ESPN – Marlins vs. Braves – Box Score – June 05, 2008
Tonight’s numbers are 400, 4-for-5, and .418. Chipper hit his 400th career homer, and he went 4-5 and is hitting .418. In June. .418!
Similar script to most of the series — early runs and lead changes. The Marlins got a leadoff homer from Hanley Ramirez. The Braves followed with three first-inning hits to score Escobar, but Francoeur grounded out to end it. In the third, Escobar homered off the top of the wall, and the Marlins screwed up an easy double play grounder from Francoeur to score KJ, making it 3-1.
Jair Jurrjens had a terribly unfortunate fourth inning, in which the Marlins didn’t hit a ball hard but had six singles and four runs scored. It really wasn’t his fault, but if you aren’t a high strikeout guy that sort of thing’s going to happen. The Braves got a run back in the bottom of the inning; Anderson tripled and scored on an Escobar GIDP.
The Braves got back into the lead in the fifth when McCann hit a two-run homer, scoring Teixeira. Francoeur doubled to follow, but was stranded when Bobby let Jurrjens hit with two on and two out. I questioned the decision, but Jurrjens got the Marlins 1-2-3 in the sixth. Chipper hit his homer in the bottom of that inning to get to the final score. (Later in the game, he singled and then stole second, his first steal of the year.)
The bullpen did its job. Ring got them 1-2-3 in the seventh. Bennett, back in the setup role, got the first two, then allowed a double; he pitched around the next batter and got a strikeout to end it. Soriano allowed a one-out double but other than that looked good, striking out Uggla the Terrible and getting two popups.
Here’s the mlb.com scouting report on Jacob Thompson, our 5th round pick, who (if everything goes right) might be a pretty good pick. It’s always nice to get an upside guy in a later round.
Fastball: Thompson will touch 92 from time to time, but generally sits in the 88-91 mph range.
Fastball movement: He’s got some movement, pitching from a downhill plane.
Curve: It’s kind of two pitches. It’s mostly a curve, with a three-quarters break with good depth and sharpness. Then, when he throws it harder, it’s more of a slurvy, slider type of pitch.
Changeup: It’s an improving pitch and he’ll need it to get better to be more effective.
Control: He doesn’t throw pitches over the middle of the plate and has had some issues with command his pitches as he has in the past.
Poise: He’s a very good competitor on the mound and has worked hard to keep his team in games despite his struggles.
Physical Description: Thompson is a tall, downhill pitcher who creates deception with his delivery and has drawn some comps to Chris Young.
Medical Update: Healthy.
Strengths: When he’s on, he’s got three or four pitches he can mix up and throw for strikes. He’s got deception in his delivery and can induce a ton of ground balls.
Weaknesses: His stuff won’t jump out at you and he has to command and mix his pitches well to be effective. He needs to trust his changeup more.
Summary: Thompson entered the season as one of the more attractive college starters, but has struggled for much of his junior year. He’s a pitchability-type righty and when he’s going right, he mixes his full arsenal well from a downhill plane to get ground balls. While he won’t go as highly as was once expected, he could end up being a steal for a team that takes him a little later and hopes that once he wipes the slate clean, he’ll return to form.
So: draft postmortem. The Braves get DeVall, Stovall, and Spruill, high school pitchers, and Kimbrel, Schlehuber, and Thompson, college pitchers. Nearly all of them appear to be high-80s to low-90s pitchability types, but it never hurts to have these guys in your system. None of these guys were “Huh?” picks, and overall it’s not a bad crop, assuming we actually sign these guys.
I don’t know anything about scouting, but I don’t feel bad about this haul.
You know, whenever you think Chipper’s Avg. is ready to finally dip under .400, he goes crazy for a couple of games to get it back to the .420 range. Just amazing.
By the way thanks Todd Vanpoppel.
exactly ricflair, really, VanPoppel has done more for the Braves organization than Corky Miller could ever do.
Yeah, so have the popcorn vendors.
AAR, is there a place you can find the full run down of the Braves draft without having to pay?
Chipper!!!!!
Doesn’t it suck that 400 is almost an afterthought in the ‘steroid era’ ? Still, what a pleasure and honor to have that guy be a lifetime Brave.
I know I am late on this but if anyone can come back at 42 after shoulder surgery its Smotzie. Dang. We should all thank the Tigers forever for that trade.
