Braves collapse, and the shine just came off Fredi Gonzalez
Fredi Gonzalez watched as the Braves blew an 8½-game wild-card lead in 23 days. (Curtis Compton/AJC)
Fredi Gonzalez was quietly handed the Braves’ managerial job before Bobby Cox ever stepped out the door in a wink-wink, nudge-nudge deal, and nobody really had a problem with it.
He had the resume and the personality. Everybody liked and respected him. He knew the players, the organization and the city. The Braves weren’t making over the manager’s office as much as they were changing a light bulb.
Something went wrong.
This is not a “Fire Fredi Gonzalez” column. But we’ve just witnessed one of the worst collapses in sports history, and the Braves can’t just assume that a few roster tweaks are going to fix the problem. When a team goes 10-20 down the stretch — including 0-9 against their two biggest competitors (Philadelphia and St. Louis) — and loses three consecutive series to the division’s flotsam (Mets, Marlins, Nationals), this isn’t about just injuries or a few guys going into a slump.
The vibe was missing this season. That’s on Gonzalez. The team fell apart when it needed to come together, blowing an 8½-game lead in 23 days. That’s on Gonzalez. The Braves seemed tight and meek and borderline frightened, as if waiting, hoping, white-knuckle-praying for a playoff spot to just fall into their lap. They didn’t just take it, and didn’t play like they felt they deserved it.
That’s certainly on Gonzalez. The shine just came off the perfect replacement.
I understand this isn’t football. Managers make in-game decisions, but they aren’t calling plays. They change the lineup and the batting order. Gonzalez did that. He pulled Chipper Jones out of the No. 3 spot. He benched Jason Heyward.
Ultimately, the question is whether a manager is making a team better, making it believe. The Braves clearly weren’t, therefore Gonzalez clearly didn’t.
Even with injuries, this was twice the team that reached the postseason last year and lost three one-run games to the eventual World Series champions in San Francisco.
Gonzalez doesn’t need to go. But he needs to change. Or maybe someone. Gonzalez said Thursday that all of his coaches are coming back. But for all the screams from the cheap seats about former hitting coach Terry Pendleton, his replacement, Larry Parrish, didn’t bring anything to the table.
Maybe Gonzalez just needs to change himself. Maybe he came in and, consciously or subconsciously, didn’t want to disrupt things too much in the first season after Bobby Cox retired. It was such a feel-good season last year, that would be understandable. But if that was the strategy, it backfired.
When asked about the collapse following Wednesday’s final loss, Chipper Jones said, “It’s cruel, because probably nobody in Atlanta sports is probably under as much scrutiny as he is filling in for Bobby Cox. To have it slip away in late September, it’s cruel. It’s really cruel. It’s not indicative of the way this team played, the way he managed, and what we deserved in this situation.”
Not sure about the “deserved” part of that quote. The Braves just played 162 games. That’s enough time.
They blew it. They blew it like no team in Atlanta sports history. That blew it like few teams in all of sports history. The only people who aren’t saying today that they blew it live in Boston — because they have their own problems.
What just happened is mind-numbing. But even before the collapse, the Braves seemed to have chemistry issues. They never quite came together like most anticipated. This was a team that figured to challenge Philadelphia in the National League East and possibly for a World Series.
There aren’t a lot of tangible things we can pin on Gonzalez. He certainly stuck with Derek Lowe too long, and the decision to start him Tuesday over rookie Julio Teheran blew up in the manager’s face. He made the bold decision to go with Jose Constanza over the struggling Heyward in right field for several starts, which seemed to ignite the lineup. But then he switched back to Heyward, who is the better player, but still seemed to be a mess.
But it never should have come down to that decision, or to a few starts by Lowe. When a team goes 10-20 to close the season and gets swept at home in the last three games, the issues are bigger than that.
Implosions like this are on the manager. He didn’t make the team better. The Braves underachieved. And Gonzalez just lost the benefit of the doubt.
