So fantastically uninteresting that he’s been on the team a week and I’m only now getting to him, Corky Miller really isn’t that bad of a player. That’s not to say that he’s good, but as backup catchers go you could do worse and frequently will. Drafted out of high school by the Angels, Miller didn’t sign and went to noted academic powerhouse Nevada-Reno. The Reds signed him as an amateur free agent in 1998.
Miller rose through the ranks without hitting for much average, but drawing walks and hitting some home runs, until he was called up by the Reds in 2001. He bounced back and forth between Cincinnati and Louisville for several years until encountering an epic slump in 2004, going 1-39. He was waived at the end of the season and picked up by the Twins, but while hitting a not atypical .229/.379/.465 for Rochester in 2005 was 0-12 for the big club. He played one game for the Red Sox in 2006, going 0-4, but hit .253/.339/.500 in Pawtucket. (Why does Pawtucket have a AAA team anyway?)
The Braves signed him in the offseason to a minor league deal. He was the regular catcher in Richmond, didn’t hit well, but was called up instead of Brayan Pena apparently because the Braves are experimenting with Pena at other positions. Riding a 1-55 streak, he had a hit in his first Braves plate appearance on August 2, and a hit in four tries in his first start. He seemingly throws pretty well.
From what I remember of Spring Training, a strong and accurate arm.
I really think he should caddy for Hudson. He is the one real groundball pitcher on the staff now, and you don’t people stealing on him
And oh, his claim to fame is that he was behind the plate for the Delmon bat-throwing incident
Godot,
You know, that’s a good idea.
Interesting passage about Yunel & Renty in DOB’s Met-preview blog.
http://www.ajc.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/ajc/braves/entries/2007/08/06/makeorbreak_ser.html
on Frenchy!!
About two weeks before the All-Star break, Francoeur truly began finding comfort with this new stance. Without coincidence, he’s hit .371 with a .414 on-base percentage in his past 34 games.
Even with his homer total down, Francoeur’s .450 slugging percentage is slightly higher than the .449 mark he produced last year. To truly show he’s a more disciplined player, one only has to look at his .349 on-base percentage, which is significantly better than the .293 mark he had last year.
In 484 plate appearances this year, Francoeur has already drawn 30 walks. In the 960 career plate appearances he had entering this season, he’d been issued a total of 34 walks.
Continuing from the previous thread… Vince Coleman was a good player at times, but he also had years where his OBP was .301, .313, and .316 — years with the Cardinals, in his supposed prime. His most-similar hitter is Omar Moreno, aka “Omar the Outmaker”. I’d rather not see that in a leadoff hitter, thank you.
Henderson and Raines were great leadoff hitters because they were great hitters period. During Dale Murphy’s prime years, the only times he wasn’t the best centerfielder in the majors were when one of those guys was playing center. Rickey was the best player of the eighties.
Mac,
The best part, Rickey would be the first one to tell you he was the greatest player of the 80’s.
Speed is good, because it can neutralise a lack of power. But it doesn’t make up for a lousy OBP
Sorry, maybe “Rickey was the greatest player of the eighties” should have been a quote. I’m sure he’s said that. Doesn’t make it untrue — and Rickey looks like St. Francis of Assisi next to certain Bay Area outfielders.
yea, kevin Mitchell and Jose Canseco were dicks! 🙂
Tony (from previous thread) –
I am not waiting on the demise of Willie Harris. I’m just a bit skeptical. His numbers are WAY out of line with his career numbers – players like that almost always come back down to earth (Adrian Beltre anyone?). Trust me, I rather enjoy watching Harris play right now and am more than willing to ride that horse til she bucks, but when people start talking about having him as our everyday center fielder next year, it just scares me. I really hope he proves me wrong though, because that would be a good addition to our ball club.
Salty update…
last night 1-6 3Ks
Henderson and Raines were even better hitters b/c of their speed. Their speed didn’t hurt their hitting.
