Next Stop: The Twilight Zone

Picture if you will, a team that leaps out to a big lead in the first inning and cruises to victory. Picture that team wearing Atlanta uniforms. Now picture that team not in 2023, but in 2024. You know you’ve entered a place where up is down; where episode introducers smoke cigarettes, where William Shatner goes bonkers watching a weird yeti-looking thing playing with the engine on his plane. You have entered: The Twilight Zone.

Opening Attempted Witticism

There are very few teams named for bodies of water. This makes sense, as almost nobody lives on bodies of water. Many teams advert to bodies of waters in their nicknames, even inappropriately, like the notably lake-free LA Lakers. There are some colleges named for bodies of water (University of the Pacific, Florida Atlantic, Lake Superior State) but as far as pro franchises go the Rays, Lightning and Buccaneers cover the waterfront (as it were); the only possible addition would be Real Salt Lake, which is possible only because they left City off their name.

So my only conclusion is that Tampa has not managed to establish the regional hegemony over Clearwater and Sarasota that, for example, the New York Jets and Giants have managed even though they don’t even play in New York. But let’s face it: teams should represent people, not bodies of water. That’s a hill to die on.

The Game

This game started badly, with a single, a HBP and a double off Chris Sale that plated a run and left 2nd and 3rd with no one out. But Sale buckled down and wiggled out without any more runs scoring, a situation known last week as an Atlanta. Then, in the bottom of the first, the bats broke out: hits from Michael Harris II, Ozzie Albies, an Earl Weaver for Marcell Ozuna, doubles from Austin Riley and Matt Olson. Add in a throwing error to score one more and it was 5-1.

It was the sort of inning that people use as a “turning point” for a season, and I’m willing to let it be so. But I want to point out that all turning points are determined in retrospect after the fact. Those willing to call “turning point” in advance resemble the famous line about the economist who called 15 of the last 3 recessions.

In the second inning, Riley proved that it is possible to hit the ball with force and have it leave the field of play in fair territory, thereby putting the lie to various conspiracy theories. (Of course, the really inventive conspiracists will simple say that the conspiracy to suppress Braves run-scoring has stopped, its goal of temporary Braves suppression having been accomplished.) Riley finished with three hits, a triple short of the cycle. Don’t give up on him yet.

Of course, because we’re now rejoining 2023, after scoring 7 runs in the first two innings, the Braves returned to traditional hibernation mode. It was enough, but not without a minor scare in the 9th when Dylan Lee proved he is not a closer. Is he a Major League pitcher? Not even his friends know for sure. Raisel Iglesias came in to get one batter (frankly, Arcia got him) and a save. You really shouldn’t be in a position to get a save when your team enters the 9th up 7-2, but then again not every team pitches Dylan Lee in the 9th.

Statistical Anomaly of the Night

After his leadoff single, Michael Harris II came up limping as he sauntered into 3rd on Ozzie’s double. He was replaced by J.P. Martinez and is day-to-day. But it led to the situation where the Braves sent 10 men to the plate in the first inning, and they were all different. Counting tonight, 22 teams have sent 10 different people to the plate in the first inning. But of those, I believe only one other game had only 10 men come to bat, so that the leadoff hitter was replaced in the 1st inning and the new guy made the last out. Not many of you will remember that game a 1917 tilt between the Washington Senators and Philadelphia Athletics, but the Senators batted around in the bottom of the first, and in the 10th and final at bat, Howie Shanks, pinch hitting for Joe Judge, grounded into a double play. Howie Shanks and J.P. Martinez: forever linked in baseball history.

Stuck Landing Triple Grybos

Hurston Waldrep exited his MLB debut with the bases loaded and two outs. His replacement, Aaron Bummer, gave up a bases-clearing double and got the next out to execute the Triple Grybo With Stuck Landing. In the Retrosheet Era, 20028 relievers have entered a game with two outs and the bases loaded. Only 2419 of them let all three runners score. And only 1129 of them managed to keep from giving up a run themselves. In case you were interested.