Chop Chick

By McFann

May 5, 2008 11:48 AM | Link to this

Hard to say, but that complete game shutout by Timmy (and that McCann drove in the two runs with his second multi-RBI homer of the year) might have to be the highlight. But yesterday’s game was great, too.

By timthebrave

May 5, 2008 11:54 AM | Link to this

Had to be friday but that was because I was at the game! I also loved all the hitting yesterday. Good to get both. A pitching duel and a hitting duel

By Yogi

May 5, 2008 11:56 AM | Link to this

Can’t stop ‘em now! All the way to October!

By Tom

May 5, 2008 12:01 PM | Link to this

The best thing is that the sweep came just after your ridiculous post to fire Bobby. How’s that working for you…

By KyleH

May 5, 2008 12:09 PM | Link to this

You gotta love everything about a sweep. Hudson was incredible to throw a complete game shutout and strike out 10. I don’t think people realize how hard it is to be able to strike out 10 and keep your pitch count low enough to pitch all 9 innings. Saturday, Jo-jo Reyes showed signs of his potential by keeping the ball down and being agressive. He has the repetoire to become a great pitcher and he just needs to keep his composure and believe in his stuff. Sunday, When Tom Glavine has a bad day, the offense has a really good day. When your team can pick up a pitcher whose having a rough time, thats a good game. And for the players, now they get the day off. Great series, but the Braves have to get the better of the Padres at home (without Maddux or Peavy appearing) and then most importantly they need to prove that they can win on the road when they go to pittsburgh. The Braves are now an amazing 11-4 at home, but a dissapointing 4-11 on the road.

By LuisGuillermo

May 5, 2008 12:11 PM | Link to this

I enjoyed sunday’s game, with all the hitting. But I’d say my favorite part(s) were Hudson’s strong outing and Jo-Jo’s performance.

By LivininAL

May 5, 2008 12:27 PM | Link to this

Hudson’s performance was classic. I surely hope Jo Jo’s was the beginnning of a long stretch of quality starts. He and Jair could become the sturdy parts of the rotation we need. Go Braves!

By spence

May 5, 2008 12:29 PM | Link to this

So good to see/hear Skip again.

By Son

May 5, 2008 12:45 PM | Link to this

I’ll say the way Chip is hitting. A hot Chipper can carry this team a long way. And another thing…Smoltzie should have never left the bullpen to start again. That was a terrible decision whoever made it! Heck, he saved about 48 games one year…Then they move him back???? Dumb move Bobby. Just think back over the past couple years what a difference he would have made in that bullpen.

By Larry

May 5, 2008 1:14 PM | Link to this

Well Smoltz made the decision to return to the Starters job……

By KyleH

May 5, 2008 1:18 PM | Link to this

Son, Smoltz also made huge contributions as a starter too. And in another issue. People have been thinking about trading for a starter. Well, Rich Hill was just demoted to AAA earlier this week. He could be aquirable. Thoughts?

By wilson

May 5, 2008 1:20 PM | Link to this

you gotta love the Jo-Jo outing. I saw he was doing well in RVA, but if he could fill in for Smoltz (obviously, not an easy task), we might not have to flush the season down the toilet so fast. Go Jo-Jo, Jo-Jo, GO!Go Jo-Jo, Jo-Jo, GO!Go Jo-Jo, Jo-Jo, GO!Go Jo-Jo, Jo-Jo, GO!Go Jo-Jo, Jo-Jo, GO!Go Jo-Jo, Jo-Jo, GO!Go Jo-Jo, Jo-Jo, GO!Go Jo-Jo, Jo-Jo, GO!Go Jo-Jo, Jo-Jo, GO!

By ahhh

May 5, 2008 1:26 PM | Link to this

Being at yesterday’s game with my 12 year son and his best friend! What a wonderful way to spend the day!!

GO BRAVES!!!

