MacDougal
Posted: May 4th, 2009 | Filed under: Baseball | 25 Comments »
The Washington Nationals signed reliever Mike MacDougal, and in response, the Washington Post’s Nationals Journal linked to a column I wrote in The Kansas City Star about MacDougal after Opening Day 2003. I had forgotten all about the column, but not about the feeling of excitement there was watching MacDougal back then. Going into the All-Star Game that year, MacDougal was 3-3, with a 2.72 ERA and 24 saves. He had allowed one home run. He was reasonably good in 2005 and 2006 too. And 2007 … not so much.
Anyway, here’s that column. It’s not all that good, but it does give a sense of the excitement a young pitcher can offer … and how promise sometimes leads to getting released and picked up by the Washington Nationals.
The MacEra began with a MacSlider. And it was some kind of slider. Mike MacDougal had already thrown a 99-mph fastball on the outside corner. He had just thrown a 98-mph fastball on the inside corner, and Chicago’s Frank Thomas barely fouled it off, and you could tell it hurt. It was one of those foul balls you could feel quivering throughout your whole body.
Forty-thousand Royals fans stood at Kauffman Stadium.
And they pounded those ThunderStix together. They gave out ThunderStix for opening day, and it seemed to take the fans eight innings to figure out how to use them (what is the sound of one ThunderStix clapping?). But in the ninth inning, the Royals led by three, everybody stood, ThunderStix boomed, and Mike MacDougal threw that slider. It started at Frank Thomas’ hip. It made a sudden left turn over the plate.
Frank Thomas stood frozen as Ted Williams.
And the MacEra began.
“Nasty,” Royals special assistant Frank White said.
“Filthy,” Royals first baseman Mike Sweeney said.
“Unfair,” Royals manager Tony Pena said.
“I covered my face,” Royals outfielder Dee Brown said. “I didn’t want anybody to see me laughing.”
How long has it been since someone this electric showed up on the scene in Kansas City? Monday was perfect. Utterly perfect. Sun was out. Parking lot smelled like barbecue. That awesome American Eagle named Challenger flew around the stadium. Rookie Ken Harvey introduced his corkscrew swing with two doubles. Another rookie, Angel Berroa, made two dazzling plays. Mike Sweeney, playing for the first time with the captain’s “C” on his jersey, hit a double of his own, then took third on a passed ball and scored on a wild pitch.
The Royals threw their first opening-day shutout since, well, ever.
And MacDougal pitched the ninth. He’s a tall kid, 6 feet 4, and he probably doesn’t weigh the listed 195 pounds. All arms and legs. He throws harder than perhaps any Royals pitcher ever. And he has that slider. That ridiculous slider. It’s not right. At some point during spring training this year, Dee Brown went over to MacDougal, and this is what he said:
“MacDougal, if I ever have to face you, and you blow me away with your 99-mph fastball, that’s fine. But if you throw that slider and make me look stupid, embarrass me, I swear I will charge the mound right then and kick your (behind) from here to Florida.”
And here’s what MacDougal said: “Uh huh.”
That’s because Mike MacDougal is not exactly the great orator. After the game Monday — MacDougal threw a perfect ninth inning for his first major-league save — he found himself surrounded by a couple dozen reporters who wanted some words of wisdom from the phenom.
“It was awesome,” MacDougal said.
When asked to elaborate, he did.
“It was really awesome,” MacDougal said.
Well, nobody said a closer had to be Winston Churchill. Monday, he spoke with his fastball, which hit 99 twice but never quite pushed into triple digits, and with that slider that made Frank Thomas look as if he had been kicked in the teeth.
“I can’t ever remember anybody making Frank Thomas look bad,” Sweeney said. “And MacDougal did that.”
MacDougal figures to take this team on some wild rides. There might not be a single pitcher in baseball who has his combination of stuff and movement. “I tell you, I’ve never seen anyone like him,” Pena said.
But. There’s always a but. Last season, MacDougal pitched 90 innings, and he walked 96 guys, and that’s not too good. He would sometimes throw the ball 2 feet behind hitters. His control improved tremendously this off-season. Still, in the bullpen on Monday, he unleashed a couple of pitches that went flying frighteningly off course.
“I usually do that,” he said with a smile.
But when he’s right, he’s very right.
“He throws 99 mph and has a great slider, and his hat flies off his head when he pitches,” catcher Brent Mayne said. “I mean, what’s not to like?”
There is a certain feeling about this team. Sure, it’s just one game. One little game. But it was one great game. The Royals are 1-0 and young and in first place. Music played in the clubhouse. Runelvys Hernandez, who was spectacular for six shutout innings, talked while his sweet little baby slept on Grandpa’s shoulder. Mike Sweeney looked into the cameras and said: “We believe. It doesn’t matter to us what other people say.”
And people kept asking Mike MacDougal how he felt.
“Awesome,” he said. “Awesome.”
Meanwhile, across the hall, in the White Sox clubhouse, Frank Thomas was asked about that slider. He shook his head and offered the most respectful words a baseball player can offer:
“Tip your cap,” he said. “Sometimes, all you can do is tip your cap.”
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Speaking of tipping caps, kudos to Brendan Harris of the Twins, who literally tipped his cap toward Coco Crisp after Crisp robbed him of a double with a spectacular catch against the Hefty bag yesterday. Well done to all involved.
Lotta bad memories in there. Dee Brown, Ken Harvey, Mac the Ninth. A magically disastrous season.
