Joe Schulman is the author of a new column in the Kansas City Star about becoming a fan of a new baseball team. He has written for ChopTalk, the Atlanta Braves' magazine. Joe is a freelance writer in Atlanta, and he and his wife, Cady, are avid Braves fans.
Thursday, February 22, 2007
Frustration is UniversalSo a few of you have talked about the fear that Angel Berroa will continue to not draw walks. It's funny that perhaps the biggest frustration for the Braves in the last 10 years was the frustration of watching Andruw Jones swing at bad pitches and later seeing Jeff Francoeur do the same thing.
In all of baseball, watching a top player fail to draw a walk has got to be most frustrating aspect of the sport. I can handle a pitcher throwing like it's batting practice. I can deal with a hitter going through a cold streak. But watching a top-tier slugger swing at balls a foot out of the strike zone is maddening.
I'll never forget Jones finally drawing a walk against the New York Mets in the 1999 playoffs. It seemed like he had finally gone from "Swing for the Fences" to "Swing at pitches only in the strike zone." Francoeur is getting on that path. Here's to hoping Berroa does the same.
This year will probably be Jones' last here in Atlanta. Over the years he has been seen as a superstar everywhere but here in Atlanta. Often, the talk has been of him never measuring up to his potential. It was always weird hearing the national media treat him so well while local radio ripped him for being streaky or not being the team leader.
I've been reading everything I can on the Royals in the last few weeks. But like the Jones case, I'm sure there are similar incidents in KC where the national media and the local guys don't agree.
Here's the question for today: Give me one thing about being a Royals fan that those outside the fanbase might not know. I'm not looking for statistics. I'll give you one more Atlanta example. While almost all Braves fan feel John Schuerholz is fantastic general manager, we can't stand how he sometimes acts like every move he makes is the perfect move.