IWOTM, but they’re considerably better than the Rockies. And the offense continues to struggle, but this time the traditional unearned run was augmented by double-yicketty. Jason Heyward, who has done so little wrong this year that you hate to mention it for fear of the jinx, made a solid connection in the 4th, the unearned run came when Dan Uggla was licked picked off second but the throw from catcher Kelly Shoppach went awry and sent him to 3rd where a David Ross sac fly brought him home, and then an Uggla shot in the 9th finished the scoring.
Uggla had two hits: the homer and a double and scored twice. Sabermetricians have proven that on-base percentage and slugging are the critical offensive skills. Uggla, having only those skills (though not in abundance) tests one’s devotion to those two stats over the traditionalist’s BA. Uggla now has the most HR of any visiting player in Citi Field. The most.
But I guess shutout #3 in a row is the real story. Paul Maholm was shaky, but got it done, surviving runners in scoring position the 1st, 3rd, 4th and 6th, rescued in the 6th by a Durbin strikeout of pinchhitter Justin Turner, followed by Luis Avilan coaxing a smash from Lucas Duda fielded by Freddie Freeman. Jonny Venters had a 5 pitch 7th, Eric O’Flaherty had an uneventful 8th, and the Kraken walked a guy for fun combined with two strikeouts.
Finally, 3D paintings are to paintings as 3D movies are to movies. Chipper Jones was clearly so disoriented by the 3D Charles Fazzino painting that Fred Wilpon gave him that he went 0-4, striking out with the bases loaded and one out in the 3rd. He needs one HR at Citi Field to break his tie with Mike Schmidt as 2nd highest number of HR against the Mets. He needs 11 to catch Willie Stargell for 1st place, so that’s probably not going to happen.
Ummm. Uggla was actually “Picked” off second, but I think I like the typo better.
I thought it looked intentional by Uggla. Like a defensive back baiting a QB into a throw…
Excellent recap, Jonathan.
Come on, freaking fish. They’re about to give away a 3 run lead in the bottom of the tenth.
And oh, now look, it’s a 2 run lead with runners on 2nd and 3rd with no outs.
Marlins somehow managed to not give that game away, not for lack of trying though.
You guys are rocking it with the recaps.
I’ve never seen a team go through a season and be the beneficiary of as much epic collapsing as the Nats have been this year. No lead over them is safe at any point because everyone just seems to be dying to wet the bed when they play them.
So I went to a party in Amsterdam and hung out with these guys that do only interpretations of Louvin Brothers records. It was awesome.
If a paragraph begins with ‘I went to a party in Amsterdam..,’ and ends with ‘It was awesome’, I gotta say the Louvin Brothers are one of the last things I expect the middle of the paragraph to contain.
(That video was still pretty awesome)
Don’t look now, but Atlanta’s got the 4th best record in the MLB.
Yaaaaayyyyy Wild Card Rules!
Nice recap, good game. Hope Medlen keeps it going tomorrow.
SixThree whole runs? I feel like a glutton.Well done, Jonathan. Can’t lose if the other folks don’t score, right?
Went to the game. Was mildly amused that Chipper had such a lousy game (only cuz we won, right?) Still, despite the fair amount of Braves fans, not much vibe in the joint tonight–relative deadsville.
I know I’m preaching to the choir here, but can we have a big inning? This Warren Spahn routine is gonna end and chances are that, of all our starters, it’ll probably be Medlen who gives up the goose-egg streak. Let’s give him some kind of cushion next go-round.
#6
That’s just plain outstanding. There’s no end to that town’s pleasures (no matter how hard they may try to legislate it away).
10, what to learn from that “glutton” recap is that a) Mike Hampton apparently had a game in which he went 8.2 innings for us, and b) Dan Kolb apparently had a game in which he didn’t blow the save. ALL IN THE SAME GAME! Incredible.
A Dank Lob flashback – what a way to start the weekend.
(Or is it weak end, since Kolb is involved?)
If we can get the bats going and keep pitching like this, we are going all the way.
It is clear that the desire to honor Mac’s memory has people on this board recapping and commenting at an extremely high level. The wittiness and entertaining-ness would make him proud.
@7, I assure you the requisite Amsterdam means of tomfoolery was in effect, complete with battalions of extremely attractive Dutch girls. Interestingly, there were several Atlanta/Athens expats there, which was how I got invited.
