ESPN – Braves vs. Marlins Box Score, August 27 2007 – MLB
The Braves jumped all over the Marlins, who are not playing well at all, and Lance Cormier had his best start… though again, the Marlins aren’t playing well. The Braves scored three runs in the first inning, which isn’t anything new, doing it on four doubles. The Marlins got a run back in the bottom of the inning.
But this time the Braves kept scoring. They got two runs in the third, and after the Marlins got one back to make it 5-2, exploded for five runs in the fourth, on a solo shot by Diaz and a grand slam by McCann. (One day, lefthanders will stop trying to throw inside breaking balls to him.) They added a run on a wild pitch in the fifth and two runs, including a solo shot by KJ, in the seventh.
Cormier went seven, struck out five, walked three, and allowed six hits. He basically had trouble with Dan Uggla and shut everyone else down. Since it was only an eleven-run lead, Bobby used Mahay to pitch the eighth. Don’t ask. Villarreal finished it.
Diaz had four hits, scored three times, and drove in two. Chipper was 3-4 before leaving for the immortal Woodward.
no matter the pitching matchup, diaz should get a string of starts. i think we are the only team that has a .350+ ba guy on our club that is not an everyday player. crazy! until this week, i wasnt convinced to ditch the platoon, but now there is no denying it. willie isnt cutting it, but i think he will help if we make it to october ball. orr being brought up should be a travesty to the game and all baseball should shut down until he is dfa’d. poor joey. let’s get hot for the homestand.
1. Have to agree. Everytime you think Diaz will come back to earth, and remember he is not supposed to be this good, he just keeps killing the ball. In his time as Brave here are his stats:
AB H AVG OBP SLG
578 196 .339 .371 .499
Maybe we can “Cincy” and lose the next two by a run or two so we outsocre for the series, but lose more games tan we win.
Cormier was at least o.k. That is what we need from 3, 4, & 5.
Cormier was better than “ok”. He was good.
Agreed. Cormier has looked very good in his past three starts. Hopefully he can step up.
I agree complete Stu. He’s been the clear cut third best starter his last 4 starts and he deserves more credit than any of us have been giving him. This was the first start he got real run support.
I have to agree Cormier was much better than okay. The Marlins might be struggling, but they are still one of the best offenses in the NL.
I hate to be called an optimist, but Smoltz is pitching today. I say we take this one.
lance has been better his last 3 starts but he didn’t really settle down last night until the game was put away in the 3rd. i’m not taking anything away from him, we need every win, but i wonder if it was his pitching or a defeated marlins offense?
tonight the dreaded dutchman vandenhurke!
The Braves have outscored their opponents on this road trip 55-38, yet are 3-5. That’s not easy to do. In the three wins, it’s 34-8. Maybe just a wee problem with close games?
I agree that Diaz deserves to play. It’s midnight and Willie’s carriage is turning back into a pumpkin.
I’m just happy to see a win. I’m gonna savor this today and pray tonight.
Sorry folks, right-hander pitching for the Marlins tonight. That means Willie Harris playing left over Matt Diaz and batting leadoff.
His hot first half ensures he’s going to be doing this the rest of the season, no matter how much Joe Simpson lobbies on television about ditching loyalty and playing the hottest players down the stretch.
Smoltz has always struggled on short rest, this Marlins team looks horrible. Hopefully Smoltz can give us a quick six or seven without to much trouble
Two things, Cormier has really good stuff and its time he started pitching better. very good outings from him lately, last night was the best. Big lead and he continued to throw strikes. Diaz should play everyday in these next two series no matter what
Cormier is just teasing us late in the season like in 2006. The Braves need to avoid that siren call and no pencil him into their starting rotation for 2008.
Smoltz, Hudson, James, Hampton and Cormier
Yeah, that looks like a real winner….
NOT pencil him….
Did anyone else notice how Chipper reacted to his shoulder after he struck out in his last at bat? It definitely looked like it was bothering him after that last swing. Has anyone heard anything?
Dan,
I think we are all so desperate for wins & decent starting pitching, that any kind of “quality” we can see from a starter NOT named Smoltz or Hudson, we’ll TAKE.