By Jeff Schultz
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845 comments Add your comment
Big Daddy Cool
September 29th, 2011
2:53 pm
I guess this blog is reserved for mostly the misinformed or people that don’t know “crap” about professional sports. Fredi isn’t to blame, it’s the greedy millionaires who wear the Braves uniforms, this collapse is solely on the players. As the manager, he’s going to make mistakes, he doesn’t have a crystal ball. I have stated previously, Fredi’s not swinging the bats or throwing the pitches, so he’s basically playing the hand that ownership and management have dealt him. The fact that this team tightened up the last month of the season, is on the veterans, so evidently Chipper, Mac, Uggla, Gonzo, Prado, Lowe and Hudson’s experience and influence wasn’t the type of leadership this team needed. What do you expect, Fredi to pull Chipper or Uggla aside and say, “Hey, this pitcher isn’t throwing strikes, so don’t swing at the first pitch.” or “Dan, we just need a base hit”.Could you imagine what would happen if he benched one of these guys for lack of production. Maybe Fredi isn’t the “player’s manager” that Cox was, but he also saw what benching Hanlery Rameriz got him. As for the hitting coach, why do major leagues teams have hitting coaches? If major league players don’t know how to hit or make adjustments, a hitting coach isn’t going to solve that. Parrish could have told Heyward, Gonzo and Uggla to hit the ball back up the middle or to the opposite field until he was blue in the face. I wouldn’t have worked, because these guys know the power hitters get paid more money. Point in case, Uggla raises his average by 50 points during his hitting streak, by hitting the ball to all fields, but as soon as the streaks over, he goes back to trying to jerk every pitch out of the park. Did anyone notice that Uggla average was in the .230s when the streak ended, and a month later it was still in the .230s? This meant that after the streak he was a .230s hitter, actually .241 in the last 30 days. So, in the last 30 days, Freeman, Uggla, Prado and Mac all hit below .250, with Mac at .183. Meanwhile, Lowe goes 1-5 with a 7.28 ERA in his last 6 starts before of poor mechanics. As for Tuesday’s game, it was a double-edged sword, if Fredi pitches Tehran and he gets torched, when a 15 million dollar pitcher was available, he’d probably have some explaining to do to Wrenn and Schuerholz. You guys have a wonderful winter, bring on hockey and Don Waddell-bashing or basketball and the fans disguised as empty seats!!! Oh, that’s right, my bad…
Larry30
September 29th, 2011
2:54 pm
Chipper is such a loser. The outcome is not indicative of how they played or what the team deserved? He’s more arrogant than even I thought. This is also the biggest argument for not expanding the number of teams eligible for the playoffs. No team that has a .300 winning percentage the last month of the season deserves to be in the playoffs. I really do believe the blame has to be placed on FG and Parrish. Did you see Utley’s last at bat that drove in the tying run? He knew there were runners in scoring position and went up there with a strategy to simply put the ball in play, then punched a good pitch out into left field. Our guys all season long swung from the heels like they were trying to hit it to the moon every time, thus they hit a bunch of solo home runs but were pathetic with runners on base. Hey guys, the reason you were successful with your wild home run swing with no one on base may be because pitchers change their pitching strategy with runners on base. You might think about doing the same as a hitter. I would think a major league hitting coach would implant that thought into the minds of his hitters and actually teach them how to do it. If he doesn’t know how to teach that, then he needs to be shown the door. I bet the braves left over a thousand runners on base this year.
bulldaeg
September 29th, 2011
2:57 pm
No temple today?
stevecol
September 29th, 2011
2:58 pm
The column is right on. Fredi panicked and his fear infected the team. First the team lost confidence in their manager and then they lost confidence in themselves. The manager’s #1 job is to keep the players’ heads screwed on straight. When things started to go south, Fredi freaked out instead of staying strong and that’s why each week in September was worse than the week before.
