ESPN – Braves vs. Marlins – Box Score – September 02, 2008
Yeah, like the Falcons and Dolphins could combine for 30 points.
Terrible, terrible ballgame featuring one team that has given up and one team that is rapidly free-falling. I am not going to summarize the whole thing because that is way too much effort to put into this ballclub. Simply put, the Braves took a 1-0 lead in the first, but Charlie Morton gave up three runs in the bottom of the inning. They rallied again to make it 6-3 in the third and 10-3 in the fourth, but Morton and Carlyle immediately gave most of that back, making it 10-9.
The Marlins then got four more to take a 13-10 lead in the fifth, only to see the Braves answer in the sixth to make it 14-13. It stayed that way for awhile but Bobby brought in George Julius to pitch the eighth and he was lucky to keep it tied at 14. They got two in the ninth to make it 16-14 and Gonzalez got the save this time.
The Braves had 21 hits. Only one was by Jeffy, but it was a three-run homer. Infante and KJ had four hits each, and slugging first baseman Martin Prado had three. Tavarez had a good outing, getting out of a bases-loaded one-out situation he inherited from the completely bushed Ohman.
Good call on the props to Tavarez. He’s not a player I like, but he was key tonight, as much as any player can be in a 16-14 comedy.
On the Dolphins- Falcons thing. Don’t rule out the possibility of a blocked punt returned for a TD and a fumble recovered in the end zone.
Expanding on my previous comment — I share Mac’s concern that slashing the payroll will cause Liberty to permanently tighten the purse strings. It’s a business reality that you can’t be given a presumed budget, volunteer to come in 40% below said budget, and expect to get it all back the following year.
And I suppose we have to give the fickle fan base some indication that we’re trying to compete in ’09. Even though we almost certainly won’t be competitive.
So I think the best solution is to sign a couple of free agents to two-year contracts this off-season. This excludes the Dunn-Sheets-Sabathia et al crowd, which is fine because we should be looking two (three, really) years down the road. A two-year contract becomes a valuable trading commodity at the ’09 deadline, and we can use that to garner a few more pieces for the next serious multi-year run.
So we need to isolate a couple of players who are still productive, but far enough into their 30s that they can’t expect a huge contract. Those are the types of players that contending teams look to to plug gaps in a pennant drive.
Scanning Cot’s list of impending free agents, I’ve found two players who I think fit the bill. Raul Ibanez and Derek Lowe.
List found here:
http://tinyurl.com/3dm9h9
Other suggestions?
Okay, who thinks I should change the “Weather Where The Braves Are” from Death Valley to Hell, Michigan?
I think our problems for next year are solved. Francoeur has gotten his power stroke back and Anderson developed one tonight. Well, maybe not.
I will have to say that we’re developing a good bench for next year. Unfortunately, we have 3 good starters (Chipper, McCann, and Escobar), and 5 pretty good bench players who most likely will never be good enough to be everyday players (Prado, Infante, Anderson, Blanco, Norton). Of those, Norton probably won’t be back, but he’s exceeded expectations and could have been a useful pinch hitter if our season meant anything.
my fear is that those “Bench” players become regulars
csg – Agreed.
One vote for Hell.
We could spend the 40 million on international scouting and signing. I wonder if we could negotiate exclusive rights with the South American continent for that price range.
That was a good recap, Mac. 😉
Did you see some of those “kids” Curacao sent to the little league world series? Let spend the extra money we might waste on FAs and become the most dominant force on that island. With Andruw and JJ (and of course Randall Simon) we’ve got the talking points.
Casey Kotchman is getting Wally Pipped.
I like Hell.
Nice write up–at least Corky got back into possibly the ugliest game of the season—and thats saying something.
On a more serious note, the performance of both Morton and Reyes is extremely disappointing. Even if either should turn it around at this late date, I think that the Braves have to go into the postseason searching for at least 3 starters–as well as an LF + RF.
Game thread is up.
Looked at the game thread and nobody mentioned Brandon Jones’ arm.
On the sac fly at the end of Monday’s game he was falling all over himself turning around and it was a pressure situation. He let fly an awfully inaccurate ball from short left.
Last night, he had another play in short left. It was a single in front of him with him moving toward the plate. He still uncorked it so far off that McCann came up with it almost in the visiting on deck circle.
Small sample size, but if you can’t throw from left any better than that, then you have to hit like Burrell or Manny to be valuable.
VERY small sample. B. Jones is nothing more than a 4th outfielder. Unfortunately, we’re gonna have to wait until 2011 for him to be a 4h outfielder for us…until that time…he’s gonna play.
Is it just me, or are all our new guys (Lillibridge, Anderson, etc.) tiny?
Kelly looks like a corner outfielder in comparison. Hey …