No one is saying that Cormier should book his hotel now at next year’s All Star game, but considering how much this starting pitching has hurt us from having any kind of consistency, anything good we can see from even a Lance Cormier is a breath of fresh air.
I still think it’s probably too little too late for this season but I am still holding one candle left that we can have a big September and slip in…
If we get the C. James of AA, and Cormier stays the same, and the Buddy Carlyle of July surfaces then we will have a solid starting rotation. 🙂
One note on the Tex trade: I am perfectly happy with that trade even though our pitching sucks. We did the best we could for Salty. It is unreal how little amount of pitching is available on the open market.
JoshQ-
I agree. Plus, we certainly can’t blame Mark Teixeira. He’s been everything & more for us.
But now that inability to swing a deal for either Arroyo or Javy Vazquez even looms larger.
Then again, at the time of the deadline, I don’t think any of us were expecting Buddy Carlyle to slip in the tank as badly as he had. He seemed gritty & solid enough to stay consistent. He’s been extremely disappointing after what we previously saw.
Alex,
I fully expected Buddy to slip, but I didn’t expect Chuck to suck and then get injured. If we had the Chuck of earlier in the season—even with his inability to go deep into games—with Cormier’s recent pitching, we’d be in much better shape, even with the real Buddy Carlyle.
RE 13–even penciling in Hampton is the triumph of hope over reality. Given his injury history, Carlyle might well contribute more to next year’s rotation than Hampton.
I think Buddy’s problems mostly stem from the hyperextended elbow. Before that, he always seemed to put the ball almost exactly where he was trying to (a “poor man’s” Greg Maddox). That is not fluky when you look at his AAA numbers. 59 innings, 55 strikeouts, 6 walks.
Since the injury, his control has seemed to come back a little better each start. If he can just throw strikes and we concede thst that will cause some hits and some runs, he could get back on a 6 to 7 inning 3 to 4 run basis, which is plenty good enough for this team.
On Saturday September 1, who new do we see?
1. What about Julio on the 40 man. Isn’t that necessary for him to go to postseason?
2. Hopefully, Devine and Stockman are up. Some of the others may not need to or be able to come up because of arbitration clocks, 40 man roster positions, etc. Also, I think that this is Devine’s last option season, so at least he and we won’t have to deal with this up and down again.
3. Several guys may have to be added to the 40 man before Rule 5. I am thinking Brandon Jones, Dan Smith, maybe Kala. There will be lots of interesting decisions there.
$. Also, Prado and Brayan Pena can come back. I hope we see both.
5. MAYBE the extra bullpen help, if used well by the man formerly known as “genius” (Bobby Cox) will get us to the brink. However, using Mahay last night with all of the arms in that pen was utterly stupid. 90% chance we need him tonight and tomorrow. At least we have an off day on Thursday.
6. Which leads us to: with Thursday off and help coming on Saturday, there may well be LOTS of relievers doing duty the next three games.
I really don’t like the Braves moving Smoltz up on 3 days rest so he can pitch against the Mets. The division race is over for this team. This kind of desperate move is unnecessary. They need to keep Smoltz healthy and pitching on regular rest to have any shot at the wild card.
It’s for sure time to bench Harris and see what Diaz can do as an everyday player.
I’ve liked Cormier as a starter since last September for some reason. I’m glad to see him finally vindicating my belief. If we can just get James back quickly and Carlyle gets himself straightened out, just maybe we can do something to make the playoffs.
Ring will be up. Ring might actually be up in the next couple of days in order to get him eligible for the postseason roster.
Devine is already up afaik unless I missed him getting sent back down yesterday. I think you’ll see a lot of callups. Pena, Brandon Jones, Julio Franco, and Pete Orr for sure.
Ron,
I am in complete agreement with everything you say in #23. I don’t like the Smoltz move at all, we need to be getting Diaz as many ABs as possible, and Cormier seems like a viable back-of-the-rotation option to me.
Ron,
Devine was sent down yesterday, and Pete Orr was called up. Lots of lines on this board have been devoted to it.