Now if THIS team could only win a couple on the damn road…….
Actually we should elect Doyle Alexander to the Braves Hall of Fame for being just good enough to extract Smoltz from the Tigers.
You can find video for all the Braves’ picks at the mlb.com Draft Tracker. They have scouting reports like what I posted for DeVall, Spruill, and Thompson.
Hey, we just picked our first position player, an outfielder named “Adam Milligan” out of a junior college in Tennessee. He doesn’t look like much.
VanPoppel, Alexander, who else?
I’d also throw in Renteria – for Jurrjens
Horacio – for Soriano
Neagle – for Remlinger
R. Rodriguez – for Diaz
who else??
sorry for the double posting of “who else”
It appears we’ve drafted Milligan before, in the 27th round last year, and apparently we drafted him in the 28th round before that. Someone in our front office must like him a great deal.
If Milligan makes it to the show someday, I can already see his knickname as “Gilligan” on here.
Or he’s related to somebody and now that he’s finally going to sign we’re wasting a high draft pick on him. Not that THAT would ever happen.
Dear ABC: Is it really necessary to make sure that people on the West Coast can see the beginning of the basketball game, considering that it makes it hard for everyone else to see the end? You know, the good part?
My friend and I were talking about baseball fights, and we were talking about who on the Braves would be best in a fight. I was thinking Stockman because he is 6’8″ and 250 pounds. And hes Australian. Who would you guys pick?
Hampton – assuming his arm wouldn’t fall off trying to throw a punch.
Tex is pretty big, but he almost seems like a prima donna to me, so I’m not sure about him.
Dear Mr Thomason,
The NBA is all about Kobe Bryant and the people at LA. We hardly care about the people living anywhere else.
Best regards,
ABC
Not to take anything away from Chipper’s amazing season, but I’d never realized just how astonishing of a run George Brett had in the middle of the 1980 season. He ended that year up at .390, but a _huge_ part of that high average came from a 65-game chunk from late-May through late-August.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/pi/gl.cgi?share=1&n1=brettge01&year=1980&t=b#916:980:sum
.466 over 65 games. I can’t think of anyone else who put together a batting-average run quite like that, though presumably back when people ended seasons at .420 on occasion there might have been a run like that…
Mike, I think we should bring back Wickman, Paronto, and King.
Man, I said before the season started that we should have gotten Milton Bradley, and he is tearing it up in Texas. He’d be a big boost for our black hole of an outfield offense.
Haven’t posted in eons but the struggles of our 6-8 hitters are about to drive me insane.
Blanco has cooled, Frenchy – site header says it all, and Anderson is abysmal.
Do we have options?
Brandon Jones is the next one in line.
Milton Bradley? No thanks. Considering what he did for the Padres last year, I don’t want him.
Like other sports—e.g., the long run of ABC’s Monday Night Football— the NBA’s idea is to get the most amount of viewers possible so that they can charge the highest ad rates possible. That’s why the games begin so late.
It wouldn’t matter whether the Lakers or the Hornets were representing the West.
I don’t really know a ton about the draft, but it seems like we didn’t really get any guys with huge upside. Granted, that’s tough when your first pick is at 40… but that’s still somewhat disappointing. I think our 3rd round guy might have a bit of projection, and I guess the lefties might add some velocity. I think it was a solid but not spectacular draft. I think we did a good job with what we had, and the Braves system will continue to have very good depth.
I was kidding ububba!
This, of course, assuming that we sign these guys. 🙂
NBA finals games start way too late. World Series games start too late (*and* you have to listen to McCarver). They’re not interested in fans watching the whole game?
I remember being able to stay up late for one post season game when I was a kid (it might have been the only time I’d ever seen the California Angels play). Wouldn’t MLB and NBA be interested in getting lifelong fans out of kids… but they can’t even watch the games.
mraver, I am actually pretty excited by the draft of Brett DeVall. I think he will be a good one.
We really need to take 2 of 3 from the Phills this weekend. All of our pitching matchups look favorable (even if they are throwing some lefties at us – Moyer, ughh). Nothing less should be acceptable.
I hear you, kc. Didn’t catch the vibe. Another beer & I’ll be there with you.
I’m in the middle of a move, so I have a month-long pack going on in a house where I’ve lived 12 years. Lotsa funny items I’m finding.
