Image Courtesy of the APGonzalez decided to “give him a breather” on Tuesday for the second time in seven games, using Uggla only as a pinch-runner for Chipper Jones late in the game.
The manager joked Wednesday that Uggla was too much of a “pain in the [rear]” pacing and fidgeting in the dugout to not play him in consecutive games.
“He’s your every-day second baseman,” Gonzalez said, on a serious note. “He can’t break out of that stuff sitting on the bench. There comes a point where you just give him a little mental rest and then run him back in there, let him play. He’s earned that.”
The Braves traded Omar Infante and left-handed reliever Mike Dunn to the Marlins for Uggla in November, then signed him to a five-year, $62 million contract extension before spring training, giving him the highest average annual salary ($12.4 million) for any second baseman.
Uggla averaged nearly 31 home runs and 93 RBIs in five seasons with the Marlins, including career-highs of 33 homers and 105 RBIs in 2010, when he also had personal bests in average (.287), on-base percentage (.369) and on-base-plus-slugging percentage (.877).
Before Wednesday, his .178 average this season was the second-lowest among National League qualifiers, and his .568 OPS was third-lowest. With runners in scoring position, his .118 average (6-for-51) was the third-lowest in the league.
The Braves got him to be the right-handed power hitter their lineup had lacked in recent years, but Uggla’s .115 average and .154 slugging percentage against lefties were the third-worst marks in the NL before Wednesday.
He had seven homers and 16 RBIs before Wednesday, including two homers and seven RBIs in May while batting .160 (16-for-100).
Image courtesy of the Associated Press
Image Courtesy of the Associated Press“One more, and he’ll be finished,” Spurrier said Wednesday.
For the record, Garcia has been suspended five times, including for all or parts of three spring practices.
His most recent suspension came after he became disruptive and was asked to leave an SEC-mandated life skills/leadership seminar in April. Garcia admitted to Spurrier that he’d been drinking prior to the event while celebrating a teammate’s birthday.
At the time, there were several associated with the program who felt Spurrier might send Garcia packing for good, especially considering how much Spurrier has publicly lamented Garcia’s lack of commitment and flimsy work ethic the past two years.
But Spurrier was singing a different tune Wednesday now that Garcia has been reinstated on a probationary basis for summer workouts.
“He’s made a life-change commitment,” Spurrier said. “He’s changed a lot about his life. He’s a changed person right now. Hopefully, he’ll stay that way.”
And this is the player Spurrier has staked his reputation on? It’s so unbelievably out of character for a coach who — until this five-year joyride from Garcia — has never shied from disciplining star players for the smallest of mistakes.Then again, it was strangely out of character for Jim Tressel to not forward a simple e-mail that would’ve saved his job and reputation.
Now, like it or not, Spurrier has hitched his legacy to a player who has been suspended more than any player in the history of college sports. I’m not exactly sure if that statement is 100 percent accurate, but has anyone in any sport been suspended five times?
Let me explain some Parenting 101 for the good folks in Columbia: If a child doesn’t fear consequences, he doesn’t fear doing the wrong thing. If you suspend a player five times, by the third time, the word “suspension” may as well mean “vacation.”
There’s no way around the reality of five suspensions. I don’t care the degree of the offenses or the manner in the way each was addressed.
This is the quarterback of the team, the extension of the coach; the one player who simply can’t do what he wants when he wants. The team follows his lead.