AJC > Sports > Braves > Blog > Archives > 2008 > August > 17
Sunday, August 17, 2008
On Smoltz at the mike, and more…
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
It’s Sunday morning and I’m not totally awake yet, but still I have a good bit to say to let me get to it….
First off, the news to bubble up this morning: Jo-Jo Reyes will get the start Tuesday in New York. Not that anybody came out and said it just yet - perhaps they will later today - but when I pointed out that Reyes was scheduled to start today in Richmond, Bobby Cox said “No he isn’t.” and I think we had our answer.
Reyes has made three starts for Richmond since he was sent back down and went 0-0 with a 3.94 ERA. He had a rough stretch before being sent down, going 0-5 with an 8.74 ERA in his last six major league starts with an opponents’ batting average of .354.
But it’s getting late, the Braves don’t have a ton of options with Tom Glavine back on the DL and likely headed for surgery - and he’s a guy with major league experience. You’re not going to send just anybody into Shea Stadium.
SMOLTZ SHOW: And now, for the fun stuff: I talked to John Smoltz this morning and told him about the bloggers’ positive response to his debut as color man and he got a kick out of it. It’s always a little risky to try something new, but I guess Smoltz has shown us time and time again in his career, he’s not afraid to stick his neck out.
He said he approached it like Skip Caray taught him - don’t be afraid to make a mistake and if you do, laugh at yourself, and by all means, keep going.
Skip’s absence was the reason there was a vacant chair next to Joe Simpson last night on Peachtree TV. I’d bet Skip would have gotten a real thrill seeing Smoltz give broadcasting a try. I think there might be one other time the rest of the season Smoltz will broadcast a game with Joe Simpson.
Smoltz said his only real gaffe was when he told his daughters on the air it was time to go to bed. He got a text back from them that it was Saturday.
Oh yeah!
“In a situation like this - for me - I’m just trying to do my best, trying to have fun,” Smoltz said. “I’m not trying to be anything I’m not. It could be awkward and cause you not to do it, but I don’t look at it that way. I’m not ever going to be a full-time guy. I see myself, if the time permits and there are opportunities like that, it’s pretty fun. I’m not going to shut the door on anything, but it’s a little awkward when you want to come back next year (as a player).”
The one rookie thing Smoltz did during the broadcast? (Not that I saw for myself but hey, got from talking to him about it) Never stood up between innings, stretched his legs or took a break.
“I didn’t want to chance anything,” Smoltz said laughing. So how stiff did he feel standing up after a 3 hour 18 minute game?
“Yeah, it was like ‘What happened, who shot my hamstrings?’” he said.
FRANCOEUR OFF THE FIELD: And for a little perspective on the Jeff Francoeur you guys don’t always see….When people tell you he’s an upbeat person, despite the miserable season he’s had, and he’s a great community guy: this is what they’re talking about.
Yesterday before the game we could see from the press box Jeff out of the field with a young man in a wheel chair. He took him out to right field to get a feel for what it must be like to stand in Jeff’s shoes, and shortly thereafter, Francoeur ran alongside him as he took a spin around the bases in his wheelchair.
At first glance, I thought maybe it was a “Make a Wish” foundation thing that Francoeur had agreed to do. But I came to find out this morning, it was all-Jeff.
Francoeur said he’d met Joshua Kane in 2005 during his first roadtrip to Philadelphia. Kane was sitting near the Braves dugout and cheering for Jeff and the Braves. Francoeur saw him every time the team went to Philadelphia from then on. The last time the Braves were up there in late July, he gave Kane his phone number and invited him for an on-the-field visit to Atlanta.
That’s what we saw on Saturday.
“It puts things back in perspective,” said Francoeur, who at 24 is six months younger than Kane. “He’d be dying to hit .228 in the major leagues.”
Francoeur got a kick - and a little scare - out of seeing Kane max out his electric wheelchair to 7 mph to go from first to third.
CASEY AT THE BAT: And in other baseball news, I spoke to Casey Kotchman about his start. It’s been 2 ½ weeks now and it’s clear he’s struggling at the plate.
Heading into Sunday, he was hitting .164 (10-for-61) with three extra-base hits in his first 17 games for the Braves. For the Angels, he’d hit .287 with 24 doubles, 12 homers and 54 RBIs. He’s homered in three of four games before coming in the Mark Teixeira trade.
He’s a pretty soft-spoken guy who’s not going give us a ton of insight, or not yet anyway. But from what I gather he chalked this up to going through a rough stretch, not that he’s put any huge pressure on himself coming to a new team (though you know that’s got to have something to do with it).
“I think I just hit a couple-week period during the season where you’re not real productive,” Kotchman said. “I don’t really think it’s anything more than that. I’m doing the same work, tee work, the drills that I normally do. I haven’t gotten the results you would like to get, especially when you’re changing teams.”
One of the things he’s been working with Terry Pendleton on is trying not to lunge at the ball. I also saw him talking with Chipper Jones around the cage yesterday and Chipper was giving him a few tips. Not a bad move there to tap that resource.
Here’s what TP had to say about Kotchman:
“His stride is really long,” Pendleton said. “And with that long stride, his body moves forward, which causes him to lunge for the ball, which slows his hands down to where pitches he should be really hitting, he’s actually getting on top of and rolling over them because his body is so far out in front of his hands.”
Hey, that was a run-on sentence. Sorry. I could clean it up, or I could hit send on this blog!
By the way, the Braves surpassed two million in attendance Saturday night. It’s the 18th consecutive year they’ve drawn more than two million fans, going back to 1991.
That’s it. That’s all I got. Time to get a plate of food and start this game rolling….
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