Opening game thread: April 5, Braves at Mets

Ick, Mets.

I’ll be traveling today, so the recap may be late and new posters may have approval of their posts delayed. Everyone behave themselves.

136 thoughts on “Opening game thread: April 5, Braves at Mets”

  4. Let’s get off to a good start.

    Hanson goes 7, striking out 8, walking 2, giving up 2 runs.

    Heyward homers for the third straight year on his first plate appearance.

    McCann and Uggla also homer.

    Freeman 3-4, with 2 driven in.

    Oh, and Wren trades Livan Hernandez to anyone for anything.

  5. Excited for the new season, havent posted much in the past but followed this blog for a solid three seasons now. hoping to get more active now that im armed with a decent smartphone and mlb.tv….

    from NJ so im lookin to get to a few games this weekend.

    Good luck all, lets make it a great one.

  6. “It is a hard thing to live haunted by the ghost of an untrue dream; to see the wide vision of empire fade into real ashes and dirt; to feel the pang of the conquered, and yet know that with all the Bad that fell on one black day, something was vanquished that deserved to live, something killed that in justice had not dared to die; to know that with the Right that triumphed, triumphed something of Wrong, something sordid and mean, something less than the broadest and best. All this is bitter hard; and many a man and city and people have found in it excuse for sulking, and brooding, and listless waiting. 3
    Such are not men of the sturdier make; they of Atlanta turned resolutely toward the future; and that future held aloft vistas of purple and gold:—Atlanta, Queen of the cotton kingdom; Atlanta, Gateway to the Land of the Sun; Atlanta, the new Lachesis, spinner of web and woof for the world. So the city crowned her hundred hills with factories, and stored her shops with cunning handiwork, and stretched long iron ways to greet the busy Mercury in his coming. And the Nation talked of her striving.”

  7. And so it begins again.

    I’m on the LIRR right now about 10min from citi field the only braves fan in a sea of blue and orange…

  8. @7 I’ll be there Saturday at least…. To my surprise, braves fans usually have a decent showing. I’ve seen a few dozen there before

  13. Sigh.

    Matt Diaz vs Johann Santana, career:

    .500/.515/.688 (1.203)

    And so it begins.

  14. I am going to the Earl for some day drinking to celebrate the return of our national pastime.

  15. 1.203 vs. Santana….maybe Diaz can be useful, opening day is here, hope abounds.

    I for one am not going to worry about where Heyward is hitting early on. If he hits, he will move up. If he hits/walks like he is capable, he will end up in the 2 hole.

    Since it is opening day, my hope extends to Fredi making good decisions.

  17. I am going to the Earl for some day drinking to celebrate the return of our national pastime.

    I am considering Ormesby’s in this regard.

  19. Love the boos for the mets training staff. Ironically they cheer the massage therapist, who HAPPENS to be a three foot tall Asian dude. Racists…..

  20. Go Braves!
    If it wasn’t drizzling here, I would have thrown a couple of brats on the grill and have an ice-cold Coke to celebrate the start of a brand-new, clean-state season.

  22. Does anyone know how to email/get in touch with the actual offices at Turner Field? Friends of mine here in KS took a tour and brought me one of the cups with the whole season schedule on it and I was hoping the fine folks in Atlanta would send another one.

  27. Santana looks sharp.

    And that MLB The Show commercial is a very sad but effective commercial.

  28. Jason had to chase after the 2-0 pitch, which was below his knees at about the shin was called a strike. Not a bad AB at all.

  29. Hanson still shows the ball in his delivery, but his front shoulder doesn’t seem to be flying open as much.

  32. Is anyone else streaming MLB.TV through the XBox for the first time? It’s kinda surreal, though the picture quality isn’t the best…not sure if that’s due to the bright day or technical issues.

  36. Rob, do you have to pay to access the ‘net through your Xbox on top of the MLB.TV charges?

  37. @36, You have to have an XBox Gold membership, which I have anyway for gaming.

  38. “If Uggla and McCann had a child, it would look like Pastornicky.”

    If only home run power was hereditary.

  41. Speaking of looking like Brian McCann.. am I alone in thinking Duda looks a lot like him?

  42. Just got back from lunch and snuck into the Break Room to peek in on the tube. Saw McCann and Uggla flailing hopelessly at Santana in the 4th.

    NOT the start I wanted for this year. So, after two ABs (which I think is a good enough sample size for this conclusion):

    DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMED!

  44. The first DOOOOOOMED of the regular season.

    Just glad to get that out of the way.

  52. @32 I’m streaming it through my PS3 for the first time, and it’s great. Picture quality is superb, no stuttering.

  53. I thought the ringing double to the gap and the two walks from the bottom of the order were good things, too.

  56. Wonder what it’d take to get Bay and most of his contract paid for. He’s not real popular in NY.

  58. Bay is about 3 more lousy weeks away from being platooned or benched. In ST, he had zero HRs & zero RBI, hitting around .150.

  59. Yes, a less foolish team would have arranged to hit the double after the two walks….

  61. @52, No stuttering for me either, but the picture looks really saturated. I think it might just be the fact it’s a very bright day. I remember the SNY HD looking funny when I lived in NY so I’m not concerned.

    @57, It may not be worth it to you, but there’s a VPN service called Hide My Ass (HMA) which could help you get around your blackout problems. It’s something like $11 a month or $70 for a year. The proxies are secure and very fast.

  62. It looks like no runs so far in any of the games being played today. Weird. Someone call Torchwood.

  63. @57 I’m getting really tired of the blackout bullcrap. I can put my IP address and zip code into their tolls and it will tell me the only teams I can’t see are the red sox, but it never works out that way.

  65. @57
    If you’re close to a TV, the MLB Extra Innings package is a free preview right now.

