Do you realize that Tim is third among active pitchers in wins, fourth if you count Jamie Moyer? True. (And he could be second if Moyer and Tim Wakefield don’t pitch in 2012.) He could get to 200 wins this year if the Braves score for him — he’s at 181. He’s also third in shutouts, with twelve, which is just baseball trying to make me feel old again.
Of course, he needs to be able to pitch to get to 200 wins, and he’s doubtful to start the season after back surgery. They say that he’ll be fine, but backs are tricky things, and also say they won’t rush him. If he’s healthy, the Braves’ rotation should be strong; if he’s not, it’s hard to see who will pick up his innings, all that young talent or no. The two biggest keys to the Braves’ season are Hudson and Heyward.
As for 2011, he had a pretty typical Tim Hudson season, going 16-10 (he averages 16-9 per 162 games) with a 3.22 ERA. His peripherals were actually greatly improved from his 2010 Cy Young candidate season, with homers and walks down and strikeouts up — his strikeouts per nine were actually his highest since his third year in the majors. I would suggest that his ERA went up because the Braves’ infield defense was so much worse than in 2010. Led the league in hit batsmen with 15.
Tim Hudson Statistics and History – Baseball-Reference.com.
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I hate to do this, but I’m asking for donations again. Hopefully this will be the last time for awhile. I have to pay the bills for this site for this year, but I have some personal expenses, too. If you can — I don’t want anyone to feel obliged — please put a few dollars in the tip jar at the right between the Amazon ads. And thanks.
In Indy this morning, enjoying thoughts of two good men, brothers, who’ve reached the top of their profession at the game’s hardest position.
Whatever you think of Eli, remember Dizzy Dean’s quote about the job he’d do with his brother Paul, “It ain’t bragging if you can back it up.”
And to my delight, I find that the thought found its way to Dizzy from a quote by Walt Whitman!
After what went on in the last thread, it’s hard to pick up. Personally, I never said it was morally right or not right to root for the Patriots or the Giants. (It’s just a football game.) Just as a personal preference, I dislike how pro sports have devolved into whoever gets hot at the end of the season. It bothers me to have a 9-7 team (that lost to the Redskins TWICE, including in the 14th game)be the champions. I felt the same way when the Cardinals won the WS in 2006. (However, I reserve the right to be inconsistent if the same happens to the Braves.) The Giants have had a couple of seasons now when they were pretty ordinary during the regular season but got hot at the right time and had a lot of things go their way. i’m not saying there should never be upsets, but I have a hard time taking the Giants seriously as the best team in football.
Really, I thought the game involved two fairly mediocre teams. Eli played well, but Giants got a ton of breaks. I do think Eli is a very good quarterback, but he also has incredible receivers and, this year, anyway, played in a very weak division. Peyton had to play the Patriots when they had real defenses; Eli has gotten to play the latter day impostors.
Gentlemanly behavior seems to be a thing of the past on much of the internet. It’s a sad reflection of our times, I guess. Sigh!
Yes, gentility has apparently been replaced by passive-aggression hiding behind the pretense of being above-it-all.
Manning is better than Trent Dilfer, but not by that much. He’s not quite a mediocrity, but he’s hardly a great player. If we live in a world where Eli Manning is “great” then greatness has no meaning. Calling him exceptional because of his defense’s prowess would be like arguing that Mark Lemke is a HOFer because his pitching staff was so good.
Whatever you think about the Pats/Giants game, you clearly have to think that the Giants are the better of the two teams. They beat New England 3 times this season. Yes, they did get hot at the right time, but this is the way professional sports has set up all of their championship series now. Is this what a playoff system would do to college football?
Is it just me or has the Super Bowl lost some of its energy/excitement? Seems like the games are boring, halftime shows are just brutal to watch, and they try to hard to create excitement around the games.
Pretty much all the talking heads believe that Eli has found a place in the HOF. Like him or not, he had a great season and deserves to be in the conversation regarding elite QB’s. Sam, people can disagree with you and have a difference of opinion. Calling them a kid, idiot, or slut just shows your true character.
I thought it was common knowledge that the Giants defense was very average this season?
@4 I do think it’s remarkable how close the last several Super Bowl’s have been, but most of the action has been towards the end of the games.
