This game thread was written in advance. The video is dedicated to Andruw Jones, and not to Jeff Francoeur, who is neither old nor a player I particularly like. Moreover, he should have stayed in Mississippi.
Lord knows I can’t stay up late for all of this. Recap in the morning.
Francoeur sucks.
How is 72 hours enough time to fix a swing that took half a season to destroy? The baby wasn’t even man enough to admit he sucked! He’s still ‘sore’ or ‘upset’ or whatever he said regarding being sent down. If his ego can’t handle that at 24 and a .239 average then he needs to spend more time in AA.
His call back will undermine Wren’s decision to send him down. No reasonable GM sends a player down for a weekend. A weekend – that’s a vacation not a minor league stint to fix a wreck that is Frenchy’s swing. He better have his swing back. Otherwise, not only will I be upset with Frenchy but I’ll think the Braves management is more concerned with pampering their underperforming poster boy than fixing his swing.
to Adam M., from the previous thread:
Stockman went on the minor league dl a few days ago. Otherwise, I would join you in saying FREE PHIL STOCKMAN!!!
I thought it was a joke when I first saw the stuff in the thread about Francoeur coming back up. If he was going to come back that fast, he never should have gone.
Wren, you sure aren’t looking too good right now.
It’s embarrassing. It shows that Wren (or whomever) did not have the clout and/or the nerve to send him down in the first place. The Braves are laughable. The players can all be happy: they still suck, though, and their team will win 78 games this year with a payroll still ranking in the top-12 (or something). Congratulations Braves!
I am beginning to wonder how much Delta had to say about this. I mean, they’re not paying their spokesman to promote the airline in Pearl, Mississippi. They advertise a good bit with the Braves, and I suspect they have some influence.
At this point, why would Delta want a spokesman who is doing poorly & garnering negative attention?
I can’t imagine Delta would be sticking up for him or impacting the Braves front-office decisions in the slightest.
I mean, I love my big-business conspiracy theories, but I’ll not go that far.
From the last thread:
There are too many other smart organizations for a Braves team enamored with the likes of Jeff Francoeur to be successful. I’m sad.
This sums up the many Braves-related thoughts running through my head, too, Adam M. It’s terribly depressing. As to your comment about switching MLB allegiances, while in my more logical moments I think there’s something unimpeachably wise about that, I’m afraid that, emotionally, I could never bring myself to do it and am thus stuck with these bone-heads.
The suits are making the decisions and it’s not even our suits?!?!?!? I hope not.
Has there ever been a better argument against our current bullpen vs position player roster makeup than yesterday’s game?
By my count we ran out of pinch hitters in the tenth but still had relievers, not starters, relievers available to go further.
A 12 man staff should be plenty sufficient.
Actually, we were out of relievers — Bennett was unavailable, it turns out. I would guess that Campillo — if he was even at the game — would have had to pitch, with the Braves making a callup today.
Love ’em or hate ’em he’s back…
and I made this today in honor of JF”K”.
~JB
Especially when Bobby only uses 4 of the relievers. EVER!
Joshua, 6 used last night.
Looks like there’s another JB in the house. I changed my name a little….
Mac, I’m the one to blame for Saturday night’s loss just to keep us straight.
Something that was mentioned in the comments under the ESPN article…is the comparison between McCann and Frenchy. McCann, now a 3 time all-star, nice contract, sitting around joking and laughing with future HOF, Smoltz, Glavine and Chipper while Frenchy struggles and gets sent back to the minors. Maybe a little jealously? McCann is Michael, Francouer is Fredo.
In other news Andruw Jones is a disgrace. Keep JJ away from him. I notice JJ could actually need a little tightning around the waste.
This is actually really sad. The so-called “first” class organization has turned into a joke. Francouer you are a joke.
This is starting to bother me. Can someone tell me why KJ is hitting in the .270s? Is he really just a middle of the pack 2nd baseman?
Frank Wren’s terrible moves….
