Florida Marlins vs. Atlanta Braves – Box Score – April 16, 2009 – ESPN
What a freaking nightmare. After not starting the first game and remaining quiet in the second, Commando Cody Ross did his thing, hitting a three-run homer in the second inning (after KJ dropped a double play ball for the rare error/Prado on the same play) which he later followed with a sac fly. Final line: three hits in three AB, four RBI, a run scored. In other words, normal.
Kawakami pitched well for five innings (and had two hits) other than the homer. But in the sixth, after the Braves had crawled back to 3-2, he gave up two more runs, and that pretty much put it away. Campillo allowed a run in the ninth, but that was pretty much just the frosting on the crap cake that was this series.
The offense was mostly (with Chipper out and McCann limited to his usual “pinch-hitting in a lost cause on his putative day off” duties) Anderson and Francoeur. Go figure. Anderson had two hits and a walk; Francoeur had two hits and drove Anderson in for both Braves runs. The Braves 1-2 hitters, KJ and Infante, were a collective 0-9, which pretty much doomed things. Escobar left the game with a pulled abdominal muscle. This really sucks.
Missed the game, but most distressed by the Yunel injury.
Cue the bleak music. Maybe it’s time to break out Nebraska.
Luckily its only 4 days till we play the Nationals again.
And if we go 19-0 vs. Washington….
world is falling…
Just adds a little pressure for the upcoming road trip. At least the schedule lets up… if we take 8 or 9 from PIT, WAS, and CIN that’d be grand.
Glad to see some more good ABs from Francoeur though, and Garret had a good day at the plate at least. Once the bullpen settles in we’ll be just fine.
3–I think we only play them 18 times.
More importantly, we’ll likely revert to 2008 form against them.
the sky is ending.
@2: We play Pittsburgh in the meantime… hopefully we bust out the whooping sticks again.
Why do we even watch baseball?
Masochism.
Why do we even watch baseball?
Because it’s the greatest sport on the planet.
Why?
From the former commissioner Bart Giamatti:
“It breaks your heart. It is designed to break your heart. The game begins in the spring, when everything else begins again, and it blossoms in the summer, filling the afternoons and evenings, and then as soon as the chill rains come, it stops and leaves you to face the fall alone.”
Um, I know Mac didn’t mention this, but Schafer had another o-fer. That’s 1 for 15 the last four games, with 10 K’s. I’d be all for sending him back down to Gwinnett, because Blanco can go 1 for 15 with 10 K’s just as easily (actually, he probably wouldn’t do quite that bad).
Man, have we got a lot of holes that still need to be filled…..
Wow, we can’t score if we don’t hit any homers.
According to Peanut, Boyer is likely to be DFA’d when Reyes is called up to start Saturday.
Can we send Campillo down too? He hasn’t helped any this year and we already have one long reliever. Maybe we should bring Acosta or somebody up.
I just checked, and Luis Valdez has gotten off to a good start and is on the 40 man. I think he might be the next reliever up instead of Acosta if the Braves decide to start cleaning out the bullpen.
Id bring up Medlen, but it seems quick to DFA Boyer doesnt it?
Boyer hasn’t looked good, but I bet he gets claimed. Your call as to whether thats good or bad …
I suppose Medlen is a possibility, though I’d like to see him get more time at Gwinnett.
5-4 doesn’t bother me, it is the 8-1 for the Marlins that does. And they have the Nationals next.
Six games against the Pirates and Nationals for the Braves.
Did I see Frenchy hitting over .300 or is that a typo by ESPN. That has to be a typo.
Also, if Moylan has another bad outing, what are the odds of him going on the DL?
Carroll Rodges says Campillo to DL, Parr to replace him in the bullpen.
Are you kidding me? Parr? What’s the logic behind that? We just like soft-tossing long relievers?
I can’t disagree with DFA’ing Boyer. I didn’t realize it, but he had a 5.88 ERA last year…I guess most of those runs were allowed after I stopped giving a damn. But he’s looked just as bad this year. It’s a bit fast, but you can tell when Bobby loses confidence in a guy by whether or not he comes up with bullshit to defend him…and Bobby has had nothing good to say about Boyer lately.
