AJC > Sports > Braves > Blog > Archives > 2007 > April > 22 > Entry
DEL.ICIO.USBraves, Mets will separate from field
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Go figure this: Here we are at Shea Stadium in Queens, masses of people coming over the walkover bridge from the 7 Train, and Edwin McCann is standing behind home plate playing an acoustic mini-concert.
Yes, Greenville, S.C.’s own McCain. He just sang “I Could Not Ask for More” and got a good round of applause from the folks already in the stadium, most of them still on their way to their seats.
Anyway, big game today, Smoltz vs. Glavine, Round II (not counting their 2005 matchup). Just did an interview on Baseball Tonight where they wanted to know how the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry plays in Atlanta, the idea being this Braves-Mets series is big but getting overshadowed by Yanks-Red Sox.
What I wanted to tell them was, yeah, it’s overshadowed because you guys at ESPN pump up the Yanks-Red Sox rivalry beyond all reasonable proportion and ram it down everyone’s throats until they submit and buy into the notion that it’s the biggest rivaly in the history of the planet.
But I settled for telling Karl that I thought Yanks-Red Sox was overdone and that in Atlanta, Carolina-Duke is bigger (I would’ve said Georgia-Georgia Tech and Auburn-Alabama were bigger, but didn’t want them thinking I’m some myopic regional rube who can’t put things in perspective on a national basis _ but of course, we know those two rivalries are indeed bigger, don’t we?)
Anyway, today’s game: Big because of Smoltz-Glavine, but more so because the Braves would obviously much prefer to leave New York leading the division by a half-game than trailing the Mets by 1-1/2, since the Braves won’t see them again until late May and won’t be back at Shea until August.
Talking to venerable NY Times scribe Murray Chass before the game, and we were in agreement that these two teams seem a good bet to both make the playoffs. And I was telling him how I’ve changed my view of that since the start of spring training, when I doubted that the wild card would come from the NL East.
At that time I thought the East teams would beat each other up too much during the season to allow any of them to win enough games to win the wild card. But at that time I thought there would be at least three and probably four very competitive teams in the division.
Now, I believe the Braves and Mets are clearly the best teams and will separate themselves from the others. The Phillies are the Phillies _ they can’t get out of their own way, year after year after year, no matter what moves they make.
And the Marlins, as I suspected and wrote, were too young to expect all those first- or second-year guys who met or surpassed all expectations last season to stay healthy this year and continue to progress. Some were going to get hurt, some were going to take a step back.
They had no key injuries last year, and have already had several this season. Now Miguel Cabrera has a strained side, and without him their offense is lackluster. Braves really need to win at least two of three in that series, though they’ll have to beat either Dontrelle Willis on Monday or Scott Olsen on Wednesday to do that. (Rick Vanden Hurk is pitching the middle game).
BOOM _ first pitch Kelly Johnson homer: As I was writing that last sentence Kelly Johnson just hit Tom Glavine’s first pitch over the right-field fence. Wow. 1-0.
Now they’re booing Chipper Jones like crazy. A few minutes ago they cheered like crazy when Tom Glavine was introduced. They love the guy here now, apparently more than willing to look past his fall flirtation with the Braves _ of course, if he wasn’t 3-1 with a 2.70 ERA before today, they’d probably not be quite so willing to forgive.
Alright, I’m gonna keep this blog short. Just wanted to get something new posted so you guys would have a clean slate to fire away during the game.
Lance Cormier makes his first rehab start today for Rome, at home vs. Columbus. That game’s at 2 p.m. I’ll let you know when I hear anything.
He’s tentatively scheduled to make three rehab starts, but that could change depending on how he feels, of course.
One other thing, on Andruw: Maybe he decided that his first two-hit game was reason enough to skip batting practice, because he didn’t take it today. Neither did Chipper, but Chipper’s hitting a bit better, if I’m not mistaken.
Hey, B.P. usually isn’t mandatory for these Sunday day games (it was optional today), and Bobby lets his veteran stars have a lot of leeway anyway.
I’d just think that with Andruw struggling as much as he has this season, and with that batting stance looking so particularly awkward right now _ I mean, can a hitter possibly get his legs spread out wider in a stance? _ you’d think Andruw would want to get in their and try to work it out.
But hey, what do I know? He’s hit 92 homers the past couple of seasons, right?
But between you and me, I think all the home runs have had almost a negative effect on Andruw’s overall offense. By that I mean, there’s no reason that he can’t be a more complete hitter, who hits for closer to a .300 average than a .260 average, and who can hit .300 or better with runners in scoring position instead of what he’s done in those situations in recent years.
But again, he’s done alright for himself and he’s going to break the bank as a free agent and probably hit 500-600 homers in his career. And I guess that and 15-16 Gold Gloves and a deserved rep as the best CF in the game ain’t too bad, right?
I guess. But you just wonder just how much there is there that could still be tapped.
“CARL PERKINS’ CADILLAC” by Mike Cooley (Drive-By Truckers)
Life ain’t nothing but a blending up of all the ups and downs
Dammit Elvis, don’t you know/You made your Mama so proud
Before you ever made that record, before there ever was a Sun
Before you ever lost that Cadillac that Carl Perkins won
Mr. Phillips found old Johnny Cash and he was high
High before he ever took those pills and he’s still too proud to die
Mr. Phillips never said anything behind nobody’s back
Like “Dammit Elvis, don’t he know, he ain’t no Johnny Cash”
If Mr. Phillips was the only man that Jerry Lee still would call sir
Then I guess Mr. Phillips did all of y’all about as good as you deserve
He did just what he said he was gonna do/ and the money came in sacks
New contracts and Carl Perkins’ Cadillac
I got friends in Nashville, or at least they’re folks I know
Nashville is where you go to see if what they said is so
Carl drove his brand new Cadillac to Nashville/ and he went downtown
This time they promised him a Grammy/He turned his Cadillac around
Mr. Phillips never blew enough hot air/ to need a little gold plated paperweight
He promised him a Cadillac and put the wind in Carl’s face
He did just what he said he was gonna do and the money came in sacks
New contracts and Carl Perkins’ Cadillac
Dammit Elvis, I swear son I think it’s time you came around
Making money you can’t spend/ ain’t what being dead’s about
You gave me all but one good reason not to do all the things you did
Now Cadillacs are fiberglass, if you were me you’d call it quits
Services »
Comments
By Greg in TN
April 22, 2007 1:38 PM | Link to this
Afternoon denizens…
(Reposting from the bottom of the last blog. Am I first? Not likely, but just maybe…)
Hey, how about that Kelly Johnson jumping on a first pitch for a homer. Or as No Chop would have said:
Kelly Johnson……nice.
The Aybar situation is just getting more and more bizarre. It’s gotten well past the point of rehabilitating him enough to get him back in the lineup, now I just hope the kid gets his head back on straight and can go on with life.
After thinking about Oliver Perez’s day yesterday, I’m convinced that some guys just have our number. I can live with that. There are others out there that always seem to pitch/hit against us well and even better than most other teams in the league (one name most notably on my mind when I think of this is Craig Counsell, he always killed us).
There were some mets fans that were griping about their interleague schedule in terms of having to play the Yankees. After the first two games in Fenway and seeing how Boston has handled them, I think that argument is looking pretty silly right now seeing that we are going up against the Sox later in the summer.
So far so good in Gotham today.
By N8.....be aware: Armageddon is coming!
April 22, 2007 1:48 PM | Link to this
*I’m posting this again (it was on the other blog). Because I’m leaving for the afternoon, and want to come back to all of your thoughts on this subject.
Enjoy the game everybody.
WOW!
For the last few months I’ve been saying that McCann, due to his better average w/RISP, would make a MUCH BETTER clean-up hitter than Andruw.
But I was called everything from and idiot, to an Andruw basher, to a guy who knows NOTHING about the game.
I wonder how many of you will be saying the same thing about Joe Simpson, since he was just making the same case for McCann as I have.
WORST CASE SCENARIO with Andruw in the 5 hole, is that when he does ACTUALLY make contact on a mistake for a homer, the odds of somebody (McCann) being on base, instead of it being a solo HR, would go up.
MARK IT DOWN, if McCann starts hitting in the cleanup spot, our rallies will be stretched out longer, and there will be more of them.
Let’s just hope that Bobby uses some common sense, instead of “going with what’s worked for the last decade”.
Andruw had to EARN getting put in the cleanup roll, earlier in his career, with guys like the Big Cat, and Sheffield ahead of him. Why is it just a given to keep him there now, with his struggles, at the expense of the team? Hell, if Bobby is THAT intent on him being there in the lineup, drop him to the 5-hole until he heats up and then put him back.
But, IMO, our best hitters should get the MOST AB’s in every game, and right now, Andruw is NOT one of the best hitters in the lineup.
Actually, after Chipper’s last AB, with RISP, maybe McCann should be in the 3-Hole. LOL!
I’m actually only HALF joking about that. I don’t give a rat’s a$$ about the “speed” (alleged) issue. The reason, I say alleged, is because of Chipper’s feet, is he REALLY that much faster than McCann?
L8R everybody.
By KC
April 22, 2007 1:51 PM | Link to this
Boy that lousy bum Kelly Johnson! Where are all those people who said he can’t hit and we should cut him?
By N8.....be aware: Armageddon is coming!
April 22, 2007 1:51 PM | Link to this
YIKES!
Can’t give the Mets extra outs.
Uh OH!
By ElbravoX
April 22, 2007 1:53 PM | Link to this
when do the sox-Yankees play? What’s the O/U number of HR for AJ? 32 is a safe bet.
By Greg in TN
April 22, 2007 2:03 PM | Link to this
Hey… Andruw went opposite field and didn’t try to pull the ball and got a double.
Intriguing…
Here’s hoping he builds on that at bat.
By brent a.
April 22, 2007 2:06 PM | Link to this
Okay, so now Joe Simpson, after several years with the Braves, finally notices that the Braves are not good at moving runners over.
But, will he ever question Bobby Cox in this?
Hasn’t this been the Braves MO for the entire Cox era?
I wish we could see a stat of how many times the Braves lead off the inning with a double, and the inning ends with that man still standing on 2nd.
By chipdip
April 22, 2007 2:08 PM | Link to this
FUNDAMENTALS!!!!!!!!???????????//
By MEB
April 22, 2007 2:10 PM | Link to this
Does anybody else think the camera angle is more severe here at Shea vs Turner Field? The camera is way over in left center making it impossible to tell where the strike zone is.
Speaking of strike zone Matt Diaz just struck out and the Braves again fail to advance a runner at second with no outs. GEEEEZZZZ!!!!
By David O'Brien
April 22, 2007 2:10 PM | Link to this
N8, funny you said that about McCann. I was just talking to someone here in the pressbox about batting cleanup if/when Andruw leaves. Of course, I can’t see Bobby doing that before Andruw leaves. That won’t happen. Would it work? Yes, as you pointed out, McCann is great with RISP and particularly with RISP and two outs. Andruw is not.
But will it happen? No, I don’t think so.
By the way, it’d be a great day for Andruw to break out: He owns Glavine. Before today he was 14-for-37 (.378) with four homers and eight walks against his old ‘mate….
As I typed that Diaz struck out to end fourth, and Braves failed to even advance Andruw past second after he led off with a double.
Diaz is 0-for-14 in his past four starts, including this one (he was 0-for-4 in each of the past three).
By MBATL
April 22, 2007 2:12 PM | Link to this
DOB, I think it’s early to discount the Phillies… as usual, they’ve dug a hole and will be hard-pressed to win the division, but I still think they’re a pretty good team and will win some games against us and the Mets. And the Marlins, to a lesser extent; it almost looks like a replay of last year, except that hopefully the Braves will stay in the race.
N8, on moving McCann to cleanup: the only reason I can see to do it is to “teach AJ a lesson.” Maybe that’s appropriate, but that kind of move can have unintended consequences.
AJ has played 2 more games than McCann (who’s always gonna get a day off every week, at least). But, McCann has just 1 less AB with men in scoring position, and 5 less AB’s with runners on. Again, in 2 less games… So I don’t think it has much “statistical” value.
I’m not a big AJ supporter, btw. I agree that his approach to hitting has grown lazy.
But the other point I would make - and it’s just my opinion - I’d just as soon not put any more pressure on my catcher than necessary. Let him hit 5th/6th, and aside from that, worry about handling pitchers and anchoring the defense.
Just my opinion on it… not to say it’s a bad idea.
By Coach
April 22, 2007 2:13 PM | Link to this
Fundamentals ? Exactly. Everybody in the ball park knew Cox would not have McCann bunting with Andruw on second and nobody out. Typical Bobby Cox mindset , playing for the big inning.
By Greg in TN
April 22, 2007 2:14 PM | Link to this
Wasted opportunity in the top of the 4th. Won’t jump on McCann, but a sac fly there would have gotten a run home assuming the same outcome from Frenchy’s at bat.
Nice job by Craig Wilson and John Smoltz on Carlos Delgado’s smash…
By Greg in TN
April 22, 2007 2:15 PM | Link to this
ElbravoX,
Sox/Yankees are on ESPN tonight at 8:05 PM eastern.
By Willy Wally
April 22, 2007 2:22 PM | Link to this
Moving Druw out of the cleanup spot and inserting McCann might work wonders like trading Abreu for some reason seemed to spark the Phillies offense last year which does not seem to make sense because Abreu is a good OBP and OPS guy. I don’t know. If KJ and Chipper are going to .400+ OBP guys, it seems like a waste to have Druw do so poorly compared to McCann with RISP and runners on in general
By Coach
April 22, 2007 2:27 PM | Link to this
Tie ball game , Thank you Bobby Cox.
By chipdip
April 22, 2007 2:28 PM | Link to this
MATZO BALL FOR A HOMERUN FOR GREEN!
By Greg in TN
April 22, 2007 2:28 PM | Link to this
Wow, amazing play by Smoltz on Glavine’s roller.
By MBATL
April 22, 2007 2:29 PM | Link to this
Smoltz and Glavine will talk about that play on Glavine’s dribbler for the next 40 years. Priceless! What a great game!
By brent a.
April 22, 2007 2:29 PM | Link to this
I got perturbed listening to Colin Cowherd (which is typical) abut a month ago, when he was talking about Yankees-Red Sox.
He says, that we, the fans, don’t care about anything else (other than our single favorite team), and that is why ESPN (& Fox) force-feed us the Yankees. He says that Baseball is “boring”, and that with the Yankees, you can see a good hitter basically every batter, so it is therefore, “less boring.”
His argument is that you won’t sit around to watch Pujols bat, etc.
The reality is, Cowherd may be right, but I think that this is something that has developed over time.
I traditionally have loved watching a good pitching performance (and you don’t see many of those when watching the Yankees), but over the last 20 years, we have been taught that the homerun is all that is worth watching in baseball, and you can get more of those watching the Yankees-Red Sox than anywher else apparently.
My personal opinion isn’t really all that important on this matter, but I thought I’d just throw out Cowherd’s comments for general consumption.
GREAT PLAY by Smoltz!
By David O'Brien
April 22, 2007 2:31 PM | Link to this
Unbelievable how Green keeps killing the Braves, even when in career decline. He’s got three homers this year, all against the Braves in 22 at-bats. That’s 24 homers for him in 235 career at-bats vs. Braves…
WOW _ what a play by Smoltz to field that Glavine nubber and throw him out while his momentum carried Smoltz across the third-base line. Man, what a play.
By ElbravoX
April 22, 2007 2:31 PM | Link to this
Thank you Greg. Now I can plan my day around that sacred event. Shucks, freaking Green. Don’t feel good about todays happenings. Oh my, Smoltz is awsome!
By TheSouthernJackAss
April 22, 2007 2:33 PM | Link to this
Many of the Braves appear to be unable to bend over far enough to touch the ground, or reach grounders…and I wonder why Smoltz didn’t let Chipper handle that grounder by Glavine?…
By Coach
April 22, 2007 2:35 PM | Link to this
1-1 going to the sixth , we got ourselves a barn burner.
By Steve-O
April 22, 2007 2:35 PM | Link to this
Smoltz with the fire on the outside corner to pass Cy Young on the All-Time K’s list…..Beautiful!
By fastasballs
April 22, 2007 2:35 PM | Link to this
Spectacular play by Smoltz! One of the best plays made by a pitcher I have ever seen.
By US Mule
April 22, 2007 2:42 PM | Link to this
Appears Andruw is less spread out in his stance….
By David O'Brien
April 22, 2007 2:44 PM | Link to this
THIS just in from ROME (ga, tha is): Cormier had very interesting first inning. He allowed two hits and a run and struck out FOUR (no word whether it was a wild pitch or what that forced the extra out)
By the way, Smoltz just moved past some guy named Cy Young for 18th on career strikeout list with that backward K of Beltran with two on in the fifth.
On Friday, Chipper moved passed Joe DiMaggio into 63rd on all-time homer list with 362.
By ElbravoX
April 22, 2007 2:44 PM | Link to this
YESSSSSSSSSSSSS
By Greg in TN
April 22, 2007 2:45 PM | Link to this
AJ………….nice B-Mac……….nice Francoeur……nice
Maybe this is what gets the offense rolling.
By Chop Chop
April 22, 2007 2:46 PM | Link to this
The reality is that Colin Cowherd is a punk. Hahahaha! Anyway, the reason that Yankees-Red Sox gets more play at ESPN than anything else is because ESPN is in Bristol, Connecticut. They’re right in the middle of the Boston/NY media blitz that occurs whenever the two teams meet. They can’t help but be sucked in by it. It may annoy the rest of the country, but as long as they keep the viewers in the Northeast happy, that’s all that matters.
DOB, Carolina-Duke? I’d go with Georgia-Florida, Florida-Tennessee, etc. After all, college football is the God of sports in the South, right?
Good job, Frenchy. Joe Simpson’s giving you some credit. Speaking of which, I like the new, more critical version of Joe. He’s telling it like it is about the Braves this year. As a fan who tires of homer announcers who gloss over the flaws of the home team, it’s refreshing to hear a guy give praise when it’s due and criticism when it’s warranted. Keep it up, Joe.
By Coach
April 22, 2007 2:47 PM | Link to this
Hey , clutch showed up and kong stayed in the dugout. 3-1 Braves and it looks like are going to take the series 2-1.
By Tomahawkin' Again
April 22, 2007 2:47 PM | Link to this
ALL RIGHT JEFF! ‘Druw’s 2-3 (inc. a double to right center) & Frenchy goes with a pitch to right to drive in 2. Wow, that Terry Pendleton is one heck a hitting coach! Ha Ha
By MBATL
April 22, 2007 2:52 PM | Link to this
Speaking of which, I like the new, more critical version of Joe. He’s telling it like it is about the Braves this year.
ChopChop, great point. Hadn’t really thought about it, but you’re right.
By kevin
April 22, 2007 2:54 PM | Link to this
Way to go Bobby! Give that Ump a piece of your mind!
By TheSouthernJackAss
April 22, 2007 2:55 PM | Link to this
Somebody needs to have those 2 A$sClown announcers breathe into brown paper bags before they hyperventilate and die!…especially the one with the changing voice that sounds like he’s entering puberty…they get as excited as a couple little schoolgirls who just discovered fresh brownies in their lunch boxes!…
By TheSouthernJackAss
April 22, 2007 2:57 PM | Link to this
Well maybe the Braves could trade for this Cy Young fellow…
By Glass Half Full (GHF)
April 22, 2007 2:59 PM | Link to this
Anyone else think we’ll see Andruw taking fewer risks in the outfield this year (i.e., diving for balls)?
By kevin
April 22, 2007 3:01 PM | Link to this
AARGH!
By NO CHOP ZONE
April 22, 2007 3:03 PM | Link to this
HELL YEAH BABY!!!……NICE
By Coach
April 22, 2007 3:06 PM | Link to this
Apologies to Cox , Smoltz just lost this game. and I’m beginning to believe even more , that the Braves are playing for the wild card.
By Víctor
April 22, 2007 3:08 PM | Link to this
What was that??? why they leave Smoltz so much time… come on!!! what about our amazing bullpen??? I can not believe it… I am so pist off!! why they allowed him to pitch to Reyes??? they should bring a fresh arm… come on!!!
By Greg in TN
April 22, 2007 3:08 PM | Link to this
LOL
Why am I surprised that loosened up the jaws of at least one mets fan. Always here posting when the Mets have the advantage and no where to be found when the Braves are on top.
By ElbravoX
April 22, 2007 3:10 PM | Link to this
AJ is not preventing runs, that’s just not good for my liver. Back to work guys!
By Ric
April 22, 2007 3:12 PM | Link to this
Damn, take your eyes off them and these freaking Mets jump on you just like that.
By Chris
April 22, 2007 3:12 PM | Link to this
I’m at work, so I have to keep up with the game on ESPN gametracker. But I’m just guessing, Smoltz was left in because he had only given up 1 run through 5+ innings, had a 2-run lead, and we probably didn’t have people getting ready in the bullpen.
Am I right?
P.S., Anyone know how close Cox is to the all-time ejection record after getting tossed today?
By eric the elder
April 22, 2007 3:12 PM | Link to this
The inning was set up by 2 bloops and a walk. Sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good, although this is an awfully good Mets team.
By Chop Chop
April 22, 2007 3:16 PM | Link to this
By Coach
April 22, 2007 2:47 PM | Link to this
Hey , clutch showed up and kong stayed in the dugout. 3-1 Braves and it looks like are going to take the series 2-1.
By Coach
April 22, 2007 3:06 PM | Link to this
Apologies to Cox , Smoltz just lost this game. and I’m beginning to believe even more , that the Braves are playing for the wild card.
Mother Superior, jump the gun.
On second thought, maybe Cowherd is right.
By NO CHOP ZONE
April 22, 2007 3:16 PM | Link to this
HA HA HA HA……see dick run, see jane run, see greg cry.
By Greg in TN
April 22, 2007 3:20 PM | Link to this
Renteria…… VERY NICE.
Bye for now No Chop… LOL
By Greg in TN
April 22, 2007 3:21 PM | Link to this
Oh no, no crying now No Chop! Wipe the tears from your eyes.
By Mets Stink
April 22, 2007 3:21 PM | Link to this
Edgar! Edgar! Edgar!
By MBATL
April 22, 2007 3:22 PM | Link to this
Will save the “woohoos” for later on Edgar’s HR… MetroMan, No Chop - didn’t Willie make a mistake by bringing in the lefty to face KJ?
KJ hits lefties better than righties. So he gets on, Willie doesn’t want to make another change, and has a lefty facing Edgar. Tie Game. Bobby’s not the only one who’s choices don’t always work out.
oh, WooHoo!
