I am going to nip this in the bud right now. No losing streak. Ladies and gentlemen, the Ultimate Weapon:
This is the Citizen Kane of bad music videos. Every time I see it, there’s something new there. Can one of our musical commenters please explain to me what it was with the eighties and the bass guitars with no heads? They disturb me.
Wow, I was out all day and missed the fireworks.
On the Soriano thing, I am mostly with Stu. He clearly needs to be DL’d, I don’t care, call it a hangnail, but give the guy August off and get Ascancio, Ring or Paronto up.
Where I disagree Stu is Soriano’s “stuff”. Yes, his slider is nothing special, but the bottomline, if he hadn’t been overworked to death by Bobby, he’s probably still mowing hitters down. He LOOKS like a tired pitcher.
I don’t know if everyone on the board read the Joe Morgan/NY Post article that both ububba and Hate King posted, but it was both excellent and very telling on exactly where he’s coming from.
Any defense of Joe Morgan or Chip Caray on this board needs to fall on death ears.
Speaking of commentators most of us loathe, I was in my car around 1 PM and SCREAMIN’ A. Smith went apesh– and attacked Greg Maddux’s comments. Screamin’ A was garbling something about Maddux “not giving people what they paid for” if he walks Bonds. Uh ha.
Brian Kenney, who I normally find to be rather intolerable, was attempting to point out that the Padres are in a Playoff chase and with Bonds being the Giants best hitter, Maddux is doing the best strategy possible to give the Pods a chance to win.
But SCREAMIN’ A was going on for so frakking long about what a chicken Maddux is for walking Bonds, that I think Kenney eventually agreed with Screamin’ A just to shut him the hell up.
Whomever at ESPN though it was a good idea to give Screamin’ A Dan Patrick’s now vacated talk show slot, clearly hates people who drive in their cars during the day. Thankfully, I now have a job that lets me avoid that more oftne than not now. In my old job (which I left in April) I was in my car always at that time.
What, was Skip Bayless unavailable, ESPN?
I meant DEAF ears but listening to Joe Morgan or Chip Caray is likely to cause death – according to some coroners.
I also have missed the fun. 🙁
To send Soriano to the DL seems counterproductive to me. He just seems to have lost some of his edge and focus. At the most, I would give him a few days off. After that move him into the 7th inning and let him work out the kinks. He’s a professional and I think that right now most of his problems are mental. If a guy with his talent is struggling and you DL him when he isn’t even injured, then how is that gonna help him regain his confidence?
Yeah they’re bad, but I’d take them over Jeff Torborg or Tim McCarver.
Order of crapiness from worst to best:
1. Chip Caray
2. Joe Morgan
3. Tim McCarver
Sorry, McCarver maybe a pontificating geezer, but he’s still not as bad as the possible TBS pairing of Caray and Morgan.
“Caray & Morgan: Chaotica”
I wish the UPN Network was still around to make that horrible show as a follow up to “Britney & Kevin: Chaotica”.
My order goes:
1) Joe Morgan
2) Bill Plaschke
3) Screamin’ A. Smith
4) Tim McCarver (but that’s kind of like hating a *insert mean, wrong comment*)
5) Skip Bayless & Woody Paige
6) Chip Carey
I give Carey a pseudo-pass because I really do like it when Chip and Skip call a game together.
I agree with Alex and I never thought I would say this, I prefer Morgan to Chip Carey–maybe because I don’t have to listen to Morgan every night. Carey’s stupidity quotient is off the charts. Carey and Morgan together would be unfathomably bad. Congress should outlaw this pairing as clearly being torture.
I wouldn’t. Jeff Torborg is incredibly boring, but when he has something to say, it’s not generally wrong necessarily. It’ll just put you to sleep the way he says it.
And maybe it’s just because I was a kid at the time and so I’m remembering incorrectly but it really seems to me like McCarver was much better before he was paired with Joe Buck, and the goofiness that has been injected into that broadcast is certainly all Buck’s fault.
