ESPN.com – MLB – Box Score – Braves at Phillies
The Good Horacio didn’t get a win, but he kept the Braves in it long enough for the offense to wake up. He went seven, and allowed ten hits, but nine of them were singles (the other a double by the Terrifying Chase Utley) and he only walked one while striking out five. The one run came in the second when after loading the bases on singles he got a weak one-out grounder that was far too weak to turn the DP on.
The prime offensive hero was Edgar Renteria, who hit a homer to tie it in the fourth and then had a double that scored Giles in the ninth to take the lead. The Braves were pretty much stymied by Myers for eight innings but he tired in the ninth, walking Giles and then allowing the double. Manuel came in with Gordon, but after getting Betemit and intentionally walking McCann, he allowed his second homer to Francoeur in as many nights to make it 5-1.
McBride struck out two in the eighth (after Abreu was thrown out by Francoeur trying to stretch a leadoff single) to get the win. Wickman pitched a perfect ninth with a strikeout in the Atlanta Save situation. The Braves were playing without either Jones. Andruw hopes to play tonight but is more likely for tomorrow.
You really can’t ask for much more in support with the big boys out.
I thought “No Andruw, No Chipper, No win,” but the guys proved me wrong and did quite well against a tough pitcher. HoRam pitched exceptionally well in this game and I’d rather see his hits high (10) than his walks high (4-5-6) as they had been in previous years. He made the Phillies get on base instead of letting them have a free pass and the movement on his sinker/cutter was sick.
Other than haveing Andruw out, this was our best defensive line up possible. Langerhans is one of the best, if not the best, defensive outfielder in the league.
A nice win for the Braves. It was really great to have a real closer out there for a change.
For those of us who have gained a pound or two over the years seeing Wickman pitch successfully was refreshing.Between Wickman and Paronto the Braves have two large (they would qualify as `obese’ by some standards) pitchers. As long as they get the job done…
I just wonder if we can bring back Terry Forster (`a waist is a terrible thing to mind’) or Charlie Kerfeld for a bullpen reunion.
I met up with both Alex R’s this weekend in DC, and over beers we were talking about the Braves, the season, etc. Another Alex R mentioned the “LaRoche lollygag” game as a turning point in the season, and I think he’s probably right. What’s interesting to me, though, is how LaRoche has played since that time.
His combined hitting stats, May 15 through yesterday:
.299/.347/.565 with 12 HR in ~180 at bats, a .912 OPS.
Interesting, huh? While the rest of the team (especially the bullpen) has laid down and died since that time until a few weeks ago, LaRoche has been hitting very well.
He’s not an all star, but he’s pretty good.
jenny said in yesterday’s game thread that Gordon made a mistake by throwing Francoeur a first-pitch strike. Well, he didn’t. What was so amazing about that homer was (1) it was on a curve ball and (2) it was WAY down, out of the zone.
That it was a curve is evidence that Jeff is thinking up there (despite a good deal of evidence to the contrary). He homered on a fastball in the previous game, so he went up there looking for the curve, and even though it was out of the strike zone, he absolutely crushed it. I also noticed that afterward, he went immediately to Chipper and said something, and Chipper responded with a big smile. I’m guessing Chipper told him to look for the breaking ball.
That is all.
whatever pitch jeff hit (i was looking away and just saw the replay, not from the CF cmera) it wasn’t a strike; he golfed it off his shoetops. ordinarily not a pitch i’d want him to swing at, but i can hardly complain about the result 🙂 plus he made a very nice play the next inning in RF. good game for JF all around.
Notes from Ken Rosenthal:
Braves: Looking for me
The Braves’ acquisition of closer Bob Wickman didn’t end their pursuit of bullpen help. The team would like to acquire another reliever, preferably a left-hander. However, the Braves would settle for a righty who can get lefties out.
