I still hate Coors Field. Humidor or no.
When I said that Hall and Oates were the worst video band of all time, it was before I’d seen this. Good God.
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I still hate Coors Field. Humidor or no.
When I said that Hall and Oates were the worst video band of all time, it was before I’d seen this. Good God.
Use code “Journal” for a 5% discount.
Dang. When you said humidor, I was hoping they had installed a cigar bar like in Tampa.
Oh common! The Temptations are amazing!
Those are the Isleys–when they were thin.
Oh, and that video… scary. I kept expecting the backup dancers to start making out at any time.
Isleys, nice. I never watch the videos, but I watched this one.
Are they supposed to look like marionettes? If so, nicely done. Very convincing.
I should say, “. . . when they were thin and free of legal problems.”
I thought it was the legal problems that kept them thin
Well, I guess it takes a worried man to sing a worried song.
Not a fan of Coors either. Basically, I hate not having last at-bat in that place.
I don’t want to sell my team short, but a 4-game split wouldn’t bother me.
Only good thing: I enjoy the Braves games that start later.
NCAA Prediction: Memphis 83, Kansas 80.
But I’m rooting mildly for the Jayhawks.
Have a mentioned that USC played both those teams down to the final possession? And had Memphis beat if their 85% FT shooting PG makes two free throws at the end?
What’s that? I mentioned it numerous times and nobody cares because USC crapped the bed in the first round against K-state? Right, right now I remember.
I think Memphis will win but have no real rooting interest.
Do they have a temperature cut off where they won’t play games because its too cold? It’s going to be in the low 30’s tonight in Denver…
The weather should play right into our hands, as Glavine’s 82mph fastballs away will be stinging some Rockies’ hands!
Robert,
Is Mayo returning?
Robert,
Is Mayo returning?
He hasn’t said yet, officially, but he’s got to be gone. He would be insane to stay, and he doesn’t seem to be insane. He’s Top 5 at this point, there is nothing he can’t do.
We are more concerned with the second tier guys like Taj Gibson and Davon Jefferson, who could probably convince themselves they could sneak into the first round of the draft if they left. Since SC has no seniors, if they could return those two and add Derozen (and of course his good buddy and walking recruiting violation Lil Romeo) the team should be at least as good as it was this year. Which by SC basketball standards was pretty good.
Who among USC’s revenue sport athletes is not a walking recruiting violation?
I think Kansas will take it 72-66.
Also, can we get a new poll question?
Who among USC’s revenue sport athletes is not a walking recruiting violation?
Good point. Why would any young man ever want to come to Los Angeles to play ball? Must be cheating.
How Bruin of you.
I hope that Brent Mayne isn’t available to come out of the bullpen tonight for the Rockies.
I feel sick. I think it’s morning recap time again, assuming they get this game in.
weird that the lineups havent been posted yet. i wonder if there’s some delay with the cold weather and snow flurries.
My question: After seeing the Kansas/UNC game .. how good was Davidson after all?
No better than you thought they were. Kansas played horribly against Davidson and played one of their best games of the season against UNC.
Yunel and Chipper get hits… and Tex does nothing.
Lol can’t have it all and he basically won us the game yesterday.
Some good throws there.
This is the first game I’ve seen Glavine pitch this year. I’m feeling a sudden sense of deja vu and nostalgia.
Cook looks like his about to trip every delivery.
I just tuned in – how did the Braves get their run?
I just had an idea for a rules change in MLB:
At least 10 players on a team’s 25-man roster and 18 on your 40-man roster have to be “home-grown.” It would expedite trips through the minors, keep more players around their original clubs..
Kyle,
With 1 out in the first, Escobar singled. Chipper doubled to deep left. Escobar in standing at home.
Thanks for the update FCB
@29:
I like it.
Also, my mancrush on Yunel Escobar continues unabated.
The Colorado colour guy is getting on my nerves.
Nice start for Glavine. Maybe a good time to face the Rockies right now since a lot of their bats are kinda slumping.
The Renteria trade looks great that’s for sure.
Escobar is definitely one guy where PECOTA have it wrong. Just by WATCHING this guy it’s obvious he was a player.
Way early but I guess he has made Lillibridge tradeable as well.
For pitching or perhaps replacement for Tex.
PECOTA’s only as good as its input, and I think this is the kind of case it does the worst with: he’s from Cuba, his development is totally different from most minor-leaguers, and he just hasn’t spent much time in pro ball. PECOTA in general does a good job, but this kind of player it basically can’t get right. Escobar is MLB-ready, right now, and there’s no way for PECOTA to figure that out.
Glavine’s been pretty great so far.
