TOT - Braves Sign a Guy They Once Made Cry
Julian Tavarez had an eventful career that included one summer in Atlanta
Transaction of Today...July 8, 2008 - The Atlanta Braves signed Julian Tavarez as a free agent.
There are many things I recall from the moment the Braves won the 1995 World Series. I was 13-years-old and had the volume low since I was supposed to be sleeping. At the time, we had one of those huge satellites and our NBC station was actually the Atlanta NBC one. I remember David Justice's homer, Tom Glavine's brilliance, Mark Wohlers coming in, and Carlos Baerga sending a lazy flyball to left-center for Marquis Grissom to catch.
One other thing I remember from that night was the image of Julian Tavarez sobbing into his hands in the dugout. He was just 22, having completed his first major league season - one of amazing performance for the AL's best team. In many ways, it was his career season with only 2004 potentially better. At that moment, as the tears seemed to never end, he appeared to just beginning a career that would likely end with a few All-Star appearances mixed in.
That never happened, but Tavarez would still pitch in seventeen different seasons, get into 828 games, and wear eleven major league jerseys. For part of one season and for 36 games, he'd land with the team that beat his Indians in 1995.
Born in 1973 in the Dominican Republic, Tavarez signed just prior to his 17th birthday with the Indians in 1990. He'd finally make his debut in 1992 before making a crazy run to the majors the following season. After 14 appearances in rookie ball the previous year, he jumped to Advanced-A Kinston in 1993 and dazzled over 18 starts with a 2.42 ERA. He moved to Canton-Akron for a trio of appearances, that also included a shutout. By August 7, with just 35 professional appearances, he was brought up to the majors. He'd struggle over eight games, including seven starts, as you might expect for a 20-year-old kid.
Nevertheless, he was rated as the #61st-best prospect to open 1994. He was solid for the Charlotte Knights that season, then Cleveland's Triple-A squad. He pitched 176 innings, flashed his typical great control, and had a 3.48 ERA with 15 wins. He made just one start in the bigs in May, but likely would have received a few more starts had the Strike not ended the year in August.
Heading into 1995, the Indians had a very veteran-laden staff. They added Orel Hershiser and Bud Black to the staff that already included 41-year-old Dennis Martinez along with established young righties Charles Nagy and Mark Clark. That pushed Tavarez into a bullpen option and the youngster would excel as Jose Mesa's setup guy. In 57 appearances, Tavarez logged 85 innings and a 2.44 ERA. To go with his 1.14 WHIP, he carried a 3.2 K/BB rate. In a bullpen full of 29-year-olds and older, Tavarez was the young star on the rise.
Tavarez pitched often in the postseason. He appeared in all three games of Cleveland's NLDS sweep of the Red Sox, four of the six games of the ALCS against the Mariners, and in all but Game 5 of the World Series against the Braves. Overall, he had a 2.61 ERA for his many appearances, including tossing 4.1 scoreless against the Braves. In Game 6, he helped keep the game at 1-0 by retiring Javy Lopez and Refael Belliard.
Despite his good pitching, he could do nothing by sob as the Braves celebrated their first title in Atlanta.
Tavarez enjoyed his time as a reliever, but he wanted to start again. The Indians would give him a brief four-start trial run in 1996 during the middle of the season, but he'd struggle badly in the role. After another October disappointment, the Indians wanted to add some power to replace Albert Belle. Moving Jim Thome away from third base was also a plus. So, they traded Tavarez as part of a deal that included Jeff Kent going to the Giants for Matt Williams.
Over the next three years, Tavarez was often a steady arm out of the pen for the Giants. In 1997, he was called upon by Dusty Baker 89 times, breaking a four-year record for most games pitched in by a Giants pitcher. It remains the team record - tied by Jim Brower in 2004 - and is currently tied for the tenth-most pitching appearances in a single season in baseball history.