By ChampDawg

May 5, 2008 1:35 PM | Link to this

I was not able to see the games on TV but did catch part of Saturday and Sunday on the radio. I’m sorry, but I disagree. I thought Skip Caray was and is awful. His attempts at humor are awful… like several times he had to remind the listeners that the Reds player Burton was “not the Richard Burton that was married to Elizabeth Taylor”. Several times he even got players mixed up, etc. Pitiful. And he wonders why the Braves organization doesn’t use him as much as they used to. He needs to go ahead and retire.

By Will

May 5, 2008 1:39 PM | Link to this

I think my favorite part of the sweep was reading all the quotes about how the Braves are back on track and blah blah blah blah! Its not 1995 anymore!

By Shellbravos

May 5, 2008 1:40 PM | Link to this

I’m glad we swept the Reds. They got us bad last year and I was waiting for revenge. GO BRAVES!!!

By ChampDawg

May 5, 2008 1:42 PM | Link to this

The Reds are horrible. Beating them, even sweeping them, at home is no big deal. Let’s see how we do the whole month of May. I’m betting we’ll be just as far and probbaly further out of 1st than we are now. The only thing that would change my mind is Tex and Frenchy getting better and us trading the now overloaded bullpen for another starter.

By Tilli

May 5, 2008 1:48 PM | Link to this

Glavine…..a few million bucks wasted on sentiment. The only bigger waste is Hampton.

Other than that, GO BRAVES!

By Skeezix

May 5, 2008 1:51 PM | Link to this

First, just seeing all the players excited after those ugly losses to the Mets and Nats. Second, Chipper. In all my 40 plus years of watching B-Ball, I don’t think I seen a performance like Chipper has turned in so far this year. If he can stay healthy, we may get to see him do something special in MLB history. When my grandson visits in three weeks, he and I will watch the Braves together. I want him to be able to say years from now that he saw the great Chipper Jones play in his recordbreaking year of 2008.

By Scott from Fairburn

May 5, 2008 2:00 PM | Link to this

Great to have Skip back but he is losing ability to keep up with the game’s action

By Alex

May 5, 2008 2:01 PM | Link to this

GREAT WEEKEND. TIME FOR THE OFFENSE TO PLAY LIKE THIS ON A CONSISTENT BASIS.

By TBraveFan

May 5, 2008 2:03 PM | Link to this

My favorite part - everything from the outcome to the weather!

Perfect, perfect, perfect!!!

Only thing that would have made it better was for Tommy to get his first win!!

…hate the off day tonight though!!

By Supes

May 5, 2008 2:06 PM | Link to this

Ending the 4 game losing streak was my favorite part!

Gotta remember, this week need to take care of the Padres, they don’t score many runs, so as long as we keep the games close, I like the Braves’ chances.

Pirates seem to give the Braves trouble lately, much like the Nationals. Maybe they get that turned around as well.

Bottom like, Braves gotta get above .500 and stay there, Phils and Muts are making a move, winning games lately. Gotta keep up to have any shot after the all star break.

This just in…Chipper Jones is really good and I’m surprised Tex isn’t taking advantage of teams pitching around Chipper.

By richbrave

May 5, 2008 2:24 PM | Link to this

DOWN ON THE FARM

R-Braves 3 1/2 up on the rest of the division.

JOSH ANDERSON had a 3-5 day yesterday. Back up to .292.

SCOTT THORMAN got his first homer of the year and raised his average to .220.

PHIL STOCKMAN lowered his ERA to 0.93 going 2.0 innings with 0 H, 1 BB and 1 SO.

JEFF RIDGWAY is beginning to settle down and improve in the pen as well posting a 2.57 ERA in 13 appearances with 1 save. 14.0 IP, 21 H, 5 R, 4,ER, 5 BB, 12 SO. He leads the R-Braves in holds with 3. His most recent relief stints have been very solid. The hits and ER were earlier in the season.

By Mark Fanxeira/ BBFCFM

May 5, 2008 2:27 PM | Link to this

Skip Caray is without a doubt the best braves broadcaster. That guy is freakin hilarious. When I heard the Dusty Baker comment, i laughed my arse off.

