“Hi, I’m Atlanta Braves outfielder Jeff Francoeur. I’m here to chew bubblegum and make outs, and I’m all out of bubblegum.”
“Hi, I’m Atlanta Braves outfielder Jeff Francoeur. I’m here to chew bubblegum and make outs, and I’m all out of bubblegum.”
Sweep the Phils and we’re in trouble. It’ll only give Bobby and Frank the idea that this team can compete, as is.
Did anyone else read DOB’s blog about Jeff’s turkey undeware being 7-0?
I vote we start calling Frenchy “Turkey Panties”
Rowdy Roddy Piper.
Great terrible movie.
Brandon Jones is a pretty bad Outfielder.
Frenchy’s doing interviews about his lucky undies?!?
*kills self*
“I came here to do two things: kick some ass and drink some beer. Looks like we’re almost out of beer.” – Dazed and Confused.
They Live is FANTASTIC.
You know, that story about the underwear infuriates me. So many reasons.
1) I think he really thinks it helps.
2) Why is he joking about anything while he sucks so bad? Kelly Johnson is supposedly pulling his hair out to the point that the coaches are ordering him to relax.
3) Is this really worthy of a story in the AJC? It’s not cute, funny, or interesting: it’s annoying. How about a story on how Jeffy has sucked for many years and why the Braves insist on trotting him out there. If this team was winning, I might laugh at a puff piece. This is insulting.
“3) Is this really worthy of a story in the AJC? It’s not cute, funny, or interesting: it’s annoying. How about a story on how Jeffy has sucked for many years and why the Braves insist on trotting him out there. If this team was winning, I might laugh at a puff piece. This is insulting.”
This to me is the money point. The AJC cannot write anything flattering about his play right now, without losing their last shred of credibility, so they write a puff piece like this…good ole’ jeffy, just helping us win in so many ways.
In fairness, the story was in DOB’s blog.
He may have referenced it in his blog, but the story was absolutely filed as a separate piece:
http://tinyurl.com/l8wd3y
Today’s new Jeffy nickname is Captain Underpants
.
“1) I think he really thinks it helps.” (JC)
Well, as Mac said, he’s never been confused for a Rhodes Scholar.
This from Circling The Bases:
For a Braves fan, this is simply adding insult to the grievous injury that is having to watch Jeff Francoeur try to play every day:
Desperate times call for desperate measures, so Braves right fielder Jeff Francoeur said he’ll wear the same underwear to Turner Field Tuesday that he wore on Sunday. He claimed the Braves are 7-0 when he wears his Thanksgiving-themed “turkey underwear” to the ballpark.
For a team that has a disappointing 35-40 overall record, that 7-0 mark is no small feat. The Braves open a three-game series against NL East leader Philadelphia on Tuesday.
Francoeur said he had not worn the turkey briefs for back-to-back games all season, but will Tuesday (the Braves were off Monday, and he planned to ask his wife, Catie, to wash the underwear).
Note that the article doesn’t say that Francoeur plays better in the gobbler skivvies, only that the team does. Given his performance (.248/.283/.347), maybe the Braves would be better off by simply keeping the underwear around and ditching Francoeur. At least the underwear seems to ad some sort of value.
… and the underpants gnomes must be responsbile for his suckitude
#12, Jeff Francoeur’s hitting strategy:
1) Swing at everything
2) ???
3) Profit
What a game!
Gwinnett just tied it in the bottom of the 8th on Reid Gorecki Grand Slam
7-7.
#16
And Phase 2 is taken care of by the ineptitude of the Braves FO.
What gets me is how often reporters talk to Jeffy after games for his incisive analysis. Wouldn’t you talk to someone that actually knows something about baseball?
No Marc. A beat reports looks for quotable talkers. They don’t have to say something smart or know what they’re talking about. They have to be able to give good copy.
FWIW, today the Yanks traded for Eric Hinske, a guy who can play corner IF & OF positions. I wonder if that’s a prelude to another move.
What’s the deal with the Yankees picking up a bad player on a bad team every year? Richie Sexson last year, Hinske this year…
#16
Ha!
Hinske has a .373 OBP; I suspect that’s why the Yankees were interested. On the other hand, he has one homer and a .368 slugging percentage…
The Pirates also traded Nyjer Morgan and Sean Burnett for somebody and Lastings Milledge.
The Yanks like Hinske’s versatility and, until this year, he had some pop. Doesn’t hurt to be lefthanded in that park either. They want a corner OF who can catch the ball.
Outside of Melky Cabrera, their OF play has been suspect. Gardner’s OK, but has no arm. Damon & Swisher have been especially bad—and it doesn’t help that both have had at least one game where a misplayed fly ball directly cost them a game.