On the other hand, Morgan makes up stories to make himself look good and is basically just kissing his own ass the entire game. How is that not the most insufferable thing ever? Something that was overlooked that really made me wanna jump out a window was when, on that Sunday night game between us and the Padres right before the All-Star break, he was bragging about being invited to Barry Bonds’ party the next night. I mean, that kind of stuff just doesn’t belong on a baseball broadcast. And that’s really the problem. Every thing that ever happens or ever has happened in the history of baseball revolves around him, a guy who’s been retired for God knows how many years now. It’s non-sensical and really annoying.
If we have another bad loss, I don’t know where else we can go from Separate Ways.
Chip is not so bad. He is better than the guys the Cubs have now.
As for the third base thing from the earlier thread… Chipper, when he was young, was much better at short than at third. Third base depends heavily upon quick reaction times which he just doesn’t have, and it took him a long time to learn enough to counteract that. I still say that the best move would have been KJ at short and Harris at second. The weird thing is that the Braves’ two first basemen both have experience at third, but with Thorman out of the game he couldn’t go there and a Teixeira at third/Diaz at first/Chipper at short group would have been problematical at best.
My top five worst announcers in baseball FWIW:
1. Tom Paciorek
2. Joe Morgan
3. Joe Buck
4. The White Sox announcers (Dear God, are these guys annoying!)
5. Rick Sutcliffe (a very underrated bad announcer, but if you ever watch ESPN’s Monday night broadcast, you know how bad he is)
Chip is terrible, but not one of the five worst IMO. However, he and Morgan together would likely be the end of Earth as we know it.
Nick,
I totally agree…give me boring over an insufferable, lying, pontificating phony like Morgan, ANY DAY OF THE WEEK.
As for McCarver, I kinda feel bad every time I diss the guy because I actually got to meet him when I was 10 years old and he was really nice. As a human being, great guy.
But as a commentator, his act as gotten as old as Chris Berman’s. McCarver acts like he’s trying to “teach us something” everytime we listen to him butcher a World Series broadcast and Joe, I hate to break it to you, but with Baseball’s ass hat commissioner Selig running the show, these games are on too late and kids can no longer stay awake to watch these games.
And besides, if there was a little kid awake enough to watch the World Series, listening to McCarver at this point would likely be the anedote to get him right to sleep.
In fact, when my new baby arrives in November, I am going to record McCarver’s commentating during the World Series, and everytime my son cries at 3 AM, I can just play back McCarver’s pontificating and my wife and I should get another 4 hours, just from that.
My Worst to best announcer list…hmmm let’s see.
1) Tim McCarver, his time has passed.
1a Chris Berman, man his act is old. Stick to
FB
2) Skip Bayless
3) Woody Paige
4) Stephen A.
5) Jason Smith(espn radio)
6) Chip Carey, only b/c he tries to be like Joe
Buck, you know broadcasters who think their
opinions really matter.
12)Joe Morgan, only b/c I don’t like how he
bullies Jon Miller and be a complete ass
sometimes.
Oh crap…I forgot about Chris Berman. I might have to work him into my list somewhere now.
But, Alex, every time you play Tim McCarver just to get your baby to go to sleep, the flames in hell reach up a little higher toward you.
My best baseball announcers of alltime:
Vin Scully
Skip Carey
Bob Costas/Tony Kubek when I was a kid
John Sterling (when he was with he Braves, again as a kid)
Bob Murphy
Nick, let me review Berman’s greatest hits:
“back back back back bac back back back back back back back back back back….GONE!”
or
“You’re with ME, Leather!”
Tony, I totally agree with you on the Chip Caray – Joe Buck comparison. But I marginally prefer Chip, if only because I enjoy it when he’s paired with Skip (like Josh said), and because he’s not nearly as self-righteous as Joe. Just really, really dumb.
Actually, Skip Caray was the best when I was a kid–and the man’s still go it. It’s a shame he had demon seed.
John Sterling needs to be canned now for “Another A-Bomb for A-Rod!” alone.
Chip Caray = Joe Buck = Ryan Seacrest?
AAR,
Yea I left out the dumb part about Chip. That’s what makes him even worse. He has a very strong and clear TV voice and when he says something dumb we hear it loud and clear.
1) Chip, because I hear him most and he sucks so much. If he’d worry as much about knowing baseball and the Braves as he does about not ending sentences with prepositions, he might be ok.