By Tomahawkin' Again
April 22, 2007 3:30 PM | Link to this
Take that, you stinkin’ New Yorkers! Can we just fastforward the season right now to the NLCS for that Braves-Mets series? What a game!
By eric the elder
April 22, 2007 3:33 PM | Link to this
This is when we were supposed to go with Gonzo (7), Soriano (8), and Wickman (9). Gonzo is spoiling the formula.
By TennesseePaul
April 22, 2007 3:40 PM | Link to this
This is funny. I can tell what happens in the game by just reading the blogger names. Mets score, No Chop wakes up and posts.
—AWESOME VALENTINE!!—
If no met fan posts, the Braves are doing good.
Really bummed Smoltz got tagged today, but we should pull this out.
GO BRAVES
By TennesseePaul
April 22, 2007 3:40 PM | Link to this
Diaz, as good as a hitter as he is, just down right stinks when there is a runner on.
By TennesseePaul
April 22, 2007 3:42 PM | Link to this
Something about the way Wilson looks reminds me of Lane Staley.
Way to take one for the team.
By TennesseePaul
April 22, 2007 3:44 PM | Link to this
Ryan just can’t catch a break.
By Najeh Davenpoop
April 22, 2007 3:44 PM | Link to this
Couldn’t agree more with DOB on his assessment of Andruw. If Andruw would use the whole field more, he may only hit 30 home runs instead of 40 or 50, but his average and his value to the offense would go up exponentially.
By A.J.
April 22, 2007 3:45 PM | Link to this
Interesting to see Tyler here. I guess we are not quite ready to throw Gonzalez into the fire again, that or he’s just not ready.
Great job though.
I just heard Chip and Joe talk about how great a job Minaya has done for the Mets. I will grant that he is probably a great guy and that it’s never easy to be a major league general manager (just ask Steve Phillips) but I really don’t think what he has done is that special compared to any other GM who guides a team to a Division Championship.
I mean the best thing he’s done is not trade Reyes, Wright and Beltran, and noone would have done that anyway (except maybe Steve Phillips, How’d that Victor Zambrano guy work out for you? Kazmir probably isn’t THAT good. But enough piling on.)
He has not really found much bullpen help. He didn’t track down much pitching help. The thing I most credit him for is for not spending a ton to grab a mediocre pitcher.
He is doing a good job, and it’s never fun to come into a division where a team has won 14 straight, but still most of the work was done when he got here.
And we still have yet to see if he’ll get something for Milledge or any of those guys or make him a star.
Obviously he’s a good GM, but not really great yet.
(In a pathetic related note, it’s bad when we’re happy that Langerhans strikes out. Hey at least he didn’t GIDP.)
By TennesseePaul
April 22, 2007 3:45 PM | Link to this
WAY TO GO KELLY!!!!!
YEAH!!!
GO BRAVES!!
By eric the elder
April 22, 2007 3:46 PM | Link to this
Oh …… My …… Gawd!!!
By A.J.
April 22, 2007 3:46 PM | Link to this
It’s just really sad that we don’t have a real second baseman like Prado.
HAHAHAHAHAHA!
By Greg in TN
April 22, 2007 3:46 PM | Link to this
KJ……… VERY VERY NICE
Great job of these guys bouncing back in the late innings off of the mets pen.
By ssiscribe
April 22, 2007 3:46 PM | Link to this
BOOM, AGAIN! Three-run jack by Kelly Johnson. 9-6 Bravos.
—30—
By ppaddy123
April 22, 2007 3:46 PM | Link to this
Anyone wanna’ get rid of Kelly Johnson now?
By ElbravoX
April 22, 2007 3:46 PM | Link to this
YEAH BABYYYYYY
By Tomahawkin' Again
April 22, 2007 3:46 PM | Link to this
Kelly is now my favorite Brave of all time. HOLY COW!
By chipdip
April 22, 2007 3:47 PM | Link to this
kj is a god!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
By jd
April 22, 2007 3:47 PM | Link to this
i told you guys kelley couldn’t hit! now i know why i would have never made it as a major league scout….wow!!!
By Chuck
April 22, 2007 3:48 PM | Link to this
So, yeah, we should bench Kelly Johnson…. [/sarcasm]
What a great hit. I’ll happily admit that I’m on the KJ bandwagon.
By MBATL
April 22, 2007 3:48 PM | Link to this
Man, wish we’d quit hitting 3 run homers, and bunt more.
By chopper
April 22, 2007 3:49 PM | Link to this
WAY TO GO KELLY!
By Filanthrope
April 22, 2007 3:50 PM | Link to this
Is there even the slighest doubt that, among all major league pitchers, John Smoltz is the biggest whiner?
He has some little mini show of displeasure over every pitch that doesn’t go his way.
I hope the Smoltz apologists remember the games his hitters save him from a loss. Today, marked the second time that has happened this year. He should be 2-3.
But just wait…the minute the bullpen blows a game…there will be another outcry of “Poor John” from the announcers, writers and fans.
By fastasballs
April 22, 2007 3:51 PM | Link to this
KJ is the Sh&t!!! Wow!!! Ah the sounds of silence in Shea is great, isn’t it?
By Ippississim
April 22, 2007 3:53 PM | Link to this
I have only one comment at this point: Anybody still up for sending down Johnson and calling up Prado? That kid is on fire.
By **VENEZUELA**
April 22, 2007 3:54 PM | Link to this
RYan langershant is PATHETIC !!!!! i mean since he came up to the majors u could tell he had a horrible approach in the plate…im sorry but this guy has nothing to do with the braves, we have good OF in AAA,
this is absurd !!! he is no decent MLB player…defense is not enough im sorry ..G.Blanco is an incredible defensive player so there is no excuse..
SEND HIM DOWN !!
DOB is there any chance JS will waiver him
By woogidy
April 22, 2007 3:54 PM | Link to this
I miss Marcus Giles
By Willy Wally
April 22, 2007 3:54 PM | Link to this
i believe we found ourselves an all star second baseman.
By TheSouthernJackAss
April 22, 2007 3:55 PM | Link to this
Better not relax your sphincters just yet!…
By US Mule
April 22, 2007 4:01 PM | Link to this
Well, the Braves bullpen will keep you interested in the game…
By MBATL
April 22, 2007 4:01 PM | Link to this
sja, ain’t it the truth.
By fastasballs
April 22, 2007 4:05 PM | Link to this
Nice job by Soriano. Almost time for Whoop A&$ Wickman!
By eric the elder
April 22, 2007 4:05 PM | Link to this
If Soriano doesn’t start getting the ball down, he is going to become a 2-pack reliever. Glad he got out of the inning, but he needs to get nasty.
By Tomahawkin' Again
April 22, 2007 4:05 PM | Link to this
Do you think we have earned maybe a minute to 90 seconds on the Yanks-Red Sox pre-game show tonight on ESPN, um, I mean Baseball Tonight? Keep sticking it to the Mets, the biased East Coast media, ESPN, etc. all year long! I LOVE THIS TEAM! GO BRAVES!!
By **VENEZUELA**
April 22, 2007 4:06 PM | Link to this
DOB DOB
have you heard anything of playing Kelly on LF, and using prado (who is the omar vizquel of 2B believe me!!! i have seen him for years here in maracay, venezuela) but cant hit much i can also see that, but as an 8th hitter will be good…
please ask JS about it…the team will be much better !!! I know JS likes about 2 months to start making decisions
By Ken Stallings
April 22, 2007 4:08 PM | Link to this
I watched the telephone interview you did with ESPN this morning, and I have to chuckle with your sidebar explanation! Very nice!
As far as Andruw is concerned, I agree with you. He’s a superstar, but there’s more there you feel that could come out if the man wasn’t so stubborn in his approach at the plate.
When a noteable hitting instructor and proven major league hitter like Terry Pendleton keeps calling you “knucklehead,” then you know there’s something to your lamentations.
Put it this way, combine the talent of Andruw with the hitting discipline of Brian McCann, and you might have a hitter who would re-write the MLB hitting records!
By Ippississim
April 22, 2007 4:09 PM | Link to this
Andruw gets on base by a toe.
By MEB
April 22, 2007 4:10 PM | Link to this
Have to agree that David Wright’s shoes are butt ugly! But, hey I’d like to have the shoe deal he’s got. The only deal on shoes I’ve ever got was at Shoe Carnival.
Please don’t let McCann’s hand/knuckle be hurt bad. PLLLEEEEEASSE!!!
By Ippississim
April 22, 2007 4:11 PM | Link to this
Woogidy The only way you could miss Marcus Giles at this point is if you’re a Mets fan. Kelly Johnson is “rockin’ the suburbs” right now.
By Willy Wally
April 22, 2007 4:13 PM | Link to this
Is Smoltz just a six inning pitcher at this point in his career? That’s not good.
James is just a 5 inning or so pitcher because he gets to 100 pitches in th 5th or early sixth.
All you want from Redman is to give you five innings and get him out of there before the opponents realize that he is horrendous.
Hudson notoriously wilts in the sixth since he has been here.
The best you can hope for from Davies is a solid six.
You are talking about having a very tired and abused pen by the end of the year.
You can build up the pen all you want but if the starters don’t get you seven innings, all the improvements in the pen will be for naught as the season goes on.
By fastasballs
April 22, 2007 4:15 PM | Link to this
A few more would be nice. Too bad the bench is bare. Maybe they will hit Woddward as well.
By fastasballs
April 22, 2007 4:18 PM | Link to this
Geez, how many runners have the Braves left on today? For the series?
By KC
April 22, 2007 4:20 PM | Link to this
Kelly Johnson sucks!!!! Send him down!!!
=)
By TennesseePaul
April 22, 2007 4:25 PM | Link to this
Wicky may not have an out pitch, but Beltran sure has an issue with those 9th inning breaking balls.
By KC
April 22, 2007 4:25 PM | Link to this
remember that double KJ hit off the top of the center field wall last week? If that ball was hit literally an inch higher, Johnson would be tied with Chipper for the team lead in homers, and 2nd in the NL in that category.
And I’ll bet you KJ hits at least .280-290 every year… and quite possibly .300 or better.
We might really have something here with this kid.
By KC
April 22, 2007 4:29 PM | Link to this
Willy Wally:
Yeah sure man. Smoltz is a 6 inning pitcher. Have you ever heard of a bad day?
Hudson was never a 6 inning pitcher in Oakland, and it sure as hell doesn’t look like he’s going to this year either.
And as far as the bullpen having to pitch too many innings… have you checked out innings per start by the Mets starters over the past couple weeks?
By A.J.
April 22, 2007 4:30 PM | Link to this
Filanthrope: John Smoltz is not a whiner. That’s silly. He is just incredibly competitive.
I honestly did not see the John Smoltz “whining” that got Bobby tossed, but my dad was on the phone with me and he said all Smoltzy did was motion because he wanted the call, ANYONE who doesn’t have ice in their veins will show some emotion when they have a close call. And dad said you could read his lips saying “I just wanted to know where it was.”
As far as his “whining” over the saves last year, he only said anything once and it was a team leader talking about a huge problem with his team.
OK, so everyone has games get blown, but that was 6 in TWO MONTHS, and if he gets HALF of those he wins the Cy Young no doubt.
As far as him getting saved by big hitting, you mean to tell me that Pedro with that lineup or Randy Johnson or Clemens when they were with the Yankees or Pedro when he was with the Red Sox or Schilling there with them.
People on teams with good offense get saved sometimes. Smoltz has gone his last three outings giving up 2 ER each. This season he is 3, 2, 2, and 4 runs given up, and 3, 2, 2, 2 for ER so don’t give me that jive about how he SHOULD be 2-3. That’s asinine.
He has averaged 6.2 innings per start this season til today, with about 2.3 ER per start a roughly 3 ERA. He has struck out almost 5 per game.
He SHOULD have more wins than he does if we would show up and hit every day. He should have no losses but on a day when he gave up 2 ER in 8 IP we got SHUT OUT BY BERGMANN AND THE NATIONALS.
Yeah, all us “apologists” really are feeding you all kinds of propaganda, this guy sucks.
A good pitcher got hit in ONE BAD INNING against a good team ONE DAY. He made mistakes today and the only person he will be mad at is himself.
Today (from what I heard) that “whining” exchange was blown way out of proportion by an overly-aggressive umpire. That’s one of the things that upsets me more than anything is an umpire looking for a fight.
The umpire’s job is to walk away, to avoid a conflict and if the arguer continually chases him, that’s his time to toss him. It sucks to have to take the kind of abuse you can get, but that’s part of the job. Too many umpires (and again I did not specifically see this one, and maybe if it was in part his fault it is out of character) look for conflict and it’s just against the job description. If an ump can’t take a little abuse (which I will say again it is a shame that they have to take, but it’s part of the game) then they should ship him down to the minors and let one of those guys, making 30 K per year, come up and make 300K with like a $500 per diem for a year and having half of the games off.
I applaud the umpires for the job they do, and it is SO hard, but you have to make an ejection the last resort and too many of them can’t wait to do it.
(Quote of the day: “Those are really ug-ly.” completely deadpan remark by Joe Simpson on David Wright’s cleats)
Did you hear Met’s fans cheering when McCann got hit, then booing when trainers came out? That is classless.
Only a few morons in Atlanta would cheer for Reyes or Wright getting hurt. McCann is as good a guy as anyone (just like those two guys), and when I hear people act like that It just makes me want to fight.
By KC
April 22, 2007 4:31 PM | Link to this
YEAH BABY!!!
By Tomahawkin' Again
April 22, 2007 4:32 PM | Link to this
The Braves Win. THEEEE BRAAAAAAVES WIIINNNNN!!!!!
By TennesseePaul
April 22, 2007 4:32 PM | Link to this
So… BRAVES WIN!!
What’s that now, 4-2 on the season? We put an abrupt end to Wright’s hit streak. And destroyed that Met bullpen for good measure.
By Greg in TN
April 22, 2007 4:33 PM | Link to this
Great game today by the Braves. Nice way to come back and quiet the Shea faithful.
We’ve got great momentum now going into the series with the Marlins.
By MEB
April 22, 2007 4:36 PM | Link to this
OH YEAH!!! Nothing easy for Buffalo Bob but it sure feels nice!
James Brown
I got you
Wo! I feel good, I knew that I wouldn’t of
I feel good, I knew that I wouldn’t of
So good, so good, I got you
Wo! I feel nice, like sugar and spice
I feel nice, like sugar and spice
So nice, so nice, I got you
By KC
April 22, 2007 4:36 PM | Link to this
Well all I know is… for a guy that supposedly has no “out-pitch”, Wickman sure gets a lot of outs.
By A.J.
April 22, 2007 4:37 PM | Link to this
Great game! These games have been so much fun.
I mean, we can’t win EVERY one of those close ones this year, but when we win one like that it feels like we could and it sure is fun when we do.
I think Mets fans now are feeling a little bit how we felt so much of last year against the Mets. But the Mets sure have been in these games. It will be a LOT of fun (not to mention a WHOLE LOT OF STRESS if the division stays this close all year).
I have to say though, if the Braves offense is going to skip games to show up, they have done a good job of showing up in the games that matter most.
Also impressive, Braves are 4-0-3 in series this season and all of the ties have come in crappy 2-game series.
By Chop Chop
April 22, 2007 4:37 PM | Link to this
I think Smoltz seems to be getting a little more pumped up than usual this year. I don’t know if it’s just a natural reaction to some of the personal stuff going on in his life or not, but he really does seem to be high-strung on the mound. Throw that in with two matchups against Tom and that makes for a bad combination. All he needs to do is dial the emotion down a little and he’ll be fine.
By Chris
April 22, 2007 4:37 PM | Link to this
KJ’s up to .297 with an OBP of .423. He is currently 5th in the NL in walks.
I’ll take that from my leadoff guy.
By KC
April 22, 2007 4:38 PM | Link to this
“We’ve got great momentum now going into the series with the Marlins.”
We do. Now lets hop Davies and Redman can keep that momentum going. That back end of our rotation is going to decide the division race.
By Efrim
April 22, 2007 4:43 PM | Link to this
Lets keep winning. Lets get a nice streak going and continue the good play in Miami and Denver.
By woogidy
April 22, 2007 4:45 PM | Link to this
I wonder if Willie Randolph thinks the Braves are all the way back now.
By Greg in TN
April 22, 2007 4:47 PM | Link to this
Filanthope,
That was a very amusing post. I mean, really…
AJ,
Agreed on your take on the umpires. I remember seeing the classic film of Jackie Robinson stealing home ahead of a tag by Yogi Berra and Berra going off on the umpire at the safe call. Today, he wouldn’t have lasted 3 seconds into that. It’s not the quick trigger that many umpires have today, but several have gone out of their way to make a situation worse rather than doing their jobs (I think Joe West is bad at that, but there are others).
By Brad in MT
April 22, 2007 4:48 PM | Link to this
Wow…what a way to start off with the Mets 4 out of 6 will show them that we aren’t going anywhere. This team is so much different from last years, watching the game I couldn’t help thinking how last year the Braves would have no chance…GO BRAVES!
By Cleanuphitter16
April 22, 2007 4:50 PM | Link to this
Took the series in ATL. Took the series in NY. Life is good. Now it’s time to get Paronto and Gonzo back, get Andruw, Langy, and 1B hitting, and get that RISP average up facing some weaker teams this week.
By willy wally
April 22, 2007 4:50 PM | Link to this
6,6,8,6,5.7
those are smoltz’ innings this year, KC. Smoltz choked it up late in the game against the Nats, choked up a lead today, and gave up a late run to give the Phils the lead on Opening Day.
Hudson had a similar start to 2005 for the Braves but ended up only okay.
So, calm down already. Your eternal optimism is cute and all but your blind unrealistic hero worship is aggravating.
By Robert (Justice Is The Best)
April 22, 2007 4:51 PM | Link to this
Well, Willie Randolph apparently said that he didn’t think the Braves were all the way back. I wonder if he feels the same now? Yes, its April and yes, its early, but this was a statement. These two teams have played each other six times and the Braves have won 4 of them and beat their oh so great bullpen in three of those four. I think Willie still has some of that Yankee arrogance and perhaps had to eat a little crow today.
I guarantee that he, the Mets, and their fans all thought the game was over when they went up 6-3. What they apparently don’t realize is that this is not last year’s Braves. This team has a chip on its shoulder. They want to prove that not only are they back but better than ever.
Can the Kelly Johnson doubters now admit that this kid can hit. I think he is fully capable of hitting .275-.300 with 20-25 HRs and a .375-.400 OBP by the time the year is done. In fact, someday this kid might be an awfully good #3 hitter. And, how about McCann? Tough as nails!
Even the Mets fans have to give credit where credit is due. The Braves are for real. I think the Mets know their rotation has holes and that bullpen is quite as good as they want it to be.
Just a couple of negatives. I really wish Soriano would quit trying to blow everyone away. He wouldn’t have gotten into the trouble he did if he would have simply used his slider and changeup more. I know this is beating a deadhorse, but something has to be done about Langerhans. Someone suggested an “injury” to get him down to the minors and work this thing out. He is a rally killer and is serving this lineup no good. Please don’t tell me that his defense is better than his offense is bad.
Anyway, terrific win today and perhaps the kind of win that sparks a long winning streak. This team has to be feeling extremly confident and Kelly Johnson has to be feeling like he is……the great Jose Reyes right now!
By Greg in TN
April 22, 2007 4:51 PM | Link to this
KC,
Agreed with you on Davies and Redman. I feel much better about things with Redman after his performance on Thursday against the Cubs.
Anything can happen on a given night in baseball, but I think we could realistically go 5 for our next 6 or better if we can build on this offensively and don’t revert back to some bad habits that have plagued us so far this year.
By Metropoitan Man
April 22, 2007 4:52 PM | Link to this
Ok the braves pulled that off but I am so disappointed in Randolp. He manage the METS right out of a win. He is gonna have to answer some tough questions and get ripped in the NY papers tomorrow. But you guys got to see how you are gonna need to keep up to win all year, the big bomb. 2 3run homers usually puts a team away so you better hope you keep it up.Congrats on setting A tone early. This will be a fun season, the METS will be with you toe to toe, see you at the TED in MAY.
By t-towndawg
April 22, 2007 4:53 PM | Link to this
Disappearing No Chop Zone and MetroMan…. NICE!!!!!!
By eric the elder
April 22, 2007 4:54 PM | Link to this
For thos not watching, after a high pitch, Smoltz walked forward a step and opened his hands. He didn’t raise his arms, just opened his hands by his sides. When the ump went out after him, Smoltz could be seen saying, “I just wanted to know where it was.” I’m certain that it was the hand gesture that had the ump feeling like Smoltz was showing him up.
I’m equally sure that Bobby got tossed because he was arguing the call rather than just going out and asking what was going on. I don’t know why he does that. He can “protect” his pitcher by just making an appearance and asking whether there is a problem. Arguing the call is a guaranteed thumb.
By TennesseePaul
April 22, 2007 4:55 PM | Link to this
Obermueller is pitching for the Marlins!? Isn’t this the same guy we got for Kolb?
By fastasballs
April 22, 2007 4:55 PM | Link to this
Great game! That should shut the Mets fans up for a little while anyway.
KC In total agreement on KJ. He looks so comfortable at the plate, even while he was stuggling a bit earlier. Even then he was hitting everything on the nose, just right at people.
Nice job by the pen. Most impressive was Yates. If he continues to pitch like he has the past few outings the that pen will be the best in the league. Coyler (sp)? may become the situational lefty that McBride was. If Gonzo performs as he should there is nothing to worry about there.
Left field is going to have to be addressed either by trade or a call up. Diaz is in a decent slump, no need to comment on Langerhans. The bench needs plumping up a bit as well. Have to be able to do better than Woodward with the bases juiced & 1 out.
They are getting at best 1-11 or so from the bottom third of the order. Something has got to give sooner or later. Wilson looks as lost as Langerhans at the plate. I think Thor will be fine if he could play everyday but we all know the chances of that happening.
Without some consistant production from left field & first base, the Braves will be in trouble in the long run. Too many rallies are cut short by the7 & * spots. Teams are catching on, they are picting around Frenchy to get to them, with good reason I might add.
It’s still great to hand it to the Mets! Where’s the big mouth that said the Braves had spent their last day in first place for 2007? Under a rock I suppose…
By Lew
April 22, 2007 4:56 PM | Link to this
Well-That should get rid of Chop Zone for a while.
By Adam
April 22, 2007 4:57 PM | Link to this
Where is NO CHOP? Come on, where’s all that talk…4 out of 6 from the Mets. Won’t hear from him again until end of May.