New home alternate jerseys are impressive.
http://blogs.ajc.com/atlanta-braves-blog/2012/02/06/braves-to-unveil-new-home-uniform-for-weekends/
@7 I really hope some of the players bust out stirrups when they wear those unis. They are really beautiful and I might actually buy one.
Of course the talking heads are spinning Manning as a HOF’er. That’s their job. PR is PR, and the NFL can’t admit that its narrative is basically made up and meaningless. Thus the “count the ringzzz” buzz for Manning and the HOF. It’s stupid, like arguing for Paul O’Neil or Tino Martinez for the Hall, but it’s football, so stupid is sort of the coin of the realm.
Jim Plunkett isn’t in the Hall of Fame, and he won two Super Bowls. If Eli falls back to his prior level, he might not make it. If he continues to play well for the next few years — and I don’t see why not — he will. All else is speculation, and not getting us anywhere. I am no Manning fan, but Sam, you need to let it go.
Those jerseys look damn good. I was hoping they would just get rid of the Sunday red jerseys but it says the red jerseys are moving to Friday games.
I didn’t bring it up today.
http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?topic_id=16646230&c_id=ATL&content_id=20084295
Braves uni presentation.
I’m not sure why a team needs six different jerseys. I like the new throw-back designs well enough, but I have no idea why they’d need an alternate home jersey, much less a second or third alternate. Just mindless attempts to sell merch, akin to the dreaded pink hats. Feh. A baseball team needs a home jersey and an away jersey. That is all.
Speaking of pitchers, I thought I would post this since Tyler Stovall is a fellow high school alum.
Atlanta Braves Top 4 picks of the 2008 draft: 1. Brett DeVall (released in April 2011); 2. Tyler Stovall (released in October 2011); 3. Zeke Spruill (average minor league career so far, and a non-roster invitee to 2012 spring training); 4. Craig Kimbrel (2011 MLB ROY and Atlanta closer). Which of those 4 picks worked out the best, hmmm?
It makes me wonder why the Braves saw more value in the top 3 than they did in number 4.
I agree. I would think you could have the home white, road gray, and this new alternate. Get rid of that awful Sunday red and the road navy blue.
@15 – the same thing they saw in Craig Kimbrel. Potential. One out of four turned it into actual performance, which isn’t a bad hit ratio for pitching prospects.
#15 – You got me thinking about how bad the Braves first round draft picks have been. This sums it up.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Atlanta_Braves_first-round_draft_picks
Pretty much since 2000, the Braves havent had much success from their 1st round picks.
That’s an odd definition of not “much success.” Two starting OFers, a starting C, a starting pitcher and a couple of fungible relievers is a solid hit ratio, especially considering how far down they tended to draft in those years.
Spruill is still a pretty good prospect, he just doesn’t stand out compared to the top ones… Their mid-nineties drafting was just awful, I did a series about it once.
@16 Yes, definitely agree. Home, Road, new throwback, and that’d be great.
Yeah, the 90s after Chipper were a bad class. The only regular you got from 91-99 was Jason Marquis. That was, coincidentally, the span where Chuck LaMar was in charge of the drafts, before Tampa Bay took him off of our hands in 1998.
Immediately after LaMar exited the drafts started getting good again. Since 2000 the Braves’ first round picks have turned out Adam Wainwright, Kelly Johnson, Jeff Francoeur, Jarrod Saltallamachia, Joey Devine, Jason Heyward and Mike Minor. That’s a pretty good record, actually.
#19 – My point was most of those guys arent in Atl. Most of those guys have found their success after leaving/traded. You would think by drafting 24 1st round guys since 2000, that more than 2 would still be in Atl. That may be common, just seems low to me. A few are still in the minors with us though.
@23 – I think you have to judge a draft class by the talent it produces, not the uniform they wear when they make it to the bigs. The Braves get credit for drafting Adam Wainwright, even if his value to them was in the season JD Drew turned in.
Brady had many throws to wide open receivers. Manning had few. Many of Brady’s throws were behind the receivers.
Fine, boys. I concede. Eli Manning is such a great quarterback he made that guy in San Francisco muff two punts with the POWER OF HIS MIND! And he totally willed those two fumbles to bounce right back to Giant players because he’s just TOO GOOD TO BE UNLUCKY. He’s probably the greatest football player in the history of humanity. I apologize for my apostate position and will cower before the groupthink from here on out.
