Players who reach the major leagues usually arrive there by way of high school or college through the minor leagues. Although Evan Gattis did the minor league thing, he chose a widely winding path to get to the minors.
Between high school and the minors, with two brief stops at colleges in Oklahoma and Texas, Gattis – in some semblance of chronological order– spent 30 days in drug and alcohol rehabilitation and three months in an out-patient center in Arizona, worked at a pizzeria and as a ski-lift operator in Colorado, then as a janitor in Dallas and a cart boy at a golf course, plunged into spiritualism and went to Taos, N.M., where he again worked at a ski resort, then moved on to California for more spiritualism in assorted locations in the state.
One reason Gattis has given to interviewers for deciding not to accept the scholarship Texas A & M offered was his drug background. “I was terrified; I didn’t want to fail a drug test,” he has been quoted as saying. “I didn’t want to be a mess-up, you know? I didn’t want to fail at that stage and have people say, ‘Here’s this kid with all this talent and he wasted it; what a shame’ and all that.”
Gattis has also said he was diagnosed with clinical depression and used medication to try to help him overcome it. But he also related that he used alcohol and marijuana.
It wasn’t until Gattis decided to end his seemingly endless sojourn in the fall of 2009 and go to a small Texas college, the University of Texas-Permian Basin – and play baseball that he returned to the path he had abandoned initially five years and a second time three years earlier.
Despite his shaky and uncertain history, Gattis was selected by the Atlanta Braves in the 23rd round of the 2010 draft. In his three minor league seasons, the third of which was delayed for two months by a wrist injury, he never played above Class AA.
Nevertheless, Gattis has been the Braves’ catcher this season, assuming the job normally held by Brian McCann, who is recovering from shoulder surgery.
As the Braves’ second most productive hitter behind Justin Upton, the 26-year-old Texan has been instrumental in the team’s season-long hold on first place in the National League East.
The many other rookies who have played in the majors in the first month of the season have much more mundane stories, their previous lives filled with baseball and not drugs and spiritualism-seeking sojourns. Like Gattis, however, some have made an impact.
Shelby Miller, a 22-year-old right-hander, who was the 19th player picked in the 2009 draft, has started six games for the first-place St. Louis Cardinals and has a 4-2 record with a 1.96 earned run average. In his two losses, the Cardinals have incurred two of their three shutouts.
His four victories tie him for second on the team with Adam Wainwright, one behind Lance Lynn’s five. Miller is one-fifth the reason the Cardinals’ starting rotation, entering the weekend, had a 2.07 e.r.a., a full run lower than the majors’ next lowest.
Hyun-Jin Ryu, a major league rookie but a seven-time Korean all-star, has made six starts for the Los Angeles Dodgers and, through Saturday, had a 3-1 record and 3.35 e.r.a. The Dodgers spent $61.75 million to sign Ryu, a $25.75 million posting fee to gain negotiating rights for him and a $36 million contract.
No. 99 in your scorecard, the 26-year-old left-hander had the same number of victories and only six fewer strikeouts in one less start than staff ace Clayton Kershaw
Of all of the rookies, Ryu has traveled the farthest to play in the majors, but Jim Henderson has traveled the most.
A Milwaukee relief pitcher, the 30-year-old Henderson spent nine and a half years in the minors before the Brewers promoted him last July 26. Like general manager Doug Melvin, a Canadian, Henderson relieved for the Brewers the rest of the season, but he wasn’t with them long enough or pitched enough innings to lose his rookie status.
Henderson has been an outstanding rookie this season, relieving in 12 games, recording 6 saves in 6 opportunities and two victories against no defeats while allowing one earned run in 12 innings for a 0.75 e.r.a.
A 31-year-old left-handed rookie has had a similar experience, though he hasn’t had as spectacular a season. Scott Rice pitched in the minors for 14 seasons before the New York Mets gave him a major league job this year.
Becoming a pitcher in his senior year in high school, he was the 44th player selected in the 1999 draft (by Baltimore), and he was signed by six different organizations (one twice) plus an independent league team before the Mets signed him as a minor league free agent last November.
When he won a job on the Mets’ staff this spring, it marked his first major league job. He has appeared in 17 games, most for a rookie pitcher in the majors, and has a 1-1 record and 1.80 e.r.a.
Except for Gattis, the rookie pitchers seem to be more interesting than the non-pitching rookies. For example, Aaron Hicks, Minnesota’s center fielder, played in 24 of the Twins’ first 26 games, and was hitting .123. On the other hand, Conor Gillaspie, the Chicago White Sox third baseman, played in 27 of the team’s first 28 games and was hitting .306.
Three other rookies were between Hicks and Gillaspie. Second baseman Jedd Gyorko was hitting .259, having played in 29 of San Diego’s first 30 games. Pete Kozma, the St. Louis shortstop, played in 28 of the Cardinals’ first 30 games and was hitting .260. A.J. Pollock, Arizona’s center fielder and leadoff batter, had a .272 batting average for 26 of the Diamondbacks’ first 30 games.
Gattis, meanwhile, has not retreated to the New Mexico dessert for a refresher course in spiritualism. He was hitting .250 with 7 homers and 17 runs batted in, having started 23, including 3 at first base, and played in 24 of the Braves’ first 29 games.
RED SOX WIN BY 60!!