By Fred From CT
April 22, 2007 4:57 PM | Link to this
NO CHOP ZONE
awfully quiet
why don’t you go home and put on your yankees shirt
By Metropolitan Man
April 22, 2007 5:03 PM | Link to this
No running here T-TOWNDOG, like I said congrats. Dont get me wrong, I am p** right now but I know baseball is a crazy game so I gotta keep this TOUGH loss in perspective. Like I said Randolph managed us right out of a game. Burgos who is usually off got 2 quick outs, gives up a catchable double and Willie pulls him. Showenweis gets his butt handed to him and Willie rides it out, go figure. I’m still here and not going away becasue I know the best is to come this season. I’m not downing Wright or Delgado sentencing them to the bench, METS fans keep the faith all the way.
By Greg in TN
April 22, 2007 5:07 PM | Link to this
MetroMan,
I think it’s going to be us and you guys going toe to toe for the rest of the season barring injuries to either side. It’s nice to be able to give you guys a run this year and I look forward to more either way it all shakes out.
By Mike
April 22, 2007 5:08 PM | Link to this
I disagree with you guys on smoltz’s outing today..I think the box score does not indicate how tough he was. He did not give up a run through 4 innings against the best offense in the league and only gave up the solo homerun through five innings. He could have stayed that way through six innings if not for a little dinker from jose valentin. And lets give some credit to jose reyes with a great clutch hit to clear the bases with two outs. He can do that to anyone. Despite the six runs in the box score, a gutsy effort by smoltz and a great effort by the bullpen and the entire braves team. What a great win. And I really do not understand why braves fans are rooting for langerhans to fail?…Everyone goes through droughts, Im not saying he’s a 300 hitter, but he is better than what he’s shown so far. And from all indications he’s been a great teamate and class act since he’s been in atlanta. Lets not forget that all championship teams no matter what the sport have great character, and I think Langerhans is has exemplified that. I also want to know if anyone knows the name of the song that plays on tbs when it cuts to commercial after the braves score. The words have something like “cadillac” and “bang bang”. Thanks
By 74 Dawg
April 22, 2007 5:10 PM | Link to this
I couldn’t watch the game today . Did any of you see the sequence leading up to Bobby’s ejection ? he usually only gets tossed over arguing B/S a) to protect his player ,keep him from getting tossed , or b) if the ump appears to not be giving our guy the same calls as the other guy. This is not an uncommon problem w/ Yanks/Mets. What set him off today?
By Josh
April 22, 2007 5:10 PM | Link to this
D.O.B…..do you have any idea when the ESPN interview will be used or what parts will be used? I really feel if they push it Braves/Mets could turn into a bigtime rivalry
By Adam
April 22, 2007 5:10 PM | Link to this
Metropolitan Man,
Most of us don’t have a problem with you. Not quite sure why you spend so much time on a Braves blog, but whatever floats your boat. Mets lineup is stacked. Reyes is the best shortstop in baseball. I watched yesterdays game listening to the Mets broadcasters and they sure think the Braves aren’t that special. Maybe after taking 4 out of 6 from the Mets will change there opinion but I doubt it. Keith Hernandez is a tool.
By D-Cider
April 22, 2007 5:11 PM | Link to this
If the Braves had ANYBODY else to bat leadoff, I would move KJ down in the lineup. don’t know how many home runs he will wind up with, but 4 so far is pretty darn good. Amazing how this team can go from nothing to 7 or more runs a game. Can’t beleive the braves have scored more runs with 2 outs than with 0 or 1 combined. gotta give Langerhans and Woodward an award for the worst looking at-bats today. Just noticed M. Giles is batting .347 leading off for the padres.
By flange1
April 22, 2007 5:12 PM | Link to this
WOW!
What a great series! If this keeps up all year, we will have the best year of baseball ever!
I kinda hope both teams continue to play well and challage each other.
Wilson looked better today. So did Andruw. Hopefully Langerhans can get a clue..
Have we ever had Chipper, Edgar, McCann Andruw and Francouer hitting at the same time? Wouldn’t it be nice for at least a week?
Great game KJ!!!
By Greg in TN
April 22, 2007 5:16 PM | Link to this
Mike,
Agree with you on Smoltz. I think he’ll be fine. I’ve said this before, the mets lineup from 1-8 is among the best in baseball.
I belive TBS ran that song going to commercial in the top of the first. That’s “Apache” from the Sugarhill Gang. The Braves play a modified version of the chorus of that song after a Braves’ homer.
By gotigers72
April 22, 2007 5:18 PM | Link to this
Been to 5 or 6 Edwin McCain concerts since I live about 10 miles from Greenville, S.C. and he plays around here a lot. His latest CD, Lost In America, is excellent.
Used to watch KJ play in Greenville when the Braves’ AA farm team was there. He could hit then, but the problem was where to play him. He was a SS, and the fans behind the first base dugout all took out insurance because he made so many wild throws. Had over 40 errors one year there. He really looks comfortable at 2nd though doesn’t he? Maybe the fact that he began his career as an infielder has helped him adjust to playing second.
By LivininAL
April 22, 2007 5:21 PM | Link to this
Anyone know how Cormier did in in the Rehab start?.
By 74 Dawg
April 22, 2007 5:21 PM | Link to this
as predicted yesterday, bye- bye no chop and metman. (sorry ernesto, I got chops post confused w/ you.)
By Rosalynn
April 22, 2007 5:22 PM | Link to this
Jimma thinks Kella Johnson mah be playuh of the week but Jimma is worried about Langahans. Jimma said Langahans is havin’ nothin’ but bad luck. It’s like a black pussa cat walked right in front of the boah on the wah to the plate.
By ernesto
April 22, 2007 5:24 PM | Link to this
Big Bravos win!!! Whoo-hooo. Good to see my fellow blogizens catching on to the truth on No Class Zone, always here to rub it in, back under the rock for a loss.
Won’t be hearing from No Class Zone until May. Nice.
By Adam
April 22, 2007 5:24 PM | Link to this
74 Dawg,
He was protecting Smoltz. Smoltz reacted to a pitch that was called a ball and he thought was a strike. Smoltz threw up his hands and the umpire walked out towards him yelling at him and Bobby came out to deflect the attention to him and got tossed.
By Adam
April 22, 2007 5:28 PM | Link to this
DOB,
What’s it going to take to pry an outfielder away from the Devil Rays? They have 4 that I would take right now over the 2 left fielders we have. Baldelli, Crawford, Young, or Dukes…I would take any of them and they all would be affordable for at least 3-4 years. Langerhans has got to go down and figure things out, he has no clue at all.
By LivininAL
April 22, 2007 5:29 PM | Link to this
I thought a pitch earlier in the count was a strike when Smoltz questioned the last call.. seems the Ump might have over reacted to me. Bobby was just being Bobby.. Whatever..BRAVES WIN!
By Mike
April 22, 2007 5:29 PM | Link to this
cool, thanks greg
By Chop Chop
April 22, 2007 5:30 PM | Link to this
Whenever the Braves hit a homer, I think of this YouTube clip:
Apache
It is obviously the greatest music video in the history of Western civilization.
By Robert
April 22, 2007 5:38 PM | Link to this
Once you have two outs, I dont think you can argue too strongly against going ahead and taking your chances letting Smoltz try to get Reyes. Three run triple, of course, but I dont disagree STRONGLY with letting Smoltz pitch to Reyes
HOWEVER, someone explain to me WHY you let Smoltz pitch to Franco
The only explanation I could think of that makes any sense (not an ACCEPTABLE excuse, mind you) is either that noone had really taken over for Bobby yet, or if he was still calling the shots from out of sight of the umps, that he was still too hot over balls and strikes to be paying proper attention to the matter at hand
Yeah, the Braves scored 6 runs in the next two innings, but I think we were set up to lose this one.
Not gonna beat it into the ground. Not gonna be callin anyone no names.
But WHOEVER it was that let Smoltz pitch to Franco, IMnotsohumbleO the best manager of all time certainly wouldnt have done it that way
Anyway, 2 outta 3 - it doesnt win us the division, it doesnt end anything, but it sure beats 1 outta 3 or zero outta 3.
Nice job Braves
Oh and did I mention that this weekend I took in the annual Apache Rattlesnake Festival in Apache, Oklahoma (whoda thunk that) - quite an experience if you’ve never been to one - I learned a lot about rattlers. I can now tell a male diamondback from a female diamondback, and I know that the world record Western Diamondback, measured in 2004 at the Apache festival, came in at 7 ft 4.25 inches (that’s a BIG, THICK a* rattlesnake)
I never did find out whether couples from Apache who get a divorce remain siblings or not.
Maybe next year
By Chop Chop
April 22, 2007 5:42 PM | Link to this
Just imagine if they showed that Apache video on the big screen after homers at Turner Field.
Good times.
By Robert
April 22, 2007 5:48 PM | Link to this
N8 - Personally I like the idea of the two best hitters on the team sandwiching Andruw in the lineup. I’d hit McCann third and Chipper 5th simply because I think the more experienced hitter might do better in the less protected 5 spot than the less experienced guy.
If you dont hit Andruw fourth, where do hit him? Sixth?, and now Frenchy is 4 or 5?
Think of it this way - As poorly as Andruw is doing now, how would he do if he lost the protection behind him? And the only way not to lose that is to hit him 3rd. And he aint an acceptable 3 hitter, in my opinion.
If you’re working off a $200 million budget, Andruw hits sixth (or seventh), but that aint gonna happen in Atlanta. Given that’s a no-go, fourth is the best remaining option
I can tell you this. We got a lot of good years out of Andruw (not great years, but we’ve thru that already) I think we need to feel satisfied with what we have gotten, and not risk throwing good money away chasing bad. Anyone that wants to even match $13 mil or whatever he is making now - on a guy who is an OLD 30, be my guest
By Cleanuphitter16
April 22, 2007 5:52 PM | Link to this
One note on the Mets lineup…yes they are the best in the NL; however, they are all hitting well over their career BAs at the moment with the sole exceptions of Wright (.281 to date, .305 career) and Delgado (.214/.282) Those two aren’t even THAT far off. My point is, this offensive juggernaught will cool down some. The Braves lineup, on the other-hand, are all at or below their career BAs with the exception of Chipper. And I don’t need to mention the horrible RISP numbers so far. I’m not saying this proves anything, I’m just saying that the offensive gap that seems to be perceived by many may narrow as the season progresses and players trend back toward their career averages. I think the runs-scored gap will close over the course of the season and the Mets won’t blow the Bravos away in that category by as much as predicted. Just my opinion after looking at the numbers.
By ElbravoX
April 22, 2007 5:52 PM | Link to this
Robert—my man, you are a drag. Is Robert Downer your full name? Every call can be seconded guessed, but who lives like that? You do.
By Robert
April 22, 2007 5:56 PM | Link to this
“Smoltz reacted to a pitch that was called a ball and he thought was a strike”
No way to justify a veteran doing that. Fretting about balls and strikes does nothing except hurt yourself and your team.
I’m not saying it isnt frustrating when the ump is inconsistant or when one of the few umps who will do s** just to show who is in charge, but as a pro, you gotta suck it up and know that letting it show will only hurt you and crossing swords with or questioning the ump will hurt your team
It’s the same as trying to argue with the hardcore cop who gives you a ticket for doing 57 in the 55.You might be right. You might have a point. He might be a horse’s patoot. You could use all the perfect logic you want. Still, if you pick that battle to fight, you’ll still get the ticket, and likely spend the night in the clink as well
By Efrim
April 22, 2007 6:00 PM | Link to this
Any chance the Braves can acquire a everyday left fielder?
Jacque Jones anyone?
By Robert
April 22, 2007 6:03 PM | Link to this
“Put it this way, combine the talent of Andruw with the hitting discipline of Brian McCann, and you might have a hitter who would re-write the MLB hitting records!”
Aint that the truth. But you know what? It might just be impossible, because by the time a guy with Andruw’s tool needs to develop discipline to continue to stand far out from the pack, much less to just try and keep pace, he is probably 19 or 20 years old - and by that time bad habits are a b*** to break
By Robert
April 22, 2007 6:07 PM | Link to this
The first two games of this series were good ones. This one was exciting, and dramatic, but it wasnt an aesthetically pleasing game
Arguing balls and strikes. Both sides making strategic mistakes. 3 run homers have cured a lot of mistakes, but fundamental soundness wins championships.
By Robert (Justice Is The Best)
April 22, 2007 6:17 PM | Link to this
I have two reasons why this year’s Braves team will be better than last year’s and more clutch.
Francoeur seems to be “getting it”. As Skip Caray says, he is realizing that there is money to be made in right field. He is being aggressive when he needs to be and being patient when he needs to be. He is going the other way with two strikes and will eventually force teams to play him that way. We could be witnessing a breakout year for Francouer.
Kelly Johnson so far is everything JS and Cox said he would be. He is patient enough to take walks and aggressive enough to hit good pitches. He forces the pitcher to throw him strikes. I like what I saw out of him this week. Twice in late inning pressure situations he came to the plate, showed patience and discipline, picked his pitch, and drove in winning runs.
Johnson, McCann, Francoeur, James, and Davies provide an awfully good foundation for the future.
By Carroll
April 22, 2007 6:21 PM | Link to this
DOB: I heard you on Baseball Tonight this morning, and wish that you would have said exactly what you said here. I get sooooo sick and tired of the media sensationalizing and over hyping everything from the VT tragedy to the NY/BoreSox rivalry.
By the way, did you or anyone else watching it find Karl Ravech’s response to your commentary to be somewhat condescending and sarcastic? After you finished talking, he said something that sounded very smart-a* like “fascinating” or something along those lines. MAybe I’m making more of it than there really is but i just thought it sounded rude.
By Chop Chop
April 22, 2007 6:28 PM | Link to this
Karl Ravech is a bum of the first order. Why that guy is still doing Baseball Tonight…I’ll never know. He’s okay on golf coverage. That’s it.
By Sir Stealth
April 22, 2007 6:32 PM | Link to this
Carroll, I’d say that Karl Ravech is probably the least effective at hiding the overriding pompousness of ESPN and its baseball analysts. I can’t stand that guy. Could have something to do with the fact that the guy’s like 4’11” also - good thing he has that high chair.
By Sir Stealth
April 22, 2007 6:33 PM | Link to this
That game was awesome by the way. Great, great baseball game.
GO BRAVES
By KC
April 22, 2007 6:38 PM | Link to this
fastasballs: “Left field is going to have to be addressed either by trade or a call up. Diaz is in a decent slump, no need to comment on Langerhans. The bench needs plumping up a bit as well. Have to be able to do better than Woodward with the bases juiced & 1 out. “
I agree 100%. I still think that over the course of a full season, Diaz will hit .300… but as you mentioned, we need to strengthen our bench as well.
We haven’t gotten anything out of 1B or LF all year, and while I don’t think that will remain the case… it seems like a lot to hope for to think we’ll get noteworthy production out of both positions. At this point, we just have to hope that one of those positions can yield some fruit.
Anyway, I think we should pursue another bat at either 1B or LF. It really doesn’t matter which, since Thorman, Wilson, and Diaz can all play either position.
I would still love to see us get a leadoff man with some speed. Don’t get me wrong, there’s nooooo reason to complain about Johnson’s performance there… but if we could find a leadoff guy with a good OBP and some speed, it would add another dynamic. Also, you could then greatly strengthen the bottom of the order by hitting KJ 7th.
Looks like Ryan Freel’s going to be in Cinci for a while. Too bad. I’d love to see him in left and at the top of this order. That would also strengthen the bench because Diaz then becomes your 4th outfielder… and he’s a good pinch hitter.
Very unlikely anything will change at the leadoff spot though (not that it needs to, cuz Kelly’s a stud). However, we may see a move to add a bat to 1B or LF if things don’t improve at the bottom of the order.
I say, give 1B and Langerhans about 5 more weeks to show us something. If they still haven’t… start calling guys up, and lets see what we’ve got in the way of major league-ready talent.
By ernesto
April 22, 2007 6:42 PM | Link to this
Robert - in regards to your Andruw post, I think he started 05 off abysmally as well, so much so that BC moved him to 7th or 8th for a while. He went back to clean up when he got hot. Not saying that’s the answer this year, just that moving Andruw down isn’t without precedent.
By KC
April 22, 2007 6:43 PM | Link to this
The headline at SI.com earlier today was “Mets Back In 1st!” So imagine my surprise to find no “Braves back in 1st” headline today. lol
By ernesto
April 22, 2007 6:45 PM | Link to this
Chop Chop that apache clip is hilarious! This must become a Ted Tradition, who knows someone on the megatron?
By TennesseePaul
April 22, 2007 6:47 PM | Link to this
KC: We just need to give Thor a more consistant chance at 1B. He’s playing every other game, if that. Notice when KJ started being left in there against lefties, instead of pulling him for Woodward, he started taking off. Thor needs the same level of confidence. I’m not sure why we are investing so much time into boosting Wilson’s ego. I think Craig will be just fine if he doesn’t start against every left hander. Besides, he isn’t hitting anyway, so what’s the worst that could happen? We play Thor every day and get the same production as the platoon?
By Victor
April 22, 2007 6:49 PM | Link to this
Oooole, ole, ole, ole, oooolee, ooole!!! Vooooolare, Oooohhh!!! how sweet it is!!! I would love to “hear” mets fans chanting now!!
By The Grinch
April 22, 2007 6:50 PM | Link to this
Robert, what do you know about “Andruw’s Tool?” :-) Chop Chop, if Bill Simmons from ESPN hadn’t already ruined my life by inroducing me to that Apache video you’d be my nemesis. Thank god I knew not to look at it. Be warned everyone, one viewing will stay in your head for a month. Good win Braves.
By Carolina Lady
April 22, 2007 8:01 PM | Link to this
The song someone asked about earlier is “Gone” by Montgomery Gentry:
This ain’t no temporary, typical, tearful good-bye, uh uh uh This ain’t no breakin’ up and wakin’ up and makin’ up one more time, uh uh uh This is gone (gone) gone (gone) gone (gone) gone
Gone like a freight-train, gone like yesterday Gone like a soldier in the civil war, bang bang Gone like a ‘59 Cadillac Like all the good things that ain’t never coming back She’s gone (gone) gone (gone) gone (gone) gone, she’s gone
This ain’t no give it time, I’m hurtin’ but maybe we can work it out, uh uh uh Won’t be no champagne, red rose, romance, second chance, uh uh uh This is gone (gone) gone (gone) gone (gone) gone
Gone like a freight-train, gone like yesterday Gone like a soldier in the civil war, bang bang Gone like a ‘59 Cadillac Like all the good things that ain’t never coming back She’s gone (gone) gone (gone) gone (gone) gone She’s gone
She’s gone (gone) gone (gone) gone (gone) gone, she’s gone
Gone like a freight-train, gone like yesterday Gone like a soldier in the civil war, bang bang Gone like a ‘59 Cadillac Like all the good things that ain’t never coming back She’s gone (gone) she’s gone (gone) she’s gone (gone) she’s gone She’s gone
Gone like a freight-train, gone like yesterday Gone like a soldier in the civil war, bang bang Gone like a ‘59 Cadillac Like all the good things Well, she’s gone
Long gone, done me wrong Never comin’ back, my baby’s gone Lonely at home, sittin’ all alone She’s packed her bags and now she’s gone Never comin’ back, she’s gone No no never, no no never, no never comin’ back
By Bill
April 22, 2007 8:06 PM | Link to this
When are the Braves going to realize that Langerhans & Diaz is not the answer in left field. They will not move KJ to LF because of his arm. Anyone in the minors would be better than whats out there now. They need to put Thorman at first full time. We don’t need Jacque Jones. He’s not the answer.
By goBRavES42
April 22, 2007 8:12 PM | Link to this
where is willie harris!!?!?!?!?! he would run circles around ryan….he can hit and has speed.
By fastasballs
April 22, 2007 8:12 PM | Link to this
Well the Braves were almost the lead on Baseball tonight, Bonds HR lead off. Of course the Yanks/Red Sox game has yet to be played, lol.
The time tonights version is on the Braves will veture back a few more spots and may get a minute of time.
KC, I have confidence in Diaz, he should play every day. As I said earlier there is virtually no chance of that happening. Until Langerhans can hit his weight he has no business in the line up. He should be used as late inning defense, pinch hitter & mop up duty in a blow out.
A speedy lead off guy with a high OBP would be a plus. Any ideas? Blanco & Brandon Jones are tearing it up so far. Both have high OBP & speed. I’m all for bringing one of these guys up by mid May if things don’t improve.
As for first base I think Thorman will be fine if he is allowed to play full time. He shows a lot more promise than Wilson does.
The bench is as week as it has been in years. Letting Ward get away was a big mistake. I’m sure JS will make some moves later on to strengthen the bench but for now it’s thin.
It’s still early though, many current problems will work themselves out & probably more arise later. Hopefully the injury bug doesn’t bite too bad. I’ll tell you my heart skipped a beat when McCann was drilled in the fingers trying to lay that bunt down.
By A.J.
April 22, 2007 8:15 PM | Link to this
By Robert
April 22, 2007 5:56 PM | Link to this
“Smoltz reacted to a pitch that was called a ball and he thought was a strike”
No way to justify a veteran doing that. Fretting about balls and strikes does nothing except hurt yourself and your team.
I disagree. Truly, it is impossible to win an argument with the person in authority, and a player should not continue to argue with an ump (that’s what managers are for, and at least the ump didn’t toss Smoltz, so credit for that.)
Still, you can’t expect them not to show a little emotion.
Like I said, I did not see this inning, so maybe I’m completely wrong, and someone who I might trust more that Robert let me know if I am.
However, it sounded to me like he did two things in this exchange.
He acted surprised and disappointed that the pitch was not called his way. Now again, I do not know to what degree he did so, but this happens all the time with any very intense, relatively emotional player that, when they expect one call and get another, they will show and obvious sign of disappointment. It is possible he said “what!” or “are you kidding me” or most likely “where was that!” or something of that ilk, I have no information on that, but that’s the kind of thing I say in those situations.
He asked where the ball was, as in up or outside. My dad read his lips on this, so you will have a hard time convincing me that he did not, at least at some point, say that.
Now from the description I heard, it sounded like he had his first reaction. The umpire felt “showed up” by that (which is BS and I’ll get to that later) and reacted back to Smoltz, then Smoltz said “I just wanted to know where it was” that’s a direct quote of my dad reading his lips.
So from the sound of it, he did not intend to get into an argument. Quite frankly, players are entitled to react to an umpire’s call, they are just not supposed to argue.
The umpires have an important protection, their word is right, no matter what a player or coach or fan says. Their decisions are always backed up (as they should be) by the MLB unless they are grossly incorrect.
As a result, it does not matter what a player or coach says, especially if what they say or do is just a reaction which ends quickly allowing the game to continue, because in the end, the umpire is correct for all intensive purposes.