1.playing yo-yo with Francoeur
2.resigning Bobby Cox to another year
3.signing Glavine
4.keeping Miller over Pena, or not replacing Miller
5.destroying all trade value in Lillibridge
I was wanting to give him credit for the Renteria deal, but I have 0% confidence saying that it was him and not JS at this point. The Ohman/Infante deal has been solid for the club and I have a doubt that he was behind it also. We may very well end up that club from the 80’s again
#13 – Bobby was tossed when the starter was in, who knows if he still manages the game after that or not
Stu, I’m not switching to another team for real. I too will be stuck with these guys as long as I watch baseball. But for now, at least, I can see Sabathia pitch tomorrow night in front of the new home crowd, so at least I can see some genuine enthusiasm for a team (yes, I’m praying I don’t break down and cry as the Brewers fans go wild…)
Can someone tell me why KJ is hitting in the .270s? Is he really just a middle of the pack 2nd baseman?
How many times has KJ’s career been detailed on this site? I know of at least once just in the past week. Without delving into it again, to answer your second question, clearly not.
If Francoeur felt ‘betrayed’ by being sent to the minors, how do Braves fans feel by his .287 OBP and .662 OPS?
Neyer has an insider piece on this, if anyone has that service. I can’t read it… though I know few here like or respect what he has to say.
He basically says that 3 days can’t fix anything, that jerking him around like this shows the organization doesn’t know what it’s doing. He continues to assign much of Francoeur’s failure to luck.
I generally like and respect Neyer, though I haven’t been able to read much of him since ESPN put him behind the Insider wall. As a James disciple, he can be a little argumentative or contrarian in his writing, and it made him look a little ridiculous in the case of Francoeur. However, he’s smart, and a very good writer.
I’m surprised you’d say that last bit, AAR. He’s capable, certainly, and his writing is perhaps good relative to much of what comes out of Bristol, but “a very good writer”? No way. He’s repetitive and has a terribly annoying tone, IMO.
So basically: Neyer agrees with most folks here. For those who argued that the Braves were reluctant to send Francoeur down for PR-related reasons, this is much much worse. It makes the organization look incompetent and Wren look weak; Francoeur now gets a national spotlight on not only his ‘slump’ but his general flaws; and it helps make him into a privileged martyr when he should be down there working on his mechanics.
At 23: I’d have to agree. Neyer’s responses in his chats, at least, take on an annoying tone, and it seems rare that he actually answers questions sincerely.
From the previous thread:
http://bravesjournal.us/wp-content/Uploads/dontaskdonttell.jpg
Haha. I didn’t notice the pic was titled ‘dontaskdonttell’
When I said that this organization was broken and this team/franchise blown up and started over, I was correct.
To quote the immortal Joker, “This team(town) needs an enema.”
Thanks F.O. for making the organization look like a complete train wreck, and thanks Francouer for redefining the modern day primadonna athlete.
DUDE
Mr. Swings,
Do you disagree with my point or do you just think that huge success is right around the Braves corner?
I don’t even know what to think. I check out for a long weekend and come back to this? Who was supposed to be manning the helm while I was away? I heard a good bit of the game on the radio yesterday and figured that Francoeur had finally been sent out when some guy named Perry was playing RF and Jeffy never made it into the game. The radio guys never said anything about Jeff’s demotion that I heard although I did miss the first few innings. Then we come from behind, win an epic one and Francoeur is back where he’s supposed to be and I’m thinking 2nd half surge here we come. Now he’s back??? What am I going to do with my summers if the Braves become a complete farce?
So if Francoeur starts being horrible again, the Braves are going to do…what exactly?
I heard Frank Wren on a sports talk radio show this afternoon, and he said that they’d play it by ear if Francoeur starts playing badly again. He was incredibly defensive about calling him back up so quickly, saying it was all about confidence and had nothing to do with Terry Pendleton or Philip Wellman, and that they were bringing him back up now because he’s relaxed, etc.
Right before the 4th, I posted the results of a study I did that found of the 299 major leaguers who ever had a season as bad as Francoeur’s at the same age and with at least as much service time. Of the 299 qualifiers, only 23 ever had even a single season that was at or above “average” offensive production for a right fielder. So count me in the camp of those who think that Francoeur is highly unlikely ever to turn it around.