Completing 19 out of 26 throws to wide receivers is tremendous, even if most of the routes weren’t that far downfield. He looked really, really good in that game.
Agreed. They should take Joe Montana and Dan Marino out of the HOF so Eli can have two spots.
Cant you just ignore it or do you have to respond to every post that disagrees with you? Its really not important.
Mac, thanks again for all you do and for this, uh, really interesting place. (For some reason, the song “I Love This Bar” is playing in my head …)
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I think I’m going to type this until it becomes true: The Braves really need Mike Minor to be good enough to succeed as a member of the starting rotation.
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Tim Hudson is slowly becoming one of my all-time favorite Braves. Class act, bulldog persona – really hope he comes back strong.
I’m sorry. I didn’t know responding to other statements on an internet discussion site was frowned upon. I’ll try to do better in the future.
I usually side with Sam but whenever there is a particularly venomous post I just imagine Sam as Jeff Dunham’s Walter and it makes it bearable. “hey! you kids get off my grass!”
Spruill is still a pretty good prospect
You beat me to it. He had a breakout season last year and enters this season as a top-10 prospect in the org. I’d hardly call him a bust just yet.
re: Eli, I would not argue that he has been mediocre this year. He has been very good, if not great (though not necessarily a step ahead of Romo, Roethlisberger, or even Ryan–that’s if you go by almost any metric; they’re all similar), and really has been solid for four seasons running now. But the problem with this argument – Pretty much all the talking heads believe that Eli has found a place in the HOF. Like him or not, he had a great season and deserves to be in the conversation regarding elite QB’s. – is that it ultimately depends upon Super Bowl rings. To highlight the absurdity, consider if Gronk actually caught the Hail Mary. We wouldn’t be having this conversation. All the same talking heads would be talking about Brady and Belichick’s invincibility, greatness, etc. Nothing would be different, not Manning’s performance nor Brady’s, and yet the conversation would be dramatically different. All based on luck.
If you put Manning into the Hall based on two games, then you’re allowing the tiniest of sample sizes to outweigh a career of production. Go look at Eli Manning’s career numbers. He has a career 82 QB rating, 58% completion rating, etc. His career numbers average out to Matt Ryan’s worst season to date. Meanwhile, even in this, his best year, he didn’t even rank in the top 3 in the league at his position. He has a ways to go, and might well end up having a terrific career; many QBs have their best seasons in their 30-35 year-old seasons. But it’s absolutely absurd to discuss Eli Manning as a Hall of Fame quarterback right now. Almost nobody here would make the case for Jack Morris, so why would do it for Eli?
#31 – Do as you feel, make sure you get the last word.
@33,
I agree. If Eli retired today, he would not be a HOFer. If he has 3-4 more seasons like the one he had this year, he is in.
You can say that for most QBs in the league though. The only guys that would get in if the retired todoay are: Peyton Manning, Tom Brady and maybe Drew Breese.
I think Aaron Rodgers, Eli and Big Ben are probably on the cusp.
My impression of the Super Bowl was that those were two incredibly evenly matched teams. I think 10 games between the two would be 5 and 5. However, I think both teams are probably 5th or 6th best in the league. They both had some schedule luck and some bounces that went their way in the playoffs. Not uncommon, but I guess those are the breaks.
I agree TD. I thought the NFL, as a whole, was down this year. There were no “Great” teams, just a bunch of really good ones.
There were no “Great” teams, just a bunch of really good ones.
An appropriate comment for the Tim Hudson thread.
I stand by a statement I wrote in my school newspaper regarding the Super Bowl halftime show:
Seriously, can’t we just have Stevie Wonder every year?
cough Lady Gaga cough
#40 – We are trying to make things better, not worse, right?
The SB halftime act must appeal to the 35-55 year old audience base that is watching the game. You’re never going to get a young act in that slot. Lady Gaga would have put on a much better show than Madonna, even for 12 minutes, but she’s far too young for the target demographic.
But… does Madonna actually appeal to that demographic?
Who actually likes her any more? I honestly have no idea.
Lady Gaga actually has a really good voice that can survive without autotune and I think she would put on a hell of a show.
There’s no doubt that a Lady Gaga performance would be quite a spectacle.
Mike, uh, if you think that Lady Gaga would actually be singing…
Well, I noticed that they weren’t doing any tight closeups on any of the singers’ faces last night. And I’m still pretty sure that I could see some lips moving when they shouldn’t have been.