The Marlins’ Joe Borowski fits that description — and so does the Cubs’ Scott Williamson, who was traded to the Padres on Saturday for two minor leaguers. Left-handed hitters are batting .172 against Williamson, .180 against Borowski.
The Braves asked about Rockies Class AAA lefty Steve Collyer, possibly offering right-hander Jorge Sosa. But the Rockies might need Collyer to replace Ray King, whom they nearly traded last week to the Red Sox for right-hander Julian Tavarez.
The Rockies apparently balked at assuming Tavarez’s $3.1 million salary for 2007, plus his $3.85 million club option for ’08 that vests with 125 combined appearances in ’06 or 65 appearances in ’07.
Stu, nice analysis re: the French/Chipper communication.
NO, if I remember right KJ is the best defensive outfielder in the league or at least that is what BP said last year. 🙂
Anytime you can get a victory on the road without your everyday lineup, then you have to be happy.
Okay, the guy’s real name is Steve Colyer. 39 K, 30 BB in 37 IP in Colorado Springs. Color me unimpressed.
We would have a great pen if we got JoeBrow!
I still think we need a guy who can come in and get the big strike out, maybe it is Yates, who knows?
… LaRoche has been hitting very well.
He’s not an all star, but he’s pretty good.
And yet the next time, God forbid, he should hit into a double play, folks will be on here whooping it up with celebratory glee.
That win made me feel all good inside, the team was very excited about that Frenchy homer, they seem to be developing more passion as the season goes by, I hope there is enough to make the playoffs.
I agree with oldtimer?, this win was huge based on the fact that Wickman came in in the 9th and got them 1-2-3. I know it wasn’t a save, but maybe it will give us even more confidence.
I don’t watch many Indians games so I was really amazed at how fat Wickman actually is. But I loved the way he pitched the ninth. He had excellent control throwing darts to the lower, outside corner. It was quite refreshing seeing a reliever go 1-2-3 in the late innings with a big lead.
I too figured a Ramirez start with Chipper and Andruw out was a sure loss. It was great to see the offense get it done late without the Joneses. That was really a very important win. It’s crucial to beat up on the teams that are worse than us the rest of the season especially those that are hanging around barely in wild card contention. Knocking the Phils and Marlins out of the race this week would be a big plus.
Am I the only one that finds Jon Miller’s exaggerated attempts to pronounce the name of every foreign born (Betemit) or even foreign sounding (Langerhans) player correctly annnoying? Even if he’s correct in his pronounciation, it just comes across as snobbish when he is the only broadcaster saying “Bay-te-mee” instead of “Bet-e-mit.”
You may have noticed comments about “Beta Meat”, Ron. That’s how (until last night) Miller pronounced Wilson’s last name. It’s not correct anywhere but he didn’t know that. Betemit himself says that in America his name is pronounced beh-tuh-mit.
I believe — strongly — that the exaggerated pronunciation of “foreign” names while speaking English is to be avoided and that names should be pronounced according to context. That’s not to say that we should pronounce every Diaz the way that Matt does his last name, but the use of multiple long vowels and second-to-last syllable accents should be avoided.
And pronouncing the first name of last night’s starter — who was born in California and is I’m pretty sure a native English speaker — “Oh-rah-see-oh” is right out. Pronounce the H.
I could care less about announcers, but I believe they should pronounce a player’s name the way that player wants it pronounced (even if his name is Tony Dorsett or Joe Theismann).
It was great to see Kyle and Alex out in the real world, even if we had to share a beer at an ESPNZone that wasn’t even going to play the Braves game that got rained out. They had Guinness on tap, which was enough for me. And it’s just a pleasure to be able to spend a couple hours in the company of rabid Braves fans. Yesterday’s victory was absolutely everything we could hope for, and it’s just extra sweet that the Braves did it on anti-Braves-all-the-time ESPN. It sure shut Joe Morgan up.
