New York Mets vs. Atlanta Braves – Box Score – August 02, 2010 – ESPN.
Nothing like a visit from the Stem to get you going. Not there was all that much difference between this game and most of the other recent ones — early runs, then Hibernation Mode. Johan Santana arguably outpitched Tim Hudson, but it’s about time one of our pitchers got a break that way.
Hudson stranded two Mets in the first, and in the bottom of the ining Omar led off with a single. Heyward took a walk. I half-jokingly suggested that Chipper should bunt, but instead he hit a tailor-made double-play ball. Fortunately, The Desiccated Remains Of Luis Castillo dropped the relay, getting only the forceout. Matt Diaz, the Santana Killer, followed with a double to score Infante. Old New Guy Alex Gonzalez grounded out to second, with Chipper getting cut down at the plate by half a mile even though Castillo fell down and had to lob the ball home; if Chipper had taken off with the ball going in play, he would have scored easily. But the Braves managed to get runs anyway. Glaus walked, and New New Guy Rick Ankiel singled in two runs to make it 3-0, and usher in Hibernation Mode.
It was pretty sad, really. The Braves three times led off innings with doubles (Hudson, Diaz, and Ankiel) and all three men were stranded at second base. The Braves left nine men on, but the Mets left ten on. Their one run came in the fifth when Beltran doubled in Reyes with one out, but Hudson got Wright to pop out, then pitched around Ike Davis to get to Jeffy, who obligingly popped out.
After six innings of Hudson (three strikeouts, three walks, not really as impressive as he’d been in recent wins) Venters pitched the seventh in his usual way, a strikeout and no real threat of a hit. In the bottom of the inning, Chipper hit a solo homer to make it 4-1. Saito got the first two men easily, but then allowed two hits (one to Jeffy!) to bring the tying run to the plate, but again the Mets failed, this time with a groundout. Wagner got two popups (one by Mike Hessman!) then a strikeout to end it.
We really need these games. Great win.
This being the Mets, Castillo is due another $6 million next season. The Lowe contract would make a lot more sense on the Mets. They should hang a sign over the entrance to the executive offices that says ‘If you are in a bidding war and it’s down to just you and the Mets, let them have him’. Make every executive touch it on his way into work college football style.
Careful what you wish for. If the Braves had not signed Lowe, the Mets would have. And then the Braves would have signed Ollie Perez.
Peter, are you planning on being at SABR this year?
only difference between this outing and the last two hibernation modes is we faced a good pitcher…someone who IMO is a hell of a lot better than Volquez and Arroyo
still gotta turn leadoff doubles into runs
Nice to see some life in Glaus and Chipper tonight. I know its unscientific but Ankiel looks like a CF. Like he is comfortable there.
teheran and tyrelle harris combined to throw a no hitter tonight for mississippi.
9ip 4bb 13k (5 2/3 from teheran with 3 of the bb and 7 ks)
Who’s-Your-Daddy? Dept.
Chipper now has 43 career HRs vs NYM.
Santana is a hell of a pitcher but those at bats with runners on second were awful. I’m afraid AAG just isn’t very good.
I’m going to read Mets Blog now
I guess I’m a sadist.
Ill take Ankiel in CF over Melky every night
@5–not too hard with Melky as a point of reference
Beating up the Mets is away good. Let’s end their season now.
It didn’t end up mattering, but I think the reason Chip was so dead at the plate was because Diaz took off on contact to 3rd, forcing Chip home. I think Chip was waiting to see if it got through.
The Carlos Santana play looked a bit like the Theismann injury.
I think it’s going to be very tempting to plug Teheran in at somepoint next year. I’m not saying it’s going to happen or anything, but Peanut already planted the seed of a JJ trade by saying ‘unless the Braves are absolutely blown away by an offseason trade offer for Jurrjens.’
I think FW has already come to the realization that nobody is going to take Lowe unless the Braves eat 75-80% (or more) of his remaining $30 mill, so trading JJ (provided good hitters come back in exchange) may be one of the only realistic solutions to open up spots for Minor and Teheran down the line to go with Hudson, Hanson, Medlen and Lowe.
