Seriously, we should be okay, the schedule from here on out is pretty easy. We have Beachy going tonight against Chris Volstad. Everyone calm down, Brandon’s got this.
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Seriously, we should be okay, the schedule from here on out is pretty easy. We have Beachy going tonight against Chris Volstad. Everyone calm down, Brandon’s got this.
Use code “Journal” for a 5% discount.
One thing that has to be said is that the depth of pitching has saved us. We lose our #2 and #3 starters and their replacements have not missed a beat (they have actually performed a little better to this point than the guys they replaced were doing over the last few weeks). Having replacements the caliber of Minor, Delgado, and Teaheran and having another rookie starter in Beachy is a luxury that no other team in baseball has. Without those guys, I doubt we would have a WC lead right now.
Brandon Beachy & Don Cornelius… yep, we’re good.
Was Don Cornelius part of The Cornelius Brothers?
Was not.
But “Treat Her Like a Lady” & “It’s Too Late to Turn Back Now”—by the awkwardly titled Cornelius Brothers & Sister Rose—were 2 of my favorite pop-soul songs when I was a kid.
I always loved, O-o-h Child. Things will get better. Also, Hank I’m real sure Don Cornelius wasn’t part of the Corneilius Brothers, of Treat Her Like a Lady fame. Does anyone remember the SNL skit, with Don Corneilius, and Don Kirshner as dueling Godfathers.
Having lost 6 out of eight, our playoff probability has dropped to… 94.4 percent. http://www.baseballprospectus.com/odds/
This is not quite up to the probability that Brandon Hicks makes an out in his next at bat in the major leagues, assuming he ever gets one. But it’s about the same as the probability that Dan Uggla doesn’t get two hits on his next two at-bats. If that scares you, it’s just a little lower than the probability that AAG doesn’t get two hits on his next two at bats.
I don’t know; seems like Mac is tempting fate. I’m sure Mets fans in 2007 were saying the same thing. Not that I’m superstitious or anything . . . 🙂
It’s hard to do what the Mets did that year.
That’s why the ’07 Mets, ’64 Phils & ’95 Angels don’t happen that often.
I’m streaming Volstad tonight. Just in case.
Would a collapse be worse than the 2007 Mets? It wasn’t that long ago the Braves had a 10.5 and a 9.5 game lead over the Cardinals.
Not going to entertain the notion.
Don Cornelius: wasnt he the host of the SOUUUULLLLL Train?
@12
Yes,he’s the one introducing the Stairsteps. Some other great songs adjacent to that one on the site Mac provided. He hosted for many years, 1971 to 1993 and is now 75. Brought up a lot of memories. Growing up in PC Beach, there was a Club called “Elks Club” we Gulf Coast College kids were invited to by some fellow students. It was an African American club, (obviously not affiliated with the Elks),that had all the great acts come to perform: Ike and Tina Turner, Fontella Bass, Freda Payne, Joe Tex (“Skinny Legs and all Contest”!), Percy Sledge and many more. This was in the mid-60’s and we were the only Caucasians there and were treated like what we were:someone who had the love of great music and dancing in common. That, unfortunately, was just unusual back then. Somewhere my beautiful college romance, Melody, has a picture of her and me sitting on the edge of the front stage with Tina’s long wig swinging above our heads and Ike strumming his guitar behind us. Love to have a copy!
pcb,
Love that story. I guess that joint was the beach version of the Chitlin’ Circuit.
Funny, I spent many summers in Destin/Ft. Walton/Panama City area & my only real musical memories of the place was a club called Spinnakers, a venue that gladly accepted my shoddy fake ID.
Ububba,
LOL on the CC. The Elks Club was in the city not on the beach. You’re too young. I was the a bartender at the original Beach Party the first year it opened In ’64 ( in between life guard jobs) until they found out I was 18 and I was banned. Seems a guy turned away for no ID looked inside, saw me serving up suds and yelled to the bouncer, “hey, I graduated with that guy…last year!” ole hickory (with the Swinging Medallions) and Old Dutch that had the Webs, Wilbur and the James Gang. Great time to be young and a beach bum.
Great hustle Prado
Yesterday, I was asked what it would look like when the Braves started giving a damn.
The answer is “not like that.”
Those “Braves’ postseason tickets go on sale soon” commercials are presumptuous.
Good thing we got Bourn to stand on first.
Great work McCann.
Braves fail… again
Has anybody noticed Infante is having a better year than Prado?
@22: that ain’t saying much: Prado has been awful this year.
