Post by MizzouTiger on Dec 18, 2007 14:51:18 GMT -5
www.kansascity.com/sports/royals/story/401452.html
COMMENTARY
Brown better with Royals than he got credit for
By JOE POSNANSKI
The Kansas City Star
Nobody in Kansas City is crying this morning in the aftermath of the Royals’ terse 33-word announcement Wednesday that they have nontendered Emil Brown. Quite the opposite, I would imagine. There are probably a few “Emil Brown is gone” parties breaking out across town. Some people are probably re-enacting Emil’s singular “wall dance” that he would often do when a ball skipped around him at the warning track.
Someone should speak up for Emil Brown. Sure, the Royals did what they had to do Wednesday — they cannot afford to pay $4 million to a part-time player, which is all Emil Brown would have been next season. The Royals made a business decision, and it was the right one, the only one after they gave Jose Guillen $36 million for three years.
But Brown was a better player in Kansas City than people ever gave him credit for. For reference, here are two stat lines. These are the combined statistics of two major-league outfielders over the last three seasons:
Player 1: .279 average, .340 on-base percentage, .428 slugging, 85 doubles, eight triples, 38 homers, 28 steals, 131 walks, 229 RBIs, 196 runs scored, 1607 plate appearances.
Player 2: .274 average, .333 on-base percentage, .457 slugging, 75 doubles, five triples, 56 homers, seven steals, 87 walks, 215 RBIs, 193 runs scored, 1537 plate appearances.
OK, you probably already know that Player 1 is Emil Brown. You will notice that, other than the home runs, he is better in every category than Player B. So who is Player B? That’s right. It’s Jose Guillen.
Now, are there mitigating factors? Of course. Guillen was hurt in 2006. He played in tougher-hitting ballparks. He’s younger than Brown. He’s better than Emil Brown. Please don’t miss the point. The Royals just signed Jose Guillen to a $12 million-per-year deal, and they obviously believe and hope that he will be an impact hitter in their lineup. The Royals just released Emil Brown. And Brown’s numbers are awfully similar.
The point is that Emil Brown did some good things while he was in Kansas City. He never got much credit for those because the team was brutally bad, and he had a knack for doing goofy things that would irritate fans for weeks. He would run into ridiculous outs. He would stand at home plate and admire his warning-track fly balls. He would shoot reporters with a pellet gun. He would do something comical in the outfield. In 2005, he made 12 errors — an astonishing number for an outfielder — and it seemed like each one cost the team a game.
In other words, Brown had a gift for not just doing bad things but doing memorably bad things. After a while, whenever he failed — a bad at-bat, a caught-stealing, a bad throw — people would say, “Yep, there’s Emil being Emil again.”
And all this sort of missed something. Emil Brown grew up in a tough world. He did not like talking about his childhood in Chicago much, but it’s fair to say that it wasn’t easy. Baseball was his escape. He played ball at a community college, got drafted in the sixth round — not too many major-league regulars come out of the sixth round of the draft. He would play in the minor leagues, more or less, for the next 11 years.
Kansas City was his eighth organization. He had never been given a real shot, and he was hurt by that, bitter perhaps. Some thought he was thingyy, but it seems to me that when you’re in the minor leagues for 11 years, the only way to survive is to be thingyy, to tell yourself, again and again, how good you are. You have to believe in yourself in a way that, I think, is hard for most of us to understand. He was finally given his chance with the Royals in 2005, and after a slow start, he had a surprising year. He led the Royals in RBIs and runs scored. He stole 10 bases and was caught just once. He hit .286.
But here’s what I appreciated about Emil Brown: He quietly, without notice, got better in small ways. In 2006, he put up almost identical offensive numbers, but his defense improved tremendously. He made only three errors. He threw out 10 runners. He also walked more. He struck out less. He led the team in RBIs and doubles.
Then in 2007, he got off to his usual slow start, and he got on the wrong side of manager Buddy Bell, and he got himself benched. This is where I think he improved most: He didn’t whine about it. He didn’t act like a pain in the neck. He didn’t have a good season, no, but he played pretty good defense when they called upon, he improved his base running, he hit the ball hard in August and September when he got the chance. Brown led the Royals in RBIs again, the third year in a row, and the only other Royals player to pull off that feat was Carlos Beltran. That’s something.
“Here’s what I can tell you about Emil Brown,” Royals general manager Dayton Moore says. “Emil was a very hard worker. Emil improved himself every year. Emil Brown is a professional. I’m proud that I was associated with him. He will not be in the market long, and he will get a good job. You will see. Emil Brown is a good baseball player.”
I think that’s right. Emil Brown was just one of the players who comes along now and then — a player who drove fans crazy and was easier to make fun of than he was to love. I’m sure most will remember him for one of his bonehead plays. Heck, I remember the time he tried to kick the ball into the infield. How can you forget that?
