First off, a refresher on our commenting policy. I think things have gotten a little too heated at times, and Lord knows the Braves aren’t helping matters.
It’s pretty simple. Be nice to me, and be nice to your fellow posters. Don’t use extreme profanity. Don’t make comments slandering entire groups of people. Use common sense. Basically, treat this forum like a civilized conversation. Don’t write anything you wouldn’t want your mother to hear you say, or that would likely provoke a fight in person. Don’t discuss politics or religion, two things that get people riled up and which nobody’s going to come to an agreement on.
There is one judge, me. Everyone gets one warning. On the second offense, you’re banned. You can appeal to me via email but insulting the judge is a very bad way to get him to agree with you.
Hey, one good thing — because this is a west coast game, I can go to sleep without seeing how we’ll lose!
Mac, just the title of this thread shows why we all bother to read this blog. Go Braves, I guess.
Where’s the inclusion of Milky Way Galaxy?
Why, Stu, that would be ridiculous.
You could spend all day in Francoeur splits of course but this is my current favorite:
When not leading off an inning, 2008: .295/.347/.480 – Hey look at that! An actual major league corner outfielder!
When leading of an inning, 2008: .138/.176/.262 – Hey look at that! A good hitting pitcher!
Tonight the six game win streak starts
You know what bothers me about the Julio signing? He’s going to be up with the big club soon and we all know he sucks. I used to love that the Braves were too smart to sign these losers…I would watch the Mets and Phillies do it and say, “Ha, they’re desperate. This is going to bite them in the ass before the season’s over.” And know we are that dumb, desperate team. We suck.
Well, the Braves used to be able to find a Greg McMichael or a Kerry Ligtenberg or at least a Mike Cather to patch those holes. They did come up with Moylan last year, but…
Julio and Resop should be able to form a lights out radar gun duo in Richmond though. They both have “great stuff.”
By the way, I can’t believe Wren actually said that, I posted that before I read the article on AJC. He will be up in no time from the tone of the article.
What about Mike Gonzalez?
If he’s called up, I refuse to call him “Julio”. I have too much respect for Julio Franco for that. He’s George Julius until he proves himself.
You know who I’ve never been a fan of? Croatians. Yep…I had to get that off my chest. Oops, sorry Mac, I didn’t read that disclaimer at the top…my bad
My point is that the Braves used to be able to find roster filler that would actually contribute to wins. They would get maxiumum performance for the dollar, while other teams would take flyers on players that had “done it before”, but completely sucked at the time of the acquisition. Moylan was a great find…hell Willie Harris even gave us a lot for the amount of money we paid him. But since Wren has taken over, we’ve taken chances on more than just a couple of players who clearly, unequivocally sucked. I mean what are the chances Julio has a career resurrection and contributes quality, meaningful innings in Atlanta Braves’ wins? We all know there’s no chance, yet Wren somehow is a believer. This worries the hell out of me.
If Jorge prevents us from rushing other minor leaguers up to the bigs I am fine with it. Nothing to lose, not like we have a 2 game lead or anything.
Good Lord, I thought Julio was minor league filler. That article makes it sound like they plan on using him, not Mike Gonzalez, to close.
Where the heck is Mike Gonzalez anyway? He’s thrown nine minor league rehab innings and has given up only one run.
With Glavine and Smoltz gone, Jair is now our #2 starter. I like the kid and all but….sigh.
But just wait, Hampton’s going to start a rehab assignment soon!
what article are we talking about? what is this Julio conversation all about?
The way things are going, our next acquisitions will be Kris Benson and Jay Gibbons.
whew, I thought we were talking about Franco…maybe we should try to get Julio Jones next
Yes Kris Benson! is he still married to that nut?
Glav is out till at least the break. Ponson might be worth a gamble if the team can deal with him
He sure is. I’m sure Wren is analyzing the scouting reports of Benson, James Baldwin, Jaime Navarro and Jeremi Gonzalez as we speak (or type).
