Braves

By brian

July 18, 2008 11:20 AM | Link to this

1st?

By Ryan

July 18, 2008 11:20 AM | Link to this

Hi

By TexasBrave

July 18, 2008 11:25 AM | Link to this

Carroll perhaps you should take Scotts email and pin it up on the bulletin board. But in the place of Scott’s name put Omar’s.

By DAP

July 18, 2008 11:26 AM | Link to this

thanx for the clean slate, carroll..i wish it was a clean slate for the braves, too…but weve got an uphill battle ahead. that 6 games stretch where we got swept by the phillies and cubs back to back really hurt us. we were playing well before that. we have time to fight back, but this team has got to do something amazing to make it happen. do it, braves.

By Will

July 18, 2008 11:34 AM | Link to this

Time to put together some 8 out of 10 streaks if Braves want any shot at this.

By AGTfan

July 18, 2008 11:35 AM | Link to this

Thanks Carroll. The old blog was big it was taking forever to load on my computer at work. I was tempted to actually start working.

I’ve been a braves fan for close to 50 years now and I don’t ever remember an injury riddled season like this one. I’m pretty sure that there have been very few years where we’ve had as many total DL days in a season as we’ve had before the all-star break this year. And that’s not counting all of the extended number of players being day to day. A few teams this season have already thrown in the towel for the season because of their injury problems and haven’t even come close to the number of DL days the Braves have this year. It’s hard to judge the quality of a team, when you’ve never had the entire team healthy for a single game.

I think a lot of the criticism of BC and FW is a little unfair. Yes we rolled the dice and lost on a couple of aging arms, but Glavine had never been on the DL before. Considering all we’ve lost to injury, I think Wren had built pretty good depth without the huge payroll that the Mets and Ynakees and BoSox have. Other wise we’d be totally out of it at this point.

By Piersonbrave

July 18, 2008 11:35 AM | Link to this

I happened to watch Bull Durham Wednesday night. I thought to myself that the scene where the manager goes off on the team in the showers is damn near what needs to happen this morning when Bobby Cox wakes up and gets to the ballpark. FIRE IN THEIR EYES * FIRE IN THE HEART* Just two things that this team needs to get started on this long row they have to hoe.

By STRETCH

July 18, 2008 11:38 AM | Link to this

They took a chance on Smoltz, Glavine, Kotsay and Hampton and that failed miserably. Im still trying to figure this out.

No lead off hitter that gets things started or sets the table. Look at the Phils, Mets and Marlins…they got guys that leadoff and get on base, and once they get on base, they make things happen.

No pop from the outfield and thats too obvious. This team cant score runs while the pitching keeps them in games.

The front office is trying to hold on to a 1st baseman they know they wont be able to sign after the season cause they dont wont to spend the money. So why not try hard to get something for him?

Bobby Cox is still the manager folks and as long as he is in the dugout, this team will continue to lose those 1 run games.

You people can defend Cox all you want to, but you know the old saying, cant teach an old dog new tricks and Bobby has shown that he does not want to adapt and adjust with the current style roster he has, still banking on the 3 run homer.

Cant blame it all on Cox though..you can clearly see what happens when batters are not hitting. Look at all the 1 run games the have lost. All this team needed was a bunt here, a sac fly there, a stolen base and they could be in first place by now. But since they didnt have a Jimmy Rollins, Utley or a Reyes they have staggered all season and will continue to do so for another 3rd place finish.

Thats the problem with this organization, always optimistic about what the average person sees as failure for the last few seasons. (CHEAP. CHEAP. CHEAP!)

By Thrillhouse44

July 18, 2008 11:38 AM | Link to this

Happy second half to you too Carroll. New blog, new start. Let’s hope the guys are motivated and ready to roll.

Given the Kool-Aid reference, does anyone else suspect Scott is “Coach”?

By etownbrave

July 18, 2008 11:42 AM | Link to this

Welcome back Carroll. Scott needs to drink his own Kool Ade and leave us alone. True Braves fans always have hope and never give up! I’m optimistic and look forward to the push to the postseason! GO BRAVES!!!!!!!!!!!

By Random

July 18, 2008 11:44 AM | Link to this

BRAVES VENT: “Figures we get hot right before a 4 day break.”

What an indictment of the Braves’ performance in the first half of the season —

A two game winning streak; a .500 road series; 5-4 since the Fourth of July —

That’s what’s considered “hot” for us nowadays.

Sheesh!!!

By AGTfan

July 18, 2008 11:45 AM | Link to this

Given the Kool-Aid reference, does anyone else suspect Scott is “Coach”?

Could be, but the email didn’t sound drunk enough.

By David O'Brien

July 18, 2008 11:45 AM | Link to this

“The ubiquity of nitwittery” … classic from ncscoots on last blog, which I hadn’t seen until AGTfan lauded it….

Huge stretch of games this next week-and-a-half for Bravos, to state the obvious. And they know it, you can be sure. No more wiggle room. Need to get it done now if they hope for management to add and not subtract from this team. Or should I say, to not go Boom (couldn’t resist)…

For those of you who’d prefer to aim toward future, well, then you’ll need to pull for losses in the next week-and-a-half, I guess. Though I’m betting that’s gotta be difficult for a true fan to do, right?….

How ‘bout those Mets, doing it without much in the way of a major contribution from Johan? Very impressive. Delgado has been revived. I thought pulse was flickering on that power hitter….

Oh, and did anyone see the new Batman movie last night at midnight? Josh from Ella Guru was going, but haven’t talked to him since. So I don’t know how the movie is. Not a big Batman guy, but this one looks interesting….

One of the blog denizens invited me to a showing of some of his brother’s cool rock-and-roll art last night. Bought a painting of a young Dylan. And there was even a cute girl there who’s a big-time, hardcore baseball fan and actually traveled to every corner of the country this summer going to major league games in different parks. (I know, I should’ve asked for her hand in marriage right then, right there).

Anyway, thanks for the invite, Bryan….

Enjoy the second-half opener tonight. Blog’s in good hands with Carroll.

Shine on you crazy diamonds and beautifully bent seamheads. And don’t let a preponderance of pessimism (or ubiquity of nitwittery) harsh your mellow.

later

By NCBravesFan

July 18, 2008 11:47 AM | Link to this

Good blog Carroll! I’m not giving up on our season yet, I think we’re still in it but some changes HAVE to be made if we want to get to October.

For one, we need to acquire a everyday LF. Blanco’s been servicable up to this point and Diaz is coming back, but without the presence of one guy in the line-up LF simply won’t be as productive. I don’t want us to sell the farm for a guy, but I think a LF bat is exactly what we need.

Second, we need to move KJ back into the leadoff spot. He’s a doubles machine and puts himself in scoring posistion, unlike the other leadoff men we’ve used this year. One of our biggest problems is that Chipper has been the guy to be driven in instead of the guy that actually drives in the runs. Shuffle the lineup and do it quickly!

Third, get another solid reliever. Whether its Soriano coming back, Jorge Julio coming up, or an acquisistion we need another reliever so Bobby can quit burning out what arms we have. I’m not calling for a top-notch setup man or anything like that, but a good solid reliever would make this team better.

This is all just my two cents, but if we’re going to make a run this is the way to do it.

By cw

July 18, 2008 11:48 AM | Link to this

We don’t want updates on Hampton until he is on the mound and the game has started.

By Steve

July 18, 2008 11:52 AM | Link to this

I’m sorry guys…I’m a huge Atlanta fan from Canada and this has been the most frusterating year out of the 15 years or more…I mean lets be get down to what really going on here…This team is simply NOT GOOD ENOUGH to win the division or wild card…let alone mention the word contender and Atlanta Braves in the same sentence…Its just not going to happen this year there are way to many holes in their line-up…I’m so sick of hearing we need another arm…the only reason that’s being said is because people want a big name on the back of a jersey in a Braves uniform (don’t get me wrong it would be awesome to land a 1-2-3 pitchers to add to the rotation)…this team simply cannot hit…outside of Chipper, Mac, and Tex at time….just go up and down their line-up and look at the averages…anyway I’m still going to root and cheer hard the rest of the way…but man…we’re out of this one…

By STRETCH

July 18, 2008 11:53 AM | Link to this

Well put CW!

By TexasBrave

July 18, 2008 11:55 AM | Link to this

DOB did you at least get her number?

Can you post it? :-)

By DAP

July 18, 2008 11:55 AM | Link to this

STRETCH they got guys that leadoff and get on base, and once they get on base, they make things happen.

unlike the braves, who have the highest OBP in the NL east. 5th in the majors. getting on base hasnt been the problem. the braves havent been able to take advantage of oppotunities. no explanation for that, since the law of averages says they should hit about .265 (also best in NL east) with men on base. they are a good team that cant get it done.

By Kris in NC

July 18, 2008 12:03 PM | Link to this

I am not giving up on the Braves. These next few games are huge and we need to put everything together. Our starters have kept us in the game for the most part, especially our young guys. Our offense has SUCKED, face it.

When guys like Scott have to send an email to Carroll, it proves one thing, they don’t want to face the wrath of true Braves fans. He knew he would get crucified by us. One word to describe him…CHICKEN. If Scott is a Mets fan, which he probably is, Carroll send him one back telling him about last year’s collapse at the end. That should shut his pie hole in a big hurry. Enough on that sorry excuse of a fan.

We are facing the Nats, we need to sweep them, no questions. The Marlins and Phillies, we need to be on top of our game and score early, not allow them to get on the board first and get a big lead. We need to start supporting our starters with alot of runs.

We can make this run, we got to have faith in this team. Frank needs to get us that power hitter ASAP.

I would love to be at the game in August with us sitting in 2nd place. Good blog Carroll.

By Tomy Fournier

July 18, 2008 12:04 PM | Link to this

POOR PEOPLE….DREAMING WITH PREGNANTS BIRDS…..ATLANTA BASEBALL TEAM IS OUUUUUUUT…POINT!!!!AND I HOPE THAT MR. “MORON” COX, HOOKING UP HIS SPIKES FOR THE NEXT YEAR…TOGETHER WITH HIS COACH “POOR” STAFF…AND THEM…MAYBE…JUST MAYBE..WE WILL BE IN THE WORLD SERIES DANCING PARADE…REMEBER…MAYBE!!!!

By TexasBrave

July 18, 2008 12:05 PM | Link to this

NCBravesFan I think the bullpen would be fine if Bobby didn’t wear out two or three guys and spread the load to the other relievers. He didn’t do this when Leo was around, that’s why I am convinced that either Leo managed who came in or Bobby relied more on Leo’s advice than Rodger’s.

Agree with you though that we need someone with a little more power in LF. Which if that happens means that we will have to either put KJ or Escobar back in the leadoff spot.

By McFann :Ô:

July 18, 2008 12:13 PM | Link to this

Happy Second “Half”, Ms. Rogers! Thanks for the new blog!

Why does this game have to wait till 7:35 to start? I want my Braves fix NOW!

By ATL HO

July 18, 2008 12:14 PM | Link to this

Does it no boggle the mind that Frank Wren knows what it is that we are missing and I think a few of us fans might know as well….. We need a big bat!!! So why all this talk of “well we know what we need” then I say GO GET IT!!! Why do need to wait until the deadline to get what is needed other teams in the division and around the league are not waiting to get put out. I am not about the waiting game here…. I want to win, win now…. next year is next year! I live life everyday like it is the last lets play this year like this isn’t going to be another. Do it for Bobby, Smoltz, Glavine…. and the rest of the greats that we have had!!! On a side note to all you Cox haters out there….. GET A CLUE!!!! Give me another manager in the league that could do what he did the first half to keep us in this thing!!! Lets stop waiting for us to see if we can make a run….. LETS GO GET SOMEONE THAT WILL HELP US MAKE THAT RUN!!! GO BRAVES

By Double no-hit

July 18, 2008 12:15 PM | Link to this

Carroll: A worthy attempt to be upbeat and urge on the team. However, we have seen the true nature of the team the first half and there is no real reason to feel much will change in the second half. This team has become comfortable with losing one run games and that is contageous. The maddening inability to hit with men in scoring position has become a trademark of the offense. They can use the excuse of injuries, and they have played a part in the fiasco. But good teams overcome such things and move on. One has to wonder why so many injuries this year and what kind of conditiioning program is being designed to prevent some of this. I would be more than happy to be proven wrong and see this team turn around and play like they should be capable of playing, but the fire just doesn’t seem to be in the belly and until they prove they can perform like a contender, I will watch with a jaundiced eye. As Ronald Reagan liked to say,”trust but verify.” If the Braves want the trust of the fans, they need to verify that they can perform like a competent ball club with a burning desire to win.

By ATL HO

July 18, 2008 12:17 PM | Link to this

Does it no boggle the mind that Frank Wren knows what it is that we are missing and I think a few of us fans might know as well….. We need a big bat!!! So why all this talk of “well we know what we need” then I say GO GET IT!!! Why do need to wait until the deadline to get what is needed other teams in the division and around the league are not waiting to get put out. I am not about the waiting game here…. I want to win, win now…. next year is next year! I live life everyday like it is the last lets play this year like this isn’t going to be another. Do it for Bobby, Smoltz, Glavine…. and the rest of the greats that we have had!!! On a side note to all you Cox haters out there….. GET A CLUE!!!! Give me another manager in the league that could do what he did the first half to keep us in this thing!!! Lets stop waiting for us to see if we can make a run….. LETS GO GET SOMEONE THAT WILL HELP US MAKE THAT RUN!!! GO BRAVES

By AGTfan

July 18, 2008 12:17 PM | Link to this

getting on base hasnt been the problem. the braves havent been able to take advantage of oppotunities DAP

C-L-U-T-C-H. We just aren’t getting it done when it counts. Maybe the law of averages will catch up in the second half of the season and things will turn around. And, yes uga-brave, a big part of that has been Francouer. Maybe his luck will turn some too.

By LT-AA Blogger

July 18, 2008 12:20 PM | Link to this

I think the seasons pretty much over, but I’m not gonna stop watching. Phillies getting Blanton definitely helps their cause. The Mets are doing exactly what the Braves need(ed) to do, i.e. get on a huge winning streak.

Escobars shoulder not gonna help matters. Having a young pitching staff is not gonna help matters. Having zero power/RBIs from sad sack of outfielders not gonna help matters. Greg Norton getting significant time is not gonna help matters. Having a weak bench solidified by Corky not gonna help matters. (incomplete sentences mirror incomplete team). 2008/the year of walking wounded.

If the Braves can get a decent package for Tex/Ohman, then I’d say make the deal, and then try to re-sign Tex in the offseason (depending on whether they get a Kotchman/Youk to fill the hole).

I’d really like ownership step up and sign Tex long term. I think the Braves have a really strong young nucleus both pitching and position players, and he’d be a great piece to help solidify the teams future.

I just don’t see this team going 9-0, 8-1 in the next 3 series let alone make any serious run in the 2nd half with the status quo. I would love it to happen- it’s just not gonna.

By gayle

July 18, 2008 12:22 PM | Link to this

I think all of the Braves fans here are writing the president’s speeches about the economy - all glass half full kind of stuff.

Hummer said the Braves need to play .657 ball to get to 88 wins and a chance to take the division. .657? The last two years, the Braves did not improve after the All-Star break.

2006 34-34 .500 2007 34-33 .507

And Hummer says the Braves need…

2008

By Tomahawk Matt

July 18, 2008 12:22 PM | Link to this

I bet STRETCH has all the answers to create world peace. I do agree with one point: the ownership of the Braves is proving to be CHEAP CHEAP CHEAP.

We could resign one of the best ALL-ROUND first baseman in MLB but WE’RE NOT? WE HAVEN’T??? WTF??? Even if we drop totally out of the playoff picture, HOW CAN WE LET TEIXEIRA GO????????? I don’t understand the logic at all. SAD!

Anyone see the Harris Poll results yesterday of MLB teams. The BRAVES still are only second to the NY Yankees in fanbase. Yes WE ARE STILL BIGGER THAN REDSOX NATION so take that you Beantown Boneheads. Ofcourse, this only fuels the fire for Liberty Media not to increase the Braves team payroll. Why increase the payroll if the fanbase is still strong?

LIBERTY MEDIA IDIOTS! YOU’RE RUINING OUR BASEBALL TEAM!!!!!!!!!

GO HUDDY!!! GO BRAVES!!!

By Shaun

July 18, 2008 12:24 PM | Link to this

We need a big bat!!! So why all this talk of “well we know what we need” then I say GO GET IT!!! Why do need to wait until the deadline to get what is needed other teams in the division and around the league are not waiting to get put out.

It’s not that easy. You also have to determine what you’re going to give up, what you should give up to acquire the player you are looking at, and if the player may not make that much of a difference you may want to wait until the last minute to determine whether its worth it to give up pieces from your own team.

Baseball is not as simple as “We need this so we’ll go get it.” Other teams don’t exist to send players away to teams that need them.

By gayle

July 18, 2008 12:28 PM | Link to this

I think all of the Braves fans here are writing the president’s speeches about the economy - all glass half full kind of stuff.

Hummer said the Braves need to play .657 ball to get to 88 wins and a chance to take the division. .657? The last two years, the Braves did not improve after the All-Star break.

2006 34-34 .500 2007 34-33 .507

And Hummer says the Braves need…

2008 44-23 .657

And to do this with no Smoltz, an oft-injured Chipper, an underachieving outfield, no closer……

Do I need to go on?

Every day the Braves perpetuate the myth of one more post-season run is one less day they are looking to the future and rebuilding a contender with a great core of young players.

Oh, I almost forgot - even when the Braves’ have made it to the post season, they have not won a post season series since 2001, have not been to the World Series since 1999 (lost 0-4) and have not won a World Series since 1995.

This team is in more need of a retooling and rebuilding than my 1976 BMW 2002 with 250,000 miles on it.

By Louis

July 18, 2008 12:29 PM | Link to this

For us to have the injuries to our roster AND to ONLY be 6.5 games back?

We’ve had worse. Anyone remember 9.5 back in ‘91?

While I do have an optimistic side about the Braves, I also have a realistic side.

One: We need to hit. Period.

Two: a legitimate leadoff person. Blanco is a good guy, but .257 ba and an obp barely above .300 is not good enough.

Three: RELEASE HAMPTON! He’s in his last year, and the money he would be getting can go to Tex.

Four [more long term than anything else]: Smoltz needs to work out of the pen, or hang up the cleats. Its now clear his arm cannot withstand the rigors like it used to.

By Tomahawk Matt

July 18, 2008 12:32 PM | Link to this

Tomy Fournier DUDE CAN’T YOU DO BETTER??? Try making sense next time OR study the ENGLISH manual a while longer. It appears you were attempting to insult the Braves but YOUR IGNORANCE SEEMS TO BE ALL THAT WAS BARFED ONTO THE BLOG.

I’m going to heckle on the METS & Phillies blogs.

GO HUDDY!!! GO BRAVES!!!

By Jeff R

July 18, 2008 12:32 PM | Link to this

It’s time to do the math, very simple math.

Both the Phils and Mets are playing .542 baseball. That projects to 88 wins for both or either team by season’s end. Barring disastrous slumps or a rash of injuries to key players for both or either team, or torrid streaks that improve their winning percentages, that means the Braves will need to win… yes, 89 games to capture the division.

That means that the Bravos have to play .657 ball the remainder of the season. That works out to 44-23 (89-73). Likely?

And there’s no relief in the wild card race. Currently, the Brewers’ and Cards’ winning percentages are at or better than the Phils or Mets (and the Cubs lead the Central with a .600).

Trade Super Tex. Shop Ohman. The value of both is going to rachet up as the July 31 trade deadline nears.

The team has a good nucleus with some promising young hurlers. Wren should be positioning the club for 2009 and beyond. A little pain may mean a lot of gain next season.

By steve

July 18, 2008 12:33 PM | Link to this

This team needs a couple of outfielders that can hit with power; the team has lost way too many 1 run games which is a direct result of the coaching staff, TP has not done a good job and needs to be replaced ; it is one thing to be a good hitter and another thing to teach it and he cannot teach our players as witnessed by Francoeur getting better coaching in the minors, please make some trades now before it is too late to help our BRAVES.

By JohnGTFan

July 18, 2008 12:35 PM | Link to this

First of all…Love my Braves…and all my ATL teams. But the Braves going 7-2 or 8-1 in the next 9 games…LOL LOL LOL. I need to come visit everyone believing that in “never never land”. This team simply is NOT capable of that type of a push. I’d say, AT BEST, 5-4..and that’s only because 3 of the games are against the Nats. Tex will be traded. If nothing else, get a couple real nice prospects because this team has to rebuild. The young pitchers look promising…but we need a solid 1B (bye Tex), 3B of future, 2B, LF and CF. And now that Frenchy appears to be suffering the effects of the worst hitting instructor in baseball, we may need an entire new outfield.

But hey…I’m still hopeful for the 2009 season!

By gayle

July 18, 2008 12:36 PM | Link to this

Tomahawk Matt - What’s the big deal about keeping TEIXEIRA? Since trading for him last year, the Braves are 4 games under .500 (73-77).

The best thing they can do is to get as much as possible and work on rebuilding.

By ATL HO

July 18, 2008 12:36 PM | Link to this

It’s not that easy. You also have to determine what you’re going to give up, what you should give up to acquire the player you are looking at, and if the player may not make that much of a difference you may want to wait until the last minute to determine whether its worth it to give up pieces from your own team.

I know that it is not easy. But if we know what our problem is, I say we fix it. We know by now who is out there and who is willing to deal and we have a “decent” idea of who is expendable. If we wait till the last minute as you say, it could be too late. If we can fix the problem now, I say go for it.

Again this is just a fan talking and expressing my mind, what is that really worth.

ATL HO Bleading Blue and Red till I die

Baseball is not as simple as “We need this so we’ll go get it.” Other teams don’t exist to send players away to teams that need them.

By Carroll Rogers

July 18, 2008 12:37 PM | Link to this

AGT fan, goodness no, not work! glad i got to you in time…

By Rufio

July 18, 2008 12:38 PM | Link to this

If Blanton keeps up the way he’s been pitching this year, then the Phillies adding him actually helps our chances, haha. An ERA over 5 and something like 12 losses… I can’t really look up the stats here at work, but I’m at least in the ball park.

Too bad it’s not just the Phillies we are trying to catch.

By Da Mick

July 18, 2008 12:42 PM | Link to this

Let’s see now, we need….

— a leadoff hitter…..

no, wait a minute, what we really need is….

— a big bat

But the problem with all those 1-run games is that we really need….

— a clutch hitter.

Yea, that’s it…..I think.

The hard part is how do we fit all those needs into a Left Field position — that’s a tough one.

Well with Blanco out there we do have a pretty good leadoff bat, who seems to be getting better all the time — he’s pretty clutch too.

The problem about this “Big Bat” that we keep hearing so much about is that we’re not addressing the big gorilla in the room — the fact that Francoeur is supposed to be another big bat in the lineup, but he’s not — and he’s certainly not a clutch hitter — on that we can all agree.

So why are we willing to leave that position intact and change something that’s working in left field? Getting another big bat out there will leave us with no leadoff guy, something the Braves have suffered without since Furcal left the team. Blanco could be a really good one; he needs that opportunity, and so do the Braves.

If you really want to make a change, the only position on this team that is consistently weak is RF.

By randyh

July 18, 2008 12:44 PM | Link to this

time to start a big youth movement…..get what you can for tex, move k.j. either to first base or back to the outfield…need to play prado more…get a new batch of kids in the outfield….bring up clint sammons and let him catch some…..let mack get some at first base (he can do it)…leave the young pitching staff alone……dont bring in a bat to the outfield(by trade )unless he is young and a bonafide power guy….

By TNJeff

July 18, 2008 12:47 PM | Link to this

Per AJC latest poll, the majority of pollsters believe the Braves will either win 2 or Sweep the Nats.

Amazing - as I listen to “I’ll keep holding on” on the radio.

Almost 3 years now of expecting the Braves to turn it on and idiots still buying it.

Love to see it but I lived for 4 years in Missouri - so show me.

By semiballcoach

July 18, 2008 12:49 PM | Link to this

braves need to go ahead and get nady right now…they won’t have a chance to knock any games off the lead without a proven hitter…francoeur needs to be benched…

By fieldofdreams

July 18, 2008 12:59 PM | Link to this

The Los Angeles Dodgers (of Los Angeles) have been singing the blues for 20 years, since their last World Series championship. The New York Queens have gone more than 20, the toothless Tigers of Detroit, longer than that. As Atlantans know all too well, both rain and baseball can be fickle, and a drought like that could easily plague us. Since Wren apparently has no clue, perhaps Governor Perdue can beseech the Almighty for baseball dew; young pitchers, speed at the top of the lineup, and a Skipper named John Smoltz.

By geauxbraves2000

July 18, 2008 1:03 PM | Link to this

This is baseball, anything can happen, but this team over the last two and half seasons hasn’t shown the ability to play any better than around .500 ball.

Do they have a chance? Of course. Are they going to make it? I’m pulling for them to, and maybe they will, but I think it’s asking alot for any team to play .657 ball.

I am rooting for them to win it all. While I hope they make a trade that makes them a better offensive team, I don’t want to see them give up the future. If there is a propect that is blocked that’s fine, but that’s all.

2008 is probably going to be a wash, please don’t make 2009 and 2010 a wash trying to win in 2008 when the odds aren’t in the Braves’ favor.

Like I said, I’m rooting for them to win it all, but I’m at the point now that I am prepared for them not to.

I am a passionate fan, too much some times, very critical, but I just want them to win so bad. I get very negative at times, but it doesn’t mean I don’t love this team.

Geaux Braves!!

By robert

July 18, 2008 1:09 PM | Link to this

I THINK THAT WE HAVE A SHOT AT IT. REMEMBER THE YEAR WE CAME FROM LIKE 10 DOWN. WE’RE GETTING PEOPLE ON BASE, WE JUST NEED TO GET THEM HOME. I’D LIKE TO SEE BOBBY BE MORE AGRESSIVE. HAS HE FORGOTTEN THE STOLEN BASE, HE SURE HASN’T FORGOTTEN THE SAC BUNT. OTIS NIXON WASN’T A GREAT HITTER BUT HE GOT ON BASE AND MADE THINGS HAPPEN. WE NEED THAT BACK.

By rammerjammer

July 18, 2008 1:10 PM | Link to this

The Mets winning ten straight has ended our season. No way we jump TWO teams to win the division. Wild card prospects are no better.

We’ll be sellers soon, but I can’t imagine any team taking a chance on 2.5 months of Teixeira, and Boros clients never sign when on the cusp of free agency, do they?

By The Oracle

July 18, 2008 1:11 PM | Link to this

Some advice for some key men from the all-powerful oracle

Kelly Johnson - Knowing the path is different from walking the path.

Mark Texiera- Know thyself.

Bobby Cox - You can’t see past a choice you don’t understand.

Chipper Jones - Being the one is like being in love, nobody has to tell you you’re in love, you just know it, balls to bones.

Jeff Francouer - Don’t THINK you are, KNOW you are.

Brian McCann - Don’t they(cookies) smell good.

Frank Wren- Sooner or later, you’re going to have to make a choice.

By Dirt Dobber

July 18, 2008 1:12 PM | Link to this

Frenchy seems to have a hold over this organization. He has had a down-right laughable season and then has a attitude problem about being sent down to the minors. If the Braves bench him or even think about sending him down again I have no doubt Frenchy is going to ask to be traded. The Braves are stuck with him as their RF until further notice.

By The Oracle

July 18, 2008 1:12 PM | Link to this

Some advice for some key men from the all-powerful oracle

Kelly Johnson - Knowing the path is different from walking the path.

Mark Texiera- Know thyself.

Bobby Cox - You can’t see past a choice you don’t understand.

Chipper Jones - Being the one is like being in love, nobody has to tell you you’re in love, you just know it, balls to bones.

Jeff Francouer - Don’t THINK you are, KNOW you are.

Brian McCann - Don’t they(cookies) smell good.

Frank Wren- Sooner or later, you’re going to have to make a choice.

By Einstein

July 18, 2008 1:18 PM | Link to this

Gayle is absolutely right about Tex. Look how much better the Rangers are without him. And why would you want to tie up 25-30% of your total annual payroll for a player that helps you finish 3rd (maybe even 4th) in your division. We need players. And, we need a manager and coaches that can actually manage and coach. Bobby was an excellent manager in his day…too bad folks tend to only remember what you’ve done lately. Perhaps that’s just a by-product of today’s ridiculous salaries which usually just rewards mediocrity.

By westy12

July 18, 2008 1:26 PM | Link to this

Random,

That was your peace offering? A cartoon mocking my position on the Tex argument?

No, it wasn’t funny in this context. Satire has to be on target to work, and this wasn’t applicable in any way to Team Boras.

Allow me to make a peace offering…

This whole debate reminds me of that cell phone commericial, maybe you know the one:

You dribble around in circles for awhile, trying to build yourself up. Then after much trash talk, you finally toss up a weak little two-hand set shot…

And with a nonchalent swat, I rocket the ball back off your dome, and watch as you writhe around on the ground, whimpering nonsensically.

It’s embarrassing enough when you show up for work the next day with black eyes and tape on your nose. But now you’re asking me to sing you “Shaq’s song to Kobe”?

No. Sorry, won’t do it. Seems inhumane. TKO already. Or truce or whatever.

What do you think, Random? Pretty good satire, huh? Has that ring of truth to it that yours was missing…

By StingerSplash

July 18, 2008 1:29 PM | Link to this

Ms. Rogers, DOB,

Given TPTB at 72 Marietta St.’s announcement earlier this week, did Alec Baldwin show up at that staff meeting DOB referenced in the previous blog and utter something about steak knives? Is it going to be just you two and Furman manning the AJC sports ship from here on out?

