{"id":614,"date":"2008-08-09T17:42:05","date_gmt":"2008-08-10T00:42:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/2008\/08\/09\/johan-santana-a-product-of-his-time\/"},"modified":"2009-03-18T20:28:53","modified_gmt":"2009-03-19T03:28:53","slug":"johan-santana-a-product-of-his-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/2008\/08\/09\/johan-santana-a-product-of-his-time\/","title":{"rendered":"Johan Santana: A Product of His Time"},"content":{"rendered":"

Josh Deitch explores the question, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153What\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the matter with Johan Santana?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/em>\u00c2\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

I have a problem\u00e2\u20ac\u201dan addiction really.\u00c2\u00a0 Everyone says that the first step to recovery is acceptance.\u00c2\u00a0 So, here goes: my name is Josh Deitch and I love sports talk radio.\u00c2\u00a0 (Everybody: Hi Josh.)\u00c2\u00a0 Whether it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Mike and Mike in the Morning, Mike and the Mad Dog, or any show where supposed experts listen to, address, and ultimately deride the many theories of every single listener; I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m always sucked in.\u00c2\u00a0 I love the yelling.\u00c2\u00a0 I love the arguments.\u00c2\u00a0 I even love the vernacular (“first time-long time” stands for first time caller, long time listener).\u00c2\u00a0 Lately though, New York sports talk radio (found mostly on WFAN and ESPN radio) has taken a dramatic turn.\u00c2\u00a0 Besides Brett Favre\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s addition to the Jets, one theme pervades WFAN: the sins of Johan Santana.<\/p>\n

The Mets\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 bullpen has been at best god-awful since Billy Wagner\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s trip to the DL, and instead of piling on the ineffective middle relief, callers and anchors alike harp on Johan Santana\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s inability to pitch complete games.\u00c2\u00a0 In fact, the criticism has reached such a crescendo that I decided to write a musical about the struggles of the New York Mets.\u00c2\u00a0 Much like Damn Yankees<\/u>, I titled my show Rassafrassing Mets<\/u>.\u00c2\u00a0 While I haven\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t developed a lot of the plot or characters, I do have a song titled \u00e2\u20ac\u0153What\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the Matter with Johan.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d\u00c2\u00a0 The song represents the same refrain that has intruded upon my drive time listening.<\/p>\n

What\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the matter with Johan?
\n<\/em>There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not a lot to go on.
\n<\/em>His game\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s incomplete,
\n<\/em>So his faults we will bleat.
\n<\/em>Let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s call the FAN,
\n<\/em>And deride the man,
\n<\/em>Even though the bullpen\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the one that got beat.<\/em>\u00c2\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

I expect a long and successful off-Broadway run.\u00c2\u00a0 On WFAN, every other caller demands that Santana at least lobby for an eighth and ninth inning of work.\u00c2\u00a0 When SNY announcer Gary Cohen appears with Joe Benigno and Evan Roberts, the first query always is, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Did Johan want to stay in?\u00c2\u00a0 Did he want to finish his game?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d\u00c2\u00a0 Enough, please.<\/p>\n

Do I fall exclusively on Santana\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s side?\u00c2\u00a0 No, he will make almost $17 million dollars for the 2008 season.\u00c2\u00a0 He is widely considered the best pitcher in the league and has been for a few years.\u00c2\u00a0 In the forties and fifties, owners consistently negotiated with their pitchers and used the stat of complete games to the advantage of the ownership.\u00c2\u00a0 If a pitcher completed ten games, he was asked, why not fifteen<\/em>?\u00c2\u00a0 If he completed more than fifty percent, the owner would question, how come the number\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not sixty?<\/em>\u00c2\u00a0 Every pitcher up until about 15 years ago saw throwing complete games as a point of pride.\u00c2\u00a0 Moreover, a pitcher\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s livelihood relied upon it.\u00c2\u00a0 If a pitcher didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t finish the job and had to be bailed out, he had failed.\u00c2\u00a0 The fact that the best pitcher of his era remains a seven inning player should be inexcusable.<\/p>\n

However, Santana does not exist in a vacuum.\u00c2\u00a0 He pitches in an era where closers have assumed roles almost as valuable as starting pitchers.\u00c2\u00a0 A good closer, such as Mariano Rivera or Joe Nathan, is worth his weight in gold.\u00c2\u00a0 Baseball remains indelibly entrenched in the era of the specialized bullpen<\/font><\/a>.\u00c2\u00a0 More importantly, Johan Santana has lived out his entire career under the shadow of this specialization.<\/p>\n

