The Players are Playin’ in Atlanta
Nay-sayers beware – it’s the end of August, and the Atlanta Braves might be playing ball for two more months. Whatever happened over the All-Star break, I’m a fan. I personally like to imagine Chipper summoning all the players who weren’t headed to St. Louis (um, which I guess is everyone but Brian McCann…) to one of his sprawling mid-west ranches for an Outward Bound-esque “Come to Jesus” talk/team-building experience, if you will. The Braves have been playing like a vintage team from the 90s ever since, and we find ourselves just 4 games back in the Wild Card. Here are my top 5 things that MUST happen for us to make the playoffs:
1. Matt Diaz – he’s been en fuego and needs to keep that wildfire burnin’.
2. Chipper – he’s been struggling of late, and that’s not ok. As Chipper goes, the team goes. We simply don’t make it to October without him being his All-Star self.
3. Derek Lowe – what….is up with this guy lately? I’ve heard he might have a blister problem on his pitching hand, but whatever is happening, we need him to work it out. ASAP.
4. Tim Hudson – He is the number one reason why I think the Braves will have the upper hand over the next 6 weeks against any team they play. How many other teams have a pitcher of that quality who will be pitching in September without the fatigue of the previous 5 months?
5. Gonzo/Soriano/Moylan – our bullpen is one of the best in the business. And one of the most frequently used. Here’s hoping these three have enough gas left to work effectively through September and into October.
Here’s hopin’, Braves fans!
“Very superstitious, writings on the wall…”
Baseball fans and players are notoriously superstitious. I was on the phone with my sister last night when she started telling me about the new rally ritual she and her little girls do…the rally side-ponytail. She said that they couldn’t get my youngest niece’s ponytail done in time on Friday night, and therefore took sole responsibility for the Braves heartbreaking one-run loss to the Phillies. Haha…I don’t know about all of that, but I have certainly been known to put on a rally cap from time to time. And that of course got me thinking about some of the crazy things I’ve seen or heard that players do. They are just as superstitious, and these are just a couple of my favorite player quirks (these are so good, I decided to give them nicknames):
Bobby Cox’s “Dugout shuffle”: When the Braves are playing poorly during a game, their skipper likes to take his cheering to the opposite end of the dugout to turn the tide.
Nomar Garciaparra’s “Batty Cakes”: By far one of the strangest rituals I’ve ever seen, the Georgia Tech alumni re-velcroes his batting gloves over and over, and even skips a certain number of the dugout steps. He’ll be a shoe-in if “As Good As It Gets” ever makes it to Broadway.
Larry Walker’s “At least it’s not the number 6″: The former Rockie was obsessed with the number 3…he set his alarm for 33 minutes past the hour, took practice swings in
multiples of three, wore No. 33, was married Nov. 3 at 3:33 p.m, his contracts always ended in 33, and, oh, he has 3 kids.
Craig Biggio’s “Dirty Hat Trick”: He refuses to wash his hat during the season. I’m sure his wife insists that it stays at the ballpark, although at least it’s not his socks…eww. 
And I’ll fess up to my own silly superstition: If I’m not watching a game, but I know the Braves are winning, I won’t turn it on. If I’m watching the game and they’re playing well, I don’t change the channel. Likewise, if I’m watching and they’re losing, I’m convinced I’ll change their luck when I change the channel. It’s weird, I know. Baseball players and fans are a quirky bunch. Feel free to share your superstitions or other player rituals, as I try desperately to get that Stevie Wonder song out of my head…
Love and best pitches!
Frank Wren…my bad.
An open letter to Braves General Manager Frank Wren:
Dear GM Wren,
Look, I’m not going to sugar-coat this…in April, I was campaigning to replace you. I was convinced that I could do a better job of running the team. Why did I think that, you ask?
1. John Smoltz – We may never know what really happened between you two crazy kids, but at the time I was furious that you didn’t pay whatever it took to keep him in a Braves jersey.
2. Rafael Furcal – You announced that the deal was virtually signed, only to retract that statement days later when Furcal resigned with the Dodgers.
3. Ken Griffey, Jr. – Again, another deal that was as good as done, and then Griffey’s agent announced he had resigned with Seattle.
4. Tom Glavine – You signed him, rehabilitated him, and then let him go through his entire rehab schedule before releasing him just two days before he was scheduled to make his return to the mound. He’s a Cy Young winner with 300+ wins under his belt, most of those coming during his 16 seasons with the Braves. Oh, and then there is that matter of the World Series he helped us win. Why you gotta do one of the trio like that?