Tonight’s line-up:
“. Escobar, 2. Kelly, 3. Chipper, 4. Teixeira, 5. Mac, 6. Francoeur, 7. Norton, 8. Blanco, 9. B. Jones”
Norton is the DH.
Didn’t someone already sign Benson?
I heard Jeff Weaver became available today.
Hell we may as well look into Oil Can Boyd or Pascual Perez…or have a promotion where one lucky fan gets to pitch an inning for the Braves.
I guess that lineup is okay.
I really want Kotsay back (one of the things I never thought I’d say at the beginning of the season).
I’m no big Pat Gillick fan, but lately he has been the NL East GM* who has patched holes with random signings, trades, and even call-ups. So thank you, Frank Wren. I am actually looking at Pat Gillick and feeling jealous.
*disclaimer: you could easily make this case for Bowden in Washington, but almost his entire roster remains filler, and not for a couple more seasons do the Nats promise to have a roster with anything but majority ‘filler.’)
Greg Norton is our F-ing designated hitter. Frank Wren ladies and gentlemen! Let’s give him a hand!
The Royals DFAd Brett “6.97” Tomko recently.
@25 – ironically, considering my last post, he’s rehabbing for the Phillies on a 1-year deal. He may give them some innings after the AS Break, or he may not.
The remarkably stupid thing is that Chipper is not healthy and this is an obvious chance to rest him, but the Braves won’t do it.
It’s strange to have not one major league caliber-hitting outfielder. I mean, since we use backup infielders to play corner outfield positions, we may as well hit one of them DH.
Mac, logic has no place in the day to day operations of the 2008 Atlanta Braves.
Especially with the Angels and the way they love to play small ball, I can’t possibly think Chipper at 3B is a good idea. Figgins is going to have 37 bunt hits if this continues.
This is the article referencing the Julio signing, which includes a picture of Nick Green tagging out Lil’ Bridge, which is always nice.
Whoops, probably would be better if I included the link:
http://www.inrich.com/cva/ric/sports/baseball.apx.-content-articles-RTD-2008-06-13-0203.html
I just realized that those Yankee bastards are coming to Houston this weekend.
Man, I can’t believe Jorge is only 29 years old. Seems like he’s been throwing 93 MPH batting practice fastballs for a lot longer than that, huh?
@23,
Somehow, I don’t think Jeremi Gonzalez is going to be a viable option: http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3412801
(Though, really, could he be worse than Acosta at this point?)
Wren: “We’ve just signed Jeremi to a minor league deal, and he’ll start rehab soon. While he’s dead from being struck by lightning, he’s been a fine pitcher in the past and with some help from our minor league pitching coaches, we’re sure he’ll be back on his feet in no time.”
“He will be working alongside Mike Hampton, of course.”
The sad thing is, Jeremi is equally as likely as Hampton to actually appear in a game for us.
David O’Brien:
“UNBELIEVABLE: Chipper just got hit in the face by a ball that caromed off the batting cage when he was taking BP. They took him to the clubhouse, so I don’t know how bad it is. Didn’t look like it was bleeding.”
DOB says Chipper is still in the lineup and is in the clubhouse watching video. Of course, he also says that “Everyone who saw Hampton throw today said he was very impressive. Threw hard, had big movement on his pitches.”
Can someone post the link to DOB’s blog? I can’t find it on AJC.com for some reason.
Chipper scratched.
This is getting f’ing insane. I wonder if McCann will get hit by lightning before or after Kelly Johnson loses a foot to an alligator attack?
How is all of this possible?
Wow. Just…wow.
Chipper out of the lineup, can’t even DH, apprently after being hit in the face by a pitch in batting practice.
The preliminary diagnosis is “contusion”.
Mac hitting 3rd. WOOOOO!
Pop-up bunt to start the game, perfect!
Might as well be me hitting third at this point.
Again, no recap tonight. I have no desire to stay up to watch this.
Jeez-um Crow. Wot’s with all these ridoncuolous injuries. Tomorrow’s headlines “Hudson on 15 DL, vampire bite on right bicep.”
That was a quick half inning.