2) Hawk Harrelson. You can shove it up your buuuuuttttt…YES!
3) Jon Miller. Yes, he’s worse than Joe. Just ask Foorcall and Betameat.
Stu,
Yes, Miller’s proncunciation of Betemit’s name has actually driven me over the edge a few times. Great point.
As far as my favorites, I’ve always thought Pete was better than Skip, but they’re both great.
As for national announcers, there’s a few that are pretty good, and some of them are even employed by ESPN, believe it or not. Dan Schulman, who most of the time does the Sunday night game on radio and occasionally does a middle of the week one on TV, I think is very good. Also, Dave O’Brien (no…not DOB, the other Dave O’Brien) I think is pretty decent, although he does have to put up with Rick Sutcliffe.
I’ve not all that enamored with anybody Fox has, but Thom Brenemman is certainly the best of that bunch and is at least tolerable, as opposed to the rest of them.
Tapes of Berman’s repeating “Back back back” over and over, should be sent to Guantanamo as new torture devices for Al Queda.
I actually like Hawk Harrelson…I love his baseball stories.
Jon Miller with Joe Morgan is bad, but put Jon with anyone else and he’s not bad.
Nick,
I like Schulman and Brenneman–both do a solid job.
The reason why Skip gets my vote is for those of us who have gotten to hear Skip (likely) semi drunk on a radio broadcast saying things extremely politically incorrect.
He’s rather hilarious.
Ah Stu…we finally agree on something: how godawful the White Sox announcers are. Honestly, I dare anyone to watch an entire White Sox game on WGN without once either turning it off or muting it. To do so might cause irreversible brain damage. The only redeeming value whatsoever is that Hawk Harrelson once got in a fistfight with Jay Mariotti. I must admit, that’s pretty awesome. If not for that, the White Sox announcers probably would’ve been No. 1 on my list.
Nick totally agree about Schulman, O’Brien and Dave Barnett is ok too.
And yes Brenemman is by far the best out of the Fox group. Kenny Albert voice is horrible…
I like Boog Sciambi A LOT.
White Sox Homer:
YOU CAN PUT IT ON THE BOARD….YES!!
Opponent:
you can put it on the board….
Gotta luv that…lol
I agree, Stu. I think Boog is a testament to how you can interject some of that Joe Buck/Chip Caray-style smarminess and make it work if you don’t go over-the-top with it.
Also, so much better than Bob Rathbun that I think I may have cried the first time I watched a broadcast on either FSN South or SS this year.
Re: Booth Boobs
I always wonder what Hideki Matsui thinks about John Sterling’s “A-bomb for A-Rod” routine.
Actually, I find bad radio announcers (like Sterling) far more problematic than the TV people; I don’t need TV announcers to tell me what I’m seeing. I can mute ’em & play music, if I like.
Re: The Video
Journey on the docks, wearing sleeveless T-shirts, lurching forward, looking tough, a big-haired girl in a leather mini. Somebody had to think of all that. Yes, I giggled.
Re: Headless bass guitars
I believe that urlhix (a darn-good bass player) is best-suited for the “headless bass” question.
My take: Despite how goofy those headless pieces look, some folks like their sound & they weigh a whole lot less than regular bass guitars. (FWIW, some of those Fenders could also be used as boat anchors.)
Too bad I’ve never heard Sciambi
The 1st year of the Nats, they had Ron Darling…if there was anyone worse than him…oh forgot about Billy Sample.
Oh damn I got two hours left to “work”…
Cubbies tie up the Mets on a DLee homer. 1-1, going to the 7th.
Stephen A. Smith and Skip Bayless are in their own category of bad that no one else could even approach.
John Sterling annoys me, but he’s got a good voice. Someone mentioned Jason Smith…I actually think he’s pretty good.
The rest of the announcers here are pretty neutral in my book. Chip Caray talks and I don’t even listen. I couldn’t tell you one thing he’s EVER said that managed to stick out in my head. You could quiz me immediately after an inning and I couldn’t tell you a thing that he had just said. Conversely, I can still remember many great Skip Caray calls. Just like I can fondly recall some of Harry Caray’s more entertaining, drunken calls (“ground ball up the middle! It’s out of here!”).