Further, the umpire’s job is to defuse conflict while standing their ground. An umpire should not approach a player or coach to argue at any time, and unless in that reaction to the umpire by player or coach involves the kind of obscenity which no one one should have to endure (maybe a gesture or some certain words, like the magic word from Bull Durham) then the umpire should always allow the situation to end at that.
Now the umpire does have every right to tell an arguing coach or player to stop and allow the game to continue, and if they do not do so they should be thrown out. Same for if they are very obscene.
From my understanding of this situation, the umpire reacted to Smoltz’s initial outburst (a reaction that assuming it was not obscene he had every right to make). If not for the umpire’s reaction it may have ended at that. Smoltz has every right to be upset given the situation, and it is not necessarily upset with the umpire (at least not entirely), the umpire has to consider that. Smoltz has the right to be upset with the umpire anyway, as long as he doesn’t go over the top or continually argue.
So, it was the umpire’s reaction that caused the situation to escalate. Smoltz apparently said “I just wanted to know where it was” which sounds to me like an attempt to diffuse the situation by asking for an interpretation, which he is completely entitled to.
Further, it sounds like Bobby was tossed almost immediately when he left the dugout. Now, he could have said something warranting ejection in those two steps out of the dugout, but we kind of know from his MO that he usually jogs out and then starts to the actual arguing.
He could have been coming out to ask for an interpretation, which to my knowledge he is entitled to do, as long as it does not keep the game from proceeding for too long. He also could have been coming more just to calm his pitcher, or at least, keep the pitcher from arguing so as to protect him.
Now I believe that it is the manager’s job to deflect anger from the players and maybe if a player is over the top it would be fair to eject an arguing manager as a proxy for the player. That is even admirable as it allows the game to continue without alteration of what is on the field. Still it sounds from this situation that even combined Smoltz and Bobby did not do enough to warrant an ejection, sure Bobby might have pretty soon after, but there is no such thing as a preemptive ejection.
This is just one of my pet peeves. I hate when umpires pursue conflict, like when they will follow an arguing manager who continues to mumble as they walk away. So I was more using this situation (which it is possible that I misunderstood) as an example of my feelings on the larger situation.
Further, I think that umpires who are continually combative and confrontational (and honestly I don’t know positively if this umpire was today, and even if he was if this was an example of his character or just an isolated incident), but if umpires repeatedly refuse to diffuse the situation then they should be suspended or cycled out with minor league umps.
A possible solution is to give umpires a 5 year “option” time when they first hit the big league, in which they may be optioned to the minors just like players for combativeness, or if the MLB just sees the guy isn’t good enough.
Further, I think that at the end of that period, the umpire should not automatically get their “permanent” status but should then have their five years considered and might possibly be given their “permanent” title or explained why they did not get it. Either the umpire would then be dismissed or sent back down to the minors.
Once they are “permanent” they still may be reviewed and put on probation if they repeatedly cause trouble.
The umpiring system is a bit of an exclusive fraternity often leaves very qualified umpires (both young and old) in the minors making very little money while the same umpires (whether good or bad) make very good salaries, I think roughly 10 times better, in the majors.
Making umpires more accountable, with their high paying jobs less of a sure thing, would only make umpires better in my mind.
I think that to better police them, the MLB should hire an independent watchdog, the way media outlets may have an ombudsman. Someone who has nothing to gain from saying that the umpiring is great. This should all be handled privately, but some umpires just aren’t as good cough Eric Gregg (not meaning disrespect to the dead, but it’s true) and they shouldn’t be allowed to keep working.
Further I think that teams should have a limited amount of complaints to make in a season in which they request a certain umpire not be used in their games. This is common in high school sports and I think some college sports as well. The number would be quite small, and teams would have to be careful with them, saving them for only the most important situations. This also would be handled in complete confidentiality and may involve private hearings to hear the team’s complaints after which the request may be accepted or denied.
Or maybe the teams could file private complaints as much as they want. These complaints could be for combative umpiring or for a series of bad calls (not just one). In this situation only when complaints pile up between a certain team and umpire would they go ahead and hold a hearing. They may also limit the complaints allowed a specific team if they tend to complain without basis repeatedly.
This is like NFL challenges only on a grander scale and they do not even affect the umpire’s specific calls. The MLB does not even have to say that an umpire was wrong, it can just rule that it is better for the peaceful play of the game to keep certain umpires away from certain managers with whom they have volatile histories.
I bet if you allowed some way for teams to complain, confidentially and with no media exposure (otherwise HUGE fines), you would see that with some combative or just plain bad umps the complaints would pile up, while the good ones would have relatively few.
This works because, while a team may disagree with a certain umpire at any time, if that umpire is usually good they know it, they would rather have that typically good umpire any day of the week over a bad or combative umpire who will negatively affect the game.
I will say that I am against video replay, except maybe on super difficult things like questionable homerun calls when the ball comes back on the field or a fan interferes. Otherwise, calls going for you or against you are just part of the game.
I do however think that in judgement call situations, umpires should be more willing to ask for help, unless a team repeatedly complains about everything.
Just to be fair, you could even allow umps to file complaints about coaches who complain too much, possibly resulting in suspensions.
I will also say that I understand how hard umpiring is. I couldn’t even handle coach pitch because of the arguing from fans and coaches, but that just means I shouldn’t be out there.
Most of those guys are great dudes, who take a TON of unnecessary abuse, most of it from the fans, and that bothers me. Also most of them do their jobs, very, very well, and even the ones that are relatively bad, are still better than most people would be.
Still, I think that it is an important part of the game for managers and players to be able to react, and for managers (or in some sports team captains) to be able to argue a call to a reasonable extent is a necessary part of any game. Umpires should be able to take that, it’s a necessary skill of the job, just the same as being control, movement and speed are necessary skills for pitchers.
If umpires can’t handle that then they just aren’t cut out for the job, I wasn’t, and that’s OK.
By Rosalynn
April 22, 2007 8:15 PM | Link to this
Carolina Ladah, do you remembah this one?
*So bah-bah, Miss Amahican Pah,
Drove mah Cheva to the leva,
But the leva was drah,
And them good old boys wuh drankin’ whiska and rah,
Singin’, “this’ll be the daih that I dah
“this’ll be the daih that I dah.”*
Jimma used to sing that song to me when we would sit on the screened pauch.
By brian
April 22, 2007 8:25 PM | Link to this
Since Langy is out of options, any chance one of his nagging aches and pains will land him on the DL with Blanco, McCarthy, or Brandon Jones getting a 2 week audition?
By ncscoots
April 22, 2007 8:26 PM | Link to this
Perspective is an amazing thing. The descriptions above of the events leading to Bobby’s ejection…well, let’s just say I might have seen it a little differently. Smoltz did indeed show up the ump by raising his arms, but that probably wouldn’t have caused a problem had Smoltz not already asked the guy at least twice about locations (a nicer way of asking “Where was it, Ray?”).
Chalk it up to Smoltz’s competitive fire, if you wish, but Robert had it right: the umpire’s performance is part of the game. Deal with it. Just because Blue gave you a pitch two inches off the plate in the first doesn’t mean it’s a God-given right to get it in the seventh. Even umps can get better as the game goes along, LOL.
By ncscoots
April 22, 2007 8:37 PM | Link to this
Oh yeah…want to thank KC for getting in today’s mention of Ryan Freel! :-) You guys just wait until you think I’m bloggin to do that, don’t you? Come on, admit it!
By ernesto
April 22, 2007 8:42 PM | Link to this
AJ - I’m gonna tackle that post of yours right after I finish the Brothers Karamazov. I swear.
Carolina Lady, with all due respect, I’ve got to vote for Apache over Montgomery Gentry. But admittedly, I’d vote for a kick in the shin over Montgomery Gentry.
2 series wins over the Mets! D@mn, I’m in a good mood.
By ernesto
April 22, 2007 8:45 PM | Link to this
ncscoots - a day of bloggin without a mention of ryan freel, carl crawford, or rocco is like a round of golf without a Caddyshack reference - everyone knows it’s incredibly played, but it just doesn’t feel right without it.
By Lew
April 22, 2007 8:48 PM | Link to this
GoBraves42-Willie Harris, in 6 ML seasons-899AB-has a Batting Average of .238. Even Langerhans has a lifetime .250 BA.
By MEB
April 22, 2007 8:52 PM | Link to this
AJ… that was a pretty impressive post. It was longer than one of DOB’s after he’s had a week off. I might also add that those are some excellent points.
By Jim
April 22, 2007 8:52 PM | Link to this
What is Pete Orr doing on the team, if he is not going to be used! He would have been a better choice for the Langerhans AB. If he hits the ball on the ground, he’s fast enough to stay out of the DP, and a late inning tight game situation is not the best time to try to get Langerhans out of his slump. Also in the Woodward AB, Orr and Pena were the 2 left-handed hitters still on the bench to hit against a right-hander. Orr is not exactly ou Gehrig or Wally Pip, but he was probably the best choice we had for the Langy AB.
By ncscoots
April 22, 2007 8:53 PM | Link to this
ernesto, all too true, my friend :-) But with a win such as the one today, even that can’t foil my fettle!
By Big John
April 22, 2007 8:57 PM | Link to this
Competitive fire?
Can you name any major league pitcher who questions the calls with such regularity?
He acts like a spoiled little bald brat out there.
By Efrim
April 22, 2007 8:59 PM | Link to this
I must say I agree with you KC. Diaz and Langerhans are not going to cut it in left. Thorman has not gotten regular at bats at 1st yet this season, but I have seen enough of Craig Wilson to know that all he hits is an inside fastball. He struggles with everything else. Braves don’t have much money to spend, so bringing up some talent from the minors might be the Braves only option. Brandon Jones is on fire, but he hasn’t played above double-A and doesn’t have good on base skills. Gregor Blanco, also needs more time. As far as trade possiblities, Jacque Jones would probably be available for the right price, but the Padres are also looking for a left fielder and they have more to offer….Linebrink. Don’t really think the Devil Rays would give up any of their talent without receiving major league ready pitching, which we don’t have. I hope everyone has cooled on the Salty, Escobar and whoever talks for Baldelli or anyone. We need to keep those two guys in our system. Both have high OBP skills, and as much as I hate the Billy Beane moneyball garbage, look at a guy like Kelly Johnson. He is for real and could be a potential number 3 hitter.
By journalist jimmy smith
April 22, 2007 9:01 PM | Link to this
Carolina Ladah, do you remembah this one?
*So bah-bah, Miss Amahican Pah,
Drove mah Cheva to the leva,
But the leva was drah,
And them good old boys wuh drankin’ whiska and rah,
Singin’, “this’ll be the daih that I dah
“this’ll be the daih that I dah.”*
Jimma used to sing that song to me when we would sit on the screened pauch.
By choppinmama
April 22, 2007 9:01 PM | Link to this
OK, guys. The Rally ‘Tard was donned - and darned if it didn’t work again! I thought it was too much to ask KJ to do it again, but that boah was in the zone.
Gobraves42 - Willie looked good at Disney, I’d like to see him given a chance up here this year too.
Smoltzie’s put-out of Glavine made it to ESPN’s top 5 defensive plays, but my phone rang and I didn’t see what # they ranked it. That play made up for his miserable whiff strike 3 a little earlier - guess Glav can’t dog him too badly about that K. John needs to fine himself for that whiff though.
Dice K has already hit Jeter and A-Rod and it’s only the 3rd inning.
By ernesto
April 22, 2007 9:17 PM | Link to this
Sox just go back to back to back.
By ernesto
April 22, 2007 9:18 PM | Link to this
that’s back to back to back to baaahk.
By TennesseePaul
April 22, 2007 9:20 PM | Link to this
I watched Baseball Tonight before “the game” to see if DOB would be on there. I don’t know if he was because I turned it on late. I came in right in the middle of the Braves break down. I ended up watching the whole show. I can’t recall all those guys names, Kruk was there, some guy and then the Bafoon.
I hate listening to this guy. He says the dumbest things and gives guys the gayest nick names. And he quacks every time some one hits a home run. It’s unbearable. You sit through this whole show, with the every-68-seconds-Red-Sox-Yankee-plug, and the big ending is the home runs of the day. Surely this guy won’t quack on all the home runs he quacked on the first time he saw them. But no. There he is, fat, sporting a gray mullet with a receading hairline, calling the home runs as they pop on screen… and now Winnie-the-Pujols goes back, back, back, back, back, back…
By Carolina Lady
April 22, 2007 9:24 PM | Link to this
Miz Carter, yes, I surely do like Otis Redding’s song! :-))
Ernesto, Beloved Daughter likes most of today’s “country” so I hear a good bit of it - whether I want to or not! :-))))
By Carolina Lady
April 22, 2007 9:26 PM | Link to this
Wait a minute! I was thinking “Sitting on the Dock of the Bay” ……. oh, boy … Still, yes, Miz Carter, I like both of them!
By Yars
April 22, 2007 9:27 PM | Link to this
JS is a genius. Already envisioning Kelly Johnson playing 2B before the season even ended last year is amazing. Now only if Langerhans/Diaz can come around. Could that toe tap thing Langy had been doing be to blame? Perhaps Langy can look at some video from his ‘05 season when he was a decent hitter. Go back to that batting stance, Langy. DOB…..I suggest you pick up the new Nine Inch Nails album, Year Zero. Man, you will not be disappointed. Noisy, dark, electro-rock at its finest.
By choppinmama
April 22, 2007 9:29 PM | Link to this
Awesome power display by the Sox. 4 homers in a row by Manny, JD Drew, Lowell and Varitek off of Wright. Wonder if he’ll get “Chased” out of the game? There will be no joy in Gotham aka, Loserville tonight.
By choppinmama
April 22, 2007 9:38 PM | Link to this
TN Paul: “Winnie the Pujols” has to be the worst ever by Boomer.
Joe Morgan, the most unbelievable Yankees’ kiss-up ever has just said that Torre taking out the pitcher after giving up the 4 homers just proves what a good coach he is, taking care of Wright’s poor, bruised psyche. Duh….
By fastasballs
April 22, 2007 9:43 PM | Link to this
I’ve never seen four in a row or at I don’t remember if I did.
I thought Miller & Morgan were going to orgasm right in the booth. It’s sickening to have to listen those two. I did have to laugh at Miller’s pronunciation of Bait-A- Meat last year.
By The Grinch
April 22, 2007 9:44 PM | Link to this
ESPN’s article about tonight’s game focused on Kelly Johnson and made it sound like a AA call-up from the D’Rays had showed up and single-handedly knocked off the ‘27 Yankees (just for this one game, mind you). What a bunch of ‘bags. No, I don’t think this game proves we’re better than the Mets. I think it shaows what anyone with any baseball sense at all can see through 18 games so far, which is they’re pretty evenly matched. You’d think this was Ga Tech playing the Braves SS in Spring Training. Yars, toes are not to be trifled with. Is the rest of the NIN alblum much like the first two radio cuts?
By David O'Brien
April 22, 2007 9:50 PM | Link to this
Yars, almost bought it last night at Virgin Records in Times Square, but wanted to get it a little cheaper somewhere, especially since I won’t have a chance to listen to it on the trip anyway (I bring the Ipod and the speaker attachment thing now, instead of my CD player and ton of CDs, unless I’m renting a car (and now that I think about it, I am renting a car in Fort Lauderdale, so maybe I’ll go buy it there at Best Buy or something).
By Edo River
April 22, 2007 9:52 PM | Link to this
What I wanted to tell them was, yeah, it’s overshadowed because you guys at ESPN pump up the Yanks-Red Sox rivalry beyond all reasonable proportion and ram it down everyone’s throats until they submit and buy into the notion that it’s the biggest rivaly in the history of the planet.
WELL SAID DOB!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
By Ron Roberts
April 22, 2007 9:52 PM | Link to this
So, uh, where IS NO-CHOP, today?
Great win for the Braves. Kelly Johnson has arrived, friends. He’s not Reyes, but Reyes is special, so comparing him is pointless. He’s doing more than we got from Marcus Giles, and frankly, Rafael Furcal, too, if you wanna be honest about it.
Aside from KJ, it was good to see Andruw Jones contribute at the dish, too. Bullpen did its job - and we did it without Gonzalez, so that’s a good sign.
The more we see from KJ, CJ, AJ & Edgar, to go with what we’re already getting from Francoeur and McCann, this lineup will measure up quite fine. Couple it with our above-average starting pitching and our damn solid bullpen, and we have the makings of a solid all-round team.
This is gonna be a fun season, kids.
By Scalp 'Em Braves
April 22, 2007 9:53 PM | Link to this
DOB:
Hate to say I scooped you on this point, but I did. I’ve been saying, for two weeks now, where the hell did Dru come up with that stance? He doesn’t step into ANY swing. I know guys sometimes don’t step, because of pitch location. Dru keeps corkscrewing himself into the ground. Whatever adjustments to that stance and swing he made over the off season and ST, he needs to undadjust. He looks timid at the plate, and (outside of today’s at bat, and a couple of others), seems intent on pulling everything, trying to hit the fence. So much for his fantastic walk year, at least so far (offensively - he’s still a beast defensively).
N8:
I agree that unless Dru breaks out, real soon, Baby Huey needs to hit in the 4th spot. He NEVER has a bad at bat. Even when he strikes out, he makes the pitcher earn it. We are all so impressed with McCann - as well we should be - he’s the real deal. Know Bobby is unlikely to move Dru down, but didn’t he do that last year when he hit a slump? Not saying he is banished from the spot for the year, but, would like to see what McCann would do with all those RISP. So far, pretty damned good, but hasn’t had as many on as Chipper and Dru have, and surely ain’t scoring many runs when he gets on because……
I have preached, argued, etc, patience with Langerhans. Others say Diaz should be playing every day. I know we’re only 3 weeks into the season, but neither one of them are doing anything so far, I mean, nada. Langy is much worse at the plate than Diaz, and while “Magellan” seemed to start off well offensively, he’ cooled off considerably. That, combined with the woes at first, have confirmed what many here have been saying over the past week, or more. Our 7th & 8th spots (not to mention the pitcher’s spot) are “gimmes” for the other team. The fact that we have won this many games with only 2/3 of our lineup producing (and I say that with some trepidation, given KJ’s slow start & Dru’s follies) is amazing. Mark it up to timely home runs, good pitching and good defense. But, it ain’t gonna last forever. There are too many other good teams in the league we haven’t played who will take advantage of that. Would like so see something happen. I think Thorman should be playing everyday, no matter whether righty or lefty. Wilson just ain’t getting it done. He crushes pitches, and hits the prettiest foul balls I have ever seen. But, none of them seem to go fair.
KC:
I’m with you on KJ. I advocated patience with him (as I did with Langerhans - boy was I wrong about him, at least offensively). He has proven those of us who hesitated or refused to throw him under the bus early. Despite 4 whiffs yesterday against Perez (who was basically give a 2 foot wide, and 6 foot tall strike zone by the ump), he has raked 2 out of the last 3 games. Could Chipper’s heir apparent as the Mets killer be in the wings?
By David O'Brien
April 22, 2007 9:53 PM | Link to this
Just noticed our poll question tonight about KJ/Giles. Saw the responses are about 8-to-1 KJ rignt now. The question has their averages, homers and RBIs, but doesn’t mention OBP (of course, that’s a little trickier to figure out postgame than avg). KJ’s at .423 after today; Giles was at .386 before today.
Giles is off to a helluva start, but I think Kelly showed today the dimension the Braves thought he’d give them _ the ability to hit 20 homers while also putting up a .400 OBP in the leadoff spot.
By Scalp 'Em Braves
April 22, 2007 9:58 PM | Link to this
Robert
You asked:
The only explanation I could think of that makes any sense (not an ACCEPTABLE excuse, mind you) is either that noone had really taken over for Bobby yet, or if he was still calling the shots from out of sight of the umps, that he was still too hot over balls and strikes to be paying proper attention to the matter at hand
You didn’t see the guy in the dugout wearing wearing the Groucho glasses, nose and mustahe (a la Bobby V)?
By Robert
April 22, 2007 10:02 PM | Link to this
No, didnt see that, but I do love the pic on the Braves front page. What’s Bobby doing? Giving the ump the heave ho? Hitchhiking?
By MBATL
April 22, 2007 10:07 PM | Link to this
In the past week, Thorman is 4 for 13 (.308) with 2 doubles and a HR, and just 2 strikeouts. He might be starting to hit, but plays so little it’s hard to tell. Two more lefties in the next 3 games; I’d like to see Bobby start Thor against one of them (probably not against D-train tomorrow, though). We’ve cured KJ’s ills by letting him play through; I’ve got a feeling Thorman will be fine too.
By N8.....be aware: Armageddon is coming!
April 22, 2007 10:12 PM | Link to this
Thanx AJ. You just outdid my last 10 posts, with the length of your epic.
Nice post, btw. But dang, that was LONG, even for me. LOL!
By Yars
April 22, 2007 10:14 PM | Link to this
TheGrinch….I take it you are talking about the track, Survivalism. What a great first single. The video is really cool as well. I hope the next single is, Me, I’m Not. That song definitely has a Depeche Mode influenced sound to it. If you are a Mode fan, listen to their song, Home. I know Trent Renzor, (who basically is NIN) is a huge Mode fan. Maybe he was inspired, who knows. The album Year Zero is a concept album about an American police state, fifteen years into the future. A real (electro) rock album that holds nothing back. It makes all that emo-generic sounding-pop crap that’s popular today sound like amateur, sissy music. Why do so many so called, rock bands today sound the same? Is My Chemical Romance any different from 30 Seconds To Mars? No.
By JasonInMaine
April 22, 2007 10:15 PM | Link to this
Put Langy ont he DL with “sore hammy”, call up Blanco to play LF for two weeks, have Diaz as a right handed pinch hitter, and let’s go!
By N8.....be aware: Armageddon is coming!
April 22, 2007 10:15 PM | Link to this
MBATL
In your 3:48 post you said:
“Man, wish we’d quit hitting 3 run homers, and bunt more.”
TOTALLY different situation than in a 2-0 game in the 8th inning, when you’ve had a hard time getting ANYBODY on base, much less driving them in with a clutch hit.
Even I’m not dumb enough, to demand a sacrifice bunt, in a slugfest.
I appreciate your sarcasm though.
By Drummerdad
April 22, 2007 10:17 PM | Link to this
DOB, Long time no blog here. But I figured I’d chime in with my 2 cents worth. Raising 3 kids, 2 cents is about all I’ve got left. But, I like what I see with this team so far this year. They find a way to fight back.
The next time they face Oliver Perez they need to make him feel like he’s in the middle of “Shock and Awe”. Seems to me like Saturday’s difficulties had much to do with people trying to take Perez long. RISP, and Braves taking huge cuts at the ball and coming up empty.
