Recap in the morning, I’m going to be out tonight. Behave.
Here’s the game thread. And here’s a video.
Addendum: If the Hawks do this, I’ll pretty much have to take hostages, won’t I?
134 Comments
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Macathon going to party hardy…
Take it easy out there Mac.
Mac or anyone who is an insider,
Could you post the mock draft, for us non insider people…thanks
Ford has the Hawks taking Brandan Wright and (with Acie Law still on the board) Javaris Crittenton.
brilliant!
The Hawks are so broke. They should trade down with the number 3 pick. I am so pumped the Sonics are lineup for Durant.
Keith Law gives Francoeur no respect in his assesment of the 2002 draft.
Thanks Mac…I like Wright…but the Hawks have plenty of forwards…
Keith Law gives Francoeur no respect in his assesment of the 2002 draft.
Calling him an everyday player who is showing star potential seems more than fair to me.
The ChiSox just optioned Mike MacDougal to Triple-A. Some guys around here, most notably Alex R., have been very high on this guy. Is he worth a flier, especially given that we lost Gonzalez for the year?
I just thought he failed to mention him as one of “The best players to come out of the high school class” at the end of the article. James Loney is good, but isn’t playing everyday for the Dodgers. It’s not Loney’s fault Colletti is retarded, but I thought no including Francoeur in this group was a careless omission.
Yeah that list didn’t make much sense. The inclusion of Loney and the exclusion of Francouer, BJ Upton, and Josh Johnson. He seemed to be going through great pains to not make it look like the High School picks were much better than the college picks (Pat Neshek?) so he didn’t want the High School list to get too long.
MacDougal is a righty that throws hard with control problems….seems like we have one or two of those type guys already…..we need a lefty, because I just dont have faith in McBride…
Wes Obermueller was traded straight up for Dan Kol(BB). Braves win big tonight, kids.
bravos lineup
harris lf
renty ss
b-mac c
druw cf
frenchy rf
thor 1b
escobar 3b
hudson p
oops, KJ leads off
This just in…Phillip Wellman suspended for three games….and Piniella got four. WHAT??
Former Braves 3B Clete Boyer died today. He was on the division-winning 1969 team and he was also on those great Yankee teams from the early 1960s—5 straight pennants, 2 WS wins.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/b/boyercl02.shtml
I barely remember him with the Braves, but if you hear old timers talk they’ll tell you that he could play a pretty spectacular hot corner.
Also, he couldn’t hit.
I’ll be here for the first inning, maybe the second. I won’t be available thereafter. Just bear that in mind; that means that you can’t post if you haven’t gotten a previously approved comment with that name and email. Also, limit yourself to one url in the comment field; if you need multiple links, you have to use multiple posts. Sorry ’bout that.
Clete hit some HRs—162 in all, had 26 for ATL one season—but was generally a #8 hitter in a low-offense era.
I used to play that 1961 NYY team in APBA all the time & he was the only guy who never seemed to get a hit.
SIAP, but any word on who ATL is looking at with pick #14?
Niice way to end an inning Huddy….back-to-back K’s.
How do we order pizza and who should we call if AAR swallows something?
You were giving instructions. I couldn’t resist…
WIllie is killing!
Bamachum,
I personally want either one of these two…
Blake Beavan, RHP
or
Jason Heyward, OF/1B
I did a post about some possibilities for the Braves this year.
http://my-sport-talk.blogspot.com/2007/06/couple-of-draft-possibilities-for.html
Willy Mays Hayes!
He was hitting .397 BEFORE the double.
BMac!
Now this is the kind of start I like to see.
Andruw has surpassed Thor in the fight for batting average supremacy.
Whomever decided to add a sound to the bouncing baseball on the “commercial break” mlb tv screen needs to be taken out back and beaten soundly…. Most annoying thing ever.
Lando,
Yes! It’s just as bad as the pong sound…why can’t they just have regular commercials…hell silence would be better.
Well, that lead didn’t last long.
Cabrera legged out a triple? You’re kidding?
Huddy!
Well that was unexpected.
After Frenchy got doubled up, gameday paused for an injury delay. Anything serious?
Huddy was a great hitter in college, glad he can still swing!
Thorman hit the ball off of Obermueller’s back, hard. The Marlins got really lucky there, because it was an obvious single.
Okay, I’m out of here.
Thanks Mac. Have a good nite.
Damnit Frenchie.
Bobble?
A pick up, then just a drop.
He should’ve caught the ball Uggla hit.
