Veteran Leadership: Sometimes it matters, sometimes it doesn’t
March 30, 2008For the acquisitions of Craig Counsell (2004, 2007) and Jeff Suppan (2007), the talking point from the Brewers front office on both of them was experience.
Suppan — and I don’t need to remind you — was the 2006 NLCS MVP. He owns the postseason. He also owns a restaurant, loves Jesus and hates science. Guys in any clubhouse adore the player who will stand up against the use of human embryos.
Counsell won the World Series in 2001 for Arizona. He was a dominant front end of the rotation, pitching Game 1 with his right arm, Game 2 with his left arm. As a lefty, he stood 6-foot-10. And who could forget his single off of Mariano Rivera in Game 7 to bring home the winning run?
These were two huge pickups for the Brewers. Maybe more importantly, it gave beat writers the chance to do the “Young players caught sight of their World Series rings in the clubhouse and creamed their jeans” routine. What they lacked in talent was made up for in ring flashiness.
Well, that matters no more.
Veteran leadership was that absent element. With the exception of a few playoff-calloused guys like Craig Counsell and Jeff Suppan, the Brewers did not have that ever-important component.
Yeah, just those two. We weren’t serious about them bringing anything to the squad. Here’s the new breed of veterans, as appointed by Anthony Witrado, with bulletproof playoff credentials provided by baseball-reference.com. (These numbers are so impressive, they cannot be contained by one column.)
Guillermo Mota
Year Round Tm Opp WLser G GS ERA W L SV CG IP H ER BB SO +——+—–+—+—+—–+—+—+——+–+–+–+–+—–+—+—+—+—+ 2006 NLDS NYM LAD W 2 0 6.75 1 0 0 0 4 6 3 0 5 NLCS NYM STL L 5 0 4.15 0 0 0 0 4.1 4 2 2 2 Mike Cameron Year Round Tm Opp WLser G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO BA OBP SLG SB CS SH SF HBP +——+—–+—+—+—–+—+—+—+—+–+–+–+—+—+—+—–+—–+—–+—+–+—+—+—+ 2000 ALDS SEA CHW W 3 12 2 3 0 0 0 2 0 0 .250 .308 .250 1 0 1 0 1 ALCS SEA NYY L 6 18 3 2 0 0 0 1 2 7 .111 .200 .111 1 0 1 0 0 2001 ALDS SEA CLE W 5 18 2 4 3 0 1 3 2 7 .222 .333 .556 0 1 0 0 1 ALCS SEA NYY L 5 17 3 3 2 0 0 0 4 4 .176 .364 .294 0 0 0 0 1 2006 NLDS SDP STL L 4 14 1 2 1 0 0 1 3 7 .143 .294 .214 1 0 Eric Gagne Year Round Tm Opp WLser G GS ERA W L SV CG IP H ER BB SO +——+—–+—+—+—–+—+—+——+–+–+–+–+—–+—+—+—+—+ 2004 NLDS LAD STL L 2 0 0.00 0 0 0 0 3 1 0 1 3 2007 ALDS BOS LAA W 1 0 9.00 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 1 ALCS BOS CLE W 3 0 7.71 0 1 0 0 2.1 3 2 2 4 WS BOS COL W 1 0 0.00 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 Gabe Kapler Year Round Tm Opp WLser G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO BA OBP SLG SB CS SH SF HBP +——+—–+—+—+—–+—+—+—+—+–+–+–+—+—+—+—–+—–+—–+—+–+—+—+—+ 2003 ALDS BOS OAK W 4 9 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 .000 .000 .000 0 0 0 0 0 ALCS BOS NYY L 3 8 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 3 .125 .125 .125 0 1 0 0 0 2004 ALDS BOS ANA W 2 5 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .200 .200 .200 0 0 0 0 0 ALCS BOS NYY W 2 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 .333 .333 .333 0 0 0 0 0 WS BOS STL W 4 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .000 .000 .000 0 0 0 0 0 Jason Kendall Year Round Tm Opp WLser G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO BA OBP SLG SB CS SH SF HBP +——+—–+—+—+—–+—+—+—+—+–+–+–+—+—+—+—–+—–+—–+—+–+—+—+—+ 2006 ALDS OAK MIN W 3 14 1 3 1 0 0 1 0 4 .214 .214 .286 0 0 ALCS OAK DET L 4 17 0 5 0 0 0 0 2 2 .294 .368 .294 0 0 2007 NLDS CHC ARI L 1 4 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 .250 .250 .250 0 0 0 0 0 |
And to think, of all the newcomers, the one who interested me most was David Riske.