Gonzalez knows if Braves fizzle, he’ll be one to catch heat
Fredi Gonzalez knows criticism goes with his job, whether it's justified or not. (Hyosub Shin/AJC
(UPDATED: 11 p.m.)
One refreshing thing about Fredi Gonzalez, unlike so many in his position, is that he’s not going to try to project himself as someone who has all the answers.
He’ll listen to criticism. He’ll seek feedback from his Yoda-like predecessor, Bobby Cox. He’ll talk to former managers who are now long into retirement, and even managers on other teams. If ultimately Gonzalez fails as manager of the Braves, it won’t be because of ego, arrogance or obstinance.
“I talk to other managers all the time, people I respect,” Gonzalez said Friday. “Why not? I talk to them about dealing with different situations, dealing with crisis. But the bottom line, what most of them say, is you just have to be yourself. You have to be honest with players. You’re going to make decisions that are going to be second-guessed. That goes with the territory. But at the end of the day, you can’t tell yourself, ‘Oh, I should’ve done this or that,’ even though there are always situations when you’re going to feel like that.”
We can’t be certain what Gonzalez was feeling late Thursday night, except to assume it wasn’t good. As the calendar turns to September, the Braves are sliding again. We know what happened last time they were here. Several decades from now, when Turner Field is gone, people likely will pass by the former stadium site and hear horrifying screams, as if it’s some haunted former battlefield or asylum.
Here are details of the latest bad ending: With the Braves leading 5-4, closer Craig Kimbrel allowed a game-tying homer to Erik Kratz in the ninth and Cristhian Martinez gave up a three-run bomb to John Mayberry in the 10th. The 8-5 loss to Philadelphia, which opened a homestand, buried the Braves another foot in the National League East (they’re now 6½ games behind Washington). The bigger concern is that they’ve now dropped nine of their last 13.
Chipper Jones knocked over Phillies catcher Erik Kratz but was thrown out at the plate in the fourth inning. (AP photo)
Gonzalez took a lot of heat for the team’s 10-20 slide last season. The criticism wasn’t because of one back-fired decision in particular, but merely because he was the guy in charge when the team caved in like a sinkhole. He tried to stop it. He called meetings. He benched guys. He changed the lineup, the batting order, the color of his socks. If he overused the bullpen, it’s only because the Braves’ starting rotation had imploded. It’s not like he had a lot of options.
But the Braves went down on his watch, so it was on him.
If they go down again, it will be on Gonzalez again. The only difference this time would be that he would be left with less certainty about his future. Ownership would be criticized because, well, has anybody ever actually met a Liberty Media executive? General manager Frank Wren will be criticized because he was content to come back this season with largely the same team this season.
But owners don’t get fired and Wren is afforded more of a platform to convince decision makers that he handed Gonzalez a playoff roster despite budget constraints (albeit, constraints created in part by Wren’s decisions to give big deals to Derek Lowe and Kenshin Kawakami and Dan Uggla). So really, this home stretch is on Gonzalez.
“I took heat last year, but that’s OK,” Gonzalez said. “You have the bulls-eye on you when you’re the manager or you have the head coach’s title.”
The Braves aren’t a bad team. They’re just not great, or currently stable. It’s only natural when there’s a losing streak and fans hear thunder that they’re going to look up and wonder, “Oh no. Not again.”
Gonzalez said before the season that he had gone over last year’s demise a zillion times in his head. When asked what he would do differently in a similar situation, he said he wasn’t sure but he’d try anything. He didn’t offer any more insight Friday.
“You have to be patient,” he said. “You can move guys down in the lineup, give them a day off. But in the end they’re your guys. Every move you make, if it works people say, ‘Great job, Fredi.’ If it doesn’t work, it’s, ‘Fredi created a panic situation.’ At the end of the day, you can’t have regrets.
“We chose this profession. I was watching Jon Gruden interviewed on HBO, and I think his dad was quoted in his book saying, ‘Jon, if you don’t change your ways, this job is going to kill you.’ They asked Gruden about that and his eyes started watering. That’s the stuff that we take home every day.”
What Gonzalez has been taking home of late can’t be good — and his team is not giving any indication that’s going to change.
By Jeff Schultz
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177 comments Add your comment
Lakewood
August 31st, 2012
10:39 pm
That unfortunately just took Kimbrel out of any Cy Young conversation for the moment. Dude is the best Braves closer I have ever seen (besides Smoltzy) but he just needs to take a deep breathe & come through in huge games like this one. Hopefully he shakes it off & doesn’t crumble like last year.
Jeff Schultz
August 31st, 2012
10:41 pm
Bam. John Mayberry 2-run jack in 10th gives Phillies their first lead since 1-0…. 7-5.
G
August 31st, 2012
10:41 pm
The collapse begins
SOS Braves
August 31st, 2012
10:43 pm
Choking losers. This team flat out sux
Circling the drain!
