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June 2007
Speedster Harris hits lead-off
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Willie Harris was atop Bobby Cox’s lineup card Friday night and it is almost hard to imagine that this is just the fourth time this year the speedster has hit lead-off.
He is a menace to right-handed pitching (.395) and gives the club its best on-base threat since Rafael Furcal.
Cox, as is his custom on touchy personnel decisions, said Kelly Johnson has not “lost” the lead-off job. Johnson, the club’s lead-off man in 65 games, opened the Marlins series in a 0-fo13 slump, with his on-base percentage down to .373.
Harris, platooning with Matt Diaz in left field. opened the night with a team-leading .437 OBP. Johnson hit in the seventh slot Friday for the second time.
“One of them can’t lead off,” Cox said. “That’s all I can tell you. I like both of them.”
Evaluating Giles & LaRoche decisions
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
With 78 games down and three to go until the midpoint of the season, time to make a couple of quick evaluations.
No, not the whole Braves-at-midseason analysis, what went wrong (plenty) and right (not plenty) and all that. We’ll do that at the All-Star break in the paper, maybe hit on some things here leading up to then.
But no, today just a fast, basic look at the right side of the infield, where the Braves traded 1B Adam Laroche to Pittsburgh, and let 2B Marcus Giles walk because they didn’t want to pay him the $5.5 mill or so they’d have had to pay him through arbitration.
First, ‘Ol Rochy. You guys know he was one of my favorites in the clubhouse, and a Gold Glove-caliber defensive player coming off a breakout offensive season. I didn’t like the idea of trading him at all, but then when I saw what the Braves got, lefty Mike Gonzalez and legit infield prospect Brent Lillibridge, I could understand why they’d do it.
So where are we today? Gonzalez pitched well at times, but quickly blew out his elbow and was lost for the season. Braves still have control of him for another couple of seasons, and his salary won’t jump much after his truncated season and fact he wasn’t in closer role to pile up saves while he was active.
Lillibridge is a serious prospect, one of the Braves’ stable of shortstops. He could move to second base or the outfield in the future, perhaps even as soon as next season, if he’s ready for the majors and they don’t need a shortstop.
He’s got great speed, hits for average and some power, plays very solid defense (he was an OF for a while in college, by the way) and has great baseball instincts, the intangibles other players, scouts, coaches and managers notice and rave about.
Now, LaRoche: He got off to a horrid start for Pittsburgh and today is hitting .211 with 17 doubles, eight homers, 39 RBIs, 35 walks and 74 strikeouts in 265 at-bats. He has a .306 OBP and .366 slugging percentage. It’s not good.
Braves wouldn’t have done the trade if they didn’t feel comfortable with Scott Thorman at first base, supplemented by Craig Wilson, whom they signed the day after trading LaRoche.
Signing Wilson for $2 million turned out to be a terrible move, and perhaps we should have suspected it might judging from his awful final months last season with the Pirates and Yankees. He carried that over to this season, did absolutely nothing at the plate, and was released in May, soon as the sale of the team went through and the Braves were free to dump his contract.
Thorman has been mediocre, hitting for the power they hoped but not nearly the average or OBP. He’s hit .229 with 13 doubles, nine homers, 30 RBIs, a .259 OBP and .416 slugging. Higher average and slugging and comparable homers and RBIs to LaRoche. So that part of it, for now at least, is a wash.
Add the possibility of Saltalamaccchia at first base and it gets interesting, intriguing, in-something or other.
If LaRoche was still here, no way Salty would be getting a look at 1B. I don’t think LaRoche would have struggled with Atlanta the way he did when thrust into a primary run-producing role with all the expectations hoisted upon him by folks in Pittsburgh who viewed him as some sort of savior.
And even if he had struggled early, Bobby would have stuck with him and not brought up a rookie catcher who’s a suspect defensive 1B at this point and stuck him into a platoon with one of the best defensive first basemen in the game.
So in the end, there’s a lot to consider with that trade. So I’ll wait a judge it a year from now, when I see where Lillibridge is, where ‘Ol Rochy is, and whether Gonzalez comes back strong.
Suffice to say, the trade didn’t work out like either team hoped it would in terms of immediate impact. But it might have opened the door for the Braves to the possibility of Salty as a long-term answer at 1B. Perhaps.
And then there’s Jilly: Or Gilly? I always wondered how that should be spelled when he was here. Like it sounds, or like the old country-music club featured in Urban Cowboy? (the woman in that movie, the one who tempted Bud and briefly lured him away from Sissy, was she smokin’ hot or what?).
Giles is, I’m sorry to tell his legions of fans here, having the type of season the Braves figured he’d have. His numbers had declined in the past couple seasons, much as some of his supporters here argued otherwise.
He’s hit leadoff for San Diego and batted .258 with 16 doubles, four homers and 29 RBIs in 70 games, with a .335 OBP and .357 slugging (.692 OPS).
This after his OPS went from .916 in 2003, to .821 in 2004, to .826 in 2005, to .728 in 2006.
The Braves raised a lot of eyebrows (and rightfully so) by announcing that their second-base job was earmarked for Kelly Johnson, long as he had a good spring and showed he was ready. He never played 2B in his life, and missed the entire 2006 season after Tommy John elbow surgery.
He’s hit leadoff (until this week) for the Braves and batted .271 with 13 doubles, six triples, eight homers and 37 RBIs in 73 games, with a .373 OBP and .451 slugging percentage (.824 OPS).
His numbers are clearly better across-the-board than Giles, and Johnson is making the major league minimum ($380,000) and won’t even be eligible for arbitration for the first time until after the 2008 season.
His defense hasn’t been as solid as Giles’, but it hasn’t been bad, either.
That looks like a great decision on the Braves’ part, unless I’m missing something.
OK, moving on….
Hoss struggling in the clutch: It’s not as shocking as Andruw’s league-worst .198 average in late June, but Chipper Jones has also put up a jump-off-the-page-bad statistic near the midway point.
Chipper is tied for the league low with a .167 average (10-for-60) with runners in scoring position. The same guy who entered the season with a .298 career average in those situations.
Oft-injured Hoss is hitting .319 with a team-high 13 homers and an outstanding 1.004 OPS, but he’s tied with D.C.’s Brian Schneider for worst among NL regulars with RISP. Go figure.
Andruw is only marginally better in that department at .222 (20-for-90) and he’s second-worst in the NL in all situations with runners on base (.194). But those departments have never exactly been Andruw’s forte.
By the way, Braves RISP leaders (20 at-bats minimum) are Willie Harris (.429, 9-for-21), Edgar Renteria (.333, 25-for-75), Jeff Francoeur (.330, 29-for-88) and Matt Diaz (.306, 11-for-36).
The Jones Boys are the worst among Braves with at least 15 at-bats with RISP.
Rising relievers: Rafael Soriano, who only gives up runs in blowouts, leads NL relievers with fewest baserunners allowed per nine innings pitched (7.2), just ahead of the Dodgers’ Takashi Saito (7.3) and S.D.’s Hell’s Bells (7.4)…. Soriano’s .161 relief BA allowed ranks fourth in the NL, and Tyler Yates’ .185 ranks 10th. Chad Paroto’s .317 is fifth-highest.
Speaking of Yates, he’s allowed one run and four hits in nine June appearances.
And speaking of Salty:He’s 16-for-41 (.390) with three doubles, three homers and five RBIs in his past 14 games, including 15-for-36 (.417) in that stretch when he’s played in the field.
He’s had multi-hit games in seven of his last nine games in which he’s had more than one at-bat.
And you think the Turner Field denizens are taking to him, here’s part of the reason: He’s 12-for-29 (.414) with three homers in his past 11 home games, including 11-for-24 with five multi-hit games in six games he’s started in that stretch.
Who would you play at 1B against lefties: Salty, who’s hit .341 (14-for-41) with four homers and a .683 slugging percentage vs. lefties, or Thorman, who’s hit .193 (11-for-57) with no homers and a .246 slugging percentage vs. lefties?
Ok, a little music: With his new solo album out today, thought I’d dig into the vault for a classic Ryan Adams song with his great old band, Whiskeytown, which also featured the great Caitlin Cary, and which really should reunite, preferably soon.
”SIXTEEN DAYS” by Ryan Adams (Whiskeytown)
I got sixteen days/One for every time I’ve gone away
One for every time I should have stayed
You should have worn my wedding ring
I got sixteen days/fifteen of those are nights
Can’t sleep when the bed sheet fights/it’s way back to your side
The ghost has got me running/the ghost has got me running
away from you, away from you, away from you.
The ghost has got me running/the ghost has got me running
away from you, away from you, away from you.
I got sixteen days/got a bible and a rosary
God, I wish that you were close to me/guess I owe you an apology
I got sixteen days/fifteen of those are nights
Can’t sleep when the bed sheet fights/it’s way back to your side
The ghost has got me running/yeah, the ghost has got me running
away from you, away from you, away from you.
The ghost has got me running/yeah, the ghost has got me running
away from you, away from you, away…
Old tin cups, little paper dolls
all wrapped up, in ribbons, bowed with hearts
old tin cups, and little paper dolls
all wrapped up, in the ribbons of your heart
The ghost has got me running/yeah, the ghost has got me running
away from you, away from you, away from you.
The ghost has got me running/yeah, the ghost has got me running
away from you, away from you, away from you.
Sixteen days
I got sixteen days
It’s like before I hang
Where are Atlanta All-Star votes?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
What was the slogan our city used to use, “Atlanta, The City Too Busy to Hate”? Maybe they still use it, I don’t know, since that “ATL, Where Every Day’s An Opening Day” thing seemed to go over like a lead balloon.
But here’s another one, though obviously aimed at a more specific audience: “Atlanta, The City Too Busy to Vote for All-Star Teams.”
How else to explain why so few Braves show up among NL All-Star leaders in fan voting? (OK, there’s a few other explanations, like the team ain’t what it used to be, TBS bailed on them and no longer carries all the games nationwide, the red Sunday jerseys are a bit much, and oh, yeah, they’re barely above .500).
But let’s not get distracted by those factors. Besides, it isn’t as if Craig Biggio (third among NL second basemen in fan voting) is tearing it up for a defending World Series champion or anything, and last I checked Johnny Estrada (third among catchers) wasn’t exactly a marquee player on a huge-market team.
This is a metro area that’s grown to more than 5 million people. And I read recently that we’re the second-most “wired” (as in internet, not meth) city in American, behind Seattle. You can vote on the internet, you realize, right? God knows we’ve got the traffic to show for the population explosion, so why not the All-Star votes?
And while TBS is too busy showing cheaper, more profitable programming including syndicated TV reruns to show the entire 162-game schedule like they used to, they still have shown more Braves games nationally than all but a handful of other teams (last I checked, Astros and Brewers games aren’t carried nationally on a Superstation, or even semi-nationally on a Modeststation).
So is this just another sign of somewhat jaded and/or spoiled fan base? (Don’t send me missives about calling fans jaded and/or spoiled, I’m just asking).
Or is this team just so uninspiring that you don’t want to punch those ballots for the likes of your hometown guys, the Edgar Renterias (not in the top five among NL shortstops), Kelly Johnsons and Brian McCanns (granted, not having an All-Star caliber season, but he was the best NL catcher last season and trails Estrada by more than 100,000 votes in the latest voting numbers).
The only Brave in the top five at his position in fan voting is Chipper Jones, who’s third among third basemen, behind David Wright and Miguel Cabrera and ahead of Scott Rolen and Aramis Ramirez.
Now, the New York teams always get a ton of reps because they simply have such an advantage in metro-area size and national exposure, etc. (I mean, Carlos Beltran’s a great player, but not having one of his best seasons, and he leads NL outfield voting). Same for the L.A. teams, and even the Cubs, long as they’re not awful (and sometimes even when they are).
But Milwaukee? I mean, Prince Fielder deserves to be ahead of Albert Pujols in the first-base voting, so I’m glad to see he is. He should be the leading vote-getter in the NL, in fact (he’s not, Beltran and Wright of the Mets are 1-2).
But have you compared the size of Milwaukee’s and Atlanta’s markets? And their national exposure?
Again, I commend voters for recognizing Fielder’s remarkable season. But as we know, it’s not like the best players traditionally get voted as starters at every position by fans. It’s a popularity contest, for the most part. Fielder’s just been so good, it’s impossible for many voters to skip over him.
But at shortstop, where there’s six guys worthy of All-Star selection, how can Renteria, who was a very popular player in St. Louis, not have enough votes to even crack the top five (the Cardinals’ current SS, David Eckstein, is fifth in the voting, though not having half as productive a season as Renteria).
OK, I’ll stop there. Six weeks ago, I thought the Braves might get four or even five All-Star selections, the way Smoltz and Hudson started out, and Kelly and Renteria and Chipper.
Now, I’m thinking they might get only one or two. Rafael Soriano’s ERA has risen high enough now, through a few homers given up in blowouts, to possibly keep him from getting selected (I really thought until recently that he’d make it, since they’ve taken some setup men on All-Star teams in recent seasons).
Despite not being in the current top five vote-getters, I do think Renteria’s got a good chance to make it, for two reasons: He’s putting up All-Star worthy numbers, and Cardinals (and NL All-Star) manager Tony La Russa loves him.
McCann’s numbers: It says something about how great a season McCann had in his first year in the majors that his current season could be characterized in such a poor light by so many. And yes, I agree he’s way, way down from last year’s production, in terms of defense and especially clutch hitting, where he was the best in the majors last season by several measures.
But consider this. Despite McCann’s recent slump (he hit .174 with two homers and 13 RBIs in 24 games before going 2-for-4 with four RBIs and a three-run homer last night), Braves catchers still rank third in the NL in batting average (.276), second in RBIs (45, including 39 by McCann) and tied for second in homers (nine, including six by McCann, two by Salty, one by B. Pena).
Only Dodgers catchers (Russell Martin is the NL leading vote-getter at the position) have more RBIs and a higher slugging percentage (.443) than Braves catchers (.434).
Rising from Down Under: Just one more note, because gotta keep it short today and get by the bank on my way to the ballpark. Peter Moylan. Are we noticing how good a season the Aussie right-hander is having?
Moylan gave up three runs in his first appearance, when he was still wiping sleep from his eyes after a red-eye from Richmond. Since then, Moylan has posted a stellar 1.60 ERA and .176 opponents’ average in 29 games, with 23 hits, 13 walks and 27 strikeouts in 39-1/3 innings.
His opponents’ average is .193 for the season, including .189 by lefties (ninth-best among qualifying NL pitchers, whether starters or relievers). There’s your situational “lefty” right there.
In 15 road games, he’s allowed just a .150 average and .257 OBP (it’s .227/298 in 15 home games, including that first one, the three-run, three-hit, one-out season debut vs. Florida on April 15, after his callup).
Oh, and he’s got a 1.59 ERA in 20 night games (3.97 in 10 day games).
The heavily tattooed lad is quietly putting together a very strong season.
And now, let’s let a real country artist take us out:
”TELL LORRIE I LOVE HER” by Keith Whitley
If I were alone in the desert/Without a drink of water around
With my knees and hands in that white scorching sand/With the hot Sahara, sun beating down
If I could be granted my wishes/Anything I want would come true
I know that it might sound funny/But here’s what I want you to do
Tell Lorrie I love her
Tell Lorrie I need her
Tell her everything would be ok if I could just see her
Tell Lorrie I love her
Tell Lorrie I need her
And If I leave this old world tell her she’s the only girl for me
If I were a drift on the ocean/A vessel with no sails or steam
Floating aimlessly on the endless sea/Hopelessly lost it would seem
If all of the fish in the water/Could echo my last dying plea
I know you might not understand it/But here’s what I want it to be
Tell Lorrie I love her
Tell Lorrie I need her
Tell her everything would be ok if I could just see her
Tell Lorrie I love her
Tell Lorrie I need her
And if I leave this old world tell her she’s the only girl for me
And if I leave this old world tell her she’s the only girl for me
Worse than last June?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
You folks don’t need me to tell you the Braves’ offense has been horrendous this month.
But perhaps I can illustrate the depths of this horrendousness.
Remember last June? The Braves, at least those who haven’t undergone counseling to try and forget it, surely remember.
The Braves lost 18 of their first 20 games last June. And through June 24 they were 3-19 with a .243 average, 75 runs (3.4 per game) and 21 homers for the month.
This year through June 24, they’re 8-15 with a .252 average, 70 runs (3.0 per game) and 17 homers.
That’s a slightly higher average, but fewer homers and a lot fewer hits with runners in scoring position.
They were already struggling before running into a gauntlet that’s included several of the American League’s top pitchers, and those pitchers have reduced the Braves’ bats to sawdust, figuratively speaking.
Yes, they have faced four of the AL’s top 10 in ERA: Justin Verlander (2.78), Johan Santana (2.83), Josh Beckett (3.07) and Fausto Carmona (3.21), plus C.C. Sabathia (10-2, 3.34), Kenny Rogers and Curt Schilling and a couple of other promising young pitchers including Detroit’s Andrew Miller (3-1, 2.70).
But in the past couple seasons, the Braves have often stepped up their game against some of the top pitchers in baseball, and actually hit better against them than the young and/or obscure guys.
And regardless of whom they’ve faced recently, the Braves’ offensive ineptitude at Turner Field has gone on for basically the entire season, and it’s simply inexplicable.
The Braves lead the NL with a .286 average and .452 slugging percentage. Only the loaded Tigers (.291) have hit for a higher road average in the majors, and the Tigers have been my pick to win the World Series since spring training began (yes, I also picked the Braves to win the NL East, which ain’t looking too good about now).
But how in the world does a team hit .286 on the road, second-best in the majors, and a meager .237 at home, third-worst in the majors and better than only the Padres (.233 in an extremely pitcher-friendly park) and the disintegrating and soon-to-be-blown-up White Sox (.236)?
That’s the sad thing for the Braves - they’ve played such lousy, uninspiring ball in front of home fans that want to get on board. Granted, the Red Sox fans were at least half the sold-out crowds for that series, but the Braves also drew huge crowds for the Tigers series, and Detroit fans were far outnumbers by the home supporters.