That’s still a mistake. The difference between runners second and third, and runners first and third, is not that great, not even with two out. And the only way you get out of that situation without an out is to beat a throw to the plate. Chipper should have taken off when Diaz did.
It was bad baserunning by Chipper. He should have went on contact and made Castillo, who is horrible defensively, make the play. If he goes, everyone is safe on that play.
I feel terrible for Carlos Santana, that was awful.
Nah, Castillo probably would have thrown to first to get the out.
You guys need to be very afraid of Hessman. FYI, he is the active minor league home run king. His picture should be in the dictionary under AAAA ballplayer.
http://atlanta.braves.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20100728&content_id=12732636&vkey=news_nym&fext=.jsp&c_id=nym
Oh my god, he does look like a Nazi.
Let us all remember the Santana play next time Brian McCann fails to block the plate.
I know, Bethany! Scary, isn’t it?
Between Hessman’s tall creepy self and the Santana collision, I’m not going to get much sleep tonight.
Bethany, go check out the Farnsworth pic from the game thread. It should make you feel better.
You know, saying that Hessman looked like a Nazi may have been the nicest thing I ever said about him. I mean, I didn’t say he was a Nazi.
Cleveland has had a pretty bad summer.
Hessman does look like an extra from a WW2 flick—the generic Stormtrooper role.
Strangely, I seem to remember former Braves reliever Tommy House—the guy who caught Aaron’s #715—doing some acting on “Hogan’s Heroes.” Can’t confirm it, but I remember reading about it in one of those Braves yearbooks from the early ’70s.
In the yearbook, he was posing with Werner Klemperer, the guy who played Col. Klink.
Still, that’s gotta be the weirdest show in the history of television.
I can’t find anything about House doing TV, but he actually is Dr. House (PhD in psychology).
Initial reports from the Indians are that apparently Santana did not break his leg, and that structural tests of the knee were encouraging. He still needs an MRI, and I don’t think anyone would be surprised if he tore some kind of ligament, but it appears that he does not have a catastrophic injury, which is truly amazing, after seeing the replay.
I will say that I think his shoe made it look worse than it actually was. His shoe twisted around in all kinds of crazy angles, but I think it was already off his foot when most of that happened.
I know we don’t like Melky, but Bobby better starts Melky tomorrow night as he handled Dickey pretty well the last time.
Great win against Santana!
It’s always a low when you the flick to today to check the matchup… Lowe. Anyway, when’s the last time KK has pitched?
I thought maybe he didn’t pitch because the Braves were trying to move him. But what now? He’s never gonna pitch again or what?!
Gotta give props to Cox for the game. Batting Diaz 4th was pretty unconventional, but it paid off big time. Also, playing Ankiel against a lefty went against the book, but between him and Diaz they accounted for 3/4th of our runs.
Do you guys think some team would be goofy enough to claim Lowe off of waivers?
That would be a Festivus miracle if it happened, because he will be placed on waivers.
The last Mets batter went all dikembe mutombo on Wally bell. He was shaking his finger all in his face after called 3rd strike.
Luis Castillo is just about the least impressive major league ballplayer I can think of. He combines not being able to do anything with looking like he can’t do anything. I don’t take him seriously at all. He makes Melky look like Clemente.
@33,
I’d say a good chunck of players are put on waivers. Like any over the age of 25.
#33 Nope.
3,
I’ll be at some of the stuff. I’m not getting back into town until Thursday morning. I don’t know exactly which days/presentations I’m going to yet.
@27,
Ububba,
“Hogan’s Heroes” is even weirder than you think. Robert Clary, the actor who played LeBeau, one of the POWs, was actually Jewish and survived a concentration camp during the war. And Werner Klemperer was also Jewish. I guess actors have to take work wherever they find it, but I found that to be strange.
I was appalled at the Chipper play; the Braves simply cannot afford to make mistakes like that. They have to do things right. They don’t have home run hitters to make up for things like that. And AAG has to at least make an effort to get the guy to third. Fortunately, the Braves managed to plant Jeff Francouer on the Mets.
I did love how whenever the game got tight, Frenchy was there to help us out of it.