For example, I have scads & scads of VHS tapes from the early ’90s, lotsa Braves games, most of which I’m tossing. I found a tape from April 8, 1994. It’s marked “Kent Mercker no-hitter/Kurt Cobain death.” Happened the same day. Weird, but…tossed.
But I’ve run across a few tapes I’m definitely going to keep. They include: ’92 NLCS Game 7; ’95 WS Game 6; and the Brian Jordan Grand Slam game vs. John Franco—the inscription reads: “Jordan Disembowels Mets, 9/29/01. I must’ve been in a good mood that day, or just seen “Braveheart.”
And then, I must be plum crazy, but here’s another keeper—’91 WS Game 7. Of course, I’ve still never watched it. Revisiting that game is still sort of impossible for some reason.
@22, I agree, Joshua. I love Mad Brad. He’s got a good track record and is really ripping it up this year.
Try .335 avg/.44o obp!!/.613 slg/1.062 ops., folks. Damn.
He’ll probably be available at the trade deadline too. I don’t see Texas being in the AL playoff mix and we have a recent trading history with them as everyone here recounts daily.
Amusing Met loss tonight: Tied 1-1 in the bottom of the 9th with the Padres, Scott Schoenweis walks the first 2 batters, takes a liner off his foot, but manages to recover & get the hitter (Gonzalez) at first. Runners advance.
After an IBB to load ’em up. He hits the next guy with his first pitch. Ballgame. Nightmare inning over.
Not quite Acostaville from yesterday, but bad enough.
My bad, I mistyped and undersold Milton Bradley. He has a .449 OBP!!!
He can play a little CF too, though that’d be stretching him some.
mraver and AAR–thanks for the posts on the draft.
Actually, I think the Braves had a great draft–as long as they can sign these players.
The Braves needed a collection of arms (especially after they could not sign the likes of Shreve, Belt and Demny )last year. Since most clubs went for position players and then college pitchers, the Braves were able to get some quality arms without a first round pick.
DeVall, Stovall and Spruill all have good upsides. Kimbrell looks to be good and Jacob Thompson is wonderful use of the 5th pick. All one has to do is recall the Braves using a similar pick to draft Dennis Dixon in 2007.
Milligan is apparently a real stud–I really thought that the Braves would go all out to sign him last year.
Naturally, the key will be signing these players….
Here is a bit more on the Braves’ draft:
http://atlanta.braves.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20080605&content_id=2845467&vkey=news_atl&fext=.jsp&c_id=atl
The Braves drafted Kimbrell last year as well…
I live in LA, and the game started at 5:30pm. I had to race home from work and still only caught the second half. If you start the games any earlier, you are eliminating the entire Pacific time zone. You guys can get an hour less sleep to watch an NBA Finals game, it’s not that big a deal.
go to espn and check out the 3 ejected in brawl link, then check out how close Shields is of taking off Crisp head with a punch. Nevermind, here it is. Watch the video also
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3428091
Yes Stephen, I am actually quite happy to see them keep drafting pitchers instead of middle infielders. I am tired of the likes of Hicks, Fisher, and Travis Jones. Do you think any of the three will be any better than major league backups?
I’m not trying to incite anything, and I’m sure this will get deleted or flamed, but I was wondering what you guys really thought of Chipper’s incredible season. He was definitely a HoF’er if he retired even a couple of years ago, in my eyes, but I find it odd that someone whose last 4 years have gone (in terms of games played) 137, 109, 110, 134, is suddenly on pace to play 157 games, and is hitting out of his mind. Obviously the specter of steroids is a nasty one, and the MLB is allegedly doing some kind of testing now, and it’s entirely possible that because of the missing games, Chipper is still kind of “fresh” for his age, but it seems to me, particularly disconcerting that a guy who I like to see play (even when he kills the Mets), is hitting so well at an age when most players are in their decline.
Anyway, I’m not trolling; and I’m specifically not talking about this with other fans because it would inevitably descend into a “Larry’s a cheater, F— Chipper, etc” kind of thing.
csg, I would say Shields did a pretty good job “protecting” himself!
Also, I’m specifically looking for evidence that the injuries he’s sustained over the years have been freak things (running into walls, etc), rather than use/abuse injuries.
