What a satisfying win! After the “brutal” loss in the series opener Thursday , Braves suffer brutal loss + Game 2 thread – Braves Journal, which included blowing a 4-0 lead and some questionable bullpen decisions by Snit, many of us started to think that we can’t get no satisfaction. The Rolling Stones – (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction (Official Lyric Video) (youtube.com) Actually, we didn’t just “start” to think that; this entire season has fallen far short of satisfaction.
But as questionable as Snit’s bullpen decisions might be to some, it’s hard to deny that he is an excellent leader in the clubhouse. This team is remarkably resilient. You all know how overwhelming the injuries have been, and yet the team is still within striking distance of first place in the division, and more importantly, they have a three game lead for the final wild card spot, and in fact are just two games out of the first wild card spot.
When they coughed up a six run 8th inning lead in Denver to lose 9-8, it seemed that this just might not be their year. But since that game, they have won 13 of 18. Then the season surely seemed lost when Austin Riley went out for the season with a broken wrist in Anaheim two weeks ago. But since then they’ve won 8 of 11.
What Snit understands so well (as did Bobby Cox before him) is that it doesn’t pay to get too high or two low in baseball. As Earl Weaver said: “This ain’t football; we play every day.” This team manages to, as Taylor Swift might say, shake it off, Taylor Swift – Shake It Off (youtube.com), keep grinding, and do your best the next time out. I’ve got to believe Snit is primarily responsible for that.
As to last night’s game, Reynaldo Lopez continued his amazing season. After six innings of one run ball, he lowered his mlb best ERA to an even 2.00. The offense, led by two home runs by Orlando Arcia, continued its recent resurgence. Matt Olson had two more hits, including a double. Arcia and Olson are two more examples of resilience. Each has struggled mightily over the season, but their perseverance appears to be paying off. Olson in particular has been hitting over the past month as he did in his record breaking season last year.
Here’s the most impressive current stat about this team: the starting pitchers have not allowed more than three runs in 19 straight games. According to Bowman, that has never been done before. (That seems odd to me; I would have guessed that someone had done so in 1968 or some time between 1900 and 1920. When JonathnF is back in the saddle, we need him to check up on that.)
Speaking of JonathanF, I’m subbing on this recap given the heart-breaking loss he has experienced. Requiem for a Braves Fan – Braves Journal But even in the midst of his grief, he contributed the following for inclusion in this recap. As you can see, his wit, intelligence, and resilience shine through.
JonathanF’s contribution this week:
Baseball history was made on Tuesday night when Spencer Schwellenbach faced off against Simeon Woods Richardson. The two starters not only shattered the record for longest combined last names by starting pitchers, they beat the slightly longer record for longest last names by pitchers in a game.
The previous record for starting pitchers was 25 characters, accomplished twice. On September 29, 1944, Ken Raffensberger and Fritz Ostermuller faced off in Philadelphia’s Shibe Park. There were only 1000 spectators, but given the historic significance, I’m sure there were hundreds of thousands who would claim in later years that they were there. One other note: I imagine it might have been difficult to pitch during World War II with the name Fritz Ostermuller, although his SABR bio doesn’t mention it. Fritz Ostermueller – Society for American Baseball Research (sabr.org)
The record was tied on May 29th, 1996 in Shea Stadium in a contest between William VanLandingham and Jason Isringhausen before 15,578 Scrabble addicts.
The only time any two opposing pitchers had longer back decorations was on June 11th, 2003 in Miami, when Valerio De Los Santos pitched the 6th for the Brewers and former Brave Tim Spooneybarger pitched an inning and a third, replacing Dontrelle Willis. This record is disputed by many, however, because they were not in the game in the same innings and De Los Santos has two blanks in his last name. I count them, but it is controversial.
So when Spencer and Simeon started for the Braves and Twins respectively, the record moved to a whopping 28 letters, 27 if you don’t count Simeon’s hyphen. (To restate my position, it would count even if it were a space.)
Few Braves teams I’ve encountered have ever had this team’s ability to maintain a perch on the cusp of effectiveness without ever fully resolving the question. The real problem, I think, is that Alex Anthopoulos has refused to take my advice all year. Neither have Brian Snitker nor Kevin Seitzer, and I think the correlation is obvious.
Rob, your “screw the division, let’s just be rested in the playoffs” argument is a bold one, and the old school alter kacker in me wants to reject it out of hand, but if we DO make the playoffs, I won’t terribly mind how. I’ll just be snapping every wishbone in a ten-mile radius.
JonathanF, my heart aches for you. I hope you can find comfort among your closest friends and family this weekend.
JonathanF is a Braves Journal treasure, second only to Mac himself. Who else gives so much education with so much laughter?
(I wouldn’t count the blanks in De Los Santos, personally, though I guess you’d have to if you were affixing letters to the back of a uni.)
Regarding the game, I had the fugitive thought that it would be nice if Arcia owned Citizens Bank Park as Chipper did with Shea. They’re hardly comparable players, so it’s completely unreasonable. Still….
These are the at-bats of a team that just wants to get back to the hotel and reset for tomorrow.
Well, that sucked.
But I think Michael Harris’s catch is up there with The Catch. Just astonishingly brilliant.
I thought it was a 9.5 if The Catch was a 10 – Harris slowed as he approached the wall and had more time to prepare his jump, and Nixon planting his foot in the wall and jumping from there was slightly more impressive. Plus robbing a HR over a 10(?)-foot fence looks better to me than robbing one over a 7(?)-foot fence, even if the two jumps were similar athletic feats. But that’s quibbling – it was a wonderful play. I also liked that when I asked YouTube for “Michael Harris catch vs. Phillies” it gave me two choices.
The Braves have seen some good CF plays over the years. My off-the-top-of-my-head top 10 probably would include The Catch, the game-Ender against the Mets, Heyward’s game-ender vs. the Mets, Harris’s catch yesterday, Harris’s 2023 NCLS Game 2 game-ending catch/DP, and five by Andruw (who was so good that he made even difficult catches look easy).