Membership & Roster / 2006 / 2005 / 2004 Comeback Kid / Stats and Profile
Local 26 in Cleveland / Local 28 in Atlanta / Diamondback Wick
A career defined by durability |
As the
Diamondbacks carry on, Bob Wickman and his 267 career saves quietly moved on
Monday, perhaps for good.
Wickman retired the only batter he faced on a comebacker Sunday in Colorado,
stranding a runner at third base, and said later it might be a fitting way to
retire.
“This gives me a chance to walk off on my own terms if I do walk off,” he
said.
“I got the last out that I faced and ended up being pretty successful.
Hopefully, I helped this ball club and took some pressure off some of the guys.
All I wanted was a chance to pitch, and to show to myself that I still could
pitch.”
Wickman admitted to doubts after being waived by Atlanta before signing here
Sept. 8, but he proved a valuable stretch-run addition, giving up one earned run
with a 1.35 ERA in eight appearances.
He is ineligible for the playoff roster because he was not with the D-Backs at
the Aug. 31 deadline.
“I thank Bob Melvin and the whole Diamondbacks organization for giving me an
opportunity,” Wickman said.
Wickman has three children — ages 10, 8 and 4 — and said it might be time to
save a few pitches for them.
“I’m 38. I’ve got a wonderful wife and three wonderful kids that I want to
be able to throw ‘bp’ to,” he said.
The Wickmans have taken their children to spring training every year, and the
family has spent summers in New York, Milwaukee, Cleveland and Atlanta, wherever
he was playing.
“It’s getting to the point right now where maybe it’s about time to get
settled and let them meet some friends that they are going to have every day.
Whatever decision it is going to be, it is going to be a good one,” he said.
“If I don’t play, I’m going to be happier than heck being with my family
every single day. If I do play, I’m going to be happy doing the thing I love
to do.”
A Farewell to Arm
Two days after the August 24th meltdown against Adam Dunn in Cincinnati, Bob Wickman was at home in Wisconsin hangin’ around the pool with the family. They all knew something wasn’t quite right. The Atlanta train wreck just wasn’t the way a 14-year MLB career should end. His reputation was mangled, and he couldn’t even finish the season he struggled so hard with starting in the first place.
The
closer needed closure.
He was unofficially retired, having been unceremoniously dumped by the imploding Braves, with every sports media writer that covered the story dragging his name through the mud.
He was called a selfish, brooding and aloof player that only cared about his own stats. He was said to be a clubhouse cancer that complained every time he was given the ball in a non-save situation. He was said to have openly bad-mouthed his teammates and actually refused to pitch in a 6-2 game against the Mets.
Bob made a few phone calls and reached out to some of the many baseball people he had known throughout his time in the Bigs, letting it be known that he was available to pitch if someone wanted him for the September stretch run. When his old friend and teammate Bob Melvin of the Arizona Diamondbacks said, “Come on down, we’d love to have you,” Bob saw it as a chance to repair his slandered reputation, prove that he could still get guys out and contribute to a playoff contending team. Choosing to join a bullpen that had the #1 closer in all of baseball in Jose Valverede made the accusations against Bobby seem even more ridiculous to me. He had virtually no chance to take the ball for a save opportunity with this team.
So when I heard that Arizona picked Bob up, naturally I went directly to their schedule like any fine upstanding Wickman Warrior would do.
They’re in Pittsburgh the last week of the season! “Thank You, Lord!”
I dashed off a quick note to Bob that the whole gang was coming down, and he responded with tickets for everyone and plans to meet up at their hotel.
It seemed like a perfect night for baseball when we took our fantastic seats right off the first base side of the field. That all changed in a hurry when a freak storm blew in like a tornado in the 3rd inning and drenched the field before the grounds crew could even get the infield tarp unrolled. Luckily, our seats were well protected under the overhang of the upper deck, and we kicked back and laughed as everyone else ran for their lives. They showed a Styx concert recorded in August at PNC on the big screen during the delay as we talked with Pirates fans while they worked on the field.
Everything just seemed right about the trip. I’ve always been big on setting things right before moving on, and was really glad that my friend’s career wasn’t going to end in that pile of dust and ashes in Atlanta.