Hicks and Jones appear to have reasonably bright futures. In fact, there is a lot of lust for Hicks out there–just as there was Brent Lillibridge.
I think they have a shot at becoming regular; a good somewhat optimistic forecast is that one of them makes it as an everyday player and the other gets some coffee.
Fisher sucks and I don’t see him making much progres beyond Rome.
So are you saying that Chipper’s using masking agents or juicing now?
I’ll say this: I don’t put anyone in this game above the possibility of using PEDs, but those who have juiced have sullied this era’s statistical accomplishments forever. The clean get lumped with the dirty.
FWIW, my gut tells me that Chipper’s not using them now. It’s not like he’s only hitting 500-foot homeruns. Also, he’s not 100% healthy. That quad still barks, so I have my doubts that he’ll maintain that games-played pace.
I don’t know Stephen, both Hicks and Jones are striking out way too much for my taste…
Wally K, I think you are thinking so much. Enjoy the ride when the man is still healthy.
…or healthy enough to play. My mood is still very bad since the Smoltzie announcement…
A great line from Metsblog…another reason why we should get Maddux back…
“The mere sight of Greg Maddux irritates me, even when he isn’t pitching.”
Ububba, I am not sure what I think. I like to believe that Chipper is one of the “good” guys, just like I like to believe that Smoltz, or Al Leiter, or Jose Reyes have never touched steroids. I am suspicious of my tendency to lump the “good” guys in with the “white” guys. Maybe the only guy I think is perfectly in the clear is Manny, because, I literally cannot imagine Manny figuring out how to acquire or use steroids in the first place.
I guess I didn’t need to put quotes around white guys. I am pretty sure they are un-abstractly white.
Chipper has suffered his share of freak injuries. Twisting a knee in a rain sodden IF in San Fran.
Getting over the head and slammed into the ground accident in Pitt. If anything, think the injuries have limited his PT the past 3 yrs, and kept him reasonably fresh.
If he plays 150 games this season, he is going to tail off pretty bad. Only so much abuse a body can take.
Schafer is back:
“Braves top prospect Jordan Schafer had hits in each of his first three nights back from a 50-game suspension for using HGH. Schafer went 2-for-4 with a home run on Wednesday night. He went 2-for-4 with a triple, two RBIs, a walk and a run on Monday night for Class AA Mississippi. He followed it by going 1-for-5 with one RBI and one walk Tuesday night.”
KC–Jones and Hicks to whiff too much (especially Hicks), but they are also showing power at the Beach–which is no small thing. I think that there is still time for Jones and Hicks to cut down on strikeouts.
On another note: the Braves really need to shut Eric Barrett down. He was great last year and then started impressively and then has been lit up in 5 straight starts–the worst of which was last night.
I wouldn’t be surprised if there is an injury involved….
Schafer is determined to prove that his performance in last year is not drug enhanced…a 2SB game tonight…
ububba, any old Braves games that you’re tossing, I’ll gladly pay you shipping plus whatever to take off of your hands, especially the Mercker no-no at Dodger Stadium, which I watched live, but don’t have on tape. I happen to enjoy the good ol days, and have a little bit of a collection going on. Anyway, for the second consecutive day, I’m not ashamed to admit that it got a little dusty around here. Hearing Smoltzie yesterday and now Chipper (my two favorite Braves off all-time) got me realizing it was a little dusty. Watched the Chipper homer on the Marlins broadcast, but expected more out of Skip, watching highlights it didn’t seem that he even acknowleged the milestone on the call, which was a little disappointing. I thought it was a pretty big moment in Braves history, at least worth mentioning in the home run call, but maybe they didn’t show the whole call. I love Skip, but I’m just saying. Today feels a whole lot better than yesterday.
jj3bagger, is the no-hitter at the Dodger Stadium? I thought Mercker’s no-no was at home…I remember I was listening to the radio for that game…
No, it was on the road. I know that for a fact because he was the first Atlanta Brave to throw a no-hitter on the road.
There was an article on ratings of sports programing in Sports Business Journal last year that focused on late start times of games. The reason for the late start is that fans on the east coast will stay up to watch games but west coast fans don’t turn them on early. When they try to move the games earlier, the ratings suffer.
Chppper got his 400th on the first day of the Draft. 18 years ago the Braves were criticizied for drafting Larry Wayne Jones instead ot Todd Van Poppel. I like Chipper’s way of comemorating the Braves’ decision….
