Rett Johnson’s release
DMZ · April 16, 2005 at 10:52 pm · Filed Under Mariners
I missed this, but Jim Thomsen pointed out that the San Antonio Express has an article on Dave Brundage releasing Rett Johnson.
The article has some standard hashing about what Rett’s performances were like which don’t offer anything new to those who’ve followed it. The only really new quote is–
“It just got to be something mental with Rett,” [Brundage] said. “It wasn’t physical, nothing medical. He just got to that top level and couldn’t overcome the big-league aspect of it.”
This comes up frequently, and I wish I had more to offer you.
Comments
13 Responses to “Rett Johnson’s release”
Baseball scouts call this getting the THING….Steve blass got it with the pirates they say pitchers never recover when there minds go south very very sad rett had a nice future
sort of like that ex-mets prospect who was in their system same time as izzy and paul wilson, who’s LOOGYing with the Cards right now. his name escapes me. hopefully rett isn’t that bad off.
That was Bill Pulsipher… who recently told his story:
http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/columnists/050407schwarz.html
Wow, Dave met DOZENS of people? I can’t believe I gave that paper my email just to read that “article”. Hope Rhett doesn’t give up, and lights it up someday (in the National League).
Did he lose his control ala Rick Ankiel and Bill Pulsipher? Or did his “problems” not affect his pitching? Just curious.
It’s too bad we didn’t hang on to Pulsipher during the offseason. He would be helpful right now.
4 – I can’t believe you gave a real email address.
Tried to register twice received technical difficulties after that marathon signup..Googled Rett Johnson & did search here to no satisfaction to main question “What happened last spring?”
On the Future Forty on Felix has a higher reward as pitcher and Rett stock was on the rise.What happened as Googled infered decision came from Front Office. Previously he looked very good in Everett. Thankyou for any information..Sad to lose such a prospect that is physically able.
Finally got through registration..Odd that with all the physically broken down arms would not work with prospect proven at each level and heathy arm. One would believe the mind confidence could be overcome with some work. At least as much effort that was put into Anderson.Perhaps attitude was just bad?
Thanks to Jim for hunting down that link. The Express-News, for some reason, hasn’t been listing all of the Missions articles in the same spot this year.
It seems reaffirm the idea that this was a sort of last minute thing. Telling him after he had already made the trip with the team… ouch.
I would be interested in getting a scouting report on Rett from anybody who saw him pitch in ST this year or last. The article implies that his velocity was down, that he lost his stuff, and couldn’t throw a strike.
I know that some of the USSM writers have hinted that they know more about Rett’s situation than they can talk about, and maybe a few others who post around here do too, but I suspect that Pulsipher’s story might seem familiar to somebody like Rett. I wonder whether the Mariners (who have approached *physical* injuries with a head-in-the-sand approach all too often) have not given him the kind of professional attention and support he may need.
I second the hope that Rett pulls it all together, and dominates somewhere far away from the Mariners.
Sometimes we forget these guys are human beings with a full catalog of character frailities and mortal failings just like us. My guesses as to what happened:
a) He has an organic mental or personality disorder (maybe similar to the syndrome that waylaid Jim Eisenreich 25 years ago and caused him to miss several years of his career until medication got his problem under control).
b) Some Baseball Annie or Baseball Millie got their claws into him, either distracting him with mind games, a pregnancy scare perhaps or a conflict with a hometown sweetheart.
c) He got involved with gamblers or other shady hangters-on who exist on the shadowy periphery of the potentially rich and famous. Perhaps he was threatened or shaken down somehow.
I call on Sports Illustrated’s Gary Smith to investigate and write it up in his singularly precious, pretentious, painfully self-conscious style.
Re 12 (a): Eisenreich had (has) Tourette’s. That’s not a mental thing, it’s neurochemical, and there are established ways to deal with it. Anything I can think of from Tourette’s to depression would have produced a very different scenario. Even some sort of major mental illness would probably have produced a very different scenario–if nothing else, you kick somebody to the curb for some sort of diagnosable disability, you open yourself to a major ADA lawsuit.