Osacal
September 29th, 2011
2:58 pm
fredi did not call for the double steal,u never make the 1st out at 3rd,unless u r 100%sure u r safe
baseball 101 something the braves have no clue
davidinvirginia
September 29th, 2011
2:58 pm
I don’t think you can blame Gonzalez for the late season collapse…that’s on the players…but you can blame him for all the games he cost the team in the prior 5 months with his idiotic managerial moves and for the lack of attention to baseball fundamentals (and demanding attention to fundamentals from his team). Those two faults cost this team several wins would have made the late season collapse moot. They’ve have clinched a spot 2 or 3 weeks ago.
male
September 29th, 2011
2:58 pm
Did any reporter ask Gonzalez why he didn’t walk Pence to get to Martinez who is a .196 hitter????
Texas Braves Fan
September 29th, 2011
2:59 pm
Bottom line: As a sign of good faith to the fan base, somebody has to take the fall. And it needs to be a swift move.
Larry30
September 29th, 2011
3:00 pm
Big daddy, that’s exactly what I expect a manager to do. He has to be the brains in the game and constantly remind the knuckleheads like Uggla what he should be thinking. I just want to know why Uggla gets a pass for his .230 average because of his 35 or 36 homers. Andruw jones was constantly criticized with better numbers than than uggla’s because he didn’t hit for average and Francouer was sent to the minors and run out of town because he couldn’t hit for average even though he was driving in 80 or so runs a year. By the way what kind of year did Ryan Church have this season?
bringer
September 29th, 2011
3:01 pm
I’ve been sitting here reading and thinking about the blame. Know what? It was just a perfect storm of crap. Pitching injuries, untimely hitting, and the Cardinals got hot at the right time. I’m sure the ‘93 Giants and ‘91 Dodgers were wondering what happened, too… Its baseball. The season is so long that eventually the best team will win out, and that happened in ‘91 and ‘93 for the Braves. There are few flukes. The Cardinals are a better team this year. Wait til next year.
Emmmitt
September 29th, 2011
3:02 pm
Liberty Media will not spend the money to acquire any players or coaches to improve this team. As long as Liberty Media sees a positive ROI for this team, there is no incentive to make the team better by spending more if their net revenue takes a hit.
StormeeATL
September 29th, 2011
3:03 pm
Guess the Braves didn’t want the Falcons to be the lone chokers in Atlanta sports this year
Osacal
September 29th, 2011
3:03 pm
this is what the real post quotes should have been if this was boston,or ny
fredi u give bourn the green light for 3rd?fredi no
why did mcann not try to bunt wih runners on 1st and 2nd with no out?u know he is hitting .178 last 20 games?
why pitch to pence with a base open?
why didnt wilson do a squeze bunt there/U WAS QUOTED A LONG TIME AGO HE IS A GOOD BUNTER
THANKS AJC FOR NOTHING AS USUAL
CASE IN POINT…..BREAKING NEWS…
Fredi brings back all his staff,including larry parrish
AJC….NO COMMENT AS USUAL
Larry30
September 29th, 2011
3:06 pm
Payroll is not the problem. The combined payrolls of Arizona and Tampa is less than $100 million or right at that number. Tampa’s payroll is the second lowest in baseball. Of course, having Evan longoria being able to hit against Scott proctor with the game on the line will go a long way toward beating the yanks. That’s right, our old buddy proctor gave up the winning homer in that game.
Osacal
September 29th, 2011
3:06 pm
Emmmitt
September 29th, 2011
3:02 pm
Liberty Media will not spend the money to acquire any players or coaches to improve this team. As long as Liberty Media sees a positive ROI for this team, there is no incentive to make the team better by spending more if their net revenue takes a hit
NICE TO SEE YOU WAS DRUNK WHEN FRANK WREN SAID WE HAD A CHANCE TO GET PENCE BUT DID NOT NEED HIM ,I LIKED WHAT I SAW.hOW U LIKE IT NOW WREN?IM GLAD PENCE BURNED YOUR A@@
stinger
September 29th, 2011
3:07 pm
Wren is clueless, paid too much to re sign Chipper…no money left for pitchers..nuff said
C.Brown
September 29th, 2011
3:07 pm
I would just like to say that even though I’m a Phillies fan I truely do feel sorry for Braves fans right now. You guys/gals have every right to be upset as your team just didn’t come through down the stretch but keep it mind that you have young team with tons of potential and I’m sure our teams will have some great battles for many years to come.
