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Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Braves’ rollercoaster in improbable ascent
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Now that we’ve had a chance to rest the carpal-tunneled fingers and let the laptop sleep a few hours following yesterday’s marathon of ‘ball and blogging, whaddya say we do it again, folks?
Hey, Braves schedule says they play again tonight, and my schedule says I’m covering it. So let’s do this.
Don’t know what I find to be more surprising:
— The Braves’ 17-3 record in their last 20 home games (11-1 in last 12);
— That Atlanta is first in the NL in starters’ ERA and third in relief ERA;
— That the Braves have won four of their past five games with just one extra-base hit and one RBI in that five-game stretch from Chipper Jones (still hitting over .400 to lead the majors despite the absurdly hot recent stretch by Houston’s Lance Berkman).
Anyway, the Bravos will try to keep the surge going while Willie Randolph will try to improve his chances of remaining employed with the Mets, who’ve lost eight of their past 14 games (and lost five of seven against the Braves this season, for those keeping score in the rivalry).
(While I’m thinking about it, who thought the House season finale was outstanding? I watched the second part of the two-parter last night at about 2 a.m., as the remnants of my coffee-and-deadline buzz wore off. Great show.)
OK, the Escobar situation: Teammates have to be crossing fingers as they drive to the ballpark today hopeful of an optimistic report on shortstop Yunel Escobar, who hurt his right knee on that spectacular and scary double play that ended the doubleheader late last night.
Ryan Church was taken to the hospital with a concussion after his head crashed into Escobar’s knee as the budding Cuban star hurdled over the awkwardly sliding Met to make the throw to first base.
“Esco” (nickname Bobby Cox and other Braves call him) had his knee and lefty hamstring wrapped in ice after the game and said “No DL” to reporters before heading back to the training room. “Tomorrow,” he added as he walked away.
“Tomorrow” (meaning today) might be too ambitious; I don’t expect him to be in the lineup for tonight’s game, despite his prediction he’d play. But the DL decision is the far more important matter, obviously.
Cox was non-commital, said they’d have to wait and see how Escobar feels today.
We’ll probably know a lot more soon after the clubhouse is opened this afternoon. Needless to say, the Braves can ill afford to lose Escobar for 15 or more days (although maybe I shouldn’t say that, since they’ve certainly managed to patch holes and dispel the notion that they couldn’t survive for significant stretches without John Smoltz, Rafael Soriano and Peter Moylan, among others).
Escobar is a dynamic talent who’s gone 7-for-12 in the last three games and hit .338 with a .381 OBP in his past 19 games. He’s given the Braves a spark since Cox moved him to the leadoff spot recently, and in the field he seems to produce a couple of highlight-reel plays every night, and a handful yesterday.
Take him out of the lineup and you’re scrambling to fill the leadoff role again, and either having to use utility man Omar Infante at shortstop (thus robbing the Braves of his defensive versatility) or calling up an inexperienced prospect (remember, Martin Prado is on the DL and still wearing a cast on his hand/wrist).
Impressive pitching: Ever since pitching coach Roger McDowell arrived in Atlanta, Bobby Cox has given him overwhelming positive reviews. Frankly, the time of some of his kudos for McDowell left us scratching our heads, seeing that Cox would often laud him when the pitchers were struggling and ranked in the middle of the pack in most statistical categories.
But talk to Braves pitchers and glance at the NL statistics this season, and you start to see what Cox has been talking about. The results are impossible to argue with this season, especially given the rash of injuries to key members of the pitching staff.
The Braves lead the NL with a 3.14 ERA in May (Houston’s 13-5 record is the only better league record this month). The relievers had a string of 20 consecutive scoreless innings snapped in the second game last night.
For the season, Atlanta leads the league with an overall 3.47 ERA, ahead of a loaded Arizona staff that has Brandon Webb, Dan Haren, Randy Johnson, Micah Owings, hotshot rookie Max Scherzer, et al.
Braves starters also lead the NL with a 3.53 ERA to Arizona’s 3.63. That’s hard to fathom, given that Atlanta has been without Smoltz for nearly a month, hasn’t gotten an inning out of Mike Hampton, and already had Tom Glavine do his first-ever stint on the DL and Chuck James not the same since his shoulder injury.
Jorge Campillo? Are you kidding me? Dude has a 0.99 ERA in 14 games including one start, a six-inning scoreless gem last night. This is a guy who signed as a minor-league free agent on Dec. 26, a guy that any team could have had for a song. Talk about your reclamation projects….
Even Braves relievers, despite being without Soriano and Moylan most of the season, rank third in the NL with a 3.35 ERA, behind only the Phillies and Dodgers. The Braves are doing this with a bullpen that has only one active pitcher making as much as $1 million (Will Ohman, $1.6 mill).
More disciplined hitting: The Braves are also winning without a lot of homers this month, though they got two big ones yesterday from Brian McCann and Mark Kotsay.
The Braves have only 12 homers this month — eight NL teams have 20 or more — but the Braves’ .290 average trails only Houston’s .293 this month, and the Braves lead the league with 40 doubles and a robust .370 OBP for the month.
They’ve increased their walks (75 this month, third in the NL) and reduced their strikeouts (101 this month, second-fewest in the league).
Now the Braves just have to figure out a way to do all this good stuff on the road, of course.
Because while they lead the NL by a wide margin in home ERA (2.73), the Braves are seventh in road ERA (4.30).
And while they lead the league with a .312 home batting average, the Braves are tied for eighth in road average (.251, same as those Astros).
OK, gotta get to the park. First, a tune. You know how you sometimes buy a few CDs, or a bunch of CDs, and get busy and forget about this one or that one for a few months? (No, this doesn’t happen to you? Well, humor me.) So I’d not listened to the Black Rebel Motorcycle Club CD from last year, Baby 81, in a long time. What a great CD. Been playing it for the past two days solid, alternating between it and Dwight Yoakam’s terrific Dwight Sings Buck, which I never get tired of. Best country album of the past couple of years.
Here’s my favorite song from that Yoakam-covers-Buck Owens album.
”CLOSE UP THE HONKY TONKS” by Buck Owens
She’s in some honky tonk tonight, I know
She’s dancing where the music’s loud and lights are low
In a crowded bar she likes to hang around
And as long as there’s a honky tonk she’ll never settle down
So close up the honky tonks, lock all the doors
Don’t let the one I love go there anymore
Close up the honky tonks, throw away the key
And maybe the one I love will come back to me
If I had the power I’d turn back time
And live again the hours when she was all mine
It hurts to see her running with that crowd in town
But as long as there’s a honky tonk she’ll never settle down
So close up the honky tonks, lock all the doors
Don’t let the one I love go there anymore
Close up the honky tonks, throw away the key
And maybe the one I love will come back to me
Yeah, maybe the one I love will come back to me
Close up the honky tonks, lock all the doors
Don’t let the one I love go there anymore
Close up the honky tonks, throw away the key
And maybe the one I love will come back to me
Close up the honky tonks, lock all the doors
Don’t let the one I love go there anymore
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