Smoltz vs. Jones and athletes faking injuries

There is NO WAY Andruw, Frenchy and McCann will keep sucking like this at the plate all year.

 

Yes he did and he screwed it up. No one put those words in Smoltz' head but Smoltz. Blame the media, especially in a close-in, one-horse town like Atlanta, when things go wrong. Athletes think its the right thing to do.

 

Sigh. I guess I need to start cheering for the Royals or the Pirates. At least then I know what I'm in for.

68 days to kickoff.

 

I believe Smoltz is a stand-up guy to the extent that I'm thinking the AJC actually may have made a story where there was none.

 

I would agree, Shot, except that it seems that Chipper's the one who made this into a story. Smoltz's quotes seemed pretty harmless until Chipper decided that they were about him. Seems like he lit into Smoltz without much prompting. I would rather have seen Smoltz stand behind his words rather than go the taken-out-of-context route. But if this contributes to the continued unraveling of the Braves, it's all good.

 

Part of the reason that the Braves have generally been had one of the friendliest clubhouses in baseball is that they've always one. Well ... they suck right now ... so we'll see what the reputation becomes.

 

You'd have to be deaf not to hear the under tone in Smotz' remark. I have NEVER questioned a guy when he says that he's hurt.
Like I said before, I remember the J.R. Richards stuff.

 

I never understand this stuff. Why would a guy say he's hurt if he's not? True, some have a lower pain threshold than others; but when a player toughs out pain, he winds up having a season like Ibanez. Productivity OK, but power numbers way down, and he has been a weak spot in left. He would have served the M's better by taking a few more days off earlier in the season when his back and shoulder were hurting. Now it's a hammy, and the rest will do him--and the team--good.

I can't fault Chipper Jones in this one. And Carl Pavano really was injured, wasn't he? Thank the stars the M's didn't acquire him.

 

The J.R. Richard thing was sad, and I'm sure everyone who questioned him felt like an asshole after he had the stroke. But that was an extreme case, and I don't think it means that a teammate should never push another teammate to tough it out if possible. That's what I think Smoltz was doing. It's true that no one can judge another man's pain, but let's face it, Chipper is weird about injuries. Like somebody said earlier, one day he's talking about the DL, and the next he's suddenly hittiing a home run. Smoltz was saying, "Look, Chipper, we're struggling to find any offense at all. This is not the time for our leader, our best hitter, to give in to a nagging injury. If it's at all possible for you to suck it up and play, that's what you need to do." Fair comment, to me.

 

The Smoltz radio interview:

http://www.790thezone.com/vdDynamic/AudioBits/1-audiobit3297.mp3

 

Evidently, he can't play. Playing hurt can be more of a detriment than a help. It's a shame this has gotten out of the clubhouse but Smoltz should've kept it in house. More importantly, he's a leader on this team. He should've pulled Chipper to the side.

 

Personally, though it appears he's blaming a writer for the issue -- and like shotglass said, it could be interpreted as the newspaper making something out of nothing -- I'm willing to give Smoltz the benefit of the doubt. For one thing, there is perhaps no player in the major leagues who knows more about playing with pain than does Smoltz. And, give his own medical history and the extreme measures he has taken to extend his career, it's easy to see how Smoltz would feel he would have license to tell another player to suck it up. I still don't think that's what he was trying to say, though. My first impression was that he was saying there were no excuses to be made.