AJC > Sports > Braves > Blog > Archives > 2008 > September > 05
Friday, September 5, 2008
Dress like a champion, play like one?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I was reading a story in the Sports Illustrated that came in the mail today, comparing this year’s Tampa Bay Rays to the ’69 Mets. But what caught my eye was the full-page picture of a couple of Rays celebrating — one of them is Willy Aybar, and you gotta be happy for that kid after the troubles he had off the field as a Brave.
Specifically, what I noticed was the simple, classic-looking uniforms the Rays are wearing. Folks, isn’t it obvious that the Rays’ turnaround this season is directly related to their decision to drop the garish uniforms they wore as the “Devil Rays” and go with a clean, traditional uni, including a white home uniform with one thin, blue strip down the pants?
No, it’s not obvious? Some of you believe it’s the young talent that’s come into its own, the draft picks and prospects they acquired via trades over the years, the long-term contracts they gave to some now-productive players? Well, fine. But I’m sticking with the great-lookin’ uniforms story.
Which brings me to my point: The Braves stink because they sold their souls for a few (million) bucks at the team store. (Tongue’s in cheek slightly, folks). You know what I’m talking about. The blue uniform tops. The red uniform tops. The solid-blue caps with the white A.
Wrong, wrong, wrong.
The Braves’ regular uniform combinations, their classic home and road uniforms, rank among the best uniforms in baseball, along with the Detroit Tigers, St. Louis Cardinals, Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees, Los Angeles Dodgers and Chicago Cubs (excluding any alternate jerseys a couple of those teams wear).
You do not change these uniforms by adding several “alternative” tops and/or combinations, like the Braves have done in recent years. It began with the garish red home-Sunday jerseys. They sold a ton of those, and a lot of people like them. Fine. I understand that’s the trend, that many or most teams in all sports have added an alternate jersey. (Still doesn’t make it right, but fine. Keep them if you must.
But they went off the rails this season with the addition of the blue road jersey and blue cap, which were debuted on opening day at Washington, a loss that served as forshadowing for the debacle the 2008 season would become.
Injuries, underperforming players, pestilence, cats living with dogs … this has been the season that will live in infamy for Braves fans. And I say it began with the blue jerseys (OK, and maybe relying on a couple of 40-something starting pitchers, but that diverts from my point, so nevermind that for now).
The blue jerseys must go. The blue hats must go. You are the Braves, so act like you’ve got some tradition and standards and aren’t just another organization that changes uniforms or alters uniforms from year to year. Enough.
If you must keep the red jerseys, then do so. But that’s it. One alternate jersey, nothing more. No blue caps. No blue jerseys. And certainly no mixing up the various caps and jerseys, as the Braves have done in desperate attempts to change their run of misfortune during the dog (& Dessens) days of this torturous season.
Sell blue jerseys in the souvenir stores. Sell blue caps. I mean, have you ever been to a Lidz store and seen the hideous colors you can purchase a Yankees (and even Braves) cap in, the pinks and purples and all the other cringe-inducing designs? Whatever. That doesn’t mean you have to wear them on the field.
Return to tradition. Two uniforms, one cap for all but Sunday home games, and even then, maybe you could make the red jerseys a bit less, well, red? That’s it. No more combos. You’re not the 1970s-era Oakland A’s, people.
You don’t have Reggie being Reggie. There is no Vida Blue, Rollie, Catfish or Blue Moon on the roster. That was a specific, unique moment in time and place, a brilliant, colorful team with a maverick owner in an era when garish was cool. (If you can’t tell, I loved that team as a kid, and those uniforms.)
Look at yourselves in the mirror. You are the Braves. Dress like it.
Oh, and try to play like it, would ya?
Batting race stays tight: With King Albert (Pujols) in a 2-for-10 skid (hey, that qualifies as a skid for that dude) in his past three games, and with Chipper going 12-for-33 (.364) with six extra-base hits in his past nine, the NL leaders are still separated by only a point, Albert (.360) ahead of Hoss (.359).
What’s amazing is how far ahead of everyone else they are, in average and OBP. Pujols has a .468 OBP and Chipper has a .460, while the only other NL hitters aveer .400 are Lance Berkman (.433) and Matt Holliday (.418). In the AL, the only player with an OBP as high as .415 is Milton Bradley (.446).
In the batting race, there’s a 27-point separation between Chipper and the NL’s No. 3, Berkman (.332). in the AL, Dustin Pedroia (.333) and Bradley (.327) are the only two hitting higher than .322.
