Braves Journal: Game Thread in Exile: May 21, Braves at D-Backs
39 Comments
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Testing…
Oh, this is soooo weird-looking. It’s going to take a really long time to get used to. F’ing spammers!
ick.
Regardless of how this site looks, I certainly miss this great forum so I can vent my frustration with Reitsma. Good managing by Bobby today though for bringing in McBride instead of Remlinger. I guess Bobby FINALLY realize Remlinger can’t fool left-handed batters.
If people don’t pay attention, they may thought this is a Reds blog because this site is so…red…
Eww….this is ugly, no-doubt.
Time will have a hard time getting me used to this.
It’s not permanent. I’ll play around with the colors and customize it.
I just wanted to throw this out there: I’m graduating today!
Maybe the new site will bring us some luck and maybe even a new closer! Ray perhaps or McBride, we’ll see.
AAR, congrats. While posting info about ourselves, I’m geting married in 2 weeks. No more freedom!
Wow….this is different…..but, I can vent my frustrations again! yeah!!!
I’m still playing with the color scheme. Eventually, I’ll probably find a theme more to my liking. Anyone have any suggestions?
This isn’t worth a post, but there’s been a Cory Aldridge sighting:
Barons Notebook
My recommendation is keeping “Waive Reitsma” as part of the site’s title.
COngradualations on graduating Alex, welcome to the recent grad club.
To all of those people who are saying how great the job market is, tell them Smitty said you can kiss his ass.
I think we should let Ken Ray close.
I think it’s going to be closer by committee, or at least by platoon, for a while. Reitsma may finally have crossed the Kolb line.
Man, the text for people without avatars is awful.
Also, I don’t suppose there’s a way to turn off a few of the ads.. it’s kinda overkill now. Maybe that’s out of line on my part, but it just doesn’t look good (like the old site did) IMHO.
At least the exile is over 🙂
Mac, thanks for your great recaps and for everything you’ve done in getting us hooked back up here. And congrats to the folks upthread who have big events coming up. You can’t beat the regulars here.
I’m going to ask Hawk if he can change the colors of the ads to white; I think they’ll be less obtrusive that way. Though Google may not like that.
I think with a few changes this new deal will be great.
Is it just me or is this whole horse breaking his leg thing jumping the shark?
Let me add my hearty congratulations as well to AAR, one of my favorite posters on here.
As for Reitsma, he should “graduate” to the Northern Lights League in Minnesota.
Is it just me, or does 2006 feel “identical” to 2005, with Reitsma playing the role of Daniel Kolbb and the New York Mets playing the role of the Washington Nationals? (it fits…they both play in hellhole stadiums).
I just realized, if Reitsma left for the Northern Lights League, then poor Jenny would be stuck with him close by where she goes to college. Plus, Minnesota is really cold. so with Reitsma, it would be “chilly” year round.
The 2006 Mets are a lot better than the 2005 Nationals, unfortunately.
I don’t like Reitsma either, fellas, but do y’all really think McBride and Kenny Ray are the answer? McBride has looked pretty shaky thus far.
Eric Campbell is tearing it up at Rome. Now is the time to trade him for a HARD THROWING CLOSER!
What do you think Eric Campbell would bring, if we did decide to trade him?
Strange new world here. Agh, I guess we’ll get used to it. What killed the old site?
In any event, Mac, THANK YOU for getting us back up and running. How much is this costing you and do you have a physical address where those of us who refuse to use paypal can send finacial assistance?
I don’t like Reitsma either, fellas, but do y’all really think McBride and Kenny Ray are the answer? McBride has looked pretty shaky thus far.
I honestly don’t think they are, but as of right now they’re likely no worse an answer than Chris Kolb.
The old site was getting slammed by spammers and the hosting service eventually disabled the comment function. We needed to ditch Movable Type to get that back.
Thanks, but it’s not costing me anything. Well, ten bucks a year for the bravesjournal.us domain. I assume that the ads will pay for hosting in the future. I have an Amazon tip jar on my other site.
I’m not sure who the answer is either, and for that matter neither probably does anyone in the Braves management. But if they can manage to get someone between 20-30 saves while posting a decent ERA – be it Ray or McBride or whomever – that person could (a) just pitch the 9th inning and make everyone breathe a little bit better, or (b) earn some trade value for the next season.
Whatever the case, the insistence on bringing Reitsma out again and again just because he’s the ‘official closer’ is bordering, literally, insanity (or at least stupidity). I mean, if someone who didn’t “know” anything about baseball were to inquire why the guy with the worst numbers and track record – at least so far this season – was pitching the 9th, what would be the answer? I just doesn’t make any sense! But that, I reckon, is conventional wisdom for you.
Oh, and thanks to Mac for getting this up again.
Hmm. I’m not sure why some comments are getting held for moderation. Anyway, I’ll approve as quickly as I can.
Congrats on getting everything up an running.
I think I figured out why some people were getting blocked… I have to approve everyone’s first comment. However, the system recognized most people from their old comments (which have been imported) so only blocked you if you have a new username or email.
thanks mac for your hard work. will baez be available after gagne comes back, and would he even be worth it? they could probably use one of our outfielders for the time being.
we also could look toward seattle and steal guardado or take putz off of their hands. you would have to think guardado would turn things around by looking at his #’s the past 3-4 years. i just do not see an “in-house” solution.
The problem with getting Baez is 2 fold:
1. Gagne may not come back and even if he does, he’s always an injury risk
2. The Dodgers are very much in the NL Westr race (along with that whole division) and having a stud closer and and stud set up guy is quite a luxury.
hell, I would be happy if the Braves had a “stud” 6th inning guy. The bullpen is depressing.