Ron–didn’t Orr come back yesterday with Devine sent down?
Re moving Smoltz–I think it has more to do with splitting up Smoltz and Hudson to ease the burden on the pen than with having Smoltz face the Mets.
Frank,
The ‘pen will have to endure a much greater burden if Smoltz goes down for the season.
Stu–I didn’t say I agree with the Smoltz move–I think it is very risky given Smoltz’s shoulder. I just think the rationale was to separate Smoltz and Hudson not to set up a Smoltz vs. Mets matchup.
Do the Braves try to have the worst bench in the history of baseball? They must–otherwise, how could you justify Orr and Woodward at the same time? Is this some plan to prove you can win without ANY production from the bench?
As Marc pointed out, we still seem to have a problem with run distribution.
Wins by 10, 11, and 5 runs on the roadtrip and losses by 1, 1, 2 (in extras), 2, and 3 (the blowout).
I do not know what our XWL is for the last eight games, but I bet it is better than 3-5.
It amuses me to see Woodward and Orr on the bench at the same time, if nothing else.
@33,
We HOPE we see Woodward and Orr on the bench at the same time.
Actually, after September 1, Orr is useful enough as a pinchrunner to justify carrying him.
After September 1, Woodward would also be useful if about 3 outfielders, or 5 infielder, or 3 cathcer, or 15 pitchers get hurt.
Ron, I think we have to pitch Smoltz every 2 or three days to have a chance to win. It would be like Cy Young!
Well I guess we are going to drop the next two games in this serise.
I’ll take the Smoltz move in the rotation simply because it puts him up to pitch against Glavine on Sunday, a game I just happen to have tickets to.
Hey, get your pleasures where you can at this point of the season.
Here’s my thing with Orr and Woodward. Neither really brings anything to the table, and it can even be argued that they take things off the table. But at least Orr is young, cheap, and showcases a love of the game. He’s a good baserunner, and a good guy to have on the bench. Woodward is redefining the word useless. I haven’t seen anybody this useless in my life as a Braves fan (23 years, take off 5 or 6 years where all i knew was that Dale Murphy was a God).
Woodward blows! At least Keith Suckhart could bat lefty.
Poll idea! Who is the worst Braves possition player in the last 16 years?
Woodward
Lockhart
Belliard
Q. Veres
Reggie Sanders
Caminetti
Castilla
Mondisi
Jordan
Roberto Kelly
That’s not even close. Some of those guys were actually useful. Woodward is easily the worst player I’ve seen play for the Braves.
Stu,
I beg to differ. I think Lockhart was the worst Brave. The rationale (because both have atrocious numbers are the following:
1. Lockhart ruined a roster spot for multiple seasons. At this point, Woodward is only wasting a roster spot for 1 season.
2. Woodward, albeit not great, is a better defensive player than Lockhart.
3. Woodward, by all accounts, is at least less whiny. What finally got Lockhart the boot was he pulled a Lofton or a Wickman and had the audacity to WHINE about playing time.
As I said previously on this Blog, keith Lockhart is not just my least favorite BRAVE of all time, he’s my least favorite BASEBALL PLAYER of all time. Watching Lockhart play sucked the enjoyment out of the game and I believe Lockhart’s years with the Braves coincided with my feelings that Football became my favorite sport.
And at least as truly horrific as Kolbb and Reitsma were for the Braves, Lockhart still drug this team down LONGER.
The joke over the “this blank guy must have embarrassing photos of Bobby…” STARTED with Lockhart. (but yes, those pictures have clearly been passed onto to Reitsma and now Woodward).
Let me clarify one thing…I realize Lofton or Wickman didn’t whine about playing time, but they were whiners and that’s why both will never step foot in this organization again.
We’re not the Cardinals or the Yankees…we don’t like whiners in our clubhouse or prima donnas (ahem again, Lofton).
Question about Mets’ series rotation. Now that Smoltz will be pitching on Sunday on normal rest, who will pitch on Saturday – Cormier or Reyes?