McCarver and Morgan are the same way. They sound like Charlie Brown’s teacher.
Joe Buck’s dad is probably my favorite announcer of all time. The guy who does the Phillies games (he does NFL work too) is great. Bill Rozinski is really good.
Oh yea…Harry Kalas forgot about him.
Jason Smith is cool, he just has a West Coast bias….
John Sterling in his booming voice: HOMERUN MURPH!! After his consecutive innings streak was broken due to a lacerated finger, Murphy hit a pinch hit homerun. Even though Braves loss 7 to 1…I remember that call like it was yesterday.
Eddie Vedder singing during the stretch at Wrigley today.
2-1 Mets.
Speaking of bad radio announcers, how about Mike Shannon of the Cardinals? People seem to think an awful lot of him, so maybe he used to be good or something, I don’t know, but he’s terrible now. Barely even describes the game.
Unbelievable…Neifi Perez tested positive for a ban substance….AGAIN. His third time and it’s only 80 games…ridiculous.
Are you shitting me?
Age is something that ought to make an announcer better. It seems counterintuitive that the more experienced an announcer was, the less capable he was of doing the job.
Vin Scully, I think we’d all agree he’s one of the absolute best…the last time I heard him, he basically just read the media guide.
“Joe Shmo comes to the plate. A native of Columbus, Ohio, Shmo’s favorite food is boiled okra. Ball one. Shmo, a graduate of THE Ohio University, once ate eleven pickled eggs in 10 seconds. There’s a strike outside. Shmo’s daughter was the Penthouse Pet of the Month in October of 1997. There’s a groundball to short, Vizquel throws to first and there’s one away.
“That will bring up Bill Shmiel. Shmiel, a former catcher in the Mets organization, hit .275 in 1999. He’s hitting .240 this year. Ball one to Shmiel. He’s got a two game hitting streak on the line. Strike one and he swings at the fastball. Shmiel’s favorite movie is ‘Hoosiers’.”
I know that this is normally WAY out of bounds for Braves Journal discussion, but since so many people have mentioned using baseball announcers as torture in Iraq, one little tidbit:
In the recent book “Fear Up Harsh” by retired Army interrogator Anthony Lagouranis, he reveals that one of the most common “torture lite” methods they used, other than dogs, was playing the audiotape version of “Feel This Book” by Ben Stiller and Janeane Garofalo, which was a parody of ’90s sensitive self-help books. Apparently it just drove the guys absolutely nuts.
(Not that I blame them. Ugh.)
Jason Smith = west coast bias?
Um, he’s from NY and a HUGE HUGE Mets homer. Unapologetically Mets-centric.
LOL…oh man. I can actually hear Scully saying that in my head. That’s hilarious, Noah.
Cubs and Mets tied 2-2.
BTW I think age is something that makes an announcer better until they start getting senile, in which case they start getting worse again.
Vin Scully, I think we’d all agree he’s one of the absolute best…the last time I heard him, he basically just read the media guide.
Actually Vin does a lot of research to dig up obsecure, semi-interesting tidbits on the players. It usually goes well beyond what you would find in a media guide.
On the other hand Chip told me last night that ‘Georgia Tex’ was thinking about hitting a game winning home in the 14th despite the fact we were down a run and no one was on base. Then they flashed up Scuffy Moehler’s HR allowed stats which were terrible but Chip assured me that he was “pretty stingy with the HR ball”. He was getting pretty loopy by that point.
Jon Miller gets a pass for me since he has had to put up with Morgan all these years.
Miller: Joe would it be better to steal in this situation or try to bunt the runner over?
Morgan: Well Jon as you know back in my day we stole bases a lot more, and we also bunted more. In fact I remember one year where I stole a whole lot of bases, and the guy behind me bunted a lot of times. You know to sacrifice.
Miller: 0-1 pitch to Smith who isn’t bunting is in there for a ball, brings the count to 1-1, so doesn’t look like they are going to bunt Joe
Morgan: No Jon it doesn’t, but you realize that this game isn’t about bunting like when I was on the Big Red Machine and we had such a great lineup, we had 4 or 5 Hall of Famers in that lineup, and we could bunt and steal bases and go the other way, but we could also hit the ball out of the yard also.
