Monday, May 29, 2006

Be On-Guard For The Old Guard: Why Tom Glavine's Season Is Even More Impressive!!!












Randy Johnson...John Smoltz...Andy Petite...Ton Glavine...if you had asked which of these 4 pitchers would be standing on a record of 8-2 with a 2.59 ERA on Memorial Day, honestly, which of these 4 would you have bet on? Well, unless you said Glavine, you'd be wrong- and if you say you DID say Glavine, then you're probably lying...but here it is, Memorial Day, May 29th, and Glavine is by far and away the best over 40 year old pitcher this season...and he, Kenny Rogers and Curt Schilling seem to be the only above-37 year old pitchers on target for what could be termed as "successful" seasons. Petite has lost sight of homeplate....Smoltz is playing for a mediocre Braves' team and looks beatable...Johnson still has speed but seems to be pitching batting practice...Greg Maddux, after going 5-0 in April reverses sail and goes 0-4 in May...and Roger Clemens STILL hasn't signed with anyone and will cost a team north of $20 million when he DOES make a decision, and it will come without the advantage of spring training. Bad pitching is not limited to well-healed vets this year, though, as Mark Prior and Rich Harden continue to battle injuries while battling the shadow of their potential, and Dontrelle Willis battles the doldrums of pitching for the Marlins... and here comes Tom Glavine, with the slowest fastball this side of Maddux, keeping the Mets in the pennant race while the staff around him (other then Pedro) floats in and out. The Mets have already used 10 starters this season, which is a record for the first 2 months of the season, while Glavine just keeps doing his thing, fooling batters and chalking up victories. Neither of us predicted, or even hoped, for such a great start from Glavine, and especially not this year when so many old reliables have lost their reliability. Let's hope Glavine stays healthy and focused on what he's been doing so well- our ability to contend truly rests on his 40+ year old shoulders!

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