Video suggested by AAR. Not really my kind of thing, but this ballclub…
Video suggested by AAR. Not really my kind of thing, but this ballclub…
We really need a good road trip. Something like 6-2. The pitching matchups favor ATL in the FLA series. Does anyone know the PHI matchups. I think Reyes vs. Hamels FRI.
from DOB’s blog, typical Bobby:
“We miss Anderson and Mac, they’re two of our big thumpers,” Cox said. “They’ve been out together for a long time. So it’s a lot to overcome.”
ok, what exactly makes Anderson a “big thumper”? Or even a “thumper”? I think we should call him Thumper (in honor of the bunny in Bambi).
I think oldtimer said it first, but I kind of like Anderscum
We could call him Thumper in honor of the ski instructor in the South Park episode Asspen…
But I still prefer calling him Ceausescu.
I thought about putting Anderson in the doghouse, but he doesn’t deserve a roof.
@3 that’s gross
Anderson’s closest mamallian analogy is Old Yeller, I think.
What happens with Zimmerman’s hitting streak with the suspended game? If you count yesterday it would be 23 games but for some reason I thought stats weren’t official until the completion of the game. Any ideas?
did he have a hit in the suspended game?
@6
Ander-scum
Get your head out of the gutter. It wouldn’t even make sense.
I’m going to try my prophetic abilities again:
The Braves send Graham Taylor screaming back to his mommy in the second inning, don’t suffer from Hibernation Mode, have Lowe dominate as he did in his first start, and win 13-0.
The only slight “problem” is that Mister Annnndersonnnn (think The Matrix) blows out both knees while jogging after a foul ball and goes back on the DL, for the rest of the season.
Just pray Anderson tears an ACL or something.
I kinda think the new metal (with the Cookie Monster vocals) is often pretty ridiculous & borderline comical, but damn if it doesn’t sometimes sound exactly how I feel.
When we lose to the Mets, Cannibal Corpse makes all the sense in the world.
Off to watch some baseball in The Bronx, Yanks vs. those speedy Rays…
“Something happened, I don’t know what it is but it happened. And know everytime I say What if? It comes true! I said What if the house blows up? and it blew up! I have this tremendous responsibility! What if I lose this power? Oh my god! I just said What if I lose this power?! I just had the power and I blew it. I just had it and I lost it!”
“We miss Anderson and Mac, they’re two of our big thumpers,†Cox said. “They’ve been out together for a long time. So it’s a lot to overcome.â€
ok, what exactly makes Anderson a “big thumperâ€? Or even a “thumperâ€?”
Obviously, he is not; he has only been above 100 (which is average, for all players) for ops+ once, in his last 4 years.
But my question is this: does Frank Wren believe this Bobby BS? Does he excuse a bad record because we are without Garret Anderson in the line-up (a worse hitter and player than Matt Diaz, who is playing, mind you)? Or does he chalk this up to Bobby being Bobby? I am beginning to believe Bobby does have a clue on baseball, 2009-does Frank?
Can Prado play left?
I forgot, I did like Ceausescu.
Part of me wonders right now if we had just signed Lowe/Manny/DRoss and not done anything else where this team would be.
I mean, a rotation of Lowe, Jair, Jo Jo, Hanson, Medlin/Campillo/Morton/Parr might have been legit, and Manny transforms an entire lineup.
20/20, but right now with this team, its about all I’ve got.
Zimmerman did have a hit in the suspended game which is what pushes it to a 23-game streak. I’m sure he’ll have an o-fer today making it a moot ? I was just curious how that was handled. It seems like there was something weird last year about a suspended game and someone’s (A-rod?) 500th HR.
Thumper is only the latest member of Bobby’s “dream” team (the guys that are only as good as he thinks they are in his dreams). Think Raul Mondesi . . . .
@16: “Might have been legit.” You don’t even sound half confident in that rotation. There’s no way we could’ve come into the season banking on Hanson as the 4th starter, not to mention Jo Jo as a number 3.
@15: He has played it before, he played 23 innings for the Braves in 2008 in LF, and another game in Mississippi. Whether that means he “can” play it depends on your definition, but from what I’ve heard about Garret, he can’t be any worse.
15–better than Anderson
Is there anyone on the team who can’t play left better than Anderson?
Does anyone know if there is a video of Furcal’s unassisted triple play out there?
I was at that game (which sucked cause we still lost) and wanted to show it to a friend at work
@19
No, there’s no way we could have done that going into the season.
It was just 20/20 hindsight conjecture stemming from my depression over our offense.
I still think we’d currently be better in that scenario though.
