Tuesday, April 10, 2007
Sports Mike Hampton out ... again
Posted by Scott Freeman on Tue, Apr 10, 2007 at 4:22 PM
If there's a more snakebit Major League Baseball player than Mike Hampton, I'd like to hear some nominations.
He's been an effective pitcher ... when he's been around. Hampton has now been on the disabled list eight times during his tenure with the Braves.
Hampton, and his $14 million annual contract, came to Atlanta from Colorado in 2003 after Tom Glavine jumped to the New York Mets. Although Hampton had gone from a 20-win pitcher to a woeful performer in Colorado, the Braves were optimistic he would regain his touch with Atlanta.
"I wasn't worried about what Hampton did in Colorado," former Braves pitching coach Leo Mazzone told me when I worked with him on his autobiography. "I based all my judgment and style on how he pitched everywhere but Colorado. Colorado, you just have to throw out the window."
And, sure enough, Hampton had a great second half in 2003. "The big difference was that he was pitching at Turner Field rather than Coors Field," Mazzone told me. "Make no mistake about it; that was huge. I don't care what anybody says, pitches don't do as much there. ... Early that year, you could see he was trying to get his pitches to do more than they could, and that's a habit you get into when you're in Colorado."
As the AJC's Carroll Rogers points out, Hampton was 11-3 with a 3.26 ERA from July 2003 to the end of that season, and 15-2 with a 2.65 ERA from July 2004 to the following May. He even broke teammate Greg Maddux's string of consecutive Gold Gloves in 2003.
But Hampton also injured his knee in 2003. He was off to an awesome start last year when he blew out his elbow. He came back this spring, only to pull his oblique muscle taking batting practice. And now comes the torn tendon in his pitching arm.
In 2003, it looked like a great trade for the Braves. They sent an obscure relief pitcher (Tim Spooneybarger) and a pitcher from the minors to Tampa. On the flip side, they agreed to take on the largest chunk of his massive contract.
In his five seasons with the Braves, Hampton has made $57.8 million. In that time, he's won 32 games.
While Hampton is a fighter and a class act, that's a frustrating ratio for all involved.
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