I don’t think you thought this through enough, Smitty. Veras was just fine until that ankle injury basically ended his career.
Jordan was okay. He was very Jeff Francoeur-ish in his good years with us, but I’ll take that, and that outweighs his last couple seasons of utter suckitude.
Sanders was bad, I’ll agree, but he truly had the biggest off-year of his career, because he was just fine afterwards, so I’m not voting for him.
I refuse to vote for Belliard, so that leaves Woodward, Lockhart, Caminiti, Mondesi, Castilla and Kelly.
Kelly was average in his time with Atlanta, so he’s out. Caminiti at least had some homers left in him and I don’t want to vote for a dead guy, so he’s out. Castilla was okay too, just like Kelly, so he’s out.
Now we have Mondesi, Lockhart and Woodward.
Keith was very bad with the Braves, yes. However, he DID hit really well in the four NLCS series he played in. Small sample size, but I’ll take it for purposes in this poll. Mondesi had a couple of homers, but that’s it.
But my pick for the worst player is Chris Woodward. He has a Rafael Belliard-like 31 OPS+ right now, and he’s a terrible fielder, considering the few chances he gets. So Woodward is clearly the worst Braves player to me.
I disagree. Woodward is a worse hitter than Lockhart and a worse defensive player. (Lockhart at least was good on the double play; Woodward does nothing well, albeit at more positions.) Woodward is hitting .200 .235 .280; Lockhart’s worst year was a compartively Ruthian .216 .282 .331.
#38, where’s Todd Pratt, Mark Redman, Octavio Dotel, and Danys Baez on that list? But anyway the answer is clearly Woodward who delenda est.
Yeah, some of those guys had a particular talent.
Lockhart, not a fan, but he did get a couple big post-season hits. Got his job when Tony Graffanino hit .211.
Belliard, could pick it at SS. Was the SS when ATL won the WS. I liked him because, when he wore his batting helmet, he looked like the Martian in those Bugs Bunny cartoons.
Q. Veres, got hurt & dumped. Wasn’t crazy about the “direction the team was going” with him, but his ATL record is fairly incomplete.
Reggie Sanders, a real candidate for “Most Disappointing Atlanta Tenure.” Was good for almost every other team he played for, just not us. I think he had 2 productive weeks all year.
Caminiti, I obviously feel sorry for the guy. He was so washed up when he put on a Braves uni, truly a terrible 1B, but his problems were beyond the ballfield. A sad story.
Castilla, could pick it, had some power, didn’t really hurt the team too much, IMO. Still, one of the weaker links on a couple really strong teams.
Mondesi, another bad Atlanta tenure. Not much to say. He was bad, another washed-up guy.
Jordan, the first BJ was fun to watch & brought a lot to the team. His first half in ’99 really carried the team, was OK, not great, after that. The second BJ was simply washed up & shouldn’t have been playing.
Roberto Kelly, was never a fan. The best trade the Yanks ever made (for Paul O’Neill). Good thing he was on that near-forgotten ’94 team.
Woodward, can’t really do anything. I guess he wins.
I’m with Mac.
Lockhart’s suck might have lasted longer, but he was never as bad as Woodward has been this season.
I don’t remember Lockhart as being all that terrible, but admittedly that was long before I started reading up on stats on the Internet. Keith would at least hit you a few homeruns. Woodward brings just about nothing other than outs and errors.
While I do think too much time is spent on the suckitude of Chris Woodward—Newsflash: He ain’t the reason this team is where it is—I must agree that he’s a bottom-of-the barrel/lucky-to-be-in-the-league guy.
About the only thing Woodward is good for is his ability to replace a regular in a blowout. In those situations, his actual performance really doesn’t matter.
In fact, that might be the very definition of a bad player, a guy who does nothing well.
Ron,
Don’t lump Dotel in with these losers yet. Man, just one REALLY bad appearance and you want to throw him under the bus.
Baez was good until his appendix problem. Pratt hit a couple of homers. Redman had one decent start. Yes, there was no use for Pratt or Redman, but Chris Woodward has done NOTHING good with Atlanta at all.