5. We weren’t playing very well through June, not even a little.
Aaand…this is the part where I humbly remove my foot from my mouth and say… “Frank Wren, I’m sorry. You were right; I was wrong.”
The Red Sox just released Smoltzie, because it turns out you can’t pitch forever. Furcal and his agent used you as a bargaining chip with the Dodgers to get a better deal….what a couple of tools. I blame your Public Relations department for the Griffey thing – how about telling them not to write press releases until the contract has been signed on the dotted line? As for Glavine, I have two things to say: One, that other Tommy, Hansen, turned out to kind of be a rockstar. Two, I still don’t think you handled that the right way, but his agent’s ridiculous behavior after the fact (threatening to sue the team) made me so angry that I was wishing you could release him again. Oh the hypocrisy of a player who had just a few years before dumped us for monetary reasons threatening to sue us for leaving him for monetary reasons (among others). Oh, and as for that not playing well thing…yea, I guess those Francouer and Kotchman trades helped to turn that ship around.**
So Frank Wren, I apologize. I hope crow tastes like chicken.
**I reserve the right to reassign blame to you for all of the above actions should we come this far and still not make the playoffs. Because, you see, my opinion of you is a little like Georgia weather – wait a day and it’ll change. J
Love and best pitches,
BravesKatie
Knowing When to Fold ‘Em: A Lesson from #23
Why do professional athletes have such a hard time knowing when it’s time to hang it up? Have we learned nothing from Michael Jordan circa the Washington Wizards era? I bring this up now because two of our most beloved former Braves players have reached the end of their long and distinguished careers; in fact, they have gone well past the end of their careers. Smoltzy, Glavine, this post is for you.
In a move that instantly turned Braves fans from angry to sad, the Boston Red Sox released John Smoltz last week. It was a sad but inevitable ending after several unfortunate and horrendous starts for Smoltz in a Sox jersey. His last outing saw him allowing 8 runs in just 3 innings of work. I feel certain that when Smoltz broke the hearts of Braves fans during the off-season and signed with the Red Sox, it was undoubtedly because he wanted to end his career on his own terms. The current situation in which he finds himself was most certainly not what he had in mind. (But, PS – Frank Wren looks like a baseball savant right now.)
The same can be said for Tom Glavine. Let me preface this by saying that at the time, I was furious with how Braves GM Frank Wren handled the Glavine situation. I thought it was an extremely disrespectful way to treat a 300-game winner who spent 16 years of his career helping our team win title after title. To release him like that with no warning….unacceptable. Tom Glavine and Paula Abdul should grab a drink sometime.
When Greg Maddux appeared at Turner Field s
everal weeks ago to have his number retired, I thought, “wouldn’t it have been nice if all three of them could have left the game the way Maddux did?” Mad Dog knew when it was time to hang up his tomahawk, which I found to be completely refreshing in an era when athletes try to force themselves to have a career when they are well past their prime – Michael Jordan, Brett Favre, and now, Smoltz and Glavine.
I hope both Smoltz and Glavine come to the realization that it would be far better for their respective legacies to retire now. I think Glavine probably will, but Smoltz seems determined to find a way back. I hate to break it to you Smoltz, but there are VERY few pitchers who can pitch into their 40s, and I’m pretty sure Jamie Moyer is an alien. (A side note to Smoltz: just know that the Braves fans who were so disheartened when you left this spring, look forward to your return when we can retire your number and celebrate all you helped us achieve.) And, on a personal note, John Smoltz has always been my favorite Brave, and I hated to see him go down on such a sour note last week.
For now, I thought as a tribute to the best pitching trio in the history of the game, I would post a link to my fave commercial of all time, featuring Glavine and Maddux. An oldie, but goodie…”Hey, we’ve got Cy Young winners over here!” Never. Gets. Old.
Balancing Optimism with Realism – The Plight of the Braves Fan
“We’re a .500 team.
It’s time to stop being in denial and recognize the vicious cycle the
Braves are stuck in. You are the WORST
about that.” Ok, look…I am one of those
people who have a hard time giving up on my team. As someone once said about me, “You, my dear,
never give up on the Braves or anyone else in life until they’ve been
mathematically eliminated.” That being
said, there is something to be said for balancing that oh-so-fun dose of
realism with some optimism.
