ESPN – Mets vs. Braves Box Score, September 2 2007 – MLB
I hate this team. I hate it, and I wish it would go away.
The Braves got a run in the first off of Tom Glavine, but as usual wasted an opportunity for more, leaving the bases loaded. The Mets tied it in the next inning, the offense went back into hibernation mode, and the Mets got a 3-1 lead with a two-run homer from Wright in the fifth. Since the Braves can’t come back from two runs down, and even if they did would only lose in extra innings, that was the ballgame. Smoltz got hung with a loss he didn’t deserve, but then so do lots of guys.
The Braves did get a run in the ninth. McCann doubled leading off, and KJ singled home Woodhead who ran for him. But Bobby sent up Stinky Pete Orr to pinch-bunt, and Stinky Pete predictably failed, and the next two guys grounded out anyway. They’re pathetic.
So which team sucks more? This year’s or last year’s? I have a hard time deciding.
“Who the hell bunts down three runs?”
The answer is: Bobby Cox. Not Woodward. It’s Cox who calls these stupid bunts. Vote for Bobby first. Or at least vote for “whoever it is, they’re a moron.” Don’t vote for Woodward.
Can we write the official eulogy for the season now?
Despite the pitching problems, the awful bench, the injuries, and the ridiculous roster decisions by Bobby Cox and/or John Schuerholz, I feel like the ultimate demise of this team was the lack of a will to win. We just went 4-6 on a road trip against sub-.500 teams and then managed to get swept by the Mets in a series where every pitching matchup seemed to favor the Braves.
How else can we label this sad effort?
Every time we said “this is a make-or-break period of the schedule coming up” the Braves wound up broken. Only the mediocre play of the rest of the NL has kept us in the race this long after failing every supposed test.
Frankly, I am disgusted with the play of the Braves this year and I do not feel like any wave of talent is poised to save us in the near future, especially after making trades that were absolute “play for today” moves.
Well, this year’s team has a chance to do what last year’s didn’t: finish at or above .500.
last year’s team sucked, this year’s team blows.
#4, 1 game over after today’s game with a month to play. Finishing with a worse record than last year is distinctly possible.
Now 15-22 in one-run games.
The Mets are 19-11 in one-run games.
how can escobar call himself a damn major league player when he f**k’s up a infield pop up. thats where it all started to go wrong from my perspective. i love this team but honestly right now all i can hear is the sound of a hoover going any time their name is mentioned. maybe we can get some key offseason pick ups. heres to next year, and what could of been this year.
Is it fair to say that I picked the worst series in the history of the team for my trip to Atlanta? ONE – I repeat: ONE – extra base hit in 3 games, that’s just pathetic. Thank you, Atlanta Braves.
I’ll be in town for the Phillies series as well, but I won’t go. Over 1.000 dollars for nothing.
Well, look at the bright side….Julio Franco is 49?!! Wow!
Ugh. I feel for you, Frank.
I never thought losing Edgar Renteria a month ago would cause us to suck this badly over the next month.
Renteria to DL: end of Braves’ 2007 postseason chances.
Phils lose.
@#8
Kiel,
In Escobar’s defense, he did everything possible to catch that pop fly: He had his glasses on, and he used his glove to shield his eyes from the sun. The problem is that nobody–Chipper or Diaz, who had a long run in from LF–helped Escobar.
When Willie robbed Delgado of a homerun in New York to win the game, I thought, ‘This is it. This is the spark the Braves need to get back in the race.’ Alas, that momentum, that killer instinct, never materialized.
Since the All-Star Break, the Braves outscored the opposition 270-227. (not counting today’s 1 run loss)
In that span they were 22-25. That was with an offense on fire and with a pitching staff with a decent ERA of 4.13.
I don’t get it.
Is it the manager?
Agreed, Remy (concerning #8).
Escobar doesn’t even make the top 10 when it comes to the list of things wrong with this team.
I just want to cry. Being a Braves fan in the NY area is bad enough, now I have to hear all the stupid arrogant Mets fans with there dumb accents go one about how great they are. Why is this team so bad? Why? Why does God hate the Braves?