Speed just makes a good hitter even better. Give me Reyes and his 53 SBs anyday.
…and the Brewers lost AGAIN last night. What happened to them?
Traitor – Tony must die!!!
It is silly to argue that speed doesn’t matter. That is just something fat people say to make themselves feel better.
First of all, no one’s saying speed doesn’t matter.
Second of all, I’d say your last comment there is just what people who don’t pay attention to logic or facts say to make themselves feel better.
Before you get all pissy Tony, I was just kidding. I’d take Reyes too if we could get him, anybody would.
I wish we still had Paul Byrd – anyone see him this year 10-4, 4.13 ERA. YIKES!
Joshua..
Just relax with the Willie talk, the Braves brass will do the right thing. The Brewers are young as hell…but damn talented. Plus Sheets is still out. What happen to Brady Clark?
Not a traitor, that Reyes is just a hell of a player.
I should add that my original response, before I cut it down to one word, was “Reyes, because he would definitely get an infield hit in that situation.”
What did Kevin Mitchell do that made him a dik?
Remember Kevin’s little brother Keith Mitchell who played for the Braves in ’91?
I’m going to go ahead and say it’s better to be fast than slow.
As for Willie and KJ, as long as they’re both producing, it doesn’t matter very much who’s batting leadoff and who’s batting seventh. The only problem is — if Willie turns into a pumpkin, what’s the lag time before moving him down, and how many runs would it cost us.
Tony, Henderson and Raines were great players not because of their speed, but because they knew what to do with it. Nook Logan is not a good player. This is because, despite the fact that he’s very very fast, he has no idea how to turn that into useful baseball skills.
I was just being facetious. Kevin Mitchell had a pretty bad rep, but then all the 86 Mets had that. supposedly lopped off the head of his girlfriend’s cat after an argument
Miller’s career stats are .193/.286/.315/.601. I’d have to say that yeah he really is that bad a player (hitter). For instance, our beloved Todd Pratt’s career numbers look like .251/.344/.398/.742. Miller is trash and using him even as a backup catcher is about the same as putting 2 pitchers in your batting order. How do you expect to win consistently with 22% of your offense hitting like a pitcher? Yeah he can throw out baserunners, but how important is that really? A lot less important than being a replacement level or better hitter I’ll bet.
The MetsBlog.com is not bad, they have some nice things like the “fan confidence rating”…
Diaz for me with 2 out runner on 3rd. This guy is a machine, single up the middle…
Josh, I like Paul Byrd’s “windup.”
Who does this board think is the best leadoff man in baseball? Af first thought, Ichiro comes to mind, plus I’m looking to pick anyone besides Reyes, who E!SPN and Steve Phillips made me dislike but refusing to not include “the most exciting player in the game” after saying his name.
As for our leadoff guy…knowing Bobby we’ll be seeing Willie at the leadoff spot the rest of the season, despite if his average finally does regress towards the mean…
Kevin caught a fly ball with his bare right hand. Clearly he’s a dick because this put glove companies out of business immediately. I wish I could work Chuck Norris into this “joke” somehow.
How much you guys wanna bet that at least 4 of our top 6-7 SP’s can outhit Corky? I say Smoltz, Hudson, and JoJo all got him beat. Davies was probably better too.
I would fucking love to see JoJo left in the bullpen as the long reliever/pinch hitter a la Brooks Kieschnick. He’d be a better option pinch hitting than Miller, Woodward, and probably Thor.
“Henderson and Raines were great players not because of their speed, but because they knew what to do with it”.
AAR,
You have to have speed first, in order to have the option to do something with it. So I think you want to say they were great players not because of their speed “alone”, but b/c they knew what to do with it. Trying to help you out a little.
And regarding Reyes and being “exciting” it reminded of something I read here I believe and why Curtis Granderson doesn’t get that “title” more, because this season he’s been as good and “exciting” maybe even more “NOW” in E!SPN’s terms than Reyes.