So, with 54 games left in the season that saw Frenchie
playing right field for the Mets, and after a good series in San Diego, I
thought now would be a good time to give all those Debbie Downers “realists”
some good thoughts to go with those “womp, womp, womps”:
- Adam
LaRoche is 9-for-18 with a homer and three walks in five games since being
acquired from the Boston Red Sox - TIM
HUDSON!! Is expected to return to
the line-up at the end of the month, presumably sending Kawakami to the
bullpen….niiice. - Get
ready for a “are you serious?” stat: the Braves (12-8) have a better
record since the All-Star break than the best team in baseball, the
Dodgers (10-10). What…..a series we
have coming up. - We
also have a better ERA (3.31) than the Dodgers (3.66) since the break. - Two
words: Martin. Prado. - Derek
Lowe seems to have gotten his groove back, winning his last 4 outings. JulioGarret Anderson is batting .450 since the break.
Franco
Debbie, consider your parade officially rained-on.
Ragin’ on the Roid Issue
Joe Morgan – I don’t like you. And for once it’s not because you are always
biased against the Braves during every Sunday Night Baseball game they play
in. It’s because you went on the air
defending Manny Ramirez and his use of steroids. You said publicly that you don’t think the
full list of players who were caught using steroids should be released, because
you don’t think it was cheating! You
even went so far as to say that you think an investigation needs to be launched
into who has been slowly leaking the names off of that list, and the person who
was responsible for deleting it in the first place should be FIRED! If I didn’t know any better, I’d say Manny
Ramirez was secretly Joe Morgan, Jr.
These guys who have been called out publicly for cheating
using steroids (Alex Rodriguez, Manny Ramirez, David Ortiz, Barry Bonds, etc.)
are not being punished – ok, except Manny who served a 50-game suspension at
the beginning of this season, but that suspension was not related to the 2003
test, which he also apparently failed.
Way to learn from your mistakes. The
players whose names appear on this elusive list of 104 players who tested
positive for steroids were not reprimanded, but given the ole “We know who you
are, and you better stop” finger wag.
Hey, if we know anything about professional athletes, a stern warning
should do the trick, right? Riiiiight. As Manny would say about Manny, “Manny is the
greatest; Manny doesn’t answer to you; Manny answer to the field.”
And, maybe it’s just
me, but what is with these Dodgers and Yankees and Red Sox fans who have not
only supported these guys, but cheered for them?! If I had to venture a guess, these fans
always suspected these guys of being guilty, but didn’t care as long as they won
World Series titles. While I don’t know
this for sure, I would like to think that if there was a Braves player on that
list, current or former, Braves fans would make known their disapproval.
Bottom line – this list just needs to be made public already. It’s clearly out there, and the longer this
debacle drags out, the more embarrassing it is for Major League Baseball. Quite frankly, I think this should have been
public from the get go. As for Joe
Morgan…you go right on ahead trying to protect Manny and his gang of merry
cheats…even as Jon Miller looks at you like you’ve lost your mind on national
television. Just remember this, Morgan -
we, the fans, pay these guys’ salaries! We have a right to know who is taking our $20
hot dog money and using it to shoot up in the locker room. Just sayin’.
What….a trade.
When I first heard that we had traded away Casey Kotchman to Boston for Adam LaRoche I had a few conflicting thoughts:
1) huh?
2) I always liked LaRoche
3) huh?
4) I was just starting to like Kotchman, too
5) huh?
After pondering the move on my own, I chatted with some friends and read some blogs. The initial reaction from Braves fans seemed to be that this was another weird move by Braves GM Frank Wren. But, upon further examination, I’ve come to the conclusion that this was a smart move, or Schuerholz-esque, if you will.
Let’s start with the numbers. At the time of the trade, LaRoche was hitting .248 with 13 homers and and 43 RBIs. Kotchman was hitting .282, but with just 8 homers. Power advantage: LaRoche. I will say, that what Kotchman lacked in the power department he more than made up for in defense with exactly ZERO errors in 130 games with Atlanta. That’s muy bueno, my friends. Still, it seems unlikely that the numbers alone influenced this trade. What else could it be? Two words: Freddie. Freeman.
After Tommy Hanson (who I suppose is no longer a prospect since he’s made the jump), Freddie Freeman has been one of the most hyped of all the Braves’ prospects. The future first baseman should be ready to join the big boys either sometime next year, or by 2011, at the latest. Kotchman has one more year of arbitration eligibility, whereas LaRoche will be a free agent after this season.