@10&11: Seriously? Putting aside the moral implications of wishing someone injury. You do realize that as bad as Garret might be, when he’s healthy he’s still likely our best option in left field, right?
Since his promotion to AAA in 2007, Brandon Jones has 647 PA in 153 G in the International League and produced a .276/.354/.417 line. During that same span he’s played in 51 Major League games, and produced a .257/.313/.365 line. As much as he might have had a good game last time out, he hasn’t shown any ability to consistently produce against top flight competition. More importantly, he hasn’t shown any power, which is what the Braves lineup is in need of. Even with a breakout season I have a hard time imagining Jones producing a line any better than Garret’s ’08 numbers (.293/.325/.433).
And one more time, for the fun of it… here’s what Garret produced last May: 28 G, .343/.374/.500… And then in July: .384/.426/.616! That’s a line from a “big thumper” that I’d LOVE to have in the middle of our lineup.
You can argue that we shouldn’t have signed him all you want, you can knock him for bad defense or hustle, and I’ll knock him right alongside you for not being healthy and refusing a rehab assignment. The fact, however, is that he’s here and hoping that he produces is currently our best shot at getting something out of LF.
Hindsight…20/20…blah blah blah.
We were an atrocious team at the end of 2008, with a ton of holes to fill. Wren filled some, ignored others, and played for the future by not giving up future pieces like Hanson and Freeman.
I’d say the Lowe signing was a success, the Vazquez trade non-offensive, the Kawikami signing is an Incomplete, and the Anderscum signing an Epic Fail.
Wren’s biggest failure is that he didn’t come out and say “We’re building for 2010-2011 here.” Whether Liberty forbade him from doing that to keep the price they might get for the Braves high, or Cox persuaded him to do so, I can’t say. BUT, Wren should’ve made it plain that the Braves weren’t going to be competitive this year, and were building for the future. In fact, I believe this is the reason he signed Anderson, to give a fig leaf to the we’re going to win this year crowd.
Just come out and admit this is a rebuilding year, and then go out and rebuild!
@25
A GM can’t say that. We might understand, but Joe Fan wouldn’t, and he buys a lot more tickets than we do.
http://sports.espn.go.com/espnmag/story?id=4145564
Pretty cool, even if he is with the Yankees.
#24-Every baseball player is going to have a month or two wher their line looks fabulous, so GA’s 2 months of very nice success are just in the mix for what his season looks like, and good lord, 2 months like that and a .758 OPS overall sure must make for some dreadful other months.
The other side of the Brandon Jones/Anderson debate (and I am not convinced that Brandon is the answer) is that ON THE AVERAGE 37 year olds performance fades from year to year, while 26 year olds trend up, so the notion that GA’s 97 and falling OPS+ would come out at the same place as Brandon Jones’ 86 and rising is not so far-fetched.
I will admit this; Garret Anderson’s refusal to go take some swings in gwinnett against live pitching to make himself ready to be better for the team when he was activated is just an unforgivable sin, to me, and colors my judgment on him, in every way. It is what McCann is doing; it is what Chipper has done. The example of professionalism that Anderson showed by doing that is simply horrible; young players, please cover your eyes.
For the record, Anderson didn’t refuse a rehab assignment. At least that’s the story they are saying now. Apparently Bobby customarily asks veterans whether they think they need it, and Anderson said that he did not. I don’t see how it’s such a great unforgivable sin for him to conclude that he didn’t need one day of minor-league rehab. I don’t recall that Chipper has gone down and done rehab after every single stint on the DL, though maybe he has. But it’s not like he was out for 2 months.
It’s not like Gwinnett is far away either.
KJ benched again.
1. Infante 2B
2. Escobar SS
3. Jones 3B
4. Anderson LF
5. Prado 1B
6. Francoeur RF
7. Ross C
8. Schafer CF
9. Lowe P
per AJC
“At least that’s the story they are saying now.”
And the cynical side of me says after the backlash I have seen here and heard on sports-talk radio, they are changing the story after the fact, in an effort to save face, because the “refused to go” version makes Anderson look bad (uncooperative and a prima-donna) and Wren and/or Cox look weak (just as they couldn’t make the Frenchie demotion stick more than 4 days). The changing of history feels like spin to me.
Thing is, Ceausescu had an abbreviated spring training, because he had leg problems in the spring too. He could have simply taken a little extended spring training — lots of people do — and tried to pass off his problems as related to injury and a lack of adequate spring training time.
Instead, he’s passing things off as though they’re fine, which they’re clearly not. Dude can’t hit. That’s pretty clear.
KJ benched again.
