Nice save
By grabbing reliever Myers, Padres put Braves in bad spot
Posted: Monday August 10, 1998 04:55 PM
ST. LOUIS (CNN/SI) -- The San Diego Padres didn't
need another closer. They have one of the best in the business, Trevor
Hoffman, and he'll do them just fine.
But, faced with the possibility of grabbing veteran reliever Randy Myers or
letting him go -- where the closer-hungry Atlanta Braves would
have almost certainly grabbed him -- the Padres decided that it was better
to have Myers and not need him than to let someone else have him.
It may end up being one of the better plays the Padres make all season.
No matter what manager Bruce Bochy or anyone else with the Padres says, the
Padres didn't really need Myers. Yes, he solidifies their bullpen from a
lefty-right standpoint. In the ninth inning of a close game -- say sometime
in the playoffs, where the Padres are almost certainly headed -- with a
left-handed batter up, the Padres may want to go with the left-handed Myers
rather than righty Hoffman.
But, really, closing is Hoffman's role, no matter who's up. And he's been
doing a great job of it. He's blown only one save all year, and he leads
the National League with 38 saves. He's proven his worth.
No, grabbing Myers off waivers -- one move before the Braves would have had
a chance at him -- seemed much more about hurting the Braves than it did
helping the Padres.
No one needed relief help more than the Braves. Now, unless they can find
someone on waivers before the playoffs, the Braves will be going into the
postseason with Kerry Ligtenberg (who has 18 saves this season) as their
closer.
Ligtenberg may well be able to do the job. But he's not proven. And, at
that time of the year, you need someone you can count on, someone who has
been there and understands the pressures of playoff baseball. Now that you
have two series you have to win just to get into the World Series, the
bullpen is even more important.
You're not going to win in baseball without a good bullpen. Period.
Now the Padres ... that's a good pen. Both Hoffman and Myers are very good
closers. Hoffman is not the classic hard-throwing reliever. He mixes it up
pretty well. Myers, too, is not just a blower anymore. He throws a good
slider, and he moves the ball around. Both of them pitch around the strike
zone well.
To answer the critics: No, the Padres won't be able to use both of them all
of the time.
But the Braves won't get to use either one of them. Any time.
The 6-4-3 with Ozzie Smith: El Presidente is still hanging on. And
now, 22 years after starting his major league career, he finally has the
record for most wins by a Latin pitcher.
Dennis Martinez, the crafty 42-year-old pitcher for the Atlanta Braves, won
his 244th game on Sunday, surpassing the record of Hall of Famer Juan
Marichal.
A native of Nicaragua, Martinez has started 562 games in his long career.
But he's relegated to middle relief now, where wins are hard to come by. He
got his last win on June 2.
Still, his teammates came through for him Sunday, and now Martinez stands
alone.
All hail El Presidente.
Ozzie Smith, a 15-time All-star, is the baseball analyst for CNN/SI, the
24-hour sports news network from CNN and Sports Illustrated. His column
appears every Monday exclusively on CNNSI.com. To ask Ozzie a question,
click here.
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