Miller: 1-1 pitch is outside for a ball two
Thats a typical sequence for Morgan, so again I have to give Miller a free pass
Vin Scully only calls the first three or four innings and then hands the mic over to Rick Monday and some other guy.
Vin Scully only calls the first three or four innings and then hands the mic over to Rick Monday and some other guy.
The first three innings of Vin’s TV call are simucast on the radio feed. Then Charlie Steiner or Rick Monday take over. Vin works fewer games these days but when he does, he goes the distance.
Thanks, Robert, for clarifying.
Bob Murphy was my step-step-grandfather — that is, my stepmother is his stepdaughter.
Justin, hilarious.
Estrada and Yost duking it out in the dugout:
http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/7084194
Can we please have Yost after Bobby retires?
Noah that was good…gave me goose bumps.
I use to live for the Saturday game of the week with Vin and Joe Garcioila(sp)
@ 42:
Nick you are spot-on about Mike Shannon. When I was in school I had to live in Memphis (terrible city) and it’s a huge Cardinal town, with the Redbirds and all. Therefore, the local sports radio carried all the Cardinals games, so I listened to them while I drove because there was nothing better to do. Mike Shannon is excruciating. It’s hard to even describe what makes him so bad, you just have to listen to understand. I had almost forgotten about him, but man does he stink.
Somewhere in the archives of Salon, there is a transcript of the Scully’s call of the last inning of Drysdale’s perfect game.
It’s art.
It is truly bizarre to see Rickey Henderson coaching first base.
2-2, going to the bottom of the 8th. Get some runs, Cubbies!
One of the marks of Skip Caray’s greatness, I would argue, is that one of his most famous calls came in a totally unspectacular (but sadly, all too familiar) Braves loss.
“Stay tuned after the game for ‘The Outlaw Josey Wales’ coming up right after Hubbard hits into a 6-4-3 double-play…”
And on the VERY NEXT PITCH…
“Six…four…three. Enjoy the movie, folks.”
Classic Skip….
32 — I agree, Sciambi is terrific.
Thanks AAR I would do more, but just takes too long to write in Joe’s rambling self promoting monologues
In my area, I’m subjected to Thom’s dad, Marty Brenneman. He’s Hall-of-Famer, but for his personality, not calling the game. He’s always portrayed himself as the ultimate insider.
But I’ve waited for 15 years to hear him say if the infield’s in, or they’re playing him to pull.
When I first heard Pete and Skip, it was like a braodcast from another reality. I understand radio guy’s perspective, but I hated living in Marty’s world. When reminded that he’d said on the air that he’d been in baseball 20 years and there was “no way on God’s green earth the Reds will ever pay to get a player like Ken Griffey, Junior,” Marty didn’t deny it.
Heaid the he was sure somebody said that, he just couldn’t remember saying it. He’d have to ask Bench!
Noah,
I think you mean Koufax’s perfect game.
This is off the subject, but Tennessee Brave’s mention of Memphis reminded me of something when I went to Memphis State in the mid-seventies. I could pick up the Braves games from Nashville; this was in the days of the Big Red Machine and the Braves were awful. I came in from a class one night, turned on the game, and, I guess it might have been Pete, saying, “that’s the end of the fourth, Reds 23 Braves 5.”
Looks like the Mets are going to win again. The Tex trade seems to have sent a message to them as well.
Arcane Booth Bits:
#1
Elvis Presley was a Cardinals fan & once requested to meet Harry Caray. Not sure how that went down, because Elvis requested to meet a lot of people. He once showed up at the White House and “dropped in on” President Richard Nixon. Tricky Dick was understandably confused.
#2
The Mets’ Bob Murphy, a radio guy I really loved, always looked like Oscar Madison to me. I saw him once in his later years wearing Velcro-strapped tennis shoes.
The couple times I saw him come in & out of the Shea press booth, he’d walk past a security guard who shared his surname.
I overheard their conversations, which went like this:
“Hi, Murph.”
“Hi, Murph.”
#3
I’m sure I’ve told this one before, but…
In an intramural game in Athens in the mid-’80s, I knocked out Chip Caray with a thrown softball (E-6). Konked him in the head, but good.
