Here’s Mac’s introduction to Washington:
Our nation’s capital, Washington DC, was founded in a pestilential swamp on the banks of the Potomac River because George Washington wanted it near his house. The city’s primary industry is politics and government. Since we do not talk about politics on this blog, this post will instead cover all the other interesting things about Washington.
Since that was a little harsh, I thought I’d throw in a little Chuck Brown.
Let’s get this series off to a good start by putting one in the ‘W’ column.
If you don’t want to get shown up, play better. Using a ball or a bat or a size disadvantage or your teammates to make up for your failures in the game is the mark of a sissy. Perhaps that’s why rugby, despite being an extremely physical sport, so rarely has fights.
This.
Also, hitting somebody with a baseball who watches a home run is stupid; and if it’s your code, then your code is fundamentally stupid.
Rushing the mound when someone hits you with a pitch unintentionally – after you crowded the plate, and considering the fact that you are one of the most-hit batsmen in the history of MLB – is also stupid.
Quentin should get 50 games. He won’t, but he should.
@ajcbraves 18m
#Braves Gattis took grounders at 1b during early hitting today, then saw name in lineup at 1b. Didn’t know before that.
“This.”
May I also add I don’t think much of “This” as a rhetorical device. Just too…I dunno.
But I don’t get the “this” that you’re all “this” about: If you don’t want to get shown up, play better? Are you seriously going to rest your case on an idiotic notion like this? You don’t seriously believe this tripe, do you?
Be nice.
#5: I’m all about being nice. I’m directing my verbiage towards ideas, not people. But nice is a virtue to me.
That’s why I think it’s ridiculous to endorse the notion that any time you get a hit off a pitcher, it entitles you to wiggle your ass, sing a song, do a dance, flip a bat, or wag your finger, because, well, they should have played better.
How is “this” nice? And how does it engender the kind of sportsmanship that precludes the kind of violence none of us like (unless it’s directed towards Quentin, who should be savagely beaten)?
PS: I think Quentin should be suspended to the max, too. I don’t think anybody here has condoned his thuggish behavior. But Greinke is an odd case to make for innocence. In this case, it was probably not a purpose pitch, but he and Quentin have a history. Greinke has a history with a lot of people.
I’m all for keeping Gattis in the lineup, but I can’t say I’m in favor of putting him at 1B….what a conundrum…
@6 I’ve yet to see any evidence of a “history” outside of Quentin saying there’s one and the fact that Greinke has hit him more than once (a lot of pitchers have hit him more than once)
Shame, shame. How dare you doubt El Oso Blanco…
—
Kevin McAlpin @KevinMcAlpin
Gattis: “I grew up playing first base for quite a long time before pro ball. I dont think it’ll be that uncomfortable over there” #Braves
—
Oh, A-Rod…
http://tinyurl.com/btpzv9k
@10 Well, that gives those initial reports some more heft now, doesn’t it? Why would he want the documents destroyed unless they could be used to prove he was breaking the rules?
Does this lead to a Melky-esque suspension for A-Rod?
OK, here’s what I don’t understand.
All of these guys are getting tested often, right?
So how did Braun evade capture last year when you know they tested him every time he turned around.
And A-Rod has already been busted before. You’d think he was being tested often, as well.
So, if so, how are they beating the tests?
#12
Masking agents.
In the world of Olympic athletes, for example, the PED users are often ahead of the testing.
Braun’s initial situation was different–it was a technicality, really.
@13, or perhaps they aren’t beating the tests, and someone just makes them go away. –
http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/blog/eye-on-football/22058200/report-tyrann-mathieu-admits-to-failing-more-than-10-drug-tests
Bethany @8- I was watching out of the corner of my eye during lunch today, but I think Greinke’s hit Quentin before….in 2008. So eh.
Speaking of playing better. Back in my high school days we were dumptrucking some team a class below us. It was something absurd like 26-0 in the 2nd. All the starters get pulled, we even put our backup DH with crap legs (me!) in the field. We’ve got a non-pitcher pretty much soft-tossing at this point, and he lightly plunks one of their guys. Sure enough, dude starts marching toward the mound *with* the bat before everyone including his coach comes out to yank him toward first base.
#14
Bigtime college football? Oh yeah… no doubt that goes on.
