People like Fredi Gonzalez. He’s a nice guy.
“Nice guys! Look over there. Do you know a nicer guy than Mel Ott? Or any of the other Giants? Why, they’re the nicest guys in the world! And where are they? In seventh place! Nice guys! I’m not a nice guy – and I’m in first place. The nice guys are all over there, in seventh place.†— Leo Durocher
Today, Buster Olney pointed out the following:
“On the days that Jonny Venters is pitching with zero days of rest (like on Thursday night), opposing hitters are 1-for-40 with 16 strikeouts.
It’s almost incomprehensible how good that is.”
My favorite tune off of one my all-time favorite albums, “The Royal Scam”. And yes, there’s gas in the car.
My All time favorite Steely Dan song. Keep em coming.
From the random non-baseball related observations department: Many of you probably know the song is a reference to semi-famous drug chemist who manufactured LSD out of his mobile home/drug lab. On the show Malcolm in the Middle there was a reference to Kid Charlemagne as it was Hal’s (Bryan Cranston) pirate radio name in college. Bryan Cranston later went on to star in Breaking Bad (currently my favorite show) where he plays a guy who manufactures meth in a mobile home/meth lab. So now every time I hear this song I naturally think of Bryan Cranston.
Because it hasn’t been said yet in this thread, Brian McCann is the best catcher in baseball.
“Breaking Bad” is hands down my favorite show on television. I can’t wait for the new season.
No words.
Schafer 8 Uggla 4 Jones 5 Freeman 3 Gonzalez 6 Hinske 7 Ross 2 Young 9 Hudson 1
I can think of some words. “Yuck” being the most printable.
Is McCann hurt?
wow.
Just a day off, I guess. Why now, I don’t know.
Verbatim tweet from the draft by Ozzie Guillen’s son, Oney:
“Shocker white sox pick another good athlete black kid. How about picking a good baseball player”
He’s got a point – they drafted this this turd and kept him in the organization for a couple of years to put up a .140/.215/.161 at some good player’s expense no doubt.
That’s awful. And Uggla batting 2nd! He should be 10th. The Astros have some winless rookie pitching for them and he’ll no doubt toss a shutout.
Ha, I’ve never had a physical reaction to reading a lineup before, but that one just got a huge double take followed by incredulous laughter. Over/Under 1.5 runs out of that collection of garbage tonight?
Under. By two.
By the way, Wright Thompson can really write. That last paragraph is special.
Prado to the DL with a staph infection on his calf. Either someone in the Atlanta training staff should be fired, or the Marlins should be sued for not keeping things clean, or both.
The lineup would be better if it was run 8-1 than 1-8
/literally
Oh, and Brandon Hicks called up. Super!
I was in a pretty good mood before reading this thread.
I am no longer in a good mood.
BTW, staph infections can become MAJOR problems.
The batting order is horrible, but I don’t blame Fredi much for this one. McCann needs a day off and today is as good as any. Batting Uggla 2nd could possibly wake him up (translation, fat chance, but nothing else is working), but if not, who are his other options? Uggla is historicaly bad right now, but Young, Mather and Conrad are of equal or even worse badness. I’d love to see Ross (the best backup catcher in baseball) and McCann (the best catcher in baseball) in the lineup at the same time, but where can Ross play besides 1st? – and even 1st is questionable.
This is just an epically bad hitting team right now (even if Parrish was a decent hitting coach). Fortunately we’re playing a really bad team this weekend in the Astros and we have a really good pitching staff.
I used to think Wright Thompson would occasionally overwrite. But now he’s just a hell of a writer.
I’ll guess we’ll see if Uggla can bunt.
22—Agreed, although even his overwriting is better than 99.99% of the writing population’s best work. Also, he’s like 30 years old.
By the way, the Texas Rangers’ draft was insane. Their picks went as follows:
Round 1: Georgia HS
Round 1S: UGA
Round 2: Clemson
Round 5: Missisippi HS
Round 7: UGA
So now our whole outfield is on the DL. Nice.