And, Ron, yes, I find Jon Miller extremely annoying. At least with Betemit he claimed he was trying to pronounce the name correctly; Ryan Langerhans, however, was born in Texas, and I guaran-damn-tee you that NOBODY pronounces his name “Long-er-hahns.” If you’re gonna pronounce names like the natives, at least be consistent, ya idjit.
All this is why I watch ESPN with the sound off and turn up the radio. 😀
“NO, if I remember right KJ is the best defensive outfielder in the league or at least that is what BP said last year.”
My how the grass is always greener on the other side. I remember late last year how everyone here liked Langerhans over Kelly Johnson (go see the archives.) And I bet if I asked at the time right at the end of the 2005 regular season if people here liked Langerhans or Johnson better, everyone would have said Langerhans.
Since Johnson is out for the season everyone wants him. And you know what? If it was exactly the opposite, Langerhans out and Johnson in, everyone here would be missing Langerhans.
I don’t care for Langerhan’s offense either, but it’s almost absurd how many people think Kelly Johnson would be a gigantic improvemnt.
I would have said KJ, and I don’t think I would have been alone. Johnson just has far more upside.
I often listen to music or the radio broadcast on MLB.com while ESPN is showing a Braves game. I can pay attention on my own & don’t need these guys to tell me what happening.
I’ve said it before: The only announcer who makes me reach for poison is Yankee radio guy John Sterling. He’s a blustery bore, but worse, he has a genuine problem with the truth.
About Frenchy’s HR, this is from the AJC game story:
“It was one of the few times I’ve ever gone up there looking for a breaking ball,” Francoeur said of the low pitch. “That was my golf swing. I figured he’d try to get something over early in the count and then go outside.”
Damn–Francouer has a head on his shoulders. That’s smart thinking, and right now he’s inside Tom Gordon’s head.
Hey! I was right about Francoeur using his head!
And Dan, I’ve always preferred KJ to Langerhans. Josh was joking about his defense, of course.
Maybe it’s just me but baseball games are becoming very hard to listen to..
Joe Buck’s tone and voice annoys me on levels you can’t imagine.. Jon Miller’s “Beta-Meat” was driving me crazy last night.. Joe Morgan pointing out that the key to Lieberthal’s at bat was that he put the ball in play…
The Tampa Bay announcer’s voice lulls me into a deep coma… the YES guys are just ridiculous.. don’t even get me started on Harrelson of the White Sox.
Even Braves games are a struggle sometimes with Ron Gant or Torborg..
Davey, don’t forget McCarver, he sucks!
But strangely, when the Braves are on TBS (with Skip & Pete, especially) I feel relaxed and like I’m home.
That makes 2 of us Ububba.. with Skip and Pete I have a sense of comfort.
And I didn’t forget about McCarver Smitty.. I didn’t put him because he’s just too easy 😀
All from September 2005:
“I LOVE LANGERHANS!” -jenny
“Who is Kelly Johnson?!” -kc
“Say hello to your everyday left fielder, Ryan Langerhans!” -David Remy
“One, Langerhans has earned himself an everyday job unless he goes Adam LaRoche on us. Sure, his batting average is only .252 but A) he’s been very clutch and B) Kelly Johnson and particularly Todd Hollandsworth are far WORSE options.” -Alex R.
Well, I’ve always said that Skip and Pete are the best in the business.
By the way, Stu, when I went to meet Kyle and Alex, they both wore their Braves hats. Since I couldn’t find a Braves hat, I tried to come up with something Bravesjournal-related… and wore my Guinness t-shirt. Alex thought you’d be pleased.
“And Dan, I’ve always preferred KJ to Langerhans.”
“I read in the Sporting News where the Reds aren’t opposed to dealing Dunn, but they need pitching. I really, really, REALLY think we should make a serious run at the guy. Estrada, Thomson/Davies, Jeames? Heck, throw in KJ and/or LaRoche if they’ll throw in a viable bullpen option. I honestly think we can and should make this happen.” -Stu
Why Kelly Johnson over Ryan Langerhans?