At this point, however, I’d tend to believe MLB has had it with Braun & A-Rod.
And in Freeman’s absence, I am completely in favor of a Gattis start at 1B to stack the lineup against a LH starter, especially the Nats.
Again, it’s April 12. As long as he’s not the scary later-era Ken Caminiti at 1B, it’s probably worth the defensive risk.
And let’s face it, we all just wanna see him mash.
Anyone can play 1B.
12-They don’t necessarily need to use masking agents. For something like testosterone “failing” a test requires having multiple times the natural limit. Athletes simply use steroids in doses that are effective but low enough that they can’t fail the test, even though they are clearly elevated. If their level gets too high they can use masking agents or simply transfuse clean blood etc. It is no surprise that most of the guys that got busted last year were associated with this Biogenesis clinic, because the guy was a screwup.
Baseball could easily clean up doping by requiring biological passports.
Gattis sure doesn’t get cheated up there.
Bad call.
Rico Brogna makes that play.
Well shame. Jayson Werth’s game day pic makes him look like a refugee from a House Of David club.
Gattis makes that throw.
*sigh* I’m sorry, I just don’t like Teheran. I realize this is a dumb statement but it is how I feel.
Well f***
This is the game in which all our illusions are wrecked and we realize we have a shitty team and no hope.
Harper may be good.
Should have used the off-day to skip Teheran’s turn in the rotation. Sigh …
#26: I have a thing against pitchers with ugly windups, and who are “strikeout pitchers” without a strikeout pitch. Hope Teheran doesn’t fulfill my fears about the latter.
Doooooooooooomed!
No, no, Dan, it’s
DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMED!!!!!!
Teheran just needs to get his pitches down, and stop over throwing. I’d like to see him pitch to Gattis at least one time just to see what happens.
I have a feeling this may not be our night.
Nice AB by Laird.
Fine AB by Teheran, too.
Yea, Teheran looks pretty competent up there for a pitcher, and great job by Laird turning the lineup over.
I really don’t care for Laird behind the plate. I don’t like the way he’s calling this game.
@39 I agree. I’m stunned that Gattis had such a bad reputation as a catcher, because he’s been at the very least competent.
Teheran is having the usual issue with putting hitters away after two strikes. Is this on the game calling?
It’s OK, guys, Teheran used to be the best prospect in baseball.
So much for that MLB-lowest 18 run allowed in 2013.
Poor decision to throw home by upton. Cost them the 4th run.
Teheran is missing his spots. He is missing out over the plate
That sequence to Harper right there was the best 3 pitches Teheran has thrown. Other than that he’s been missing all over the place. Perhaps the pitch calling is not great, but he’s not executing much at all so it’s hard to tell.
Now the baseball gods are just messing with us. That throw was perfect!
So we’re just going for an all around failure tonight. Ok.
The Braves are just doing their usual bending-over-for-the-Nationals routine.
One of these crazy old nights…
We play like clowns against the Nats. Like we’re not even a major league team.
Let’s get this all out of our system tonight guys, and then tomorrow we can go back to being able to pitch, hit, and throw/catch.
I am not ready to concede to a 4 run lead with 18 outs to go and a good bullpen.
There you go, Julio.
Much better Julio.
Keep the ball down, hit your spots, and good things happen. Imagine that.
0-2 fastballs to a slap hitter and 3-2 curveballs to the #8 hitter. Yes, it’s not all on Laird. Teheran isn’t close and almost all of his pitches are up in the zone. Who caught him in ST?
@53, oh, absolutely. Our lineup is never out of any game. If we are going to play poorly, though, I’d rather we do it all tonight when we already dug ourselves a hole than spread it out through the weekend.
Gerald Laird..ugh. Living in Michigan, I watched that clown stink in Detroit for a few years, so I had little to no expectation that he would be remotely useful. Unfortunately I was correct. If it wasn’t for Ross “Cy Young” Detwiler, I would be more annoyed with the fact that Laird is on the team.
*sigh* Oh Gattis.
That was just sad.
It figures that when Fredi shows a rare hint of tactical flexibility (Gattis to first), it backfires spectacularly, and when he slavishly adheres to routine (not skipping Teheran’s turn), it also falls short. So it goes.