Stephen, I’m interested to hear more about Milligan, whom you say is supposed to be a stud. I don’t really know what to look for in the draft video, so I’m interested to hear the take of someone who’d know. Where are you hearing about him?
It’s always possible, I guess, that Chipper or whomever, is or was juicing, but without some evidence, I’m not going to seriously entertain the notion. I mean, just because a player’s performance varies over a period of time doesn’t mean it’s steroids because you can look at players throughout baseball history and find variation through their careers.
Moreover, I dislike this sort of guilt by association–that if so-and-so was doing it, everyone else must have been doing. Steroid use has become the latest communist-in-the closet scenario. Until I see proof, not just random speculation, I will not assume he is juicing.
Wally-
Your reasoning is the one thing I dislike the most about the “steroid” era. Now, whenever players have great years, it’s just automatically assumed that it’s because of steroids. And that’s absurd, because baseball players have been having freak-good season at random times in their careers since the beginning of baseball. It just happens. The sport is wildly inconsistent from year to year; guys peak and guys crater with alarming rapidity, and it’s simply not a recent thing.
Also, how are PEDs going to help Chipper hit .400? Hit 50 HRs, yeah, maybe I can see that, but not hit .400.
(Also, FWIW, it seems that differences in the way balls were manufactured leading to “juiced” balls that were used from the late-90s into early 2000s has had a much larger effect on offensive numbers than steroids have. I don’t have the article in front of me, but basically MLB started having the balls machine-manufactured, and while they were all still withing MLB’s tolerance range for how tightly it was made (which translate to how far it will fly when hit), they were consistently towards the high end of the tolerance range, meaning ball from the late-90s through early 2000s were more hitter-friendly than balls before. They since adjusted the process to make the balls more similar to the hand-made ones that were previously used.)
Jamie Moyer vs. Tim Hudson on paper looks promising for the Braves. Then again Moyer is a lefty. Which means Tex and Frenchy will have to step up (rolling my eyes).
Hey, hey, KC, jj3 – you’re both right. Kent was part of the combined no hitter at home and had a CG no no on the road
Kent Merker, Mark Wohlers, & Alejandro Pena (vs. San Diego), 9/11/91
Kent Merker (at Los Angeles), 4/8/94
In re: the draft, I am predicting Tyler Stovall will end up at Turner Field in about 3 or 4 years. That kid is a natural talent who started in 8th grade and helped his high school win 5 of their 6 state titles in a row. He was coached by Steve Shields, a former pitcher for the Braves (one of his teams) who also tore it up at the high school level back when the same high school won 3 titles in a row. He has hit around 95 on the gun from what I’ve heard, and with the Braves conditioning system he will hopefully get stronger. He’s also a brilliant kid who just walked across the stage as class valedictorian recently. I know TNSTAAPP, but I’ve seen Tyler pitch and he is something else.
AAR:
That Community College is Walter State and is outside of Knoxville.
Wow, with our first pick we took a soft tossing lefty, we need a few more of those. What is our quota, 35?
I am remembering something that I read a year ago at this time. The Braves had drafted three players from Wallace State Community College between 2006-2007 and the point of the article was that Milligan was the most athletic. In fact, if memory serves me correctly, he was also being recruited to play football.
I should point out that the Braves took Steve Shults out of Wallace State last year and he had a pretty good season at Danville. In addition, Craig Kimbrell (who the Braves drafted yesterday) also came out of Wallace State Community College–so the Braves really feel like they know these players.
I would not be surprised to see more draft out of WSCC today.
Thats the best I can do…
Sorry–I meant Walters State–the Braves have also drafted out of Wallace State Community College–which I think is in Alabama…
Ben–I also like Stovall alot. I was surprised that the Braves were able to get him. I just hope that the Braves can sign him….
Mraver, Marc,
I don’t think it’s “absurd” to think these kinds of things. It’s absurd to think that baseball is somehow pure or true or that they play for the love of the game or any other BS cliche you can think of. These dude are incredible athletes, who also compete with each other for millions of dollars each year. Particularly considering the slap on the wrist you get when caught, I don’t see any reasonable argument NOT to be on steroids, unless you truly care, etc, etc.
