A Farewell to Tommy

By Stefi Kaplan
Posted Monday, October 8, 2007

Tommy Glavine has officially declined his option. Big surprise. He will now spend the next few months gauging the interest of the Braves (and to a lesser extent, the Nationals) and weighing whether he should retire. Personally, I vote for the latter and it is not because I don’t want the Mets to face the guy next year. Unless he spends considerable time working on a second round of adjustments to his game, I think the 2008 may end similarly to 2007 for Tommy. But the difference is that he will not win his 300th game next year and he’d be lying if he didn’t admit that that was the highlight of his 2007 season.

I have always liked Tommy. He hasn’t always come through for the team and most notably, he failed to do so at the end of this season. But if we look back to before those few starts clouded our judgment, Tommy rarely missed a start. On a team that fought injuries so much that they need to enroll in “Sports Conditioning 101,” Tommy has been the one constant since 2003. I’ll never forget that blood clot scare last year, when it looked as though he might not pitch again, at least for a while. That moment when he retook the mound a week later just floored me. But I would expect nothing less from a guy who loves and respects the game as much as he does.

People say it a lot, but Tommy really is a class act all the way. He is respected by everyone in the game – players, managers, coaches, former teammates, admiring non-teammates, everyone. He even got a standing ovation at Wrigley Field when he was on his way to win #300. New York and Atlanta fans have had a love-hate relationship with the pitcher, but that shouldn’t surprise anyone who has been to either Turner field or Shea.

No, Tommy hasn’t always endeared himself to Mets fans, but he did manage to turn his career around as a Met during the second half of 2005. The former Brave showed his heart, determination and dedication to the game when he worked overtime with Peterson to adjust to the way the game had changed. The truth is, many thought Tommy’s career was over. But he put aside his ego and managed to complete a major transformation in his game to keep the hitters off-balance and guessing. Tommy, the epitome of a finesse pitcher, made the necessary adjustments in 2005 and enjoyed a tremendous string of success as a result.

In the end, I think Tommy has a long way to go if he wants to pitch next year. In late September, all of the Tommy’s previous adjustments were exposed by the less impressive teams in the NL East. It was discouraging to watch Tommy get knocked around by a poor Washington Nationals team despite actually locating his pitches. It seems that the league has adjusted to his adjustments and it is time for him to face another crossroad.

Last time he faced this crossroad, he took the more difficult path: he redeveloped his pitching style. But he was in the middle of a huge contract and was reaching toward the final stretch of his quest toward the big 300.

This time, he is a free agent, two years older and has achieved the big goal. What is there to come back for?

There is something to be said for retiring with integrity. He may feel he wants to come back so he can retire on a high note rather than his hideous outing on September 30, 2007. But in reality, who is to say next year would be any different? For a workhorse who has thrown over 200 innings almost every year, Tommy is getting older. There’s at least an argument to be made that he just tired out at the end of 2007. And if that happens again in 2008, he’d retire on an even lower note, because he wouldn’t have that great run from the all star break to mid-September. And he wouldn’t have win #300 to look at as a bright spot in the season.

Tommy, you have nothing left to prove. You have already secured yourself as one of the greatest lefty pitchers in the game. Your career has so many bright spots that your legacy is already indelibly inked in baseball history.

Now sit back, relax and take it all in. Tell your children stories about what it was like when you left the mound about to secure win #300. And work on your golf game.

Thanks for the memories, Tommy, and thanks for being the rock on an injury-ridden and mostly underachieving team the past five years. Your 200 innings and veteran presence will be difficult to replace, but this is the right time for a clean break. It’s time to retire, Tommy. At this point, you have done it all.