It’ll be interesting to see how the walkup crowd totals shrink if the Braves keep this up much longer, this fade in the NL East. They’re still only 4-1/2 out of first, but the Mets appear to have righted their ship while the Braves are at their absolute worst.
The Braves are 3-9 with a stunningly bad .215 average in their past 12 home games, and in eight of those games they totaled six hits or fewer and one or no runs. Eight of 12. Holy Cornelia, pass the smelling salts — or something stronger.
In their past five games, of course, the Braves are 0-5 with a .150 average and one run, that on a Chipper Jones homer. One run in five games. Their pitchers have a 5.40 ERA in that span, not that it matters a whole lot when you’re scoring one run in five games.
Home skiddin’: Remarkably, five Braves regulars are hitting .231 or lower at home, including Jeff Francoeur (.231, three homers), Brian McCann (.224, one homer), Kelly Johnson (.222, two homers), Scott Thorman (.204, three homers), and Andruw Jones (league-worst .180, seven homers).
Blame it on ‘Ol Rochy: Or at least on his Pittsburgh Pirates. The Braves’ woes began, whether you realize it or not, one pleasant Sunday afternoon in Pittsburgh, when the Braves got hammered 13-2 as the Pirates averted a sweep.
Until that point, the Braves were 24-12 with a 3.83 ERA, 42 homers and an average of just over five runs scored per game.
Since then? Oh, my. They are 14-26 beginning with that loss in the Steel City, with a 4.75 ERA, 34 homers in 40 games, and an average of barely 3-1/2 runs per game.
And it’s getting worse and worse. They are 6-15 with a 4.93 ERA and and only 57 runs scored in their past 21 games, fewer than three per game.
And they are 3-9 with 28 runs in past 12 games, with nine of those runs scored in the win against sore-shouldered Schilling, the last game the Braves didn’t lose. That’s 19 runs total in the other 11 games over their past dozen.
But if you want something positive to mull over, consider this: Last year from May 29 through July 1, the Braves were 7-24 and scored 3.7 runs per game.
Then they erupted. In an 11-2 tear that began July 2, the Braves blitzed all foes. In that 13-game surge, they hit .354 with 35 homers and 9.5 runs per game.
Included was a seven-game winning streak that began with the two home games before the All-Star break vs. Cincinnati, and continued with five wins after the break at San Diego and St. Louis. They hit 20 homers in those last five. Yes, 20 homers in five games.
There’s nothing to suggest this team is about to erupt with any kind of a hitting fury. Then again, there wasn’t advance warning last summer.
Nats aren’t a pushover: Of course, no team is for the Braves right now. But Washington is 8-7 in its past 15 games, all interleague games against many of the same opponents the Braves faced.
The Nationals hit .272 and scored 65 runs in those 15 games, and we’re shut out, not even once in that stretch. They were 4-5 vs. Minnesota, Cleveland and Detroit, with three of the losses against the Tigers.
Did I mention the Tigers are 12-2 in their past 14 ROAD games with a 3.48 ERA, .316 batting average and 109 runs scored (7.8 per game)? Well, they are.
Something’s gotta give tonight: When Tim Hudson, noted Nats-killer (yes, sounds ridiculous) faces Jason Bergmann, inexplicable Braves/Smoltz nemesis.
Hudson is 3-1 with a 1.30 ERA in six starts vs. Montreal-Washington. Bergmann is 2-1 with a 2.35 ERA in 10 games (four starts) vs. Atlanta, including just three hits (yes, THREE) and one run allowed in 14 innings of two starts this season, both Washington wins vs. Smoltz.
Bergmann held them to two hits and one run in eight innings of a May 14 game at Washington, and hasn’t pitched since. He went on the DL with a sore elbow after that game. Probably no coincidence he picked this day to come off the DL, huh?
Buehrle’s the answer? Really? Speaking of Hudson, let’s file this comparison under The Grass is Always Greener.
So much has been written and discussed of the Braves’ interest in Mark Buehrle, and what would they have to give up to get the White Sox pitcher, who threw a no-hitter earlier this season.
Well, folks, not to throw a wet blanket on the Buehrle-can-save-us crowd, but over the past couple of seasons he’s not been the ace he was in the previous five or six years.
And if you don’t believe me, consider this:
Tim Hudson, the man so many here love to pick apart and dismiss (and I’ll agree he’s not met expectations), Tim Hudson is 19-17 with a 4.40 ERA in 51 starts since the beginning of the 2006 season.
In that same period, Buehrle is 16-17 with a 4.48 ERA in 46 starts.
Hudson has a .263 opponents’ average (29 homers allowed) with 199 strikeouts and 105 walks in 323-1/3 innings during that period.
Buehrle has a .285 opponents average (49 homers allowed) with 158 strikeouts and 65 walks in 297 innings over that period.
You tell me, would it be worth giving up a top prospect, and probably more, to get a pitcher who’s put up mostly inferior stats to Hudson over the past two seasons? And remember, Buehrle can become a free agent after the season.
Just asking. Maybe I’m missing something.
Slumps Are Us: In his past 24 games, McCann is 15-for-86 (.174), with more errors (three) than homers (two)… Francoeur is 27-for-120 (.225) with five extra-base hits (one homer) and 11 RBIs in his past 31 games…. Chris Woodward is 2-for-25 (.080) in his past 15 games…. Andruw Jones is 3-for-44 (.068) with no extra-base hits, no RBIs, four walks and a .214 OPS in his past 12 games, and has a .167 average in his past 48 games.
Andruw’s missed opportunities: The Braves with the most at-bats with runners on base are Edgar Renteria, who’s a robust 44-for-128 (.344) with a .508 slugging percentage in those situations, and Andruw, who’s 25-for-129 (.194) with a .380 slugging pecentage in those situations…. Four Braves regulars are hitting under .270 with runners in scoring position: McCann (.269), Thorman (.267), Andruw (.224) and Chipper Jones (.172), who’s just 10-for-58 in those situations, 126 points lower than his previous career average with RISP.
OK, we need a break. Let’s turn to a giant:
”SHOOTING STAR” by Bob Dylan
Seen a shooting star tonight/And I thought of you.
You were trying to break into another world/A world I never knew.
I always kind of wondered/If you ever made it through.
Seen a shooting star tonight/And I thought of you.
Seen a shooting star tonight/And I thought of me.
If I was still the same/If I ever became what you wanted me to be
Did I miss the mark or/Over-step the line/That only you could see?
Seen a shooting star tonight/And I thought of me.
Listen to the engine, listen to the bell/As the last fire truck from hell
Goes rolling by, all good people are praying,
It’s the last temptation/The last account
The last time you might hear the sermon on the mount/The last radio is playing.
Seen a shooting star tonight/Slip Away.
Tomorrow will be another day.
Guess it’s too late to say the things to you/That you needed to hear me say.
Seen a shooting star tonight/Slip away.
Chipper, Smoltz resolve controversy
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Chipper Jones and John Smoltz cleared the air Sunday in a meeting with manager Bobby Cox and said afterward that their disagreement over post-game comments this weekend is behind them.
“Total misunderstanding,” said Smoltz.
Chipper agreed. He said he apologized to Smoltz for Jones’ reaction to what he thought was Smoltz singling him out for sitting with an injury Friday.
“Obviously there was a misunderstanding and I apologized to him for my comments in (Saturday’s) interviews,” Jones said. “He assured me that he wasn’t singling me out.”
What’s your take on the situation and Sunday’s developments?
Chipper and Smoltz feuding
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
You might say Chipper is a bit ticked off.
When asked after the game Saturday how he took Smoltz’s comments from Friday night, if he thought they were directed at him:
“I don’t know, you guys interviewed him last night. How’d ya’ll take it?” (every reporter looks uncomfortable, silent pause, etc.)
“I’d be stupid if I didn’t take it the same way. So I’ll play the rest of the games this year and do what I can.
“Somebody I know better not miss a start.”
Yikes.
Then: “He made his point through the media, now I’m gonna make mine through the media. If he doesn’t want to handle it man-to-man, fine.”
It would appear as though we’ve got a situation.
The NL Least
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
There is no truth to the rumor the Braves and Mets spent Thursday’s off day working out a complicated agreement under which both teams agree to lose two out of every three games until Sept. 15, to lose concurrently (on same day), and to operate outside the agreement and win additional games only when the Phillies close to within two games of the NL Least division lead.
No truth whatsoever to that rumor.
That said, when might one of the supposed Least, er, East powers step up and, oh, win a couple of series consecutively?
The best opportunity for the Braves would appear to be after the Tigers leave town following the three-game weekend series that starts tonight at Turner Field, where hundreds of workers spent Thursday removing the temporary Boston Red Sox logos from seats and framed, historical sepia-tone Red Sox photographs that had been hung throughout the Lexus Level to make well-heeled Boston fans feel even more at home while their team hammered the Braves.
Can the Braves win a series from the Tigers? Of course they can. They’ve got John Smoltz going tonight against Kenny Rogers, and you’ve got to favor Smoltz, even with his recent shoulder soreness, over Rogers, who’s making his season debut three months after surgery on a messed-up artery in his pitching shoulder (yes, I, too, was surprised that the diagnosis was “messed-up artery.”)
Do you all realize that Smoltz, despite missing a start for the shoulder and going only six innings (a lot for many Braves pitchers, a little for Smoltz) in each of his past two starts, is nevertheless 6-2 with a 2.05 ERA in his past nine starts, with a whopping 54 strikeouts and seven walks in 57 innings?
And even when pitching with a sore shoulder, throwing from the side more, throwing fewer splitters and more sidearm sliders, and taking something off his fastball, Smoltz still has quality starts in each of those last two starts (two runs in six innings in each, including a win last weekend at Cleveland).
So they’ll take the first one, probably. But can they win one of the next two? With Kyle Davies facing Tigers ace Justin Verlander (8-2, 2.90) on Saturday, it might be up to Chuck James on Sunday, against young lefty Andrew Miller (2-1, 3.63).
Anyway, yeah, they can win the series, but I wouldn’t bet the house on it. Or a cup of coffee, for that matter.
Did I mention Detroit, which has an even more explosive lineup than the Red Sox, has won nine of its past 11 road games while hitting .335 and averaging nearly nine runs per game in that stretch? Aye yi yi.
Jimmy Leyland’s boys lead the majors in average (.295), slugging (.483) and scoring (439 runs, the only team with 400). And on the road, the Tigres have hit .295 with a majors-leading 47 homers.
Smoltz vs. Tigers: Thankfully, there are no groundless Smoltz-to-Detroit trade rumors percolating this time as the Michigan native prepares to toe the slab against the team he grew up loving, that signed him and began developing him in the minors before trading him to the Braves for Doyle Alexander on Aug. 12, 1987, when Detroit needed a veteran pitcher for the stretch drive.
Or course Smoltz, who made a total of 35 minor league starts in 1-1/2 minor league seasons for the Tigers organization, has gone on to have a likely Hall-of-Fame career as a Braves starter, closer, starter, and Home Depot pitchman.
But he’s made only one start and two relief appearances vs. Detroit. Each of the relief appearances were perfect performances; the start was not. He gave up 10 hits and eight runs in 3-1/3 innings of that September 1997 game, and had elbow surgery that December.
He’s had four elbow surgeries, but the elbow’s held up fine since Smoltz returned to starting in 2005.
As good as the Tigers have been on the road, Smoltz has been terrific pitching at home. He’s 13-4 with a 2.54 ERA in his past 18 home starts, including 7-2 with a microscopic 1.14 ERA in the past nine.
He’s worked six or more innings and allowing zero or no earned runs in each of those past nine home games. That’s right, no one-run performances. He gave up zero runs in five of those nine games, and two runs in the other four.
You’ve been warned: Two Tigers, in particular, are on fire. Magglio Ordonez has been baseball’s best hitter this season (check the league leaders; he’s outhitting even A-Rod). Ordonez has hit .411 in his past 43 games with 30 extra-base hits (nine homers), 41 RBIs, a .481 OBP, and only 15 strikeouts..
And, yes, Gary Sheffield returns to Atlanta with his bat ablaze. He’s hit .347 with 15 homers, 41 RBIs and 15 strikeouts in his past 44 games. (Man, what’s up with the low strikeouts? Don’t some of these veteran Tigers know how much fun it is to follow some Braves’ hack-from-the-heels approach?)
Frenchy looking for … something: Jeff Francoeur says he just hasn’t felt right at the plate lately, and it shows.
The right fielder hit .388 (19-for-49) with five doubles, two homers and eight RBIs in a 12-game stretch from May 10 to May 22. But since then? Ugh.
He’s 24-for-110 (.218) with four doubles, one homer, 11 RBIs and a .532 OPS (.250 OBP) in his past 28 games. Braves are 11-17 in those games, by the way.
And from the old-habits-die-hard dept., Francoeur has swung at 49.2 percent of first pitches, second-highest in the NL behind old friend Johnny Estrada (50.0).
Dueling slumps: It’s not as deep as Andruw Jones’ epic slump, but the Mets’ center fielder, Carlos Beltran, is struggling almost as mightily this season as the Braves center fielder (I said almost).
Since May 2, Andruw has hit .169 (29-for-172) with six homers, 23 RBIs, 45 strikeouts and a .548 OPS (.234 OBP) in 45 games. Yes, it’s really, really bad.
During that same period, Beltran has hit .212 (33-for-156) with three homers, 16 RBIs, 28 strikeouts and a .614 OPS (.306 OBP) in 42 games.
And the Mets’ other Carlos, Delgado, has hit .237 in that same stretch, albeit with 10 homers, 28 RBIs, and a .778 OPS (practically Ruthian, compared to the aforementioned CFs).
The Mets, by the way, are 3-13 with a 5.72 ERA and 52 runs scored in their past 16 games.
The Phillies are 5-5 with a 6.83 ERA in their past 10 games, the only NL Least team with a non-losing record in their past 10.
Couple more stats: Edgar Renteria leads the NL with a .390 average after the sixth inning, while Andruw (.150) is third-worst…. Andruw’s .202 average is the NL’s worst, and so are his .194 average vs. right-handers and his .132 June average. His .184 home average is the majors’ worst, below Oakland’s Jason Kendall (.186) and Minnesota’s Nick Punto (.190)…. Willie Harris is hitting .302 (19-for-63) with two strikes, second in the NL to Colorado Kaz Matsui (.324).
One last thing: No doubt Mark Buehrle is a fine pitcher. But for what it’s worth, consider this: Since the beginning of the 2006 season, he’s 16-16 with a 4.53 ERA in 45 starts, with a .288 opponents’ average, only 154 strikeouts and 65 walks in 290 innings. Just for what it’s worth.
A little music to take us out: From the mighty DBTs, who are closing down AthFest on Sunday in Athens, as a few of the groovin’ Athens residents on this here blog have informed us.
“TORNADOES” by Patterson Hood (Drive-By Truckers)
The clouds started forming at five o’clock pm
The funnel clouds touched down
five miles north of Russellville
Sirens were blowing, clouds spat rain
and as the things came threw, it sounded like a train
“It came without no warning” said Bobbi Jo McLean
She and husband Nolen always loved to watch the rain
It sucked him out the window, he ain’t come home again
All she can remember is “It sounded like a train”
Pieces of that truck stop, litter up the highway, I been told
And I hear that missing trucker ended up in Kansas
(or maybe it was Oz).
The Nightmare Tour ended for my band and me
the night all the s#@* went down
A homecoming concert, the night the tornadoes hit my hometown.
The few who braved the weather were sucked out of the auditorium
I can still remember the sound of their applause in the rain
as it echoed through them storm clouds, I swear, It sounded like a train.
Macay traded away, Andruw benched tonight
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A lot going on today and not much time, so we’ll dive right in: As you know by now, Braves traded lefty reliever Macay McBride to Detroit for lefty Wilfredo Ledezma.
Oh, and Andruw Jones (.202) is out of the lineup tonight, assuring he’ll stay above the Mendoza Line at least until Friday (Braves are off Thursday). Willie Harris is in center.
Cox told Andruw after game last night he wanted to rest him today, give him two days off (off day Thursday) before he gets back in Friday. Willie Harris is in center, and Andruw handled it well, said it could do him good to sit and watch a game, get two days’ rest and try to get “on a new track” Friday vs. Detroit.
Hey, he stood before the cameras and patiently answered questions, and he was goofing around with us and teammates like always. So I can only assume he’s cool with sitting for a day.
Oh, and Edgar Renteria (sore back) is back in the lineup after coming out during rain delay last night.
More on the trade: This McBride-Ledezma deal reeks of the classic change-of-scenery trade, both teams hoping a change will do the pitcher they’re getting some good.
That, plus the Tigers wanted roster flexibility and Macay has options, while Ledezma does not. Macay can probably expect to be sent to the minors, in other words.
The Braves feel they got the better end of it (of course they do; so do Tigers, I’m sure).
Braves believe Ledezma (5.15 career ERA, 15-18 record in 106 games inc. 33 starts) can be a starter in the future, if they want to use him that way (and I think they do).
But John Schuerholz said they haven’t discussed when that might happen, and he’s a reliever now. (I’d bet they’ve discussed it, at least for long-range plans when they were talking about doing the deal. Of course they discussed it.)
By the way, the GM bluntly said the Braves obviously believe he’s an upgrade over Macay, or they wouldn’t have done it. Ouch.
Anyway, Ledezma, who’s 26, will be here Friday. He’ll come on the Tigers team plane, supposedly. Macay has already moved his stuff over to a storage closet in the visitors’ clubhouse (not kidding).
Joey Devine was called up and will be in ‘pen tonight, at least. Don’t know for sure if Devine will go back after Friday, but imagine he would.
Now, about the dude they got: Ledezma has a better arm than I thought, after talking to several folks who know. He throws harder than McBride, and Tigers still believed he might become a good starter.
But they don’t need a starter, they need roster flexibility with some guys coming back from the DL, including Kenny Rogers to face the Braves on Friday.
But the troubling part: McBride gets lefties out; Ledezma’s been torched by lefties for a .340 average (17-for-50) and .400 OBP this season.