Renteria to the DL did not kill this team. The team was actually better with Renteria gone (albeit because Tex had been added to the roster). We have been scoring plenty to offset the loss of Renty. We just have no killer instinct. What suprised me most from this series however, is how Chipper came up time and again with opportunities to bring some runs home and he failed miserably every time – that’s just not like him. Oh well. Here’s to hoping we get some good pitching for next year – our offense will still be killer.
And we need to work on situational hitting. We have got to be the worst team in the league at moving runners over with less than 2 out. STOP TRYING TO HIT A HOME RUN EVERYTIME AND GET THE DAMN RUN HOME – that’s what Bobby needs to tell this stupid team.
True they go up, swing swing swing, pop up, everyone wants to be Babe Ruth rather than hitting a single hear and a double there
Just got back from the game… I feel the anger at Escobar and all of that, but my beef is with Cox. I give up on him and this team, at least this season. This team was great, and then for a couple years it won in spite of not being that great, and for all of that Bobby Cox, for all of his questionable game-time decisions, deserves much of the credit. But now it is mediocre-to-bad and it should be better, and Bobby deserves that credit too. The decisions in the 9th to (1) pinch hit Orr and then (2) have him bunt was staggering. Several people in my section gasped, and I think a couple of them were Mets fans. Of course Orr sucks and messed it up, but right there is where I surrendered any desire to see this team again this year. They were playing to tie, in a home game, in a season where extra innings were just brutal. Orr’s messup is the penance Cox deserved for making such an awful decision.
And memo to JS: when no one on your bench can be depended upon to make a hit, you’ve failed.
Have a good rest of the season everyone. I’ll check back in when the nightmare is over and we can start talking about next season.
I was at the game today. Just got home. They just aren’t playing with any spirit right now. And frankly, they haven’t since Renteria went down.
As Lou Reed’s painter friend Donald once said, “Stick a fork in their ass and turn them over, they’re done.”
A sweep and the Braves are 1.5 back, but they’re now 7.5 back and dead. Upsetting to no end.
I’m with you, Adam, although I gave up long ago. I’ll check in periodically, but I hope to see MAJOR changes this offseason, starting with our manager. He really did a number messing up *this* offense, and the way he handled the bullpen all year (and going back to last year) was abysmal, but JS did him no favors with this pitching staff (or lack of).
Bobby can’t be blame by the way this team under-achieves. I will blame the pitching coach
If that makes you feel better, Pedro.
Must every losing team have a scapegoat?
20–You’re spot on that Chipper had a bad series. (I don’t mean this to sound like scapegoating.) Didn’t he hurt his shoulder on a swing 5-6 days ago?
Everyone talks about this “killer” offense but where was it this weekend? Where was it during the extra-inning losses? This team is inexplicable. Clearly, they have a significant weakness in pitching but they shouldn’t be this bad. In part, things have snowballed and everyone is trying to do too much but this team has not responded to any challenge all year. Realistically, they were in the race only because of how bad the rest of the league was. I hate to question people’s character, but I have never seen a team that plays with so little spark. I just got back from watching the Nationals beat the Giants 2-1 on a hit in the ninth. The Nats are in last place but acted as if they had won the World Series. Do the Braves do that? I have a lot of respect for Bobby Cox but I think he has done a very poor job this year. He has gotten absolutely nothing out of this team and all the talk about the “professional” locker room doesn’t seem to be helping. The team has been tight and playing not to lose all year. Maybe it is time for a change.
On radio, Pete said that Huddy had been pushed back to Wed with Tuesday’s starter TBA. He then added that the Braves were being very hush-hush about what they were going to do, but that a move might be forthcoming. My bet–we see the Vulture get a start. His last appearance was Aug 28.
Of course at this point it hardly matters who pitches.
I am thisclose to doing what Brian did and turning this site into an all-kitten zone for the next several days. Does anyone object?
Go ahead Mac
I bet kittens would get more hits with runners in scoring position than Braves hitters just did.