From SI.com:
A baseball source said the Phillies have spoken to the Braves about closer Bob Wickman, who has been designated for assignment. It does not appear that the Phillies could work out a deal for him.
After 10 days if they haven’t worked anything out doesn’t he just become a free agent? Does that mean the Braves think someone else will make a deal? I don’t want him back but it would be nice to pick something up for him, like a bucket of sunflower seeds or something.
Why does Quilvio Veras get such a bad rap? He was great for us until he injured his knee. Granted, that injury occurred only a little after he had played a half season with us, but can you blame the guy for a torn ACL?
Before the injury (1st half 2000):
.309 BA, .413 OBP, .409 SLG, 110 OPS+, 25 SB (!) and 25 RBI out of the leadoff spot.
He was a better hitter than Brian Jordan and Javy Lopez and Furcal that year.
Do you remember how bad we needed a leadoff guy before we got him?
That injury effectively ended his baseball career. He tried to come back with the Braves the next year, but could not pull it off and never played again.
I don’t think Jordan should be on the list either unless you limit it to his 2nd stint with the Braves. Remember he was a pretty big free agent acquisition for us and could definitely be considered a “Met killer.” He may have signle handedly ended their division title hopes for a couple of years.
Sam,
The problem with Dotel isn’t necessarily his performance, but rather his lack thereof. He doesn’t pitch. He makes $5MM this season. Not good for the team.
ububba,
I focus on Woodward sometimes not because I think he himself is a major reason for the Braves’ struggles, but because I see him as a representation of Cox’s managerial blunders this season. This guy shouldn’t be getting any sort of playing time.
I only put possition players. I probably should have added Loftin and Pratt.
Moving Smoltz up on 3 days rest is bold or stupid depending on how you look at it. I’m fine with it because I don’t think they are going to do this for the rest of the year. The fact is that the two series coming up are a make or break period for this team. We have to have Smoltz pitch as much as possible in those 6 games. Next monday we can either write the obituary for 2007 or have hope based on reality.
Yeah, Belliard was a World Series winner. He also represents a direction that JS took to vault the franchise into the streak. Pitching and Defense!
Also, if we are going to throw pitchers on this list, how can we forget Albie?
Also, how about your 2001 opening day first baseman?
Rico Brogna!
Yeah, as bad as Jordan was in recent years, he was a good Brave before (which eliminates him from this list–it should only be people who always suck), I still like Brian a lot. A lot of heart too.
I think Woodward might’ve cost us one game this year, so I don’t go crazy about him. He shouldn’t be on the team.
But he’s not a 5th starter, he’s not a middle reliever, he’s not Andruw Jones (NL LMVP?) or Scott Thorman (doomed experiment?).
Those guys have killed us this year to larger degrees. Woodward has merely annoyed.
BTW, I’m not crazy about the Smoltz start on 3-days rest either. It smacks of desperation (OK, we’re close to desperate) and I don’t think beating the Mets is as big a deal as beating everyone else on his regular complement of rest.
Can’t vote for Belliard. He might have saved the World Series with his play to get the first out in the ninth of Game 6. Anyway, the play got Skip Carey excited.
I’ve never seen anyone play worse than Chris Woodward except possibly Sonny Jackson (which I know is going back a long ways before most of you can remember.) Sonny was actually a quasi-regular and was probably the worst shortstop I’ve ever seen. At least Woodward only sucks periodically.
How about Nick Esasky?
does anyone remember these rumors?
David O’Brien of the AJC cautions that the Braves are just one of several teams (White Sox, Orioles) going after Baldelli. The general structure of the deal is thought to be catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia, shortstop Yunel Escobar, and a starting pitcher. The Rays want that pitcher to be Chuck James, but the Braves might only be open to Kyle Davies.
The D Rays are looking to see whats out there for Baldelli again. My guess is you could get hijm for almost nothing now. He’s had another injury plagued year and probably doesnt fit into their outfield
The Devil Rays are stupid, stupid, stupid.
ubbuba,
have to echo your thoughts on woody and smoltz, but i was pleased to see a break between he and hudson.
while belliard was worthless at the plate he was solid at SS.