By VaBravesfan

July 18, 2008 1:31 PM | Link to this

Please no updates on Hampton. It would just be another injury report. I read an article about him that was written in 2004. At that time he had been several years in a row with 35 or more starts per year. Don’t remember the exact number, but it is hard to believe his body broke down that quickly. He can’t even make it through rehab starts. Sad.

By Wise Man Sez

July 18, 2008 1:39 PM | Link to this

All good satire starts with a fart on fire

By timthebrave

July 18, 2008 1:40 PM | Link to this

Is it over? He11 no. Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor? It all begins tonight. You will all look back at the 2008 season and remember the night Hudson started a run for the ages. We have 2 in a row going into the break. We have one of the best pitchers on the mound tonight. Now is the time. I believe! Go Braves!!

By SeaAtl

July 18, 2008 1:42 PM | Link to this

The Mets just ran off a 10-win streak (and counting) - why not our Braves!

By JJ

July 18, 2008 1:42 PM | Link to this

This is upside down thinking. Frank should make a deal to get the braves better and see if they can make up ground rather than waiting for a flawed team to make up ground and THEN going out and making a deal.

Go get X Nady (for two prospects ESPN reports) and see if they make a run. If not, trade Tex at the deadline and build for the future with X Nady as part of the plan!!!

By Bill

July 18, 2008 1:43 PM | Link to this

I too think that this season is history. They need at least two good OF’s. This team is just not ready to contend. I hope they don’t make a stupid mistake like last year. Trading for Tex, Where did it get them? Below 500 ball. They should go ahead and trade Tex, the team might get better. Can’t be any worse.

By David O'Brien

July 18, 2008 1:44 PM | Link to this

Stinger, that (1:29) made me laugh. Loudly. Very good.

By Chop Chop

July 18, 2008 1:52 PM | Link to this

DOB,

This team can’t harsh my mellow, dude. I can abide mediocre baseball, not really care what the second-half record is, watch another postseason (as I always have), look to the offseason for some improvement from these Bravos, wait ‘til next year AND still be a true fan.

I can do it all.

This dude abides.

By Kentavo

July 18, 2008 1:52 PM | Link to this

If Bravos come out flat tonight against the Nats and get beat by the team behind them in the standings, then the season is done. No if, ands or buts about it.

By BravesFanInRockies

July 18, 2008 1:57 PM | Link to this

Da Mick (12:42) was reading my mind.

Francouer is the drag on the team. If you look at his monthly splits, you’ll see that his production peaked in March and April and has fallen every month since. His OPS in June/July: .584/.455. Ouch. Not quite Corky Miller territory, but iinexcusable for a corner OF.

Clearly he’ll have to turn it around or the Braves will have to find a big enough bat toadd to the lineup and compensate for Frenchy’s lousy offense.

Until he shows signs of life — and no matter how much more confident he looks since his return, the numbers show he’s still slipping — why is he hitting anywhere higher than 8th in the order? Bobby has no problem hitting Kotsay or KJ or Blanco in that spot.

Why not Frenchy? At least until he can show he deserves a higher spot in the lineup?

By Doc Holliday

July 18, 2008 2:01 PM | Link to this

If everybody knows what we need………how come we dont have it????????

By Bake

July 18, 2008 2:03 PM | Link to this

DOB,

Went and saw Dark Knight last night. Great Movie. Initial reports were correct, Ledger dominates every scene he is in. I think everyone else had solid, if not really good, performances as well. Personally, I think that I liked the general plot of Batman Begins better, but as much as I was expecting out of this movie on the heels of Begins, I was not disappointed at all. I highly recommend seeing it.

By Milton Jeff

July 18, 2008 2:11 PM | Link to this

We need a miracle. I like the Bull Durham reference: Bobby or the captain (Chipper) needs to go on a pre-game rampage and fire these boys up!! I do like the front office lowering prices and making great deals like the 2 for 1. Hopefully this will get more fans into the stadium during these rough economic times and pump up our team. Has there been anymore rumors about trading w/ the RAYS??

By Joe

July 18, 2008 2:12 PM | Link to this

three way trade San Diego gets Loney & Kemp Dodgers get Tex&Morton Braves get Maddux& Adrian Gonzales

wishful thinking I know!!!!!!

By MT Braves Fan

July 18, 2008 2:16 PM | Link to this

I have seen, like you all have, the miserable performance of our offense the first half. However, these guys have track records that show it won’t continue. With the addition of one piece (X. Nady?) there is no reason this team can’t get hot and make a run, especially with a healthy Gonzalez shutting the door. Here’s hoping everyone can stay optimistic, and that we can make a big run in these nine games out of the second-half gate.

By Doubtful

July 18, 2008 2:26 PM | Link to this

The current Braves team will not win with Bobby Cox as Manager. ” Good ” Managers are able to change to match the talents of their players. Cox manages the same way as Earl Weaver did. That is have your pitchers hold the other team to 2 or less runs and sit back and wait for someone on his team to hit a 3 rum homer. Using this strategy, even during their great run with the best 3 pitchers in baseball at the time, he only won 1 World Series. Even Chipper admitted that they lose so many 1 run games because early in the games they are not trying to advance runners and score only 1 run at a time. ( a.k.a. ” small ball” ). Of course, Cox realizes that his job is secure and he doesn’t have to change. A Managerial change sure seems to have helped the Mets.

By timthebrave

July 18, 2008 2:33 PM | Link to this

I can see the headline for tonight. One lone braves fan impressive drinking binge inspires team that they can be better and inspires them to victory. JK. I know a bad team when I see one. I was a Braves fan when they were really a bad team. This team is not far from being a good team. If they learn to play small ball better (Getting runners over and getting them in) and get clutch hitting they will start winning one run games and make a run at the division. This is not just blind faith. This team is 3rd in team batting average and 2nd in team era. If they can do the little things there is no reason they shouldn’t go to playoffs. Go Braves!

By MacDaddy

July 18, 2008 2:41 PM | Link to this

3 rum homer

Doubtful

I think the Braves have hit many of these this year. That is the problem.

By Duke

July 18, 2008 2:44 PM | Link to this

Joe, Wishful thinking? That would be a a horrible trade for the Braves. Gonzalez for Tex, Sure. But Maddogg for Morton, no way dude.

By Cecil34

July 18, 2008 2:46 PM | Link to this

I am going to refrain from speculating on whether the team can play .600 ball, .500 ball, etc. until these three upcoming series are behind us.

It will save on a lot of wailing and knashing of teeth since we will have our definable proof afterwards.

I do believe, however, no matter what takes place on the field in the next couple of weeks, that management must sit down and map out a gameplan for the roster of 2009. This is imperative and just good business.

I hope this organization does not make the error, whether good intentioned or bad, of going into a season with players tying up roster spots who, by virtue of their age or track record, are going to likely be mimimal producers.

The roster spots must be utilized with players who can contribute immediately or, be gone immediately. If some youngsters need to be given a chance, then give them the chance, by God.

Sentimentality is sweet, but has proven to be an unreliable mechanism in baseball.

And make no mistake, the amount of injuries that this team has suffered this year is unusual and there are reasons why.

More diligence in spring training on fitness would be a step in the right direction.

Management needs to look closely at position by position to determine whether status quo or a new approach will be the order of the day.

As I say, what happens in 2008 will be decided soon.

It is not too soon, and never too soon to start planning for ‘09 so that fans don’t have to endure what they have had to endure this year.

Gayle

Are you a chick?

By CT

July 18, 2008 2:47 PM | Link to this

A few points:

1) If we need a .657 winning percentage to make to playoffs, people shouldn’t run and hide from that number. We are 40-12 when scoring 4+ runs, that equates to a .769 winning percentage.

2) They havent signed Texiera yet because he told them he was waiting till the end of the season to worry about it. If they can get him in the 15-19 million/year range, give him as many years as he wants.

3) If we have this supposed increase in salary from Liberty Media coming in the next years (2nd in Harris polls means more spending money not less), why cant we keep Tex and whatever left fielder traded for (hopefully Holliday). There’s 30+ million coming off the books in old arms alone.

4) Joe Blanton nor the Mets pitching staff scare me at all. He’s basically replacing a 25 million AAA player in Brett Myers. Hamels is the only scary one.

5) Tex will be traded and no LF fielder will be added if they dont win the next 3 series period. The Braves are a better overall team without the injuries than the rest of our division. There is no reason this cant happen. Just need more hitting w/ RISP. GO BRAVOS! SCREW THE NAYSAYERS!

By Anders

July 18, 2008 2:48 PM | Link to this

Seatl

The Mets just ran off a 10-win streak (and counting) - why not our Braves!

The Braves simply don’t have the pitching capable of it. The Phillies recognized they’ll need arms to keep up from here on out if the Mets are for real and did something about it yesterday. Solid move on the Phils part. It’s Wren’s turn if he’s serious about not giving up.

If by not giving up he means let’s see if we have the guys already here who can get in this race then imo he’s deluding himself. And his fan base for that matter.

By ncscoots

July 18, 2008 2:51 PM | Link to this

they lose… because…they are not trying to advance runners and score only 1 run at a time. ( a.k.a. ” small ball” ).

just…won’t…die.

By tr

July 18, 2008 2:58 PM | Link to this

What the 14-year division-championship Braves did that we haven’t done of late: We looked at the current series and did what it took to win it. Then we moved on to the next series and won it. And then the next.

We didn’t bother with ideas like, “We need to play at a .653 pace to get to 88 wins, and that should be enough.”

We didn’t worry about long streaks of winning games. We went out and won long streaks of series, and the championships took care of themselves.

1) Hold down the other team with solid pitching and defense - Check. That’s been solid enough to string together some series wins.

2) Get guys on base - Check and ditto.

3) Move runner’s over and drive ‘em in - Needs more than a little work. Sure, we could use a consistent lead-off guy (Blanco has looked good at times), and an rbi bat. But the truth of the matter is that we need the guys we have to perform to their capabilities.

Go Braves - Beat the Nats!!!

By JB

July 18, 2008 3:05 PM | Link to this

Anders

The Braves do have the pitching to win 10 or so striaght. They have one of the best team ERA’s in the league. It’s not their pitching that has been the problem, it’s been an inconsistant offense and a lack of timely hitting.

By KC

July 18, 2008 3:07 PM | Link to this

Bad News: Apparently, the Phillies are planning to pitch Hamels in the series finale against the Marlins on Sunday.

That move makes no sense to me whatsoever, because it would mean that Hamels will miss the series the Phillies/Mets series that begins on Monday. Considering the Mets are tied with them right now, I can’t figure that one out.

Unfortunately, that also means that (if the report I saw on the Phillies’ weekend pitching plans is accurate) the Braves WILL face Hamels in game 1 or 2 of the Braves/Phillies series that begins next weekend.

Not good at all.

I was hopeful that BC would line the rotation up according to matchups (he could have easily arranged it so that both Hudson and Jurrjens pitched against the Marlins and the Phillies)… but instead, he’s just running our 1 & 2 starters out there to start the second half.

I was consoled by the thought that, even though Hudson will miss another series against the Phillies, we wouldn’t have to see their ace either. That no longer appears to be the case.

The Braves MUST win each of the next 3 series to keep hopes alive for this series. If Hamels does indeed pitch against the Atlanta, the Braves will either have to beat their ace, or win the other two.

Tough road ahead… and the next 9 games could decide the season.

By raindawg722

July 18, 2008 3:07 PM | Link to this

It’s interesting to read the comments from the Braves needing to go on some sort of run like 9-1 or 8-2. I think McCann said that they need to get out of that “run” mindset before the break, but for the most part, that’s not what I’ve been reading. Even Frank Wren alluded to it in the Hummer article. You would rarely, if ever, have heard the 90s Braves teams say anything like that, even when they were behind in the standings. Their focus was always one game at a time or one series at a time. Worrying about the next ten games or the last ten games won’t help win the game that you have to play that day.

Of course, they are going to have some hot and cold streaks, but If the Braves won every series from now until the end of the season, they would be in the hunt for the playoffs. That’s one loss every three days.

By BA

July 18, 2008 3:08 PM | Link to this

That’s a pretty dumb argument, Anders, since the Braves have better pitching than the Mutts or the Phillies. Coming from you, it’s hardly suprising.

By The Goche

July 18, 2008 3:09 PM | Link to this

Joe, Wishful thinking? That would be a a horrible trade for the Braves. Gonzalez for Tex, Sure. But Maddogg for Morton, no way dude.

Ignore the doubters Joe. That deal would almost certainly never happen, just because of the largeness being complicated by the addition of 3 different parties.

But, it is actually an interesting idea, and compared to some of the crap people throw up here it sounds like pure gold.

Creative and possible, if not especially plausible. It would need some tweaking probably, some more prospects not sure where from.

But ignore especially the doubts of Duke, who doesn’t understand that it’s not Gonzalez for Tex and Maddux for Morton. Gonzalez is worth a ton.

Very clever stuff, again, almost zero chance it would happen even if Wren read this and tried it, but I am impressed with even coming up with something this close to possible.

By Thrillhouse44

July 18, 2008 3:09 PM | Link to this

Anders, what happened to our Christmas present?

The Braves simply don’t have the pitching capable of it. I believe the Braves are second in team ERA. Seems pretty capable to me.

By Lee in S. GA

July 18, 2008 3:10 PM | Link to this

I will say win or lose I do miss the Braves when they are not playing. The past 4 days have been brutal. The all-star game is about as meaningless as the pro bowl even though MLB would have you believe otherwise.

Hopefully tonight this team gets on track for the 2nd half. It will be good to see them back in action whatever the end result may be. I will not make any predictions; however, I do think this series will dictate the remainder of the season for this team.

By keylargo

July 18, 2008 3:11 PM | Link to this

If the Braves decide they want Maddux for the rest of the year all it will take is a fringe minor league player, maybe even a PTBNL. San Diego is going to finish last in the West with or without Maddux and he is gone and probably retired after this year. What San Diego would do is not have to pay Maddux’s pro rated $10M contract for the rest of the year, saving them about $4M.

By lewie

July 18, 2008 3:11 PM | Link to this

KJ, ESCO, HOSS, HEAP, NADY, LONEY, KOTSAY/BLANCO, FRENCHIE

….is a good looking lineup, at least it’d have more production out of our OFs and have a young 1B locked up for a little while….not to mention a RF with some pop finally

By Cliff

July 18, 2008 3:13 PM | Link to this

Joe,

If the Dodgers would trade Loney and Kemp and expect to get Morton and Tex why would we want to get Gnzalez and Maddux instead?

Maddux adds NOTHING to us now.

Gonzalez is proven a little better than Loney, but Kemp solves our biggest hole. Right handed hitting outfielder power bat, young and cost controlled.

By BravesFanInRockies

July 18, 2008 3:14 PM | Link to this

Anders,

Yeah, I think you whiffed on that one. The Braves need some pop in the outfield and perhaps a bench bat.

The pitching has been plenty fine. And that’s baffling, considering all the injuries. McDowell has been as much a magician as Leo ever was.

By country boy

July 18, 2008 3:15 PM | Link to this

Geeez Carroll - I don’t get all this talk about Wren having his hand on the big red button. I am commenting on something I know little about but Wren and Cox seem too complacent and have trouble with change. FACT- Braves players seldom improve and rarely produce beyond expectations. Nothing new is offered by Wren or Cox - just win or something bad ( whatever that is ) may happen. In a month your article will be about our third straight year of missing the playoffs.

By D.Ellis

July 18, 2008 3:16 PM | Link to this

I proposed trading Frnechy and a pitcher for X. Nady months ago. never heard a word since untill i read someone else propose it.

They should Keep Tex. Why let him go that is of course his asking price is off the wall. In that case Wren should be spending alot of time with Boras either trying to hammer out the deal…..or get the asking price in order so we know if we stand a chance of being in the running. PLEASE RESIGN HIM….He is a very good hitter and an OUTSTANDING DEFENSIVE 1B. Have not had a better 1B since the crime dog.

And why does everyone keep bringing up GREG MADDUX? So we can add another 40 plus age wise pitcher that chews up innings as opposed to WINNING BALL GAMES. Please give the Maddux talk a rest. He has won 3 games. And if anyone brings up his ERA I say look at the ERA we have now and see where that got us.

Sorry for sounding like a no it all. I really don’t know much…except for I would have taken Nady for Frenchy 2 months ago hands down….and that this was a .500 ball club from the start.

Time to revamp the rotation with some young SP. Find us a true leadoff hitter. Resign Tex. Trade KJ for some middle relief. AND PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE THE EASIEST CHOICE TO MAKE…..GIVE MIKE HAMPTON HIS WALKING PAPERS AND USE THAT MONEY TO GET SOME BALL PLAYERS.

By KC

July 18, 2008 3:18 PM | Link to this

timthebrave & SeaAtl:

I think this team has the talent to play well over .600 the rest of the way. I really do. The biggest thing they’re going to need though, is luck… specifically, in regard to health.

Not only have the injuries hurt this team by removing key components of the team for weeks or months at a time (or in at least a couple of cases, nearly the entire season)… but I think they’ve kept this team from getting into any kind of rhythm.

It’s hard to really start firing on all cylinders and get any significant momentum going, when the hits just keep on coming.

My hope is that the Braves can take care of business against the Nats, and then get Escobar back against the Marlins (with nearly everyone in the lineup, healthy).

I think we’ve seen a number of good signs from this lineup. Against Kuroda, Lowe, and Peavy… I’m convinced they were just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Great pitching dominates, and no linuep would have fared much better against those guys when the Braves saw them.

But in the other 3 games of the west coast trip, the offense was very good; more consistent, executed better, and made adjustments against good pitchers.

I think this team has it in them, but the baseball gods are going to have to cooperate.

By Dirt Dobber

July 18, 2008 3:24 PM | Link to this

Anders -

That statement about the Braves lack of pitching is the dumbest post you have ever made. And there has been some classics.

By keylargo

July 18, 2008 3:28 PM | Link to this

I believe the Dodgers would offer us two options in a trade for Tex.

1. Loney

2. Loney and Kemp AND A. Jones.

I say this only half in jest.

By BravesFan79

July 18, 2008 3:31 PM | Link to this

Bobby just throws away 2 many games. No speedster on the bench to come in a crucial spot and steal a base and easily make it home from 2nd on a hit. We dont even have a decent bat as a backup catcher. No we have Corky Miller. This years version of Woodward…..the useless wonder.
Bobby is terrible at managing the bullpen, and is even worse at realizing whos hot, not, and just who shouldnt be on the team to start with!

I do NOT want to sell off this team. I unlike SOME fans still think we have something. Maybe not this season but next year. Have Smoltz come back at the start of the 2nd half of next year as either a starter or closer depending on how he feels.
Find a way to keep Tex, get a bat in the outfield, and get another top line starter….match that up with Chipper and a FRESH Smoltz and we would make a SERIOUS run at a title next year! GO BRAVES! And please, please change Cox to head cheerleader instead of decision maker.

Football coaches leave alot of decisions to offensive and defensive corrdinatiors…thats the approach Cox should take. Leave who stays on the team up to Wren (hopefully hes smart enough to see letting Pena go instead of Corky was a HUGE mistake) Leave the bullpen decisions up to the bullpen coach who can tell whos hot and whos not. THEN…Bobby would once again be a great coach….as the head cheerleader and glue that holds it all together.

By keylargo

July 18, 2008 3:40 PM | Link to this

D ELLIS

Here is a grand senario for you D Ellis.

We “give Hampton his walking papers” just like you say you want. We have to pay him regardless of whether we have him on the roster or not you know?

Next, he is claimed on waivers by the Phillies or Mets, your choice D Ellis.

We are paying him the balance of his $15M salary and having him pitch against us down the stretch.

Wouldn’t that be grand D Ellis?

By BA

July 18, 2008 3:42 PM | Link to this

In alternate universe, somebody is saying this on the award-winning DOB blog: “Keeping Pena over Corky has been a huge mistake. I mean, Corky was no great hitter, but at least we weren’t losing games on passed balls…”

By Anders

July 18, 2008 3:45 PM | Link to this

I didn’t say you had bad pitching, just not capable of a 10 game+ rip imo.

I hope I’m wrong - especially over the next couple of weeks. If the Mets stay hot and the Braves get hot, the Mets will be in front of everyone by 5 or more.

Go Braves!

By BravesFanInRockies

July 18, 2008 3:51 PM | Link to this

OK, I’ll modify a deal I suggested last night in the four-digit blog.

Braves keep Tex and get Holliday for this pennant race and the next. Rockies need pitching, a 2B and a CF.

Heyward, Freeman, Hanson should be off-limits.

So we send them Carlyle, Prado, Schafer and Locke/Medlen. Rox may make that deal because everyone knows Holliday will go for the biggest FA deal after ‘09. They get two ML players, including a versatile pitcher who would be their #4 starter. Prado can play 2B from day one. Schafer takes over for Taveras and Podsednik in ‘09 (with Spilborghs taking Holliday’s spot now).

Holliday’s affordable this year (prorated $9.5 MM) and not bad next year $13.5 MM, esp. if Tex walks.

His road OPS this season is better than Jason Bay’s (and he’s younger than Bay).

The Braves have their 2009 cleanup hitter and will get two top draft picks at the end of the year — just like they will for Tex after this year.

Thoughts?

By Anders

July 18, 2008 3:53 PM | Link to this

Keylargo

*Next, he is claimed on waivers by the Phillies or Mets, your choice D Ellis.

We are paying him the balance of his $15M salary and having him pitch against us down the stretch.*

Yum-yum.

By Pamela Y Jones

July 18, 2008 3:55 PM | Link to this

Those emails are weird, I wouldn’t think anyone would be so personal and push into someone’s private emails with the blog open 24/7 to say that mess.

By BA

July 18, 2008 3:56 PM | Link to this

Anders with his trademark backdown. Saw that coming. Any other pearls of wisdom for us, Anders? Maybe we need more offense from 3b? Brilliant.

By Capt Caveman (The Original Dawg)

July 18, 2008 3:58 PM | Link to this

Random

Funniest thing that ever happened as an infielder:

We were playing another Gulf Coast team and there was a guy on our team playing 2nd base that went to HS with one of the other teams players. I was playing first base so I had a great view of this.

We were on the mound having a conference and the other teams guy was on 2nd after a double with 2 outs. We were going to try the hidden ball trick with the rosen bag, thats were the shortstop puts the rosen bag in his glove and throws it back to the pitcher like its the baseball, which is actually in the 2nd basemen’s glove. Well it was all set up but the guy wouldn’t step off the bag. He didn’t know we were pulling the trick he just kept his foot on the base b/c the pitcher wasn’t on the mound. So the 2nd baseman starts asking him about his sister from HS, she had a reputation for being a party girl and little easy.

So he steps closer to the base and pretends to be discreet and tells the shortstop that she was the inspiration for the song “The Humpty Dance” by The Digital Underground. Well the whole infield starts laughing as the 2nd baseman is singing the song but changing the words to include the guys sister, when he got to the part about “she once got busy in a Burger King bathroom” he was close enough to the runner to touch him and the runner took a swing at him and finally stepped off the bag, OUT 3 with the tag. But after the tag we were all running off the field and the runner was chasing us - LOL - into the dugout. We were laughing so hard we didn’t notice until he tackled the 2nd baseman.

After the melee, the runner got ejected and the 2nd baseman was on the bench. I asked him if any of the stuff was really true and what ever happened with the guys sister,

• he said he heard she was the manager at Burger King now.

I’m still laughing as I type this !!!

By McFann :Ô:

July 18, 2008 4:01 PM | Link to this

Well, with the Braves’ second “half” set to begin in about 3.5 hours, I present you with my Projected Season Totals for a certain hitter—who shall remain nameless, but he should bat fifth a lot more often.

Anyway, based on “trends”, if you will, from the first “half”, the season totals for this particular player are projected as follows:

G: 147; AB: 529; R: 71; H 162; 2B: 44 (3 shy of the single season record at his position); 3B: 1; HR: 29; RBI: 90 TB: 293; BB: 58; SO: 69; GDP: 15; HBP 7

AVG: .306 SLG: .554 OBP: .407

All of these numbers would be more than acceptable, but it would be nice if the RBI count were a little higher in the real season.

By Rick Long

July 18, 2008 4:08 PM | Link to this

This has been one of the most frustrating seasons for this 45 year Braves’ fan. No fan likes to give up hope and 6 1/2 games is not insurmountable (especially considering there is no juggernaut in the NL East—this includes all lurking Mets and Phillies’ fans out there). Also, statistically, the Braves still have one of the key components to be competitive—good pitching.

On the other hand, the reality of the situation is that the 14 year run is over. This franchise can further delay the necessry rebuilding process by adding to the young building blocks (particularly the young pitchers) already in place to become a long term contending team or further delay that process by deluding itself into thinking a couple of trade deadline “bandaids” will result in “one last run”.

I suggest that instead of again trading young prospects who either already have or are likely to turn out to be good players for other young and upcoming teams at the deadline,the Braves become sellers especially when they have some commodities that could land them good prospects (i.e. Texeira and Ohman.

This approach is particularly needed in the case of Mark Texeira. There is no question that he is a great player and says all of the right things about how he likes playing for the Braves, etc. The fact of the matter is that the Texeira situation is Andruw Jones deja vu.

Texeira is represented by Scott Boras and has, like Andruw, made it known that he would not sign a contract extension with the Braves, but will test the free agent waters at the end of the season. This also means, as with Andruw, that he will NOT re-sign with the Braves when he becomes a free agent at the end of the year.

This also means that the Braves could be smart this year and trade him at the deadline and get something in return (if they don’t trade him, hopefully they will offer him arbitration so that they get at least get a compensatory pick rather than get nothing whatoever for him as was the case with Andruw).

Dare I suggest that given Texeira’s stature and and the inevitable “panic” that sets in among GMs at the deadline who think their teams are still “in it”, the Braves might actually get one or more valuable young players (e.g. wouldn’t Connor Jackson and someone like Max Scherzer or some similar young pitching prospect and a position prospect from the Angels be a great addition to the young necleus, particularly the young pitching, the Braves already have?)

I am old enough to remember a Branch Rickey philosophy which may be even more true now in this free agent era than it was in his era: “better to trade a player one year too early than one year too late”.

By Timeframe Smimeframe

July 18, 2008 4:09 PM | Link to this

I come here to bury the Braves, not to praise them…..

Sorry, wrong play. Seriously, I hope the Braves take off and play like their hair is on fire! I would love to see them turn it around. I’m not planning on seeing that, but that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t like to see it.

What I do want to talk about is Mr. Wren’s contention that even if a decision isn’t made by July 31st, that doesn’t mean a deal can’t be made. I suppose that’s true, but if that’s the case, it won’t be for Tex. Is there any way Tex gets through waivers after the first deadline? I think not. Even a lesser team could deal for Tex to block another team because he’s playing out a contract this year and they aren’t on the line for a huge salary for next year unless they want to sign him. Wasn’t it Randy Myers the Padres claimed to block him from the Braves? In that case, Myers wasn’t effective and the Pads were on the hook for a big contract as well. (bad move) I don’t think Olman could get through waivers either. Too many people would love to have him in the pen.

Maybe Wren feels like he’s buying time by telling the press he doesn’t need to know something by July 31st. I disagree. If Wren hasn’t made a call before the July deadline, then he isn’t doing his due dilligence as general manager. If he’s still holding his cards at that date, the chance for trading Tex is gone.

I hope the Braves either win 9 in a row, or lose 9 in a row starting tonight. I don’t want any “in between.” A 5 and 4 record over he next nine games would only make it harder for Wren to pull, or not pull the trigger on a trade.

By Random

July 18, 2008 4:12 PM | Link to this

Capt Caveman —

TOO MUCH !!!

On behalf of most other denizens here, I thank you.

By Mr J

July 18, 2008 4:17 PM | Link to this

BravesFanInRockies,

Your proposal looks like the Texeira deal redux, only Holliday isn’t as good a player as Tex. We end up with not quite one and one half year of a Boras client who is destined to bolt for a big market team. That plan hasn’t worked out so well for the Braves.

By AGTfan

July 18, 2008 4:18 PM | Link to this

I didn’t say you had bad pitching, just not capable of a 10 game+ rip imo.

Anders, If the Met’s pitching is good enough to do that, so is the Braves. What has to happen is the same thing that happened with the Mets. Players who’ve been unproductive start producing. For the Braves I have to add in a consistent manner and when it counts for something.

By gayle

July 18, 2008 4:24 PM | Link to this

Props to Rick Long for a great post - that is the Braves story in a nutshell. Wren and company are not doing the team and fans any favors pretending that there will be this miraculous turnaround.

And even if there were some miracle turnaround - it would only allow loyal Braves’ fans to see their team get knocked out of the playoffs on the home field yet again.

With such a great nucleus of players, the Braves could be contenders again in a year or two. The key to doing this is to make the difficult, painful and realistic choice to forgo the fantasy of contending and start building a winner for the future.

By Ten Game Win Streak

July 18, 2008 4:24 PM | Link to this

Someone mentioned in the blog that the Mets went on a ten game win streak, no reason the Braves couldn’t do that to!

I agree wholeheartedly! The Braves have as much talent as the Mets. The key is getting the talent to produce at the expected level. Let’s follow the Met’s methodology of getting to a point where we can win 10 in a row! Fire the manager!

By bravos2249

July 18, 2008 4:27 PM | Link to this

I know you guys think Bobby should’ve made it where Huddy and JJ pitched against the Fish and Phils but the way this is they both will have 14 starts (unless they are skipped or have more if they start on short rest)

By the way…I know we could be out of it; but who the heck hates us that made our last 5 series in this order: Phillies/Mets/Phillies/Mets/Astros

By AGTfan

July 18, 2008 4:28 PM | Link to this

Capt Cavedude

I too enjoy your stories of minor league ball. (Much more than I enjoy your Coach baiting. Maybe if you stopped he’d just go away. I know. No such luck.)

