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Thursday, February 28, 2008

N.Y. Post: SHAWN GREEN ENJOYING GREEN-ER PASTURES (RR)

I can think, I can wait, I can fast, I can retire.

Shawn Green anticipated that it would happen. Now it’s a done deal.

The right fielder, who played with the New York Mets for the last year and a half and spent parts of 15 seasons in the majors, told The Post yesterday that he has retired.

“I had planned on retiring at the end of this contract,” the 35-year-old Green said yesterday in a phone conversation. “If something where I could live at home popped up, then I would have had to take that under consideration. But I still don’t know what I would have done.”

..."There was some real solid interest from maybe six or seven teams,” he said. “A lot of teams were pretty far across the country.”

Green, who is building his dream house in Irvine with his family (wife Lindsay and daughters Presley and Chandler), added, “I wanted to stay here with my family. Not travel around the country anymore. I enjoyed playing a lot. I enjoyed New York. But for me, it was time to be home.”

Repoz Posted: February 28, 2008 at 07:53 AM | 23 comment(s)
Related News: General, History, LA Dodgers, NY Mets, Toronto

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1. The Essex Snead Posted: February 28, 2008 at 09:57 AM (#2701923)

Chandler Green?

Oh no.

2. Toolsy McClutch Posted: February 28, 2008 at 12:15 PM (#2702024)

I think that when I think of Shawn Green, I'll think of the poor managing of him by the Jays and the supposed power play his agent pulled to get him moved to the West Coast.

3. Greg K Posted: February 28, 2008 at 12:24 PM (#2702040)

It's too bad they couldn't have brought Green in for some Spring Training and then cut him.

My dad's down in Florida right now and I think he'd get a kick out of seeing Green and Stewart re-united

4. Cowboy Popup Posted: February 28, 2008 at 12:29 PM (#2702050)

I had kinda hoped Green would resign with the Mets just to see how he and Ryan "Jews go to hell while I go to" Church would get along, but I'm glad he's happy with his decision and he's going out on his own terms.

5. RB in NYC (Now with Christmas Spirit!) Posted: February 28, 2008 at 12:37 PM (#2702060)

I went to BBRef to check out Shawn Green's final stats (better than I would've thought, incidentally) and discovered his page is paid for by the HanuKat.

Which is exactly what it sounds like.

6. Lassus Posted: February 28, 2008 at 12:57 PM (#2702094)

I wonder if Mike Piazza's going to be joining him in retirement.

7. Van Lingle Mungo Jerry Posted: February 28, 2008 at 01:06 PM (#2702107)

Green finishes his career as the second most prolific Jewish player in HRs (328 to Greenberg's 331), RBIs (1070 to Greenberg's 1276) and hits (2003 to Buddy Myer's 2131).

8. PreservedFish Posted: February 28, 2008 at 03:00 PM (#2702269)

Weird, the lack of Piazza news. A no-doubt Hall of Famer should be getting more press than he is. A google news search brings up a few articles about the house he bought in Miami Beach and nary a rumor.

9. too fat and ugly to play third Posted: February 28, 2008 at 05:42 PM (#2702476)

I can't imagine anyone wanting to spend more time in Irvine.

10. DCW3 * Posted: February 28, 2008 at 05:44 PM (#2702479)

I like how they put the hyphen in "GREEN-ER" just to make absolutely sure that everybody realizes it's a pun.

11. HowardMegdal Posted: February 28, 2008 at 05:59 PM (#2702510)

Green finishes his career as the second most prolific Jewish player in HRs (328 to Greenberg's 331), RBIs (1070 to Greenberg's 1276) and hits (2003 to Buddy Myer's 2131).

I'm disappointed for him- that was a record I know he really wanted. It was kind of awkward, he'd ask me how many more he needed a few times, but after he had the two month home run drought, neither of us brought it up.

12. abc006 Posted: February 29, 2008 at 10:54 PM (#2703612)

I'll defenitely miss Shawn Green. One of my favorite players.

Perhaps the one to pass Greenberg will be Ryan Braun?

13. rLr Did Your Mother 'Cause She's Hot As A Baker Posted: February 29, 2008 at 11:40 PM (#2703628)

Perhaps the one to pass Greenberg will be Ryan Braun?

Maybe Jason Marquis will break the record, only on the "allowed" side.

14. Dan Posted: February 29, 2008 at 11:55 PM (#2703632)

Maybe Jason Marquis will break the record, only on the "allowed" side.

This comment inspired me to look at the career HR Allowed list on BB-Ref, and I was shocked at how high Javy Vazquez is on the list. If he pitches until he's 40, he's got a good shot at the record.