I don’t understand the Parr move, either. Again, we don’t need another long reliever, we need someone with a live arm.
Also, according to Rogers, “Bobby Cox said they do not plan a roster move for an infielder, not yet anyway. Trainers are telling him 3 or 4 days with Escobar. Escobar said he might be ready tomorrow. He strained his abdominal muscle jumping up and down in the on-deck circle getting warmed up.”
You’ve got to be kidding me.
Pretty surprised about Boyer. My opinion of him is much higher than that of most others here, of course.
If I’m Boyer, I pull an Al Czervik, “Oh, my arm!” The Braves have ridden him hard.
Oh, and Campillo has a “sore shoulder” or “dead arm.” What, they couldn’t use “inability to pitch?”
I have been a Boyer advocate and liked his K rates and live arm, but I’m afraid Bobby’s ruined him.
Also, his major league numbers are in line with his minor league track record.
Wow. Bitch-slapped. Just embarrassing.
If this team doesn’t get the lead, they’re dead in the water.
Bobby might have ruined Boyer, but give an assist to:
Smoltz
Glavine
Hudson
Hampton
Morton
Reyes
Gonzalez
Moylan
Soriano
Boyer’s arm fell off because everyone else’s arm fell off first and the replacement starters couldn’t go deep into games. I mean, we threw 28 different guys out there last season.
He strained a muscle jumping up and down? Really? I have so many things to say, and yet, all the same, I’m rendered speechless.
The Boyer news shocks me as well. Maybe KC will trade us back Davies for him?
#32
In 1982, Terry Harper separated his shoulder waving a runner home after a wild pitch. Sad to say, but Yunel’s injury seems to have joined that bizarro category.
Need a big game from you tomorrow night, Jair.
Headed to the new Yankee Stadium tomorrow afternoon. Gonna try to get there a couple hours early & treat it like a museum visit.
And I hope the stadium goon squad doesn’t object to my customary concourse/loo visit during the the “7th-inning- stretch festivities.” I’d gladly be Test Case #2.
http://tinyurl.com/de7prv
John Smoltz burned himself ironing his shirt…while wearing it.
@34
Chains on the exits, that’s a bit much.
He strained a muscle jumping up and down? Really? I have so many things to say, and yet, all the same, I’m rendered speechless.
It’s pretty crazy how delicate baseball players are. Athletes in the other three sports are crashing into each other, falling down, twisting at weird angles, etc. constantly, and while there are injuries of course, the vast majority keep right on trucking. In baseball, any little twist or turn that is abnormal and he’s day to day. It’s a miracle if there is a close pitcher covering first play without the pitcher, runner, or both hurting themselves.
sansho,
I’ve gone to tons of games since that stupid policy has been enacted and 1) I’ve never seen any chains, 2) was never even aware of the policy, 3) have gone to the concourse 100% of the time during the 7th inning stretches & have never been stopped or bothered.
Nonetheless, I hope the guy wins the suit just to prove a point.
It’s 2009 but this performance against the Marlins smells an awful lot like 2008.
ububba, I wondered about that — I would think the fire department wouldn’t look too highly about blocking exits.
Don’t rush pitching prospects…
http://www.minorleagueball.com/
@29
Statement 1: Bobby ruined Boyer.
Statement 2: Boyer’s numbers match up with his minor league numbers.
These statements don’t match. You must pick one.
Well this Braves team is very bad when C Jones is out and McCann has to sit .. and when we dont have any bullpen wortha crap … we are top heavy in LH hitters .. teams are and have exploited us there .. Shaefer is coming back down to earth .. scouting reports are getting around will chase bad balls ,, cant hit lefties etc .. anyway we could have used Ludwick from St Louis .. he is kiiling the ball … looks like a 4th place finish behind Marlins, Pkillies and Mets .. all those teams have better hitting and bullpens …
I saw the Escobar injury at the game today…he was on deck and jumping up and down and while in the air he’d lift his legs and tuck his knees to his chest…its hard to describe…like he was trying to jump over something but he was obviously stretching, loosening up somehow.
