The Pirates and Cardinals right fielders this weekend traveled long roads before achieving major league success.
As I watched the Cardinals take on the Pirates in Pittsburgh this weekend, I couldn’t help but think about the parallels between the right fielders of each club, Pittsburgh’s Garrett Jones and St. Louis’ Ryan Ludwick. Each traveled a long, hard road after having been drafted in 1999 before finally sticking in the majors at the age of 28 and excelling once finally there for good.
Cardinals fans probably know the basics of Ludwick’s story by now, but for completeness, here is it again.
Ludwick was originally signed as the second-round selection of the Oakland A’s in 1999. He moved to Texas in a 2002 trade and that year, he made his big-league debut for the Rangers before his season ended with a hip fracture.
In July of 2003, after playing most of the season in Triple-A, Ludwick joined the Cleveland Indians in another trade. Continuing to spend most of the time in the minors, his 162 major league at-bats that season would be his career high before joining St. Louis.
The right-handed hitter missed considerable time in 2004 and 2005 due to knee, shoulder and wrist woes, especially struggling the latter year after finally making the Indians out of Spring Training. He was removed from the 40-man roster, not retained by the Indians, then spent 2006 in Triple-A for Detroit, but did not get called up. Again a free agent, Ludwick signed a minor league deal with the Cardinals.
After just 29 games at Triple-A Memphis in 2007, at the age of 28, Ludwick was promoted to St. Louis, where he played in 120 Major League games, hitting .267/.339/.479 with 14 home runs and 52 RBI. After having spent the majority of each of the previous six years in Triple-A, the minor league phase of his career finally ended at 736 games played .
Coming into 2008, Ludwick was not penciled in as a starter, but by the end of the season was an All-Star and Silver Slugger Award winner, with 37 home runs, 113 RBI and a .299 average. His .591 slugging percentage was second best in the National League.
Drafted by the Atlanta Braves in 1999’s 14th round, Jones suffered a broken jaw in 2001 and was released by the organization early in the 2002 season. He signed with Minnesota where he was initially assigned to Quad Cities, then a Twins affiliate.
After a slow climb through the system, Jones finally made his MLB debut in May 2007, a month before his 26th birthday. He would go down and come back up again twice more that season, appearing in his first 31 career MLB games.
During the spring of 2008, Jones was outrighted off the Twins’ 40-man roster. After spending the entire season in Triple-A without a return to the roster or the Twin Cities, he became a minor league free agent that fall.
Jones signed a minor league contract that included a major league spring training invitation with the Pirates for 2009. After not making the big club, he reported to Triple-A for the fifth consecutive season. Hitting .307 with 18 doubles, 12 home runs, 48 RBI and 14 stolen bases at the time, Jones received the call to Pittsburgh last June 30. He was 28 years old, long past having been considered a “prospect.”
Despite not playing his first game with Pirates until July 1, Jones acted like he should have been there all along. He led all Major League rookies last season in home runs and slugging percentage (.567). Jones ranked second among National League rookies in on-base percentage (.372), third in batting, fifth in total bases (178) and in the top ten in RBI, doubles, steals and runs scored.
Compared to all MLB players, Jones tied for fifth in home runs hit from July 1 through the end of the season, trailing only Prince Fielder (26), Ryan Howard (25), Derrek Lee (24) and Mark Reynolds (23). Jones became the fastest player in Pirates history to reach 10 home runs in a season (in his first 19 games). His 21 home runs were the most by a left-handed hitting rookie in club history.
Jones’ minor league career has likely ended, or at least suspended indefinitely, at 1038 games.
Both Ludwick and Jones offer examples of perseverance, required by many to attain and hold onto their ultimate goal.
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Players enter the minors from diverse backgrounds and take diverse paths to the majors. Some move up fast, like Molina for defense; Pujols for hitting; Rasmus for the combination; Carpenter, Ankiel and Jaime Garcia for hot arms. Others can be good, yet still take longer: Holliday, Wainwright, Ryan, Schumaker, Franklin.
With medicine able to help players bounce back from some injuries; international recruits; and high ML salaries, there is tremendous overall competition for roster slots. Some capable players like Jones and Ludwick can be at AAA, hoping to get a chance.
In the second inning Sunday, Ludwick, playing left, pulled down Jones’ blast to left center just short of the track.
Lets see…..left hander…..off spped……..lets pull something…???????????????? Watching Freese posture at the plate from the four position is a little much. That is not…a good sign.
Thats two plays that Ludwick caught that Holiday wouldn’t of…………. I thought MM would be doing some growling………….but I don’t see it. He’s keeping his head down…….until AP bottoms out.