Well then, time to make up for it.
Wow…an infield single for McCann and a standup triple by Cabrera…what next?
or not.
ESCOBAR!!!
ESCOBAR!
YUNEL!!!!
And is wife isn’t bad either.
Okay, that cinches it: I’m going to buy my Escobar Braves shirt tomorrow.
Viva Yunel Escobar.
And Viva Huddy, while I’m at it.
And Kelly is lookin like Andruw.
Does Willy have to choke a b%#$@?
LOL I would love to see Thor throw down. He makes everyone else look so tiny. Uggle was about to get knocked out.
Uggla was just lookin’ to grab some fine black man ass on that awkward play.
Thor: The Mighty Canadian
I missed it but Wow!!!!!!!!! Escobar. I’m really excited about it.
Huddy closing in on 75 pitches through 4 and a third. He’s making winning look difficult. Go Tim.
Fuggla.
Our guys look drunk in the field tonight.
The Cubs were contagious.
Intentionally walked…to get to Cabrera…with the bases loaded…
I know it may be smart baseball, but it’s Cabrera
This is like the game against the Phillies not too long ago. Everytime the Braves give Hudson a lead, he blows it the very time he pitches. He’s been given a lead three times tonight (1-0, 2-1 and 3-2) and he’s blown it ASAP each time.
We need to name this new virus that the cubs have infected us with.
This is pathetic.
We have Cubbienucleosis.
Losing Hudson vs. Obermuller is pretty low.
What’s the Braves lifetime record against the Marlins (at least since 2000)? I feel that no matter how bad the Fish are in a particular season, it’s always a fight to take a series.
Absolutely no reason Hudson should give up 6 runs through 5 innings to the Marlins.
Dan – all excellent points.
When is the time Francoeur hit a homerun? Where has the power gone?
“When is the time Francoeur hit a homerun?”
When is the LAST time Francoeur hit a homerun?
Oh! We still have chances!!!!!!!!!
For Frenchy:
Two outs, two on, down three. I can’t think of anyone I would rather not have batting in this situation than Thorman. Well, maybe Woodward.
Thorman sucks.
You suck ass, Scott.
Thor seems to be behind everything.
Ridiculous Thor…just plain ridiculous.
Thorman caught Andruwitis.
Adam Dunn – homeruns – walks = Scott Thorman
All the strikes were same zone, Thorman.
Will Bobby Cox use Chris Woodward to pinch hit for Tim Hudson?
Well at least Escobar and Salty haven’t done anything to hurt their trade value.
Somebody on the board (I tried to find to give credit, but couldn’t) had mentioned the possibility of essentially rotating Mac and Salty at 1st and C. I don’t think that’s a terrible idea at all, similar to what the Indians are doing with Victor Martinez, whose offense has improven not having to catch everyday. From what I have seen, Mac is a better “receiver” and pitch caller and Salty is more adept at blocking balls in the dirt and has a better throwing arm, in my opinion.
By the way, Yunel Escobar’s wife, muy bueno.
Yay! Woodward for the DP!
A predictable out for Woodward. With the way Hudson was hitting tonight, why not just let him hit there?
Nice. 2 Pitches.
Did they just say the Braves are having a wet T-Shirt night?
I just looked through 86 comments on Bravesjournal and not one person has expressed grave concern that Tim Hudson has clearly and consistently reverted back to the Huddy we’ve grown used to.
The Braves are in deeo trouble if this is truly the case.
Calm down, Alex.
The Huddy we sawe in March & April, he’s already gone.
Rob,
This is a perfectly rationed and well thought out comment. Have you not noticed several mediocre starts in a row?
The April Hudson, where is he?
Oh, I’m sure it’s rational and well thought out, but just calm down. It’s just a couple starts.
Oh, and before his last two starts, he went 7IP 1ER, 6IP 2ER, 8IP 3ER. Let’s not get short-sighted here.
Hudson’s previous start vs. Milwaukee was good.
Here’s Huddy’s last 6 starts:
05/05 LA 0 1 0 8.0 7 3 0 3
05/10 SD 1 0 0 6.0 9 2 0 4
05/15 @WAS 1 0 0 7.0 3 1 1 4
05/20 @BOS 0 1 0 4.2 8 6 2 0
05/25 PHI 0 1 0 6.2 10 5 3 3
05/30 @MIL 1 0 0 7.0 6 2 1 3
Fine, I maybe exaggerating a little, but that’s simply not good enough for a #2 starter on a Playoff team.
