I didn’t want to do this, but the season is teetering on the brink right now and we need a spark.
Unleash the Collins.
212 Comments
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I didn’t want to do this, but the season is teetering on the brink right now and we need a spark.
Unleash the Collins.
Use code “Journal” for a 5% discount.
1. Infante 2B, 2. Heyward RF, 3. Prado 3B, 4. McCann C, 5. Lee 1B, 6. Cabrera LF, 7. Gonzalez SS, 8. Ankiel CF, 9. Hudson P
Per DOB Twitter
I say Huddy rights the ship tonight. Do your job, Fish.
Wow! “Sussudio.” Talk about pulling out all the stops.
Go, Braves!
FREE TROY GLAUS!
@4- can’t tell if you want him starting or DFAed.
Phil Collins for good luck?
Guess we’re due a nice, bland, vanilla victory.
if you cant hit Pirates pitching, you dont deserve to win. Its time for Huddy to net us a CG shutout
FREE MELKY CABRERA! GET YOUR FREE MELKY CABRERA! A REAL MAJOR LEAGUER! FREE MELKY CABRERA!
~vendor at the ted
As expected (or, at least, as I expected), Kimbrel and Cristhian Martinez have been called up now that Gwinnett’s done for the year.
@9 (or whoever),
But why not Marek? His numbers look better than Kimbrel’s (lower walk rate). He is on the 40 man. He is probably better than either KK or Lowe in a 1 inning stint now. Why not?
Phil Collins. God help us.
As the Marlins take on the Phillies tonight, just remember that there’s one thing more evil than PURE EVIL. (Not exactly safe for work.)
@10, I don’t know the reasoning. He wasn’t called up at any other point in the year, so I hadn’t really considered him. Maybe with such a deep bullpen now, they don’t see ever using him, so why spend the money?
That’s just a guess. I really don’t know. I hadn’t really thought about him.
The Lisp probably gets paid the same whether he’s in the majors or not.
SI’s Verducci makes another good case for an extra WC entry per league.
http://tinyurl.com/29kt2e2
How to fix MLB’s playoff system:
Let the BCS do it.
I agree with his idea, but it wouldn’t open up the NL races, it would shut them down. Currently we have tight races for each spot apart from the NL Central.
The reasoning should not be to create excitement, but to reward the teams that are able to win their division.
I sympathize with Verducci, but I generally disagree with trying to improve competitiveness by increasing the number of playoff teams.
We’re dooooooommmmmeeeeed. The only thing to do is to score a ton of runs!!!! Let’s do that tonight. Go Braves!!!!
@11 – that is just wrong. I think I need to take a shower now.
Increasing the number of playoff teams negates the reason for the 162 game schedule. It’s supposed to determine the best team by inspection. Rewarding more teams for not winning their division (I really don’t even like those, actually) begs the question of why so many games are played.
he’s just a child
Doo-doo-doomdio!
I wish the season was shorter. That is all.
The cat’s out of the bag in the WC world.
The MLB season’s never going to be shorter & we’re not going to see byes in the post-season. Too much money’s at stake.
Generally, I would be against allowing more teams into the post-season. But since there’s no turning back to pre-1969 MLB, I prefer this system.
This approach does give the division winners an advantage. But to me, what’s more important is giving the 2 leagues’ top teams a real advantage, and that’s a real incentive to finish on top.
Also, it puts the advancing WC team at an immediate disadvantage. It rewards the most successful & it penalizes the rest. To me, that makes the season more meaningful, not less meaningful.
At this point, the 162-game season mostly means that every team can maximize revenues for its 81 home games. The 3-division/WC system thumbed its nose at the 6-month season long ago.
“Lando’s not a system, he’s a man.”
I couldn’t resist.
Cy McDonald.
Ok, so we are turning into the Padres.
Also, it puts the advancing WC team at an immediate disadvantage.
If Tampa manages to overcome one of the twin empires to grab a playoff spot why do we need to put them at an immediate disadvantage? The $150 million in payroll isn’t enough?
Apparently just the fact that James McDonald bats left handed is good enough for six shutout innings. Such is our aversion to port-siders.
RicK AnKiel.
Why is McLouth starting against lefties, but not righties? He’s like our only shot at all at getting any offense out of center field.
Tampa should win the division regardless of payroll. They did it in ’08. They still have a good chance to do it now.
BTW, the Yanks were a WC team in ’07 & they missed the post-season in ’08.
That was the worst slide ever.