But there’s something else. Brown worked hard to make it to the big leagues. He made it. He was a good player for a lousy team. That seems worth remembering, too.
COMMENTARY
Brown better with Royals than he got credit for
By JOE POSNANSKI
The Kansas City Star
Nobody in Kansas City is crying this morning in the aftermath of the Royals’ terse 33-word announcement Wednesday that they have nontendered Emil Brown. Quite the opposite, I would imagine. There are probably a few “Emil Brown is gone” parties breaking out across town. Some people are probably re-enacting Emil’s singular “wall dance” that he would often do when a ball skipped around him at the warning track.
Someone should speak up for Emil Brown. Sure, the Royals did what they had to do Wednesday — they cannot afford to pay $4 million to a part-time player, which is all Emil Brown would have been next season. The Royals made a business decision, and it was the right one, the only one after they gave Jose Guillen $36 million for three years.
But Brown was a better player in Kansas City than people ever gave him credit for. For reference, here are two stat lines. These are the combined statistics of two major-league outfielders over the last three seasons:
Player 1: .279 average, .340 on-base percentage, .428 slugging, 85 doubles, eight triples, 38 homers, 28 steals, 131 walks, 229 RBIs, 196 runs scored, 1607 plate appearances.
Player 2: .274 average, .333 on-base percentage, .457 slugging, 75 doubles, five triples, 56 homers, seven steals, 87 walks, 215 RBIs, 193 runs scored, 1537 plate appearances.
OK, you probably already know that Player 1 is Emil Brown. You will notice that, other than the home runs, he is better in every category than Player B. So who is Player B? That’s right. It’s Jose Guillen.
Now, are there mitigating factors? Of course. Guillen was hurt in 2006. He played in tougher-hitting ballparks. He’s younger than Brown. He’s better than Emil Brown. Please don’t miss the point. The Royals just signed Jose Guillen to a $12 million-per-year deal, and they obviously believe and hope that he will be an impact hitter in their lineup. The Royals just released Emil Brown. And Brown’s numbers are awfully similar.
The point is that Emil Brown did some good things while he was in Kansas City. He never got much credit for those because the team was brutally bad, and he had a knack for doing goofy things that would irritate fans for weeks. He would run into ridiculous outs. He would stand at home plate and admire his warning-track fly balls. He would shoot reporters with a pellet gun. He would do something comical in the outfield. In 2005, he made 12 errors — an astonishing number for an outfielder — and it seemed like each one cost the team a game.
In other words, Brown had a gift for not just doing bad things but doing memorably bad things. After a while, whenever he failed — a bad at-bat, a caught-stealing, a bad throw — people would say, “Yep, there’s Emil being Emil again.”
And all this sort of missed something. Emil Brown grew up in a tough world. He did not like talking about his childhood in Chicago much, but it’s fair to say that it wasn’t easy. Baseball was his escape. He played ball at a community college, got drafted in the sixth round — not too many major-league regulars come out of the sixth round of the draft. He would play in the minor leagues, more or less, for the next 11 years.
Kansas City was his eighth organization. He had never been given a real shot, and he was hurt by that, bitter perhaps. Some thought he was thingyy, but it seems to me that when you’re in the minor leagues for 11 years, the only way to survive is to be thingyy, to tell yourself, again and again, how good you are. You have to believe in yourself in a way that, I think, is hard for most of us to understand. He was finally given his chance with the Royals in 2005, and after a slow start, he had a surprising year. He led the Royals in RBIs and runs scored. He stole 10 bases and was caught just once. He hit .286.
But here’s what I appreciated about Emil Brown: He quietly, without notice, got better in small ways. In 2006, he put up almost identical offensive numbers, but his defense improved tremendously. He made only three errors. He threw out 10 runners. He also walked more. He struck out less. He led the team in RBIs and doubles.
Then in 2007, he got off to his usual slow start, and he got on the wrong side of manager Buddy Bell, and he got himself benched. This is where I think he improved most: He didn’t whine about it. He didn’t act like a pain in the neck. He didn’t have a good season, no, but he played pretty good defense when they called upon, he improved his base running, he hit the ball hard in August and September when he got the chance. Brown led the Royals in RBIs again, the third year in a row, and the only other Royals player to pull off that feat was Carlos Beltran. That’s something.
“Here’s what I can tell you about Emil Brown,” Royals general manager Dayton Moore says. “Emil was a very hard worker. Emil improved himself every year. Emil Brown is a professional. I’m proud that I was associated with him. He will not be in the market long, and he will get a good job. You will see. Emil Brown is a good baseball player.”
I think that’s right. Emil Brown was just one of the players who comes along now and then — a player who drove fans crazy and was easier to make fun of than he was to love. I’m sure most will remember him for one of his bonehead plays. Heck, I remember the time he tried to kick the ball into the infield. How can you forget that?
But there’s something else. Brown worked hard to make it to the big leagues. He made it. He was a good player for a lousy team. That seems worth remembering, too.