Oh, she was obviously lip syncing.
Compared to what’s been the halftime shows of the past 5 years, I thought Madonna’s show was quite good. She wasn’t lip syncing per se because she was actually singing. Her voice was just pre-recorded and she was singing along with herself.
But… does Madonna actually appeal to that demographic?
Yes. You might be confusing the demographic for the NFL with the demographic for the *Superbowl.* The SB is much bigger than the NFL. The NFL fans are already sold on the game. The half-time show, like the SB advertisements (themselves sold as hyper-art) are targeted to the female demo and general spectacle watchers, not the football fans.
#47 – Very obvious. With all the recent performances, maybe they should just cancel the halftime show. The Budweiser bowl was more entertaining.
I mainly don’t understand the cameos by LMFAO, Cee Lo, and Nicki Minaj. They were on screen for like 30 seconds each, what was the point?
I mainly don’t understand the cameos by LMFAO, Cee Lo, and Nicki Minaj. They were on screen for like 30 seconds each, what was the point?
112 million viewers.
#36 #37 – Parity is what the NFL strives for, for better or worse, even more so than MLB.
I know this is very very faint praise but I liked the Madonna half time show better than last years’ with the Blacked Eyed Peas. Not that I was paying too much attention.
Compared to what’s been the halftime shows of the past 5 years, I thought Madonna’s show was quite good.
Ugh. Springsteen did great, Tom Petty did well, The Who did ok. Madonna, I will give her that, was better than Fergie and her combo last year.
Pretty much everyone, except Bruce Springsteen and (I think) Tom Petty, has done a lip-sync and/or auto-tune at the Super Bowl. It’s because the Super Bowl doesn’t want anyone turning into note-mangling Peter Brady in front of a global audience. Springsteen, I’m told from someone who actually worked that show, insisted.
Also, almost every arena-level singer uses auto-tune/Pro Tools now (not to mention an unseen TelePrompTer projecting their own lyrics). Doesn’t mean they all can’t sing; they’re just not leaving anything to chance. Of course, for some entertainers (like J.Lo), auto-tune in the studio creates a new career opportunity.
Re: Eli
I’ll hold off until his retirement to discuss his HoF candidacy. At this point, he’s thrown too many INTs for my taste (and I kinda don’t care about the NFL HoF anyway, to be honest). But facts are facts, and he’s played very well in 2 improbable Super Bowl runs and he’s one of the NFL’s very best QBs in the final 2 minutes. That’s no small thing. An NFL QB’s job is to win & he’s done that better than a lotta guys, especially in big games. (And, talk about a big play in a big spot, how was that toss to Manningham?)
Another thought on the Giants: Going into the Jets & Cowboys games in Weeks 16 & 17, that team played 6 consecutive elimination games and won them all. Eli played great in 5 of them (Jets game notwithstanding). What I’ll remember more than anything, though, is the beating he took in the 49ers NFC title game, one of the roughest playoff games in recent memory. No INTs, no fumbles, 2 TDs, some bigtime bruises, and a win.
This year’s NY Giants got breaks like this year’s Cardinals—thanks, Braves! (A bad late-game throw by Romo, the Pats drops, 2 Niner fumbles/muffs, the fact that they avoided a playoff game in the Superdome.) But like the Cards, they made the most of it. You don’t go into Lambeau Field & beat up a 15-1 team because you’re lucky.
The Black Eyed Peas were terrible.
The Who might have been the worst live performance I’ve ever heard.
Bruce Springsteen sounded small (maybe that had more to do with the mix than anything). I love the Boss (and actually have a shirt with Bruce on it that says “Who’s the Boss?”) but his Super Bowl performance was lackluster.
Tom Petty was good but see my comment below.
Madonna’s performance was a big stage performance at its best. The Super Bowl halftime show is exactly that: a show. It’s not a concert. And it shouldnt be.
Eli is a fine quarterback and might get better. But, he was incredibly lucky in SB 42 (Roman numerals take too long) and he had some great throws last night but some that the Patriots just blew. He probably has the best group of receivers in the league; Cruz himself turned a couple of short passes into long TDs in the regular season.
I agree with the Giants and Patriots being the 5th or 6th best teams. The way to change this-which will never happen–would be to reduce the number of divisions so that 9-7 teams are less likely to win. As in baseball, the problem is not really the wild card teams-many of whom are very good–but the weak division champions.
