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Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Tough, sullen stretch for Braves
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
San Francisco _ These are difficult times for the Braves, whose players are trying to make the most of the season’s final eight weeks and build some momentum for the future after the white flag was raised and their RBI leader traded.
And in the midst of Braves Nation’s adjustment period, of seeing the team becoming basically irrelevant after the trade deadline for the first time since 1990, comes the death of a beloved figure.
That can put things back in perspective, for sure.
Hey, but Skip Caray loved this franchise and certainly wouldn’t want people to stop caring and stop calling for their heads when they screw up or praising them for making a good decision — like, for instance, if they were to increase the payroll.
The past couple of days have been a difficult time for just about everyone connected to the Braves, from Atlanta-native players who grew up listening to Skip call the games, and veteran players who’ve known him for a decade or two, to the manager and broadcaster partner who were friends with him for half their lives.
And certainly for fans. The memories and stories that so many of you have told here and elsewhere since the awful news Sunday night have been cathartic for others and have genuinely touched those who loved Skip most — his family — and for friends and colleagues.
It’s almost overwhelming to see so many different people share so many memories and reveal so much passion and such a connection to a man that most never met, but who most felt like they knew so well from listening to his voice for thousands of hours, through springs, summers and early falls, year after year.
You talk about the beauty of sports, that’s a big part of it. A perfect example. The Braves and baseball are very important to a hell of a lot of people, and he and Pete Van Wieren, and Joe Simpson and Don Sutton, have been a very big part of that enjoyment for so long, that connection that so many felt to the team, to the game.
So many of you have shared so many of your nights with Skip and them, whether you were by the grill with friends and family, driving a truck across the South, sitting alone in your recliner with your old dog, on a beach with your kid, or in bed listening with the lights out and school tomorrow while the team played into the late innings on the West Coast.
Hey, it’s a big part of so many of our lives, baseball. And when the conduit dies, and that conduit was so spectacularly good and alive and vital for so long, well, it’s hard to just accept it and move on.
So feel free to share all the Skip stories you want, for as long as you want. I’ve been reading them all, and a whole lot of other people have told me they’ve been doing the same.
In the meantime, I’ll throw in a couple items about the team as this series continues here in San Francisco.
Jurrjens deserved better: Rookie Jair Jurrjens was frustrated after last night’s 4-2 series-opening loss, as well he should have been. He got poor run support, but even worse, he got no defensive support as the Braves lost for the eighth time in 10 games.
Yunel Escobar and Kelly Johnson each made a couple of defensive mistakes that opened the doors for three of the four runs. Jurrjens was charged with four runs (three earned) and got the loss while pitching six strong innings.
The good news for Jurrjens is that his shoulder feels great as he approaches 140 innings, which has been the problem point for him in previous seasons.
He pitched a career-high 143-1/3 innings last season between the majors and minors in the Detroit organization, after totaling just below that many the previous two seasons.
There was some concern that Jurrjens might have to be monitored late in the season, to be babied this year to ensure he didn’t have another bout with the shoulder fatigue that he had in the past at this point.
But that hasn’t been the case. He spent nearly two months after last season working in an intense program with other pro athletes in the Tampa area, and the shoulder-specific and general-conditioning work he did is all paying off.
Jurrjens said he feels stronger than he’s ever felt this late in a season, and that his shoulder feels good.
That’s obviously quite important for the Braves, because he’s going to be either their No. 1 or No. 2 starter next season, depending who they get to replace Tim Hudson, who’ll miss most of the season after Tommy John elbow surgery he’s scheduled to have later this week.
Jurrjens has had a fine rookie season, going 10-7 with a 3.12 ERA while allowing 132 hits (eight homers) and 49 walks with 97 strikeouts in 138-1/3 innings. He needs to improve the walks/strikeout ratio, and surely he will as he continues to develop. But otherwise, there’s been very little to criticize.
Especially when you consider he’s only 22, and won’t be 23 until January.
He’s not fading down the stretch, that’s for sure. Jurrjens has a 2.32 ERA in his past nine starts, including seven quality starts (six innings or more, three earned runs or fewer).
He’s only 4-4 in that stretch, mostly because the Braves scored one or no runs while he was in four of those nine games, and two runs while he was in another.
The Curacao Kid is 4-1 with a 1.03 ERA in his past five road starts, including wins at Toronto and Philadelphia in which he twice allowed only three hits in eight shutout innings.