Wow, let’s hold on with saying Huddy has reverted to his “old Braves form.” He pitched great against the Brewers and wouldn’t have given up the 2 runs that he did if Mac would have blocked the ball, but nonetheless, picked up the win. Tonight he didn’t pitch great, but Mac didn’t help him any by not blocking the third strike on Hermida, which caused two runs to score.
I think the bigger issue here is Huddy is clearly not on the same page as McCann once there are runners on base. Something needs to be fixed there or maybe give Huddy a break next time and have Salty catch him.
I guess my expectations weren’t that Hudson was going to have an ERA close to 1, so now that it’s barely above 3, if he’s reverted to his “old form” and his ERA stays there at the end of the season, that’s good enough for me.
Oooh, I forgot about that one. OK, here’s his past 5 starts:
7 IP 2 ER
6.2 IP 5 ER
4.2 IP 6 ER
7 IP 2 ER
6 IP 2 ER
8 IP 3 ER
So, I dunno if you got a case, Mr. R.
The main point is that he’s not consistent. Yes, the Brewers start was nice, but there’s no consistenty. That’s fine for Davies or Chuckie James, but not for Hudson.
Alex, he’s had three bad starts all year, including this one.
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/players/gamelog?playerId=4084
Go ahead, click it. I promise it’s legit.
I will grant you that the Red Sox eat him alive (though a possible problem if we meet them in the WS), but this is the Marlins with a decent but not great offense.
The April Hudson would have them down to 2 runs.
Rob,
Like I said, my bigger point is that he’s now become wildly inconsistent.
Plus, if we lose during Huddy starts, what can we expect consistently during starts by lesser pitchers like Davies and James?
This is a problem that needs to be addressed by the Braves need to acquire another starter.
He had a below average month of May, I’ll grant you that, but he gave up more than 3 earned in only two of his starts in the month, against the Red Sox and Phillies, two decent hitting clubs I would say, and went six or more in all but one (against the Sox).
Alex, you got nothing. Come on man. He hasn’t been “wildly inconsistent.” Of his 13 starts, 10 have been great. Come on dude, you’re killing me.
Ok, 10 have been good, many of which are great. I don’t feel like determining what is good or great. Just ride with it.
Rob,
Sorry, I don’t agree. We should be expecting more from a guy who was a Cy Young pitcher for the A’s. Do we ever get THAT guy?
Dude, he had an ERA of 2.77 before this game. He had an ERA lower than that exactly ONE time with Oakland. I’m sorry, sir; you don’t have a case.
Huddy has a lifetime ERA of 3.50 and he’s at 3 so far this year, you could make the argument that other than last year, we have gotten pretty close to the A’s Huddy.
This is the same Hudson from 2005….strong opening month giving way to mediocrity.
He’s been too hittable of late.
Benitez is in, where’s Balkin Bob Davidson tonight ??
Alex is a “What have you done for me lately?” kinda guy, which isn’t bad. It just hinders you when evaluating overall performance. Hudson has been great this year, and he was good in his first year. Alex is remembering the bad year last year and three starts this year.
Holy shit.
Escobar is amazing…4 hits
Escobar is my daddy. Of course, he’s only like 2 years older than me, but hey, it’s possible.
Go Braves.
Our young players are getting me all giddy now. Escobar and Salty look like the real deal.
Alex R
I know you’re really worried about Hudson. It’s starting to worry me whenever he struggles. To tell the truth, he is not former self. But he is still our #2. We have no option but to trust him for now.
So what does everyone think we’re going to do with Escobar?
Trade him?
Keep him as a utility guy?
*Long shot alert* Trade Renty and start him at short and that would also save a lot of money to re-sign Andruw…
And before anyone asks, I love Renty’s bat…he’s a great hitter but his defense is mediocre, plus he costs $10M a year.
I have absolutely no affinity for the Hawks whatsoever but if they take Javaris Crittendon over Acie Law IV then they deserve to continue to suck. Law is Nick Van Exel 2.0.
Fine, Ron, tell you what, I will go your way of thinking on it this time because we had been agreeing a lot more the last year and I am definitely not trying to start any fight. I am just a concerned Braves fan. I love the Braves and I want to win and I don’t like the TREND I am seeing from Hudson.
If he throws his next starts in a row as good to great, I will eat my words.
But if he has 2 more cruddy starts at minimum in his next 4, you will have to see that it’s sure feeling like 2005 again. There will be some truth to what I am saying.