I think McCann is hurt and it is time for a Prado/Hinske platoon
2006 “least valuable player in NL” Francoeur: .260/.293/.449, .742 OPS, 29 home runs
2011 Prado: .261/.307/.385, .691 OPS, 11 home runs
Compare the amount of vitriol the two got for these respective seasons.
I thought Volstad was going to homer there
I’d say “Go Pirates!” but I don’t think they’re anxious to do us any favors after the Jerry Meals Game.
Beachy is more concerned about his strikeout stats than he is about helping this team win
I say we star really pounding the “Fire Fredi” drum
28- I disagree. Strikeouts may be boring and fascist, but the alternative is putting balls in play for our lollygagging fielders.
29- Agreed, not that it’s likely to do much good. But there’s no excuse for not being ready to play in September; other teams are ready, with much less to play for (theoretically).
Beachy 73 pitches, Volstad 37. Sometimes statistics are meaningless or misleading. This isn’t one of those times.
If I can guess what McCann’s signs mean, the Marlins probably can too. Actually, I never understood why batters don’t look out of their peripheral and try to see the sign the catcher is flashing
Feeling a breakout inning…
#15
pcb,
I love being told I’m too young, and now I love getting carded.
33- I’m afraid your feeling was a false positive. If your hitters don’t want to hit, you can’t make them.
Edit: … huh?
Hilarity ensues.
Uh oh. Gonzo got a hit. He’ll probably hit 2nd tomorrow
With two out and first and second, it’s good to have an 8 hitter who will swing at anything.
Why not hit for Beachy there?
it’s the fourth inning….
See? Told you guys.
pujols just gave the cards the lead…
@40
So? He has thrown a ton of pitches. That is why we can’t score
you really want linebrink to come in?
for the love of god score here
How will we screw this up?
Somebody is gonna hit a 3-run homer at some point. I mean, they have to, right?
I’m feeling a big inning here.
Good work Fred. I think it is time to call him Fred.
47- True, but who said that someone has to be a Brave?
That Uggla at-bat brought me back to the season’s first half.
29: If we make the playoffs, it’s not gonna happen.
Awesome defense there from our defense-only shortstop.
Gonzo is really pissing me off
Where doesn’t Gonzalez suck?
Blah!
Alex Gonzalez finds so many ways to beat the Braves. Gotta tip your hat.
Thanks Gonzo. And now we have to try to score a run off their bullpen, which is one of the best in baseball
One batter too late, yet again.
It was clear that AAG was turned around on that popup – Prado/Bourn need to charge in and take care of that one; shouldn’t have been that hard, the ball was up in the air for seemingly forever. Very painful.
Eh, I’ve seen enough. Better luck tomorrow Braves! You’ll win one of these days. Maybe.
failure
Feeling a big inning here.
Ryan, stop doing that! Tell us you sense a 1-2-3.
Well, every time I’ve said it, we’ve scored a run. If the pattern continues, we probably win the game.
A run isn’t a big inning, Ryan. Maybe we’d have gotten more than one run in one of these innings otherwise.
I’m going to be unavailable for a little while. I’ll recap this thing at some point, likely the middle of the night.
FAIL
Can’t say I blame you, Mac. Take care.
umm wtf was that
Should’ve known that one would go over AAG’s head. I’d rather dig up Eddie Gaedel’s corpse to play short because at least he could draw a walk.
EDIT: And then it gets worse. I give up.
You’d better not stop saying it as long as it’s working, Ryan.
The picture of Fredi on the main site for the “Fredi not worried” article makes him look strikingly similar to the goombas in that terrible live action Super Mario Bros. movie.
Feeling a big inning here, you guys.
I remember reading that Dennis Hopper said he acted in that movie because his children needed shoes. One of his kids responded, “Dad, I don’t need shoes that badly.”
Good news: Ryan Doumit doubled in the tying run for the Pirates!
Pirates just tied it up.
Freeman has just been horrible lately
Doumit ties it up in St. Louis. I’m feeling a REALLY big inning over there!
Fredi: “When we sip a little champagne later on, it’ll be a little sweeter.”
and so has uggla
“A run isn’t a big inning, Ryan. “
For the Braves? Beggars cannot be choosers! One run makes a big inning these days!
@80
Yup. What terrible at-bat by Uggla there. I can’t believe he scorched that ball right to Infante. What a loser.
I’d want to get ahold of Fredi’s bottle before he drinks it. I won’t tell you what I have in mind; I wouldn’t want to incriminate you.
Pitt up 2.