August 31st, 2012
10:43 pm
You better get plenty of ice Fredi G. cause the heat is coming……
NorCal Brave
August 31st, 2012
10:43 pm
Well it’s an all-out battle just get a wild card now, and my money is NOT on the Braves!
Lakewood
August 31st, 2012
10:44 pm
Back breaking…
September
August 31st, 2012
10:44 pm
Hello Braves! Remember me?
Oh! I see you started without me!
September
August 31st, 2012
10:44 pm
Hello Braves! Remember me?
Oh! I see you started without me!
G
August 31st, 2012
10:45 pm
Tis team is not built to finish. This is Frank Wrens fault. He chose to go into this season with the same team that could not finish last year.
SOS Braves
August 31st, 2012
10:45 pm
Same old sh$t Braves. Year aFter year
jo
August 31st, 2012
10:47 pm
braves will lose game again they were winning. Now what? Like last year, even that which was working is now falling apart. Kimbrel loses save and then we have the3 run blast to lose again. Tip.the hat?
WTFredi???
August 31st, 2012
10:48 pm
This team just does not have it. Do we really want to suffer a one-game playoff with these guys? Do we really want another Atlanta team that thinks they are good because of a playoff appearance, when in reality they are not even close to being contenders and should overhaul a majority of the roster?
I don’t. Been there, done that with this city’s teams. I want championship contenders.
September
August 31st, 2012
10:49 pm
Chipper gets thrown out at the plate loafing from second base. One run.
Janish stays at third instead of scoring on what should have been a wild pitch. Two runs.
Kimbrel throws a slider strike one to a guy looking for a fastball. Makes him look sick.
Kimbrel throws a slider strike two to a guy looking for a fastball. Makes him look sick.
Kimbrel throws a fastball 0-2 to a guy looking fastball all the way when he looked sick on the slider and BOOM! Ballgame!
Braves aren’t good enough or smart enough to play lax baseball and expect to win.
Their slack play cost them the game tonight.
Robert08
August 31st, 2012
10:51 pm
Braves decide to get early start on September swoon I see … I wonder if Hinske will get an at-bat in the bottom of the 10th inning?
SOS Braves
August 31st, 2012
10:53 pm
Maybe when we choke again this yr it will be enough to get Fredi fired.
Bryan
August 31st, 2012
10:54 pm
Is the trading deadline over for Managers?
How many times can we snacth defeat from the jaws of victory by keeping a pitcher in the game who is getting “hammered”. BUT let’s keep him in the game so he can get a victory. “Opps, there goes another loss.
Sad
Billy
August 31st, 2012
10:55 pm
Wren needs to go also….
G
August 31st, 2012
10:56 pm
White flag thrown out… Hinske up
G
August 31st, 2012
10:57 pm
Hinske has become a modern day Greg Norton
SOS Braves
August 31st, 2012
10:58 pm
How unusual. Hinske strikes out
Billy
August 31st, 2012
10:58 pm
lol!
Tim
August 31st, 2012
11:00 pm
i cant even be mad anymore! its starting to be really funny!
SOS Braves
August 31st, 2012
11:01 pm
Losers will find a way to lose and that’s what we are!!!
Jeff Schultz
August 31st, 2012
11:02 pm
Column has been updated, as Braves have now lost nine of last 13, going in wrong direction.
SOS Braves
August 31st, 2012
11:06 pm
College football is here. Screw u sorry braves. Don’t need to watch you losers anymore
WTFredi???
August 31st, 2012
11:08 pm
Please Falcons, don’t go 9-7 and lose in the wild card round this season. If you are going to fail, please fail miserably, unlike our friends the Braves. Don’t beat weak teams again this year and think you are any good. Just lose. Lose badly. Get a high draft pick. Please?
Robert08
August 31st, 2012
11:08 pm
Nothing will happen to Gonzalez… he and Hinske’s sorry backside will be in Atlanta drawing a paycheck in 2013. Mark my words, Phillies make the playoffs, while Braves sit at home.
BillEGoat
August 31st, 2012
11:17 pm
Wow, this is starting to feel VERY familiar, too much like last year. For every game that goes the wrong way for some reason, like tonight’s loss with the rare blown save, these players are going to get tighter and tighter, no matter what they say. A team cannot collapse like last year’s Braves and then, when the same thing starts to happen again, not feel the pressure mounting. If Bobby Cox is around, maybe he should come down and have a locker room talk with the players. I don’t think Fredi is up to handling this kind of September situation without some help.
CamiloAtlanta
August 31st, 2012
11:37 pm
4-9 in the last 13? Fredi’s on track! This year best we can hope for is the one-game playoff. Let’s relish being in home-field advantage for that. And Fredi won’t be replaced if we blow it again. He’s a lifetime member of the Braves old boys’ club.