I saw the Escobar injury at the game today…he was on deck and jumping up and down and while in the air he’d lift his legs and tuck his knees to his chest…its hard to describe…like he was trying to jump over something but he was obviously stretching, loosening up somehow.
I guess that’s really the difference. Baseball has such long and frequent periods of inaction that the players bodies are not always “loose” or whatever when they are asked to, you know, do something.
Mac, I know some won’t like this, but is there anything you can do about doing away with the sexually suggestive ads (Civony) on this site? I stay away from stuff like that on the internet and have 4 kids around and I don’t want them to see it either. I also have this site up at work at times and it’s definitely inappropriate. Thanks for considering this! Thanks also for a great site.
@44 that’s how I’ve always seen him warming up.
I’ll check.
I don’t understand why that ad is here in the first place! (I didn’t see it — I have a flash blocker.) I could try turning off interest-based ads, but if that unrelated ad is showing up, it may not matter.
http://tinyurl.com/d673zu
heyward with a good day. average up to .300
I, um, noticed the ad today at work too. noticed it again at home later too…
47 — that’s the same routine I’ve always seen too. My guess is it may have as much to do with ritual as it does loosening up (doesn’t he have a ritual once he gets to the box, too? ).
and used the word too too many times
It was rather difficult not to notice the ad …
what ad?
ok…worst commercial i’ve ever seen:
a parody on Sir Mix-a-lot’s “Baby Got Back”, depicting a bunch of skinny girls with phone books for butts, somehow pitching Spongebob Squarepants for Burger King, and its a kids meal commercial…
sir mix-alot, big butts, spongebob, kids meals – this combination was actually selected not only by a marketing company, but approved by a BK exec.
W-T-F!?
@42…sure they do. Any chance Boyer might have had to develop at the major league level has been stunted.
Get Firefox and Ad Block Plus, both free. You will rarely see any ads after that.
Um…I feel like an idiot, but what is Civony?
i feel like an idiot for knowing this but, Civony is a TOTALLY FREE massively multiplayer online browser-based strategy game developed by UMGE. Civony has recently moved to a new server, although still officially in beta.
Civony runs in most modern browsers, such as Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari or Google Chrome. And you need Adobe Flash Player 9 or above version.
Newbies Package and Package for Lords
Newly registered players will receive Newbies Package (worth 50 USD) and Package for Lords (worth 100 USD) after they firstly entered the game. Registration is free and playing is free but you can buy additional tools and skills if you need them.
Live Server Contest: Homeland Rebuild
Invasions of barbarians, betrayals of peers, collapsing of the grand civilization, all these braking up the continent into pieces. Your people are in starvation and have no shelter to live in. All you need to do now is to rebuild your homeland with sturdy effort. Join the contest Homeland Rebuild. Here you embark on the fulfillment of establishment of a new empire. Winners of the contest will receive Variety Sack (worth 50USD).
Activity Duration: 02 April 2009—16 April 2009. So just 2 weeks to rebuild that homeland!
Civony forum has help for newbies.
Wow. I wish I had time to play
“Invasions of barbarians, betrayals of peers, collapsing of the grand civilization, all these breaking up the continent into pieces. Your people are in starvation and have no shelter to live in. All you need to do now is to rebuild your homeland with sturdy effort.”
Sounds like the Braves the last few years. Here’s to a good road campaign 😉
you have no idea…it’s a chick magnet. The game comes with a robe and wizard hat.
#57
Come on, Boyer is the same pitcher he’s always been…major league stats usually mirror minor league stats anyway…most players don’t drastically improve their game.
He is, and has always been, a very mediocre pitcher.
This guy thinks Chipper should play or retire.
http://tinyurl.com/deenkp
He kinda, sorta, maybe has a point, but instead of thinking rationally I’d rather pretend nothing’s wrong and everything will work out by itself. That’s my plan, anyway.
I’m guessing Civony is very popular at Georgia Tech.
not as popular as Paul Johnson
@57…You’re forgetting that it appeared that the light might have come on for Boyer in 2005.
