Moronotti

[RockRaines]

weird

 

Garland showing poise, making noise

 

May 18, 2005

 

BY JAY MARIOTTI SUN-TIMES COLUMNIST

 

There was a time when Jon Garland, once an easily rattled kid pitcher, would have tripped out at the sight of an opposing manager charging toward him. Exactly what Buck Showalter was doing Tuesday night, only he knows, but after arguing with the third-base umpire, the Texas Rangers' skipper made a curiously circuitous turn in the infield grass so he could take a little loopy joy ride across the pitcher's mound.

 

In the process, he trotted directly at Garland, who had to sidestep out of Buck's way to avoid a possible collision. We're just guessing this might involve an official request that the umpires inspect the mound to make sure the White Sox aren't playing hanky-panky with the height of the bump, a measurement that came Monday, the first night Showalter and the Rangers were in town. It followed by three days a similar request by the Baltimore Orioles. Both times, the mound was found to be of legal size.

 

Gamesmanship, competitors call it. Bull bleep, Ozzie Guillen might deem it, given his history with Showalter. Last season, after hearing Showalter doubt his knowledge of the rules when Guillen mistakenly questioned Texas' use of a minor-league coach as a first-base coach, the Blizzard of Oz said of his notoriously anal rival: "He never even smelled a jock [as a player] in the big leagues. There are so many different ways he might be jealous of me. I was a better player than him. I've got more money than him. And I'm better looking than him.''

 

What's significant about all of these juvenile subplots is that Garland, now all grown up at a sage 25, paid no attention. More importantly, he remained unfazed in the sixth inning, when faced with a serious threat to his flawless record and emergence as the American League's best starter of early-season 2005. Cruising with a lead, he walked David Dellucci to start the inning, then plunked Michael Young. When Mark Teixeira blasted a ball off the fence in left field, a shrimpy announced crowd of 18,333 fans grew hush at The Cell. Was Garland losing it, too, after El Duque, Jose Contreras and Freddy Garcia had surrendered 18 runs over the last three games? With none out, runners on second and third and the filet of the Texas order awaiting, Garland's latest litmus test was upon him.

 

A stopper? Or an imposter?

 

He struck out Hank Blalock. He struck out Alfonso Soriano on a wicked changeup, reminiscent of the 3-2 offspeed pitch that fooled the league's best hitter, Miguel Tejada, in a critical moment last Thursday. And finally, with the crowd clapping and sensing another snapshot in a 28-12 start, Garland jammed the previous night's hero, Kevin Mench, and forced him to pop out to center.

 

All-Star start coming up

 

Garland is as legitimate as his 8-0 record, as real as his 10-game winning streak over two seasons. If he always had natural ability, the wicked repertoire and the imposing 6-5 build, he now appears to have mastered the mental game. The All-Star Game is still seven weeks away, but barring a meltdown, you're looking at the AL starter. You're also looking at the pendulum of Chicago baseball, the first-round phenom traded across town by the Cubs for (gulp!) Matt Karchner in 1998. Karchner didn't last long in Cubdom and is coaching college baseball these days, soon to be a trivia question.

 

"I don't think one inning [defines] the whole season. But it was a big one, for me,'' Garland said after the 5-2 victory. "It showed myself a lot, showed my teammates a lot. It feels nice to go out and give my team quality starts to give them a chance to win. If I keep these guys in the game, they're going to find a way to score runs.''

 

On this night, Garland was the direct beneficiary of his catcher in more ways than one. A.J. Pierzynski, a so-called clubhouse cancer in San Francisco, is one of the Sox' great cures in their magical start. His two-run homer in the sixth, right after Garland escaped the jam, supplied the Sox with their winning margin. He now has homered in three straight games, four of the last five, and quickly is becoming as much a South Side hero as he was a local goat when he played for the rival Minnesota Twins. "A lot of home runs here would have been off the Baggy in Minnesota or off the wall at SBC Park [in San Francisco],'' he said. "I don't hit a lot of home runs, so it feels nice.''

 

Nicer was the advice he barked out to Garland in his troublesome inning. He sensed his pitcher was reverting to some old, bad habits -- namely, complacency and all those sluggish tendencies that had Sox fans and media critics labeling him as a California surfer boy with no heart.

 

A.J.'s counsel pays off

 

"A.J. told me I was getting lazy,'' Garland said. "I was trying to throw strikes and not being aggressive with it. It's nice to see him getting upset the same amount that I am. When I got lazy and throwing bad pitches, he's the one on the mound with me.''

 

Said Pierzynski: "I was trying to get him to give up one run, keep the score tied. To get two strikeouts -- that was the game on the line, against the heart of their lineup. For him to get through that was big. He's been great, as good as it gets right now. He's got that sinker going and can strike out guys when he has to.''

