mike Flanagan (#10 according to Forbes) deserves to be anywhere near the top of this list (yet.) He works for a difficult owner and as a fan I haven’t seen a good product for an entire year during his tenure. If this year turns out well, as it appears it might right now, there’s still little hope for long term success here. The Orioles have one of the weaker farm systems in MLB and the team isn’t especially young. (Overall that is. There’s Markakis, Cabrera, Loewen and Ray, but most everyone else of significance is 28 and up.) Success this year isn’t likely to extend more than two years unless the team’s scouting improves drastically.

I realize that this ranking is primarily from a business not a baseball standpoint, that’s why stathead favorite GM’s without much success (so far) like Mark Shapiro and Doug Melvin don’t rank. (Forbes does have metrics for evaluating them, but success on the field isn’t necessarily one of them.) Still how can Mike Flanagan make the list but not the likes of Kenny Williams, Brian Cashman, Bill Stoneman or even Tim Purpura whose teams have been in the World Series in recent years. Or Kevin Towers and Terry Ryan whose teams have made the playoffs?

And how does John Schuerholz rank below Brian Sabean or Pat Gillick?

Shouldn’t baseball have something to do with it?

Crossposted on Soccer Dad.

Washington Nationals Wear Virginia Tech Baseball Caps

The Washington Nationals wore Virginia Tech baseball caps last night in a show of support for the nearby university.

The Washington Nationals fell behind against a pitcher bound for the Hall of Fame and predictably ended up losing to the Atlanta Braves last night, 6-4. But what otherwise would have gone down as a routine April defeat by a young team trying to find its way was given greater meaning when the Nationals came out of the dugout wearing Virginia Tech baseball caps.

At that moment, playing baseball took a back seat to remembering the victims of the shootings in Blacksburg, Va., as the 17,791 at RFK Stadium responded with a loud ovation.

[...]

[Nats 3rd baseman Ryan] Zimmerman attended the University of Virginia, Virginia Tech’s arch rival. But when team officials approached the players during batting practice to ask them about wearing Virginia Tech hats, Zimmerman didn’t hesitate. “I was honored to wear it,” he said.

The idea sprang from an e-mail that Nationals fan Dave Lanham sent to team president Stan Kasten. Lanham, a resident of Calvert County, suggested that the team don the hats in tribute. Kasten liked the thought but didn’t see the e-mail until after his afternoon meetings.

With about 90 minutes before first pitch, Harolyn Cardozo, executive assistant to General Manager Jim Bowden, was on the phone calling sporting goods stores. She dialed the number to the Sports Authority’s store in Alexandria, and when she heard a voice, she had one simple demand: “Give me the smartest guy in the store who can get something done fast.”

Paul Schneider, a department manager, soon was scouring the store for Hokies hats. Cardozo asked for 40 of them and they needed to be at the stadium before the Nats took the field. Schneider found about 20 on the rack and discovered a box full in a storeroom. He talked his managers into donating the 38 hats of various styles, then jumped in his car to cross the Wilson Bridge and weave through rush-hour traffic to get to RFK.

Fifteen minutes before the first pitch, Major League Baseball gave the team approval. Schneider arrived at the stadium during the first inning, and the caps made it to the Nationals’ dugout in time for the team to take the field with them for the second inning.

A nice gesture. Interestingly, Kasten was president of the Braves for many years.