Wouldn’t it be nice if we called up a third Catcher and started playing Ross in left field?
It’s time to fire Jeff Porter.
Pimpbot (bringing it back) was off Monday and Tuesday! WTF is he out?!!???!!!
@27 Why don’t we just stick McCann at second and let Ross stay behind the plate. Then we can platoon Hinske and Uggla at CF.
How many times has Martin Prado been to the DL or out injured since joining the Atlanta Braves? At least Chipper Jones was in his 30s before his injury problems started.
How can you blame Prado for getting a staph infection? You can get that from anywhere.
Via @Jim_Powell: “Fredi said Uggla in the 2-hole in the #Braves lineup is not a 1-day deal. Going to leave him there for a bit, hoping it gets him going.”
What probably happened was that the training table wasn’t wiped down after its last use.
@30
The point was that Ross is one of our few good offensive players, yet he only gets 4-8 ABs a week. Right now it would be really nice to be able to use him and McCann at the same time. It seems like someone with that kind of offensive upside would provide value in left field, especially on a roster that’s been starved for RH power for years. He’s in pretty good shape and seems to run and move well, I’m not saying he’s a good OF option right now, but given an offseason to prepare I think he could become serviceable. We’re not talking about Bengie Molina here.
David Ross is a 34-year old career backup catcher who is 0-for-2 lifetime in attempted steals. He wouldn’t be my first choice as our newest outfielder.
Really? Even considering that right now we have a four man rotation of Young, Schafer, Mather and Hinske? Really?
Ughla in the 2-hole. Sorry I guess this means I’m infantile, but that makes me chuckle.
There’s no evidence at all that he can play the position. That’s all I’m saying.
If you pinch hit him, you can still get 1/4 of his potential offense, plus you can control the leverage of the spot in which you use him, all without having to endure 9 innings of negative defensive value.
That Fredi won’t actually DO that can’t really be called a roster issue. It’s a managerial issue.
@38- He’s basically been number two all year.
Don’t get the Mccann day off at all. If it’s because some unknown injury is bugging him then I’m worried. If it’s because Fredi thinks catchers in their 20’s can only play two days in a row without rest then I’m worried.
I’m worried.
What’s more, the Astros are starting a lefty in the series finale Monday night.
Is it really a good thing he ducked? I don’t want anyone catastrophicaly injured, but..
Uggla in the 2 hole for multiple games? Frediot must want to see how bad our offense can be.
Well, Tim, there’s your run support. Go get ’em.
If Matt Young goes 0 for his next 2, his average and slugging will be the same as JJ’s. With fewer RBIs.
“In play, no out”? Someone slipped a virus into GameDay again.
“Do you believe in miracles??? Yes!”
Thank God we’re playing teams who are out-sucking us at the moment.
WOW.
Dayum, Freddie.
Dr. Fred!
Edit: AAG!!!
Freddie’s having to grow up fast in this… “offense,” but he seems to be up to it.
It’s a whole series worth of runs!
This Freeman kid is pretty good.
How is THIS lineup getting five runs?? I’ll take it.
I was just noticing how Freeman had sucked in a 3-1 count so far, which is the ultimate hitter’s count (at least for home runs). He was hitting like .118 before that.
Never mind, that’s only 7 at-bats. Still, 1-7 with only a single (and 8 walks). About time.
freddie be strong
It sounds like the Braves are playing in Atlanta. Getting those bums McCann and Prado out of the lineup seems to have helped the offense.
Freddie’s had to be 450+
Freeman’s ball hasn’t landed and has been spotted over the Gulf.
Right now I’m wondering what drugs were in my dinner. Here’s hoping I’m not hallucinating.
I’m going to tomorrow’s game. Man, wish I had gone tonight.
How long before the announcers bring up that stat about Hudson’s record with a 3+ run lead?