Andruw needs a “swing psychologist”.
Renteria may be one of the best acquisitions the Braves have made since Fred McGriff.
I feel for Langerhans. There’s no doubt in my mind that the effort is not there.
Craig Wilson looks lost. After going from the Pirates to the Yankees, I wonder if he’s not quite sure what to do with the environment of the Braves. Probably will take a litte while.
Anybody got any bets on how long it’s gonna take Bobby to set a new manager ejection record? My guesstimate is that he will have tied the record by August 1. Then he breaks it before the end of September.
By JasonInMaine
April 22, 2007 10:18 PM | Link to this
MBATL,
I agree. I would love to see Thor get a chance at the everyday job, Blanco called up to play LF and hit 8th, Diaz as the right handed PH along with Wilson. Of coure, that doesn’t leave us with a good lefty on the bench, but I think the Braves would be better off.
Regards,
Jason
By N8.....be aware: Armageddon is coming!
April 22, 2007 10:19 PM | Link to this
Ken Stallings
You wrote earlier today:
“Put it this way, combine the talent of Andruw with the hitting discipline of Brian McCann, and you might have a hitter who would re-write the MLB hitting records!”
Uh. Yeah? HELLO!…..his name is Albert Pujols.
LOL! Sorry, had to. But, for real, he is the PERFECT combination of a GREAT hitter, that also can hit you 50 HR.
Offensively, him and Andruw aren’t CLOSE to being in the same category, IMO.
By Kieran, Long Island Brave Fan
April 22, 2007 10:25 PM | Link to this
I was down on Kelly All winter, all Spring, and into April as well. I came out and said I was wrong about him being a minor league hitter and now I’m coming out and saying my entire assessment of their decision to take him over Prado and his ability to hit leadoff as well. I was wrong, flat out. This guy can rake. His patience is something the Braves have severly lacked over the years, and I think that he is definatly an improvment on Giles. No I know I seem like a fair weather guy coming out and saying this on the biggest day of his career, and I’m not positive he’s gonna keep up with this (Remember after his incredible cold streak his rookie year, he hit a hot patch and then went into a cold streak that lasted the rest of the year.) The thing that is differant this time around is, he has a consitant and comfortable role in the leadoff spot.
I’m gonna throiw this comparison out there tell me what you think…
Do you see this guy as a smaller JD Drew? He’s got the patience, the long swing and the emotionless manner in the box. Also somewhat strikeout prone with above average speed. He’s not the player that JD is but he certanly gives me a similar feel up there. Certainly wont have the Power/Batting Average that Drew can throw up there over the course of a season, but can give you similar game to game production. It’s going to be very interesting to see what he can do throughout the course of the season, I see what they saw in his upside though… has a way higher cieling then giley
By MBATL
April 22, 2007 10:26 PM | Link to this
N8, glad you recognized that I was being ironical.
I’m sure the numbers have changed a little after today, but before yesterday’s game, the Braves were hitting HR at exactly the same rate - 1 every 25.1 ab’s - as we did for the full year last year. It’s a strong pace, but not unmaintainable (huh?) with this lineup.
This team just doesn’t have the personnel to play small ball. Not to say we don’t need to get a sac bunt down when appropriate, of course, but beyond that, there’s no need to call for us to play like the Dodgers unless we’re gonna replace most of the lineup.
By Scalp 'Em Braves
April 22, 2007 10:28 PM | Link to this
This is what a Muts beat writer posted on his blog earlier today,following the game.
*Two series against the Braves. The Mets lose two of three in both. in three of the four games the Mets let the game slip away because of their bullpen. When you have the Braves on the ropes you must put them away.
For 14 years, the Braves knew they could beat the Mets when it mattered. You have to believe they have that feeling again.*
This is what I discussed the other day about the outcome of this series. If we took it, it wouldn’t separate us from the Muts in the standings to any great extent. But, the psychological edge it would give the Braves would be significant. Event though we don’t play them for another month, unless we fall on the sword and do play really crappy for the next month (and the Muts wear it out for the next month), and come into the series 4 or 5 games down, I definitely think they will come in with the fear that we will find a way to beat them, no matter how good things look in the 7th inning.
By N8.....be aware: Armageddon is coming!
April 22, 2007 10:29 PM | Link to this
Sorry for the “multiple” posts, (no…not really.), but just getting home, and skimming through the blog, and responding to things as I go.
THANK YOU to all who chimed in on the Andruw/McCann Clean-up hitter debate.
Robert
I believe it was you talking about having the “two best hitters” surrounding Andruw. Not a bad point at all. I honestly believe that I would put McCann in the 3-hole, and flip Chipper to the 5-hole. But then again, that seems too low in the order for Chipper.
I still believe that BOTH Chipper and McCann, should get more AB’s that Andruw. It might not ammount to much, being only 1-spot in the order higer. But there will come a time when that 1-spot could be the difference in having McCann come up to the plate in crunch time.
I believe your argument for having McCann behind Andruw was for protection? In theory, that is GREAT. One really couldn’t argue that point. You do realize that we are talking about ANDRUW, right? For one to totally utilize somebody protecting them in the order, you must be a PATIENT hitter and wait for “your pitch” or take your walk. Right now, Andruw is NOT being very patient or selective. So the issue of protection is hardly the issue right now. HE HAS PROTECTION and is failing miserably. I’d say “it can’t get any worse, can it?”, but then all you have to do is look 4 spots down in the order and see Langerhans’ stats, and you realize……YES, it can. LOL!
But you make a good case, I just don’t happen to agree with it.
By Scalp 'Em Braves
April 22, 2007 10:33 PM | Link to this
Drummerdad:
Bobby needs 5 more times of “getting run” to tie McGraw, 6 to become the all time toss champ. He’s already been tossed 3 times this year (in fewer than 20 games). I say he ties it by early June, breaks it by late June. I just wish he’d pitch an Earl Weaver or LouP every once in a while. At least then we would know exactly why he got the thumb.
By Greenie
April 22, 2007 10:37 PM | Link to this
Hell with it, I sure don’t feel like reading N8’s epic, boring s** tonight, good night. N8 get your own damned blog.
By Scalp 'Em Braves
April 22, 2007 10:41 PM | Link to this
Bonds got 740 tonight. He’s going to pass Hank. We just need to completely ignore any further HR’s, the HR that ties, or that surpasses him. Nothing but a ‘roid head, jerk, and despite his being a fine ballplayer, he ain’t worthy of comparison, in any fashion, to the Hammer.
Lowell just went yard on a 3 run HR - Sox up 7-5. How exciting will it be to see the Bravos square off against Manny, Big Poppy and JD Screw?
By N8.....be aware: Armageddon is coming!
April 22, 2007 10:45 PM | Link to this
MBATL
I agree with you, that we don’t have the guys to play small ball…..ALL THE TIME.
But even a team that does play small ball, occasionally needs to hit a 3-run HR to win a game. Just the same a Hack-n-Jack team, might occasionally need to get a bunt down when it matters.
I think we got spoiled with Maddux, Glavine, Smoltz and even Avery. They were ALL excellent bunters. I’ve noticed more sac-bunts from pitchers fail in the last 3-4 years, than I did through ALL OF THE 90’s. And I’m not exaggerating. Those guys were SO GOOD at it, it became automatic and was expected of them. That’s why it seems so “bad” now. I guess that’s what happens when you’ve got 3 HOF pitchers in your rotations for more than half a decade. You get so used to seeing them succeed, you just assume that’s how it’s SUPPOSED to be.
By KC
April 22, 2007 10:49 PM | Link to this
Efrim: “but the Padres are also looking for a left fielder and they have more to offer….Linebrink.”
Efrim, first of all, I don’t think the Padres are all that interested in dealing Linebrink.
But second… most of the time, if you’re going to pick up a solid player mid-way through the season, it’s usually going to come from a team that’s not in contention. And a team that’s not in any kind of race is more likley to be interested in young talent than they are a guy like Linebrink.
Anyway, like I said… I think the Braves can get that offense from 1B or LF because Thorman, Wilson, and Diaz can all play either position. So which ever position you fill (from outside), you’ve got plenty of options to man the other.
I think Thorman needs to get more of a chance, but again, he can also play left… so if the Braves can get more offense at either 1B or LF, I’d love to see them do it.
Don’t get me wrong, I think the Braves are going to score plenty of runs just as they are aligned right now… but I just want to see this team be the very best it can be.
It would also be wonderful to land another top-flight starter… but even if there were one available (which does not appear to tbe the case), there are about a dozen other teams desperate for one of those, so that ain’t gonna happen.
As for strenthning the bench… I’ve got an idea. Let’s release Chris Woodward and hand that job to Willie Harris. His hitting .416 with a .500 OBP at Richmond. Also, he would give us another guy that can play Center Field, meaning that we coulg CUT LANGERHANS!!!!!!
I hate to say that. I’m sure he’s a nice guy, I’d love to see him succeed. But it seems obvious after nearly 700 major league at-bats that he’s not going to cut it. He’s hurting the team, and he needs to go.
By N8.....be aware: Armageddon is coming!
April 22, 2007 10:50 PM | Link to this
Greenie so sorry, I bore you. I know talking baseball strategy, and what not, can sometimes seem difficult and confusing.
So I’ve linked a website that might be more up your alley.
Hope that’s easier for you to understand. Good luck.
By kipp
April 22, 2007 10:50 PM | Link to this
The Cubs are ready to make a change. Manager Lou Piniella was adamant after the loss Sunday that Chicago needs another relief pitcher, expanding the pitching staff from 11 to 12. The roster will have to be adjusted. The Cubs already have a logjam in the middle infield with Ryan Theriot, Ronny Cedeno, Mark DeRosa and Cesar Izturis. And they have an even bigger one in the outfield as Soriano gets ready to move to left. If they stick with rookie Felix Pie in center, it means Matt Murton, Cliff Floyd and Jacque Jones will be vying for playing time in right. “He (Pie) is going to need to play every day, whether it’s here or in (Triple-A) Iowa. We’ll talk about our outfield situation here over the next day or two,” Piniella said.
hey David, what do you think the chances are we make a play for Cliff Floyd, the Cubs are going to be trading someone. Look at the logjam they have with Jacque Jones,Soriano,Pie,Murton, and Floyd. Plus they just said they are going to a 12 man pitching staff. Which one do you think we can get? Floyd,Jones,or Murton? I would want Murton but would be happy with any of them. Plus what would we have to give them? Maybe Prado and Devine?
By Scalp 'Em Braves
April 22, 2007 10:56 PM | Link to this
N8:
I agree with you on the “small ball” issue. Watched the Sox yesterday. Crisp (the #8 hitter) gets a single and steals second. He is sacrificed to third on a bunt by Cora. Sac fly to the outfield scores the run. I wish we had that capability/mind set, at times, instead of waiting on somebody to hit a bomb.
By Gil in Mechanicsville
April 22, 2007 10:59 PM | Link to this
Diaz’s bat will get well the next few days as he loves to hit Florida pitching.
Willie Harris might be all of 5’8” if he is on elevator spikes. Don’t belive the media guide. No way he is any taller than that. It kills me the taking heads on TV mention the Braves stealing so many bases in spring training but only one since. DUH!!! All the speedsters are playing AAA and AA ball.
AJ Great post man…. Send it to Bud…
Don’t expect a move unless the Braves are losing. As long as players are in the minors they still have options. Once a team starts calling them up the clock starts ticking. The Braves will save those moves until they need them.
By the way, Richmond won again today. Escobar hit a dinger.
Richmond may have the best 1-5 batting order I have ever seen as far as speed and OPS this year.
Yo Grinch If you are an Alison Krauss fan, I bought her new CD A Few Hundred Mileds at the same time I picked up the Greencards CD. I think it is the best one she has ever done and that is going some.
By Scalp 'Em Braves
April 22, 2007 11:01 PM | Link to this
Kipp:
Cliff Floyd?? The Muts cast off? The reigning DL king? No thanks. I’d rather have a good defensive player who can’t hit, or a good offensive player who can’t play the field, as opposed to someone who is going to spend at least half the season sitting on the bench with the muscle strain of the day.
By The Grinch
April 22, 2007 11:02 PM | Link to this
Yars, they’ve been playing the song “Only” in heavy rotation on Project 96.1 for about a month. That is off the same alblum as Survivalism, is it not? Anyhoo, I’ll snag it next time I’m at the Buy. Scalp ‘em, I’m in full agreement about Barroid. It’s not the steroids that bother me, it’s the combination of steroids and the reprehensible personality. I can tolerate one in a player (McGwire[roids], Cobb[personality]) but not both. Not when the record of someone with neither flaw is on the line. Time to crash; early morning. Later.
By RA
April 22, 2007 11:05 PM | Link to this
Sorry to weigh in so late on this blog. I will say what I would have said if Atlanta had lost the series. It was what it was, an April series between two contenders. The Mets didn’t lose anything and the Braves didn’t win anything more than a measure of respect from the Mets and baseball in general. I think that it will be a long summer, very long, but at least the Mets know now that it won’t be a lonely one.
By The Grinch
April 22, 2007 11:08 PM | Link to this
Gil, I will definitely grab that one then. She’s in love with me, she just doesn’t know it yet. Every time I try to get her to sing me to sleep at night she calls the cops…Also agree about the BS of the media guide; they have Renteria and Andruw as the same height and almost the same weight. Uh, no. And Wicky hasn’t seen 240 since 10th grade. ‘night. (good comeback, N8)
By N8.....be aware: Armageddon is coming!
April 22, 2007 11:08 PM | Link to this
Scalp ‘Em Braves
I think to be a truely good team a combination of both. I believe the 1995 team was that.
We had it ALL on that team. GREAT pitching. Pretty good all around defense (minus Klesko), good leadoff hitter (who KJ happens to remind me of) in Grissom, THUNDER in the middle of that order. But between the pitchers, the blauser/belliard combo at SS, lemke at 2B, they could advance the runners when they needed to play for 1 or 2 runs, yet still had the big guns, to hit the bombs, either when they needed them, or early in games to make the other teams play “catch up” ball.
Ironically, the Sox have that, don’t they? They can beat you in a BUNCH of different ways (offensively).
On the FLIPSIDE, I’m not so sure after watching the “technique” in which McCann held his bat while bunting, if I’ll EVER curse Bobby, if he never asks him to bunt again. LOL! We need those hands!!
By Robert (Justice Is The Best)
April 22, 2007 11:09 PM | Link to this
Kieran, I like that comparison about Johnson. Like I said earlier, I think this kid could be a #3 hitter someday.
By kipp
April 22, 2007 11:11 PM | Link to this
that’s fine, I guarantee you he won’t hit .065 with no RBI and 3 hits. He will blow by that in two games. And we could get Murton or Jones from them, someone has to go.
By N8.....be aware: Armageddon is coming!
April 22, 2007 11:17 PM | Link to this
The Grinch
Hope to not “bore” you buy chiming in on Bonds.
I’m less bothered by McGwire’s roid issues as well. But for various reasons. Roger Maris is from my home state, so in that aspect it bothers me. Other than that, I don’t really care.
The thing that seperates the two is what is at the root of my anger. McGwire wasn’t gonna go to the HOF before 1998. I’m pretty sure of that. So what’s he do? He juices up. Breaks a record that had stood for 37 years, all while basking in the glory and “fun” that he and Sosa have created for the fans. Meanwhile the Maris family, takes a liking to him. That’s the part that sucks, to me.
But with Bonds, IMO he was ALREADY gonna be a HOF’r. Had he retired the year before he hit 73 HR, he was gonna get voted in based on what he had already done. But that wasn’t enough for him, to go in as one of the best ALL AROUND players ever. He had to attack a record that had stood for many years, and many more before Aaron broke it.
Hank Aaron DESERVES that record. The only way I will have ANY respect for Barry ever again, is if he gets to 754 and retires, knowing (with all of us knowing as well), that he could’ve set a new record, but in showing his respect for Aaron, and in the light of the steroids scandal, simply chose to walk away. That would be nice, IMO.
It’s NEVER gonna happen, but it would be “right”.
By Scalp 'Em Braves
April 22, 2007 11:22 PM | Link to this
N8:
Can’t agree with you on the Grissom/KJ comparison. Grissom could fly - I don’t see KJ stealing 20 bases this year, and Grissom stole upward of 30 during his short tenure with the Braves. It is a shame that those who might be “advancers of runners” are low in the batting order, and them we have the pitcher coming up. I’m not one to push the panic button when things aren’t going well - and, take into account, things ARE going well - we’re in first place. I am concerned, though, that when we start playing outside of the division, that the bottom third of the batting order is going to KILL us.
As for Baby Huey and his bungled bunt attempt, give props to him - he laid down a perfect bunt with 2 strikes. After getting his hand scorched by an earlier attempt, he had no fear. With some of the failed sac situations we have seen this year, if he needs to bunt, have him bunt - at least he can put it in play.
By MBATL
April 22, 2007 11:25 PM | Link to this
N8, Scalp ‘Em: I’m not down on the “concept” of manufacturing runs… I’m all for it. I think we have a few guys who “know how to hit” and can adjust their approach for the circumstance: KJ, Edgar, Chipper, McCann. Frenchy seems to be making progress but is a long way away; AJ… well, you know what they say about old dogs and new tricks.
Thorman/Wilson/Diaz/Langerhans… none of them are exactly “contact hitters.”
And except for maybe KJ, we just don’t have any base-stealing threats on this team.
My point was not that small ball is bad, but that it’s beating your head against a wall to expect too much of it from this lineup.
By Mad Mike
April 22, 2007 11:26 PM | Link to this
Great game and great series. Tone has been set.
Grinch, your 6:50 post came too late.
DOB…came home from church today and flipped over to ESPN (which I will do almost only on Sundays) and I caught the tail end of your interview with Baseball Tonight. I thought for a second that we’d lost you to the machine. Fight the Power.
By Scalp 'Em Braves
April 22, 2007 11:31 PM | Link to this
Here’s an idea when the Red Sox come to town. When J D steps to the plate, don’t boo - which is what he deserves. The whole stadium yells “Screw” - sounds like “Boo”, but we all know it is a boo with a meaning. Nice double entendre’, eh?
Can you tell that I can’t stand the jerk?
By journalist jimma smith
April 22, 2007 11:38 PM | Link to this
jimma smith did not post as rosalynn awhile ago. some impostah is postin’ as jimma smith! thought maybah he got thrown offa heah a couple dahs ago.
now, baseball … langerhans does not look well. has anyone checked for iron deficiency?
and toes … healthy toes and happy feet make for a winning season.
By N8.....be aware: Armageddon is coming!
April 22, 2007 11:38 PM | Link to this
Scalp ‘Em Braves
When comparing Grissom and KJ, I was purely talking about their hitting abilities and styles.
Though I think that KJ is probably a better hitter than Grissom, average wise. But, Grissom made his AB’s “count” and he was a tough out. Made guys through strikes.
Somebody earlier (not sure who), made a comment about KJ possibly being a 3-hole hitter down the road. I agree. Strangley enough, Grissom hit in the 3-6 hole, in the Expos lineup the year before being traded to the Braves.
As for your comment on Grissom’s speed. You are absolutely correct. NO comparison. Though Grissom was NEVER the runner that he was in Montreal, once traded to Atlanta.
But like I said, each aren’t your prototypical leadoff hitter. They are both guys with good strikezone knowledge, a fair ammount of patience, and the ability (and willingness) to take the pitch where it is thrown, in other words, NOT afraid to go the other way. They are BOTH guys that had enough power, for teams to think about putting them in the middle of the order, yet were selective enough to be considered for the leadoff roll, with Bobby in charge.
BOTH are much more selective hitters than Giles was/is.
By N8.....be aware: Armageddon is coming!
April 22, 2007 11:41 PM | Link to this
Obviously, in my last post, I meant to type “throw strikes”….not “through strikes”.
ooops.
By Scalp 'Em Braves
April 22, 2007 11:54 PM | Link to this
N8:
No debate there on the comparison with Giles. However, had Giles performed last year in the lead off, the way he has this year (so far) with the Pads, I guarantee you that the efforts to sign him woul have been more earnest.
By meansonny
April 23, 2007 12:07 AM | Link to this
Gil
Good post. All of it.
I don’t think langerhans has cost us any games this year. And I know that he has saved at least one. I think too many of us are expecting too much from the #7 and #8 spot of the order (in April).
These players bat 7 and 8 for a reason. The difference between .150 and .250 batting avg is one hit in 2+ games. I don’t mind pulling a Bobby Cox and being loyal thru much of May in terms of the platoon. Come June and July,Schuerholtz will make the necessary moves to improve our post season chances.
For those of you who don’t like that explanation (waiting till june or july to change the roster), look at it this way. We’re hedging our salary cap by paying players league minimum until the last minute so as to maximize what we can afford for september and october. ( I’ve got friends who went to uga on scholarship for 2 years. They then transferred to Harvard so they could show the schools name on their diploma. That’s all that counted on their resumes. Seeing how much money they saved, I said BRILLIANT!!!)
If this is what it takes to trade for a merc to get us in the playoffs for about $82M payroll, then so be it. Like I said, its not like langerhans has cost us any games.
By gotigers72
April 23, 2007 12:44 AM | Link to this
Whoever said Bobby was protecting Smoltz when he got tossed was exactly right. It is a well known fact that you can’t come out of the dugout and argue balls and strikes without being thrown out. I believe Bobby saw Smoltz’ reaction and the umps’ reaction and thought Smoltz was fixing to be run, so he came out and got ran himself. Smart move at the time, because Smoltz was still throwing pretty good when that happened.
For those of you who criticized the umpire there, he was right on the call [the pitch was definitely high], and right to toss Bobby for coming out to argue balls and strikes. I thought he showed restraint in not tossing Smoltz for showing him up. Just my opinion.
By Scott
April 23, 2007 12:59 AM | Link to this
DOB, you should have told the guys at baseball tonight that the Braves vs. Mets is the only baseball rivalry that matters. Hell it’s the only pro sports rivalry that matters in the south. The Falcons vs. Saints is big but both of those teams are usually terrible. The Braves and the Mets the last few years have both usually been towards the top of the division.
By meansonny
April 23, 2007 1:15 AM | Link to this
AJ
I did share your sentiments during the game when langerhans struck out. Better than putting it in play (with the chance of getting doubled up).
I do like the look of the future braves teams with KJ a possible #3(after Chipper retires in hopefully 4 yrs:), McCann in the #4, and Francouer in the #5. Andruw will be missed. But probably not so badly with McCann in the cleanup for years to come.