None of this shite matters since we can’t seem to score on this team. Oh well…just try keep them at 4 and see if we can get lucky with a few long balls to get back in it.
That should be a home run since it had to have hit the railing in order to bounce back into play. Maybe we’ll get a call on the replay.
Definitely looks like it hit the rail on replay.
We’re not skipping Teheran for the 10th game of the season. To suggest that is silly.
The replay they keep showing is hilarious- over and over they show what happened AFTER the ball bounced off the top of the fence, as if that’s in any way instructive.
I can’t get over how far that ball carried- when it came off the bat I was hoping it would get down in the gap. JUpton is a strong, strong young man.
Eh, I don’t agree with that ruling.
Spent 5 extra minutes to get the wrong call. We’re due some damn umpire karma at some point.
Gattis seems to be unable to resist high fastballs.
Lefties still causing us problems. Lee and Detwiler
Wow. First umpire review I’ve ever sat through. Not impressed with how they do so far.
Four fine innings from Teheran. Shame he actually pitched six innings.
@69 We’ve been due it since Gant/Hrbek, to say nothing of Eric Gregg. At this point, the karmic balance is so badly in arrears that it will take three decades of breaks in key games for harmony to be achieved.
@66 Not silly to suggest, if we consider that the games against the Nationals are more important than all others — and that statistically, the first game in the season series is as vital as the 19th. But he has responded better the second and third times through the lineup. Sort of a bizarro Tommy Hanson.
66- There is nothing the slightest bit silly about skipping your fifth starter after an off day. Teams do it in April all the time. And when you are set to face your chief division rival, and your fifth starter is a rookie with shaky confidence, it makes even more sense.
We could have started vintage Maddux and still lose with no runs.
Edit: Sigh. Way to ruin my point, Good Schafer.
Wow, Chris got all of that one.
CHRIS! This guy’s actually been sort of useful.
Well, there’s 2 HRs for 1 run. Just need 8 more I guess.
Would it have been more prudent to swap Julio and Hudson? You still get Julio his start and you sort of ‘concede’ Saturday vs Strasberg but give yourself a better shot to win Friday (assuming you didn’t know detwiler would shut them out).
I think Hudson had just a good a chance of getting shelled tonight as Teheran. This is a good hitting team, and every single time we play them it seems like the score is 4-0 before I even turn on the TV.
The only way a starting pitcher with shaky confidence is going to gain confidence is by, you know, actually pitching. 3 earned runs in 6 innings is pretty decent for a 5th starter, especially against a loaded Nats lineup. The offense is the main culprit for the deficit tonight.
How many times in Fredi’s career has he had a 200 IP starter?
Haven’t we had success against Strasburg?
Don’t worry y’all, Clippard’s on my fantasy team so he’s bound to suck. And I’m fine with that.
@85, his ERA is over 4 against us. We at least have a chance.
Hope Justin can hit homer #8 here…
Come on Justin.
Andale, Oso Blanco!
BJ, don’t swing at first pitch.
C’mon, let’s break their hearts.
Good eye, BJ!
I’ll take it.
Day-um. Now, a single ties it.
Oh dear god I thought BJ was toast.
BJ walked?
BJ did a good job adjusting to the change up and laying off the second time he saw it.
And so it comes down to Struggla. High odds on a first pitch swing right here.
Damn….close
So close.
Damn. Thought he had it.
Wish he’d pulled it.
Uggla, you moron. You hitting it to deep deep centerfield moron.
Well, that’s a bummer.
Dang.
If Storen threw that pitch to Upton it would have left the district.
Drats.
400 foot out
The lost Justin homer looms larger now.
First Uggla, now Simmons dropping outs.
Laird can’t throw anybody out. He had it beat even if Simmons catches it.
FatJuan better hit for Laird this inning.
The one Uggla dropped would’ve been an out.
He hasn’t been perfect out there, but Gattis has shown me he can handle first base.
I think Walden should get extra credit for his hoppy little delivery, legal or not. Plenty of world class talents can’t find the zone throwing normally, nevermind the extracurriculars.
114-That’s true. And that throw was right on target. Just slow getting there.
We will take a walk Chris
Save Juan to hit for the pitcher if somebody gets on. Have Pena hit for Laird.
Come on come on come on
That’s a start.
Yes!
