The other thing that strikes me about the discussion of “steroids” is that anything can get blamed on them. If a player gets hurt, he was on steroids; but if a player stays healthy, that could also be steroids. (The latter, contrary to popular opinion, is far more likely.) If a player has a big year, he was juicing; if he has a bad year, that means he stopped juicing. If a player’s career ends suddenly, it’s because he was taking steroids and his body fell apart, but if a player’s career lasts a long time, it’s because he was taking steroids to keep his body from falling apart. Hitters took over the game? It must have been steroids. I can guarantee you, if pitchers had taken over the game in the last twenty years, that would have been blamed on steroids, too.
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Late innings, game 7, ’91 WS on MLB Network still. What a classic pitching duel game this was (and I had forgotten about Lonnie Smith’s base-running blunder)…
I will never forget…
Thank you for bringing that up.
I flipped by MLB Network just in time to see that a couple minutes ago. Yeah, that was fun.
@1, you had forgotten about Minneapolis’ stadium construction blunder
FIXED
(never used that before, but it was all too appropriate here)
How can you forget?
Not long after that ’91 series, I made a mix tape—cassettes, remember those?—and I named it, “Don’t Blame Lonnie.”
I’m not sure I meant it, but it was a neverending reminder in my cassette case.
I was only six, and I’ll never forget.
That ’91 WS was a real mullet-fest.
I hate that Astroturf double.
Stupid Lonnie Smith. I still think if we have Otis Nixson we win in 91 in five games.
Awful Umpiring
If you missed it in the last thread. I’m looking for co-authors. No one person can keep up with all the bad umpiring!
can someone explain to me why a guy like this cant find a job and there are people such as chris woodward, francoeur, and langerhans who consistently suck and are still playing.
http://thebaseballcube.com/players/D/Joe-Dillon.shtml
sdp, were you born with a genetic disorder that made you fat? No. Could you do something about being fat? Yes, and you did, and good for you. My son cannot change the way he is, no more than a black person can change their race.
Bottom line is, what he said was meant to be derogatory, like when the joke using a Jewish person is a derogatory term was, and people stood up against that. Im not going to let it “roll off my back.”
I’m going to take a stand against the likes of Grst. He should apologize for his comment. He doesn’t have to, because it is his 1st Amendment right to be prejudiced against people who are different than him.
I thought this was a place where people were civil to each other. I guess I am wrong.
Again… I think he should apologize, but I won’t force him to.
my son wasnt very good at baseball, so should i be offended every time someone says JF sucks? isnt that a put-down of bad ballplayers everywhere?……….the only thing i’ve seen on this blog that i find offensive is some peoples hyper-sensitivity.
I thought this was a place where people were civil to each other. I guess I am wrong.
I guess could see your point if he had something toward you or your son. I went back and looked up the offense and was surprised that word could still evoke such a strong response. Definitely not-PC but if something like that gets to you, you’re going to spend a lot of time being offended.
Yeah, I don’t think he was trying to offend. Grst has been posting here a long time and I don’t ever think I have read anything offensive from him.
Should he appolgize? eh, maybe. Is this getting blow out of context. eh, maybe.
Robert, what confirmed his attitude towards any person with Special Needs was this comment.
“@50 Are you serious? Grow some skin. I’ve got nothing against “special needs kids,” but that doesn’t mean I want them umpiring baseball games. MLB needs to stop recruiting umpires from special ed classes.”
This has NOTHING to do with being PC. Grst refers to people with Special Needs as retards. He is saying they have less worth than other people. If you spent some time with someone with Special Needs, you would realize that they will teach you more about life than you will ever learn otherwise. Many come with an innocence and unconditional love that us “non-retards” don’t possess, but would give anything to have.
Here is what Gene Stallings and others had to say about John Mark Stallings, Gene’s son, who was born with Downs Syndrome:
Gene Stallings: “If the Lord took me back and gave me the option of having either Johnny or a normal healthy child, I would choose Johnny every single time.”
“There weren’t any lives he (John Mark) touched that weren’t made better by his influence,” said Linda Knowles, Stallings’ secretary at Alabama.
UA Athletics Director Mal Moore said in a statement Saturday that “for someone who never played a game or coached a game, I think John Mark may have touched more Alabama fans than any other person ever did.”
“He just had a genuine impact on people, really because he cared,” said his sister,
“He’s well known for his compassion and loving ways,” Roden says. “His presence is deeply appreciated by grieving families.”