By Gil in Mechanicsville
April 23, 2007 1:20 AM | Link to this
No matter how much you complain, the folks at ESPN and Fox are going to hawk the Red Sox and the Yankees…. Do the math, there are about 40 million folks in the New York and Boston metro areas. Just a huge market. plus all those fair weather fans like the Cowboys fans back in the ’70s and ’80s.
Be thankful for the internet.
The baseball landscape is already beginning to change with the Astros climbings slowly out of the cellar. I doubt the Cubs will remain in last place in the central either. They are just having a run of bad luck.
The Phillies are starting to turn it on too. Howard is gaining his stroke. Okay, time to go to bed.
By Chop Chop
April 23, 2007 1:32 AM | Link to this
APACHE!
By oldfortyniner
April 23, 2007 1:34 AM | Link to this
I used to have a goat named jimmy…he always denied making his lame posts also…
By Braves fan 202
April 23, 2007 1:35 AM | Link to this
i love how yall mention small ball and the red sox. They didnt exactly use small ball tonight, the yankees are third behind the sox and my other team, lets go Orioles baby!!! They are HOT. it is a good time for baseball and me. Nice win bravos, im glad KJ is no longer a worry.
By Coach
April 23, 2007 1:36 AM | Link to this
I wil not blog during the game , I will not blog during the game , I will not Blog during the game , I will blog during the frigging GAME !!!!!!!! lol. Got to write that about a thousand times on a chalk board somewhere. What a crazy game , gut wrenching , exciting , surprising and totally entertaining. The Braves are looking brilliant at the moment for putting KJ at second. Seven of the nine runs came on the longball. I noticed that all the runs scored by the Braves in the 6th , 7th and 8th were all after two outs and an error by the Mets in each inning. It just goes to show that you cannot give a good team four outs in an inning and expect to win. That sixth inning blow up by Smoltz and Cox was almost funny , except for the resulting five run barrage aided by Chipper’s error. We beat a lefty , scored three runs off Glavine , which is encouraging. Andruw’s bat is finally waking up. McCann getting hit on the hand scared everybody , thankfully he just has bruised fingers. Ya’ll are going to hate me for saying this but here goes , I still think the Mets are the better team and the Braves are playing for the wild card. Hope I’m wrong and the Mets starting pitching implodes but I just don’t see us hanging with these guys. The Mets offense is just to explosive and their bullpen is much better when they only have to record three outs in an inning. Langerhans has to go somewhere , anywhere but on this team. The bench is weak when Thorman starts , we don’t have anybody who can pinch hit effectively and Wilson is a back up , nothing more. The platoon is a failure so far. The pitching(starting and bullpen) and the top six in the batting order are carrying the team , the bottom third of the lineup is a black hole. Four stolen bases and twenty-four homeruns , ten quality starts , Bobby ball is getting it done so far but this team has holes that need to be fixed and until they are , I’m saying wild card.
By DonCoburleone
April 23, 2007 1:42 AM | Link to this
Amazing win today. Great series to boot. This series really has convinced me that the Braves can beat the Mets out for the division. Kelly Johnson, NICE! This guy is just a GREAT #2 or #5 hitter waiting to happen; he would be best suited in a spot where he has more chances to get RBI. But for this year he is definately our best option at lead-off.
By Greenie
April 23, 2007 1:43 AM | Link to this
N8 you ignorant putz, I didn’t say your posts were confusing, difficult, or hard to understand, I said it’s epic, boring sh#t. So you can get off your high horse on that one. You never shut the f&ck up, you take up half of the damn blog with boring, childish babble. Do you need a pacifier, a warm bottle, attention, or your mommy’s titty? You boring, long winded dork.
By DonCoburleone
April 23, 2007 1:54 AM | Link to this
Coach well thought out points. I agree with the majority of them, but aren’t all of your concerns things we kind of expected and saw coming before the season even started? We knew going in that Langerhans couldn’t hit, the Thorman/Wilson platoon would be mediocre at best, and we wouldn’t steal ANY bases. The other concerns at the beginning of the season were Kelly Johnson at second base, Hampton being healthy, Chipper’s health, and Francoeur’s patience. Of those 4, 3 of the 4 have worked out beautifully. When half of your teams biggest concerns to start the season have come through so far, its not bad. Of course the stellar pitching (for the most part) doesn’t hurt either…
By Braves fan 202
April 23, 2007 2:00 AM | Link to this
First of all coach, dont jinx andruw’s bat, he had two good games. but ya today was a closey and a goody. Im surprised the mets are packing the park so well. I wish the braves would do that. kelly johnson will get a standing o when he comes back to atlanta, unless of course he slides before returning. I hate to be negative nancy here, but i see the mets as superior to the braves. The braves look great, but the mets are awesome. I think the bravos will take the wild card. Man do i hope im wrong though. The mets can only get better though, especially when pedro returns. imagine having to face glavine than pedro after that. i think what will decide the majority of the race is interleague play,cuz i could see the mets getting pummled by the AL east and the braves beatin up the central(even thought the central is good, the bravos can take em).
By DonCoburleone
April 23, 2007 2:01 AM | Link to this
And also, we all know Chipper is going to go down with an injury sooner or later; the question is, what does the lineup look like with him out? Isn’t Woodward the only guy on the roster who has played 3B before other than Chipper? I mean, don’t tell me we are going to have to go through 30-40 games of Chris Woodward starting at 3B? … I’d rather have a doped up Aybar starting before Woodward.
By Braves fan 202
April 23, 2007 2:04 AM | Link to this
Ok greenie calm down, that is true though N8. Everytime i start to read your blog it seems like your forcing info. i have never read a full blog of yours, although the first half of your blogs have some good points, seriously. just cool it down and talk some baseball. You and KC are similar but different to me, KC has the same writing style but knows what to talk about. But greenie it isnt that big of a deal chill, cuz you might get kicked off with that language.
By Wayne in UT
April 23, 2007 2:25 AM | Link to this
Long time, no blog… Hello my Braves friends!
A couple of thoughts: I have been a KJ man from the start (Thorman to a lesser degree). Nice to see him breaking out. I really like what I see of Frenchy, McCann, Rent-a-SS, and Chipper so far. Andruw is frustrating. While I know that he will come around, it is frustrating as heck to see him look so bad over the past 3 weeks. A major league player should have more pride in their performance and do some work to get squared away to fix these things. Does he not listen to anybody???? What’s up with that batting stance?
Pitching: The bullpen is not quite the slam dunk we were hoping for, but it IS still early. The starting is looking good so far. Redman will win us 10 games if he starts 30. I hope this past game for James is a fluke.
As for Hudson and Smoltz, they are giving the team a chance to win every time out. I suspect Davies will do OK this year, and I am ever hopeful for Cormier to bounce back.
We need to promote Escobar if/when Chipper gets a “toe” problem. Woodward and Orr are not the answer for more than a rare start.
Who is available on the farm or elsewhere for LF or 1B? We need one more bat. Could we package Andruw for something, anything????? (Yeah, yeah, I know, it’s not going to happen. But, I can hope can’t I???)
Do I dare say what some of us are thinking????? Salty at 1B?????? McCann and Frenchy did OK in ‘05 around mid year. Blanco up for some OF help???? Give the man a few starts, for goodness sakes. Langerhans can go get the ball, but he looks lost at the plate. Diaz and Wilson are both no more than part-timers.
Long blog, sorry……
By Robert
April 23, 2007 2:57 AM | Link to this
“Uh. Yeah? HELLO!…..his name is Albert Pujols. “
N8 - I have said before that Pujols is comparable as a hitter to Ted Williams
That said, I truly believe that Andruw had better tools. I have never seen, heard of, or read about, a player whose tools set equalled Andruw, and of few that came close
You also asked how I knew about Andruw’s “tool”.
That brought back fond memories of tipping mom and sis on stage at the Gold Club :P
By serbok
April 23, 2007 3:17 AM | Link to this
hi guys~ unfortunately i work a late shift and have only seen 3 games this year:o( been a braves fan since 1966~The Beeg Boy! Coach~ nice move by bobby watching the game~and just waitng to see what happens~ as usual~ I like bobby~ it just sux~he cannot manage away out of a brown paper sack! shuerholze has given the man the talent to “work” with over the last 15 years~and just my opinion~ but man! can Bobby watch a good game!
By Jon712
April 23, 2007 3:38 AM | Link to this
The way the braves are playing, the dog has stopped cringing when I come home.
By serbok
April 23, 2007 3:44 AM | Link to this
Lmao Jon! I need to have a talk with the neighbors cat i guess?
By serbok
April 23, 2007 3:59 AM | Link to this
do i get a free beer for being last to post?
By David O'Brien
April 23, 2007 4:02 AM | Link to this
No, you don’t.
By David O'Brien
April 23, 2007 4:08 AM | Link to this
Gotigers, agree with your 12:42 post.
Now, gotta pack and get a cab to the airport for my 7:30 a.m. flight to Fort Lauderdale.
Later.
Or earlier. Whatever.
By serbok
April 23, 2007 4:08 AM | Link to this
LOL well I tried DOB go bravos:o)
By serbok
April 23, 2007 4:10 AM | Link to this
BTW~ going to see real music on may 19! Roger Waters In Tampa! DSOTM in its entirety!
By Spike
April 23, 2007 4:10 AM | Link to this
Don’t understand when people say the Mets offense is too explosive and their bullpen is so great the Braves are a wild card team. We just out slugged them in a three game set and we beat their bullpen. Aaron Heilman? C’mon. Our bullpen just out performed the Mets’ pen without Gonzo or Chad Paronto. My take is that we won without playing our best. We still have two guys who can’t hit their weight, and two huge pieces of our pen are down. Props to Yates who has been in 8 of the last 10 games and done a great job in taking the ball until the other guys get healthy. If Cox ever realizes that all platooning has done is expose Wilson and Langerhans’ inability to hit consistently and allow Diaz and Thorman to take their shot no telling how good we can be. But as of today, the Braves are in first place because they are better than the Mets right now.
By willy wally
April 23, 2007 5:37 AM | Link to this
from nypost.com:
Chipper Jones knows the Mets are one scary team, though. “I definitely put them at the top of the upper echelon of teams. And they have the ability to go out monetarily and get what they need. That’s huge. That’s something only 10-15 percent of the teams in baseball have the ability to do, and that’s why, for the guys in this clubhouse, we’re not overly excited.”
Do you think it is about time for the Braves fans to show as much aggravation about our B.S. finances, i.e., nonsensical $80 mil payroll, as Chipper does?
By Gil in Mechanicsville
April 23, 2007 6:13 AM | Link to this
I think for some that by setting their expectations low they feel they will not be disappointed if and when the Braves fail to win the division. Others perhaps read all of the media hype coming out of New York and feel there must be no way the Braves could possible compete with a team with such vast resources and potential.
I hope the Braves players and management don’t subscribe to those theories because if they do it is no use for the team to play the rest of the season. It is what made the ’91 season so great. No one gave that team a snowball’s chance in Hades to finish anywhere other than last place in the western division that year.
It is a long season and players get hurt, players rise up and new stars emerge. It is why they play every game. Will the Braves win the divisions this year? I don’t have a crystal ball to make that prediction but if you ask me if they could win the division I would venture 100% yes on that. They certainly can play with anyone right now.
By David O'Brien
April 23, 2007 6:35 AM | Link to this
Damn, Laguardia is busier than I can ever remember it this morning. Guess that’s why we usually prefer flying out Sunday night after day game….
Gil, I can assure you there isn’t a person in that clubhouse who believes the Braves won’t win the division if they play the way they’re capable of playing.
Doesn’t matter where fans or media set the expectations. The team itself believes it can and should win the division.
I had the Friday NY Times and just got around to reading the weekend entertainment section. So I was a bit upset to see Jarvis Cocker (formerly of the great Brit band Pulp) played Webster Hall in NY last night. So not only did my hotel not have HBO, meaning I have to wait to see Sopranos on OnDemand when I get home, but I could’ve gone to see great music last night and didn’t know it….
Oh, well. Onward and upward.
The more I watch the replay of the Smoltz play, the more impressive it is.
By Gil in Mechanicsville
April 23, 2007 6:53 AM | Link to this
Dave, You remind me of why I hate flying so much…. It’s the airports… Oh, and the airplanes too. I do not envy your job just on account of those two factors. They have become glorified bus stations with not disrespect to the bus stations.
And yes, Chipper would not have made the play…..
By Summerteeth
April 23, 2007 7:01 AM | Link to this
Smoltz made that play because Glavine was running. He wanted to get Glavine out himself.
By KC
April 23, 2007 7:16 AM | Link to this
Willy Wally: Let’s give it a couple months and see what happens when Liberty Media takes over.
Also, the Braves actually do have plenty of payroll flexibility this year no matter what because of the insurance money coming back on Hampton.
By willy wally
April 23, 2007 7:18 AM | Link to this
The magic number is 145!
By willy wally
April 23, 2007 7:31 AM | Link to this
Has anyone noticed that Frenchy has 20 walks in his last 60 games? Not great but a marked improvement for him.
By Coach
April 23, 2007 8:42 AM | Link to this
Spike , the Braves have beaten the Mets head to head 4-2 and we are just half a game up on them. However , The Mets have outscored , outhit and out pitched everybody in the N.L. , then when you consider the fact that the Mets have played one game less than the Braves you can begin to understand why I think they could be the team that we will be chasing all season.
By Carroll
April 23, 2007 8:47 AM | Link to this
As far as th poll question about Johnson/Giles, I really wish we could have them both. Imagine having Johnson in LF—instead of the no-talent hack Langerhans—and leading off AND Giles at 2B batting in his more comfy 2 hole, with Renty batting 3rd, Chipper 4th and so on.
By Carroll
April 23, 2007 8:58 AM | Link to this
gotigers:
The issue wasn’t whether or not that particular pitch to Green was a ball or strike. The issue was that the ump had just called that SAME, EXACT pitch a strike to Wright. The inconsistency is what is maddening with these morons.
You look at that pitch to Green and dismiss as not being a strike because it was too high. What you fail to consider is that Green is very tall, so that pitch WAS in fact a strike to him.
Since Bobby is so stupid as to always leave his starters in WAY too long when it’s obvious that they have lost it, I wish the imp would have run Smoltz right then and there.
By Braves20
April 23, 2007 9:54 AM | Link to this
DOB - Damn, I wish I had seen your interview on ESPN with the “if it doesn’t happen in the northeast, it didn’t happen” squad. I will settle for the satisfaction of winning a second straight series with the flipping Mets. A satisfaction tempered only by our still underachieving first base platoon - a combined .180 but up from .134 a week ago with 19 K’s in 67 AB’s. And while a fan of Langerhan’s “D” , we need to get this kid somewhere where he can get his head straight. He is absolutely lost at the plate. You never worried about KJ as he has touching the ball and hitting a lot of “at ‘ems” but Langerhans is simply lost.
By ncscoots
April 23, 2007 10:01 AM | Link to this
Mets have mashed and pitched against their lesser competition this year, that’s true. They’re hitting over .300 as a team against Cardinals, Nats, Marlins, and Phillies, with an ERA in the low 2s against those teams, all of which are well below .500; against the Braves (the only quality team they’ve played), they are hitting 30 points lower with an ERA about a run higher. In addition, they scored about a third of their run total against Atlanta in a single game, somewhat skewing the numbers.
Mets have an excellent offensive club, no doubt, and their pitching is actually better than I envisioned on Opening Day. I just don’t think either facet is quite as good as the early returns indicate. Braves have shown (so far) how to handle these guys, and I’m wagering other teams are taking note.
By Grahamdawg
April 23, 2007 10:04 AM | Link to this
DOB, Truckers are one of my favorite bands. That’s that the 2nd one of their songs I’ve seen you post. They are playing in Athens this weekend. Come in town, we can watch the Braves and then go see them at the GA. theatre.
By Gil in Mechanicsville
April 23, 2007 10:12 AM | Link to this
No doubt Langerhans is pressing, lets hope he does not read the blogs too. Last year until he hurt his wrist he was hitting at a torrid pace, what happened? Do we need to call his dad? Do we need to call McCann’s dad?
His poor start jumps out at us because there is nothing to balance it against. Fortunatly, the rest of the team has taken up the slack. At least Thorman looks to be coming around. I forget who said it, it may have been LaRussa, but he always said he was more interested in a player’s last 20 AB’s than his current batting average to tell him how a guy was hitting.
That being said, Andruw looks to be waking from his slumber and Frenchy is maturing right before our very eyes. AMAZING. IT MUST BE THE MIRRORS. :-))))
By Steve
April 23, 2007 10:21 AM | Link to this
i love Kelly’s Heros!!! go Bravo’s
By Efrim
April 23, 2007 10:28 AM | Link to this
KC, regarding 4/22/07 10:49 PM Post.
The Padres would look to deal Linebrink for a left fielder that can slug. They have Cla Meredith and Heath Bell (who they love). It would be a move that would benefit them. They are really deep in the bullpen and could afford to deal him away to a team in need for an 8th inning guy.
By TennesseePaul
April 23, 2007 10:31 AM | Link to this
Imagine this being in the 7 hole above Langerhans. Yikes.
Pittsburgh slugger Adam LaRoche still wound up 1 for 4, leaving his average at a team-worst .105. He has just six hits all year — half of which have been home runs — and has struck out 22 times in 57 at-bats. Only the Cincinnati Reds’ Adam Dunn has more strikeouts — 27 — in Major League Baseball. Hey, the Pirates’ pitchers have six hits in 25 fewer at-bats.
By Lee
April 23, 2007 10:38 AM | Link to this
Good weekend series for the Braves. This is an exciting team to watch play. The pitching from top to bottom is looking really good. Once Cormier comes back, it should only improve. The Braves also have young pitching talent in the minors. In my opinion the Braves have 3 major weaknesses, but better to have these 3 as problems instead of having to search for pitching.
1-Left field - Langerhans has got to go and I think (or at least hope) the Braves are starting to realize this also. Diaz seems to be better off of the bench and as a backup.
2 - First base - Thorman and Wilson do not seem to be the answer. Maybe with a little more at bats Thorman may come through. He has good cuts and swings at the ball.
3 -Bench (pinch hitting) - Lets face it, Woodward and Orr are not going to strike the fear into the opposing pitchers. I have always like Orr’s hustle but the Braves need more production off the bench.
Hope I am not sounding to pessimistic - I just want the Braves to become one of the elite teams in baseball not only to compete for their division but the World Series also. . I think via trades or through their minor league system these 3 weaknesses can be address easily as the season goes on.
By Smitty
April 23, 2007 10:41 AM | Link to this
Are we going to be in the market for a left fielder anytime soon? I hear Jaque Jones could be had on the cheap
By TennesseePaul
April 23, 2007 10:42 AM | Link to this
KC: Are you still thinking the team will win 19 this month? I’d like to see it, but not sure it will happen. There are only 7 games left. We’d have to sweep the rest of the month to do it. I’d love it if we could. It could give us 2.5 game lead to end the month.
So far we haven’t lost a series. We’ve split a few, but that’s fine. I’d rather split than lose. If we keep this up, we’re going to win it all. No doubt in my mind.
By Fed Up
April 23, 2007 10:46 AM | Link to this
DOB:
We desperately need a left fielder. Are there any options? Maybe Blanco, or a trade. Langerhans can field, but can’t hit. Diaz is three to four outs per game with an occasional hit. We need a right handed left fielder who can hit that Bobby won’t platoon. I now see this as the key to getting to the playoffs.
By Efrim
April 23, 2007 10:51 AM | Link to this
Jacque Jones is owed 9 million the next two years. I don’t even know if the Braves could afford his salary for the rest of this season.
By the way, Linebrink is a free agent and talks have stalled with the Padres on a contract extension. He is outta there by July.
By KC
April 23, 2007 11:02 AM | Link to this
TennPaul:
Nah, probably not. I was never convinced they were going to win 19… I was just picking a number for the fun of it. I think 17-9 is still very attainable, and that would be a helluva month.
By KC
April 23, 2007 11:19 AM | Link to this
* Coach:* “the Braves have beaten the Mets head to head 4-2 and we are just half a game up on them. However , The Mets have outscored , outhit and out pitched everybody in the N.L. , then when you consider the fact that the Mets have played one game less than the Braves you can begin to understand why I think they could be the team that we will be chasing all season.” Coach the Mets are an excellent team, and we may very well find ourselves chasing them. HOWEVER… They cannot sustain their present level of play. I haven’t crunched the numbers in a couple of days, but as of Saturday, the Mets were on pace to score over 1,000 runs this season. They scored 834 last year, and the Yankees led both leagues in runs with 930… and that was with a potent lineup and a DH. And what do you suppose the odds are of them finishing the season with a 2.68 team ERA? Hell… what are the odds they finish with a 3.68? What the Mets have done through the first 3 weeks of the season is not sustainable. It’s not eve close to sustainable. The Braves on the other hand are 9th in the NL right now in ERA at 3.86. And they’re 5th in the league in runs, on pace to score 774 runs (they scored 849 last year). Those numbers are most definitely sustainable, but I expect both the offense and pitching number to improve for Atlanta (especially the pitching) as the season goes along. When you look at it that way… I think the Braves are weathering the storm. The Mets are playing out of their minds and aren’t going to look any better than they do right now. I don’t know the same can be said for the Braves. I think are going to play (at least slightly) better baseball than they have so far.
By KC
April 23, 2007 11:22 AM | Link to this
Efrim: Good point. I still think young talent will be as or more attractive to most any team that would be willing to give up a key offensive piece mid-season, since such a team probably wouldn’t be in contention for anything.
By KC
April 23, 2007 11:24 AM | Link to this
* Coach:* “the Braves have beaten the Mets head to head 4-2 and we are just half a game up on them. However , The Mets have outscored , outhit and out pitched everybody in the N.L. , then when you consider the fact that the Mets have played one game less than the Braves you can begin to understand why I think they could be the team that we will be chasing all season.”
Coach the Mets are an excellent team, and we may very well find ourselves chasing them. HOWEVER… They cannot sustain their present level of play.
I haven’t crunched the numbers in a couple of days, but as of Saturday, the Mets were on pace to score over 1,000 runs this season. They scored 834 last year, and the Yankees led both leagues in runs with 930… and that was with a potent lineup and a DH.
And what do you suppose the odds are of them finishing the season with a 2.68 team ERA? Hell… what are the odds they finish with a 3.68?
What the Mets have done through the first 3 weeks of the season is not sustainable. It’s not eve close to sustainable.
The Braves on the other hand are 9th in the NL right now in ERA at 3.86. And they’re 5th in the league in runs, on pace to score 774 runs (they scored 849 last year). Those numbers are most definitely sustainable, but I expect both the offense and pitching number to improve for Atlanta (especially the pitching) as the season goes along.