Why should they have to do that? They will have won more games than both the other division winners while playing a tougher schedule. They already lose home field for no good reason, why screw them even more? The divisions are just arbitrary constructs.
You know, the Pirates had a really good trade deadline. They traded a bunch of crap — Octavio Dotel, Ryan Church, Bobby Crosby, etc. — and got some useful young pieces.
And, of course, they have Pedro’s protection, so they’ll be WS contenders in no time.
Dammit, McCutcheon is so good.
I think he was safe.
What is this, Give Away Baserunners Night at the park?
#33
We should have balanced schedules and it’s not just about Tampa. Whether I like it or not, the divisions aren’t going away.
Why should they have to win the division? Because that’s best way to get in the post-season. And if a club has the best league record, whether it’s Tampa, the Yankees or the Braves, they deserve to be rewarded, IMO.
@36 My feed was stuttering when they showed the replay so I can’t be completely sure, but I thought so too.
Never mind. He was out.
I agree about the balanced schedules. Partly because it’s more fair in a Wild Card world and partly because I’m sick of playing the Marlins and Nats so much.
This team’s offense sucks enough right now without all the free outs on the bases they’re giving to the Pirates.
Gonna be hard to get many hits in left-center with McCutchen and Tabata out there.
Maybe we could stop swaggering so much and get some damn hits.
Cy McDonald owned a team, B-R-A-V-E…..S.
Great at bat from Melky. Every now and then he’ll fool you into thinking he’s kinda good.
Surprisingly un-Melkylike!
What happens to the swagger when they aren’t in control of the division?
Apparently Hudson has to pitch a shutout to earn a no-decision.
I feel better with Hudson at the plate than Ankiel.
That made no sense; Ankiel is more likely to make an out than Hudson.
Edit: Dammit, Tim, you were supposed to make me look smart there.
I appreciate them clearing the pitcher for us.
MELKY STOPPED THE BALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
3-1 Marlins, 4th inning
Here is where we get some runs
Ibanez solo homer, 3-2
lol – listening to the radio, it sounds like Heyward bounced a ball over Walker’s head.
Ugh. So frustrating to watch the Braves when they get in an offensive funk. So far in September, 16 runs in 7 games (counting today). Scoring 2 runs a game will explain going 2 – 4 against the Mets, Marlins and Pirates.
EDIT: And Prado doubles! Successful reverse jinx?
New new new guy needs to come through.
c’mon d.lee…dont take this slap in the face. park it.
IBBs will hurt you more often than not. Make ’em pay, Lee.
What in the world is Lee waiting for?
Lee is waiting on?
0-2, right off the bat. He does not fit in.
OMG terrible
oh dear lord. this is so sickening.
I am going to lock myself in a padded room.
I really wish he didn’t suck.
Words fail….
Double play? Wow. Bases loaded, under two outs. Wow.
Rabble…rabble rabble.
Nnnnggg…
FREE TROY GLAUS?
Why the hell is Lee still batting fifth, even if he has to be in the lineup at all? He can’t hit. That’s blatantly obvious. So why put him in positions where his failure is so crushing?
Well, Lee takes 2 nut high fastballs down the middle and then has to chase. I would say the double play was all too predictable, With a right hander on the mound why not Freeman or Hinske? Hell, Glaus could have done that.
Let me get this straight…James McDonald is 2-5 with a 4.98 ERA? Ok just wanted to make sure.
Lee can’t square up on anything above 90 mph. Awful.
Hindsight being 20/20 and all, this would have been a good day to start Freeman.
For someone who wanted to play for Cox so badly, Lee has been painfully terrible.
I’m seeing a 1-0 loss hereon an unearned run.
God, we suck. Lee should be put out of his misery. I don’t care if he does sneak into Class A free agency status-get rid of him.
Troy has to be thinking that he could do that!
Victorino solo homer. Tied.
We can win this thing as long as Hudson shuts the Pirates out for at least 9 innings. Of course we’ll also probably need about 3 or 4 scoreless innings from the bullpen. If we can do that, my money is on a bases loaded hit by pitch from the Pirates.
Freeman couldn’t do worse. When in doubt, always play the younger guy.
Walkoff homer off of Farnsworth in the 13th.
OK, here comes the all too predictable ground ball through the legs of AGon, with McCutcheon scoring…
3…
2…
1…
Bobby has admitted that Lee is hurt, so why the hell is he in the lineup? I’m just sick over the way this entire organization is handling everything.
Even if Troy was out there and was terrible, we could at least take solace in knowing he is a big reason we are in first place at this point.
