If baseball teams were Halloween candy, then here’s what I think they’d be…
NL East
Atlanta Braves — M&Ms
Miami Marlins — Laffy Taffy
New York Mets — Snickers
Philadelphia Phillies — 100 Grand
Washington Nationals — Junior Mints
NL Central
Chicago Cubs — Oh Henry
Cincinnati Reds — Three Musketeers
Houston Astros — Snickers
Milwaukee Brewers — KitKat
Pittsburgh Pirates — Hershey’s
St. Louis Cardinals — Airheads
NL West
Arizona Diamondbacks — Twizzler
Colorado Rockies — Jujy Fruits
Los Angeles Dodgers — Chupa Chups
San Diego Padres — Pez
San Francisco Giants — Milk Duds
AL East
Baltimore Orioles — Almond Joy
Boston Red Sox — Whoppers
New York Yankees — Baby Ruth
Tampa Bay Rays — Nerds
Toronto Blue Jays — Mars
AL Central
Chicago White Sox — Laffy Taffy
Cleveland Indians — Now & Later
Detroit Tigers — Butterfinger
Kansas City Royals — Candy Corn
Minnesota Twins — Twix
AL West
Los Angeles Angels — Mounds
Oakland A’s — Reese’s Pieces
Seattle Mariners — Life Savers
Texas Rangers — Jolly Rancher
Discuss.
Just excellent.
Hopefully, the Braves will be Red Hots in the postseason.
Did you really have to ascribe my all-time favorite 100 Grand to the most obnoxious franchise in baseball?
You are a strange man, AAR. Thank you.
Astros, Mets and Cubs could have been Zero.
Hah, sorry about that. I just thought it was funny to assign an obscure candy bar with a name that sounds like money to the most expensive underperforming franchise this side of the Red Sox.
Just stumbled upon the Braves press conference on MLB.com with Fredi & Medlen. I guess the only real “news” is that the Braves WC-game roster won’t be known until both clubs turn them in at 10 am tomorrow morning.
Fredi said he wasn’t going to discuss the roster spots publicly, mainly because he didn’t want the Cards to know what they were (for L-R matchup reasons).
Medlen discussed how his repertoire developed, talked about a time when Ross “got in his face” during a 2009 spot start in Colorado with “a few words I can’t say here,” and said that the 5:07 starting time made no difference in his preparation.
Mostly, he just seemed excited to be playing in such a big game.
And, no surprise, a pink slip for Bobby V.
Braves lineup for Friday’s WC game: Bourn 8 Prado 7 Heyward 9 Chipper 5 Freeman 3 Uggla 4 Ross 2 Simmons 6 Medlen 1
Wow, Ross.
Better defense AND offense I fear, sansho1.
At this point, I’d have to agree. Hopefully BMac is getting a cortisone shot or something, and will be ready once we dispatch the Airheads.
Milk Duds!
Melky is a fatty.
Ububba, do you have a link for that press conference? I’m not seeing it right off and the search on mlb.com isn’t helping.
how the Astros did not warrant candy corn is beyond me.
Or Mounds, for Tal’s Hill. Also, since Laffy Taffy was used twice, I might go with Necco Wafers for the Marlins, since they’re sort of pastel. (It’s a real thinker, this list. Bravo, Alex!)
The Astros warrant those orange circus peanuts.
Way to step it up for the playoffs, Alex!
Now I’m all hungry…
#13
It was live & now it’s over.
I had visited mlb.com & a window just popped up with the live presser & I watched the last 10 minutes of it. Dunno if there’s a link anymore…
If it makes you feel any better, Kevin, I’m hungry too.
Does this make Bud Selig Willy Wonka?
Astros- “I got a rock.”
Cubs- Pot brownies. Eat enough and anything looks good.
Royals- tried to make M&Ms, ended up with candy-covered crap.
Red Sox- The less easily identified stuff sold by school bands.
Pirates- It’s been in your couch cushions for 20 years, so you can’t tell what it was.
The Natspos and Florami Marlins- Whatchamacallit, of course.