By TheCutMan

July 18, 2008 4:38 PM | Link to this

I agree with an earlier poster. Rick Long has an informed and intelligent take on the Braves at present and where they need to go in the short and longterm future.

Well said.

By Supes

July 18, 2008 4:40 PM | Link to this

Bottom line: Braves need all of the bad luck one run loses and injuries to reverse in the second half if they are to even have a shot at the NL East.

Sometimes you’ve got to break the jinx and so far, Braves have been snakebitten in 2008!

By AGTfan

July 18, 2008 4:49 PM | Link to this

I agree with an earlier poster. Rick Long has an informed and intelligent take on the Braves at present and where they need to go in the short and longterm future.

It’s all dependent on what we can get. Reports so far say that no one is offerring anything better than the 2 picks we’ll get if we just let Tex walk at the end of the season. If there was a great offer out there, I’d say yes, but there may not be a great offer until close to the trade deadline. And we could be right back in it by then. I don’t really expect it, but…..

By gayle

July 18, 2008 4:49 PM | Link to this

Ten Game -

The Mets did go on a ten game win streak (which is still continuing). This streak strangely coincided with the Mets firing their manager.

I wish I could say that the Braves would have the guts to make that same move - but alas, Capatin Cox will remain at the helm for as long as he sees fit, regardless of his impact on the success of the team.

By David-ATL14

July 18, 2008 4:50 PM | Link to this

Rick Long with a well written missive as a few others have suggesetd but terribly flawed.

On the trading of teixeira you suggest that the Dbacks will give up Conor Jackson & Max Scherzer.

Big problem with that train of thought. Dbacks would not give either one much less both. So this high minded idea of trading Tex for young major league ready talent is nothing more than a “pipe dream”

By AGTfan

July 18, 2008 4:52 PM | Link to this

Sometimes you’ve got to break the jinx and so far, Braves have been snakebitten in 2008!

Supes you hit the nail on the head. I’ve seen seasons where it was a lack of talent, but I’ve never seen a season so snakebit as this one.

By david

July 18, 2008 4:54 PM | Link to this

i just got awesome news ill start getting the braves ptv games and i live in bristol va

By TNJeff

July 18, 2008 5:02 PM | Link to this

Gayle

• remember the song, “My Girl, Bill”

Who is this girl that’s so impressive with each blog?

Please, don’t be Lola

By Anders

July 18, 2008 5:06 PM | Link to this

DOB and Others

Well now that the second half is about to kick off for your Braves perhaps it’s time to re-visit my opening day song. The one and only I’ve ever posted here. It was in response to all the nasty thoughts about the Mets players ages and health issues etc. many threw at me all winter. DOB would make his snide infirmary jokes etc. I tried to warn you guys about bad Karma that day but it went unheeded and look what rath it brought your team in the health department. I offer the song again in the hopes you’ve all learned to be careful for what you wish on others as it’s bad karma to do so. Good luck in the second half to my southern brethren.

Instant Karma by the late great John Lennon:

*Instant Karma’s gonna get you Gonna knock you right on the head You better get yourself together Pretty soon you’re gonna be dead What in the world you thinking of Laughing in the face of love What on earth you tryin’ to do It’s up to you, yeah you

Instant Karma’s gonna get you Gonna look you right in the face Better get yourself together darlin’ Join the human race How in the world you gonna see Laughin’ at fools like me Who in the hell d’you think you are A super star Well, right you are

Well we all shine on Like the moon and the stars and the sun Well we all shine on Ev’ryone come on

Instant Karma’s gonna get you Gonna knock you off your feet Better recognize your brothers Ev’ryone you meet Why in the world are we here Surely not to live in pain and fear Why on earth are you there When you’re ev’rywhere Come and get your share

Well we all shine on Like the moon and the stars and the sun Yeah we all shine on Come on and on and on on on Yeah yeah, alright, uh huh, ah

Well we all shine on Like the moon and the stars and the sun Yeah we all shine on On and on and on on and on

Well we all shine on Like the moon and the stars and the sun Well we all shine on Like the moon and the stars and the sun Well we all shine on Like the moon and the stars and the sun Yeah we all shine on Like the moon and the stars and the sun*

By Capt Caveman (The Original Dawg)

July 18, 2008 5:07 PM | Link to this

AGT

Thanks.

I should probably let up on Coach …………….. naaaaaaaaaah !!

By AGTfan

July 18, 2008 5:07 PM | Link to this

This streak strangely coincided with the Mets firing their manager.

Not exactly. The Mets played 14 games of .500 ball after changing managers before the current 10 game winning streak.

By Lew

July 18, 2008 5:09 PM | Link to this

People keep claiming we need to build with younger players. Is everyone aware that our active roster averages less than 28 years of age? Much younger and they’ll have to bring in day care.

By AGTfan

July 18, 2008 5:15 PM | Link to this

Who is this girl that’s so impressive with each blog?

She’s really Coach in drag. ;-)

By Kev

July 18, 2008 5:15 PM | Link to this

McFann

Since your talking BMac numbers….did you watched the brief question some guy from ESPN fantasy asked McCann during the interview things @ the All Star Game…They asked him what he thinks of hitting 35 HR this season,you know him, he doesnt care about that, “its not on his mind”…its pretty quick, they interview Hamilton, Kinsler,Braun, Haren and others too…its on the Braves ESPN page…

By AdirondackDave

July 18, 2008 5:16 PM | Link to this

Good to have a new blog, I was starting to atrophy.

What may be most important about Frank Wren’s comments was that he, and most/all other GMs say what they say for strategic reasons. Not saying Frank and others are not telling the truth, but what they say and how they phrase things, are all part of the player-dealing process. In the end, most of the GMs including the Braves hold their cards very close to their vest.

By raindawg722

July 18, 2008 5:28 PM | Link to this

*By Lew

July 18, 2008 5:09 PM | Link to this

People keep claiming we need to build with younger players. Is everyone aware that our active roster averages less than 28 years of age? Much younger and they’ll have to bring in day care.*

And if the Braves can’t afford to resign Tex, how are they ever going to pay for daycare?

By Shamus Thacker

July 18, 2008 5:34 PM | Link to this

I just had some Bilbo’s barbecue with my likker. It was sloppy and fine. actually, I’m sloppy too, but I’ll be fine. I might be yappin up cue and Crown in a bit, but will catch the game post-yap.

Aloha, from the Hillbilly Riviera, Cedartown…

By T to the D

July 18, 2008 5:34 PM | Link to this

DOB_ We all agree we need offensive production from the OF…

Whatabout Kelly to LF, and aquire a 2B?

By tr

July 18, 2008 5:40 PM | Link to this

Rick Long (4:08PM) & gayle (4:24PM),

I respectfully disagree. I’ve been a Braves fan since they came to Atlanta. And if I’ve learned anything in the process, building around solid pitching, it is more than just possible to trade selected prospects to fill holes without sacrificing the future or even delaying it. It is rare that Atlanta has been “burned” by that process, especially in the 14-year championship run. I’m sure there are others, but the only “prospect” we traded that I remember that turned into a no-doubt-about-it keeper we should’ve hung onto was Adam Wainright.

How many times have the Braves burnt other teams with their “prospects” in trades? Now, that’s a long list, friends. I’m really surprised anybody would take phone calls from the Braves any more! Most of the prospects we have traded have become afterthoughts. Most of the ones we would likely trade at the deadline or in the off season will be, too.

We spent over 25 years “rebuilding,” when “reloading” the past decade and a half has worked so much better. We have a better than decent young core, and surprisingly few major holes to fill in through trades and free agents.

As for Scott Boras, he is so over, it’s pitiful. The only team he reeled in last year at anything close to what he was asking for was the Yankees, and A-Rod had to basically do that one himself. We didn’t lose Druw for nothing because he was a too-expensive Boras client. We got what little production he had left and let him walk. No, we didn’t get prospects because offering arbitration would’ve been stupid, and likely accepted the way things turned out. Even the Dodgers hedged their bet with only a 2-year contract. Can you honestly say you wish he’d been on our team this year?

The point is that the worst case scenario is that Tex walks, gets offered arbitration and accepts and comes back anyway at way less than the yearly average Boras will be asking for long term or he passes on arbitration and we get two very good draft picks. OR, something more proven in a deadline trade. And it’d be the same with any Boras client now or in the future. The guys we traded for him were not players we counted on to fill roles this year and doubtfully in the reasonably near future, if at all. We took a shot. Didn’t get us over the hump, but we took a shot. I, for one, would like another shot this year!

One series at a time wins it!!!

By McFann :Ô:

July 18, 2008 5:42 PM | Link to this

Kev—

No, I didn’t see that. Thanks, I’ll have to check it out!

By McFann :Ô:

July 18, 2008 5:49 PM | Link to this

Kev—

I just watched it. Int’resting stuff…Boy, that Haren sure thinks a lot of his stuff!

Chase Utley struck me funny (sorry to say). They asked if he thought appearing in a commercial for ESPN Fantasy contributed to his great numbers.

Chase: “I owe everything to ESPN. No…”

By McFann :Ô:

July 18, 2008 5:59 PM | Link to this

BTW—I’m with BMac: It’d be nice (sweet) if he hit 35 home runs.

BUT MONKEY

If he continues to hit 61% of them as solo shots, well it’s not gonna be as productive, is it? (These words are my own.)

I’d like to see him with upwards towards 100 RBI (hey, with all the games he’s playing and the guys on base in front of him, he could do it).

My projections show him with 29 homers and 90 RBI at season’s end. If that were the case, then his RBI totals have continued to regress (93 in ‘06 to 92 in ‘07). I think he cann do batter than 90 RBI this year—playing 147 games.

By THB

July 18, 2008 6:06 PM | Link to this

Here’s to the Braves turning it around, and it all starts tonight!

By TennesseePaul

July 18, 2008 6:14 PM | Link to this

Saw some remarks that McCourt is clipping the Dodger payroll expansion dreams. Not that it’s a low payroll to begin with. Rumor is he doesn’t want it to grow larger. He has denied this rumor publicly. So perhaps it isn’t entirely true. But I’d guess there is a measure of honesty behind it. Maybe he wouldn’t mind expanding just a tad more if it puts the team over the top. At any rate, I think trading to the Dodgers for Loney might be a non-issue. Teixeira is owed approximately 5.5 million the remainder of this year. Loney makes 411,000 thousand total on the year. Kemp makes similar money. That’d leave an increase of over 5 million for the Dodgers to pick up while also losing an outfielder and potentially a first baseman for next season. The Braves would have to offer a ton of cash and really talk up Teixeira’s second half numbers to quell that fear I’d imagine.

It doesn’t really get better with the Angels either. But Angelos isn’t entirely put off on the absorption of salary business.

I’m curious as to how this will go down. Asking this team to go 8-1 is a might tall order. They’d have to sweep the Nats and either the Phillies or Marlins, teams they haven’t really dominated this season. But hell, this is baseball. Anything could happen. They could win 21 straight and go all the way to the Series. I wouldn’t bet on it though. Thems are long odds.

By McFann ;Ô;

July 18, 2008 6:32 PM | Link to this

Only one…more…hour…

By justafan

July 18, 2008 6:33 PM | Link to this

Anders The Mets just ran off 10 plus games…why not the Braves?

Because the Mets just got a Mgr with some smarts and the Braves have a Mgr. with Alzheimers.

Lazy team can’t afford a layback Manager. Bobby has had his Glory days, now its time to pass the torch….

By Carroll Rogers

July 18, 2008 6:51 PM | Link to this

wow, i see you guys have been busy while i’ve been standing downstairs waiting….waiting….for rafael soriano to get out of the whirlpool……but he did and his news was actually good and i have updates:

soriano said he feels good, he threw well in the Dominican. He’s going to throw a bullpen tomorrow and if all goes well - as he expects - he could be activated Sunday.

Escobar is not in the lineup tonight. Going to see the doctors, hopes he gets cleared for batting practice tomorrow.

Bobby said Infante is doing well and on track to come off the DL when he’s able (eligible on Tuesday in Florida.) Manny Acosta Bobby was not so optimistic about. He’ll probably need a little more time.

Glavine is set to throw tomorrow and feeling encouraged about throwing long toss yesterday from as far as 130 feet. The next test will be what kind of shoulder strength he has after missing a month.

Diaz was going to see the doctor tonight to see if he could talk them into letting him play without the cumbersome brace.

OK off to file some notes….if you missed it, i wrote about a pitcher some don’t want me to named which you can link to on the braves page.

By Anders Mom

July 18, 2008 6:54 PM | Link to this

My boy spends all day in the basement blogging. He even quit his job at the burger joint so that he could blog more.

O what to do?

Now it’s dog food for dinner again.

By McFann ;Ô;

July 18, 2008 7:01 PM | Link to this

Just a half an hour!!

Glad Mac’s not thinking too much about hitting 35 homers. We know what cann happen to guys who worry too much about the long ball. (Couldn’t he have found a better shirt for the interview, though? Hmm.)

By Anders Mom

July 18, 2008 7:04 PM | Link to this

Son, are you reading this? It seems like this is the only way I can communicate with you anymore. Please come upstairs for dinner. I’m not bringing it down to you.

And help me kill the roaches. They are all over the place.

By McFann ;Ô;

July 18, 2008 7:05 PM | Link to this

BTW—Paul Lo Duca is playing left field tonight…this should be int’resting…

By Anders Mom

July 18, 2008 7:08 PM | Link to this

Son, who’s your daddy? Seriously, who is your daddy? Do you know? I wish I knew. We could have been getting child support all these years.

By TPM

July 18, 2008 7:11 PM | Link to this

Thank God I do not have to hear Buck Belue call Mike Hampton a bulldog pitcher anymore. It has been seven years since he has pitched 200+ innings in the league. I’ve seen Osma Bid Laden on TV more frequently than ” the bulldog” on the mound.

Go back to Florida and stop stealing money Mike Hampton. And while you are at it take Hometown Discount 4.85 ERA 4 2/3 innings a start Glavine with you.

Good Grief - The sports talk show people in this town are idiots

By Anders Mom

July 18, 2008 7:13 PM | Link to this

Son, we just got a package delivered. It looks like the inflatable Mrs. Met that you ordered. I know you love the mets but I wish you would see some real girls!

By Andy

July 18, 2008 7:24 PM | Link to this

Fom Braves website story about latino coaching clinic: “Cadahia, the Braves’ bench coach, worked with the kids on baserunning, stressing the importance of stepping on the front part of first base instead of the middle, thus avoiding injury. On a muggy summer morning, no one seemed to mind sprinting down the first-base line.”

Chino Cadahia teaching baserunning…that’s kind of like Jeff Francoeuer teaching hitting.

By Anders Mom

July 18, 2008 7:26 PM | Link to this

Son, please stop blogging for a minute and come upstairs and get some clean underwear. You haven’t changed in a week.

By Intervention

July 18, 2008 7:34 PM | Link to this

Lazy team can’t afford a layback Manager. Bobby has had his Glory days, now its time to pass the torch….

I hate to admit it, but I wholeheartedly agree. If players fit the Cox mold, he can get the job done. The Braves always seemed to have guys who knew what they needed to do to prepare both physically and mentally. This group doesn’t have that capability, especially the mental part. So they need a manager who knows how to reach them “mentally.” The more proactive Cox has to be managing, the worse he is. He needs to understand that his job is to know how to reach down and get what there is to give and push whatever buttons need to be pushed to make sure it happens. Cox only knows one way to manage. That is to his and the teams detriment. This team isn’t one of his teams of the 90’s where all he had to do was cheerlead and fill out the lineup. This team needs an intervention and Cox don’t have a clue how to do it!

By Anders Mom

July 18, 2008 7:38 PM | Link to this

Anders, be a good boy and run down to the Gristedes and get me a pack of cigarettes. My bunions are acting up again.

By Greg in TN

July 18, 2008 7:39 PM | Link to this

Evening lads and lasses…

Almost game time at 755 Hank Aaron Drive…

Good to see Carroll piloting the Braves/MIB blog while DOB gets his R&R. The Crusading Everyman has even made a cameo so far. Very cool.

The Braves are toeing the line to run the gauntlet. And this run will determine quite a bit on the season at hand and maybe even seasons to come. The next nine games will say much about what will happen. If the lineup continues to blow their chances with runners in scoring position, Tex will be unpacking his things from another zip code by August 1st.

The market for power hitting outfielders is a thin one for now, and I don’t think the prices are affordable just yet. The boost that a Nady, Bay or another acquisition would give is undeniable. However what the team will do down the stretch, whether this team succeeds or fails will largely depend on the 25 guys in the dugout on the first base side tonight. Time to see if this team can turn it around and let Frank Wren do a little shopping, or if the battle cry is wait until next year and have Frank sell, sell, sell.

By BravesFanInRockies

July 18, 2008 7:44 PM | Link to this

Not that any series is pivotal or anything, but I must say if the Braves can’t sweep a team with Willie Harris, Ryan Langerhans and Paul LoDuca in the lineup, then the playoffs should be the last thing on their minds.

By prattvillenolzfan

July 18, 2008 7:45 PM | Link to this

Typical….

Is anyone on either Charter or CSS having trouble with the picture…

I turned on the TV to CSS, and no picture, just a black screen…

Seems like everytime Braves are on CSS, there’s always some kind of technical difficulty…

By prattvillenolzfan

July 18, 2008 7:45 PM | Link to this

Typical….

Is anyone on either Charter or CSS having trouble with the picture…

I turned on the TV to CSS, and no picture, just a black screen…

Seems like everytime Braves are on CSS, there’s always some kind of technical difficulty…

By prattvillenolzfan

July 18, 2008 7:46 PM | Link to this

Typical….

Is anyone on either Charter or CSS having trouble with the picture…

I turned on the TV to CSS, and no picture, just a black screen…

Seems like everytime Braves are on CSS, there’s always some kind of technical difficulty…

By geauxbraves2000

July 18, 2008 7:49 PM | Link to this

8 pitches, inning over. So far ain’t nothing changed.

Come on team, act like you care - make the pitcher work, get him tired, a tired pitcher tends to hang pitches, then whack ‘em.

Geaux Braves!!

By Anders Mom

July 18, 2008 7:56 PM | Link to this

Son, why do you hang out on this blog all day and all night. There’s nothing but doofuses like prattvillenolzfan who post the same thing three times. Even I don’t do that and I didn’t even graduate from high school.

By Franklin Tower

July 18, 2008 7:59 PM | Link to this

What a lineup for the Nats! Essentially only one guy hitting above .230.

Hudson will never have a better chance at a shut out. Maybe a no hitter.

If the Braves lose THIS game…I shudder to think!

By ijonathan

July 18, 2008 8:00 PM | Link to this

I know the Braves have fielded some pretty bad lineups this year with all the injuries…but gawd this Nationals lineup tonight is about as pathetic as you’re going to see in a major league game.

Way to not come through, Z.

By AJ in Augusta

July 18, 2008 8:01 PM | Link to this

CSS black screen here on Comcast in Augusta. Techie online useless as you know what on a bull.

By I was a teenage Francophile

July 18, 2008 8:01 PM | Link to this

Ah - Jeff got a boo boo.

Don’t cry.

By BravesFanInRockies

July 18, 2008 8:03 PM | Link to this

The Small Bridge is on a roll … (if that makes sense)

By BravesFanInRockies

July 18, 2008 8:05 PM | Link to this

BTW, before Lillibridge doubled, his OPS was higher than Francouer’s.

Smaller sample size I know, but just sayin …

By Will

July 18, 2008 8:06 PM | Link to this

Good lord was that just a clutch two out hit! I almost forgot what those were.

By Anders Mom

July 18, 2008 8:06 PM | Link to this

Son, don’t be upset. But the Braves have scored a couple of runs. I think they might win this game. Please don’t break any more furniture if they do. You know we can’t afford it.

By I was a teenage Francophile

July 18, 2008 8:08 PM | Link to this

Lillibridge is now batting 22 points higher than a certain Frenchy.

By uga-brave

July 18, 2008 8:13 PM | Link to this

lillibridge remind anyone else of blauser?

By AJ in Augusta

July 18, 2008 8:13 PM | Link to this

All Comcast bloggers…having trouble with getting the game tonight on CSS?

Comment to a Sr V.P who has the cajones to post an “Ask Rick” comment box on the Comcast site… blast away…

http://www.comcast.com/Corporate/Customers/contactus/ContactUs.html

By Carroll Rogers

July 18, 2008 8:18 PM | Link to this

Straight from the press release…..(hey, it gets the point across)

John Smoltz on Braves Live this Sunday, July 20 at 1:00 p.m. ET on SportSouth

SportSouth announced today that Atlanta Braves standout pitcher and Cy Young Award winner John Smoltz will join the SportSouth broadcast team as an analyst for Braves LIVE. Smoltz will join Braves LIVE host Jerome Jurenovich for expanded game coverage during the Sunday Braves game telecast.

Braves Live pre-game coverage begins at 1 p.m. ET on SportSouth and will be hosted by Jerome Jurenovich and Ron Gant with analyst John Smoltz. The Atlanta Braves will be telecast live and in high-definition against the Washington Nationals at 1:30 p.m. ET on SportSouth.

By McFann ;Ô;

July 18, 2008 8:18 PM | Link to this

Way to watch the runner, Timmy! Eeerrrgg!!

I did not like the way Francoeur flipped his bat after getting hit. Golly, man! Grow up a little…

By GT

July 18, 2008 8:23 PM | Link to this

DOB – I take exception to your 1145 post. You conclude that those fans who want to look toward the future should be hoping the Braves continue to lose, as if to question the loyalty of certain fans should they happen to hold a different outlook on the events of this season. And you imply as a justification for such “hope” an impetus for Wren to choose one set of decisions over another.

As a Braves fan, I always want to see them win no matter what the situation. As a fan who has remained skeptical for some time of the Braves’ chances of success this year, I would have hoped Wren & Co. would have been able to recognize the Braves’ massive shortcomings by now, including his own. As a fan who demands excellence from every level of this organization, I don’t want to have to watch another series sweep before Wren realizes there is nothing he can do that will propel this team to the postseason this year. And I certainly hope it doesn’t take another week of “waiting for things to start clicking” to forego whatever potential options might exist today. In other words, I would hate for Wren to pass up a waiting deal (if there is one) because he’s standing by to see if the Braves start a winning streak in what is becoming more meaningless a season every day.

DOB, I have warmed to your style of prose over the last 2-3 years and believe you generally do a decent job balancing the Braves’ official explanations of particular events with an honest assessment. But if you’re seriously questioning the loyalties of such fans, I would question your objectivity as a reporter.

Don’t mislabel skepticism as “unpatriotic”. We’ve had enough of that from the White House the last 8 years.

By Anders Mom

July 18, 2008 8:25 PM | Link to this

Son, are you listening to me. Listen to your mother!

By Carroll Rogers

July 18, 2008 8:28 PM | Link to this

sorry mcfann, he took third on the throw….but what a double it was

By McFann ;Ô;

July 18, 2008 8:28 PM | Link to this

TRIPLLLLLLE!!!!!!!!! .297!!!!

I knew I should’ve added another triple to my Projections!!

BRVAES ON TOP!!!!!!!!

By geauxbraves2000

July 18, 2008 8:28 PM | Link to this

How about those wheels McFann!

WTG McCann!!

Geaux Braves!!

By keylargo

July 18, 2008 8:30 PM | Link to this

I think we should entertain offers for ………………….Francoeur.

By geauxbraves2000

July 18, 2008 8:31 PM | Link to this

And then comes Francouer who proceeds to suck all of the joy out.

How about another WTG McCann!!

Geaux Braves!!

By Greg in TN

July 18, 2008 8:32 PM | Link to this

Nice to see Lil’Bridge and BMac with RBI hits tonight, and a nice slide into third tonight.

And now a two-out RBI hit from Mark Kotsay.

By ArkyTech

July 18, 2008 8:33 PM | Link to this

Let’s play “Which doesn’t belong and why?” with the Braves lineup…..

By McFann ;Ô;

July 18, 2008 8:35 PM | Link to this

What?? That’s not fair! Give the man the benefit of the doubt! Hmph…

Oh well, at least he got another double and three more RBI.

BTW—I meant his AVG with RISP is .298.

By ijonathan

July 18, 2008 8:36 PM | Link to this

Let’s see…man on 3rd, one out, and Frenchy swings through a 90 mph belt high fastball for strike three.

Meet the new Frenchy, same as the old Frenchy.

By keylargo

July 18, 2008 8:40 PM | Link to this

Johnny Estrada is not hitting his weight - that’s for sure.

Think we have an outfielder for Paul Lo Duca? Anderson maybe?

By Peachtree TV Stinks

July 18, 2008 8:52 PM | Link to this

You would think that since Peachtree TV is a subsidary of TBS, those guys would have it figured out as to how to get their signal to the Comcast/Charter group that purchased the rights to their broadcasts.

The reason I’m saying it’s Peachtrees fault is because the game isn’t going to any of the Comcast/Charter system. I have feared that the Peachtree feeds were going to be screwed from day one.

I hope Comcast/Charter withholds some of the cash they are giving Peachtree for this fiasco. Hit ‘em in the pocketbook and maybe they will get their ducks in a row!

By BossLady

July 18, 2008 8:53 PM | Link to this

Alright, McFann, we are gonna call it a triple anyway. He could have pulled up at second but he continued. For a catcher to run it out is fantastic.

Otherwise, I don’t care if Soriano, Hampton or Glavine comes back. Our rotation has been good.

Kudos to Smoltz on Sunday and I wish him success.

By ijonathan

July 18, 2008 8:53 PM | Link to this

Boy, Nats could be renamed the Washington Braves Castoffs or Retreads:

Estrada Langerhans Harris Orr

I don’t miss any of them.

By AJ in Augusta

July 18, 2008 8:58 PM | Link to this

Cubs/Astros scoreless in the 4th…. sure wish I could watch a Braves game tonight! Thanks Comcast! Idiots.

By McFann ;Ô;

July 18, 2008 8:59 PM | Link to this

BossLady He could have pulled up at second but he continued. For a catcher to run it out is fantastic.

You are sooo right! You might say it was fanntastic…”Tremendous” as Chipper would say.

Two triples for 3BMac!!

By Interested Observer

July 18, 2008 9:00 PM | Link to this

I’m watching Don Sutton on the Nationals broadcast. He was talking about the strange lighting at Turner field, noting that they didn’t want to put lights in leftfield that would block the view of downtown. Then he added, “but apparently cows are ok.”

By Will

July 18, 2008 9:05 PM | Link to this

I still dont understand what Jeff Fran supposedly accomplished in the minors. He is still clueless at the plate. He has got to bat 8th in this lineup, but we wouldnt wanna hurt jeffy’s feelings again.

By Shamus Thacker

July 18, 2008 9:11 PM | Link to this

The Horror… The Horror…

Thank Gawd you’re back Carroll! I came here earlier and Mark Bradley had seemingly orchestrated a coup. It was a nightmare, a short but horrifying living Hell. Ha Ha Ha, I knew it was either a flashback or a terrible, terrible dream.

By prattvillenolzfan

July 18, 2008 9:21 PM | Link to this

AJ in Augusta

It must be the CSS feed, not comcast.

I have Charter in central alabama and my screen is also blacked out…

I turned it to the CSS-HD channel, and I can at least get the sound…Don’t know if that’s good, I’m having to listen to Chip………………..

By Carroll Rogers

July 18, 2008 9:24 PM | Link to this

mere technical glitch, mr. thacker. but thanks for coming back over here.

mets are losing 5-2 in the eighth. alert the media. …oh wait.

By geauxbraves2000

July 18, 2008 9:24 PM | Link to this

Mr Hyde apparently is pitching tonight, thankfully the offense is allowing him to.

Geaux Braves!!

By Jeff321

July 18, 2008 9:36 PM | Link to this

Yeah, Mr. Hyde pitched 6.2 innings while giving up 9 hits and 5 runs. Normally the Braves would be losing this game. But, they’ve had some clutch 2 out hits tonight.

By Don

July 18, 2008 9:37 PM | Link to this

Why does it seem like Hudson pitches to the level of his offense. offense doesn’t score, he pitches great. Offense scores, he pitches terrible.

By keylargo

July 18, 2008 9:41 PM | Link to this

muts lose.

By don

July 18, 2008 9:46 PM | Link to this

I’m glad JF cleared his mind on that trip to the minors. How bad would it be if he hadn’t. To quote an old little league coach, JF is a Hitless Wonder.

By McFann ;Ô;

July 18, 2008 9:47 PM | Link to this

Oh yes! The Mets lost! Goodness and justice triumph…

Anyway, too bad the Braves didn’t cash in and start a rally when Tex walked. Seems they cann use all the runs they cann get. Got to be a close game against the Nats.

But, can’t argue with 3BMac’s 1-4, since that “1” was a triple that gave the Braves 3 runs.

Boyer’s looking fine so far, but I better keep my mouth shut!

By keylargo

July 18, 2008 9:54 PM | Link to this

Phillies over Marlins 4 - 2 bottom of ninth.

By Will

July 18, 2008 10:03 PM | Link to this

I kinda feel sorry for Frenchy cause i dont dispute that he is a major league player, but he is just not that good. His buddy Brian Mccann is gonna outshine him badly in the majors. I have always liked frenchy since he came up, but i just can hardly stand to watch him hit any longer.

By Robert S

July 18, 2008 10:06 PM | Link to this

Do the Braves want to win this game? Two on with one out in the ninth for the Nats. Sheesh…..

By geauxbraves2000

July 18, 2008 10:10 PM | Link to this

Way to pick Huddy up offense, like Jeff321 said normally the Braves would be losing this game, but they finally got some clutch hits.