Dank Lob? LOL, I wasn’t aware of that one. I think it’s safe to say that there is no site on the internet that has created better nicknames than Bravesjournal. Mac was a Master at this craft, and others contributed as well. However, the one upside Dan Kolb had was that it was so easy to create brilliant nicknames for him. My favourites were Dan Olb ( no K) and Dan KolBB, but Dank Lob is pretty neat too.
I preferred “Reardon II: Electric Walkaloo.”
This would be a good time to link to THE DAN KOLB BOLG, Mac’s eternal testament to just how much he hated the closer who proclaimed he didn’t mind giving up lead off walks.
http://dankolb.blogspot.com/
Joe Simpson went off a little bit on the Mets’ conducting their Chipper ceremony in the catacombs of Citi Field instead of on the field. If I had gone expecting to see some outward sign of appreciation, I’d be kinda pissed.
@20 Not to mention that piece of… “art” is heinous.
Similar “art,” less the pictue of Chipper embedded in it, can be yours for the low, low, price of $2,700 (OBO — $27.00?) http://artbrokerage.com/artist/Charles-Fazzino/Who-Let-the-Mets-Out-3-D-39473
And thanks, Mark Graybill… we’re all just doing what we can.
Of course, given the Wilpon’s generosity, it was probably commissioned for $2.7 million.
I’m really taken aback by how aesthetically unappealing that thing is.
It would be pretty great if DANNY would somehow make a blogging comeback every so often, even though Mac has now departed.
Kind of like Tony Clifton with Andy Kaufman.
@24 Chipper can show it to his son when he misbehaves. “You are named after this crappy place”
That’s what they gave Chipper? They really do hate him.
I don’t know if I can watch a whole season with Frazier at QB.
Johnson said it was more mental than physical, and it was clear from Strasburg’s Friday start that Strasburg didn’t have his head in the game.
“To be honest with you, I think he just is thinking too much about the decision when we’re going to shut him down,” Johnson said Friday night. “And he kind of wore it. He didn’t like it. But that’s the way it is.”
It’s unbelievably pathetic how Dave Johnson is trying to cover his butt here.
“Well, look, I know the physicians and surgeons that have gone to medical school for 4 years and have done 5 year residencies and 2 year fellowships and have practiced these exact procedures for more than 10 years have told us that it’s probably in Strasburg’s best interest to shut him down, but hell, we’re gonna say it was due more to ‘mental fatigue’ than actual medical need. Because it’s more important to us to cover our own asses against what our fans think. That’s why we’re gonna say it was ‘mental’ so that we can’t be blamed.”
Pathetic. Tell your fans the truth, and let them deal with it. And if they act like entitled 10 year-olds regarding the health of your franchise face, don’t put up with it.
I can’t really get over the Brandon McCarthy situation. So awful. Hopefully he can recover and lead a full and happy life.
@30 Oh my goodness, I didn’t realize things were that serious, I hadn’t heard anything. I really hope he pulls through.
Wait, desert, I’m not sure I understand quite what you’re disagreeing with. The team has been very consistent all year that Strasburg was going to be shut down because he was recovering from Tommy John surgery. The only question was exactly when. Davey Johnson just came out and said that it’s happening now, and is taking responsibility for the decision. What do you specifically disagree with?
@32 He blamed Strasburg poor effort on lack of mental toughness rather than physical problems? He would not say “blame”, but it is my interpertation.
And here we go. No more Strasburg until 2013:
http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/8351235/washington-nationals-shutting-stephen-strasburg-immediately-davey-johnson-says
32,
Yes, I’m happy that they stuck with it. I just feel that he’s giving an extremely poor excuse as to why it’s being done (mental issues) rather than just straight up saying that they are afraid they’re going to risk further injury to him. I believe that they’re doing this because it’s easier to make the argument that Strasburg’s head is not in the game (essentially, it’s an explanation that can’t be argued with… Johnson is the manager, and he knows best) rather than making the tough call and explaining that they are actually worried about Strasburg’s health (which can be argued and debated over, as even physicians nowadays cannot come to a consensus as to when to shut a recovering pitcher from TJ surgery down). We, the public, can’t argue with Johnson’s explanation that Strasburg is having mental issues (we can either believe it or not). We can argue with whether shutting him down was the correct call.