Because he’s more valuable, Dan. Understand?
Hey everyone, I just got my power back…I lost it Wednesday
It cracks me up that you’re spending all this time scrolling through archives in an attempt to prove this point that adds nothing to the discourse on this site, though. Come on, quote me again!
Mac’s comment about the pronounciation of Latino names reminded me of an old SNL skit where Jimmy Smits was guest hosting. The skit involved 7 or 8 co-workers, including Smits, sitting around a conference table deciding what to order for takeout lunch. When it was decided to get Mexican food, each character spoke in a normal tone exept when stating the particular food they ordered, putting heavy emphasis on Ta-kos or Burrrrrritosth, e.g. I probably didn’t explain it very well, but anybody who saw it has to agree that the skit was funny.
There was a crossword puzzle clue today where the clue read “Mexican-Americans” and the word they were looking for was “Latinos,” when of course the more precise term for Mexican-Americans is “Chicanos.” For no reason at all this made me vaguely annoyed.
“Because he’s more valuable, Dan. Understand?”
I thought about that point. It seems good. It’s just the LaRoche part, with the way he struggled up until the final couple of weeks in 2005, makes one wonder if he had the same value as Kelly Johnson. LaRoche/Johnson makes it sound as if they’re about the same.
Its not Beta-meat
Braves OF Wilson Betemit said he has one pronunciation for baseball in the United States and another for away from the game in his native the Dominican Republic. “Since I came here, it has always been one way,” the Braves infielder said. “So that is OK. I don’t care. It is too late to change. It is my baseball name.’ But Betemit in the Dominican Republic is pronounced “Bay-ta-me” and not “Bet-a-mit.” “The ‘t’ is silent,” he said. Sunday’s start at third was Betmit’s 17th this season. He has also started 10 games at shortstop and nine at second base.
The ball Frenchy hit for the HR looked like a strike to me. It was a hard breaking pitch that ended up right about the knees, middle-in. Still, it was a tough pitch and a good hit by Jeff. Gordon’s mistake was not getting it down to his shoetops — although that isn’t to say that Jeff couldn’t have made good contact anyway.
It wasn’t a strike. It was too far down and too far in.
It looked like a strike to me, too, but in Francoeur’s case I guess I should know better.
Actually, it wasn’t inside, but it was low. Go to the Braves’ MLB site and watch the video (complete with K-Zone!) they have of it. I love the internet.
It should also be noted that the break on that pitch was filthy.
Years ago I was watching LSU-Mississippi football game and was amused by the numbers of players with same last names which were pronounced differently-Canjun or southern American
OK, so Jeff hit a homerun and all is right with the world–despite his .288 OBP. Meanwhile, LaRoche is having a much better overall year, but since he has long since been designated as the villian, anything good he does is overlooked. And you wonder why players have no loyalty to fans?
Louisiana is full of awesome last names. Most of them are French-ish. My wife’s from the New Orleans area, and none of her family’s friends have pronounceable last names. At least, very few are pronounced they way English spelling dictates they should be.
As far as I know, Spanish doesn’t have a silent T under any circumstances, so the name can’t even be Spanish in origin but must be French or Catalan or something else.
hmmmm…..maybe they will through Frenchy fastballs more often now…….
Also, in Spanish the second to last syllable is usually emphasized. An acento mark is used over the emphasized vowel in exceptional cases. If his name were truly Spanish in origin, it’d be spelled BetemÃt.
I find it funny how our fans say ESPN doesn’t like the Braves and then you come on here and the negativity towards the Braves is so thick you could cut it with a knife. A lot of it unwarranted too, like the comment up above about how we “laid down and died” during June and how “we had no passion up until July like we showed last night after Frenchy’s HR.”
