Great article on Marcus Giles

[GrantDawg]

The little guy who done good. .


For the lazy:

Giles' rise fueled by some hard knocks in life

By THOMAS STINSON
Atlanta Journal-Constitution Staff Writer

The phone message light was flashing well before Marcus Giles returned to his Vinings home Sunday evening. If the message itself was new, the content was not.

"Marcus, stay back, keep your hands behind the pitch."

It was his father calling from San Diego.

"Three words. Trust your hands."

Bill Giles laughed at his advice a few hours later.

"I'm sure he'll tell you that half the time I leave him messages, as soon as he hears my voice, he shuts me off."

Not really, not Marcus Giles, who has come to know more about trust and shutting people off -- or inviting them in -- than the average second baseman may come to know at age 25. Not that he is the average second baseman anymore, either, following the years of doubt that escort any 53rd-round draft pick.

But in a summer of enlightenment for a Braves team that has learned a new way of winning, Giles has become the bigger surprise, advancing from tentative project to All-Star in barely three months. Atlanta opens a six-game Midwest road swing in Milwaukee tonight with the National League's hottest hitter -- 22-for-44 the last 11 days -- demonstrating that diligence, a father's hitting advice and some simple resentment can go a long way.

"It can really drive you when people tell you that you can't do something," Giles said. "Pretty much, all it takes is hard work. And if that's all it takes, then why isn't anything possible?"

If Gary Sheffield is the Braves' MVP and Javy Lopez is their comeback player, then what is Giles? Hitting .315, a cinch to break the franchise doubles record (36 down, six to go), an accomplished bunter, he already has as many three- and four-hit games (20) as anyone on the 2002 club.

For across-the-board production, he is having the best year by a Braves second baseman since Davey Johnson's 43-homer, 99-RBI season of 1973.

"He's getting an idea of what his job is in that No. 2 hole, and he thinks about what he has to do before he gets up there, not when he's in the box," hitting coach Terry Pendleton said.

In the field, Giles' .982 fielding percentage is 13th best among regular second basemen in the majors. His rate of 3.5 assists per nine innings is the highest in the NL.

"He's gone from maybe an average second baseman in the minors to well above average in the major leagues," manager Bobby Cox said. "He may be the standard right now."

In the dugout, where last year former teammate Mike Remlinger dressed him down in front of the team for failing to make a play, he has become the Braves' liveliest wire.

Off the field, he and wife Tracy are adjusting to life with 3-month-old daughter Arringtun. It was only 14 months ago the couple lost their first child -- daughter Lundyn, who had been born three months premature at Northside Hospital.

"There's a reason [Lundyn] was here," Tracy Giles said. "There was something she had on her mind she wanted us to know. It was, 'You can't take a single day for granted.' "

Doubts about defense

Seven years ago, Marcus Giles had determined to end his baseball career before it started. Expecting to be a first-day selection in the 1996 draft, he didn't go until near the end of the second day, in the 53rd round.

Having watched older brother Brian's stock drop in the 1989 draft due to his size -- he was a 5-foot-10 outfielder -- Marcus, who is two inches shorter, had decided it might help if he moved to the infield, which he did after his junior year. It was a disaster.

"I went to see him once against Helix [High]," said John Ramey, the Braves' Southern California scout. "He misplayed a grounder, couldn't catch the ball on a stolen base attempt and couldn't catch a pop-up. But he hit three or four of the hardest balls I saw all year."

Giles was a draft-and-follow pick, meaning the Braves wouldn't sign him until just before the next year's draft. He played a season at a junior college, and then the Braves dispatched Roy Clark, the club's current scouting director, to check him out. In one round of batting practice, Giles went from barely beating a grounder out of the cage to driving home runs to all three fields.

"Once he got going," Ramey said, "he hit 'em out everywhere you could hit it."

Ramey and Braves special scouting assistant Al Kubski went to Giles' house to try to sign him, with Kubski reminding Giles that Mike Piazza had been a 62nd-round choice.

"I won't tell you what they offered, but it wasn't much more than a plane ticket and a couple days of meal money," Bill Giles said. "Marcus' expectations were higher, and he made a comment to both of them, 'You know what? Forget it. I'm done playing baseball. I'm going to become a cop.' "

Once Kubski and Ramey left the house, Bill Giles said to his son, "This is just the beginning. Show them what you got. Basically, I said, go back and rub it in their face. It may take five or 10 years. But hey, you drafted me in the 53rd round, and you made a mistake."

That spite served Marcus Giles well. But it wasn't until he was linked with Glenn Hubbard that his resentment was really focused. Undersized like Giles and a 20th-round pick when the draft lasted 20 rounds, Hubbard managed Giles at Class A Macon in 1998 and took him on as a personal project.

The two agreed to meet at 2 p.m. to take extra infield practice, but both would usually get there an hour early. It paid off. Giles' error total dropped from 20 in the first half to five in the second.

"They were going to bring him to the instructional league [the next offseason] and put him in the outfield," Hubbard said. "And I told somebody if they do that, I'm gone from this organization. He had made such strides, I believed in him that much."

There was never a question about Giles' bat -- in Macon he set records for homers (37) and RBIs (108). He was twice presented the Hank Aaron award for the top offensive performer in the minor league system.

In 1999, after two league MVP seasons, Baseball America ranked 21-year-old Giles the second-best prospect in the system. The following summer, he played in the Futures Game at the All-Star break, hitting a double off the left-field wall at Turner Field. Two days later, his brother Brian, a Pittsburgh outfielder, played his first All-Star Game on the same field, closing a circle around the pair.

"He has always been encouraging," Marcus Giles said. "I don't think he beat me up as much as a lot of younger brothers get beat up. It was always, 'Come to the beach or play football in the street.' He always let me play."

