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Tuesday, September 12, 2006
Lots of reasons why it ended for Braves
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Mark Bradley
When you finish first 14 times over 14 completed seasons, you assume every year is your year. For the imperial Braves, this one finally wasn’t. The Mets made it official Tuesday night, winning in Florida to eliminate the Braves from the NL East race. In that break-the-mold spirit, we offer a tutorial.
It’s not your year when:
• Only three members of your seven-man Opening Day bullpen are on the active roster in September — and all three have been pressed into service as starters.
• Franchise linchpin Chipper Jones, having yet to find a position afield where he can’t hurt himself, keeps hurting himself while batting • You trade Wilson Betemit, the linchpin’s dependable backup, on the night the linchpin hurts himself yet again.
•Willy Aybar, one of the players you receive for the linchpin’s dependable backup, breaks his hand in his Atlanta debut while trying (and failing) to steal second base with two out in the ninth and his new team four runs behind.
• Danys Baez, the other player you receive for the linchpin’s dependable backup, goes on the disabled list with appendicitis.
• The Florida Marlins, with a team payroll roughly equal to what Mike Hampton is earning for not pitching, are ahead of you in the standings.
• Adam LaRoche has a breakout season but will be remembered mostly for not hustling to first base on Nick Johnson’s grounder on Mother’s Day and for bunting on his own — into a ninth-inning double play, no less — against the Marlins.
• You fall seven games behind wild-card-leading Cincinnati, which promptly collapses, and then you fall seven games behind new leader San Diego.
• Horacio Ramirez gets hurt four different ways.
• John Smoltz, your best starting pitcher, halts a four-game winning streak, a two-game winning streak and a three-game winning streak — all since Aug. 31.
• You’re swept in a September doubleheader by two Mets’ starting pitchers who were in Class AAA in August.
• Jorge Sosa goes from 13 wins to 10 losses faster than you can say, “We let Leo Mazzone leave without a counteroffer?”
• Andruw Jones, the near-MVP of last season, makes his biggest noise of 2006 by squawking about being put on waivers.
• You don’t find your closer until July 20.
• Your imported closer blows only one save for his new team, but the one misfire costs you the chance to sweep a doubleheader in Philadelphia over Labor Day weekend.
• You choose to use a 38-year-old starting pitcher on three days’ rest to keep from falling 10 games behind — on May 7.
• Your manager, who’s renowned for backing his players come what may, is moved to say of LaRoche and his aforementioned bunt: “I don’t know what the [heck] he’s doing.”
• Dayton Moore, your director of baseball operations, leaves for Kansas City and you proceed to lose 20 of your next 23 games.
• The franchise linchpin’s dependable backup reports to his new team and helps it win 15 of its next 16 games.
• You employ more full-time announcers than bona fide pitchers.
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It was just a feeling in the spring
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Furman Bisher
Say it ain’t so, John. Yogi Berra says it ain’t over till it’s over, but actually, it has been over for the Braves since somebody strained the first oblique. I sensed it during spring training. Couldn’t exactly put it in words, or maybe I didn’t have the guts.
It wasn’t that there was something missing. I guess it was something internal, like your stomach growling, the feeling that no way could John Schuerholz keep pulling rabbits out of his hat. Every move he made in 2005 had worked out, and I know I repeat myself, but he was a magician. Kids who were just new to shaving, and some who looked as if they never had, came in the fastest way they could get here from Richmond or Pearl, Miss. Emergency call. Most of them packing for two or three days, expecting to head back to the farm.
Jeff Francoeur never looked back. Then Brian McCann. They were the keys, and we’ve been through all that before. They’ve carried on without a hitch. My All-Star catcher for years to come is McCann. Excuses usually don’t impress the fans, but the Braves must have led the league in pulled hamstrings, groins, tendons and rotators, and back spasms and ankles and wrists and some joints I didn’t even know people had. Are they brittle or out of shape? Then there was a heavy load of the wounded on the payroll, Mike Hampton in particular, Brian Jordan, John Thomson, and later, Horacio Ramirez, again.
It got so bad they were pulling guys in off the street. Ken Ray. Chad Paronto. Tyler Yates. Wayne Franklin. They went as far as Australia trying to find a live arm, the pharmaceutical salesman, Peter Moylan. The earned-run average wasn’t that bad in a season of ERA depression. But when John Smoltz got jolted again the other night, that was the sound of the last shoe dropping.
