Do you think Braves can do it?

Tomahawkin – you were the first to sign in

Soph – who’s slow now?

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/group.php?gid=53472692450

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Soph

Here’s The link

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=53472692450

D.O.B. is Living Large!

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That sets the Braves up for a dramatic 2020 comeback

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No it was just like “Tomahawkin representing”

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Isn’t it? The people you picture as young are old, ugly are attractive, male are female, etc.

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Enter your comments here

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That IS unbelievable!

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Alright, as fun as it’s been creeping with you guys (and at the risk of having 3 consecutive comments), I need to get to bed.

Goodnight everyone…I’ll be ready for some football/baseball tomorrow

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You have a BF Tomahawkin?

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“As for Esco: Folks, let’s face it, Cox and other managers and coaches in other sports view old guys with bad wheels differently than in-their-prime dudes, and expect the latter to run out ground balls like that, etc. And really, that’s not too much to ask. Gotta do it, man”

this is crap…Bobby only makes examples out of Yunel and everyone here knows it. How many grounders have we seen Chipper or Anderson not run out? He’s never pulled Anderson on any of his lazy routes to fly balls in LF. Bobby’s act is getting old. He’s too loyal to some and never trust others. I can pretty much guarantee that one of Yunel or Bobby wont be around next season and Im pretty sure we can guess what will happen.

Bobby is still batting Laroche 7th/8th?? also. Guys this man is done as a manager. We get to see all of Soriano/Gonzo/Moylan in games where we are leading by 4 or 5 runs, but when the game is on the line and its close we get Logan/Acosta/Nunez/Medlen? I am officially done as a Bobby Cox supporter. Please Wren do something about this.

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I once told an ex-girlfriend this:

“Ho, sit down!”

She turned around, gave me an evil stare, and said this:

“Boy, you are gonna get clowned! Bank on it!”

As you can imagine, Tomahawkin brings back a lot of memories.

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I can’t Believe at all the people who don’t know what “Clowning” means…

Chop Chop And Soph

Thanks for getting that “Hoe Sit Down” Song In my head, The Lyrics are garbage but that song rules at a party

Just too bad that I haven’t been able to say that Phrase a lot this year because we get our asses handed to us by teams like the Phillies Sox and Bankees…

I hate losing to those teams…I did enjoy beating the crap out of the Cardinals, I hate their bandwagon fans

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lol T’Hawkin you put a definition of bf on the wall? Haaa.

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Yep, I had Multiple BF’s last month, It wasn’t Pretty…

Mitchell had a few of his own as well, I’m a lot more Compassionate than he is, lol (Joking)

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chop chop,

you are to young to be a cynic. seriously, i have watched three market meltdowns.

saw a ton of wealth lost in 1996 when interest rates spiked.

saw the dot com bubble burst in march of 2000. saw the 9/11 thing.

saw the market rebounnd in 2003.

saw the collaterized debt market bring, bear stearns, lehman, and merril lynch down.

hey flange, you know i called it. told braves dave it was coming.

got laughed at but i called it in 2007.

either way chop chop being a cynic is easy.

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bas where are you.

bas where are you.

kinda like fred flinstone calling out the great gazoo.

gotta be at least 35 to get it.

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maybe i should take bill maher to a georgia football game.

that would be interesting. he sure would be popular.

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Boone Logan? They used Boone Logan tonight. I thought he was in the witness protection program. But, he came in and gave Ryan Howard a well deserved plunking. Howard looked like, Why you throwin at me? (after hitting 2 home runs) Good thing he`s a docile type. It could get ugly if he got upset and did something about it.

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Bobby,

Down by 2…still in the game and you bring in Vladimir Nunez! WHY? I certainly hope you are not surprised by the results…since he has not pitched in a major league game the entire year. Joe Torre would not have made this move…nor most any other manager with a pulse.

Are you frickin’ kidding me?

Are you trying to not make the post season? Moves like this will certainly guarantee the Braves not getting there in 2009!

Thanks Bobby. You have done a fantastic job of juggling the bullpen this year. NOT HARDLY!

