I fell asleep last night without writing my recap. When I awoke this morning, I realized a recap had come to me in a dream. It was unlike anything I had written before, and I quickly began to write the lines while I still remembered them. Unfortunately, as I began to write the lines from my dream, I was interrupted, causing me to forget most of the lines. What appears below is all that I can remember:
Acuña Can
Or, a vision in a dream. A Fragment.
In Miami-Dade did Loria
A stately pleasure dome decree,
Where Miami, the polluted river ran,
Through swamps measureless to man,
Down to Biscayne Bay.
And ’mid this tumult Acuña heard from far
Ancestral voices prophesying war!
The shadow of the dome of pleasure
Floated midway on the waves;
Where was heard the mingled measure
From the fountain and the caves.
And all who heard should see them there,
And all should cry, Beware! Beware!
His flashing eyes, his floating hair!
Weave a circle round him thrice,
And close your eyes with holy dread
For he on honey-dew hath fed,
And drunk the milk of Paradise.
That’s all I remember from my dream. It was indeed very good to see Ronald’s flashing eyes and floating hair back in the LoanDepot Park Dome, the scene of his horrible knee injury last July. I can readily believe that he hath fed on honey dew and drunk the milk of paradise. As he so often does, Ronald dominated the Fish, going 2-4 with a double, single, and a walk, a run scored, an rbi, and a stolen base. He led off the game with a double that left the bat at 114 mph, and his single in the 4th was 107 mph. Man, does he hit the ball hard.
What’s that you say? You came here to learn the outcome of this poetic struggle? The Braves managed to win this game 5-3, despite both a serious bout of Hibernation Mode from the offense and an Episode by Charlie Morton.
The Braves jumped to a 3-0 lead in the first. Ozzie drove in Ronald with a sharp single to left, and Marcell crushed a two run shot to left to make it 3-0 (his third homer in 3 games). According to the announcers, that was the first time the Braves had scored 3 runs in the first all season (and who am I to question them?). Dansby had a solo homer in the second, and d’Arnaud knocked his own long solo shot to left in the third. All three dingers were crushed. It was 5-1 after three innings, and the Braves already had six extra base hits.
So our guys are cruising, right? Chip and the crew were waxing eloquent about how the offense is back, how great it is to see the bats wake up, Frenchy and BJ were praising the new approach they had detected. All that happy talk and acting like the Braves were in a commanding position was making me very nervous. Did they not remember Wednesday’s game—the most recent game they played? The Bravos had a 4 run lead in the 4thof that one, with our ace on the mound. I think you know how that came out.
Sure enough, this is when the bats decided to hibernate. The rest of the way they only had three more hits and never scored again. For a while, that didn’t seem to be a problem. Morton was pitching great. He surrendered a single run in the second, but through 5 innings it was still 5-1. In fact, he retired them on 7 pitches in the 5th, and Chip was talking about how great it would be for Charlie to go at least 7 innings and give the bullpen some rest.
So Charlie chooses the 6th inning to have an Episode. Everything he tossed their way was crushed. He surrendered a leadoff single followed by a mammoth shot to left by Soler; all of a sudden it’s 5-3. After getting the first out of the inning, he allowed a single by Anderson and a double by Sanchez, so the tying runners are in scoring position with only one out. Morton’s problems may be attributable to the fact that he was struck in the leg by a wicked liner in the 4th (sound familiar?); at least, Paul Byrd seemed to think so. It could have been third time through the order syndrome. I prefer to simply acknowledge the presence of an Episode. The occasional occurrence of an Episode is a mystery that we cannot fathom.Â
Snit finally realized that this Episode wasn’t going to cure itself, and he called on Colin McHugh. Colin proved that sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good. De la Cruz hit a liner heading to left field but Ozzie made a leaping grab to rob him of a game tying scoring single. Stallings followed with a deep fly to left that Ozuna caught against the wall. I was certain when he hit it that the Marlins had just taken the lead. Chip immediately exclaimed “Colin McHuge!!†and raved about what a great job he had done. Look, I’m a big fan of McHugh, and I shared Chip’s relief at the outcome, but I suspect that both balls had a very high hit percentage—they just went to the right spots on the field. That’s baseball. Lord knows we’ve seen enough bloops and bleeders fall in against us. I’ll take this.
