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Monday, March 31, 2008
Braves’ Opening Night didn’t go as planned
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I’m sure I’m not alone when I say that Opening Night didn’t quite go as I’d drawn it up. (Maybe the “Night” part was part of the problem?)
There were some positives: Tim Hudson settled in after some early trouble and dominated, keeping the Nats off the bases after the first, and the Braves battled back to tie it in the ninth and take Hudson off the hook for the loss. But the predominant emotion for me was frustration.
First source of early-season frustration: Picking up where they left off last year, another incredible effort by Huddy was wasted, only Bob Wickman wasn’t involved. No, this time it was because the Braves’ lineup couldn’t get to Odalis Perez. Come on, ODALIS PEREZ? Aside from Chipper’s fourth-inning bomb, there wasn’t much to write about.
I’m not ready to panic about the bats yet, though; it’s early, and it was cold. I don’t really think that lineup is going to struggle like that for long.
The second source of early-season frustration may be a little more of a long-term issue: baserunning. And I’m not just talking about speed. Even the Little Chopper knows the Braves aren’t burning up the basepaths. I’m talking smarts and instinct.
The tone of the game was set when two early hits were erased by errors in baserunning judgment - Brian McCann getting thrown out at second on a ball that rocketed off the outfield wall and Kelly Johnson getting nailed at second after getting on with a single. Meanwhile, Washington’s Nick Johnson, not known for his blinding speed, legged out a double on an innocent-looking broken-bat liner to right and then manufactured an insurance run when he came home on a single by Austin Kearns.
You can’t coach speed, but you can coach baserunning, and if this team isn’t concerned with getting faster, it needs to get smarter.
So, go ahead, vent if you need to. Get those “uh-oh” thoughts off your chest. Or, better yet, tell us all that it’s only one game, for crying out loud, and everything’s going to be just fine.
By the way, did anyone else happen to notice that the Braves’ “alternate” jerseys looked eerily like the Mets’ black unis?
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