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Snakes Rattle and Roll

They made it into October. Can José Valverde and the Baby Backs close the deal?

A A A Comments By Megan Irwin Thursday, Oct 4 2007

Something's changed. Valverde was always a good player; now he's a great one. Solid, consistent, and increasingly famous.

He says he just learned to hone his two best pitches: his fastball (which clocked in at 95 miles per hour on Friday and has hit 102 miles per hour in the past) and his split-finger fastball.

AP/Wide World

JosÃ© "Papa Grande" Valverde

AP/Wide World

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"When I go down [to the minor leagues], I say I have to work hard. But you know what? This is not my league. I have to play for the Diamondbacks, not the Tucson Sidewinders," he says of the humiliation of being demoted last year. "I say, 'I'll be up in two or three weeks.' I work on my split-finger. One day, I throw three innings — I don't remember the last time I throw three innings. They say, 'You go up again.'

"Thank you. Now I have my job, the closer."

But his job relies on more than just physical strength. The closer normally pitches only the last inning, but it may be the most mentally taxing job in baseball.

"Everyone is going to blow saves, and there's no one job where it's as apparent that you lost the game. A closer has to deal with that," says Melvin. "I think last year he grew up and became a lot tougher. He's able to get through the blown saves and be ready the next day. He's got a tougher skin."

Maybe it really was Valverde's daughter's birth — and the struggles that come with being a new father — that got his mental game on point.

"I have my baby and my wife. My life has changed between this year and last year. I enjoy more the game. In the last year, [if I lost] I'm pissed, I go to my house. Now I go in my house and I'm pissed, and then my daughter laughs. It makes it okay," he says. "Somebody is laughing for me all the time. My daughter, you guys, my friends in Phoenix. When I go out for the game in Phoenix, I see everybody laugh. They say, 'Papa Grande, let's go!'"

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