I agree Bart…..lots of bad memories…..and to think that those guys gave me such hope in 2003. It seems like a very long time ago…..
For a brief moment I was filled with false hope for 2009, but these guys are different (aren’t they????). It’s tough being a long suffering fan….very tough. Even when you feel great (Greinke’s pitching tonight, not to mention yesterday’s comeback win), one walk down memory lane is nearly enough to take away my optimism for a great season.
Ah, memories. I wasn’t able to see the strikeout of Thomas, but I do remember similar strike threes that year that made both Barry Bonds and Albert Pujols look foolish. I’ve never seen anyone throw a slider that hard with that much break, before or since.
I know the aftermath was horrible, but what a ride that 2003 season was! Hopefully this year can reproduce those late season packed houses. I choose to remember the magic of 2003, and not the faceplant that was 2004.
uh… bart? “magically disastrous season”?
Yeah, it was a lot of smoke and mirrors, but we started 9-0 that year, had first place into July, and competed all the way until September, finishing above .500.
What are your standards for disastrous?
Mac the Ninth, Affeldt, Dee Brown, Angel Berroa — you know, for all that they flamed out later, those guys had reasonable minor league success. The Royals were just a terrible environment for developing talent in those years. Guys were pulled up from the minors too early and put into roles where their weaknesses were exposed.
It bears thinking about when you look at guys like Willie Bloomquist. A big part of his job is being reliably mediocre.
[...] The Skinny… added an interesting post on MacDougalHere’s a small excerptThere might not be a single pitcher in baseball who has his combination of stuff and movement. “I tell you, I’ve never seen anyone like him… [...]
Lucky Charms are magically disastrous … no, that’s magically delicious.
The Royals had a pair of all-stars that year, MacDougal and Mike Sweeney. Neither one appeared the game though. I think Sweeney might have been injured.
Runelvys Hernandez, there’s another one … Wikipedia says he’s pitching in Korea.
it’s hard to know what Joe liked more, MacDougal or Challenger.
what about that season wasn’t magically disastrous? Tony Pena as manager was magical before it became a disaster with his handling of the team as things unraveled, only to be topped by the next season with him running in the shower with his clothes on and quitting over night. Up 7.5 games at the all-star break, being the cinderella team, and blowing those 7.5 games in the biggest 2nd half meltdown ever. Magically Disastrous. Except DDJ, every single one of those promising young players turned into a pumpkin soon thereafter with only Grienke recovering to stardom later and veterans Beltran/Ibanez soon leaving. It was a debacle of a season. After starting 13-3, they were 7 games under .500 the rest of the season. Just check out this roster:
http://www.baseball-almanac.com/teamstats/roster.php?y=2003&t=KCA
*Make that 16-3.
I also choose to remember the good about that year. I was a junior in high school when the season started and that was the year I brought my baseball love back across the state where it belonged. I had fallen for the McGwire moonshots and remembered there’s a lot to like in the goofy little team that could. The next 3-4 years, well that’s what makes this season so sweet.
I know all of you are waxing poetic on a season that seemed so bright (at least for a while) in a long stretch of dreary seasons (and as a Twins fan, I know what long stretches of dreary seasons look like…) but what caught my eye was Dan (#4): “I’ve never seen anyone throw a slider that hard with that much break, before or since.” Again, I’m a Twins fan and may be waxing poetic myself, but I think the 2006 version of Francisco Liriano would beg to differ with you.
As a side note, ‘Mac the Ninth’ is the best baseball nickname of the last decade. Original, yet with a hint of nostalgia.
Clubhouse reporter: So how does it feel to get your first professional win?
Ebby Calvin “Nuke” LaLoosh: It feels out there. I mean, it’s a major rush. I mean, it feels radical in kind of a tubular sort of way, but most of all, it feels out there.
Tubular, indeed.
Wasn’t Mike MacDougal in the Doobie Brothers?
Nope.
Mike and the Mechanics.
Sometimes I wonder if being a Royals fan has given me a pessimistic view or a realistic view on baseball prospects…so many players have come to this team and had such promise…and so few have turned out. Ah well, we’re doing alright for ourselves right now, and I guess that’s what matters.
masshlx –
That was after the Doobie Brothers.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Doobie_Brothers#Michael_McDonald_years
Brad Lidge would beg to differ with all of those slider comments.
Bit off topic, but no love for 2 of the greatest DBs ever to play the game?
Going back to your double play posts a while ago, I thought you’d appreciate this. The source is Jayson Stark on espn.com:
The Royals did the impossible last month. They hit into six double plays on April 21 against Cleveland. Then they turned six double plays Thursday against Toronto. According to Elias, they’re the first team since double plays became an official stat to be on both ends of a six-double-play game in the same season, let alone the same month. In fact, the whole sport has had only two other seasons in which there were two six-double-play games in the same year (1984 and 2003).
Guys, Rod Woodson owns Wade Boggs.
“his hat flies off his head when he pitches”…this is kinda off subject, but I remember the Mets had a pitcher in the 70’s or 80’s, when they were really bad seemingly forever, who lost his hat with just about every pitch. Can’t recall who it was. Maybe Charlie Puelo.
Nate
[...] Remembering new Nat Mike MacDougal’s better times. [Joe Posanski] [...]
Wow – this article has an awful lot of names that I have tried hard to forget. I am so glad to have the 2009 Royals rather than the 2003 Royals.