Home teams in italics.
Alabama 28, La-Monroe 3
Florida 72, Fla-Atlantic 8
Vanderbilt 40, Tennessee 30
Arkansas 24, MSU 20
LSU 52, Ole Miss 3
Kentucky 20, Georgia 19
Note for Alex R. and other UGA fans: I don’t actually think Kentucky is going to beat Georgia, but since I’ve gotten Kentucky wrong in every SEC game they’ve played this year, plus the Louisville game, I’m taking no chances and trying for the jinx. In other words, this pick’s for you.
Is there any hope for Anthony Lerew?
Very generous giving us 28 points against the War Hawks. I assume some of that will be defensive TDs.
I am wondering how many of our guys with a little promise (like Dan Smith, Charlie Morton, JC Holt, Diory Hernandez) (1) have to be moved to 40 man or could be lost and how many of those plus a few more on 40 man (Larew, Jeff Bennett, Thorman) have to be on 25 man out of spring training or else are lost.
I don’t know how to go about figuring that out, but Big Bird has some tough times sorting them out.
I like that Wren and Cox went to Arizona together. Even though I sometimes wonder about Cox’s rosy predictions (some of them are mind games) It is still good that we have had a long time when the Manager and the General Manager tried to get on the same page on personnel.
I am really sad this morning about my wife’s Ducks; the Dixon injury looked bad and a really cruddy way to blow your national title and Heisman chances. Damn.
I think the game last night made her feel worse than the 8 1/2 mos. of pregancy!
Thanks for the explanation Mac – ububba, AAR, myself and other Dawg fans appreciate your efforts.
That being said, I do think we will win the game, but I have a sneaking suspicion it’s going to be a nail biter. I am hoping for a game like last week, but these 12:30 Lincoln Financial games are harder to to get as juiced about.
Speaking of the time, I get that LSU is #1, but CBS is passing up on a far stronger game seeing as both the Dawgs and Cats are ranked, but instead going with what is expected to be a complete blowout by LSU over Ole Miss.
To ububba from the last thread, I would also now love to see the Dawgs spoil LSU’s chances. Also, even though the division is still Tennessee’s to lose, I have a sneaking suspicion that if we beat UK tomorrow, they pull the upset on the Vols next week.
Either way, I would love to see the Dawgs back in the Sugar Bowl!
re: Anthony Lerew
No.
one more thing-
Go Vandy!
Mac,
Now is not the time to bail on (or, er, off) my Wildcats.
I hate going to Sanford Stadium. I’m gonna have another Leach / Texas moment, I fear.
mlbtraderumors is saying the Brewers are looking at signing Jason Kendall because they don’t like Johnny Estrada. He can’t hang on anywhere, can he?
This was cherrypicked off the article on the Braves site. It was at the bottom.
Increased attendance in 2007 has given the Braves the opportunity to spend some more money this year. But their payroll isn’t going to outlandishly increase. It may move from $84 million to $92 million.
Sounds good, but not enough to offer arb to Andruw.
http://atlanta.braves.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20071115&content_id=2301252&vkey=news_atl&fext=.jsp&c_id=atl
Alex,
Are you sure AAR’s a UGA fan?
I felt bad for Dixon, and Oregon too. Does anyone know how Johnathan Stewart is doing? He was very impressive in that game. I saw him walking off with a limp near the end of the game. I did think that was probably Oregon’s best performance on defense that I had seen.
I always felt that the Heisman ought to go to Tebow this year. I really hope UT loses again. I do not want to see them in the SEC title game, and would much rather see UGA.
The Heisman ought to go to McFadden, who is clearly the best player in college football.
Stu,
I am 99.9% sure AAR is, unless I am imagining it?
AAR – whenever you log on, please confirm your Dawg loyalty 😉
I’m with Stu on the Heisman thing – but honestly, it’s probably my blind hatred of Tebow and Florida that cannot allow me to ever honor a Gator.
If Knowshon Moreno had been allowed to be the go to RB for UGA a few games earlier, there’s no question he’d be a Heisman finalist.
He’s been downright sick for us for a while now and I get a lot of joy watching him play football.
I think McFadden is clearly the best player in the nation. I am by no means a UF fan, but the guy has been unbelievable. I think Tebow is the most outstanding player in the nation, which is what the award is supposed to be about. He is 2nd in the nation in passing efficency and is a beast when he runs the ball. I think going into the game he had accounted for almost 1,000 more yards than Dixon. I believe that if they had a RB the caliber of either Jonathan Stewart from Oregon or McFadden they probably would have been the team to beat in the SEC East.
there’s no question he’d be a Heisman finalist.