‘Rissa- Thanks for that description of postseason.tv in the last thread. I’m in the same boat–not willing to get cable just to watch the postseason, but I suspect I’d have a harder time than you getting the right angles in the right situations etc.
And for the Dodgers I’d go with Sugar Free Jelly Beans — they look like they ought to be pretty good but you just don’t get much out of them.
The good news is that if the Braves advance to the WS I can at least get a digital HD Fox feed with EyeTV.
18 — thanks.
#25
It’s on the Braves site now. Hit the link & the video should load up.
http://atlanta.braves.mlb.com/index.jsp?c_id=atl&sv=1
I would’ve gone with Payday for the Mets or even the Dodgers, but that’s just quibbling. I’m going to be reading this list over and over all day.
I guess when we had better owners we could’ve been Good & Plenty.
Pop Rocks, for the Marlins.
Valentine was fired, maybe the Marlins will him.
Too expensive. They need to suck on a budget, remember?
@21: Astros- “I got a rock.”
Classic.
What are Chupa Cups? Inquiring minds want to know.
Boy, did I screw up. I’m on a plan from 6-8 EST tomorrow. >_<
Chupa Chups are lollipops.
“What are Chupa Cups? Inquiring minds want to know.”
http://tinyurl.com/mzzab6
I have tomorrow off, thanks to a divine intervention of my leave balance being too high and someone at corporate insisting I take some right away. If anyone wants to join me in a bar in East Atlanta or therabouts to watch sing out, or drop me a note at atlantaspike at gmail.
Kudos to Fredi for starting Ross over McCann. The experience last year definitely sucks, but it did a world of good for Fredi. I think we have been seeing it ourselves, Ross is definitely playing better than McCann.
Roll call: Who all is going to the game?
My son and three of his hoodlum buddies ended up with sweet tickets.
They’re young drivers (17-18), so I’m concerned.
If anyone has an extra for sale, I’d be interested so that I can drive them down and back. Don’t care where it is.
Thanks.
Better Fredi than Ozzie and Bobby V, for sure.
Better Fredi than a lot of managers, for sure.
I’d rather have Fredi be pretty anonymous than the crap-cloud that those two mongrels bring on their teams.
@39 I am reading that the kids have four tickets. I would just take one if I am you, ha.
26 – thanks for the link
He’s shown that he can recognize and learn from his mistakes. Definitely didn’t lose the clubhouse after last September. So yeah, I’m coming around on the guy too.
@33, I feel ya. I’m at the farmers market from 4-7 tomorrow, although I’m gonna try to get there early, make my nut and get out to watch what’s left of the game at the eastside Loco’s if any of you Athens folks are out and about. I’ll have my uni on.
@38 – I’ll be there in section 410, way up high thanks to my ticket-buying procrastination. I’ve witnessed elimination games in the last two seasons – here’s hoping I break my streak!
#36
Wish I could tilt one with ya (& celebrate or drown).
As it is, I’ll be cutting out of work early & probably catching the first couple innings via iPhone on the LIRR. Will have a 6-pack of my “lucky beer” waiting at home.
This anticipation is ridiculous.
BOLD PREDICTION:
Braves win.
@46, I’ll have beer on hand and emergency bourbon should things get ugly. Lets go Braves!
I haven’t been this excited for a long time. Let’s go!!!
@44
urlhix, I managed that place almost 20 years ago. Looks a hell of a lot better now, I’m told. If you know Mark Maudsley and he’s still tending bar, tell him his old boss Sam said hey.
I am leaving for the game in three hours. I’m sitting at my desk and I can’t think strait
Fall ball in Atlanta is fun. I’m excited.
Managed to convince the boss that this would be a great day for a ‘wear your favorite jersey’ casual friday and he bought! Unfortunately I now sit here at the keyboard, #10 jersey on my back, acknowledging that this will be a veeeeery long day. And I hope the payback is there at the end.
I do wish mac was here.
I’ll be in section 315 as always…
Cards are about to get rolled, y’all.