When Toronto and Boston completed their three-game series last Thursday night, the Red Sox had a 20-8 record, the Blue Jays 10-19.
The Red Sox finished in last place in the American League East last season and missed the playoffs for the third straight year. The Blue Jays, having uncharacteristically spent a load of money in the off-season, were the popular, if misguided, pick to win the division title this season.
Boston’s 20-8 record, propelled by Clay Buchholz’s 6-0, computed to a .714 winning percentage, the Blue Jays’ 10-19 record to .345, 10 ½ games behind the Red Sox. If the teams were to play at those percentages all season, the Red Sox would finish with 115 wins, the Blue Jays with 55, which would put them 60 games behind the Red Sox.
They probably won’t play at those percentages, but when are the Blue Jays going to wake up and realize the season has begun and they’re not supposed to be playing like this? On second thought, when are the Red Sox going to wake up and realize the season has begun and they’re not supposed to be playing like this?
SPITTERS AND LIES
Who caused more controversy the past couple of weeks, Jack Morris or David Price? Or was it Tom Hallion?
Morris, the former pitcher and my favorite candidate for the Hall of Fame, said after viewing videotape that Boston’s Clay Buchholz threw spitters against the Blue Jays last week. Morris is a radio analyst for Toronto games but commented after cameramen showed him the tape.
Buchholz and the Red Sox, of course, denied the accusation, which was echoed by Dirk Hayhurst, another former pitcher and current Blue Jays analyst.
John Farrell, the Boston manager, who previously managed the Blue Jays, was especially outraged at the accusation, but that’s how managers are supposed to react in defending their pitchers.
The commissioner’s office had no reaction to the spitter charge, but Bud Selig doesn’t get involved in such matters that don’t involve steroids and other performance-enhancing substances.
The Price flap came when the Tampa Bay pitcher accused Hallion of cursing him as he left a game. Hallion called Price a liar, and both were fined.
The worst part of the incident to me was the umpire’s escalation of the incident by walking toward Price and yelling at him, whether or not he cursed him.
Umpires are not supposed to pursue players or potentially inflame an incident by word or deed.
Joe Torre, the head of baseball operations, declined to discuss the matter.
FIRE UP THE GRILLI
You’d think Jason Grilli is left-handed he’s been around so long. Well, it’s not that long; it just seems that way since he was drafted in 1997. Maybe the right-handed reliever seems like he’s been around a long time because he was injured and didn’t pitch in 2010. But look at how he has pitched since coming back from knee surgery.
Philadelphia took first shot at him in 2011 but released him July 20 without giving him a chance to pitch in the majors despite a 1.93 e.r.a. Pittsburgh signed him a day later, becoming his ninth organization. He relieved in 28 games and recorded a 2.48 e.r.a. Last season he had a 2.91 e.r.a. in 64 games,
The Pirates liked him so much that they traded their closer, Joel Hanrahan, who had gained 76 saves in two seasons. Grilli has rewarded their confidence in him by registering a 0.69 e.r.a. and successfully completing his first 12 save opportunities, including 10 in April. That performance earned him an award as the best reliever of the month.
It is the most recognition he has received since he was the fourth player picked in the 1997 draft.
THE KING ENTERS A NEW COURT
The Baseball Reliquary is not the best known organization in the sporting community; nor is its Shrine of the Eternals as well known as the Baseball Hall of Fame. The organization, however, is years ahead of the Hall of Fame. It elected Marvin Miller to its halls 10 years ago. The Hall of Fame’s doors, as thick as the heads of its directors and its electors, have yet to open for Miller.
Now the Baseball Reliquary has taken another step that is to be applauded. Its board of directors has elected Eddie Feigner to the Shrine of the Eternals.
Feigner, the greatest softball pitcher in the sport’s history, would never be eligible for the Baseball Hall of Fame because he doesn’t meet the criteria for consideration. But then, the directors of the baseball Hall said in the 1980s that Miller didn’t qualify. Once they changed that stance they took steps to make sure he wouldn’t be elected.
But for now let’s celebrate Feigner’s election to the Shrine of the Eternals. It took him 13 tries on the ballot.
Feigner, who died in 2007 at the age of 82, was the King of the King and his Court, a windmill pitcher who needed only three other players (his court) to beat fully manned teams, outstanding teams, the best communities could put together to play the barnstorming King.
Feigner was fast and he was tricky. A crew-cutted right-hander with muscular arms, he pitched behind his back, between his legs, blindfolded and from second base. He didn’t give up too many hits, and he didn’t lose too many games.
According to the Baseball Reliquary, Feigner toured 400 towns a year, making him a great ambassador for sports. Its news release said he continued touring with the team after a stroke in 2000 ended his pitching career at the age of 75.
During his career, the Baseball Reliquary said, Feigner and his team won 9,700 games, and he struck out 140,000 and pitched 930 no-hitters and 238 perfect games. In his prime, it said, Feigner’s fastball was clocked at 104 miles an hour.
“Feigner’s most incredible feat,” the Reliquary said, “took place at Dodger Stadium in 1967 during a nationally televised softball exhibition game when he consecutively struck out All-Stars Maury Wills, Harmon Killebrew, Brooks Robinson, Willie Mays, Willie McCovey, and Roberto Clemente. During the game he also fanned Pete Rose twice for good measure.”