Baseball Thread Rated X -- Mature Audiences Only

I know Joe loves experience, but why wouldn't Wang start Game One? He is by far their best pitcher this year.

 

I'd love to see that! I've got friends who can't forgive him, but to me, what went down back in '02 was just part of the modern game. As soon as the Braves signed Hampton that winter, I knew Glavine was gone. Johnny boy can say what he wants now, but I tend to believe they never seriously tried to re-sign him. Regardless, the man threw eight innings of one-hit ball in the biggest baseball game in Atlanta history, and no matter what uniform he wears now, that will always make him Mr. Brave in my book.

 

If the Dodgers split next two in Chi-Town... or lose both.... and the the Dodgers and Padres play 4, it really bodes well for the three trailing teams.

 

Well, I don't think it had much to do with Hampton. The Braves weren't even on the hook for Hampton for the first two years (Colorado was, then Florida, and Atlanta finally started paying for him this year), so it wasn't about the money. ... Nobody fooled anybody in those negotiations: it was all about the fourth year. Glavine wanted a fair deal money-wise, sure, (and the Braves offered him that), but what he really wanted was the fourth year. The Braves wouldn't give it. The Mets would. Simple as that.

But yes, he's still the face of the franchise to me. Even though he's been a Met for, ahem, four years now.

 

What the Braves did in negotiating with Glavine was offer him an incentive-laden contract with automatic yearly options that vested if he pitched a certain number of innings. Wasn't the same money the Mets were offering, but he wouldn't have to live in New York, either. Being a union guy, I guess he was never going to go for a contract anchored on his performance. If you believe Schuerholz' book (and among MLB general managers, I can't think of one I view as more believable), the night before Glavine signed with the Mets, JS was in his living room, and Glavine and his wife were both bawling their eyes out because they didn't want to leave. This, after he had publicly criticized the Braves' negotiating tactics saying that they weren't calling him back when what really happened was his agent couldn't retrieve a voicemail message. And then Glavine leaves anyway, saying Wilpon had made him feel like family. The Braves practically raised the SOB, and he's taking digs at them at every turn, smiting the negotiating tactics that a.) they had used with every other player they'd signed since 1990 and b.) contributed greatly to his own professional and financial success. Then, a year later, he complains to the media about how hard it is on his family being in New York when his wife and kids are in Atlanta. Yeah, I know this is part of the modern game. Really, I get that. But the Mets offer wasn't so much more that it was a no-brainer, and he could have pitched with Atlanta as long as he wanted to, and everybody knew it. I'm not striking it through this time: TRAITOR. I'm not emotional about this or anything. Really. Seriously, I'm not ...

 

Tom Glavine has reinvented himself over the last few years but I highly doubt he would return to the Braves and would never pitch in Boston.

 

Your rant is wildly entertaining, but it boils down to this sentence. Every winter, there's a guy or two who takes one for the union and goes someplace he doesn't really want to go in order to land the last available buck. In 2002, it was Glavine and Thome. In 2004, it was Beltran. Last year, it was Billy Wagner.

 

FACT: Every time the Marlins win the wild card, they win the World Series.

FACT: The Marlins aren't out of the wild card race yet.

 

The irony of Strawberry being at bat for the Dodgers while the Braves clinched ... one of the great servings of STFU of all time.

 

Takes one for the union! Ha ha! [/nelson]

(Although, in all seriousness, you're right about that. ... And Schuerholz's book was just a cover-my-ass attempt, which he has every right to do. They both did it. But he and Glavine seem to be fine now. ... "The Braves practically raised the SOB" -- go check out the Bob Ryan column/thread and tell me why you still believe in loyalty in this business. Sports is a business, plain and simple.)

 

FACT: The Marlins just self-destructed and lost to the Mets,. 7-4, in 11. This is the the end for the little team from SoFla

 

Fork time.