15. Charter Member of the Jesus Melendez Fanclub Posted: March 01, 2008 at 01:08 AM (#2703645)

I like how they put the hyphen in "GREEN-ER" just to make absolutely sure that everybody realizes it's a pun.

Nothing upsets me more than belatedly learning I missed a pun, so I appreciate touches like this.

16. 1k5v3L Posted: March 01, 2008 at 01:15 AM (#2703648)

This comment inspired me to look at the career HR Allowed list on BB-Ref, and I was shocked at how high Javy Vazquez is on the list.

Shocked? Obviously you haven't had/watched Javy Vazquez on your favorite team.

17. AlouGoodbye Posted: March 01, 2008 at 01:27 AM (#2703654)

18. Russlan is an overhyped Met BTFer Posted: March 01, 2008 at 01:38 AM (#2703658)

If Eric Milton can pitch until his late 30s, the record is his. He's given up over a home run per start the past several years. Milton's lost 2 full years to injury - if not for that he'd already be in the top 40.

Milton isn't a good enough pitcher to last enough to break the record.

Shocked? Obviously you haven't had/watched Javy Vazquez on your favorite team.

Javy Vazquez is very durable, has lively stuff, and is always around the strike zone. That's going to lead to a lot of great k/bb ratios and a high home run rate. Vazquez is 17th all-time in k/bb.

In reality, Vazquez is like Schilling, who also has gave up more than his fair share of homers. Schilling was lucky enough to pitch in a more friendly environment for a significant portion of his career whereas Vazquez has mostly pitched in homer-happy environments.

It'd be interesting to see what Vazquez could do in a park that supresses home runs. Yankee Stadium was a relatively neutral stadium and he had a bad year there but that was only one year and I think he had mechanical/health issues that year.

19. 1k5v3L Posted: March 01, 2008 at 01:42 AM (#2703660)

I'm agreeing with everything you're saying, Russlan. I still think that Javy was one of the most frustrating Dbacks pitchers I ever saw: great stuff, crappy pitch selection at the worst possible time.

20. Russlan is an overhyped Met BTFer Posted: March 01, 2008 at 01:58 AM (#2703662)

I'm agreeing with everything you're saying, Russlan. I still think that Javy was one of the most frustrating Dbacks pitchers I ever saw: great stuff, crappy pitch selection at the worst possible time.

You watched him for a full season so you'd know better than I but it didn't help that the D-backs had a relatively poor outfield defense in 2005. It could also have been bad luck as he posted a solid 3.96 FIP for the Zona, which is quite good considering the context. Normally, I'd be quite confident saying it was just bad luck but he underperformed his peripherals in 2006 as well.

It's true that Vazquez has been a disappointment though. After 2003, I thought he was going to emerge as a perennial Cy Young candidate. I still think he could win one some year, although pitching in that bandbox isn't going to help.

I wish the Minaya could have found some way to acquire him when he wanted out of Arizona.

21. Dan Posted: March 01, 2008 at 02:04 AM (#2703663)

In reality, Vazquez is like Schilling, who also has gave up more than his fair share of homers. Schilling was lucky enough to pitch in a more friendly environment for a significant portion of his career whereas Vazquez has mostly pitched in homer-happy environments.

See, why it shocked me was because I expected his rate to be something like Schilling's, but his rate is really considerably higher. He's 10 years younger than Schilling, and has only allowed 72 fewer HR. He's likely to pass Schilling in 3 or 4 more years of pitching, if he continues his rates at anything near his past rate.

22. Russlan is an overhyped Met BTFer Posted: March 01, 2008 at 02:20 AM (#2703667)

He's likely to pass Schilling in 3 or 4 more years of pitching, if he continues his rates at anything near his past rate.

Well, Vazquez isn't as good a pitcher as Schilling was earlier in his career for one thing. Another thing is that Schilling's home run numbers are helped out by the time he spent with the Phillies where he pitched in the Vet and in a lower scoring context. As a Diamondback, Schilling gave up 1.12 hr/9 which is closer to Vazquez's career numbers.

Also, even though Vazquez is much younger than Schilling, he isn't that much behind him in innings. If he passes him in 3 or 4 years, he might only be behind him by 500 or so innings.

23. Dan Posted: March 01, 2008 at 02:25 AM (#2703668)

I guess it is true that Javy has been a lot healthier than Schilling was early in his career, and thus has logged more innings. I still think from the list that Vazquez is the only active pitcher with a decent shot at making a run for the HRA record. I don't think Milton will be good enough long enough to get enough innings, but Vazquez seems to have a shot. He's still pretty young, he's been durable, and he's been good, so he should continue to get ~30 starts a year for quite a while longer unless he falls off a cliff or gets a serious injury.

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