Added bonus for Atlanta: that priceless (and inexplicable) ability to all of a sudden be a better player just because it’s September – LaRoche is infamous for tearin’ it up in the 2nd half…..here’s hoping.
And, if nothing else, we can get excited about the inevitable return of “LaRoche’s Roaches” at Turner Field.
“Hey ump, your bias is showing.”
Hey, Super Mario Bill Hohn, why don’t you and your villain-esque mustache go to a sport where calls can be subjective, like the NFL. For years, every time an ump has made a call that I disagreed with, I instantly shouted that they MUST be a Yankees fan, and therefore, out to get the Braves. Ok, that might be a little dramatic….but this time I am right, I tell ya.
This ump is the newest addition to many Braves’ fans s**tlist after tossing 5 players (including the loveable and always-reserved Bobby Cox twice) in two games over the last month. Major League Umpires have more say in making or breaking a game than any referee counterpart in other sports – Umps are literally involved in every single pitch of the game. Sure there have been other umps that I’ve had issue with for making a questionable call (Angel Hernandez comes to mind), but Hohn’s display of bizarre behavior last night truly puts him in a league of his own.
It all started with a pitch that was so far outside, you could almost hear Bob Ucker announce that it was “juuuuuust a bit outside” all the way from Milwaukee. Hohn called it a strike. Enter Big Mac. McCann didn’t turn around to complain face-to-face, but said something that seemed to irk Hohn. And then just as “positive” follows a Manny Ramirez steroid test, Bobby Cox started barking from the dugout.
Now, here is where it got weird. Hohn walks over to the dugout, seems to call Bobby out, and then pulls out the line-up card. Huh? What is that? A double-dog dare to Bobby Cox? Wrong. Move. Hohn. The inexplicable and strange move by Hohn to walk over to Bobby Cox and pull out the line-up card led to Cox and McCann both getting tossed, obvi. My question here is this: At what point does an umpire’s behavior become taunting? Hohn’s behavior seemed unprofesh at best, childish and high school-like at worst. Bud Selig’s office needs to take note and do something about umpires like this. Umpires control way too much during a game for them to let their bias show.
Oh, and PS, the ump’s union should probably make sure that a trip to Turner Field is not on Hohn’s schedule anytime in the near future. Or next 5 years.
UPDATE: At the time I posted this, I was unaware of the fist bump that took place at the end of the game between Hohn and the Marlins catcher. Wow. I think Chipper and Pendleton said it best when they said the fist bump was “shocking” and “unprofessional.” Fist bumping implies you were in the game together, like teammates. Just ask the Obamas.
As outrageous as it was, I’m almost glad Hohn did that because his questionable behavior is now finally getting some coverage from the national media. Now, if only Bud Selig’s office would fist bump Hohn right into an early reitrement…
“Stay in the Game” with Don Sutton
Atlanta Braves announcer and Hall-of-Fame pitcher Don Sutton is a kidney cancer survivor and fellow supporter of the Kidney Cancer Foundation, an organization near and dear to my heart. Sutton will be hosting pre-game activities and sharing his inspiring story with fans before the August 24th home game vs. the San Diego Padres. I’ll be there volunteering, and I hope everyone else will come out and support this important cause!
“Yea, we did win one World Series during that stretch. And your point?”
From 1991 to 2005, the Atlanta Braves won their
division. Those 14 straight titles set a record for most consecutive
division titles, not just in major league baseball, but in all of professional
sports. During that same stretch, the Braves won one World Series title
in 1995. If one more person uses that 1-for-14 stat to lessen the
impressiveness of what the Braves accomplished during that stretch….I might
lose it. Usually I just tell these Debbie Downers to “Shut the front
door.” But I thought this time, instead, I would answer with some
other statistics about that 14-year stretch:
- A win percentage of near .600
- 7 Cy Young awarded to the
pitching staff - 2 MVPs
- 2 Rookies of the Year
- 1 batting title
- Led the major leagues in ERA
5 times - Led the league in home runs 3
times - Set major league record for
most grand slams in a season (12) - Set major league record for most
strikeouts by a pitching staff (1245) - Greg Maddux picked up twelve
consecutive gold glove awards, set a major league record for consecutive
Cy Young awards with four, and picked up fifteen consecutive fifteen or
more win seasons.
‘Nuf said.
iheartnyc44
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