I’ll be honest, when the Braves were being chastised by national media for the Chop and the “Hammers” started trending on Twitter and several media outlets, I’ll be honest…I got excited. I’ve never been married to a team based on the name and when my friend Brent Blackwell informed me that the Braves were actually named after a business tycoon from New York, I doubled down on the Hammers and I even let it pulse through me that it could actually be a possibility. Alas, it wasn’t meant to be and I’m completely ok with it, especially considering the nightmare of a name that Cleveland landed on. I mean, holy heck, Cleveland Rocks was right there for the taking and it would have sold an insane amount of merch! Oh well…
The Braves play the Guardians (bleh) in a 3-game series and then head to Tampa Bay for the last stop before the All-Star break, which should be fun.
Braves vs. Guardians Pitching Matchups
Game 1: Bryce Elder vs. Gavin Williams
Game 2: Kolby Allard vs. Shane Beiber
Game 3 Michael Soroka vs. Cal Quantrill
Braves Land 8 All-Stars
Ronald Acuna Jr., Ozzie Albies, Orlando Arcia, Austin Riley, Matt Olson, Sean Murphy, Spencer Strider, and Bryce Elder will rep the A in the All Star game. However, it’s unlikely that either Elder or Strider will actually pitch in the game as they’re lined up to start in Tampa.
I lind of like the Guardians; its a reference to a fun local Cleveland landmark:
https://clevelandmagazine.com/in-the-cle/articles/the-guardians-of-traffic
Pretty sure Colorado would have had an issue with Cleveland naming their team the “Rocks.” Spiders was my preference.
Also, happy to see the activity up on the game threads. I’m sure it’s partly a function of the team being otherwordly right now, but the site is definitely trending in the right direction.
And, not to open this can of warms and you basically acknowledged it, but “Braves” isn’t going anywhere, and the team has doubled down on the Chop and it’s Cherokee outreach.
Yeah, I was kind of hoping Cleveland would become the Spiders. That sounded cool and would’ve opened up all kinds designs for their uniforms. Oh well, their loss.
Gavin Williams will be making just his third career start tonight, and is running a pretty high fly ball rate so far. Here’s hoping the Braves continue to hit the ball in the air with authority tonight against Williams!
As well as Acuna is playing, I have no problems with him in any way, but does he seem like a drama queen? This is the 2nd time it’s looked like he’s been really hurt potentially for a long time, but it looks like he’s okay. What a relief!
I would describe him as “very expressive” instead.
Normal for him. After a HBP he’d act like he’d been shot.
I have the Cleveland broadcast, but i think Acuna came back out for the bottom of the third? Didn’t look too bad on his shoulder, but still….
Also that was a nice play by Rosario in left. Long run and sliding catch.
I attended a game in Cleveland once in my life. It was May 8, 2009, at what I still think of as Jacobs Field. It ‘s a beautiful park. It was also a fantastic game. The Tribe (that’s what sportswriters called them back then) had 2008 Cy Young winner Cliff Lee on the mound. The Tigers countered with young up and coming Justin Verlander. It was a classic pitcher’s duel. Scoreless through seven, when the Tigers broke though in the top of the 8th. Curtis Granderson walked, stole second, advanced to third on a ground out, and scored on an infield single. Still 1-0 in the bottom of the ninth, with a runner on first, when Grady Sizemore stroked what appeared to be a game winning home run. But Granderson made a leaping catch over the wall to save the ball game for the Tigers. https://www.mlb.com/brewers/video/granderson-s-game-saving-grab-c4478819?q=ContentTags%20==%20%5B%22defense%22,%22gamepk-244630%22%5D%20Order%20By%20Timestamp%20DESC&pt=Defensive%20Highlights&p=0
The crowd was in shock. I didn’t have a stake in the outcome, but I knew I had just witnessed a classic game.
That has nothing to do with tonight’s game, but as Sarah Langs says, “Baseball is the best!”
EDIT–listen to the Cleveland broadcaster, who was convinced it was a home run by Sizemore. It took him a while to realize it wasn’t.
FWIW, I was with Ryan in thinking that Hammers would be a great name for our team. Since this team drives the ball the way John Henry drove steel with his hammer, “Hammers” would certainly be apt. And I still believe it would be a wonderful way to honor Mr. Aaron. But I also recognize that a name change won’t happen–at least not in my lifetime.
Bryce has thrown 67 pitches through scoreless 5. I keep waiting for the shine to come off, tbh, but this is yet another very impressive performance.
About six weeks ago, a buddy of mine who lives in another city called and asked me if he should add Bryce Elder to his fantasy team. I replied that, although I really like Elder, his stuff is not great and that he would probably regress a fair amount. Turns out I was wrong about Elder. He’s the real deal.
Recapped.