I’ve never been to an arena live show, actually. Closest I’ve come was probably a Weird Al concert at the Cobb Galleria when I was something like 12, or the Virgin Free Fest.
I guess I understand why a big star would use all those tools as failsafes: ultimately, at a show like that, the point is the spectacle, of which the music is only one component. They’re there to see you, not to hear you. It’s just not what I’m into.
Also, I’m not really an Eli fan, but I’ll give him credit for this: unlike Matt Ryan, he doesn’t wilt when you punch him in the mouth in the playoffs. That’s something, at least.
I agree with everything Adam M said re: Eli Manning @33. While, in my opinion, baseball fans occasionally use statistics too much, to the point where they almost become meaningless, football fans are way way way to the other end of the spectrum, to the point where Eli Manning is now a surefire Hall of Famer and Matt Ryan “can’t lead his team to the Super Bowl” (which only requires winning two or three games in a row against good teams…not the mystical quest some people make it out to be). Aaron Rodgers had the same general storyline as Matt Ryan and Tony Romo going into last year’s playoffs, he wins one Super Bowl and all of a sudden he’s the greatest quarterback of all-time. I’ve stopped trying to understand it. It is what it is, and what it is is stupid.
As far as the halftime show goes, I thought Madonna was fine, though I agree that I didn’t understand the guest stars, really. The setup, though, is kind of crappy by it’s very nature. It’s very difficult to put on a 12-minute show and make it be super amazing from a musical standpoint. You only have time for two or three full-length songs or a medley of four or five songs. Either is somewhat disappointing by it’s very nature. The setting is also very difficult. The point is, the standard for a good halftime show should be way lower than the standard for a good musical performance or full concert or something. People don’t realize this and don’t adjust their expectations downward. I also think people have just made bashing the halftime show kind of a pastime. Regardless of the actual quality of the show, people will complain about it because they feel like they’re supposed to. The only one I don’t remember everyone crapping all over was the U2 post-9/11 one with the scrolling victims’ names and whatnot. It was one of the better halftime shows, but I think it’s obvious why no one complained about it. Recently, for instance, I thought Springsteen and Prince were both legitimately good (Prince played in a driving rainstorm, for God’s sake), and the next day everyone destroyed them.
Incidentally, I think it’s quite possible that Lady Gaga came up and they decided to go with Madonna instead because of the older demographic and worry about what Lady Gaga might do.
http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/936608/120202_uniforms-003.JPG
Excitement about the coming baseball season achieved.
After that garbage last night, Sam has reached “Pg Dn” status. When Sam turned into Landogarner, I have no idea.
Sam, I know this is hard for you to understand, but this web page isn’t on the first screen of my iPhone and my homepage on my PC because I love to read your personal arguments with the world… or yourself.
I came on here wanting to read very intelligent people talking about the Braves or the Super Bowl, but instead I read a bunch of Sam-induced garbage.
Grow up.
I usually change the channel during the half time show, and this year was no different.
That being said, the negativity surrounding these shows is somewhat baffling to me.
I’m a little fuzzy on exactly who has hosted recently, but I know the Black Eyed Peas played last year, of course Madonna was this year, and the only other recent acts I can remember off the top of my head are Aerosmith(I think.. Or maybe it was The Stones) and Janet Jackson/Timberlake. All of those artist are huge in their own right, for sure, but how many people critiquing these half-time shows actually like any of the artists performing? I’d venture to say that most self respecting adults with the slightest modicum of musical taste wouldn’t be caught dead listening to the likes of Madonna, Black Eyed Peas, Janet Jackson, or any other pop music mega star you want to fill in the blank with.
I’m painting a broad stroke here, and I realize these analogies aren’t the best, but still, if you were listening to the radio and one of these guys came on, you’d just change the station. Or say if you were at a big music festival, you wouldn’t run over to the stage where 90 year old Aerosmith was playing just so you could talk about how much they suck…
So anywho, why is it that when a pop concert breaks out in the middle of a freaking football game, everyone has to stick around and act as if they’re being ripped-off by another crappy half time show? Is everyone really that surprised that they didn’t like a performance from a band who had their heyday 40 years ago, or from a pop singer that most people never really liked to begin with?