I’d say there’s plenty of question whether he’d be a finalist. It’s pretty tough for freshmen to make it to NY, and as good as Moreno is, it’s not like he’s Herschel- or Adrian-good.
I am not even sure that Moreno would be the best freshman RB. Oklahoma has pretty good RB named Demarco Murray who is having a great year too.
Alex, here’s the answer. As an Atlanta native, it’s hard to root against a team that has “Georgia” right there in the title, and two of my closest friends here in DC are UGA grads and big Dawg fans. I’m not much of a college football fan at all — I went to a school that really, really sucks at sports, so even though I’m going up for the biggest game of the year this weekend, I don’t really care about college sports.
But when the Dawgs win, I’m happy it happened, and happy you’re happy. Also, screw Florida and Tennessee.
@ 18: “Also, screw Florida and Tennessee.”
AAR for President and Pope, but screw all teams with orange as one of their colors.
As a Duke grad, I never chime in about college football around here. I’m well aware that my alma mater is unpopular, to put it mildly (albeit Duke is less than irrelevant during football season, but still). However, I’d like to think that most of y’all can get on board with rooting for the Devils to add insult to Notre Dame’s injury this weekend. Then you can all go back to hating Duke hoops- which should be slightly more difficult to do this year, by the way. A young team, with no polarizing figure to despise (well, unless you see Coach K in that light), that plays a lot like the Phoenix Suns- they will be fun to watch.
John Sickels has a poll and comment thread about rating Jordan Schafer.
I have a buddy who played football for your alma mater, AAR. He graduated in 2004, though.
How shitty is UCLA??
Go Duke!
#20 – I’ll pull for Duke this weekend, I can honestly say that I never pull against Duke in football. As for B-ball thats a different story. This weekend Im with you
Actually, UCLA has been wracked with injuries and played a walk-on QB against Notre Dame, so I retract my previous question.
I remember how shitty Bama was with Spencer Pennington at QB (with 3rd string RB and FB too).. after those injuries, that team might have lost to 2007 ND too.
I read this somewhere: “Can Notre Dame upset Duke?”
I’m a Dawg & I don’t know how anyone can say that Tebow didn’t have the best season this year. I think McFadden is a more exciting player, probably a “better player” and he’ll be a much better NFL guy, but Tebow’s stats are ridiculous.
It goes without saying that I’m less than fond of Florida, but I damn-sure respect him as a player. And no, it didn’t break my heart that he was hurting when we played them.
Let’s give Knowshon Moreno a little more time before we start giving him trophies.
Oh, and go-o-o-o-o-o Vandy, sic ’em!
New poll.
is Edgar still a brave?
The assumption being “for the 2007 season, which is, thankfully, over”.
gotcha
ububba,
I look at Tebow’s supporting cast and find it hard to believe that just about anyone couldn’t put up crazy stats. Maybe not as obscene as his have been—he’s a great player, no doubt—but good nonetheless. I don’t think anybody else in the country could come close to doing what McFadden does. He has zero help from the rest of his offense. He single-handedly wins games. He’s the best, IMO.
Actually, UCLA has been wracked with injuries and played a walk-on QB against Notre Dame, so I retract my previous question.
Yeah, that guy was a walking turnover. Notre Dame didn’t move the ball at all and still won comfortably. Now they (UCLA) are using a converted WR at QB and are starting a walk-on tailback. They’ve just been crushed by injuries at the skill positions.
I’m also sad about Oregon’s demise. They were the best team in football at the beginning of the year (get the Michigan-Oregon gametape), but lost two starting WR and their backup HB for the season in the Washington game and now Dixon and maybe Stewart. You can only have so much depth. They could very well lose again to either UCLA or Oregon State with Brady Leaf taking snaps, which would likely allow the BCS bid and Rose Bowl birth to be decided by the USC at ASU game on Thanksgiving Day.
I voted Tim Hudson because his return to something like his form from Oakland was the main difference between 2006’s poor, under .500 team and this year’s 84 win team that wasn’t eliminated from playoff contention until game 157. Chipper, Edgar, and Smoltz certainly were worthy candidates you could make good arguments for. I’m not sure why Francoeur was listed. Moylan and Soriano were more valuable than him. If Escobar and Teixeira had joined the team earlier, they would have been contenders too.