Big win tonight, hopefully the start of at least a 10 game winning streak!!

Geaux Braves!!

By Robert S

July 18, 2008 10:12 PM | Link to this

You could hear the dread in Pete Van Weiren’s voice as Kearns’ drive left his bat, but Frenchy was there. Scraping by, but a win is a win……….Gonzo sure looked rusty, though.

By McFann ;Ô;

July 18, 2008 10:12 PM | Link to this

BREAKING NEWS:__Brave Win a One Run Game!! Closer Mike Gonzalez made it a little scary in the ninth, but the Braves hang on to win the game 7-6.

By Robin

July 18, 2008 10:14 PM | Link to this

Alright!

We’re 41-12 when we score 4+ runs. I’ll say we’re off to a good 2nd half start. NO LETTING UP!

By Robert S

July 18, 2008 10:16 PM | Link to this

Interested Observer, I miss Don Sutton. He wasn’t the smoothest play-by-play guy, but he was primo as an analyst. I loved that quote of his you provided. Sitting next to Skip Caray in the booth for years sure rubbed off on his wit!

By brian

July 18, 2008 10:18 PM | Link to this

I hope that Frenchy takes a long look at Austin Kearns - his once hot prospect status and his career turns. If Frenchy doesn’t turn this around this could be his career path as well.

Good game for the Braves - nice to start for the win. Was not perfect but was a W. Lets build on it and win again tomorrow.

By Will

July 18, 2008 10:20 PM | Link to this

I am a die hard braves fan, but i find it almost borderline ridiculous for people to act like “what a great 2nd half start!” Sure the Braves won and i will take it, but they played one of the worst teams in the NL, our ace gave up 5 runs to a p** poor lineup, and to top it off they tried their absolute best to blow this game. I just cant take this anymore if beating the Nationals is this exciting.

By Robert S

July 18, 2008 10:22 PM | Link to this

“We’re 41-12 when we score 4+ runs.”

Wow Robin, I didn’t know the record was that good, but it underscores the need for getting those clutch hits like tonight. Just pray the pitching staff stays effective, and there’s a shot……..

By Mike S

July 18, 2008 10:34 PM | Link to this

A 1-run win…YES!!

Great way to start the second half. Let’s keep it going.

By Anders Mom

July 18, 2008 10:35 PM | Link to this

Well son, I’m going down to the corner bar now, maybe some nice man will buy me a drink.

I know you’re depressed about the Mets’ loss and the Brave’s win but things will be better soon.

‘Night sonny poo.

By SR

July 18, 2008 10:43 PM | Link to this

You nailed it Will

Big friggin deal, they hold on to beat the Nats, who by the way are the only reason this bunch isn’t in last place.

By Lou Vales

July 18, 2008 11:13 PM | Link to this

Mike Hampton Is DISCOURAGED. Michael, I———-including good citizens of Atlanta and those across the great United States who value the old adage “An honest day’s pay for an honest day’s work”——— and many others, would have to be more versed in English language than William F. Buckley and William Safire to come up with the appropriate words to describe your time in Atlanta.

I’m going out on an extreme limb here and am going to say the words used to desribe you would transcend “discouraged”. Even Bobby Cox, a kindly geriatric, with nary a bad word to say about anybody seemed to be at his wit’s end when trying to describe his reaction to your latest calamity.

Michael, When you lose Bobby, it’s kind of like when Lyndon Johnson lost Walter Cronkite’s support of the Vietnam War. Michael, That was Game Set Match for Lyndon. By the way for your edification a “game” is a competition between two teams or individuals. So when you lose Bobby and you play(Well you don’t really play) for him——You have hit the nadir, and i don’t mean Ralph.

By Wayne reporting in from Myrtle Beach

July 18, 2008 11:36 PM | Link to this

Thought I would check in one last time from the famous Pirateland Campground, in beautiful Myrtle Beach, SC. A little rain today folks, but not too much. Hoping for some sun in the morning so we can get some beach time in before heading back toward the upstate. (for those of you who are not on vacation this week, sorry)

Listened to most of the Braves game on MLB audio tonight, and I thought I could hear McFann yelling from here when McCann hit his “triple” tonight!! Who says we don’t have speed in this lineup?

Very good to see Lillibridge coming around with the bat.

Someone earlier was talking about what JF learned at Mississippi. Obviously, it was nothing. If Escobar comes back in a few days, I would say the Braves should send Jeff back down and let either Lillibridge and/or Schafer give it a go in the outfield. Unless, of course, we are close to getting somebody like Nady or Winn in a trade.

Personally, I still like the buy AND sell strategy that has been bandied about recently. But, I think that the Dodgers would be fools to trade Loney or Kemp for 2 months of Tex, much less both of them. And, the Dodgers don’t need pitching. It would take someone like Lillibridge to get them to bite for Tex (and then, maybe we could get Loney or Kemp, but for sure not both.

Whaddya think?

By Carroll Rogers

July 18, 2008 11:37 PM | Link to this

not a bad point you make, Will. the time to get excited would be after a sweep of the nats…but then again, i can’t blame the denizens for some good cheer. Braves have lost that game tonight many times over in the first half - didn’t really matter who they were playing.

tomorrow is lannan who’s been pitching well but gotten no run support. braves creamed him once and got shutout by him once. we shall see.

By Lou Vales

July 18, 2008 11:57 PM | Link to this

Carroll, Always consider your readers. Would you like to reconsider the utilization of “denizens” in a Braves Blog??

By Chop Chop

July 19, 2008 12:30 AM | Link to this

Gonzo is due to blow a save.

I’m glad he didn’t do it tonight, but he’s way overdue.

It’s always nice to beat a bad team. It gives you some confidence. Makes you feel like you can beat anybody. The problem comes when you face a team that doesn’t bend over and take it like the Nats (or Padres).

I saw Orr, Langerhans, and Willie Harris on the field tonight. If that’s what they’re going to run out there, the Braves ought to win 4 out of 3 in this series.

By uga-brave

July 19, 2008 12:52 AM | Link to this

kc,

are we back in it?

we still have a RF that has a .650 .ops.

but no way could all those one run losses be his fault.

he is the worst offensive RF in the BIG’S.

but he sells jerseys.

so if he slips below .230, whose fault will it be?

one extra base hit since he has been back.

and no walks in 36 at bats. but he figured it out, right?

By SaltyDawg

July 19, 2008 12:59 AM | Link to this

It’s always nice to beat a bad team. It gives you some confidence. Makes you feel like you can beat anybody. The problem comes when you face a team that doesn’t bend over and take it like the Nats (or Padres).

Say what you will about the Nationals’ offense, but they don’t often give up a bunch of runs and Redding would have a much better record if he was on a team that could score some runs. I see it as a good sign that the Braves took them too the woodshed tonight. I have to admit that it concerns me that such a weak hitting team got to Huddy so often, but aside from that the bats look good. And who would would have thought a week ago that we would be talking about how great Smallbridge is hitting? Could the lil’ fella be the spark plug that gets our offense going in the 2nd half?

By uga-brave

July 19, 2008 1:10 AM | Link to this

STIEN, lean into one.

from the BAD NEW BEARS.

well that is frenchy’s best weapon.

jeff keep leaning into them. getting hit by the pitch is your best offensive weapon.

By Chop Chop

July 19, 2008 1:24 AM | Link to this

The Nationals have the 11th best ERA (4.40) in the NL. It ain’t that impressive. They’re just consistent at home and on the road. No big split between the two.

Anyway, if the Braves took the Nationals out behind the woodshed tonight, the Nationals took the Braves out beside it.

I do think Lillibridge is a good player. He’s been good (up until this season) in the minors, so he’s always had the potential. I’d give him some time in CF in the second half and see if he can handle it. If he plays well there, the Braves might have their full-time CF next year. He has some pop in his bat and is a very good base-stealer. Bobby looks like he’s going to let them run in the second half, so Lillibridge could be a nice part of that.

By BravesFan79

July 19, 2008 1:40 AM | Link to this

By BA 3:42 PM In alternate universe, somebody is saying this on the award-winning DOB blog: “Keeping Pena over Corky has been a huge mistake. I mean, Corky was no great hitter, but at least we weren’t losing games on passed balls…”

Wow i hate to call you retarted for your view point but how dumb can you be!? Corky is mediocure AT BEST on defense…it sure as heck isnt good enough to make up for the fact he hits worse than a pitcher!
Meanwhile Pena last time i checked was hitting .317 for his new team.

AND throw in the fact that after that terrible move Escobar went into a slump like i predicted….and the Braves went from 5 games over .500 to 5 games below within weeks.

Escobar seemed depressed and lathargic after the move…. something any true sports fan could see coming a million miles away when you trade a guys best friend (not to mention the only guy he probably hung out with on the road, and that spoke his language!)

Bobbys roster moves have KILLED the Braves the past few years. We NEVER would of fallen back to .500 in the first half of last season if a lifetime .180 hitter in Woodcrap (my most hated Brave ever) had not made the team OVER a .350 hitting Escobar!
In fact i said it would come back to haunt us when we started out hot last year, despite alot of replys on this very blog that it was the right move… that we needed “experience”
WELL…. it cost us the SEASON last year!

Anyone else remember all the games we basicially had 5 pitchers in the lineup last year when chipper got hurt! (Orr, WOodCrap, Thorman, Andrew, pitcher)
And WHEN did we happen to fall from 10 games over….to back to .500??

I was right last year, and im right this year, no doubt in my mind!

By SaltyDawg

July 19, 2008 1:41 AM | Link to this

The Nationals have the 11th best ERA (4.40) in the NL. It ain’t that impressive. They’re just consistent at home and on the road. No big split between the two.

I am definitely not saying that this game is anything to write home about. But a week ago this is a game they would have lost. Last two games out the Braves have hit the ball well (well, most of them). If this outing from Huddy turns out to be an anomaly and the bats continue to work we might have more W’s headed our way. The pitching has been there for the most part so far this season. What I really like is that they have scored 23 runs in their last 3 games and only 2 of them came via the long ball. Could this be a change in the long standing homerun-or-nothing philosophy?

By Dave

July 19, 2008 1:46 AM | Link to this

Carroll, Im a season ticket holder in the upperdeck and wont ever give up on the Braves! Was that you that nearly got drilled in the press box tonight by the foul ball in the 8th inning? I hope your ok and able to keep cranking out awesome blogs and updates on the team when we need them? Thanks!!!

By JB

July 19, 2008 2:01 AM | Link to this

So now that the Braves won and the Mets lost will Anders disappear again?

By SaltyDawg

July 19, 2008 2:11 AM | Link to this

Escobar seemed depressed and lathargic after the move…. something any true sports fan could see coming a million miles away when you trade a guys best friend (not to mention the only guy he probably hung out with on the road, and that spoke his language!)

So by your logic, Bobby is justified for keeping Frenchy on the roster because he and Mac are best friends. I’m not saying they should have traded Pena or that they should trade/demote Frenchy. But you can’t let player friendships dictate who stays on the roster.

Speaking of the catcher spot, anybody heard anything about Tyler Flowers lately? I remember he was crushing the ball in batting practice during spring training. I figured he’d be in AAA, but I don’t see him on the roster. If I remember correctly he also played first base.

By geauxbraves2000

July 19, 2008 2:28 AM | Link to this

A win is a win no matter who you beat. The Braves were 3-5 against the Nats before the night began, including being outscored 15-5 the last 3x they’ve played, so they have been a nemesis.

A confident team is a winning team. If they’d lost this game, the confidence level would probably be at an all time low.

They had clutch hits, the pen was impressive, (even with Gonzo getting into trouble, isn’t that what a closer does :) ?) So, maybe it was a win against a last place team, but it sure beats a loss.

Anyhow, time for bed, have to play the role of part time DJ in a few hours.

Nite all.

Geaux Braves!!

By Chop Chop

July 19, 2008 2:33 AM | Link to this

SaltyDawg,

You might want to bookmark this Baseball America link to the Atlanta Braves’ team page:

Atlanta Braves team page

It has all the stats from the big league club on down to rookie ball.

Tyler Flowers is in High-A Myrtle Beach and is starting to put together a nice season. He’s at .277, 11 HR, 59 RBI, .417 OBP (69 Ks, 69 BBs).

Anyway, night owl time is over. Hope the link is useful, dude.

By The Goche

July 19, 2008 2:43 AM | Link to this

lou vales

Even Bobby Cox, a kindly geriatric, with nary a bad word to say about anybody seemed to be at his wit’s end when trying to describe his reaction to your latest calamity.

*Michael, When you lose Bobby, it’s kind of like when Lyndon Johnson lost Walter Cronkite’s support of the Vietnam War. *

He didn’t lose Bobby, you dope. Bobby just doesn’t understand this, no one understands it. Mike Hampton does not understand this.

But unlike you, some of us do not, when we encounter something we don’t understand, assume we are being lied to or cheated.

Let the Braves worry about whether they are being cheated. Do they wish that this money was bringing some return? Certainly. Do they blame Mike Hampton for this sad situation? I think not.

Basically, so far the only people who blame Hampton for this are whiny bloggers (as in bloggers like yourself, which is not to say all bloggers are whiny). Thank God Wren and Associates have people like you to look out for their investments.

Or is it, that you somehow think that their investment is somehow your own?

Of course! You bought a ticket once, or maybe once a week, or maybe even a season ticket. That’s your money Mike is spending on the yacht you assume he’s sailing the world in.

You are entitled to something, you bought a ticket. Not only that, you worked all day to pay for it. Maybe even an “honest” day’s work. And that Hampton, he owes you something. How can he actually be working that hard? This guy has a job he enjoys and makes more money than us doing it, what a jerk! The very least he could do is stay healthy (and of course pitch well, because the only thing that shows a deficiency of character more than getting injured is playing badly— see Francoeur, Jeff).

Call the Better Business Bureau! Or the Better Baseball Bureau! Lou Vales is being ripped off!

Well guess what Lou, no one owes you anything. Everyone else in the world works hard, many of them much harder than you or me, for much less.

You payed 5 bucks or maybe 50 bucks to see a ball game. Maybe shelled out $25 for a Braves hat, or even $200 for an authentic jersey. Maybe we won, or maybe we lost. And maybe the next day JS traded away your favorite player to get Mike Hampton (oh to have Tim Spooneybarger back!).

But guess what, you got what you paid for, you saw a game and you even get to keep that hat!. If the product isn’t up to your liking, don’t buy anymore tickets. Stick the hat in the closet. (If you live in Atlanta, you can watch them on basic cable! What a deal! You can even pretend you don’t like them when they lose. No one will know!)

You can root for this team or not, but they don’t owe you anything. They may be good or bad, you may even be loyal in the rough years. But they don’t owe you anything and you don’t owe them.

And Hampton doesn’t owe you either. He has only a moral obligation to give the Braves one thing: his complete effort.

He’s working his butt off, and the only thing he wants is a chance to actually give the Braves what they were hoping for when they paid him, some wins.

But he hasn’t been able to do that. The one thing he devoted his life to. (Other than being a millionaire of course. If he had any character he would have played for free, and worked a real job on the side).

But hey, he’s got that money, what does he need baseball for?

He can just sit back and collect that check. If only we could be so lucky, am I right! I’d never go to work again.

But guess what, this dude goes to work every day. He never even gets to do the part of the job he loves. Even with all that money he keeps working, and he’s even discouraged because he can’t come out and pitch a ball game for you to watch on TV.

Sounds like character to me.

Myself, I tend to root for guys like that. He’s even like me a little bit. I always wished I could play in the pros, and that’s all he is wishing for right now.

So what if he makes it back? Maybe even he helps this team to win some games, maybe even make the playoffs, or maybe even the World Series.

I’m sure we’ll see Lou Vales pull his hat out of the closet and tell those Boston and NY fans how he believed all along. Maybe post up on a blog about how he remembers the bad times.

But if that doesn’t happen, I’m sure Mike Hampton will be much more discouraged for himself than for Lou Vales. And you know what? I think he’s earned that right.

By The Goche

July 19, 2008 3:07 AM | Link to this

Anyone see this Baldelli article on ESPN?

It bears a pretty striking resemblance to this article about a certain discouraged pitcher.

So what if last spring we traded Hampton straight up for Baldelli? I’m sure when Hampton’s elbow went bad everyone would have praised ole Schuerholz for such an astute move. That Hampton was a drain on this team. I’d bet $14,000,000 he never pitches again!

But strangely young Mr. Baldelli finds himself hurt again. I’m sure no one would have jumped all over him, right? This guy’s no better than Hampton.

It’s a good thing too. Because we all would have felt terrible when we found out that poor Rocco has some messed up mitochondria. I’m sure that would have convinced us that the character of the kid was not the site of his deficiency.

“Are you happy?” we’d ask the doubters. “The kid has a serious health problem. It will affect his whole life. Are you still mad he missed a few ball games?”

Well guess what, folks? There is something wrong with Hampton’s body too. And maybe it doesn’t have a name. Maybe all it means is he’ll never pitch again.

But what if tomorrow they find out he has some degenerative muscle disease? Would you be satisfied in his effort then?

Tough break Mike. Your body may waste away, but at least you’ve got your character!

What’s the difference? Does it take a serious disease for you to feel sorry for a guy?

By BA

July 19, 2008 3:51 AM | Link to this

I hate to think you wasted your superb post on a distraught elderly retard like Lou Vales, Goche. But I’m afraid you have. Vales is some lonely pathetic ancient fool that lives in Florida and roots for the bottom feeding Marlins. As consistently irrelevant and uninformed as his posts are, the fact that he posts here at all further exposes his utter lack of any ability to comunnicate a lucid thought. The question I have is, how did he live to be so old if he’s really this stupid?

By BA

July 19, 2008 4:17 AM | Link to this

Hey Bravesfan79, can you confidently refer to me as a retard when you spell a simple word like mediocre like “mediocure”? First of all, Cox doesn’t make the roster moves, he’s not the GM. Second of all, Pena is hitting .304, not .317. AT AAA OMAHA! He can’t even etch out a spot on the freakin’ Kansas City Royals roster, and for him to be at AAA, he had to clear waivers, which means not ONE other MLB team wanted the guy. Third of all, Miller has exactly NO errors this year. Is that your definition of a “mediocure” defensive catcher? He has only FOUR errors in eight major league seasons.

And fourth of all, Escobar is hitting .286, much of that without your beloved Pena by his side. Any of Escobar’s struggles can surely be linked to his injuries, not your moronic Pena theory. Now think long and hard the next time you call someone a retard, because they might just hand you your azz. And be glad you didn’t go after one of the big boys in here, or this response might have been uglier.

By Bill

July 19, 2008 6:03 AM | Link to this

Let’s not get carried away, it’s the Nat’s they are playing. To have a chance they have got to sweep. Still 6 1/2 out. These next 7-10 day’s are critical. We need to get on a 10 game winning streak. I don’t like to be negative but it’s looking bleak. I think the Phillies are going to pick it up. I don’t think the Met’s will make it. They are like the Braves, to many injuries.

By C.P.

July 19, 2008 7:38 AM | Link to this

I cannot believe this bum is still on the team. I thought after the end of last season I’d never see him again. I was FLOORED when the media started talking about him in spring training and in a state of complete and total shock when he made the team.

Now it’s after the all-star break, and NOTHING Corky has done on offense or defense justifies him still being around. Corky Miller is hitting worse than some of the Braves’ pitchers. It’s just mind-boggling to me that he is somehow still on this team. What incriminating photographs of Frank Wren does he have? How else can one explain this team’s strange fascination with Corky and insistence on keeping his worthless carcass around?

Between letting Corky make the team in the first place, actaully releasing Brayan Pena to give Corky a spot and STILL letting Corky take a roster spot to this very day, I have come to the sad conclusion that the Atlanta Braves front office is staffed by idiots. Sorry.

By Greg

July 19, 2008 8:45 AM | Link to this

Two comments:

That was atrocious! Six runs. Our best pitcher gets lit up by the Nats.

We had to score seven runs to beat the Nats!

There is no reason to celebrate here. Any other team in the league would have destroyed us last night. Hudson was throwing batting practice to those guys. Boyer was his usual ineffective self. And Gonzalez came within inches of blowing a save.

The pitching has to improve. There is no way we will score seven runs a game against good teams.

Point Two:

Has anybody ever sat down and explained to Mike Hampton that maybe he is too fit and too strong for a freaking pitcher?

Maybe that’s why he gets hurt all the time. Some of the best pitchers have a little bit of flab. Maybe if his muscles were not so strained from all that weight lifting and cardio, they wouldn’t tear every time he fields a ground ball.

Maybe Mike Hampton should rehab by watching TV, eating Cheetos, and drinking beer. What he’s doing now ain’t working.

By Lew

July 19, 2008 9:09 AM | Link to this

Goche-Wish more had the sense to feel like you do with your 2:43 post.

I swear I just don’t understand how anyone can sit and gripe (not you Goche) about a win. Who cares how they won? It will go down in the W column and there is no explanation column telling how you got there.

It was a less than beautiful win. It was not Hudson’s best performance. It was not Gonzo’s best performance. WHO CARES? We won. What is it about that people can’t understand? I swear y’all b!tch just as much about wins as losses. That really says something-but certainly not about the Braves. Maybe the ZEN soothsayer needs to post some esoteric sayings about And Idiot fans. Not that they would understand.

By McFann ;Ô;

July 19, 2008 9:10 AM | Link to this

Wayne I thought I could hear McFann yelling from here when McCann hit his “triple” tonight!!

Wouldn’t be surprised! I was really sreamin’! (Think I ate too much Flava-Puff when the game first started…made me even more hyper than I already was…)

That woulda been a good game to go to. I almost kept score, but I decided not to.

Later!!

By McFann ;Ô;

July 19, 2008 9:13 AM | Link to this

BTW—The AJC has some good photos from the game!

By Lew

July 19, 2008 9:17 AM | Link to this

Greg-Boyer was his usual ineffective self? Excuse me, but did you watch the same game I did? The Dude pitched to four batters, got four outs, didn’t give up a hit, didn’t walk a batter. What’s your problem? That he only struck out one instead of four batters?

By raindawg722

July 19, 2008 9:39 AM | Link to this

Uga-brave, as I was watching the game last night I was thinking that Lillibridge looked like Blauser. He’s got a little pop in that bat too just like Blauser. That double he hit might have cleared the wall at the launching pad. If he keeps hitting like that the Braves need to find a way to get him some at bats when Escobar comes back.

Bobby needs to come up with a better nickname for him, though. It sounds like he’s calling him Lil’. How about Bridge.

By Greg

July 19, 2008 9:51 AM | Link to this

Lew:

I admit I made a mistake on Boyer. Too early in the morning to post, or I got confused by the neverending parade of Nats’ runners last night. My apologies to Mr. Boyer.

But my concern remains the same. A Triple-A team lit our pitching last night in our own park.

By Lew

July 19, 2008 10:41 AM | Link to this

And Yet we still won the game.

By salty dawg

July 19, 2008 10:51 AM | Link to this

Chop Chop

Thanks for the link. Good stuff.

By SoWeGa Fanatic

July 19, 2008 11:03 AM | Link to this

There are some truly ignorant people on this blog. We won, but I’m worried about… With problems like this every game, we win the WS.

By ZEN Soothsayer

July 19, 2008 11:31 AM | Link to this

Stupid is as stupid does.

By Braveheart

July 19, 2008 11:33 AM | Link to this

That was atrocious! Six runs. Our best pitcher gets lit up by the Nats.

Hudson hardly got lit up. He wasn’t sharp but he had a quality start through six. He had a pretty big lead and pitched like he had one by throwing strikes. He didn’t have his best stuff but, oh well, they won. A pitcher who doesn’t give up any homers can hardly be said to have had his t!ts lit. I swear some of you have never pitched a game past the age of 10.

We had to score seven runs to beat the Nats!

Oh, heavens no! How could we let this happen? It’s like Louisiana Monroe scoring 25 points in a game against a BCS conference school. Take the defensive coordinator out back and blow his brains out. Oh, what’s that? This is baseball? Sometimes you have to score 7 even with your best pitcher hurling to beat a vastly inferior team? That I did not know.

By TexasBrave

July 19, 2008 11:35 AM | Link to this

I agree a win is a win, but don’t you have to worry a little about Timmy being lit up last night against a team with only one batter hitting over 235 and one he has dominated in the past?

As for the offense it was good to see some two out hits against some decent pitching and a lot of runs with out the benifit of a home run.

Another concern is Frenchy. How long do we wait until we hurt his feelings again and send him back to the minors? At the very least he needs to be hitting towards the bottom of the lineup. With a lefty throwing tonight against us it will be interesting to see if Bobby bats him fifth. No way that should happen with French in his current state.

By Kelley

July 19, 2008 11:48 AM | Link to this

Still amazed that people don’t appreciate Bobby. It makes me laugh to hear people say things like “he needs to be tougher on them, he needs to get them fired up before the game”, like all of you know what goes on in the clubhouse before and after each game, funny.

Still waiting for Huddy to take the “ace” role on this club. Yes, he won against the Nationals, but he still is not pitching like our ace. He eats up too much of the payroll to not be assuming the ace role.

Personally, I’m not giving up on my boys. They have to play exceptionally well in their division.

Who is this Mike Hampton that you all speak of???

By Savannah Guy

July 19, 2008 11:54 AM | Link to this

Carroll, nice lead as always… sorry you’re having to endure idiotic emails from people that can’t control their own emotions. It amounts to an invasion of your privacy and a waste of your time.

Besides, the blog forum is the typical venue for those ranting fools that have the sad and mistaken sense that their own twisted view of the world and baseball needs to be expressed in public… as though their posits would add a shred of information, insight, humor or unique perspective to anything other than provide a sad commentary on the socially inept and demonstrate the rude behavior of some sports ‘fans’.

Guess it’s a typical New Yawk thing. On the bright side… we are not there and we are not them.

By SaltyDawg

July 19, 2008 12:01 PM | Link to this

Wouldn’t it be terrible if we won say 20 of the next 25 with our starters getting hit a little bit and the offense having to put up 7 runs to get the win. I hope it doesn’t come to that, because if they don’t win by 5 or 6 runs it doesn’t count.

By Carroll Rogers

July 19, 2008 12:13 PM | Link to this

Dave,

Yes that was me almost getting creamed by a foul ball. It was in the ninth inning and I had my head in the computer clicking away with things getting really shaky there for a few. My story was about to blow up, and little did I know my computer was about to blow up! I didn’t hear any of the heads-up from my press box colleagues, and apparently there were a couple. The ball bounced off the ledge just inches in front of my computer. Almost rather it hit me!

But I survived. Just a little embarrassing. Nice to be so alert! Thanks for noticing and for not laughing at me (at least not on the blog).

By McFann ;Ô;

July 19, 2008 12:13 PM | Link to this

Man, I get sick of people saying there’s “no reason to celebrate” when the Braves win like this! OK, would you rather they lose?

Seriously, the Braves cann take all the wins they cann get, any way they cann get them. If it means scoring seven because they’re ace gives up six, well, fine. That’s what they’re s’posed to do!

We have a right to celebrate because the Braves did everything they were supposed to do last night. When your ace is giving up runs, you have to score more than you do when he’s pitching a shutout. It’s real simple.

The Braves record against the Nationals before last night’s game was 3-5. 3-5! I’d say there’s plenty of reason to celebrate here.

Wayne—

Hope you had a nice vacation! Have a safe trip home! I agree that Francoeur should be sent back down if Escobar comes back (or is he not on the DL? If not, well then when Infante comes back, ship Frenchy back to Mississippi). But oh no! That might hurt his feelings again! Sheesh…

Still don’t like the way he threw his bat and acted all mad after he got plunked last night. He should’ve just been happy he got on base!

By woogidy

July 19, 2008 12:14 PM | Link to this

Anyone notice Anthony Lerew started for Richmond last night? He went 1 2/3 innings on what I’m sure was a pitch count situation. No runs 2 hits a walk and a strikeout, 33 pitches. Could he be Morton’s replacement in the rotation when he gets healthy?

By McFann ;Ô;

July 19, 2008 12:15 PM | Link to this

SaltyDawg—

Oh yeah! That would be just terrible!

Funny post, dude!

By McFann ;Ô;

July 19, 2008 12:22 PM | Link to this

Great line from Not wRight after the Mets lost last night:

“As much as I would have liked to win every game in the second half, it probably wasn’t possible,” David Wright said. He suggested launching another 10-game streak on Saturday as a means of returning to the top.

By Lou Vales

July 19, 2008 12:23 PM | Link to this

Dear The Goche, Nice Post!! Ask yourself ONE thing, if Hampton SOMEHOW came back this year and managed to go 5-4 with an era of 4.78 and threw well in his last start what do you think—REALLY— he would say to the Braves?? (1) You guys have been really supportive I’m going to take that into account and give you a deep hometown discount based upon the millions I’ve received for not performing.

OR

(2) I’m really going to have to test the market. I’m near the end of my career and deserve the right for that last good deal.

Goche, Now if his answer was #1 that would be one thing, BUT if his answer was #2 would EVEN that change your image?? And if not, ask yourself Why Not??

And are you really sure—because I’m not—that if he retires right now that he gets the money anyhow and that is why he is demonstrating great toughness in fighting on OR if he retires does the deal terminate with no farther payout???

Ba Ba BA, I agree with you I do pull for a fanless, stadiumless, moneyless and basically ownerless team, but people of your ilk can’t see the beauty of a team with all those deficits having won more WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS(2) in the LAST 11 Years!!! than the Braves, Falcons, Hawks and Flames/Thrashers have won COMBINED in their HISTORIES—And that would be 1. And you know what they say about the #1—quoting that old song—“One is the loneliest number since the number One”

So what franchises are really pitiful, inept, disgraceful and worthy of being broken up with the “talent” being put into dispersal drafts??