That said, maybe what the Braves did here was just send him a message. I’m not defending how this was handled, nor am I arguing that in all probability it wasn’t his whining that brought him back. But it seems like there’s a chance that the Braves believe he just needed to be challenged, and that they think a change of attitude is all it will take to make him a productive player. If that’s true, I am way more worried about the organization than I am about Francoeur, because to me that shows absolutely no understanding of how hard it is to be a good baseball player- I bet the minor leagues are FULL of mediocre players who bust their ass every day and have great, winning attitudes and are unfailingly optimistic and driven and play with a chip on their shoulder and all that- but they are still not good enough to play at the MLB level. I’m hoping that I’m reading way too much into this…
Good stuff from Chipper: (don’t have the link…it was on ajc.com)
“There’s a reason why we’ve been at or near .500 for two and a half years now,” he says. “To win one-run games, pitchers have to get bunts down. You’ve got to hit behind runners. You’ve got to put the ball in play with a guy on third and less than two outs. You have to do the little things to win those one-run games, because a run here and a run there is the difference. We don’t do it consistently.
“Now, there are other factors. You’ve got to make the big pitch when you’re in trouble. You’ve got to make the big play where there’s two outs and they’ve got guys in scoring position.
“But my domain is the offense. And we don’t consistently play good enough small ball to win the one-run games.”
“I’m not a guy that’s asked to go up there and bunt. But I know that if I were a pitcher, a front of the lineup guy or an end of the lineup guy, that it would certainly be in my arsenal. Getting a bunt down — with the exception of a very few pitchers in the game — it should be a lay-up. I mean, it’s a fundamental part of the game. It should be a lay-up.”
Chipper is speaking the gospel truth there. Houston guys went up there and put bunts down the entire game like they were lay-ups.
So what you’re telling me is that Chipper is much better at actually playing the game than he is at understanding the strategic aspect of it? I guess I’m okay with that.
@35 Yeah they did.
@16
I think Lillibridge has done a great job of destroying all trade value for Lillibridge. Not sure what Wren could have done to make him play like a major leaguer.
Also, hard to kill Wren for re-signing Bobby for another year. If Bobby wants to manage, he’s going to manage. You don’t push a Hall of Famer out the door, even if he is nearing the end of his rope. It’s like the Paterno situation, although Paterno really is senile, while Bobby only seems to be most of the time.
ESPN just showed a graphic during the Sox/Twins game: in 123 career at-bats, Kevin Youkilis has NEVER swung at a 3-0 pitch. Damn.
Can we take advantage? The Mets are beating up on the Phils, so we really need to win this one.
I hate the late damn west coast games.
I miss layups all the time in pickup games. I’ve actually gotten better at them lefthanded for some reason. Oh yeah… I only play basketball for about an hour once a week (if that).
I hope the Braves win, but I’ll be rooting for Andruw to turn his year around against his old team. Go Braves! Go Andruw!
Adam M… I too have taken an interest in the brew crew since I’ve been in Madison. But I can’t sway my allegiance away from the Bravos, no matter how hard they try to get me to (I’m still chapped about the AAA team leaving Richmond and the TBS deal).
By the way, Rob Neyer’s comments indeed reflect many posted here about how 3 days won’t do anything. However, from his two entries on Frenchy, he seems to ascribe a lot more of his problems to bad luck than those that often watch his approach at the plate.
We can’t reasonably expect Neyer to be familiar with the Braves. He lives in the PCNW, is a Royals fan, and mostly watches the AL as a result. If I’m asked to take a look at, say, the Tigers, I would have to go by the stats, and Francoeur’s stat elements do indeed suggest that he should not be hitting as badly as he actually is. (JC, if you’re there, feel free to chime in on that.)
No Bill James disciple would actually think that the stats are all there is to it, but they’re all Neyer has to go on.
Mac, you are correct. Neyer did suggest in his first piece that maybe the bad luck had gotten into Frenchy’s head, but that he (Neyer) didn’t know. From comments here, those that watched him (I’m stuck with gameday) could see that he was pressing and tinkering with his stance (recently).
Pretty much. Plus, his swing has gotten so slow that he’s deciding (he’s more or less admitted) what pitches he’s going to swing at before they’re thrown. That doesn’t work. He doesn’t really get the idea of plate discipline, or he’s unable to put it into practice because of his limitations.
I’d suggest reading the sections in Moneyball about Billy Beane’s playing career. Francoeur’s a better player than Beane was, even now, and he’s surely not as intelligent… but a lot of his struggles this year are similar to what Beane went through.
Interesting note, Mac. I’d have to track down Moneyball at the library. It’s been a few years since I’ve read it.
He’s capable, certainly, and his writing is perhaps good relative to much of what comes out of Bristol, but “a very good writer”? No way. He’s repetitive and has a terribly annoying tone, IMO.
