A reader of my blog left a comment asking why I wasn’t more enthusiastic about acquiring Johan Santana.
I am enthusiastic. Very enthusiastic. It is just difficult to know what to say.
Johan Santana is a very consistent pitcher who can legitimately claim the title of “best pitcher in baseball.” He gets a lot of strikeouts and gives up very few hits per innings pitched. It was necessary for the Mets to sign him because they had to do something major to get people to stop thinking so much about the Great Collapse at the end of last season. With Santana, the Mets get a young ace and they certainly have the best pitching staff in their division and arguably the best pitching staff in the league. They should make it to the playoffs and they certainly have the talent necessary to make it to the World Series and perhaps even win it. You had to come to my blog to find this out?
All the articles about the Santana acquisition said the same things. And now all the articles about the introduction of Santana to the press at Shea are saying the same things. Everybody is impressed by how stable, solid, and centered Santana seems. He is articulate and he seems to be calm, dedicated, and very intelligent. He helps out the little town high in the Andes where he was born and grew up. He’s likeable and looks as if he can handle the challenge of pitching in New York. He will get along with the guys on the team. He says he wants to win a World Series with the Mets. He says New York is the center of the world.
I would love to know more about this guy. Just because I’m curious. I’m not finding much on the Web. I’m curious about how he got what I’ve always thought of as a German name. I wonder what he thinks of Hugo Chavez, the left-wing president of Venezuela (and sharp critic of the U.S.) whom he’s met and had dinner with several times. I wonder about his tastes and interests, about what distinguishes him as a human being and not merely as a pitcher. I won’t find out about any of these things, of course, because anything that might make him stand out could get in the way of someone appreciating him. Look at how ticked off I got at Ryan Church for his theological opinions.
This is one of the things that’s so weird about following baseball. We see what these players are in their statistics. Then we add a little bit of character to the statistical contour (consistency, toughness, being a nice guy, being an unselfish player). And so we make them up as characters and then we offer our conditional allegiance to the characters we’ve made. Someday we might learn that they were nothing like what we’ve made of them (as happened with players like DiMaggio and Mantle). And someday we might run up too hard against what they actually are as human beings (as with poor Steve Trachsel). And then there’s the fact that we project onto them all of these hopes and dreams and fears.
Right now, this pleasant, exceptionally talented man is accepting his role and responsibilities. He knows that we have a story here and that he will be expected to provide a compelling turn of the plot. Like Gary Carter in 1985 and Mike Piazza in 1998, Johan Santana will assume the mantle of our dreams. Depending on what happens next, his calm, his change-up, his consistency, his skill as a hitter, will all acquire meanings. They will all become part of our collective memory. He will earn his money by becoming part of each of us. Isn’t Carter part of you, isn’t Piazza? Isn’t 1986 and 1999 and 2000? What is this world that is a part of us but that we see from such a distance, filled with people we love and don’t know? I don’t know exactly, but I know I really like it and that it’s coming back next week.
I want to see this pitch Willie described as doing a “moonwalk” on its way to the plate. I remember when we got Pedro, I had heard various things about him over the years (including that he was not a good clubhouse guy which couldnt be further from the truth – I think it was anti-Red Sox/Yankee propaganda). When I went to Spring Training (as I do every year and will in 20 days and 18 hours) I saw him pitch in person for the first time. I was sitting in a seat literally behind home plate in about the 2nd row. Piazza came out to help Pedro warm up and I will never forget the sound of the ball hitting the glove. I swear I saw smoke. I immediately got so excited about the coming year. I’m really looking forward to a feeling like that the first time I see Santana pitch. Hopefully not much more than 21 days or so from now.
That’s the spirit, Dana! The best part about this trade, other than getting Johan himself, is that it basically washes away the collapse and all talk of it. No one is talking about the collapse going into this season. All they’re talking about is Johan Santana and the probability of the Mets going to the World Series. This has been a HUGE shot in the arm for Mets fan, at least it has been for me. I hadn’t really been thinking about baseball at all, and to be honest, I wasn’t as pumped up for the 2008 season as I had been for the 2007 season. The collapse left me jadded. I *almost* felt like the kind of Red Sox fan that you talk about in “Marrying the Red Sox”. Not anymore, baby. Popeye got his spinach!
I think Santana can be a sparkplug for this team and I am excited about it. Subie is lucky to be able to go to spring training, and I hope she will post her reactions and comment about Santana on this blog when she gets back. I know I will be eager to hear about it.