By the way, Chipper is still hitting .406 at home, with a stunning .500 OBP and .635 slugging percentage. He’s only struck out 24 times in 197 at-bats at home (and 31 times in 198 at-bats on the road).
He’s also got a chance to finish the season with a .400 average against lefties. Right now he’s at .397 (54-for-136) against them (.340 vs. righties).
And finally, Jones has an outside shot at batting .400 with runners on base. Today he’s at .392 (74-for-189) with runners on, with 20 extra-base hits, 46 walks, a .504 OBP and a .577 slugging percentage.
Is this that bad? For all the talk about the Braves’ obvious needs entering the offseason, let me ask, does this seem like it should be one of them: A middle infielder who’s hitting .273 with 47 extra-base hits (nine homers), 56 RBIs and a .342 OBP.
A guy whose 3.07 assists per nine innings is the NL leader at his position, and whose .981 fielding percentage ranks fifth in the league at his position.
A guy whose .318 average with runners in scoring position ranks third on the team among hitters with at least 40 such at-bats, and first among those with more than 70 at-bats. He’s hitting .318 (34-for-107) with a .387 OBP and .505 slugging percentaqe with RISP.
Hey, I’m just asking. Because as much as it sometimes seems he’s struggling or lacks fire or strikes out too much in big situations or whatever, those are the season numbers for Kelly Johnson, in his second season at second base.
OK, special tune: Been listening to the Baseball Project CD, Vol. 1: Frozen Ropes and Dying Quails, that we recommended here a couple months back. Anyway, it’s full of great tunes about the game we love, and not at all what you’d expect from such a hip assemblage of talent. The band includes Peter Buck (yes, you known him from R.E.M. and maybe from the Minus 5), Steve Wynn (the great songwriter/guitarist and ex-Dream Syndicate leader, not the billionaire developer who owns much of Vegas), Linda Pittman (awesome drummer, and married to Wynn) and Scott McCaughey (from Young Fresh Fellows and Minus 5).
One of my favorite tunes on the CD is “Ted [f*$%ing] Williams,” but we can’t post the lyrics to that gem in this space. Here’s a more family-friendly tune, and I’ll include the little intro they have in the liner notes:
A pitcher has thrown a perfect game when he faces the minimum 27 batters in nine innings and doesn’t allow a single man to reach first base. It’s only happened 17 times in history. This song tells the sad tale of Pittsburgh’s Harvey Haddix who threw nine perfect innings in 1956 but had to keep pitching that day because his team had also failed to score. After throwing three more perfect innings he finally lost the game and his chance at immortality in the 13th. Perfection? Flawed? You make the call.
”HARVEY HADDIX” by Steve Wynn (The Baseball Project)
May 26, 1959 in Milwaukee on the mound
Harvey Haddix of the Pirates was mowing ‘em down
27 up, 27 gone
Nine innings in the book and not a man had gotten on
Now, in history only 17 have thrown a perfect game
A most exclusive club, a most exalted fame
But after nine, the Pirates hadn’t scored
A perfect game and still old Harvey had to pitch some more
David Wells, David Cone
Sandy Koufax, Cy Young
Jim Bunning, Tom Browning
Charlie Robertson
Don Larsen in the series in 1956
Why don’t we add old Harvey to that list?
10th inning down, 11th inning down, he moved on to the 12th
Three straight outs and the fans were pinching themselves
The best game ever pitched and still a scoreless tie
Poor Harvey had to carry on and give it one more try
13’s never lucky so you can guess the rest
Harv gave up a hit and then he lost the whole contest
I wonder how he slept that night knowing how close he came
To a most exclusive club that should include his name
David Wells, David Cone
Randy Johnson, Addie Joss
Kenny Rogers, Mike Witt
Dennis Martinez
Don Larsen in the series in 1956
Why don’t we add old Harvey to that list?
The search for perfection is a funny thing, at least as I’ve been told
It drives you nuts, it makes you curse and eats away at your soul
Sometimes better ain’t better, sometimes justice just ain’t served
Sometimes legend isn’t laid where it’s most deserved
But humanity is flawed as the losers will attest
We’re drawn to tragic stories, the ones that suit us best
But for 12 innings on that fateful day, old Harvey was a god
A perfect game if nothing else because perfection’s always flawed
David Wells, David Cone
Lee Richmond, Monte Ward
Len Barker against the Jays
And Catfish for the A’s
Don Larsen in the series in 1956
Why don’t we add old Harvey to that list?
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