That’s all fair enough. I probably should have said “a very good writer as mainstream baseball writers go.” And jea’s definitely right, he can take a very snide tone in his chats, though that’s often warranted by dumb questions. But mainly I like that he’s a mainstream baseball writer who has an understanding of, an appreciation for, and an ability to write well about the numbers.
I will add this… if Rob Neyer hadn’t been writing for ESPN.com in the mid-to-late nineties, I might not have this site. When I started out writing, I essentially copied what Neyer was doing at the time. I was able to make a smooth transition to blogging because that was what I was doing by accident — and that accident was the way that Neyer’s column was being posted at the time I started.
And, as I said in the main entry, I can’t stay up for this thing, so you’re on your own tonight. Behave.
It will be very interesting to see what the Braves will do if Francoeur fails to produce when he gets back into the lineup. I agreed with the demotion because he was hurting the team and I disagree with the re call although it can be defended. This west coast swing is a make or break trip from what I read. It could be the difference between being buyers and sellers before the trade deadline.
JC…. really man. Delta influencing player movement?
francoeur’s not in the starting lineup. my guess is that bobby had a talk with him about his demeanor the past few days. one would bet that he will be first off the bench in a pinch hit situation.
all lefties except esco and campillo
blanco
esco
chipper
tex
bmac
kj
kotsay
perry
On that radio show, Wren said Francoeur wouldn’t be in the lineup because he might not get there in time, since he’d be flying in commercial planes. That may just be the party line, however. I hope Bobby has a talk with him.
No, Francoeur’s plane was supposed to land at 7:55 Pacific time. The games starts at 7:00. He said he was hoping to get in a pinch hit appearance.
Neyer posted a column at least three days a week in the late 90s. A whole column not a blog entry. It was great, it was awesome, it helped turn baseball on its head. He’s not as cutting edge as he was then but I still like reading his blog. He’ll still come up with a gem every now and then. I think he is largely responsible for getting mainstream acceptance of OPS, OBP and SLG by thinking fans.
#43 – not with you on this one, I hope Andruw continues to struggle for at least 3 more games. After that, Ill pull for him
I listened to the talking heads of the Atlanta media today and they were generally right on regarding this bizarre recall of Frenchy. This move indeed makes Wren look as if he is not in total control of the situation, and perhaps yielding to external pressures.
If I were him I would have informed Frenchy he would be sent down indefinitely, and would be recalled at a time when he a) established proper swing mechanics, b) produced runs, and c) illustrated an ability to recognize pitches, work counts and become a more disciplined hitter.
I was rather put off by his comments and notion of self-entitlement, to which I would put forth his anemic statistics and utter cluelessness as a hitter this season. I think he needed this demotion as a wake up call as much as anything, as he needs to learn to change his approach, and be a more professional hitter, if he intends to stick around.
I just don’t understand Wren’s move here, from either perspective. If you believe it was the right decision to send him down (as we all do here) then what good does it do to bring him back so soon? On the other hand, if I disagreed with the decision to send Frenchy down, I’d still be wondering why Wren went through all this in the first place for just 3 minor-league games. what the hell?
3 days. That’s not enough time for Francoeur to open up and admit he even has a problem, let alone enough time to actually fix the damn problem.
I think the Francoeur recall is more simple than some of you are thinking. Perry has not done squat, and now Infante is down. Best alternative is to recall Frenchy and hope he does better.
anyone having problems with MLB.TV right now or is it just me.
GoBraves,
Yes, I am. But for me, it’s the audio on mlb.com.
You beat me to it.
does the site say something like processing and then it just times out?
Man its fun to listen to Vin Scully call a game.
I’m having problems with MLB’s audio, too. Glad to see I’m not the only one.
Mine just tried to process forever. Of course, I usually have to log out then log back in before it will work (which is annoying. Does everyone have to do that?)
Yup. Gives me a countdown, then craps out.
BTW, Mets trying to cough one up in Philly. They were up 10-1, now it’s 10-7 with 6 outs to go.
Yeah first time I’ve had problems with MLB.tv in a while. Frustrating
I’m having trouble with MLBTV also. Any suggestions?
Dunno what to do. Highly annoying.
what does it say for you guys?
Connection Interrupted for me
Add me to the list of frustrated MLB.TV subscribers. Their customer service is a joke, so I don’t have my hopes up. Bummer.