When you look at it that way… I think the Braves are weathering the storm. The Mets are playing out of their minds and aren’t going to look any better than they do right now. I don’t know the same can be said for the Braves. I think are going to play (at least slightly) better baseball than they have so far.
By Greenie
April 23, 2007 11:26 AM | Link to this
jimmy smith, who’s playing the part of rosalynn today, you, or that imaginary imposter that always gets credit for your lamea$$ comments?
By KC
April 23, 2007 11:27 AM | Link to this
Sorry for the double post.
By fastasballs
April 23, 2007 11:28 AM | Link to this
I’m sure they are going to stick with Langerhans for a while longer. He has little or no trade value & he is long out of options. If his glove was not so damn good he would not be there now.
I think the solution in left, providing Langerhans continues to do nothing, will come from the farm. There is Blanco at AAA & Brandon Jones at AA. Looking at their stats each would appear a good choice but both bat from the left side if my memory is correct. Would still be a platoon situation.
With the production from the rest of the team all they really need is a decent glove guy that can hit .260-.280 with some speed & a little pop in his bat.
I think Thor will develop into a good hitter, maybe not as fast as KJ has.
Folks, the farm is stacked with talent. There is enough legitimate, future major league talent to field at least two infields, a future starting rotation, pen & catcher. Is there anyone playing 1st the Braves are high on?
By KC
April 23, 2007 11:30 AM | Link to this
Efrim: “Jacque Jones is owed 9 million the next two years. I don’t even know if the Braves could afford his salary for the rest of this season.”
Schuerholz’s MO is to head into the season with at least a few million set aside for any mid-season moves they made need to make. But now with the Hampton thing, they’ll have insurance money coming back, and JS has already indicated that they would look to invest that back into the team. So there should be plenty of cash there this year.
By Mark
April 23, 2007 11:33 AM | Link to this
We have a fairly good team and Kelly starting to make a believer out of me. Even though we have gotten off to a great start, I am still a little worried about the fact that we don’t play enough small ball. We can’t continually live and die by the homerun. As potent as our offense is, I would like us move runners along when we have something like 1st and 2nd nobody out. We won that game yesterday, but we did blow some opportunities.
Bobby is a great regular season manager, but he has to have some type of rule that if a runner is in scoring position nobody out the next player has to bunt. I don’t care if it is Chipper or Andruw. I say this because our offense is a little streaky. I hate having to rely on homers. We only have four disciplined hitters in our starting lineup that have a good eye for the ball and are tough to strike out. That is Chipper Jones, Brian McCann, Kelly Johnson, and Edgar Renteria. The rest of the line up are free swinging hackers and that would include Andruw, Francouer, Thorman or Wilson at first base, and Diaz or Langerhans in Left.
We don’t a great deal of speed so we have to play small ball. Let’s be honest we all know that when we face good ballclubs with good pitching it’s gonna be hard for us to string together 3 or 4 hits in a row. That is what has cost us previous playoff series the lack of playing ABC baseball. Get them on, get them over, and get them in. We may need to do more hit and runs as well. I know it’s only April, but we have to think in a playoff mindset in order to be successful! I don’t just want this team to comeback from last year’s debacle to win the division. I want to win it all!!
The key to us winning it all is Davies, James, and Redman. We have can’t just rely on Hudson and Smoltz if we want to win the World Series. I really wanted Hampton to be healthy, but so much for that. All we need from James, Davies and Redman is a solid 6 innings. I will have to admit that Redman showed signs of improvement during his last start against the Cubs. I think we also need one or two more bullpen guys to step up and I think Tyler Yates can be that guy. I like Yates velocity and his offspeed pitches. We need him because we can’t rely on the Gonzalez, Soriano and Wickman every time we are winning in the late innings. They can’t pitch every night so that is where Yates is important. For the most part our pitching is quite consistent. So we’ll see.
By Kieran from Long Island
April 23, 2007 11:37 AM | Link to this
The Smoltz defensive play is one of those, “NO WHAT ARE YOU DOING LET CHIPPER… Oh… Wow… WOW!!!” He looked Like Brett farve throwin off his back foot, great stuff.
By the way, I’ve never heard of a team NEEDING a gold glove in left field. I mean isn’t Manny/Barry Bonds playing out there? Didn’t they Have a Thirdbaseman out tehre a couple years ago? Bobby wasn’t saying anythign about needing defense out there then. All he’s doing is finding an excuse to play Ryan because he has loyalty to him. I’m not exactly knocking him for it, because I’m sure Ryan is an important part of the team we do not see, in the clubhouse. Bobby’s gotten everything out of his players because of that loyalty he possesses but I dont need to be fed all this phenominal defense nonsense, Diaz is just fine out there.
By Gil
April 23, 2007 11:40 AM | Link to this
Hey guys…was sweet that win ..i case anyone talking abour the left field position…this is what going in on..in Richmond…Ours team is in First Place, and W.Harris (2b) is third in Batting in the league with 405 avg, Blanco(of) is 8th with 357 Avg follow Escobar(ss) with 352 Avg… Our Minor league team it doing ok.
By GeorgetownKid
April 23, 2007 11:41 AM | Link to this
Did anyone see Chipper’s comments in the NY Times? He spoke glowingly about the Mets and how good they are this year.
He also stated, quite bluntly, that the Braves are not as good as the Mets, saying that the Mets are still “head and shoulders” above the Braves, and that he is not convinced that the Braves can hang with the Mets for an entire season.
He did, however, say that on any given night, the Braves are good enough to beat the Mets.
His remarks were made after yesterday’s game.
By ZB Pike
April 23, 2007 11:45 AM | Link to this
From SI.com:
Atlanta Braves 1B: L – Scott Thorman (.044), R – Craig Wilson (.046) LF: L – Ryan Langerhans (-.013), R – Matt Diaz (.015) Bobby Cox launched the Braves’ dynasty in 1991 with platoons at first, second, shortstop, and left field, but his current left-field scenario is rather pointless. Diaz, the better overall hitter, should be the full-time starter.
By NO CHOP ZONE
April 23, 2007 11:47 AM | Link to this
Don’t ever accuse me of not blogging when the Mets lose. Kudo’s to the braves with some big HR’s to steal a victory from the Mets. You better hope that those clutch homers keep up all year or the Mets will win the Division easily. Like a heavyweight fight, the braves have taken the first couple of rounds and are ahead on points. But there are 12 rounds and this fight is far from over boys.
By Senor Smoke
April 23, 2007 11:54 AM | Link to this
We should definitely trade for Jacque Jones and also call up Brandon Jones. We should also shore up the bullpen even further by trading for Todd Jones. If we could somehow acquire Randy Johnson, Josh Johnson and Nick Johnson as well, then we would have the perfect team of Jones’ and Johnsons.
By Arkansas Hillbilly
April 23, 2007 12:02 PM | Link to this
OK back to the grind after a 3 day turkey hunting trip in the Ouachita Mountains.
Serbok—Roger Waters? I’m jealous. Saw him in Dallas a few years back and it is truly an experience for the ages.
Journalist Jimmy Smith—Happy Feet again!?!?!? I must watch this cartoon to see it’s relevance to baseball success.
DOB—Good Cooley stuff, there. I’m still sulking over the Isbell thing, though. What’s the word on Cormier’s start the other day? Numbers??? And four K’s in one inning. WOW!
By Lew
April 23, 2007 12:03 PM | Link to this
Y’all-I got news for you. We’re NOT going to get Jaques Jones (not without the Cubs just giving him to us and paying most of his salary). Blanco is NOT going to come up from the minors and become the answer-does anyone even wonder why he hasn’t been considered to this point? Flat out, he doesn’t have the confidence of the Braves’ brass and there damn well has to be a reason other than that he has no power, not to mention you don’t know how he will perform at the ML level. As far as Diaz goes-Does anyone even bother taking into account that he is 0 for his last twelve? That’s what Langerhans is. Diaz has made all the plays up to this point, but is anyone really confidant that he won’t half kill himself banging into walls or drop one or two after running in circles trying to find the ball? He also has zero power and if he was all that great, he’d have been out there every day a long time ago? The answer is to stop the flippin platoon. There is no way that either of these two will ever work it out playing every other day (at best). Langerhans is lost-no doubt about that, but he is getting no AB’s. If after playing every day for two or three weeks and still hitting sub .100, then you can relegate him to defensive replacement status and figure whether or not to release him. But give the guy a chance- and not this crap about “Oh well, he’s had three years. He hasn’t. He’s been platooned and played injured last year. He is a career .250 hitter, not career .045. There’s just no way with regular playing time that he’s this bad.
By Gil in Mechanicsville
April 23, 2007 12:05 PM | Link to this
If the Braves so choose, they can turn Escobar into anything they need, I think he his that good. Of course that may mean he is traded to another team. He is a Blue Chipper for sure.
I am of the belief that outfielders are much easier to find than infielders. Good hitters on the other hand are still a mystery. Finding the combination of the two is the Holy Grail that keeps hundreds of scouts employed.
By Arkansas Hillbilly
April 23, 2007 12:05 PM | Link to this
Oh and one more question. How’s McCann’s hand today? I’m assuming he’s be fine since he played the rest of the game.
By Paula
April 23, 2007 12:12 PM | Link to this
Hey, GeorgetownKid, are you for real?
I read the NY Times articles on the Braves/Mets series - Chipper said no such thing - not even close……
By geauxbraves2000
April 23, 2007 12:14 PM | Link to this
No offense to Jacques Jones, but he isn’t the answer to the Braves left field issue. The answer to the left field issue is to stop platooning. Be it Diaz or Langerhans, pick someone and stick with him. If Diaz doesn’t perform, put Langerhans out there, if he doesn’t work out, try something else. There is no way any player can get any type of consistency at the plate while playing only every other day. Ditto with Wilson and Thorman.
Then again, the Braves are 12-6, so what do I know?
Geaux Braves!!
By TennesseePaul
April 23, 2007 12:15 PM | Link to this
is there anyone playing 1st the Braves are high on
There is a Hawaiian Kid named Kala Kaaihue. He hit .281 last season with 28 HR and a .958 OPS. But he is way down the line right now.
By ncscoots
April 23, 2007 12:16 PM | Link to this
I am still a little worried about the fact that we don’t play enough small ball - Play for one, and most of the time that’s all you get. Terrific as a close-and-late tactic, a sure path to a loss otherwise.
he has to have some type of rule that if a runner is in scoring position nobody out the next player has to bunt. I don’t care if it is Chipper or Andruw - The 3-4-5 hitters are paid to get ‘em in, not get’ em over. Using run-producers to advance runners, and expecting lesser hitters to then produce runs, is another pretty good way to get an L.
We don’t a great deal of speed so we have to play small ball - Huh?
I’m not trying to pile on, sir, but this is the type of reasoning that just about drives…me…bonkers. Scratching out runs against Gibson was smart if you had Koufax, but that type of pitching just doesn’t exist in quantity anymore. Score, and score a lot, because it’s likely your opponent isn’t going to be held to two runs.
And the usual disclaimer…small ball and executing the fundamentals properly are two entirely different animals.
By Ron Roberts
April 23, 2007 12:19 PM | Link to this
Uh, actually “No Chop,” if you’re counting series as rounds, there are only six, and you’re down two already.
Wanna count ballgames as “rounds?” Then there are 18, and we’re up 4-2.
By Lew
April 23, 2007 12:21 PM | Link to this
Georgetown Kid-You see what happened when Jimmy Rollins ran his mouth, don’t you? Maybe Chipper was being diplomatic. It has been reported that the word from the Braves’ clubhouse is that the Braves are certain they will win. Chipper’s just not providing any ammunition for the Mets. Senor Smoke-If you really think any of what you propose will happen, you’re basically clueless. First off, we won’t take on Jacques Jones’ salary. We don’t need another closer we can’t afford (you do realize we already have three?) and it is highly doubtful that the Braves will replace anyone with two outfielders with zero ML experience-one with no experience above two weeks of AA. Your analysis is sadly deficient and likely the result of frustration.
By 22oz
April 23, 2007 12:24 PM | Link to this
i was watching Baseball Tonight when you were on DOB. Great job telling it like it is, all Karl Ravech could say was, “thank you for your honesty David O’Brien.”
By Gil in Mechanicsville
April 23, 2007 12:27 PM | Link to this
Lew Got Snow? Send some to the hot heads who keep wanting to remake the roster 20 games into the season…
I agree, although I do like Diaz. I think the kid can play. Langerhans was hitting a ton last April and then hurt his wrist. Seems like he has not been the same since. Now he is trying too hard and is hitting in the eight hole most of the time which is not going to give you good pitches to swing at either. A real catch 22 situation.
It is not going to turn around in Florida but I expect to see him play in that huge outfield late tonight and againt the right hander tuesday.
By Weatherhead
April 23, 2007 12:27 PM | Link to this
I really wanted it to be sunny today, but to my astonishment, and against all odds, I’m sorry to say that it is a bit cloudy. You might say partly cloudy if you are pessimistic, or in a stretch, and if you’re more of an optimistic type of person, male or female, you might even say partly sunny, I guess it’s all in the way that you look at it. Also it would be appropriate, if you are truly, extremely optimistic to use terms to describe cloudiness as mostly sunny or mostly cloudy, especially if you were more concerned with sunniness as opposed to pure cloudiness.
But my question is that if it is partly sunny or mostly sunny during the day, as far as describing cloudiness, if when the sun sets, technically it then must be described as partly cloudy or mostly cloudy, but it’s still the same amount of clouds in the atmosphere, so then should we get rid of terms like partly sunny and mostly sunny, and adopt the terms partly cloudy and mostly cloudy, even during the daylight hours, since it appears to depend more about the amount of sunshine, rather than about the amount of true cloudiness, or vice versa? It’s very confusing sometimes.
Now according to NOAA, “The following basic terms should be used to describe the predominant sky condition in each forecast period, except when it can be easily inferred from a precipitation forecast. Other terms may be used if they are well understood by people in an area and better describe expected conditions. Note that the term “FAIR” shall not be used to determine sky condition.”
DAY>>>cloudy, mostly cloudy or considerable cloudiness, partly sunny, mostly sunny, and sunny.
NIGHT OR DAY>>>cloudy, mostly cloudy or considerable cloudiness, partly cloudy, mostly clear, and clear.
So after crunching some numbers, here are some interesting stats for all you blog denizens to enjoy, and enrich your knowledge concerning percentages derived from years of observing and recording them:
PREDOMINANT SKY CONDITION day cloudy, night or day cloudy>>8/8 opaque clouds. day mostly cloudy or day considerable cloudiness, night or day mostly cloudy or night or day considerable cloudiness>>6/8 to 7/8 opaque clouds. day partly sunny or night or day partly cloudy>>3/8 to 5/8 opaque clouds. day mostly sunny or night or day mostly clear>>1/8 to 2/8 opaque clouds. day sunny or night or day clear>>0/8 opaque clouds.
Opaque means that an observer can not see through the clouds; the sun, moon, stars, and blue sky are hidden.
I hope certain ones here have found this idiotic rant about as boring and stupid as some of the longa$$ed, longwinded sh#t that some of you are always posting on this blog!
Enjoy!
By Efrim
April 23, 2007 12:31 PM | Link to this
Adding a starter would be nice. Too bad their are none out there.
By Lee
April 23, 2007 12:34 PM | Link to this
DOB - I do regret not seeing you on ESPN; however, after watching Baseball Tonight on Friday night I could not bare watching any more ESPN this weekend. More than 15 minutes of the show was dedicated to Yankees and Red Sox (no wonder I would pull for any team over those two) and the focus of Braves and Mets was maybe a good minute - that may be stretching it a little.
By TennesseePaul
April 23, 2007 12:48 PM | Link to this
ncscoots: Great post. Might also meantion that we very nearly lost our all-star catcher last night because he was smacked in the hand by a fastball while attempting to lay down a bunt (which he eventually executed with perfection and 2 strikes). So in truth, we do play small ball when needed. I would have let McCann hit, but that’s a different story.
By Ron Roberts
April 23, 2007 12:56 PM | Link to this
Its games like tonight and tomorrow that are going to make or break this team, frankly.
We have to find out which Kyle Davies performance will be the norm…the stingy first outing he gave us or that last mediocre start? We have to find out which Mark Redman will be the norm, too. The first two calamities or the last gem he tossed?
Smoltz is Smoltz (and damn good more often than not, and Huddy looks like a Cy Young award winner now, but Chuckie needs to right the ship and we need the Kyle and Mark to settle in at the back of the rotation. Seems our top guns always line up in the rotation when we play the Mets, but its these other series where Davies and Redman toe the rubber that’s gonna matter the most to our success, I think. Here’s to finding out (and soon)….
By A.J.
April 23, 2007 12:57 PM | Link to this
Yeah, that was a long long post. I knew it was getting long, really long, even for one of my posts but just to see it on the screen made me realize just how long it was.
Congratulations to anyone who read it. I applaud your effort. Hope it was worth that hour you spent reading it.
By DonCoburleone
April 23, 2007 12:57 PM | Link to this
Afternoon all. First thing, we are not going to trade for Jacque Jones. He makes too much money and you know the Cubs will want pitching in return. And, if you guys haven’t noticed, the Braves currently lead the league in home-runs; so why would we want another home-run or nothing type hitter? Barring any injuries, I seriously doubt the Braves will make any trades during this season. I guarantee you internally 1B and LF are not as big a problem in the eyes of Braves brass as it is to us here on the blog. I mean, come on, you can’t have a quality hitter at every position. Even the mighty Yankees have a Mientkievic/Phelps platoon at 1B and .200 hitting Melky Cabrera in left. The Red Sox got sub .200 hitting 2B Dustin Pedroia plus a Coco Crisp/Wily Mo Pena platoon in Center field… The Mets got Jose Valentin at 2B plus old man Green in Right field, obvious holes in the lineup (despite Shawn Green’s homers against Atlanta this year, we all know he sucks right?)… So lets not jump off a bridge yet. IMO, worrying about offensive production from the #7 and #8 hitters is a LEAGUE WIDE concern, not strictly an Atlanta Braves problem…
By DonCoburleone
April 23, 2007 1:01 PM | Link to this
CAMERON TO BECOME FREE AGENT
For a while, it had seemed that the Padres would be able to reach a three-year agreement with 34 year-old center fielder Mike Cameron. I had expected the years to be the sticking point, and the Padres seemed open to three. However, Ken Rosenthal tells us that contract talks have broken off between the two parties and Cameron is very likely to explore the open market.
Rosenthal likes the Braves as a possibility in 2008, as Cameron lives outside of Atlanta. The star class of free agent center fielders includes Andruw Jones, Ichiro Suzuki, and Torii Hunter. None of the three are expected to stay with their respective teams, meaning the Braves, Mariners, and Twins could explore the second tier. That seems to include Cameron, Eric Byrnes, Corey Patterson, Milton Bradley, and Aaron Rowand.
Thought this article I found was pretty interesting. I know I know, we’ll worry about it next year when/if Andruw leaves. But does everyone agree with me that Cameron would be a really good 1 or 2 year stop gap Center Fielder until we find our center fielder of the future???
By TennesseePaul
April 23, 2007 1:19 PM | Link to this
I don’t know DonC. Cameron has a reputation, with me anyway, of being a DL guy.
By MBATL
April 23, 2007 1:23 PM | Link to this
DonC, could be, on Cameron. I’m not too high on giving a 4-year contract to a 35-year old, but who knows?
I really wonder though if we’ll even need to sign a CF next year. If guys continue to develop, I could see Brandon Jones in RF, Frenchy in CF. In left, either convert Salty to OF, move Thorman out there (and Salty to 1B), or move KJ to LF and play Escobar, Lillibridge or Prado at 2B.
I know there’s no indication that we’ll move Salty to a new position; I suspect we will (either that or trade him, which better bring a big return).
An OF of Salty, Frenchy and B Jones would be young (cheap), pretty fast, and powerful. Blanco, Diaz and Langerhans could fight it out for 4th OF.
IF that could work out (and I’m not predicting it, just thinking out loud) we’d have some money to spend on pitching - where it’s best used.
By BossLady
April 23, 2007 1:26 PM | Link to this
DOB, Great interview on ESPN, very classy answers to sticky questions.
By ncscoots
April 23, 2007 1:26 PM | Link to this
TPaul, ya got that right, I was ready to join the beer-can-at-the-TV crowd when I saw McCann bunting, knowing that Francoeur gets walked immediately thereafter. In effect, losing your best hitter with RISP and your best clutch hitter with one pitch, to put one extra RISP. Go figure. Man, that COULDN’T have come from Bobby, could it?!?
By meansonny
April 23, 2007 1:30 PM | Link to this
Good post Don and ncscoots. I’m reading about the automatic 3 to 4 outs that are coming from our fellow bloggers.
What do you think a sub .250 hitter is? And with salary restraints, what are you expecting from another sub $500,000/yr substitution?
I would be worried if this is the lineup we’re championing into the playoffs, but I DO think JS will make a move to solidify at least one of the 2 positions (hopefully for someone within our future budgets as well). And over the course of the season, I expect some of the slumps to even out.
Regarding the Mets, it’s too early to look at the standings every day. It’s fun (while we’re on top),but it’s fruitless. Too much baseball ahead. Who cares what ESPN and the Mets think? Just go out and play hard for Bobby.
By Fred from CT
April 23, 2007 1:39 PM | Link to this
DonCoburleone
If we lose andruw I agree that cameron would be a nice guy to fill centerfield for 1 or 2 years. he is known for some bad slumps at the plate but steals bases and plays very good defense.
By TennesseePaul
April 23, 2007 1:41 PM | Link to this
Wasn’t Bobby ejected by that time? I know they say all that means is, the manager goes down in the hallway and manages from there. But that move stinks more like a novice Terry Pendelton move. Even last year Cox got onto LaRoche for his failed bunt attempt… Doesn’t make much sense to turn around and take the bat out of the hands of your best hitter.
By GeorgetownKid
April 23, 2007 1:51 PM | Link to this
Lew,
Regarding your 12:21 post, I wasn’t offering “analysis” at all of Chipper’s quote.
In fact, I agree with you, and were I a member of the Braves’ organization, I would issue similarly humble quotes.
I simply thought his comments were interesting and worth noting, and I hadn’t read any posts that mentioned them.
By David O'Brien
April 23, 2007 1:51 PM | Link to this
GeorgetownKid, Chipper spoke to Murray Chass BEFORE yesterday’s game, not afterward. Afterward he spoke only of how encouraging it was to go up there and win 2 of 3 in hostile conditions.
He was honest with Murray before the game, but you’re overstating it a bit. He simply said the Mets are still the most talented team (which, at least lineup-wise, they are) with the most veteran, consistent guys.
