In the news
Craig Kimbrel made his debut for the Padres on Tuesday after they acquired him in a trade with the Braves on Sunday. It went pretty well. HardballTalk.com’s Craig Calcaterra offered his take:
“New uniform, same disgustingly filthy stuff from Craig Kimbrel.
“Deprived of a save situation because the Padres scored too many runs in the ninth inning, Bud Black decided that he’d still give Kimbrel some work last night. All he did was strike out the side on 16 pitches, 10 of which were strikes.
“He featured a 97 mph fastball and a curveball that clocked 86 and dropped off the … table. He could’ve maybe finished the Dodgers off in fewer pitches, but he was sort of getting squeezed. But I suppose at this point he needs a handicap to keep things interesting.
“We overstate the value of closers pretty routinely, but it’s not hard to imagine Kimbrel, if deployed effectively by Black, making a fairly significant difference for the Padres this season.”
Braves flashback
Braves great Hank Aaron hit his 715th home run to break Babe Ruth’s record 41 years ago Wednesday. At the time Craig Sager was working for a Braves affiliate radio station in Sarasota, Fla. In an essay for Bleacher Report, Sager describes his cameo role at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium on Aaron’s big night:
“The pitch was released by Al Downing, the bat was swung by Hank Aaron, and the stillness of the cool night air was shattered by a crackling explosion that reversed the field and launched the ball over the left-centerfield fence for home run No. 715. Hank Aaron had become baseball’s all-time home run king!
“Feeling the magnitude of the moment, I RAN OUT ONTO THE FIELD without thinking and met Aaron as he rounded the bases between third base and home.”
In the iconic video of Aaron’s home run, Sager can be seen joining the mob of Braves teammates congratulating Aaron as he arrives at home plate. Sager now is a Turner Sports reporter based in Atlanta.
Noteworthy
Former Braves pitcher Jose Capellan died from an apparent heart attack Tuesday, according to multiple reports. Capellan’s wife, Patricia Capellan, told ESPNdeportes.com that Capellan was found dead in his Philadelphia home by her stepfather. He was 34.
Patricia Capellan told ESPNdeportes that her husband “had lost control in the use of sleeping pills.”
The Braves signed Capellan to an amateur free-agent contract in 1998 and he made his big-league debut with the team in 2004. Capellan appeared in three games for the Braves that season before being traded to the Brewers for Danny Kolb.
Keeping track
Ex-Brave outfielder Jordan Schafer made the Twins’ roster coming out of camp and is part of a platoon in center. The Twins claimed Schafer after the Braves waived him last August and he went on to hit .285 with a .345 on-base percentage in 147 plate appearances for Minnesota.