For me it’s the countdown, then a time out page.
Now we can experience the game like they had to in the old days: by huddling around an internet blog and waiting for someone to to type what happens.
Well, mine works now, but only the bottom half of the picture.
I just got in too. Works fine, just in time to see Andruw
Game Day appears to be working. Andruw just grounded out.
One of Andruw’s two home runs had to be against Atlanta.
hey its workin now hooray
Man, looks like I got lucky in the offseason. I had MLB.tv last year and loved it, but decided to go with the Extra Innings package this year. Sounds like MLB.tv has taken a step down this year. Which is too bad, being MLB owned and MLB having a usually strong internet presence.
Feel bad for you guys.
Looks like this is going to be a quick game and by the looks of it, the Braves are trying to make Frenchy more at home since his banishment by taking a Francouerian approach at the plate.
Any chance we can make Frenchy a pitcher?
I’m really not convinced this Francoeur tribute game is a good idea.
The audio’s back up.
Wagner making it interesting in the 9th vs. Philly.
Kouroda looks like he went to the Atlanta Brave/Manny Acosta school of sacrifice bunting.
A game of tributes! Kuroda’s doing a bunting tribute to Braves pitchers, the Braves doing a tribute to both Frenchy AND Andruw!
So, anyone know how bad the traffic is in LA this time of night? Here’s to hoping JFK doesn’t make it in time.
Jinx, Brandon
Wagner’s making it very interesting.
What a great baseball announcer. He’s the bizarro Chip.
Well, that’s that. Phillies lose, Mets win. FInal 10-9.
I see this being a 2-0 game one way or the other.
desert… come up with any questions for me about school? I’m heading to bed now, but let me know.
Go Braves!
At this rate, I see a 75 pitch perfect game by Kuroda
C. Shorter, I’ll email them to you, thanks again!
Agreed, Kyle B. Do we look as lifeless as Game Day makes us seem? Nothing out of the infield yet. Sheesh.
Escobar for Gold Glove.
But the writers will probably give it to Vizquel again.
Esco is one smooth player
Imagine Zombies at bat. Chipper’s last strike out swing was one of the worst I’ve ever seen him take. Definitely jet lag. However, Escobar is playing some superb shortstop.
And they say the jet lag isn’t supposed to hit until the second day… What will tomorrow look like?
Stop swinging at the first damn pitch already.
Hey now, McCann had a 4 pitch at bat, they’re not completely impatient!
Again, Joe, they can’t pick everyone for the All-Star team.
That’s the Andruw we all know and love!
Who’s Joe advocating now?
Hamels, Burrell, and Bay among others.
And Nomar pulls ahead of Andruw for RBI’s with a 9-8 lead.
And referencing my previous post, it’s 2-0…
Guh.
Joe did call that curveball earlier. Ouch.
I hope we get a baserunner tonight.
Nomar? Really, Nomar?
Can we please get a hit?
I know they’re tired, but no history tonight, OK?
6 perfect innings.
Does everyone have to swing at the first pitch??? It might not matter, but at least get the guy’s pitch count up. This is absolutely rediculous.
What an outstanding offensive club, huh?
Looks like nine Jeff Francoeurs up there tonight.
Kuroda is Bob Gibson. Our hardest hit ball is by Jason Perry. Yikes.
I can’t believe we’re being no-hit through 6 innings. Hiroki Kuroda is no-hitting us. He’s pitching a no-hitter.
No-hitter no-hitter no-hitter!
Argh!
Can we make the guy throw more than 10 pitches this inning?
So far, 6 IP, 59 pitches.
Do you think Torre is going to complain about that bunt like Brenly did during Schilling’s no-hit bid?
More first pitch swinging. For Christ’s sake.
Gregor Blanco: “I’m batting leadoff, so the best way for me to wear out this pitcher is to ground out on the first pitch.”
2 pitches, 2 outs.
Two pitches, two outs…
*Sigh*
And that’s a 6-pitch inning.
I think I’m gonna go to sleep.
I’m sick of this team making every average pitcher look like the second coming of Bob freaking Gibson.
Probably would have had it worked.
At least the Phillies lost, so the Braves stay six back.
Of course, they fall to six games under .500 again, blow another chance to gain ground, continue to tread water when they can’t really afford to any longer and fall 3.5 GB of the frickin’ Mets.
I hate this team.