By sfblump

July 19, 2008 12:28 PM | Link to this

The players contract with MLB has a provision about the playerst beign great physical condition. How many times does Hampton have to go on the DL before the Braves declare him to not be in poor physical condition and void his contract.

By TexasBrave

July 19, 2008 12:32 PM | Link to this

No matter what happens between now and the July 31st deadline I would like to see the Braves keep building for this season and the next. Assess what are weak areas are and add in the hopes that it not only helps us this season but in the future as well. We all know we need a power hitting right handed bat, preferably a left fielder. Wren needs to find someone we can keep a few years and not a rental. I understand that is probably a tall order to fill at this time but not impossible.

As for Tex we need to keep him the rest of this season. There is not much interest in him now because this is a walk year for him and we probably wouldn’t get much better than the draft picks we would receive if he signs with someone else in the off season. Offer him arbitration after the season (of course it will not ever come to that). Then offer a contract starting at 15 to 16 million increasing over 5 to 7 years with incentives. Boras will still shop him and Tex will most likely get better offers, but we should try and sign him within reason and most definitely not over 20 mil. I think he would take a competitive offer from the Braves over the highest offer somewhere else. If he signs we will have one of the best first basemen in MLB to build a good offense around.

By Dave

July 19, 2008 12:36 PM | Link to this

Carroll,

Naw I wasnt laughing at you. I was also too worried about finishing off the game with the W. Are you gonna pull a Bobby Cox now and wear a catchers mitt while watching the game up there? Lets get on a roll here and make some noise!!!

By TheAntiMe

July 19, 2008 12:44 PM | Link to this

“Since Wren apparently has no clue, perhaps Governor Perdue can beseech the Almighty for baseball dew; young pitchers, speed at the top of the lineup, and a Skipper named John Smoltz.” - fieldofdreams

I really like that idea, fieldofdreams. I think that Smoltzie would make a very good manager if he decides to pursue that line of employment after he hangs ‘em up as a player while he waits for his call from the Hall of Fame that most definitely will come in the first year he is eligible. (Was that last one a run-on sentence, or what? Sorry about that.)

By TennesseePaul

July 19, 2008 12:47 PM | Link to this

Wouldn’t it be terrible if we won say 20 of the next 25 with our starters getting hit a little bit and the offense having to put up 7 runs to get the win. I hope it doesn’t come to that, because if they don’t win by 5 or 6 runs it doesn’t count.

What?

By fastasballs

July 19, 2008 1:09 PM | Link to this

A win is a win, regardless the score or who against. They all count the same, don’t they? Is a victory over the Nats only worth a 1/2 game now? We have all watched this same team lose that game over & over again in past 2 1/2 seasons.

I’ll never get tired of watching McCann run the bases. Chipper was laughing as he was headed for the dug out after scoring on the “triple”. The Nats played their outfield or at least the right fielder way over toward center before & after he “tripled”. That would have been a good allignment for Frenchy, but McCann? I hope they set up the same for the rest of the series, if so, we may see another “triple”.

Speaking of Frenchy, anyone notice an improvement? His swing looks a little better at first glance, until you notice his head pulling off the ball. I can’t believe he glared out at Redding after being hit. That’s the last thing Redding wanted to do, he’s the easiest out in the line up.

If Frenchy continues to tank the rest of the season does RF become a need for next season? He was counted on this season, unlike in year’s past to produce & he hasn’t. I don’t see how they give up on him, but I’m sure he won’t be counted on to produce next season as he was this season. It’s not going to be very long before Schaefer & Hayward will be 2/3 of the OF. I guess we’ll find out if Frenchy is the other 1/3.

By McFann ;Ô;

July 19, 2008 1:35 PM | Link to this

Don’t rain on my second-half parade

Uh-oh…it’s raining here…

fastasballs I’ll never get tired of watching McCann run the bases.

Me neither! I hope they play him that same way the rest of the series, too! Can’t believe they called it a “double, reached third on the throw”. They should give catchers a triple on that! I don’t think he gave any indication of holding up at second, anyway. He was going for it!

I can’t believe he glared out at Redding after being hit. That’s the last thing Redding wanted to do, he’s the easiest out in the line up.

I know! Like I was saying, Francoeur shoulda just been happy he got on base! He could’ve hit Z with his bat-fling, besides!

By Greg in TN

July 19, 2008 1:43 PM | Link to this

Afternoon one and all…

What, we won last night? Scored more runs than another MLB team? Wow, okay, I’m convinced, sounds like others aren’t, but hey, there’s always been that contingent whose glass is 15/16ths empty. More power to them.

Last night’s contest won’t win any beauty contests to be sure, however it’s a W and there are no style points that will be awarded by the powers that be for pretty wins.

Braveheart is absolutely correct in that Huddy did not have his best stuff last night, but persevered and thanks to a night where clutch hits were plentiful, turned over a lead to the bully. Boyer and Ohman pitched a combined scoreless and hitless inning and a third, and Gonzalez after a little uprising in the ninth from the Nats, finished the game and got the save.

Not the best night from the starter and the closer to be sure, but I’ll take the effort and the results.

Impressive night from the plate by Lil’Bridge and a nice at-bat from everyone’s favorite catcher that scored three.

Last night was a good night by almost everyone’s standards. Almost. However this denizen sure liked seeing the effort, the clutch hits. I saw a little fight in these guys last night. Will we see it tonight? Not sure until the gates open, batting practice is complete and Willie Harris or another Nat steps in for first pitch from JJJ.

Huddy earned win number 10 last night, JJJ is going for win 10 tonight against John Lannan in his own personal rubber match against the Braves. He got hammered in the first meeting April 12th, giving up 6 earned over four innings. He then pitched seven scoreless on April 21st in the house Hank built for the win. He didn’t have his best stuff by his admission in his last start against the Snakes on the 9th, but pitched six scoreless and got the win at home.

Kudos to Todd Redmond, who pitched a dandy down in Pearl last night, only to see a ninth-inning uprising from the Mudcats for a no decision. One hit in eight innings for Redmond.

By justdoit

July 19, 2008 1:58 PM | Link to this

how about - LF-Juan Rivera, 1B-Kendry Morales,And SP-Nick Adenhart for Tex and Ohman - i think that would be a very good trade - braves would get the power LF they are looking for - a very good switch hitting 1b prospect who is batting 344 in the minors this year in 50 games with 9 hrs - and batting 324 in the minors since 2000 in 226 games - and a good young arm. - what does everyone think of this trade? anyway the angels would do that - i sure hope the braves would - i think it is a good trade for both teams..

By SaltyDawg

July 19, 2008 2:03 PM | Link to this

What I find encouraging about last night’s game is the bats picked up the slack when the starter had a bad outing. That is something this team has not been able to do very often this season. Even the best pitchers have bad outings now and again. A good team does exactly what the Braves did last night. The key is to keep the offense going and hope your pitching keeps you in games. If they can do that, the Braves will at least be a fun team to watch and might even make a run at the division title.

Maybe Francoeur needs to sacrifice a chicken or offer some rum to Jabu to get his bat going.

By BA

July 19, 2008 2:06 PM | Link to this

How about we keep our first baseman and win the freakin’ division?

By TexasBrave

July 19, 2008 2:19 PM | Link to this

Amen to that BA!!!

By prattvillenolzfan

July 19, 2008 2:51 PM | Link to this

BA

I agree with your 2:06….We are NOT going to get anything of value by trading Tex….

Keep him we’ve got a chance, trade him we don’t…

BRAVEHEART

Not wanting to nitpick, BUT……..

I understand your Lousiana-Monroe analogy @ 11:33, but they DID beat Alabama last November…I know that’s not saying much……Maybe you should have mentioned the Dawgs giving up 34 and the Gators giving up 31 to Troy University……..Yes Georgia/Florida is superior to Troy, but Troy is still going to score………

By McTann ☼

July 19, 2008 3:31 PM | Link to this

If I can’t catch some rays at the game, then I would rather that the Braves lose.

Pass the lotion! And make me a mojito.

By Shamus Thacker

July 19, 2008 3:32 PM | Link to this

Hammy needs an Iraq tour. Bet he’d play through pain if “play” meant serpentining through a hail of bullets.

BUT, this IS Hammy we’re talking about. He’d prolly have to be dragged through battle while wincing and grabbing different parts of his anatomy.

By Shamus Thacker

July 19, 2008 3:45 PM | Link to this

Salty, the Braves should make arrangements for Stenchy to rub Ted Williams’s freezer burnt head.

By McFann ;Ô;

July 19, 2008 3:47 PM | Link to this

Just when you think your team has the weirdest injuries:

The A’s placed first baseman Daric Barton on the disabled list on Saturday, retroactive to Monday, after what Barton called “a freak accident” in which he dove into a pool during the All-Star break and hit his head on the bottom, resulting in six staples and a stiff neck.

Sheesh…

Well, hopefully the Braves will beat this lefty-with-a-losing-record that they’re facing tonight. I oughta be back sometime in the middle of the game. So if 3BMac hits another “triple” at the beginning, and you don’t hear from me, it’s cause I’m not near a computer.

GO BRAVES!!

By Braveheart

July 19, 2008 3:52 PM | Link to this

The Lil’ Bridge is starting to look like the Lil’ Bigg-io that Gil from Mechanicsville promised us he was.

By I was a teenage Francophile

July 19, 2008 3:56 PM | Link to this

Since coming back from Mississippi, the French one has played in 6 games, had 24 ABs, 5 hits, BA = .208.

Additionally, he has 3 runs, 3 RBIs, 1 HR, and 8 TBs, for a slugging % of .333.

Is he straightened out yet?

By High School Senior

July 19, 2008 4:06 PM | Link to this

Dude! The University of Louisiana of Marliyn Monroe? I wanna go there.

Co-eds must be HOT!

By Retired Colonel

July 19, 2008 4:11 PM | Link to this

Braves need a surge in order to give the warring parties (Wren and Francoeur) time to work out their differences and come up with a plan for sharing revenues.

By Lew

July 19, 2008 4:15 PM | Link to this

SaltyDawg-Winning 20 of the next 25 would only be acceptable if we won each of those games by scores of 7-1 or 12-3. Any 7-6 wins, especially with a good pitcher going for us will not be tolerated.

BTW-We only need 17 of the next 22 now. We’ve won three in a row-even if they haven’t all been beautiful wins. Maybe some think we should give back that game we picked up on the Mets and Marlins-we won too ugly to keep it.

By McTann ☼

July 19, 2008 4:21 PM | Link to this

I have tried to imagine Brian McCann, standing by the pool, sweaty, in a bathing suit…

oh, the horror!

By bruce

July 19, 2008 4:26 PM | Link to this

McFann: Don Sutton gave Brian the “drive of the game” (sponsored by chevy I think) again last night for the triple/double… thought you would want to know… I live in Nats territory, so that was the broadcast I had last night. Thanks, Bruce

By Chop Chop

July 19, 2008 4:28 PM | Link to this

I think the win was too ugly, Lew.

It also only counted for a half-game in the standings. Wins like that really suck. If that’s the way the Braves are going to win games, they could win all 67 games in the second half and I still won’t have any respect for my team.

Damn them to Hell.

By Chop Chop

July 19, 2008 4:32 PM | Link to this

McTann’s horror may be McFann’s dream.

I will now beat my head against a desk until sweet pain makes it all go away.

By Robin

July 19, 2008 4:32 PM | Link to this

Unbelievable isn’t it?! We’ve won three straight, scored 7 runs last night, seem to display a somewhat new sense of urgency at the plate, etc., etc. yet, there are still those who continue to downplay any bit of success we can muster in this tough season so far. UFB!!!

Are some of you really fans?

Like I said last night, when we score 4 or more runs …….we’re 41-12. Pretty simple isn’t it? Lets get some runs!

By The Goche

July 19, 2008 4:39 PM | Link to this

Lou Vales

what do you think—REALLY— he would say to the Braves?? (1) You guys have been really supportive I’m going to take that into account and give you a deep hometown discount based upon the millions I’ve received for not performing.

OR

(2) I’m really going to have to test the market. I’m near the end of my career and deserve the right for that last good deal.

I don’t know, Lou. If Mike came back and put up the numbers you said, I believe he would be lucky with his history to get more than a minor league deal anyway. Even if he came back and went like 8-2 with a 2.50 ERA, the market for him would be pretty timid, trying to find a discount in turn for the risk.

But, honestly, like I said, he doesn’t owe us or the Braves anything more than he’s doing. It’s sad for the fans, the Braves and him that while doing that he hasn’t been able to do anything for the team. But when his contract is up, so is his obligation. In short, I don’t think he’d be doing us wrong to take what he can get.

That said, I will be disappointed if he bolts for some bigger deal then we offer, assuming the Braves offer him something fair. (A discount is one thing, but we shouldn’t expect him to stay for beans.)

Even if he does come back and stay all year, I’m not even sure the Braves will try to keep him, unless it’s a minor league deal.

But the Braves knew what we were getting into when they did this. They were discount shopping.

They got him as a guy just two years removed from a record or near record contract, who had been terrible for 2 years.

They got him for almost nothing (Spooneybarger) in the trade, and they paid like 15% for the first 3 years. We paid him $5.5 million dollars for those 3 years in which he put up a 3.96 ERA over 431 innings with a 32-20 record.

We took a risk, and it worked out. In May 2005 we would have been real excited for the chance to get Mike for 3 years and $43 million.

We got him by taking advantage of the Rockies and their bad luck. And the last 3 years have been bad luck for both the Braves and Hampton.

Obviously, we know how it stinks for the Braves, but it has also cost Hampton millions for next year, plus, like I said, he wants to play. Wouldn’t you?

If some other team takes advantage of the Braves bad luck and signs Hampton for say 3-5 million, which I doubt the Braves would do, what can we say about it? We got him by playing the game, we could lose him the same way.

As for the retiring thing, I always thought contracts were TOTALLY guaranteed. Maybe he would give up the money by retiring, seems like I read that in one article. But what would you do? Give up baseball and give up millions, or keep trying and keep the money.

We basically ended up with a 48.5 million dollar deal over 6 years. That’s $8.1 million per year over six years. Great deal, big long risk. But anyone would take a deal like that. (Plus don’t forget, some amount, I’m not sure how much, but certainly too much to ignore, has been covered over the years by insurance).

Long story short, we got Mike for 2.5 years for nothing and then we got nothing for $43 million. It’s just the game. And he doesn’t owe us anything else.

By Vale of Tears

July 19, 2008 4:50 PM | Link to this

Louie, Louie,

Hey, Hey,

He’s mumblin’ again

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,

Louie, Louie,

Oh, hoh,

He doesn’t make sense,

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah…

By Miss My Braves

July 19, 2008 5:00 PM | Link to this

Carroll!

Seems like none of us can get any answers from Comcast or Charter on missing the Peachtree Broadcast last night on our cable systems. There really isn’t any way to contact them it seems to get live support. It seemed to be a broad outage of cable systems on CSS all over the Southeast. I know you’re in the general proximity of the broadcast folks down there. Could you check with those folks and ask what the problem was and if we’re going to get the feed tonight? I can’t understand how the evening got away without the feed ever being established. Made me think it was Peachtree because the channel the Braves are on dropped their programming when the Braves came on (as per usual) but all we had was a black screen)

Pretty please? Let an old guy know if he needs to keep flipping back to the channel every five minutes to see if it’s on yet(like I did last night) or if there is going to be an outage again that dictates I give up before I start hasssling with it.

Thanks!

By Braveheart

July 19, 2008 5:03 PM | Link to this

Dude! The University of Louisiana of Marliyn Monroe? I wanna go there. Co-eds must be HOT!

Don’t get too excited. The girls there are more Norma Jean than Marilyn. Needless to say but Mr. Coffee won’t be stalking any of them for years. Would be kind of hard anyway since the Yankee Clipper died and no one thought to freeze his head. Probably too expensive. Think about the cost of refreezing Mr. Coffee’s noggin everyday after slugging down his daily dose of of joltin’ joe.

By Lou Vales

July 19, 2008 5:13 PM | Link to this

Dear Goche, Thanks for the response. Just had it confirmed—Carroll, David and Mark can do the same here on the blog—Hampton gets NOTHING if he quits.

The ONLY point I’m trying to make is I believe it wrong that the erroneous perception has been allowed to LINGER that Hampton is doing all this rehab in spite of the fact that he could retire and be paid regardless. Now I don’t know, maybe he just flat out loves the game of baseball and is fighting against hope to come back, but NONE of us know that. The only way we could be sure is if money would go to Hampton even if he said Ta Ta I’m shutting it down, YET He Continued rehab. Just realize IF he walks, no money—ask Carroll, David or Mark.

Maybe the man is a Saint and a symbol of all that is good, but could the perception at least be based upon facts that are verifiable and not upon a notion without a semblance of fact.

By bravos2249

July 19, 2008 5:19 PM | Link to this

Love the Jair story

“When we were kids, we all took names of major leaguers,” recalled Ringemar Raap, 24, who played with Jurrjens in the Senior League. “Jair would say he was Chipper Jones. It’s like a dream to see him playing with those guys now.”

Lol…always making Chipper feel like a geezer

By bravos2249

July 19, 2008 5:19 PM | Link to this

Love the Jair story

“When we were kids, we all took names of major leaguers,” recalled Ringemar Raap, 24, who played with Jurrjens in the Senior League. “Jair would say he was Chipper Jones. It’s like a dream to see him playing with those guys now.”

Lol…always making Chipper feel like a geeezer

By Severely Abridged

July 19, 2008 5:19 PM | Link to this

Long story short:

Pierre’s wife Elena dies (sometime during the last throes of Napoleon’s invasion); and Pierre is reunited with Natasha, while the victorious Russians rebuild Moscow. Natasha speaks of Prince Andrei’s death and Pierre of Karataev’s. Both are aware of a growing bond with each other in their bereavement. Pierre finds love at last and marries Natasha.

By Rod Serling

July 19, 2008 5:21 PM | Link to this

Francoeur needs to look for a pitch in his zone.

By fastasballs

July 19, 2008 5:42 PM | Link to this

Tex’s fate will be decided in the next two weeks. If the Braves gain a few games I think they will try & improve this team for a run. If they lose a few more games in the standings then I support improving the team for next season which means trading Tex, if the value of the prospects exceeds the two picks gained by a FA signing.

I don’t think the trade market is really strong for Tex right now, but things change in this game & in a hurry. What if Derek Lee goes down in the next two weeks? Or Pujols elbow finally gives out? Probably neither will happen, but if they did Tex’s value shoots up.

I’m all for getting it done this season, but they can’t continue to waste chances to gain ground like they have for 2 1/2 seasons. Tonight’s game is a must because with a win they at least gain ground on 1 team, maybe two. They have to keep the momentum going & beating the Nats will do it, regardless if a few don’t view them as a pro team.

The outfield is going to have to start producing. There is basically no power coming from any outfield position. Francey needs to suck it up & come through with some big hits the rest of the way. Now’s his time to prove he’s worth what he thinks he is.

He’s already in Adam Dunn’s batting average range, but with less than 1/3 the power & twice the mouth. Things are not looking so great for the Golden Boy.

I hate to get down on him, but he really is becoming a disappointment. I think he has put so much pressure on himself to get that big contract & live up to the image that was formed when he first arrived that he doesn’t know what to do.

He’s always been the kid that everything came easy for & now it doesn’t. He has to listen to the praise being heaped on McCann(rightfully so) & probably is having a difficult time of dealing with it because it’s not him. I know they are best friends, but never doubt they want to out perform each other.

By Raymond

July 19, 2008 5:49 PM | Link to this

I didn’t like Scott’s language and the way he expressed his opinion. Unfortunately, I think he happens to be right in his conclusion despite his approach. By 7/28, I think it will be clear to most everyone. You can only dream so long. Beating the Padres and Nats doesn’t prove much.Losing 6 in a row at home to the Phils is more significant. Can they turn the tables on the Phils soon ? I highly doubt it.

By The Lineup Guy

July 19, 2008 5:55 PM | Link to this

OK, Frank Wren is so enamored of Jair Jurrjens that he decides to build a team around him and changes the team name to the Atlanta Alliteratives. This would be the lineup:

CF - Coco Crisp

2B - Placido Polanco

LF - Carl Crawford

1B - Casey Kotchman

3B - Kevin Kouzmanoff

SS - Troy Tulowitsky

RF - Sammy Sosa

C - Miguel Montero

P - Jair Jurrjens,

and in the bullpen,

RP - Blaine Boyer

By Lew

July 19, 2008 6:03 PM | Link to this

War and Peace in a paragraph. Henry Fonda is turning over in his grave. Or maybe he’s dancing on it with Tolstoy. You have a true future with Cliff’s Notes.

By I was a teenage Francophile

July 19, 2008 6:03 PM | Link to this

Maybe Frenchy is a Josh Hamilton in reverse.

I can see him, five years from now, after being released from a semi-pro team, sitting on the linoleum floor in a cheap motel, smoking crack.

By Carroll Rogers

July 19, 2008 6:10 PM | Link to this

lineup: blanco CF, Prado 2B, Jones 3B, Tex 1B, McCann C, Frenchy RF, Norton LF, Lillibridge SS, Jurrjens.

Glavine threw his bullpen at about 60 percent, 40 pitches, elbow responded fine. true test comes at max effort but he’s moving in the right direction.

still waiting on a soriano update. will let you know.

escobar hasn’t gotten clearance to take BP yet. he thinks he’s ready, don’t think the doctors agree. so not this series folks, and maybe florida.

By The Goche

July 19, 2008 6:13 PM | Link to this

Lou

The ONLY point I’m trying to make is I believe it wrong that the erroneous perception has been allowed to LINGER that Hampton is doing all this rehab in spite of the fact that he could retire and be paid regardless. Now I don’t know, maybe he just flat out loves the game of baseball and is fighting against hope to come back, but NONE of us know that.

Maybe the man is a Saint and a symbol of all that is good, but could the perception at least be based upon facts that are verifiable and not upon a notion without a semblance of fact.

Well, we can’t know that. I don’t know where you want me or anyone to find verifiable facts that he is some saint. He certainly seems to be a good guy. Everyone who has talked about him talks about how much he wants to be back, and how hard he works.

Maybe it’s all bull. But I don’t see anything ” based on facts that are verifiable and not upon a notion without a semblance of fact” that would say anything otherwise.

That’s exactly my problem. Everyone goes off on Hampton, based on the fact that he doesn’t just retire, but he doesn’t owe it to us to retire. If he wants to keep trying he has that right. The ONLY way he is ripping anyone off is if he is rehabbing and faking injuries, which makes no sense anyway.

But it’s ok to think he may be scamming without any notion without any notion of proof, even though it’s completely against what anyone who actually knows anything has said.

That’s what bothers me about what everyone says, they want proof that he’s a saint or they just assume he’s a scam artist.

But honestly, I don’t think it takes a saint to keep trying to play baseball. Baseball is fun.

By Train Wreck Bystander

July 19, 2008 6:34 PM | Link to this

The distribution of Peachtree TV is such a freaking joke. If they had just let FSN or SportSouth distribute the games instead of going out on their own on distribution, everyone would be happy and all the fans in the southeast TV territory who got the games last year would be getting them this year.

By bravos2249

July 19, 2008 6:38 PM | Link to this

Carroll

Are we perhaps seeing a Prado/Kelly platoon….last year it was surprising but this year given Frenchy’s struggles it’s more of a need of another RH bat against LH right?

By david

July 19, 2008 6:49 PM | Link to this

gooooooooooooooooooooooooooo braves need another w tonite

By Deep Throat

July 19, 2008 6:56 PM | Link to this

Why is loser player Martin Prado starting again? When KJ hits lefties so well?

Geez, maybe Bobby does need to go. He appears senile with his Prado-starting-against-all-lefties-no-matter-how-much-he-sucks obsession. Another platoon? With someone whose stats don’t justify a platoon? What the hell?!

By Carroll Rogers

July 19, 2008 7:08 PM | Link to this

Soriano threw well, Frank says and the plan is to activate him Monday. (My guess is Nunez will be on his way back to Richmond.)

Diaz is getting checked by the doctor and if things go well, he’ll head out on a rehab assignment to Richmond.

Bennett is headed to Myrtle Beach to begin a rehab assignment on Monday

By Del

July 19, 2008 7:12 PM | Link to this

Train Wreck Bystander… AMEN to your 6:34 blog. I’m in Spartanburg, SC and we get blacked out obout 20% of the time when CCS is the carrier. Does anyone have an E.mail address for the Braves mgmt so I can lobby them for a change next year.

By Jeff Francoeur Has Been Worse Since Call-up

July 19, 2008 7:17 PM | Link to this

In case anyone hasn’t noticed, Francoeur’s stats since getting called up from Mississippi (5 for 24, one homerun, a .208/.240/.333 line) are worse than his season stats. But it’s like no one has noticed or cares. It’s back to the five and six spots for Francoeur everyday again.

Why is it, in all seriousness and honesty, that no matter how good Kelly Johnson is he gets platooned and loses playing time; and no matter how bad Francoeur is he starts every single day?

By Shamus Thacker

July 19, 2008 7:20 PM | Link to this

Sure will be a boost if Soriano can stay healthy for a while.

By Carroll Rogers

July 19, 2008 7:23 PM | Link to this

perhaps it’ll be julian tavares sent down monday not nunez. nunez pitched the much better of the two in his one appearance and maybe they’re not afraid to let tavares go through waivers.

By Jeff321

July 19, 2008 7:24 PM | Link to this

Has Nunez even pitched yet? Because ya know, it might be nice to see what he has to offer.

By Shamus Thacker

July 19, 2008 7:37 PM | Link to this

It’s a good thing Hammy’s rich and insured. Medicaid could survive only through the implementation of a Federal Hammy Tax should he go broke..

By Tomas

July 19, 2008 7:38 PM | Link to this

Just heard Matt Holliday and Brian Fuentes are going to the phillies. Man what an offence that would be.

By Gil in Mechanicsville

July 19, 2008 7:38 PM | Link to this

Looks like the Braves brought their A game on defense tonight. Nice plays by Lilly and Chipper…

By Shamus Thacker

July 19, 2008 7:41 PM | Link to this

Maybe Stenchy has the pictures.

By McTann ☼

July 19, 2008 7:41 PM | Link to this

Yeah McCann. Good eye.

If only he were not so pasty white and chubby.

By Jeff321

July 19, 2008 7:42 PM | Link to this

Frenchy just looked absolutely terrible. Can we send him to Kissimmee?

By carter

July 19, 2008 7:42 PM | Link to this

Goche

And what if Mike Hampton took steroids for many years during his prime and now his body has fallen apart and he can’t stay healthy? In such case, wouldn’t the ethical thing be to retire and not take the 15 million per year? Because that scenario seems to be the most plausible explanation of the Hampton mystery. Or hadn’t you thought of that?

By I was a teenage Francophile

July 19, 2008 7:44 PM | Link to this

Looks like Frenchy ate Special K for breakfast again.

By McFann :Ô:

July 19, 2008 7:47 PM | Link to this

Thanks, Bruce! That was nice of Don.

Man! Another stolen base, but that guy interfered! (Well, maybe he didn’t really…)

Run Heap Run—

Where are ya, man?

By Deep Throat

July 19, 2008 7:48 PM | Link to this

Just heard Matt Holliday and Brian Fuentes are going to the phillies. Man what an offence that would be.

Not true. You heard Joe Simpson talking about a now-dead rumor. Rosenthal said the Holliday and Fuentes to the Phillies trade was a backup in case they didn’t get Blanton, but since the Phillies did get Blanton it’s dead.

By Shamus Thacker

July 19, 2008 7:52 PM | Link to this

McCann looks like Pugsly running the bases. BUT, who cares!? He’s GREAT!

By Jeff321

July 19, 2008 7:56 PM | Link to this

Whew, Frenchy misplays a liner, then he throws one about 30 feet over McCann’s head, eh?

By tbo

July 19, 2008 7:59 PM | Link to this

Francouer remains terrible. Of course he continually starts thanks to our genius manager. I think he has pics on BC. BTW, nice throw by Frenchy. It had to be 12 feet over McCann’s heard.

By keylargo

July 19, 2008 8:03 PM | Link to this

Washington has 4 catchers and 3 outfielders on the 25 man roster. There’s room for negotiation there.

By I was a teenage Francophile

July 19, 2008 8:04 PM | Link to this

It’s not Frenchy’s fault that McCann is not 6 foot 10.

By tbo

July 19, 2008 8:04 PM | Link to this

I’d rather have Langerhans than Francouer even though they both suck.

By The Goche

July 19, 2008 8:09 PM | Link to this

Just heard Matt Holliday and Brian Fuentes are going to the phillies. Man what an offence that would be.

That’s kind of a misleading, it makes it sound like the deal is actually happening. You had me checking around.

I don’t think that it has progressed since it was rumored as possible by a Phillies website, and talks stalled all before the Blanton deal happened.

By keylargo

July 19, 2008 8:10 PM | Link to this

Carter

I’m not saying one way or the other about Hampton and steroids because I don’t know one way or the other.

But what makes you think people who do illegal drugs so they can cheat suddenly develop a do the right thing mentality?

Barry Bonds - exibit #1.

By Gil in Mechanicsville

July 19, 2008 8:11 PM | Link to this

You mean 10 foot 6 don’t you?

By Carroll Rogers

July 19, 2008 8:12 PM | Link to this

FYI, the Braves hosted fifth round draft pick Jacob Thompson today, the 6-6 RHP from the University of Virginia. rolled out the red carpet. trying to get him signed. He was at batting practice, met Bobby Cox, etc, etc.