Matsui is a DH on a team full of them. He can’t play at all out there anymore or, as the Yankee doctors have warned, “his knee will blow up.”
i see where schafer went deep today to give gwinnett the win. they were down 7-1 in the 8th and scored 7 in the bottom of the 8th to come back and win.
schafer ws 2 for 5 with a stolen base and a homerun. i hope francoeur goes soon and we see jordan again. he could at least platoon with diaz. hopefully, his 2nd time around, he will be healthy and a little more patient.
@24–and those numbers would be downright gaudy standing in RF at Turner Field
27–don’t rush Schafer back, but it is good to see him having some success
BTW, from the previous thread, thanks for the Eddie Mathews link, Mr. Schneider.
I recall hearing a radio interview he did with WFAN in the early ’90s and thinking, “Boy, is he hammered.”
Interesting those other Mantle parallels, too.
Francoeur’s underpants made it onto espn too
He might have slept through the call he claimed not to have gotten. I’ve done that.
I’d rather have Milledge than our long regional nightmare.
@28 – Wouldn’t rush to say Schafer is having too much success. His biggest problem in the majors was being able to make consistent contact. I don’t know about today, but in his previous 2 games he had 4 strikeouts. It starts to become a problem if he can’t make consistent contact on AAA pitchers. I really hope he can figure it out because God knows we need the help, but I wouldn’t want to bring him up if he was hitting .300 down there if his strikeout pace stays the same.
FWIW from DOB
Escobar took himself out of the lineup, told Cox (or the trainer) that he couldn’t go. I asked, he said it’s “not good.” But he took infield and hit….
McLouth ALSO out, even though he said as he was coming off field that he was still good to go. Maybe he misunderstood our question. Anyway, he talked to Cox after BP, told him it’s not 100 percent yet but he could play. Cox decided otherwise.
SO THE LINEUP (which originally had McLouth and Escobar at the top)
1. Blanco, CF
2. Prado, 2B
3. Chipper
4. McCann
5. Anderson
6. Kotchman
7. Francoeur
8. Hernandez, SS
9. Lowe
That is one horrible lineup. They’ll probably score 6 runs, but still lose.
Son of a bitch.
Joe Blanton: “LOL.”
This would have been a good night to play Diaz in RF for a little extra offense with McLouth and Escobar out. Of course you could say the same just about every night. But then Diaz doesn’t have the magic underpants, does he?
Lowe is going to have to throw a 12-inning perfect game for that lineup to win.
At least put Ross in there (McCann at 1B) for some power. What? We haven’t played McCann at 1B all year?
That’s why you start now. We absolutely cannot lose ground to the Phillies and still hope to contend.
Can we get the Justice Dept. involved in the Diaz discrimination case?
what the hell? franny should obviously bat 3rd tonight since he’s wearing his turkey undies
oh and thanks for the update 755
francoeur isnt wearing the turkey undies today
If Chip and Joe mention the Turkey underpants tonight, I’m just going to lose it. It represents everything that is wrong with the Francoeur saga: from his stubborn arrogance and the organization’s tolerance of it to the AJC’s kid gloves and focus on his aw-shucks smile.
I am reminded of an experience from my Little League All-Star team. We were in a double-elimination tournament and were preparing for out second game. We were in the losers’ bracket, so one more loss and we were out. For some reason, we were watching the other team warm up, and some of the guys on the team (not me) were joking around and talking smack. Our coach (who was a renowned high school football coach in the area) came over and man did he ever let us have it. He told us (loudly and without politeness) how stupid we were for not realizing that we had done nothing to be jovial about. He told us that we sucked and that the other team would probably beat us, especially if we weren’t going to acknowledge that the other team might win. His message was: get serious. We did, and we won. Maybe that speech did nothing for our play, but I vividly remember how effective that tongue lashing was.
Why on earth is Francouer even engaging in these cornball antics. We were 12, what’s his excuse? Get serious, and learn how to hit the f’n baseball.
Joe Simpson is bad at math. 7 for 23 is over .300.
I’m pretty sure that at 12 you were smarter and more mature than Francoeur is now.
The AJC obviously knows it can get click-throughs by making a Frenchy-related “story” from a tiny DOB item.
@43
The Francoeur situation brings me back to my Little League days as well but for a different reason. I remember seething in practically every game while sitting on the bench and watching the coach’s undeserving son play every inning in the field and never get pinch hit for. That is what Jeffy is to me, the coach’s son who plays every game and receives unwarranted adulation while better ball players ride the pine.
Hmm… Where was Bobby nine months before January 8, 1984?