Good points Nathan.
Tulowitski is even more awesome.
So many good shortstops right now.
The game is already halfway through under an hour. Glavine’s thrown 41 pitches, Braves lead 1-0.
Cook is a beast right now – the only balls that were hit remotely well were the in the first inning. Now everyone is just hitting little dinkers.
I agree ububba, Glavine’s got a gem going right now!
52 pitches in 5 innings lol
Glavine to Nix in the 5th — now that’s pitching.
Spiezio gets three years of probation.
Can we PLEASE get this guy out of the game so we can tack on some more runs…
Man, can you believe Glavine tonight?
This is vintage.
Yes classic Glavine that inning. Never gave in and Helton did well not too swing at some of those pitches.
Holliday he just knew he would get.
RUNS please
This can’t be, Keith Law said Glavine was done and that the Braves would release him by late May.
Good. Give some of those guys in the ‘pen some rest.
Glavine got his cape back!
Great outing from Glavine. Let’s not blow it now.
Gotta use that bullpen, huh Bobby?
If Glavine’s gonna be a 6-inning pitcher, I’ll take those 6 innings.
Yeah, kinda odd that Bobby takes Glavine out there…he didn’t look noticeably winded in the seventh, and it’s just a guy on first.
Moylan? Really? Will this guy ever get a night off?
88 pitches, and there’s not one guy in our pen I trust to not give up a HR now.
Well, it looked like he was losing effectiveness. Probably a good move to take him out now before it gets worse.
Of course, that’s assuming Moylan doesn’t blow it.
…yeah, if your bullpen can shut guys down. Ours cannot.
Looks like Cy Cook is out of the game, so that’s good. Moylan falling apart…
Dear Lord Moylan.
..where in the world is McDowell? Oh, there he is. Thanks.
plus, he’s 42 years old. the season’s early and he probably can’t go much more. 3 of the last 5 men reached base… I think it was the right move to go to the pen.
Hitting Posednik of all people not good…
Tavarez sucks though
Bad feeling.
If he can’t go past 88 pitches, we’re in bigger trouble than this. Let him finish the inning–and he looks pretty pissed in the dugout.
whether Moylan was the right choice… that’s another story altogether.
Peter Moylan has pitched in 6 of the 7 games the Braves have played this season. This means he is on pace to appear in 139 games, which would be a record.
Nice. Worked out.
Woohoo!!
Whew.
Moylan usually comes through
68 — and might possibly make him an amputee candidate
Payte!
Aussie! Aussie! Aussie!
Fastball, fastball, then that big slider. Tavarez was just hoping to make contact.
I’m just sad it can’t be 162 games.
Moylan is always the right choice, right Bobby?
Killing my blood pressure
They were just trying to get Cook out of the game…worked out well.
The Rocky Mountain Air is really helpi
77 — think positive — it could be more. (i know… you meant regular season)
He definitely deserves some rest.
At least it’s one inning at a time now… am I remembering wrong if my memory tells me he used to work multiple innings in games?
And Glavine NEEDED to get out of the game there. He was noticably winded and throwing ALOT more balls.
At times I mean
Blaine Boyer? Erm. Okay.
Boyer next.
hoping for a fist pump
hoping he doesn’t groove one.
I’ve been really happy with Boyer this year. Fingers crossed he keeps it up. You know, without blowing out his arm.
what time did this game start?
Fulton, you’d probably say the same thing about any single person they brought out of the pen.
Adam – 8:35 ET. 1 hour, 49 minutes so far..
Right you are. I’m sending a get well card to Mike Gonzalez right about now..
leadoff double…we’re begging them to tie it (or worse).
Troy Tulowitzki kills us as usual.
Did him a favor with that big hook there.
Blaine “Hanging Curveball” Boyer
Another empty the bullpen inning on the way…
Well bullpens mostly suck. You have two sometimes three good guys and the rest are trouble.
That’s the way for most teams.
It’s the one thing that is worrying about the team this year. Not the bullpen itself. Everyone have those issues but having to rely on it way too much.
That’s the scary part.
4 games in Colorado…this is why I wanted Glav to at least try and finish the inning. Come Thursday when Chuck “5 innings–maybe” James pitches, we could be using position players to pitch.
Wow, that was a great K pitch to Helton.
woo struck out Helton!
Do you walk Holliday?
Completely inevitable.
kaboom.
Wonderful.
Ohman and Acosta in the bullpen… that’s, um, not confidence-inspiring.
….in retrospect.
That’s outside…but I’ll take it.
This bullpen sucks. Fix it Wren.
D’oh!
bleh
Sorry, Tom. We’ll do better next time.