Two mysteries for me in today’s lineup. I can’t understand why Ludwick got moved from his customary RF to LF. Also, its odd Mather bats lead-off. I suspect Mather like Ryan does not have a lot of hits in his bat, for the same reason, wrist operation.
Yadier is back at work, a tough guy. He can rest tomorrow.
I hope Stavinoha, Wainwright, and Greene can contribute some hits.
Brian, I’m embarrassed for AP………..you should hear the Pittsburgh color man telling it like it is..
He say,’ not only does that look bad, that is bad” “that wasn’t even a good breaking ball. It was a hanging curve”……..
Hate to see Wainwright swinging that hard……..that is dangerous.
Its like AP couldn’t do what Stava just did. He would not give up his HR chance.
Against the Pirates, right swingers should go to opposite field as Stavinoha did. Millege is a CF type playing LF, whereas Jones has modest range in RF.
Put some pressure on them and they break…………… Greene is hoping to survive the return of Lopez. He’s a good player……except when he’s not. His problem is that he needs this much pressure to succeed.
Like Mather leading off. Get him some starts. Can he play first?
Luddy in left, Stav in right. Like it.
Greene looks hungry.
Glad that wasn’t Holliday sliding into home just now, I like the way he sits the bench.
Wonder what Garcia is thinking.
Mather gets up and tries to play a role…….and he does………He is scuffling with Greene to avoid the Memphis (Lopez) special.
The walking of Pujols is smart when he is in a funk. It really makes him Mad. If Holiday starts hitting, it going to make it that much Harder on AP. We have a highly questionable chemistry.
Matt’s hangnail gives Tony an excuse to sit him a while and let the hungry guys play. But will he?
Why not send out a RP when Flip comes back?
Saw TCNB featured on Channel 5′s Encore program after the game. Re the Freese article I think.
They don’t have a credible long man BB. Boggs and Hawksworth have shared the duties. I wouldn’t screw with that. K-Mac can’t be over worked. The Lefties are not geared for multiple innings.
Maybe Mather hit leadoff to encourage him just to make contact and not overswing. Greene made two errors Thursday, so is not rewarded with the leadoff spot.
Holliday, Pujols, Ryan, and Mather may be playing through injuries. Stavinoha and Greene look good because healthy.
Ludwick is a much better defensive OF than Garrett Jones.
Thanks for the heads up on Channel 5, bb. They’ve had some changes so I am hoping once they’re past that, they can start posting the segments on the web again.
Jumbo, I was with the team this past week and didn’t see Pujols, Ryan or Mather getting treatment for injuries. Are you going to be to imagined physical ailments what WC is to mental preparation?
Mather hit 31 AA/AAA homers in 07 and some with the Cards in 08; Ray called Joe the real thing. Now after one or two hand or wrist operations, Joe has hit 0. (Its a falloff worse than Chris Duncan.) Brendan Ryan got an operation this spring; glad he got pain relief, but his wrist could be weakened; its odd he is hitting this poorly. Neither man should be getting medical treatments.
As for Pujols, when a bit off, there are past precedents when this has signified a physical reason, not spiritual as WC seems to assume.
11runs with no homers and no Albert RBI’s seems important. Opposite field hits, couple of bobbled balls beaten out to first by husling runners. Two out RBIs. Too bad Monday is an off day.
You both could pay closer attention…………………. The mind and the body are separate only in the mind of fools.
The psychology of the performance arts really have no parallel. All these guys do in play baseball. all day, everyday. To master an art form, one of the first lessons to understand, is that there is no such thing as mastering an art form. 5% of those that try get that far.
Point:……….. Albert’s hitting style is completely organic. All of its articulations are reflections of his very aggressive outer posturing, masking a very sweet and conscientious emotional self image. It evolved as a function of isometric tensions and interrelated muscle systems that become neutralizing efforts to limit unnecessary body movements…………….. On his way to immortality, the turbulence created by fame and the symbolic representations of it, changed the organization of that self image. ………………..He lost his purity of intention. Self doubt and speculative illusion now cloud his mind body interface……………………… this is the domain of the spiritual. I won’t labor this point here……now. I predicted the possibility of this scenario the moment I recognized it in Philadelphia last year, when this problem began to manifest…………………..
You don’t want the bad news here. The question is….. is Albert strong enough to suffer this ordeal and overcome this obstacle? The banishment of superstition and the fear of change are just the beginnings of what must take place………… the morass of mediocrity and worse are the penalties for his continued denial…………………. His situation is unique in many ways. He is the antithesis of Babe Ruth. Ruth had that odd rotation around one leg on his step, hands and arms adjusting during his swing. Completely free and organic…….part of the game. He never took himself so seriously. Baseball was joyful……………………… Albert was beaten this weekend. Beaten badly by inferior pitching. How do you strike out getting caught out front multiple times in a series, with the game on the line……..when a single away will do?