I took it as Chipper’s way of reminding everyone, especially his own guys, that the Braves are going to have to play hard all year, not have a horrible slip-up like they did last June, if they’re going to stay with these Mets. He was being honest….
Hillbilly, I had a note about Cormier’s start in my Braves notebook online today. I don’t put everthing here; don’t have time to cut and paste everything I write in game story and notebook here, as well. Bobby hadn’t heard a thing about it to comment immediately after yesterday’s game, and obviously haven’t seen Bobby yet today to get the report.’
All we had to go on yesterday was reports from Skip Caray’s kid who was broadcasting the Rome game and from a Braves minor league guy who was watching it and text-messaging the Braves PR guy in New York.
HERE’S WHAT I WROTE, AND ALL I KNOW RIGHT NOW:
(subhead) Eventful start for Cormier
Lance Cormier first injury-rehab start for Class A Rome Sunday was a bit unusual.
He pitched two innings vs. Columbus and gave up five hits and one unearned run with no walks and five strikeouts. Four strikeouts were in the first inning, made possible by a strike-three wild pitch.
The right-hander has been on the disabled list four weeks recovering from a triceps muscle strain, and is expected to make at least three rehab starts.
Cox was asked Sunday morning how long he thought it would be until Cormier was ready, and whether he knew how the starting rotation would shake out once he got back.
“It’s looking pretty good right now,” Cox said of the rotation. “I’m not thinking anything until I see some reports on how he’s feeling.”
Cormier was hurt in his final Grapefruit League start, after posting a staff-best 1.15 ERA during spring training. He had earned a spot in the opening-day rotation before the injury.
By New and improved.....Fast Talkin' N8
April 23, 2007 1:51 PM | Link to this
KC
It’s bad enough you gotta type an epic post. But then to post it twice?
Come on man! Enough with all the “boring” epic blogs, let’s speed this up for the guys who ride the short bus.
By Willy Wally
April 23, 2007 1:54 PM | Link to this
Next time tell Know It All Karl that the rivalry that gets the greatest play down here in the ATL is the competition between the toupees of Karl Ravech.
There is nothing quite as riveting here in the ATL every night as rooting for which toupee Karl Needs to call out of the pen.
Word on the street is that Ravech’s best toupee is in the walk year of its contract.
Karl is all worried that he might not be able to resign his toupee because Boras is representing his toupee.
We’ll see. Ravech won’t be the same without that trusty toupee. It is the envy of all in the television business.
By GeorgetownKid
April 23, 2007 1:54 PM | Link to this
Lew,
Regarding your 12:21 post, I wasn’t offering “analysis” at all of Chipper’s quote.
In fact, I agree with you, and were I a member of the Braves’ organization, I would issue similarly humble quotes.
I simply thought his comments were interesting and worth noting, and I hadn’t read any posts that mentioned them.
By KC
April 23, 2007 2:00 PM | Link to this
Ron Roberts: “Its games like tonight and tomorrow that are going to make or break this team, frankly.”
“We have to find out which Kyle Davies performance will be the norm…the stingy first outing he gave us or that last mediocre start? We have to find out which Mark Redman will be the norm, too. The first two calamities or the last gem he tossed?”
“Smoltz is Smoltz (and damn good more often than not, and Huddy looks like a Cy Young award winner now, but Chuckie needs to right the ship and we need the Kyle and Mark to settle in at the back of the rotation. Seems our top guns always line up in the rotation when we play the Mets, but its these other series where Davies and Redman toe the rubber that’s gonna matter the most to our success, I think. Here’s to finding out (and soon)….”
Ron, nice post. Agreed. James has got to be good this year (sub-4.00 ERA), and we’ve got to get solid production from the bottom of the rotation. The Braves rotation after Smoltz and Hudson, especially the 4/5 slots, will decide this division.
By rb
April 23, 2007 2:19 PM | Link to this
Where oh where are all the Mets fans now? The Braves beat you in our house and then came to Shea and shut you loud mouth Yankee wanabees up. To quote this week’s episode of Entourage “Mets who cares about the Mets?” Beat the Mets. Beat the Mets. Step right up and beat the Mets.
By DonCoburleone
April 23, 2007 2:26 PM | Link to this
And is anyone else besides me a little bit concerned about Smoltz? I mean, the Mets did get some weak hits off him, but still, 6 runs is 6 runs. And going back to his last 2 games, Smoltz has pitched something like 13 innings and has only recorded 4 strikeouts in that time… I don’t know, just seems to me like maybe he is starting to lose that ability to put a hitter away when he has to… Am I crazy or is someone else seeing that too??
By Arkansas Hillbilly
April 23, 2007 2:26 PM | Link to this
DOB,
Thanks. I won’t bother you with any more questions.
By Lew
April 23, 2007 2:29 PM | Link to this
Georgetown Kid-I wasn’t giving you grief, Dude, just commenting on why Chipper said what he said. Gil-No snow. It is actually in the mid 70’s today. I guess they’ll have to find other means of coiling down. The other day, someone actually suggested bringing up half of the AA team and Kai’ahue to play first (I think he just hit A ball two weeks ago).
By Willy Wally
April 23, 2007 2:35 PM | Link to this
Geez, ease up on the Georgetown Kid already. As if he does not have enough to deal with overseas. Support the troops boys.
By Coach
April 23, 2007 2:41 PM | Link to this
KC , I did some number crunching and came up with a fair comparison. In 2005: 90-72 , 769 runs scored , thats a 4.74 runs per game AVG with a team ERA of 3.98 / In 2004: 96-66 , 803 runs scored , thats a 4.95 runs per game AVG with a team ERA of 3.74 , So far in 2007 after eighteen games: 4.77 runs per game with a team ERA of 3.87……We appear to have ourselves a 90-95 win season so far. Those Mets are on pace for a 96-100 win season. You don’t seem to think they can keep it up , I hope your right.
By Efrim
April 23, 2007 2:48 PM | Link to this
I hope Cormier comes back and pitches well. If not, we will definetly need to go out and get a starter. One starter I don’t want is Mark Buerhle. I could see Ken Williams trying to swing a trade with him while still staying in the AL central race. He is a pending free agent, and they will try and get rid of him. He is an older Chuck James.
By A.J.
April 23, 2007 2:56 PM | Link to this
As to the 7, 8 hole concerns. A lot of times, between the teams whose star hitting and pitching evens out, it is those bottom of the lineup guys that make the difference, specifically in close playoff series.
(Like Yadier Molina last season, like Eddie Perez in 99, so on, so forth).
They do need to contribute at some point in the season, they can’t just be a black hole, but very few teams really get great numbers from a 7 or 8 man all season long.
If a team does, and they have the pitching to go with it, they should win it all easily (example of solid 1-9 with incomplete pitching, last year’s Yankees).
The Mets are certainly getting those numbers number so far, but generally there are two ways to go with those spots.
You either get an older guy who may put up numbers but may finally die out (Shawn Green, Jose Valentin) or you put in young guys who may figure it out or may not (Thorman, Langerhans). The other choice is just plain mediocre guys who are never more than mediocre, but probably won’t completely suck (not bad enough to straight up lose games, but not good enough to ever seem like they win a game for you), and example of this would be anyone on the Nationals except for Zimmerman, F Lopez and Kearns.
The thing is that older guys typically may start better as they are experienced players, but may (or may not) die out as the season goes on, though they are probably more likely to slow down in late summer than other players.
The younger guys typically don’t get out to the most amazing starts (they aren’t future stars, just potential every day guys), but they may catch on as the season goes on and are less likely to suffer injuries.
Obviously the Mets are in better shape right now in this facet of the game, because they have proven guys who are producing, but don’t think that these guys are a sure thing to last either.
The Braves have guys who can be reasonably expected to catch on eventually, or at least settle into those mediocre Nats type players. So we obviously are not feeling as good about our 7-8 guys as the Mets, but all is not lost.
If these trends with Thor and Langy continue for 2-3 months (maybe less with Langy’s history) then they will have to be addressed.
The thing is both young and old guys are prone to streaks. They may have streaks showing the skill that might someday be consistent (for young guys) or showing flashes of their old skill (for old guys), but will also have bad streaks when their inexperience or age catches up to them.
Not saying we are in great shape right now, but this isn’t completely unexpected and not entirely worrisome as of yet.
By DonCoburleone
April 23, 2007 2:58 PM | Link to this
As far as the Mets go, they are a very very good team this year and should be able to make the playoffs (even if the Braves beat them out for the division). I agree with some of you that their pitching is definately going to get worse, not better. “Pedro” coming back and being the Pedro of old at any point for the rest of his career (let alone the all-star break this year) is a pipe dream. Bring on Pedro, he doesn’t worry me in the least. The pitcher on that staff who I worry about and who could become a major threat is John Maine, he scares me waaaaaaaay more than Pedro right now… I also like the point somebody made about the Braves having to win games against teams like the Nats and Marlins, cuz the Mets own those freakin’ teams. Lets remember, New York is 2-4 against Atlanta and 9-2 against everyone else.
By knowitall
April 23, 2007 3:00 PM | Link to this
DonC, completely agree with your 12:57 post. As long as we are scoring plenty of runs, Bobby will keep the current group of players in the lineup as long as they play solid defense. In case you all missed, we are getting back to our roots of pitching and defense this year. That formula has the Braves in first place right now so I just don’t see them making any changes. They are obviously getting enough runs without getting anything out of the 7th & 8th spots so when they do start to hit, it will just be icing on the cake.
By ncscoots
April 23, 2007 3:00 PM | Link to this
basic playoff math: play .600 ball in the starts made by your top three, and play .500 in the starts made by the back of the rotation. Fellas, Redman/Davies/Cormier only make a difference if they are exceedingly good or exceedingly bad. If the former, it might mean winning a division by five games instead of two; if the latter, they won’t make 50 starts, anyway, it’ll be somebody else.
In any event, merely average performance from the 4 and 5 starters, for any team, is the norm. So I doubt that the back of the rotation will be the deciding factor in the Braves’ season. Nor, probably, in any other team’s.
By NO CHOP ZONE
April 23, 2007 3:03 PM | Link to this
145 games left…..This thing is just getting started. The Mets bullpen blew it yesterday…..We’ll Be Back
By Choppin Chuck
April 23, 2007 3:03 PM | Link to this
I don’t get it. Seriously, what advantage is there to starting Ryan Langerhans in LF? Okay, so he plays pretty good defense, but his offense is atrocious. It’s painful watching the guy go to the plate and it is starting to get realy annoying.
Diaz on the other hand is a solid hitter. He plays serviceable defense which for a left fielder is fine. I’ll admit he is probably the lease graceful ball player I have ever seen. He looks bad when he hacks at a pitch in the dirt and even when he makes a good play on defense he looks..shall we say awkward… But, but, but he is getting the job done.
Diaz = slightly below average defense and better than average hitting Langerhans = very good defense and the worst offense.
How important is it to have a great defensive Left Fielder? Of all the positions LF seems like the one position where defense isn’t much of a factor. That being said Langerhans IMHO has got to go. He is wasting a roster spot and his inability to hit is maddening.
By Kentavo
April 23, 2007 3:09 PM | Link to this
I wouldn’t get too bent out of shape about the LF situation - the Braves won’t let it linger forever - remember the Brian Jordan/Raul Mondesi experiments which resulted in mid-season promotions for KJ and Frenchy? And the year before it was Charles Thomas. The Braves have Doug Clark, who ripped it up in spring training, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see Willie Harris or Brandon Jones promoted if Langy continues to stink it up through May.
I think Langerhans is out of options, though, so he’s gonna have to be released or dealt.
But what other team would send someone up struggling as much as Langy to pinch hit in a key situation like yesterday’s game? That was a Cox move, even he had been tossed from the game already.
By A.J.
April 23, 2007 3:11 PM | Link to this
Another thing about 7,8 batters is that they are not the only periphery guys who can make a difference.
For example the front-end pen guys. Typically teams that are serious contenders will have a solid closer and setup man or 2, but may not have a complete pen.
On days when the starting pitching doesn’t last, it is those long or middle relievers can make the difference.
An example of that is yesterday. The Mets dominated us in the lower part of the order, you could probably also say that the main part of the two team’s batting orders were relatively even.
What made the difference for us was that our front-end of the pen got us out of trouble, and theirs got them into trouble.
Having those periphery guys can really make a difference for a team. The 7,8 hitters, the bench, the long and middle relievers, the 4,5 starters really do make a difference in a race.
For example the Braves and Mets are not too far off from each other if you total up the 1-6 of the batting order, 1-3 in the rotation, and the back end of the pen.
I’d say in those areas the Braves and Mets are among the most complete teams in baseball.
Assuming one team doesn’t just have a huge letdown like hurt stars or huge under performance (i.e. assuming the race stays close), then those peripheral areas will likely decide this race.
Still very few teams in history could really say they were complete 1-5 starters, 1-8 batting, all down the bench and throughout the pen.
We do need to get better at 7,8, and I’m not saying we should be complacent, or just accept mediocrity, but we also may be buoyed by the fact that we are relatively solid and even good in some cases in those other areas.
By Lee
April 23, 2007 3:19 PM | Link to this
A.J. - I do agree with you about the 7 and 8 positions. True you are not going to get a great hitter in those positions; however, they do decide the outcome of a game occasionally. As you pointed out this is the case of playoffs and World Series games more than anything. I can think of a few painful memories of this happening against the Braves.
By Coach
April 23, 2007 3:20 PM | Link to this
The Mets in 2006: 97-65 scoring 834 runs with a 5.14 runs per game AVG and 4.14 ERA. So far in 2007: 11-6 scoring 103 runs with a 6.05 runs per game AVG and a team ERA of 2.68 , Frightening isn’t it ?
By New and improved.....Fast Talkin' N8
April 23, 2007 3:21 PM | Link to this
DonCoburleon
I was thinking the same thing about Smoltz, but God forbid I mention that on here. I’m already the resident Gloom and Doom specialist.
Worried/Nervous? Not yet. Slightly concerned…absolutely.
He looks like Hudson did last year. Good enough stuff to keep the team in the game, but just not that extra umph, to put people away.
It’s not like he’s a spring chicken, it had to happen sooner or later.
By GeorgetownKid
April 23, 2007 3:23 PM | Link to this
Willy Wally,
I appreciate the kind words. I’m actually back home now, hopefully for good. This is a bad time of year in that part of the world. That is, unless you like 125 degree temperatures (no, I’m not exaggerating).
Choppin Chuck,
I agree with your assessment of the relative importance of a top-notch defender in LF. If we were talking SS, C, or CF, I could see the rationale of having a great glove in the lineup, regardless of his offence.
But at LF? How often does Langerhans make a game-altering defensive play that Diaz would be unable to emulate? In other words, how many more runs should we expect to surrender with Diaz playing over Langerhans?
By GeorgetownKid
April 23, 2007 3:29 PM | Link to this
Lee & AJ,
Very good points about the significance of the 7 & 8 hitters.
With Langerhans and Thorman/Wilson in the lineup, the Braves have practically no offense in ONE-THIRD of their lineup!
How many organizations, teams, companies or groups could realisticaly expect long-term success with absolutely no output from 33% of their operations.
By TennesseePaul
April 23, 2007 3:36 PM | Link to this
Couple of things: The Mets bullpen blew it yesterday
Quite the understatement. The Mets bullpen blew all weekend. Friday they walked in three runs for good measure. The Braves only had to show up at the plate and the Mets just handed out runs.
But what other team would send someone up struggling as much as Langy to pinch hit in a key situation like yesterday’s game
What other Left Handed bat was on the bench at that point? I think Orr was there, and Pena. You knew as soon as Langerhans walked up, he was going to be put in LF for defensive purposes. It’s what everyone here has been wanting for the past week. Finally, the opportunity arises… we need a pinch hitter, we need Langerhans’ Defense in the outfield. If that move wasn’t made, you pinch hit with Orr or Pena, then you have to either take out someone else and sub those guys in and still put Langerhans in there or just put Langerhans in. That’s 2 players you’ve used in one play of a tie game. Sending up Langerhans was the economical choice in terms of line up moves. It allowed for more pinch hitters should the game go on longer. Lukily KJ came through and won the game.
By knowitall
April 23, 2007 3:36 PM | Link to this
Kentavo,
At the point when Langy pinch hit yesterday, the only two guys left on the bench were Orr and Pena. And I’m beginning to wonder if Orr is hurt or something because he has been MIA. I certainly would think that at this point Orr would get the call to pinch hit before Langy if he(Orr) is healthy.
The thing about the bottom of the order is that it will only get better. I mean you can’t get any worse production out of it than your getting right now. The offense is scoring plenty of runs without those guys producing so I don’t know how much those guys starting to hit will help in terms of wins/loses anyway.
By MGL
April 23, 2007 3:36 PM | Link to this
Matt Diaz had a .500 avg at Dolphin Stadium last year, wonder if he can duplicate that this trip.
By Coloradobravesfan
April 23, 2007 3:39 PM | Link to this
Greetings, For all those who want Mike Cameron. Cameron is 34 yrs old. A career 251 BA, 341 OBP, and averages around 132 Ks per season. He does steal about 20 bases and hit 20 HRs, but I think we probably have a guy in AAA or AA who can do this. I don’t want Mike Cameron ever mentioned again.
By TennesseePaul
April 23, 2007 3:39 PM | Link to this
Milwaukee Brewers general manager Doug Melvin and manager Ned Yost confirmed Sunday that they never considered calling up reliever Jose Capellan from Class AAA Nashville to replace Greg Aquino because of the message it would send to players in the organization… Yost referred to the fact that Capellan left the Nashville club for two days without permission last week because he was unhappy that the Brewers failed to trade him to another club.
Sheesh. The Kolb deal was still a bad deal no doubt about it, but it isn’t looking near as bad as it initially did. Capellan still can’t throw a curve ball and is now turning into quite the club house disaster.
By TennesseePaul
April 23, 2007 3:44 PM | Link to this
Scott Thorman aka Thor
In his last five games he has hit a homer and 2 doubles as well as other hits. He’s batting .308 with a 1.029 OPS during that span.
The guy is coming around. We just can’t see it as clearly because he only plays on Tuesday afternoon games when it’s partly cloudy out side. If this platoon would stop, Thor would take off. Then we’d only have the issue of LF, which at that point would be a non-issue. It’d be nice to have All-Star production from every spot, but I’ll take 7 out of 8 any day if it means Thor gets more playing time and the 1B platoon is ended.
By Renegator
April 23, 2007 3:51 PM | Link to this
Coloradobravesfan : Mike Cameron
By A.J.
April 23, 2007 3:55 PM | Link to this
I hope this post is not “too long for you.” If it is, don’t read it!
For those of you who do take the time to read it, I hope you feel that it was worth your time. (At least it’s not as long as last time.)
ncscoots: “Smoltz did indeed show up the ump by raising his arms, but that probably wouldn’t have caused a problem had Smoltz not already asked the guy at least twice about locations (a nicer way of asking “Where was it, Ray?”). … but Robert had it right: the umpire’s performance is part of the game. Deal with it.”
The point I am making is that there shouldn’t be any such thing as “showing up the ump” as far as the umpire is concerned. No matter how much abuse an umpire takes, his job is to resolve, not escalate conflicts.
This is not about whether the umpire is making the right calls but how he deals with someone who isn’t.
At this point, I am speaking beyond the context of right or wrong yesterday and merely on principle.
Here are some examples: If a guy wants to grumble about calls all day let him. If it gets out of hand, you can simply say, “That’s enough John.” If he says ANYTHING else, I’d say something like, “Next time you are gone.” That does two things, 1. it puts the responsibility on the player, if HE continues he’ll be ejected, it also does so in a way that will stoke the fire as little as possible. 2. the manager knows that if the argument goes on someone will be ejected. The manager then knows either to calm his guy down or take up the argument himself. That gives the player and manager a chance to keep the player in the game. (Now maybe that was exactly what happened yesterday, maybe they had been warned, and that’s why Bobby came out to take the brunt, but from what I heard the umpire exploded and that should never happen.)
Teams have the right to argue a bit and to ask questions, but there truly is a point where you have to “deal with it.” The fact of life is players and managers will push until they reach that point. It is up to the umpires to let the guy know when he is close. Then when they do cross it, you can justly eject them, that is the alternative to exploding. Once you explode, it is, at least in part, about you, and it should NEVER be about the ump.
Another example is when the manager is arguing, Pinella style or really mad Bobby style. I love to see when an umpire walks away from those guys or even just stands their and lets them yell but doesn’t say anything other than to explain the call. Like when the home plate umpire turns his back to the arguer, and another uninvolved ump stands between the manager and home plate ump. That lets the manager know that if he pursues the home plate umpire any more he’ll be tossed. Otherwise he can stand behind the other ump, get in his last word, then give it up. The ump still wins because the call stands.
What I HATE to see is when an manager is arguing, turns to walk away and the umpire follows him down the line continuing to talk back. Even if the guy says something (as long as it’s not too obscene) as he is walking away, at least he is walking and the deal is ending. If he keeps going on in the dugout, sure toss him, he’s been warned but an umpire should never chase conflict and that’s what that is to me.
These are just my personal ideals on the role of an umpire. They are difficult, but it’s not impossible to act this way most of the time, because I’ve seen umpires do it before. Those guys are great and I applaud them. They are proof that umpires can avoid conflict most of the time (not every time, they aren’t perfect, but most of the time).
By meansonny
April 23, 2007 3:57 PM | Link to this
Coach I checked the beginning records for the 2004 and 2005 Braves. 2004, the Braves started 10-9 (finished 11-10 in April). That’s the year that they finished 96-66. That April, they scored 5.42 runs per game and gave up 4.76
For 2005, they started 11-8 (14-10 in April). Scoring 4.08 runs per game. And giving up 3.25 runs per game in April. Of course, that team went on to go 90-72.
The splits this early are fun. But there’s too much baseball left to even feel slightly confident about a conclusion.
Personally, I like the Braves chances for the division. But it definitely will be a battle (barring injuries for either team).
By David O'Brien
April 23, 2007 4:02 PM | Link to this
NEW BLOG IS UP
By TNT
April 24, 2007 11:47 AM | Link to this
It must be nice getting off to a fast start after a forgettable 2006 season, but win the division? Not with James, Davies, and Redman in the rotation. Plus Hudson cannot continue this pace. 10 games out by August. Outside shot at a wild card due to the mediocrity of the rest of the league.
By 2worldserieswinsin10yrs
April 25, 2007 10:08 PM | Link to this
how bout them Marlins! Tim Hudson pitched his a* off & still got his a* handed to him! Never count the Fish out. Met & Braves with their HUGE Team Salaries should lead the pack, but beware the Marlins, when Josh Johnson & Nolasco come back we will have the best rotation in the NL . Love those Kids!