By Del

July 19, 2008 8:20 PM | Link to this

Frenchy not only looks bad at the plate but now his play in RF is suspect also. Just about time for mgmt to step up and put a stop to this nonsence! For the life of me I cann’t figure out why they hesitate to take action. It’s as if they have already written this season off.

By Carroll Rogers

July 19, 2008 8:21 PM | Link to this

You know things are moving in the wrong direction when Fox drops a broadcast ….Braves announced Fox has dropped the August 9 broadcast of the Braves-Arizona game. That game will now be on SportSouth at 8:10 eastern.

Sorry, we miss, i was standing right there with glenn diamond for a while before the game but hadn’t read your post to ask him what happened last night. really hope you guys aren’t dealing with the same thing now.

By Gil in Mechanicsville

July 19, 2008 8:23 PM | Link to this

Need a big hit here…

By Gil in Mechanicsville

July 19, 2008 8:25 PM | Link to this

Oh well….

By McFann :Ô:

July 19, 2008 8:25 PM | Link to this

Well, that’s a shame.

Good at-bat by McCann, BTW.

By T to the D

July 19, 2008 8:29 PM | Link to this

This is very selfish but I wish Skip’s health allowed him to sound as good as he does on an important play.

He’s laboring in small talk.

” At the bottom of another fifth.”

Get’ em Skip.

By Yertle the Turtle

July 19, 2008 8:37 PM | Link to this

Rally!

By SoWeGa Fanatic

July 19, 2008 8:42 PM | Link to this

Another almost a big inning.

By McFann Ô

July 19, 2008 8:42 PM | Link to this

PBTH!! }: (

By Live from Yokohama- it's Saturday Morn!

July 19, 2008 8:42 PM | Link to this

Two outs, bases loaded two innings in a row, and again could’t get that crucial hit. Our futility in those spots this season is incredible.

By SoWeGa Fanatic

July 19, 2008 9:03 PM | Link to this

And I hear this is the worst team in the league? That’s debatable.

By Couch Tater

July 19, 2008 9:05 PM | Link to this

Sounds like a few of Willies friends from Cairo are at the game.(good for them;bad for us.)

By Interested Observer

July 19, 2008 9:09 PM | Link to this

Bye, Tex. Nice knowing ya!

By Stuart

July 19, 2008 9:10 PM | Link to this

Hey Carroll, don’t look now, it is not raining quite yet, but storm clouds are forming.

By BravesFan79

July 19, 2008 9:11 PM | Link to this

I knew letting Wille Harris go was a mistake. He can come off the bench and steal a base, and when he gets hot hes HOT! Just what the Braves could use right now.

Actually i wanted the Braves to sign Jermaine Dye in the offseason. Why did we not pursue him??

Is Corky the usless wonder even still on the team? Hardly see him anymore. Man it takes Bobby forever to see that a player just dosent have it.

By SoWeGa Fanatic

July 19, 2008 9:12 PM | Link to this

This is sickening.

By Live from Yokohama- it's Saturday Morn!

July 19, 2008 9:15 PM | Link to this

Much as I hate to say it, as one who has lived and died with every pitch through good times and bad with the Bravos, but we need to be sellers this year at the deadline this year, and active in the offseason ahead in remodelling some aspects of this team. We’ve got some good young pitching (both starting and relief), but our offense is dysfunctional at best. Legitimate contenders simply do not trot out the likes of Greg Norman and Corky Miller with regularity, and hope for the three-run homer.

By Franklin Tower

July 19, 2008 9:24 PM | Link to this

Revenge of the ex-men!

By Robin

July 19, 2008 9:29 PM | Link to this

Whelp! I guess the h8rz are plenty happy tonight.

By McFann Ô

July 19, 2008 9:30 PM | Link to this

Well, at least the Braves aren’t embarrassing themselves by scoring seven runs in order to win…

BravesFan79—

I would have liked to see the Braves get Jermaine as well.

By SoWeGa Fanatic

July 19, 2008 9:30 PM | Link to this

Sheesh, the 1927 Yankees.

By WannaBe Chef

July 19, 2008 9:31 PM | Link to this

When do you want me to officially stick the fork in?

By sixfourthree

July 19, 2008 9:33 PM | Link to this

Taveres, Corky Miller, and Norton have to go…If the Braves lose tomorrow, it’s over. Hopefully, they can pull together and take 2 of 3 from the Nats. The Nats have shockingly hit well for 2 nights in a row.

By The Goche

July 19, 2008 9:33 PM | Link to this

carter

And what if Mike Hampton took steroids for many years during his prime and now his body has fallen apart and he can’t stay healthy? In such case, wouldn’t the ethical thing be to retire and not take the 15 million per year? Because that scenario seems to be the most plausible explanation of the Hampton mystery. Or hadn’t you thought of that?

LOL! I love the last line. “Or hadn’t you thought of that?” Like you’ve just pointed out some obvious fact that negates everything I’ve said.

Oh, my bad, you’re right. I hadn’t thought of that. He must have used steroids. I apologize for monopolizing the blog for the last day.

Just kidding. I got a kick out of how you phrased it.

But honestly, I do not think that really changes anything.

First, let me say that this goes back to my last post. Everyone is asking for some proof that his lack of major league pitching is not due to some lack of character.

All I am saying is that everyone throws around reasons why he must be lacking in character with nothing but conjecture.

All I’ve ever heard about the guy is good, and I’d rather root for him and wait until there some ACTUAL reason to dislike him, other than the fact that he hasn’t pitched in a few years.

As for your steriod idea. I am not going to dislike a guy based on a what if, especially when through all the whole steroid storm his name never even came up.

Let me just begin all this by saying your whole “case” is nothing but conjecture and coincidence. You can say the exact same thing about lots of players his age. The new testing stuff starts Spring 2006. All the sudden Pedro starts getting hurt. There it is: proof that Pedro used steroids.

I won’t try to prove Hampton didn’t, because I have no way to do that and no one has given any proof to refute in the first place.

(As an aside: You would guess that if he did use, he would get them from Radomski or a Met teammate, and would have ended up in the MR, but that’s no proof as I’m sure at least a few big sources haven’t been found.)

But let’s just address the “what if.”

If he did use steriods, it was unethical. Plain and simple.

But every single contract that happened in this period happened with the knowledge that this kind of stuff was going on and that baseball wasn’t doing anything about it.

Baseball teams benefited from it, and didn’t say anything about it, and didn’t put anything in their contracts about it.

Steroids don’t change anything contract-wise or obligation-wise. He says he thinks he can get back. Whatever the cause of his injuries (unless they were something the contract prohibits like motorcycle riding), he’s got that contract that says if he wants to try, we’ll pay him $15 million dollars. And he has every right to try.

By Live from Yokohama- it's Sunday Morn!

July 19, 2008 9:34 PM | Link to this

Would any of the Nat’s current starting eight even start on another team?

This is agony.

Just realized it’s Sunday here, not Saturday, btw. Hey, I’m a new father- not sure what day it is half the time!

By Goat Horns

July 19, 2008 9:36 PM | Link to this

Tony Larussa is supposed to be some sort of genius.

If this is so it would not suprise me if he makes all of his pitchers throw left handed when they play the Braves.

We are pretty much at the mercy of anyone that wears his glove on the right hand when he toes the rubber.

By Jeff321

July 19, 2008 9:36 PM | Link to this

Wow, this is beyond ugly!

By Melvin the braveman

July 19, 2008 9:39 PM | Link to this

Time is now to DEAL:This Braves team SUXXXXXXXXX,ever since Big Tex brought that Damn Texas Jinx in here This Team Has to say the Least STUNK THE JOINT UP,and some Sorry Scumbag Philthies,and Narsty Arsed Mutts are peoised to wear OUR BELOVED Crown!!!! Thank You Schuerholtz,You Are the true Blame here,Thanks for Turning this Team into the Royals… You sir are a B@stard,to the NTH degree!!!

By fastasballs

July 19, 2008 9:41 PM | Link to this

A golden opportunity slipped by once again tonight. Prior Braves teams cleaned the clocks of the bottom feeders & ran off with the division because of it.

Getting smeared by the likes of the Nats isn’t going to make anyone a believer. Granted, the Braves hit the hell out of the ball most of the night, just either right at people or they hung up long enough out in the lower 40 that they were caught.

There was plenty of bad base running & poor defense, yet again.

By SoWeGa Fanatic

July 19, 2008 9:43 PM | Link to this

Oh, well. Wimn 3, lose 1. I’ll take that the rest of the way.

By I was a teenage Francophile

July 19, 2008 9:44 PM | Link to this

What McCann giveth, Frenchy taketh away.

By MGL

July 19, 2008 9:50 PM | Link to this

Kelly Johnson splits against LHP .330 AVG, .364 OBP

At home .299 AVG, .376 OBP.

Also, Kotsay has better splits against LHP than Norton.

Can anyone explain why we don’t have the best we have in today after a four day break?

By McFann Ô

July 19, 2008 9:51 PM | Link to this

Glad they gave 3BMac a hit on that one.

The Official Scorer must’ve wanted to make up for not giving him a triple last night.

By Why Us

July 19, 2008 9:53 PM | Link to this

WOW!

J. Tav just got a 1-2-3 with a K.

Lowered his ERA to 7.17 also.

Trade Gonzo, who needs Sori?

I smell a new closer on the horizon.

(yes, it’s sarcasm)

By Carroll Rogers

July 19, 2008 9:54 PM | Link to this

By my math, Willie Harris has hit .500 (10-for-20) against the Braves this season and .204 (28-for-137) against everybody else.

By brent a.

July 19, 2008 9:56 PM | Link to this

Why can’t all of our crummy players wind up in the American League?

I guess we tried with L-hans, but the Nats got him quickly.

The good news is that the Nationals stink and they are in our division. The bad news is, we are the only team that can’t seem to pound them with regularity, as guys like L-hans and Willie Harris stick it to us.

We couldn’t even beat them the night Smoltz got K#3000.

By SoWeGa Fanatic

July 19, 2008 9:56 PM | Link to this

Corky and Norton? Corky hasn’t played in a month and Norton has half our RBI’s tonight. They aren’t the answer, but they aren’t the problem right now.

By Robin

July 19, 2008 9:56 PM | Link to this

Nawtun Haterz - Howzabout crammin’ that where the sun don’t shine!

By lilman

July 19, 2008 9:57 PM | Link to this

Take the pressure off, and Norton is a world beater…just like the rest of the Braves’ hitters. This team has no heart, no pulse, and no leadership.

By brent a.

July 19, 2008 9:58 PM | Link to this

Well that was a fitting way for the game to end.

Congrats to Willie.

One day closer to a Teixeria trade . . .

By SoWeGa Fanatic

July 19, 2008 9:59 PM | Link to this

“Can anyone explain why we don’t have the best we have in today after a four day break?” The book, man, the book. The book is everything!

By Live from Yokohama- it's Sunday Morn!

July 19, 2008 10:00 PM | Link to this

Those Tex rumors just heated up a little bit more.

By NO MORE BOBBY

July 19, 2008 10:01 PM | Link to this

Hey Braves fans!!!

WHY SO SERIOUS?

We better get used to 4th place cuz thats where we are staying this year. Things will turn back to good in 2010 when Bobby is gone. Just enjoy it now for what it is… a game.

By lilman

July 19, 2008 10:01 PM | Link to this

In two games, the Nats have out scored the Braves 14 to 9, and one blogger last night referred to the Nats’ lineup as little league. What does that sya for the Braves’ lineup?

By The Goche

July 19, 2008 10:01 PM | Link to this

Man, I know it hasn’t just started, but folks are really turning like crazy on Frenchy, like hatefully so.

Will everyone be suggesting we release him too? Because I’ll be willing to write long blog posts debunking those suggestions too.

A guy not playing well is no reason to hate him personally. And when he still has options left there’s almost never any reason to release a guy.

As for sending him to the Minors, I am all for that, and think it should be for a good period of time. The little 3 day thing was kind of a joke.

I will also say that I was pretty disappointed when he complained about the original little jaunt to Mississippi.

I do like him, but if he thinks he for some reason deserves to be in the majors because he has had a couple of basically solid years, he is quite mistaken about what he has accomplished.

Those years were only very good based on the idea that he would be learning and progressing from those performances as a starting point. If he’s not moving forward he’s just a 24 year old kid with a .312 career OBP and a .758 OPS.

And he’s not even living up to those numbers!

By SoWeGa Fanatic

July 19, 2008 10:05 PM | Link to this

Phillies lose, we got the Nats. Perfect opportunity to close to 5.5 out, but noooo… What a crock.

By Shamus Thacker

July 19, 2008 10:07 PM | Link to this

joebrave, don’t be vague, tell us how you really feel.

By The Goche

July 19, 2008 10:10 PM | Link to this

Corky and Norton? Corky hasn’t played in a month and Norton has half our RBI’s tonight. They aren’t the answer, but they aren’t the problem right now.

well said

By TNJeff

July 19, 2008 10:11 PM | Link to this

New poll has over 60 percent thinking the Braves have a 2nd half rally in them. IDIOTS!!!!

Same idiots that thought the Braves would either win 2 or sweep the lowly Nats.

Nothing has changed other than now WHEN they FINALLY start trying to play small ball, McCann gets thrown out at third by foolishly trying to take an extra base & the speedy Blanco gets thrown out at 2nd on a pathetic steal attempt.

Frenchy back in doing what he does best - grounding into double plays and making little-league-esque throws to the plate.

With that outfield of Norton, Blanco, & Frenchy - teams could/should take any base they want cause the base taking is easy.

By SoWeGa Fanatic

July 19, 2008 10:11 PM | Link to this

Joebrave, try some anger management classes, brother. Amazing, Julian Tavarez was out best pitcher tonight - (he said, shaking his head.)

By Shamus Thacker

July 19, 2008 10:13 PM | Link to this

There’s seems to be a slight tinge of hostility in summa tonight’s comments. Fair assessment?

By kirknga

July 19, 2008 10:15 PM | Link to this

10 days or less before this Tex thing is settled and we can move on from the obsession.

There are other facets of the team that can and should be addressed, but we’re stuck with the Tex obsession as if he, and he alone will determine the destiny of the Braves.

I can’t help but read some of the comments and wonder if there isn’t a part of some people who are pulling for the Braves to lose just so they can say “I told you so”?

I personally wouldn’t mind if someone knocked Willie on his .235 behind. Either that or stop giving him something to it.

By Shamus Thacker

July 19, 2008 10:21 PM | Link to this

Melvin the braveman: This Braves team SUXXXXXXXXX,ever since Big Tex brought that Damn Texas Jinx in here.

Tex AKA Hex

By Carter

July 19, 2008 10:25 PM | Link to this

Goche

Good and reasonable response. And yes, we’re stuck with the contract. Honestly, I don’t even fault players that much who took steroids. It was certainly, as you note, implicitly sanctioned by MLB’s ‘turn a blind eye’ policy, and given that reality, I’m sure a lot of players felt compelled to juice. But although I don’t condemn a guy like Hampton for juicing, I think he should retire when his body’s shot. He’s got millions upon millions in the bank. Don’t keep taking the money when you essentially know you’re not going to be able to perform. (And yes, at this point, I think he’s aware of it.)

Of course, I can understand why he takes the money—it’s a contract, simple as that. And so that’s what he’s decided to do. Doesn’t make it “right” but so be it. Still, when we talk about these endless muscle tweaks and strains—i’m not talking about the elbow surgeries— keeping a 35 y/o pitcher on the DL for so long, how do you NOT consider steroids? And given that nobody on here is talking about it, and some, like you, are even Hampton apologists, well… I just have a hard time stomaching that without raising the whole steroid matter, which, to me, has been rather apparent for a while now.

Can I prove it? No. I don’t have to. That’s for newspapers like AJC to do. I wouldn’t hold my breath on that, though. I don’t see how it’s in the Braves’ or Hampton’s or MLB’s best interests to involve themselves in any sort of an investigation. And I’m sure the editors at AJC see far more to lose than gain in pursuing that investigation. Hampton certainly hasn’t killed anybody, you know? Why risk straining relations with the Braves to investigate that? They’d just get stonewalled anyway.

By SoWeGa Fanatic

July 19, 2008 10:29 PM | Link to this

By TNJeff

July 19, 2008 10:11 PM | Link to this

New poll has over 60 percent thinking the Braves have a 2nd half rally in them. IDIOTS!!!!

TNJeff, I believe the term IDIOT! would better fit a fool who follows a team that he believes won’t win. And then blogs about it.

By richbrave

July 19, 2008 10:38 PM | Link to this

Two games in and the Braves are 1-1 on the nine game stint Carroll wrote of. Not an auspicous start, and not much fire or motivation is evident in the players physical demeanor on the field.

Sorry guys, but I think its next year for the division crown abd/or world championship. Too many key injuries to players both young and old to pull this out. Of course, I can’t wait for the team to prove how really stupid I am.

And I still harken back to my comments last fall about $$$$ and championships. You need a 120 million plus payroll to seriously contend in this day and time. Anything less just doesn’t cut it. Have you been paying attention Liberty.? I really hope so.

If Richmond’s AAA team is any example of what’s down on the farm, then Atlanta’s in a world of hurt. The cupboard’s bare right now. They currently occupy the same position in their division as the parent club - next to last. Again, maybe next year. Several new players are beginning to show some promise.

Sorry fans. I had to listen to DON SUTTON GLOAT OVER TONIGHT’S GAME, AND IT GAVE ME A REALLY SOUR OUTLOOK. I’m be more positive tomorrow. Night all.

By Why Us

July 19, 2008 10:39 PM | Link to this

Let’s see, past 2 games:

WH—5 for 9, BA from .221 to .240

RL—4 for 7, BA from .188 to .256

PO—1 for 2, BA from .167 to .200

WTH?

Did we not have a strategy meeting on these guys? Something seems to be lost in the translation here, if you know what I mean.

Anyway, I’ve scratched my head so much I now have to take a break to clean all the dandruff off the keyboard!

Back in a bit.

By J.L.

July 19, 2008 10:40 PM | Link to this

The braves are playing terrible. All we need is a complete overhaul.Of course we won’t get it , but one can hope. Go Braves!!!

By bravos2249

July 19, 2008 10:43 PM | Link to this

*Melvin the braveman: This Braves team SUXXXXXXXXX,ever since Big Tex brought that Damn Texas Jinx in here.

Tex AKA Hex**

AHH I love the Braves but this team has su.cked since 2006…2005 you could say was luck…but IDK

By TNJeff

July 19, 2008 10:44 PM | Link to this

Wow SoWeGa Fanatic

In addition to being an idiot you are also the very definition of a “Fair Weather Fan”

FYI - that’s also not a sought after label

SO if the Braves fall hopelessly out of contention - which team are you planning to jump on board and ride for a while?

By Robin

July 19, 2008 10:45 PM | Link to this

Shamus: I just can’t help it man, I HATE losing. I wrote off the last couple of years but, ….. now this ….

We need to rattle off about 8 or 10 straight wins for me to “get right” again. Sheeeesh!

By fastasballs

July 19, 2008 10:48 PM | Link to this

It’s disappointing to see Norton in LF when Kotsay is healthy & is coming off an extended rest. I can live with giving Prado a start over KJ, but not both at the same time for no other reason than a lefty is on the mound. This constant by the book crap is probably a good reason they can’t hit lefties. Constantly fielding an inferior line up against them isn’t helping to say the least.

Not only does the offense suffer, but the defense does as well since Norton has virtually no range at all. Balls constantly drop that Diaz or Blanco would easily get to when he’s out there. I can understand Norton when Infante, Diaz & Kotsay all were out, but Kotsay is back & seemed to be getting his swing back so why the hell sit him?

I can live with them losing, but when Cox won’t even field a line up with the best chance of winning you can’t help but to shake your head.

By SR

July 19, 2008 10:51 PM | Link to this

Oh yes- this team is certainly capable of running off a 7-8 game winning streak. Definitely. It has so much talent. In fact, it is such a great team that it has even figured out how to get the slug Ryan Langerhans out. Oh wait, he was raking tonight. That in and of itself tells you how pathetic this team is. Please bury it and move on.

By jed

July 19, 2008 10:51 PM | Link to this

yeah carter, the subject of hampton & steroids is the 800 pound gorilla in the room that nobody’s talking about.

By prattvillenolzfan

July 19, 2008 10:55 PM | Link to this

Most people agreed that we had to start the 2nd half sweeping the Nats to stay in contention…..Didn’t happen……

Regarding Franceour, I read in a blog other than here, (either Fox/Espn, went back to look, can’t find it…..) where Cox “suggested strongly” to Wren that we call up Franceour after Infante got hurt…Don’t know if it’s true, though I doubt that it is true.

I will say this, 3 days was not long enough to correct his swing. All the “demotion” did was harbour hurt feelings. His average since coming back is at the .200 mark….worse than before,

Also, his defense is becoming suspect. The first ball over his head, he completely misjudged. He then threw the ball 20 feet over McCann’s head, next throw was 1/2 way up the 3rd/home line. If willie had run, he would have scored easily….

Having said this, there is absolutely no way the Braves can send him back down again. Sending him back down, will admit that the Braves made a mistake in bringing him back up too soon, and can you imagine the b*** and moaning coming from Franceour if it were to happen again…(not that true braves fans could care what he thought about it anyway).

The only thing I can see happening is packaging Franceour in some sort of trade. I don’t see any scenario where it will beneficial for the Braves or Franceour to stay with the Braves.

Personally, I think we’d be better off keeping Tex through the remainder of the year, than we would trading him, but if we were to trade him, through in Franceour as well…..

Hey the Mets need an outfielder….What a better way to help the Braves chances to make the post-season than to trade him to the Mets……(just kidding)

By prattvillenolzfan

July 19, 2008 11:00 PM | Link to this

Fastballs 10:48 post

Preach on Brother…

However, You are only preaching to the Choir….

By Doc

July 19, 2008 11:14 PM | Link to this

All this trauma and the only thing that changed over the last two days is we picked up a half game on he Mets and lost two games on the schedule. Prozac for everyone. Doc

By bravos2249

July 19, 2008 11:16 PM | Link to this

McFann

I don’t know what the payroll was in 2005 or what extra money they had from Chipper’s reconstructed contract, but Dye was a FA in 2004. He signed with the White Sox for 4 million and the Braves signed Mondesi for 1 million. Now 3 million is alot but it showed that season..Dye or Mondesi/Jordan…now if they had signed Dye to play RF instead of LF it could’ve impounded Jeff’s callup and such, but hey we really haven’t won anything with him while Jermaine’s got a ring now do we….but also had Dye played LF it would’ve impounded Kelly’s callup too. But hey Dye’s numbers over the past couple of years and now would be nice…esp considering how CHEAP he is…

I have to say people may think Wainwright for Drew was one of the worst but I can’t seem but bite my tongue thinking how much better this team could’ve been with him…if he would have played here since 96 that also would’ve prevented the whole Chipper in LF stuff also.

By Carroll Rogers

July 19, 2008 11:19 PM | Link to this

Sounds like you guys are keeping it a healthy mix between downright ire and some strong points of analysis….i’m about to hit the road, but before i go a couple of quotes from Tex to chew on.

(oh and DOB will be back manana to take you through the florida series)

“It just wasn’t our night,” said Mark Teixeira said. “If we’d lost by one run, we could blame it on balls we hit at people but we kind of got our butts kicked. We just need to try to win the series tomorrow.”

“The series are must-win,” Teixeira said. “We can’t expect to go out and win every single game. That’s just not possible. We have to try to win every series. If we play .500 ball we’re not going to make it.”

By TNJeff

July 19, 2008 11:20 PM | Link to this

Doc - you must have been sitting in the dugout tonight / well for the last 2.5 years.

Plenty of time to make up ground and capture a 3rd straight 3rd place finish!

By Lou Vales

July 19, 2008 11:24 PM | Link to this

Dear Goche, I believe you’ve misunderstood me. I BELIEVE that Hampton is REALLY HURT and not faking it—Nothing to do with a character flaw, and I believe he is trying to get back, BUT I ALSO believe that if he would have been paid BY JUST RETIRING IN April that he would have retired in April. Just my feeling, and I wouldn’t say that he would have a character flaw if he did that, UNLESS we are about to label 95 percent of American populace as character Flawed.

Sheffield(currently), Pavano just two guys that are REALLY hurt , BUT who must try to get healthy or RETIRE. They ain’t retiring and Michael Hampton isn’t retiring. Count On It—Well, not until the last possible suitor left in MLB finally has that operation on his cerebral cortex.

By Jeff321

July 19, 2008 11:26 PM | Link to this

How much longer until the announcers “catch on” that you can indeed run on Frenchy’s paltry arm?

Btw, I agree with another commenter.. The Braves are hopeless until Cox is out of here. And save all the past accomplishments. Because all I care about is what have you done for me lately, eh!

By Bama

July 19, 2008 11:28 PM | Link to this

Great job Willie Harris! At least one person came to play tonight.

Bobby Cox should step down, he’s quickly becoming a Loser.

By Lou Vales

July 19, 2008 11:40 PM | Link to this

Dear BA, I hope the Bravos sign Texeira to an 18.7 million a year deal. Why 18.7?? Because at that point his salary would be equal to that of the 2008 Marlins ENTIRE payroll.

Now even someone with your intellectual acumen, sense of proportion, and high degree of rationality would realize that is beyond pitiful??? Right?? Surely you can not be enough of a supporter sniffer with your Earl Williams Bobblehead Dolls adorning your room not to see that?? Even with your phone tone declaring “Braves Win Braves Win Braves WIN”, you could not miss the irony of a franchise that has missed more opportunities to close the deal than a Paris Hilton date—-to have SOMEHOW parlayed 14!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Playoff appearances into 1!!!!!!!!!!!! less World Series Championship than your Florida Marlins??????????

And PLEASE feel free to rant on me all you want, but the next suggestion doesn’t even involve me. I IMPLORE you to go to WCCPFM—-104.9 The Clemson Flagship Station and ACTUALLY with a pretty good signal—way better than my station in Spartanburg——Anyway go on the internet from 3-5PM on Monday afternoon and you are going to hear a rip job on the little lefthander from Florida RARELY heard on the radio or TV or read in print. Walt is not only going to rip him a new one, but he will probably need to take a 2 day vacation afterwards.

By TNJeff

July 19, 2008 11:46 PM | Link to this

What was Cox’s record during his first stint with the Braves? I’d be surprised if he had a winning record.

Then he became the expert who can’t be questioned in his managing when he began to win at coincidently the same time that he had 3 Hall of Fame pitchers and a Hall of Fame 3rd baseman on his team.

Hmmmmmmm….

By Doc

July 19, 2008 11:54 PM | Link to this

TNJeff

I am seeing Dr. Kroger’s patients. I can slip you in right after Monk.

By TNJeff

July 19, 2008 11:59 PM | Link to this

Follow-up - Cox’s record in first stint with the Braves (Pre Smoltz / Glavine / Maddux / Chipper) ….

266 wins & 323 losses

or .452 baseball - we’re there again

All we need are 4 young, healthy Hall of Fame players added to the team for Bobby to work his magic.

By fastasballs

July 20, 2008 12:00 AM | Link to this

The teams of old would always beat up on the bottom feeders & hold their own against the better teams. Seems they still do rather well against the better teams, minus the Phillies this season. I’m basing that over the past few years more so than this season. Too many losses to the Reds, Pirates, Nats, etc.

By not beating the doormats like the Nats they are forced to sweep a series against the Fish or Phillies just to get the game back they couldn’t take from the Nats tonight. Lose tomorrow & they have to sweep both. They need to make up more than a game a week because they are chasing three teams more than 4 games ahead of them or it wouldn’t be so bad trying to track down one team.

The die hard Braves fan in me thinks they can make a run, however looking at this team from an objective view point leads me to conclude they just are not a good team from top to bottom including the coaching staff.

There are plenty of astute baseball fans on this blog that have come to the same conclusion. There are too many holes on the roster, too many injuries & too many idiotic decisions by our HOF manager for this team to really be in this race.

When I refer to Cox as a HOP manager, I by no means joking, he’s earned it without question. At this point he’s living off of past reputation as did many a great coaches toward the end that wasn’t getting the job done. I really don’t believe he is getting the most out of this team or giving them the best chance to win now or the past several years.

The injuries have really been overcome in many ways. The pitching has been good to great as far as the starters go. Can you imagine the record this team would have with last year’s starting staff? Holy moly the Braves would be in the cellar.

By Lou Vales

July 20, 2008 12:01 AM | Link to this

Bobby Cox has ONE MORE World Series Championship ring than Michael Vick. And it doesn’t matter where Michael spends the next 10 years he will still have one Less World Series Championship ring than Bobby Cox and Lawrence “Chipper” Jones of The Bolles School in Jacksonville. Well, actually Cox and Jones will have one apiece when they retire so in actuality they will have 2 More!! than Michael Vick and the same number as Jeff Conine.

Is that sad, pitiful and any other derisive adjectives you might add??

By TNJeff

July 20, 2008 12:09 AM | Link to this

Doc

There’s no hurry. I’ve got plenty of time to address my problems.

Monk is just a TV character though or am I really losing it?

By winston

July 20, 2008 12:19 AM | Link to this

Lou Vales is f^@#ing nutty.

By I hate Jeff Francouer and Bobby Cox

July 20, 2008 12:22 AM | Link to this

I really do

By Lou Vales

July 20, 2008 12:22 AM | Link to this

Jeff Conine—Are you kidding me??? And both World Series Championship rings with a team that will be moved if stadium deal falls through. BUT even if stadium deal falls through, and when you consider that Milwaukee/Atlanta has won 1!!!!!!!! in the last 50 years that Marlins number of 2 is probaly safe until about 2050.

I wonder if they will be really disecting in 2050 those 14 Division Titles—NOTE!! NOT Championships—and wondering about the GROSS ineptitude that contributed to ONE Championship in 14 tries. Even the odds are staggering, beyond comprehension.