The lines…
Granderson .298/.353/.556
Reyes .303/.375/.456
Granderson has 17 triples to Reyes’ 11. Granderson has twice the HRs (16 to 8).
Granderson is 14/14 (100%0 to Reyes’ 53/67 (79%).
Granderson’s OPS is .80 points higher, the biggest difference is Granderson’s strikouts (over 100). Then again, that boils down to him trying to drive in runs at the top of the order (AL mentality) as opposed to Reyes’ trying to get an infield hit.
Henderson would have been a great player if he ran like Cecil Fielder.
In order to know how to utilize speed, you have to have it in the first place. Speed never made anyone a worse ballplayer. These are fairly humdrum observations, but strip away semantics and I think that’s what this discussion basically boils down to.
Bamachum…
Again why are we wishing for Willie to get back to his norm? Are we secretly rooting for him to fail…just to get KJ back in the leadoff spot?
Any word on John “Big Red” Thomson’s whereabouts?
I tracked him on ESPN to the Kansas City Royals and he pitched twice for them in late June early July and they don’t show any further activity.
My guess is that their “transactions” doesn’t show a DL listing, but surely he doesn’t still sit on their active roster and not play.
I know he had health problems, but anything close to the Big Red we once had would be awfully nice to have right now.
Corky was a fan favorite when he was in Chattanooga.
Henderson would have been a good player if he ran like Fielder, but his speed and KNOWLEDGE of how to use his speed makes him a 1st ballot HOF.
Cliff,
John was awful last year. I think the Braves made the right decision. Easy to second-guess or look back and wonder, but he had to go.
Tony,
Again, I’m (and I assume that no one here) WISHES for Willie to return to his norm, but when a 29-year old journey utility player with a career BA around .240 coming into the season spends the entire year hitting over .330 one has to expect him regress to a number closer to the the mean. Hopefully, and perhaps with the help of TP he has made adjustments with this approach, mentality, etc. and hopefully he’ll continue what he’s doing for the remainder of the season, but it’s hard to annoint him a long-term piece of the puzzle. And NO everything isn’t about KJ like you seem to make everything, but KJ does fit the Braves’ long-term plan and any at-bats he loses stunts his development, the great thing about KJ is that he can hit at virtually any spot in the lineup thanks to his approach and even power.
Also, Corky is fine as backup Catcher IMO. McCann will be in the lineup most of the time down the stretch and I’d rather have someone we are confident can call an efficent game and play defense, apparently management/Bobby/advance scouts didn’t have that faith in Pena. Or they are trying to develop Pena into a “super-uility guy.”
Let’s see how Tex handles Perez tonight – we need him big. This is what we got him for…
Are the Yanks closing in on the Red Sox too fast for anyone else? This is just scary. I really don’t want the Yanks to win their division. WAKE UP Red Sox. I thought I could finally stop worrying about them possibly eclipsing our consecutive division title streak.
Man, I must be in a rare mood today. I keep spitting off things that have no relation to my previous posts…LOL. I think I need to get back to work.
any word on which infeilder is getting called-up? orr or prado? gotta be prado, he’s hitting .320 in richmond.
sorry, make that ‘infielder’
“stunts KJ development” Now that’s a new one. Sometimes baseball people get carried with stats. All I know is I see a 29 y/o who busted his ass in the minors and doing everything the Braves ask him to do. Whether or not he falls back to the “mean” or to his “norm” I don’t know. I just want him to do what he has been doing, which is helping the Braves win. There is something to be said about an athlete knowing this could be it…look at Buddy Carlyle or Jack Cust(good article in SI) guys in their late 20’s who are having success. Sometimes you have to ignore the stats and looks at the athletes circumstance. For me, I’m not wishing for Willie to “fall back to earth”, I hope he has plenty of success capped by helping the Braves win a ring.
I thought I could finally stop worrying about them possibly eclipsing our consecutive division title streak.
