The Major League Elevator

Al Leiter retired the one batter he faced today and then retired from Major League Baseball. In another story, the Red Sox signed Juan Gonzalez to a minor league contract. That's the elevator that is baseball in Spring Training. The elevator goes up and down and sometimes people get out for the last time.

Al Leiter was a pretty good pitcher for a long time. Known just as much for his heart as for his fastball, Leiter won 162 games in his 19 year career against only 132 losses. His lifetime ERA was 3.80, which is very good in the hitting era he pitched in.

Leiter was a late bloomer who wasn't a star until seven years after his career started with the Yankees in 1987. Starting in 1995, Leiter won 133 games in the next ten years with Toronto, Florida and the Mets.

His best year was 1998, his first year with the Mets, when he was 17-6 with a 2.34 ERA. It was no coincidence that his career took off when his strikeout to walk ratio improved dramatically. It is also no coincidence that his career showed signs of being over when his walk count increased while his strikeout count plummeted.

Leiter always rode the edge of the strike zone and his talent and poured his heart into every performance. It was an act of grace that allowed him to end his career today on his own terms with an out. His career was a joy to watch.

On another elevator stop, the Red Sox signed Juan Gonzalez to a minor league contract. If Gonzalez can come anywhere close to the kind of bat he had in his career, this could be an incredible move for the Red Sox.

Despite the enigma that has surrounded his career, Gonzalez has had some of the greatest years in MLB modern history. Gonzalez was Manny Ramirez before there was a Manny Ramirez, and, in fact, replaced Ramirez in Cleveland when Manny signed in Boston.

Juan Gonzalez has had three seasons with 140 RBI or more (144, 157, 140). He had an eleven year run where he hit 392 homers and 1263 RBI. He had a four year run (1996 through 1999) where he hit 173 homers and drove in an incredible 560 runs. He has batted over .300 five times and over .320 twice.

Unfortunately, Juan Gonzalez has had a history of going on the disabled list. But so has Nick Johnson and the Nationals just gave him $25 million for three years. Dare the Fan say this out loud? Perhaps Gonzalez has a bad rap because he is a Hispanic ballplayer? Why else would his injuries be eyed with suspicion when Chuck Finley was a gutty pitcher who kept trying to come back from his injuries?

What is known is that Gonzalez would be threatening some pretty big numbers if he had been able to get 600 at bats a season. In the one season that he did hit that mark, he scored 110 runs, 193 hits, 50 doubles, 45 homers and 157 RBI. Wow! Even with injuries, Gonzalez has 434 career homers and over 1400 RBI. Not too many players have seen that kind of production.

If Gonzalez can come back and give the Red Sox 30 homers and 80 runs batted in, that will be a huge boost for that team. At least one Fan will be rooting for him.