Glavine seems a bit wider than I remember.
Here’s a little news Yahoo! Sports picked up from The Associated Press:
PEARL, Miss. (AP)—Atlanta Braves left-hander Tom Glavine ended his minor league start with Double-A Mississippi early on Sunday after experiencing shoulder discomfort.
The 43-year-old Glavine had expected to throw 50 to 60 pitches, but left after only 36 in two innings. He gave up three hits, including a solo home run, with one walk and no strikeouts against Carolina.
Glavine earned a spot in the Braves’ rotation in spring training but began the season on the disabled list until the Braves need a fifth starter.
He’s returning from offseason surgery to repair a torn tendon in his left elbow. He also had what was regarded as a less serious surgery to clean out his left shoulder.
The Braves said Glavine’s condition would be evaluated following his return to Atlanta.
While this would appear to be a pretty mundane story, I think it again opens up the long-running debate over whether players should retire at the height of their career, wait until a downward trend is obvious, or continue playing until the last of their dignity has been eaten away by injuries and poor performances.
Here we’ve got Tom Glavine, a guy I grew up watching pitch for the Braves, back when I was eight. Don’t get me wrong, I loved him growing up, but watching (or at least reading, since they don’t televise Mississippi minor leagues in Los Angeles) him now feels like going to a Van Halen concert. Who the heck is that guy up front? Something’s wrong.
Now let’s be honest, who am I to tell someone to stop playing the sport they love? Would I be any different in the same situation? Probably not. If a team is willing to start the guy, let him start. But we should also consider his legacy. Glavine’s not going to do anything now that he’s going to be remembered for later. He’s already going to be a hall-of-famer after he retires and plenty of people like me will remember him fondly.
Baseball has lots of stories of players throwing themselves at whatever team will have them, just so they can stay in the game. Ricky Henderson is a recent example of that. It’s sad to see these men playing past their prime for fractions of their previous salaries, but perhaps my knee-jerk reaction to hearing this story is misplaced.
If they still have enough skill to contribute positively to the sport, there’s no reason we shouldn’t let them. Perhaps instead of viewing people like Brett Favre as foolish codgers stealing jobs from newer, younger stars, we should see men fighting against the passage of time. Athletes not looking necessarily for one last shot at glory, but simply one more year before they have to give up the ghost and unlace their cleats for the last time. Joy and regret mixed in equal parts.