Same here, Joshua. Thought for sure this was the year their streak would end. I still think it will be, but I’m starting to sweat.
Tony,
again, where did I say I wanted Willie to fail? I hope he keeps it up. We need him to keep hitting. Never mind.
If you waive somebody who will be a free agent at the end of the year and somebody else picks them up, doesn’t the pick up team get the draft choice (s).
I realize that waiver release people usually don’t get above type C treatment, but I just wonder.
Tony,
I believe the Braves either had to take Big Red’s option at $4,000,000 or so or let him go. No problem with letting him go.
I do have a problem on why they didn’t take him when he was released. With our needs throughout this season for starting pitching, paying pro-rated minimum had to be worth it.
But even so, did aliens abduct Big Red?
Also, Minor League Bseball Home is not reporting a team assignment for Willy Aybar yet. Does anybody know anything on that?
Also, how does “I am in drug and alcohol treatment” affect service time for Rule 5, service time for arbitration, free agency, and such? Out of this collection of well above average people, surely someone knows the answer to this.
Aybar is out of options, so the way he plays in the minors is taht he first has to be activated from the “Restricted List”, and then DL-ed..
None of that has taken place, so I am guessing that he still hasn’t joined the Braves officially
Cliff, Willie is at the Braves facility @ Disney. They are trying to get him back into playing condition. Expect him to roll up through the Minor teams and end up in Atl in Sept.
Thomson is on the DL in Kansas City. elbow something.
HERE IS NEW WISDOM FROM JOE MORGAN:
“Statistics are overrated. What you do to help your team win is what it’s all about. These stats like OPS, it doesn’t tell you what you do for the team. To my opinion, to help the team, you drive in runs or score runs. That helps the team. That’s how you should be judged.”
From his chat today. Priceless
Metsblog Q&A is now up.
LOL…oh, Joe Morgan. Maybe he should hire a publicist or something. Someone to keep him from making a complete ass of himself at least once a week.
Ethan, hahaha. I think Joe has been replaced by a robot created by firejoemorgan.com. That statement is almost too easy for them. Oddly I don’t actually mind listening to Joe on broadcasts. I have no doubt he is a bad analyst, but he doesn’t grate on my nerves like fingernails on a chalkboard like McCarver, Piniella, or Torborg do.
If it was Wells’ last start of a career that has yielded 235 wins, another left-hander, 26-year-old Wil Ledezma would be the most obvious replacement because Clay Hensley cannot be recalled from Triple-A for another eight days. General Manager Kevin Towers said after trading for Ledezma on Aug. 1 that the club would groom him for the rotation. — San Diego Union-Tribune
Watch Ledezma be lights out for the Padres rotation
I’m not wishing for Willie to “fall back to earth”
No one is wishing that of course, but many including myself are expecting it. I just wish he would be hitting eighth when it happens instead of first. It makes no sense to try to build this super lineup and then bat your worst hitter first.
Anyway word on Andruw’s availability for tonight?
Why would Wells’ career be over? Did I miss something?
he’s 44 and is getting shelled. He wanted to retire before going back to SD. So I’m guessing if they cut him, he’ll just retire
here’s the article
http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20070807/news_1s7padres.html
Robert,
I think there is a fine line with expecting and wishing with some of you over here.
To translate what Joe Morgan is saying….Stats don’t always tell the whole story. You guys act like you never played sports before. Don’t be so nerdy…
All things being close to equal, I love speed. But rarely are they close to equal. It often seems that the conversation includes the speedy guy with no power who doesn’t really have a big set of skills.
One of my favorite teams is the 1985 St. Louis Cardinals (who also had amazing pitching). Loved to watch them, loved to play them in APBA. But, as Marc mentioned, I realize how the game (and the playing surface) has changed & won’t see another team like that.
One time I played an APBA for Windows tournament that included almost every team that had ever won a pennant from 1905 until 2002. The winner: ’85 Red Birds.