He’s shown that he can recognize and learn from his mistakes. Definitely didn’t lose the clubhouse after last September. So yeah, I’m coming around on the guy too.
Ditto.
@55 Certain manager have lost the clubhouse this year. Bethany got one fired, with plenty of help from Valentine.
PPT:0
(Potential Productivity Today: zero).
Time is moving so sloooooooooooowly…
Well, I will be on the road to Asheville, NC to attend a dinner celebrating my parent’s 50th wedding anniversary. So, I’m calling on the Braves to win one for Jim and Cathy (who are also big fans).
I debated on wearing my Chipper jersey or my Smotlz one.
I mean, if Smoltz were ptiching, there would be no doubt.
But we are talking about Chipper’s last run.
So in the end I went with Chipper.
Could be Carmageddon today. Hope everyone who’s going to Turner has a plan.
@60
I’m taking MARTA
I’m super excited that Fredi is going with Medlen in a situation where almost any other manager in the majors would go with Hudson. Hudson’s the vet with a ton of playoff experience who’s still pitching very well. It just happens to be the case that the particular players in the heart of the Cardinals lineup are ones that give him problems (over enough PA to consider it a real effect). Considering the importance of the game and how the decision breaks with convention, starting Medlen might be the best call Fredi’s ever made as a manager.
How Sweet It Is!
Go Braves!
The Atlanta Braves have announced their roster for today’s Wild Card game:
PITCHERS (9): Luis Avilan (LH), Chad Durbin (RH), Cory Gearrin (RH), Tim Hudson (RH), Craig Kimbrel (RH), Kris Medlen (RH), Mike Minor (LH), Eric O’Flaherty (LH) and Jonny Venters (LH)
CATCHERS (3): J.C. Boscan, Brian McCann and David Ross
INFIELDERS (8): Jeff Baker, Freddie Freeman, Eric Hinske, Chipper Jones, Lyle Overbay, Tyler Pastornicky, Andrelton Simmons and Dan Uggla
OUTFIELDERS (5): Michael Bourn, Jose Constanza, Jason Heyward, Reed Johnson and Martin Prado
Is Janish done for the year? I wish we had him for a backup at short.
I guess Prado is really the back up now.
Knew braves journal wouldn’t let me down with respect to the roster. I think it’s a little weird to put Hudson on there, but I guess it is win or get out, so if Medlen is (heaven forbid) bad early, we need to put someone good in.
Gearrin instead of Moylan.
Oh wait, holy shit, no Francisco? What? That can’t be right, to have both Hinske and Overbay but not Francisco…
I am glad we have Constanza, though; pinch-running is perhaps what he’s best for, and we have the roster for it today.
Overbay over Francisco is puzzling, for sure.
This is awesome: Meet Kris Medlen, Baseball’s Best Pitcher – SBNation.com
The lines on this game are weird. The Braves are large favorites (-175), and you can bet on the Cardinals to win at +160. However, the spread bet of -1.5 runs has the Cardinals favorites (-145), and you can bet on the Braves at +125. If you wanted to place bets on the Cards at +160 and the Braves -1.5 runs at +125, the only way you lose money is if the Braves win by exactly one run.
I’m not doing it because I’m not betting against the Braves today, but this is a rare case where betting like you’re straddling in stock options actually increases your EV.
I don’t get the lack of Francisco. At all.
I wish Fredi had Francisco on the roster rather than Hinske, but hopefully we win easily and it’s a moot point. If Hinske fails as a pinch hitter in a key situation tonight, I’m going to vomit.
Baker over anybody is even more so.
I had been able to ignore what’s happening at 4:07 until I read that article @68. I now have the juices flowing and will be completely unproductive for the remainder of the workday.
Why no Francisco?
From stltoday.com:
“The Cardinals considered briefly — there was ‘discussion,’ GM John Mozeliak said — keeping Jaime Garcia active for this one-game playoff as a lefthanded deterrent against a lefthanded-heavy Braves lineup. But the lefty won’t be. . . .