Bob came into the game in the fifth with a guy on second with the Snakes down 5-1, and promptly plunked his first batter in the side with his first pitch. A ground ball double play and a strikeout quickly followed as Bobby got out of his mini-jam. Just like old times.
We high-tailed it back to the Westin immediately after the game, pulled 3 tables together to set up the retirement party and waited for the Guest of Honor. Bob introduced us as his “Warrior faithful” to his teammates as they got off the bus and entered the lobby, and after a few autographs we all sat down to catch up with our favorite ballplayer. The “Guest of Honor” made sure none of us paid for a drink the rest of the evening.
Like a bunch of kids that just got the keys to the candy store, we took turns peppering the Big Guy with baseball questions. He told us the circumstances that led to his trade from the Tribe, and that he held no animosity toward anyone in Cleveland. He vigorously defended Eric Wedge and said he always felt he was the right man to lead the young Indians team to the Promised Land. He told me again, as he did in this same park a year ago, that he was concerned about Wedge taking all the heat for the Fausto Carmona closer disaster and the demise of the 2006 Indians team. Bob said that would be totally unfair to him, and felt genuinely sorry if he had added to his troubles last year.
He
told us that he had just called Mark Shapiro to congratulate him for winning the
division. They had discussed his possible return to the Tribe after the Braves
released him, but they both agreed that it would more likely disrupt the bullpen
rather than strengthen it. The media and sports blabbers would turn the
situation into a circus the first time closer Joe Borowski struggled, and they
didn’t need that fiasco heading into the playoffs.
He
said the Braves ordeal was largely overblown. He felt that because he only
signed a one-year deal with Atlanta that they were going to use him up until his
back broke or his arm fell off, whichever came first. When I pointed to Cox
using him 5 times in one week back in April and landing him on the DL as the
start of his injury problems, he nodded in agreement. He indicated that unless
you were in a select group of players on the Braves, anyone with any injuries on
that team was deemed a goldbricker that didn’t want to carry his load. We
noted for the record that a squabble that spilled over into the press at
mid-season between two of the “big-boys” over the seriousness of injuries
was quickly hushed up.
He said his daily routine, which he followed religiously since his 2004 comeback from Tommy John surgery, was misinterpreted as him being a selfish and aloof loner. He said he never once refused to take the ball in a non-save situation as was falsely reported by the Atlanta media, and that Andruw Jones seemed to have a personal axe to grind with him. His demeanor was never a problem to them last year when he saved 18 of 19 games after giving up one earned run in the final 2 months of 2006.
As the evening went on, Bob gave us the good, the bad and the ugly as we ran the gamut of major league players that he had known through the years. There was no bitterness or regret as he spoke about his career, and he refused to dwell on the negatives as he smiled and patted little Garrett on the head and greeted Dback players and coaches that came over to see what all the fun was about. We finally closed the place down at about 2 o’clock after they started flashing the lights to get us up and out.
The clubhouse-cancer jerk tag that was hung around his neck when he was railroaded out of Atlanta was nowhere to be found. That guy with the sour attitude never did exist. This was the same Bob Wickman that I’ve known for the past 7 years. My personal guess is that he just didn’t fit in on a clannish team that should have been torn down and rebuilt a couple of years ago, starting with their out of touch manager.
He caught me off guard when he turned to me and said, "Joe, I think the game has passed me by." Sadly enough, I couldn't disagree with him. Not knowing quite how to answer, I think I told him that his leaving would be baseball's loss. I always felt that Bob belonged more to my father's era of ballplayers rather than this modern group of distant millionaires. It felt like we were all catching up over beers at a family reunion.
Looking back to how sick I felt when he was released, I was relieved and grateful that he was given this second chance to repair his slandered reputation. Another chance to help a young team make it to the postseason even though he wouldn’t be there with them. His assignment here was to help spell the bullpen so they’ll be fresh for October. To prove he’ll take the ball whenever his team will give it to him, and to finish the season that he started. To finish it his way: on Bob Wickman’s terms. J. Ladd 9-28-07Click here for more final road trip photos
Cleveland fans click here for in-depth coverage of Bob's years with the Indians as well as his entire MLB career
