The Sports Informant

By Albert Samaha
Sports Informant Contributing Writer

Remember that scene in the Indie masterpiece “Oldboy” when Oh Dae-su finally gets out of his prison, roams the streets for the first time in 15 years, and sees a group of teenage hoodlums hanging out in the basin? After 15 years of solitary training in a cramped room, a manually drawn image on the wall as his sparring partner, Oh Dae-su was craving the opportunity to satiate his curiosity: How would fighting skills harnessed opposite a concrete wall translate into pragmatic reality, against real people who will really fight back?

That’s what it must have been like for Vin Mazzaro when he made his major league debut with the A’s on June 2.

Mazzaro was absolutely dominant in River Cat red. In 10 starts for Sacramento, Vinny Maz posted a 2.38 ERA and a 1.04 WHIP. The ill-fated hitters opposite Maz hit a paltry .205, accumulating only two home runs in the 56.2 innings.

By mid-May, it seemed as if Maz were playing MLB 2k9 on rookie. In his last four starts with SacTown, Vinny surrendered only a single run on nine hits and four walks. Nine hits and four walks in 27.2 innings! That’s a .47 WHIP and an ERA under 0.30. He earned Pacific Coast League Pitcher of the Week honors in each of his last two weeks in Sac. Getting a hit off Maz was about as difficult as getting into Glas Kat after 11:30 on a Thursday night.

Of course, the question was how those stats would translate in The Bigs — just ask Gio Gonzalez. Maz is not a strikeout pitcher — making contact is not the problem. Rather, his tremendous combination of movement and swiftness keeps balls in the infield, as evidenced by his sturdy 1.71 ground out to fly out ratio. Thus, how many of these ground outs to Short become liners to Left?

Gio Gonzalez warms up in the bullpen for another River Cats' performance. (Photo courtesy Albert Samaha)

Well, none.

In “Oldboy,” Oh Dae-su beat the entrails out of the group of hoodlums like it was going out of style.

In his big league debut, Vinny Maz beat the entrails out of the White Sox like it was going out of style.

Mazzaro ceded six hits and four walks in 6.1 innings, yet K’d only one. He did not allow a single run.

Wecome to The Show, kid.

With Maz busy embarrassing major league hitters, the questions now abound for Sacramento. His call-up highlights the underlying purpose of Triple-A baseball. While players leave their heart and soul on the field every night, it would be foolish to think that they are completely satisfied with their career status. Everyone wants to get called-up. Regardless, as good as it is to see a River Cat sent west to OakTown, the fact is that the team is set back to a degree. In the case of Vin Mazzaro’s departure, a very large degree.

There exist two axioms for optimism in this situation. The first is the emergence of Gio Gonzalez as a bona fide ace. Jovial Gio seems to relish his opportunity as the number one starter. In his past two starts, he has been white hot, allowing one run on four hits in 13 innings. Gio has become the Chris Comer of the team. You remember Chris Comer — he was the young sophomore who stepped in for Boobie Miles in “Friday Night Lights.” After a few shaky outings to start the month of May, Jovial Gio has found his mojo and it could not have come at a better time.

The second axiom for optimism is the fact that the Cats seemed to take the day off whenever Vinny Maz took the hill. There was less determination at the plate and in the field, as players may have assumed Maz’s dominance would easily carry them to victory. It’s like in school, when, for a group project, you get thrown in the same group as the most studious student in the class. It is all too tempting to simply mail it in and take the role of unofficial moral supporter.

“Wow, you did a great job on that poster.”

“These note cards are really well done.”

“Nice Powerpoint! It’s very impressive.”

“Does anybody need any refreshments? Water? Snack? Warm towel?”

Despite obscene statistics, Mazzaro only compiled two wins. Two wins. Out of 10 starts, six times did he give up one run or less yet still receive a no decision. It reminds me a bit of how the Giants play when Cy Young award winner Tim Lincecum pitches. Fielders can be a little more relaxed since Timmy Franchise can bail them out of mistakes with his overpowering stuff. Batters bear less resolve, as superfluous runs are unnecessary. I’ve seen “The Freak” pitch live twice and both times there was palpably less urgency evident in his teammates than in games when another hurler took the mound.

So maybe it is possible that, believe it or not, the team will be more successful without Vinny Maz due to this “Group Project Theory.” I’m not saying the Cats are better without him, I’m just saying that maybe losing Maz will result in a sudden jolt of urgency for the Cats’ bats.

In the meantime, Vin Mazzaro looks to continue the form of his stellar debut.  Hopefully the rest of his career goes better than Oh Dae-su’s post-prison freedom.