Basically, come October when the Nationals are bounced from the playoffs (very likely considering how the playoff system is set up, regardless of talent), people are going to question whether shutting down Strasburg because of health issues was the correct call. That blame is going to go to Rizzo and Johnson. However, if the reason becomes that Strasburg was having mental issues with the game, that blame gets shifted from Rizzo and Johnson to Strasburg, who is the now the bad guy for ‘not having his head in the game’. This may sound ludicrous to some, but this is how sports management works. Never let yourself get blamed for anything.
It’s just too convenient that, according to Rizzo and Johnson, Strasburg is developing ‘mental issues with the game’ right when he’s supposed to be shut down because of health issues. They’re attempting to pass the buck off, and that’s what I think is pathetic about this whole situation.
I dunno, I actually find it pretty plausible that Strasburg might be distracted by all the constant scrutiny concerning the shutdown — just like players are often distracted by trade talks. Every single start, people were asking how many more starts he’d be allowed to have, how many innings he’d be allowed to have. So, to me, that explanation doesn’t sound like BS. I also don’t think that people will blame Strasburg for this, now or in October. I think they’ll keep blaming the Nats front office. But I guess we’ll see.
I’m not sure what exactly what you’re saying,desert. The “mental issues”, if I’m reading Johnson correctly are caused by the sword of Damocles hanging over him. So it’s still Rizzo’s and Johnson’s “fault,” right? If they weren’t threatening to shut him down, he wouldn’t have the mental problems.
37,
That’s true. But do you trust the average fan to make that connection? I think not. And Johnson does try to pass some of the blame off to the media:
Manager Davey Johnson made the announcement Saturday morning. The Nationals had been monitoring the right-hander’s workload, and Johnson says the media attention to his innings was “unbelievable.”
36,
I can understand your train of thought, Alex. But is a guy that was exposed to so much media scrutiny before he was drafted, exposed to so much hype, a guy whose major league debut and rookie season was given so much attention to, whose rehab and recovery was so scrutinized, a guy whose a major league player (who have to deal with this all the time), a guy who is the face of his franchise… now he’s getting SO anxious from what other people (who having been paying so much attention to him for his entire career) say about him that he needs to stop pitching COMPLETELY for the best team in baseball? And this conveniently occurs pretty much exactly when he’s supposed to be shut down? That doesn’t make sense to me.
This is not Strasburg’s first bad start since the all-star break. He’s been having quite a few, but with some excellent outings mixed in. And while it might be easy to blame loss of fastball control on “concentration”, for a pitcher that normally has excellent control it is more often the result of imperceptible physical changes. Trying to avoid some soreness. Muscles a bit weaker. Arm action not quite as loose. Who knows, but for a young pitcher coming back from a serious injury, there is no way that a 160 high-intensity innings won’t have physical effects. In my view it is not unlikely that regardless of the limit imposed by the Nats Strasburg is already reaching a very real physiological limit.
@28 I repeat that sentiment.
39,
Right, so why not be honest about the ‘very real physiological limit’, which is based on health and medicine instead of going to an inept psychological issue?
(Yes, I do realize that psychological issues are medical in nature, but there is a very real difference between the physicians that can diagnose physiological issues and muscle fatigue, and Davey Johnson, of two semesters at Texas A&M in 1961, attempting to ‘diagnose’ psychological issues and more importantly, make decisions for a ballplayer’s future based on them).
I don’t think Dave Johnson is being dishonest, I think he is just old school. He sees a guy struggling with his control but who otherwise says he feels fine and wants to keep pitching and he puts it down to concentration. I have no doubt the Nats’ announcers have been saying the same kind of stuff and the reporters have probably been asking similar questions about the risk of Strasburg getting distracted etc. So no, I don’t see any kind of conspiracy to shift any kind of blame to Strasburg.
I’m realizing how much I’m resembling a talking head at ESPN with this argument, so I’ll shut it down.
But if you start hearing Davey Johnson or Rizzo say in October of how the Nats rotation would have been so much better if they hadn’t had to shut down Strasburg due to mental fatigue caused by the immense amount of scrutiny the media was putting on him, remember, you heard the loony conspiracy theory here first.
I’ve been meaning to ask this group a question, but with Strasburg, it will probably fall on deaf ears. I am a words and numbers guy. I’m probably tone deaf. I do love to listen to many different kinds of music.
Could someone explain to me in a few words, how every combination of musical notes hasn’t already been written? With so few notes, why doesn’t it all sound the same? I’m very sorry for waiting 57 years to ask.
