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| Is Bronson Arroyo done? That’s not his call | Is Bronson Arroyo done? That’s not his call |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| VIERA, Fla. — On the other side of Kobe Bryant’s retirement tour and Peyton Manning’s championship sunset, Bronson Arroyo pleads with his pitching arm for one last chance. | VIERA, Fla. — On the other side of Kobe Bryant’s retirement tour and Peyton Manning’s championship sunset, Bronson Arroyo pleads with his pitching arm for one last chance. |
| Arroyo is 39. He hasn’t pitched a regular season game since June 2014. He has spent the past 21 months recovering from Tommy John surgery, shaking his head over being relegated to salary fodder in two trades and hoping his right elbow eventually could withstand an attempt to exit baseball on his terms. | Arroyo is 39. He hasn’t pitched a regular season game since June 2014. He has spent the past 21 months recovering from Tommy John surgery, shaking his head over being relegated to salary fodder in two trades and hoping his right elbow eventually could withstand an attempt to exit baseball on his terms. |
| This season, David Ortiz will blow Big Papi kisses everywhere he goes, leaving the game with his version of a Derek Jeter-like parade. With so many sports stars enjoying grand farewells lately, you have to remind yourself that this isn’t normal, that these games are played by young men who reach retirement age at their life’s prime, that letting go is much more complicated than graceful acknowledgement of a standing ovation. | This season, David Ortiz will blow Big Papi kisses everywhere he goes, leaving the game with his version of a Derek Jeter-like parade. With so many sports stars enjoying grand farewells lately, you have to remind yourself that this isn’t normal, that these games are played by young men who reach retirement age at their life’s prime, that letting go is much more complicated than graceful acknowledgement of a standing ovation. |
| Most of the time, it ends with a grimace. Most farewell tours are defiant journeys to get one more team to believe you’re still worth a damn. Arroyo is with the Washington Nationals this spring, wishing not to hear the bartender scream, “Last call.” He’ll know when it’s time to go home, thank you very much. Just trust him, please. | |
| Pretty please? | Pretty please? |
| Ask him why. After 15 years, 145 wins, 2,3642 / 3 innings and $95.47 million in earnings, why is Arroyo competing for a roster spot against pitchers who were more concerned about having another bowl of Cap’n Crunch when he broke into the big leagues in 2000? | Ask him why. After 15 years, 145 wins, 2,3642 / 3 innings and $95.47 million in earnings, why is Arroyo competing for a roster spot against pitchers who were more concerned about having another bowl of Cap’n Crunch when he broke into the big leagues in 2000? |
| He speaks on the subject with great sincerity and eloquence. | He speaks on the subject with great sincerity and eloquence. |
| “A lot of reasons,” Arroyo said. “For one, I’ve always been a bit aware of how special the game was. I’ve seen a lot of guys who kind of took it a little bit for granted until they were out of the game. And then looking back, you see guys just fighting and killing each other to try to get back in this game, even if it’s to coach first base. And you feel that sentiment from a lot of guys who aren’t around anymore. I’m going to try to stay in the game as long as I can.” | “A lot of reasons,” Arroyo said. “For one, I’ve always been a bit aware of how special the game was. I’ve seen a lot of guys who kind of took it a little bit for granted until they were out of the game. And then looking back, you see guys just fighting and killing each other to try to get back in this game, even if it’s to coach first base. And you feel that sentiment from a lot of guys who aren’t around anymore. I’m going to try to stay in the game as long as I can.” |
| [Trevor Gott, 23, always threw hard; then he learned to pitch] | [Trevor Gott, 23, always threw hard; then he learned to pitch] |
| Here’s how determined Arroyo can be: In 2014, he knew for weeks that he had torn the ulnar collateral ligament in his elbow. He made six more starts, trying to avoid the dreaded Tommy John surgery. He helped his team, the Arizona Diamondbacks, win four of those games. He threw 381 / 3 innings in the face of surgery and managed a 3.99 ERA. In his final three starts, he was 3-0 with a 2.95 ERA. Finally, he yielded to the pain. | Here’s how determined Arroyo can be: In 2014, he knew for weeks that he had torn the ulnar collateral ligament in his elbow. He made six more starts, trying to avoid the dreaded Tommy John surgery. He helped his team, the Arizona Diamondbacks, win four of those games. He threw 381 / 3 innings in the face of surgery and managed a 3.99 ERA. In his final three starts, he was 3-0 with a 2.95 ERA. Finally, he yielded to the pain. |
| “I feel like I have the ability to win baseball games, regardless of what comes out of my hand, as long as I’m not in pain,” Arroyo said. “It’s a challenge, man.” | “I feel like I have the ability to win baseball games, regardless of what comes out of my hand, as long as I’m not in pain,” Arroyo said. “It’s a challenge, man.” |
| The greatest challenge is that Arroyo never has been so powerless in deciding his fate. Tanner Roark and Joe Ross are the pitchers projected to be at the back of the Nationals’ starting rotation. Unless they suffer an injury or are unable to locate pitches the entire spring, they’ll always look more impressive. They are younger, more athletic and throw harder. The Nationals have more invested in them. Despite how well Dusty Baker knows Arroyo from their Cincinnati years and how much the manager believes in him, Arroyo appears to be a fallback option at this point. He might be showcasing himself for the rest of baseball as much as he is competing for a spot on the Nationals. | The greatest challenge is that Arroyo never has been so powerless in deciding his fate. Tanner Roark and Joe Ross are the pitchers projected to be at the back of the Nationals’ starting rotation. Unless they suffer an injury or are unable to locate pitches the entire spring, they’ll always look more impressive. They are younger, more athletic and throw harder. The Nationals have more invested in them. Despite how well Dusty Baker knows Arroyo from their Cincinnati years and how much the manager believes in him, Arroyo appears to be a fallback option at this point. He might be showcasing himself for the rest of baseball as much as he is competing for a spot on the Nationals. |
