4:24PM
Carney Lansford's nightmare: His batters against his son
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- The relaxed mood
of spring baseball no longer existed. The games players say don't mean
that much suddenly meant too much for Carney Lansford.
His son was pitching against the hitters he coaches.
The requirement for 22-year-old Jared Lansford, the Oakland Athletics
reliever, was to prevent any success by batters of the San Francisco
Giants, whose responsibility is that of 52-year-old Carney Lansford.
Who, as fortune would have it, was a longtime member of the Athletics.
"I could not watch," said Carney.
So, in the bottom of the fifth Thursday at Scottsdale Stadium, Lansford
marched into the Giants clubhouse, hiding from reality as it were.
Intelligently so.
"I've seen him pitch a couple of times before," said Carney of Jared,
"but I couldn't do this one. My hitters against my son. A no-win
situation."
For Jared, who got a pre-game hug from his dad, the situation was strange but not quite serious.
"It was different from any other team I faced," said the young pitcher,
now in his fifth season after having been drafted in 2005 out of St.
Francisco High School in Mountain View, Calif.
"I think it was worse for him than for me."
It was. Much worse. Jared would allow a couple of hits in his inning of
a game the A's won, 4-2, and has not allowed a run in three innings of
exhibition play.
"I didn't have my best stuff," Jared conceded, "but I got them to put the ball in play."
Jared appreciated the experience. Up in the stands, so did Debbie
Lansford, mother and wife, and Jared's younger brother, Josh, who will
report to the Cubs' camp in a few days.
"Oh yeah," agreed Debbie, "it was fun. It doesn't matter who they're
playing, I like to watch. It was unusual, but I enjoyed it very much."
Carney did not.
"I wanted him to pitch well, obviously," said Carney. " just couldn't
watch. My heart was pounding too much. And my stomach was in knots."
After the game, the family came together, as close as possible when
Carney and Jared were on one side of the screen behind home plate and
Debbie and Josh on the other. They exchanged smiles and through the
netting handshakes.
"I talked to my dad maybe a minute before the game," said Jared, as
relaxed as Carney was intense, "teasing him a little bit. I asked him
if he gave away my secrets. It was a lot of fun."
Jared's pitching coach is Curt Young, who found the whole thing
fascinating, especially since he now is in charge of Jared's
improvement and in the late 1980s and early 1990s was Carney's teammate
on the A's.
"Just watching it live," said Young, "it was real exciting for me. Just
knowing Carney and playing with him and knowing his son's out there
facing the hitters he's worked with. I'm sure it was a big day for the
two of them."
At least the one of them.
Carney, American League batting champion with the Boston Red Sox in
1981, later asked some of those batters, Rich Aurilia, Juan Uribe and
Steve Holm, what they thought of the pitcher they faced.
Aurilia and Uribe grounded out. Holm and Eugenio Velez singled, Velez'
ball not leaving the infield. Then Andres Torres grounded out. Five
batters, only one ball to the outfield.
"They said he had pretty good movement on his ball," Carney explained.
"Maybe a little too much movement. But he made the pitches when he had
to.
"I saw him pitch a few times in the Fall League, high school and the
minors. But this is a nightmare for me, for him to pitch against our
team."
The nightmare was brief. The Lansfords, all four of them, are staying
in the same condo. "I'm sure we'll talk about it tonight when we all
get there," said Jared.
The Family Lansford never has been far from baseball. Carney signed a
contract in 1975 after graduating from Wilcox High in Santa Clara and
played through 1992. After coaching with the A's and managing the
Angels farm team at Edmonton, he left the game after the 1999 season,
only to return in 2007.
He's been through a great deal, the 1989 Earthquake Series, trades, injuries. But nothing quite like he went through Thursday.
"But now," said Debbie Lansford, "we all go back to the house and have dinner, and life is good for another couple of days."
She understands. It's only a game.
of spring baseball no longer existed. The games players say don't mean
that much suddenly meant too much for Carney Lansford.
His son was pitching against the hitters he coaches.
The requirement for 22-year-old Jared Lansford, the Oakland Athletics
reliever, was to prevent any success by batters of the San Francisco
Giants, whose responsibility is that of 52-year-old Carney Lansford.
Who, as fortune would have it, was a longtime member of the Athletics.
"I could not watch," said Carney.
So, in the bottom of the fifth Thursday at Scottsdale Stadium, Lansford
marched into the Giants clubhouse, hiding from reality as it were.
Intelligently so.
"I've seen him pitch a couple of times before," said Carney of Jared,
"but I couldn't do this one. My hitters against my son. A no-win
situation."
For Jared, who got a pre-game hug from his dad, the situation was strange but not quite serious.
"It was different from any other team I faced," said the young pitcher,
now in his fifth season after having been drafted in 2005 out of St.
Francisco High School in Mountain View, Calif.
"I think it was worse for him than for me."
It was. Much worse. Jared would allow a couple of hits in his inning of
a game the A's won, 4-2, and has not allowed a run in three innings of
exhibition play.
"I didn't have my best stuff," Jared conceded, "but I got them to put the ball in play."
Jared appreciated the experience. Up in the stands, so did Debbie
Lansford, mother and wife, and Jared's younger brother, Josh, who will
report to the Cubs' camp in a few days.
"Oh yeah," agreed Debbie, "it was fun. It doesn't matter who they're
playing, I like to watch. It was unusual, but I enjoyed it very much."
Carney did not.
"I wanted him to pitch well, obviously," said Carney. " just couldn't
watch. My heart was pounding too much. And my stomach was in knots."
After the game, the family came together, as close as possible when
Carney and Jared were on one side of the screen behind home plate and
Debbie and Josh on the other. They exchanged smiles and through the
netting handshakes.
"I talked to my dad maybe a minute before the game," said Jared, as
relaxed as Carney was intense, "teasing him a little bit. I asked him
if he gave away my secrets. It was a lot of fun."
Jared's pitching coach is Curt Young, who found the whole thing
fascinating, especially since he now is in charge of Jared's
improvement and in the late 1980s and early 1990s was Carney's teammate
on the A's.
"Just watching it live," said Young, "it was real exciting for me. Just
knowing Carney and playing with him and knowing his son's out there
facing the hitters he's worked with. I'm sure it was a big day for the
two of them."
At least the one of them.
Carney, American League batting champion with the Boston Red Sox in
1981, later asked some of those batters, Rich Aurilia, Juan Uribe and
Steve Holm, what they thought of the pitcher they faced.
Aurilia and Uribe grounded out. Holm and Eugenio Velez singled, Velez'
ball not leaving the infield. Then Andres Torres grounded out. Five
batters, only one ball to the outfield.
"They said he had pretty good movement on his ball," Carney explained.
"Maybe a little too much movement. But he made the pitches when he had
to.
"I saw him pitch a few times in the Fall League, high school and the
minors. But this is a nightmare for me, for him to pitch against our
team."
The nightmare was brief. The Lansfords, all four of them, are staying
in the same condo. "I'm sure we'll talk about it tonight when we all
get there," said Jared.
The Family Lansford never has been far from baseball. Carney signed a
contract in 1975 after graduating from Wilcox High in Santa Clara and
played through 1992. After coaching with the A's and managing the
Angels farm team at Edmonton, he left the game after the 1999 season,
only to return in 2007.
He's been through a great deal, the 1989 Earthquake Series, trades, injuries. But nothing quite like he went through Thursday.
"But now," said Debbie Lansford, "we all go back to the house and have dinner, and life is good for another couple of days."
She understands. It's only a game.
Categories: 
baseball
baseball 
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