Here is the screw………Tony could just take him out of the 3rd slot……for no other reason than to ground his superstitions……… even for a game. But he won’t. He is in deep with Albert on his contract posturing and related goals. He knows the fragility of this situation. He fears the worst for Albert. Maybe rightly so. I don’t know. I know that Albert is going to have to reinvent his stance, and laugh a little during the process. He needs to lay down the illusion that he is in control of this situation…………….thereby regaining control. He needs to laugh now because this thing is just getting started. Evolution is change……….. grace in change is the face of creation smiling on its achievements. He is going to have to breakdown to evolve.
If you have MLB………go listen to the Pittsburgh feed around Albert’s at bats. Its bad business for baseball, but they let down on him a bit.
Westie, i dont question the link between mind and body — only your ability to decipher it. Even the best psychologist’s are poor at ascertaining what causes mental ailments after both seeing the physical signs and in depth interviews with their patients. They can often diagnosis the problem but not what is causing it. You want us to think that you can watch a guy for a few minutes on TV and know what is going through all of these player’s minds. The problem is I cant decide whether I pity or envy your hubris and pretentiousness. I know I have no use for your pompousness.
I do enjoy reading your fictitious scenarios. I consider it my failure that the arrogance bothers me enough to not allow me to humor you.
WC,
I do find it interesting that many of us wondered out loud how Albert would handle the signing of MH and how Albert would deal with not being the highest paid player on the team. Also we wondered how Albert would react to the team not being as dependent of his production to win baseball games.
Does any of that have anything to do with Alberts struggles this year? Who knows. One thing is for certain….Albert does not appear to be the same guy who has dominated this league for 10 years.
I have never seen Albert swing and miss as badly as he has of late. Go figure. Its definately one of those things that make you go hmmmmmm.
Could Alberts ego be a tad bit bruised by the MH signing? Could Albert be having a hard time dealing with the teams decision to not offer him as of yet an extension? Is Albert having a hard time dealing with the teams young kids producing and his role diminished as sole provider for the cardinals? Has his elbow surgery caused his elbow to feel different and thus causing him some mechanical issues since his range of motion has been increased? Could Albert just be going through what normal players go through all of the time when they slump?
These are some interesting questions that we will ponder if Albert continues to struggle.
Then again, Albert is just as likely to go off starting tomorrow and we will not even remember this slump a month from now?
Solid post, RC. I agree with everything you said. The impact of the addition of McGwire might be another variable.
By the way, Albert will be on the show of my friends Jeff Erickson and Chris Liss at noon Eastern tomorrow, Tuesday – RotoWire Fantasy Sports Today on XM 241 and Sirius 125.
Good observations all.
RC……….There are always complications in adapting to the learning process of the self educated prodigy. Almost always, there is a learning impediment that is overcome by the individual that isolates their personal processes to the extent that it is hard for them to adapt to outside influences. Sometimes said impediment is resolved, or in some case, dissolved in this process. ………….Sometimes……….it is not.
MM is a teacher of unknown qualifications. He is intuitive, but is learning through “cause and effect” teaching modalities. He has been able to get AP’s attention a few time, and because of Albert’s vulnerably related to performance failures, has managed to get a few “tweaks” into the
“laboratory”. Albert, like a disapproving child, has presented said suggestions to the test, and defeated each in an obvious display of there inadequacy………….. this of course is what led MM to make his “I’m powerless” to influence some of the bad habits I’m observing.
Solutions? Few people have access to Albert’s reservoir of self confidence. His wife..as I have observed…….. and possibly TLR. To do what? To convince him to take and except a teacher. Is MM that teacher? There are a number of reasons MM might be the perfect teach, as there are just as many that suggest he is “inadequate ” at this point in his career.
Truth be known, this problem has nothing to do with baseball. This is of course impossible you’d think, since all said pretense is acted out on the baseball diamond. No, the changes that will enable AP except a teacher must take place outside the domain of his “mythological persona”. ………………………….
Does Albert really need a teacher your thinking, is it that important? It was…….and is…….his learning impediment………come all this way to visit………….. If he attempts to survive the fall, to reshape his own “inner teacher” that learned to navigate around his “learning impediment”, he might not survive. It is rarely done from the precipice of even modest fame………… Why?
Knowing that there are no learning impediments is one of the greatest challenges of awareness. One rarely achieves this within the confines of a single form of expression.
It’s not as if Matt has kicked Albert’s butt on the field. Leadership between the lines is there for the taking. So far, nobody has stepped up.