Two-run double by the Pirates’ Pedro Ciriaco off of Fernando Salas.
“You don’t win games with Salas!
You don’t win games with Salas!
You don’t win games with Salas!”
(/ Simpsons)
Venters is a terrible fielder.
Can Venters please catch the ball
I love to hear Chip and Joe make excuses
@85 I used that clip in a barbecue invite just the other day. Ah, memories.
At least the Pirates are doing their best to make sure we don’t lose ground.
Cardinals losing. Just needed them to play some real teams again.
@90
Don’t worry, Puljos will overcome.
Venters looked pretty nasty that inning.
@93
In every way possible.
Please pinch hit for A-Gon. Please.
UPDATE: They are not pinch hitting for A-Gon.
At least that error clears the Gonzalez.
Why not hit for AAG?
“Why not hit for AAG?”
The Braves need his top-notch defense at short stop for the ninth inning?
Why hit for AAG?
Because he’s not a good hitter?
And because if I didn’t complain and sound like a whiner, he wouldn’t have had the chance to show me up?
GONZOOOOO
Never mind
Yessiree!
@97 Because you pinch run for him. He’s a hitter, yo.
I would have sent Hinske up, but I have never been fired by the Marlins, so what do I know?
Cards lose. Thanks, Bucs.
Cards lose, 6-5!
Magic number down to 11
Pitt wins. Corey Patterson pinch hitter. LOL
don’t throw buck heat
did they really pinch hit Patterson for Jon Jay?
They threw Buck heat
Manny must be being Manny illegally.
Tom Brady just threw a 99 yard TD to win my fantasy game.
Time for a Chipper bunt.
Nice, Bourn. You probably just won the ballgame.
Bourne!!! Should Chipper bunt here?
Bourn-tastic!
Hey, TV people, could he have made it to third or was he smart to put on the brakes?
Should freeman bunt?
Is Freeman bunting?
Please no bunts.
I’d bunt with Freeman here. And I hate bunts.
117 – smart.
we shouldve bunted…
Bourn should steal third
@117
Too close to do it with Chipper coming up
I know. Bottom of the ninth in a tie game, and suddenly bunts are off limits. The one time where the base means more than the out, and he doesn’t call for the bunt. In the middle of a game, he’ll give out outs like candy.
UGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGS
Ooooh, close.
Uggla with ANOTHER infield hit. Crazy. Now the best catcher in baseball just has to hit a deep fly.
Here comes the double play.
How does he not score!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Bourne are you retarded
He could have scored!
I don’t mind giving Freddie a shot there against the righty. Who knows how well he bunts anyway?
Brian has to let him know.
If McCann strikes out here, I will shed a single tear.
you have got to be kidding me
:_^(
Good grief.
Staring at strike three? Oh come on!
Prado sucks
Terrible McCann
Ugh.
So, uh, why is this game not already over? Bourn just stood there.
Good AB, Prado.
McCann is just awful right now….And Prado, well, he’s Prado
So… I guess we’re planning on losing this in the 15th or so, then? I swear, it’s like the baseball gods are purposely messing with the Braves.
Bases loaded, outfield at Little League depth, 1 out, zero runs.
Good lord…
McCann was swinging for the fence. Why?
Is Teheran available in the bullpen tonight?
@149 I wondered the same thing.
Use moylan against right-handed hitters all night, just please don’t let him face a lefty.
We’re letting Moylan pitch to a lefty???
Why aren’t there any left-handed sidearmers?
He actually struck out a lefty!
Moylan got a lefty out! A lefty!!!
I read somewhere that Teheran was available yesterday.
Remind me what happened to Conrad.
Just go ahead and win it Bourn.
Well, at least Joe knows the rules.
rolled both ankles
Came in to pinch and was pulled after a counter move.
Conrad got pulled for Diaz when they went to a lefty.
HE doesn’t want to see Chipper, here comes a fastball
So close. Sigh.
Extra innings games are EXCITING!!!!!!!!
damn
I think he may have been safe
Can I see that again please?
I’d go to Teheran here. Let him pitch the rest of the game. I fear we go to Varvaro or Linebrink tho
And Varvaro it is.
Scary here.
Nice work from Vavaro.
Sure would love to see a Chipper walk-off
How is the team down to three relievers in September? That’s some kind of roster management.
Joe- “Braves down to Linebrink and Cristhian Martinez”
…let’s just put it away before Linebrink has to come in.
A-Var’s been pitching well.
Please end the game with one swing, Chipper.
