Deflection to an old nearly worn out theme, but a different aspect. Whenever the Braves sign a contract or take someone in trade as to which 10 million or more is owed, they need to do a MASSIVE PI investigation. Like $100,000 or more.
Not a great game, but a “W” is a “W.” Maybe that is the wrapup in a line. Charlie Morton started off o.k. He got through 3 with no gNats scoring.
Meanwhile, bottom of 1 was an old school rally. Hits and walks with no inning ending double plays until finally there were 3 in. 3 to 0 after 1 means a high probability the home team wins. And, we wanted the home team to win, so that was good.
Then top of 2, no runs for gNats. Ronald Acuna, Jr. added another with a far hit ball within 45 degrees of the angle from whence it was pitched.
The gNats got 3 in the top of the 4th. Morton pitched through 5 and then the pen executed and the Braves added one in the 6th and that is where it ended.
In contemplating the 2021 Braves we all search for someone to answer the greatest mystery of life: What is going on and will they get better. We are mostly thereafter posed with supposed answers much like those from the famous marsupial of the road.
“I met a possum on the road and asked where he was gwine.
He put his tail upon his back and showed me his behind.”
I think we should add “Injury Limbo” to the Glossary. That’s a classic.
I hope we never see the term injury limbo again. I would be mad at the Braves organization for trying to downplay this whole thing, but in retrospect, they better not say a word until legal proceedings are over. They have to tread carefully. Still, injury limbo is sickening.
@2 Exactly.
If they don’t cut Ozuna, based on Braves Twitter and the social media zeitgeist, they’re going to have a huge problem on their hands.
I never want to see him again in a Braves uniform, ever.
Between “injury limbo” and “good to see Ronald speaking English”, I’ve had just about enough of Syr Caray the Least.
Something we all can agree on…Chip Caray is the worst. Wish the powers that be would realize it. He’s the common denominator that brings the worst out in other announcers. Both Glavine and Powell were/are so bad when in the booth with Chip. And the interviews during alumni week? Horrific.
@5 Chip is awful and completely cringeworthy much of the time…It’s funny but I don’t find Frenchy nearly as awkward or annoying as Joe or Glavine when paired with Chip. Frenchy seems like a likable guy who doesn’t take himself too seriously which is a key factor when dealing with Chip.
@2 You don’t have to say anything to cut someone other than to issue a press release. And if you’re going to wait until ‘legal proceedings’ are complete on this, you’ll be waiting until 2022. That would be an enormous copout and I don’t think the Braves have the benefit of waiting on that. If the police report is to be believed, LEO SAW him choking and hitting her. It’s not he said she said. This is more than enough to terminate his employment with the Braves. If they truly witnessed this occurring, then he is guilty in the court of public opinion and while that’s not a legal bar in America, its more than enough for what you should expect of your employees.
@7 – That makes sense to me. I don’t know what the intricacies of the contract were, but it seems cut and dried. I agree that I never want to see him in a Braves uniform again. I’ve been a Braves fan since I was a kid and there are very few things that could make me turn against them. This is it I’m afraid.
If social media dictated how big decisions were made, we’d have a very non-functional planet Earth. Thankfully, it does not.
In other news, what is the route to finding out if MLB player contract language, by default, includes language that your contract is voided if you chop someone’s head off, beat your lady, or boot black tar heroin or other truly awful things?
I don’t mind them waiting, I hope he never plays Baseball again, but I do like innocent till proven guilty. The NY Giants cut Deandre Baker because of his arrest, in the end he was completely exonerated. I know it gets dicey, and it looks really bad, but getting the whole story can really change things.
Braves hands are tied until there’s a verdict, especially if there’s a chance they can recoup any $.
@10 My friend, the internet is not a friendly place for people wanting due process.
I’m quite confident Ozuna has done something unprovoked and morally reprehensible, the process will play out, and the Braves will be able to recoup a significant portion of his contract. I asked if there was a way to confirm this, but it would be malpractice for there not to be some morality clause boiler plate in these contracts.
Is there any scenario where Ozuna is a Brave on November 1st?
Without getting overtly political, an initial police report from the scene should not be considered sufficient for a private company to void a contract with an employee (add in the fact he’s a union member and that goes double). Why ask for trouble, just allow the legal process to take place.
Anyway, if the term “injury limbo” applies to anyone, it’s Matzek.
Yeah, the court of public opinion is meaningless. The individual is smart, but the masses are just ignorant.
The lawyers for the league should get together with the lawyers for the players’ union to hash out a sensible path that takes place whenever a player is caught up in serious legal trouble. This would be to protect the teams as well as the players in question. A team should never have to figure out what to do about their player who is in jail or waiting for a trial (and not able to play), and at the same time a player caught at the center of a domestic abuse allegation (ie. imagine Trout in a Johnny Depp situation rather than this Ozuna case) shouldn’t need to fear employment damage while waiting to be tried.
Concerning everyone’s feelings on the matter, I’m sure none of us wants to see Ozuna in a Braves uniform again, but all this talk of how offended you can get over it, what the hell happened to you people to make you so sensitive? You’re not the folks I grew up with on either coast of the US, so where the hell did you come from? What planet have you invaded us from?
