Originally posted by David Ginsburg, AP Sports WriterPitching coach Leo Mazzone and the Baltimore Orioles reached agreement on a three-year contract Wednesday night, hours after the Atlanta Braves coach ended discussions with the New York Yankees....Mazzone, considered to be one of the finest pitching coaches in the majors, has been in the Atlanta organization since 1979 and was pitching coach of the Braves since 1990....Mazzone, 57, and Perlozzo grew up together in Cumberland, Md. They competed on different teams in American Legion ball, then became best friends. Perlozzo was the best man at Mazzone's wedding....Mazzone is credited with helping develop Greg Maddux, John Smoltz and Tom Glavine. From 1992 through this season, the Braves ranked first or second in the NL in ERA in every year but two.
Speaking as a Mets fan, this is fantastic news, as Mazzone is considered the main reason that the Braves pitching has been so dominant for the past fifteen seasons. It appears from the article that Mazzone's friendship with Orioles manager Sam Perlozzo was a key factor in his signing with Baltimore; however, the fact that he was also negotiating with the Yankees seems to indicate that one way or another Mazzone was not going to be in a Braves uniform next season. Again, this is perhaps the best off-season signing that a Mets fan could hope for.
Originally posted by Downtown BookieMazzone is considered the main reason that the Braves pitching has been so dominant for the past fifteen seasons.
I wonder if Mazzone saw just enough of Kyle Farnsworth's torch work to realize that a full year with that head case might ruin his 'miracle worker' reputation - heh.
But Mazzone's certainly been credited for turning around more than his share of careers. Preaches the basics, but since anyone can say "Try and throw first pitch strikes", you imagine he's pretty good at teaching mechanics as well. Or maybe his pitchers want to get their job done quickly because they get seasick watching that stupid rocking gimmick.
I'll give credit to Angelos for going out and getting a guy that could be an actual difference maker - only to pry him away from Los Yanquis, I wonder if the new O's pitching coach is making more than the manager.
If he is, I wouldn't be terribly surprised. I've been of the opinion that Mazzone is one of the five smartest guys in baseball right now, so to see this happens is fantastic, coming as a Nats fan. He should pay dividends on the investment, though, as the O's have a good young staff. Giving Mazzone a chance to work with them for a year or two will pay off, since the O's certainly have the offense to compete.
Originally posted by TheCowsince the O's certainly have the offense to compete.
They were 10th in the AL in runs scored this season. This notion that the Orioles score a lot of runs is way, way off-base. Their offense was terrible this year.
Originally posted by TheCowsince the O's certainly have the offense to compete.
They were 10th in the AL in runs scored this season. This notion that the Orioles score a lot of runs is way, way off-base. Their offense was terrible this year.
That stretch right after the break where they went about 1 for 20 with RISP every night for about two weeks was soul crushingly bad. On the other hand, I do think that the O's have enough talent (Tejada, a healthy Mora and Roberts, addition by subtraction with Sosa gone) that we really need to concentrate on building up the pitching rather than the hitting. After all, the White Sox were only a spot ahead of us in runs scored and look where they are.
As far as Mazzone, there's a lot to like about this move. If anyone is going to be able to develop Cabrera, Bedard, Penn, and even Maine, it's Mazzone so I'm very excited for next year to begin.
My only complaint is that I have a sense that we don't even intend to try to get a frontline starter via free agency. I guess the only one out there is Burnett, and he'll likely be too expensive, but with this hiring and Flanagan stressing "patience" it looks like these younfg starters had better grow up in a hurry.
Originally posted by BigSteve On the other hand, I do think that the O's have enough talent (Tejada, a healthy Mora and Roberts, addition by subtraction with Sosa gone) that we really need to concentrate on building up the pitching rather than the hitting. After all, the White Sox were only a spot ahead of us in runs scored and look where they are.
It's rare to have a rotation with four effective starters, and the Orioles probably aren't close to that. Most teams aren't going to win 99 games finishing ninth in the league in scoring, and it is certainly no easy task to do it playing in the AL East instead of the impotent AL Central, where the only competition Chicago ever had was Cleveland, a team that tripped over its own feet too often this year. Chicago is very good but also lucky in a lot of ways.
A lot of Baltimore's scoring also happened during the hot period. In fact the majority of it did, because they crapped out bad in the second half.
I think you'll find that most teams have more than three good hitters if they're any good. The rest of the O's lineup needs serious tweaking.
As far as Mazzone, there's a lot to like about this move. If anyone is going to be able to develop Cabrera, Bedard, Penn, and even Maine, it's Mazzone so I'm very excited for next year to begin.
My only complaint is that I have a sense that we don't even intend to try to get a frontline starter via free agency. I guess the only one out there is Burnett, and he'll likely be too expensive, but with this hiring and Flanagan stressing "patience" it looks like these younfg starters had better grow up in a hurry.
I like the hiring a ton. I also think they may be able to get Burnett (price isn't an issue this offseason, if we're to believe the scuttlebutt, and I'd rather pay $10 million for Burnett than $8 million for Jeff Weaver), as he's said in the past that he'd love to work with Mazzone, and he's already flirted with coming to Baltimore before and didn't seem to have any personal issue with it. Mazzone might be able to get Burnett to smarten up about his arm finally, too.
It would be funny if we got arguably the best pitching coach in the history of baseball because he's friends with the manager, and then got a starting pitcher because his wife is from Maryland.
The O's staff isn't good, but Mazzone has made more out of less in Atlanta with some pitchers (John Burkett, anyone?) The Braves' offense was no great shakes those years, either, and never had anyone on the caliber of Tejada.
Still, the O's play in a tough-ass division. And their rise will be blunted by the rise of the Blue Jays next season. This move doesn't help the Orioles as much as it will hurt Atlanta, and the Braves' division-title winning streak will finally end.
On the flip side, congrats to ABC for hiring Tim McGraw to tailor the lyrics to "I like it, I love it" for every halftime highlight show throughout the "Monday Night Football" season. Just last week, my buddy House and I were discussing Cosell's classic highlight narratives in the '70s, and how nobody had approached them since, and I told House, "Only one thing could ever come close, and I know it's a long shot, but what if ABC hired Tim McGraw to tailor the lyrics to 'I Like it, I Love It' for each week of NFL highlights throughout the season?" And wouldn't you know, it happened! See, dreams can come true. --- Bill Simmons, www.sportsguy.net
Originally posted by Big BadThe Braves' offense was no great shakes those years, either, and never had anyone on the caliber of Tejada.
The Braves had Greg Maddux, John Smoltz and Tom Glavine, which can make up for an offense not being great shakes. Furthermore that is seriously overrating Tejada, who is a real good hitter but is not in the same league as Chipper Jones, who is rapidly becoming one of the most overlooked hitters of his generation, if not the most overlooked.
A new conspiracy? http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/sports/columnists.nsf/danoneill/story/6A586AFD232F01E486256F390017E3CD?OpenDocument&Headline='Curse+of+Keith+Hernandez'+cripples+the+Cards&tetl=1 Sure, it's supposed to be satire...