RMJ 18 March 4

TUESDAY, MARCH 4 ● West Palm Beach, vs Atlanta

La Russa and Cox, back-to-back. One day to the next. This one in the home of the Braves.

When the season starts, it will be back-to-back-to-back-to-back: 13 games in a row against two of the best teams — and two of the best managers — in baseball.

I talked briefly with Bobby before this-afternoon’s contest. He was cordial as usual, and his camp seemed lively but loose. Several pitchers who were not working this day were already leaving for the golf course when we arrived at 10:15.

The Braves can afford to be lenient with their key players, because these guys have played together and won together for the past four or five years. Each season, it seems, GM John Schuerholz makes a few adjustments to fine-tune the team. And each year, Bobby Cox steers it steadily through the twists and turns of the season.

They have their act together. They don’t need a lot of practice.

I have heard people say that Bobby isn’t that good; that anyone could manage the Braves to a pennant. I disagree. I think he handles the big-name players with aplomb. You never hear a discordant note in the Braves camp, and that is a tribute to Bobby and his coaching staff. The players have confidence in their own ability, and the staff supports them. Sure, they have a lot of ability, but believe me, there are managers who could screw up that team.

You will never read a critical quote from Bobby in the Atlanta paper. If a guy dropped an easy fly ball to let the Braves’ opponent to score a winning run, Bobby would say it was a tough chance; that anyone could have missed it. This type of approach, though it may be slightly dishonest, is often availing.

 

This day, the Braves won a close game. West Palm is a long trip from Kissimmee, and I gave most of the regular players the day off. On top of that, we didn’t get any breaks from the men in blue.

Our young shortstop, Carlos Guillen, was called for missing the bag as he turned a double play. (I’m not sure he did miss it, but the umpires are going to call everything close this year after the Robbie Alomar incident at the end of the 1996 season.) The Braves ended up scoring a run that would not otherwise have scored in that frame.

Later, the first-base ump called a Tommy Gregg home-run ball foul. It may well have been foul, but it was close. The Braves’ right fielder, David Justice, told Gregg that he thought it was fair. It really hurt, because there were two men on base at the time — and as it turned out, we didn’t score in that inning.

We were one run down in the eighth with Bobby Abreu at bat, Richard Hidalgo on first, and Thomas Howard on third. Abreu hit a long line drive to left. The Braves’ left fielder made a sensational catch. Howard tagged and ran home, and Hidalgo, who was rounding second, turned and hightailed it back to first. The relay got to first base about the same time as the sliding Hidalgo. The umpire called him out. Our first-base coach, José Cruz, thought he was safe.

But that wasn’t the worst of it.

At home plate, the umpire started waving his arms, indicating that the run did not score. That’s when I went out for my first confrontation with an umpire.

It really wasn’t an argument at all. I had been watching the play at first and didn’t even see it well. I didn’t see the action at home plate at all. The umpire told me that Howard never touched the plate. I wasn’t watching that part of the play, so I couldn’t say much.

When I got back to the dugout, Thomas told me that he was standing on home, watching the play at first. He argued a little, but not much, and I was glad. No sense provoking the umpires at spring training.

This was a game we could have won if any of the calls had gone the other way. I was philosophical about it after the game.

“Better now than on April 1,” I said.

 

I also saw a bit of irony in the game. Last year, when we tried to send lefthander Dean Hartgraves to the minors, the Braves claimed him on waivers. He ended up pitching an inning in this game. On our side was Tom Martin, a lefty we signed after he was released by Atlanta.

Tom pitched another good inning. He is fighting for a job in our camp this spring, while Hartgraves battles for a spot on the Braves. I like Martin’s stuff better, but Hartgraves may be a more-accomplished pitcher.

The players were laughing and cutting up in the back of the bus on the way home. They weren’t taking it too hard, and neither was I. It will be different when the bell rings.