 

The Soriano at-bat, like the Tejada at-bat, is what Guillen will remember. "This year, he has more confidence in his pitch right there,'' he said. "He threw a good pitch at the right time, and that's why Jon Garland is having so good a year. We've got to take the most out of him when he's pitching so well.''

 

Let it serve as a lesson why teams never should give up on pitching prospects too early. Ken Williams almost did three winters ago, agreeing to relinquish Garland in a package that would have brought Darin Erstad from the Angels. Fortunately for the Sox, someone got Goofy in the hierarchy of the Disney Co., which owned the Angels at the time, and overturned the deal. Otherwise, Garland would be pitching in his native Southern California instead of ascending as the premier starting pitcher in Chicago, a shocking distinction in a town where Kerry Wood, Mark Prior and Carlos Zambrano were supposed to rule and where Mark Buehrle and Garcia were the assumed South Side aces. Not so, apparently.

 

"I told you guys last year. I never doubted him,'' Guillen said. "It was a matter of time. Last year, we gave him the opportunity to be a real pitcher. We took the chance with him, and I took a lot of heat from the people about 'How long are you going to stay with Garland' and 'How long are you going to keep him there.' We did, and thank God we did. We gave him a chance to get better, and he took advantage.''

 

Not that Garland is into the national attention or the sudden local love. A quiet guy with an Olympic-softball-player girlfriend, he's just trying to enjoy it all after years of maddening underachievement.

 

"If we continue to play like this and score runs ...,'' he said, letting the thought pause in the night.

 

Allow me to finish it: The possibilities are endless.

[Soxy]

the Blizzard of Oz said of his notoriously anal rival: "He never even smelled a jock [as a player] in the big leagues. There are so many different ways he might be jealous of me. I was a better player than him. I've got more money than him. And I'm better looking than him.''

 

Only Ozzie......Or should I call him Hotzzie?

[kapkomet]

That actually was a good article, even with the potshot about attendance.

[mreye]

That actually was a good article, even with the potshot about attendance.

Yeah, he had to get that in, didn't he?

[bjm676]

On rare occasions, this douchebag does have some good articles. This is one of them.

[CanOfCorn]

Who's his Olympic Softball Player girlfriend?

[Soxy]

Who's his Olympic Softball Player girlfriend?

Lovie Jung

Trib had a nice article about it two days ago-ish.

[CanOfCorn]

Lovie Jung

Trib had a nice article about it two days ago-ish.

 

Just googled it and found it. YOu beat me to it. Thanks.

[knightni]

 

She looks tiny to me...in her other pics on Google.

Edited May 18, 2005 by knightni

[Soxy]

Long, but good article on Jon and Co.

[knightni]

Here are some of her teammates in the softball team.

 

http://www.usasoftball.com/pressreleases/C...a_Brun.JPG_.jpg

Edited May 18, 2005 by knightni

[TheBlackSox8]

we don't need pictures that big...just give a link...damn

[mreye]

we don't need pictures that big...just give a link...damn

No kidding

[knightni]

we don't need pictures that big...just give a link...damn

It wasn't that big on the site.

[TheBlackSox8]

those are some ugly swine.....stereotypical Sunday womens league softball player

[Soxy]

those are some ugly swine.....stereotypical Sunday womens league softball player

Just looking at those pictures makes me go into Makeover Mode.

[TheBlackSox8]

Just looking at those pictures makes me go into Makeover Mode.

looking at those pictures makes me wonder how anyone that looks like the woman in my avatar exist.....complete ends of the spectrum. though you can get worse than those softball players...

[knightni]

I missed a couple.

 

[TheBlackSox8]

I missed a couple.

 

yeah...you know....you did miss them, but we didn't ask for them... Take them back

[knightni]

yeah...you know....you did miss them,  but we didn't ask for them... Take them back

 

 

 

 

[Texsox]

 

She looks tiny to me...in her other pics on Google. 

 

You missed the note *not actual size

 

One thing I've always like about Jay is when he compliments a person, you know he isn't just smoozing and trying to score points.

 

As far as the attendance shot, does anyone here think that Brooks and the management aren't wringing their hands wondering why they can't get 25,000 - 30,000 for a Garland start?

[FlaSoxxJim]

we don't need pictures that big...just give a link...damn

I don't think it's the pictures that are big...

[NUKE_CLEVELAND]

On rare occasions, this douchebag does have some good articles.  This is one of them.

 

 

Even a broken clock is right twice a day.

[SleepyWhiteSox]

As far as the attendance shot, does anyone here think that Brooks and the management aren't wringing their hands wondering why they can't get 25,000 - 30,000 for a Garland start?

 

Agreed.

 

I can't wait for a good Garland commercial to replace the takochsu/gagcia one...

[sec159row2]

what about a jay marriotti dart board promotion at the cell??? jay's picture on a dart board thingy... it's not green 'cause i'm serious...