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Tuesday, August 21, 2007
McGriff, “Tex” comparisons are eerie
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
We all know the comparisons from the trading deadline day. On July 31, 1993, Fred McGriff homered in his first game as a Brave. On August 1, 2007, Mark Teixeira homered his first game as a Brave.
Both of them had three homers by their third game as a Brave, hard as it was to believe.
But with what Teixeira has done the last couple games - two two-run homers, two three-run homers - made me wonder if he’s even surpassing what McGriff did in ‘93, and that was the stuff of legend.
So I checked.
Teixeira has 9 homers and 25 RBIs in 18 games as a Brave. (That’s the equivalent of one home run every other day by my very intricate mathematical calculation). How did McGriff do? What kind of production did McGriff maintain over his first 18 games?
It’s close, at least in homers, but Teixeria gets him. McGriff had 7 homers, 15 RBIs in his first 18 games.
McGriff gets Teixeira in batting average and runs. Teixeira has hit .294 (with a slugging percentage of .765 by the way). McGriff was hitting .386 through his first 18 games. Teixeira has scored 16 runs in 18 games. McGriff had 19.
Both are pretty impressive though. Teixeira won’t get the same credit, I don’t think, unless the Braves make the playoffs. But for now, the won-loss record of the Braves through the first 18 games with Tex is is not a far off as you think. (Or I thought!)
You’d think the Braves record with McGriff was much better, right? Nope. It’ss not all that different. The Braves were 12-6 in McGriff’s first 18 games with Atlanta. The Braves are 10-8 with Teixeira.
Those last two wins helped Tex’ss cause. And it’s pretty unbelievable that Teixeira did what he did on a sick belly last night. And Bobby said last night he’s also been playing with an injured finger.
“(It’s) almost a broken finger,” Cox said. “He played (Sunday) I didn’t think he could play. A groundball hit him right on his finger (Saturday). He said he’d done it before. He was good to go.”
Tim Hudson got his 15th win Monday night, and with six weeks left (about 7 starts), he could conceivably make a run at 20, which he has done once in his career in 2000, when he was 20-6 with Oakland.
Someone asked him about that possibility last night.
“I’m just going out there and giving us a good chance to win,” Hudson said. “Hopefully we win every one of my starts. I don’t care if I get the win or not. But if the team wins and we’re ready to make the playoffs at the end of the season, that’s all that matters.”
(Funny, that sounds a lot like the point I made on the blog this morning. Hm. But I digress. I’m sure he’d still love a shot at 20 wins though. Who wouldn’t?)
Can you name the Braves’ last 20-game winner? I wouldn’t have remembered this one. Answer in a coupla graphs.
Jo-Jo Reyes gets back in the big league saddle tonight, filling in for Chuck James who’s skipping a start with some shoulder inflammation (aka dead arm).
Jo-Jo has made five starts for Atlanta and has yet to get his first major league win. This is not the greatest ballpark for him to do that. But then again, it’s not a great ballpark for Chuck James either, who’s given up a staff-high 25 home runs, including four in his last start. I wonder if that played a part in the decision Cox made to skip James. I’m guessing probably not, but you never know.
You guys bring up an interesting point. With the Padres and the Mets playing for the next three days, who should Braves fans be pulling for? Entering Tuesday night’s game, the Braves are five games behind the Mets in the division with 37 games to play. They are tied with the Phillies one game behind the Padres in the wildcard. It’s habit to pull against the Mets. But is it more realistic to sacrifice the division lead and catch up to the Padres in the wildcard race?
If that’s too confusing, you could just concentrate on pulling for the Dodgers over the Phillies. But then again, the Dodgers are only 2 ½ games out in the wildcard. So maybe that doesn’t work either.
See how much easier it is just to win the division?
Let’s take a moment to give props to a local guy: former Parkview and University of Georgia player Jeff Keppinger, who’s found a niche with the Reds. He’s the hottest hitter in the majors this month, hitting.462 in August (24-for-52).
He extended his career-best hitting streak to nine games by going 3-for-4 with a double, a walk and three runs on Monday night. And we shouldn’t expect him to slow down just yet. He’s facing left-hander Reyes tonight and he’s owned lefties this year. Granted he’s had only 30 at-bats against them, but he’s hit them at a .467 clip (14-for-30).
The last 20-game winner for the Braves? Russ Ortiz with 21 in 2003. Before that, it was Glavine in 2000.
P.S. I’m a little scared of the skyline chili. I’ve seen it, and it’s brown, a weird-looking brown. I’;ve heard the secret ingredient might be cinnamon and it might be chocolate. I’m not so sure about either in my chili. And I have been too wimpy to try it. Maybe I’ll get up the nerve tonight.
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