My 19 year old daughter has said that she will burn her jersey and gear if he ever plays another game for the Braves and I’m 100% certain that she wouldn’t be the only one. Ozuna’s been the number 1 trending topic on twitter 2x in the past few days and if you don’t think that matters, you’re naïve.
Some of you are mixing treatment under the judicial system and the privilege to represent a MLB franchise equally and they’re not remotely the same things. If the police report is true, he damn well better never wear a Braves uniform again or there will be a PR hit the likes that haven’t been seen since Michael Vick came back to the NFL, if not worse.
It’s skirting the line of politics here, and I don’t intend for it to but the MeToo and SJ movement isn’t going away anytime soon. Whether you agree with those movements or not is moot. They exist. They will both necessitate that the Braves cut ties with Ozuna EVEN IF they can’t save a dime on his contract. Sucks to eat X Million dollars but that’s the cost of doing business and the risk you take when you get yourself in the position of paying 12-15M per, to people playing a kid’s game.
I would be ASTONISHED if he ever suits up for the Braves again.
@15 Slow your roll, Mister. Nobody is talking about Ozuna representing the Braves ever again. What you are saying that is causing people to respond is the notion that the team needs to act post-haste to officially jettison him as though its burning down their brand as we speak, and that’s just not the way that things work legally. The team will act in a prudent manner as soon as all the ink has dried and they’re clear to do so. Note: the team ain’t paying Ozuna a dime beyond 2021, and if that means he “technically” remains a Brave for 72 more hours then that is what it will be. They can sue the rest of it out of him after the fact if that’s what it comes down to. Until then, all of this is just memos between the team’s lawyers as they cross the t’s and dot the i’s to steer the team away from potentially getting sued by Ozuna in the event he were to go after them.
I think you’re just riled up, for some reason. Not one person on this blog wants to see that guy take another at bat for the Braves let alone suit up to play MLB again. It’s just that the rest of us, well we lived here in decades prior to 2010 and know how to control our feelings on hard subjects. We hope you will too! Presuming you will be on planet earth for decades to come, you can’t spend all that time jerking that knee, hopefully!
Chief: I think we all agree that absent some sort of court order that mandates that he be on the roster (and I can’t imagine what the basis for such a mandate would be) he’s not going to play again for the Braves. I haven’t found anyone who thinks otherwise. Have you? If that’s the case, what difference should it make to anyone, except people who like to be outraged, as to what his technical status is? He’s on the 60 day IL. No one in baseball history has ever played a pitch while on the IL. Everything else is just posturing. (To be completely fair to you, I guess it is just barely conceivable that he might, in some imaginary universe, be allowed to sit on the bench in uniform while on the IL, just like Travis d’Arnaud is now… and the Braves might want to make a statement that that isn’t going to be happening, but, really, as long as he never shows up in uniform, is the statement really necessary?)
I think he will likely plead guilty and serve some jail time, but DOB and Rosenthal don’t seem to think the Braves are going to be able to void the entire contract. They’ll just save the money for however long he is on the restricted list. When he gets out of jail then the Braves will have to decide if they want to release him and eat the rest of his contract or deal with the bad press and angry fans and keep him.
I don’t think Ozuna plays in Atlanta again, but you have to let it play out before cutting him and try to limit the payroll hit. No harm in that.
Also, Chip has never been good. He was so-so and got fired in Chicago and by TBS. Jim Powell is in town, why isn’t he in the booth?
I knew Chip’s comment about Acuna speaking English would be taken the wrong way. Oh, Chip, what a landmine to step in. But he clearly meant it congratulatory that Acuna has learned a new language and can take part in interviews more cohesively, not “‘bout time you brown boys started talking like us, mhmm.”
What a month for Braves baseball.
@20: Of course you’re right, Rob. But the one thing you expect someone paid a large sum of money to speak to people is to choose his words somewhat carefully. I fully grant that when you have to say as many words as Chip does there are going to be bloopers, solecisms and badly phrased things here and there. The real question is whether Chip has significantly more of them than, say, Duane Kuiper or Gary Cohen or Boog Sciambi or whomever. I listen to a lot of these guys and the answer is yes. And there is no excuse for his play-by-play prowess — none.
If they do choose to engage a PI to investigate the propriety of signing a player to a long-term contract, I hope that they go high class all the way, and not the Howie Spira route.
FWIW, I agree with all of you. I hope Ozuna never plays another game in a Braves uniform, and I also hope the process plays out. He’s entitled to his day in court and all the rest, he’s just not entitled to wear a number on his back.
But seriously, where has Matzek been?
So what exactly happened with Chip and the Cubs. Why’d they let him go? He talks about them like an ex-girlfriend that he’s never been able to get over..
@23 Agreed that he is in injury limbo.
Good sensible discussion here. I agree with Rob and most others, let the Ozuna situation play out in court and then the Braves can decide what to do with his contract.
Oh, and the world would be a much better place if we just ignored twitter.
Whilst I mostly just lurk (I read this blog every day, as an Australian Braves fan) with the occasional comment, let me say I will miss Blazon. The place was more interesting for his left-field takes and poetry.
