Retiring Stars

This past week we've had a lot of baseball's elder statesmen call it quits with their baseball careers: Roy Oswalt, Lance Berkman, and Derek Jeter. These guys were no average joes, they played the game well and saw a lot of success. Between the three of them, they have 6 World Series rings and another 4 pennants. They were huge names in the game, and I'll break down my favorite memories of them. Jeter will get his own post, but for now, enjoy some of the Killer B's.

Roy Oswalt
Well, whenever I think of Oswalt, I think of him in the context in one of the funniest moments in recent baseball, the robust clap of thunder that scared the pants off half the stadium in a Twins/Rangers game in 2012. More seriously, I remember Oswalt as a mechanics driven, no nonsense pitcher that got hurt more often than he threw a pitch. In the final three years of his career, he only pitched in 49 games (38 starts) and posted a 4.92 ERA, which is not great. Because I was never a huge mid-2000's Astros fan, I did not know Oswalt and his game super well, so when he came to the AL, I paid more attention and got a bad taste in my mouth, so to speak, after seeing him struggle. I remember telling my dad that he should just hang it up, but I neglected to appreciate the beginning of his career. If you remember my first post, I mentioned Beltre lives in Cabrera's shadow for third base domination, Oswalt kind of had the same problem. He was never a power pitcher, though he did have more than 200 strikeouts twice in his career, so I think he just got lost in the shuffle of Randy Johnson's four straight Cy Youngs from '99-'02 (!!!!!), Maddux's wicked control, and Clemens strikeout machinery. In five of his first six seasons in the league, Oswalt finished in the top 5 for Cy Young voting, which is impressive in itself. But imagine how frustrating it must be to a 23 year old rookie in the NL, go 14-3, a WHIP of 1.059 and be an afterthought. The poor guy didn't even win the Rookie of the Year because of this new kid on the block in St. Louis named Albert Pujols...ever heard of him? Here's his competition early in his years:

• 2001: Johnson (CYA, 21-6), Schilling (runner up, 22-6), Matt Morris (22-8), Jon Lieber (20-6)
• 2002: Johnson (CYA, 24-5), Schilling (runner up, 23-7), John Smoltz (55 saves), Eric Gagne (52 saves)
• 2004: Clemens (CYA, 18-4), Johnson (I think a lot of people just gave him the vote so he could have his 5th; 16-14)
• 2005 (the year the Astros went to the World Series): Chris Carpenter (CYA, 21-5), Dontrelle Willis (may his career rest in peace, 22-10)
• 2006: Brandon Webb (CYA, 16-8), Trevor Hoffman (46 saves), Carpenter (15-8).

Poor Roy. He had such an incredible start to his career (98-47, 3.02 ERA first 6 seasons, including two with 20 wins), but he was just lost in the shuffle of other great pitchers. Oswalt was the anchor for the 2005 Astros, or the Killer B's (they were called that because the absurd number of players names' began with B), rotation and eventually led them to the organization's first pennant. This star studded rotation featuring Andy Pettitte, Roger Clemens, and Wandy Rodriguez posted a starters ERA of 3.5, and Pettitte, Clemens, and Oswalt all tossed more than 170 K's. Heck of a rotation, and its too bad that they couldn't go all the way. Oswalt was also the MVP of the 2005 NLCS. 

One of the best moments of the 2005 season was the NLDS against the Braves. I remember coming home from school and being excited because baseball was on TV - it's never on TV right after school! We had just gotten cable that February too so I could watch the whole thing! I turned it on and saw that the Braves and Astros were deadlocked a 6-6 in the 12th inning, and it was just getting started. The game would eventually go 18 innings, with Chris Burke's bomb to left ending the Braves' season. I had never seen a game this long, and was mesmerized by Phil Garner's decision to bring in the Rocket to slam the door for 3 innings to get the win. Though Oswalt didn't play in this game, that's what sticks out to me from their run to the World Series - and that wouldn't have happened without Cowboy Roy. 

Lance Berkman

Alright let me get something off my chest right now: I hate that Berkman called himself the Big Puma and it stuck. Nicknames aren't something to be given to yourself; if they were, then people would still be calling me El Capitan Supreme. It just doesn't work like that. But this dude could rake, and for that reason, he reminds me of myself in high school. He was a good fielder, never won any Gold Gloves, but had a .994 fielding percentage at first base, and .979 as an outfielder, which doesn't make any sense that his infield percent is higher, but it is what it is. I sucked at fielding in high school, my hitting is what got me by, and so did Berkman. His bat kept him in the lineup. He led the league in doubles twice, RBI's once, and ended his career at a very solid .293 average. 

In the aforementioned 2005 NLDS marathon against the Braves, Berkman had a classic Berkman game, going 2-5 with a home run, a double, and 4 RBI's. He has something Oswalt never got though - a ring! With the 2011 Cardinals (sidenote, that was an exhilarating postseason beginning with Longo's walkoff), Berkman finally got the hardware to cap off his career. I never thought he would have a spot on that team with Beltran, Freese, and Craig, but he weaseled his way into the lineup and made La Russa's Hall of Fame career complete. 

Like Oswalt, Berkman was incredibly durable at the forefront of his career, but tailed off at the end, playing in 250 games in his final 3 seasons. I think had he gotten to the AL earlier, he might still be playing as a DH, like Papi is in Boston. But the chips fell where they did, and now you're reading about their retirement.

Congratulations on awesome careers, gentlemen. I don't think they'll make it to Cooperstown. Both were very good players, but as my boss at the Hall said, it's not the Hall of Very Good. It's the Hall of Fame, where 1% of all players make it. Oswalt, despite finishing in the top 5 in Cy Young Voting numerous times, probably needed to win an award to make a case. Same goes for Berkman; he was elected to 6 All Star teams and finished 3rd in MVP voting twice, but that's like a half of a baby step being too far away. He finished 6th in NL ROY voting (Rafael Furcal, Rick Ankiel, Jay Payton, Pat Burrell, Mitch Meluskey) in 2000, and just couldn't quite have that holy-crap-look-at-Berkman's-season-Dad season to win him a serious award. Both had illustrious careers and accomplished a lot. Don't let my little blog take away from all they've done.