No one else has it comically like he does. Who cares if he doesn’t remember all of the names all of the time. No one else has his wit and skirts the edge of decency like he does.

Bring it Skip! I’m here for ya

By rlinaug

May 5, 2008 2:33 PM | Link to this

who’s gonna be the first to say Chipper’s gonna hit .400 this year? I will. Chipper’s gonna hit .400.

By Russ

May 5, 2008 2:38 PM | Link to this

I love Skips voice. I can remember as a kid in the 80’s when all we had to watch and listen for was Skips Humor. He is reminding me more and more of Harry as he gets older with his forgetfullness and slowness but who cares the guy is an icon.

Go Braves!

By M-Brave

May 5, 2008 2:45 PM | Link to this

This sounds like an off the wall question but what kind of bracelet is CJ wearing? I’m curious because people are wearing these for people with cancer. Just curious. I’d love to know.

By JOE

May 5, 2008 3:00 PM | Link to this

CHIPPER JONES- WOW. IF HE STAYS AT .400 UP TO THE ALL-STAR BREAK, WATCH OUT..HIS YEAR COULD BE VERY SPECIAL. NOW IF ONLY TEX WOULD STOP HITTING LIKE HE’S ANDRUW IN HIS CONTRACT YEAR… WE COULD ACTUALLY MOVE UP IN THE DIVISION..

By scott boras

May 5, 2008 3:12 PM | Link to this

prado out 6-8 weeks..him bat helps team,,him glove hurts team…

By Jeff321

May 5, 2008 3:39 PM | Link to this

ATLANTA — The Atlanta Braves and Seattle Mariners made a trade today, as Atlanta has acquired switch-hitting infielder Greg Norton in exchange for a player to be named later or cash considerations.

http://tinyurl.com/5vtnea

By JCSmalls

May 5, 2008 3:43 PM | Link to this

My favorite part was having Bobby on the bench. Maybe it is time for Bobby to go?……….How dare you even bring it up. I don’t care if we lose in the 1st round of the next 5 playoffs. The problem is McDowell….I know that Leo was an A$$ hole and rubbed some people the wrong way, but we never had this many pitchers get hurt and just plain out $uck. Bobby should be able to walk away when he wants and we should cherish the time we have left with him. Sorry, but this rant was a few days to late.

By JCSmalls

May 5, 2008 3:44 PM | Link to this

My favorite part was having Bobby on the bench. Maybe it is time for Bobby to go?……….How dare you even bring it up. I don’t care if we lose in the 1st round of the next 5 playoffs. The problem is McDowell….I know that Leo was an A$$ hole and rubbed some people the wrong way, but we never had this many pitchers get hurt and just plain out $uck. Bobby should be able to walk away when he wants and we should cherish the time we have left with him. Sorry, but this rant was a few days to late.

By John O'Brien

May 5, 2008 3:44 PM | Link to this

It was indeed great to have Skip Caray back. Ron Gant was also in the booth this weekend and did a great job.

By dack jerrick

May 5, 2008 3:57 PM | Link to this

Ernie Johnson was and always will be the best announcer the Braves have had since coming to Atlanta. Pete Van Wieren is a close second. When Skip was younger and teamed up with Ernie they complemented each other and made a great team. Although I’ve never been a Skip devotee, Joe Simpson and “Boog” make Skip sound better than you remembered him being.

By FJR

May 5, 2008 4:35 PM | Link to this

The true test of how well Chipper will do is how well he continues to lay off the outside change-up. That has been his achilles heel, his tendency to get out on his front foot and then roll over on the offspeed pitch away.

He’ll also need to have a lower strikeout rate this year, which will mainly mean hitting better/for less power with two strikes.

Here is the perfect recipe for hitting .400:

1) not striking out. see, for example, Tony Gwynn and Ted Williams. 20-50 Ks per year. The astounding part of these two’s K totals were that neither of them were big on swinging at the first pitch and often worked counts deep.