“The Cardinals will carry two lefties: Marc Rzepczynski and Sam Freeman”
Expect him to be back for the NLDS.
Francisco must be injured.
I am so excited and so happy that I can watch the game at a reasonable hour, 11.07 pm CET. Go Braves!
74—Doesn’t really explain why Francisco isn’t on the roster instead of Lyle Overbay.
You’re right. I brainfarted.
A visit from brule would seem to be in order, no?
Kudos to Fredi for keeping only 9 pitchers vs the Cardinals’ 10. Only 22 times since 1973 has a team used 10 or more pitchers in a game.
http://www.baseball-reference.com/blog/archives/8188
I can’t find the roster anywhere; where did you find it, hpotter?
Francisco sucks at pinch hitting, he only hits when he starts. I don’t mind leaving him off for one game. I’m really happy about Medlen-Hudson-Minor. That should be our top three for the postseason.
Damn, that article is great. We’re lucky we’re Braves fans. No one else gets to root for that guy.
81—When does Overbay hit?
Hinske, Overbay and Baker, but no Francisco?
We won’t need no stinking pinch hitters.
Well, Baker’s in a different role. Hinske’s closer, but you’re still looking at someone who can play outfield if Prado needs to change positions. It’s really Overbay vs Francisco. I don’t get it, yet.
@81
That strikes me as the kind of thing that’s true right up until it’s not. He can put the ball over the fence a lot better than Overbay, I know that.
@81, Overbay sucks worse at pinch hitting. .592 OPS over 105 PH PA over his career. Ouch.
Me either, but I hope it’s of no consequence. I mean, if the season comes down to Francisco vs. Hinske vs. Overbay in a pinch hitting role, we’re in trouble anyway.
So, I have done my part: betting AGAINST the Braves at four different places. That usually helps.
Can’t wait till the game starts…
XM radio from Port Orange to Augusta GA this afternoon. I may be able to watch the Braves celebration on TV.
Go Braves, then go Dawgs.
@82
I guess sometime after Hudson has hit. Honestly, I would rather have Hudson hitting than Overbay or Baker.
Career as starter – .304/.343/.596
Career as sub – .183/.254/.294
You’re right, that is a big difference.
Whoops! Sorry, those are Francisco Cabrera’s career splits. Where’s that darned edit function? 😉
Francisco tweaked something in the last game on a play at third, if I am remembering the radio broadcast correctly.
Vegas has the Braves as -160 favorites.
Want to get excited, but have seen this movie before. The Braves will probably lay an egg.
The stat that makes me smile the most: in 19 PA, Chipper’s line vs Lohse is 462/.600/.846.
6/13, 6 BB, and, for good measure, one of those hits was a homer. Only one strikeout in 19 shots. Small sample whatever, but Chipper could have a good day.
David O’Brien
October 5th, 2012
10:46 am
Can’t say I’m surprised Juan Francisco left off roster, considering how little he was used late in season. Got only 26 at-bats over team’s last 34 games, went 3-for-26 with 15 K, 0 BB in that span.
Jonah Keri thinks we’re gonna win: http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/8460326/atlanta-braves-st-louis-cardinals
Here’s a preview I wrote for Yahoo: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mlb-big-league-stew/10-numbers-cardinals-braves-wild-card-143331810–mlb.html
Robert Patrick, the T-1000, on playing the Atlanta Braves general manager in Trouble With the Curve:
@67
I’m shocked he didn’t have moe ABs in September. I wonder if he is hurt or something
Got a midterm in an hour and really couldn’t care less. Too excited.
Go Braves!
I’ve been seeing Robert Patrick everywhere lately after not seeing him since Terminator. He was in Safe House, Trouble With the Curve, and I just saw him last night on some TV show where he was a sailor. Good for him.
First clip from the new Bond movie, Skyfall, came out this morning, if you’re interested. It’s an extended clip from the trailer where he jumps from the forklift into the train car and fixes his cuff-links like nothing happened. Vintage Bond.
Game thread posted.