Whew.
Lee is headed to the Raul Mondesi wing of the Braves’ museum.
Oh, come on, it’s not like anyone could have foreseen that Lee would be of so little help.
Willie Harris just broke up a Mets no-hit bid, in case you needed cheering up.
90- Right there with Terry Pendleton Mark II, Vinny Castilla Mark II, and Todd Pratt.
Stu is right. I for one thought Lee would be the answer.
Phils up 4-3.
Let’s win this thing.
Howard solo homer. Phillies lead. Volstad sucks.
94- Yeah, me too, or at least a competent 1B. Instead, the only question he’s answered is “How do we improve Troy’s self-esteem by making his Torgo act look good?”
Terry Pendleton is better right now than Lee
Hey, Troy got a hit the other day. He’s clearly back.
Time for a triple
5-3 Phillies.
A triple of outs. Sigh.
That is 9 k’s in a row. I’m ignoring the IBB.
Ankiel is hitting like a pitcher. Oh, wait…
god, why has every trade the braves have made this year bit them in the ass? that was a horrible at bat from ankiel. i guess it’s time for another cap-tipping session.
Lee’s been useless. During the Cubs series, their GM was telling our guys that Lee is a “Bobby Cox type of guy”. All I know is he hits like sh!t in a Braves uniform.
Stu, you’re absolutely right. I thought Wren had miraculously found a way to get us a bat and I’m sure he did too. His defense is good but his bat just can’t find the ball.
The Phillies score like every 3 seconds.
105—Probably because they didn’t make any really good trades.
That had to be McDonalds last inning!
This month calls to mind the words of Pittsburgh native Dennis MIller, who as a young sports writer wrote that a struggling football team scored “about as often as Fred Rogers in a singles bar.”
I keep thinking Lee is going to pull of his uniform to reveille a Ryan Howard t-shirt.
I would like to thank the Braves for keeping me interested until football season. I was looking forward to Heyward, Yunel, Freeman and Mccann next year, now I guess it’s just Heyward, Freeman, and McCann.
Wainwright and Carpenter next series?
I don’t think Phil Collins is working, Mac.
If Phil Collins for a Tim Hudson start doesn’t work, to whom do we turn?
“…over the head of Ankiel…”
I am glad I’m not watching the game. I have a feeling I would have choked on my own screams.
Please, just try Heyward in center. We have a month.
Great. The last inning killed off Hudson’s will to live. Or was it just mine?
Well I am off to Amsterdam for a week. Hoping for good news when I land.
We could have gotten a big bat with some of that “wonderful” pitching in the low minors. Pretty soon we will have like 9 “future studs” starting at AAA.
Are we trying to win the Sally League title or the National League title? It is hard to tell sometimes.
@115,
Andruw Jones doesn’t catch that ball
Did the Braves just wait until September to have the annual June swoon this year?
115—It was crushed on a line off the wall. Ankiel actually didn’t misplay that one.
115- The other problem is that it’s not like we’ve got any stud corner outfielders lying around either. Moving Heyward only moves the hole.
Edit: Ballgame.
@119, @121. Thanks. My fury is tamed.
Ballgame.
Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha….oh, man do we ever suck. One run against the Pirates in 16 innings?? We deserve to lose the division.
I would rather watch “The Spice Girls” movie in infinite repeat than be forced to endure this pathetic display of alleged MLB any longer.
DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMED.
That’s why Heyward is in right.
This is just so sad.
We sure couldn’t have used Manny Ramirez.
At least it’s football season.
ballgame
So we are pull against the Padres, right?
This sucks.
I wonder if this is how Dodger fans felt when the blew the division to the Braves back in the early 90’s?
Sweet, Cloverfield is on.
SHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Bring on Farny!!!
Goodbye, first place. It was a wonderful three-plus months.
I think we are worn down
94 & 106—Sorry, I was joking. I and others predicted exactly this. And I hate it, because I really like Derrek Lee.
It doesn’t matter if the Braves make the postseason or not. They have zero starters who are reliable in the postseason. As good as Huddy has been, his late season meltdowns are part of who he is. I just hope Heyward can get to 20 or more HRs.
Phillies are ahead, we’re down three to the Pirates, and Lincecum and Latos pitch tonight for the other contenders.
Great day. Great day.
Sweet merciful Mother of God (face palm)
You just can’t lose a series to the fucking Pirates in a September pennant race.
Stretches of pathetic offense like this make me wonder about Terry. Not that hitting coaches can mean all THAT much, but they do count for something.
