First, let’s get closure on Javier Vazquez, Big Mike. I think he’s a good pitcher. As I said, I’m worried he might do quite well on the Yankees. I think we were debating, partly, whether he might have been able to excell even more as a pitcher until now - and, why, or why not, and, as you asked: why even ask that question? We covered these for now.
Second, I agree with you main premise about how few real ace pitchers have existed. The kind, as you wrote, like Greg Maddux, who performed at a excellent level year in and year out. When I just tried to think of pitchers who had great seasons several years in a row, or, even ten years in a row, the list quickly dwindled down to a few. I’d list Roger Clemens, despite his having a few average seasons, but, with his apparent use of steroids or other drugs, his record is tainted. Had he not done steroids, I used to consider him the best pitcher in the history of baseball simply on the basis of having many more Cy Young Awards – and the consistency and excellence that went with most of those. But, as you alluded to, your mind goes to the great pitchers who were on top for a few seasons. Of course, because I loved Pedro Martinez, I can’t be objective, but, I do believe his outstanding seasons were so special and dominant that he’s in a category of his own…..but, I admit, Sandy Koufaz, dazzled everyone for several brief seasons and vanished — similarly to Pedro.
What’s so easy to do is rattle off the pitchers who have stellar seasons, then fade for a while, or, get injured, or, are never the same. I thought of Jeremy Bonderman on the Tigers. God did he look sharp mowing down the Yankees in the playoffs back in 2006 or whenever it was. Since then, he hasn’ t been the same due to injuries. His teammate, Justin Verlander, looked like his old self a bit this year, but, after struggling in the previous two years, I believe, partly due to arm troubles too, right? I won’t go thru the list, but it makes you realize that for a pitcher to be like Maddux, you have to have the talent, the effort – including terrific “laser” focus on the mound – and, the luck to pull it off.
Our exchange reminded me of a closely related topic: what about the position players with good ability who are not superstars – but, above average – and, through hard work and a positive attitude - improve and become nearly as valuable to their team as a superstar? I’m talking about a guy like Kevin Youkilis on the Red Sox. Scouts noticed Youkilis in the minors and noticed his patience at the plate (he got the “The Greek God of Walks” nickname in “Moneyball.”) Yet, no one speculated just how good Youkilis would become after his first few years starting in the big leagues. I think he’s the best hitter on the team now. He can hit for power and contact. He’s got an incredible eye and walks a lot. He fouls off pitches in Johnny Damon style. He’s made himself a star, in essence.
I raise Youkilis because, to me, it relates back to some of the Javier Vazquez questions we just debated. Again, the fact that Youkilis surprised people around Boston with how quickly he improved was an exciting, interesting story. Dustin Pedroia wasn’t expected to be good enough to win “Rookie of the Year” and then earn the “Most Valuable Player” award, either. He’s another guy who seemed to improve quickly, but, I think, in retrospect, he just started a bit slowly in his first year. Though he’s very short, and has a big sweeping swing for a guy his size, he’s got tremendous confidence and a chip on his shoulder. Pedroia is not a classic “star” but a good guy to have on your team.
Let’s face it: Sometimes, we cannot identify the fine line between talent and effort. Sometimes, I may not care, but, for baseball lunatics like you and me, it’s a topic of interest. I recall when Fred Lynn was on the Red Sox in the 1970s, some people wondered if was a bit too “casual” or if he worked hard enough. He was from California, so some fans felt Freddy might have more of a beach or surfing mentality. It was quite ludicrous. Lynn seemed to play hard to me. In fact, he got hurt banging into the hard centerfield wall at Fenway Park more than once.
Then, this exchange gets me thinking about what Larry Bird used to say about Kevin McHale back in the 1980s when the two of them were on that great Celtic team that won three championships in the 80s. Bird was convinced that McHale could’ve been even better – if he just worked on his game more and got more serious about it. McHale, meanwhile, had evolved into one of the best players in the NBA on offense and defense, so, he didn’t seem to have a lot of “improving” to do. Bird harped on this – and it’s a point that got repeated for years. Bird practiced with McHale. Maybe he was at least right, in some tiny way. But, I bring the example up to illustrate how subjective and complex this topic is of “Is the player meeting his full potential?” What does it really mean? I think it gets noticed and discussed when the talent appearas EXTREME, but, for every one player like that, there are 200 other players wrestling with the same questions season to season: How can I get better?
In the meantime, for we baseball observers, the degree of talent we see in a player vs. the degree of effort is often in the eye of the beholder.