If one wanted to write an article comparing the respective production and with the respective handling of by the Braves of Kelly Johnson and Jeff Francoeur since 2005, one . . . would have a very interesting article.
I hope his head explodes in an alternate universe. In fact, assuming an infinite number of alternate universes where an infinite number of possible realities exist, I think we can all take some pleasure in knowing that somewhere, somehow, Ganderson’s head is exploding every single second of every single day. If this doesn’t bring a smile to your face, then you have no face. Unless you’ve stopped smiling because you realize that this may be the alternate universe where your head explodes spontaneously any minute now.
I see from the other threads that I’m getting more action on the “blow it up” train I’ve been on for years…
There’s nothing worth saving, frankly.
“If one wanted to write an article comparing the respective production and with the respective handling of by the Braves of Kelly Johnson and Jeff Francoeur since 2005, one . . . would have a very interesting article.”
Great point. I think one of the 2 fundamental shifts in the Braves fortunes has been that the way baseball is now looked at and understood by the new-style GM’s and managers is different than it was 10 years ago, and Bobby has not changed. There are many things he is the best at (I don’t think there is a better manager at using his whole bench and keeping players fresh and engaged), but there are several 80’s and 90’s things that Bobby still does (bunting by your #2 hitter), and the game has just passed him by in some aspects. He sticks Garret Anderson in as a clean-up hitter because by-god he is a .290 lifetime hitter, and he must be great, because a guy that hits .290 over a 15 career just must be a hitter (never mind the age and diminished skills and lack of walks and power). Bobby sticks with Frenchie in RF long past when he should because by-god Bobby got 100 RBI out of him, and that is really all you can ask for, isn’t it?
If one wanted to write an article comparing the respective production and with the respective handling of by the Braves of Kelly Johnson and Jeff Francoeur since 2005, one . . . would have a very interesting article.
Three reasons this happens:
1) Kelly is prone to very deep slumps, Francouer is more of a steady stream of suckiness. It’s easier to pull a guy who is 3 for 30 than a guy chugging along at 1 for 4 every nigt.
2) Kelly’s lefty which makes you want to platoon him
3) The Braves have had some reasonable second options at second (Prado, Infante) but have not fielded more than one major league outfielder at a time in years.
Hey, Anderson found a way he can drive in a run with his usual terrible performance!
#36 – he puts Garret at cleanup because all the options for cleanup hitter suck. He sticks with Frenchie in right because there are no other options.
The difference between now and the 90s is the quality of the roster.
I can’t take much more of this.
oh well.
Dammit. So much for my career as the Amazing Kreskin. (And sorry to everyone I offended with the Anderson injury joke- I hope he stays healthy. In retirement.)
Remember when we were 5-1?
Good points, Robert, especially #3, but with respect to #2, anybody who reads a stat sheet–this should include Bobby–should know that’s nonsensical with respect to KJ.
I really miss Skip Caray’s wit this season…
With the team as bad as it has been, Chip’s ineptitude and Joe’s archaic babblings aren’t cutting it.
EDIT: Sciambi is good, but he acts like Joe’s b***h too much
Ken Burns on FSFL, pretty cool, talking about adding episodes to the baseball series he did.
Was there any chance that Schafer wouldn’t strike out?
At least Schafer made contact with 2 strikes this time.
he should be in the minors. he is not getting any better here.
Oh, and once again: TAKE THE OUT, STUPID.
Ross running with a piano on his back …
Hey, at least he runs. Best backup catcher we’ve had in a while (although Salty is becoming a terrific one).
Anderscum!
Ceausescu!?
I’m online tonight. Was it a pathetic dribbler up the middle that a normal second baseman or shortstop would have easily gotten to?
No, it was a good single, soft swing.
Nope, line drive, Mac.
Prado proceeded to swing at ball four twice.
infante stinks at 2b.
We’re gonna get to see some James Parr tonight.
I think David Ross is actually a decent player that I’m glad we have… and I thought that besides the fact I graduated from AU and before that pickoff.
YESSSS!
Ross is AWESOME!
If you could make some sort of OPS+ stat for all Braves backup catchers, Ross would have a 737437387OPS+
Well, with that K, it’s down to only 680 million. But he already has as many hits in a month as Corky Miller did in over a year as a Brave (12).
Certainly, judged on a scale with the Hamster, Sammons, Blanco, Bako, Pratt, Perez (the sequel), and Lunar, he looks like a superstar.
Patience is good. Shame we don’t have more hitters with power to take full advantage of it.
And I was only one inning off in predicting the end of Taylor’s night.
Dan Meyer!
Okay, how did Schafer not score this time?
real short fly ball, really a deep pop-up.