All these hitters come to Atlanta and take a step backwards. Can we name one hitter who has come to the braves(from another team) and perfomed better? I don’t count LaRoche because of the short stay and his career streakiness and Prado and Infante seem to be just playing time issues.
September. One game lead in the division. Worst team in the majors throwing out cruddy pitchers.
Can’t win that, they don’t deserve the playoffs.
We need Take A Look at Me Now. Only Phil could understand our pain.
We could still win this one…
@142 I couldn’t have said it better myself. What is the Braves record since the September call-ups? Let’s blame it on that.
I’m just gonna go cry now, if that’s OK with you guys.
I think the Scotch in the pantry is calling my name.
Fine by me. I’m switching over to Marlins-Phils.
Yet another 0-2 meatball from O’Failurety. When it rains, it pours.
I’m going for a long walk. Several hours or so. Baseball hasn’t been the cause of one of those since our bullpen was melting down in Game 5 of the ’04 NLDS.
Fuck Moylan, Fuck O’Flaherty, Fuck Farnsworth. In fact, FUCK EM ALL!!
i blame melky and any other player that i dont consider real braves.
The Fucking Pittsburgh Pirates.
We suck. Save me JJ Abrams.
Watch us score 4 runs now.
They are in full crap on themselves mode right now. Can’t hit, can;t field and are now struggling a little on the mound. I would say the implosion has finally taken place
Logan Morrison doubles in a run and advances to third on the throw. 5-4 Phils.
What do you say? The team didn’t show up and they have everything to play for. Getting your asses handed to you by the worst team in the league as you fall out of first place SHOULD cause some alarm.
The Bravos better wake up and smell the coffee… their season is circling the drain.
With Chipper gone, who is the leader on this team? I sometimes think “leadership” on a baseball team is overvalued (I prefer Derek Jeter’s bat to his “intangibles”), but I think it is an interesting question. Does anyone know the team’s record since Chipper’s injury?
162- 16-13, including tonight. (13-5 at home, 3-8 on the road.)
Edit: Ramirez fails to bring Morrison home. Two outs in the top of the 7th, still 5-4.
Had the Braves played competent baseball on the road the last three weeks, we could be up by 4-5 games. The Phils have played pretty poorly, too. It’s a shame we didn’t really pad this thing going towards the end of September.
163 – that’s a better record without Chipper than I would have guessed. I guess when you play the Mets, that will happen. It does seem like the sky has fallen since he left, but maybe it coincides with Lee’s arrival instead of Chipper’s departure.
Oops. I got that wrong. The Braves’ record is actually 13-12 (10-4 at home).
Is this Cloverfield? The shaky cam is ridiculous…I just wanted to watch some Sons of Anarchy.
Dear Atlanta Braves,
What is your deal? Why must you fall apart at the time it matters most? I don’t get it. For the last few months you would find ways to win. Then, you go to Colorado and blow a 10-1 lead. Then there was the come back from six down against the Marlins, only to blow it. Then you start losing to the Pirates, who are the worst team ever. You can’t hit. You can’t field. It is like you have baseball bubonic plague. THE PIRATES SUCK! COME ON!
Now the Phillies will replace us in first. The Vols are going to suck this year. I had high hopes for a playoff run, it being our HOF managers last season and all.
Now look. We have six games left with the Phillies. We can right this ship. Do I need to come down there? What can I do? I can play first, but I’m only a little better than Derek Lee.
THIS SUCKS! GET OFF YOUR ASS AND LET’S GO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sincerely,
Billy Smith
Maybe lightning will hit this team and get us going.
@167 I freaking love this movie.
Jorge Sosa is pitching for the Marlins. More salt in the wound.
F*CK! F*CK! F*CK! F*CK! F*CK! F*CK!
172, I don’t think Robert Fick is the answer.
HA HA HA HA HA
Rob with the post of the night.
Sosa gives up a run (SF by Rollins), showing that he’s just as good as we remember. 6-4 Phils.
On the damn “25 greatest moments” thing, it has the date of Andruw Jones’ career-high 51st homerun in a season as: September 24, 2001.
Cloverfield is awesome and I love the shaky cam tbqh. It’s not supposed to be a traditional cinematic monster movie. I’m really looking forward to his new movie Super 8, which I heard is actually shot on Super 8 stock.