I dont like all these 0-2 fastballs
just tuned in, really, what else can happen? Tex breaks his leg, doesn’t play the rest of the year and leaves as a FA?
Man we cant catch a break of any kind. I guess we used up all our luck the prior 14 years.
is there a way to find out what Tex is hitting with Chipper in the lineup and what he’s hitting without him??
Hey look, and actual left fielder playing left field tonight, and see what happens !!
Does Brandon Jones remind anyone of Betemit with his stance? They look a lot alike, to me at least.
Well, that was quick.
can’t keep a lead now can we ……. sheesh
I still can’t believe that there was a team stupid enough to sign former Braves great Gary Matthews Jr to a long term deal.
that signing looks good compared to Dodgers signing of Andruw Jones
frenchy and Blanco with hits in the same game? Somethings happening here…
I would say lightning struck twice, but that seems to be in poor taste in this case.
perhaps we could have corky miller pitch run for blanco next time he gets on?
It’s been a while since we’ve had a runner picked off at first. That’s a new one.
when things go bad, everything negative happens, it just seems like we are in that kind of stretch
I hitting the Chivas, no this team is not worth Chivas, maybe… Cutty Sark, smooth as turpentine.
This inning would have been big if not for Blanco.
I don’t like speedy guys. Caught stealings and getting picked off like that are inning killers.
Now we have to gauge the limits of our obscenity, ay?
We could use substitute words, ranging in level of obscenity. How about a range from Paris Hilton (wantonly, gruesomely obscene) to Aunt Bee?
F’rinstance: Francouer is the biggest piece of Paris Hilton I’ve ever seen!
Aside from the HR, everything has been on the ground tonight for Escobar. So that’s promising. Just need the offense to do something.
I know he is slowing down a bit, but I’m happy that the Braves don’t have to pitch to Guerrero 19 times a year. That guy used to give me nightmares. He’s still a pretty damn good hitter, but I’ll say even as a raw youngster, there weren’t many better all-around players that I’ve seen than him.
how about that, in the 3rd tonight
Braves 3 singles = no runs
Angels 1 hit (no HR) = 1 run
Guess this means Brandon Jones will be around for another 2 weeks. I hope he continues to succeed; that’d be a nice surprise.
at least the guys are smiling a little
I’ll say this for Infante: he’s a good sight better than Chris Woodward. 🙂
Im gladly impressed….
hey what are these hit things?
Holy crap, is our outfield being productive tonight?
Blanco!
Who exactly are the Braves supposed to be “showcasing” Brandon Jones for ?? I heard that, but I haven’t seen anything rumored to be in the works.
2 out hitting? Bust out the Champagne!
People are just saying the “showcasing” thing because he’s been mentioned as a trade chip (IE, has been on prospect lists and isn’t currently a starter in the big leagues) and was called up. He was clearly called up because the Braves needed something in the OF besides slap hitters and Frenchy.
who’s the answer to the trivia questions:
Name the 4 players who have hit .300 in 10 straight seasons…
tony gwynn is 1 of them, pete rose on had 9
who are the other 3
nevermind
Vlad, Boggs, and Carew
mraver, I know that, that’s why I was wondering if anybody had seen anything about who he has been mentioned as a trade chip for.
With the way things have gone of late, I ecpect Bobby Cox to go to yhe mound to get Jo Jo and blow his knee out and fall into JoJo, severing JoJo’s left arm. Then bone spurs hit McCann in the eyes and Tim Hudson trips over the strecher and cracks his skull.
where is Bobby tonight? they havent shown him once
I think gameday is screwed up or something, says the outfield has all three RBI and that McCann caught Figgins trying to steal second!