I agree that pitchers normally show what they do in the minor leagues carry over to the major leagues. However, Boyer spent most of his minor league career as a starter, and was converted to a reliever in 2005 in AA. He was successful there and had a good year when promoted to Atlanta. It appeared the light might have come on for him. Then he got hurt. After a mediocre year at AAA the year after his injury, Bobby used him about 80 times last year, which was gross overuse of a guy who had had a major shoulder surgery within the last 2 years.
So, if the light had in fact come on, it doesn’t matter anymore since his arm has fallen off.
Things are not as black and white as they might seem. It is not always “it is, or it isn’t.”
That’s just that stretch that Escobar does. You can see him do it every time before he comes to the plate. It’s been a part of his style for a while now, and it obviously has helped him as a ballplayer. Sometimes your goofyisms get you injured. Oh well.
I don’t wanna get political here at all, but while I’m not usually with the ACLU or their local chapters, I think they’re dead on that you’ve got no business hassling someone for taking a leak during the 7th inning stretch. Seriously, if the guy doesn’t wanna sing “God Bless America”, that’s his deal. Get off his case.
For someone who seems to think not everything is black and white you sure are very willing to blame everything on Bobby. You don’t even mention that Boyer pitched effectively for 3/4 of the season, or that injuries to Soriano and Moylan forced Bobby to rely on Boyer.
Nope, Bobby just recklessly ruined the guy’s arm. Of course, it’s so simple.
I’ve been “harassed” at Turner Field over “God Bless America” — not by ushers or security, just some people sitting behind me. I was fairly deep in conversation with a couple of friends when the seventh inning stretch came around, and we didn’t stand up for the song. One guy told me we were supposed to stand. I just gave him a brush-off look and went back to my conversation, and he and his companions continued to mutter about it for a while (it’s always worse when the people who don’t like you are sitting behind you, isn’t it…).
Nothing came of it, but I came away from the experience realizing that people are confused about the song and its place. It’s patriotic, but it has no official standing as an anthem. I don’t think that’s a political statement — it’s a fact. But the circumstances that led to the song’s revival at the ballpark, and the way it’s presented, lead people to believe that it does. Honestly, it’s an easy mistake to make.
So if people want to stand up, I think that’s great, really I do. But it’s no more required than standing for “This Land Is Your Land” or “God Bless the USA” is.
Rob/sansho,
Exactly.
Pretty odd that a song that supposedly celebrates our freedom compels some folks to actually attempt to restrict it.
BTW, “This Land Is Your Land” was a song that Woody Guthrie wrote in reaction to “God Bless America.”
That Chipper article is really dumb. Try Freddie Freeman at 3rd? Maybe Eric Campbell can get his head on straight?
Freeman is in A-ball, and Campbell has played a week of AA. How about waiting a little longer before anointing either of them the next Chipper, least of all the guy who’s never played 3rd?
For someone who seems to think not everything is black and white you sure are very willing to blame everything on Bobby. You don’t even mention that Boyer pitched effectively for 3/4 of the season, or that injuries to Soriano and Moylan forced Bobby to rely on Boyer.
Nope, Bobby just recklessly ruined the guy’s arm. Of course, it’s so simple.
It was reckless. The Braves lost 90 games last year. He could have used any replacement level reliever in lost cause games, especially later in the season. Instead, he kept running Boyer out there even when his arm was shot in July.
AAR, I did not even bother reading that article. We have all expected Chipper to play only around 120 games a season. When our two best hitters can only play 75% of the time, the offense will inevitably suffer like today.
Yes, Chipper should retire. He only hit .364 last year.
Pssssh.
The Boyer saga is sad and it is just one more reason why the era of transition with Braves’ management should not be regarded as complete.
On another note, CNN International–which normally shows a remarkable disregard for American sports–made Prado’s nice play–the World Sport play of the day…..
Prado must know somebody that works for CNN.
It’s been a part of his style for a while now, and it obviously has helped him as a ballplayer
Really? How do you know that?
braves14,
Preach on. I don’t know what Boyer could/would have been otherwise, but Bobby badly abused him last year, for sure.
I think Curt Schilling retired to play Civony full time.
I would rather Chipper sit and get his hand better than try and beat the Pirates in April.