My gosh we were losing (which was probably why guys weren’t smiling like they were after Frenchy’s HR last night). I’d sure as he!! hope nobody was smiling from the Braves during June! There was nothing to smile about! And we may have had a horrible month of June, but we played hard(maybe tried too hard). We certainly didn’t lay down!
To me, ESPN is nice to the Braves compared to Braves internet sites like this one.
— Bravesfan1
Mac, great linguistic note. Catalan is mostly medieval French, for the unitiated. Remember the Barcelona Olympic Mountain, Mont Juic (pronounced Mone Zhuic with the truncated n sound in Mont). Sounded just like French.
Francoeur (by the way “heart of the Franks” or, idiomatically, as bad of an ass as Charlemagne) hit a breaking pitch that was 4 inches below “K zone” strike zone and even with the inside corner. He is 22!!! The walks will never be great, but the rate will come up steadily for the next 6 to 8 years.
Anybody else notice that the Wickman approach was vintage Leo? First pitch, fast ball low and away on the corner. Throw strikes. If Wickman can remind some of the other guys out there in the pen about that stuff, he could be worth his weight in gold (and that is some serious moo lah).
Wasn’t the Dominican Republic a French colony? Betemit doesn’t sound French though. However you pronounce his name he is having a good year. Marcus is losing more negotiating leverage every day that Wilson plays.
After all of the LaRoche hate, he is having a good year. Is LaRoche French, Catalan, Russian, Ukrainian???? 🙂
I guess with Thorman getting the starts in LF the Braves (Cox) have figured out that Ryan Langerhans is German for 4th outfielder.
Sure hope Kelly Johnson comes back healthy. He is better than Langerhans and has the potential to be a better overall offensive outfielder than the current version of all or nothing Francouer.
From cnnsi.com: San Diego Padres are working overtime to line up a third baseman. The trade bait is fine setup reliever Scott Linebrink, and their best options appear to be either Wilson Betemit or the diminishing Morgan Ensberg, with some Padres people apparently preferring the more versatile Betemit.
“But strangely, when the Braves are on TBS (with Skip & Pete, especially) I feel relaxed and like I’m home.” – ububba
I feel the same way too. I guess it’s because we grew up watching the Braves on TBS.
Bravesfan, I understand why you’re accusing fans on this site of negativity toward the Braves. After watching the Braves go through a 4-week stretch where they were 3-20, a lot of diehard fans (myself included) were feeling close to suicidal. The Braves were playing appallingly poorly, it was everyone’s fault, and we were mad as hell to watch the team we love look utterly noncompetitive.
Alex made a great point when I saw him over the weekend. Adam LaRoche is a frustratingly inconsistent player, but the reason that he isn’t a favorite on here is that he doesn’t hustle. Some players — Pete Orr, Marcus Giles, and Jeff Francouer, to name three — hustle on every play between the lines, but Adam LaRoche simply doesn’t. A lack of hustle is a LOT harder to forgive than strikeouts.
I understand your criticism, and your desire to be positive toward the team you root for, but we have a right to express our opinions too. And whenever LaRoche doesn’t run out a double play grounder, or Macay McBride walks the third batter of the inning after getting the first two on popups, or Wickman inevitably blows his first save, they’ll hear it from us. (Even if none of them other than Jason Shiell’s wife actually read this site.)
“I find it funny how our fans say ESPN doesn’t like the Braves and then you come on here and the negativity towards the Braves is so thick you could cut it with a knife.”
And I find the idea that the only way to root for a team is thru relentless “Shish-boom-bah” expressions of positivity to be boring. I love ragging on my teams players amongst friends then burning down the house of the Mets fan who dares slur Kieth Lockhart’s name (ok, maybe not Kieth Lockhart), so leave me alone.
When I say “Frenchy, you suck!” it’s done with no less love for the Braves than someone else saying, “Jeffrey, I want to have your baby!”
Is anyone going to be in New York for their September series against the Mets?