If we manage to stay one run up until the 9th, how are we going to lose this one? I vote that it’ll be Boyer on the mound and he’ll get two quick outs. Then, as he throws his first pitch to the next batter, his arm comes flying completely off and hits the batter in the face. Although the pitch itself was a strike, the ump will rule that a body part hitting a batter should carry four times the penalty of a ball hitting the batter, and grants the hitter an automatic home run. Stockman will then come in to pitch, but the Angels will send in a pinch hitter, in which case Bobby goes out and yanks him, then tries to get the third out himself. Both of his knees completely give out during his first warmup pitch, though, and he is forced to hand the ball over to Acosta. Manny, of course, gives up the walk-off home run. While the Braves are returning to their dugout, a bird flies too low and hits McCann square in the face. McCann is forced to go on the DL since one of his eyes was nearly ripped completely out. Tex will turn to look at McCann and the bird and he will bang his head on the top of the dugout and knock himself out. He’ll go on the DL, too, with a severe concussion.
I wrote that before I read Smitty’s post…
How do we have 11 hits through 5 innings…and only three runs?
We even got a bunt down.
A bunt successfully AND a base hit to score the RISP. It must be Friday the 13th.
Gregor Blanco was saving all his hits for tonight.
I would say lightning struck twice, but that seems to be in poor taste in this case.
Now if you said digging up Geremi Gonzalez and signing him might get us lightning in a bottle, THAT would be in poor taste. Good thing that’s not what you said.
Cheers, bottom lineups.
How did Yunel not beat that out? Not even close.
Looks like he got a really slow start out of the box.
Darren Oliver is still playing?
Woah, I left after the Blanco pickoff, and now here he is redeeming himself! And we got a bunt down?! I must be dreaming.
That’s crazy, tonight I swear I was going to mention tonight how good Trot Nixon was doing in AAA and if Brandon Jones didn’t work out in the short term, he may be an option because he probably wouldn’t cost that much and the Mets end up trading for him tonight:
“Nixon was batting .309 with a .437 OBP, 15 2B, 10 HR and 31 RBI in 181 at-bats for the D-backs Triple-A Tucson affiliate.”
Methinks Trot Nixon still sucks.
“Methinks Trot Nixon still sucks.”
And our current outfield doesn’t, tonight apparently notwithstanding?
Wow – Jo-Jo. Not bad.
Worse than Greg Norton, I think not.
Just joining the game now–this is a welcome change…lets get some more runs….
I don’t know if anybody else just saw that, but Frenchy was staring down those intentional walk throws like he even wanted to swing at those, pretty funny.
Another ealk to Francoeur.
Can’t B. Jones hit lefties?
Daren Oliver is still alive?
Parish,
Nope
Darren Oliver, another example of why my future children will be left handed.
ok, who are these guys and what happened to my braves?
Wow, amazing job McCann!!!! I love him, some days he is just like “Well shoot, I’m going to win this game all by myself”.
McCann has had a helluva night.
I hope the top of the 7th does not come back to haunt us.
DP!
if you have DVR go back to right after the wild pitch where they show Infante and his stats for the night, then pause it.
Is that a man in a low cut dress with a blue jacket and lipstick? It is California, so who knows. Very manly – its PAT
umm, he was safe
Blanco beat that out.
Kendrick should have thrown that ball. They might have given him the call.
By the way, you can send an email to chipper400@gmail.com to vote yes for Chipper hitting .400 the rest of the year and they’ll post the results on FSN West, so far it’s 63% yes and 37% no.
Blanco looked safe to me…
I wonder how many fans will vote. In any case, I think its great that the country is starting to follow Chipper….
The rally monkey is out now, so clearly the Braves are in trouble.
Lordy, we have 15 hits. We have muffed a lot of opportunities.
Just got back from a wonderful vacation in St. Maarten. What the heck happened while I was gone? Can I ever vacation during baseball season again?
Man, I love to Watch JoJo pitch.
106 pitches – do you let him finish in front of his family or dont want to risk another injury
Reyes for complete game.
I think it’s more about the reluctance to go to the pen. I think Bobby will let JoJo try and finish it, but if the tying run gets on, he’ll be gone.
Since Bobby is no Dusty Baker, I’d wager he sends Joseph out there for the ninth, but yanks him after the first baserunner.
Former Braves great Justin Speier on to pitch for the Halos.