I will say this: We’re certainly in a hurry to get no-hit/perfect-gamed.
FIRE TERRY “FAT FUCK” PENDLETON!
65 pitches through seven.
You know what would be funny? 2-outs in the top of the ninth, perfect game still in place….and pinch-hitter Jeff Francoeur gets a base hit.
Chuck James throws that many pitches per inning.
This is really terrible. I think there’s probably about a 75% chance this is happening. We can’t seem to do anything. There is very little in sports worse than watching your team have a perfect game thrown against it. At least it won’t be at home, where we would have to listen to the home crowd turn against us.
The last time a perfect game was thrown I believe, it was against us by the Unit.
Dan, I was just coming in here to post that. Nice one.
Right after Ben Sheets struck out 18 Braves…
You know what would be more likely? Two outs, top nine, perfect game still in place…and pinch-hitter Jeff Francoeur swings at a 3-0 pitch in the other batter’s box and taps it meekly to Kuroda, who throws to first to complete the perfect game.
Gee, I’d hate to jinx this NO HITTER NO HITTER NO HITTER.
Dan/url,
Beat me to it.
Now that would be a story.
tex breaks it up right here
On a side note, Vin Scully is the man.
At least I get to hear Vin Scully call it.
I’m so glad I’ve been distracted for this entire game…bleh.
he’s getting some corners.
Boog just used the words”leather lung” for the loudmouth in the stands. Hadn’t heard that one before. That is full of awesome.
Tex!
Thank you, Tex.
Thank the Lord.
The insanity ends.
Now rally please and lose by one run.
Attaboy, Tex.
Let’s hope he makes more pitches like that one…not likely though!
Thank you, Tex! Now we can just lose instead of being humiliated.
Thank God! Good call, Ryan.
hell, let’s keep predicting…..mccann breaks up the shutout.
Thank God!
ryan,
Don’t stop there. Let’s win the thing…
francoeur comes in to pinch hit and……………………………………………
………………………………………………….k’s miserably.
Leadoff double pissed away. Typical Braves. This team is awful.
DOB mentioned Nunez changing his arm angle like that. Neat.
yes this team is awful and it goes back to what Chipper had quoted in #34
btw, ESPN is discussing, or was discussing, if its ethical or not to bunt in the 7th inning of a perfect game trying to get on base or steal a hit. Two guys said its part of Blanco’s game and they think its fine to try and get something going. One guy didnt feel the same
Don’t know if anyone has already posted this, but the Braves signed DeVall and Stovall today, along with Adam Milligan. Doesn’t put the dollar amounts though.
Being on the somewhat left coast, I have watched a ton of Dodger games this year, the top reason being Vin Scully. After all these years, and the invention of the internet and XM, Vin still teaches me things me something new about the players playing every single game. There are rumors this may be Vin’s last year, or at least his last year doing all of the home games (he doesn’t travel east of the Rockies anymore). With that being said, I really marvel every broadcast. The only constant in certainly sports, but maybe in life in general that was around when my dad was a kid, and now is still around after all of these years for me to enjoy.
It doesn’t get any better in sports broadcasting in any sport as far as I’m concerned. A tip of the hat to you Mr. Scully.
Is anyone sick of Scully saying Mark Coke-say?
Scully is awesome, for sure.
And that whole issue with bunts is goofy, IMO. You’re trying to win the game. You need baserunners. A bunt is perfectly fine in my book.
If you want to preserve the no-hitter, make a play like Dewitt did. That “code of honor” stuff makes no sense to me.
I would love to know which guy thought that it was unethical for Blanco to bunt in that situation. The outlook that, when a perfect game is going on, the opposing team must essentially let the pitcher do it to them is, in a word, retarded. Five’ll get you 10 it was Steve Phillips.
@161
I think that was a perfectly acceptable play. It was a 3-0 game, one more base runner after that and the Braves have the middle of the order up. It wasn’t to break up the no-hitter, it was bunting with a chance to win. Maybe if it were 8-0 or something like that I might feel different.
I also thought Ben Davis’s bunt against Schilling during his no-hit bid was perfectly acceptable a couple years ago. I thought Brenly was completely wrong to complain so much after the game.
F’n Blanco. Swinging at the first pitch yet again.
Dumbest team ever.
The suffering didn’t last long.
How did Norton not beat out that throw?