Brian Giles has a different memory.

"Well, my dad actually forced it on us," Brian said, laughing. "Sometimes I couldn't go out unless he was involved. He's 12 years old, going out on the weekends with me when I was in high school. But he's just as close to my friends as he is to his own."

A lost season in 2002

Quilvio Veras' season-ending knee injury in 2001 hastened Giles' arrival in Atlanta, but he was more formally presented the second-base job the next spring when he was opening day starter. After a good beginning, his defense deteriorated, his confidence waned and he was hitting .182 for the month. That's when his ankle gave way on a close play May 28, sending him to the disabled list.

Barely three weeks later, Lundyn died after a 16-day struggle.

"You say, 'This can't be really happening to me,' but the quicker you come to reality with it, the quicker you can accept it," Giles said. "This is what happened. There is nothing you can do about it. I lost my daughter, and there's nothing we can do to bring her back."

The Braves, meanwhile, worked to make Mark DeRosa, also on injury rehab, a second baseman, and Giles experimented at third base in Richmond and then in Atlanta when he was recalled in mid-August. Keith Lockhart was hitting .216, and still Giles could not take the position from him. The winter rumor of a trade to San Diego lingered for weeks.

"It's either one road or another," Giles said. "You can head for the dumps or learn from it and grow up."

At last spring training, Giles took 7 a.m. infield workouts and finished with no errors in 24 games. Save for a three-week slump in late June, 2003 has played out beyond all expectations, particularly for a would-be San Diego cop. Some say his collision with Chicago's Mark Prior in early July served a purpose.

"I think [it's] the biggest thing that's happened to him this year," Pendleton said of the concussion that kept Giles out of this year's All-Star Game. "It gave him a chance to rest and regroup. It also jarred his memory a little bit, which may be good for him."

One memory endures without prompting. After Sunday's Family Day at Turner Field, Tracy Giles was holding Arringtun on her lap when Marcus Giles remembered, "This was so hard last year." One family grieving, one career in abeyance, one short year ago.

"Maybe I grew up a little sooner than I wanted to," Marcus Giles said. "Now that I look back on it, I think it was the best learning experience I could ever have in my life. My daughter definitely made me a better person and made me a better husband, a better father, a better everything, a better baseball player.

"It's sad to say, but I thank her. It's sad to say. But she's saying, 'You're welcome.' I know that."

[Swaggs]

I hate the Braves.

[Alan T]

Its ok Swaggs.. no one can be perfect.. With all your other great qualities, we will forgive this one flaw

[GrantDawg]

Originally posted by Swaggs
I hate the Braves.

Fine, but you gotta like Marcus. I love the little guys that can hit the ball hard.

[ISiddiqui]

No, Swaggs is quite correct to hate the Braves .

[IMetTrentGreen]

does baseball really need more than 20-25 rounds in the draft? i mean, 62?

[GrantDawg]

Guys like Giles and Piazza are found in those lower rounds. I mean each team has like 5-7 teams with the developmental leagues to fill up.

[tucker342]

Don't hate the playa hate the game..... or something.....

[Swaggs]

I prefer Brian to Marcus. At least until he gets traded tomorrow.

[dawgfan]

Great article - you've gotta love those kind of success stories.

[Thomkal]

Marcus was on the very first Myrtle Beach Pelicans team here, so I've always been rooting for him-especially after his daughter died. Nice to see all that hard work pay off-and to see the little guy win every once and a while.

[IMetTrentGreen]

I mean each team has like 5-7 teams with the developmental leagues to fill up.

i know, but couldn't they just go to college instead? players develop there, too. why do the minors need to be so huge

[The Afoci]

Originally posted by IMetTrentGreen
i know, but couldn't they just go to college instead? players develop there, too. why do the minors need to be so huge

Because not everyone wants to go to college. Some just want to play ball.

[The Afoci]

Dola

It probably has to do with the fact that they have to take all these players playing with metal bats and teach them to play with wood. bats.

I make me smile.

[GrantDawg]

Originally posted by The Afoci
Because not everyone wants to go to college. Some just want to play ball.

And they develop faster when they can concentrate on the game. Plus they gets paid.

[Ben E Lou]

Glenn Hubbard is a GREAT guy by the way. I can TOTALLY see him being seriuos about leaving the organization too. He's still that firey. His youngest son graduated from Tucker this spring. I'm going to miss having an excuse to interact with Glenn. (We met at their house several times--yes, both before and after it burned down and was rebuilt.)

[GrantDawg]

Originally posted by SkyDog
Glenn Hubbard is a GREAT guy by the way. I can TOTALLY see him being seriuos about leaving the organization too. He's still that firey. His youngest son graduated from Tucker this spring. I'm going to miss having an excuse to interact with Glenn. (We met at their house several times--yes, both before and after it burned down and was rebuilt.)

He would make a great manager. Let Bobby retire soon!

[Alan T]

Glenn Hubbard is one of my all time favorites..... One of my favorite players 15-20 years ago. Him and Murphy were often two of the very few reasons for me to watch day in and day out.

[cuervo72]

Off the field, he and wife Tracy are adjusting to life with 3-month-old daughter Arringtun. It was only 14 months ago the couple lost their first child -- daughter Lundyn, who had been born three months premature at Northside Hospital.

I like Marcus...but Lundyn? Arringtun? What's next, Berlynn? Lizbun? Mudrydd?

[IMetTrentGreen]

do they really develop faster? i'd say big 12 competition is just as good as any single A level league. same goes for most big conferences. it doesn't matter to me, i don't care either way, but having 9 minor league teams just seems a bit excessive, especially considering how many players don't pan out

[cincyreds]

I love these kind of success stories.

It may be little, but boy does he pack a powerful punch with that bat of his.

Mr. Spunky is what I call him.