FWIW, the other two times I played that kind of tournament (they just take way too long): 1971 Pirates and 1979 Pirates. Weird.
Since today seems to be the day I make flat statements with no support: The mid-eighties Cardinals were the greatest defensive team of all-time.
But, Tony, RBIs and Runs Scored are stats too. What Joe is really saying is that some stats mean more than others. But how do you score runs if you don’t get on base? He should at least make some effort to understand the statistics that he doesn’t like before bashing them. And if stats don’t tell the whole story, why is everyone with 3000 hits, 500 home runs, 300 wins, etc, in the Hall of Fame? What he is really saying is that he believes in empirical observation over statistical analysis. But observation is very misleading. If you see a guy get a couple of hits in key situations, you start thinking of him as clutch even though that is often very arbitrary. Remember Francisco Cabrera? The idea behind sabermetrics is that, over time, certain statistics (eg, OBP) are more correlated with scoring runs (and thus, winning games) than others (such as batting average and RBIs).
the 85 Cards…one of my alltime favorites also
Vince Coleman
Tom Herr
Willie McGee
Jack Clark
Terry Pendleton
Andy Van Slyke
Darrell Porter
Ozzie Smith
John Tudor
Mac,
I read this interview as well, and one ass wipe Mets fans said it was a terrible interview. Huh? What was he expecting…some ra ra, no knowledge type of comments that he is normally used to as a METS fan anyway?
You try and have a civil, respectful discourse with effing New Yorkers and they continue to prove why people hate their fans.
God I want to sweep those bastards.
I have to admit I haven’t been called a “snot-nosed brat” in some time. Certainly not since I reached my mid-thirties.
If I have to see one more god damn trivial stupid Tony-fight on here I think my head is going to explode.
And Tony, Marc worded it really well.
And I’m not some nerdy four-eyed geek wad. I STILL play baseball, so I’m of the belief that shit like WARP and the like give you a damn good IDEA about who to pay moneys for, but there’s still so much unquantifiable stuff out there (personality, undocumentable things in a game, etc) that we are FAR FAR FAR away from a solid system. But the only way to GET a good system is to keep trying.
And Joe Morgan is a total fool. If I told him that the concept of Batting Average was invented by a cricket player would Joe’s head explode?
What’s with me and head exploding today. Jeez.
I do think there is something to “being clutch” though. I know a lot of people on here disagree, and that’s fine, but I find it entirely possible and plausible that someone can at least have their best at-bats in clutch situations. They’re more selective or wait on pitches better in those situations. Now whether or not they get a hit is still somewhat arbitrary, I guess, but it seems that you would be more likely to get a hit if you were having better at-bats. For a guy as otherwise inconsequential as Francisco Cabrera to get three huge hits (and that’s just off the top of my head, he might have had more that I’m not remembering) in game-breaking situations (season-breaking, even) I think is a good example of this. Maybe it was just a right place, right time situation, but I find it a little bit hard to believe. And I’m sure that Cabrera isn’t even the best example. That’s just the one you were using.
Joshtothemax…
Can we get that head explosion recorded?
Marc,
I understand what you are saying, but I also get where Joe is coming from. OBS, holds or WHIP didn’t exist when Joe played so I get what he is talking about. That’s all I saying.
OPS that is…
Warning: Fantasy Baseball Anecdote
Back in 1992, when all we had was the Tuesday USA Today, paper, and pencil, David Wells was on my rotisserie team. He played for Toronto, who was managed at the time by Cito Gaston.
Evidently, Wells and Gaston despised each other, and it culminated in a locker room shouting match not long before Wells’ start against the Brewers on August 20. Wells didn’t have it that day, but Cito left him out there to rot. He gave up 13 ER and 15 baserunners in 4 1/3 innings.