Chipper is slightly below his career K pace, but well off what Gwynn and Williams did.

2) Hit for power. The thing people forget about Ted Williams is how many homeruns and doubles he hit. When people think hitting .400, they think Tony Gwynn slapping it all over the place. However, the thing about homeruns is that nobody can catch them. Also, double type hits, linedrives from power alley to power alley also fall at an increased rate, you can likely hit around .450 if you hit nothing but those type of line drives. Chipper is fine in this category.

3) More infield singles. This isn’t happening. This is one major reason why in his Prime Gwynn’s BA was so high, with such a relatively low HR rate. He got a lot of extra hits by beating out infield hits and his speed making the infield paly closer in, meaning more groundballs got through. You can do it without this, Ted Williams was SLOW. But it makes it a lot easier.

4) Hit to all fields. Williams didn’t do this, but made up for it in power. Gwynn hit to all fields, so the pitcher had A) no particular zone he could go to for outs and B) the defense can’t cheat him. Chipper is so-so in this regard.

5) having a defensive approach with two strikes. THis is not even necessarily the best thing for Chipper to do, but it would help his average. The thing is, that a lot of times I still want chipper hitting for power, even with two strikes. But it would lead to a lot more singles if he hit defensively with two strikes, because he wouldn’t roll over as many pitches and wouldn’t strike out as much. But it would likely also cut down his homeruns and doubles a lot. The amazing thing with Ted Williams is how much power he hit for, and he typically only had one strike to do it with. He took until he got one strike around 80% of the time and he choked up and just tried to hit singles when he got to two strikes. Yet he consinstently hit in the high 30s in HRs when he essentially was only trying to drive one strike for power.

In the end, I don’t think Chipper comes anywhere close to .400. He could hit .360 though, and that coupled with as much as he walks and his power, that would probably earn him an MVP.

By don

May 5, 2008 4:46 PM | Link to this

How many prospects will we sacrifice for this dud Norton? Myrtle Beach is off to a good start. Please keep the idiots in management away from the Pelicans.

By TomahawkMatt

May 5, 2008 4:57 PM | Link to this

Here’s my Perfect Recipe for Hitting .400…

HIT IT WHERE THEY AIN’T!!

*The current Braves announcers are greatest - second to NONE! *

Pete & Skip forever I say!

Joe Simpson is awesome. Get well soon Joe!

Even Boog is all right with me. Remember how awful Tom Pachoric was on SportsSouth? OMG… I’d rather drill a hole in my skull than listen to that guy. Tom Pachoric and Bob Rathburn (the old days) make Boog sound like baseball’s version of Luciano Pavarotti.

By Nelson

May 5, 2008 5:48 PM | Link to this

For a long time we didn’t have a sweet weekend like this one. If wren could get a decent starter it will be a +.

By TPM

May 5, 2008 6:26 PM | Link to this

I cannot believe Atlanta traded for Greg Norton. Who do they think they were compteting against for this guy’s services ? Why not wait a few days for him to clear waivers ?

I would not have paid more than a plane ticket for this defensive liability.

They need to focus on getting a pitcher who can get 15-20 outs a start and improve their jurassic park rotation.

By TwoForty

May 5, 2008 7:20 PM | Link to this

Greg Norton is stastically the best overall pinch hitter in baseball over the past seven years. Its about time hes got back to the National league. Welcome to Atlanta Norton.

By varoadrunner

May 5, 2008 8:22 PM | Link to this

All this about Cox, what did he do to win this weekend, the Braves were hot, Hudson was tremendous, Chipper was unbelievable, McCann was great and even threw someone out and so on…. Bobby almost let a 8 run lead get away. Maybe we should have left Glaving in a little longer…. let’s see - it’s 8 - 1 and I’m feeling good. All of a sudden it’s 8 - 6 and Glavines still in.