With that…though…

BELIEVE

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just found dob’s game story. sounds like a freakin’ fiasco. we’ve got 16 games left, playing the phils, down by 4 & a half in the WC, and cox pulls escobar out of the game after 2 innings? is this some perverse joke? now’s not the time for a “teachable moment!” pull esco aside and chew him out in front of the team–have chino cadahia sit on him until he repents–but forgodsakes leave your best player in the game! really. i just cant believe this one. meanwhile, cox hasnt figured out BY NOW not to pitch to howard? this stuff’s unforgivable. i just jumped off the braves bandwagon and onto robert’s bandwagon. he’s been calling cox a ‘donkey’ forever. well, okay, maybe i’m exaggerating about jumping onto any bandwagon robert’s captaining, but i will say that he picked an apt symbol for cox. stubborn as a mule, and about as useful.

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I recommend not listening to DOB… He is just like every other writer who wants to stir up controversy where there isn’t any. Don’t get me wrong, he’s okay, but to keep throwing out these stats about how bad the Braves were in the beginning and then say how much better they have been but!! Too bad they sucked early or they may have been in the playoffs.

This is unrealistic thinking any only intended to stir up the heat. He is simply playing with your emotions.

Let’s look at a few things here…

1. We had the team that we had early in the season. I think Wren has done another remarkable job patching together a respectable team without spending a dime. HOWEVER, IT TOOK TIME TO DO THAT! So it took half a season to make the repairs. Despite what they guys on Star Trek seem to do on daily basis, we cannot turn back time. I think we are lucky to be where we are now believe me.

2. Teams play 162 games for a reason. You can pick just about ANY 74 game stretch for ANY TEAM where they were mediocre. The Yankees weren’t playing so well their first 74 games–does anyone remember that??? You can say, “Well if the Braves had only won 5 more games…” YOU CAN SAY THAT ABOUT ANY TEAM! They just stunk their first 74 games. I think this team is LUCKY to have been only 34-40. That’s only 6 games under .500. I think everyone should be complaining if they were 20-54, but it’s just the way it is. It is unfortunate that DOB has to interpret the stats negatively. Anyone can take any stat and massage it to look positive or negative depending on the circumstances. Big whoop, move on.

3. About the only thing you can say is: THIS TEAM HAS BEEN UNDERPERFORMING. But is that really true? Does anyone seriously think this team is a 90+ win team considering what happened early in the year? Maybe the team is now, but over our LAST 162 games, I don’t think so.

4. Does anyone seriously think this team would have put up a decent fight against any of the projected play off teams? Hah! I could see them going 0-3 in the first round very easily. The team just has too many holes in the line up—great pitching but very inconsistent offense. Get some great pitching from great teams (since it’s unlikely the Bravos are going to see any 4th or 5th starters) and they are going down. So what is the point of even making the playoffs??? I’m not particularly excited about going to war knowing I’m going to die within seconds of appearing on the battlefield! No thanks. I’d rather wait until next year. Come on: You’ve seen how they have been killed by the Phillies!

Not saying we can’t complain about the season, not saying any whining is underserved, not saying Bobby Cox has done a great job so shut up… Not saying anything of the kind. Just saying we shouldn’t be so depressed that this is another lost season. Let’s look at the bright side.

1. We have one of the best management teams in all of baseball. Yeah, Wren really messed up during the off season but then he also shined remarkably. I’ve always believed that it’s not the road you take but where you end up. So I firmly believe that Wren WILL address the teams needs. You can’t say that about a lot of teams. I’ve been watching the Utah Jazz for 25+ years and they have always been good but the darn ownership has NEVER done what it takes to move up that extra step to get them over the top. It is very frustrating–especially since it has been over a quarter century! At least the Braves have “been there done that”.

2. 2010 is going to be a very interesting year because this team has been playing very good baseball during the second half and it is likely to carry over to next year. But again 34-40 is not that bad. It is only 6 games under .500. Come on!!! Let’s get real here. If the team even does slight better than .500 I’ll be happy. Why? Because this team ALWAYS addresses its needs and builds on past success. It is not surprising that they do better in the second half of EVERY YEAR. It is be design, not luck, not “will to win”, but because they know HOW to win through key trades and bringing up talent from the minors to fill holes. That’s fundamental baseball my friends.