They were the best team in football at the beginning of the year (get the Michigan-Oregon gametape)
No way. You realize Michigan had lost to Appy State the week prior, right? Michigan doesn’t defend spread offenses too well. Oregon was very good, no doubt, and I hate it that Dixon’s injury ends their season, but at no point this year have they been the best team in college football.
Escobar? Really??? For the second consecutive post, I will say, “No way.”
Good player, looking forward to him having the regular job…but there is no possible way to project him as having done anything to warrant Team MVP consideration last year.
Oh, and as someone who goes to the Rose Bowl every year, please let Ohio State win on Saturday. I have already payed too much money and fought too much traffic to watch anymore of Lloyd Carr’s idiocy. We need another USC-Michigan Rose Bowl out here like we need tangle with the Santa Ana winds.
USC-OSU isn’t even that big a deal since we play them in each of the next two regular seasons.
Did even one person vote for Soriano in the previous poll?
As much as I want to vote for Smoltz, I think Chipper Jones is the “Most Valuable Brave”.
Francoeur: GG defense, above-average offense, in the lineup every day. I don’t really think he’s a good candidate, but I listed everyone I thought I could make an argument for.
Nobody voted for Soriano.
Michigan doesn’t defend spread offenses too well. Oregon was very good, no doubt, and I hate it that Dixon’s injury ends their season, but at no point this year have they been the best team in college football.
They did just fine against Illinois and Northwestern. Whatever, I’ve got no time for SEC homers today.
With Dixon under center, Stewart running the ball, and their full complement of receivers they were unstoppable. It’s a shame it all fell apart. LSU-Oregon was the best game out there.
@ #19: As a Syracuse alum, I can say with a measure of certainty that orange is the greatest color of them all.
And what a mascot!
When I was there, it was actually a good looking girl inside that fat little orange.
Silly Dawg fans, the Vols are going to be LSU’s final stepping stone, not UGA.
Actually, I think we match up decent with LSU and everyone will pick against the Vols and that just motivates them. he he he!
SEC East champs!
MLB.com is reporting our payroll will go from 82mil last year to 92mil this year…..
@39: agreed.
Also… I’m reading Bonds could be facing up to 30 years if convicted on all counts. Is that in a federal pen? Is he likely to do ANY time in a federal prison? I understand that people don’t like the guy – I don’t – and that he probably cheated, but this seems to be getting too crazy for my tastes.
I think that Tennessee will win out (that won’t stop me picking them to lose) and then will get torn into little tiny orange shreds by LSU. Like 56-9, something like that.
NC game: LSU-Mizzou.
#19
Rednecks ALWAYS turn orange in the fall! (and no offense to Syracuse, Aram, though I haven’t forgiven Jason Cippola for ruining 1996 for the dawgs hoops squad – and now Cippola is banging Dr. Melfi from “The Sopranos”!)
So orange is my least favorite color – I am serious that I do not own 1 piece of orange clothing in my wardrobe. I root for 3 college teams in the following colors:
Dawgs – Red & Black
Tide – Crimson & white
Ducks – Green & Yellow
#39
Robert, I am an SEC homer but I couldn’t agree with you more – a healthy Oregon team, IMHO, was the best team that I watched play this year. A damn shame about Dixon.
#43
Smitty, while I respect how good your Vols can play (having seen our last 2 performances against Tennessee, I respect the Vols) I have also seen Tennessee lose plenty of games they shouldn’t lose.
As an SEC fan, I always root for the SEC (except for Florida) in all our Bowl games, and I was pissed as hell to see a talented, Erik Ainge led Vols squad lose to freaking, slow, plodding, Big 10 also rans, Penn State last year.
Stupid, nonsensical losses like that, hurt our conference’s credibility when shoving our thumb in the eye of the Big 10. It doesn’t change the fact that our conference is vastly superior, it just hurt the credibility.
Regarding Mac’s new poll this week, he & I discussed it the othe rnight and the only person of the 5 we disagreed on, was I felt that Peter Moylan should have made the list over Jeff Francouer.
But I voted for Smoltzie.
# 46
Even if Bonds were convicted on all counts without a plea bargain, it’s likely that the sentences would be concurrent rather than consecutive. Also, without a prior record, it’s doubtful that he’d get anything approaching the maximum 5 yrs per perjury charge or 10 yrs for the obstruction charge. While the federal system does require that 85 % of any sentence imposed actually be served (no early parole like in states), Bonds probably wouldn’t serve more than a few months (see Stewart, Martha).