AAR–Did you notice that Ryan Lavarnway out of Yale got drafted by the Bosox in the 6th round? Possibly the highest Eli to get drafted since Ron Darling…
It’s kinda like when the cops got serious about drinking and driving – people who care about their reputation, etc. dialed it down.
I’d be more surprised to learn that Chipper was doing steroids now than to learn that Bonds wasn’t then.
Btw, anybody notice that total homeruns are about the same as during the height of the “Steroid Era”? Or, so says USA Today …
Honestly, I wish Chipper (and others) could legally use HGH to help them recover faster. Still don’t get the problem with HGH …
The Braves won’t have a problem signing Stovall. The kid is a big Braves fan, just like almost every other baseball player who has ever come through Hokes Bluff. If you watch the press conference of Stovall with Coach Mike Estes after they won the state (you can hopefully still find it on http://www.al.com), Estes even mentions that he hopes that Tyler ends up with the Braves. College can wait because this is a huge opportunity.
Here is an article from the hometown paper of Stovall: http://www.gadsdentimes.com/article/20080606/NEWS/965623915/1009/SPORTS
Sorry Auburn, you won’t be getting your guy…but on a positive note, Go Braves!
Ben–thanks for the posts about Stovall; it certainly looks promising….
Congrats to Chipper on an amazing night!
I wanted to reword my statements from a few days ago about McCann. Instead of placing blame on him, I think his importance to the team’s success should be noted. He’s just a step behind Chipper in that if he doesn’t succeed, the team doesn’t win.
And Wally, Chipper is not on any PEDs. His success is directly related to his new preparation techniques. He’s basically the Peyton Manning of MLB.
Except that Peyton has been healthy has whole career.
jjbagg,
Hit me with your mailing address & I’ll set aside any Braves tapes I don’t want. The discard stack is getting higher.
Wally-
I’m saying it’s absurd to assume that based on nothing but a single great year. There’s nothing outlandish about players having random years where they just play better than they have over the rest of their careers. That kind of thing happens to just about any player who has a long-ish career in the bigs.
If you want to say someone’s using steroids, the standard needs to be a bit higher than “Player X is having a really good year”.
I wish I could get excited about the baseball draft, but….
Re: Adam Milligan
I posted some of this same info 2 years ago when he was drafted the first time, but here I will tell some of this again for those of you who might be interested.
I know the kid personally. He is actually one of my sister’s best friends, and they graduated high school together. He was a great football player in high school (a dual-threat quarterback/kickoff returner/best player on the field) and was definitely recruited to play football in college. He was also runner-up Mr. Football in Tennessee for backs. He is a really, really great athlete. 6’3-6’4, 225-ish, and a really nice guy. He has been a stud at Walters State, where this year they were 55-9 and he finished the year with a 28-game hit streak as they were eliminated from the JUCO World Series. Last summer he played for a team called the Marinsville Mustangs (wood-bat league) and led the team in Homers and RBI. Earlier this summer he committed to play for them again. He has also committed to Vanderbilt, because of the baseball program and the academics. He is a smart kid who isn’t relying on baseball to make his path in life. Comes from a really good family, I know his dad well. After they drafted him last year, the Braves higher-ups joked with him about “how many times are we gonna have to draft you before you sign?” During his senior year of high school, he got to go to Turner Field with other prospects and take the tour, hit, etc. They obviously like him a lot, based on drafting him again, and much higher this time. He is a big, strapping corner outfielder-type with a lot of power. Fits in well with the Braves’ theory of drafting high-character guys.
Kyle Davies is back up with the Royals… has only one start (a good one), and is pitching today….
Weather willing, I will be at the Kyle Davies game tonight. He’s pitching in The Bronx vs. Rasner.
Good for Kyle.
TN Brave, thanks for that. I hope he works out. Always nice to have a smart guy/good guy in the clubhouse. Maybe he could be our Shane Battier.
Anyone notice that the Braves took more Alabamans (Stovall, Kimbrel) than Georgians (Spruill)?
Stephen, nice catch! I hadn’t noticed that at all. I’m sure Theo is a bit more favorably disposed toward Yalies than most GMs, but I wish the kid all the best — except when they’re playing us in interleague.
ububba…weather shouldn’t be a problem.
Obviously, this is because Alabamians are better baseball players than Georgians.
I honestly had not realised that Moyer is 45 years old. I knew he was old but boy. Let’s kick his old butt tonight then!
