AJC > Sports > Braves > Blog > Archives > 2006 > July > 19
Wednesday, July 19, 2006
Enjoy the record ride, Dylan’s work
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
It can’t go on forever, but this must be one hell of a ride for all you Braves fans, huh? I mean, come on, it doesn’t get much better than this, not in July.
No team ever will hit anything remotely like this in, say, mid-October, when they face quality pitching every night. But to discount what the Braves have done in the past week, and the past two-three weeks, seems pointless.
I mean, if it were this easy to hit a mixed bag of good, mediocre and just plain lousy pitching, then why haven’t other teams done it for any stretch like this? Why hasn’t a single team since the 1930 Yankees of Ruth and Gehrig scored 10 or more runs in five consecutive games until the Braves did it on this road trip — and against two division-leading teams, to boot.
Now, we’ll reiterate, so a couple of you contrarians or just plain bitter folks who wrote off the Braves a while back and now seem upset that they haven’t died, just so you folks won’t fire off a missive about how this won’t last: We know.
The Braves absolutely will not hit .355 for the rest of July. They won’t hit three or four homers a night and score 10-15 runs. We know, we know, we know.
But the mere fact that they’ve put together this ridiculously strong hitting surge has done something big in the clubhouse. It’s jacked up everyone’s confidence, and this game is so much about confidence and belief, etc.
The Braves still have plenty of concerns, beginning with the back end of the rotation (and the front end, at least the part of the front end that is Tim Hudson). The bullpen is still suspect, the closer situation still totally unresolved.
But they’re winning anyway. Seven in a row, 11 of 13, and 15 of 21 since their 3-20 skid and 10-game losing streak. They’re winning and they’re hitting as if this were the Blake Street Bombers of the pre-humidor era at Coors Field. Remember that time, seems so long ago… where have you gone, Dante Bichette?
Only this time, there’s no thin air or dry baseballs to explain it. There really is no explanation for having this many guys hot at one time, although, as I’ve said, facing some suspect pitching does contribute (Jason Marquis may have 11 wins, but he’s not that good).
Fact of the matter is, the Braves have a lot of weapons in their lineup, as Tony La Russa put it after last night’s game. They have a lot of talented hitters, from the Joneses to McCann and Renteria and early season whipping boy Adam LaRoche, who didn’t let the boos and mountains of criticism affect him.
LaRoche, by the way? He’s hitting .309 with 12 homers and 37 RBIs in his past 57 games, and .370 with six homers and 14 RBIs in his past 18 games, and if you’re still holding onto anger over the boneheaded play he made in May, well, his teammates and others have long since gotten past it.
But he’s not even their hottest hitter, just one of a bunch that’s sizzling. It’s absurd how many they’ve got killing the ball at once. The Braves have FIVE of the top seven National League RBI men over the past 10 days: Andruw with 15, McCann with 14, the ascendant Wilson Betemit with 10, and Chipper and LaRoche with nine.
The Braves have FOUR of the top five NL home-run hitters over the past 10 days: Andruw with five, McCann, LaRoche and Chipper with four apiece.
They’re hitting .355 with 36 homers, 127 runs, a .418 OBP and .635 slugging percentage in 14 July games, leading the majors by wide gulfs in each of those categories (at 11-3, they also have the best record in the league).
It won’t last, but it’s something to behold while it’s happening.
Oh, by the way, the wild-card lead is down to four games. No way the Braves can win it, right?
As promised, today’s installment of excellence in songwriting, an admittedly random ode to Braves hitting that will continue as long as they keep scoring 10 or more runs a game (if they can get 7-8 tonight against Carpenter and the Cards bullpen, that’ll be good enough for me to keep this thing going; we make exceptions for recent Cy Young winners):
POSITIVELY 4th STREET, by Bob Dylan
You got a lotta nerve
To say you are my friend
When I was down
You just stood there grinning
You got a lotta nerve
To say you got a helping hand to lend
You just want to be on
The side that’s winning
You say I let you down
You know it’s not like that
If you’re so hurt
Why then don’t you show it
You say you lost your faith
But that’s not where it’s at
You had no faith to lose
And you know it
I know the reason
That you talk behind my back
I used to be among the crowd
You’re in with
Do you take me for such a fool
To think I’d make contact
With the one who tries to hide
What he don’t know to begin with
You see me on the street
You always act surprised
You say, “How are you?” “Good luck”
But you don’t mean it
When you know as well as me
You’d rather see me paralyzed
Why don’t you just come out once
And scream it
No, I do not feel that good
When I see the heartbreaks you embrace
If I was a master thief
Perhaps I’d rob them
And now I know you’re dissatisfied
With your position and your place
Don’t you understand
It’s not my problem
I wish that for just one time
You could stand inside my shoes
And just for that one moment
I could be you
Yes, I wish that for just one time
You could stand inside my shoes
You’d know what a drag it is
To see you
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