Joe Simpson and Chip Caray fully intend to be the last two people on Earth who think that fielding percentage is the best measure of defense. They may be already.
Isn’t January 8 Elvis’ birthday?
Speaking of fielding percentage…
I hate the “official scorers” in the MLB. Seriously, that looked like an error to me but it gets scored a double.
For the record, that was an IBB that worked out perfectly.
There is no excuse for not scoring on that.
was it Snitker’s fault?
Snitkered.
come on Casey you’ve GOT to score on that
@55: Yes, considering the trouble Werth was having with the ball and the void in the following two slots in the lineup. Snitker is utter fail as a third-base coach because he’s swung from one extreme to the other and can’t quickly evaluate variables such as batters coming up next in the lineup, fielding issues, etc.
Can we add Snitker to the list of folks to blame?
Satisfaction my ass.
I think Snitker just stopped him.
Derek Lowe falls behind the pitcher 3-0.
can we add him to the list of people who should not be in Atlanta next season?
Sounds good oldtimer. Make it so.
Snitker delenda est?
Sid Bream thinks Kotchman is slow.
Snitkered should be added to the glossary.
#66,
Second.
@66
Agreed.
Also, Blanco looks horrible in CF. For all of AJ’s issues, I think that we sometimes overlook how GOOD he was there
Not good Chipper…
A lot of people owe Andruw a lot of apologies. This team really misses him.
you guys are much more entertaining than gamecast
Glide! Glide like your life depended on it, Garret!
Griffey Jr?
never mind
Who is the slowest brave off all time. (I can only go back to about 1989 or so)
In order
1. Damon Berryhill/Greg Olson
2. Sid Bream
3. Kotchman
4. McCann
Have I missed anyone?
Javy was really slow after hurting his knee. Eddie Perez was probably even slower in his return to the team.
skidmarks!
Rick Mahler was the slowest guy I ever saw running down the first baseline. It looked like he was running in place.
LaRoche was really slow, too.
Are we planning on pinch-hitting for Lowe? Why bunt after you’ve already shown? Well, I guess that’s his best chance for a hit anyway.
Can I edit my list, Kotchman hits a slow ground ball to 2nd, the guy falls down, the ball goes 5 feet away from him, he gets up and throws it off balance and STILL almost got kotchman, who was running from the LH batters box.
Gee whiz he is slow
Johnny Estrada looked like he was running in butter
Thanks Mac, I forgot about LaRoche and Javy, but they would BLISTER kotchman in a foot race.
Eddie never really got on base enough to run.
The players most associated with a search for “slow” on this site are McCann, LaRoche, and Estrada. Oh, and Francoeur, but that’s about his bat.
fail
I guess Bobby just punted that inning.
so we bunt runners over to have the pitcher come up, what the hell are we doing??
81
I think your right, Estrada was maybe the slowest Brave ever.
New List (SLOWEST on top)
Estrada
Kotchman
Bream
Berryhill
LaRoche
Eddie/Javy
McCann (smartest base runner of the bunch though)
@80, thereby justifying his nickname, the Kotchrocket.
How have the brother’s Franco (Julio and Matt) not come up yet??
In the words of Gob bluth: “COME ONNN!”
Medlen time!
Or not.
Probably would have been a good idea, though.
Is Diory Hernandez that bad? I mean really. I’m so tired of Bobby Cox…
Lowe couldn’t have teed up one any better than that last pitch to Utley.
PRADO…..
Chipper’s Baseball Reference page is open for anyone with $245 to spend…
http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/j/jonesch06.shtml
NITRAM ODARP
Good to see Jimmy Rollins sucking tonight. Warms my heart.
Prado should be starting somewhere regularly.
Mac, is the spam blocker acting up?
“If you hit, you’re going to play.” — Chip Caray
“Really?” — Matt Diaz
It doesn’t like links sometimes. Unspammed.
Professional hitter….Garrett Anderson.
Chip and Joe talking about having to hit to play was laughable considering Joe’s man crush on Freaky Francouer.
C’mon, Turkeyboy…
Chip just strongly indicated that Buddy Carlyle will be back when his diabetes is cured. As a diabetic, I’m certainly waiting with bated breath for that.
hey Jeff, think FLY BALL
Chip is an idiot…thankfully I’m getting the Phillies feed. Francouer???????
@102: Professional hitter, amateur outfielder.
That was the most anti climatic RBI of all time.
@108..not an amateur outfielder, just an old, barely can move outfielder. If the heat and humidity in Atlanta can’t loosen him up…then it’s over.
So Chip basically said that it’s going to take probably at least another 15-20 years for Buddy Carlyle to make it back to the mound.
