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Posted Saturday, April 14, 2007
Last year we all thought Jorge Julio was the embodiment of Armando Benitez throwing heat and having hitters tee off on his offerings, giving way to big innings by the opposition. However just when Julio settled down and started to look good, the Mets got rid of him.
In Monday’s season opener at Shea, the Mets were locked in a tight battle with the Phillies. Ambiorix Burgos was successful at getting the elusive third out in the top of the 5th inning, but when he came on to pitch the sixth he let the lead slip away giving up 3 runs allowing the Phillies to go ahead by a score of 5-3.
I have been watching the Mets since 1977, and in all of that time watching baseball, I have noticed a steady decline in the pitching - both starters and relievers.
When I started watching the Mets, starting pitchers went the distance unless they were really getting clobbered. Back then, being a reliever - especially a middle reliever was almost like a punishment. There weren’t too many closers back then because there wasn’t a big need for it. Your starter was expected to last 9 innings unless they really lost their effectiveness or got hurt. If you did have to bring in a closer, they had to be nothing short of stellar - the object was to get the remaining few outs to preserve the game for the guy who started - not to let it slip away as if you are watching a completely different ball game.
I was looking back at all of the middle relievers that I can remember - Doug Sisk better known as “Doug Risk” was one who came to mind. When he came into a game I had to watch with my hands over my eyes like I was watching a horror movie.
Many mediocre and just plain awful “specialists” have graced the field in a Met uniform, guys like the forgettable Jerrod Riggan, Rich Rodriguez, Toby Boreland, Greg McMichael, John Hudek, Mike Stanton, “Mr Koo”, Satoru Komiyama, David Weathers, Mel Rojas, Dennis Cook - the ugly list is endless.
We now live in an age where mediocrity commands a million dollar paycheck for both starters and relievers. Back end of the rotation guys like Steve Trachsel making millions is just outrageous to me. Bidding wars this off season over the services of Gil Meche were just plain crazy. It’s so out of hand that it makes me sick.
Now as if overpaying for so-so starters is bad enough, in the last 20 years we now have to endure watching these middle inning specialists. When these 6th & 7th inning guys come into a guy 9 times out of 10 you end up watching a completely different ball game.
Two hours invested in watching your team hold a one run lead flushed down the toilet because these guys couldn’t pitch their way out of a paper bag.
Lets face it - what is a middle reliever? A pitcher who is not good enough to start a game or be a closer. What is even more troubling is that the outcome of the game rests on the shoulders of these characters.
If I feel robbed and cheated after being on the edge of my seat watching a pitcher’s duel until the 6th inning only to see it give way to a spring training batting practice session. I can only imagine how the starters in these games feel after coming out - only to end up with a no-decision after pitching 6 or 7 innings of quality baseball.
Going into Wednesday’s night’s game The starters ERA’s are as follows:
El Duque: 1.38
Glavine: 2.38
Perez: 1.29
Maine: 1.54
While Heilman’s is 7.71 and Burgos is 8.10 - now I do think Heilman will get in gear, I don’t see a lot of upside in Burgos.
During Wednesday night’s bad start by Perez where he walked in 2 runs and hit a batter forcing in another is a perfect example of when a middle reliever is needed and Aaron Sele did a nice job. Granted these types of relief situations aren’t often, but with the poor quality of pitching all around the league these days they will increase in frequency.
Sele being in this position just illustrates my point though - he was competing for a spot in the rotation in spring training and he is a reliever because he WASN'T GOOD ENOUGH TO START. However coming into a game like Wednesday night’s debacle is when relief is needed - not just for the hell of it but because it’s the 6th or 7th inning. When I used to collect baseball cards as a kid, Topps had a card that referred to relievers as “Firemen”.
Why do you think they made that reference? Because relievers come in to put out a fire that the starting pitcher started, making a mess of an inning.
The game has changed so much in the 30 years I am watching, and I long for the days of when I saw Doc Gooden pitch into the 10th inning. I’m sure my Grandfather would have said that the players of my generation couldn’t hold a candle to the guys he watched play, but I wish someone would put a stop to overpaying for mediocrity, and let pitchers finish what they start so to speak.
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Professor Shari "Take The Seven Train" Forst appears in these pages each and every Saturday and recently confided in this narrator that she, too, is one of the fortunate few to have married their best friend. I think that makes us, like, cousins or something.
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