Chipper!
Where has this been?
Snitker is a moron… and escobar should have seen some more pitches
Why didn’t he score on the single before that?
This is classic atlanta baseball… run drought for 5 games then one explosion game of like 11 plus runs then back to the drought for 5 games
in defense to Anderson that was a ball
Bad called 3rd strike on Anderson
wasnt strike three, bad call.
Don’t worry, we can blow this lead. Great defense, guys.
Of course, Lowe doesn’t seem to have it
need more runs…I wish we had Cantu
Is Uggla done, or just in a slump?
would you swap KJ for him?
joe is happy for Orlando Hudson, thats great Joe. Who cares and why do you?
btw, Arroyo gave up 9ER in 1IP tonight
I see it’s Hibernation Mode time again.
Uggla’s such a weird player, I have no idea
72 — back in the Murphy years, my mom used to yell at the TV during the eventual Braves explosion — telling them to save the runs for another night.
#71
Infante hit a blooper to short right…everybody had to hold up. Lowe almost got pinched at 2B.
On another issue…Dan Meyer looked like Koufax that last inning, and Prado just pulled and inverse Prado. Great pick at 1B!
Mac, I wouldn’t quite call it hibernation mode because we got all of those runs off of Taylor, who had never pitched above AA before this year and only pitched 40 innings there. He shouldn’t be here.
They’re letting Meyer hit? Why didn’t they just start him in the first place?
The Marlins are just going to leave Bonafacio in the leadoff spot until he falls below the Mendoza Line, aren’t they?
Anderscum sucks.
I don’t think Lowe has his good stuff tonight.
@88 that’s even more gross
Sucks to your Anderscum!
That was a terrible route he took. No excuses on that one, although I will defend his performance at the plate today. He’s looked good.
saved by esco.
Anderson just overran a somewhat routine fly ball. You could tell Lowe was pissed. Diaz makes that play easily. If it wasnt for Garret’s power bat, I’d start to wonder why he’s out there.
Its Ander-Scum you perverts!
Anderdumb?
Gar Bear?
Oooh, Amy Winehouse, Amy for short.
“Bobby tried to make me go to rehab but I said ‘no, no, no'”
Thank you, Carlyle! Now we don’t have to put you in the doghouse with Anderdone.
We will lose this game.
13 PA since the last time the Braves scored:
6 strikeouts
3 groundouts
2 flyouts
1 lineout
1 walk
Ladies and Gentlemen, this is textbook Hibernation Mode.
Make that seven strikeouts.
And the janitor’s (from Scrubs) name is Glenn Mathews (or Tommy). Huh.
Grounder to second, it’s all they know. Nice going, Amy.
Now Hermida will walk and Commando Cody will hit a three-run homer. Watch.
Soriano is good pitcher, yes?
Right now, Pete Rose is trying to find a bookie who will let him tease Jordan Schafer’s strikeouts tomorrow with the likelihood of death and taxes.
Whiff! Special K Schafer.
Cinco de mayo is over Jordan, sombreros are no longer acceptable.
I’m going to have to call tonight’s Ross-off a draw, a single and a walk apiece.
I’m not sure if it’s a Golden Sombrero if you walk once. At any rate, since Meyer gave up hits to two of the first three men he faced, the Braves have:
Four walks, one intentional
Eight strikeouts
No hits.
Shut ’em down Gonzo… We NEED this win.
Isn’t Infante supposed to be able to play center?
I thought a Golden Sombrero was five K’s.
Golden is four. Last year, I dubbed five the Iridium Sombrero, but most say Platinum.
Only Andruw knows enough about the sombreros to give the definitive answer.
Kid because I love.
Thank God for Emilio Bonafacio.
And Cameron Maybin and Hanley Ramirez, I presume.
I’m glad that you couldn’t predict the future, Mac.
“Hey, Andruw, you were up to bat five times tonight. How many times did you strike out?”
“All five of them! Count it!”
Maybin has a hit and a walk. Bonafacio is an out machine that they keep in the leadoff spot because he had a hot week to start the season.
And… the 2009 Atlanta Braves demonstrate how to score 8 runs on the strength of a .257 Batting Average and one extra base hit.
Does Mike Gonzalez have a nickname? I would suggest something with “Crazy” in it, maybe just “Crazy Mike” Gonzalez.
I love Gonzo so much.
Nice to win one for a change…Yeah, we could use something better than ‘Gonzo’….
Um, wow. On the season in the majors, Graham Taylor has 12 walks and 5 strikeouts.
I don’t think he’s ready, Fredi.
Recap is up.