I met Harry Caray many years later (in the Shea press elevator) & related the story. His response: “HA! YA PROBABLY KNOCKED SOME SENSE INTO HIM!”
The elevator went into hysterics & so did I.
so, will kj go to batting 2nd with escobar leading off?
Tonights Lineup just posted:
Escobar
Woodward
Francoeur
A Jones
Diaz
Johnson
Miller
Thorman
Smoltz
Wow, what a hodgepodge.
That’s got to be a joke right?
Yes, it’s a joke. Now that was just mean but kinda fun!
Did Teix hurt himself as well?
Mets 6 cubs 2
Not a joke, damn
That’s a good joke, but mostly because it looks exactly like a lineup Booby would throw out there.
i do expect to see miller in the lineup tonight considering francis is a lefty and mccann had to catch 13 f’in innings last night. anyone else notice that kj tries to backhand too many balls? his misplay last night really cost us.
Not as bad as McCann’s inability to catch a perfectly catchable pitch
That might be the worst lineup card ive ever seen.
WHERE IS TEX? Woodward Miller and Thorman and Smoltz thats 4 outs. Ugh
nj,
It’s a joke, although I expect a lot of people to get the game off tonight.
sorry if i missed it, but any new word today on Edgar’s injury?
O thank god
i was very worried
I figured Edgar definatley is not in the lineup. but you can sit Chipper if his hand hurts, but you cant have Chipper Tex Edgar adn Mac on the bench, that would be unfair to poor smoltzie who will probably come out wiht playoff intensity tonight, he smells wildcard
Well, according to Bobby, Renteria rolled over his ankle and he also hurt his back, so he could be out for a while, at worst. On the bright side, this could mean that Brent Lillibridge would be called up if Edgar were to be DLed.
How is that a bright side Sam?
Well, it’s not much of a bright side, but we’d be able to see Lillibridge.
I think Renteria’s day to day anyway, and Escobar’s going to be at short, which is okay.
UBubba, that sounds like Bob alright.
According to Carroll Rogers, Renteria was on crutches today.
Yikes.
Stu, I’m really, really not happy to hear that. Thank God we have Tex in the lineup, but still… this guy’s been the heart and soul of our offense all year.
Jeez.
I can’t believe there are people praising Sciambi on this board. He might be the worst I’ve ever heard. The other day, BEFORE the trade, he had the nerve to say the bullpen was well rested. As bad as Chip sucks, I’d take him over Sciambi any day. That being said, bring back Pete and Skip!
And Brian Kenny is the man. Some people get a “smugness” vibe off of him but I think he’s great.
Dude, Sciambi is great.
smart, calls the game well. Though he does let Joe Simpson walk over him
Renteria to the DL. His ankle is pretty bad; could be out longer than 15 says. Devine called up. Again.
Terrible, terrible news. Let’s hope Yunel can keep that BA up.
I don’t get “smart” from Sciambi. He has yet to deliver any insight into the game for me. He is goofy, cracks the occasional joke, but adds nothing to the game. He makes Joe Simpson look smart by comparison.
One man’s opinion. Evidently my tastes are in the minority because I also want Dick Vitale done away with permanently, and he continues to be an ever-present face during college basketball season.
Agreed Stu, good thing Schuerholz kept Escobar around. Devine should be OK…I hope.
The Braves will live. 😉
Yep, that’s a tough break, but I’m now officially a big Yunel Escobar fan.
When I saw that Renty couldn’t pick up the ball & throw it to KJ last night, I thought he might’ve broken something. I knew he’d really hurt himself.
Mac,
I loved Murph as an announcer. He always gave it to you straight, just like a good radio guy should. But when he got to the end of his career, he had a few classic malaprops.
My fave: “Be here on Sunday for Mike Piazza poster day when the Mets take on the Arizona Diamondheads…”
Renteria is DLed and they call up… Devine? I don’t get it unless Soriano is being DLed too.
Oh wait I know. They just need a fresh reliever for today then Joey goes back down tomorrow and they call up Lillibridge.
But Devine won’t be used tonight, because Bobby doesn’t use him when he’s up. Moylan will be in there again, tonight, if someone has to be before Dotel/Wickman.