Uh, LaRoche DOES hustle NOW! I haven’t seen him not hustle since that play with Nick Johnson back in early May. Case in point, he beat out a potential double play with the Braves down 8-2 in St. Louis last week with 1 out in the 9th inning. If your hustling in a situation like that, that’s pretty indicative you hustle all the time.
And as far as the comment about the 3-20 stretch. Again, that was a tough stretch but it wasn’t for a lack of effort. Our effort warranted 23-0 during that stretch. Our EXECUTION however didn’t. Thus I don’t see how you can be mad at a team as long as their giving the effort. This team(as all Bobby Cox teams have done in the past) plays hard! There will always be an individual play here or there on any team(see Heilman’s lollygag to first yesterday for the Mets) where the effort isn’t there(there are 162 games you know), but collectively AS A TEAM the Braves play the game the right way: HARD!
That’s why I do DEFEND the Braves, regardless of the record. I know that doesn’t fly too well on Braves Journal, but I have a right to my opinion.
— Bravesfan1
And everybody else has a right to theirs, Bravesfan1. Lighten up.
and glitch, why don’t you “shish boom bah” deez nuts in your mouth!
— Bravesfan1
Huckleberry sucks!
Thanks for the reference to the Braves home page, the replay is awesome. Yet more proof that K-Zone is not to be relied upon … the next clip following the K-Zone shows Jeff hitting from the third basemen’s view point. (You can see it nearly frame-by-frame by doubleclicking on the pause button.) He hits it at the bottom of the strike zone. Also remarkable is how early he starts that big swing … it’s almost like he decides whether to swing before the pitcher decides what to throw. Might explain some of the Ks.
Wow.. easy there Bravesfan1.
Come on now, he was just giving his opinion. No need to react like that..let’s keep it clean in here.
Yeesh, I don’t even want to know what means. Relax folks.
word on the street is the Nats are trading Soriano to the White Sox for Brandon McCarthy. Who knows if it’s true, but an interesting rumor nonetheless!
Longtime reader, first time poster, love the site.
A couple of things about Betemit and the Dominican Republic:
DR was never a French colony, but rather a Spanish colony just like Cuba and Puerto Rico. Betemit’s name would be accented if it were pronounced BE-te-mit or be-TE-mit, but not if the stress is on the last syllable. Words that are ‘aguda’, meaning that the last syllable is stressed are accented only when ending in ‘n’, ‘s’, or vowel. If the first syllable in his name were stressed, it would be accented since the word would be ‘esdrújula’ which are all accented. ‘Llana’ words, with the stress on the next to last syllable are accented when the word ends in a consonant that is not ‘n’ or ‘s’. So, the correct pronounciation is BeteMIT. The so-called silent T is not following any rule, but rather the Caribbean spanish (especially in the Dominican and Puerto Rico) tendency to aspirate certain letters (almost always d, t, and s) at the end of words or in between vowels which is why Betemit himself would pronounce it with a “silent t.
Ever been to a message board where the fans are always positive and encouraging to their favorite team/players? They are boring and repetitive.
Well at least we get to face the Nats sans Soriano now. How many games did he single handedly win vs us early in the season?
Well, I reckon I’ve learned not to mess with Bravesfan1.
Sorry, Jeff, that’s just not a strike. He made contact at the bottom part of the strike zone…if the strike zone extended a few feet in front of the plate. Because he yanked it so much, he made contact out in front of the plate. The pitch, had it been allowed to enter the area in which balls are to be judged as balls or strikes, was low. It’s pretty obvious to the naked eye how low it was.
Saw that, Kyle. Most disturbing is the accompanying report that the ChiSox are also about to land MacDougal from the Royals. I was kinda hoping we’d go after him, since he’d cost less than Betemit. I really, really don’t want to trade Betemit, even for Scott Linebrink.
Okay, okay ’nuff said. I think most of us agree that always positive people are boring and that always negative people are boring.
Betemit has way too much value w/ our injury prone infield. It will take more than Linebrink for us to move him, I hope!
