Ah, yes, the time has finally come for all of you Jason Isringhausen haters out there. He has finally been shelved for the season, off the mound, off the field, and no where to be seen in the bullpen.
His most recent bullpen session, which came on Friday, was the final straw for the Cardinal closer. Although it was noted that his "stuff" was quite good, he was in too much discomfort to clear himself for pitching duty throughout the remainder of the season. The discomfort in question is his hip, an injury he has struggled with over the last few years. Surgery will happen for Jason here in the next few weeks and it could go one of two ways: the first would be a simple scope and cleaning of his hip in hopes of his return for 2007, the other being a more extensive surgery that could sideline him for the first few months of next year's season. We should know the answer by Tuesday.
So if you just happened to be one of the knucklheads booing Izzy over the last two months then I'm assuming you're hoping for the extensive surgery that will sideline him at the beginning of 2007, and then you're hoping that some new kid comes in and shines in the closer role just as Johnathon Papelbon did for the Red Sox this year. Best case scenario, right? If this does happen, then you never have to chew on your Tums while watching Izzy pitch again.
Well, I'm not one of you guys. I, for one, hope a good "scope and clean" does the trick and we see Izzy ready for game 1 of the new season. I hear time and time again about how today's player's aren't tough enough, about how today's starters are going on five day's rest instead of three, about how a sore shoulder puts a guy on the DL for fifteen days. About how J.D. Drew hits his head on the top of the dugout and then sits on the bench for 17 days. You want tough? You got tough in Isringhausen: a true, pure-breed, tough-as-nails baseball player, a guy who has been pitching the last two months on a hip he wasn't sure would support his body every time he landed after a pitch, and a guy who never once blamed his performances on an injury, instead he just looked the media right in the eye and said, "hey, it's my fault. I should've pitched better."
He's a solid closer, ladies and gentlemen, one of the best in the game's history. I tend to think we take his services for granted here in St. Louis. Especially considering the closers the Cardinals have had over the last ten years. Since 1998, outside of Izzy, the Cardinals have had Dave Veres, Ricky Bottalico, and Juan Acevedo closing games for them. None of which ever established themselves as legit closers. Jason Isringhausen ranked 32nd on the all-time career save list going into this season with 216 career saves. 32nd. 32nd. 32nd. 32nd. ALL-TIME. Do you have any idea how many closers there have been ALL-TIME? He ranks among the top-ten in career save percentage in the HISTORY OF BASEBALL. And he has 30 or more saves in six of his last seven seasons. How many closers in baseball have even been around for the last six seasons? Should I tell you the stats of the closers preceeding Izzy and previous to Dennis Eckersley, or should I spare you?
Listen, this is all I'm saying: don't forget the days that you sat in front your radio late at night and wished to the baseball gods that the Cardinals could sign a legit closer. We got a legit closer, we got one of the best in the game. And now you're asking for Mariano Rivera. Just be glad we don't have Dave Veres.
A recent poll in the St. Louis Post Dispatch asked, "Now that Izzy is out for the season, who would want closing Cardinal games?" The voters gave the nod to Adam Wainwright at 40%, followed by Braden Looper at 33%, and a bullpen by committee got 27% of the vote. So for the remainder of the season it looks like Adam Wainwright is the people's choice. And this is fine with me, Wainwright has looked potent in the bullpen this season and it will be interesting to see what he can do in the closer role. However, I haven't forgot what happened to Rick Ankiel under pressure.
So after the Cardinals win the World Series and Adam Wainwright saves game seven for the title, we must start looking at the closing role for next season. Maybe Adam Wainwright is the answer, but then you're taking him out of the rotation. Maybe Braden Looper is the answer, but then you're losing one of the year's best set-up men (which are almost as important as a closer). And maybe Jason Isringhausen is the answer, in which case we would still have one of the best closers in the game.