@19
I miss Powell being in the radio booth on a nightly basis. Ben Ingram has that booming DJ voice where it seems like he’s talking from his kidneys. It works in small doses, but it doesn’t lend itself well to radio play-by-play for baseball; it’s not very conversational and makes the broadcast a tough listen. (Ted Leitner, the long-time radio voice of the Padres, has a similar voice and I also find their broadcasts to be difficult on the ear.)
Somewhere in a DC bar someone is screaming: Take. The. Out.
I don’t have any numbers to support this, but as great as he is RAJ doesn’t seem super clutch with two outs and runners on
Lots of bars, lots of screaming.
Jonathan, you did a good job of articulating Chip’s issues in another thread, and I didn’t get a chance to respond before the thread changed.
I divide announcers into two camps: the entertaining ones and the informative ones. I’m not aware of a whole lot of announcers who are both (unless they’re an informative one who also has awesome stories to tell, a la Vin Scully). It’s sort of like introverts and extroverts. I’m an extrovert, and I will say a lot of crap, sometimes I will put my foot in my mouth, but the majority is pretty good, and I’m overall fairly entertaining, especially when I’ve had a few. For me, that’s Chip. Chip’s very entertaining. Love his enthusiasm, home run calls, and the way he joins the moment on the field himself. I think the tradeoff is that sometimes he says very, very stupid stuff.
When it comes to what he said about Acuna, I could see a better announcer just not saying anything, but Chip is a quantity over quality guy, clearly. He started wanting to say something about Acuna’s English improving, he even stutters, and instead of just not saying anything, he says it in probably the worst way possible.
Another boneheaded defensive play by a pitcher cost the Braves a run.
TAKE THE OUT!!!!!
Lord, Chip is a walking jinx. Nats get runners on 1st & 2nd, 1 out, and then Starlin Castro strikes out. Chip: “And the Nationals’ woes with runners in scoring position continue.” Next batter: Schwarber immediately hits a single to right field, scoring the run.
(Edit: did not see the lengthier discussion w/r/t Chippo above. While personal taste is, of course personal, and I’m truly glad the man brings someone joy, it feels like he is so constantly, and with great bravado, asserting that something transcendent/truly wonderful has either already happened or is just about to, that I’m positive he has singlehandedly brought about our doom multiple times by his many proclamations.)
Max just not sharp at all. His command is way off
The whole team is sleepwalking tonight. They just cannot lose games like this and be competitive. Little league ball tonight.
What a crap show of wild pitches and passed balls. 5 combined wild pitches and passed balls is ridiculous for a “control” pitcher. This team deserves what it gets when it plays lazy ass defense like this. Self inflicted mistakes are not bad luck, they are plain stupid
Keep bragging Snit… Santana’s era is 8.10….brag his ass on to someone else’s team. Let this idiot throw the rest of this game so you don’t use any meaningful pitchers.
Even Peanut criticized the move to bring Santana in
Isn’t Kevan Smith supposed to be pretty good defensively? If so I vote he becomes Fried’s personal catcher. I don’t think Contreras can handle him. He certainly can’t based on today’s game.
@29, going into tonight, for his career RAJ with two out and a runner on 1st (but not 2nd or 3rd) had hit .175/.275/.388 in 92 PA. With two out and RISP, he had hit .300/.465/.462 in 170 PA. I won’t do the math, but overall it looks like his OBP is good but his slugging is a little lighter than usual.
@Yara
He’ll be back. However, the dude was way out of line. It was an easy thing to do to just say sorry. He chose to leave instead.
Santana needs to go away.
@39 good info. I must have been influenced by recency bias to a large extent.
Without Santana’s excellence we would be chasing one run instead of three
Letting Tomlin hit for himself wouldn’t have been worse than Ender. I mean, Demeritte or Arcia might at least be major league caliber
The ridiculous shift again
Closer stuff, right Chip? You moron
What would Chip’s profession be if his last name were “Smith” or “Johnson”?
Snit …you couldn’t manage yourself out of a wet paper bag .. when Matzek walked Soto ..pull him .. no he left him face all those RH hitters .. and throwing pitches to the side of plate where we had nobody… you have to pitch to your defense .. stupid .. Snit and Matzek
Judging by Matzek’s performance tonight, he must have broken his back playing injury limbo.
@47: You’re on a roll, Bravey, but that would have violated the current rules of MLB.
@49 .. oh yea your right .. Almonte ?? Really .. out best option in LF .. wow .. spend some cash tight wads .
The AAA parade of players in key situations is awful. Santana, Almonte, Ender, Dayton… dudes that have little to no business on an MLB roster are constantly being called on to produce in leverage situations. Tough to win that way
“Paging Grant Dayton… Paging Grant Dayton. We are closing the exit doors on the 11:15 nonstop to the Sun. If you do not claim your seat, it will be given to any of half a dozen on the waiting list.”
Recapped, albeit not meaningfully.
https://bravesjournal.mystagingwebsite.com/2021/06/02/nationals-11-ronald-acuna-and-no-one-else-worth-mentioning-6/