How about you call Gene Stallings, who had a son with Downs syndrome, and tell him that he shouldn’t be offended if someone refers to his late son as a retard.
You know what, I don’t need an apology from Grst. He doesn’t know how great people with Special Needs are, which is his loss. I’ve seen lesser issues on here where the person in the wrong will man up and apologize though.
well I wasnt here and didnt see the comments and I wont judge them because Im definitely not going to scroll through all the post to try and find everything that was said. Im happy just knowing that you love your son enough to stand up for him. Thats all that matters, take care of yourself and your family. Post your email address and GRST or anyone else can send you an apology if they’d like or they can do it here if they choose to do so.
any lineup posted yet?
check out the lineup tonight
LINEUP
Church 8
Prado 5
Anderson 7
Escobar 6
Diaz 9
LaRoche 3
Ross 2
Hernandez 4
Kawakami 1
Well, it’s certainly… unusual.
I should point out that with Chipper unavailable, Bobby has few options. Even if last night’s game hadn’t gone twelve innings, everyone is I think in agreement that McCann needs rest. He has only one righthanded hitting outfielder; choosing to sit McLouth is as good of a choice as any. I would have gone with KJ over Hernandez, but that’s really the only quibble I have. The real problem is that we have a guy on the bench who can only pinch-hit and can’t hit anyway. We really need Infante back, preferably escorted by Conrad.
well, DOB was referencing Kershaw’s #’s against lefties, but KJ hits anything and everything better than Diory
27IP 16H 9BB 42K’s 0.93WHIP .174BAA
then again, he pretty much shuts down righties also
This thread should be considered “mixed company” and you should be thoughtful when you post. Hell, I made a comment about Reitsma being a born-again Christian a few years ago and offended LOTS of people. I quickly apologized and that was the end of it. I think all bwarrend wants to hear is that Grst isn’t specifically trying to offend special needs kids. He doesn’t have to apologize for using the word “retard” but he should clarify that he meant no harm by it.
If Snit-for-brains wants to make himself useful tonight, he could heckle Cooper.
Here is hoping the presence of Manny fools Kenshin into thinking this is an AL East lineup
The Braves team ERA+ is at 111, and the OPS+ is at 97 ! ugh!
Church is having a good start to his tenure. McLouth has actually not been hitting well at all, and is in need of a break too, so i don’t mind this configuration. I don’t get the Diory over KJ bit though. Maybe its Bobby’s everyone should have a game
Agreed with all here on the lineup. I like the rests given a couple of the regulars.
KJ should have been in for Diory, but this might just Hernandez’s last hurrah.
Kershaw is making all of them look pretty bad, though.
I’ve seen this before…
June 4, 1990 Atlanta Braves at Los Angeles Dodgers Play by Play and Box Score – Baseball-Reference.com
I know that Hernandez is looking like a AAAA hitter, but how does anyone go from a AAA avg of .355 with a .891 OPS to a .143 avg in the majors? The guy looks lost at the plate – of course so has everyone else tonight.
I seriously doubt KJ, or Prado, makes that play. I’ll give Diory that much.
I’ll give Diory this – he’s made a couple of nice defensive plays tonight.
Wasn’t Diory all bat, no glove in the minors?
At least Kershaw’s pitch count is over 60 in 4 innings. Hopefully he’ll start running out of gas by about the 6th. With the state of the bullpen, we need Kawakami to go at least 7.
Mac, gotta love a matchup of cleanup hitters Jimmy Presley and Hubie Brooks. Yikes
Great – I am spam now
That’s why Furcal should have tried to steal 2nd.
Kawakami looks like he’s starting to get the ball up a little. Let’s hope he can hold out a few more innings.
Kershaw’s a badass. Getting this one won’t be easy.
#27, agree about KJ. He’s hitting .315/.354/.603 against lefties.
Another good play by Hernandez.
That was closer than I thought.
It’s unfortunate and regrettable that someone was offended, but I’m not going to apologize because my statement was insulting toward no one but the incompetent umpire under question (and even then it was obvious hyperbole). I have no interest in insulting any poster here, and certainly not their family members born into unfortunate circumstances. I’ve substituted in classrooms with such kids, and they and their families never got anything but my sympathies and respect.