Bobby wanted to let Glavine get the win - which has been my problem. Five walks and he’s still in - cleaerly Glavine struggled a bit. It seems that Glavine was doing what most managers would want with a 7 run lead, throw strikes…. Never mind - It was a great weekend and all of us can only hope that it continues, personally I am glad we won’t see Peavy and Maddog.

Go Braves and Bobby - just put the team ahead of the single player.

By TPM

May 5, 2008 8:43 PM | Link to this

If Greg Norton is the best pinch hitter since Rusty Staub - Why did he spend time the last few years in the Detriot Tigers and Tampa Bay Ray’s AAA Farm System ?

How pathetic is it when Glavine can’t get the 15th out to back his way into his first win ? He can take his 4.50 era - 4 and 1/3 innings a start hometown discount and go back to Alpharetta.

This teams bullpen will be dead tired by August.

By richbrave

May 6, 2008 6:25 AM | Link to this

ChampDawg:

Boo-o-o-o!! Sorry, I love his sense of humor. Just goes to show its takes all kinds to make this world. TBS sucks.

By richbrave

May 6, 2008 6:29 AM | Link to this

varoadrunner:

A-men, A-a-amen, a-A-a—men, a-men, a-men, sing it over. Hallejulah. Team before any individual in the dugout or on the field.

By Mike S

May 6, 2008 8:46 AM | Link to this

THe best thing I saw this weekend was Jo-Jo Reyes finally PITCHING instead of trying to strike out the side with every pitch.

Last year Jo-Jo let his adrenaline and nerves turn him into a thrower. Saturday I saw a much more relaxed PITCHER on that mound.

If Jo-Jo can control himself for just one or two more outings and finally learn he has the stuff to win at this level, we could be seeing the start of a magical season for him.

I would like nothing better than all the talk in August and Septemeber to be about Who will win Rookie of the Year - Jurrjens or Jo-Jo.

By Santa3247

May 6, 2008 11:44 AM | Link to this

Hi, I’m Seong-Ho,Yoon living in Jinhae City southkroea.

Now it is 00:37 and I want to say about Mark Teixeira. His record theseday a little bit bad I think. But, the reason is that

batting stance Teixeira is shorter than last year. So when he does swing, his body moving up and so many ground ball is occurring now.

Check last year’s stance between legs, and make a little bit wide.

May the foce of Messiah be with you

P.S: K.Johnson he started to catch the secret of batting I think. ^*^

By richbrave

May 6, 2008 1:04 PM | Link to this

DOWN ON THE FARM

OMAR INFANTE got his first rehab start and went 2-4 and scored a run from the cf position. The idea was to start him off with three infield games then move him to the outfield for three games, then on to Atlanta provided everything’s O.K. That’s been speeded up with the injury to PRADO. But with NORTON on the scene, BRUNDIGE may revert to plan “A” today.

JOSH ANDERSON got the game winning hit for the second day in a row, but at 1-4, his average still fell to .291. He now has 11 steals.

CLINT SAMMONS continues to hit the ball going 2-3 and raising his average to .341. He has three passed balls and two errors with one run allowed in 21 games played.

CHUCK JAMES pitched seven innings and was solid. He ups his record to 1-1 with the win. His line in the game: 7.0 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 5 SO. Too many hits, but otherwise O.K. Overall for the year in Richmond: 17.0 IP, 15 H, 6 R, 3 ER, 8 BB, 10 SO.

PHIL STOCKMAN continues to impress on the mound. His overall now: 19.1 IP, 8 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 6 BB, 18 SO. When I talk about dominating this league with 3/1 ratios the tall Aussie is getting it done and his numbers show it.

VALADIMIR NUNEZ the third member of our Cuban contingent continues to improve in a relief role. To date: 16.2, 17 H, 7 R, 7 ER, 5 BB, 15 SO, 3.89 ERA. He did well in his 11 relief appearances at the beginning and recently. He sandwiched these around four rough outings last month which accounted for most of the ER’s. His SO/BB ratio continues strong however, and the too many hits syndrome appears to be improving. He still throws strikes, only now they aren’t for HR’s.