3. The Bravos have a very bright future!! I believe Jason Heyward is coming up to play in the big time as of spring training and he is going to stay. All of the stuff you read about his minor league experience says, “He has all the tools and there isn’t anything we can teach him.” His own manager at Myrtle Beach said this very thing before he tore it up in Mississippi, batting .400 most of the season until an injury slowed him down. But man, he still batted .352! We all know that AA and AAA is pretty much the same so it wouldn’t be surprising to see him playing in Atlanta all year next year. NO, HE IS NOT ANYTHING LIKE FRANCOEUR so forget that comparison. He is ready. Period. So there is your big bat in RF that this team needs. WE could even see Jordan Schafer coming back by about June after he proves that he is worthy at Gwinnett. That would be icing on the cake.

4. We are likely to bring back Adam LaRoche, Martin Prado was hitting great before the little head problem but that’s likely to be behind him after a long winter, Matt Diaz has started hitting well again (he needs consistent ABs to do this!!! So it was fortunate for him that Schafer didn’t make it—the man can hit people!), Yunel Escobar really blossomed and seems to be getting better every year, we will have Nate McLouth for a full year, and the best part is that it’s likely we will not have Kelly Johnson, Garret Anderson, or Greg Norton back on the team! How much more offense does this team really need? Maybe a big bat in LF? I can see it happening very easily.

5. Chipper is likely to come back from a poor hitting season. I say “likely” because we all just don’t know for certain, but I believe he has the fortitude to come back strong if he has it in himself. I just find it hard to believe that a guy can go down so quickly after having the highest batting average of his career. I think it is simply two things: he hasn’t had so many ABs in a long time so he usually gets regular long rest after his frequent injuries, and secondly, he has been using too big of a bat! He is getting older and needs to make adjustments. Given a long winter to work out the problems and I think he can come back strong. This team fortunately won’t need him to be the key guy any more but anything more than what he did this year will be another big benefit to the team.

6. Lastly, let’s not forget the pitching. Ah yes, the PITCHING! Anyone notice that not only have they been good but they have been spectacular the second half and they only seem to be getting better with maturity. I won’t get into much here because this is a HUGE strength that doesn’t need much analysis. I think it’s a given that all of the baseball gurus will pick the Braves as having the best staff in baseball over the winter. You wait and see. To think that $15 million Lowe is actually the weakest link. That is saying a lot.

So don’t look so glum! Don’t listen to DOB!!! This team will be in the playoff hunt as of day 1 next year. TRUST ME…

LOOK TO 2010 PEOPLE! GO BRAVES!!!

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Some guys mentioned this last night, but why are the Braves pitching to Howard? He owns them. Take the bat out of his hands and walk him. Geez.

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One other thing…

As bad as the Braves were in 2008, you should all be extremely grateful to Frank Wren for making this season possible. I thought maybe they would really stink this year because the team needed way too many fixes to even think about winning 85 games. But he made a large number of trades, probably way more than any team in the last 12 months, and look where we are…

It’s pretty clear that this team does not need that much fixing this off season. Maybe keep Adam LaRoche, figure out what to do with 6 starters–maybe not sign Tim Hudson or trade Javier Vasquez, figure out who is going to be the closer, do the annual reshuffling of the bullpen, and get a big bat for LF. That’s really nothing compared to what this team was up against last year after the WS. This team has been in reconstruction since that time all the way up to trading for LaRoche a few weeks ago.

We may not even need a big bat in LF if Heyward starts in RF and hits like we think he can (even a first year average year from him would be infinitely better than G Anderson or R Church) and Matt Diaz starts in LF (I think his 2008 season was an aberration). Heyward, McLouth, and Diaz… What’s wrong with that? Look what we had coming out of spring training!!

