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3,403 comments Add your comment
Jurrjens4NLCY
October 4th, 2009
8:35 am
Richbravem
If going out this way means getting a draft pick higher than Florida, SF, Texas, and Detriot/Twins, then yeah, I would, but Hudson can’t get the loss, MFIKY does…
Jurrjens4NLCY
October 4th, 2009
8:46 am
Cruz makes league minimum and has only 1.082 service time.
It would take a lot of money to do a “cash for player” deal.
Better off trading ‘em players….
richbrave
October 4th, 2009
8:51 am
Since we’re about to stroll down memory lane with the 2009 season, here’s a list of expatriates, trade-bait, waifs, and other former BRAVES still playing over in the Junior circuit.
A.L. EAST:
N.Y. YANKEES.
Mark Teixeira
BOSTON RED SOX.
Paul Byrd
J.D. Drew
Nick Green
Casey Kotchman
Chris Woodward
TAMPA BAY RAYS.
Willie Aybar
Jeff “the Chaw” Bennett
Lance Cormier
Russ Springer
A.L. CENTRAL:
MINNESOTA TWINS.
Ron Mahay
CHICAGO WHITE SOX.
Octavio Dotal
Jermaine Dye
Tyler Flowers
Mark Kotsay
Brent Lillibridge
Dewayne Wise
CLEVELAND INDIANS.
Andy Marte
KANSAS CITY ROYALS.
Josh Anderson
Bruce Chen
Ramon Colon
Kyle Davies
Anthony Lerew
Brayan Pena
A.L. WEST.
TEXAS RANGERS.
Elvis Andrus
Neftali Feliz
Matt Harrison
Andruw Jones
Kevin Millwood
Jarrod Saltalamacchia
OAKLAND ATHLETICS.
Joey Devine
That’s quite a list. And as I said two days ago when I put up the 24 N.L. former BRAVES, these are just the ones I remember. I post some stats for their 2009 season later.
richbrave
October 4th, 2009
8:56 am
Jurrgens4NLCY:
O.K. Mr. GM, forget it. No deal. You ain’t gettin’ any more of our prospects. And I don’t care about the draft. I want to go out a 2009 winner.
Vinings Jim
October 4th, 2009
8:56 am
Rob – best wishes – I have been thinking about you since Thursday – good to see you back – hope you feel better soon.
Lew
October 4th, 2009
8:59 am
Rob From SC-Dude, hope you feel better soon. Glad to see you didn’t blame the reason for your surgery on Chipper, though.
Lew
October 4th, 2009
9:02 am
Rich Brave-Bet you could find the same thing with most teams-especially the Pirates. Just how many of those players would you really want still In Atlanta, though? I’d love to have Kotsay. Lillibridge and Bruce Chen back, wouldn’t you?
Jurrjens4NLCY
October 4th, 2009
9:03 am
O.K. Mr. GM, forget it.
If Washington hates Cruz that much, we could give ‘em a lost player and a fringed prospect.
Something like Brian Barton, Buddy Carlye and Jorge Campillo…
Jurrjens4NLCY
October 4th, 2009
9:06 am
Lew,
Lol, You would pass up the likes of Mark Texiera, Jermaine Dye, Elvis Andrus for Mark Kotsay and Brent Lillibridge?
Are you on pain killers too?
I kid, I kid…
richbrave
October 4th, 2009
9:09 am
LEW:
I wonder about that. 30 X 40 = 1200 players. 56 of that number represents 4.7% of that total. Times 30 = 141%. If my math is good, that indicates there are more former BRAVES playing than most clubs. No?
Jurrjens4NLCY
October 4th, 2009
9:12 am
What about DeRosa, Wainwright, Furcal, etc?
Or are we strictly talking “trade”
richbrave
October 4th, 2009
9:17 am
Jurrgens4NLCY:
No dude, definitely not. If I insulted you, you’d know it. I mean we’re both just hypothesizing here right? Kinda’ playing GM? I wouldn’t give the RANGERS the sweat off my – - shorts, after the last trade they pulled on us. He could be the second coming of PUJOLS for all I care.
richbrave
October 4th, 2009
9:22 am
LEW, JURRGENS4NLCY:
Nice little breakfast club we’ve got goin’ here this morning isn’t it?