Jurrjens’ 2.92 road ERA is seventh-best in the NL, just ahead of Dan Haren’s 3.04 and Ryan Dempster’s 3.17.
Boyer at 60: If his arm isn’t dragging the ground in two months, Blaine Boyer should be able to enjoy a relaxing offseason.
The right-hander pitched a clean seventh inning last night to become the first major league reliever to reach 60 appearances this season. The Duluth native is on pace for 87 appearances; the Braves record is 84 by Chris Reitsma in 2004.
Will Ohman is tied for third in the majors with 58 appearances, on pace to match Reitsma’s mark.
Power outage: The Braves have gone without a home run in seven of their past eight games, and scored three runs or fewer in six of those seven homerless performances.
The outfield power dearth has moved from alarming to astounding, and underscores the need to add a power bat - a priority that should probably run neck-and-neck with the pursuit of another top-of-the-rotation starter.
Braves outfielders have hit just 20 homers in 112 games. Twenty! That’s the fewest in the majors, and fewer than half as many homers as nine other NL teams have gotten from outfielders.
Jeff Francoeur is the Braves’ leading outfielder home-run hitter, with nine.
And he and they have stopped hitting them altogether lately. It’s startling to look at the individual numbers:
Francoeur has hit .173 with one homer and a .220 slugging percentage in 150 at-bats over his past 40 games.
Mark Kotsay has one homer and a .338 on-base percentage in 157 at-bats over his past 44 games.
Gregor Blanco has one homer in 326 at-bats all season, but the rookie was not expected to hit for any power. He’s done a solid job in his first season, posting a .374 as a leadoff man (sixth among NL leadoff hitters).
Blanco has hit .295 with a .401 OBP in his past 33 games, and ranks fifth in the league with 22 infield hits this season. His numbers would fit nicely between two power-hitting outfielders. Unfortunately for the Braves, they don’t have those on the current roster.
Oh, and don’t expect a power infusion if Matt Diaz returns in a couple of weeks. He hit .250 with two homers in 42 games before hurting his knee.
Tough task for Chuck:: Tom Glavine could be back next week and take Chuck James’ spot in the rotation against Arizona. The old lefty’s rehab start last night for Myrtle Beach went well (four innings, hree hits, one run, one walk, four strikeouts).
Unfortunately for the Braves, there’s no one to take James’ turn Wednesday, when he’s scheduled to face Giants ace Tim Lincecum in the series finale in Frisco.
Chuck is 0-3 with an 11.37 ERA in his past three starts, with 17 hits, 13 walks and six homers allowed in 12-2/3 innings. Painful.
He gave up six runs and a couple of homers in 2-2/3 innings on Friday against Milwaukee in his first game back after two months in the minors.
The lefty is 0-3 with an 11.08 ERA in three major league road starts this season, with five or more earned runs allowed in each. This will be his first since giving up five runs and three homers in four innings at Philly on May 15.
Looking for hope? Lincecum is 11-3 with a 2.71 ERA, but only 1-2 in his past five starts. However, he has a solid 3.44 ERA in that span, with 45 strikeouts and 10 walks in 34 innings (seems almost impossible to win one game in five while piling up 45 strikeouts against 10 walks, doesn’t it?)
OK, a tune. We’ll dedicate another one to our old friend Skip, who Joe Simpson said was like a big brother to him. This is the “secret song” that’s not listed on Springsteen’s Magic album.
“TERRY’S SONG” by Bruce Springsteen
Well they built the Titanic to be one of a kind, but many ships have ruled the seas
They built the Eiffel Tower to stand alone, but they could build another if they please
Taj Mahal, the pyramids of Egypt, are unique I suppose
But when they built you, brother, they broke the mold
Now the world is filled with many wonders under the passing sun
And sometimes something comes along and you know it’s for sure the only one
The Mona Lisa, the David, the Sistine Chapel, Jesus, Mary, and Joe
And when they built you, brother, they broke the mold
When they built you, brother, they turned dust into gold
When they built you, brother, they broke the mold
They say you can’t take it with you, but I think that they’re wrong
‘Cause all I know is I woke up this morning, and something big was gone
Gone into that dark ether where you’re still young and hard and cold
Just like when they built you, brother, they broke the mold
Now your death is upon us and we’ll return your ashes to the earth
And I know you’ll take comfort in knowing you’ve been roundly blessed and cursed
But love is a power greater than death, just like the songs and stories told
And when she built you, brother, she broke the mold
That attitude’s a power stronger than death, alive and burning her stone cold
When they built you, brother
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