Hey, don’t apologize for being a words and numbers guy. Think combinatorics… even ignoring chords and harmonics (which you shouldn’t, really) you have 12 notes and, at least 6 or 8 durations for each note. So there are something like (12*8)^100 100 note melodies. Now the vast majority of these are unlistenable of course (but then so are a bunch of things actually produced, IMO) but you’re not going to run out of potential melodies any time soon. Add chords and rhythm and instrumentation and there are a lot more potential tunes than there are atoms in the universe. A lot more.
Every short combination of notes has no doubt already been written. But every time you add an additional note the possibilities increase exponentially.
Mark,
Let’s just say every song in the entire world was composed of just 12 notes. That’s it. 3 bars in 4/4 time.
Let’s also just say that there were only 8 different notes you could choose from. That’s it.
If this were true, that would mean that you could create 68,719,476,736 different songs. Remember, this is just would 8 different notes that occurred 12 times.
If it took you 1 minute, just 1 minute to write down each song, it would take you 130,744.818 years of continuous song writing (no eating, no sleeping, no doing anything else) to write down every single song ever composed. Or, if you prefer, it would take 130,744.818 artists 1 year to do the same task (assuming they all coordinated the effort, and again, with no sleeping, or eating, or anything else).
And again, this is 8 distinct notes, just occurring for 3 4/4 measures (or songs that last 7 seconds apiece). Now if you imagine that a piano has 88 distinct keys, and that most songs last anywhere from 5-7 minutes and can have more than a thousand notes, and then you imagine that there are hundreds upon hundreds of instruments and billions upon billions of 7-piece orchestras composed of different instruments… well, then you get why every combination of musical notes will never, ever be written.
I forgot to add the baseball analogy: 170,000 games, no two alike even in line score ,runs, hits and errors http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/article/no-two-games-alike-sure-but-these-are-the-closest/
Not to say that you wouldn’t hear the same one or two chord progressions over and over again, if you were to listen to top 40 radio…plus a four-on-the-floor beat…and a cheesy rap where the cheesy guitar solo would’ve gone thirty years ago.
But yeah. It’s not just notes. It’s the spaces in between them, and the rhythms that propel them.
47 – Thank god, I hit refresh. I was about to try to answer Mark’s question.
As an advanced mathematician and an amateur musician, I don’t think I would have come anywhere close to that. Well done.
Adam,
Yeah, forgot about that. You can play 1/32nd notes, or half notes, or whole notes, and you can have silence, and pauses, and fermatas, and oh my.
Man, the Nats announcers are unlistenably bad.
#20
Late in the game, I ran into my deli guy (a Brave fan who sells a sandwich called “The Chipper”) at the beer line last night. He told me he arrived early with his son “just to see the presentation for Chipper.” Yes, he was disappointed.
He said he thought the Mets gave him his gift away from the field just so the whole thing wouldn’t piss off their fans.
“I could just hear it: ‘What’s next? A gift for Derek Jeter, too? Why not Scott Rolen while we’re at it?'”
I don’t disagree, but I, too, thought it was lame.
Fredi tweeted that Simmons will meet the team in Milwaukee. Lame.
Thank you. I told Dee that I was going to ask that question, and not only would I get an answer I could understand, it would be done in such a was as to not make me feel like a boob. This is a very special place.
Dee has never posted a comment to any blog. She often call the internet the ‘e-mail’. She fully intends to post her thank you to this group for all of the prayers and positive thoughts sent her way. As soon as I get her off Mah-Jong.
Thanks again.
I think it’ll be better for my emotional and mental health to just pretend Auburn got the death penalty from the NCAA and is taking a few years off from football.
Stupid Marlins are trying to blow it again to the Nats.
Marlins trying to giftwrap the loathsome Nats another one.
Wow. The Marlins tried to give it away and the Nats refused to take it.
Charlie Weis has surfaced at Kansas. He still thinks he invented football — Kansas’s first offensive play was a wildcat, the next was a flea flicker pass by a wide receiver, which was intercepted.
I thought Mike Leach had invented football.
Heath Bell vs. Werth, Harper and Zimmerman, with a nasty thunderstorm looming.
Wat? Heath Bell’s got this!
So is this game gonna happen? I have friends on FB posting about tornadoes in Brooklyn. Whassup with that?
There’s a giant line of thunderstorms heading towards the park. It’s the same line that has suspended the Natspos in the bottom of the 9th. I don’t think this game will be done before they hit Queens, but the line still is about 100 miles away.
Thunderstorms are off to the west at the moment, but some big ones headed that way.
