INSIDE BASEBALL
From First To Nursed
by Mark Bechtel and Jeff Pearlman
Posted: Wed September 16, 1998
Losing nine out of 12 games isn't the end of the world when you
lead your division by 11 games with less than three weeks left in
the season, but don't try telling that to the Braves, who won
just three times from Aug. 28 through Sept. 9. "It's haunting
us," says third baseman Chipper Jones. "It's killing us."
Hey, easy with the self-flagellation, Chipper. The last thing the
Braves need is for someone else to get hurt. Atlanta's swoon came
at a time when shortstop Walt Weiss (left quadriceps) and second
baseman Keith Lockhart (right hamstring) were out of the lineup
for more than a week. Lefthander Denny Neagle missed two starts
with bursitis in his left shoulder. Reliever Russ Springer had
just returned from a two-week absence caused by a sore elbow, and
Rudy Seanez, the team's top righthanded setup man, has been out
since Sept. 5 with a muscle tear in his right forearm.
There was more to Atlanta's slide than injuries, though, which is
what had Jones, leftfielder Ryan Klesko and lefty Tom Glavine so
upset that they called a players-only meeting last Thursday. At
week's end the team was hitting .228 in September. The
smoke-and-mirrors act that is the relief corps fell apart after
the guys found a media guide, took a look at their credentials
and apparently decided that they had no business pitching as
effectively as they had all summer. So, during the team's recent
tumble, they blew five saves and lost five games. Two of those
losses were at the hands of John Rocker, who has been more of a
rockee since his string of nine straight hitless appearances
ended on Aug. 29.
Even starting pitching, the Braves' perennial strength, is now a
concern in Atlanta. Compounding the loss of Neagle is the fact
that wunderkind Kevin Millwood has one victory in the past four
weeks. Even Greg Maddux has been mortal. On Aug. 23 he allowed
three homers for the first time in 393 career starts, then
allowed three homers again two appearances later. The start after
that, on Sept. 8, he walked four batters in a game for the first
time in more than three years. On Sunday he had to leave the game
after the sixth inning with a strained muscle. Since July 31,
Maddux is 3-4 with a 3.71 ERA and is in danger of dropping out of
Cy Young contention after spending most of the season as the
favorite to win an unprecedented fifth award.
The Braves, who early in the season appeared to be a shoo-in to
finish with the National League's best record, could now wind up
with the third best, meaning they would lose home field advantage
in the first round of postseason play and have to face the Astros
or the Padres in the opening round instead of the wild-card entry
(the far-less-talented Cubs or Giants). As for how the team might
fare under those circumstances, at least one Atlanta player isn't
very optimistic. Says Glavine, "If the postseason started right
now, we'd last four games. Maybe. We should be ashamed of
ourselves."
Issue date: September 21, 1998
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