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Tuesday, March 29, 2005The Big Cat is Done: Is the Big Fish Next?Andres Galarraga retired today. He felt he could not compete at his normal levels and has decided against pursuing home run #400. His career ends with 399 HRs, his last one with the Angels last September. He made no qualms last year and wanted to reach #400 before he was done, but he also wanted to play for a winner and a team he could contribute for. The Big Cat was always one of the game's good guys and he was very successful in Montreal and Colorado before he made an emotional comeback from non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. In his short time with the Angels, he helped the team by imparting his wisdom upon the team and in general making them happier. When you watched them on TV you could notice a difference in the team from August to September, with and without him. He will be missed from the game.
This brings up my favorite player, Tim Salmon. The Big Fish is in a similar situation, where he is near a milestone (10 HRs from 300, which would be the first time an Angel reached that mark), but has had difficulties in playing the last few years, largely because of injuries. In 2002 and 2003 he played well (not great, not up to his standards), largely because he was injury-free and could be Tim Salmon. However, in 2001 and 2004 he was terrible and was injured much of those years. He may not play at all in 2005 and his contract runs out at the end of the year, so he may not be on the field as an Angel again. This could mean retireny at the end of this season or in spring training next year (as the Big Cat did) or it could mean he tries one more year to prove he still has the ability and then retires during the 2006 season (because he is really bad), after the 2006 season (because he is below average but not terrible or because he does decent, but not well enough that he feels he can continue much longer), or a couple of years in the future (if he does really well). I am torn here, because I want to see him get his 300th home run (preferrably in an Angels uniform) but I also want him to be able to leave the game with dignity, and I am not sure he can still do that if he tries to play in 2006. Either way he chooses, though, I will support him and root for him to be successful. RICHARD ADDS: I had a post on Galarraga in the can only to discover that Blogger was down (again). Now Josh has beaten me to the punch. Any-hoo, another former Angel looks prepared to call it quits - Kevin Appier has said that if he doesn't make the Royals major league roster out of spring training, he will retire rather than accept a minor league assignment. Considering that Appier has an 8.71 ERA this spring, it's pretty much a foregone conclusion that he will retire. |