Chip just said that the Phillies carrying 3 catchers on their team makes them versatile.
Lowe up to 100 pitches.
here comes a bunt….unreal, the guy hits a HR last time up. We give away his bat, an out, and take the bat out of Chippers hand
why is it that every foul ball that blanco hits straight back is an optical illusion that looks like a line drive to center field? i get fooled by him more than anyone when i watch baseball.
Let’s bunt with the guy who just homered and is 2-3.
Prado’s 2-for-3, and we have him bunting. Sweet merciful crap. Way to give them a free out. Cripes, I hate our team’s philosophy sometimes.
God help me if I’m as frail as Chipper at age 37.
Did we really just have the guy who hit a homer sacrifice bunt?
Id like to know how many sacrifices we’ve had this year and how many times we’ve actually scored after one
it’d be nice to see some good defense such as that every now and again.
god i have to watch the cut in for the Braves on MLB network…i hate Indiana
Now it’s becoming so much clearer why the Braves only have the one World Series title. Bobby Cox.
Poor McCann….
Utley, Howard coming up again…..
37 sacrifice bunts this year. i dont know our success rate.
i think the braves deserve the “loveable losers” title, no tthe cubbies…its more heartbreaking to get to the world series as much as we have only to watch it all fall away…my heart still hurts
Lowe saw that ball hit Loogy in the foot and said ‘AW NUTS’
@122 – Try lack of a true closer for a long time. Wholers was there, but was only dominant for a bit.
@126 That’s not the only reason the Braves have only one. By the way Rocker was good until he imploded.
Kenny Powers err John Rocker is the best MLB ever had!
That hurts.
That hurts worse.
i can kinda see prado bunting there. i mean it brings up chip and mccann with an rsp but hernadez bunt had absolutely no rhyme or reason.
Also: …Gonzo :\
Crap on a cracker.
holy hell.
that one hurts more
All that bunting comes back to bite the Braves in the ass….WOW. All that damn rocking….
………………..
@127 – I probably should have further explained my statement. Smoltz and Rocker were both good, but I never thought those teams stood as good a chance at a series as those teams from the early to mid 90s. And those teams were lacking the closer.
Seven saves, four blown leads this year. No tears shed here when Gonzalez departs.
So this is what a homerun hitting team looks like? Pretty impressive.
And of course, Subzero is due to bat first.
thats the ballgame gents
This lost will pretty much wrap it up for the season.
this game isnt over… Brad Lidge is gonna pitch. we still have a chance
I don’t know, the Phillies may use Romero who has been death to the Braves.
Prado!
Prado!
Martin Prado—— Hero for a Day
Thank God there were two out and we couldn’t bunt.
kelly who? seriously…prado needs to play.
Now they will walk Chipper, Romero comes in to face McCann. Great.
Again, Prado was bunting in the sixth … why?
Can’t complain, though. Stellar swing in the eighth; great defensive adjustment to the grounder in the seventh. He’s earning my trust. Hope he’s earning Bobby’s.
wow have a day Mr.Prado
A Paul Bako sighting!
I should manage this team. I’ve been saying this stuff about these players for months
WHAT THE HELL IS CHIP CARAY GETTING SO EXCITED ABOUT? IT WAS A FREAKIN’ POPUP TO 2ND!!!!!
btw, for anyone wanting to know, prado is now gettong on base at a .361 clip, and i would be willing to bet his ops is close to .850.
we’ve outhit the Phils 10-9 and they’ve made 3 errors, I guess thats what happens when you bunt and give away so many outs
chip does that for every hit… he’s a moron he can’t tell where the ball is gonna end up in relation to the defense
@154: .826 OPS.
“btw, for anyone wanting to know, prado is now gettong on base at a .361 clip, and i would be willing to bet his ops is close to .850.”
yeah, and he’ll probably be sitting tomorrow
The only bunt I had a problem with was Prado’s – no excuse for that. Diory is hitting .130, and Derek Lowe usually puts the ball in play (besides Bobby had planned for a suicide squeeze, but Lowe f-d it up). But that Prado bunt – God help us.
Manuel should be hitting someone else leadoff. Rollins is hitting like Francoeur.
Rafael Soriano for the All Star team!
They just gave Rollins 4 days off to get his head right…I guess it didn’t work.
Gosh, he might be worse than Francoeur. He has 16 walks and a .207 avg. That’s only 4 more walks than Francoeur who is hitting about 40 points higher.
At least he plays shortstop.
Yunel may not be with Braves much longer.
lol is a pitching change really necessary for franny?
And Park for Romero, no less
did chip just say jeff knows a thing or about game ending heroics? i would bet my left testicle he knows more about game ending letdowns.