This team does not seem to have any glaring weaknesses and any trades will simply make this team even better. This team, right now, can win 88-90 games. A big bat in LF–someone who can hit 35-40 homers (which is a lot better than 12 from Anderson) would put this team into the 90+ win category given that we don’t let our bullpen crash and burn this off season and Chipper Jones can come back to some respectable level.

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Big bag in LF-someone who can hit 35-40 homers

That would be two in all of baseball, Bay and Dunn.
That’s not going to happen next year. We do need to get some pop somewhere. I’d be happy with 20-25.

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20-25 homers is nice but we can get those 35-40 with McLouth, Heyward (if he hits like we think he can 20 would be nice in his first year), and Diaz or some other big bat in LF.

Look between the lines people, look between the lines… Let’s work together on our posts not against each other. We are all Braves fans…

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I was extremely fortunate to have missed the entire game last night, and only know the outcome from reading these blogs. Congrats to the Phillies for SPANKING our boys. They have proven that it doesn’t take managers to win games.

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You guys can join me and Barbara at our place tonight and watch the Dawgs and not the Braves. (byob)

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It all comes down to what the definition of “it” is?

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Werth can flat out play!

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It’s amazing how some of you will defend Esco to the death. The kid has all the talent in the world, but he is a moron. It’s really that simple. I don’t blame Bobby one bit for pulling his lazy azz out of that game. And don’t compare him to Chipper and GA. Like it or not, veterans are going to get more passes than young guys.

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Escobar has talent and I agree he is a onion head sometimes. What happen to him? I remember when he came up in 07 he had a lot of baseball savvy and looked like our best baserunner with instincts. Still a great fielder and incredible arm. He’s a good hitter and they have him where he should be batting. He’s a 6th hole guy and can be productive. I don’t know about Bobby pulling him out last night but he did dog it on the groundball. Pull him or take him aside and chew him a new one, not sure what the call should have been. I do know Bobby’s magic worked again with Infante grounding into a 6-4-3 afterwards.

On the positive, good to see Prado hitting again. I like him and feel like he will start next year at provide consistency at the 2 hole.

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stick a fork in me………..

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Jake W. I’ve seen Mac dog it a number of times this season and its usually after he gets frustrated after popping up the ball.

Popups are different than ground outs. And BMac did turn what looked like a popup into a triple earlier this year (June 6th). And he almost beat out a bunt the other day against Feliciano…he was busting it down the line.

But that’s not to say there haven’t been a few occasions where he’s just kinda jogged to first on routine ground outs or popups.

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It does appear that we need the big bopper that some are calling for. I know his defensive weakness, but Adam Dunn would fit in the lineup well. Escobar was dogging it,but I wish that could have been handled differently. Maybe hurt his billfold with a fine, he can be a great player if he wants to be. I know I am getting older, but some of the in-game bloggers are becoming unreal. The blog is an amazing thing, it is so easy to curse others and make ourselves feel better by raging at a player or a stranger on the internet. You who do this cannot understand what you make yourself look like to others or you would stop. Well, maybe not.

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I think the Gators will hang at least 50 points on the Volunteers today.
Florida has a middle linebacker who is 6′6″, 290 lbs. (he’s only a junior, too). Get use to watching them win. Tebow’s back-up is very good, also.

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Callin’ any and all takers for Chipper Jones?

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CB

I think it’s about the swap of players.

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Was just reading an article from Yahoo! about Hanson, and get this thing from McDowell:

Pitching coach Roger McDowell said it’s “absolutely” too early to start comparing Hanson to some of Atlanta’s pitching greats.

“He’s got a hundred innings in the big leagues,” McDowell said. “When Chuck James was here and he had a hundred innings in the big leagues, it was the Glavine comparison. And Chuck James isn’t pitching anymore.”

Ouch…poor Chucky…

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Roger McDowell = confidence booster

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It’s hard to consistently win with Bobby Cox making poor decisions. Stop pitching to Ryan Howard, that eliminates 3-runs, and who the heck do we bring into games when down 3-1?