I am, however, going to have to take a stand against the perpetual victim and grievance mongers who insist on taking offense without cause, and who take the meaning of language away from the people who wield it. You do not get to interpret my words however you please and impart intent upon me which I did not have. Of course, the same person didn’t get offended when someone else called the umpire stupid or moronic, despite the fact that the exact same logic could be applied on behalf of the 50% of the population with below average IQ’s.
Crap.
I could see that no one was really talking there.
I think we caught a break there.
they were just setting up the double play–why take a lowly foul out when you can also get a baserunner doing a Yunel
@17 Quit lying, please. I did not direct my comment at anyone but an MLB umpire. And yes, this is precisely about being PC (mental retardation was once no more insulting that “special needs,” which, like all linguistic euphemisms, will eventually take on the exact same meaning as what it replaced), and your insistence of imparting meaning upon my words that was not there. It is ludicrous to take the position that I was insulting special needs children, and your in particular, when I could not even know of the child in the first place. My comment was about an umpire who does a terrible job, period. Anything else you try to make it about is dishonest.
Nice recovery by Braves D there.
Whew, I’m impressed they got out of that mess.
Dodged a bullet, fer sure.
I consider it a victory that KK made Kershaw throw 6-7 pitches there.
You can’t give a good team four outs. We got lucky for sure.
Kawakami owes Ross a hug. That was a quick throw to third to trap the runner.
Glad you made the umpiring site, Mac. I was sorely tempted to do it myself the other day, but I simply don’t have the time.
It needs to be done at this point. The increasing horribleness of umpires needs to first be documented thoroughly before MLB can be forced to take action.
How long can we afford not to give KK some runs? We need to get rolling here.
Like I said, I’m looking for contributors. And if you don’t want to do that, I’d love a heads-up on any bad umpiring that I might miss.
Hey everbody, back from the brain surgery. All seemed to go well, Doctors said they got it all. The last couple of days have been a real fog, but I’ve was in the hospital in Tampa, so got to watch the Rays Mariners game last nite that was good, even better on Dilauded and Fentyl. Thanks for all the prayers and good wishes, lets kick some Dodger ass….
Heck fire, Esco.
Edit: Awesome FBF! So glad to hear it went well. My brother had a “giant” one successfully removed a few years ago so I know how the roller coaster rides. Rock on!
I’d be interested in contributing, though like you I tend to mostly catch braves games. I’m sure you’d like to get some fans from other teams as well.
Also, Yunel seriously needs a remedial baserunning class.
Comments from Boog seemed to indicate no tag was made.
Good to hear, FBF.
FBF,
Welcome back & best to you.
Another Esco mistake, nnnngg.
@55
There was a good one in the Red Sox at Yankees game. It was 2-0 Yankees in the bottom of the 7th. There was a baserunner at first and the pitcher hits ARod with a pitch… and gets tossed. No warnings before the game or anything like that. How can you possibly think it’s an intentional plonking late in a close and important game like that.
Anyone think Kawakami is getting out of this inning alive?
Yunel has got to make a better effort there. Dang.
Esco should have caught that.
Man, Ross is pissed.
How is that Yunel’s fault? Is he supposed to get spiked in an attempt to get a ball he won’t get to anyway?
Well, that didn’t help.
If Yunel catches that, it’s an easy tag.
Such great news, FBF. Thanks for letting us know.
that was a terrible throw though.
Why is KK still out there?
How frustrating
somebody’s gotta come and get him here, no?
I don’t get it either. He’s thrown 116 pitches and is gassed.
Shouldn’t Bobby go get KK?
115 pitches and no room for error.
Um, bullpen ?
It’s midnight–KK’s night as Cinderella winding down
Nice outing though.
8 consecutive balls with a runner on third and theyre keeping him out there? Did the bullpen all leave?
wow, nice pitch
Like I said, I’m glad their keeping Kawakami in there.
What a time for the third strikeout of the game.
Kawakami’s been hella lucky so far. One more batter.
The time might actually have something to do with it, too. I am guessing that in Japan, most games are shorter than they are here.
I can’t watch
We used a lot of pitchers last night and are possibly facing extra innings again tonight. It’s not that easy a call.
I hate that umps never call that high strike anymore. That 1-1 pitch was a clear strike by “definition,” but no one calls that anymore.
Holy crap, hats off to KK!
Awesome.
Oh yeah.
[STANDING OVATION]
Kenshin Kawakami, take a bow.