That guy we got for Prado sure is doing okay.
He really swings the bat well. Kinda like him.
#119
Message received.
Pena and not Fransisco?
Pena!
Wow. Okay then
Well, well…
Yes!!
That took guts.
Blake bunting… that I don’t like.
Once Johnson was on, I would have hit Francisco, but we’ll take it.
Don’t give away an out
AAARGGHHHHH!!!! PINCH-HIT BUNT!!!!
AAAAAAAARRRRRGGGGGHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!
OMFG I can’t take the bunts.
JEEEZ SIMMONS.
Simmons looks like crap up there
No matter what happens here, the Braves have made it close and interesting in the last couple of innings. This is why this season is going to be fun. We’re always going to be in the game.
Screw you, Fredi.
That was a ball.
No Joe, he should’ve swung the bat. Too close to take
JASON STOP SUCKING
Heyward isn’t squaring up anything. Everything is off the handle
Please walk and let Justin swing the bat
Well, here we are…
Weird thing about having all those people at field level behind the plate and on camera, you can see how many totally aren’t paying attention to such an exciting game.
Thank you!
WOOOOOO HOOOO!!!!!!!!!
Yes!
YES!! THANK YOU, NATSPOS!
Yes yes yes
AHHHHHHHHHH
PLEASE GATTIS PLEASE
Time for the legend to grow.
Hey, let’s win this thing.
I absolutely love this team.
SWEET!
Can your heart stand it?
Dear lord, this team.
I had typed a whole dissertation about why not getting Juan an AB with runners on was an epic managerial fail, but I guess Fredi knew to save him for the 11th inning…
Could Zimmerman not have beaten Pena to the bag at 3rd?
–Never mind, the replay clearly shows his only play was to just hold the ball and only give up the single run.
Pena was almost to the bag as Zimmerman was making the throw.
The bunt call was still stupid regardless of the outcome of this game. The only reason ATL tied was a ton of walks and Zimmerman’s awful defense.
On another note, I like how versatile the defense has become with Johnson and Gattis playing 1B here and there.
How the hell was that not a strike?
Currently watching steel guitar legend Kayton Roberts, but way to validate me Bravos!
Justin’s stolen homer now looms EVEN LARGER.
EOF is a machine.
#164
Well, they did start the inning with 2 singles.
The Nats have some dreck in their pen. No reason we can’t win this thing.
No matter what the outcome, this game is positive encouragement for more pinch-bunting from Fredi.
Blegh Jyurk Upton.
Upton + Johnson >>>>>> Prado + prospects. Thanks Arizona
Stop swinging at crap in the dirt. Dayum.
PENA!!
Yee-haw!
Peña!
MY BABY. NAMED PENA.
holy sh*t!!!!!!!
Oh mY GODD
Pena in the house!
Ramiro Pena is something else
HOLY SHIT
Holy fuckballs.
No way!
Pena!!
I am tripping on some serious shit.
AKA Mr. Clutch.
In Wren I trust. These guys he picked up are doing…okay.
What was that? Who was that?
Whatever it was, it was awesome!!
do I hear the chop in Washington? ha ha…hilarious
WUUUUT
Gotta like that infield flexibility.
Release The Kraken!
That Pena guy we signed as a free agent sure is doing okay.
That was his third homer in 326 ABs.
Nats fans suck. Half the stadium emptied out BEFORE Pena homered.
I’m stunned.
This team! Holy cow.
That’s a peach, hon.
Not even Chip throwing a “Peach Clobber” into the broadcast can annoy me right now
NO HUSTLE
So, it is probably early to just make a declaration, so maybe I’ll just frame it as a question – is Pena this year’s version of our folk hero?
Proudly carrying on the tradition of Brooks Conrad, but with superior defense
You, boy…
Well for a one in eleventy shot, at least he made it a no- doubter. He actually looks the the part of a ballplayer so far though. I like Frank Wren.
Strike three???
Braves win!
As Skip would say, “It’s cocktail hour.”
Now that was a great game!
Love hearing the Braves fan chop in other parks !!
Might have something special, guys.
I really like this team.
wow
Still undefeated when scoring 1 run or more.
Really nice win. Now Teheran just need to get back to what he did the last four innings rather than the first two for the next start.
And that was another stellar showing by the bullpen.