But I think what’s happened the last 2 years is a huge statement to John Schuerholz. He always cries “poor mouth” blames AOL/Time Warner and budget constraints (which in his book, he agrees with…he uses the excuse when it suits him in new interviews with the AJC or on Radio) and he claims over and over and over that he cannot afford a legit closer.
The point I am now going to state for the 1,872nd time, if anyone could please get this MEMO to JS, is stop only looking at big name closers. Any fire balling KID that throws 95, has good control, and a good head on his shoulders, but hasn’t been given a chance or is in a deep bullpen, is a candiate for closer.
I mean, had anyone even heard of Derrick Turnbow before 2005? Not really. Now he’s a Top 10 closer, infinitely more reliable even in 2006 then the likes of BIG NAMES such as Billy Wagner and Brad Lidge. Lidge? He was a fireballing middle relief kid whom the Astros made a closer after trading Wagner and then Dotel.
The point I am making is JS’s off season excuses about $ are a crock of sh–. Pick up a state sheet, mr. suspenders. Don’t you have “scouts” that say, hey, there’s this blank blank 22 year old kid in the blank team’s system…could easily be a great closer but there’s no room on that team. Then the Braves could turn around a trade something we have in abundance…a young starter or outfielder or catcher or a combination to get the right young arm.
I am tired of “hearing” how he “tried” to get Todd Jones or Bob Wickman. I don’t want some overpaid aging closer. Get a cheap, young kid who’s got a stud arm, trade the prospects to make it happen (say with a team that needs a stareter, an outfielder or a catcher) and make it happen. Between October and April, JS has around 5-6 months to have worked this out yet every year, he throws up his hands because we can’t give say Todd Jones 30 million.
You know, if I touch my hand on a hot stove enough, eventually I realize it hurts and maybe I should not do that. Stop going (or worse, pretending to us Braves faithful) that you are going for said “Big Name” closer and get someone who has a much better arm and mental make up then Chris Reitsma. I am so damned tired of bad relievers and someone who can’t finish a game off. If you have to, get another stud starter and stick Smoltz back in the closer’s role. But I don’t think any of us can take Chris Reitsma for one more day.
agreed. js, get it done and soon. this team cant afford any more blown saves like last year. there is not that much room for error with this year’s mets.
I am not sold that the Mets are so much better then last year’s Nationals team.
You had John Patterson, a better and less old Livan Hernandez, and a very sturdy Esteban Loaiza vs. the Mets group of Pedro Martinez, Tom Glavine and pray for rain. I would take any Nats start leaps and bounds over Traschel, Victor Zambrano or any other garbage thrower the Mets stick out there.
Bullpen wise, the Nats had possible the best bullpen in the league and it’s why they held on in so many 1 run games and were in the race until the last 3 weeks of the season.
Offensively, it’s hard to say as neither Nats team is that great from 2005 or 2006, but it’s easy to favor Zimmerman over Vinny and though Mac may not want to hear this, Alfonso Soriano is an upgrade offensively over Wilkerson–it’s worked out that way. Vidro is also healthier this year and productive. Royce Clayton breathing in oxygen and breathing out carbon dixide is still better offensively then Christian Guzman who hugged below the Mendoza Line last year.
So, I would argue wholeheartedly that this year’s Mets are being way overrated by everyone in the media, because at the end of the day, as well know, people want to see that team that can finally knock the Braves off their perch.
So, while ESPN, Mike & Mike, the entire New York Media and Mets fans everywhere continue to tell us all how “great” this Mets team, I just don’t see it or buy it. It’s not to say the Braves are great either. No, their bullpen is mediocre but it looks like the best bullpen ever next to our pile of dog poo. I like our starting pitching better 1-5 (when healthy) though I think their 1-2 has a tiny edge over our 1-2. They have a better middle of the order but we have a deeper lineup that will hold up better over 162.
However, just because I really don’t like the Mets a whole lot, and I don’t like the Phillies a whole lot (who easily have the worst starting pitching of the 3 NL East contenders this year), doesn’t mean we are winning. Au contraire. If we don’t make some changes to our bullpen and remove Chris Reitsma from the state of Georgia, the Mets or Phillies win this division by default. That’s the thing.
In my eyes, all 3 teams are extremely mediocre. What’s going to make a difference? Who can close out a damn game. Tom Gordon, Billy Wagner and Chris Reitsma. Which of those pitchers is not like the others…
Hell, even an inconsistent Wagner (and aging) is still 80X more reliable then Reitsma.
And that’s why it’s so incredibly important that JS be up until 3 AM with his crack staff reading scouting reports on every pitcher on every team, in Major and Minor League Baseball. And if we have to trade Saltamacchia, trade Saltamacchia. If we have to trade Kelly Johnson, trade Kelly Johnson. We all need to wak the hell up already. We cannot finish ballgames and we need a pitcher who can. We need someone that can instill confidence in our hitters and starting pitchers.
I firmly believe that the effect Chris Reitsma is having on this team is far more damaging then just blown saves. He’s hurting this team mentally and emotionally. There has to be genuine fear running through the bodies of Andruw Jones, John Smoltz, Chipper Jones, Brian McCann, Tim Hudson and everyone else that I either better pitch perfectly or help score 10 runs or we may be screwed in the 9th. Seriously…the Braves are shell shocked by Reitsma. He’s bringing an entire organization down.
Tim Hudson was probably freaked out seeing it was going to be a close, tight ballgame last because he knew it meant that Bobby would continue to go to Reitsma. Tim saw another win possibly go away. It’s got to hurt Tim and scare him.
I guess my long winded point is that if we all hate Reitsma (and how can you not?) and we are all scared to watch him pitch, then the Braves players have to be in the same boat. They may not say it publicly but you have to believe it’s that exact same horrfying, stomach churning feeling everyone got last year when Dan Kolbb’s fat rear end waddled out of the bullpen.