MLB Insider...Sep 8: Bichette makes his pitch; Ichiro for MVP?
Bichette makes his pitch
By Jerry Crasnick
Dante Bichette spread out in his flat-footed stance for the final time with the Boston Red Sox in 2001, then stowed his bats in the rack and came to grips with reality. He was 37 years old, with 274 career homers and a terminally creaky ACL, and it was time to head off to Florida to work on his tan.
Maybe a dozen Dante Bichettes make the transition from the big leagues to retirement each year. Many of them open hitting schools, take up broadcasting or play golf until their hands cramp. Bichette played competitive tennis, dabbled in real estate and helped coach his two young sons, Dante and Bo, who have enough talent on the baseball field to allow their father to dream.
Boring and predictable went together like hand and batting glove until this summer, when Bichette did something to make his friends wonder if he was: a) having a mid-life crisis; or b) suffering from terminal light-headedness after all those long games at Coors Field.
Dante Bichette carried a big stick in his 14 major-league seasons, hitting 274 career homers.
In August, Bichette packed up the family and left Florida for the independent Atlantic League -- home of Rickey Henderson, reasonably-priced concessions and Prime Time the Moose mascot -- and signed on with the Nashua Pride. As a pitcher.
Actually, that's not quite accurate. Since arriving in New Hampshire, Bichette has played several positions -- including first base and center field -- and he's hitting .340 with 15 home runs in 153 at-bats. But that's just a compromise so manager Butch Hobson and pitching coach Rick Wise would allow him to take the mound. It's sort of like working as a roadie one night so you can play lead guitar the next.
"I knew they weren't just going to say, 'You can pitch,'" Bichette said. "They wanted some offense. So I had to negotiate, and that was my only negotiating tool -- 'I'll hit for you, too.'"
Big-name players earn a maximum of $3,000 a month in the Atlantic League, but Bichette is pulling in a mere $1,200. He's become something of a mentor to Nashua catcher Brad King, and he's planning to throw a party for his teammates once they clinch a playoff spot. They're just not aware of it yet.
"This is a small-market team, and I'm going to be here for 40-something games,'' Bichette said. "I told them, 'Dudes, don't waste your money on me. I don't need it. Get some other good players in here.'"
While Henderson, Henry Rodriguez, Mel Rojas and Chris Widger are among the recognizable names to have passed through the Atlantic League this summer, the league generated its biggest news two weeks ago, when two Atlantic City Surf employees got in trouble for making jokes about New Jersey Gov. Jim McGreevey's sexual orientation. They managed to retain their jobs thanks to a gubernatorial pardon.
Dante's Big Adventure hasn't received a lot of national play, but it's created a buzz among his former teammates, who are getting a huge kick out of the slugger reinventing himself at 40.
Reds first baseman Sean Casey left a message on Bichette's cell phone last week, consisting mostly of laughter, and Boston's Ellis Burks did a double-take when informed of Bichette's new career path.
"Dante did what?" Burks said.
Don Baylor, Bichette's former Colorado manager and now hitting coach with the Mets, wasn't as surprised. "My wife talks to Dante's wife all the time,'' Baylor said. "When I heard he wanted to pitch, I thought, 'He hasn't gotten it out of his blood yet.'"
For those who think Bichette is trying to make people forget Brooks Kieschnick -- or Babe Ruth -- he's actually just a proud father who aims to please. He decided to return largely at the request of his little boy Bo, who's six years old and was only three when Bichette retired in 2001.
Bichette, who last pitched as a high school senior in Jupiter, Fla., possessed one of baseball's strongest outfield arms with California in the late 1980s and Milwaukee in the early '90s, and he loved to show it off. Then he blew out his knee, and his throws lost all semblance of zing.
Bichette made his pitching debut in Nashua with four promising innings out of the bullpen. Then it all unraveled in a 16-3 loss to Newark on Saturday. He lasted two innings as a starter, was victimized by some bad defense (really), and allowed eight earned runs. His ERA ballooned from 0.00 to 12.00 in the process, and things would have been worse if Rickey Henderson had accompanied the Bears on the trip.