Do you guys think he seriously has some sort of issue that needs to be treated medically? Or is he just thinking of players like LaRoche who performed better once they got on ADD medication, and assuming that would work for him? I can totally see his thought process being “Well, Adam was really struggling but then he found out he was ADD and he was great again!”
@40 Frenchy always delivers when it counts. He is so reliable.
need to go ahead and wrap up this series tonight, screw the Mets
I hate that Lowe and Halladay pitch on the same day. Surprise me today, Braves.
@40, he seems to think so – “I get so anxious,” Francoeur said. “I don’t know. Part of me thinks I need to go on medicine. I do.”
http://www.nj.com/mets/index.ssf/2010/08/jeff_franceour_feature_story.html
@44 He is a sad, sad baseball player.
the best thing about last night is that Ankiel showed he could hit lefties, hopefully Bobby will let Melky ride the pine for a bit.
44,
LOL x 1,000,000
@26:
Jeremy, that may be so, but I imagine they are all Ohio State fans and I don’t know how to finish this sentence without being mean.
@44 – that article is priceless. A few of the quotes that stand out:
“His disregard for walks leaves him at the mercy of his swing, a picture of erratic violence. ”
“Francoeur homered, then quipped later that “it’s pretty tough to walk me.””
I am starting to actually feel a bit for ol’ Jeffy. His career arc has been almost Shakespearean. Starts like a house afire, shows his hubris, and now not only humbled, but fighting for his future in this game, and clearly confused that the tao that brought him success seems to now lead only to disaster. And just 26.
Alas, poor Jeffy…
#39
Marc,
Oh, it’s even weirder than that.
Not only was the actor who played Klink Jewish, but so were the actors who played all the major German characters—Col. Klink, Sgt. Schultz, Gen. Burkhalter & Maj. Hochstetter.
Sgt. Schultz with a dreidel—who knew?
You know, I honestly don’t know how else you could possibly make a comedy set in a WW2 POW camp.
I don’t see any mention of Julio “is the man.” He combined with Tyrelle Harris (actually with the better performance) for a no hitter at AA last night.
I’m sure Julio Franco is still the man.
Oh, were you speaking of someone else?
Billy-jay,
So it is actually like a military version of “The Producers”?
bily jay @54,
I concede that in many ways Julio Franco will always be a favorite Julio of mine. Like next door neighbor Julio in “Sanford & Son.” (Gregory Sierra, maybe?). Although Gregory Sierra’s write out in Miami Vice kind of “bespoiled” him.
re: Hogan’s Heroes… it is (or was) actually quite popular in Germany (it aired as “A Cageful of Heroes” there). Apparently, it was a bit of a social relief to be portrayed as bumblers for a change, as opposed to ruthlessly efficient killers.
@51, probably self evident, but I suspect that it was a de facto requirement for consideration, for a number of reasons.
/edit – and Franco will always be in my personal Hall. That someone 3 years older than me was still hitting a baseball professionally in 2007…awesome.
You got me. I’m sure someone could write a term paper on it.
Also, I look forward to Young Julio displacing Old Julio from the top tier of Julio-dom.
Frenchy is still trying to convince himself and others that his routine suckiness is just some sort of aberration or mental block, not WHO HE REALLY IS. His swing is way too long, and he has very little time to decide in advance whether to swing at a ball or a strike. Until he addresses that, it’s not going to matter whether he’s feeling good, bad, anxious, whatever. He should feel anxious, because he’s a fundamentally flawed hitter, and no pill is going to fix that. The more time he wastes kidding himself that he just needs to “get in a groove”, i.e. opposing pitchers stupidly and repeatedly throwing him hanging sliders down the middle, the better it is for the Atlanta Braves.
Maybe someday I’ll write a movie that is a Rom-com set in a WW2 POW Camp
Hogan’s Heroes was based on the movie Stalag 17.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0046359/
Mike N. at 60,
They have already done it, almost.
Dyan Cannon played a mother sneaking into a prison camp to care for her injured captive son.
Certainly a drama, but with a hint of romance with the pow co.
@62:
If it didn’t star Jennifer Aniston, it didn’t count.
My late father in law was a WW2 POW. First mission in a B-17 over Germany, shot down, 6 months in a POW camp.