Nice hustle from Bourn! He wants all the money!
Continuing to update Rice/Kansas, they are on track for 24 total turnovers.
The rest of the lineup makes me want to drink all the Maalox!
Nice to see we’re continuing the futility.
That’s our Bravos!
Medlen is so awesome, it’s sick.
Love those bunts from McCann.
Ha! Love it! Go Dan with the hard hit and McCann with the great bunt!
GET ‘EM TO MAKE AN ERROR!
Get ’em on, get ’em over, get ’em to make an error!
More A-B-E small ball by the Braves!
Anyone see Wright’s throw to first? LOLMets!
78- Yes, straight out of the Melky Throwing Manual.
The Braves are very good at Putting Pressure on the Defense™.
About this music debate, search YouTube for the Axis of Awesome videos involving three and four chord songs. It confirms that everything sounds the same.
A hit with a runner in scoring position?! I thought those were illegal these days.
Damn it, I’m going to have to change my glasses again. I could swear that my screen says that the Braves have 2 runs. What’s the actual score, you guys?
Four to nothing. FOUR! Didn’t know you could even play that many games in a day.
My heart is warmed to see McCann get a hit like that.
Are you looking with one eye? It’s 4.
OK, the game is on FOX but my local FOX affiliate is showing Dogders/Gigantes. So why can’t I see the Braves game on MLB TV?
Niiiiiiiiice. Let’s hope this is a harbinger of more offensive success…
It’s a scoring extravaganza!
OH MY GOD
KRIS!! He’s got the hitting part of this job down too!
HAHAHAHA!!!!
McCann got to walk home from second on that! Love it!
87: because the blackout rules are dumb.
Medlen is so awesome!
!!!!!
Kris Medlen, loving you is easy because you’re beautiful.
Not sure Medlen is going to have the time to get the win. I’d estimate the storms are about 30-40 mins away and I’m pretty sure they won’t let him come back after a delay. Of course, my metereological degree is from… nowhere.
Medlen = good.
Medlin wants to play SS when he does not pitch?
I love having MLB Extra Innings on Saturday. It guarantees that I won’t see the Braves unless they’re on Fox. And they never are on the West Coast.
Jose Constanza’s WAR should be tops in the league. Even higher than Darwin Barney’s. We just don’t lose when he starts. 10-1
Smart move by Chipper to increase chances that Medlin can pitch 5 innings. I was once in 425 inning marathon game and after a few hits I hit into 5 conssecutive double plays.
Medlen just gave up an earned run for the first time in a month. He sucks, trade him now.
MCCANN!!
Both Uggla and Mac heating up. This will be a fun September this year.
Thank you, bodysnatchers, for returning Dan and Brian to us.
What a relief.
Pressure on the defense! Pressure on the defense!
McCann and Uggla ain’t screwing around today.
Me:Metereology::Mets:Baseball. He’s got time now to get another inning in. But I wouldn’t count on the 6th.
Constanza on twice again today. Constanza/Reed are a huge upgrade over Janish. I don’t care if he is better than Belliard defensively.
Yeah, there was a real tornado in Breezy Point, Queens, this morning:
http://tinyurl.com/cvfb5on
Let’s get these 5 innings in. There’s a severe thunderstorm watch until 10 pm & it’s starting to get a bit cloudy & dark in LIC, Queens, right now.
Well, crap. Medlen is showing that he’s human.
Medlen might be rushing a little bit to get through this inning and make it official.
Okay, this one’s in the books.
And now it is. Take lots of pitches from here on, guys.
Two runs, Kris? That’s kinda weak ain’t it. I’ll chalk it up to hurrying.
Chipper gets a RBI. Give him the day off tomorrow.
Here comes the rain.
@1 – I’d rather be licked off first, but anything would be good, really.
Game’s started up again in Washington.
Annnnd Heath Bell serves up a gopher ball to Jayson Werth. Wasn’t that worth waiting for.
…and the first batter homered off of Heath Bell to tie the game. Stupid Marlins!
There’s some teams out there who lost out on signing Bell to a massive contract who’ve been going “PHEEEW” a lot during this season.
Gnats load the bases with no outs, bottom of the 10th.
Bethany was right. Wetting the bed, the Marlins are. The fix is in.
I stopped paying attention to the Nationals a long time ago. The Braves aren’t going to catch them.
On the bright side, a Charlie Weis coached team just lost at home to Rice. Thus ending today’s coverage. Don’t mention it.