I don’t think you should have to stand durrning “Gob Bless America” or “The National Anthem” if you don’t wan’t. I mean, it is America.
This is getting political.
Smitty,
There’s America & then there’s Yankee Stadium, which apparently has different rules.
Speaking of which, up the The Bronx…
Speaking of standing, the 7th inning stretch, and pee breaks… everyone should stand a little closer to the urinal. Because, really, how do you justify missing a urinal?
There’s the girl that I like….
Now it appears that she likes an other guy…
it must be because he’s political and stuff….
I bet I can be political too!
Maybe this has been discussed already (and if it has, forgive me for bringing it up), but how is it that the Marlins come up with the players they have EVERY YEAR? I want to hire their director of player development or the head of their minor league system or their head scout or WHOEVER is in charge of finding players for them. Amazing.
cshorter @84,
When you get old enough that you have to take 1/4 of a Viagra everyday to keep from peeing in your shoes, you will understand.
The flip side to the Marlins is that they never have a Chipper or a Smoltz. As soon as a guy looks like he’ll be a Chipper or a Smoltz, they sell him off for 2 or 3 guys that may eventually develop back to that same level, then they rinse and repeat.
Being a Marlins fan is like being a fan of an NFL team. There’s no identification with players, you’re a fan of the uniform.
They’ve won more world series than we have in the past 15 years, but I’d bet we’ve had more aggregate enjoyment from following our team over that same time span.
Well a new day is upon us…here’s to a couple of novel ideas for the Pittsburgh series and beyond:
Catch the ball and throw strikes
as opposed to throw balls and watch strikes
87 — ha. duly noted.
@88 right but that’s my point. They have to come up with half a team (or so it seems) EVERY YEAR — and they do it! That’s a solid team (it looked far more solid than the Braves, and more experienced, and better coached). So, who’s the guy who evaluates talent for them? I want him.
joesteve-
They come up with a team by trading away a team. Bonafacio, for example, was part of the Willingham/Johnson trade this off-season. You can’t just look at what they have without considering how they get it. Don’t get me wrong, it speaks very highly of their FO that they’re able to identify players that will succeed and get them through trades. But unless you want to be trading every good player you find after 3 years, you can’t be the Marlins.
Correction: trading every good player other than Hanley Ramirez, who is signed through 2014. He will be making $14 million in 2014. Mike Hampton, to pick a name at random, made $15 million last year.
That Hanley deal is a pretty good contract.
Prediction: Hanley is back in Boston in 2013.
@93 no, I don’t want to be the Marlins — I just want their talent evaluator. Given what he’s forced to do (because of their economic situation) how he continues to come up with talent is amazing. What could he build with a team that had some money?
Yeah, give him Cashman’s job and no one else will ever win the World Series.
I still can’t believe how pusillanimously we played. I mean just bent over and took it.
I really hope the team is as ticked as I am.
The Marlins also get to draft pretty high on a regular basis in the years they don’t win.
Also, don’t forget the Braves have Hudson too, another guy the Marlins would never have.
I would gladly take Hudson/Lowe/Vazquez/Jurrjens over the course of a season, and in a playoff series, over the Marlins rotation.
They are excellent at collecting and acquiring talent, but they have no depth whatsoever.
The Braves are no slouches when it comes to amassing talented players. Unfortunately its mostly been hitters and not pitchers for a few years now and that’s worrisome.
It does feel like most teams manage to come up with one or two gems more frequently than we do (Hamels, Utley, Howard, Rollins) but I don’t think that’s reality. The Braves do just as well as most teams in that regard. McCann is a legitimate stud.
well, I don’t know who should get the credit for finding Marlins talent, but Jim Fleming (Vice President, Player Development and Scouting and Assistant General Manager) may be one candidate. He came to the Marlins after spending 12 years with the Expos (and remember the good, young talent the Expos used to have and then trade/give away?). If Fleming’s the guy, I’d love for the Braves to get him. Too bad he’s signed through 2015. (The Marlins signed their top four executives through 2015 — good thing they don’t have the same commitment to the players!).
Game thread is up.