The infield at times was made up of guys who might have just got off the bus. Chipper and Marcus Giles couldn’t put many healthy games together. I won’t contend that Edgar Renteria was a disappointment, but he didn’t measure up to that particular brand of shortstopping established by Rafael Furcal. Made a lot of errors as well. He was happy to get out of Boston, but I’m not certain it was reflected in his season here. In the long run, the deal that sent Wilson Betemit to the Dodgers looks worse by the day, with Chipper Jones in and out of the infirmary.
There were some bright sides. Adam LaRoche, for instant, who showed up every day. Chuck James gave Atlanta a fresh impression of Mableton. He became the one starter they could count on, winner of nine of 12 decisions. Macay McBride established himself in the bullpen. I don’t know that anybody expected a .337 season out of Matt Diaz, including him, but he eventually became the left fielder. Oscar Villarreal got a few breaks that jacked up his record, but when you check in with a 9-1 record you don’t have to apologize for a 4.15 earned-run average.
If you care to have a look at a sort of ‘06 edition of the ‘05 Braves, turn south, brother. The Marlins charged onto the scene with a second baseman named Uggla, a pitcher named Anibal, an outfielder named Abercrombie, and there in the middle of the crowd, old Wes Helms, another one the Braves traded away. They picked up an outfielder named Cody Ross who had been turned away by both the Dodgers and Reds. He whacked two home runs in a game against the Braves, then three more against the Mets, a guy from nowhere.
The Braves get a chance to let some of their air out of their balloon later in the week, but small consolation that will be. On the other hand, who’s to wail and moan? Nothing is forever, even the AFLAC duck.
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Countdown: Spurrier, Favre need do-overs
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Jeff Schultz
10: Steve Spurrier and Brett Favre were both shut out this past weekend. Welcome to the year’s first reality check.
9: When Georgia blanked South Carolina, 18-0, it was the first time a Spurrier team was shut out since 1987 when he was at Duke, which doesn’t really count. In the bigger picture, it illustrated the recruiting problems he is going to have in Columbia, much like he had at Duke, which doesn’t really count.
8: Spurrier can coach. But he’s not going to win any recruiting border wars with Georgia, and he’ll only get players out of Florida who aren’t wanted by Miami, Florida or Florida State. He should do OK against Central Florida and Southern. That means few stars and little depth. What Spurrier did last season was great, but 7-5 might be as good as it ever gets there. And at this stage of his life, I’m guessing he doesn’t have the patience for many six- or seven-win seasons.
7: Favre thought about retirement. He should’ve done more than think about it. He had two interceptions and no touchdowns in the opener against Chicago, a division rival that has held him to no touchdowns and EIGHT interceptions in the last three meetings. Brett Favre, meet Randy Wright.
6: On a good team, Favre might still be decent (but not great). But in Green Bay, he’s done in part because the Packers are done. They might be the only NFL franchise with a heart instead of a head. Why couldn’t they just say, “Goodbye”?
5: The 49ers told Joe Montana they were going to go with Steve Young. Is there some reason Green Bay couldn’t do the same thing with Favre? They need to move on and start building around Aaron Rodgers — or at least see if the kid can play.
4: Anna Kournikova, meet Maria Sharapova. (Wait. You mean you can be hot but not a fraud?)
3: From the Dept. of Bad Timing: John Smoltz is 0-3 with an 11.08 ERA and a groin pull since airing frustrations about his option for next year not yet being exercised. (That said, he still has a point.)
2: There apparently are some people who are upset that Tiger Woods appeared to be cheering for Roger Federer over Andy Roddick in the U.S. Open. Excuse me, but is Federer a Swiss arms dealer or something? Get a life, folks.
1: Guess Mark Richt didn’t think it was important to hide the identity of his backup quarterback this week (Joe Cox).
Permalink | Comments (54) | Categories: Jeff Schultz, Quick Hit
Countdown: Spurrier, Favre need do-overs
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Jeff Schultz
10: Steve Spurrier and Brett Favre were both shut out this past weekend. Welcome to the year’s first reality check.
9: When Georgia blanked South Carolina, 18-0, it was the first time a Spurrier team was shut out since 1987 when he was at Duke, which doesn’t really count. In the bigger picture, it illustrated the recruiting problems he is going to have in Columbia, much like he had at Duke, which doesn’t really count.
8: Spurrier can coach. But he’s not going to win any recruiting border wars with Georgia, and he’ll only get players out of Florida who aren’t wanted by Miami, Florida or Florida State. He should do OK against Central Florida and Southern. That means few stars and little depth. What Spurrier did last season was great, but 7-5 might be as good as it ever gets there. And at this stage of his life, I’m guessing he doesn’t have the patience for many six- or seven-win seasons.