I came in third place in the final standings that year, and decided to redo my final stats without the Wells start, just to see what would have happened. Without the damage to my ERA and WHIP from that single start, it turns out I would have won the thing. May Cito Gaston burn for eternity.
sansho,
Wow. That is one craaaaaaaazy story.
As a fan of both pitching and defense, the 1985 Cards were a favorite of mine.
And speaking of flat statements…1912 NY Giants — worst defensive team of all time.
Yeah — Gaston was still there in ’93, and they actually released Wells at the end of spring training that year. By my count, he only won 188 games afterwards.
And yet they lost to the Royals in the World Series. How on Earth did that happen?
The tarp ate Vince Coleman.
WOW! The guys on the Mets blog are brutal. I thought it was a very good interview Mac – honest and to the point. Can’t ask for much more than that. I especially liked this one:
there is no reason a blogger should be speaking like hes on the team. these are answers that a player gives.
I think we all as fans tend to treat our team as our own. I know I always say WE need to get a starter – or WE need to do this, not the BRAVES need to do that. I think everyone on here does that.
And Don Derkinger blew a big call.
Wasn’t that the WS where the first base ump clearly blew a critical call late in the series? Or am I thinking of the 1987 series?
The ’85 Cardinals lost probably do to one of the worse calls in postseason history, besides Eric Gregg 25 inch strike zone and Kent Hrbek throwing Ron Gant off the bag.
Was that the call that made Joaquin Andujar’s head explode?
No that was game 7…the call was in game 6. Ground ball to 1st basemen Jack Clark who flipped to Todd Worrell (closer), who clearly beat the Jorge Orta to the bag. But Dumb Don Denkinger called him safe and the Royals tied the game and later won it. It was the bottom of the ninth.
No, you’re thinking of the right series, but again, like with Red Sox fans and the ’86 Series or Cubs fans and the ’03 NLCS, I think there’s a bit of selective amnesia going on here.
The call came with the Cards up by one in the ninth of a Game 6 in which they could have wrapped it up, but that call still only put a runner on first with nobody out. They then proceeded to completely fall apart and give the Royals the game essentially. Then in Game 7, they got their asses kicked by double digits because they were all still sulking over the blown call.
You have to remember that anything to do with the Braves will make Mets fans touchy, especially today. Even though “we” won the Division last year, the Braves have to be de-throned for at least 2 or 3 years before anyone, including us Met fans, believes it wasn’t a fluke. So, hey, it was a good interview by Mac, but wuddayouexpect metsblog readers to say? It is what it is.
But for the record, it is one of the worst calls I’ve ever seen. The throw actually got him by almost a step.
The Royals had a solid pitching staff:
Brett Saberhagen
Bud Black
Charlie Liebrandt
Danny Jackson
Mark Gubicza
The late Dan Quisenberry as their closer. Not bad…
Nick,
I do agree with the idea that it is possible, in theory, for a hitter to be more focused in particular situations (although why a hitter wouldn’t want to be focused every time up bewilders me.) And I totally agree that, while pitchers are largely in control in any given situation, hitters can affect the likelihood of getting a hit by how they approach the at-bat. If you are up with two outs, no one on in the third inning, you ought to approach the at-bat differently than if you up in the ninth with the winning run on third. Clearly, not all hitters are able to do this. I would much rather have Chipper up in a game winning situation than Andruw (forgetting the fact that Andruw is having a bad year) because Chipper, to me, has better at bats than Andruw, ie, he generally won’t swing at bad pitches and will take balls to the opposite field. The issue, though, is whether there is any specific “clutch” hitting skill as opposed to just being a good hitter. And I think the fact that the most famous clutch hits often come from lesser hitters–Cabrera, Mazerosky–suggest that it’s more situational. I assume that if these guys were capable of having those kinds of at-bats all the time, they would have.
Yea Nick and that call obviously switch momentum…
Wow, Mac, I have gone back and seen the follow up Mets comments. These people are insane. You couldn’t have been nicer & more thoughtful in your answers and their reaction…shows them to be a bunch of 4 year olds scared to death of losing 2 or 3 again to the Braves.