#128
Very amusing, actually.
Was really surprised to see Florida fight thru & win @ A&M today. That’s not a great team, but they played a terrific 2nd half.
Auburn? Not much to say when the QB turns the ball over 5 times. Today, Frazier offered the unfortunate combination of questionable decision-making with remarkable inaccuracy.
I’ll say this about MSU, though: They finally have a QB that can complete a forward pass. However, they never seem to have a placekicker. Did you see his FG attempts today? It was like he was kicking drunk.
@129 Chizik might be gone after this season.
You’re kidding, right?
He will be on the hot seat next year for sure. Auburn is 8-7 since the NC game.
Only at Auburn can you coach an undefeated team then get canned before your next class “graduates.”
@133 He’s had 3 years of top 15 recruiting classes and has put mediocre teams on the field. Outside of the undefeated season he’s not beaten any quality opponents. Alabama, Georgia, LSU, Arkansas? He can’t beat them. It’s becoming very clear that 2010 was a product of Cam and Nick, and Auburn’s higher-ups have always been quick to pull the trigger. He’s definitely on the hot seat.
And it’s not just that Auburn is losing, they are getting crushed.
@135 Bowden is an example, Unlike Penn ST fooling around is not tolerated. If he did what runors say.
McCann and Uggla combined 7 for 7, 6 runs 4 rbi’s
Oh wow, we scored some more runs!
Is a 1 before a 0 better than a 0 before a 1?
Strange that with an eight run lead we didn’t see a couple innings out of Teheran. I understand holding back Delgado for Hanson’s start tomorrow.
RE: Strasburg-I saw the game and I thought his head wasn’t in it. I suspected this might happen as he got near the end.
There’s no reason for Davey Johnson to lie. It’s no big secret they were going to shut him down and most people here have accepted it. Frankly, I think he was justified in being a bit perturbed with the way Strasburg pitched last night.
I had almost forgotten that Hinske was still even alive.
Nice win, now we just need the offense to not slumber off again.
Last year we had 55 (29-26) one run games and 26 extra inning games (14-12)
This year 31 (20-11) and 9 (6-3)in 140 games. Last year pro rated to 140 games would be 47.5 1 run games and 26.8 extra inning games. No wonder Fredi has learned to handle bull pen better.
Simmons went yard again tonight. No reason he shouldn’t be playing short for us tomorrow.
Ha! Jerry Meals just blew another game-changing call.
Bethany beware, Auburn faces University of Louisana-Monroe next week. They just beat Arkansas.
@147 We won’t make it to overtime against them!
Wooo Rice!
How ’bout them (2nd half) Dawgs?
How ’bout ’em?
Dawgs turned it on, and it didn’t hurt that the bounces went our way. Did my ears deceive me, or did someone compare Jarvis Jones to LT?
How ’bout them Warhawks?
#152
For more than a handful of plays, Jones did look like LT tonight. A man among boys, unblockable on several occasions. He made 2 huge 4th-quarter plays that turned the game.
Mizzou popped 2 big plays, but that was it. Their O-Line wasn’t very good. Not that it’s their forte, but no running game either. For the most part, UGA tackled & that was that.
UGA’s offense, however, was terribly out of sync in the first half. Murray missed receivers, then receivers dropped passes, running game had its moments, but was certainly underwhelming.
In the 2nd half, Murray made most of the big conversion connections & #29 did the rest. He was a genuine terror tonight. A big early-season hurdle cleared.
@146
Douxeira’s fault for doing something stupid and weird and changing the routine call. I bet Meals gets it right if he runs through the bag like baserunners do 99.7% of the time (errant throws that force a tag being the justified exception). Especially since SaD would have been to the bag quicker.
Can I dream that McCann and Uggla will end the season strong, and, for once, we will head into the playoff with everything in line? Starting pitching is good, bullpen is good, McCann and Uggla end the season strong, and we are getting Simmons back just in time. Can I dream?
…and when has Prado started playing like a decent shortstop?
And after the game, Teixeira strongly suggested that Meals called him out because he wanted to leave. That hilariously ridiculous comment will almost assuredly result in him writing a large check.
Why did Teix slide? He looked like a beached whale. @155 Drewdat is totally right, him sliding, and so poorly, probably contributed to the bad call.
@159 Still a Douche as your fellow Auburn alum would say.
Too bad he’ll get fined. The umpire should get fined. I may not love the guy, but he was very clearly safe.