Lockhart has to be our man, purely based on his many years of sucktitude and having the audasity to take the “pictures” in the first place.
#62- it a sign of how players are soooo overvalued – Baldelli for Salty, Escobar, and Chuck James. Bad thing is we would’ve done Salty and Escobar
I agree that Chris Woodward is far worse than Lockhart.
How is it possible to have a utility infielder who can’t field the freaking ball? It actually boggles the mind.
I’m not sure there’s a worse fielding player on this team, and he’s not the first baseman, not the left fielder…HE’S A UTILITY INFIELDER!
At least Lockhart got a few big hits for us over the years. He was kind of annoying and was here for way too long, but it’s not like he was taking anyone’s spot. Graffanino sucked just as badly, and when we finally got somebody who was better (Giles), we let him go. Hell, we even relegated him to backup so we could play Bret Boone.
How can you forget Pendleton ver. 1996?
204/271/315 in 162AB. I whole-heartedly believe we would have beaten the Yanks in ’96 had we not trotted him out there for 4 games.
I’ll never forget the sight of him playing tee-ball between innings. Ugh.
Players who will be in ATL for September:
Paronto
Ring
Devine
Prado
Orr
Pena
Stockman (probably)
*maybe* Gregor Blanco (for another LH bat)
So the ‘pen will become a helluva lot deeper, and we’ll have another C on the bench. Oh, and Woodward will never have to play again. Ever.
Currently, Brandon Jones and Brent Lillibridge are not on the 40-man, so presumably neither will be called up. But since Wickman’s departure opens up a spot and I imagine both will be in the mix next year, I wouldn’t exactly be shocked if one of them got the call.
unfortunately Orr arrived early 🙂
i think i gotta give my vote to reggie sanders just because he used up so many AB’s……….and i’ll never forget a game in Wrigley with reggie running toward the line and leaping into the ivy……………and the ball hitting the wall three feet behind him
mraver, you forgot Franco. You know he’ll get the call, watching Woodward hitting makes me miss Franco more and more
mlb rumors
Renck suggests the Rox take a look at Bob Wickman. Meanwhile, the Phillies actually inquired but aren’t expected to work out a deal. The Indians will take a pass.
What are the steps necessary to activate Julio? Add to 40 man only? Must he add to the 25 man roster by Friday?
Ned Yost could be the next manager to get fired
http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/wcStory?contentId=6534058&storyNumber=2
Belliard definitely does not belong on that list. He was a great defensive shortstop and once upon a time he hit a HR….
Woodward truly sucks–but you might argue that Reggie Sanders was more frustrating to watch…
I would hope we would bring up Lillibridge and Jones for some time this year. Regardless of their arbitration clocks, I think it would do some good to see how they handle big league pitching this year, especially Brandon Jones who I think might start for us next year
I thought we might see Jones and even Lillibridge, but the Braves have put their names on the rosters for the Arizona Fall League–making their callup to Atlanta a lot less likely….
I don’t know, to quote Dennis Green about Chris Woodward, “He IS, what we THOUGHT HE IS!”
My point about Woodward is we all expected him to be crap–and he is crap.
Sanders is worse from the standpoint that we expected him to be a productive, everyday player and he was crap.
But Lockhart is the worst because we didn’t really know what to expect, he was complete garbage for 5 LONG, HORRIFYING YEARS (it seemed like 18) and he just kept staying on the roster.
Actually, Lockhart’s endless torture of Braves fans is closer to Pete Orr, since he inexplicably keeps staying around. But unlike Woodward, at least Pete Orr can run and play some defense. There’s SOME value, albeit very small.
And yes, count me on the love Rafy Belliard train…maybe it’s because he was a Brave during those glorious early years of this team’s run, the early 90’s. He was a feisty little guy, amazing defensive player…I can’t bash Rafy.
Keith Lockhart is the devil.
Belliard shouldn’t be on the list. Sure he couldn’t hit his way out of a wet paper bag, but he was very slick defensively, and Woodward can’t boast of that. Woodward wins, easily.