I’m all for making fun of pop music, but I just don’t understand why everyone turns into a Sam after the Superbowl Half Time Show. Sure, it usually sucks, but I find it hard to believe that almost everyone doesn’t treat half time like I do, and use the 25 minute break to make a beer run or gather more finger food from the kitchen.
Either way, I really don’t care.. just needed wanted to get a rant out.
I enjoyed the Madonna show.
I wish those LMFAO guys would just go away.
The bar for super bowl halftime shows begins and ends with Prince.
I thought the Madonna show was pretty good, FWIW, and she was supposedly “playing hurt,” which hampered her moves somewhat.
Mostly, I love that she opened with “Vogue,” a house-music tune rooted in a subculture of a subculture that might make a chunk of hardcore NFL fans pretty nervous. Good choice, Madge! (Village People next year?)
Still, as it always seems, the league’s running out of acts for that older money demo. And, yeah, as mentioned, Lady Gaga would actually be a great one to get, IMO. It would generate a lotta talk, that’s for sure, and she can damn-sure put on a spectacle.
Of course, now that the “Dave-Era” Van Halen has regrouped, the NFL probably has an eye on them. Let’s see if they even make it to the end of their tour.
Hell, if they could get Van Halen to play halftime, I’d forgive them for all the crappy non-Bruce non-Petty shows mentioned above.
But I still say we should just have Stevie Wonder every year.
Everybody wants some. I want some too.
The bar for super bowl halftime shows begins and ends with Prince.
Agreed. The sky opened up and cried all over his anthemic guitar solo to “Purple Rain” for crying out loud. Halftime shows are scripted to the millisecond, so it was amazing to see something like that occur without contrivance.
Rob, the best way to keep the conversation civil is to continue to insult me personally, over and over again. I mean, it’s perfectly okay to be uncivil and pissy if you’re insulting *me*, ya know.
Quick poll for the group: if the Braves, today, could sign Julio Teheran to a Matt Moore-type contract (5 yrs/$14 million, with club options that could make it 8 years/$40 million), would you want them to do it?
My answer would be absolutely yes, but then, I might be overoptimistic, and that is a fair amount of money to spend on a pre-arb guy, even if the prospectors think he’s likely to be a superstar.
What do you think?
I liked the halftime show, too. But I dig really well-crafted pop music, so no surprise there. In my world it is possible to enjoy both Townes Van Zandt and Katy B. Sometimes you just want to have a little ear candy and not be so damn serious about everything, ya know?
Done and done Mac.
Keep well.
@68, He’ll always be worth something in trade, barring injury – a non-trivial concern I admit – but that would be a no-brainer deal in terms of risk.
Martinis go with bowling? Who knew?
Apparently, Vandy would kick our ass in that sport, too.
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It’s nearly College Baseball time. Who are the favorites this year? Unless Florida lost a lot to the pros, you’ve got to consider them the favorite in the SEC.
Texas has no excuses this year.
UCLA lost their two stud pitchers – kinda missed their window.
Who else?
Well I can almost guarantee that Georgia Tech will stay around Top 10 all year, making it into the top 5 for a bit, and maybe even making it up to number 1 for a while. And then we will host a Regional and get knocked out by some crappy team.
#68
I’d guess it’s a reasonable gamble. Would sure like to see him actually do something at MLB level first, but it’s hard not to assume you’d get tons o’ value at those numbers—even if he didn’t pan out to be, say, a #2 guy. If he pitches innings, doesn’t get killed, stays a tick over league average, etc., he’s easily worth it.
#69
I hear you about well-crafted pop music. I just spent a week in Oahu & everywhere I turned it was Bruno Mars, the biggest musical act the island has turned out since Don Ho (or maybe Jack Johnson). His music was everywhere. I even went into an arcade and, if you won at some machine, you’d get a Bruno Mars t-shirt.
Anyway… I give—you win, Bruno. All week, I found myself humming “Grenade” and “The Lazy Song,” which BTW I believe should actually now be Hawaii’s official state song or at least adopted as its “Song for the Service Industry.” (But that’s another conversation…)
Prince’s halftime show was the best because he’s an actual musician still fully possessed of his talents, and because he could put himself at the center of a garish spectacle and own it. Diamond Dave and Eddie would have to split those duties…but I bet they could pull it off.
@68 I would, but I don’t see that coming anytime soon.
@72
Tennessee will be decent.