174- We’re already on our sixth reliever of the night. So that’s a total of eight relievers we had available this evening, assuming Varvaro is one of the three that you mentioned.
They forgot Tehran
If Chipper can’t do it hopefully Birthday Boy Freddie can celebrate his 22nd with a Walk off for his birthday along with mine!!!
Of course Chipper is hurt
I’m honestly a bit surprised Chipper didn’t just shatter into a million pieces after that collision.
I dont think he’s hurt. Letting Constanza run for him is a good idea.
Constanza should go
Okay, Uggla. End this.
#183 yes he should
Why is he not at second yet?
I feel exhausted by this season.
I mean, this is his only value to the team
Because he’s standing flat footed at 1b
I think he should take third. Buck can’t throw.
dont need a HR BMac
Okay, so Boscan, the Lisp and Rusty Linestink are the only players on the bench?
#190
With a left-handed batter at the plate?
Yeah. Buck is terrible
Why do ATL hitters swing at every pitch when RISP?
Mac still looking good
McCann, Jesus.
3 pitches to BMAC
Damn, what a play!
unreal
Why does Prado keep swinging at the first pitch when nothing good comes of it?
Prado was robbed
we need teheran to come in
How have the Braves not won this game? They’ve had every chance under the sun for the past three innings.
yayyyy leadoff walks
@204
Your 2011 Atlanta Braves
The Marlins will show us how to score.
Well, McCann has played a not insignificant role in our all still being here. Freeman hasn’t helped much either.
Odd change
Wait, what? Let A-Var finish the inning…am I missing something?
yes… varvaro sucks and lisp doesnt
The Lisp got away with one there
…and another one
The Lisp blows
I hate this fucking team…they deserve what they get. If they miss the playoffs, Frediot needs to go. Not that tonight has been his fault, but he still is over matched most nights
Well, hell…
What a great pitching change.
The Lisp blows
Well, at least we’ll get to pinch hit for him with J.C. Boscan after his 1/3rd of an inning.
Chip has no idea what “ironic” means.
211- Varvaro’s ERA before Stanton’s single: 2.30. Martinez’ ERA: 3.41.
Emma’s boy
Heyward, Wilson, pitcher coming up
Why didn’t they just forfeit instead of wasting time in extras? This team is excruciatingly bad right now.
it’s been a productive day for the Braves either way. The Cards lost
218- With JC Boscan or a starting pitcher? That’s all we’ve got on the bench, y’know.
Statue.
Brayan McCann is having one hell of a rough stretch.
Why do we not have more guys on the 40 up?
I’m jealous of all the people that already went to bed.
Hey, I like the Lisp. But we’re already burning through players like the space shuttle used to burn through rocket fuel, so I didn’t see too much distinction between A-Var and C-Mart when it comes down to getting that last out.
At least Heyward is actually coming around. He should be batting in front of McCann and Prado tomorrow.
BUNT! WOO HOO!!!!
Okay. What fresh hell is next.
The Braves just bunted to put Heyward on 2nd for Boscan.
“You wouldn’t think in September you could run out of players” – Jim Powell
Good thing we burned Conrad
Not a chance in hell the Braves score here.
Might have gone with Huddy here
Wow, JC is counter productive
Heyward apparently had that base stolen. Good move to try, I think.
Todd Redmond, is that a guy? He could be up to be held specifically for finishing extra-inning games. Maybe Liberty is too cheap to pay 20 days of MLB salary.
Does Boscan have a pink bat?
This team is unwatchable right now. So that’s what I’m going to do. Not watch. Maybe we’ll win another game before the season is over.
Boscan’t
Even if Heyward stole 3rd, Boscan was never going to put the ball in play.
What a depressing game. At least the Cards lost.
lolBraves
absolute choke job going on right now…sickening to watch. I bet even the Mets are laughing at them
Oh boy.
Ladies and gentlemen, your Shitlanta Braves!
This team doesn’t deserve to make the playoffs, but they may sneak in just because of the large lead they built up with 25 games remaining or so. It would take a complete collapse for them to miss the playoffs, but I’m not discounting that.
What is there to say? No ability or willingness to adjust their hitting or pitching approach to the situation. No winning until these guys get their heads back into the game.
I feel sad.
Heyward’s OBP-tastic night wasn’t enough to make me feel good about that sad affair. How pathetic.
it’s fine. the cards lost. just go out and get them tomorrow
I have asked this before: does Fredi Gonzalez know that Conrad is a switch hitter?