The Mets’ second draft pick went to my high school :O
Milligan is very, very good…and will be starting in Vanderbilt’s outfield if the Braves fail to sign him yet again.
You are very right about that, Stu.
going back to the brawl for a minute, Shields better be glad he missed with his roundhouse punch. If he had landed it he would probably have broken every small bone in his throwing hand.
Tony,
Dark & very overcast on the north shore of LI right now, but I’m hoping for the best.
After yesterday’s walk-off win, it’ll be another interesting pulse take in Yankee Land tonight.
That punch would have put Crisp on his back too. I guess it’s good for both that he missed.
I’m just saying that I need more evidence than just speculation to conclude that Chipper is or was juicing. Obviously, a lot of players were but it’s not even entirely clear, as mraver points out, how much the steroids had to do with the increased offense. Is this going to go on forever–whenever a player has a year that varies from his career, we will assume it’s steroids? As for no reason NOT
I’m just saying that I need more evidence than just speculation to conclude that Chipper is or was juicing. Obviously, a lot of players were but it’s not even entirely clear, as mraver points out, how much the steroids had to do with the increased offense. Is this going to go on forever–whenever a player has a year that varies from his career, we will assume it’s steroids? As for no reason NOT
I don’t know, I heard Crisp was an amatuer boxer – he probably has a strong jaw. Let’s just say Shields should be happy Crisp only landed a glancing blow.
Whoops,
I meant to finish the sentence as for no reason NOT to juice, what about the possibility that you will shorten your life span? I realize a lot of players don’t really think about that but that seems to be a better reason to avoid steroids than any punishment MLB might dish out.
Did anyone catch this about the Red Sox game last night?
“Two innings after the brawl, another skirmish took place – in Boston’s dugout, between teammates Manny Ramirez and Kevin Youkilis. Television replays showed grainy footage of Ramirez looking like he backhanded Youkilis, and teammates and coaches pulled the two apart.
Tampa Bay Rays’ Jonny Gomes, c…
AP – Jun 5, 7:10 pm EDT
Neither bothered to stick around after the game, accountability apparently not a strong suit, leaving the secondary fight open to speculation. Did Youkilis slag Ramirez for loafing out of the dugout to join the brawl? Did Ramirez tell Youkilis to quit his bellyaching about ball-and-strike calls? No one in the clubhouse wanted to divulge, dirty laundry being what it is.”
Tennessee Brave–thanks for the post on Milligan–you may well be the source of my info.
Anyway, you gotta like a kid whose worst option is to go to Vandy.
Tony,
It’s long been said that “Manny being Manny” has long irritated his teammates. But you can’t get rid of him—he’s too good.
Interesting list of the worst broadcasters. Our beloved Chip made the list.
http://www.maxim.com/The10WorstBroadcastersinSports/articles/24558.aspx
Today’s random stat… As I’ve noted in the past, the Braves rely very heavily on the home run:
Home Runs W – L
0 homers 7 – 17
1 homer 14 – 8
2 homers 5 – 3
3 or more homers 6 – 1
Mac, I’d be curious to see what the Marlins record looks like in those scenarios.
It surprised me. The Marlins’ offense is largely home runs, but:
Florida Marlins
2008
Home Runs W – L
0 homers 7 – 7
1 homer 6 – 15
2 homers 8 – 3
3 or more homers 11 – 2
The Phillies have a weird shape:
0 HR 6-10
1 HR 12-6
2 HR 5-9
3+ HR 11-1
For some reason two dingers hasn’t worked out for them.
What site do you guys go to to filter on stats like that?
They’re from Bill James Online.
Thanks.
Ububba…what do you think about the kid from Washington Heights, I am already tired of hearing about him. And please stop with comparing him to Manny…by the way enjoy the weather today, b/c tomorrow and the next five days will feel like we are in Hotlanta.
If anybody works in IT, feel good about your day today. Amazon.com has been down for about an hour now, and as I used to work there I’m certain there are quite a few people having a MUCH more stressful day at work than I am right about now.
Hanson, Burns, Palazzone and Pope–the Braves had drafted some great players in the late rounds. If they can sign anyone of them they will be doing well….
I got a hit off of Palazzone senior year! That will be my claim to fame.
Game thread is up. I typed up the draft picks and my fingers are tired.