Should have IBB’ed Holliday
Dear Mike Gonzalez..
How is your arm? Are you feeling better. Get your [word removed] back. We miss you. And love you. Just not like that.
Signed,
The Braves Nation
What a crap pitch.
So predictable.
In other news, f*%#.
I’m a bit surprised Holliday got anything to hit too. I know it sounds like 20-20 hindsight, but it’s kind of a no-brainer. Save your brawn for another sport, you gotta be smart. Bleh.
And really, you can’t even be too upset with Boyer. We’re playing to win a game 1-0 in Coors, which is stupid. Blame the offense that was shut down tonight, at one point 20/21 guys getting out.
Two straight wins for Glavine blown by the Braves’ bullpen. Thankfully he already has 300 wins.
Another loss. Though I guess you can’t expect to win, in Colorado no less, when you score one run.
I can and will be upset with boyer.
I can’t believe that fastball down the middle didn’t get past Holliday
You can’t really expect to win a game with only one run.
And I guess Soriano isn’t available tonight, which is probably why Boyer started the 8th instead of Acosta.
Well that totally sucked. Let’s see if the top of our order can do anything in the 9th
Did anyone else notice that Boyer’s velocity was way down from the other night?
Hawpe knocked the crap out of that one. What was that, 3 inches?
welcome home glavine. you were here during our good bullpen years. how does it feel to come back to this horse shit?
Do you think Matt Holliday is angry at Roy Halladay for stealing the nickname “Doc”?
Also, Will Ohman is entering his 6th game of the year, which means he’s on pace for… 139 appearances. Notice a trend?
As Milo Hamilton used to say, “Gotta go get ’em Braves…”
@124 – You can, however, expect to win a game when leading in the 8th inning. It’s all relative. Or, in the Braves case, eerily familiar.
Tex-McCann-Francoeur-Kotsay-Diaz-KJohnson are 0-17. That’s your ballgame.
When did Holliday get the nickname “Big Daddy,” because these Colorado announcers like to use it. A lot.
Hawpe knocked the crap out of that one. What was that, 3 inches?
Almost stopped it on top of the plate. Pretty impressive.
How about another 2 run homer from Tex?
kj and or escobar get on, chipper with enough of this crap, knocks a 2 (or 3) run dinger. bank on it
@132, not with this bullpen, and not at Coors Field.
Bullpen is still not good enough for elite level or to challenge for the division title. Too many “just a guys”.
Way to go, KJ.
one.
Escobar had better not bunt
..and the most annoying mascot in baseball is out. Still looking for Baby Bop.
Chief most pitchers out of the bullpen aren’t that good that’s why they’re in the bullpen 🙂
Okay, he should have bunted.
Escobar should have bunted.
Owch.
I totally would have tried a hit and run there with Yuni
When did Bobby Cox stop bunting in situations like this?
you know what? there was no better time to bunt.
argh Escobar….
I just read in scouting report that you have to lay off his low pitch and everything else is avr…
damn
I wouldn’t have liked a bunt, but a hit-and-run probably wouldn’t have been a horrible idea.
Weak.
That sucked.
2 hours and 5 minutes…
We didn’t have to suffer for long.
Another one run loss…
Bobby doesn’t play small ball. We’re the king of the 3-run HR, y’all know that.
I liked it when we were winning.
You have to play for the one run there Bobby, but as Pat Dye said, hindsight is 50/50.
That kind of hurt.
Blaine Boyer owns two losses already
Another defeat snatched from the jaws of victory. A Braves specialty.
No real sense in tying it, I guess. Extra innings in Coors? Bleh.
Mac’s gonna have a fun recap to write. That was frustrating.
Playoff caliber teams do not repeatedly lose games like this.
Yet another one-run loss.
Not much too root about in this one.
All of our losses so far are by one run
Right. That happens when you can’t stop anyone late.
MikeM, do you have stats on that? I doubt that’s true over what is a long season.
EVERYONE loses many games like this. Calm down.
I still don’t think we will be losing games like this for long. Most of our bullpen is still young, but with live arms. I truly believe we will have one of the best bullpens in the league before long.
So let’s see:
1. Walkoff homerun in the ninth.
2. Blow lead in middle innings, make big 5-run ninth inning comeback, lose anyway.
3. Blown lead in seventh inning, lose in extra innings.
4. Blown late game away.
That about covers heartbreaking losses.
Only three hits? In Coors?
5. Lose game started by Aaron Cook.
MikeM,
This is not a playoff caliber team. More holes than Swiss cheese. If I had to guess, I’d say around 3-6 games over .500, maybe.
Aaron Cook’s a pretty good pitcher, actually. This still sucks, though.