I know what you mean, Stu. I don’t want to lose Betemit either, especially if Marcus Giles has ANY trade value.
Jeff K,
You’re onto something. This is pretty cool.
http://blog.swingtraining.net/2006/07/18/jeff-francoeur-and-the-x-factor.aspx
New proposed name for Thorman (from “Adventures in Babysitting”). “Mighty Thor, God of Thunder.”
RobBroad4th,
Dunno where you live, but if you’re referring to the Braves games at Shea on Sept 4-6, I’ll be there at least for the night games—not sure about the Wednesday afternoon tilt.
Jeff Francoeur is going to be live on ESPNews’ “The Hot List” in a few minutes. Just thought those of you who could get to a TV might be interested.
If this has already been mentioned, my apologies.
JC, that is REALLY cool.
Bravesfan1, I have really very few rules, but “don’t attack other posters personally” is rule 1.
Rotowire says that the Padres are backing off trading for a third baseman (i.e. they can’t get it done with the Braves or the Astros) meaning they’re going with Blum.
Getting a Linebrink could be sweet, but losing Betemit would certainly be a drag. I know you gotta give to get, but I’m hoping whatever bullpen help we do get won’t involve losing Wilson.
good Betemit was the piece that we could’ve traded to them. He’s too valuable, I bet we move Giles in the off season. Whats Wickman contract like for next year, is he a FA?
Wickman’s a FA. Thank goodness JS isn’t wasting Betemit on the fruitless hope of a WC chase.
Hey Mac, been meaning to ask you what you think of the apparently-imminent Harrington sign-and-trade to Indiana. Looks like the Hawks would get David Harrison (a personal fave, even though he spurned Vandy as a high school senior) and a pick or two in return.
Betemit can play. And he needs to be doing so every day. And I’d like for it to be with the Braves. I think a LaRoche-for-bullpen-help deal makes the most sense for the Braves, but I don’t know that any potential trading partner is looking for a first baseman.
Wickman is a free agent. He only signs one year delas because he thinks he might want to retire or have a heart attack
LaRoche is raking, leave him be!
Stu, I kind of like the deal. A center is a big need. If I were the Hawks I would be looking for a point guard of some sort. I would Do that swap with the Pacers and move some picks in a three way deal with Philly and Boston and try to land Allan Ray
Stu, thanks for realizing I was obviously being tongue in cheek in reference to KJ being the best outfielder in the league. I’ve been gone all day and was surprised that my stupid comment turned into some kind of treasure hunt for people who said they preferred Langer over KJ, but have now changed their mind. Does anyone know of some kind of sign I could post when I want it to be obvious that I’m Joking?
As for this BetaMeat to San Diego rumor, I for one would be upset with this trade. I for one think that Betemit is going to be a fantastic player for years to come. I love his approach at the plate. He just does not seem to get cheated. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. If we are going to trade a middle infielder, we should look long and hard at moving Giles.
I was looking at the Hometown Hero’s promotion MLB is doing, and I found some of the choices for some teams were very interesting. The last four expansion teams had some fairly weak choices, but I guess that is due to lack of history. The team I felt that was the most poorly represented was the Nationals/Expos, there choices were, Gary Carter, Livan Hernandez, Brian Schneider, Rusty Staub, and Jose Vidro.
Of course I chose Hank for the Braves.
Alfonso Soriano going to the White Sox is really good for us for two reasons:
1) He isn’t on a team that could be shooting for the Wild Card.
2) He can’t kick our ass down the strech!
I still say we make a move for Borowski, though I am thinking we might be done.
I’m surprised there is no Vlad on that list for Montreal/Washington. He had some impressive years for them.
No Harlod Baines either!
I don’t know why I even care about the Expos, but here are some names that they could of used.