Bob Crane the guy that played Hogan was murdered. I wonder if it was ever solved?
Tragicomedy WW2:
Train de vie
Excellent movie.
WW2 is one subject all men consider themselves experts on. I’ve always found that fascinating.
It’s even weirder than that. Bob Crane, who played Colonel Hogan, the star of the show, was murdered several years later in a case that has never been solved, but may have had something to do with his sexual appetites. He was a habitue of strip clubs and apparently made movies of himself having sex with various women. His son is apparently now MARKETING his father’s sex videos.
The POWs were running an espionage operation out of the prison camp. Kling and Schultz were incompetents; Schultz was obsessed with avoiding being sent to the Russian front (with good reason I must say). Major Hochstetter was a member of the Gestapo who would come to the camp to break Klink’s balls (which, in the case of the real Gestapo might have been literal).
Another weird show was “Gomer Pyle, USMC” which aired during the height of the Viet Nam War and never once mentioned Viet Nam.
I have to feel a little sorry for Francouer. Playing baseball at this level is not easy. Granted, he has always been the Golden Child so it’s difficult to sympathize with him but this is, I’m sure, the first time he has failed at anything sports-related in his life. The worst thing that ever happened to Francouer was that Delta commercial.
@64,
Nope. they made a movie and Greg Kinnear, I think it was called “Auto Focus.”
Let’s just say he had fettish with doing things on flim.
Well, TV in the late sixties/early seventies set a record for ignoring what was going on in the actual world. At most, you might find the occasional made-for-TV hippie.
I loved the “Gomer Pyle USMC” episode where the Marines go out to the woods for war games & run into these camped-out hippies led by a shaggy-haired fellow named Moondog.
But, I gotta say, the counterculture folks in “Dragnet” were the best TV cartoon hippies ever.
Also, to Mac’s point, it should be noted that there were very few black people on TV, esp. in the ’50/’60s.
Frenchy is making $5mil for sucking at what he does. I dont feel sorry for him at all
Of course, the comics page is still like that. Consider, for example, “Beetle Bailey”, who has managed to stay stateside for four wars now.
Kevin Goldstein: “I like Teheran more than any pitching prospect you could name.”
Next year is certainly going to be interesting. Which of the pitching prospects might be ready for the majors by then?
Marc Schneider at 67,
“Gomer Pyle, USMC” was not only a spin off from “The Andy Griffith Show” (Gomer was the first “town mechanic”, followed by “Goober” (Ed Lindsey), but also a direct rip off of a work by a person from my hometown of 30 years, Cordele, Georgia.
Mac Hyman wrote “No Time for Sergeants” bssed on the way he saw the interplay from the stereotypical rural southerner with the “modernizing army” of the 40’s and 50’s. The lead character in the movie version of it (Will Stockdale, for whom many here wonder who specifically was the model) was played by … Andy Griffith.
I think the Hymans threatened CBS and got some money out of them. It was almost as bad as Eddie Murphy and Art Buchwald on “Coming to America” or the Beach Boys taking from Chuck Berry.
@79,
@ 70, totally agree. Dragnet was one of the campiest shows ever made (unintentionally). Also, in retrospect the image of honest, circumspect LA cops is sort of funny in light of the fact that the LA Police Dept was one of the most corrupt and brutal in the U.S. I would have loved to see Joe Friday in “LA Confidential.”
Also, “Green Acres” was almost post-modern with its weird characters and Arnold the Pig.
At least Chuck Berry got to punch out Keith Richards, another guy who basically made a fortune ripping him off.
Yeah, the ’60s had a bunch of “southern-flavored” shows. Remember, “Petticoat Junction” & “Green Acres.” (I was a fan of Mr. Haney.)
Then, of course, we had the nadir: “Hee Haw.” Music mostly good, comedy not so much.
@61 – “based on” is a little strong. “Uses a similar setup”, sure. The movie is a brutal film about betrayal, the role of patriotism, and how morality of the war makes the two sides closer than they’d like to admit. Several people are murdered. The anti-hero saves the day.
I really like the film, and it’s treatment of wartime themes besides the rah rah stuff. The Best Years Of Our Lives is really good for this too.