McBride was .160 (4-for-25) and .300 OBP vs. lefties this season, but .294/.467 by righties (all those walks early on, remember).
For his career, Ledezma’s allowed an alarming .293 average (95-for-324) by lefties, .278 by righties.
In other words, he’s obviously more suited for middle relief or starting than situational lefty work. What good would a situational lefty be if he didn’t get lefties out?
I think the Braves are projecting him as a starter, though Schuerholz would only say that was an option that made him attractive, and that for now, and presumably this season, he’ll be in the ‘pen.
If some of you really thought they were going to get one of Detroit’s top young, accomplished pitchers in exchange for McBride, well, you’re not being realistic.
Ledezma has walked more (26) than he struck out (24) this season in 35-2/3 innings. He’s 3-1 with a 4.79 ERA in 23 games this season, all in relief.
Last time he was a full-time starter, it didn’t go well. At all.
He was 2-4 with a 7.07 ERA in 10 starts for the Tigers in 2005, when he gave up 61 hits (10 homers) and 24 walks in 49-2/3 innings.
But he was pretty solid last season, going 3-3 with a career-best 3.58 ERA in 24 games (seven starts) with 60 hits, 23 walks and 39 strikeouts in 60-1/3 innings.
McBride, 24, was 6-1 with a 3.99 ERA in 112 career appearances for the Braves, and was demoted to the minors after a walk spree in the first couple of weeks this season (he walked 11 in just 2-2/3 innings over a four-appearance stretch, which sent up all kinds of red flags, since that’s awful hard to do, to lose the ability to throw strikes like that so suddenly).
He pitched well (3.00 ERA, .222 opp. average, four walks, 14 K in 12 innings) since returning from a minor-league demotion.
“POOR, POOR PITIFUL ME” by Warren Zevon
I’d lay my head on the railroad tracks/And wait for the Double “E”
But the railroad don’t run no more/Poor, poor pitiful me
Poor, poor pitiful me/Poor, poor pitiful me
These young girls won’t let me be/Lord have mercy on me
Woe is me
Well, I met a girl in West Hollywood/I ain’t naming names
She really worked me over good/She was just like Jesse James
She really worked me over good/She was a credit to her gender
She put me through some changes, Lord/Sort of like a Waring blender
Poor, poor pitiful me/Poor, poor pitiful me
These young girls won’t let me be/Lord have mercy on me
Woe is me
Well, I met a girl at the Rainbow bar/She asked me if I’d beat her
She took me back to the Hyatt House/I don’t want to talk about it
Poor, poor pitiful me/Poor, poor pitiful me
These young girls won’t let me be/Lord have mercy on me
Woe is me
Well, I met a girl from the Vieux Carre/Down in Yokahama
She picked me up and she throwed me down/I said, “Please don’t hurt me, Mama”
Can Braves shake the doomsayers?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Like Glum from Gulliver’s Travels (dating myself here, I realize), many here have sat for weeks typing versions of his mantra, “We’re doomed! We’re never gonna make it!”
And yet … 1-1/2 games out of first place, with three wins in the past four days against the AL Central-leading Indians and AL-East leading Red Sox, including wins against C.C. Sabathia and Curt Schilling.
Not to mention a ninth-inning blown 2-0 lead in what would have been a win against Johan Santana and the Twins, in which case it’d be four wins in five days.
So you’ll have to excuse me if I’m having a hard time understanding all the hand-wringing in mid-June over these Braves. Sure, they’ve got problems. But so does every other NL team. And there’s plenty of time to fix them, if the Braves are as creative as they’ve been, at times, in the past.
Still, I also understand it’s the nature of being a “fan” to worry and want more, at all times. And you all — well, at least most of you — are fans with passion, the kind the Braves would love to have more of, especially more of with disposable income and within driving distance of Turner Field.
But that’s another story. So I’ll prepare for another night at the Deep-South outpost of Red Sox Nation. And what should be a very good pitching matchup.
But, and here’s where Glum should make a cameo in this blog, the Braves and their fans had best hope a couple of trends don’t hold.
Here’s what I’m talking about. Tonight, provided we somehow get this game in between heavy rains, Tim Hudson (6-4, 3.25) faces Josh Beckett (9-1, 3.39) out at the Southern Fens (Turner Field). On the surface, as good a pitching matchup as you’ll find in the majors tonight, or most nights.
But look within the numbers (or, if you’re an eternal Braves optimist, this might be the point where you’d want to look away, or skip a couple paragraphs).
Hudson is 3-8 with a 6.22 ERA in 11 career starts against the Red Sox, his worst record against any opponent and second-highest ERA (he’s 1-2 with a 6.33 ERA in eight starts vs. Cleveland).
And it gets worse. Hudson is 0-5 with an alarming 9.45 ERA and .343 opponents’ average in his last five starts vs. the Red Sox, including May 20 at Fenway Park, when he gave up six runs and eight hits in 4-2/3 innings.
He’s got more walks (19) than strikeouts (14) in 24-2/3 innings over those five starts, and lasted fewer than five inning in three of them. How is such a skid possible for such an accomplished pitcher?
Ahh, baseball. A sometimes confounding and nearly inexplicable game.
Meanwhile, Beckett, the former Marlins pitcher, is 5-7 in 14 starts vs. Atlanta despite a stingy 2.62 ERA (his teams scored one or no runs while he was in the game in seven of his first 10 starts vs. Atlanta).
But he’s 3-0 with a 0.92 ERA and .136 opponents’ average in his past four starts against the Braves, and his Red Sox have provided 7.5 runs per nine innings while he’s been in those games.
Like I said, you probably should’ve skipped those paragraphs.
Does Andruw know Alice Cooper? His season (Andruw’s) has started to remind me of a familiar song by the old shock-rocker. “Welcome to my [free agent; blogger embellishment] nightmare. I think you’re going to like it. I think you’re gonna feel like you belong. A nocturnal vacation. Unnecessary sedation. You want to feel at home ‘cause you belong…”
OK, those lyrics aren’t germane to the discussion. But the song was kinda cool when I was in junior high.
Anyway, regarding Andruw’s nightmare … er, season.
This is getting interesting, and by that I mean, like a train wreck is interesting. Seriously, no one really believes he’s slipped this fast, right? No one thinks this will continue for an entire season, or even a half-season, right?
Wait, I just realized we’re only about a week-and-half from the halfway point.
Wow. This really has gone on a long time, hasn’t it?
Here’s the latest mind-boggling stats:
Andruw’s .205 batting average is the worst among NL qualifiers, six points below the next-worst (Pat Burrell, .211) and a full 18 points below Ol’ Rochy (.223).
For the month of June, Pat “The Feeble Bat” is at .136, Andruw nipping at his heels at .139.
Andruw’s .199 average vs. right-handers is also the NL’s worst, at least among guys who appear on the lineup card enough to qualify.
His .190 home average is second-lowest in the NL, ahead of only San Diego’s Khalil Greene (.171 _ what happened to Khalil Greene, who was supposed to be a star by now, sort of like … Burrell).
Andruw is third in the NL in strikeouts (73).
And finally, Andruw’s .202 average (24-for-124) with runners on base is the fourth-lowest in the NL among qualifiers, and it should be noted the three who are worse have 90 or fewer at-bats in those situations.
That’s the thing about Andruw’s hitting that’s made it even worse, of course - he’s a middle-of-the-lineup hitter (still) who is expected to drive guys in.
And rather than tell us how many RBIs he has (as some here are wont to do), consider how many he could have.
The Braves have three hitters with 70 or more at-bats with runners in scoring position. They are: Edgar Renteria (.357, 25-for-70 with four strikeouts and a .958 OPS in those situations), Jeff Francoeur (.337, 29-for-86 with 10 strikeouts and a .915 OPS in those situations) and Andruw Jones (.226 (19-for-84 with 24 strikeouts and an .810 OPS in those situations).
Edgar is a Sox nightmare Speaking of Renteria, I had a Boston radio station call for an interview, and they asked why Willie Harris and Renteria are hitting so well for the Braves, when they struggled so with the Red Sox.
I had no answer for them with Willie, said I honestly didn’t know, but that he was playing great ‘ball for the Braves and had given them a needed spark.
But with Renteria, I pointed out to the guy that he’s hitting and playing much as he has with every team he’s played for (Florida, St. Louis, Atlanta) except the Red Sox, who gave up on him and booted him out the door after one season, such has occasionally been their front office’s reactionary nature when Red Sox Nation turns on a player (which they did early on in 2005 with Edgar, and never really gave him a chance after that, booing him for every mistake and ignoring his mid-season production).
Also told the guy I had no explanation for Edgar’s career-high 30 errors in 2005 for Sox, twice what he had for the Braves in 2006, other than maybe he didn’t like those harsh New England accents (OK, I didn’t say that).
Anyway, he might not have hit enough for Boston, but he sure hits against the Sox, doesn’t he? Renteria has a .348 average in 16 career games vs. Boston, including .444 (20-for-45) with five walks and a .500 OBP in his past 11 games against them, and two three-hit games in four this season.
Reviews, etc. Those wanting to laugh your butt off at a great movie, go see “Knocked Up.” It’s tremendous. Funniest movie I’ve seen since 40-Year-Old Virgin.
Sorry I can’t go to the Wilco concert tonight at Chastain in Atlanta, especially after seeing it’s going to be a no-tables setup. I was envisioning the suffer-no-fools, hair-trigger-temper Jeff Tweedy taking a swing at some of the wine-sipping talkers down front who have infuriated so many performers at Chastain over the years.
Very wise move to go with the no-tables, no-coolers setup for this show (not to mention, the rain and wind they’re probably going to get would’ve made a mess of the fine china).
Someone give us a review if you go (really do hope you avoid monsoons). And also, some give us a review of the new White Stripes album out today, please.
Those of you who still dig The Doors and wonder why they don’t make music like that anymore, try The Black Angels’ “Passover” album that came out last year. I just found a used copy of it, and it’s dark, great, psychedelic rock with a Morrison-voiced lead singer. Saw them open for Black Keys last year, but didn’t have any of their albums until I got this one. Good stuff.
Oh, and I don’t know if we’ve mentioned it here before, but Dale Watson is a criminally underrated country singer-songwriter. Been listening to his “Best of the Hightone Years” CD lately. Got such an old-school vibe to it. Him and James Hand. Dale’s like George Jones, Hand like Hank Williams. And that ain’t bad, folks.
Now, a great one from one of the true masters, to take us out:
“MY RAMONA” by Merle Haggard
Everybody’s talking bad about Ramona
They say she’s changed a lot since I’ve been gone
They say she may not be too glad to see me
Cause Ramona doesn’t know I’m coming home
Ah but everybody’s wrong about Ramona
They’re just going by the way she’s actin’ now
I just can’t believe the things they say about her
Cause Ramona knows the things I wanna allow
Ramona’s gonna be the way she used to be
And I’ll be proud of her just like I was before
She never was the kind to like those crowded bars
And Ramona won’t be seen there anymore
They say I may not recognize Ramona
And going by the picture they describe
The life they say she’s living sure don’t fit her
But I know she’s still the same sweet girl inside
Ramona’s gonna be the way she used to be
And I’ll be proud of her just like I was before
She never was the kind to like those crowded bars
And Ramona won’t be seen there anymore
Powerful pitching this way comes
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
So this blog now has its own daily T-shirt feature and has gotten mention on a national Fox broadcast? Well, gosh, I guess you just can’t stop it, you can only hope to contain it. Me? I’m just trying to hold it up for the day.
And today, this morning, I’m thinking about the Red Sox and I’m thinking about Curt Schilling. And of Josh Beckett, and Justin Verlander, and even, Kenny Rogers possibly.
And as difficult as it might seem — with some of the (ahem) batters in the middle third of the Braves order swinging like they are — we have to appreciate the beauty of the pitchers we’ll see at Turner Field this week.
Schilling tonight (vs. Chuck James), Josh Beckett going tomorrow (vs. Tim Hudson) and possibly Kenny Rogers on Friday night. Word is, if a side session goes well this afternoon, Rogers (no relation) could make his first start of the year following surgery to repair an artery in his shoulder on Friday night against the Braves. This is the guy who led the Tigers staff with 17 wins last year on their American League championship league.
You might also remember a certain bases loaded walk in the 1999 NLCS. That was back when Andruw was seeing the ball well. But I digress.
And then somewhere waiting in the wings has got to be Justin Verlander of the Tigers. Originally everybody was talking like he’d pitch Friday against the Braves because that’s his regular rest. But Jim Leyland told reporters over the weekend that if Rogers was ready, he’d pitch Friday and he’d wait to announce the rest of his rotation for the weekend. I’ve gotten no love from the Tigers PR staff this morning, so I’m just going to venture an educated guess and say we’ll see Verlander on Saturday. And dang, I just want to see him.
This is the guy who threw the 109th pitch of his no-hitter last week 101 mph? And apparently knows how to pitch, not just in love with striking people out. So between him and Schilling the Braves will be facing two guys who gave up one hit in 54 outs their starts before last.
Verlander no-hit the Brewers and then gave up three runs in six innings — a quality start — to beat the Phillies yesterday to raise his record to 8-2.
Schilling is two starts removed from coming one out away from a no-hitter against Oakland. By now we all know the story about how Schilling shook off Jason Varitek to throw a first-pitch fastball to Shannon Stewart. And Stewart, who was swinging first pitch — as Varitek suspected which is why he wanted a slider — singled to right.
Schilling was beat up by the Rockies in his last start (six runs, five innings) but he’s tough against the Braves and especially at Turner Field. Since the beginning of the 1999 season, Schilling is 6-1 with a 1.98 ERA and two compete games against the Braves in Atlanta. And that’s not including his complete game win in Game 3 of the 2001 NLCS for the Diamondbacks when he four-hit the Braves and allowed only a run, striking out 12.
Maybe this 91-degree heat today will throw him off a bit. The Braves can hope.
It will be interesting to see if the Braves are up to this kind of challenge this week, now that they’re in reach-out-and-touch distance from the Mets. But the Braves have had a hard enough time with the likes of Rich Hill and Matt Chico this year. So we’ll see.
Well, it should be an exciting week. Expecting big crowds for the Red Sox and here’s hoping it’s not mostly Red Sox fans, eh?
Oh wait, I’ve gotta tell you about this. Some radio producer just called me from Boston, wanted me to come on for five minutes and talk about the Braves. Yadda, yadda. What the heck, I’ll do it. He probably tried David first and got no answer. But what was funny was how startled the guy was — or seemed to be — when he said “may I speak to Carroll” and I was like “this is she.” He seemed to stumble from that point forward.
I can’t help it; my parents gave me a family name that is spelled like it could be a man’s name, and I do a job that is done mostly by men. I pretty much had to do the interview just to keep the shock value going. He’s calling back in a couple hours. Maybe he’ll be less rattled by then.
Sometimes it’s just funny. Do they have women who talk about sports or are interested in sports in Boston? Or are we just way ahead of the game here in the capital of the South?
Yes, that’s what I thought. We are more progressive, aren’t we? Don’t we know it, the ladies of the blog? I know who you are. Your posts aren’t as mean, and they are well thought-out and they very often try to keep the boys straight. And only once have I gotten an e-mail asking me if Kyle Davies was single, and my guess that wasn’t from a regular blogger.
(Fine, I’ll answer that question this way: I’ll tell you the same thing I tell my friends who ask me about which players on the team are single. Girls, it’s a moot point. Major league ballplayers don’t get to the majors without either a wife or a girlfriend. Don’t care if they just got called up yesterday. They’ve got a wife or a girlfriend. That’s the way it goes. You wanna know about players being single single? Better show up and meet somebody in A-ball. Low A.)
Hey, the radio guy just called me back and told me they couldn’t wait and do the interview as late as I wanted to. (A girl’s got to get to the Y, doesn’t she?) And he said he thinks they got someone else to do it.
Wait a minute. Nah. They probably got a hold of David after all. Ah, the life of an understudy.
Also got a call back from Braves director of scouting Roy Clark who tells me the Braves are making big progress in signing their draftees. They have signed 14 of their top 23 picks, including sandwich pick Jon Gilmore, the third baseman from Iowa City High School and Freddie Freeman their second round pick, a first baseman out of El Modena (Calif.) high school. Among those signed is also shortstop Mike Fisher, sixth round, and left-hander Tim Ladd, ninth round, out of Georgia Tech.
Clark said Georgia pitcher Josh Fields should be signed by tomorrow and South Carolina second baseman Travis Jones, a seventh rounder, was expected to sign tonight at Turner Field.
Teams have until August 15 to sign all their draftees this year. Yet to sign is first round pick Jason Heyward, the outfielder who was chosen 14th overall out of Henry County, but Clark said “everything is going fine, but it’s going to take a little time.”
Everyone’s humbled: Andruw, Thorman, me….
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A clean slate has been requested by several of you, so I’m going to pull myself away from this poorly developing (at least from the Braves’ perspective) contest and comply.
First let me relate a humbling experience for your trusty Braves/Man in Black correspondent this morning. (Not as humbling as that grounder that Scott Thorman just butchered in the sixth inning, but humbling nonetheless).
I’m leaving the hotel, waiting for a cab outside, and here comes Tim Hudson.
So we share a cab for the short ride to the ballpark. And after we get here and enter the stadium gate to the players’ entrance, past the dozens of autograph-seekers standing at the fence, Hudson leaves a quite-generous tip and we pile out of the cab.
And then the humbling experience begins.
First I hear them all screaming for Hudson to pleeeease sign (which he does). And I hear a few of them go, “Who’s the other guy?” (meaning me, of course) and answers along the lines of, “Nobody” (which is correct, in this context).
But that’s no big deal. You get used to that stuff. It’s understandable. I mean, Huddy’s got a shaved head, sunglasses and a black, pin-striped gangster suit on, and I’m wearing khakis and an untucked Lacoste. I don’t look like a player, unless maybe some undersized pitcher they just brought up from Richmond.
No, the bad part followed. While Huddy goes over to sign autographs for the folks at the fence, I start to walk into the players’ entrance. And the guard gets out his clipboard and asks, “OK, who we got?” Meaning, he just wanted me to give him my name so I could check it off the list of players and coaches with clearance to go through this particular entrance.