Guys, relax. You’re all ignoring the fact that we’re pythagging the crap out of the league.
coors and 30 degrees might i add.
also, all 4 of our losses are compliments of the bullpen.
chief nocahoma, i’ve heard you use that line before. where are the holes? the bullpen will need more than 7 games to decide their fate. the starting pitching is probably, thus far, the best in the league, the offense is averaging 6 runs/per, and the bench is ridiculously better than last years. where are the holes? if you say the holes are in the pen, then i say give it ’til june, when gonzalez comes back and see then.
In Pythagorus we trust…
The offense is to blame here. Three hits from this lineup is shameful. Stupid game tonight.
I will say we need more innings from our starting pitching.
It’s not the bullpen that is the problem, it’s having to use them and rely on them so damn much.
Very few teams if any at all have 3 or 4 reliable pitchers in the bullpen they can use day in and day out without it resulting in defeats.
No he’s not. He’s career 48-48 with a 4.60 ERA and gave up 4 the other night to the Cardinals.
RyanC,
I think that the majority of this board are WAY too stats oriented.
You don’t have to look very hard to see this is just an average team overall. Parts are good, but the sum of the parts of this team when taken all together is not championship caliber, period.
…which is why our starter, at 88 pitches, should have stayed in. Moylan could have then pitched the 8th and Soriano the 9th.
I blame Frenchy.
And “Bucky” Boyer.
(just kidding, Cook’s 36-36 with a 4.59 ERA. The Rockies’ website is wrong.)
How can anyone not blaming the offense? Hey, at least Soriano does not need to pitch on three consecutive days!
Cook is definitely benefitting from their infield defence too.
Tulo was just lights out.
Compare that to what Hudson has to deal with when he is pitching.
Trent…Prado delenda est…
Aaron Cook has an ERA+ of 108. His ERA looks below average because he pitches in Coors Field. His record sucks because, other than last year, he pitched for an awful team.
He’s an extreme sinkerball pitcher who is a solid middle of the rotation pitcher.
And Bobby was right to take Glavine out when he did. 3 of the 5 final batters he faced reached base.
Tough loss. Guess it’s time to score 10 runs again.
I don’t really blame Frenchy. I just rolled an 8-sided dice and his number in the order came up.
He does seem to be a bit off his game so far, though. Getting hit in the face will do that, I guess.
/Go Braves!
I agree it had gotten to that point. You could leave him to face Hawpe because Hawpe is so horrible against left handers but that was it.
Maybe the real small thing this game came down to, as it played out with the low scoring, was just Holliday seeing a pitch he should never have seen with him being their best weapon and 1st base open.
Ok, y’all are right. Aaron Cook is awesome and Glavine was done after 88 pitches on a cool night. Our offense was obviously not to blame, nor was Bobby, so what was it? How do you come off a sweep of the Mets and lose to a 1-5 team?
It happens.
FWIW, that 1-5 team is the standing NL champ.
Random thought, I’m wondering if there isn’t an effect on the bats moving from a warm environment to a near freezing one. Seems like our guys broke a bunch of them at the beginning of the game.
I know anytime I have put a bass in the cargo hold of a plane, especially during winter, it doesn’t “play right” for a day or two.
Brad, calm down, man. I’m frustrated, too, but it’s not worth getting so worked up.
Unless you’re a Memphis fan, too…
I’m fine. Just got my hopes up when we looked so good against the Mets…but maybe that’s more an indictment against the Mets.
This hoops game could be one of the all-time chokes.
They had it in the bag, and will lose.
By David O’Brien
April 7, 2008 11:13 PM | Link to this
For those wondering why Blaine Boyer was pitching in the eighth inning, it’s because Cox was giving Soriano the night off and Acosta was going to close.
Not to get riled up again, but there are some…problems with this.
Remember, Soriano had an abbreviated Spring Training. He had just gone on back-to-back days, and didn’t have it yesterday.
Not to get riled up again, but there are some…problems with this.
That if Bobby uses anyone except Soriano or Moylan we are going to lose? Is that the problem you are talking about?
…one of which was in a 6-run game. Ok, I’m done. Try again tomorrow.
Moreso that Manny Acosta was going to close a close game at Coors, which I don’t think is a good managerial strategy.
nocahoma,
just because you said “period” doesn’t negate the fact that you totally dodged the question: where are the holes? answer the question then we can have a real debate and not just outwit each other. adding, i’m not a “stat” guy, but busting on the board because they study the game is foolish. that’s what makes it a baseball blog.
A 6 run game in the first game of the year against the division rivals.
Ok, great. But was it worth him not being available tonight? What’s the difference?