While his first two years were typical Tavarez, he struggled during his final year in San Francisco. They waived him at the end of the year and he landed in Colorado. And this began his nomadic experience. A year in Denver was followed by a year playing for the Cubs. It would have been a second year, but he was traded with minor leaguer Dontrelle Willis to Marlins for Antonio Alfonseca and Matt Clement. He spent one season as a Marlins starter before saving a career-high eleven games for Pittsburgh. He landed in St. Louis next and had arguably his best season with a 2.38 ERA over 77 appearances. After one more year there, he spent two seasons as a Red Sox split between being a serviceable reliever and a substandard starter.
That brings us to 2008. He was still with the Red Sox and opened the year back in the bullpen. But Tavarez would struggle badly over nine games and the Sox moved on. Next up was the Brewers and after seven appearances, they, too, soured on Tavarez.
A couple weeks later and on this date in 2008, the Braves gave Tavarez a shot. He'd go straight into Bobby Cox's bullpen, giving up two runs in a third-of-an-inning in his first game. He'd settle in from there outside of a terrible back-to-back outings against two of his former teams, the Cardinals and Marlins, in August. Tavarez was used often, pitching 28 times between July 19 and September 14, with a 3.07 ERA and five holds. For a guy who rarely impressed with his strikeout numbers, he nearly averaged a K an inning, too.
But the Braves were going nowhere and Tavarez's struggles over his last half-dozen games didn't help matters. Nevertheless, in 36 total games with Atlanta, he had a 3.89 ERA.
Tavarez would land with Washington next and boy, he didn't hide why he signed with Washington:
"Why did I sign with the Nationals? When you go to a club at 4 in the morning, and you're just waiting, waiting, a 600-pounder looks like J-Lo. And to me, this is Jennifer Lopez right here. It's 4 in the morning. Too much to drink. So, Nationals: Jennifer Lopez to me."
He pitched 42 times for the Nats with little success. Formerly known for his control, he walked 27 in 35 innings. He did pick up his 23rd and final major league save. After giving up seven runs, four earned, in his last four games with the Nats, they released him in late July.
Tavarez would pitch a few more years in the winter leagues, but didn't receive an offer to return to the majors. His career was over.
On an odd way, despite 828 major league appearances, Tavarez would almost be more known for his emotional reactions than anything. Of course, there's the tears of 1995, but in in 2001, Tavarez was pitching against his former team, the Giants. With Russ Davis at bat, Tavarez struck him out on a 3-2 pitch. Dropping to his knee, Davis took the action to mean Tavarez was showboating after the strikeout. Words were said and Davis charged the mound only for Tavarez to respond with a flying kick, setting off a brawl.
In 2004, while with the Cardinals, Tavarez would notably have a meltdown in Game 4 of the NLCS against the Astros. With the game nodded at 5 in the 7th, Tavarez would surrender a go-ahead solo bomb by Carlos Beltran, who was having an absurdly ridiculous postseason. Tavarez followed by going 3-0 on the next batter Jeff Bagwell before throwing one over his head. Tavarez would advance Bagwell via a wild pitch and the Cards would opt to intentionally walk Lance Berkman. Tavarez then plunked Jeff Kent with a 0-2 count. He'd escape with a double play. Coming off the field, he screamed a particular f-word toward the sky. Once in the dugout, threw a punch at the bullpen phone and broke two fingers. (Here’s an edited video if you’re curious.)
In 2006, he missed the first ten games of his time as a Red Sox because of a suspension from a spring training brawl. Tampa Bay's Joey Gathright was sliding into home. As Tavarez tagged him out and, in the process, stepped on the outfielder's right arm. Gathright retaliated by pushing Tavarez's knee. As Gathright tried to get him, Tavarez connected with a punch to Gathright's jaw, setting off yet another brawl.
For his career, Tavarez had 4.6 WAR according to Baseball-Reference and 10.6 fWAR. Definitely not the 17-year career expected when he broke out in 1995, but all in all, it was a productive career for a player often known more for what he did when he wasn't throwing a ball.