I vividly remember the day that Lockhart was quoted in the AJC (during his final season) as ‘complaining about playing time’ and I distinctly remember calling Mac and screaming obscenities into the phone.
Don’t worry about Mac…I remember when I informed him of this, I believe he was screaming obscenities back at me. We were both very angry.
OK, to give everyone in here an idea of how much I HATE keith Lockhart, think of all the angry posts I have had over the last few years about Andruw, Reitsma or Kolbb, double them all, and then you have how much I used to bitch about Lockhart over email or the phone with Mac. (or my family even).
I am thinking of voting for Castilla, because of his arrival Chipper moved to LF and the string of season crippling injuries started
At the risk of driving Alex over the wall, I never thought Lockhart was THAT bad. He was a pretty good hitter at least. It’s not as if he kept the Braves from winning the division.
Grrrrrrr 🙂
I guess it’s a matter of perspective. In Lockhart, you have a below-average player who got between 200 and 400 plate appearances a year for the unbelievable total of six seasons. In Woodward, you have a player who has played much less but who is completely unable to play professional baseball and seems to possibly lack communication between his brain and the rest of his nervous system and who, quite frankly, is probably a minion of Satan at the very least.
I always thought Clancy was pretty useless.
Bullet-proof argument, Mac.
Kyle,
All Mac’s argument proves is this:
Lockhart delenda est
&
Woodward delenda est
Mac,
Also, your use of the words “quite frankly” gave me the frightening image of Screamin’ A. Smith talking about Woodward. In the words of Homer J. Simpson…”ewwwww”
Exactly Alex –
It’d be difficult to be the defense in Lockhart or Woodward’s corner.
LISTEN TO WHAT I SAY! EVERYTHING I SAY IS IMPORTANT! I WANT SOME CHEESE DOODLES!
Watch out for the all caps police.
All-Caps Police.
😉
Mac,
That was a brilliant Screamin’ A. Almost as good as Turturro’s Billy Martin.
Man, I wish we were in the NL Central.
Actually, what I really wish is that Brian McCann would hit a grand slam every night and the spirit of Mark Berenguer would close our games.
(Ahem… Juan Berenguer.)
AAR,
The NL Central has returned to it’s “Comedy Central” roots.
Clearly Stephen Colbert has been managing the Astros, Jon Stewart the Cubs, Carlos Mencia the Cardinals, Adam Coralla the Brewers & for good measure, Dane Cook the Pirates.
No wonder the Pirates always sucked so bad
Considering how we’ve done vs. Cincy, Sparky Anderson must still be managing the Reds.
Justin,
It would explain a lot about the Pirates. When Lloyd McClendon threw that base at the Ump? That was really Dane Cook.
ububba,
I left the Reds out precisely because of how embarrassing we’ve done against them.
I never really cared about the Reds but now I officially HATE them. The Reds series may have cost our season more than anything.
Dane Cook is apparently dating Jessica Alba now. He is officially totally inexplicable.
Game thread should be up in the next couple of minutes.
Marc,
it’s not Esasky’s fault that he got vertigo, but he probably wouldn’t have had the numbers he had playing in Fenway, even in Fulton County Stadium.
NEW THREAD.
Sam,
True and you are right, it’s not fair to blame Esasky for his condition.
As an aside,it’s funny how they used to call Fulton County Stadium the “Launching Pad” until the Braves got Glavine, Maddux, and Smoltz. All of a sudden, it wasn’t.
@105,
During the “run” portion in Fulton County Stadium (1991 – 1996), the “Launching Pad” rep and effect was reduced by other changes in ballparks around baseball.
Examples, 1994 brought Mile High Stadium (later to Coors Field). That basically eliminated any thought of Fulton County as a super special hitting place.
Also Camden Yards and Jacobs were better hitters parks than their predecessors (unless you could hook one straihgt down the foul line, where they both had 310 ish distances before the deep disaster of the power alleys loomeed).
Also, after the move to the Ted even more hitters parks have opened in Houston, Philladelphia, Cincinnati, Phoenix, etc.