@161 Runner gets there slower by sliding and makes it tougher call for ump. SAD hurt his hamstring again.
It really shouldn’t be a tough call either way. The ump is looking at the bag and listening for the catch, just as he would be at any other base where the force play is in effect and everybody slides.
@163 Easier call when runner does not belly flop. Ump has to look at glove, first basemen feet and diving douche.
Diving gives unp poorer view. Yanks have history of benefiting from poor calls.
The Teixt.
@161
No, I’m pretty sure he should get fined for that. I might have sympathy if he had stopped at, “It was a terrible call,” but you can’t go ascribing either sinister or lazy ulterior motives to umpires’ calls. It’s just an absurd thing to do, first of all, and if enough people started doing it, it might severely cut into the umpires’ credibility, such as it is. MLB has to make sure people don’t make a habit of doing it.
@166 Maybe not. But I’m pretty sure that if that same call went against the Braves, and Chipper made the same comment, everyone here would be lauding his audacity and, in all likelihood, agreeing with him. It’s ultimately irrelevant what Meals’s motives are and what Teixeira says; all that matters is that the call got blown.
As far as sliding… sansho is right: the call was pretty easy either way. Sliding shouldn’t change anything. The dislike of the Yankees and of Teixeira is coloring folks’ arguments.
Limited instant-replay is the way to go. That was a horseshit call. Give each time a couple of challenges and take the bad umpiring out of the picture.
The ump isn’t looking at the glove at all, just the base.
@164 “Diving douche.”
Lol
Terrible call, sure, but hey, it’s karmic retribution for The Jeffrey Maier Incident.
http://tinyurl.com/9s2r2ky
Maybe Jerry Meals will get a key to the city now.
Didn’t see the game, but what happened to Vandy? I would have bet the farm they’d win that game.
——————
Where’s that NYC tornado when you need it? You know, like on days Hanson is pitching.
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Constanza adds value. Wish Simmons was back today so we could put Prado at 3B and Jose in LF.
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Anyone who thought A&M and Mizzou would be pushovers was kidding themselves. More likely, the sports media was creating a straw man just to knock it down.
The Aggies and Tigers will be formidable opponents for all but the very top tier of SEC teams. (And I wasn’t sure until last night, but Georgia is one of those.)
Chipper not in the lineup today.
@169 Whenever an ump is given an unexpected occurence things happen. No one expected a douche dive.
Why are we bunting in the first inning?
Fuck Ike Davis.
Frediot at work again. Who said his ingame-management has improved?
Our offense finally gets going and we bunt in the 1st inning. Just stupid.
I cannot say enough how much I love the sacrifice bunt.
Why is Fredi trying to manufacture runs on a Sunday? That’s a clear violation of union rules.
Prado’s no Janish, but he has played well at short.
That was the quickest inning I have seen Hanson pitch this season.
Uggla!
Danny boy!
Now Brian is gonna bunt…
@185 He should have.
*sigh*
*sigh*
If I ever want to imagine
myselfmy 63-year-old mother trying to hit major league pitching, I can just watch Tommy Hanson.Who is this guy, and what has he done with Tommy Hanson?
Who is pitching for the Braves, and what did they do with Tommy Hanson?
Is this right, that Hanson has 20 pitches and four strikeouts through two innings?
Great minds, Brian J.
This guy is all up in the zone, HIT HIM!
Is Uggla now our only dependable hitter?
Tommy’s pitching well, so why do I get this feeling of impending doom?
@195 Haha, you jinxed him.
Dang. They were firing bullets at Uggla that inning.
Well, that’s a little frustrating.
ALL THE MONEY
A good bit of the money.
We’ve still got Bourn!
“Hanson’s been very good in this situation.”
No, Joe. Just no.
I will learn to keep my big mouth shut and not tempt fate, I promise.
WOOOOOOO
McCann!
Marlins up 5-0. Looking forward to seeing just how their bullpen chooses to implode today.
Does anyone know why Prado is starting ss 2 games in a row?
Nice, Jonny. Good outing, Tommy. Runs, please, Braves.
Good enough, Tommy. Last two outings have been sort of encouraging.
Do something good, Freddie.
Four-pitch inning; maybe this is something like the Venters of old.
Bleagh.
Not what I had in mind, Freddie.
Exhale deeply.
Why Hinske and not Overbay?
How much money are you worth, Michael?
Dammit.
Now, he’ll only get some of the money.
Good at bat though. Hold ’em, pen.