I wouldn’t say it’s “terrible, terrible news.” It’s not like we’re DLing McCann and we’re having to play Pena or Miller full-time. Escobar won’t be that much of a downgrade, and he should give us atleast as good if not better defense.
Actually, on second thought, playing Pena over McCann right now isn’t that terrible either. McCann’s been playing rather mediocre lately. How about more like Teixera is DLed and we have to play Thorman full-time. There we go; I like that better.
Just posted the lineup;
Escobar
Johnson
Jones
Tex
Jones
Francoeur
Diaz
McCann
Smoltz
Pretty standard.
I can’t go back and wade through all the posts made today but someone at the beginning of this thread mentioned a possible Joe Morgan/ Chip Caray pairing in the booth. Is that a real possibility?
I sure hope not…
Ya know what, I’m just kidding. They’re not my favorite announcers, but I don’t think they’re that bad. I don’t know why some people get all up in arms about the quality of the announcers. Chip Caray doesn’t bother me.
The dream lineup lasted what? Almost two games? Can’t catch a break.
The Rockies are a pretty solid team, I hope we don’t have a hangover after last night’s disappointment or we are going to be further back.
No one is worse than Chip Caray.
Renteria’s 200 hit season run is over now.
Guys, Escobar’s not bad. This isn’t the end of the world. We’ll be ok.
Just imagine all the wailing and the moaning.
Just great. Early hole.
Nice D there by the gold glove first baseman. All the grace of Wickman combined with the hands of Willie Harris. Bad D plus a rough start from Smoltz. Looks like a good night to do a Chief Nocahoma.
I thought Teixeira was supposed to be a good fielding 1B.
Tex giveth & taketh away.
I hate home games. At least with road games you’re assured a chance to bat with a tie game.
Oh great. What did I miss, guys?
Teixeira won the last two AL gold gloves and had a .998 fielding percentage this year when he got traded. I guess he just screwed up. Bad time to do it though.
Tex doing his best Willie Harris impression. Cost Smoltz two runs.
Enough said. Ugh. Is Cormier up yet?
What’s that sound? Oh, it’s Braves fans everywhere jumping off the Tex bandwagon…
Discuss: What’s more graceful–Wickman fielding a pop or KJ going to his right?
Not me, I’m stoked. Just wish we had acquired a decent pitcher. Yesterday wouldn’t have happened with a decent pitcher in there.
Two elephants having sex is more graceful than Wickman doing anything.
I was a little disappointed, but the guy is a Gold Glover. And while there are other Rangers 1Bs that this doesn’t apply to, he probably even deserved it too. So, I’m not going to be too disappointed he booted a ground ball.
I wonder if Contreras would be worth taking on if Chicago paid a good bit of his salary and we didn’t have to give up anything more than some A-ball back-up catcher or something. I mean, he sucks now, but he can’t be much worse than Cormier, Davies, Reyes, et al.
Smoltz is getting hit tonight.
Smoltz may be trying to pace himself tonight since he knows there is no bullpen. It ain’t working.
The lads are as hung over tonight as I was at 7 this morning.
Yikes. Time to take a break. I’ll check back with this one later.
Ouch. This is the last thing we need. Smoltz needs to keep his pitch count down, or else our poor bullpen…
A 4 run deficit plus Smoltz’s high pitch count means another busy night for the pen. Hopefully Devine or Cormier can do most of it.
What is the “on field delay?”
McCann giving Smoltz some time.
what was that andruw?
knew i should’ve picked up francis off the wire for my fantasy team tonight. the braves are out of it. too late last night.
I think we can score 5 runs. The question is can we hold them at 4?
The Braves look like they want to wilt minus Renteria.
Another pitcher with an ERA over 4 shutting them down.
An ERA over 4 in Colorado isn’t too shabby is it? Are they still using the humidor?
Man did we need that.
Great AB by Smoltz.
Good at-bat, Smoltzie.
First time through the Braves’ order the only two hits came from: Kelly Johnson and Brian McCann.
Only the two left-handers in the Braves’ batting order got hits off the Rockies’ left-handed pitcher the first time through. I think Bobby Cox’s head just exploded.
Was Escobar as close to hitting it out as GameDay says?
Edge of the warning track.