In 2002, Santana made fourteen starts for the Twins, won eight games, and finished with a 2.99 ERA.\u00c2\u00a0 As a part time starter the following season, Santana made eighteen starts, won twelve, and had a 3.07 ERA.\u00c2\u00a0 In 2004, Minnesota acquired Joe Nathan.\u00c2\u00a0 That same year, Santana had finished transitioning to the starter role, making 34 starts, winning 20 games, and ending up with a 2.61 ERA.\u00c2\u00a0 At the same time, Nathan recorded 44 saves, blowing only three of those opportunities.\u00c2\u00a0 He struck out 89 batters in 72.1 innings and recorded a 1.62 ERA.\u00c2\u00a0 Since 2004, Nathan has been a top five closer.\u00c2\u00a0 Between 2004 and 2008, Nathan has not blown more than five saves in a single season.\u00c2\u00a0 When he enters a game, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s over.\u00c2\u00a0 In the time that Santana and Nathan were teammates, Santana won 86 games, but only completed a total of six games.<\/p>\n

Johan Santana learned how to be a major league pitcher with Joe Nathan at the back end of the bullpen.\u00c2\u00a0 He rarely completed games because he didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have to.\u00c2\u00a0 He knew if he left with a lead, Nathan would lock down the win.\u00c2\u00a0 There was no need to complete any of his starts.\u00c2\u00a0 His salary didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t depend on it.\u00c2\u00a0 His reputation didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t depend on it.\u00c2\u00a0 His numbers didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t depend on it.<\/p>\n

Look at American history.\u00c2\u00a0 Over the past fifty years, evidence has surfaced that the founding fathers of the U.S. all had their skeletons in their closets.\u00c2\u00a0 Of our first three presidents, two owned slaves.\u00c2\u00a0 Does this mean we should step back and condemn George Washington and Thomas Jefferson as racists and thugs, while we ignore their contributions as philosophers, leaders, and statesmen?\u00c2\u00a0 No, we have to instead understand that these men were products of their time.\u00c2\u00a0 They were in fact bright enough to realize the dangers of bigotry and slave ownership, but could not find a way to overcome their own environment and upbringing.<\/p>\n

The same thing goes for Johan Santana.\u00c2\u00a0 Santana came of age as a major league pitcher in a game that almost exclusively defines the eighth and ninth innings as bullpen territory.\u00c2\u00a0 He did so with consistently one of the best bullpens in the league.\u00c2\u00a0 Just as Jefferson and Washington were products of their time and environments, Johan Santana is a product of the specialized bullpen and the effectiveness of Joe Nathan.<\/p>\n

To end where I began, the other day, I listened to Max Kellerman on ESPN Radio.\u00c2\u00a0 For whatever reason, I tend to take what Kellerman says as gospel.\u00c2\u00a0 He seems so confidant and so sure of his opinion that he convinces all those in his wake to side with him.\u00c2\u00a0 That day, Kellerman asserted that once a pitcher reaches 105 pitches, fatigue sets in and that pitcher\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s mechanics begin to break down.\u00c2\u00a0 Unless the pitcher is an athletic freak like Roger Clemens or Nolan Ryan, each pitch increases the risk of injury.<\/p>\n

This season, Santana has made 24 starts.\u00c2\u00a0 He sports an ERA of 2.85 and has won nine and lost seven.\u00c2\u00a0 Where does the blame for those eight no-decisions fall?\u00c2\u00a0 Does it rest on the paltry run support he has received from his offense, the shaky bullpen, a lack of competitive spirit on his part, or the culture and general knowledge that surrounds today\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s game of baseball?\u00c2\u00a0 Perhaps the answer lies somewhere in a combination of all of those notions, but we certainly cannot point our collective finger exclusively at Johan Santana.\u00c2\u00a0 To Met fans everywhere, I say give the guy a break.\u00c2\u00a0 Back off, look at the solidity Santana has brought to the front of your rotation, and enjoy the fact that you get to watch one of the best modern pitchers perform for your team every five days.\u00c2\u00a0 Opportunities like that don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t come around as often as you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d think.<\/p>\n

And by they way, I love the show.\u00c2\u00a0 I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m a first time caller, long-time listener\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Josh Deitch explores the question, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153What\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the matter with Johan Santana?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":53,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-614","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/614","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/53"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=614"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/614\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=614"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=614"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=614"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}