Back to lurking. Oh, and go Dawgs.
I was born in Syracuse so I always give them some love as long as they aren’t playing my two other teams. The Dawgs and Wildcats. I love the dawgs for football, and the ‘Cats for basketball, not UK, Davidson.
I’m not willing to say that Oregon was the best, most complete team I saw all year. Their defense didn’t look so hot last night against a 4-win team—guys, when the other team has the ball you’re supposed to tackle. But I’d say that I found them most intriguing, despite their hideous outfits.
I wish I could’ve seen them play LSU. They would’ve posed some problems with their speed, but I think they would’ve had all kinds of trouble blocking them. And that’s just one side of the ball.
Of course, that’s all speculation & the reason why only the actual games should determine who comes out on top. If ever there was a year for a 3-round tournament…
All season long, the only relief I felt was on days when Smoltz was taking the hill.
But.. When Huddy pitched we were 22-12. When Smoltz pitched we were 18-14.
Just food for thought.
hey if a 17 year old in GA can get 10 yers for consensual oral sex with a 15 yr, I guess Bonds could get 30 yrs for lying about roids to the fed. jury. Both sentences show problems in our judicial system. My viewpoint is if Bonds lied about using steriods its kind of like the Pete Rose situation, ban him from baseball and keep him out of the Hall. Prison time seems too much, but I’m sure someone here will point out something in this situation that I dont see
One last thing about Cuse, because I know no one really cares, but goodness they need to fire Greg Robinson. It’s been mainly a basketball school since Boeheim took over, but that football program has become a complete disgrace.
I voted for Chipper.
Your right Alex. The Vols often lose games they should win. This Vandy game will be tough. We can beat LSU, but that will be a beast. We looked like shit against Penn St. Another stupid game plan. Sometime Fulmer pulls out a great game plan (see UGA and Arkansas this year) sometimes you wonder if he even has ever seen a football game (Bama and Florida this year)
Our basketball team looks great, even with Lofton struggling.
I think the position MVP this year was split between Chipper and Edgar. When Chipper was out, it was Edgar; when Edgar was out, it was Chipper. When they were both healthy and in the lineup, they were both great, though of course Chipper’s the better hitter overall. But because of injuries I don’t think I could name either of them the overall MVP.
I give it to Smoltz. He’s our horse and without a doubt one of the scariest pitchers in the league. Just the thought of having to face that slider as a member of an opposing team would give me shivers.
charmer: Any potential trades on the table involving Kelly Johnson and allowing Martin Prado a chance at second base? Any thought about moving Kelly back to the outfield to fill in the void of Andruw Jones leaving?
Wren: We are fortunate to have quality young players like these two, but we like Kelly at second and think he can be one of the best all-around players at that position.
Why would anyone want the Braves to trade Johnson so Prado can play? Does anyone really believe that’s an improvement for the Atlanta Braves?
Just as an aside about Chipper Jones, I was comparing his career numbers to Mickey Mantle (ie, both switch hitters). It’s a lot closer than I would have expected–Mick had a career OPS of .978 and Chipper’s is 946. Both of them are well ahead of Willie Mays, whom Joe Morgan annoints best player of all time. Of course, that includes Mantle’s last, declining years which brought his numbers down substantially while Chipper has not hit those yet. And Mantle played in a generally less hitter-friendly era. Still, I think this shows just how good Chipper is and I can’t understand the people (primarily on the stupid AJC blogs) that want to get rid of him. He is pretty clearly the second-best switch hitter of all time. He has missed a lot of games in recent years but so did Mantle. People talk about missing Andruw and not appreciating him but people will really miss Chipper when he is gone.
csg,
You must know that those are mutually exclusive situations, right?
You can’t resort to relativism when it comes to Bonds (or most public cases, really). Bonds is in trouble because he defied the Feds. They don’t like that. He knew the penalties & he did it anyway. Tough.
I’m not going to compare his situation to those of murderers, presidents, tax evaders or ham sandwiches. He did what he did & he’s going to pay, probably with a few months of freedom & certainly with a further destroyed public image.
Also, the federal judicial system has nothing to do with the states. Committing perjury in front of a grand jury is a very serious offense; it goes to the very heart of the judicial system. The fact that someone like Bonds thought (if he is guilty)that he is above, not only baseball but the United States government, shows how out of touch celebrities are with real life.