Repeat that—-ONE In FOURTEEN——Repeat It Again—One In Fourteen—See, It’s incomprehensible, but it is how the Braves will be defined in the future as those little 14 banners along the facade(great word) start to resemble a caricature.

By W

July 20, 2008 12:23 AM | Link to this

Heck of a job, Bobby!

By SaltyDawg

July 20, 2008 12:23 AM | Link to this

As much as I hate to be johnny-come-lately to the bandwagon, I am really starting to suspect that the Braves will not compete until Bobby retires. I just can’t understand why he consistently makes bad lineup decisions and insists on playing guys (ahem, Francoeur, Andruw, etc.) who just aren’t hitting. How long do you let a slump kill the team before you take action? You can afford to leave a guy in for defense only when you don’t rely on his offense, but that is not the case here. I certainly understand loyalty and giving a guy the chance to work though his problems, but enough is enough already. It is downright stubborn to keep the status quo when it isn’t working. And this platoon crap and changing pitchers every batter even when the guy on the mound is throwing lights out is asinine. I can’t see this team responding in any significant way until something is done to shake things up.

Bobby is a legend and always will be in Atlanta, but he should do the noble thing and step down after this season.

By chrisklob

July 20, 2008 12:24 AM | Link to this

Lou Vales,

You are correct in that Hampton would NOT be getting paid if he had retired. You may recall that Albert Belle signed a very large contract but injuries effectively ended his career in 2000. However, he was paid through the end of his contract which expired after the 2003 season. He was paid over $37m during these three years while he sat on the Orioles 60-day DL. It wasn’t until AFTER the contract expired that he officially retired.

I hope the Bravos sign Texeira to an 18.7 million a year deal. Why 18.7?? Because at that point his salary would be equal to that of the 2008 Marlins ENTIRE payroll.

Now even someone with your intellectual acumen, sense of proportion, and high degree of rationality would realize that is beyond pitiful???

You’re right. That IS pitiful. The way the Marlin’s have managed their payroll over the years is a complete joke and a slap in the face of the franchises that pay into the fund that pays the Marlins to STEAL money from the rest of the sport. If you think that the Marlins “business model” is so great, why are they the laughing stock of all of baseball? Why Bud Selig allows scumbag owners like Loria to operate the way they do is yet another stain on his legacy. The Marlins are an embarrassment to the game. And don’t give me any of that crap about how they’ve won one more WS than the Braves because I could honestly look you in the eye and tell you that if the Braves would definitely win the WS next year if they’d do the same thing, I would tell you that I am not interested in winning that way. Those dirtbags are despicable and I wish that Selig would put a stop to it. There are many reasons that the Marlins draw so poorly at the gate and this is one of the main culprits.

And why do you continually come on this blog, a BRAVES blog, to tout some half-arsed radio station in a town NOBODY cares about to tell us about you or some other knucklehead that’s going to rip Mike Hampton a new one? DO YOU REALLY THINK ANYONE HERE CARES WHAT YOU, A MARLINS FAN, THINKS? Oh yeah, it takes a real man to get on some podunk radio station in some podunk little town and tear someone apart.

Lou, why don’t you take all those untold millions that you made and go buy a freakin’ clue. Your and idiot, Lou. The sooner you figure that out, the happier the rest of us will be. Honestly, you’re worse than any of the Muts fans that come on here.

By TNJeff

July 20, 2008 12:31 AM | Link to this

I miss Gayle

By Lou Vales

July 20, 2008 12:31 AM | Link to this

Nutty Yes!!!! But do I recognize INEPTITUDE on a mammoth scale??? The answer would be YES!!!

You guys see it too, but to recognize it in print would bring into question— WHY???? You have spent last 16 years watching 3 Hall of fame pitchers in their prime, one of THE greatest switch hitters in history, formidable lineups clearly better than Division rivals AND YET here you sit on July 20, 2008 with one World Series Championship Trophy still inanely babbling about “Do we trade Tex or do we have a run in us?? You think Tommy or Mike can contribute down the stretch?? Will Soriano’s elbow hold out?/”“—And I’m Nutty??????

Whose grasp of reality do you think an objective person would deem to be most cogent?? Mine or “Hey, we’re still in this”??

By SaltyDawg

July 20, 2008 12:38 AM | Link to this

Lou,

Dear BA, I hope the Bravos sign Texeira to an 18.7 million a year deal. Why 18.7?? Because at that point his salary would be equal to that of the 2008 Marlins ENTIRE payroll.

And you can tell the fans really enjoy the Marlins payroll strategy. Honestly, I’m glad I’m not a Marlins fan because I would never get to see a game, what with the stampede to buy tickets and all. Any team could do what the Marlins have done in their short history. But why would they want to? Nobody is interested in seeing it.

By Lou Vales

July 20, 2008 12:45 AM | Link to this

Chrisklob, You’re going to honestly tell me that if the Astros, Mariners, Rangers, Rays, Indians, Giants, and Nationals COULD HAVE won 2 MORE Championships in last 11 years than they have all combined for in the last 50 that they wouldn’t have done it?/ Done Something?/ Anything?? So that people who follow the team couldn’t have a MEMORY of the CULMINATION of WHY you play a season of baseball—Not to make the playoffs or finish 88-74 or make a late run BUT to hold up a trophy in a very damp clubhouse.

And I agree the Marlins Franchise IS A JOKE, but the 25 guys on this team that make nearly 10 million less than A-Rod are no joke. They have more guts than the Yankees(208million), Tigers(138 million) and Mets(Whatever Million) and all those other teams made up of a great portion of guys who got theirs and now really don’t care.

And if they finish close this year—The ONLY people being EMBARRASSED will be the idiots who paid out mega deals to some old, inept and perpetually injured stiffs. AND there will be changes made because even these guys have to wise up after awhile. Don’t they??

By winston

July 20, 2008 12:50 AM | Link to this

Lou Vales is not of this earth.

By SaltyDawg

July 20, 2008 12:54 AM | Link to this

Lou,

I have to say, I normally don’t like to get personal on a blog, but you are seriously a loser of epic proportions. Most of the people on this blog are here because they are interested in the Braves. You are here why? To talk about the Marlins? Seriously? Nobody here cares about the Marlins. I understand that you have no fan base and thus, probably don’t have blogs such as this where the Marlins are the topic of discussion. But can’t you just go hang out at a rest stop bathroom like other losers of your ilk? In all seriousness, get a life. And please go away. You are not wanted here and nobody here will EVER care about the Marlins. As bad as the Braves may be, at least we can look forward to next year. What do the Marlins look forward to next year, selling off any players making more than the league minimum? The Marlins as the McDonalds of baseball.

By winston

July 20, 2008 12:55 AM | Link to this

If truth is a disease then Lou Vales is hemorrhoid.

By Lou Vales

July 20, 2008 12:56 AM | Link to this

Salty dawg, You may be right, look at all those people turning out to see Beltre and Bedard in Seattle and Sizemore in Cleveland. You know maybe that is why the Big 3 Auto Industry is in such trouble because Americans just don’t recognize quality like baseball fans.

And Salty, I’ve read your comments. And you have some heavy duty intellect SO PLEASE don’t say “ANY team could do what the Marlins have done in their short history”—Just think of what you wrote. ANY team Could do it, any team could tear a franchise apart and rebuild it and win a World Series, ANY team could AGAIN tear a franchise apart and 5 years later trail two mega payroll teams by 1 1/2 games after 97 games?? And at the same time have scouted and drafted some young arms that you better hope decide to throw a lot of screwballs.

Salty, ANY team could do it?? And yet you follow a team that had Glavine, Smoltz and Maddux in their PRIMES along with Jones and a collection of HIGH CALIBER athletes and THEY COULDN’T DO IT!!!

Salty, WHY??

By Lou Vales

July 20, 2008 12:57 AM | Link to this

Salty dawg, You may be right, look at all those people turning out to see Beltre and Bedard in Seattle and Sizemore in Cleveland. You know maybe that is why the Big 3 Auto Industry is in such trouble because Americans just don’t recognize quality like baseball fans.

And Salty, I’ve read your comments. And you have some heavy duty intellect SO PLEASE don’t say “ANY team could do what the Marlins have done in their short history”—Just think of what you wrote. ANY team Could do it, any team could tear a franchise apart and rebuild it and win a World Series, ANY team could AGAIN tear a franchise apart and 5 years later trail two mega payroll teams by 1 1/2 games after 97 games?? And at the same time have scouted and drafted some young arms that you better hope decide to throw a lot of screwballs.

Salty, ANY team could do it?? And yet you follow a team that had Glavine, Smoltz and Maddux in their PRIMES along with Jones and a collection of HIGH CALIBER athletes and THEY COULDN’T DO IT!!!

Salty, WHY??

By winston

July 20, 2008 12:59 AM | Link to this

If righteousness was a mighty ship then Lou Vales is the Exxon Valdes.

By chrisklob

July 20, 2008 1:02 AM | Link to this

Lou, to answer your question in one word: YES! They DIDN”T do it did they? What the Marlins did is not some secret, proprietary technique known only to them. That sorry business plan is available to any one or all of those teams. But they DIDN”T do it, just like NO OTHER team did. Why? Because it’s a horrible way to build a business. All you have to do is look at the attendance figures for the Marlins over the years to see that the fans of Miami do NOT care about that team. Why? Well, plenty of reasons, but I guarantee one of the big reasons is the way they’ve gone about their business.

Let is be noted that my rant against the Marlins is solely against the front office and NOT the players. Those guys don’t have a choice in how the business is run and I have no problem with any of them. Hell, most of those guys should be grateful to the front office as not many of them would have been promoted to the bigs as soon as they were had it not been for the purging by the front office.

So that people who follow the team couldn’t have a MEMORY of the CULMINATION of WHY you play a season of baseball…

You know as well as anyone here that baseball is all about “what have you done for me lately”. A WS championship five years ago is nice but it doesn’t pay the bills today. The Marlins didn’t even draw well the last year that they won the WS until very late in the year.

By uga-brave

July 20, 2008 1:06 AM | Link to this

klobber,

what up my friend?

pretty ugly game. it was over a long time ago.

this team has been consistent all year.

they just ARE NOT GOOD ENOGH.

they have a terrible outfield.

bad year to wear # 7 in atlanta.

i have been french’s biggest critic forever.

the dude really tries hard, but he just has terrible mechanics.

it will not get better either, too many loose parts in that swing.

tell

tell him to watch swings like ryan braun, and believe it or not a former 12 game winning pitcher.

rick ankiel is a real story, the dude has 22 dingers.

By winston

July 20, 2008 1:12 AM | Link to this

If insight was a fruit, Lou Vales would be a lemon.

By chrisklob

July 20, 2008 1:17 AM | Link to this

What’s up uga. Just doing my part to keep the trolls in their place.

I’ll get crucified for saying this but this season has been over since KJ dropped that fly ball.

By Lou Vales

July 20, 2008 1:21 AM | Link to this

Dear Chris, Okay this will be my LAST post and I won’t be slinky enough to post under something daffy like “BA”, always thought it showed intestinal fortitude to use real name— I guess not.

My LAST comment will be I believe it has little to do with what you did for me lately OR you wouldn’t have the Astros, Mariners, Rangers and Non-Winning World Series teams like that drawing because they have basically done nothing EVER—Lately or Long Ago. That Big Old Trophy defines an INDIVIDUAL TEAM—Must get to hold that to be a success.

Braves will finish 4th and they will regret not having been more aggressive in being sellers—Final Prediction.

Good Bye All—You would love me in person.

By The Goche

July 20, 2008 1:23 AM | Link to this

carter

I think he should retire when his body’s shot. He’s got millions upon millions in the bank. Don’t keep taking the money when you essentially know you’re not going to be able to perform. (And yes, at this point, I think he’s aware of it.)

I think he’s afraid of that. But, I don’t think he wants to believe it. Like he said in the article, his arm really feels good. And what is it now, like three times he’s gotten right to the brink of making it back when it happened. One might look at that and say, “He’ll never make it,” but can you blame him for saying “I’m so close.”

Just in terms of wanting to play again, I’m sure I’d do the same thing.

Of course, I can understand why he takes the money—it’s a contract, simple as that. And so that’s what he’s decided to do. Doesn’t make it “right” but so be it.

I don’t know. I’m usually a pretty black and white person on matters of right and wrong. If he knows he will never contribute again, I can certainly see why you’d expect him to retire. But in a situation like this, I just can’t blame a guy for holding out hope, however foolish it may be.

Still, when we talk about these endless muscle tweaks and strains—i’m not talking about the elbow surgeries— keeping a 35 y/o pitcher on the DL for so long, how do you NOT consider steroids?

It certainly is a logical conclusion that that could explain this situation, but there are just so many guys like that out there. I mean just look at the Braves: Javy, Giles, Hampton. Just right off the top. There are guys like this all over the league. All with different “symptoms” where it “makes sense.” And some of these guys are innocent. If we could find everyone who did it some way, I would say great. But mostly I just don’t think it will get us anywhere to go conjecturing on every single person who dropped off or got hurt after testing started.

And given that nobody on here is talking about it, and some, like you, are even Hampton apologists, well… I just have a hard time stomaching that without raising the whole steroid matter, which, to me, has been rather apparent for a while now.

I guess I am technically an apologist. To me—and it may just be me—it just seems like a loaded word, kinda like revisionist. But I mean I certainly am a Hampton defender, mostly just because I don’t think he has done anything that requires a defense.

I mean, I certainly have lots of guys that I just don’t like because they seem like jerks to me. But other than that, I just kinda root for people. To me that’s just kinda what sports are about, that’s the fun of it. Especially those on my team. I mean I’m realistic. I would never bet on Hampton pitching again (unless there are really awesome odds). If the MLB had rules like the NFL I would certainly agree that they should cut him, even as much as I am rooting for him.

But things as they are, I just can’t help but root for him. I just don’t feel like assuming wrongs based on “it makes sense” really gets anyone anywhere. It just ruins a few more memories.

Can I prove it? No. I don’t have to.

You certainly don’t have to prove it to believe it. You can even argue it, but with nothing more than the fact that he started getting injured, you can’t expect people to accept it as fact.

To me, the far reaching implications of fairly applying such a standard of evidence are too great and cover too many people that may be innocent for me to just blindly apply it. Especially when there is likely no way to ever prove it and no benefit that would come from proving it.

By uga-brave

July 20, 2008 1:23 AM | Link to this

oh by the way,

superstar has 9 doubles and 25 RBI since april.

no way that he is accountable. he is a superstar.

he thinks the BRAVES owe him. wake up my man, the only team that would of carried you this long is your home town team.

40 at bats in july and one extra base hit.

he has a .476 .ops in july.

not so good.

By Will

July 20, 2008 1:28 AM | Link to this

Going into the 2nd half i still held out some semblance of hope, but then i see games like tonight that just remind me that this team just stinks! I am sick and tired of this attitude around this organization. What has Brian Mac won, Nothing! What has Frenchy won, nothing! what has 99% of this team won and the answer is NOTHING! Smoltz, Glavine and Chipper are World Champions and i dont include them in this but the rest of this team i am just so sick and tired of all the BS, all the “this is the way we are supposed to be playing ” crap they say EVERY DAMN TIME THEY WIN A GAME! I am a diehard Braves fan and always will be, but i officially hate this team. Its a bunch of generally mediocre talent walking around with a chip on their shoulder cause they play for the Atlanta Braves. Well guys just to let you know that chip is no longer there. The Braves are not contenders anymore and the rest of the league knows it.

By chrisklob

July 20, 2008 1:34 AM | Link to this

Good Bye All—You would love me in person.

I rather doubt that and God willing, none of us will ever have to find out.

uga, my brother, your rants against Frenchy are getting to be rather Robert-like. As your friend, please accept my advice and quit banging on him. We are ALL painfully aware of his shortcomings. There is no further need to hammer those points home any more.

Seriously.

By uga-brave

July 20, 2008 1:37 AM | Link to this

klobber,

you hit the nail on the head. you are dead on.

we lost six straight, including that game.

i miss your input. always thougt you, braveheart, scoots, and bravesdave, always had good input.

tell the guys at FIG, snob, and carolines, that charleston’s restaurants are the best.

well i did not want to leave out HIGH COTTON.

well if you cant tell a three day weekend in charleston is great.

great food, great golf, kiawah, and fantastic scenery.

By chrisklob

July 20, 2008 1:45 AM | Link to this

uga, you should have told me you were coming. We could have had a beer.

You’re right, we have an awesome restaurant scene here. Next time you come, you need to go to Charleston Grill, Peninsula Grill and Anson.

By uga-brave

July 20, 2008 1:45 AM | Link to this

klobber,

tell palladin i said hello. always liked that guy.

drop in more often. bay area steve still hang out over there?

By uga-brave

July 20, 2008 1:51 AM | Link to this

WILL,

BEST POST OF THE SEASON. i agree.

there are a bunch of the guys, and COACHES that are pretty happy drawing major league money.

By chrisklob

July 20, 2008 1:53 AM | Link to this

uga, haven’t seen much of either of them lately. Not sure where they’ve wandered off to.

By uga-brave

July 20, 2008 2:02 AM | Link to this

klobber,

i am lucky enough to have master’s badges.

we go thursday, and then go to charleston for the weekend.

last year we stayed at the andruw pickney inn.

i love downtown charleston. a lot of my friends from ATL. went to college of chraleston. hey bobby cremmins is there right?

for anybody else, charleston is a classier new orleans.

the restaurants are THE BEST!

By uga-brave

July 20, 2008 2:11 AM | Link to this

klobber,

my best friend is a cadet, that citadel thing.

his grandmother had the last residential house on east bay street.

By The Goche

July 20, 2008 2:44 AM | Link to this

Lou Vales

I don’t know. I don’t think he’s doing it just for the money. Is it a factor? I can’t imagine it’s not.

I just think that given the options #1 lock up $15 million and retire. or #2 lock up $15 million and play baseball, he’d pick #2.

I mean we can’t know for sure. I’m certainly not saying we can.

What if he got the money, played a little and got hurt again? Would he maybe be more willing to accept his fate? It’s quite possible.

Would I be disappointed? Yeah. But we can’t judge a person based on what we think he would do. Only on what we know he did or is doing.

That’s all I’m saying. As of now, Hampton has done nothing to lose my trust or my support.

It’s also kind of like I told carter. Unless a guy just seems like a jerk, I pretty much tend to root for them. Especially when they are on my favorite team. To me that’s what sports is all about.

By Carter

July 20, 2008 2:49 AM | Link to this

Goche

You write: “It certainly is a logical conclusion (steroid use) that that could explain this situation, but there are just so many guys like that out there. I mean just look at the Braves: Javy, Giles, Hampton. Just right off the top.”

Bingo! I think you’re dead right on all three of those guys! Matter of fact, I’ve read articles that said that’s exactly what happened with Javy and Giles.

I get your overall perspective though, and I agree with it in general. Something about the Hampton situation, and the fact that he gets so much of the benefit of the doubt by fans and press alike, just bugs me.

No offense intended to you personally, but I suspect the people who stick up for Hampton do so out of a kind of idol worship. Now, if those same people owned, say, a Taco Bell, would they show the same patience with an employee who missed 10 days with the flu?

By winston

July 20, 2008 3:31 AM | Link to this

If this blog was the solar system, Lou Vales would be Uranus.

By Moby Grape

July 20, 2008 4:05 AM | Link to this

Ugly, ugly game. I bet this place was a total hate site while it was being played. I’m afraid to go back and read the in-game posts.

I don’t know if they are pressing too much or are just that bad. I do think they are getting closer and closer to the time when Wren has to make a decision. I’m sure it will be difficult for them to admit that they are out of it, but I am finally coming to that conclusion. Even though they have split these first two games, they have not looked good at all IMO.

Chipper has slowed down as anticipated, under .300 for 6 weeks or so I think with not a lot of power either. The problem is that nobody has stepped forward to pick up the slack.

The pitching has been very good, but perhaps at an over-achieving level and I’m afraid that it might start to lose some effectiveness. Good that we are getting Soriano back if he can pitch fairly regularly from here on in.

Like most I just have not been able to really get a handle on the way this team has played. I do not think that they are a real good team by any means, but I admit that I thought they would be more successful than they have been so far this year. I think I’m gonna chalk it up to too many injuries exacerbated by too much youth.

I’m a Tex fan and I wish that they could resign him, but like Shef & Drew I think that he will be gone before next year. They just seem unwilling to pony up to keep a good hitter. If Chipper hadn’t restructured his contract I think that he would be gone too.

In my perfect world LM would resign Tex & Ohman let Glavine retire,and spent the winter trading for a potent outfielder, but I ain’t holding my breath.

By Greg

July 20, 2008 6:22 AM | Link to this

Yesterday when I complained about the poor pitching to a AAA lineup (the Nats), everybody told me not to worry about it. After all, we won. Another night against the same AAA lineup. We give up 8 runs. And it looks like our pitching and our hitting have finally reached the point of parity. We suck at both.

The Braves are about to have their first fire sale in 17 seasons. It’s going to sting. But injuries destroyed this team’s pitching staff and it never had much offense.

If we do trade Tex, and I think we will. We should look for the following prospects: right handed right fielder with power and potential closer. It’s time to rebuild for 2010. That’s probably our best chance of being a contender. Hansen and Gorkys will be ready by then. Maybe we can pick up a veteran power pitcher in free agency. And maybe by then management will send Francouer packing.

I personally think his career is over unless he learns some plate discipline and develops a better swing. Major League pitchers clearly have a scouting report that identifies all of the holes in his swing.

Send Frenchy down to Richmond and not Mississippi. He needs to be thrown out of his comfort zone and told to go down and work hard or he will never again get a sniff of the Majors. It was stupid to bring him back so soon. And it was stupid to send him to AA where he felt so comfortable. Send him to Richmond and keep him there. You can’t tell me that this guy is a better option than Brandon Jones.

By The Goche

July 20, 2008 6:26 AM | Link to this

carter

I get your overall perspective though, and I agree with it in general. Something about the Hampton situation, and the fact that he gets so much of the benefit of the doubt by fans and press alike, just bugs me.

I get yours as well. This I think stems from different places in our 5 Stages of Grief over the steriod scandal. I love baseball history and records and all that. So if there was a way to go back and find out everyone who did it, I would say go for it, even though I know it would likely soil the names of many players I respected.

I can also understand being skeptical of anyone suspicious, and like I said, your conjecture does make sense.

I was really mad at Bonds, Clemens, Giambi, Sheffield, especially because they are such big names. But it was easy for me to believe they did it because I disliked them anyway.

But the name that shook me the most: Paul Byrd. I had just always believed he was a good guy. And the thing is he is. I’ve met him. I don’t know if I believe his story or not, but I realized that even some of the good ones may have been as guilty as the jerks.

The final straw for me was the Mitchell Report. At first you say: look at all those Yankees and Mets! And almost no Braves (at least not while they were on the Braves). But then I realized, there are probably several Radomski’s out there who didn’t get caught, and maybe the Braves had one too, he just didn’t get caught.

I just decided that, if good guys did the stuff too and there is no way to feel like we have all of them, or even a major percentage of them, then maybe this whole report isn’t even worth it. I mean, look at these guys who’s names are on there, they can give their excuses, and maybe one or two is even telling the truth, but either way, they are now guilty. Many of them don’t seem to have gained a day of play out of it, and there must be many many more just like them.

There is no way we can fix all the mess that has been made to records and history, we can’t fix the games that may have been won or lost, so no use dragging up the names of every guy we think may have done it.

But at the same time, as someone who loves the game, I can completely understand why you still view suspicious players with skepticism, because the idea of it does still make me mad.

No offense intended to you personally, but I suspect the people who stick up for Hampton do so out of a kind of idol worship.

Well, I guess that’s true of all sports, or all fandom.

For me, the players I really like, I like for more than just their skill. I root for the players that make me happy to see them succeed: guys like Smoltz, McCann, legitimately good guys (by my guess).

So it bothers me more than most when a good guy or seemingly good guy does a bad thing.

I was sick when I found out about Denny Neagle getting arrested. I met him at a charity thing he did and he was totally outgoing, friendly and was the main star of this charity thing. And I truly believe he was a good guy, just screwed up, I guess.

And like I said, I watch sports for fun, and it’s not fun for me when the guy in the white hat ends up being the crook.

I’m not stupid, I know that these guys aren’t perfect. But I also learned that it doesn’t have to mean they aren’t good guys.

I’ll just keep on believing that Hampton is the guy he has always seemed to be. And maybe he is a good guy who used steriods, but I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt.

You just have to hope that these guys prove you right, or at least, don’t prove you wrong.

I don’t see that as idol worship, I don’t know if that’s what you’d call it. I’d like to think there is something between idol worship and cynicism.

By Quack Quack

July 20, 2008 7:41 AM | Link to this

If this blog was the solar system, Lou Vales would be Uranus.Winston

my anus? no wonder I’ve been constipated lately.

By Quack Quack

July 20, 2008 7:45 AM | Link to this

The Braves are about to have their first fire sale in 17 seasons. It’s going to sting. But injuries destroyed this team’s pitching staff and it never had much offensGreg

Oh I don’t think it will be a fire sale Greg. Just a small judicious back burn allow for future growth.

By Lew

July 20, 2008 8:41 AM | Link to this

Carter-No, those of us who stick up for Hampton do not do so because of Hero worship ( I’m 57-the only thing I worship is the concept of a well funded retirement). We do so because

A. It is inconceivable to us that anyone would work so hard rehabbing (try it some time-it ain’t easy) just to collect a paycheck when he’s already rich beyond our dreams

B. There is absolutely NO PROOF of steroid us (with Giles and Javy either, for that matter-despite popular conceptions) and

C. We are not @$$e$.

UGABrave-Dude-My fellow Dawg. Rick Ankiel compared to Francoeur? Let’s have a dose of reality here. Ankiel broke into the bigs in 1999. It has taken ten years (and yes, much tenacity to be sure) for Ankiel to accumulate the offensive numbers (35 whole career HR’s) that Frenchy put up in about a full year of MLB. If you’re going to put down Francoeur, please come up with a better example. Maybe we should convert Frenchy to pitcher. What have they got to lose, right? Except five or six years of any production whatsoever, a la Ankiel.

By DAP01

July 20, 2008 9:01 AM | Link to this

Send JF down, bring up any one.

By nolie

July 20, 2008 9:08 AM | Link to this

If you’re going to put down Francoeur, please come up with a better example.Lew

He is the second coming of Juan Encarnacion as i have been saying for years.

By Lew

July 20, 2008 9:19 AM | Link to this

Nolie-Who?

By nolie

July 20, 2008 9:21 AM | Link to this

Stan the Man by Joe Posnanski

Poz writes for the KC Star and has been previously names as the best sports columnist in America by the AP. Here he muses on one of my all-time heroes Mr. Musial

Stan Musial never got thrown out of a game. Never. Think about this for a moment. Musial played in 3,026 games in his career, or about as many as his contemporaries Joe DiMaggio and Johnny Pesky played combined. He played across different American eras — he played in the big leagues before bombs fell on Pearl Harbor, and he retired a few weeks before Kennedy was shot. He played when Jimmy Dorsey and Glenn Miller ruled the Top 40 charts, and he played when Elvis was thin, and he played when Chubby Checker twisted. He played before television, and after John Glenn orbited the earth. And he never once got thrown out of a baseball game.

There was this game, in ‘52, that year the Today Show came to television and the Diary of Anne Frank was published, and the Musial’s Cardinals trailed the Brooklyn Dodgers by two runs in the ninth. The bases were loaded. There were two outs. Musial faced pitcher Ben Wade. The two battled briefly, and then Musial connected — a long home run to right field. Grand slam. Everyone in the stadium stood and cheered wildly — what could be bigger, a grand slam in the ninth to beat the hated Dodgers — and Musial started to run around the bases in his own inimitable way, not too fast, not too slow, all class. And it wasn’t until he rounded first and was closing in on second when everyone seemed to notice at once that the third base umpire was holding up his arms. A ball had rolled on the field just before the pitch. The umpire had called timeout.

Home plate umpire Tom Gorman realized he had no choice. He disallowed the home run. The stadium went black. The fans went mad. St. Louis manager Solly Hemus raced out the dugout, got into Gorman’s face and called him every name he could think of — finally Gorman had no choice and threw him out of the game. Peanuts Lowrey came in like a tag-team wrestler and picked up where Solly left off — Gorman tossed him too. Before it was done, Gorman threw out six Cardinals. He felt like a cowboy in one of those old Westerns clearing out the saloon, throwing out people through plate glass windows.

And then Musial, who in the confusion had not been told anything, walked over to Gorman. He calmly asked, “What happened Tom? It didn’t count, huh?” Gorman nodded sadly and said the third base umpire had called timeout.

“Well, Tom,” Musial said, “there’s nothing you can do about it.”

Stan Musial stepped back in the box while fists shook and boos and threats echoed around him. He promptly tripled off the top of the center field wall to score three runs and give the Cardinals the victory anyway.

“Stan,” Tom Gorman said after the game ended, “is in a class by himself.”

Stan Musial grew up in Donora, Pa., during the Depression. They were a family of eight in a five-room house. In Donora, the smoke and fumes from the zinc factory mushroomed so thick and poisonous that no vegetation could grow on the hill. That barren, brown hillside was a constant reminder that the air was killing them. Stan’s father, a Polish immigrant, worked in that factory and, not too many years after Stan started playing ball, died from the fumes.

Not that a tough childhood explains everything. Still, there was something about Stan Musial that did not let him forget Donora, did not allow him to change — “I’m so lucky,” he used to say every day, more than once every day, so many times that people would roll their eyes. But that seems to be how he felt, every day, lucky.