Hey LEW, I’m sneaking up to QUEBEC next summer to spend a week at our time-share on the St. Lawrence. We’re driving up and I have to make a stop at SHELBURNE FALLS, MASS. on the way. Is that anywhere close to you?
richbrave
October 4th, 2009
9:24 am
Oops, feed-bag’s on. Later.
Jurrjens4NLCY
October 4th, 2009
9:43 am
richbrave,
Lol. I know how you feel, but all those player were blocked so, BFD.
If I’m the Braves, I make that deal in a heart beat…
Who knows? The difference between playoffs and no playoffs this year could have been a 30/30 guy… Plus he’s under team control for 5 more years…
Lew
October 4th, 2009
9:43 am
RichBrave-I’m not positive, but Boston is three hours from me and at least some of that is the God Awful Boston traffic to get to Fenway (other side of town from where we come in), so I’m doubting it would be more than an hour or two away. We could probably do lunch or dinner.
Email me LewHartman@comcast.net and I’ll give you my phone number and when the time gets closer, we’ll see what we can arrange.
Jurrjens4NLCY
October 4th, 2009
9:48 am
All these people on this blog, hooking up for lunch and dinner…
I feel like this blogs 2,543rd wheel…
Lew
October 4th, 2009
10:09 am
JJforCy-Dude, you’d be surprised at how many of the bloggers have gotten together for games, nights out with the guys at bars, Basketball and Hockey games, dinner at Spring Training, sharing music, etc.
I had one blogger stay with my family down in Orlando for Spring Training. Matter of fact, The Grinch will be down there with us for Spring Training again this year.
Jurrjens4NLCY
October 4th, 2009
10:13 am
Lew,
I am surprised. Thats kinda weird but at the same time, normal.
Mark
October 4th, 2009
10:13 am
If the Braves had Francoeur’s numbers since the trade they would have won the wild card. Who has better numbers than Francoeur on the Braves since the trade??? Avg. 311 HR 10 RBI’s 41 OBP 338 SLUG 498. They gave up on the kid to quick and now they are paying for it.
richbrave
October 4th, 2009
10:20 am
No fifth wheels that are regular contributors like you Jurrgens4NLCY. It’s all good my man.
Jurrjens4NLCY
October 4th, 2009
10:22 am
If anyone is looking for a quick read: http://knoble.mlblogs.com/archives/2009/10/its_the_most_wonderful_time_of_1.html
Rock On......
October 4th, 2009
10:29 am
I know the wheels have come off the bus and this thing is just anti-climatic but who would have bought into the idea two weeks ago that the Braves would be staring at finishing off the season with their starting rotation not picking up a win. Finish 0-6. To the Nats of all teams! Ugly.
Jurrjens4NLCY
October 4th, 2009
10:31 am
richbrave,
Oh, I don’t mind at all. I’m perfectly happy living in Chicago…
all alone…
…with no Braves fans to go out to dinner with
…by myself
McFann Ô
October 4th, 2009
10:40 am
Soph you made me laugh so hard I almost dropped my laptop.
Thanks…always happy to be of service.
JJ4NLCY C’mon…..!
No…no, I just can’t…
But you shouldn’t feel too bad–I hate all AL teams.
(Well, some more than others…if the Angels get to the WS, and someone put a gun to my head and made me pick a team, I’d have to go with them…)
abwright
October 4th, 2009
10:53 am
So, I’ve watched a little of the Braves for the last few days. Since they’ve been eliminated, the offense has been singularly uninspired. I’ll probably watch all of today’s game, since it will be the last Braves’ baseball til Spring Training.
When the Braves were still contending, there were a lot of folks (including players) complaining about lack of attendance. If I had bought a ticket and flown to Atlanta for this last weekend, I would be supremely pissed off about the quality of product that the Braves have put out there in this last weekend.
The difference between the gNats and the Braves seems to be that a few player on the gNats are trying out for next year. The Braves players (not all, but many) seem to be getting ready to go fishin’ and they just need to show up at the office and collect their paycheck.
