Feeding the Baseball Appetite
So it’s not
exactly the news frenzy that late July is before the trading deadline, or
that December provides during baseball’s winter meetings, but late March
has provided more than a few interesting little nuggets of information. Maybe
it’s just those six annoying, baseball-less months that draw me to every
baseball story I see, but by God, I’m intrigued.
It’s looking like a few of baseball’s premier players from the
past decade are calling it quits. Andres “The Big Cat”
Galarraga, who became “The Really Big Cat” prior to the
end of his career, is among the newly retired. Galarraga was deadly at several
points in his lengthy career. He was a consistent power threat in the late
1980s and early 1990s with the Expos, one of baseball’s most feared
sluggers while a Rockie in the mid-‘90s, and even put up a couple of
nice seasons late in his career with the Braves. Galarraga finished his career
with a .288/.347/.499 line, 399 homers, 2,333 hits, and 197 cheesecakes eaten.
Overall, “The Big Cat” proved to have a fine career, and thankfully
knew that it was time to retire. A lot of players might’ve tried to
DH, dragging out an otherwise dignified career at a point when it didn’t
need to be.
Another preseason retiree is second baseman Roberto Alomar,
who is certainly headed to the Hall of Fame barring someone making assumptions
that maybe he might’ve used steroids. Alomar was a 12-time All Star
and an 11-time Gold Glove winner. He finished up with a batting line of .300/.371/.443,
210 homers, 2,274 hits, and 474 steals. I think it’s safe to say that
Alomar, 37 years old, picked a good time to get out. He’s had a rough
past few seasons and he was getting ready to go through the irreversible trauma
that comes with being a Devil Ray. Alomar had one of best careers of any second
baseman ever, and aside from spitting on an umpire as an Oriole in 1996 (I’m
pretty sure Alomar mistook him for a sidewalk) he was extremely well respected.
Although he hasn’t officially announced it yet (as Galarraga and Alomar
have), it appears that longtime Royals pitcher Kevin Appier
will also be retiring before the 2005 season commences. While Appier was certainly
not the caliber of player that Galarraga and Alomar were, he enjoyed a nice
run of success in the early-to-mid ‘90s. Appier finished his career
with an ERA of 3.74, 169 wins, and 1,994 strikeouts. He was the American League
Rookie Pitcher of the Year in 1990. Aside from pitching in the dregs of Kansas
City, he also had short stints in Oakland and Anaheim (where he last posted
a sub-4.00 ERA). Despite his accomplishments, Appier’s face was awfully
funny looking throughout his career (to the point where one might think his
surname was appropriate). He’s certainly not a Hall-of-Famer, but he
had a good, solid run.
Retirements aren’t the only news from the last few days, though. The
Astros and Padres made a trade (a rare occasion during this part of the season)
that sent pitcher Tim Redding from Houston to San Diego for
minor league catcher Humberto Quintero. Redding has had periods
of effectiveness in his career, but all things considered, he isn’t
much to cling to at this point. He’s well known for trying to get hitters
out with junk pitches, but that finally stopped working. As for Quintero,
he’s probably Houston’s catcher of the future since John Buck
was dealt to Kansas City for Carlos Beltran last summer. Well, that and Brad
Ausmus is just starting to plain suck. Quintero has a good glove, a great
throwing arm, and has shown a little bit of power in the minor leagues. Even
if he doesn’t hit, that wouldn’t be a downgrade from Ausmus, who’s
primarily a defensive backstop anyway. This one favors Houston unless Redding
finds that “magic” he’s occasionally displayed. After all,
PETCO is a huge park.
It also looks like the Brewers are nearing completion of a four-year contract
extension with pitcher Ben Sheets. Sheets is expected to
earn somewhere around $10 million per season under the new contract, and he’ll
probably earn it. Sheets was dominant in 2004 (2.70 ERA, 264 K/32 BB in 237
IP), and he’s a good bet to build on that and continue. While he might
be better utilized not being a Brewer, Milwaukee is certainly headed in a
much better direction. With Carlos Lee in town and a slew of prospects working
their way up the system, Sheets may be the centerpiece of some upcoming good
Brewers teams. Yes, I know, that’s a scary thought.
As exciting as all of this may or may not be, it really pales in comparison
to baseball’s biggest news: that only days remain until the start of
the 2005 season. Sunday night (April 3) will bring baseball’s first
regular season game: the Yankees and Red Sox at 8:05 EST on ESPN 2. With Schilling
injured, it looks like either Matt Clement or David Wells will make the opening
day start for Boston, with Randy Johnson starting for the Yankees. Monday’s
schedule will feature ten regular season games, while Tuesday will showcase
eight more (including the Cardinals’ opener against Houston at 7:05
EST). God bless baseball.
Little
did umpire John Hirschbeck now what was about to hit him. In contrast, Manager
Davey Johnson appears to see what's about to happen all too clearly.