Osacal
September 29th, 2011
3:10 pm
Bourn would be a fool to accept a extension with this team.Consider it a loss michael and u be with a team that can score runs for u in 2013
Osacal
September 29th, 2011
3:12 pm
stinger
r u drunk or high?chipper restructured his contract,that means more money later on in the years,since u know nothing about baseball
Larry30
September 29th, 2011
3:12 pm
Over half of our payroll this year went to lowe, jones, McLouth, kawakami, & McCann. Wren better figure out a way to get more for our money than that in the future or this franchise is going to look like Baltimore where he came from.
Tupelo Brave
September 29th, 2011
3:13 pm
I am very disappointed but I’ll be back behind them next year. It seems to me that we treated the wild card just like every other game. We get ahead and just sit back and think that’s enough. We have that one decent inning of scoring a few runs or that one great homestand that makes us feel elite and then we relax. I don’t pretend to know how to manage, how to hit, or how to pitch, but I do know we are missing SOMETHING. I was impressed with the Phillies all year. They never quit. The Rays were down 7-0 and came back. They never quit either. Until we get that killer instinct, we aren’t going to be regular postseason contenders, much less win championships. We need some step-on-the throat leaders. I think we have the personell, just need an attitude adjustment.
Osacal
September 29th, 2011
3:14 pm
C.brown
the cardinals whipped u in philly last week,and milwaukee will do the same.Iwonder what will be your excuse this year?Be sure and tell ryan howard to swing at strike 3 this time,and at least try to win
Osacal
September 29th, 2011
3:16 pm
larry 30 mcann made 4 million this year next time talk with facts,and sober up
kirkinga
September 29th, 2011
3:17 pm
Should have gone after Joe Torre, he has the rings and he has a winning track record here in Atlanta. It’s not too late to admit the mistake and offer him the job. The biggest problem for the Braves was ineffective leadership and Fredi seem to shrink as the situation got worse.
Roger From Alabama
September 29th, 2011
3:17 pm
I’m not opposed to change but I long to hear someone say from the dugout “c’mon Chip”, “Let’s go Kid”, like Bobby Cox used to do. Just doesn’t seem that our Braves have the heart to win like they used to. Too much impatience at the plate. Some of these guys need to re-visit Triple-A and come back when they have improved. Will the new manager ever get it together—We’ll see. See ya in 2012.
Tony
September 29th, 2011
3:18 pm
What a mental breakdown. But that has always been the Braves’ problem. They never finished in the 90’s or 00’s. Now they have become even more of an embarassment. You have to hand it to the Cardinals. That is a winning organization and always has been. After the Yankees the Cardinals have won the most World Series. The Braves should aspire to be more like the Cards.
Osacal
September 29th, 2011
3:19 pm
i think mlb decision to add a extra wc team is crazy the way they r talking.
2 teams will play a 1 game playoff and thats the wc
Rmyklo
September 29th, 2011
3:19 pm
Jeff, Please rerun that column from last month when you wrote that the Braves had a shot at catching the Phillies — when they were 10 out at the time. We could use a good laugher.
Osacal
September 29th, 2011
3:22 pm
Atlanta is not a baseball town,even when they wer good in the 90s fans never showed up,never had sellouts,yes they get paid millions,but except for these 3 games with philly hard to get excited when u r home team,look aroung,and think u in fla.playing the marlins
Larry30
September 29th, 2011
3:22 pm
You’re a knucklehead osacal. Read the whole comment again. Here are the FACTs:
Lowe, jones, McLouth, kawakami, and McCann combined were paid $47,667,000 this year…..
The total payroll of the braves was $91,044,524. Just in case you need help the above figure is over half of the total payroll. Maybe you should sober up.
Jay Dubu
September 29th, 2011
3:22 pm
Mac struggled after coming off the DL, maybe returned too soon.