I hate cats. How about puppies?
love it! count me in.
man the media has totally emasculated michigan for their loss to damn good team.
losers 😉
Bradley stating the obvious, I guess.
http://www.ajc.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/ajc/sportscolumns/entries/2007/09/02/braves_playoff.html?cxntlid=homepage_tab_newstab
Do it, Mac.
New poll, first in a series.
what are exactly are we blaming people for? the season, the series, or the game?
The whole thing.
Why is tomorrow’s game a day game?
Because tomorrow is Labor Day?
I am still a big Braves fan and I would never
turn my back on them like you guys are. I will admit it sucks what has happened the last 2 seasons but I will learn to live with.
i hardly think calling a spade a spade is turning our back on the braves. sometimes the truth hurts, and the simple truth is this team isn’t that good.
Here’s more ammo for the Francoeur is really dumb idiot crowd.
“If you think about next year, we’ll have Smoltz, Hudson and Hampton — three No. 1 guys.”
I actually giggled at this.
The only funny thing about that statement is the Hampton part and he was a #1 in 2004 (a stretch for Francouer’s statement, but a reality).
The likelihood of Hampton returning to #1 Starter form is very small.
He hasn’t thrown a regular season pitch in over two years. Gimme a break. I’ll be surprised if he gives us anything.
And Hampton’s numbers in 2004: 172.1 IP, 101 ERA+. That’s barely a #3.
Regardless, Hampton was the Braves’ #1 starter in 2004.
Not in 2004; Jaret Wright was, and Thomson was probably the #2. Hampton was probably the ace in the second half of 2003, but that was a lousy pitching staff, essentially four #3 starters.
Question: Would the Braves be better off with four #3 starters or two aces and the rest of this crap?
Actually, Russ Ortiz was technically the #1.
Ortiz, Thomson and Jaret Wright were all better starting pitchers than Hampton that year, as well.
I don’t know, Mac. The circumstances are different. The division is a lot better now and we had Leo back then.
I don’t discount the defense of that ’04 team either. They were pretty good with Furcal and Giles up the middle and Drew, Andruw and Chucky Thomas in the OF.
There’s no way the Braves can depend on Hampton to be anything but a #5 starter.
If they do, we can expect another year out of the playoffs.
Rotation should be something like this:
1. Hudson
2. Smoltz
3. Free Agent
4. James
5. Hampton
#57, yeah exactly. Cormier and Reyes should only be insurance for the likely event that Hampton goes down again. James is clearly a #4 with his 5 inning limit and homeruns galore. Carlyle did a nice job in June and July. I wish him well pitching for the Royals next year. JS needs to bring in somebody else to back up Hudson and Smoltz whether that means signing Schilling, trading for Santana, or whatever.
That’s how I have it too. Smoltz, Hudson, new pitcher acquired via trade or free agency, James and Hampton.
Go into 2008 with Hampton as the #5 and not the #3 like this season and I think the Braves will be fine.
Do you guys think a true #3 starter fixes this team?
I mean, if it did, wouldn’t we be more in the playoff hunt in this year’s mediocre NL?
It won’t totally fix this team but it’s a good start. I figure we’ll sign a couple of potential #3’s in the off season. Much like we filled a specific bullpen need with Gonzo and Soriano this year.
I gotta say, though, this year doesn’t hurt as bad as last year did. I guess I’m getting used to it…
*dammit*
Anyone else going to Bark In The Park? Our 3-legged buddy, Mr. Cairo, is going to his first baseball game. Needless to say, we’re very excited!
By any chance is Mr. Cairo named after the Peter Lorre character in The Maltese Falcon?
From MLB.com:
“The Braves have won just seven of the 21 games that Woodward has started this year.”
Somebody really has to show that to Bobby…
Wow. That’s almost funny. Of course it makes sense since the only way Woodward starts is if he takes the place of a good player (Chipper, Renteria, Johnson/Escobar, or Tex).
You guessed it Remy. We had watched the movie (again) the night before he showed up at our back porch.