“That’s Tim Hudson,” I say. “I know who that is, what’s your name?” he says.
“Oh, I’m just a member of the media, we just shared a cab,” I say.
“Sorry, but I can’t let you in through this exit. I could lose my job,” he says.
“Sir, do you know I write the Braves/Man in Black blog? What in the hell is your name and badge number, you rental-cop putz?” I say.
OK, kidding. I did not say anything like that. That would be rude, obnoxious and uncalled for.
What I actually said was, “You’re not going to make me walk through that, are you?” and I pointed toward the throng around Hudson, blocking the entrance we had just driven through in the cab.
“Yeah, the media gate is around the …”
“I KNOW where it is,” I said, tersely. This, I actually did say.
And then I swallowed my pride, put my head down, and shuffled past Hudson and the autograph-seekers. Ashamed and angry.
Ah, the glamorous life we lead.
Chipper gets 2,000: His leadoff single in the second inning was the 2,000th of Chipper Jones’ career, extending his own Atlanta Braves record but leaving him 1,600 behind the mighty Aaron. This just in: Hank was real good for a real long time.
Chipper also doubled in the seventh and now needs two doubles to become the third switch-hitter to have at least 2,000 hits, 400 doubles and 350 homers, after Eddie Murray and Chili Davis.
He’s already the only switch-hitter with at least 300 homers and a .300 average (Chipper hit .305 with 369 homers and 1,224 RBIs in 1,807 games before today).
Smoltz assures shoulder will hold up: I told Smoltz that some of you folks are concerned about his shoulder, and asked him point-blank if this is something he’s confident he can pitch through and get through the entire season. He said it was, and that he just has to be smart with it.
He was in a much better mood the last couple days than in the week before. I’m thinking the shoulder improved enough to ease any concerns he had about it being a serious issue that would force him to the DL or threaten his season.
By the way, how ‘bout those drop-down sliders he was throwing yesterday, to ease the stress on his shoulder? He abandoned the split early in the game, took more time between pitches, threw more sidearm, and got out of the game after six innings even though he could’ve pushed it and gone another inning or two.
So he’s getting smarter in his 40s, apparently, and remains the most resourceful elite pitcher going. Him and Pedro Martinez are the only guys of their stature who I can recall changing and making adjustments literally within a game or game-to-game with their delivery and/or repertoire in order to allow them to keep pitching at a high level.
Remember Smoltz and the knuckleballs and sidearming for most of a season, just to get through before elbow surgery? Others would shut it down and have the surgery, aim for the following season.
I should add, I don’t think this is that type of injury at all. Not that severe, nothing that will require surgery, even with the ‘scope. Unless it gets worse, of course. But he seems, just talking to him, confident this is just soreness and nothing torn or otherwise debilitating. He’s 40, remember.
Most of you know, we don’t recover quite as quickly after our 40th birthday. Not even Smoltz.
Red Sox in town: Big series, marquee stars (Manny being Manny, Andruw being Andruw, Big Papi), Schilling going against Chuck Monday and a big Huddy vs. Beckett matchup on Tuesday.
But a “natural rivalry” as MLB hoped this would be? No. Not a rivalry. The fact that the Braves played in Boston several generations back doesn’t constitute a rivalry.
“Absolutely none whatsoever,” Chipper Jones said, when asked if he sensed a rivalry growing between the teams.
Speaking of Andruw: How low can it go? His average, we mean. Hard to believe that the 2005 MVP runner-up is close to the Mendoza Line in mid-June 2007, but he is. Andruw had a .211 average entering today’s game, the worst in the league among those with enough plate appearances to qualify.
He was a point lower than Pat Burrell, who will never be mistaken for an MVP candidate. Even Ol’ Rochy had his average up to .223 before today. LaRoche shows signs of being headed in the right direction, finally.
And Andruw? In his past 42 games before today, he hit .189 (29-for-160) with six homers, 23 RBIs, 14 walks, 43 strikeouts, a .250 OBP and a .338 slugging percentage.
And still he was hitting fifth today, and hit cleanup on Friday.
Bobby Cox has more than just patience in unlimited supply. He also has a bottomless vat of loyalty for guys who’ve been with him a long time. For better or worse.
OK, back to the game. Some music as we go out:
“The Train Carrying Jimmie Rodgers Home” by Greg Brown
Come along, my dear, the time is growin’ near,
We’ll have to walk down where the field is overgrown.
Consumption has claimed his life and we dare not miss the sight,
Of the train carrying Jimmie Rodgers home.
Well, we had some hard times these last few years,
Lost the farm, almost lost our spirits, too.
Yeah, but it’s the strangest thing; when we heard that man sing,
Oh, we knew somehow we’d make it through.
I can hear that whistle blow; that old train is rollin’ slow,
Sounds like it’s cryin’ for the singin’ brakeman, too.
Back to the sunny south he’ll go, and he’ll never roam no more,
Here’s the train, oh hold me close, oh sweetheart do.
Come here my little fella and let me hold you up.
I want you to remember this day when you’re grown.
How your mama and your dad were so proud and so sad,
Watchin’ the train carrying Jimmie Rodgers home.
There goes the train carrying Jimmie Rodgers home.
Oh-de-loh (yodel)
Smoltz recalls ‘95 World Series … and all the ones that got away
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
You might think coming back to play in Cleveland for the first time since the 1995 World Series would cause a flood of great memories for John Smoltz.
You would be wrong.
This correspondent was quite surprised by the initial reaction when I asked Smoltz for memories of the ’95 World Series, which the Braves won in six games for Atlanta’s first and only World Series championship.
Instead of smiling and excitedly recalling how the Braves captured their sport’s ultimate title, Smoltz seemed almost melancholy. He really did.
Then I began to realize that, viewed from another perspective, that ‘95 memory could conjure visions of all the unrealized opportunities rather than the one the Braves actually fulfilled. Stay with me here. I’ll explain.
Smoltz said the Braves viewed the 1991 World Series vs Minnesota as a “win,” though they had lost the series seven games. A win because of how far they had come, from last in their division in 1990 to NL pennant winner.
“It’s a little bit different there [in the 1995 Cleveland series],” Smoltz said. “Because it’s about in ‘95, the year we won, and what we’ve done since.
“It’s our only one [World Series title]. Everybody knows the story on that. It’s neat that we won one, but we had a lot of chances to win more. So when you think about Cleveland, that’s when we won.
“It’s the only time you can feel good about a city or a team, when you think, that’s when we won.”
But at the same time, Smoltz was saying, he couldn’t think of winning vs. Cleveland without also thinking of losing the last game of every other postseason they went to over 14 years.
After losing to Minnesota in ‘91, the Braves also lost in return trips to the World Series vs. Toronto in 1992, and to the Yankees in 1996 (ding-ding-ding, huge disappointment alert) and 1999.
The Braves haven’t been back to the World Series since, and they lost in the first round of the playoffs in four consecutive years (2002-05) before ending their streak of 14 consecutive division titles last season.
“In’91, we don’t feel like we failed,” Smoltz said. “’Ninety-one felt like a win. ‘92 was the closest thing to feeling like we failed, then ‘93 was, of course, the first real major disappointment [six-game NLCS loss to Philadelphia, after the Braves had a 2-1 series lead].
“To win it in ‘95 was so gratifying, took all the pressure off. But then ‘96 was horrific [the Braves’ epic World Series collapse vs. the Yankees, when they lost four consecutive games after winning the first two].
“And really,” Smoltz said, “nothing’s been the same since then.”
Wow. You want candor, you got it. I’m standing in a hallway outside the visitor’s clubhouse at the Metrodome in Minnesota on Thursday, listening to Smoltz. And I’m thinking, damn, the only player who’s been through every one of the Braves’ postseasons isn’t glossing over anything.
Sure, it’s nice to have the unprecedented run of division titles. But if you don’t think there’s a hole in Smoltz’s competitive heart where another couple of World Series championships belong … folks, he feels this.
Maybe it’s been this recent Braves’ skid - they’ve lost nine of 12 games before tonight’s series opener at Cleveland — and his recent sore shoulder that caused him to be so open about the sting that lingers from all the postseasons that ended in defeat. Whatever it was, I found it to be revealing.
And I couldn’t help but think how many fans would probably like to see the look on his face when he’s sitting there laying this out there for me. I mean, he really looked down.
Anyway, he went on to talk about how much it hurt to lose in the postseason with some loaded Braves teams in the mid-90s.
“The last few years we were in the playoffs and World Series, a lot of things had to go right [if the Braves were to win],” he said. “In ‘95 and ‘96, those were two of the toughest [best] teams that we’ve had.”
Then he seemed to realize what I had initially approached him about, which was nothing more than some memories about Cleveland as the Braves prepared to return for the first time since 1995.
“Not to take anything away from going back to Cleveland,” he said. “What did we do there, we won one game?”
Yes, one game. The Braves won the first two games of that ’95 Series in Atlanta, and won Game 4 in Cleveland sandwiched between two losses.
They went back to Atlanta up 3-2, and Tom Glavine had a performance for the ages in Game 6, holding Cleveland to one hit in eight scoreless innings. Dave Justice’s sixth-inning supplied all the offense in a 1-0 clinching Braves win.
“You think about Cleveland, what an awesome hitting team they had,” Smoltz said. “That was one of the great games Glavine pitched.”
In his only start in that ’95 World Series, Smoltz allowed six hits and four runs in 2-1/3 innings of Game 3 and got no decision in an 11-inning loss. It was one of the only less-than-stellar starts of his career for Smoltz, the all-time leader in postseason wins (15-4 record ) and strikeouts.
Since that game Smoltz has gone 10-3 with a 2.57 ERA and 4-for-5 saves in 27 postseason games (14 starts).
There’s no disputing one thing he said: It’s never been the same for the Braves since they blew that 2-0 lead vs. the Yankees in the ‘96 debacle.
The Braves went 35-24 with a .262 batting average and 2.61 ERA in postseason games from 1991 through the first two games of the 1996 World Series.
Beginning with the four straight losses to the Yankees in ’96, the Braves have gone 28-38 with a .239 batting average and 3.71 ERA in their past 66 postseason games.
They are 11-23 in their past 34 postseason games going back to the Yankees sweep in 1999, and 5-13 at home during that stretch.
Not taking advantage of Mets’ woes: For now, most Braves aren’t too concerned with history. They just want to start winning games and give themselves a chance to be in the playoff race down the stretch.
That’s why they’re upset not to have capitalized on the NL East leading Mets’ 1-9 skid.
“Without a doubt, we look at the standings and say, we’re playing this bad and we’re still only two games out?” left fielder Matt Diaz said. “Then we’re like, waiting a minute, they’re playing that bad and we’re still two games back?
“The Phillies have obviously caught us. We thought going in that it would be close, because there’s a lot of parity in the division. We welcome it being close, because we think we’ve got the veterans to pull us through in a close race.”
Smoltz said of the Mets, “They’re good, and they’re in a rough stretch. It’s really disappointing because we’re only two games out, but everybody’s bunched together now.
“We just didn’t take advantage of our [7-1] start, we didn’t take advantage of this [Mets skid]. We’ve just got to find a way to do that.”
Salty gets another start: Top catching prospect Jarrod Saltalamacchia is back in the lineup at first base for tonight’s game, after going 0-for-4 with three strikeouts and a ninth-inning bobbled grounder Thursday in his first start at 1B since high school.
Cox said Saltalamacchia “didn’t make a bad play” on the Justin Morneau grounder in the ninth inning. He ranged right, knocked it down and quickly picked it up, but what would have been a difficult play to begin with was no play by then.
“He did alright” in his first start at the position, Cox said. “One ball bounced up on him. He tried to keep it in front of him because the [runner] was on third.”
Michael Cuddyer held at third on what was ruled an infield hit. Torii Hunter followed with a fielder’s choice grounder that rookie third baseman Yunel Escobar fielded coming in, then threw a bit high to catcher Brian McCann, who tried to make the tag before the ball was in his glove. Escobar was charged with an error.
Mike Rdmond followed with a single to left to drive in the winning run, making it four hits and three runs allowed by closer Bob Wickman in his third blown save in 14 opportunities.
By the way, Wickman has allowed a .308 opponents average in his past 14 games beginning with the April 25 blown save at Florida, just before he went on the Dl for a back strain. Tim Hudson was denied wins after sensational performance in that April 25 game and again last night, when he allowed two hits in 7-1/3 scoreless innings.
Hudson’s shoulder OK: Hudson said the knot in his shoulder is the kind of thing he wouldn’t normally have even said anything about. But when Cox noticed an awkward movement during a pitch in the eighth inning, he went out and asked Hudson how he felt and the pitcher confided the shoulder was sore.
But Hudson said it’s nothing more than a knot and that he had no doubts he’d make his next start.
OK, that’s all the time I have. Now some music. One more from another seminal Minneapolis band:
“BED OF NAILS” by Bob Mould (of Husker Du)
I can walk the bed of nails/I’m not the only one
But some, they cannot walk the jagged line
Callous, concentrating/For nails are sharp as lies
I run the jagged line
From years and years of practice/I know just how to stand
Alone with perfect balance, hand in hand
Prepared with boards and hammers/And several bags of nails
I could build a wall to lean on/Roof above my mind
I can see you’ve got your own plans
Please don’t drive your nails into this heart of mine
I can walk the bed of nails/Grin and bear the pain
But some, they cannot deal with all these things
Always sacrificing/For lies are sharp as nails
And all the pain it brings
Sometimes I just pretend that all the lies are true
And I know I might depend on you
But if my concentration breaks/I’m washed away with pain
And then my feet begin to bleed upon my only bed of nails
And I’m stuck here in the middle of a sea of lies
Inside my bed of nails
Salty’s at 1B; Stark fires back at Boras
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The move that so many of you blog denizens have been pining for — can’t say I blame you — is happening. At least tonight it’s happening, and I’d guess it’ll happen some more.
Salty is starting at first base.
Yes, top catching prospect Jarrod Saltalamacchia is getting his first start at first base in place of slumping Scott Thorman. Good luck, kid: All you’ve got to do is face the game’s top left-hander, Johan Santana.
Oh, and if you’re in there again tomorrow in the series opener at Cleveland, you’ll face 6-foot-7, 300-plus-pound C.C. Sabathia.
If Salty gets multiple hits tonight and tomorrow against those guys, he’s officially earned a permanent starting job.
OK, not really. But he should. Santanta Consider that Sabathia has pitched 18 scoreless innings in his past two starts while allowing a total of eights hits and one walk, with 14 strikeouts.
Anyway, a lot of folks have been waiting for Cox to make this move, as Thorman has sputtered since a promising April. He was supposed to be in a platoon with Craig Wilson, but Wilson doesn’t do hitting anymore and was released.
Thorman was given a chance to play every day, and hasn’t made the most of it, to say the least.
He’s got a solid seven homers and respectable 27 RBIs in 55 games, but Thorman is hitting .225, including 10-for-50 with no homers, three RBIs and a meager .486 OPS vs. lefties (.260 slugging).
Since May 1, Thorman’s hit just .200 (27-for-135) with four homers, 16 RBIs, three walks and 30 strikeouts, for a .221 OBP.
Since Saltalamacchia arrived from Double-A Miss’ip, he’s hit .322 (19-for-59) with three doubles, two homers, eight RBIs and only nine strikeouts, quite impressive for a young kid with no previous experience above Double-A who’s playing a part-time role that’s included infrequent starts and pinch-hitting.
The switch-hitting 22-year-old could be playing a lot more now, if he continues what he’s been doing. He was 9-for-20 in his past (.450) with two doubles and a homer in his past five starts before tonight.
Salty is hitting .346 (9-for-26) with a .615 slugging percentage vs. lefties and .303 (10-for-33) with a .364 slugging percentage vs. righties.
And he’s hit better as the stakes are raised: .297 with none on base, .364 (8-for-22) with runners on, and .417 (5-for-12) with runners in scoring position. A small sample, obviously, but still encouraging.
He’s got a cannon arm and a swagger and presence you don’t see often in guys so inexperienced. He could be a standout catcher in the majors, but the Braves have one of those.
They’re going to have to decide by this winter whether to entertain trade offers for Salty or make him their first baseman. I don’t see many, if any, other options. He’s probably too big to be anything more than serviceable in the outfield, and they need a first baseman anyway, if Thorman isn’t going to be the guy (and I’m prett sure they’ve not made that decision just yet; it’s awful early to decide Thorman doesn’t have it).
I wouldn’t give up Salty for anything less than an impact starting pitcher, a young guy who’s affordable for several years, or a special talent like Dontrelle Willis. But we’ll see. It’s early. Let’s let the kid play some first base and see what he can do playing on a regular basis, assuming he’s going to get that chance.
The Braves could call up Brayan Pena to give them an extra catcher, and they’ve been playing Pena at a lot of positions lately, which tell me they could be grooming him as a utility guy and third catcher.
If that’s the case, they have a couple of underperforming utility men, and Pete Orr has all his minor league options remaining. But that’s just me talking, not anything I’ve heard. Just an educated guess, nothing more.
The Stark Rebuttal: Yes, I capitalized every word, because it’s rather epic. Jayson Stark called me today, a couple days after I wrote agent Scott Boras’s blistering critique of Stark’s assessment of Boras client as “the most overrated center fielder in history” in a new book that Jayson’s written.
He said he hoped I’d give him a chance for a counter to the rebuttal. And I like Jayson, and felt it was only fair. He wrote it out and e-mailed it to me.
(I’ll expect a slice of the first-month profits on this damn book, for all the publicity he’s getting for it here.)
Anyway, rather than paraphrase Jayson, I figured I’d utilize the luxury of unlimited space on this here internet de-vice and run the man’s comments in full (that, plus the fact it’s getting close to game time and I’ve still got to write my notebook).
Folks, it’s long, I warn you. So if you want to skip it, there’s no more Braves news on this blog. I’m running late.
So here goes, in full (and Jayson, send the check to my home address, please):
Hi Dave,
I just got a chance to read our pal Scott Boras' retort
to my book, which I found highly entertaining. And, as usual, Scott distorted what I wrote and what I’ve been saying about Andruw publicly since the book came out. So I’d like the chance to respond if you could find any room in your little sector of cyberspace for me.