  66. Gotta score, Sam.

    Yes. But for a board replete with fans of OBP uber alles, I’d think we might note that a couple of walks are good things. Yes, it would have been nice if Bourn had taken the walk or snuck one through, but he didn’t.

    Time to go get the bullpen.

  68. I’m kind of surprised Diaz is staying in against a righty. I thought they’d use Hinske or something.

  70. As much as delay is annoying, it’s kind of funny to post something happening in the present, then have it show up immediately after a post referring to the same event in the past.

  72. Nah, two men in scoring position, two out, 6th inning, tie game… Not high leverage enough to use your best bench bat. Gotta save him for the 8th, so he can hit for the pitcher w 2 out and none on.

  73. Fredi still doesn’t understand the concept of a “high-leverage situation.” Like birds chirping nearby and flowers blooming in my backyard, this is another reassuring sign that Opening Day is here.

  75. I hate the Mets.

    Hey, wasn’t Tommy supposed to be streamlining his delivery so he wasn’t showing the ball as much? Don’t see any evidence that that has happened.

  78. It’s hard supporting a team whose manager has the brain power of a broccoli stem.

  80. Diaz has such good numbers against Santana. It’s not unreasonable to expect him to do well against the guy that replaces Santana, right?

  89. ryan, congratulations for being elected to represent the “Braves Journal Bloggers”. You certainly got my vote.

  91. Constanza is possibly the last non-pitcher on the team I would want in this situation.

  92. Guys. Diaz had just doubled…that means he’s “hot”. Plus, he’s a “scrappy gamer”. I’m sure Fredo had a “good” feeling. Sometimes you’ve got to trust your “instincts”/”gut”.

  94. A runner on third with less than two outs didn’t score. I’ve never seen that before.

  96. Man on third and one out? Let’s send the worst hitter on the team to the plate as a pinch hitter. Awesome.

  98. The best part of the MLB Extra Innings preview — and this game itself — is the music played over the “We’ll be right back” graphic. It’s a porn groove.

  99. Good thing Wren and Fredi decided to choose Constanza over the switch hitting Sutton for the 25-man. The last 2-3 roster spots have been piss-poorly chosen for years for our Braves.

  103. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz…Huh??? What??? The “Bravo’s” still can’t hit?? zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

  104. Sometimes you’ve got to trust your “instincts”/”gut”.

    If you’ve got a gut, you gotta use it. Fredi’s got a gut. He uses it.

    Damn, that ghost tag of second by T-Pas is about the most egregious I’ve ever seen called out.

  105. So only now I’m seeing the call on the phantom tag. Well, that’s pretty ridiculous. Nice of them to give us a bad call, I’m sure that I’ll be complaining about something else soon enough. Especially with officiating like that.

  106. Give the manager a chance to keep useless players on the roster and he sure will find a way to use them.

  111. Why did we keep Costanza on this roster? Sutton, Pamarraz, Buehler, anybody other than JC.

    this team needs a RH OF for situation just like this today. Why Wreniot, and Frediot don’t get that, I will never understand.

  112. Not at all. (And what demand?) I root hardest for Minor, for obvious reasons, but Medlen is my favorite player to watch.

  113. Now the umpire is squeezing Venters. Great opening day so far.

    Edit: then Venters makes Duda look stupid. Nice.

  114. I may be misremembering, but I think Minor grabbed Frank Wren by the jowls, brought out a pair of rusty scissors and told him that if he didn’t guarantee him a starting position then he’d better trade him to a playoff contender, “or else.” Then he cut off Frank’s necktie.

    That’s what DOB reported, right?

  124. Imagine how good some of our pitchers could be with a good team behind them.

    #116 – Hitting coaches not just yet. Manager …… please

  125. Good thing we had Hinske available to bat with no one on in the 9th… Would have been a shame to use him with two on in the sixth.

  126. This one will leave a bad taste in the mouth for a couple of days.

    Funny, it is similar to the taste in my mouth dating back to last September.

  127. Sigh.

    I’m keeping a log of Fredi’s dumb game-changing decisions. I feel terrible that this wasn’t started in the offseason.

    Particularly if our pitching regresses, we can’t continue with a weak offense and a braindead manager. It’s clear which is the easier problem to fix of the two.

  129. Ahem.

    I refer you back to post #42.

    @127

    Adam, if you’re keeping a log of Fredi’s dumb decisions, you’re going to kill an awful lot of electrons.

    Anyway, Hanson had a bad inning, Medlen looked tough, Venters put in his usual appearance, and the Braves get shut out, leaving a metric crap-ton of runner on in the latter half of the game.

    Picking up where we left off I see.

  130. As an interesting moment of self reflection, I invite everyone to consider their reaction to Jose Constanza, who recorded a single out in this game, to Eric Hinske, who recorded a single out in this game, to Jason Heyward, who recorded 4 outs in this game.

  131. Note to self:

    1) Pick up pitchers off waivers who have a start against the Braves coming up.
    2) Win fantasy baseball.
    3) Wake up next to Kate Upton.

  132. Let’s see…Tommy barely breaking 90 mph on the 4 seam, the Frediot returning with a vengeance, Uggla with a error, no discernable offense…and we’re off!

  133. I didn’t see Heyward throw his bat at the pitcher. I’m sure the “OMG IF HE HOMERS IN HIS FIRST AB IT’S THE GREATEST THING EVAR” narrative didn’t help. But yeah, it wasn’t his best day.

    /Edit: We’ll get ’em tomorrow. Oh wait…

  135. “It was the first time since 1996 that Atlanta fielded a lineup on Opening Day without Chipper Jones, and the Braves were punchless at the plate. Coming off a near-record collapse last September that cost the team a playoff spot, Atlanta managed only four hits.” – Thanks ESPN

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