Baseball related:
I know optimists are generally the more well liked people in the world, but everybody who has been saying “Gosh you guys are so funny! We’re in first place in August!” has been delusional. They’ve been doing the equivalent of watching the Braves and going “LALALALALALALA I CAN’T HEAR YOU!!” As much as I detest “the eyeball test”, anybody who’s really been watching this team the past few weeks could have seen that this team was playing like pure garbage. Like the team that lost 9 straight in April.
So what’s next? “Hey it’s September and we’re tied for first!” as the Phillies roll on by and pull head in the final month of the season?
“Hey there’s always all 19 of our pitching prospects in the minors! We may not hit worth a damn, but hot Jesus is it nice thinking about having all that talent crammed into a 5 man rotation at some undetermined point in the future!”
I will be shocked to see this team playing in october, Pittsburgh has an historically poor run differential, and we are being manhandled by them. D Lee grounding into a double play with the bases loaded an one out? Glaus could have done that. Alex Gonzalez is just as much of a lolligagger as escobar was, doomed.
Ibanez triples. Sigh. 7-4, Phirst place Phils.
Maybe next game we should play Megadeth instead of Phil Collins?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megadeath
Derrek Lee is on the Offical Braves Journal Shit List right now.
If the Giants and Padres both win tonight, I’ll begin to get worried.
I thought the trade for Lee was a good gamble, but he’s obviously damaged goods and not worth much this year. Let Freeman play. God knows it couldn’t hurt. Hell, let Glaus try third for a few games, too. Maybe he’ll get hot again.
None of this is remotely close to happening in reality, of course. These Phillies fans I have to live around here in suburban Philthadelphia are going to be insufferable, especially when the Braves don’t even make the playoffs.
Marlins tease us by getting within 7-6. Giants dismay us by jumping on the D-Backs 3-0 in the first inning.
Is this what they mean by “wheels coming off”?
Hanley’s up with two on, two out in the eighth, down one run. Thanks to Morrison, first is not open. This is their best shot.
No, the Padres losing ten straight was Wheels coming off. This…this is An Ominous Sound From the Transmission territory.
Yes! Tie game!
Madson wild pitch ties their game at 7.
Just prolonging the misery…
Balk by Romero got the guy to third. A Wild Pitch by Madson got him home. Good work, Philly bullpen.
Braves have to have three hits in an inning to score. They cant steal bases, only two guys can go 1st to third on any hit, they dont hit and run, hell they dont even sac bunt anymore…..I got nothing. I dont expect Bobby to say anything about the offense though
Oh, and, apparently, he achieved second on an error. So he hits a single, then the Phillies move him around the bases all the way home. He didn’t even have to steal a base, and no one batted him in. Fantastic.
It could be worse. I am a Braves fan AND an Ole Miss grad. Not the best of weeks.
Phils back out front, 8-7. Yippee
192- As if on cue, Victorino singles, steals second, and scores on a Polanco single. 8-7 Phils.
Told you. And with that, I’ll retire back into obscurity for the night. What an awful start to September.
Lee thinks you get 4 strikes…
Well, at least Derek Lowe is pitching for us tomorrow – no wait!
struck out swinging
struck out looking
struck out swinging
yeah, that pretty much sums it up
Honestly, what was the point of the rain delay? As bad as the Pirates have been this season, there was no way they were blowing a 5-run lead to this crew of corpses.
I can’t think of the last time a major leaguer took a pitch as fat as the one Lee stared at for strike three.
You know someone should call the U.N. about Nate McLouth. He’s making $7 mil next season. Seven million dollars. Children in Uganda are being abducted and forced to become soldiers and kill their own families, and Nate McLouth is making seven million dollars to step up to a rubber plate and look like he’s trying real hard.
I produce more for the Braves by watching them on TV and making it out to Turner Field a few times each season than Nate McLouth does, and he’s making seven million dollars in 6 months.
One on, two out. Can Wes Helms be a hero?
I wasn’t able to watch tonight (well, until that glorious 9th inning). Just as well…
So, for the moment, we’re the WC team.
Rest of the season: 10 road games (1 Pit, 3 NYM, 3 Pha, 3 Was), 13 home games (4 Stl, 3 Was, 3 Fla, 3 Pha).
I guess that’s good.
Fittingly, it’s yet another ex-Brave, Wes Helms, who officially ends the Braves’ stay in first place by striking out. Phils 8-7.
Helms: not a hero
Recapped. I’m not going to do a game thread for tomorrow, I’m just going to let the recap serve. It’s the last arrow I’ve got, folks.
2nd place.
Bring on the Cannibal Corpse.