Anyway. The Braves suck. Goodnight, all.
for those of you that know computer lingo: we looked like a bunch of noobs tonight.
161, if it were Brian McCann or somebody like that who never bunts and the score was 8-0, I guess I could understand why people would think it’s bush, but if you take away Blanco being able to bunt, he doesn’t have a job in baseball.
One hit, thanks for showing up tonight guys. I know yesterday was long, but plenty of people in this country did have to show up for work, and a lot earlier than 10 PM EST.
Thank you very little.
Well, time to plunge back into the mind-numbing fog that is the Jeff Francoeur situation for another 22 hours.
And Ububba could not have said it better regarding the whole bunt thing. If you don’t like it, make a play. Don’t stand there and whine about it. Or I’ll tell you what, we’ll give you the perfect game, but tomorrow, if the game is tied late and we have the bases loaded, you have to intentionally walk in the winning run. If you agree to that, then we’re square.
here you go…
Wren said that he’s not worried about some of the comments Francoeur made following the transaction.
“That doesn’t concern me at all,” Wren said. “Those comments were made out of frustration.”
so he’s not worried that his everyday RF is bashing him and the org? he’s not worried that we have the worst OF in the majors, he’s not worried that our roster construction sucks and we have useless bench players and a useless backup catcher, I guess he’s probably not worried that this team is .500 for the last 3 years and were in 4th place and slowly becoming worse than the Nationals
i was thinking about something earlier…i bet we could get andruw back from the dodgers for pretty cheap. if they agreed to pay for 10 mil of his salary next year, would he be worth the risk? wow, i’m delirious.
ryan,
I believe you may be alone with that thought.
A one-hitter.
Can anyone remember how this offense was supposed to be unstoppable?
This ’05 youth movement is working out great.
Haven’t been posting much in the last few days as I am at the beach in Gulf Shores. But, reading today, I have to say that most on this site are way overreacting.
Somebody actually said that recalling Francoeur was the worst move made by any GM all year. And then, Wren has been blamed for lowering Lilli’s trade value.
Everyone, just chill out.
91-pitch shutout…this offense is pressing with no patience…can we send TP to the minor? I think he needs to clear his head as well.
I was in the car earlier listening to ESPN Radio’s “All Night” show with this Jason Smith guy. He gave his little teaser of a guy who had been “betrayed” by his team and he would discuss it after the break. Knowing that it was about Francoeur, I sat in my driveway at 2:45 in the morning and waited for the show to come back on. Man, this guy has Francoeur wrong.
During the show, he used words to describe Jeff like “star” and “terrific” and had “great” past two seasons. Now, I like Jeff Francoeur. I know a lot of people on here don’t. I think he is immensely talented (probably not that smart…), and he will probably end up being a very good player. I think he’s handled his demotion and contract negotiations very poorly, and I fear his self-image is going to be cause him some harm, but I still like him and I think he’s a good player. But a “star”? Absolutely not, unless you mean strictly by popularity.
And even I wouldn’t say he’s had “great” seasons the past two years. To substantiate his claims he said that Jeff hit .293, hit 29 homers, knocked in 100 runs in the past couple seasons, and that was why he thought he was so good. Now, this Jason Smith guy seems to be decent. I’ve only listened to him a couple times, but I’ve liked what I’ve heard. Of course, I even like Colin Cowherd, so maybe I’m just easy to please. But, man, can you possibly place anymore faith in raw stats like AVG, HR, and RBI to say that Francouer has had great seasons the past 2 seasons? Even I couldn’t say that.
Just thought you guys would like to know this. It’s so funny how people view Francoeur.
DeVall signed, I am so happy. Please include him as one of our return from the Tex deal. This kid is a first round talent.
If Tex is also leaving through FA, the Braves will get two picks in return. At the end, the Tex trade will be a 5 for 5 deal.
Re Neyer,
He certainly does not concede that he does not know the teams. He never qualifies his statements. He says things like “I follow the numbers.” Maybe he does actually analyze but I wonder whether he actually watches games. At one time I liked Neyer but he has become increasingly insufferable.
And the Braves suck and are stuck in denial. They have few impact players and simply are not very good. And, Chipper’s a great player but to say the Braves’ problems come from not being good bunters just shows how little players actually know about the game.
A game like this will happen. But it seems to happen to the Braves regularly. This isn’t a failure to bunt; this is a failure to have good hitters.
Recap is up.