First off, I knew when I wrote this book there was a 100-percent probability that Scott would disagree with this assessment of Andruw. I knew lots of people would. This book is about perception. It’s about one of the great debates in sports - who’s overrated, who’s underrated. So we’re SUPPOSED to disagree.
I’ve said from the beginning that this book wasn’t intended to settle any debates about these players. But it looks as if it has STARTED about 100,000 debates. And that was the whole idea.
It wasn’t written to make people angry. It wasn’t written to call attention to me. It wasn’t written as some misguided attempt to throw a bunch of names out there for the shameless sake of (in Scott’s words) “stirring up controversy.” It was supposed to make people think, and to raise questions about why we perceive players in certain ways, when in lots of cases, the facts don’t quite match the perceptions.
But when Scott Boras starts accusing ME of “manipulating the numbers” in the name of “profiteering,” I have to laugh. Isn’t Scott the number-manipulation champion of the world? And when he does it, his ONLY motivation is profiteering. All I did was write a book.
And what’s that book about? It’s about who’s overrated and who’s underrated. So it was bound to hit a few nerves - unless I’d confined it to the most overrated and underrated players in the Federal League or something. But the whole point of the book was to explore the myths and illusions that surround recognizable players.
Scott just happens to represent one of those players, whom he’s now openly comparing to Willie Mays so he can inspire some team to pay him 100 zillion dollars next winter.
Speaking of Willie Mays, if Scott’s line about how Andruw was the first centerfielder since Willie Mays to record five straight seasons of 400 putouts sounds familiar, it might be because IT’S IN THE BOOK. (Actually, the factoid Scott threw out to you was wrong. Mays isn’t the ONLY centerfielder to do that. Richie Ashburn did it right before Mays, in fact. Mays was just the most recent before Andruw. But I’ll take the high road and not accuse Scott of “failed research” on that one.)
The reason that fact is in the book is that I didn’t set out to “overrate” Andruw, or hurt his market value, or go out of my way to demean him. I included that fact because I wanted to make clear that the Andruw who ripped off that string of 400 putouts WAS the greatest defensive centerfielder I ever saw play. If I just wanted to manipulate facts in this book, why would I have spent so much time - in Andruw’s chapter and all the overrated chapters - giving him and all those players credit for why we’ve come to believe they were so great in the first place?
I did my best in this book, and certainly in this chapter, to avoid being mean-spirited. I specifically said Andruw is still highly employable. I specifically said Andruw is sure as heck still better out there than, say, Brian Asselstine. I’ve said in about 1,000 interviews since the book came out that Andruw is still a tremendous player.
But was he exactly the same player over the last few
years that we perceived him to be? No. And Scott can manipulate his own numbers and “indexes” all he wants. But he can’t explain away those 100 balls a year that Andruw used to catch that he wasn’t catching anymore - until, by some remarkable stroke of fate, he got himself back in A-1 shape this year in a contract year (and now is magically catching them again). Do the math. If the guy was down 100 putouts a season, that’s four balls a week he used to catch that he wasn’t catching anymore.
I said in the book that I was surprised to see those numbers myself. But I didn’t make them up or manipulate them. They’re real. And Scott’s trashing of Zone Rating is purely his way of discrediting research he doesn’t agree with.
I only looked at Zone Rating because my initial inclination, as I wrote in the book, was NOT to believe the raw numbers. I wanted to factor out variables like whether the Braves’ staff had more ground-ball pitchers than it used to, etc. The defensive stat that does that best, in my opinion, is Zone Rating.
I've asked plenty of sabermatricians about Zone Rating.
And they sure characterize it differently than Scott does. It doesn’t assign wider zones to players like Andruw because he’s so good. All centerfielders are assigned the same zone. So how does it penalize players with more range?
Andruw's Zone Rating dipped in exactly the way his
other numbers dipped. He used to lead the league. Last year, he finished at the bottom of the league. Any attempt to explain that away is an attempt to make the conclusion differ from the facts - which was the opposite of the way I went about it.
Now one more thing, and I’m done. Scott suggests that I made up that “old scout crap” in which I said a scout I knew was the first to steer me toward Andruw as a player who - while still good - wasn’t what people perceived him to be anymore.
I’m not sure if Scott is suggesting that I made up the quote or made up the scout. But let me assure you, this scout is not just real, he’s a guy who has been scouting for many years and is one of the sharpest people I’ve ever met in baseball. And here’s the other thing: He’s not alone.
Scott would be shocked, apparently, to hear what other
scouts say about Andruw. And what other general managers say about Andruw. And what even some guys who spent years working for the Braves say about Andruw.
In fact, the scout I originally quoted happened to read Scott’s quotes in your blog this week. And he checked in to tell me that if “Scott thinks Andruw is the same outfielder now he was when he was younger, he should visit” (a prominent sports ophthalmologist who shall remain nameless).
If I were out to “get” Andruw or to “rip” Andruw, I could have used lots of quotes much stronger than the ones I used in this book. But that isn’t my style. And it isn’t the tone I hoped to set in this book.
Lots of people, I think, have gotten the wrong idea about what I meant by “overrated” in Andruw’s context. I even suspect you’ve gotten the wrong idea. It was never supposed to mean, “Aw, he’s not that good.” I never, EVER suggest he’s turned into some kind of washed-up stumble bum, because that’s ridiculous. Even before he whipped himself back into shape, he was still a terrific player, even though he wasn’t the same player.
Did I ever say he couldn’t carry Torii Hunter’s wristbands? Why would I? Scott and I are in agreement on the fact that if I could sign either Andruw or Torii, I would sign Andruw - assuming I had 100 million bucks in my checking account.
But that doesn’t mean Andruw hadn’t changed as a player over the last few years. And that’s all “overrated” means in his case. Lots of people were out there, assuming he was as good as ever, when clearly, if you’re willing to take a rational and impartial view of this, he hasn’t been. That’s all I was trying to establish. When what’s taking place on the field differs from our widely held assumptions and perceptions, that’s exactly the kind of theme I tried to explore in this book.
I know I’ve practically written a whole ‘nother chapter just in what I’ve written to you. But I’m not big on having people like Scott challenge my credibility. I’ll be happy to stack up my body of stats and research over the years with Scott’s any time. And I’ll let the world judge for itself which of us has been the real manipulator.
Thanks for giving me the opportunity to give my side of
this.
Whew, I’m tired just pasting it to the blog. But you get the idea. It’s a very reasoned and cogent response from Jayson, albeit quite long.
Anyway, I told him on the phone I still don’t buy the zone rating argument because I’ve had many insiders and sabermetricians tell me that the inventor of the zone rating himself has since disowned and/or altered it several times because he conceded it penalized players such as Jones who go out of their “zone” often for balls, by not giving them credit for plays made there, etc.
But like I said, it’s late and I don’t have time to get those quotes again. I’m sure a couple of the denizens here can offer that angle again, as they have in the past couple days. A lot of folks here have been on top of this thing, so someone please give that definition or rebuttal to the zone rating thing, if you will.
As for the reduced putouts, Andruw laughed today when I asked him about it, and pointed out one often overlooked fact: Guys are hitting more home runs. Teams have three guys who hit 35 homers in their lineups now. What do you want me to do, go in the stands to get them?”
OK, enough snipping and clinical analysis: Take it away, legendary Minneapolis band The Replacements (while I run to get some BBQ at Dave’s BBQ stand here at the Metrodome).
“THE LEDGE” by Paul Westerberg
All eyes look up to me/High above the filthy streets
Heed no bullhorn when it calls/Watch me fly and die, watch me fall
I’m the boy they can’t ignore,/For the first time in my life, I’m sure
All the love sent up high to pledge/Won’t reach the ledge
Wind blows cold from the west/I smell coffee, I smell doughnuts for the press
A girl that I knew once years ago/Is tryin’ to be reached on the phone
I’m the boy she can’t ignore,/for the first time in my life, I’m sure
All the love sent up high to pledge…
I’m the boy she can’t ignore,/for the first time in my life, I’m sure
All the love sent up high to pledge.
Priest kneels silent, all is still/Policeman reaches from the sill
Watch him, watch him try his best/There’ll be no medal pinned to his chest
I’m the boy they couldn’t ignore,/for the first time in my life, I’m sure
I’m the boy they couldn’t ignore,/for the first time in my life, I’m sure
I’m the boy for the last time in my life
All the love that they pledge
For the last time will not reach the ledge
Chipper’s back, and hitting cleanup
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
We’ll get a new blog up just in case some of you are tired of looking at Scott Boras’ face at the top of our Braves page on the website. Nothing personal, Scott, but some see your visage and cringe. Though if we played pro ‘ball, a lot of us would probably want you negotiating our next contract.
Actually, can you negotiate my next contract with the AJC?….
Anyway, lot of stuff happening, and we’ll touch on it all briefly.
Chipper’s back, and hitting … fourth? Yes, to the surprise of no one, Braves activated Chipper Jones from the DL and Bobby Cox put him in the lineup at the DH spot tonight, so he could avoid diving plays and try to protect his hands.
But to the surprise of many, he put him in the cleanup spot, not his customary, preferred No. 3. Chipper hasn’t hit fourth this season or last season and had only 11 at-bats there in 2005.
But this move made sense, given Andruw’s season-long struggles and the fact that the Braves’ Willie Harris is swinging too good a bat to be buried in a lineup that doesn’t have many hot hitters right now. Edgar Renteria moves from his usual No. 2 spot to No. 3, behind Kelly Johnson and Harris in the 2-hole.
Folks, Harris hitting .412 after last night’s three-hit game. Four-freaking-12. And he’s hit .500 (19-for-38) since May 26.
I asked Cox about Chipper batting fourth.
“What do you do with the other three guys,” he said, “they’re the hottest hitters we have.”
No argument here. And Chipper sure didn’t complain, given the way things have gone with a few others in the lineup recently.
Anway, Chipper last hit cleanup on a regular basis in 2004, when he finished with a career-worst .248 average, 30 homers and 96 RBIs in 137 games, snapping his string of eight consecutive 100-RBI seasons in which he averaged 157 games.
He made it known he preferred batting third, and he’s been there ever since.
But I don’t think hitting fourth had much if anything to do with Chipper’s low average that season (an early season hamstring injury did; he had a career-low 20 doubles that season and just couldn’t run much).
And even though he’s not hitting his usual .300-range with runners in scoring position this season, he’s the Braves’ best hitter and his presence in the cleanup spot will make pitchers work and give the Braves a better chance of scoring runs early than they have been recently.
Andruw’s hitting .217 through Wednesday, the second-lowest average among NL regulars (only ‘Ol Rochy’s lower, at .216).
If McCann weren’t struggling, I’d say bat Chipper third and McCann fourth. But McCann needs to be hitting down in the order (he’s sixth tonight, behind Andruw) until he gets back in a groove and gets over his nagging ankle injury).
Smoltz moved back again: But this time, just one extra day, to Saturday instead of Friday’s series opener at Cleveland. And Smoltz insists that unless something happens between now and then, he’s going to pitch.
He said his sore shoulder felt better in his extended bullpen session yesterday. Not perfect, but better, and that the extra day of rest should benefit him, while also allowing Buddy Carlyle to go on regular rest Friday (the Braves had an off day Monday, so Carlyle will be on full rest).
Bobby left it up to Smoltz to decide, and said he’d just flip-flop Smoltz and Carlyle if Smoltz wanted to go Saturday.
Smoltz will be working on 10 days’ rest when he pitches Saturday. He hasn’t pitched since the doublheader June 5 vs. Florida, because the Braves skipped his next turn due to the sore shoulder.
Two other reasons the move to Saturday makes sense for Smoltz and the Braves: 1. They have another off day next Thursday (June 21), so Smoltz would have an extra day of rest between Saturday’s start and his next turn, and 2. That next turn would be against Detroit on June 22 in the series opener at Turner Field.
Maybe you’ve heard, Smoltz is from Michigan.
Speaking of Smoltz, he was just on the field getting his picture taken with Jack Morris. The two, of course, were principles in the great Game 7 matchup that ended the 1991 World Series at the Metrodome, a series for the ages.
Smoltz threw 7-1/3 scoreless in that Game 7, but Morris was even better in the 10-inning, 1-0 Twins win (I mean, the man pitched all 10 innings. Astounding).
The still-flat-bellied Smoltz looks like he could be his kid brother now, standing next to the gray-bearded Morris, who’s quite a bit larger around the middle than he was the MVP of that World Series.
Boyer a starter? The Braves optioned Blaine Boyer to Richmond to open a spot for Chipper. They were carrying an extra pitcher the past week, and we knew they were going to send out a pitcher when Chipper was activated.
The interesting thing about the Boyer move is what could come next. They’re going to have him work as a starter at Richmond, and there’s a chance they could bring him back in that role instead of reliever. That’s not decided yet, though.
He’s got the stuff to be a good starter. But the midseason move should tell you something about the lack of major league-ready starter in the organization and the expected dearth of affordable starters available on the market this summer.
It might also say a little something about the Braves’ confidence (or lack thereof) in Kyle Davies’ ability to pitch consistently this season. But that’s just me talking.
Back of rotation blues: With last night’s Davies fourth-inning exit and loss, the Braves rotation slipped to 13th in the NL with a 4.63 ERA.
The quartet of Davies, Lance Cormier, Anthony Lerew and Mark Redman have a combined 3-8 record and 7.56 ERA in 22 starts, including Davies’ 3-5 in 12 starts.
Great music town: Minneapolis spawned some of my favorites including Husker Du, the Replacements, the Jayhawks (band, not the basketball team) and, of course, Prince.
Here’s a Replacements tune from the inredible album “Tim.” Just my opinion, but no record collection is complete without the Replacements’ “Let It Be” and “Tim” albums.
“HERE COMES A REGULAR” by Paul Westerberg (The Replacements)
Well a person can work up a mean mean thirst/after a hard day of nothin’ much at all
Summer’s passed, it’s too late to cut the grass/There ain’t much to rake anyway in the fall
And sometimes I just ain’t in the mood/to take my place in back with the loudmouths
You’re like a picture on the fridge that’s never stocked with food/I used to live at home, now I stay at the house
And everybody wants to be special here/They call your name out loud and clear
Here comes a regular/Call out your name
Here comes a regular/Am I the only one here today?
Well a drinkin’ buddy that’s bound to another town/Once the police made you go away
And even if you’re in the arms of someone’s baby now/I’ll take a great big whiskey to ya anyway
Everybody wants to be someone’s here/Someone’s gonna show up, never fear
‘Cause here comes a regular/Call out your name
Here comes a regular/Am I the only one who feels ashamed?
Kneeling alongside old Sad Eyes/He says opportunity knocks once then the door slams shut
All I know is I’m sick of everything that my money can buy/The fool who wastes his life, God rest his guts
First the lights, then the collar goes up, and the wind begins to blow
Turn your back on a pay-you-back, last call
First the glass, then the leaves that pass, then comes the snow
Ain’t much to rake anyway in the fall
Overrated? OVERRATED?! Boras upset by Andruw critique
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Shortly after landing in Minneapolis today, I got a call from Scott Boras (Andruw Jones’ uber-agent, for those who’ve been away for a decade), which was a bit unusual because I hadn’t called him in several weeks, and last time I did call him he didn’t return the call.
So when I answered today and hear that distinct voice on the other end of the phone (he’s got one of those inimitable voices you know right away), I thought, “Oh, God, what did I write that he’s incensed about?” I was braced for a shouting match, since I’ve had a couple with Scott in the past over things I wrote that he didn’t like and/or believe to be accurate.
But it quickly became apparent this would be a pleasant call, at least as far as Scott aiming his fire elsewhere. He wanted to talk about Jayson Stark’s new book, “The Stark Truth: The Most Overrated and Underrated Players in Baseball History,” in which the baseball writer calls Andruw Jones the “most overrated center fielder of all time.”
Before we get to that, let me tell you guys that Boras told me there’s been no negotiations, not contract talks whatsoever between him and the Braves regarding Jones. And they don’t plan to have any until after the season.
“We’ve all agreed we’re not going to discuss anything about contracts until the season’s over,” Boras said. “Andruw is an Atlanta Brave and he’s going to work through the season to help his team win, then we’re going to discuss all the contract stuff and what Andruw wants to do. Andruw’s preference was to not negotiate until after the season.”
(I have to admit, I was wrong in this respect when I told a blogger here a couple days ago that Andruw had not said he wouldn’t negotiate during the season. He said this spring, specifically when I asked him, that he would negotiate any time).
(Oh, and I’m going to give you my educated guess again and say, ain’t going to be any hometown discount. But that’s just me talking.)
As another aside, I’ve gotta tell you, this assertion by Jayson has drawn a lot of incredulous reactions from writers I’ve talked to. Everyone respects Jayson, who is very informative and entertaining, but I haven’t run into another writer who really believes Andruw Jones to be highly overrated. Or overrated at all.
Not in the past, and not since the book starting getting a lot of attention.
I don’t need zone ratings and putout totals to tell me when I’m seeing a great defensive player. I know what I see, and in Jones I see one of the best two or three center fielders of the past 25 years (I’m 43, so I’ll confine it to a period I’m very familiar with), and perhaps the best.
But anyway, Boras obviously has a dog in this fight (or maybe that’s a poor choice of words in an Atlanta-based blog these days, huh?). Uh, he has a vested interest, obviously, since he represents Andruw and his client can be a free agent after the season.
And Scott is hardly one to talk about bending stats to fit his needs. The man is an absolute negotiating beast. Takes no prisoners. None better.
But I gotta agree with him on this. I’m watching Andruw make plays this season and thinking, this is not the most overrated center fielder of all time. This is not an overrated center fielder. An overrated hitter? That’s open for debate, certainly. But that’s not what Jayson was talking about.
No, he specifically cited Andruw’s decline in defensive “putout” totals in recent years, the fact that he had about 100 fewer outouts in each of the past few years - 390 in 2003, 389 in 2004, 365 in 2005, 377 in 2006 - compared to his peak, jaw-dropping totals of 493 in 1999 and 461 in 2001.