I voted for Huddy, for returning back to form, and saving our bullpen from complete exhaustion. I think Kali’s arm would have literally fallen off, if we hadn’t gotten the production that Tim provided.
That is probably the biggest plus for signing Glavine is to take forty innings away from our bullpen, then they may be fresher in the games they relieve Smoltz and Huddy, ergo preserving more wins, and maybe catapulting them into the Cy race.
I respect everyone’s right in here to talk about Bonds, but other than this statement right now, I refuse to talk about him – he doesn’t deserve the time. I hope he goes to prison – end of story.
Smitty-
The SEC just shows what a tough and crazy conference we are when a Tennessee can beat us handily, but gets killed by Bama – while the Dawgs and Tide play an O.T. nailbiter.
It further shows why the SEC is always the best conference every year, even if the National champion doesn’t always come from the SEC.
If LSU plays Tennessee, gotta pull for the Tigers to win and then win it all in the BCS.
If the Dawgs play LSU, well of course, go Dawgs and then hopefully we land in the Sugard Bowl (the Sugar Bowl is a possibility even if we don’t get to the SEC title game).
But if LSU makes it to New Orleans for the BCS title game, against presumably, the Big 12 survivor (either Mizzou, KU, or OU), well, go LSU.
#58
Dan, I saw that too and was scratching my head. Clearly, “Charmer” is not on BravesJournal unless that Tony or NY METS?
I don’t think any of us regulars here in Bravesjournal, whether you love KJ or not, want to see Prado over him. That’s just stupid.
As a Duke grad, I never chime in about college football around here. I’m well aware that my alma mater is unpopular, to put it mildly (albeit Duke is less than irrelevant during football season, but still). However, I’d like to think that most of y’all can get on board with rooting for the Devils to add insult to Notre Dame’s injury this weekend. Then you can all go back to hating Duke hoops- which should be slightly more difficult to do this year, by the way. A young team, with no polarizing figure to despise (well, unless you see Coach K in that light), that plays a lot like the Phoenix Suns- they will be fun to watch.
I lost all respect for you when you said “As a Duke Grad”
BUT…if you equate Dook with playing like the Suns you are not only on drugs, but also know absolutely nothing about basketball.
you have NO post presence…your best low post player (Singler) is MAYBE 210 lbs and 6″10″ who thinks he’s Dirk…the rest are SFs (Thomas/McClure/King)trapped in SG bodies who are slow-footed or SGs (Smith, Henderson) who can’t shoot or Cs who are stiffs. paulus is mediocre…and is a poor man’s wojo (who was a poor man’s hurley)…
but as a UNC grad, i’m a bit biased. but, i did graduate with my master’s from Dook…so…but i did another master’s back at unc…so…
#62
Justin, and that is my biggest complaint I have against Chuck James when Mac and I argue about him, ad nauseum.
Chuck James maybe unhittable at times for 5 innings, but if he can’t go past the 5th, he’s ultimately hurting the Braves because by mid season, he has singlehandedly taxed the bullpen.
It’s why I am perfectly happy for Wren to deal Chuckie if he finds a good offer.
Dan,
It clearly a misinformed question, and its probably down to the Braves fans not used to having such a clearly talented player at 2b. They have become so used to seeing short overacheiving 2baggers, that they can’t appreciate that we have an offensive advantage at second over 25 other teams. That’s what makes this board great, is that the commenters here are so much more intelligent than the common fan.
Alex,
While I am dissapointed in Chuck’s season, he will look a lot better as next season’s #4 starter. He will be above league average in that slot, and there may not be 10 other teams that can say their 4th is above league average. So I say hang onto him, and if we have Glavine in tow, then James’ contributions won’t look so bad to you.
I don’t know why so many people on those AJC blogs think the Braves losing a career .307/.403/.546 hitter would make the Braves better. Chipper Jones played in 134 games in 2007 too.
Joe Morgan really has Willie Mays above Ty Cobb and Babe Ruth?
Okay, I was planning my annual offseason Keltner List. Dave Justice will appear on the ballot for the first, and probably only, time this round; Fred McGriff is still two years away. So should I do the guy who has no chance but is on the ballot, or the guy who has a real chance, eventually?
