. . . Richard Griffin on turning to a new generation in baseball
On the same day that 42-year-old Ichiro Suzuki ripped a triple for his 3,000th hit — on this side of the Pacific Ocean — the Yankees held a news conference for their 42-yearold fallen star, the only other member of the 3,000 hit club still active.
Alex Rodriguez was being released at the end of this week, with $27 million (U.S.) still owing on his latest 10-year deal.
That’s not all when it comes to what amounts to a passing of the torch to the next generation of MLB superstars.
Consider that Boston’s 40-year-old David Ortiz is in the final two months of his farewell tour and Mark Teixeira (36) quietly announced he is retiring at the end of the year. Clearly, there is a thinning of the ranks of star players who made their debuts during, or at the end of, the Steroid Era. That is not a bad thing for baseball. In the wings is a whole new generation of mustsee hitters, 27 years of age or younger, many of whom played in the all-star game in San Diego.
That list of MLB younger guns is led by Mike Trout, Bryce Harper, Manny Machado, Mookie Betts, Giancarlo Stanton, Kris Bryant, Jose Altuve, Carlos Correa, Xander Bogaerts, Nolan Arenado, Freddie Freeman, George Springer and many others. These kids are getting bigger, faster and (hopefully) naturally stronger. It’s the natural evolution of athletes.
“Look at the Olympics, we’ve got world records all the time that are being broken,” Blue Jays’ 39-yearold reliever Jason Grilli said gesturing to the nearby clubhouse televisions with pictures from Rio.
“Why is that? The next generation, they try to emulate people who are the best. The level of expectation, the training, the talent pool. It will continue to get better.
“The toughest part is people are always into making comparisons. Oh, was he better than the other guy? The numbers speak for themselves, especially in our game. That’s what the benchmark is, but as far as talent goes, you look over the last 30-40 years, just at what we have access to, from the training staff, to the nutrition, to the off-season programs. It’s evolving to make good athletes better.”
There seemed to be a period of confusion coming out of the ’90s in terms of MLB clubs participating in the shaping of their own ballplayers. Clubs turned a blind eye to players showing up carrying 20 extra pounds of muscle. And it’s only the past 12 years that teams have taken the lead on nutrition and off-season training programs.
There is a gap. There are no players under 30 who are between 2,000 to 3,000 on the career hit list and just seven players under 30 who have over 1,000 hits. But look out for the next wave making huge first impressions around the game.
“It’s always going to be like that,” said Jays shortstop Troy Tulowitzki, once a young gun himself. “Everybody gets older and the young guys come up and I’d say younger guys nowadays are definitely ready to play at an earlier age than when I was first coming up (in 2006). It seems like they’re rushing guys to the big league level and they’re having success, so they keep on doing it. There’s a lot of good young players in this game now.”
When Tulowitzki landed in the majors with the Rockies, he was 21 and an exception to the rule at that time. Now all the young players know what’s required at the majorleague level and arrive with swagger and talent that needs to be refined. But now it’s at the MLB level. “Look at MLB (TV) network and all the behind-the-scenes stuff that these kids get to see,” Tulowitzki said. “There’s a lot more access to big leaguers to see what they’re doing and really to learn some things from them. I think the kids have taken advantage of that and they’re ready at an earlier age. Fans like to see young, exciting players and you still have those guys that are around that are superstars and have been for a long time. But, as far as a fan of baseball and people that are watching the game, this gives them a chance to watch these guys grow and play for a long time.”
Meanwhile the veteran MLB pitchers, as they advance in age, are forced to find a way to get these exciting young stars out, or be swarmed and retire. For his part, Grilli, who has found an eight-inning role with the Jays, believes he is in better shape than he was at age 29 and knows he is smarter when it comes to pitching.
“As an athlete you evolve,” Grilli said. “At 29 to say I would still be playing at 39, I know what work I put in so that’s probably why I’m still here. I’ve died a baseball death a million times and each time I’ve had to ask myself do I really want to go through this hell again and push myself. As an athlete you’re always asking, if I did that doing this, now what if I do a little bit more. That’s always the carrot that we dangle in front of our noses as athletes.”
That’s the circle of MLB life as younger players break in and become stars, and older players are able to hang on via intelligence, nutrition and training techniques that keep bodies fit.