Man, yall need to start talking about games in my lifetime. I can’t remember stuff from then, I was only 3.
Bobby V,
Go tell your moron friends over at the Mets blog that we are more than happy to drop the civil dicourse and kick your a—s up and down Shea Stadium.
If Mets fans want to go, please tell them to show up here at Braves Journal so we can point out everytime Chipper ruined one of thier stretch drives.
Punks.
But, Mark, you could also say that one of the reasons Maz’s and Cabrera’s clutch hits are remembered is that the players were usually not offensive world-beaters, so it was especially surprising that they did it. It’s less surprising for Joe Carter or Luis Gonzales to get a series-ending hit.
Ah yes, momentum…that’s all it was. The sure out that the Cardinals let drop on the next batter and the wild pitch/passed ball that brought the winning runs into scoring position to be singled home later had nothing to do with it. All momentum.
It was a bad call… but it didn’t cost the Cards the game or the series. They completely collapsed after it. From Retrosheet:
What caused more problems, the bad call, or the two defensive miscues? Ironic since this started with me praising their defense.
Again…momentum. Believe it or not it does happen in baseball. Ask the ’96 Braves or the ’86 Red Sox.
Don Deckinger was my hero in 85. I HATE the Cardinals.
Alex, was that satire?
Momentum is a terrific excuse for “we screwed the game/series up because we weren’t capable of doing our job and forgetting about the terrible call/out that was “stolen” from us when a fan tried to catch a ball that was already in the stands/whatever.” Great teams look momentum in the face and do what is necessary to win the game/series anyway.
I remember the first half of that series really well. I was stuck in a little town called Saltville, Virginia (near Marion). My cousin died around the time of game four and I missed the second half of the series as I had to go back for the funeral.
Tito Landrum played reasonably well, but the Cards really missed Coleman at the top of the order.
sansho-
No. The Mets fans are rude, nasty pricks. Mac couldn’t have been nicer and more professional to their Blog, and the responses he’s gotten are sickening.
I seriously would love for some of those morons to come to Braves Journal right now…reading their comments about Mac has put me in a very fiesty mood.
Don’t feel bad Joshua that’s was my 1st year of watching baseball on TV…I was 7 years old.
The fact that Denkinger’s call was on Orta, the leadoff batter, it played hugely into the inning.
It’s hard to say what would’ve happened because the 2 runs scored on a one-out single and, yes, there were a couple defensive miscues, but I remember thinking immediately after the game that the ump robbed St. Louis.
i didn’t start watching til ’88, but can’t remember too much from then…
’86 Red Sox fans are delusional because they had already screwed the game up and were up by THREE RUNS in Game 7 and still lost, so as far as I’m concerned, momentum isn’t even a valid excuse for them.
The ’96 Braves still had a tie series and a Game 5 that was eminently winnable. Plus, we had nobody but ourselves to blame anyway, since it wasn’t really a weird thing/bad call that did us in so much as crappy play.
Before 1985 I had never watched a baseball game. I was Braves fan b/c of TBS, but I loved the Mets/Cardinals rivalry that year. That’s the year that Ton Niedenfuer(SP) from the Dodgers gave up the HR to Ozzie(Jack Buck “Go crazy folks”) and the 3-Run bomb to Jack Clark in the NCLS. I can still hear that HR off Jack Clark’s bat at Dodger Stadium.
NEW THREAD UP.
The game thread is now up. For future reference, for ET and CT games the game thread will pretty much always go up at about 2PM CT.
Apparently, I am ignorant because I don’t believe in “protection”, which is one of the most controversial topics in the study of baseball.
Momentum is a very valid excuse Nick. When you have it, you have no doubt you are going to win. When you don’t you are just waiting to lose. And thus you have crappy play.
I think Kelly Johnson’s 9 triples more amazing, since he has no speed you know.
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