7: Favre thought about retirement. He should’ve done more than think about it. He had two interceptions and no touchdowns in the opener against Chicago, a division rival that has held him to no touchdowns and EIGHT interceptions in the last three meetings. Brett Favre, meet Randy Wright.
6: On a good team, Favre might still be decent (but not great). But in Green Bay, he’s done in part because the Packers are done. They might be the only NFL franchise with a heart instead of a head. Why couldn’t they just say, “Goodbye”?
5: The 49ers told Joe Montana they were going to go with Steve Young. Is there some reason Green Bay couldn’t do the same thing with Favre? They need to move on and start building around Aaron Rodgers — or at least see if the kid can play.
4: Anna Kournikova, meet Maria Sharapova. (Wait. You mean you can be hot but not a fraud?)
3: From the Dept. of Bad Timing: John Smoltz is 0-3 with an 11.08 ERA and a groin pull since airing frustrations about his option for next year not yet being exercised. (That said, he still has a point.)
2: There apparently are some people who are upset that Tiger Woods appeared to be cheering for Roger Federer over Andy Roddick in the U.S. Open. Excuse me, but is Federer a Swiss arms dealer or something? Get a life, folks.
1: Guess Mark Richt didn’t think it was important to hide the identity of his backup quarterback this week (Joe Cox).
Permalink | Comments (3) | Categories: Jeff Schultz, Quick Hit
Time for an early gut check
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Jeff Schultz
Flowery Branch — John Abraham’s groin hurts. Nobody can be certain how much it hurts because he was locked in the Falcons’ training room Monday and predictably was unavailable to hovering media vultures, whose job — and I’m ashamed to admit this — partly is to obsess about other people’s groins.
Now, I’m forced to go out on a limb here, because NFL teams tend to embrace vagueness in their injury reports. So expect the Falcons’ injury report this week to list Abraham as “questionable” with “an ailment somewhere south of his nasal cavity.”
I’m going to make a reasonable guess that Abraham isn’t going to play. That’s pure speculation, based on a lifetime of watching athletes with pained expressions after something went wrong in areas south of the nasal cavity.
And if Abraham does miss the game? In a sense, the season starts this week.
Injuries happen. Adversity happens. The Falcons are 1-0 following a dominating performance in Carolina. But that’s no more impressive than the fact they were 1-0 after an emotional win over Philadelphia last season. We soon learned about the significance of that game and a 6-2 start.
Suddenly, the whole franchise seemed doubled-over with groin issues.
Abraham is hurt. Patrick Kerney is iffy. Ed Hartwell has been absent (although he’s pretty much been only a rumor since the Falcons got him). Welcome to the test. What better time to see what substance this team is comprised of?
“Some teams say woe is me,” Lawyer Milloy said, “and some teams keep moving.”
The Carolina Panthers were all about woe Sunday. They were missing Steve Smith and responded as if somebody robbed them of several vital organs.
The Falcons were floating in woe for much of the second half last season and in the final week went under. Milloy wasn’t here a year ago, but he has seen things unravel before. The flip side: He also played for the New England Patriots, whose collective resolve, toughness and discipline have done more to lead that team to three Super Bowl titles than any single player on the roster, Tom Brady included.
So it follows that when Milloy was asked about how significant injuries can sometimes create doubts in a locker room, he responded like somebody questioned his manhood: “Does it look like I care?”
Well, no. And please don’t punch me.
“Obviously we want [Abraham] out there, but if he’s not we’ve got guys ready to go,” said Milloy, who’s rapidly becoming the pulse of the defense. “This league is a league of opportunity. The real stars go in when the starters go down. Drew Bledsoe goes down and Tom Brady has probably the best five years in NFL history. That’s part of being a pro. You don’t sit back and eat popcorn and watch John Abraham sack the quarterback. You should be sitting back and watching some of his moves in case things like that happen. If you perform well, you might have his spot.
“We’re a unit. Injuries happen. That’s part of the makeup of a champion.”
In his first game with the Falcons, Abraham only had one of the single greatest performances of any defensive player in franchise history. He had two sacks, two forced fumbles and constantly was around the quarterback and/or the ball. The Falcons’ defensive line might be the best in the league. When healthy.
Great players can’t be replaced. But neither can a team react like it’s a kitchen table with a leg cut off. Falcons coach Jim Mora doesn’t know that his team’s resilience is bulletproof yet, but believes they’re getting there.
“It’s a mind-set, but a mind-set born of maturity,” he said. “It doesn’t just happen if you’re playing five rookies. It takes more than a year. It takes more than a game. I don’t want to say we’re there, that no matter who plays we can overcome. But we’re headed in that direction.”
This might be the week to gauge how close they are.
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