Truthfully, I would be the happiest guy in here if you are right & I am wrong…if you are right, then the Braves will be better off and that’s totally cool by me.
Keep Escobar in lineup while Chipper is out and hope he continues to play well thus increasing his trade value and get a middle of the rotation starter for him.
Somebody had mentioned trading him for Fuentes from Colorado but I don’t think that would be enough to get the job done, unless the Rockies see him as a 2B because they have Tulo at SS, and Atkins playing 3B and their top prospect Ian Stewart playing 3B at AAA.
Rob, very sorry, typo…I meant Rob, not Ron. My bad.
We’re only paying Renteria $6M, Jay.
I’d keep Escobar and use him as the super-utility guy. On this team, that’s a very valuable role.
mmmm. renty
Jeremy,
Oh ok…thanks for the correction. Is Boston paying still paying some?
Outhit them 12 to 7. One bad inning is all it takes. I hate these losses. And the Marlins.
Escobar put on a Tom Emanski like hitting clinic tonight, though.
Outhit them 12 to 7. These losses are incredibly frustrating. One bad inning is all it takes.
Escobar put on a Tom Emanski like hitting clinic though.
Well how bout that, I didn’t know Boston paid his salary last season…all $8M.
http://mlb4u.com/profile.php?id=354
from mlbcontracts.blogspot:
Boston paying up to $11M of $29M remaining on Renteria’s contract ($8M in salary 2006-08, plus $3M buyout if 2009 option is declined)
I’m not concerned about Huddy yet….he’s been a little Jekyl and Hyde, but its a long season, and I think it will all average out to about a 15-9 with a 3.50 era or so….I would take that from a number 2 any day…but we REALLY need a good number 3 or 2a….
alex r,
you’re right, hudson has not looked strong his last 3 starts, but to be fair tonight his defense killed him. the braves just haven’t been jumping on teams early and it obvously has it’s effect on the pitchers. the brave should have won thi game, but they jut kept letting the fish come back.
beedee,
Again, Hudson was very good in his last start vs. Milwaukee. That counts, folks.
Bad inning tonight. Let’s get 2 tomorrow.
Hudson wasn’t all that sharp but he wasn’t as bad as his line indicated either. McCann not blocking that strike three cost him 2 runs, and I thought Francoeur really misjudged Uggla’s double in the 3rd – which led to a run. Defense wasn’t there tonight.
Our offense has to step it up. Obermueller allowed 11 baserunners in 5 IP and only surrendered 3 runs. Gotta do better than that against a middling AAAA starter.
There’s plenty of blame to go around tonight, guys.
The defense tonight flat-out sucked. By my count, Hudson gave up three runs that were not defense-related (and yes, I’m counting his wild pitch as defense-related, even though it is technically the two runs that resulted are technically earned… McCann’s shoddy plate blocking is starting to piss me off BTW. It isn’t like it’s hard to close the damn five-hole). So if that’s the case, we almost assuredly win this game unless the good side of the bullpen would have had a bad game or something.
So that leaves one genuinely bad start by Hudson all year (the Boston game), by my count. He wasn’t good in the Philadelphia game where he finally melted down late, but we left him in far too long. I don’t think you can blame that on him, either. He clearly was laboring and did the best he could with the stuff he had that day.
True, he’s not pitching as well as he was in April, but he had no-hitter quality stuff every game in April. You can’t expect him to do that all year.
Think of it this way. If John Smoltz had made this start, would you have blamed it on the defense? If the answer is yes…which I think it is, I don’t see how you can bash Hudson for it.
Plus, now you’re expecting too much of him. If he were throwing no-hitter stuff out there everyday when he was with Oakland, wouldn’t he have won a Cy Young Award at some point? You’re now asking him to be something he’s never been.
Add Hudson to the list of pitchers outhitting Orr, Woodward, and Prado.
Re Escobar–play him at 3B and Chipper at 1B when Chipper returns. He’s been a real spark for a lethargic offense–let’s hope Cox doesn’t put him on the bench.
Anyone know if Thorman is out of options? I don’t want to throw in the towel on him, but I think a visit to Richmond is in order. He’s killing us.
I wonder if the McCann-Hudson communication issues will get Salty a job as Hudson’s personal catcher. Cox has used that system in the past.
Keep Chipper at third and pkay Harris (Diaz in left) or Escobar at first. Chipper does not want to move and I don’t blame him. He would hurt himself stretching for throws at first