Hate King, (#51), I’m a Vols and Wildcats (’03) guy myself and normally I just have UT football to really get into, but the last couple of years both UT and Davidson have been really exciting basketball-wise.
After Wednesday’s UNC game, where Curry was really cold and we still almost pulled it out, I’m just incredibly pumped to play Duke and NC State (and UCLA). Hopefully I’ll be able to make it to one of the big games and the SoCon tournament.
Dan, most everybody has Mays over Cobb, and Mays over Ruth is at least worth an argument once the entire picture — integration, defense, quality of play over time, not being captive to any number of bad habits — is taken into account.
Oh yeah, anyways, it’s always nice to see another Davidson man here.
I would vote for Fred, just because he’s a really interesting case. I’d say his chances are better now than they were last year, and may be better still next year, because the cloud of the Steroid Era will loom large over a lot of the big numbers that were racked up during the ’90s. (Unfairly, probably, when Jeff Bagwell becomes eligible.) But I’m hopeing that will allow some of those guys whose careers started in the ’80s to shine a bit more brightly in comparison.
McGriff, Murph, Tim Raines, guys like that.
Keltner List?
Help an old fart out here. What’s a Keltner List?
I won’t be as vituperative as Chris, but Duke (except in Chapel Hill it’s spelled dook) is lacking a proven post game, and I agree that questions surround Paulus’ ability to run the point.
But I will say Singler looks to be a player, but can he handle playing 20+ minutes on the block due to Lance Thomas’ fouling and Zoubek’s inability to guard anyone? Those People in Durham though, do seem to have a slew of folks who can hit the 3.
ermoore,
Curry has a torn ligament in his wrist that will require surgery at the end of the season. He is going to play through the pain this year.
http://www.charlotte.com/sports_breaking/story/365547.html
I was at the game on Wednesday. Other than giving it away with our poor 3pt shooting, I had a great time. The atmosphere was amazing.
SP, I linked to the Wikipedia article as an explanation. It’s a Bill James innovation and it’s one of my favorite offseason time-killers. I’ve done two.
Dale Murphy
Darrell Evans
Re Mays: Morgan frequently says that he thinks Mays is the best. Of course, Morgan didn’t see American League players for most of his career. Interestingly, although Mays was probably the better overall player because of his defense and base stealing, Mantle seems to be substantially better as a hitter, primarily because his OBP is much higher than Mays (and Aaron too). For much of their careers, however, the NL was considered the stronger league. And Mays was hurt by playing the latter part of his career in Candlestick Park, which hurt righthanded hitters. Nevertheless, Mantle’s numbers are statlingly good. No one really puts Mantle in the discussion as the best player of that generation, but he was awfully good.
Mays is fantastic and one of the greates players of all time, but if Joe Morgan says it, by nature I almost feel now I have to go against it. I am pretty much against almost anything Morgan says.
I don’t think there’s any question but that the NL was a far stronger league during Mantle’s and Mays’ careers. Heck, the AL wasn’t really fully integrated until about 1970. There’s a reason that the AL won a grand total of six All-Star Games (even though for four years they played two ASGs) from 1950 to 1982. Just look at the rosters sometime. It was basically the Yankees versus the National League for twenty years.
Mac;
Please do the Keltner on McGriff. It may lead to valuable knowledge about offense in the 1900s.
I couldn’t imagine taking Justice past the first question.
Ruth or Mays? Did Willie alter the game the way Babe did?
On the other hand, Willie is the finest example of how well the game could be played once everyone was allowed in.
I’ll take Hank Aaron!
I was fortunate (and ancient) enough to have seen all three of the New York centerfielders play in their home parks in the late ’50s. Because Snider played for the Dodgers, he was my favorite; but the other two were better, obviously.
When the Dodgers moved west, Duke was stuck in a most unfavorable park for a left-handed pull hitter. Wally Moon and his moon shots ruled, and the Duke’s long flies turned into outs.
I’ll take Bad Henry also, Kevin.
RE: the NL vs. the AL… This is from the period after Mays and Mantle (I was comparing Murphy and Rice) but wins by pitcher from 1970 to 1985:
CAREER
1970-1985
WINS W
1 Steve Carlton 267
2 Tom Seaver 247
3 Phil Niekro 246
4 Don Sutton 244
T5 Nolan Ryan 229
T5 Jim Palmer 229
7 Gaylord Perry 219
8 Ferguson Jenkins 215
9 Bert Blyleven 212
10 Tommy John 200
Carlton, Seaver, Niekro, and Sutton were primarily NL pitchers; only Palmer and Blyleven were primarily AL pitchers.