| And that’s where the end can be so depressing. Most athletes don’t get to plan their farewell. The itinerary is handed to them. | And that’s where the end can be so depressing. Most athletes don’t get to plan their farewell. The itinerary is handed to them. |
| Jayson Werth, who turns 37 in May, chatted with Baker this week and asked him about the end of his playing career. Baker played 19 seasons, made two all-star teams and posted a solid .779 on-base-plus-slugging percentage during his time. He went to the American League late in his career and thought he would experience a rebirth as a designated hitter. But at 37, the game broke up with him. | Jayson Werth, who turns 37 in May, chatted with Baker this week and asked him about the end of his playing career. Baker played 19 seasons, made two all-star teams and posted a solid .779 on-base-plus-slugging percentage during his time. He went to the American League late in his career and thought he would experience a rebirth as a designated hitter. But at 37, the game broke up with him. |
| “I thought I still had miles when I left,” Baker said, speaking softer than usual. “And I didn’t get an opportunity to DH like I wanted to. Most of the time, your plan and life’s plan doesn’t really happen too much. You’ll see. | “I thought I still had miles when I left,” Baker said, speaking softer than usual. “And I didn’t get an opportunity to DH like I wanted to. Most of the time, your plan and life’s plan doesn’t really happen too much. You’ll see. |
| “You don’t get a call again. You either can complain about it and be bitter about it, or else you go on with your life and try to find something else to do. Personally, that’s when I went back and got my certificate to be a broker. And then I got divorced and I was like, ‘Whoa.’ And then the stock market crashed. And then the Giants came calling for me to be a coach. It’s not easy to come to terms with it, the end. It’s like, is it the end in your mind, or is it the end in everybody else’s mind?” | “You don’t get a call again. You either can complain about it and be bitter about it, or else you go on with your life and try to find something else to do. Personally, that’s when I went back and got my certificate to be a broker. And then I got divorced and I was like, ‘Whoa.’ And then the stock market crashed. And then the Giants came calling for me to be a coach. It’s not easy to come to terms with it, the end. It’s like, is it the end in your mind, or is it the end in everybody else’s mind?” |
| [Yankees closer Aroldis Chapman suspended 30 games for domestic violence incident] | [Yankees closer Aroldis Chapman suspended 30 games for domestic violence incident] |
| Competitors don’t really believe in endings. After a while, competitors aren’t even defined by winning and losing. It becomes about the pursuit. There’s always something more to pursue. Perhaps it’s best that someone else control the light switch. | Competitors don’t really believe in endings. After a while, competitors aren’t even defined by winning and losing. It becomes about the pursuit. There’s always something more to pursue. Perhaps it’s best that someone else control the light switch. |
| “There’s different layers to it as well,” Arroyo said. “When I was a young guy, I was 150, 160, 170 pounds coming up, and people didn’t think I could handle the endurance of throwing 200 innings, and I did that for almost a decade straight. And now I’m 39 years old and coming off surgery, and there’s this idea that maybe you don’t have anything left in the tank, maybe you’re done. So there’s always a reason to have this fuel to try to find a way to succeed and stay where you want to be. And I think being able to walk away from the game on your terms, it doesn’t happen very often.” | “There’s different layers to it as well,” Arroyo said. “When I was a young guy, I was 150, 160, 170 pounds coming up, and people didn’t think I could handle the endurance of throwing 200 innings, and I did that for almost a decade straight. And now I’m 39 years old and coming off surgery, and there’s this idea that maybe you don’t have anything left in the tank, maybe you’re done. So there’s always a reason to have this fuel to try to find a way to succeed and stay where you want to be. And I think being able to walk away from the game on your terms, it doesn’t happen very often.” |
| Ortiz, Arroyo’s teammate on the curse-curing 2004 Boston Red Sox, is fortunate. He gets the grand goodbye. But is he exiting on his terms? Or did he set the schedule after his body made the decision? | Ortiz, Arroyo’s teammate on the curse-curing 2004 Boston Red Sox, is fortunate. He gets the grand goodbye. But is he exiting on his terms? Or did he set the schedule after his body made the decision? |
| There are no ideal endings, only celebrated and quiet ones. When it’s his time, Arroyo figures to vanish without ceremony but with considerable resistance, which is such a shame and such a testimony to the enduring value of these crazy games. | There are no ideal endings, only celebrated and quiet ones. When it’s his time, Arroyo figures to vanish without ceremony but with considerable resistance, which is such a shame and such a testimony to the enduring value of these crazy games. |
| For more by Jerry Brewer, visit washingtonpost.com/brewer. | For more by Jerry Brewer, visit washingtonpost.com/brewer. |