Overall, 2009 has been a much more enjoyable season that the past few. Hopefully, 2010 will be a blast. I hope the Front Office ships out the “broken pieces” and gets a few new players who bring a little more industry to the team.
One great positive about 2010, no World Baseball Classic to foul up Spring Training.
Lew
October 4th, 2009
10:54 am
Jurrjens4Cy-Dude, I live in Vermont. Rich Brave lives around Richmond. N8 (Nathan) lives somewhere in one of the Dakotas.
There are Braves’ fans all over the place due to TBS for all of those years. We’ve even had people post from Canada, Japan, Viet Nam, Germany and Holland. Michi San has been stationed on the other side of the world for the several years he has posted on the blog. Piedmont Blues moved from Colorado to NC and Jason In Florida was Jason in Maine when he started posting. Chicago is not all that unusual.
Lew
October 4th, 2009
10:55 am
And let us not forget BravoNam, who is way the hell over on the other side of the world. We think he’s somewhere in SE Asia, but he hasn’t checked in for a while that I’ve seen, so he could be anywhere exotic. Or not.
Jurrjens4NLCY
October 4th, 2009
10:56 am
I dislike most AL teams, but not all, I dislike almost all NL teams though…
Still, Go Twins! and Go SOX!! (White)…
At the beginning of ST I predicted that the Cards and Twins would be in the World Series and the Cards would win in 6…
I’m looking pretty good…
Jurrjens4NLCY
October 4th, 2009
10:58 am
Lew,
I know, I was just kidding about being alone. When the Braves come to Wrigley there is about 5 – 10 Braves fans in every section… Thats a lot of Braves fans…
David O'Brien
October 4th, 2009
11:14 am
Lew, I’m with you on BravoNam: A bat signal, or Braves/MIB signal, or whatever, is officiall out for BravoNam. Where are you, man?
JasonInFL
October 4th, 2009
11:17 am
What, you haven’t missed me DOB? Just kidding man…
Braveheart
October 4th, 2009
11:20 am
Those refs from the UGA game yesterday, what if they officiated this blog? With all the taunts, insults, and boasting, how many unsportsmanlike conduct penalties would they call on us?
John
October 4th, 2009
11:20 am
Enter your comments here Forget next year. With Bobby Cox, Frank Wren and Liberty Media it will be the same cheap and patch all over again.
Lew
October 4th, 2009
11:20 am
DOB-He’s probably exploring an ancient Khmer Temple or something and couldn’t find a WiFi location in the jungle.
Lew
October 4th, 2009
11:24 am
John-Cheap and patch? Seriously? Braves lost 90 games last season. They went out and totally revamped the starting rotation, spending around $110 million to do so. There has been an improvement of a minimum of 14 games (could end at 15 if we win today). No matter which part of the rotation is gone next year due to salary needs, we will still have one of the best (if not THE best) rotation in all of MLB next year (and likely for years to come with the YOUNG talent we have). We were in the pennant race until the final six games of the season.
Cheap? Patched? Get freaking real.
Doc Holiday
October 4th, 2009
11:27 am
It would have not been fair to baseball if this team got to play in october baseball. Why? Heres is why:
1. Bobby Cox kept (as always) making wrong, after wrong after wrong decisions, and having way too much patient on mediocre player, as he always does. This year it was the turn of JF, KJ and Norton.
2. Chipper Jones Having , by far, the worst season of his career. One could almost say that opponents were glad he was up when the game was on the line or when some crucial moment in the game had arrived.
3. McCann, horrible as a cleanup hitter, but it might no be his fault, we could point our fingers toward bobby on this one.
4. A bullpen that had very good numbers, but only because the dont keep stats like, letting a game slip away when it was already won by the 6th.
5. Besides the 1st 3 weeks of september, almost every day of the season, you could never feel comfortable watching these guys, they were always in trouble and struggling to get a clean win. They didnt overmatched anyone. No long winning streaks, not even 4 or 5 games in a row. It seamed that 3 games in a row was the best the could do before september arrived.
6. They struggled all season long to have a CF and leadoff hitter, thats a deathly combination to have and expect to win.
7. The best hitter on the team……….well, what can you say, an OF whom we dont know anymore what his position is. Is he a LF?, RF? is he a platoon player? People, When the best hitter on your team is a platoon player, you are in deep sh……..