Well, Boras has a law degree, a very large and well-paid staff, and a statistical database that, I kid you not, is managed by a former NASA dude that Boras hired to come over to his firm.
So Boras, peeved over the portrayal of his client as some sort of broken-down fielder who doesn’t get to half the balls he once got to, went to work to try and disprove Stark.
Boras said he was up late last night crunching numbers and doing statistical analysis between Andruw and Willie Mays — have I mentioned that Boras thinks very highly of Andruw? — and after finding just what he was looking for, he called me and, I’m sure, a couple other writers today and spewed forth the stats.
He went on an ESPN show this morning and did the same.
A few of Boras’ main points of emphasis: Mays was the only other outfielder to have five consecutive seasons of 400 or more putouts, which he did from 1954-1958 in 154-game seasons. Boras added a generous 25 putouts for the eight-game difference and said Mays still never would’ve matched Andruw’s 493.
But what was strikingly - or starkly? — similar to Andruw’s stats was how Mays then had three consecutive seasons with fewer than 400 putouts from 1959 (he had 353 that season) through 1961.
“Then when Willie was 30, he went back over 400 [putouts] just like Andruw is doing,” said Boras.
Indeed, Willie jacked his total back up to 429 in 1962, the first 162-game season. This year, Andruw leads the majors with 190 putouts, on pace for 475, which would be his second-highest total.
OK, I know, your heads are spinning. But just bear with me a second longer.
Boras went on to talk about how Stark didn’t compare Jones with other top fielders of today’s game, or to note how “indexes” affect the nunbers from year to year, which is reflected by all the top fielders having lower totals in recent seasons.
“His failed research, the only way he could manipulate the numbers to stir up some kind of controversy … was by comparing Andruw to Andruw,” said Boras, who pointed out that Jones had 45 more putouts last season than Toronto’s Vernon Wells and 34 more than Minnesota’s Torii Hunter, who both won Gold Gloves (Andruw won his ninth consecutive Gold Glove).
“He fails to point out that none of the center fielders are getting to 400 [in recent seasons],” Boras said. “You have to look at indexes of baseball.”
Hey, folks, don’t ask me to define the indexes. Google it and see if that works.
Boras pointed out that Hunter’s total last season was far below his best, “and no one is saying Torii Hunter is in decline.”
He pointed out that the great Mickey Mantle’s peak was 372 putouts (again, in a 154-season, not 162).
Boras said Jones and Carlos Beltran (another horse in the Boras stable) were the only outfielders with 1,500 putouts in the past four seasons.
He pointed out that Andruw has played with 37 different left fielders as a Brave, and that it hasn’t affected his defense.
He got into a rant on “zone ratings” (Stark also cited that defensive stat), with Boras explaining, “The fallacy of zone rating is if you have greater range you’ll have more attempts used against you, and not be credited for the greater range.”
(His longer explanation made sense, but I can’t find it in my notes. I think I spilled part of my chicken sandwich on it or something. He explained how good fielders are actually penalized for getting to balls out of their zone, like Andruw does. Boras said he had reduced a negative zone rating to shreds in someone’s arbitration hearing.)
He went on and on. The man doesn’t tire — Boras, I’m talking about — and I’m fairly certain he does not require sleep.
“I have no problem with people taking opinions,” Boras said. “But when you say things about Andruw Jones, you’re talking about hallowed ground. You’re talking about a Hall of Famer.”
(Thank goodness he doesn’t read the Braves/MIB blog, huh?)
Boras was particularly upset by the reference to an unnamed “old scout friend” whom Stark wrote was the one who initially told him he thought Jones wasn’t the player he’d been made out to be and why, and told him how he wasn’t getting to balls he used to get to, etc.
“There is no scout in the world who would watch this man play and say what [Stark] said he did,” Boras said. “He would be a fool, and the statistics bear that out.”
OK, I’m not even going to get into the discussion of offense, which Boras said clearly made Jones a better all-around player than Wells or Hunter or other center fielders in today’s game.
“His standard of greatness is so high, and when you add the offense Andruw is clearly better,” Boras said. “Andruw’s offese in 2004, ‘05 and ‘06 is dramatically improved over his offense of 1998 or 1999. He’s in fact a better all-around player because of that.”
(Perhaps, but if he hit better with RISP he’d have an MVP award.)
When I asked Boras if he thought the book could possibly hurt Jones’ reputation and maybe hurt him at the bargaining table next winter, Boras scoffed.
“I don’t in any way think it hurts him,” he said. “I think it’s going to draw attention to the fact that this book is based on analysis of greatness vs. greatness. To suggest that Andruw Jones is not the greatest center fielder in the game….
“[Stark] takes a narrow, myopic view for the purpose of profiteering off this book. He uses the ‘old scout crap,’ and just comes in with these numbers without comparing them to anything else.”
And he added this little nugget: “Willie Mays told me, and I quote, ‘The only player I’ve ever seen play center field that I consider comparable to me is Andruw Jones.’
“And I’ve got Jayson Stark telling me Andruw is overrated based on putouts over four seasons.”
Uh, I think I’ll hold off on that article criticizing Boras’ handling of first-year drafted players….
OK, news of the day, Edgar scratched: I gotta keep it brief so I can get to writing my notebook. That Boras tome just took too much time.
Edgar’s hand still was sore and he’s out of the lineup. The Braves had two lineups on the board when I got to the clubhouse this afternoon, one with Edgar and one without. When he told Bobby it was still too sore, he was scratched. They think he’ll be ready tomorrow.
Chipper doing better. Much better. If you could’ve seen him launching balls over the fences at the Metrodome in batting practice, you’d never know he’s been on the DL the past three weeks.
Bobby said before BP he didn’t think Chipper would be ready today or tomorrow, but maybe Thursday. But Chipper sounded more optimistic, and said if he generated bat speed and hit balls hard in BP, he’d probably ask to play Thursday.
I’m betting he’s activated and in the lineup DHing on Thursday.
By the way, that’s going to be the position-player move Bobby had promised for the Minnnesota series. Since Chipper’s getting back a few days earlier than previously thought, they’re just going to wait and send a pitcher down when Chipper’s activated.
Smoltz not definite: But Cox sounded like he’s counting fully on Smoltz pitching Friday’s series opener at Cleveland. I can tell you more after the game, because Smoltz tested his sore shoulder with a bullpen session before the game tonight, but the clubhouse was closed by the time he finished.
It was the first bullpen session in more than a week for Smoltz, who skipped his last turn in the rotation because of his shoulder.
Turnaround in left field: We all knew that the left-field platoon has been dramatically improved since the arrival of Willie Harris to replace the traded Ryan Langerhans. But here’s just how dramatic the change has been.
In the pre-Willie era before April 29, Braves left fielders hit .163 with a .229 on-base percentage.
Since Harris joined Matt Diaz in the platoon, Braves left fielders led the majors with a .376 average and rank second with a .416 OBP. That deserves a “wow.”
Braves had better series end than Sopranos
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
First up, there’s no truth to the rumor that John Smoltz’s start will be pushed up to Thursday’s series finale at Minnnesota and Jack Morris will be coming out of retirement for one night to face him.
But it’s nice to dream, isn’t it?
Anyway….
Should be a couple of great pitching matchups Thursday and Friday in the last game at Minnesota and series opener at Cleveland, provided Smoltz’s shoulder and Tim Hudson’s leg are sound.
Oh, and of course, provided Hudson can pitch like he did the first six weeks of the season instead of lately.
(And do you think the Cavs can win just one stinkin’ game so the Finals will at least go five and Braves/MIB can be represented at Game 5 in Cleveland Sunday night? Can you do that, Lebron? I’ve already got to miss out on Prince’s old First Avenue club in Minneapolis because of three night games.)
Hudson and the Bravos had best be on their game Thursday to face Johan Santana. Then Friday it’s Smoltz vs. C.C. Sabathia in Cleveland. Like I said, couple of marquee pitching matchups.
Braves have only faced each of these teams once in interleague play, dropping two of three vs. the Indians at Turner Field in 2004 and winning two of three vs. the Twins at the Metrodome in 2002.
Then there was also that little seven-game series between the Braves and Twins in October 1991, which ended with a couple of extra-inning games, if I’m not mistaken….
By the way, the AL Central-leading Indians were a majors-best 21-7 at home before their game tonight. The Twins are only 16-16 at home.
Yes, 2-1/2 games back: Rather than say I told you so to all the knee-jerk reactionaries who took cheap shots at me for opining before Friday’s series opener vs. the Cubs that the Braves could and probably would still win the NL East, I’ll take the high road and simply point out they were 3-1/2 games out of first place when I said that. They’re 2-1/2 out of first as of today.
Doesn’t matter how bad they looked Friday or while losing eight of nine home games (that was pretty dreadful, though, wasn’t it?). Doesn’t much matter that they are a mere 28-28 since their 7-1 start.
Because it’s a 162-game season, and the Braves are 2-1/2 games behind the first-place Mets with 98 games to play. These teams and the Phillies, and maybe even the Marlins (though I doubt it), are just warming up for the race to come.
Earth to Willie…. Ah, to hell with it. Enjoy the ride, man. Who knows how long Willie Harris can keep this up? All bets are off. He’s already totally surpassed all expectations, batting .398 (37-for-93) with nine extra-base hits, eight steals, 20 runs and a .467 OBP since the Braves brought him up.
So who’s to say he can’t keep hitting at least .300? Hey, throw out what he’s done in the past and let’s just judge what he’s doing now. Seems fair in this case, since the only time he ever got to play this much before, he played well for the White Sox in 2004, batting .262 with a .343 OBP and 19 extra-base hits in 409 at-bats.
OK, so it wasn’t remotely as good as what he’s done so far with the Braves. And yeah, he’ll be 29 in a couple weeks and had a .238 career average and .306 OBP in the majors before this season.
So what? He’s hitting like a madman now, and helping the Braves in a major way.
And, by the way, showing no signs of letting up. If teams are going to figure out what his weaknesses are and exploit them, well, they haven’t been successful yet.
Harris is 16-for-34 (.471) with a .526 OBP in his past 13 games, including 3-for-3 in pinch-hit appearances in the past week. Tip of the proverbial cap to the man.
Here’s a guy who didn’t let being a victim of a numbers game after being sent down as a non-roster player despite a strong performance in spring training, who didn’t let that affect him.
Kept his head up, busted his butt at Richmond, and now he’s making the most of his opportunity. Gotta like that.
Gonzo gone, bullpen strong: You’ve probably noticed this yourselves, but the Braves’ bullpen has actually been just fine since losing lefty Mike Gonzalez to elbow surgery.
The Braves have whittled their bullpen ERA to 3.64, third-best in the NL, and have converted 20 of 25 saves. Repeat, they’ve only blown five of 25 save opportunities, after blowing a league-high 29 of 67 save opps last season.
Their comeback wins and save conversion numbers are also reflected in this stat: The Braves have allowed a meager .189 opponents’ average in late-and-close situations, 15 points lower than the next-best in the NL, the Mets’ .204.
“Scowl-ael” Soriano has allowed three hits and four walks in 60 at-bats in those situations, and Tyler Yates has yielded only three hits and three walks in 37 at-bats.
The Braves obviously have to keep the remaining two from the Big Three bullpen trio healthy, because right now Bob Wickman and Soriano are doing exactly what they were supposed to do. Soriano’s even been better than anticipated.
Wickman, since returning from the sore-back stint on the DL, has allowed seven hits, one run and only one walk in 10 innings, posting a 0.90 ERA and .194 opponents’ average while converting all of his five save opps in that stretch.
It’s obvious now how his sore back prevented him from getting proper extension on his pitches, which is why he couldn’t throw strikes in those last few appearances before he was DL’d.
Soriano has a 0.44 ERA and jaw-dropping .076 opponents’ average in his past 20 appearances, allowing one run while striking out 22 with four walks and five hits allowed in 20-2/3 innings over that span.
You’ve gotta wonder how long the Braves can go without another lefty besides Macay McBride in the bullpen. I mean, most championship-caliber teams have a good veteran lefty in the ‘pen. McBride’s good when “on,” but still relatively inexperienced, especially in big-game situations. Really big games.
But they’re getting by with what they’ve got for now, and McBride is doing quite well since he got back from his early season demotion to Triple-A. He’s held lefties to a .150 average (3-for-20) this season with only three walks and nine strikeouts.
And though they don’t have another lefty, Soriano pitches better than most lefties do against lefty hitters. They’re hitting .157 (8-for-51) against him, and .171 (7-for-41) against Wickman.
On the road again (and pleased by it): Now that they’ve salvaged something on an ugly and eventful homestand by winning the last two games vs. the Cubs, the Braves are back on the road, where they’ve played better.
The Braves haven’t been able to string together hits most nights at home, where their .244 average ranks ahead of only the sorry-butt Nationals and the Padres, who play in renowned pitchers’ park that keeps offensive numbers down.
But put the Braves on the road, and it’s been a different story.
They lead the NL with a .287 average (don’t ask me to explain it; no one can) and a .462 slugging percentage that’s a full 30 points ahead of the next-highest in the NL, and a whopping 59 points over the Braves’ home slugging percentage.
Three Braves rank in the NL’s top 10 in road average, paced by Edgar Renteria’s .370 (second in the league). Kelly Johnson (.336) and Jeff Francoeur (.333) are the others.
Is Edgar Renteria your early season Braves MVP? It’s gotta be him or Kelly Johnson, to this point, and I’d probably give the edge to Edgar for consistency.
By the way, he still leads the NL in average after the sixth inning (.392, 22 points higher than any other qualifier) and is seventh in average with men on base (.355).
We won’t know more about his sore hand until we get to the Metrodome tomorrow.
Love the show, always have: But hated the ending. The Sopranos, of course, is what I’m talking about. Last night’s series finale.
Not season finale, but series finale.
If it’d been a season finale, I think the fade-to-black would’ve been absolutely brilliant cliff-hanger device guaranteed to generate a record audience for next season’s premiere.
But that was it. End of series. Unless David Chase changes his mind, or unless he comes out with a movie (a strong possibility, I’d imagine), then we’re just left to wonder what happened.
That’s fine. I don’t like tidy bows wrapped around everything in movies and TV, at least not always. But in this instance, there’s just too much left to the imagination, in my opinion. I mean, seriously, does anyone feel real strongly that you know what was about to happen when the screen went black? I don’t. I really don’t.
Damn you, David Chase, director man.
Oh, well. Rescue Me’s new season starts this week. And while Sopranos won’t be back, The Shield will be, and so will The Wire.
“RITA BALLOU” by Guy Clark
She could dance that slow Uvalde/Shuffle to some cowboy hustle
How she made them trophy buckles shine, shine, shine
Wild-eyed and Mexican silvered,/Trickin’ dumb ol’ cousin Willard
into thinkin that he’s got her this time
Hill country honky-tonkin’ Rita Ballou/Every beer joint in town has played a fool for you
Backslidin’ barrel ridin’ Rita Ballou/Ain’t a cowboy in Texas would not ride a bull for you
She’s a rawhide rope and velvet mixture/Walkin’ talkin Texas texture
High-timin’ barroom fixture kind of a girl
She’s the queen of the cowboys/Look at old Willard grinnin’ now boys
You’d of thought there’s less fools in this world
Hill country honky-tonkin’ Rita Ballou/Every beer joint in town has played a fool for you
Backslidin’ barrel ridin’ Rita Ballou/Ain’t a cowboy in Texas would not ride a bull for you
So good luck Willard and here’s to you
And here’s to Rita and I hope she’ll do ya right all night
Lord I wish I was the fool in your shoes
Hill country honky-tonkin’ Rita Ballou/Every beer joint in town has played a fool for you
Backslidin’ barrel ridin’ Rita Ballou/Ain’t a cowboy in Texas would not ride a bull for you
Chipper takes batting practice
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
You thought the win last night was good news, folks? Because the Braves finally broke their four-game losing streak? Well, I’ve got some more for you: Chipper was on the field taking batting practice just now, and saying shortly thereafter depending on how things go, he could be back as soon as Tuesday when the Braves start a series against the Twins.
And even if he has to take it slower than that, he said he hopes no later than Cleveland, which is Friday.
“I’ll probably come in early tomorrow before we leave to go to Minnesota, take some more batting practice from both sides, see how it feels,” Jones said. “Depending on that I guess we’ll make a decision on Tuesday. If it feels good enough to go, I want to get back in there. If I’m still feeling pain, I’ll probably wait another couple days.” “I really hope it’s soon on this road trip,” Jones said. “But at the very latest maybe Cleveland.”
Chipper saw a hand specialist Saturday and came out of the hand splints he’s been wearing for five days. He took groundballs and did a little throwing Saturday, but the big test was with the bat. And he took his first steps toward answering that Sunday, first by hitting off a tee, then hitting against coaches on the field.
Jones hit from both sides, including the left, which gives him more pain on the follow-through.
“I don’t feel any pain going to the ball, it’s mostly on the follow through left-handed,” Jones said.
“It’s still a little tender. Right-handed I feel ok. My bat is slow - you take two weeks off, the ball is not coming off the bat the way you want it to. The main thing is being able to get in there and look at something coming at you and take swings.”
Jones said he is going to get some pads put in his batting gloves to help absorb some of the shock. But he’s coming away encouraged right now.
“My bat speed is really slow, but I was happy with the way it held up,” Jones said.
Brian McCann gets the night off tonight. Bobby said he wanted to give McCann two days off, and with the off day Monday that would give McCann’s left ankle a chance to get an extended rest.
It dawned on me driving to the ballpark this afternoon: did DOB really want today off to make a presentation on blogging to the Georgia Sportswriters Convention? Or was it more about the finale of the Sopranos. Hm.
It’s all right. I might be the only one in America not into that show. Don’t have HBO. So I might as well be here. And yes, you good readers have helped make Dave quite the trailblazer in our industry. So give yourselves a pat on the back.
And thanks to those who responded to my plea
for comments on watching the draft. Y’all did great. And I’m giving a shoutout to Roy Clark, who came out of the draft room Friday in the middle of making 50 gazillion picks, to help keep AJC readers well informed.