Freddy Freeman had a great season.
Uggla was super during the hitting streak, but was never a consent threat. All in all, he had a good season. Most productive offensive player on the roster.
Gonzo was spectacular in the field, but undisciplined at the plate.
Chipper was in and out of the lineup throughout the season, and provided some offensive help, but pouted when taken out of the 3 hole, until he was re-inserted. Collected mostly cheap RBIs on infield groundout.
Prado had a subpar season, and did little to nothing once he was moved to the 2 hole.
CF was a mess most of the season, until Bourn arrived. Schafer played good defense, but struggled at the plate. McLouth just never got it going this season.
Heyward’s year went down hill once he returned from the DL. Never recovered. Probably more to the shoulder injury than published. Sounds like Chipper helped him more with his swing than Larry Parrish.
The bench…Conrad, Hinske, etc, never really had a major impact. Other than Conrad and Hinske, they really didn’t have anyone else on the bench (Mather, Hernandez, Lugo, Young, Ramirez, Diaz, Constanza). Once Fredi took Constanza out of the starting lineup, he couldn’t figure out where and when to use him. Diaz is a lefty hitting specialist, with no power. Ross was delegated to giving Mac a break, but never pinch hit.
Linebrink and Sherrill did not fit the bill for veteran leadership that Wren sought.
Lowe pitched to his age, and seem to have a tough time with no run support.
JJ and Hanson missed almost half the season with injuries.
Hudson was the workhorse as expected. Beachy pitched well.
O’Flaherty, Venters, and Kimbrel were spectacular!!!
Moylan just couldn’t stay healthy.
Martinez filled his role as expected.
space monkey
September 29th, 2011
3:22 pm
Here’s another example of how clueless Gonzales is: We need more pitching. What? We need more offense. We need a right-handed left fielder who hits for average with some pop. We need to sign Michael Bourn to a contract. We don’t need a free-agent pitcher nor do we need to trade for one. We have a stellar rotation for the coming year: Hudson, Hanson, Delgado, Minor, and Beachy, plus Medlen, Jurjjens, and Tehran. Hopefully Lowe will preserve some of his legacy and retire. And hopefully Freddi will get a brain transplant.
Larry30
September 29th, 2011
3:24 pm
In fact those 5 players made more than the entire Tampa roster.
Tony
September 29th, 2011
3:25 pm
Just another idiot working for the urinal constipation spewing his uneducated opinion. Those who never played the game lay the blame.
Ryno
September 29th, 2011
3:25 pm
Larry 30, give it a rest with the Francoeur talk. It would be relevant if he would have had these stats this year with the Mets. It isn’t relevant when he has already been dumped by two other teams other than the Braves. Uggla is the only 2nd baseman ever with 30+ hrs for 5 straight years, while Francoeur is a below average corner outfielder offensively. Don’t compare the two positions.
Osacal
September 29th, 2011
3:25 pm
offseason notes
fla new stadium new mgr.guaranteed sellouts,owner willing to spend
nats already said they r going after pujhols,fielder
braves fredi bringing back entire staff including larry parrish
ENOUGH SAID
END OF 2012 STANDINGS
PHILLY
FLA
WASH
METS
BRAVES
BANK ON IT
Big Daddy Cool
September 29th, 2011
3:25 pm
Larry,
As I said Fredi and Parrish can talk to the hitters until their blue in the face. Uggla is swinging for the fences, trying to hit a 3 run homer with nobody on, my 13 year old has a better swing than Gonzo, Heyward, McCann and Prado are lost and confused or both, Bourne doesn’t bunt enough and got better pitches to hit in Houston, and our boy Chipper is not the threat he used to be, and doesn’t strike fear into pitchers anymore. Freeman, in my opinion, exceeded expectations. Lowe made over 3 million going 1-5 with a 7.28 ERA in his last 6 starts. The problem is in the clubhouse, not the manager’s office.
archie
September 29th, 2011
3:26 pm
What went wrong in 2011: Hanson & Jurrjens couldn’t stay healthy. Derek Lowe did.