This is a pretty minor example of what I’m talking about. The frontline talent in the NL is consistently far stronger from integration in 1947 to sometime in the eighties. One of the reasons that the Yankees won so consistently in the fifties, far more than they did before the war, is that the rest of the AL was so poorly run. And when the Yankees collapsed, probably the four or five best organizations left in baseball were in the NL.
Coop,
I know old Brooklyn Dodgers fans here in NYC who swear up and down that Snider was the best CF at the time. Crazy fans, I know, but I appreciate their dedication.
Mac,
I’d love to see you give the test to the Crime Dog.
FWIW, I’m still at a loss as to how one evaluates players from the steroid era.
I vote for Coach Crime.
Mac,
Do McGriff for your Keltner List. He’s a much more interesting player than Justice, particularly as pertains to that discussion.
The Heisman ought to go to McFadden, who is clearly the best player in college football.
I’d vote for Glenn Dorsey.
Oh, this is great. I’m going to do McGriff and am starting some research. Here’s the listed ballot for 2011, the year after McGriff becomes eligible:
… huh? *laughs*
Wow. With an army of stiffs like that, Fred might actually make it. I’m really hoping Bags does.
John Sickels just posted his list of the Braves’ top 20 prospects, and it’s very favorable — 10 earn a ranking of B or better, which is very good in his system. There’s clearly a lot of depth in the system even after the Tex trade.
Did Eric Campbell really fall that far? Wasnt he a top 10 at one point?
Braves just trade Villarreal to Houston for outfielder Josh Anderson.
Huh. I’ll go take a look at Anderson and have a post up in a bit.
The HOF puts everybody on the ballot who meets the minimum criteria of playing in ten seasons and being a regular most of the time. Hence, Tino Martinez. Actually, that’s a fairly strong list, in that none of those guys is utterly ridiculous. The main point is that the Hall of Fame doesn’t think Mike Hampton is ever going to pitch again either.
Any word on who this Josh Anderson kid is? Outfielder?
Mike, Sickels loved Campbell in 2006. In July, he gave him a B and wrote that he was “becoming a favorite of mine and a candidate for a major breakthrough in 2007.”
At the end of the season, he gave Campbell a B+ and ranked him as the top candidate in the Braves system, ahead of #2 Andrus and #3 Saltalamacchia.
But he really did not have a good season at High-A this year.
I just heard the braves are one of four teams to offer Lowell 4yrs 50-65mil. WTF!
heard it on a fox sports radio update.
So he was number one? And then just completely fell off the list? Wow, that mustve been a bad season.
dans, that rumor has already been debunked….by Wren no less.
good
Anderson appears to be fast and punchless. He doesn’t get on base a ton, and really has no power.
I’m not happy with this guy. I like that Wren’s making moves, but this guy looks awful. A 24-year old in AAA ought to slug more than .341. (For an ISO of .068, ladies and gentlemen.)
Yep, a left-handed hitting outfielder who has speed, doesn’t walk a ton & has little power.
A 4th/5th OF. Ryan Langerhans, anyone?
Just hope this guy isn’t the stop-gap center fielder in 2008…
Astros’ press release:
http://houston.astros.mlb.com/news/press_releases/press_release.jsp?ymd=20071116&content_id=2301963&vkey=pr_hou&fext=.jsp&c_id=hou
I would assume Wren did not want to pay Villarreal’s arbitration. My guess is Wren gets another guy like Anderson and lets the two compete for the job.
We already have a Josh Anderson. His name is Gregor Blanco.
Anderson appears to fit the description of who Wren described as a possible CF for this year:
“In the trade possibilities that we have right now, one guy, I don’t know if I’d classify him as a veteran, but he’s been around for a few years at the Major League level,” Wren said. “Another one is young player who doesn’t have a lot of Major League time but has some Major League time.”
(From Mark Bowman’s 11/15 Notes article on the Braves site)
I personally expected Villarreal to be non-tendered, so I’m happy with whatever we got.
I have to say this trade underwhelmed me, but he did get a young CF who can play defense, and run the bases for an arb elegible noodle arm reliever who was likely to be paid more than he was worth. Not a bad trade, but not an exciting one either.
New post up, basically agreeing with HK and JJ.
Gregor Blanco’s moving up and Richmond needed another CF, clearly 😉