And lastly, did you catch the SportSouth spotlight on Jeff Francoeur last night? His baseball life story? Not sure if I’m supposed to be plugging TV on this here blog, but it’s definitely worth catching. Think it’s on again tonight at 11, Monday at 1 p.m. and Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. Clearly Katy Temple will be picking up our next dinner tab on the road. But hey, it’s well done.
McCann gets needle; NL East tightens
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
First up, a bit of news: Brian McCann had a cortisone shot in his left ankle two days ago and is out of the lineup tonight, with Salty catching. But McCann’s expected back in there tomorrow, according to Bobby Cox.
This is first I’ve heard of the cortisone shot for McCann, who hates talking about his injuries for fear people will think he’s making excuses. He’s such a good dude, he feels guilty about not being in the lineup, about being hurt.
It’s the left ankle, same one he sprained badly last season. This time he reinjured it when he rolled it on a swing Tuesday, which we knew about. It’s just we didn’t know it was bad enough to require a cortisone shot, which he got Wednesday.
The ankle injury comes just when McCann’s left ring finger is finally healed completely. That’s no longer a factor, he said.
McCann and hitting coach Terry Pendleton have been working in the past few days to fix an unspecified flaw in McCann’s swing that T.P. told me about today (he wouldn’t give specifics, saying they wanted to fix it first).
Terry noticed it while watching videotape of McCann last year compared to his swing this season, and McCann immediately recognized what he was talking about when T.P. showed him.
McCann’s hitting .275 with three homers, 27 RBIs, a .328 OBP and .416 slugging percentage this season, after hitting .333 with 24 homers, 93 RBIs, a .388 OBP and .572 slugging percentage in 130 games last season as a 22-year-old All-Star.
“I got into a funk, and I’m trying to work out of it now,” McCann said. “I’m a streaky hitter. I had a couple of knick-knack injuries that affected me.
“You’re not going to hit .330 every year. Last year I was in a groove all year. This year I got hit in the finger, got into some bad habits trying to overcompensate, and now I’m trying to get back where I was before I got hit.”
More on McCann in a moment. But for now, we join our original blog already in progress, the one I wrote before I ran downstairs to the clubhouse to check on things and found out about McCann’s situation….
A four-team race, after all? If you’d have told me in March that the Braves would play a game under .500 during a 53-game stretch through June 7, I’d have told you they’d be looking a very long summer with little hope of winning the division title.
But they are 26-27 in their past 53 games, and 1-7 in their past eight home games, and guess what? The Braves are still only 3-1/2 games out of first place.
They can be thankful that the Mets’ recent slide has coincided with their own, but the Braves cannot expect things to continue as they have. In other words, they can’t keep getting beat and expect to stay less than a handful of games out of first place at the All-Star break.
For one thing, the Mets aren’t as bad as they’ve played lately. They’re banged up and they’ll get healthy. New York is a flawed team, we’ve said that all along. Their pitching isn’t nearly as good as it looked in April, and that’s starting to show.
But they still have the best lineup in the NL, and they’ll win 90 to 95 games, at least.
Secondly, there’s the not-so-small matter of the Phillies. In case anyone’s failed to notice, Philadelphia just swept the Mets after sweeping the Braves, and they’re only 1-1/2 games behind the Braves and five out of first.
And don’t completely discount the Marlins. We said in spring training that the only team that would be a non-factor in the East was Washington.
The Braves and Mets got off to fast starts, while the Phillies and Marlins struggled, and some of us made the mistake of altering our preseason predictions and starting to believe it’d be a two-team race with the Mets and Braves breaking away from the pack before mid-summer.
That’s not going to happen. It’s going to be as we thought in spring, with four teams in the division beating each other up all summer.
It’s there for the taking, the NL East title, even for a team playing as uninspired a brand of ball as the Braves are playing right now.
Chipper will be back before too long (just talked to him and he’s feeling better, hoping to be back by end of next week). McCann will get healthy and starting hit like he’s capable of hitting. Andruw will go on one of his three-week binges soon and start to push his average back to .250.
And Tim Hudson will get over this recent slippage and settle in as a solid co-ace, not the Cy Young favorite he looked like in April, but a guy who’ll win 16-18 games this season with an ERA around 3.00.
Smoltz will be Smoltz. This shoulder thing might keep him out of a start, might even land him on the DL. But he’ll make at least 32 starts this season and win at least 16 games.
And Chuck James has pitched lately like the Braves expected, not the five-inning exits he was making for the first six weeks.
The Braves still need to shore up the back two spots in the rotation, still need to figure out what they’re going to do at first base (I think Salty will start to play more vs. lefties and they’ll call up Brayan Pena as a third catcher), and still need to get more help in the ‘pen.
But believe it or not, I’ll stick by my preseason prediction. Call me crazy, but I’ll take the Braves to find a way and win the division.
Reason to believe in McCann: A bit more, as promised, on the young catcher form Duluth.
Those wondering if the Braves can expect Brian McCann to get past his ankle injury and start being the sweet-swinging power hitter he was last season, here’s one big more reason they can:
Because he did pretty much the same thing last season.
No, he never went through a low-average slump like this one, but he did have a long power outage last season after spraining the ankle and eventually going on the DL.
Check this out: McCann has hit just .242 (29-for-120) with one homer, 16 RBIs and a .290 OBP and .342 slugging percentage in 35 games since April 22.
Last season he had no homers and only four RBIs in a 24-game stretch (70 at-bats) from May 16 to July 1. Yes, he hit .357 in that span, but 22 of his 25 hits were singles.
He got his strength back in the ankle and totaled 15 doubles and 15 homers with 53 RBIs over his next 56 games starting July 2. He racked up 19 homers and 70 RBIs in his last 72 games.
This season he’s hit just one homer in 169 at-bats after homering in each of the first two games. But McCann does have 16 doubles and 27 RBIs in 50 games, while playing most of the season injured.
He’s hit a respectable .300 with three homers, 19 RBIs and a .351 and .500 slugging percentage in 28 road games.
It’s the home woes — .244 with no homers, eight RBis and a .606 OPS in 22 games - that have made his struggles seem even more pronounced to Braves fans.
That, plus the fact he isn’t hitting with runners in scoring position at like he did last season, when he led the majors in those situations with two outs.
He’s hitting .288 in 52 at-bats with RISP, including .308 (8-for-26) with two outs. Last season he hit .346 with RISP, including a majors-leading and jaw-dropping .471 (24-for-51) with two outs.
I can tell you he might never hit .471 with RISP and two outs again; that was absurdly good, and there’s a reason it led the majors by a wide margin.
One more thing about this season that’s not been mentioned regarding McCann: The proliferation of lefties the Braves have faced.
Last season the left-handed hitting McCann spent the early season in a platoon with Todd Pratt (OK, it wasn’t the greatest platoon, but McCann avoided facing lefties early on).
McCann has hit .292 with a .361 OBP and .472 slugging percentage in 106 at-bats this season vs. right-handers, and only .250 (18-for-72) with a .276 OBP and .333 slugging percentage vs. righties.
Last season McCann had only 94 at-bats vs. lefties all season, and hit .266 with a .457 slugging percentage against them, compared to his stunning .352 average and .603 slugging percentage last season against righties.
OK, is your head spinning from stat overload? Sorry, I got carried away.
Wait, more stats: But no more McCann stats. Alfonso Soriano had a triple and two RBIs last night. I know, big shocker, right? Dude absolutely rakes against Braves. In his past 25 games against them, he’s 40-for-108 (.370) with nine doubles, two triples, 11 homers, 27 RBIs and a 1.205 OPS….
— The young studs don’t want to get down two strikes. Sure, no one does. But it’s an especially precarious spot for hitters just up from the minors for the first time. Witness: Salty is 1-for-16 with two strikes, and Yunel Escobar is 1-for-10….
— Sick of Rich Hill, the lefty who stuck it to the Braves again Thursday? So are these guys: Francoeeur is 1-for-12 with seven strikeouts against him, while McCann, Salty and Scott Thorman are a combined 0-for-14 with four strikeouts. That’s 1-for-26 with 11 Ks from those young guys against the Cubs lefty.
— Saturday would be a good day for Andruw to get hot or stay hot (depending what he does tonight, after homering last night). Anyway, Braves face ex-Bravos pitcher Jason Marquis on Saturday. They’ve killed him all three times they’ve faced him since he left Atlanta, and Andruw is 7-for-10 with four home runs against Marquis. Too bad Chipper’s hurt; he’s 4-for-6 with three homers off Marquis.
— Thorman had a four-hit game April 29 at Colorado. Since then the rookie first baseman has hit .200 (24-for-100) with three homers, 14 RBIs and 29 strikeouts. Ouch. And in his last 11 games, he’s 6-for-38 (.158) with one extra-base hit (double), one RBI, 11 strikeouts and a .379 OPS (.195 OBP).
— Braves 1Bs rank last in the majors with a collective .205 average, last with a .262 OBP, last with a .347 slugging percentage, and last with 23 RBIs. No other major league team’s first basemen have an OBP below .300.
OK, that’s too much stuff. No time or room for lyrics….
No, wait. There’s always time for the main man, The Man in Black:
“FOLSOM PRISON BLUES” by Johnny Cash
I hear the train a comin’
It’s rolling round the bend
And I ain’t seen the sunshine since I don’t know when,
I’m stuck in Folsom prison, and time keeps draggin’ on
But that train keeps a rollin’ on down to San Antone.
When I was just a baby my mama told me, “Son,
Always be a good boy, don’t ever play with guns.”
But I shot a man in Reno just to watch him die
When I hear that whistle blowing, I hang my head and cry.
I bet there’s rich folks eating in a fancy dining car
They’re probably drinkin’ coffee and smoking big cigars
Well I know I had it coming, I know I can’t be free
But those people keep a movin’
And that’s what tortures me.
Well if they freed me from this prison
If that railroad train was mine
I bet I’d move it on a little farther down the line
Far from Folsom prison, that’s where I want to stay
And I’d let that lonesome whistle blow my blues away.
Sixty down, 102 to go for Braves
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
OK, got 14 minutes to see what we can do with this blog, 14 minutes until the clubhouse opens and I have to get down there to see what’s going on. So here we go, let’s dive right in.
Carroll’s covering the draft, so I’ll leave it to her to discuss the picks in depth elsewhere here on our ajc.com Braves site. But I’ll just say it’s remarkable how the Braves keep filling the pipeline with legit standouts from within the state.
This Jason Heyward dude they drafted with the 14th overall pick today in the first round is from just down the road at Henry County High, and he’s a big, strong, athletic outfielder projected to hit for average and power.
This isn’t a case of picking a guy because he’s from in-state, either. This fella was projected by some to go in the first 10 picks. But it is uncanny how they keep getting guys from Georgia (though I should point out it’s easier to do that when you take as many high school players as the Braves do; that part of their strategy I don’t necessarily always agree with, because studies have shown that college players are more likely to become impact guys, and sooner. But hey, that’s a whole ‘nother discussion you guys may or may not be interested in, but I’ll leave it to you if you are)….
Now to the current Bravos: Look at the NL East standings today and you’ll see that only one team has a winning record in its past 10 games, and that’s a 6-4 mark. Everyone else is muddling along playing .500 ball lately.
So the Braves can be thankful, because this current 9-15 stretch they’re on could easily have dropped them to 8-9 games back if the Mets had pulled off a little run at the same time.
But the Mets didn’t, and they lost another outfielder to the DL yesterday, Endy Chavez. The Mets have a ton of talent, but are also a flawed team that doesn’t figure to run away with this thing as long as the Braves play the way they’re capable of playing. I still don’t like the Mets’ pitching for a 162-game season.
Folks, we’ve still got more than 100 games to go. Keep that in mind, before you start talking about ripping it up and aiming for next year. Most of you aren’t saying such things, but many are. And it’s preposterous on two levels: 1. It’s not going to happen; the Braves aren’t going to wave a white flag and aim toward next season, period. They don’t do that. Not ever, but certainly not when Bobby Cox, John Schuerholz, John Smoltz and Chipper Jones are in the twilight of their careers. This team is going to do everthing within its power and wherewithal to win this season.
Oh, and 2. They’re 3-1/2 games back, for God’s sake. Nevermind how poorly they’ve looked on occasion, nevermind that they’re pitching is very suspect behind the first three starters and a few bullpen guys, nevermind that Chipper is hurt and might be out another week or two, and McCann has played with nagging injuries that clearly have affected his performance, and nevermind that Andruw Jones is having the worst season of his career.
Nevermind all that, because the fact remains: The Braves are 3-1/2 games out of first place, and right in the thick of the wild-card race if the season were winding down. When you’re the Braves and you’ve had your division-title streak broken and you want badly to start another one, you’re playing to win now.
Not next year or two years from now. Now.
That said, they need to do everything they can to get another quality starter, though it doesn’t have to be this week as my colleague Mark Bradley said. I liked his column, but am not as pessimistic as him.
And I also am realistic. I know teams aren’t trading quality starters right now, and the Braves can wait another few weeks or longer, until some teams fall out of it and look to unload a pitcher or two. It’s not an ideal situation, but it’s reality. You don’t want to make a trade for a pitcher now, just to make a trade, and end up getting a guy who isn’t even as good as what you have.
Draft on TV is boring: Sorry, but even for us covering the sport, it’s boring. Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe you folks like it? The only part that’s funny for me is hearing Selig say, “from Clemson University, Clemson, South Carolina,” and “from Georgia Tech, Atlanta, Georgia.” But that was only funny for about the first 10 picks.
Andruw’s struggling, maybe you’ve heard? In case you missed it, the Braves center fielder isn’t having exactly the kind of free-agent “walk” year that he or Scott Boras probably envisioned.
And with 60 games in the books, it might be time to seriously start to wonder how much this could end up costing Jones. And whether his projected salary will fall low enough to make it sensible for the Braves to try and sign him.
Or, on the other hand, is this season an indication of an early fall-off for a player who just turned 30? Personally, I don’t think so. I think Andruw will have at least 3-4 more seasons like the previous two that he had, but he’ll have to get more consistent and solid in his approach at the plate. Pitchers have been able to exploit the holes that his unorthodox swing has created.
And the progress he made in late May seems forgotten now that Jones has dipped to .219 for the season. Repeat, .219. Andruw Jones, the 2005 MVP runner-up, has the second-lowest average among NL regulars, behind only Marlins catcher Miguel Olivo.
Even Adam LaRoche, after a start that was bad beyond belief, is hitting .221.
Andruw is hitting .188 this season at home, the worst on the team after Scott Thorman’s three-hit game Wednesday raised the rookie’s home average to .205.
Since May 2, Andruw has hit .185 (23-for-124) with four homers, 19 RBIs, 12 walks, 31 strikeouts, a .261 OBP and a .339 slugging percentage. In his past five games he’s 2-for-19 with two walks and no RBIs.
Alfonso is here, put away breakables: Alfonso Soriano had a couple of homers against the Braves last week at Chicago, and now the Cubs LF will take aim against them at Turner Field in a four-game series starting tonight.
In his past 24 games vs. the Braves, he’s 38-for-105 (.362) with nine doubles, a triple, 11 home runs and 26 RBIs. Oh, my.
OK, I took longer than 14 minutes. Elvis takes us out as I head downstairs….
“BIG BOYS” by Elvis Costello
I am starting to function/In the usual way
Everything is so provocative/Very very, temporary…
I shall walk (I shall walk)/Out of this place (out of this place)
I shall walk/Out on you
cause you go silly/If she’s willing
Trying so hard to be like the big boys
So you take her to the pictures/Trying to become a fixture
Inch by inch trying to reach her/All the way through the second feature
Worrying about your physical fitness/Tell me how you got this sickness, oh ohhhh..
I was caught in the suction/By a face like a truncheon
I was down upon one knee/Stroking her vanity
I was stuck on a hammerhead/I came alive and left for dead
As my face returned to red/Choking on my pride and pity
We can talk (we can talk)/Until your face is blue (till your face is blue)
We can talk but she’ll get to you/After you’ve been loved and hated
By the ones you’ve watched and waited/Found that they were overrated
She’ll be the one — when the party’s over
She’ll be the one — when the girls have gone home
She’ll be the one — that you’ll wish you’d held onto
She’ll be the one — but it’s too late for you to
She’ll be the one — who knows all your history
She’ll be the one
So you can cross her off your list
And you try so hard
And you try so hard
And you try so hard
To be like the big boys … oh!
Braves suddenly skidding at home
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
After a day spent motoring around Atlanta on the bike, glad to be back on the case at Turner Field today. But the Braves are playing as if they’d like to be somewhere else.
Not to harp on this home slump thing, but … well, yes, to harp on this home slump thing: Entering today’s series finale vs. Florida, the Braves have lost five of their past six games at Turner Field. They’ve posted a 6.33 ERA and giving up six runs or more in four of those six games, and five in another.
After going 14-7 with a 3.29 ERA in their first 21 home games, and talking enthusiastically about how they had their home thing reversed from last season, the Braves have reverted to last season.
They are 2-6 with a .228 batting average and 5.00 ERA in eight home games since that 14-7 start. They’ve scored three runs or fewer in five of those last eight home games.
Braves rank first in the NL in road average (.287) and first in road homers (37), but come into today ranked 15th in a 16-team league in home average (.242) and eighth in homers (27).
Not exactly giving Turner Field denizens a lot to get excited about, eh?
And speaking of “eh” — clever use of Canadian jargon as transition, if I may say so myself — Scott Thorman is batting .174 at home this season. Yes, one-seventy-four. (IMPORTANT UPDATE: He must’ve heard us talking about him. He got three hits today, his first three-hit game of the season. OK, back to regularly scheduled blog already in progress…)
Andruw’s turnaround stalls: Not that the Canadian rook is the only Brave struggling at home (or struggling, period). He has company in Andruw Jones, who is below the home Mendoza Line.
It’s June 6, and Andruw enters today hitting .196 in 26 home games, with five homers and 16 RBIs. He’s not exactly raking on the road, but is 50 points higher (.246) with 22 RBIs in 29 games.