@164: we have no room for hitters on this roster!
god if Jeffy wins this game we will never get rid of him
Francoeur sucks.
Francoeur sucks.
Boone Logan vs…Utley, Howard. Okay, time to take a shower.
Tony
how about you take your negativity elsewhere
Isn’t that the last Francoeur myth, that he’s good in the clutch, being broken before our eyes… what’s left?
Pujols is on pace to hit 60 homers since he has 30 at the halfway point.
Jon K wrote:
“chip does that for every hit… he’s a moron he can’t tell where the ball is gonna end up in relation to the defense”
“I should manage this team. I’ve been saying this stuff about these players for months”
“Tony how about you take your negativity elsewhere”
Wow Jon K…a little full of yourself aren’t you?
When did Boone get called up? Who went on the DL?
Sort of like the pot calling the kettle black.
Bennett went on the DL when he did us a favor and broke his hand…
Chipper!
Wow. that had double written all over it. Wow.
Speaking of worse than Francoeur…Subzero is terrible.
Chris Burke cannot get called up soon enough.
Chip: “Diaz isn’t getting any playing time because Francoeur has heated up the last week and a half”
Diory has no clue up there…
BUNT!
Okay, don’t bunt.
Send us home Blanco…
Diaz almost gave me a heart attack…
Good baserunning by Diaz!!!!
Chan Ho looks like Asian Lincoln.
come on prado u deserve the game winner
Tony
All I’m saying is that I don’t care to read post after post from you saying how it’s “time to hit the showers, this ones over” or “this loss will end the season”. gimme a break dude, just tone down your negativity. And if you look, all the things I’ve said are correct. I’ve said since day one that prado should be the everyday 2nd baseman. Yeah maybe his defense isnt that great but KJ is just a horrendous
Do you send Blanco here w/ 1 out to prevent the double play?
@184: braves14, did chip really say that?
so, will bobby bunt prado? probably. he’s that big of an idiot.
another note to bobby: diaz is going to score the winning run. he could probably do that more often if he played more.
the braves are managed and coached by ass clowns.
193 — Yes
Prado!
Prado!
PRADOOOOOOOOOOO
Blanco has had a nice game at the plate–even the out had a gone deep count.
i think we can safely say that martin prado is the auto zone player of the game
I cannot believe this team is within 4 games of first place.
Getdownwithyourbadself, Martin!
if he is sitting tomorrow ill cry
4 games back. Unbelievable.
i really like prado, and i think his name should be taken out of the braves journal glossary.
WAY TO GO NITRAAAAAAMMMMM OOOOOOOODAAAAAAAAAARRRPPPP!!!!!!!!!!
Do you suppose he gets another chance tomorrow, or is it back to KJ?
they are talking about Jeffy’s turkey underoo’s on MLB network…*sigh*
braves14, thats ridiculous. i seriously thought you were joking. i definitely dont miss listening to chip.
yesss! go prado! he deserved the game winner. helluva game.
Hats off to Prado!
I think Prado’s started 4 of the last 5 days, so the job looks to be his for now.
Thanks Prado… you continue to show us… I mean some of us… that KJ has no place on this team.
Damn, I picked a good time to break my run of not paying any attention to games. I’ve always been a big fan of Kelly Johnson but Prado has to get more playing time. I’d like to see something creative like playing him at 1st or in one of the OF corners but I know that anything unusual and effective is beyond Cox.
You know who else looked good tonight? Gregor Blanco.
@207 – KJ won’t be in there tomorrow. Hammels is pitching, I believe. Unless, that is, Chipper can’t go and Prado is playing 3rd.
lol wash up those panties for tomorrow jeffy boy
The two times Prado has hit second the team has scored crooked numbers.
@214
At the plate maybe. Cat’s not a centerfielder
Way to go Prado!!!
To Jon K:
An easy suggestion, don’t read my posts. When the team is sucking, the majority of the posts will be negative. As far as you wanting credit for things you said that are correct, get over yourself or at least let someone else acknowledge what you said was correct. Your asking for credit seems a bit needy. Plus no one is tallying up points for things one of us said that has turned out to be correct. Relax and maybe not take things so seriously.
Recapped. Everyone be nice.
Blanco and Prado – 7 for 10 3 runs scored 4 RBI
Chipper and BMac – 1 for 9 with 7 left on base
good to see some guys picking them up for once, Jeffrey had two hits tonight also
Tony
I read everyone’s post. Let’s finish it with this.. stop posting the game is over before the final out. That’s it
No big deal, we’re all braves fans here, some look at things half empty, others half full, let’s just enjoy the win and leave it at that.