I’m sorry if this has been posted before, but it just came to my attention.
The Braves play the Yankees 6 times year.
The Phillies play don’t play the Yankees at all, but for some reason get 3 games against the Twins.
What the hell?
I thought the halftime show was good. Not sure about it musically, but as a spectacle, I thought it was fantastic.
“Purple Rain” in the deluge was pretty amazing. He had the entire stadium singing the falsetto part, too, and it’s sometimes difficult to get the full stadium involved for those things. That and the U2 performance of “Where the Streets Have No Name” with the 9/11 victim scroll are, in my opinion, the two most memorable performances of individual songs in halftime shows that I’ve seen. Most of the time, even if I enjoyed the show, it’s pretty forgettable. Not with those two songs.
Jeff Passan has an article about the Braves over on Yahoo Sports. Nothing to surprise anyone here, but it contains two haikus.
Baseball Prospectus’ annual is on the Kindle this year. That will make things a lot easier on me.
Yes, it’s much easier to count the occurrences of the word “wishcast” on an e-reader.
I will definitely check out the Baseball Prospectus annual if it’s on Kindle. Basically, I no longer buy reading material if it’s not available on Kindle or an Android app (NY Times/Washington Post). Jeff Bezos really has me locked in.
By the way, I may be taking my daughter down to Atlanta this spring to look at Emory and am considering taking in a game if the Braves are in town. How hard would it be to get to Turner Field from there?
It’s not that far away, but it is a little bit harder than just jumping on the highway, as there aren’t really any near Emory. You should be able to make it in 20 minutes, though, maybe 30 or a little more in traffic. The gist is that you work your way to Ponce de Leon Avenue and then take that east to the highway.
Emory’s pretty worthless as far as MARTA goes, if you were thinking along those lines. There aren’t any subway stops nearby, so you have to take a bus in pretty much the opposite direction of Turner Field to get to one and get anywhere.
Heard “Doraville” this morning for the first time in forever.
Been in a good mood ever since.
“Sweet Georgia!”
Thanks, Nick.
Re MikeM: Yes, the crazy schedule is the reason why you can’t tell much from regular season records. It’s really a shame because, before interleague play, you could pretty much count on all the teams in the league playing roughly the same schedule. Sometimes this helps the Braves, sometimes it hurts.
@88
By the way, I said to take Ponce east, but I meant west.
To get to Turner Field from there via MARTA, you can park at the Candler Park station (there’s a free parking lot) and go to Five Points. Of course, it isn’t necessarily cost-effective — it’s something like $10 for two round trips, including the cost of the MARTA Breeze card — but it’s doable.
The simplest route to remember (though maybe not the quickest) is probably Briarcliff/Moreland to Memorial, then take a right and you’re there. Watch the people go from rich to freaky to poor!
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Thanks everyone. Appreciate the help. Given my sense of direction, I need it. Thank god for GPS.
Marc,
Dunno if you saw the film “Driving Miss Daisy,” but that’s basically Emory U’s ‘hood. It’s original Coca-Cola money, so if you care to, check out some of the early 20th Century mansions in that area. Emory Village is basically surrounded by them.
I had a high-school friend who went there & when I’d visit, I didn’t mind getting a little lost in that Druid Hills area.
@93,
Yes, I did see Driving Miss Daisy. That sounds like fun. I’m sure my daughter would enjoy that too. Thanks.
For the mansion route, from Emory University proper, take Clifton Road (it runs along the golf course), right on Ponce, and left on Moreland, then follow the route mentioned in 91. It’s pretty spectacular. Lots of Arts and Crafts as well as Victorian and Tudor homes. Once you turn up Ponce you see some even bigger restored former homes that are now businesses.
Much of Druid Hills was actually designed by Frederick Law Olmstead, the architect who designed Central Park. So it’s gorgeous, but it can also be tough to add a chimney to your house. The neighborhood associations can be a bit ah, jealous of their prerogative.
My parents live on Clifton, for what it’s worth.
I almost had a spectacular motorcycle wreck on that curve. It really sneaks up on you and it’s reeeal steep.
Come to think of it, I would have high-sided into a healthy drop into a tree filled gully, with the distinct possibility of the bike landing on me. I would have almost certainly been killed. Haven’t thought about that in years.
Jairo Asencio is trending on Twitter right now. That is all.
New post.