#128–Absolutely
#125–You chose a good time to go on vacation; things have not been fun for Braves fans….
let the kid finish it. i sure as hell dont want to see what our pen has to offer in the 9th. btw, our outfield could be worse. we could have willy mo pena, lastings milledge, and elijah dukes starting with langerhans and harris as backups. not a single outfielder on their team is hitting over .220.
Agreed, Jo-Jo into the 9th.
If we can survive the 9th, I think it would be our 1st victory without Chipper in the lineup.
I’d be willing to bet Bobby pulls him. Hasn’t had enough seasons under his belt to throw that many pitches.
Jeff Bennett (??!??!) is warming in the bullpen.
bennett’s warming up……….shart!
Cox hates the complete game for some reason. He’s yanked pitchers with one-hitters through eight going into the ninth inning.
Looks like Bennett…
I am still hoping to see Jo Jo out there…
“I’m really upset not to see Jo-Jo finish it up with him breezing.” -Joe Simpson
I think just about everyone is question Cox lately. Why yank Reyes…for awful Jeff Bennett?
Bleh, well that is a shame. And now they have a hit… Crap.
And thus begins the all-too-predictable ninth inning.
BENNET?!?!?!?!?! Bobby has lost it.
Here we go.
Here we go…
“Why yank Reyes…for awful Jeff Bennett?”
to make us shart ourselves in disgust.
All of the good feelings I had are now gone.
I am glad I’m not seeing him. A win would definately be nice, but I’d rather have JoJo around for a while (past this season). Cox made the right move.
Bennett just started yesterday and was horrible and we now bring him in to close? Why not Ohman?
Should have let Jo-Jo finish it.
strike em out, throw em out
Oh ye of little faith.
Wow, what just happened?
Boy the ump bailed out Bennett, that was a ball.
B-Mac is the man. He may have just saved us.
2 outs now and a baserunner. Why do I not feel confident with a 3 run lead ??
hell of a play Escobar !!!!
bailed out by a crew of idiots.
A road win !!!! A road win !!!!!!!
Ballin!
Nice play, Escobar!!! What a weird inning. Well, yay, conffetti, silly string, etc. Winning feels nice ^_^
Was that a generous call to end it?
Yeah!!
Marc, it defin. looked like a strike to me
Huh. I got woke up. Guess I’ll recap.
Honestly, my prevailing cynicism aside, I don’t have a huge problem with it. He had thrown 107 pitches through the eight innings, and for a young guy we’ve mostly become accustomed to seeing go five or six innings at most, over-extending him might not be wise. And it’s a moot point, as the game ends while I’m typing this. Good game for us; we needed this.
Woo hoo!!
Not to go too overboard but….
WE WON!
Not to be negative after a win but this probably means Bobby will start using Bennett in save situations even though if it wasn’t for that horrible call by the ump it would have been bases loaded with no outs.
it was a strike
Difference of opinion I suppose CSG but I thought it was high and outside. I’m not going to argue about it though, now I can have a beer to celebrate instead of pout.
I don’t care if it was a ball or strike with the number of things that has gone wrong for us lately, we deserved a break one way or the other.
yep, were all glad because without it being called a strike who knows how pissed off we all could be. Anyways, I dont like how Bobby used him as closer two days after him throwing 80 pitches in two innings. Thats bad managing and a good way to get him hurt.
WE WON!!!
Jo-Jo and Charlie Morton and Brandon Jones may give us a reason to keep watching. I am very excited that we might have room to let some young guys develop.
My goodness!!! We won!!! I have forgotten how winning feels!!!
ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?!?! NO TEN GAMES LOSING STREAK THIS YEAR?
Surprise recap is up.
Brandon Jones is a fine prospect, but too bad the Braves are not too high on him…they are treating him as a trade bait now…
Brandon Jones has lost some of his lustre because his numbers this year have been pretty poor. Nonetheless, there was a time when the Braves thought he would be another Garrett Anderson–I am guessing that the truth is in between.
Hanson may be back on track–even though it is unclear why he pitched for only 4 innings:
http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?gid=2008_06_13_tenaax_msbaax_1&t=g_box&did=milb
Heath had a decent game at the Beach and Locke is showing some signs of improvement at Rome….