Good thing he was available to hit when the game was on the line… wait… he was burned for the punchless Diaz? Because the manager only views him as a left-handed hitter? What about the fact that Conrad has historically hit lefties better than he has righties? Oh right, pre-determined roles help players play better.
Another team effort tonight, boys.
A loss AND we got to burn through everyone on the roster but ol’ Rusty. That is quite impressive.
I have asked this before: does Fredi Gonzalez know that Conrad is a switch hitter?
Good thing he was available to hit when the game was on the line… wait… he was burned for the punchless Diaz? Because the manager only views him as a left-handed hitter? What about the fact that Conrad has historically hit lefties better than he has righties? Oh right, pre-determined roles help players play better.
Is Sam around to answer this question? There’s got to be an answer that makes you feel stupid for asking it.
THE CARDINALS LOST. Can people quit bitching
Tough one to lose, hope Chipper’s OK.
There’s nothing really great on this team except the two relief pitchers. This is starting to remind me of the 1982 20 out of 21 bad streak although I doubt it will get that bad. Of course, the Braves ended up winning the division.
No doubt the team is pressing but some of the games that went our way before are going the other way now. It happens when you have so little margin for error. And the small crowds in Atlanta with school back in session aren’t going to help. Maybe a big home crowd would get the team excited, but no chance of that in Atlanta.
THE CARDINALS LOST. Can people quit bitching
I’ve been forced to reconsider my opinion that he’s for real. Definitely a troll. Still, he’s entertaining in a performance art kind of way. (Not very good performance art, but still…)
There’s nothing really great on this team except the two relief pitchers. This is starting to remind me of the 1982 20 out of 21 bad streak although I doubt it will get that bad. Of course, the Braves ended up winning the division.
I remember that. First time I paid attention to baseball, let alone the Braves. Even as a stupid pre-teen I thought that was a lame way to get into the playoffs.
The Braves have hit a late season slump dropping three games to the Phillies the three to the Cards. We have seen our 8.5 game wild card lead slip to 4.5 in a instant. I believe that this is no time to panic. Our schedule is pretty easy from here on out we just need to play our game. We are still in control of our own destiny. The Cards lost a heart breaker tonight to the pirates which means that another day falls off the schedule. The Braves will find a way to break this slump and be on their way to the postseason. Braves Country have no fear there will be October baseball!!
If you get to the post-season, it doesn’t really matter how you get there.
The 2000 Yankees were a disaster in September (lost 15 of last 18), ended up winning only 87 games & went all the way.
The ’06 Tigers pissed away the division to the Twins, snared the Wild Card & still won the pennant.
The ’06 Cards got plenty of benefit from a weak division, won 83 games & won the World Series.
The ’87 Twins won 85 games, then upset the Tigers & the Cardinals to win it all.
Especially since the introduction of the Wild Card, the MLB playoffs are like the NHL playoffs. If you just get in, you have a chance.
Well I bought my division series tickets today so they better make it.
Maybe we can convince another hockey player to play for us instead. The last one worked out pretty well.
Manny…
http://tinyurl.com/5tmefyl
http://www.baseballprospectus.com/odds/
Gotta love the end of the season… Braves lose and their playoff odds go up. The “day off the calendar effect” starts to get really big.
“I remember that. First time I paid attention to baseball, let alone the Braves. Even as a stupid pre-teen I thought that was a lame way to get into the playoffs.”
Actually, the Braves did not back into the playoffs that year. (Well, they did in a way because they lost the last game of the season but got in when Joe Morgan hit a home run to beat the Dodgers.) After the slump, as I recall, the Braves won 13 of 15 and finished with 89 wins. But, during the slump, they were losing in all sorts of bizarre ways. I’m not sure if the Jerry Royster error in L.A. was during that streak but they were dropping pop-ups and just generally finding new ways to lose games. Interestingly, I remember one game that helped turn them around against the Mets where the Mets made a very bad error that gave the Braves the game. The Mets have always been our friends.
I don’t know much about Brad Hand, but I know he’s a lefty. He’s given up more BB than Ks. And he can be a victim of the long ball.
A game against the Braves is exactly what he needs.
If we take one game from every set from here on out and the Cardinals lose one from every set, I thnk the worst that can happen is a tie.
That is how much it will take to blow this. It would be one of the top choke jobs of all time.
So if we blow this, we shold march on Turner Field.
Yeah the Cardinals lost, but the Braves should easily be up 5.5 now. Any other team would have won on that wild pitch with their fastest runner on third.
The Curse of Chino Cadahia is very, very real.
Recapped.