Dum-Bass
August 31st, 2012
11:43 pm
Think I would have definitely left out the words “not obstinate” as FG is one of the most stubborn, hardheaded managers in baseball, ever! Why change something when it’s working? For instance, the last 3 Braves wins have had Reed Johnson in leftfield and Prado either at 2B or 3B. He keeps going back to the same old “loser” lineup and he’s “blind as a bat” if he can’t see that. It’s late in the season, almost too late, so if something is working and creating wins, stick with it!
Here we go again
September 1st, 2012
12:08 am
We lose 8-5 to a team that older then Us had hurts and yes we have Martinez who gives Mayberry a nice bone hit see his thrill he enjoyed watchin it go out he did it on Purpose lose ,,fredddie You n frank wren are fired at end if you choke this 75-58 now….goin down and yet we be seen on fox at 4pm saturday where freddi will tip his cap….Hey frank Wren that we goin all the way is slowly goin gone…And will you be next!
Mike Bell 790
September 1st, 2012
12:20 am
FIRST!!!
JASon
September 1st, 2012
12:33 am
Mental toughness is key. That is why it is so extremely hard to cheer for any atlanta team.
TN Jeff
September 1st, 2012
12:55 am
Mental Midgets – that’s what these Braves teams they keep trotting out for us. It use to be that they built a big lead securing the division and then didn’t feel the pressure until the playoffs began and thus they would choke and die then. Now they have moved everything up so that the choking begins pre-postseason. This team will fold while assuring us that all is well.
Braves Organization=Loving Family
September 1st, 2012
12:56 am
Fredi could collapse this team 10 years in a row and the only way he’d leave it would be if they didn’t renew his contract
*Looking at where they were last year at this point in the season vs this year, last year’s team had a better record. That’s comforting to know. It’s also nice to know that early in Sept 2011, the Phillies swept the Braves which set the tone for the rest of the month.
Semper Fi Braves Fan
September 1st, 2012
1:04 am
Loosers always find a way to loose.
Kris
September 1st, 2012
1:07 am
Look – you gotta tip your cap to them, they played a heck of a game and the Braves came up short. Nothing you can do but tip your cap, yessiree just gotta tip the ol’ ballcap
Michael
September 1st, 2012
4:09 am
Anything else but that diaster of a meltdown last year that caused St. Louis to Advance
Michael
September 1st, 2012
4:09 am
Anything else but that diaster of a meltdown last year that caused St. Louis to Advance
Michael
September 1st, 2012
4:09 am
Anything else but that diaster of a meltdown last year that caused St. Louis to Advance
Braves Supporter
September 1st, 2012
5:04 am
Wish we could have traded for another reliever. Surely, I can’t be the only guy who think Martinez sucks.
CHOKE ARTISTS
September 1st, 2012
6:01 am
Weren’t many of you against trhe idea of trading for a few stud pitchers or stud hitters? Don’t start whining now! This is what you signed up for!
Lil' Barry Bailout
September 1st, 2012
6:23 am
Before the season, Braves management thought they had so many #1 and #2 starters, they were having trouble deciding who to leave out of the rotation.
Before the season, Braves management thought their lineup of .230 hitters, who couldn’t knock a guy in all last year were suddenly going to all start hitting .270.
Braves management: Dumb.
Matt f
September 1st, 2012
7:30 am
Must be time for the September Swooooooooooon. Bye-bye Fredi, tip o’the cap to ya.
Playoffs!!!
September 1st, 2012
8:47 am
If the Braves blow it again, Fredi has to go. That’s a no-brainer.
BulldogBen
September 1st, 2012
8:47 am
I don’t think I can take this again. If this goes down again, this city will be shell shocked and the Braves may lose fans in droves.
LaBrenda Chenile Watson
September 1st, 2012
9:06 am
Why do the Braves let Chipper Jone talk? He blames everybody but his old self for last night’s loss. If he was on a girls softball team somebody would surely sit him down and explain to him that this is a team game and he is supposed to lead not whine and complain. Hey Chipper Jone it is S-E-P-T-E-M-B-E-R and you lead the C-H-O-K-E.
LaBrenda Chenile Watson
September 1st, 2012
9:12 am
You asked what Fredi was taking home after these games and I suspect it’s something from Captain D’s. He must be planning his meal in the dugout because from what I can see he’s not in the game. I watched Chipper Jone try to score and run over that poor man at the plate and all I can say is “Yer Out!” If Chipper Jone was not happy with the pitchers and the other batters why didn’t he get some hits with men on base and score that run instead of running into an out?
PMC
September 1st, 2012
9:13 am
Not to disagree with you too much Jeff but we haven’t really been a town to put pressure on the baseball management to do better after coming up short in the playoffs or failing to get there.
Just saying.
The failures when it matters are the biggest reason why no team in this town has the consistent fan support that they yearn for, but the teams don’t ever seem desperate to win anything either. They just keep sending guys out there hoping that another year with the same everything will yield different results. When they don’t, they just sigh and do the same things over and over again.