Speaking of Andruw, I guess we jumped the gun thinking he was turning it around. He made strides in late May, but didn’t start one of his trademark power-hitting binges. Braves are still waiting for that.
After going 10-for-32 (.313) with three homers, seven RBIs and one strikeout in eight games May 25-June 2, the CF is 2-for-15 with no RBIs and three strikeouts in his past four games before today.
Now brace yourselves for these stats since May 2 for Andruw: .192 (23-for-120) in 32 games with four homers, 19 RBIs, 11 walks, 30 strikeouts, .263 OBP and .350 slugging. As they say in Curacao, yikes. (Or as I say when on vaction in Curacao. If I ever make it to Curacaco on vacation. Which I’d like to do, but it’d be behind a few other Caribbean Islands. I’ve done Maui and Kauai in a couple of trips to Hawaii, but never made it to St. Bart’s…. oh, wait, back to the blog).
McCann rolls that ankle: You know the one. The one he sprained so badly last season, robbing him of his power for more than a month. The right ankle.
He rolled it in his first at-bat in the second game of Tuesday’s doubleheader, but Bobby Cox said he could play and indicated McCann would be in the lineup Wednesday.
The kid’s played with nagging injuries most of this season, including the ring finger on his glove hand, which has affected his defense and hitting. But he doesn’t make excuses, another reason the Braves like him so much.
And trust me on this: There is absolutely no talk of moving McCann, not to another position and certainly not to another team. I spoke with Schuerholz about this this morning, and the head man basically scoffed at the insinuation that Saltalamacchia’s situation could in any way impact McCann’s.
As I’ve said, they gave McCann a six-year contract extension this spring because they fully intend for him to be a franchis cornerstone. As their catcher.
He’s hit .248 with one homer, three errors and a .298 OBP in his past 33 games, but does have eight doubles and 16 RBIs in that span. So the worst slump of his young career isn’t exactly epic.
Besides, he showed signs of coming out of it before rolling the ankle. McCann had gone 7-for-19 with five RBIs and one strikeout in his past four games before taking an 0-for last night after playing hurt following his first at-bat.
Elvis is struggling, thankyaverymuch: Something to think about. The Braves might be less inclined to trade Cuban rookie Yunel Escobar — and I don’t know how inclined they are to begin with — given the sluggish performance of top shortstop prospect Elvis Andrus at Class-A Myrtle Beach.
Young Elvis (as opposed to ‘68 Comeback Special Elvis, or older, white-caped Vegas Elvis) is batting just .231 with two homers, 47 strikeouts and 14 errors in 55 games (212 at-bats) at Myrtle.
Edgar Renteria, the majors’ post-6th inning batting leader by the way at .408 is under contract through 2008, with a club option for 2009. The only Braves shortstop who looks certain to be ready if they need him to take over in the next year or two is Escobar.
Brent Lillibridge could be ready, but not a certainly. He hit .275 with a .355 OBP, three homers and 14 steals at Double-A Miss before getting called to Richmond to replace Escobar when he got called to the big club. Lillibridge was 4-for-17 with a homer and seven strikeouts in his first four games at Richmond.
OK, gotta watch the game now. Braves already down 2-0 after one inning against the Fish, who by the way have won 12 of the past 20 vs. the Braves before today.
“I WAS WRONG” by Mike Ness (Social Distortion)
When I was young, I was so full of fear
I hid behind anger, held back the tears
It was me against the world, I was sure that I’d win
But the world fought back, punished me for my sins
I felt so alone, so insecure,
I blamed you instead and made sure I was heard
And they tried to warn me of my evil ways
But I couldn’t hear what they had to say
I was wrong, self destruction’s got me again
I was wrong, I realized now that I was wrong
And I think about my loves, well I’ve had a few
I’m sorry that I hurt them, did I hurt you too?
I took what I wanted, put my heart on the shelf
How can you love when you don’t love yourself?
It was me against the world, I was sure that I’d win
But the world fought back, punished me for my sins
And they tried to warn me of my evil ways
But I couldn’t hear what they had to say
Well I grew up fast, I grew up hard
something was wrong from the very start
I was fighting everybody, I was fighting everything
But the only one that I hurt was me
I got “society’s” blood running down my face,
Somebody help me get outta this place
How could someone’s bad luck last so long?
Until I realized that I was wrong
I was wrong, self destruction’s got me again
I was wrong, the only one that was wrong was me,
I was wrong.
Chipper update: No early DL exit
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Just up from the clubhouse and have a Chipper Jones update for you. The CT scan he got yesterday revealed no fractures, but the Braves hand specialist — Dr. Gary Lourie — told him the bruising he was suffering in the base of his hands was a problem that typically required six weeks to heal.
The injury happened more than three weeks ago — on a collision May 11 in Pittsburgh — so that’s not to say Jones is looking at missing that much time from this point forward. But it’s safe to say Jones won’t be coming off the disabled list when he’s eligible on Friday.
“I bled into the bone where it meets the ligament and they said that could take up to six weeks to heal,” Jones said. “They were talking about putting me in hard casts for a week to 10 days to immobilize the wrists because you aggravate it in everything you do — playing with your kids, taking off your socks.”
Jones is in splints instead and received three more cortisone shots — two in his left hand and one in his right. (He received one shot in his right hand two weeks ago.)
“It happened almost a month ago,” Jones said. “(Being) far enough along, I’m hoping these shots really help speed up the process….It’s going to take a little longer.”
When asked if he’d be out for another couple weeks, Jones said: “I don’t know. I’m going to see how I feel when he lets me out of these splints. And I can take a swing with the bat and start easing my way back into it. Judging how I feel when the shots (take effect), then it’s just a matter of being able to tolerate the knob of the bat when it hits that area.”
Chipper said he talked the doctor into splints so he could continue to get treatment, move and flex those muscles some, and of course so he’ll have a better quality of life. This way he can drive himself to the ballpark, for one.
As for the game, or should we say gameS….It’s hooky time, good bloggers, and a doubleheader to boot. And surely the Braves won’t give the blog nation twice as much to moan about? John Smoltz is going today in Game 2, and he doesn’t go long without something positive happening. So I predict a split, at worst.
Yeah, I know, go out on a giant limb there. But it will be interesting to see how Smoltz does. Any time there’s anything not feeling right with a shoulder or elbow, it should cause some alarm, but Smoltz said his shoulder problem was a tweak (during a warm-up pitch in Milwaukee) and he was being smart this time, taking himself out of the game.
So we’ll see how he does.
Lineup watch: Kelly Johnson is out of the lineup for Game 1 after going 0-for-5 last night, his second 0-for-5 of the year. He struck out three times and bounced into a double play. Willie Harris is batting leadoff and Pete Orr is playing second.
A little number I came across last night that feels pertinent to this series: take out the Braves’ 6-3 record against the New York Mets, and the Braves are just 11-13 against the rest of NL East, including 2-4 against the Marlins heading into today’s doubleheader.
To me that says the Braves are bearing down for games against the Mets, and having their troubles against everybody else. Their dropping three out of four last month in Washington was a pretty good example. Getting swept at home by the Phillies another.
Yunel Escobar’s dad is supposed to be here today. Coming up from Miami. In a spring training game in March, Mariano Escobar saw his son play in a Braves uniform for the first time. It’d been only six weeks or so since he got a visa to join his son in the U.S. Seeing Yunel brought him to tears that day. I can only imagine what it will feel like for him to see Escobar play in a major league stadium. Chills, surely.
The Braves public relations staff threw out an interesting note. On Saturday in Chicago, the Braves had six countries represented in their lineup: Canada (Scott Thorman), Colombia (Edgar Renteria), Cuba (Escobar), Curacao (Andruw Jones), Venezuela (Martin Prado) and the U.S. And the cool thing is you don’t even really think about it. We have a baseball melting pot here, and I think that’s neat. Say whatever you want to say, Gary Sheffield.
Scouting the draft
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
It’s amateur draft week, which means somewhere Braves scouting director Roy Clark is walking around red-eyed. I know this because I’ve seen him on many a draft day, and it always looks like he hasn’t slept in a while - like a college kid the week of finals.
But he’ll still be chipper and pleasant as ever - hate to say nice things about a Tar Heel, but I will in Roy’s case - because that’s how he always is. I know it’s getting close to show time because I just tried to call him on his cell phone and got no answer. Roy usually answers.
I also tried Kurt Kemp, director of player development, and was told by an assistant in the minor league office Chris Rice “He’s down in the draft room.”
I’ve never been in the draft room, but I picture it being cave-like with cinderblock walls, no windows, a giant chalkboard (what do you call those kind you write with magic markers? White boards?), four or five telephones spaced out on a boardroom table, and two pots of coffee, tag team bubbling on a table off to the side, so there is caffeinated-only available at all times.
Am I right?
Hard to tell, scouts are busy at work. Not answering the phone.
So we are left to ponder the draft on our own for a few minutes. I just had a look back at the Braves top draft picks over the last 20 drafts, going back to 1987. You wanna guess how many are looking like they were great picks? I see four.
I’m going to pause here, if you want to take time to guess. Pause, pause, pause.
Long pause.
OK, it’s:
1988 Steve Avery
1990 Chipper Jones
2000 Adam Wainwright
2002 Jeff Francoeur
Three of the four should be self-explanatory. And the fourth? Wainwright counts as a guy I bet the Braves probably wish they had back right now. They traded him to the Cardinals in the deal for J.D. Drew, a one-year rental. Worth it? Not so sure. That’s also when they parted with Jason Marquis. That’s not looking that great at the moment either.
Wainwright was stellar as a last-minute closer in the World Series last year. He’s had a so-so go so far in the St. Louis rotation this season, but with the way things are going in the Braves rotation at the moment, they could surely use him. And let’s see how his career plays out.
Anyway, the Braves won the division in 2003 and that’s what they were going for, so they have their arguments to make on that deal.
Part of drafting well is getting good trade material. It doesn’t mean you should keep everybody you draft. Having Wainwright to trade for a high caliber free agent should say something too. And that fact - wanting trade fodder - is something else that makes baseball different from the NFL and NBA.
OK, wait…..just got a call back from Kemp. And we have a few points of clarification on what the draft room looks like.
“Huge, big war room. Table, computers, big screen, enough food to sustain everybody for 10 or 12 days. It’s an information center (to access) about a year’s worth of work in 10-12 days’ span. You have everything at your disposal, from reports to video.”
How could I have forgotten the computers in the draft room? I should be ashamed. I think I was right about the cinderblocks though. It’s in a room on the service level of Turner Field, same level as the clubhouses and the tunnel and little golf-carts that go whizzing by at 40 mph.
Anyway, the draft room is buzzing with possibilities as the Braves have four picks in the top 80, including 14th overall. Fourteenth is the Braves highest first round pick in at least 15 years. Not winning the division has one advantage.
And as compensation for free agent Danys Baez (signed by the Orioles), the Braves also get a supplemental first round pick at No. 33 and a second round pick at 69. The Braves also have their normal second round pick at No. 78.
Their goals as they prepare to draft? “Best available player,” Kemp summarized.
With baseball players typically years away from being ready for the majors, teams usually don’t really go on a need-based proposition. That’s probably how the Braves and other teams sometimes end up with their best prospects - Jarrod Saltalamacchia and Yunel Escobar - at positions that are locked up at the moment. But that’s just the nature of the beast.
But how about, just for fun, folks, get out the wish list. What do you want? What kind of player would you like to see the Braves draft?
You’ve got three days for your voices to be heard. As we know now (aha) the Braves scouting staff has computers in the war room. They’ll be quarantined down there until Thursday when Kemp, Paul Snyder and Ralph Garr head to Orlando for the first and supplemental rounds to be televised by ESPN2. Surely they read our esteemed blog.
And before I forget, here’s a list of the Braves top draft picks of the last 20 years.
1987 P Derek Lilliquist
1988 P Steve Avery
1989 C Tyler Houston
1990 SS Chipper Jones
1991 OF Mike Kelly
1992 P Jamie Arnold
1993 OF Andre King*
1994 P Jacob Shumate
1995 P Chad Hutchinson **
1996 1B A.J. Zapp
1997 SS Troy Cameron
1998 P Matt Belisle*
1999 P Mattheaus Butler*
2000 P Adam Wainwright
2001 P Macay McBride
2002 OF Jeff Francoeur
2003 P Luis Atilano
2004 3B Eric Campbell*
2005 P Joey Devine
2006 OF John Johnson
*second round picks, Braves had given up first round picks as compensation for free agents
**did not sign
Escobar is here; Double-A manager is, uh, well, uhh…
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Braves hotshot prospect Yunel Escobar got to Wrigley Field at 10:30 this morning and will be the second batter up when this game starts at 12:05 p.m. (late update before posting this thing: he just singled after fouling off several pitches in an impressive first at-bat in the majors. Now back to the blog….)
This Escobar weekend would fall squarely under the category of Whirlwind, after he spent the night in Fort Wayne, Ind., because his flight from a minor league outpost was diverted from Chicago last night due to storms. (But I hear Fort Wayne is lovely this time of year….)
And it would also fall under the category of Dream of a Lifetime.
We throw the cliché around too often, but in this case, it couldn’t be more true. From Cuban defector escaping on a little boat a few years ago, to the starting third baseman for the Braves vs. the Cubs at Wrigley Field in his major league debut.
“Yuney” is batting second today (Saturday), behind leadoff man Martin Prado and just ahead of Edgar Renteria, Andruw and Francoeur, then, Diaz, Salty, Thorman and Chuck James.
By the way, that’s Venezuela, Cuba, Colombia, Curacao, France (er, Lilburn, Ga.), Florida, Florida, Canada, Mableton (small town in Georgia, for you outside the Peach State).
(Further by the way, Kelly J’s got a ear/sinus/throat thing he’s been trying to shake for a few days, but saw a doctor today and is being rested at least one game and on meds. He took B.P. and was in good spirits when I mentioned the problem hasn’t stopped him from hitting lately _ 8-for-15 in his past three games.
“That’s because I can’t hear them heckling me anymore,” he said, “saying that I have a girl’s name.”)
I asked Escobar, through translator/bullpen coach Eddie Perez, if he’d had a chance to talk to his dad yet. He was able to get his dad, Mariano, and a 10-year-old sister, Yunay, out of Cuba and to Miami in January to live with him.
Escobar’s still trying to get his mother out of Cuba, which ain’t easy folks. This is serious, difficult stuff, the likes of which most of us can’t even begin to comprehend.
Anyway, when I asked him this morning if he’d had a chance to speak to his dad since the promotion to the bigs, Escobar said, “My dad was crying when he found out I was coming. He’s very happy.”
So is Yunel, who’s best position is shortstop, but who certainly will take any chance he gets to play at any position. He’s solid at third base and has a cannon arm, which was obvious the first time I saw him take infield in spring training two years ago.
“I’m ready for anything,” he said. “I was waiting for this moment a long time.”
If you’re not pulling for this kid, you might neet to check your pulse.
Mississippi meltdown: And to think, I left Wrigley Field believing I’d seen the greatest temporary loss-of-sanity meltdown of the day with Carlos Zambrano slugging his catcher.
Then they show the complete meltdown by Double-A Mississipi Braves manager Phillip Wellman, which was beyond comprehension. If you haven’t seen it, I’m sure someone will find a link to the video and post it here soon enough.
Let’s just say, the moment where he’s mimicking the hand-grenade toss with the rosin bag … well, I had to make sure I was actually awake and watching television, not envisioning this in some strange hallucinatory dream state.
Amazing. Rather frightening. But highly entertaining, without question.
Wellman’s in his first season as the Double-A manager. No further comment….
Couple of stats: Gonna keep this blog brief, just give you a clean slate to do your thing. But here’s a few stats before we get started with this game, some numbers to ponder.
— Braves are 14-3 vs. Cubs since the beginning of the 2005 season, including 6-1 in their past seven games at the venerable Wrigley Pub … er, Field.
— Braves have hit .347 and scored 29 runs their past five games, beginning with the series-finale loss vs. Philly. They’re 3-2 with a 4.70 ERA in that span….
— I mentioned last week how well Francoeur’s hitting on the road compared to home this year, total reversal of last season. Well, in 20 road games since April 23, he’s hit .398 with nine doubles, four homers, 17 RBIs and a .636 slugging percentage. In that same span at home, he’s hit .203 with three doubles, no homers, six RBIs and a .254 slugging percentage in 16 games.
— Bravos lead the NL in road average (.292), road homers (36), road scoring (156 runs) and road slugging (.472). Their best road averages belong to Willie Harris (.378), Renteria (.367), Frenchy (.347), idle Hoss (.345) and K.J. (.330).
— On the other hand, they have NL’s third-worst home hitting team, at least by average (.243). They’re slugging .394 at home, compared to .472 on the road.
“Don’t Forget The Coffee Billy Joe” by Tom T. Hall
It snowed the night before and it had frozen on the ground
We didn’t have a car and we lived seven miles from town
And I can hear my daddy’s voice so many years ago
Saying, “Don’t forget the coffee Billy Joe.”
”Mama needs her medicine, she’s got that real bad cough
We’ll get our check on Monday, tell ol’ Sam we’ll pay him off
You can catch a ride when you get to the black-top road
Don’t forget the coffee Billy Joe”
Me and Quentin went back on the hill and we cut some wood
Burnin’ in that ol’ warm mornin’ stove it sure smelled good
Daddy couldn’t get work then and I was just a child
And God was on vacation for awhile.
“Well, if you see Fred you tell him I’ll come help him kill them hogs
And ask him if he’d still be interested in my dogs
Don’t hang around that pool room all day, we might get more snow
And don’t forget the coffee Billy Joe”
Well, they wonder why there ain’t no rabbits left this day and time
To tell the truth I guess we ate ‘em all in ‘49
Was that yesterday or was it over 20 years ago
“Don’t forget the coffee Billy Joe”
“Mama needs her medicine, she’s got that real bad cough
We’ll get our check on Monday tell ol’ Sam we’ll pay him off
You can catch a ride when you get to the black-top road
Don’t forget the coffee Billy Joe
(Now pay attention, son) Don’t forget the coffee Billy Joe”
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