We gave up 3 runs in 7 innings and 6 runs in 2 innings? But like I said yesterday, this team is always due for a Bobby Cox mismanagement and a bullpen blowup, they always seem to coincide.

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Good point DMac. DOB should title his next blog

“Braves have no shot – Read this only if you’re a loser”

That’ll bring in the views.

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Are people honestly playing the woe is Yunel card? The mofo didn’t hustle on a ball he could’ve beaten out because of the bad throw. Dude dogged it like an absolute loser. And what is this defense of “he plays fiery, and that rubs Bobby the wrong way”? WTF is so friggin’ fiery about dogging it on a groundball with RISP in a game with 16 left while you’re 4 out? WTF is fiery about that? That wasn’t fiery. It was just plain sorry. Absolute horsesh!t effort.

Derek Jeter ain’t really all that better than Yunel, but when was the last time you saw Jeter give that kind of sorry sack of sh!t effort in any game, nevermind a game a that reaaaaaally mattered? Never. 14 years in the pros, 35 years old, and he’s been busting it down the line on every single ground ball from the time he was 21 years old. Let this be the last time we label Yunel’s play as fiery. Too much of this crap goes on.

And don’t waste your time calling me a Yunel hater. I’ve always been the biggest Yunel apologist. I screamed louder, harder and longer than anyone that including him in a trade for Peavy would’ve been the dumbest thing ever. I still wouldn’t get rid of him, but I’ve lost a ton of respect for him, and won’t be making anymore excuses for his behavior. Dude is a talented player, and a moody hothead, but he ain’t fiery. Got me some serious questions now about how much he really wants to win. You can’t be fiery if you keep showing that the will to win doesn’t burn in you.

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Yep, I had Multiple BF’s last month,

You’re such a ho! Ho, sit down!

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The Braves came in with a 7 game streak, they are playing the world champs who are really hot this week. Can youse find a way to give them something? How in the world do fans turn so quickly against them? I felt bad for them after working so hard all week.

Switch over to Braves.com, get tickets, come to game tonight and tomorrow and help to cheer them on. All you’re going to do tonight is sit on the keyboard and criticize them anway. If you care so much then be there and cheer or BOO Cox, Chipper, whoever you like to boo but do something. The tickets are so cheap you got the money.

I’ll be there tonight and tomorrow since I know they need all they can get this weekend. When other teams see a half empty stadium they punish the team when they see they’re down with no fans.

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Stop with this Yunel crap. Chipper does the same crap on offense and defense. Half-A efforts running the bases, easy ground outs when there are two outs. Matt Diaz consistently drops routine fly-balls in the outfield. Loaf Anderson can’t catch anything close to him, because he is old. An occasional out from Escobar because he doesn’t run hard to first, isn’t the end of the world, just like all the things listed above.

Esco not running to first didn’t cost us the game. Bobby Cox deciding to pitch to Ryan Howard cost us the first part of the game. Then deciding to pitch 4 players who haven’t pitched or the Braves in a long time, in a 3-1 game lost us the 2nd half of the game. Medlen/Logan/Acostus/Nunez in a game that was 3-1 at the time and Tim Hudson was at 87 pitches? And of course in the Next half of the innnig we hit a 2-run homer that would’ve tied it up. Instead it is 5-3. But heck its still a 2-run game, lets bring in another guy who hasn’t seen action for the Braves in a while, and lets bring him in in a 5-3 game. He gives up 4 and makes it 9-3. Of course the Braves score which could have made it 4-3 Braves or 5-4 Phillies however you want to look at it, but nope its 9-4 and we lose.

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Its Funny how people are saying that Adam Dunn would be a perfect fit for this lineup…I lusted for seeing Dunn, Abreu, Ibanez or even Nelson (Nellie) Cruz in a braves uni all last offseason and I got my Ass handed to me because I called out the F.O. for going cheap and instead invested too much into D. Lowe and KK…

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Hey DOB

Since you have been empowered to play with our emotions, do you think you have some free time to drop by and mow my back yard? You must be quite versatile.

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Anyone need a little pick me up? Enjoy the piano at the 2:39 mark.

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