Another day with the slider on the blink- just throw the heater, Craig!
Glad to see Kimbrel here. Hope it works.
This is a good and unusual spot to put Kimbrel in.
Joe is confounded.
Come on Braves offense. We’ve had a great outing from Tommy and Fredi needs to be given a cookie for his Kimbrel usage. Score, dammit!
Walking Freddie to get to Uggla? Make them pay for this insult, Dan!
That’ll do, McCann. That’ll do.
Now we need a bigger lead, since Kimbrel is already out of the game.
Chip and Joe still befuddled about Kimbrel in the ninth
Be good, Peter.
It’s Moylan now?
Better Kimbrel in a tie game and someone else with a cushion, than vice versa.
232—It’s so simple, and yet Joe and Chip are unable to understand it.
@233 BECAUSE IT’S JUST NOT HOW BASEBALL IS DONE! CLOSERS ARE FOR SAVES!
PS – All hail our presumptive new closer, Peter Moylan.
IWOTM, but sweeping the bad teams is how you get to the playoffs. Now on to Milwaukee, to teach the Brewers their role.
We had a pretty good run there for a while with Kimbrel as the closer, but I guess everything has to end sooner or later.
I’m perhaps even more happy that going against convention didn’t blow up in Fredi’s face than for the win.
Did Moylan improve his chances on making payoff roster?
Moylan didn’t look *that* sharp, so I don’t know if that improved anything much.
Infield single and semi-intentional walk?
Was more the control I was thinking of. He didn’t seem like he was hitting his spots much to me.
Fredi’s rule: Kimbrel pitches the 9th. Thats it/
Moylan looked awful.
Yeah, but he pitched ok.
Fredi picked Moylan over Durbin, Martinez, Avilan, and the rest, whatever that is worth. I don’t suppose Moylan did anything to make Fredi think he was wrong.
I agree that Moylan wasn’t as sharp as he could have been, but IWOTM weren’t making good contact on him. An infield single, sac bunt (right? I was switching back and forth b/w that, the Saints-Redskins, and Apoolo 13 on TMC at the time), strikeout, pitching around a leftie, and a pop-up.
Not good for the heart maybe, but nothing too scary from the batters.
Err…Apollo 13. Damn I miss the Edit button.
I was stunned when I saw that Kimbrel had the win and not the save. Good for Fredi. He seems to be learning. I’m surprised Joe and Chip’s heads didn’t explode.
Which would you rather have?
A manager who is flexible in the use of his closer (like Fredi has been recently with Kimbrel), or a manager who is restrained in the use of the sacrifice bunt (like Fredi wasn’t in the first inning today)?
So I went to the game today and had brunch at the Acela Club before the game. (Very nice, by the way.) At the next table was Frank Wren. He saw my Braves hat and my wife’s Braves shirt and came over. As I left, I said to him: “I don’t want to disturb your lunch, Mr. Wren, but I would lose all credibility as a contributor to Braves Journal if I didn’t tell you, on behalf of every one there, that you have to give Bourn ALL THE MONEY.” He laughed and said: “We’re working on it.” Coolest pregame meal ever.
Very cool.
Awesome, JonathanF
Moylan strenght is movement of his pitches which makes it hard to get good contact.
Way to go, JonathanF!!!
I’m having the best week of fantasy football I’m likely to ever have.
JonathanF, we appreciate your story. Nice to know that the front office recognizes us.
Get it done, JonathanF.
Just looked at the schedule. If the rotation stays the same until the end of the season, it will be Hudson for the Wild Card Showdown.
DOOOOOOOOOOOOOMED
@257 Rotation depends on whether we can beat win division and when we clinch wild card.
Braves Postgame Report Report:
When asked about his favorite Chipper in New York moment, Brian Jordan said (paraphrasing), “the 9/11 game… 9/11 was such a great day for everyone.”
Yeah, I know what he meant. He probably should have thrown a “first game after” somewhere in his answer, though.
In Fredi’s interview, he was probably asked about five different times about Kimbrel in the ninth. I’m pretty sure the media/Chip and Joe would have been less dumbfounded if Fredi had telepathically summoned a Martian (even if it were a right-handed Martian to face the two lefties). To his credit, Fredi cited the heart of the Mets lineup, etc. as reasons to go with Kimbrel. Hopefully the intense withering scorn (relative to their usual yes-man status) of the media won’t scare Fredi off making optimal game decisions.
Recapped.