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There's also a good story in the Sun-Sentinel today, written by Mike Berardino, about Gregg.

 

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/basebal...-sports-marlins

 

BERARDINO: Kevin Gregg emerges as surprise closer for Florida Marlins

Published June 22, 2007

 

 

Rick Kranitz barely knew Kevin Gregg, but he loved the guy's moxie.

 

For three months, starting in spring training, Gregg would sidle up to the Marlins' pitching coach at various times with the same outrageous suggestion.

 

"You know," Gregg would say calmly, "I can close."

 

For the longest time Kranitz would just smile and pat Gregg on the back, and when the soft-spoken Oregonian was safely out of earshot, he might even enjoy a private chuckle.

 

Then Kranitz would turn his attention back to fixing Jorge Julio or smoothing out the mechanics of young Henry Owens or Matt Lindstrom.

 

All of those Marlins relievers threw harder than Gregg. All of them profiled better to handle the cauldron of the ninth inning.

 

Gregg? He was a durable, innings-eating, middle-relief sort of guy.

 

But a closer? Uh, no.

 

In his first 11 professional seasons, he had piled up all of four saves. With the Angels the past four years, he had taken the ball 125 times, even making eight starts, but his place in the pecking order was clear.

 

Frankie Rodriguez got the saves. Scot Shields handled the eighth. Finally you'd get to Gregg somewhere around the sixth or seventh inning.

 

Even after the Marlins acquired him last winter in a little-noted trade for reliever Chris Resop, Gregg didn't appear any closer to the limelight.

 

Now look at him.

 

Entering tonight's game against the Twins and the start of a nine-game homestand, Gregg hasn't just broken free from career-long anonymity. He has grabbed the closer's job and made it his own, possibly for years to come.

 

Thirteen times Gregg has been called upon to protect a late-inning lead. All 13 times he has nailed down the save.

 

Think about that: The fill-in closer is perfect.

 

Of the 18 other closers with at least 13 saves, only Seattle's J.J. Putz (19 for 19) can make that claim.

 

Oh, there have been some shaky moments along the way. Wednesday, he needed a diving catch from Brett Carroll in center field to avoid blowing his first save on his 29th birthday in Chicago.

 

On balance, however, Gregg has been a godsend. Not even the return of Armando Benitez has knocked him from his perch.

 

"I always believed in my ability and what I was trying to do," Gregg says. "I was just waiting for an opportunity to showcase it."

 

There was a three-inning save on April 22 against the Nationals, but his first real shot at closing wouldn't come until May 16 in Pittsburgh. He went three up, three down for save No. 2, got another one four days later, and he was off and running.

 

He has a 2.13 ERA over his past 12 save opportunities. The biggest thing has been throwing strikes. In all save situations, he has 18 strikeouts against just five walks.

 

"Strikes and confidence," Kranitz says. "Those two things can take you a long way."

 

Gregg's stuff is better than advertised, too. At 6 feet 6 he comes at hitters with a fastball that touches 95 mph, a split-finger pitch that has helped limit lefties to a .151 batting average and a slider he'll mix in to righties.

 

Ninety percent of the time, though, Gregg just throws his fastball, and does so with great accuracy. That's the biggest difference between him and his predecessors this year.

 

"Being a reliever, throwing strikes is probably the most important aspect of it," Gregg says. "If you don't do that, hitters will just stand there and watch it go by."

 

With each passing save, Gregg grows a little more comfortable. At home he comes out to the hard-rocking strains of Stay Away by Godsmack, although you'll never see him do anything more demonstrative than the occasional fist pump at game's end.

 

Former Angels teammate John Lackey called the other day to tell Gregg to keep it up.

 

"You have to be in the right place to get an opportunity," Gregg says, "and you have to take advantage of it and make the most of it."

 

Especially when you had to talk your way into it in the first place.

 

"He relishes the role," Kranitz says. "He wants it. That's a wonderful thing, having a guy that really wants it that bad. It's refreshing."

 

See, it never hurts to ask.

It seems to me like instead of having a really rocking closer's song, KG should have something like that Dido song Eminem redid. It would be cruel and unusual punishment for the other team, as they would be humiliated by the least intimidating closer in the league but one who is very effective.

Thanks for the feedback guys, I'm just a newbie here trying to messure up.

 

Very cool. I would do more quick cuts of swinging strikeouts starting at the crescendo(if you can find them), and move the Kevin Gregg text slightly earlier in the video.

I have all the footage from all his saves(from mlb.tv) and I had it with the quick strikeouts, but I noticed it just didn't meld with the music and got repetetive.

 

Does Gregg have a closers song? That should be it for sure..lol.

 

 

He does, but i'm not sure what the song is, but I've heard it on 93 rock. Me and my friends were dissapointed so we just started screaming out the Superman theme when he came out today.

Thanks for the feedback guys, I'm just a newbie here trying to messure up.

 

Very cool. I would do more quick cuts of swinging strikeouts starting at the crescendo(if you can find them), and move the Kevin Gregg text slightly earlier in the video.

I have all the footage from all his saves(from mlb.tv) and I had it with the quick strikeouts, but I noticed it just didn't meld with the music and got repetetive.

 

Does Gregg have a closers song? That should be it for sure..lol.

 

 

He does, but i'm not sure what the song is, but I've heard it on 93 rock. Me and my friends were dissapointed so we just started screaming out the Superman theme when he came out today.

In the story i posted, it says he comes out to "Stay Away" by Godsmack.

Thanks for the feedback guys, I'm just a newbie here trying to messure up.

 

Very cool. I would do more quick cuts of swinging strikeouts starting at the crescendo(if you can find them), and move the Kevin Gregg text slightly earlier in the video.

I have all the footage from all his saves(from mlb.tv) and I had it with the quick strikeouts, but I noticed it just didn't meld with the music and got repetetive.

 

Does Gregg have a closers song? That should be it for sure..lol.

 

 

He does, but i'm not sure what the song is, but I've heard it on 93 rock. Me and my friends were dissapointed so we just started screaming out the Superman theme when he came out today.

In the story i posted, it says he comes out to "Stay Away" by Godsmack.

Yeah yeah, that was it.

All star worthy?

 

14/14 in SVOs. He's the only person in the majors to have above 7 saves and have converted them all and the only person in the NL to have more than one save and 100% conversion. So yeah, if he had started the season as a closer, I think so.

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