The pen held them scoreless the rest of the way, but not without more drama. Strider allowed a single and double in the 7th, but managed to get out of it. Minter pitched around a double in the 8th, and Smith hit the leadoff batter in the 9th, but retired the next 3 for the Save, and a Win for Morton.
* * *
A couple of comments about Chip, Frenchy, and BJ:
The guys in the booth had been talking about the importance of having big innings, about putting crooked numbers on the scoreboard. Ronald leads off the game with a double into the left field corner. Olson followed with squibber to short that advanced Ronnie to third. So they all praise Olson’s “productive out†in getting the runner over. Ozzie followed with a run scoring single. ABC Baseball! Get em on, get em over, get em in!
But you know what? Getting Acuña to third with the “productive out†did not contribute to the run scoring; Ronald would have scored from second on Ozzie’s hit. I appreciate the crew’s desire for a big inning. But outs, even productive ones, are not conducive to big innings. To score multiple runs, it’s better to minimize your outs.
After Riley struck out, Marcell hit a screamer over the left field wall for a 3 run lead. He got himself on, over, and in, all in one swing.
I shouldn’t belabor the point, but in the 4th or 5th inning, BJ was still crediting the offensive explosion of the early innings to ABC baseball and Olson’s getting the runner to third.
There was a funny exchange between Francouer and Jordan about Demeritte. I’ve been listening to Jordan a good deal lately. He’s insistent that the Braves hitters need to be more aggressive. BJ loves to say “see ball, hit ballâ€; don’t worry about mechanics. Demeritte took a called third strike on a 3-2 pitch. Frenchy complained it was inside, which it clearly was. BJ insisted it was too close to take, and said to Frenchy, “You know you’d have been coming out of your shoes to hit that.†Jeff replied “I never would have gotten to 3-2.â€
I’ve enjoyed the way Francouer is self-aware and self-deprecating about his own inability to be patient and lay off pitches out of the zone. Both Frenchy and BJ are very affable and likable. I especially like the way Jordan pronounces “slider.â€
* * *
By winning the Braves have extended their all time record season opening streak of no three game streaks (either winning or losing) to at least 40 games. If you don’t understand that sentence, please see JonathanF’s last post.
Now that we have that record, I’d be happy to break that streak by sweeping the Fish this weekend. Kyle Wright takes the hill at 6:00 today to further that effort.
tfloyd…
so much to cover, so little time, whammo! The best of both worlds. Thank you.
Jorge Soler asks us to reconsider…JC’d from previous thread.
Jorge Soler
an infectious smile, a withering altitude, the upper air
post World Series
there must be a few theories
retention, did we try, did we not dare?
Thanks, blazon. I thought you in particular would find this recap of interest.
I should add for everyone that no opium was consumed in the making of this recap. When the verses for Kubla Khan came to Coleridge in a dream, he attributed the dream to opium use. My only inspiration was Coleridge and his poem.
Thanks tfloyd, excellent read. Agree with you on Frenchy – he is great in the booth. Would love to see/hear more of Paul Byrd.
No opium required, tfloyd. you just need an Ancient Mariner whispering in your ear. Jamie Moyer, maybe? OK, I just looked and the two oldest Mariners ever were Gaylord Perry (1983) and Ichiro Suzuki (2019) Moyer is 3rd. Perry pitched in Seattle for a year and a half after he led the majors in hits allowed in 1981 (combined, not surprisingly, with a league-lowest walk rate) for us. I miss Gaylord Perry. To bring this full circle, his preferred foreign substance was hair tonic, not opium.
and blazon, from the last thread. I mean… I know you know this, but you can’t evaluate a trade like this one on the basis of one game, or on the comparison of two games…. or on the next season in this case. If you’re going to do this, you have to promise to do it for EIGHT years. Preferably on your own blog. Don’t worry. I’ll subscribe.
Moyer may have been only the third most Ancient Mariner at age 43, but when he left Seattle he pitched for nearly another six years, finally retiring at age 49! Now that’s Ancient.
Edit–As soon as I saw the above in print, my thought was, that’s not ancient at all. “Oh to be 49 again.”
Bliss it is in the dawn after a Braves win. But to read a tfloyd recap is very heaven!
… and when Coleridge arises to write the Rime of the Ancient Phillie, get back to me.