Rogers
Stoneman
Dennis Martinez
Pedro
Vlad
Raines
Dawson
Maybe MLB is trying to distance the franchise from their history in Canada in an effort to the Nationals their own identity. Maybe that is why I care, it would be a shame forget about the last 30 years of a team that was never truly great, yet produced a lot of great players.
They’re teams in the early nineties were loaded. They’ve had Larry Walker, Pedro, Moises Alou, Andre Dawson…I’m surprised someone like Livan Hernandez makes the list at all.
I agree with Smitty. While I’d like Soriano to stay in DC (since I’m staying in DC) and help the Nats out a bit, it’d be better for the Braves if he was out of the division (but I’d be ok with him returning to the Nats in the offseason, however impossible that may be).
We do need at least one more reliable arm in the bullpen. Borowski would work. Williamson would have. I would be ecstatic if we got Linebrink (but not for Betemit).
Here’s my question, why aren’t we shopping Giles? Are we shopping Giles? He’s a desirable secondbaseman that could (I think) play 3rd in a pinch and he has ties to San Diego. At this point I would probably trade Giles straight up for Linebrink (but an extra prospect would always be nice).
Also, would Florida trade Borowski in the division? I’d think they would since they’re rebuilding and not really in the race. Who would we have to give up though?
If they’ll trade LoDuca and Delgado within the division, they’d surely trade Borowski.
Oh right. Good point, Stu. Guess I’m kinda dumb like that. They might as well, really, getting our prospects for a one or even two year bullpen rental is a pretty good deal when they’re not expecting to compete anyways. The Marlins are gonna be pretty scary in a couple of years though. I’ve never understood people criticizing the team for their firesales. Any strategy that produces a WS championship every 3 or 4 years is a good one.
This is a load of poop from Neyer ==> http://insider.espn.go.com/mlb/insider/columns/story?columnist=neyer_rob&id=2526450&action=login&appRedirect=http%3a%2f%2finsider.espn.go.com%2fmlb%2finsider%2fcolumns%2fstory%3fcolumnist%3dneyer_rob%26id%3d2526450
If IRod makes the list of best young catchers doesn’t our favorite backstop deserve mention? And I don’t think Mauer is likely to hit for power like McCann. He hits too many borderline pitches well (for singles) and uses the whole field too much to hit consistently for power. Not that those are bad things, but they are things that McCann does well, AND he hits for average too. Hrumph.
Yeah, the complete lack of recognition for McCann is really annoying. Both that article and the little ESPN Motion thing on the “best catchers in the game” completely ignore him. I’m not one who thinks ESPN has some overarching anti-Braves bias, but McCann should be getting a lot more press than he is. This dude is a freaking stud!
Also, for those of you on Facebook…the guy in the picture on the left when you’re signing on looks exactly like McCann.
Well, any strategy that produces a WS championship every 3-4 years may be a good strategy for winning WS (this, of course, assumes the team has no desire to build fan/player loyalty and other nice things like that that make franchises sustainable), but the periodic fire sale isn’t such a strategy. The Marlins have a good farm system (built largely by benefit of being in FL and only partially out of trades) and have made some timely trades when they were in the hunt. But lightning striking twice does not make the fire sale strategy a winner.
Maybe Neyer thinks that McCann’s total of 131 career games isn’t enough to warrant a spot in that article.
Mauer has played 252 games in comparison..
I would’ve put McCann on that list, because next to Mauer he is the best catcher in the game, and after a few seasons, I don’t think his numbers will drop…I think he’ll only get better..
The only thing I can think of that would keep Mccann off that list is that he is only in his first season. If he continues playing as he has for a couple more seasons, no one will be able to ignore him.
I sent Neyer an email pointing out his omission of McCann.
The article is about young catchers, so 131 games or first season should not exclude him. I’m not saying he belongs on the list of all time great young catchers, but like Mauer, he may be on that list in the future. Not being mentioned at all is a great oversight.
Who cares if Neyer knows about McCann. I want people to not know about McCann, that way he can spank their asses