If Sori isn’t going to close, shouldn’t the ninth belong to Moylan? I don’t agree with Bobby on that one at all. Somehow, he still hasn’t figured out how to use a bullpen after all these years…
A very disappointing loss, which can only be partly tied to the bullpen. One run and 3 hits in Colorado is not going to cut it. Tex ( to return to yesterday’s thread) is not even at .200 and while I have every reason to believe he will have a strong year, it would have been nice if he and the rest of the Braves’ hitters could have done more at plate.
I know its early, but following the game (in the afterglow of the sweeping the Mets) felt a bit like 2007 where the Braves look good for a couple of games and then appear to be inept.
On the bright side, at least Heyward is off to a good start at Rome…
Whether some in here choose to blame the bullpen or not, it’s important to note that according to ESPN’s SportsCenter News this morning on ESPN Radio (when they do their quick highlight review of the previous night’s games), they made the point to comment that our bullpen is responsible for 4 of our 5 losses.
It’s not necessarily panic time yet. (For the W.S. favorite Tigers, it is – they are supposed to be better than everyone except maybe the Bosox and they are in the American League, a lot tougher).
Our starting pitching for the most part has looked really good.
Our offense, except for last night and the opener, has been pretty solid.
Overall, Moyland and Soriano, the two back end guys look like theey’ll be fine.
The rest of the bullpen is a concern. I don’t understand it, frankly. There are so many “live arms” in there, it doesn’t make sense how they could be so unrelieable already.
But if the Braves can at least put 3 wins in a row together (almost the case until the bullpen last night) I think this team with our quality starting pitching can get on a roll.
Frankly, I see a lot more “cause for concern” from the Mets than us. They have ONE reliable starting pitcher, we have at least 4 that look capable of being very good to great.
Ok, small sample size. Probably a coincidence.
But for the second time this season, the one guy in the inning that we couldn’t let beat us did. Zimmerman of Natspos being the other. Not even counting B-I-H Nady.
There’s a problem here.
Off topic, but Andruw and Juan Pierre are having a tough go of it for the Dodgers.. .115 and .067. Nice way to spend millions.
I disagree with you Alex about the offense. The bullpen has certainly had problems, but one run and three hits in Colorado (humidor or not)? Against Aaron (Cy Young) Cook? And it’s not just this game and the opener; it was the second game where they couldn’t score again after being given five runs in the 9th; it was the last game against Pittsburgh where they did diddly against a crappy bullpen. Really, do you expect to win a game 1-0 in Coors Field? The offense is supposed to be the strength of this team, yet they veer from awesome to pathetic from game to game. The Braves don’t need to score 10 runs every game but they need to be able to consistently score 5. And it’s not as if this is something new–it was the same thing last year.
I’m not that worried about the bullpen because I think they can get the job done reasonably well if they have some leeway. Expecting to win a lot of 1-0 and 3-2 games in today’s baseball is unrealistic. Bad pitches are going to happen.
I don’t think it’s time to panic at all. The Mets, Braves, and Phillies are all similar teams–all have talent but are very, very inconsistent both offensively and defensively. This is why these are 87-89 win teams rather than 95.
Lousy night–both Memphis and the Braves gave away their respective games. I hate Kansas.
Yes the lineup was ugly last night, but I think last night is not going to be common with this lineup. There are too many good bats from top to bottom. The bullpen on the other hand should cause more concern. We have many live arms, but not a lot of experience to really know what to expect. The lineup will be fine, but the bullpen is a question mark if you ask me.
Good point about letting the best bat beat us, especially with 2nd base open.(The “don’t put the. Winning run on” rule isn’t always credible if the batter is your biggest homerun threat.)
Also the point about 4 out of 5 games lost by (or at least heavily contributed through the efforts of) the bullpen is yes, perhaps a coincidence, and/or a small sample size, and it is a long season….but I feel everyone on this blog (as I do) just cares so much and are such great Braves fans, that we do get very frustrated very easily.
I suffered through the losing years with low expectations. This team is talented and can win-so we want them to live up to our level of expectation.
All the stats, strengths and weaknesses have been discussed (very knowledgeably and with fun-filled and entertaining spirit!) But I have a “hunch” the Braves will be in the playoffs if not the series. Even John Kruk said so on ESPN (I know he isn’t renowned for Gammons-like intellect but they BOTH agree!)
Marc, as far as the offense, Joe’s point about the stiffness in 30 degree wind chill with wind blowing in your face can’t be overooked.
Time will tell but I predict low-scoring games each night and Hudson will totally dominate. The Braves should break out when the get back to the Dogwoods and Azealas!