A professional scout who watched the game clocked Bichette's fastball at a legitimate 90 mph, and said his split-finger pitch "wasn't bad.'' But Bichette's fastball is so straight you can hang clothes on it, and the splitter is useless when he's always behind 2-0 in the count.
"He didn't look like a pitcher," the scout said. "He looked like a position player trying to pitch. But I give him credit -- he has more arm strength than most guys."
Not to mention a better sense of humor. With Nashua in a pennant race, Bichette plans to refrain from pitching again until a playoff spot is assured. Then he'll appeal to Hobson and Wise for another crack at it, just to erase the memory of Saturday's blowout.
"I hope people don't think I'm trying to get back to the big leagues as a pitcher,'' Bichette. "That's a joke. I'm almost 41 years old, and I'm just trying to have some fun."
Mission accomplished. The day after his 16-3 mound debacle, Bichette singled in two runs and picked up stolen base No. 7. He's done more cavorting than Prime Time the Nashua moose.
"I told these guys, 'I lost one with my arm. Now I'll win two with my bat,'" he said.
Ichiro for MVP?
By Rob Neyer
Editor's note: Senior writer Rob Neyer filed continuous updates throughout the evening on Tuesday as he took in the action across the majors.
7:47 p.m. ET: This morning somebody asked me if Ichiro is an MVP candidate. "He probably is," I responded. "But he shouldn't be."
Ichiro
How can a player who's likely to break George Sisler's record not be an MVP candidate? Basically, because all hits are not created equal. Put another way, do you think Melvin Mora's an MVP candidate? And if not, why not? Though Mora's batting average is 33 points lower than Ichiro's, his on-base percentage is 10 points higher because he's drawn a few more walks. Though Mora's batting average is 33 points lower than Ichiro's, his slugging percentage is 102 points higher because he's hit 11 more doubles and 15 more home runs. Even if you give Ichiro credit for his steals and his glove, I don't see how you get him past Mora. There are half a dozen solid MVP candidates in the American League. But Ichiro's not one of them.
8:31 p.m. ET: There was a time, before unions and fast-draining fields, when pennant races were not infrequently influenced by weather. But when was the last time a pennant race was affected by inclement weather? It could happen this season.
Due largely to Hurricane Frances, beginning tonight the Marlins play 30 games in 27 days, and beginning this Friday the Cubs play 26 games in 24 days. Meanwhile, the Giants -- arguably the Marlins' and Cubs' primary competition for the NL wild card -- play only 23 games from tonight through the end of the season, and they've got four days off. The Giants, on the other hand, do play some tough competition in the second half of this month (and into early October). They're currently in the midst of a stretch of games against the Rockies, Diamondbacks, and Brewers, but beginning on the 17th the Giants will play the rest of their games against playoff contenders: six against the Padres, six against the Dodgers, and three against the Astros.
8:51 p.m. ET: ASTROLAND: The Astros, of course, must also be considered wild-card contenders, considering that 1) they began the evening only 1½ games behind the WC-leading Cubs, and 2) they've got a favorable schedule down the stretch, too, with a bunch of games against the Reds (2), Pirates (5), Brewers (6) and Rockies (3). What's more, their run differential this season is better than that of the Giants and nearly as good as the Cubs'. All that said, it's hard to take the Astros too seriously. Last spring I picked the Astros to win the division, but that was when I thought their starting rotation was as good as anybody's. Now, three-fifths of that rotation is out of action for one reason or another, and the new three-fifths -- Pete Munro, Brandon Backe, Carlos Hernandez -- has a 5.07 ERA this season. Stranger things have happened, of course, but I still say this is the Cubs' or Giants' race to lose.
Bonds
9:14 p.m. ET: What if Barry Bonds played half his games in Denver? We'll probably never know, or even be able to make more than a wild guess. But with no marquee games on the slate until later this evening (when the A's host the Red Sox), the prospect of watching Bonds hit in Coors Field is enough to make me choose the Giants-Rockies game for my 6-7 p.m. (Oregon time) viewing. While waiting for Bonds' first appearance, I looked up his career stats in Coors ... pretty impressive -- .457 OBP, .732 slugging -- but no better than what he's done in a few other ballparks, and not nearly matching his numbers in Pacific Bell Park. Bonds and everybody else certainly benefits from the difficulty in throwing good curveballs and sliders in the thin Coors Air. But when Bonds hits them, it doesn't matter much where he hits them.