Larry30
September 29th, 2011
3:26 pm
At the end of the day the entire roster and staff belongs to the gm. He put all of this in place.
Rmyklo
September 29th, 2011
3:27 pm
All together now — let’s do the tomahawk chop!
Hooooo, ho HOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!
Hooooo, ho HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!
Gotta LOVE that Tomahawk Chop.
archie
September 29th, 2011
3:27 pm
Still wondering how Melky, Frenchy & Kotchman became great hitters AFTER they left the Braves.
?
September 29th, 2011
3:27 pm
YEAH THE BIGGEST CHANGE SHOULD BE THE BALD HEADED CUBAN WHO THINKS HE KNOWS BASEBALL.
Osacal
September 29th, 2011
3:29 pm
LARRY30
ARIZONA AND TAMPA BAY ARE IN THE PLAYOFFS WITH NO WHERE NEAR THE 91,000,000
SOBER UP AND WAKE UP
CLUELESS
MONEY DONT WIN SHYT,ASK YOUR REDSOX
Big Daddy Cool
September 29th, 2011
3:29 pm
Ryno,
Frenchie is better than the 2 corner outfielder we had this year. Larry, you’re right, Cox ran Franceour out of town and he’s probably laughing his butt off today, unless he’s talking to Mac.
Karim
September 29th, 2011
3:29 pm
This is nothing new, I´ve been a fan of the braves for the last 25 yrs, I even went to Ga Tech, because of the braves, and like we say down here in Panama, the braves swim and swim and always drown in the shallow water. It´s painful. If we only have had a closer like Mariano Rivera, we had 4 or 5 titles more.
wreckmaniac
September 29th, 2011
3:31 pm
To all of those who were critical of Bobby Cox over the years, I can say with certainly that he would never have allowed this to happen. I do not mean to be critical of Freddie because now we see that we have an ordinary manager and we are probably going to have to accept an ordinary manager.
Furthermore, I can honestly say that I can accept this as we have had a full year of baseball with our team being a strong contender and I do not want to go through another postseaon of disappointment.
Instead of not hitting in the postseason as has been the trademark of the Braves they stopped hitting, or really never started hitting, in the regular season. Jason Heyward is the second coming of Francouer.
Prado was not the player this year that he was last season. A. Gonzalez cannot hit and we have an outfield by committee with no strength at all. It caught up with the Braves 2 games too soon.
2012!
September 29th, 2011
3:32 pm
With a healthy chipper in 2012, the braves will roll! Braves make the playoffs—book it!
Osacal
September 29th, 2011
3:33 pm
AND MEANWHILE ATLANTA GETS OUTSCORED 52-8 IN 5 GAMES WITH THE PHILLIES
ALL LOWES FAULT,BLAME THE BATBOY WHILE U ADD IT
O RUNS LAST 10 INNINGS LAST NIGHT
BLAME LOWE AGAIN…..PRICELESS
8/10 WERE AGAINST AAA PITCHING
BLAME LOWE AGAIN
LINEWAD GAME WINNING HIT TO PENCE
BLAME LOWE AGAIN
KIMBREL CHOKED AGAIN #8 THIS YEAR
BLAME LOWE AGAIN
Larry30
September 29th, 2011
3:34 pm
I’m not comparing positions, just pointing out facts. He wasn’t dumped. He was productive everywhere he’s been. So if a guy is traded a few times in his career, that by definition is being “dumped?” Does that apply to hinske or Gaylord perry or any number of players who had fine careers wearing several different uniforms. He was obviously perceived as having value if he landed with another team unlike the player we got for him who was out of baseball in 2011. It was a terrible trade then and it will always be a bad trade. Some of you just won’t admit it. I personally have no problem with a guy who doesn’t hit for average but produces runs. That is the name of the game, push runners across the plate. But with the two guys I mentioned, it was never good enough. That’s a fact and I just wonder why the double standard exists.
Osacal
September 29th, 2011
3:35 pm
BRAVES LAST PLACE 2012
BANK ON IT