A great evening’s work.
like vin said, that is some big league pitching right there.
Wow KK. Outstanding.
And Kershaw is out of the game, mercifully.
Damn KK, color me surprised. Good work.
Good lord. Talk about a man with something to prove.
New respect for KK….that was impressive.
Nice on, KK! Wow!
Someone get that man an ice pack and a cold beer.
You’d like to think a clutch performance like that could shake us out of hibernation mode.
I wonder if KK was pitching around Hudson and/or Abreu?
C’mon, boys. We need this one worse than they do.
All things considered, Kenshin has been about as good as we could have hoped for this year.
And tonight is probably the masterpiece of the campaign, matching zeroes with one of the best pitchers in the league and getting two of the clutchest strikeouts of the season.
How ’bout a hit here?
lol @ pitching change for Greg Norton
You’re going to bring in a reliever to pitch to Norton?!?!?
Two strikeouts all night, then two with the bases loaded in his last inning, capping it with the first strikeout not to Brad Ausmus. (Man, I wish the Braves had that guy in ’95. http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/HOU/HOU200510090.shtml )
Way to clear the Norton, Kelly.
Two strikeouts all night, then two with the bases loaded in his last inning, capping it with the first strikeout not to Brad Ausmus. (Man, I wish the Braves had that guy in ’05. http://tinyurl.com/l8kuom )
3-0 on Norton? Take three pitches.
Haha they’re going to walk Norton.
Wow, thank you very much. Come on, Churchy
“Clearing the Norton” is at least as euphonious as “jumping the shark,” and deserves as wide a use.
Meanwhile, hahahahaha four pitch walk.
‘If Kelly gets thrown out, then you waste Norton.’ No, Joe, Norton is already a waste.
Is there a wider 8/9th inning combo than Sherrill and Broxton ?
That’s one of the rare cases where you actually want to slide head first. Get dirty, Kelly.
Always good to see Raffy swinging for the fences.
Medlen has changed his hat size. Not sure if that is a good thing. Yet.
I think even when there isn’t a runner on, Medlen should throw to first between pitches. It seems to be working for him.
Grab some pine, Manny Dread.
Sweet.
Medlen!
Those were some sick pitches from Medlen.
@112 You’re right.
Doesn’t get much better out of the pen right there than Medlen’s work in the 8th.
Medlen continues his good work. Have him go another inning? I think so given the score and alternatives.
Different topic–today is Heyward’s 20th birthday.
Great pitch. I hope we keep Medlen for the long haul.
Medlen looked fantastic. I knew he had it in him.
Way to go, kid.
Let’s take this thing.
Hahaha. What was Kemp doing? Wow.
What say we get some runs here to credit Medlen with a “W?”
Medlen is great. I wonder where he’ll be next year…
Wrong time for Prado to go into a funk…
I just got home, anyone else having problems with MLB tv? I’d like to catch the end of this
more free baseball from the left coast–yippeeee
Wicked stuff from Medlen. He’s a keeper, for sure.
Man, that changeup is NASTY.
My MLB.tv is just fine.
Also, if you have MLB network on the TV, they’re popping in for crucial ABs, which is nice since the internet game is a few pitches behind.
Thanks ububba. I’ll try the MLB network too.
Homer LaRoche….
A walk is cool…
Damn, McCann was late on those swings.
KJ!!!!!!!!?@>!>@!!!!
Glad he’s back.
KJ!!!
My, my, my.
KJ!
kj!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
KJ!
I LOVE KJ IN THE 8TH SPOT!!!
keeeeeeeeeeeeeeeelly
KJ!
Sweet!
I knew this would be it.
wow. i was just getting on here to say, again, “why am i listening to this?”
then…KELLY!
Unbelievable…
Everyone seems quite pumped.
So, who pitches the 10th?
BOOYA!
Hey hey!
Let’s hope there’s some gas left in Soriano’s tank — and that Gonzalez is available if there isn’t.
McCann did look very late on those pitches…I hope more rest is the solution. I hope.
Hot KJ is in the building!
Well, we have two off-days next week. The schedule is very weird for the next couple.
Every time Kelly Johnson gets on one of these hot streaks, I fall for it. I say, wow. This time he’s really turned the corner. This is the real KJ. Every time, he breaks my heart. So help me, I never learn. I’m falling for it again.