10:01 p.m. ET: LUCKY DUCKIES: Pennant races, to a larger degree than most fans think, hinge upon luck. Just look at two key moments tonight. In the fourth inning of the Cubs-Expos game, the Cubs wound up scoring three runs because first baseman Brad Wilkerson strayed too far in pursuit of a ground ball (by the time he got back to first base, he was too late to corral a throw from the second baseman, resulting in three unearned runs). And in the third inning of the Rockies-Giants game, Barry Bonds got a two-run homer when Rockies left fielder Matt Holliday had the ball squirt out of his glove and over the fence. Maybe those innings will be mooted by something that happens later, but at this moment both contenders are clinging to 3-2 leads. Mind you, this is just two games in one night of a six-month season. And no, all the luck does not even out over 162 games. Not even close. (Now, time for the A's and Red Sox ...)
10:28 p.m. ET: BEANE COUNTERS: Four years ago, I invented a silly little thing called "Beane Count" (though Jim Baker gets credit for the name). For those of you coming late to the party, I simply added each team's league rank in home runs, walks, home runs allowed, and walks allowed: four qualities that Billy Beane seemed to particularly value. And four years ago the A's were excellent in all four measures, making them No. 1 in the American League in Beane Count. In 2002 (I don't have 2001 handy) the A's were third in the league, behind the Yankees (who are always good) and the Red Sox. Same thing in 2003: Yankees first, Red Sox second, and Athletics (a rather distant) third. This year the A's are again third, but the Red Sox have passed the Yankees (mostly because New York pitchers have given up a bunch of home runs). The Red Sox, in Theo Epstein's second season at the helm, are dominating the Beane Count. Or as a wise acquaintance puts it, the Red Sox are "playing Moneyball with money."
Burroughs
11:40 p.m. ET: THE NEXT GEORGE BRETT? Here's the good news if you're a Padres fan: third baseman Sean Burroughs is batting .294 despite playing half his games in a pitcher's park. Here's the bad news if you're a Padres fan: Burroughs has hit exactly two home runs this season. True, he did hit seven homers last season. Also true, he's only 23 (turns 24 next Sunday). But two home runs for an everyday third baseman?
Among the 24 major league third baseman who have played enough to qualify for the batting title, Burroughs ranks 22nd with a 703 OPS (including a .357 slugging percentage that ranks 24th). It's probably too early to give up on Burroughs, who after all was the Padres' No. 1 draft pick six years ago. But the club's got a minor-league third baseman named Jake Gautreau who hit nine home runs in 168 Triple-A at-bats this season. And good big-league third baseman occasionally hit the ball over the fence.
Chacon
12:26 a.m. ET: IS THERE A PLAN B? Watching Shawn Chacon attempt to close out the Giants tonight (he succeeded, barely), it occurs to me that the Rockies' insistence that Chacon's a closer must be one of the most stubborn things we've seen in a long time. Chacon's had the job all season -- he's now got 33 saves, only seven fewer than NL-leading Armando Benitez's 40 -- despite seven losses and (wait for it ...) a 6.52 ERA. There's something a bit touching about the Rockies' loyalty to Chacon, but you can't really blame his struggles on Coors Field. Not with 41 walks in 57 innings. This experiment hasn't worked, and the sooner everybody figures that out, the better for everybody involved.
Same game, Jason Schmidt's Cy Young chances took another turn south. Three weeks ago he looked like pretty close to a sure thing, but since then he's 1) missed a start and 2) made three starts in which his ERA jumped from 2.53 to 3.19 while he lost twice. Now it's wide open, with Carl Pavano and Roger Clemens right in the thick of things, along with Eric Gagne and Benitez if the voters are feeling charitable.
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