Why "Steve Avery"

Since we have started this blog, the question that I have been asked the most is "Why Steve Avery?"

I thought it was appropriate to wait until today for this post because it is Steve Avery's birthday!  Happy 44th Birthday Steve!

I was fortunate enough to become interested in the Braves in 1991. 
(Truth be told, I'm pretty sure I was watching baseball games before I could crawl, but 1991 was the first year where I was really old enough to know what was going on.)  At six years old, I gravitated towards the youngest player on the team, Steve Avery.  I think almost every Braves fan of our generation did.  It certainly didn't hurt that he was utterly dominant during that year.  Steve Avery was my first favorite player.  He had a throwing motion that I loved to watch (turns out it is basically a tutorial on what not to do).  Watch this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GAay6o3cOkQ.  When watching the Fab Four pitch in sequence, it seems obvious now how jerky Avery's motion was compared to the fluidity of the other three. 


I wish MLB.tv would eventually evolve into a service (similar to the new WWE Network) that includes a database with every classic or playoff game.  I recognize that is a ridiculous amount of content, but I have hope.  If that time comes, two of the first ten or so games I watch will be Steve Avery's first two playoff starts against the Pirates in the 1991 NLCS.  At 21 years old and barely three years removed from being drafted third overall, Avery turned in two of the most important pitching performances in Braves' history.  In the first game, Steve pitched into the 9th inning of a 1-0 game.  He struck out 9, walked only 2, and surrendered only 6 hits through 8 1/3 innings.  Avery started the ninth giving up a leadoff double to Bobby Bonilla and was left in to face Barry Bonds.  MVP Barry Bonds.  Best hitter on the planet Barry Bonds.  With a base open, Avery forced Bonds to weakly pop out to short.  How did Avery follow-up his first postseason outing?  With another insane performance in a 1-0 game.  In a do-or-die situation down 3-2 heading into Game 6 of the NLCS, Avery threw 8 innings surrendering only 3 hits and 2 walks while striking out 8.  

I also attended another dominant playoff performance by Avery.  Game Four of the 1995 NLCS against the Cincinnati Reds.  Six innings.  Two hits.  No runs.  Get out your brooms.  He would go on to also win Game Four of the 1995 World Series against the stacked Cleveland Indians lineup.

Everything I just described was before Avery's 26th birthday.  That first NLCS win was the youngest postseason win ever for a pitcher.  He set a NLCS record throwing 22 1/3 consecutive scoreless innings (those 1991 games and the start of 1992).  Nonetheless, Steve Avery should be THE cautionary tale for every starting pitcher.  When folks question why Stephen Strasburg was shut down in a playoff run or why ridiculously talented pitchers such as Jose Fernandez or Dylan Bundy were shut down early, the response should always just be a link to Steve Avery's Baseball Reference page.  Before his 21st birthday, he threw more than 170 innings in consecutive seasons (minor leagues and majors combined).  Before his 24th birthday, Avery had thrown more than 230 innings in the majors in three consecutive seasons.  Avery was phenomenal up to that point.  He was a young flamethrower.  Despite being the baby of the group, Avery was every bit the equal of future Hall of Famers and rotation-mates Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, and John Smoltz.  In September 1993, Avery suffered an arm injury.  The Braves called it a "torn arm muscle under his armpit."  By all accounts Avery was never the same pitcher again.  Even though he did not rack up strikeouts in his early days, Steve Avery was known as a flamethrower, throwing in the mid-90s at a time when few pitchers threw that hard.  After the 1993 season, Avery lost a few ticks off his fastball.  He still proved to be a workhorse and did not miss a start in the strike-shortened seasons of 1994 and 1995.  Nonetheless his ERA would never be under 4.00 again (after ERAs of 3.38, 3.20, and 2.94 in 1991-1993).  And Steve Avery was done as a Brave after the 1996 season.

So why Steve Avery?  I wanted to name this blog after my first "favorite" Brave and to remind everyone just how brilliant Steve Avery truly was.  Plus we couldn't think of anything better.