Andruw the rally killa!
Blah.
Rats, only got one out of that…
Hurt and in a season long slump….and batting fifth.
Oh Cox, if only you knew how your loyalty will be rewarded by Andruw Jones this coming offseason.
Good, quick inning from Smoltz. Just what the doctor order. Now, lets get some runs.
Okay, maybe we can’t score 5 runs.
Leadoff walk. Not smart.
Is there any indication that extra rest will help Smoltz? Will every start be a grind like this?
Yeah. Here’s where it blows up.
Great play.
Smoltz rocks.
Whew.
LETS GETS SOME RUNS!
I wonder if Bobby is being nice to Andruw in hopes that through an act of loyalty, reverence, and kindness Andruw re-signs with the Braves.
Come on Chip, keep this up!
Somewhere Scott Boras laughs at you Rob.
What a waste.
This sucks.
I think that after I hear enough irrational bitching about someone that I actually start to like them no matter what my previous opinion. I’m starting to actually feel some sympathy for Boras and I would almost consider myself a Barry Bonds fan at this point. GIVE IT A FRIGGIN REST!
Nice trip through the heart of the order.
Awful.
Haha
Oh, and Skip made a very bold statement that Escobar has a better arm than Furcal. I wonder what most people here would think of that. I haven’t watched him throw enough to know. I know Skip has watched both enough. Furcal’s got a freakin’ cannon though.
Escobar’s has a strong arm but Furcal’s is stronger.
Furcal has the best infield arm that I’ve ever seen. He’s been gone too long if Skip thinks Escobar compares.
The only guy in baseball with a stronger arm than Rafael Furcal is Joel Zumaya…
Shawon Dunston has the strongest infield arm I’ve ever seen.
I’ve heard what Jeremy said the most. All I’ve heard in reference to strong infield arms are Shawon Dunston and Rafael Furcal. It’s a rather bold statement for Skip to put Yunel in that company.
The only time I saw Shawon Dunston throw was when he was near the end of his career when he was with San Fran, I believe. I think he was even playing the outfield then.
Crap. I was about to say that Smoltz had rebounded nicely from the first two innings…
Shit.
5.5 games back….
As Chip just said (whoa! I agree with Chip! Can I still post here?), Smoltz’s line won’t tell the story. His line sucks, but 6 2/3 is exactly what the Braves needed tonight. Too bad the Braves’ offense was terrible, and he pretty much was too.
I’m out, guys. This team is agonizing.
They’re playing with their tails between their legs.
I would rather lose 7-1 than rally back and tie it at 7. That’s a fate worse than death at this point.
That loss last night will take some time to get over. You can tell it’s still hanging over them.
And not just them from the look of this page.
The Rockies’ pitcher got beat up by Kyle Farnsworth. That makes me feel better…
Yeah, I’m out too. Recap in the morning.
When we were 1.5 games back I hoped that wouldn’t be as close as we would get for the rest of this season. I still hope that’s not the case, but it looks like the Mets are finally taking off and we may have lost our chance.
Mac, if you need an even worse and more disturbing video for tomorrow, may I suggest this:
From the excitement of getting Tex to the depression of realizing we are still only a mediocre team.
I love Skip Carey.
Guys, we don’t have a mediocre team. I don’t know what is going on, but this really isn’t a mediocre team. Look at our lineup; that’s really not a mediocre lineup. That alone can take us to the playoffs. Plus, Smoltz won’t give up 7 runs every night.
This team needs a day off NOW. I suggest a rain out “Bull Durham” style. They are playing so tired out there and it shows.
Still looking for a No. 5 starter … paging the Vulture.
I can’t sleep so barring a rally (ha! I crack me up.) I guess I’ll recap tonight. But I won’t like it.
TEX!!!
Sorry but that Won’t Help TEx!! but ur still Kool keep it up maybe the pitching can come around
I just thought, “If Tex hits a homer now…” and he did. If he had donw it in the 1st we would have a different game. But, that didn’t happen so it’s pretty meaningless.
Mac, how about “Mets delenda est.” That might help some (since the delenda est has been working pretty well this year.)
Apparently Cormier still sucks
Look at the bright side guys…..
……
This game was only nine innings?