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Monday, June 30, 2008
Braves vs. Phils — you could watch it if you lived in Toronto
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Toronto — OK, I’m boarding this bird in 18 minutes, so let’s see if we can get a blog done in near-record time. Please excuse its brevity.
(Blogmeister note: I’m now filing this from a Crown Room in the Atlanta airport, after finally landing here — we were an hour late leaving Toronto — and seeing that this thing, for some reason, didn’t get posted when I punched it at the Toronto airport five hours ago. Damn. I had a feeling that slow, spotty broadband service I was getting in the Toronto airport had undermined my efforts, and it did. So now the clean slate I thought I put up for you went unused for five hours. Oh, well. I tried. Better late than never, I guess.)
You folks who live in states bordering Georgia and wonder why you don’t get to see Braves games on Peachtree TV, you’ll love this one. I meant to mention it a couple times this week and kept forgetting. Now I’ve remembered:
If you live in Toronto and get the Rogers cable system, which I think that most folks there do, you get Peachtree TV. Can you believe that? I checked into my hotel room, turned on the TV, looked at my channel guide and saw WTBS. Thought I’d check it out and see what was on, and low and behold, it’s Peachtree TV, not WTBS. Unbelievable.
Don’t know if that was a screwup on the part of someone at the cable company who thought they were ordering WTBS, or if there’s some outcry in Toronto for Braves games on Peachtree TV, but there it was. And those staying in the Braves’ team hotel across town said they had it on their cable system, too.
That would help explain why there were literally hundreds of fans wearing Braves jerseys and caps and other gear at the games, when they’d really have no connection in the past couple years to the Braves otherwise, right? I mean, there were little kids wearing Braves stuff. It was a little like the old days when all the games were on TBS and Skip Caray and Pete Van Wieren were as big a celebrities as the players themselves when the teams checked into hotels, fans calling out for the broadcasters’ autographs like they do for Chipper’s.
Anyway, point of the story: If you live in, say, North Carolina or Alabama and don’t get Peachtree TV, and really, really want to see the Braves games that station covers, you could always move to Toronto.
OK, it wasn’t a good point.
Starters are rockin’: Can you imagine what the Braves would be doing right now if the lineup had performed half as much to expectations as the starters have? Actually, the starters have surpassed all expectations, considering they don’t have Smoltz, Glavine (or Hampton, alright) in the rotation and still have the best starters’ ERA in the NL at 3.85.
Three of the current starters have ERAs of 3.31 or lower, and Jo-Jo’s at 4.15 and coming down steadily, especially on the road. Jurrjens at 2.94, Campillo at 3.14 and Hudson at 3.31? Compare that to the Phillies starters the Braves will face this weekend.
Hamels is a flat-out stud for the Phillies, but overall, the Braves’ rotation is far superior to the division leader’s group. But Philly’s bullpen blows away the Braves’ injury-ravaged unit.
Escobar needed: Here’s why the Braves need Escobar (and Mark Kotsay) back. Because their lineup is a mess without them, with Ruben Gotay - yes, Ruben Gotay - batting second behind the rookie Gregor Blanco, who’s coming on strong recently to dispel my major concerns about him in the leadoff spot.
But Gotay … folks, he’s hit .203 overall and 2-for-18 in the 2-hole. That’s not acceptable for the 2-hole for anything more than an emergency game here or there.
By the way, Gotay is 3-for-22 with eight strikeouts against lefties.
Francoeur’s woes: Not going to spend a lot of time chronicling what we’ve chronicled to death recently. Just wanted to update briefly.
Jeff Francoeur has hit .203 with three homers, 30 strikeouts and a .271 OBP in his last 34 games, and .130 (7-for-54) with one extra-base hit (double) in his past 15 games.
For the season, he’s hit .239 with a .294 OBP and eight homers, and .211 (20-for-95) with runners in scoring position, with 22 strikeouts and six double plays grounded into.
The Phillies’ slide: They’ve scored 31 runs while batting .191 during their current 2-9 skid, and posted a 4.74 ERA in that span.
OK, I gotta get on the plane. We leave you with a tune.
”CASINO QUEEN by Jeff Tweedy (Wilco)
Well the money’s pouring down
And the people all look down
And it’s floating out of town
I hit the second deck
And I spent my paycheck
And my wife that I just met
She’s looking like a wreck
Casino Queen
My lord you’re mean
I’ve been gambling like a fiend
On your tables so green
I always bet on black
Blackjack
I’ll pay you back
The room fills with smoke
And I’m already broke
And the dealer keeps on joking
As he takes my last token
Casino Queen
My lord you’re mean
I’ve been gambling like a fiend
On your tables so green
Casino Queen
My lord you’re mean
I’ve been gambling like a fiend
On your tables so green
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