Wow! What a great win!
Braves on pace for 145.8 wins. Should be able to avoid Wild Card game with that total.
Epic win.
Their fifth starter is better than our fifth starter.
Our bullpen is better than their bullpen.
Our guy named Pena is better than – well, they don’t have a guy named Pena.
We’re 9-1, y’all! Not bad!
RJ in KS, what a great evening!
Even better than the chop for me was when the fans booed the check swing call for Harper. Did a double take.
@216
Better than the spirit of Wily Mo
The key to a good season Is winning the games you should win, plus a few you should lose. We shouldn’t have won this won but instead we got a few miracles and in the process our hotshot rookie may have figured something out against the supposedly best team in the league.
Sign me up for the 2013 Braves!
@217 Yes it was!
@220 I’m in! Just tell me where to put my x.
I really like this team.
What a great pick up Pena has been. He has won at least two games for us so far.
Just managed to tune in at the top of the 9th….obviously my karma gave us the win.
You’re welcome.
Reading this entire thread, man, this sure was an emotional roller coaster, in a good way, now that we know the outcome.
Jose Reyes had to be carted off the field with an ankle injury. The Jays are headed for a disappointing year I think.
I’ve spent the evening trolling Nats fans on BTF. It was teh awesome.
I was flipping back and forth between the Royals and the Braves and saw the Reyes injury as it happened. On the replay, I would guess Reyes either broke his left ankle/tore everything important in it. He was clawing at the ground trying to get away from the pain.
I’d never wish something like that on anyone.
This reminds me of a game in 1991 late in the year against the Reds.
The Braves were down big early against a good team. They scrapped back in it and then in the ninth Justice went yard to put us up.
Skip’s call was great, “Swung on and hit. DEEP RIGHT FIELD… BRAVES LEAD, BRAVES LEAD, BRAVES LEAD!!!!!
I love that Sam
I’m shocked Jose Reyes got hurt.
Maybe the Jays can unload all those high priced players if their season actually happens to go down the drain… I hear Miami has some prospects…
I have a talent Smitty. It would be wrong not to use it.
This team is deep. Just need Uggla, Heyward, and BJ to start producing offensively.
Teheran shutting down Natspros for 4 innings was key to the win. He is learning. NEVER SAY DIE.
Sure would be difficult to send our cleanup hitter back to AAA ball in two weeks. Especially when he can catch, play 1b, LF, and PH
Hanson at 81 pitches after 3 innings, trailing 5-0. Man, I don’t miss that guy
So naturally, what’s on SportsCenter after this amazing win? The headline “Bryce Harper Crushing.” No mention of the Braves at all.
Not good attendance for Natspros for first big series of the season.
Attendance tomorrow should be solid. Forecast in the upper sixties with no rain. I’ll be there from Richmond. The last handful of weekend early season Braves Nats games have been atrocious weather. braves fans should be loud tomorrow.
Let the four letter fools talk about the overhyped douchebag. 2 games up and counting.
-227: I remember that game very, very well. I believe Justice hit it off Dibble…that made it extra good. The game can taketh, but sometimes it giveth.
@239 I’ll be there tomorrow. Should be a fun one.
@237 I refuse to watch ESPN. It’s a shit network. And thankfully with MLB Network being so good, I have no reason to.
I have MLB.tv. I have no need of ESPN.
Reyes made the mistake of deciding to slide too late.
Clearly the Blue Jays need to ban feet first slides.
A team with big power and a tough bullpen will be hard to put away all year long – I foresee a lot of games like this.
Phenomenal show from 79 year old Kayton. I wish I had been half as good at half his age.
@227, I was camping under the stars in Vidor, Texas and hard that call on AM radio out of Nashville. One of my favorite memories.
Ramiro Pena is Spanish for Martin Prado.
Did Chip say “nobody’s at the bag” on the Zimmerman error? What game was he watching? Broken record, I know.
Recapped.
@248, let’s not get ahead of ourselves here.
That Reyes slide was gruesome. I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s out until August.
I had to work the Celtics-Heat game tonight but I caught Pena’s jack on my MLB At Bat app. It’s amazing we’re doing this well without McCann and Freeman.
Also, @227, that was this game, October 1, 1991:
http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/CIN/CIN199110010.shtml