Surprisingy, all the talk about the politically correct and sensitive way to talk about people with special needs did nothing to retard my enjoyment of Braves Journal, though such discussions usually bring me down.
as a long time kelly fan, it was great to see those home runs.
not that i want to get into the “kelly fisticuffs”…
You don’t normally see a crowd boo its own pitcher for throwing to first. I like it.
@155 We have all been there.
@155: ive fallen for the same temptress act since kelly’s first days. it doesnt help that his name is kelly.
Alright Rafael.
No one else was available to pitch?
by the way, i have a radio link thats been working lately if anybody wants it.
Anyone else a bit worried that Ethier is due up 4th?
Oh come on.
Can Sori get a 2-run save?
‘Raffy on for the fourth day in a row’ is not something I enjoy hearing.
1 out.
[Nah, I’m going to let that go.]
Mac, very, very funny considering the discussion that’s been going on in here the last day or so.
too late, you already got it re- errrr… started
Why klezmer music?
Why not?
@168: i caught that, but i have no idea what youre referring to. i missed the song.
Sit down Furcal. 2 outs.
@164…Eithier looked a little tired last at-bat. However, Soriano has no fastball.
Ethier scares me as much as Pujols lately.
oh…thanks jj
Ugh.
no. no. no.
YYY?
Ethier is just ridiculous.
This is torture.
This is scary, he has nothing to get Manny out with.
Pitch 2 was the exact same spot as pitch 1. Two different calls.
Huh?
Damn…only 89.
@183: not according to gameday. on there, it looks like the call was right.
and pitch 3 was even farther outside.
I don’t like this at all.
@183–I thought the same thing
re the walk–I’d rather face Manny than Kemp
glad the walk worked out–great play by escobar
lol Soriano has this get the eff of my mound look with McDowell out there
in this situation, intentional walks dont bother me THAT much. i still dont like it, but at least were not loading the bases. it still upsets the baseball gods, though.
It helps when the hitter looks at the sky while swinging.
Yunel!
Thanks Yunel
HOLY CRAP WHAT A GAME!
Oh my, Yunel, what a hell of a play!
Esco!
And that is why the Braves keep Yunel around.
Well, I’ll be.
We won.
YUNEL I THINK I LOVE YOU
What happened, for those of us on Gameday?
oh man…radio call is giving me goosebumps. was that as good as he made it out to be?
So I think that’s my favorite game of the year so far. By some distance.
Wow….I see your point Mac and agree completely
That is just a big league play right there by Yunel. And as Mac said, despite his head scratching base running again tonight, that is why the Braves keep him around.
nah, i think he does a lot more than make ridiculous game-saving defensive plays.
in related news, i recently decided that yunel is my favorite braves position player.
Lordy
For those on game cast, Yunel just made a diving play on what looked to be a seeing eye single that would have scored the run had it reached the outfield. It was slow enough that there was no play at second because Manny was already there and KJ wasn’t, so Yunel fired to first and beat Kemp by half a step.
YESco!
Yunel: 6 foot 3, laser, rocket arm (if you like that sort of thing)
Preacher better be interesting tomorrow, cause it is going to be a long morning if he is not.
Hopefully Soriano can get several days off now.
202 – I am in complete agreement. Best game of the year.
KJ did a good job of flopping to the ground and out of the line of fire.
Also, who would have ever guessed we’d win a Kawakami game with only 3 hits?
A very tense final inning, but the Braves have won two games in a row that I figured we’d lose. Let’s hope it keeps going! *knock on a forest*
i wish i could have seen it, though im glad i finally got to hear a radio broadcast.
Outstanding. KK stepped up big time, Medlen stepped up, KJ stepped up and Yunel with the outstanding play to end the game.
Best game of the year, yes, with one of the best game-enders you’ll ever see.
Whew.
Who knows if they’ll make it, but these last two games they’ve looked like a playoff-caliber team.
im going to the phillies-marlins game tomorrow in philly. i think we have a better chance of chasing down the phils because of the games vs them and the number of teams in WC contention.
so i pose: do you agree? should i hope the marlins win (ugh)?
I feel cheated out of two innings
No idea. Just gotta keep winning, and probably at a .600 clip to have any chance.
yeah, either way you look at it, its a slim chance.
I still want to see us get and stay more than a couple games above .500 before I’m considering us a contender for anything.
Recap. I feel like Soriano. Completely bushed.