I quite like the film No Time For Sergeants. And the black and white version of Dragnet from the 50’s is far from campy. And did you ever notice Friday’s badge is 714, and what that might reference?
potential offseason holes to fill
1B – Freeman
3B – ? (Prado) Infante at 2B?
LF – ? (Diaz, Hinske Part 2?)
CF – ? (Ankiel, McLouth) doubt they keep both contracts
Closer – Venters? Kimbrel?
Do the Braves trade EOF, JJ, KK, Lowe? Does Minor get into the rotation? Im sure Teheran may force his way on this club at some point next season. Should be a interesting offseason once again
Green Acres was well ahead of it’s time with it’s unique brand of humor. Consider:
A pig that watches tv, gets drafted, communicates with humans
The telephone on the pole
The double talking county agent
The Monroe “brothers”, with the female named Ralph
I think this show provided the format for the two Newhart series, in which the main character appears normal, but everyone else is insane.
All good stuff. Beats talking about Derek Lowe.
At least Chuck Berry got to punch out Keith Richards, another guy who basically made a fortune ripping him off.
Only with the explicit aid of millions of American teenagers.
Loved “Stalag 17.” Always was a big Bill Holden fan.
Friday on ‘ludes, dude.
Met Fans in a Nutshell: We have 2 new employees in the office, both Met fans.
Yesterday, one of them came into my office to make a bet on the Braves/Mets series. There was a challenging tone in his voice. I was a bit incredulous and finally said, “Are you sure? I mean, I don’t really make bets. But if this is what I have to do to teach you a lesson…”
We yucked it up, but I’ve yet to see him today.
The other guy, like me, stuck around kinda late last night. He walked by my office, heard the game on my radio and asked, “How bad is it?”
I said, “Well, it’s 3-0 already & your team is dropping the ball all over the field.”
Him: “Oooh, man. We need a new manager, a new GM, a new everything.”
Me: “Just keep your right-fielder, OK?”
Green Acres is an American Monty Python.
Schafer back on the DL with “inflammation of the hand”.
How can we get Cox to rest Glaus at least for 3 games…is that too much to ask? The guy is in obvious pain. We need that bat down the stretch and in October.
spike – I’ll bite. What does the “714” signify?
Glaus should pull his stomach eating birthday cake.
Babe Ruth’s home run record.
#70 I used to watch ‘Julia’.
Petticoat Junction, Green Acres, The Beverly Hillbillies. CBS used to call themselves ‘The Tiffany of TV’ Good stuff.
I thought 714 was the LA area code at the time of the series.
I wonder if Schafer’s inflammation was caused by a blister in the sun.
Using a bit of Google Magic, I find that 714 was actually the area code for SoCal outside of LA then.
I think it’s an Illuminati reference, because isn’t everything?
@90, I can’t figure out the weird May-December romance thing TV had in the late 60’s – Julia (to a lesser extent) Courtship of Eddies Father, Nanny And The Professor, Ghost and Mrs. Muir among others all feature one person implausibly being single and having a weird sexual tension with an older man.
And, of course, the Eddie (in the “Courtship” show) later became the lead singer for the Dead Kennedys, replacing Jello Biafra.
Bethany,
A slight pull would be okay. We don’t want him out too long.
Thanks to TBS, the only 60’s and 70’s shows I liked, were of course Andy Griffith, Gomer Pyle, Gilligan’s Island, BeWitched and I Dream of Jeannie. Never understood I love Lucy. Green Acres…I just thought Lady Gabor was nice to look at….
Perhaps a sprain?
I suspect the plan is to get through Sept 1 without Glaus falling apart, and then calling up Freeman when rosters expand.
Schafer, Im guessing, may not ever see the majors again. The guy cant stay healthy, partly the Braves own fault. He really only had one good minor league season and was suspended shortly there after. Its sucks because the Braves really need to start developing some more postion players and we apparently have an outfield curse. Stay healthy Jhey
Bethany,
The more I think about it…a strain would probably keep Glaus out longer than the avg player, it may Chipperesque.
Sam,
If they are waiting 3 and half weeks to give Glaus rest, we may be looking at a Kirk Gibson ’88 deal in the postseason, w/o the dramatic one at-bat.
New thread.