The Braves’ first four-run inning since May 21 in LA. Their first five-run lead since May 6 in Philly.
When was last time Braves had 2 steals in a game?
So what are the odds that Kimbrel and/or O’Flaherty still pitch with a (now) 4 run lead?
and who got it all started? UGGLA. IN THE 2-HOLE. Fredi may be a savant.
Houston’s pitching must really suck
@67 idiot savant?
65- Just on Tuesday against the Marlins. (That’s the Braves’ only previous 2-SB game of 2011.)
Well, that takes care of the Pence rumors.
Quite a scene at Yankee Stadium after Teixeira takes a ball to the back.
Wow. We’ve got ourselves a shortstop. Nice play, AAG.
Now there’s the Dan we know and execrate.
Man, Schafer is doing everything we need him to tonight.
Fausto Carmona is a douche. Not that Teixeira is any better. Still…
@72–still a douche
Wow, just tuned in. Sure is nice to see some runs on the board. I see Uggla has a 2B also. Must be a full moon tonight. BTW, our rookie 1B has the 2nd highest avg on the team now.
Agony!!!!!! RUN FREDDIE!
We scored 8 runs! Someone save the ball for Parrish.
My personal theory is that the priests sitting behind home plate have performed an exorcism on the offense.
Our rookie 1B stance and swing reminds me of Barry Bonds. Maybe I’m just weird, but it does. He chokes up, has a quick swing, and stays right on the ball.
For all our frustrations with the Braves, just be thankful not to be an Astros fan.
Joe: “He hit the ball where it was pitched”. Can someone please explain to me what people mean by that?
84 — He hit a low and outside pitch to the opposite field.
Geez, even Young can get a hit in this one.
How bad is Houston’s pitching that they have given 9 runs to our minor league lineup?
Matt Young got a hit. Maybe the curse really is broken. Or maybe this lineup scoring nine runs in five innings is a sign of the apocalypse.
Tom, it means he didnt try to pull an outside pitch.
This is either a great sign for our offense tonight or it means we dont score again for the rest of the series.
#80
I smell a raise coming for Larry Parrish. At the end of the game, should we have Uggla put Parrish on his shoulders and carry him out?
Hopefully we can get Venters and O’Flaherty an inning or two each with this lead. Don’t want them to get rusty.
Might as well get Diory and Hicks some playing time tonight.
85, 89, thank you. Still, it doesn’t make sense.
Oh, and that trivia question is really easy.
Is Pence hurt?
GameDay says he injured his back in the fourth inning.
Why would that quiet the rumors though? Having an injury makes him a perfect fit.
My mom had a MRSA infection on her leg last fall. It was horrifying to say the least. Had to have an inch deep pit excised from her thigh.
@97 They are awful and if they don’t take care of it right away he could be out for a very long time.
The Bro-hawk?
Well, it was nice knowing you guys, but I hereby renounce my Braves fandom.
Just when I think I can’t hate Dan Uggla anymore than I already do, I find out that he’s responsible for the “Bro-Hawk”.
The Braves’ third ten-run game of the season, and first since April 19. One more and they tie their season high way back on April 3 against Washington.
Braves trying to put up a palindromic linescore tonight…
Just now checking in on the golden lineup. Unbelievable.
It’s Proctor time!
uh-huh-huh-huh, woah! save some for later dewd….
Fredi Gonzalez: “Get Jonny Venters warming up.”
Chippah!
Nice to see a blowout, even if it’s fools gold. I hope AAG and Freddie can keep raking while the entire outfield heals…
It’s just nice to see our boys finally hammer a pitcher that is supposed to be hammered so the Bullpen Actual can take a night off, especially after that Marlins series.
I want a 4-game sweep!
Ok, maybe that’s a bit much to ask. But I’m happy with tonight’s result, at least.
Only the Nats (up 2-0) missing for the NL East sweep.
Recapped.