8. Next to Matt the best hitter, Martin Prado, a player that since last season was clearly better than KJ, and yet was day in and day out left on the bench. so our 2nd best hitter (if not our best) only had half the ABs he should have had if we had a smart manager on this team. Same goes for Matt.
9. Then comes the best power hitter on this team, he arrived at midseason just before the deadline. So what do we have here? Our 3 best guys only had half the ABs they should have gotten.
10. Then you have a team with only 1 guy with more than 80 RBI………… unheard of. And only 1 with more than 20 HR, which BTW is the same guy. No players with 100 RBI, and only 3 with more than 70.
11. Our OF (GA, JF, Diaz, Schafer, Church and McLouth) had a grand total of 45 HR (are you freaking kidding me?!?!?!?) in 1837 AB. Thats 1 HR every 40.8 AB. Just so you notice how bad this is, Albert Pujols has 47HR in 563AB, which translates into 1HR every 11.98 AB. Daniel Murphy of the muts had 12 HR in 504AB (1HR every 42 AB), meaning we were playing 3 D.M. in our OF all season long. Or maybe we can compare then to the 1HR/42.5 AB from Fernando Tatis.
12. Now come our corner IF. OMG, what a disgrace. 36HR in 991, meaning they hit 1HR every 27.5 AB. But if you look a little bit closer, you will notice that 12 of those HR were hit by Adam Laroche when he got here. Could you imagine how bad this could have been if that trade was not to be made???
13. What about having one of our young studs hustling less than 40 year old Garret Anderson while running to 1B? Even after he was benched by Bobby in the middle of a game for not running hard, he kept doing it in the following games. That decision and the outcome shows that the decision was stupid, since we were in a crucial game. But the point is, could you imagine Yunel running toward 1B in some NLCS or WS on national TV? What a shame.
So what kind of team was this? A team that his opening day pitcher finished like the #5 starter? How do you go from ACE to #5 in less than 6 months? and not only that, but how do you do that under Cox, who is the most patient manager in baseball. A team that 2/3 of its opening day OF didnt make it to the midseason break. A team that was next to last in SB, and fell short from being the last by just 2 SB.
Lets be honest. We had great things………..our starting pitching, some solid but misused bullpen. Some good defense. And a team that has good BA and makes lots of contact. Thats all we have………we cant expect to make it to the playoff that way.
It wouldnt be fair to baseball. This team needs lots of changes. Some players should go and some players should change their attitude. Chipper, Yunel, Mcpopup, Cox, KJ, etc, just didnt deserve to play in october………. they didnt play with excellence, thats why life didnt reward them.
Lew
October 4th, 2009
11:29 am
Terry McGuirk promised the Braves would spend “Many MIllions of dollars”. Frank Wren swore he would re-vamp the rotation and get an outfielder, even if it were during the season. From my point of view, they told the absolute truth.
I heard Frank Wren talking to Chip Caray pregame yesterday. He said this winter they would rebuild the bullpen and get power for the lineup (preferably RH power, but he did not rule out LH if that was what was available). I have no reason whatsoever to doubt the Man’s word. He’s kept it up til now, made masterful deals to acquire Jurrjens, McLouth and Infante. He signed the pitching necessary to lead us back to competitive levels. I see no reason to doubt him.
Lew
October 4th, 2009
11:32 am
Well Doc-They
‘re NOT playing in the post season, so what exactly, is the point of your rant? Trying to tell us things we haven’t already heard an infinite number of times throughout the course of the season? If so, Dude, you failed miserably. Nothing new in THAT post.
BravesfaninWis
October 4th, 2009
11:42 am
Seriously, how can the Braves expect to be optimistic about 2010, and more importantly expect us fans to believe they will be a better team next year when they are on the verge of be swept by the worse f’n team in baseball?
What the Braves really deserve next season is to have a average of about 2000 fans at each home game until they prove to us that they are a better team. People are sick and tired of spending their hard earned money to watch this team play like complete sh!t like this when they had a very good chance just a week ago of winning the WC spot.
