If you missed it, we’re doing SEC Previews on a separate site this year. Alabama and Tennessee are up, Auburn, Georgia and Vandy spoken for, and I’m looking for writers for the other seven schools. We can do outside teams as well, I guess. There’s no fixed format, but you can use what I did if you so desire.
Anyway, back to baseball. Here’s a video.
The previews being on a seperate site make them feel… strange… and not as exciting as they should be.
Our 3rd/4th starter to be, Matt Morris, really had a nice outing today…5 innings, 6 earned runs and no strike-outs (at least through 5). Please, Matt, stay ib SF.
You know, Mac, it’s more than a bit odd to see Nick Saban and discipline collide in the same sentence after watching him coach the Dolphins for the past two years. His tenure in Miami was the antithesis of discipline. . . on every level.
All right, I’ll have an ACC preview up for Georgia Tech on there. 🙂
bfan,
You seem to think that JS is stupid and doesn’t notice that too ;P
Of course, I forget how it is that I can write a post for that blog.
Mac, if you give me a couple of days I can write a Carolina preview.
I’ll get started on the “outsider” Georgia Tech preview. ;P
Not at all (JS stupid?-he most certainly is not); I think giving more than spit for Morris in a trade is stupid, and I sincerely hope his 2nd half performance, at every start, just confirms that.
There may be a workable 4th/5th starter out there for us; I just hope he costs us salary, and nothing else.
Yeah, that’s true.
I could do Miami like I did last year Mac…I’ll be writing a preview on the Hokies and ‘Canes anyways.
no holes in the lineup tonight. not even the pitcher (i guess, i didnt know he was a stick pitcher, but he obviously is).
escobar
renty
chip
druw
frenchy
diaz
mccann
salty
james
on paper, this lineup looks f’n tough.
Wow. I like this lineup, for once. Except with the abscene of KJ, but it’s fine.
I have a pretty good feeling we’ll be seeing more Kelly Johnson after July 31.
I have a pretty good feeling we’ll be seeing more of this stupid platoon
Question: I am currently in the Pirates blackout area, and even though the game isn’t being played in Pittsburgh I’m blacked out on mlb.tv. Is that how the stupid damn blackout system works? I dont know these things–I’m from southwestern VA.
I like Escobar’s swagger. He’s a real ball player
ANDRUW IS BACK DOODZ!!!
This is fun.
I wonder what date the tide will officially turn and people will backtrack off the ridiculous Andruw bashing that went on over the entire first half.
Entering the game, Andruw was hitting .313/.420/.733 in July. Obviously that’s somewhat higher now.
Probably never. But, he desevered to be bashed because he batted so blowfully the first half.
Oh Andruw bashers, where art thou?
Druw’s homerun was absurd. I thought it was foul and short of the wall, easily.
Peter Gammons said the Braves think Escobar is a stud, but I think the Braves are just trying to do anything they can to improve his value. He has looked good thus far, though.
Joe, yes we know, he hit it the other way
Now hopefully the Braves can get 5 innings in and hold off the rain.
is the hd sportsouth broadcast on a different channel or something?
No matter how many times I watch him pitch, no matter how well he’s pitching, watching Chuck James will always make me nervous. His stuff is so mediocre and he leaves it all over the plate. I understand he has a “deceptive delivery,” which has enabled him to have much of the success that he has…
…but it still makes me nervous.
I guess I should add that I like Chuck. He seems to have a nice way about him, and his effectiveness both suprises and pleases me.
Davies is the one that makes nervous, sometimes he has control problems
Thanks Pittsburgh for running yourselves out of the inning.
Unfortunately, I didn’t say that James was the only one that made me nervous. D’oh!
How ironic, Chipper had an injury with Bautista’s help in Pittsburgh and now Bautista has an injury with Chipper’s help in Atlanta.
Both on steal attempts too. Wow. Life is funny.
yeah, Andruw was bad for two months, but he was also incredibly unlucky. He hit .145 on balls in play, in June, for instance, and that isn’t just because he popped out a lot. He didn’t and doesn’t deserve the kind of hate that is spewed at him seemingly every time he goes 0-4.
Chuck James needs to bury one in on Bay’s back later in the game.
Why?
Chuck with just 53 pitches through 4.
Probably because he’s Jason Bay. 😛
Well, there’s a big difference between those rightfully pointing out what a drag Andruw was on this offense for 2+ months and those hurling personal insults.
If you weren’t upset by Andruw’s offensive performance in the first half, you weren’t paying attention.
Amen, Stu.
I don’t have a problem with that, Stu. But there’s a difference between being upset and being disgusted with the guy personally. A great deal of the hate was just hysterical.
Chucky made it through the 6th unscathed…
😯
Chuck likes facing the Pirates.
