A tale of two Pats

Pat Burrell’s baseball career reads like a story of two different baseball players. There is Pat the Bat. This Pat is one of the most prolific college baseball players of all time. In his time at the University of Miami he hit .442 ranked seventh all time on the NCAA list and had a .888 slugging percentage ranked second all time. This Pat won the 1998 Golden Spikes Award as the best amateur baseball player in the country and was taken first overall by the Phillies in the 1998 draft. The Pat who hit 37 HRs and 116 RBIs in 2002 and was rewarded with a six year $50 million extension. Remember that Pat? I remember lauding former Phillies GM Ed Wade for locking up the corner stone of the Phillies franchise for years to come. This Pat is now long forgotten instead replaced by the other Pat.

Pat The Pathetic has never quite lived up to expectations. This Pat, hold your nose, hit .209 with .309 OBP in 2003. The most common explanation found in numerous newspaper columns for this piss poor performance was that the pressure of his new contract was getting to the young Burrell. Pat improved his stats in 2004 and in 2005 hit 117 RBIs, second most in the league. It looked like Pat the Bat had returned or had he? In 2006 he hit .258 with 29 HRs and 95 RBIs. However, the bulk of these numbers where put up in the first half of the season and Burrell played poorly enough to see his playing time decrease in the second half. So what’s the explanation, which Pat is an illusion and, which one is real?

Recently, Dallas Green the only Phillies manager to lead the team to World Series victory has called out Burrell. Green blamed the appearance of Pat The Pathetic on a lack of concentration. Speaking about Burrell, Green commented, “He's got to focus and get a priority. That's No. 1 on the list. He's got to become a baseball player and want to be a contributor and want to be the Pat Burrell that we all anticipated he was going to be when we signed him as a kid. He's 30 years old. Damn, time is slipping by here." Green went further to say that Burrell’s social life might be a distraction. Green said of Burrell, “It's neat to have money, it's neat to have good looks, and it's neat to have broads all over you. Every place I've managed, I've talked to kids about the same thing. It's a hell of a life. But there comes a time in every player's life when he needs to get his act together.” Dallas Green is exactly right. Burrell is at a crossroads at his career. It’s important to remember Burrell’s pedigree because he does have the talent to put of MVP numbers. He’s that good.

There are a few reasons to be optimistic about the future. Jim Thome, Manny Ramirez, Ryan Howard; do any of these names ring a bell? These are just some of the power swings that Phillies manager Charlie Manuel has shaped during his Major League tenure. So say what you will about Manuel but he can help Burrell, if Burrell fully commits himself to baseball. Burrell also has earned the praise of baseball guru Bill James. In an interview with Todd Zolecki, James commented, “As a hitter I like him a lot. He's an underrated hitter. I know he's not Bobby Abreu. He's not really much of a base runner or a fielder or a thrower, but as a hitter, he changes the scoreboard. I like him.” On top of all this Burrell is playing injured. Burrell is still recovering from surgery on his foot, which has affected his play in the field and could be a factor in his struggles at the plate.

Finally Burrell’s not going to be traded any time soon. He has too much money left on his contract and given that Burrell would only void his no trade clause to go to a few teams, a trade doesn’t seem to be in his future. So now we Phillies Phaithful will have to hope that Burrell gets his life in order and that we have seen the last of Pat the Pathetic.

Sources:
Baseball stats guru sees good in Phillies, even Burrell
by Todd Zolecki / Philadelphia Inquirer

Green Challenges Burrell
by Jim Salisbury / Philadelphia Inquirer