The Atlanta Braves had arrived at Wrigley Field on Friday for a weekend series against the Cubs and the talk in the Atlanta dugout was about which is the most treacherous pitching assignment: the ninth-inning closer who, over the season, could appear in as many as 60 or 70 games or the rotation starter who works every fifth or sixth day?
“Mentally it’s probably harder to close,” conceded Greg Maddox, the four-time Cy Young Award winner who without question has been the most effective starting pitcher of this generation.
Maddux was quick to emphasize he wasn’t saying the closer had the most difficult role.
“Look at it this way,” he said, “The starter (if he goes eight innings, a rarity these days) has to get 24 outs. The ninth-inning pitcher only needs three outs.”
Maddux’s mathematics are close enough: 24-vs.-3.
Then he proceeded to come up with the crucial observation:
“When a closer has a bad day, the team loses,” he said. “The starter can have a bad day, but the team can still win.”
This, too, is generally but not always true. For example Elroy Face, when he was 18-1 with the 1959 Pittsburgh Pirates, was credited with 10 victories after blowing a tie or a lead. The reason for Face’s uncommon success was that his teammates picked him up with last-inning rallies that lifted the Pirates to victory.
All this brings us to Rod Beck, the Cubs’ he-man closer who has been running on empty. He has blown 4 of his 11 save opportunities, a terrible percentage. Three of his failures resulted in team losses. The Cubs got Beck off the hook in the other one with a winning 10th-inning rally.
Last season when the Cubs qualified for the playoffs, Beck was a big hero. He notched a near-record 51 saves in 58 chances.
But this season has been difficult for him to handle. Usually among the most talkative and pleasant of baseball stars, Beck has been dummying up, which is understandable. How often can he say the obvious? He throws the ball and the batter hits it. That’s the essence of it.
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Cubs manager Jim Riggleman doesn’t have the luxury of such silence. Before each game Riggleman has a news conference. Beck’s ineffectiveness was the subject Friday and it seemed from the questioning, Riggleman had two options: Shoot him like an old horse or continue pitching him with the hope he will come around.
“He saved 51 games for us last year,” Riggleman said. “I’ll never forget that. For many years he has been among the best.”
Many if not most fans have a tendency to forget. Last year’s heroics already have been lost in the fog of time
But Riggleman hasn’t forgotten.
Beck “has the ability to get the third out (in the ninth) better than anybody on our club,” he said. “I don’t care who gets the save. I want the Cubs to get the save.”
This sounds terrific and indicates a one-for-all and all-for-one spirit, which sometimes is essential for success over the long season. But Riggleman and his fellow managers are aware it doesn’t work that way. The designated ninth-inning pitcher, unless temporarily overworked, is the beneficiary of about 90 percent of all save opportunities.
In the past, managers played pot luck. Because the bullpens then were filled with ineffective starters, they would merely pluck one out of the herd and stay with him the rest of the way. On an average no more than four pitchers, two from each side, saw action. Today it’s closer to 10.
In the last 40 years, since saves have been counted, the relievers with the most are considered the most valuable and make the most money. To keep the peace with these closers, the managers created the ninth-inning pitcher.
Atlanta manager Bobby Cox said, “I don’t know if it’s good or bad, but it’s our fault.”
And the worst part of it is that the fans now expect the ninth-inning pitcher to be perfect. He is not allowed any margin for error.
According to Cox the Braves have reached the ultimate in bullpen specialization. The Braves have a seventh-inning pitcher (Kevin McGlinchey), an eighth-inning specialist (Rudy Seanez) and a ninth-inning closer (John Rocker). The starter is expected to take care of the first six innings.