Monday night’s rain-soaked crowd at AT&T Field included a 10-time major league All-Star, a five-time 20-game winner, a two-time Cy Young Award winner and the 1995 World Series MVP.
Such is the case when Tom Glavine is in the house.
Three months into his new role as a special assistant to Atlanta Braves president John Schuerholz, Glavine watched the Mississippi Braves get routed 15-3 by the Chattanooga Lookouts. The 44-year-old is one of just six left-handed pitchers to amass 300 career victories in the majors, and he spent 17 of his 22 big-league seasons with the Braves.
“Part of my duties is becoming familiar with the minor league teams and the players and who our prospects are,” said Glavine, who serves as a guest analyst on SportSouth and Fox Sports South when Atlanta plays at home. “I’ve done some work in terms of getting to know the names and the thoughts in the scouting reports, so to speak, and now I’m in the process of trying to go out and watch some of these kids and see them for myself so I know who they are and what they are when we’re talking about them.”
Glavine was a second-round pick of the Braves and a fourth-round pick of the National Hockey League’s Los Angeles Kings in 1984. He won 164 big-league games in the 1990s, ranking second in the National League behind longtime Braves teammate Greg Maddux, and won the Cy Young in 1991 and ’98.
Another former Braves teammate, infielder Jeff Blauser, managed Mississippi in 2005, but Glavine has no plans to suit back up any time soon.
“I’ve got five kids at home, and three of them are under 11 years old,” he said. “This is a good way for me to stay around the game. I wouldn’t have the time to get back in uniform and do it full time.”
The Lookouts (14-17) led 4-3 going into the bottom of the fifth inning, when they sent a staggering 14 batters to the plate and scored 11 runs. Jessie Mier had a two-run double to right field that put Chattanooga up 7-3, and his two-run home run to left capped the outburst at 15-3.
Mier finished 3-for-4 to raise his season average to .317.
“Those innings don’t happen too often,” Mier said, “so when it happens, you’ve got to kind of learn how to ride the wave, and we definitely did.”
Chattanooga’s most productive inning all season almost became its most disastrous when Lookouts relief pitcher Timothy Sexton fouled a pitch toward the head of leadoff hitter Dee Gordon at the on-deck circle. Gordon ducked and the ball struck his shoulder, but he remained in the game.
Alberto Bastardo (2-2, 5.52 ERA) is scheduled to start tonight’s 7:15 game for the Lookouts, with Mike Minor (0-3, 4.99) scheduled for the Braves. Minor is the No. 4 organizational prospect according to Baseball America.
Smith honored
Lookouts infielder Corey Smith was named Monday as the Southern League hitter of the week, becoming Chattanooga’s first player this season to earn a weekly hitting or pitching honor. The 28-year-old Smith was a rare bright spot in the disappointing series at Carolina, going 7-of-14 with two homers, a triple and eight RBIs.