Comments on: From 22nd round to top prospect, Hanson learned art of pitching

By: John Spangler

John Spangler — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 04:48:30 +0000

I hate to be the bearer of bad news Furman Bisher, but you have little to no idea what your talking about. You make the following claim that, “Instead, they were able to hold off until the 22nd round before they moved. Twenty-second round, mind you. This is spot usually reserved for afterthoughts, maybe a nephew of the owner. Still, the Braves thought enough of Hanson to give him a $350,000 bonus to sign.” First off, when a team waits to this point it is usually because the ball player has been in contact with a few clubs and has decided that he has a specific path that he would like to follow. Meaning Tommy most likely told the Braves that he had serious interest in their organization, as well as serious interest in ASU. This was most likely an interest he did not have with many other major league clubs. Thus leaving the Braves with the following decision, take Hansen in the 22nd round and try to work a deal out. This happens every year with hundreds of talented players that for one reason or another may not be completely interested in playing pro-ball. Thus leaving an educated man to assume that these ball players taken in the middle rounds have top 10 round talent, but slip because or an oppinion or ideal. See each major league team has the option to have up to 50 picks in the draft. I said it 50 rounds, yes some may think is a bit excessive, but those taken that late are a mixture of players. Some have little to no talent and will have a career as short as minor league spring training, but some are great talents coming off of surgery or other injuries. Some are not sure if they want to graduate from college or persue a boy-hood dream.
Now this writer, who played college baseball at a top 25 school, knows that you don’t give a 22nd round pick $350,000, which would lead me to believe that the braves were on a very short list of teams that this giant wanted to play for. Lets be serious Hansen sits at a cool 6′6″ and with a mid 90’s fastball he is exactly what pro scouts are looking for in a big leaguer. You can always develope talent but you can’t teach 6′6″ and you can’t teach 90 mph. However the rest of the article/blog was pretty good, but heres another piece of info you missed; other players of relevance from the 2005 MLB draft:1st round – Joey Devine (later traded to Oakland), 2nd round – Yunel Escobar, 3rd round – Jordan Schafer, 17th round – Clayton Caulfield, and 33rd round – Tyler Flowers.

By: RD

RD — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 19:40:40 +0000

Don’t forget Glavine and Smoltz chose to leave the Braves for more money. Why are the Braves the bad guys when they make a business decision? The Braves don’t owe Smoltz and Glavine ANYTHING, they were paid very well to play a game and that should be enough.

By: Acworth Don

Acworth Don — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 11:53:10 +0000

Wow! I’m with Bish on this one (and a lot others) because after watching MLB for about 60 years
you can learn about “that look” of a ball player. We are fortunate it has worked that we have Tom.
In fact, I actually like the “look” of the Braves right now. It may be that we now have a team that
will compete again. Especially with our new 2nd baseman Conrad. Give Bobby some time and things will look good again for Atlanta, for sure!

By: antonucci

antonucci — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 10:41:34 +0000

Bisher–stop eating all that acid, dude…

By: Notty Dred

Notty Dred — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 20:42:33 +0000

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By: Ken Stallings

Ken Stallings — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 00:22:38 +0000

Bruce del Canton and Bobby Dewes represented a core group of scouts and coaches throughout the Braves organization that transformed drafts into a regular supply of young and talented players. It was a conveyor belt the envy of baseball. Their passing is not mere coincidence with the relative downturn in that supply chain.

Tommy Hanson has poise and isn’t intimidated one iota by the upgraded surroundings he finds himself in. In that regard he reminds me of another young phenom with a tommahawk across his chest. That man’s name was Tommy Glavine.

Thing is Hanson has better overall stuff. Glavine was a change of pace artist with pinpoint control. Hanson has what Don Sutton terms the “double overhanded yellow hammer!”

He has an excellent fastball to go with it, and a good change up and slider.

The only sad aspect of the whole deal is that Hanson directly supplanted another Braves icon in Glavine, who’s pinpoint control was only exceeded by his stubborn confidence in himself regardless of the situation. That made him a warrior on the mound, but it was predictable that his retirement would initially go down bitter. I expect it will sweeten over time.

Hanson’s performance has done one immediately beneficial thing. It has immediately answered the question, “Why Hanson and not Glavine?” The record of achievement is short but spectacular. It answers the immediate question. Whether Hanson’s career will follow the path of Glavine or be more in line with that of Steve Avery is yet to be seen.

History says, baring injury, Atlanta may be enjoying this Hanson kid for a long time to come.

By: Braves Fan since 1966

Braves Fan since 1966 — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 03:33:16 +0000

“Disappointment” or “Surprise” can be defined as an unexpected outcome to an expected, predictable event.
Tom Glavine should neither have been disappointed or surprised when he was shown the door by the Atlanta Braves.
Look what this club has done to Hall of Fame and near Hall of Fame playesr in the past:
1. Babe Ruth-cut, fired, and never got a chance to manage
2. Eddie Mathews-traded and wound up with Detroit in the AL
3.Hank Aaron-traded to Milwaukee, again totally out of the league
4. Phil Niekro-traded and wound up with the Yankees, in the other league
5.Dale Murphy-dumped to the Phillies (at least he stayed in the NL)
6.Dave Justice-the only true sprirt in the World Series braves clubhouse was traded to the Yankees
7. Greg Maddox- dumped, wound up in San Diego
8. John Smoltz- dumped, but got more money with Boston
9. Tom Glavine– he thinks he will be treated diffently? He is suprised?

The point is, a baseball team is a business (regardless of what the Supreme Court says in the antitrust decisions), and, like any business, the Braves wants the best results for the least expenses. Ergo, Glavine is gone. That is the way it has been over 100 years (no, I did not go back to Bobby Lowe!), and that is the way it is now: Do the job or out you go. That is why the Players have a Union. If Glavine feels he was somehow wronged, he can file a grievance, or pitch for another team and beat the Braves on the field. Or, he can do both.
If he does neither, then he can retire quietly, and sit in the stands with the other spectators.
(Full disclosre: I attended the first official Braves game in 1966-they lost to the Pirates despite Torre’s 2 HR’s and Clonninger’s extra inning complete game- but when there was no World Series, I dropped out. When the Players Union and the Owners managed to stop post season when even Hitler couldn’t, that was it for me. That and $4 cokes and $5 hotdogs.)

By: Mr. Touchdown

Mr. Touchdown — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 00:51:08 +0000

If Glav should be pitching, then why isn’t he pitching? First Wren said no, then the marketplace said no.
Nuff said.

By: DaveDawg

DaveDawg — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 17:20:01 +0000

I agree with DCBrave’s points 1 & 2. Glavine and Smoltz deserve respect. By the way, why all the love for Maddux, who of the three never really considered Atlanta home. In fact, while Glavine and Smoltz put down roots here, Maddux kept his home in Vegas. Don’t get me wrong, I like Maddux just as much as the other two, but it didn’t really bother him to leave the Braves and the fans love him while it’s clear that Glavine and Smoltz did want to retire as Braves but the fans have turned on them. I guess there’s a valuable – yet sad – lesson to be learned about loyalty. Smoltz turned down big money from the Yankee in the late ’90s to stay here, and Glavine turned down an extra $7 million in guaranteed salary to leave the Mets and return here last season, but NO ONE talks about that. If I were a player, the lesson learned here would to take the biggest payday, like Texiera.

By: o-me

o-me — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 13:03:30 +0000

We still talking about Glavine….get a life. He’s dead wood.