And yeah, I’d even take 59.
Tfloyd, you must have always gotten to the ballpark early to study classic English Lit. You even knew the backstory to Kubla Khan. I love the people on this site!
@5
Jonathan, you’ve quite overlooked the homework factor. Going into last night’s 2 games my plans were well laid. I had watched every Olson game but seen hardly anything of Freddie(but thought i might know what to expect).
And this was a maybe unique chance to see both at the same time before the further corruption of memory and, above all, of statistics. those mouldering echoes of a corrupted past. I knew Olson. I certainly knew Freddie. What I didn’t know was how one would stack up against the other, live as it were, where memory entered not.
Which is what happened I believe. A stranger equates two first basemen he has not seen before. I know you must find all this confusing – where are all the numbers, you say? And God help us, not a single percentage sign. It is the absence of these of course that gives me such an advantage. A clean sheet. Precisely. 8 years is not enough, eighty would hardly match the freshness I bring to my approach.
But, in any event, thank you, your generosity precedes you . I always enjoy your perceptive wisdoms, you do try hard, as I do. What do you say say we watch the PGA this afternoon?
They just said on the broadcast that the Braves are 15-3 when they score first.
The flip side of that coin is the record is terrible when the other team scores first: 3-18.
I really like Brian Jordan’s philosophy on hitting. I agree with him that it doesn’t seem like some have any plan
I didn’t like o’Day with that part of the lineup
Contreras has six homers in 36 plate appearances. It would be good to get his bat in the lineup more often. I wonder if they’ve had him shagging flies lately.
Right handed hitters coming up for Marlins …why not stay with Stephen’s . Instead of a lefty Minter ????
Maybe O’Day is low man on the totem pole now. Who goes? O’Day, Thornburg, or Chavez?
I feel the following is quite accurate
Demeritte is settling into his expected batting average. BAD
Wright is good, border very good, border even better
Albies is not a base stealer, Acuna is.
Olson is not Freeman by any means.
Riley is struggling.
Contreras cannot keep this up. Babe Ruth also could not.
Typical execution with nobody out and runners in scoring position.
I do not like the pitch calling or receiving of Contreras. Why not go back upstairs again Chisholm? Terrible sequence
Did the Marlins bring a trainer on the road trip? Chisholm is obviously hurting and it doesn’t appear anyone has even looked at him.
Nice win. The current trajectories of Contreras and Demeritte are looking a lot different. If Contreras can play a passable left field, we should be seeing a whole lot more of him.
Jackson Stephens is my favorite up-and-coming CMT star.
@23 good choice ….O’Day? No CMT please?
@22 seems a shame to lose his ability to make impossible catches just off the turf…re his offense BJ was saying last night his swing needs to be cut down and will become more contact happy. BJ is on a roll – plaudits from tfloyd yesterday re his voice in general and ‘slyda’ in particular. Our booth travelling gang is beginning to come into its own. How do they decide who goes where, and when? What’s the minimum/maximum number at any one time?
@2o I’m still looking for his first egregious passed ball. TDA surely had one though. It seems to me important we don’t nickel and dime him. So much progress in the last year but the bat excites
and should be left untouched. Never an outfielder please, leave him be.
and, separately, Jonathan F…
Forgive me, just a little over the top. But what fun. How was the golf for you?
We’ve been talking ’bout Jackson ever since the fire went out.
As it happens, blazon, I ventured out for my own golf outing, my first since a brief circuit in Aruba in February. The highly unusual 95 degree heat here in the Berkshires held me to 9 holes, and I finished a little like Ken Venturi’s famous death march in 1964. It is extremely fortunate that I don’t depend on golf for my livelihood.
I will take in the professionals today when the Braves are done.
@25 – He’s hotter than a pepper sprout!
Obit…Roger Angell dies @ 101
We should be so lucky to see as much baseball as he did. And the man could write, famously well, about the game he loved.
Recapped.
https://bravesjournal.mystagingwebsite.com/2022/05/22/braves-4-fish-3-2/
Seven players under 250. Some way under. Not going to get it done. Addicted to the home run. Game in general is not watchable or enjoyable. Damn shame
Olsen is detrimental to sucess.
So is Simple Snit. He manages the pitching staff like Macdonald’s serves gourmet meals. Might be a good guy, but IS NOT a good manager.