Andruw Jones is one of a very few players who’s valuable even when he’s hitting below .200. He probably shouldn’t hit cleanup when he’s stinking the place up, but he sure is nice to have in centerfield.
See Matt run. Run, Matt, run.
Does anyone else get kind of irritated by how much the announcers talk about batting average with RISP? It’s a luck based statistic.
I get irritated by the fact that Chuck James can’t go more than 6 innings into a game.
I have always wondered? What is the value of a player who is hot and cold? I think one year Andruw went from .290 to .260 and back about 3 times. I was happy on the way up and pissed on the way down. I am not a number cruncher please tell me the value of that??
Stu,
Who says he can’t? I’d think that’s more Bobby’s decision.
Sam,
If you say so. Bobby has a very long history of going about an inning too long with his starters—I have a hard time believing that’s just been cured with respect to Chuck James.
Well, what do I know? I’m just a knee-jerker. 😛
It may be that Bobby’s simply trying to protect a young pitcher’s arm. I don’t mind this move as much as Bobby not trusting anyone other than Yates in the 7th.
😡 😡 😡 😡 😡 😡
Wow that’s a tough blow
Unbelievable. How quickly a game can change…
Well, this sucks.
I don’t mind this move by itself, braves14, but the fact that it happens every single time he starts irritates me.
As does Ryan Doumit.
Gyrbiano
Soriano has a problem with allowing home runs, doesn’t he? At least the game is tied.
Maybe the reason he’s doing it everytime out is so he doesn’t turn into Steve Avery. I dunno, I’m just giving a possibility. Young pitchers’ rotator cuffs are more fragile.
UGH!!!
Great, now the game is being stopped due to rain. Think it could have happened a LITTLE earlier?
Mets trail 1-0 in the 6th.
The good news is that Cincainnati is winning 1-0 despite being one-hit.
Phillies won today and are closing in.
Mets have tied the game; Glavine’s pitched 7 strong innings. Blah.
Talk about a swing of emotions. Shit.
I’ve been saying this often of late — we can’t trust Yates in the long run. All the chatter of him being tired in the previous stretch is soon going to be exposed starting tonight.
That said, Soriano could have done a BIT of a better job in securing the lead.
Soriano has had this problem of giving up a lot of home runs lately.
Well, Soriano really just throws it really hard right over the plate, so people are bound to hit a few long balls off of him…most of the time they swing through it, but that’s the bad side of power pitchers.
Lack of control and (in Soriano’s case) occasional ease in hitting the long ball.
It’s just a natural weakness I guess.
so are they going to get this one in tonight or not? hypothetically then, if not and the game is called, do they go back to the last full inning?
Who knows. But I would guess that would be to the Braves’ advantage if they continued tonight, because the Pirates may have to put in a new pitcher since Marte had thrown a couple pitches and now his arm is cold.
Mets won.
Yep, I saw that. Only positive is that Glavine won. Not much of a positive, but he DID almost get beat while pitching a two-hitter.
Game’s back on!
Wow I just turned the TV on to the first pitch without realizing there was a rain delay. Awesome.
Frenchy walked. It’s a miracle. Although I called that he’d swing and miss on a 3-1 pitch.
Loaded for Mr. McCann!
Damn, popped up.
Ooooooooof course.
Those were some sorry at-bats with the bases loaded.
But that wasn’t entirely unexpected with Salty. McCann was fooled like hell, though.
Shawn fucking Chacon makes mincemeat of McCann and Salty.
Yeah, we’re not winning this game.
what the fuck, wickman?
All right, bottom of the 9th action, just one measely run is needed to bail Yates and Soriano’s asses out.
… what the hell?
Oooo, fun. Andruw Jones up with the threat of extra innings looming.
Loaded for Jeff Francoeur. Folks, prepare for extra innings.
FRENCHY DELIVERS!
I WAS WRONG!
boom baby!
WOO! He hadn’t done that in a long while!
Sam,
When you are wrong like that it’s okay (or at least I never feel bad about expecting the worst and having something nicer turn out).
Sweet! I thought this one was going to get away. Thanks, guys, for proving me wrong.
I don’t think I have ever seen the Braves be so patient. Despite not being able to come through in the 8th, I would love to see more innings like the 8th and 9th.
Similar to Boomer above, I turned on the tv just as the pitch to Frenchy was being thrown. Awesome.
Braves are a game and a half behind the division lead and the wild card.
In My Own Words: Nick Saban
“I’m not going to be the Alabama coach.”
That would’ve been a heartbreaker to lose. . . blowing a 4 run lead in the seventh inning, esp. with the Mets and Phillies both winning. Oy.
But we’ll take it.
At least the result was a win either way.