But what has he done for you lately, right? Even in his worst year as a Cardinal yet, he ranks fourth among the NL in saves with 33 (despite not having played in two weeks) and among the three ahead of him only two had a better ERA. Teams get lucky landing quality closers from one year to the next, but few teams are as lucky as to have someone as solid as Jason Isringhausen year after year. And I think we'd all rather see Izzy back for three more years than go back to our Ricky Bottalico days. I wonder if Albert Pujols bats .300 next season, hits only 30 homeruns, drives in only 100 runs, and for some god-forsaken reason doesn't lead the league in game-winning hits, if all of you will be booing him as well.
I'm not asking you to love Jason Isringhausen, I'm just telling you that there is no reason to be booing the guy. I'm saying that I'd be willing to bet that if he wasn't back next year, we'd all be wishing he was. The best thing that could happen if Izzy isn't back next year is you saving a couple dollars on TUMS.
Questions or comments: please let me know. I'd love to hear from the fans in the area concerning matters of St. Louis or Mizzou sports. Post a comment or email me at dunterreiner@semosportsweb.com
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7 comments:
There comes a point and time in everyone's career that you have to ask yourself if is time to hang it up? Yes, Izzy has had good years with the Cards, yes he is tough...I'm not questioning that. But what I am questioning is if he is done? I'd hate to see the Cards spend the money (3 years, 26 million) to keep him around. Not that I'd think he would have a lot of trade value, but I wouldn't mind seeing what is out there. Billy Beane said it himself, clubs place too much value in closers. When Izzy pitched for the A's, they would pull him from the game if he wasn't getting close to blowing it. Therefore his ERA continued to stay low. Now since becoming a Cardinal, we leave him in there to take the beating. I believe he has 10 blown saves on the season. 10! A career high. He hasn't been hurt all year. Even if Izzy was great earlier in his career, players reach a point when they aren't the player they used to be. 8 million a year for a guy that can't be counted on to close out the game. What do you think? I know what I think. Joe Nathan, one of the games best closers is making 10 million over 2 years. 5 million a year. Izzy is making 3 million a year more. I'll donate my tums money to Jocketty and see what he can pull.
Sorry for the poor grammar. I meant to say the games that Izzy was getting close to blowing. I'll work on my grammar
there is no doubt that over the years that izzy has put up some great numbers. but david, i want you to take a look at some of these facts:
from 2002-2006 he has been with the cardinals, a closer all of those years. from 2002-2005 he had 7 losses combined, this year alone he has 8.
from 2002-2005 izzy allowed 11 homers, this year he allowed 10.
he walked 38 batters this year, 11 more than his previous high as a closer with the cardinals.
his era in 2006 is 3.59, last year was 3.55. his previous high as a closer with the cardinals was 2.87 back in 2004. he has gone up the past years.
and the cardinals have be fairly good since 2002. in 2004, they won 105 games and last year 100 games. so yes he does have more chances to get saves on a great team.
all i'm saying is that izzy is coming to the end of his ropes. im happy that he doesn't make excuses for himself, but i don't care, if you can't preform up to standards, then you shouldn't be closing ball games for a team like the cardinals.
hopefully, we'll trade him while people still somewhat believe in him, and get at least something for him, instead of just sweating bullets everytime he goes in the game next year.
I'd rather have Delino DeShields closing games than Jason Isringhausen.
Delino Deshields would be an option right now. He has been unemployed since 2002, where he spent a season and a half with the Cubs. In '02, he batted .192 with 10 rbi. When you think about it, these numbers resemble a pitcher's batting statistics so perhaps there is hope for Delino yet. However, I wouldn't look to signing him long-term but I could see the Cards and Deshields working out a 1-year, incentive laden deal and praying for the best. If this does happen, expect Cody McKay to be called back to the Cards big league club in order to catch Delino in the ninth.
Izzy would have looked pretty good on the mound this past weekend. I doubt we would have lost 4 straight to the Astros if we would have had him.
this is getting terrible. no playoffs for the birds.
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