Harry Caray, who of course first gained his fame calling Cardinals games on KMOX, would tell the story of a beaten down Musial going hitless in a Sunday doubleheader. The heat was unbearable that day — hell could not be much hotter than a St. Louis summer day — and after the game Musial walked gingerly to his car. He looked beaten down. He looked beat up. Musial never seemed to think of baseball as a job, but a daytime doubleheader in St. Louis might be the closest thing.

“Watch this,” Caray said to a friend as they watched the scene, and sure enough when Musial got to the car, there were a hundred kids waiting for him and an autograph. Stan leaned against his hot car and signed every one.

Musial. People like to say that people have changed. I don’t see that exactly. The world has changed. Technology has changed. Movie and ticket prices have changed. Gas prices have changed,. Many of the rules have changed — the reserve clause is gone, Title IX is in place, they let people swear on cable TV, airplanes and restaurants won’t let you smoke and you can no longer hold your infant in your lap in the front seat of your car. But people? I don’t know. I get a little queasy when I hear old time ballplayers talk about how none of them would have used performance enhancing drugs, and a little queasier when I hear old-time politicians talk about how they always reached across the aisle. You will still hear a lot of people romanticizing America in the 1950s. Those people tend to look a lot alike.

Still, it’s probably fair to say that there was something unique about the time that produced Stan Musial. Maybe in those days people treasured that thing they used to call class. Maybe they expected their singers to be dressed in tuxedoes, maybe they admired strong and silent types, maybe they liked football players who did not celebrate their own touchdowns or boxers who spoke quietly, maybe they wanted their children to believe in a world where baseball players drank milk and said “golly” and married their high school sweetheart. It seems to me that the quintessential hero today is Josh Hamilton, left-handed power, supremely gifted, fallen from grace, back from the depths, crushing home runs and driving in runners while covered in tattoos that represent a time he regrets. That’s a story for our time, a story about a lost soul redeemed, and it touches our 21st Century hearts.

Musial is from his time. He smoked under stairwells to be certain that no kid saw him doing it. Friends say he drank privately, and very little, Stan the Man could not allow anyone to see him at less than his best. He often said his biggest regret was that he did not go to college. And, yes, he married Lil, his high school sweetheart, on his 19th birthday, almost 70 years ago.

He wanted to be a role model. He seemed to need to feel like he was giving kids someone to respect. That, as much as anything, drove him. Teammates had a standing wager on how many times he would use the word “Wonderful” in any given day. They usually guessed low. He was terrified of making speeches (this, friends say, is why he started playing the harmonica in public) and yet he almost never turned down a speaking engagement. He played in great pain, but nobody ever caught him running half-speed. When he felt like his skills had diminished, he asked for and received a pay cut.

Joe Black used to tell a story — he was pitching against the Cardinals, and as usual the taunts were racial. “Don’t worry Stan,” someone in the Cardinals dugout shouted, “with that dark background on the mound you shouldn’t have any problem hitting the ball.” Musial kicked at the dirt, spat, and faced Black like he had not heard anything. But after the game, Black was in the clubhouse, and suddenly he looked up and there was Stan Musial. “I’m sorry that happened,” Musial whispered. “But don’t you worry about it. You’re a great pitcher. You will win a lot of games.”

Chuck Connors, the Rifleman, used to tell a story — he was a struggling hitter for the Chicago Cubs in 1951. He asked teammates what he should do. They all told him the same thing: The only guy who can save you is Musial. So Connors went to Musial and asked for his help. Musial spent 30 minutes at the cage with an opposing player. “I was a bum of a hitter just not cut out for the majors,” Connors said. “But I will never forget Stan’s kindness. When he was finished watching me cut away at the ball, Stan slapped me on the back and told me to keep swinging.”

Ed Mickelson only got 37 at-bats in the Big Leagues, but he has a story too. Musial invited him to dinner — he was always doing that stuff — and there Mickelson explained that he felt so nervous playing ball, that he could hardly perform. Musial leaned over and said quietly, “Me too, kid. Me too. When you stop feeling nervous, it’s time to quit.”

Well, there are countless stories like that, stories about Musial’s common decency and the way he could make anyone around him feel like he was worth a million bucks.

“Musial treated me like I was the Pope,” Mickelson said, and he was still in awe more than 50 years later.

Those were the emotions Musial inspired in his time. He was so beloved in New York, that the Mets held a “Stan Musial Day.” In Chicago, he once finished first in a “favorite player” poll among Cubs fans, edging out Ernie Banks. Bill Clinton and Brooks Robinson, growing up about an hour apart in Arkansas, were inspired by him.

Of course, it was mostly the playing. Stan Musial banged out 3,630 hits even though he missed a year for the war. He hit .331 for his career, cracked 1,377 extra base hits (only Hank Aaron and Barry Bonds have hit more), stretched out more than 900 doubles and triples (only Tris Speaker has more) and played in 24 All-Star Games. He had that quirky and unforgettable swing, that peek-a-boo stance, and he probably inspired more famous quotes by pitchers than any other hitter.

Preacher Roe (on how to pitch Musial): “I throw him four wide ones and try to pick him off first base.”

Carl Erskine (on how to pitch Musial): “I’ve had pretty good success with Stan by throwing him my best pitch and backing up third.”

Warren Spahn: “Once he timed your fastball, your infielders were in jeopardy.”

Don Newcombe: “I could have rolled the ball up there to Musial, and he would have pulled out a golf club and hit it out.”

And so on. Maybe pitchers felt helpless because there seemed no way to pitch him, no weaknesses in swing — fastballs up, curveballs away, forkballs in the dirt, he hit them all. In 1947, he had his most famous season, his season for the ages, .376 average, 46 doubles, 18 triples, 39 home runs, 135 runs, 131 RBIs. And yet, the thing about Musial, is that for more than 20 years he was pretty much always like that. Four other times he hit better than .350. Four other times he hit more than 46 doubles. He hit double digit triples eight times in all, he hit 30-plus homers five times, he walked more than twice as often as he struck out.

I suspect Musial can never be reflected in numbers because his resume is so diverse and elaborate — it’s like Bob Costas said, he never did just one awesome thing, he never hit in 56 straight games, and he did not hit 500 home runs (never hit 40 in a season), and he did not get 4,000 hits, and he did not hit .400 in any year. He was, instead, present, always, seventeen times in the Top 5 in batting average, sixteen times in the Top 5 in on-base percentage, thirteen times in the Top 5 in slugging percentage, nine times the league leader in runs created. To me, the best description of Musial through his stats is to say that 16 times in his career Musial hit 30 or more doubles. It might not make for a great movie. But it tells you that all his baseball life, Stan Musial hit baseballs into gaps and he ran hard out of the box.

Here’s the thing: A lot of baseball fans have forgotten Stan Musial. Anyway, it seems like that. His name is rarely mentioned when people talk about the greatest living players. He’s never had a best selling book written about him. A few years ago, when baseball was picking its All Century team, Stan Musial did not even received enough votes to be listed among the Top 10 outfielders. The Top 10.

True, he did not play in New York like the baseball icons, like Ruth and DiMaggio and Mantle and Koufax and Mays. True, he did not break the home run record like Aaron, he did not get banished from the game like Rose, he did not break barriers like Jackie, he did not swear colorfully like Ted, he did not hit three homers in a World Series game like Reggie, he did not glare like Gibson, he did not throw like Clemente and he did not say funny and wise things like Yogi.

No, Musial just played hard and lived decently. He hit five home runs in a doubleheader, and had five hits on five swings in a game. He hit line drives right back at pitchers and then would go to the dugout after the game to make sure those pitchers were all right. He wasn’t perfect, of course, but he didn’t see the harm in letting people believe in something.

And maybe that sort of understated greatness isn’t meant to be shouted from the rooftops. Maybe Musial is just meant to be quietly appreciated. Every so often, even now, you can read an obituary somewhere in American’s heartland, and you will read about someone who “loved Stan Musial.” Everyone so often you will meet someone about 55 years old name Stan, and you will know why.

By McFann Ô

July 20, 2008 9:47 AM | Link to this

The Goche For me, the players I really like, I like for more than just their skill.

Me, too!

Hey, they changed that base hit of McCann’s in the ninth to an error on Belliard. Hmph…I hope Joe and Skip are happy…

By David O'Brien

July 20, 2008 9:55 AM | Link to this

Greg, fire sale? No. Don’t think so.

You’ve never lived in South Florida or San Diego (back in the pre-Petco Parks days), have you?

This won’t be anywhere near a true baseball fire sale, my friend. Trading two pending free agents hardly constitutes a fire sale. Not even close.

By Littletownblues

July 20, 2008 10:13 AM | Link to this

There is dumb, then there is Dixie dum. That marlins guy was Richarding with you and you don’t even know it. guys writin 12 paragraph answers to him and he’s playin you like hampton. dum de dum dum. Know he was right about you losers ending up fourth

By flange1

July 20, 2008 10:16 AM | Link to this

DOB,

From reading last night’s blog, we should be looking forward to a TOTAL fire sale like that great organization in South Florida.

After all they have won 2 world championships and have a MASSIVE fan base larger than the Red Sox Nation, right?

As a guy that worked in South Florida for that great organization, can you tell us what the fanbase thought of the great fire sales of the Marlins?

Thanks!

By Doc Holliday

July 20, 2008 10:22 AM | Link to this

Losing:

• To the nats.

• 8-2

• At home

• With our #2 man on the hill

-When it is do or die.

TOTALLY OUT OF ORDER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This team has nothing to do in the postseason.

I´d say it wouldnt be fair for baseball or any team that loses a playoff birth with the braves if they get to the playoffs……..Nobody but us respect them anymore. We are falling sooooooooo deep.

Losing to a team that:

• 7 of their 8 starters are hitting .256 or less???

• Cleanup hitter is hitting .211!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

• 5th hitter is at .170

• Their 1B and 3B regulars are injured!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If you love and respect baseballyoud have to agree this team does not deserve to get anywhere but 4th place…………sometimes people get away with a mediocre way of live…….just as this team is……mediocre.

Right now, we have what we deserve……… 4th place and not scaring the 3rd place team at all.

By Doc Holliday

July 20, 2008 10:31 AM | Link to this

I was trying to be positive……..I thought the break could work as a reset button and that they would put on some kind of clinic and show what they were really made of. I didnt watch yesterdays game, but the numbers and results say it all. We sok as much as we did before the break.

I know its only one more game, but Braves are not in position to say that anymore……….muts and marlins can say that……they are really close……..to us……..every game counts something like twice as important.

Sad story!!!!!!!!!!

I´ll keep up the faith…….they say that the last thing you lose, but being realistic……. chances are as good for us to make the playoff as for the reds …….thats not good.

By KC

July 20, 2008 10:33 AM | Link to this

Tex is right… can’t win every game, but the Braves are going to have to play close to .650 baseball to have any chance… so you have to win pretty much every series.

Have to take 5 of the next 7. MUST.

By nolie

July 20, 2008 10:48 AM | Link to this

*        
* 1 mph - bat speed gain per ounce less of weight (= 5 extra feet)
*        
* 3-5 mph - JUGS radar gun faster than the Decatur RAYGUN.
*        
* 70 mph - bat speed of average major leaguer
*        
* 68-75 mph - average major league curve (JUGS gun)
*        
* 78-83 mph - average major league slider (JUGS gun)
*        
* 90 mph - average major league fastball (JUGS gun)
*        
*

*        
* .543 - winning percentage at home for all teams 1900-1983 (HGB)
*        
* .020-.030 - difference in batting averages with and with/out platoon advantage  (vide BJBA 1988; HGB p.165)
*        
* 87% - players hit better with platoon advantage (BJBA 1988)
*        
* 65% - minimum base stealing success to be beneficial (BJH p.434)
*        
* 67.1% - Base stealing success rate, natural turf 1987-1989 (SBS 1990 p.4)
*        
* 72.7% - Base stealing success rate, grass 1987-1989 (SBS 1990 p.4)
*        
* 38.5% - times a leadoff walk scored 1995 (SBS 1996 p.96) 
*        
*

*        
* 13,000 - major league players since 1876(-1983); 1% in Hall of Fame (HGB)
*        
* Lefthanders = 1/10 of U.S. population, 1/6 position players, 1/3 pitchers         
      o              
      o .33 - percentage of left-handed pitchers 
      o            
      o .16 - percentage of left-handed position players 
      o            
      o .10 - percentage of left-handers in US population 
      o        

*        
* "Dilution" (John Holway, Baseball Weekly, 5/19/93 p42)         
      o              
      o 1/140,000 white males make it to majors in 1911 
      o            
      o 1/311,000 males make it to majors in 1992 
      o            
      o 1/293,000 males make it to majors in 1993 (2 expansion teams)
      o        
            63 million US males in 1911 --> 258 million in 1992 + 79 million in    Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Mexico, & Canada
*        
*
*

Potential Runs for Twenty-Four Base-Out Situations (HGB p.153) Runners On No Outs 1 Out 2 Outs None .454 .249 .095 1st .783 .478 .209 2nd 1.068 .699 .348 3rd 1.277 .897 .382 1st & 2nd 1.380 .888 .457 1st & 3rd 1.639 1.088 .494 2nd & 3rd 1.946 1.371 .661 Full 2.254 1.546 .798

*        
*

*

By dorothy davis

July 20, 2008 11:01 AM | Link to this

O.K. it is now time for Wren to get real and start rebuilding this team and NOT with veterans as that has proven to be a losing season. It is time for new blood and that includes the coach…HELLO. Trade off all the veterans for young prospects (except Chipper) as he is THE BRAVES, and the only reason fans keep coming to the ball park. A new coach is in order too. Look what the Mets did when they changed coach’s, It is next year for the Braves now. They are playing like a dead horse!

By dawg1992

July 20, 2008 11:01 AM | Link to this

I am amazed by the optimism that fans still think the Braves are still in the hunt. The Phillies own the Braves in head to head games. The Nationals made the Braves look like a highschool team last night. I am happy to see that Willie Harris is a starter with the Nationals. He is a great center fielder!!!! He was a huge loss when the Braves released him. When the new gm decided to go with a bunch of old players- Smoltz, Glavine, Hampton, and Kotsay. I knew we were in trouble!!! Hell, we might end up in last place!! Go Cubs!!

By Interested Observer

July 20, 2008 11:08 AM | Link to this

It’s true the Braves can’t win every game…but winning every game against the Nationals isn’t too much to ask!

By lilman

July 20, 2008 11:09 AM | Link to this

Well…let’s just settle in and see if the bats can get hot. The pitching rotation that we have now is going to be it for a while remainder of the season.

Tell Glavine thanks, but don’t bother coming back in August. The season wil be over for the Braves by then, and there isn’t going to be an offer for him or Smoltz next year. I’ve read quotes from both that lean toward coming back next year. Time to move forward, and stop trying to recapture the past.

By Don

July 20, 2008 11:25 AM | Link to this

It’s not like he was getting laced all over the place

We could have easily scored eight runs tonight

We can’t hit the ball any better than we did with men on

It just wasn’t our night

The daily dose of “the Gods aren’t with us” mentality. Try, “we just aren’t very good because we have too many young players and the overpaid veterans are either underperforming or not performing.”

By SaltyDawg

July 20, 2008 11:26 AM | Link to this

nolie

Great article about Musial. Thanks for posting it.

By Random

July 20, 2008 11:51 AM | Link to this

bravos2249 —

Nice historical perspective.

I, me, at least, really do appreciate the hell out of that kind of thing.

Many thanks.

By Bama

July 20, 2008 12:22 PM | Link to this

DOB- The Braves need to do more than trade two pending free agents. I really don’t believe they’ll do anything. The Braves have become the Good ole Boys Club . Everyone knows what I mean.

Wren has his hands full with this group and Cox. Damn you do, Damn you don’t, Let’s see what he’s made of.

By McFann Ô

July 20, 2008 12:27 PM | Link to this

bravos2249—

Yeah, thanks for that. Very int’resting.

Still wish they had Dye.

By David O'Brien

July 20, 2008 12:35 PM | Link to this

News you probably don’t want to hear: Corky catching instead of McCann. I know Bobby does this on Sunday day games, but right now, after the break, and with McCann busting his butt trying to will the team to win, I don’t think I’d be resting Mac. No, I know I wouldn’t.

I’ll get a new blog up soon.

Oh, and Kelly’s in lineup. No decision yet on Escobar and DL, he’s meeting with doctor now or at start of game.

By McFann Ô

July 20, 2008 12:38 PM | Link to this

Pearls Before Swine sounds like it was written by Shaun today. (Sorry.)

By David O'Brien

July 20, 2008 12:41 PM | Link to this

Flange1, I covered the Marlins, certainly didn’t work FOR them. But I can tell you, with confidence, that at least 90 percent of their fans would’ve traded places with the Braves (at least until this last couple of years) to have a team that contended every year, rather than one that won two World Series and in-between had some of the worst teams, the worst attendance in baseball, and the worst stadium atmosphere.

Now, if you asked them these past couple years, that percentage wouldn’t be so great, for sure, because the Braves have finished third each year (and are in fourth this year). But if you’ve attended a game there this season, you’d know the atmosphere is still terrible.

And if you want to ask someone who actually worked FOR the Marlins, ask Boog. He’d confirm that a very high percentage of Marlins fans would gladly have changed places with the Braves during the first 10-12 years of the Marlins organization, through 2005.

By bravos2249

July 20, 2008 12:47 PM | Link to this

Random and McFann

Thanks, even though I didn’t watch back then. I still think that HAD to be wores than any trades made….the players the Braves got for Dye did okay but nothing special and they were traded too.

I looked it up on baseball-reference and did a link with all the players traded to the Braves from that Dye trade and NONE of the players had equal value, and most were players to play the OF.

It would be different if Dye was a prospect, but his numbers were not that bad and by stats he looked like he would be a good player….and he has become one.

Compared to Andruw Dye has 85 less RBI and 174 less HR in 257 less games….

By McFann Ô

July 20, 2008 12:48 PM | Link to this

DOB—

I wouldn’t be resting 3BMac right now either. He just had four days off! Sheesh…

By monty

July 20, 2008 12:50 PM | Link to this

All I’ve heard about Jurrjens is that he is a competitor, He didn’t compete well last night. Personally I would of had a little chip on my shoulder not being selected to the All-Star Game. I don’t guess he was too upset. You have got to win with your best pitcher against an inferior opponent. Of course if all your team can score is 2 runs chances are you lose anyway.

By McFann Ô

July 20, 2008 12:52 PM | Link to this

One other thing:

Ho-Ho already doesn’t get any run support!

So now all of the sudden Bobby’s doing the DGANG thing again. That’s OK, but not right after the Break! It’s not like McCann actually “played” in the ASG.

Oh well…Go Braves!

By Shamus Thacker

July 20, 2008 12:53 PM | Link to this

The series are must-win,” Teixeira said. “We can’t expect to go out and win every single game. That’s just not possible. We have to try to win every series. If we play .500 ball we’re not going to make it.”

His early-season struggles had as much, or more, to do with where we are now as anything. We’d have won LOTS of those early games had he been hitting AT ALL. He wasn’t worried, he’s “always a slow starter.” His attitude absolutely IRKS me. He’s not an overt cancer to this team, he’s more along the lines of an undetected cancer; by the time you’re in pain and figure out what it is, you’re dead.

By brent a.

July 20, 2008 1:00 PM | Link to this

If Mac has to sit today, then Russell Martin must need 3 days off.

By Jeff321

July 20, 2008 1:04 PM | Link to this

Nice to know Cox is trying to win this series! I mean, what else does batting Frenchy 5th and inserting Corky Miller in the lineup tell ya?!

By Presto Chango

July 20, 2008 1:08 PM | Link to this

DOB

When you covered the Marlins did you pick them to win the division every year as you do the Braves?

By flange1

July 20, 2008 1:08 PM | Link to this

DOB,

Thanks for the response. Understand the difference between covering and working for, just failed to type it that way.

By McFann Ô

July 20, 2008 1:16 PM | Link to this

bravos2249—

I didn’t really watch much back then, either, but my Dad talks about that one every now and then. Jermaine was one of the few American Leaguers I voted for to make the ASG, but he didn’t go.

Brent A.—

Funny! Ya know, the day after the ASB, the Dodgers played 11 innings, and Martin caught them all. But he prob’ly was in no hurry to go anywhere…

Jeff321—

It makes you wonder. Bobby? What’s the deal? (Although, we just got back from QT, and it’s disgusting outside!)

By nolie

July 20, 2008 1:24 PM | Link to this

Great article about Musial. Thanks for posting itSaltyDawg

you’re welcome, I’m glad that you enjoyed it. I’ve posted it on several Braves boards.

It’s kinda funny about Stan. He really does get very little mention anymore though he was one of the top ten hitters in baseball for a good while and had some really GREAT seasons. I mean .376 with 103 extra-base hits is pretty OK in my book.

By N8

July 20, 2008 1:30 PM | Link to this

Hmmmm. Essentially (4) days off for McCann this past week. I’m not counting the one inning of defense in the AS game as “work”. Now, Martin can truly say he didn’t have 3 full days off over the break.

But with the EXTRA day off after the game, there is ZERO excuse to not have Mac in there today.

Bobby is a complete bumbling fool. Not only should Jeff NOT be batting 5th, he should STILL be at Mississippi.

One could reasonably say that the Braves front office/coaching staff is almost TRYING to give these games away. I know that’s not the case, but COME ON!

Then again, the more we lose, the greater the chance of dumping Tex for somebody that can help right away next year.

What a situation as a fan to be in. Damn near rooting for them to choke. Which I’m sure they’ll do .500 percent of the time.

Before y’all rip me for “not being a fan”. If you can give me reason for hope that this team plays better than .500 ball from now until September (and the Mets, Phils, Marlins ALL playing below .500 ball), I’ll retract that last statement.

ZERO excuse to not come out of the gates and sweep this Nats team, IMO.

By Doc Holliday

July 20, 2008 1:32 PM | Link to this

To make more clear what the situation of the braves is right now………..

If Braves play .667 baseball the rest of the way…….they will win 89 games…..

So there is absolutely no room for error here…… they have to win virtually every single series from now on.

Phillies have a .541 winning pct. as we speak, which would represent 88 wins at the end of the season. So to win this division…….. 89 games might be what will be needed.

What does this means?

BRAVES HAVE TO WIN EVERY SERIES FROM NOW ON………. IN OTHER WORDS……… THEY WILL HAVE TO SWEEP A 3 GAME SERIES FOR EVERY 3 GAME SERIES THEY DONT WIN.

OUCH!!!!!!

By Interested Observer

July 20, 2008 1:36 PM | Link to this

The Nationals broadcasters have repeatedly pointed out that the Nats are currently carrying “4 legitimate big league catchers” on their roster. I can’t help but contrast that to the Braves who are only carrying one, and today he’s on the bench.

I would have preferred to see BMac in there today, but I guess it’s better he sits against the Nationals than against the Marlins or Phillies.

By BravesFanInRockies

July 20, 2008 1:36 PM | Link to this

Afternoon denizens,

We tried watching some of the debacle last night but instead chose to see “Batman Begins” (again).

Superior choice …

BTW, Steve Philips seems certain that the Braves are going to trade Tex. Which makes me think it won’t happen.

By Shamus Thacker

July 20, 2008 1:37 PM | Link to this

Bobby seems to fear deviating from the norm. Even when it’s the obvious and logical thing to do. Sitting Mac today is a mind-blower unless there’s something heretofore unknown.

By Live from Yokohama- it's "Beach Day"!

July 20, 2008 1:38 PM | Link to this

And God bless any country that has a national holiday called “Beach Day”, if you ask me.

Braves need to win this one bad. Losing two of three to the Nats coming out of the All-Star week would almost have to make us sellers at the deadline, wouldn’t it?

DOB, what would push us over the edge, and put us in sell mode? And when are you coming to Japan? We need to have cold beers together, and an MIB entry by the man himself from a foreign locale would be cool! Heck I might even spring for the beer myself!

By BravesFanInRockies

July 20, 2008 1:47 PM | Link to this

Doc,

Not so sure the Braves need to win 2 of 3 the rest of the year.

The NL East basically has four .500 teams. 83 wins could take the division. The Braves need to rip off one of those streaks they used to be famous for in the second half — a 10 for 12 or 15 for 20.

If they do that, they’re in it. If not, it may indeed be fourth place.

By Live from Yokohama- it's "Beach Day"!

July 20, 2008 1:51 PM | Link to this

A sac bunt in the first inning? Tell me I’m wrong, but that’s what ESPN’s Gamecast is claiming. Is Booby doing his once-a-year nod to small ball?

By David O'Brien

July 20, 2008 1:51 PM | Link to this

NEW BLOG IS MAKING ITS WAY THROUGH THE PIPE….

By McFann Ô

July 20, 2008 1:52 PM | Link to this

Neight—

You’re so correct. No reason Bobby should be sitting McCann today (I mean, it’s hot, but come on!).

Well, maybe before the game Clint Hurdle called Bobby up to give him some tips on managing:

“Yeah, Bob. If I were you, I’d sit that catcher of yours. He’s just barely hitting above .300! Keep him on the bench unless you get to the fifteenth.”

Hey! They’re winning! Here’s Francoeur (who has no right to bat fifth, as evident on that last swing…)

By David O'Brien

July 20, 2008 1:54 PM | Link to this

All it took was for me to cite Frenchy’s bad numbers in the new blog for him to get a big hit right there. Glad I could help.

By Steve from OH

July 20, 2008 1:54 PM | Link to this

Good AB there by Jeff…

By David O'Brien

July 20, 2008 1:56 PM | Link to this

Presto Chango: In the eight years I covered the Marlins, I picked the Braves to win the division seven times and the Marlins to win it in 1997 (the year they went on the free-agent spending spree).

But that year (97), I changed my pick from Braves before spring training to Marlins at end of spring training, after Marlins won, like, 24 or 26 games in the spring and just looked ridiculously good and balanced.

By Live from Yokohama- it's "Beach Day"!

July 20, 2008 1:56 PM | Link to this

I see where you’re coming from BFiR, but when have the Braves had that kind of run in the last three years? They have’t.

By Jeff321

July 20, 2008 2:07 PM | Link to this

Frenchy with another throw to the plate about 40 feet high..

By Robert

July 20, 2008 2:43 PM | Link to this

This team is managed by an idiot. He had to see the bases loaded with less tahn two outs TWICE and have the opposition score 5 runs before the notion fizzled thru his feeble mind that it might be time for a pitching change

Not that it matters now. The lineup he has out there is as likely to score 5 runs in one game as I do of winning the Powerball

Nice game Donk

By The Goche

July 20, 2008 2:49 PM | Link to this

Wow, that was some awesome arguing.

I recorded it on my Tivo, and will watch it again.

Wow and what a bomb by Tex!

By Robert

July 20, 2008 3:01 PM | Link to this

This team just does not play the game right

And when any team doesnt play the game right, that is the fault of the manager or coach. Period.

Is there anyone out there who REALLY thinks this team is a contender?

Even any of you that would have people think you REALLY think Cox is a good manager? (and we know anyone outside Atlanta is faking when they claim this)

The joke is on us, folks (as it has been ever since Donk started managing this team) The emperor has no clothes

By BravesFanInRockies

July 20, 2008 3:05 PM | Link to this

SELL!!

By Robert

July 20, 2008 3:17 PM | Link to this

“I just can’t understand why he consistently makes bad lineup decisions and insists on playing guys (ahem, Francoeur, Andruw, etc.) who just aren’t hitting”

Cuz he is a stupid fork? How am I doing?

By Robert

July 20, 2008 3:24 PM | Link to this

Gone to buy a Powerball ticket

By waterst

July 20, 2008 3:37 PM | Link to this

See ya next year. This is sad. This season is officially over……lose 2 of 3 to the worst team in baseball immediately after the All Star Break. The Phillies are talking about getting Holliday? Geez

By BravesFan79

July 20, 2008 3:45 PM | Link to this

DOB: Screw the 97 Marlins. That team WASNT better than the Braves! they got screwed in the playoffs by Eric Gregg if i remember right. The Marlins are a sad franchise whos cheap owner dosent deserve the 2 titles he “borrowed” .

I give all credit to their last title to Jim Leyland….whos a GREAT postseason manager!

By BlueMoon

July 20, 2008 7:39 PM | Link to this

Another Miserable Day at the Ted All the comments above notwithstanding, has anybody given any thought to the idea that the inept performance by pitchers may have something to do with the inadequacy of the pitching coach? There have been lots of injuries to pitchers since this goofball has been on board. Maybe it has to do with the way they’re prepping. Starters need to be able to get through seven at a minimum. They can barely do five. No bullpen is that good. Also, this business of bringing in the same bullpen guys on consecutive days is idiotic. Carlyle was capable of finishing Saturday night’s game, but no, we had to use a new pitcher every inning (and the same cast today). Lunacy. What the Braves need is a new manager, new pitching coach and starting pitching, in that order.

Teixeira should be signed, if not what was the purpose of last year’s trade and shipping of lots of talent to Texas?

Let’s get on with it.

By BrAvEsWiN14Str8t

July 22, 2008 2:23 PM | Link to this

i dont believe the Braves are far from being a very competitive team. I think they should re-sign Texeira at whatever the cost. The Braves in previous years have given their better players big contracts. With Texiera at 1st base, it gives you one of the best set of corner infielders in the game. Also with the Will Ohman issue. Ohman is not old, but he’s not young either. He has been very good this year arguably the best out of the pen. There is hope. The Braves have three starters age 24 or younger who I think have all showed promise in Jurrjens, Morton, and Reyes not to mention Jorge Campillo who has been great. I do believe that Cox has overused some of the guys coming out of the pen, and I definitely think they need a power hitting corner outfielder alongside Chipper and Tex.

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