I for one am not ordering MLB Extra Innings next year to begin the season. I will wait a while to see how they are doing before spending that kind of money on them again. I have spend enough over the years and the only thing I have seen is a lack luster team falling on their faces and sending their fans home in a bad mood. They don’t deserve fan support now, and until they change their game, they won’t get it from me.
RIPSkip
October 4th, 2009
11:43 am
I know it doesn’t matter, but I’m most upset that we are going to finish 3rd, behind the Marlins. After our nice run, it would at least have felt good to hang our hat on a 2nd place finish looking to next year. To totally fold up after we were eliminated from the Wild Card and slide from a solid 2nd to a disappointing 3rd leaves a bad taste.
GO BRAVES! Maybe next year!
McFann Ô
October 4th, 2009
11:47 am
Doc H. McCann, horrible as a cleanup hitter
Yeah. I agree. He only led the team in homers and RBI.
Chipper, Yunel, Mcpopup, Cox, KJ, etc, just didnt deserve to play in october………. they didnt play with excellence, thats why life didnt reward them.
Lew
October 4th, 2009
11:52 am
McFann-Maybe it’s just time to leave for a while and let the Lunatic Fringe gripe and complain some more (really don’t know how they have the energy to keep going on and on and on and…..). Must be drugs. They’re certainly not using logic or rational thinking. Whatever. I’m sure I can find something else to do instead of listening to more garbage from people without a clue.
RichBrave-You’re Massachusetts’ destination is about an hour and a half (max) from our place. We could easily arrange to have dinner with you.
Jurrjens4NLCY
October 4th, 2009
11:52 am
Yeah. I agree. He only led the team in homers and RBI.
Honey, thats not saying a lot…
McCann had a horrible year…
Doc Holiday
October 4th, 2009
11:57 am
Lew,
If you already now all that, at least it means im not that far from truth.
Doc Holiday
October 4th, 2009
11:58 am
*know
McFann Ô
October 4th, 2009
11:58 am
JJ4NLCY–
Not horrible…not his best, obviously, but not horrible…
Mark in midtown
October 4th, 2009
11:59 am
I’m optimistic about the roster for next year, but have near zero confidence in Cox to maximize the ability of that roster as I think he’s the weakest tactical manager in the history of modern baseball. There may have been others just as bad, but they usually lost their jobs pretty quickly, whereas Cox for many years was in the unique situation of having a team so deep that there was always enough of a margin of error to overcome his tactical idiocy, that is until the post-season. I hope I’m wrong, but I suspect next year around this time, that it will have been more of the same with increasing numbers of people posting their disbelief at many of Cox’s tactical moves and his stubbornness in continuing to use the lower percentage options, when there are clearly far higher percentage options available, superior options so obviously available that a 2nd grader could figure it out.
McFann Ô
October 4th, 2009
11:59 am
Lew–
Not a bad idea. TVLand has a Hogan’s Heroes marathon happening, anyway…
Doc Holiday
October 4th, 2009
12:00 pm
Lew,
It is nice to have you on this blog, at least I know Im reading from a guy that is the next best thing to god I´ll ever get before I get to heaven (if I ever get there). That way I can learn from the very best, right?
Jurrjens4NLCY
October 4th, 2009
12:02 pm
Not horrible…not his best, obviously, but not horrible…
Fine. Not horrible, but disappointing…
Mac should be a .300/30HR/100RBI guy soon…
Doc Holiday
October 4th, 2009
12:03 pm
Jurrjens4NLCY,
Mc will become that as soon as he gets some help in the lineup and is dropped from the cleanup spot.
McFann Ô
October 4th, 2009
12:03 pm
What the…devil? This ain’t Hogan’s Heroes! Sheesh…trash…pure, unadulterated trash…
Oh well…on to the Hallmark Channel…
McFann Ô
October 4th, 2009
12:06 pm
JJ4NLCY–
I’ll go along with you on disappointing. Either that, or I set my hopes WAY too high…
Mac should be a .300/30HR/100RBI guy soon…
It really hurts because he should have 100 RBI this year…I mean, he could EASILY have 100 RBI this year…if he woulda hit doubles instead of ground outs with the “sacs packed” earlier this week, he would…
On the plus side, he hit over .330 with RISP this year.
ryan c
October 4th, 2009
12:07 pm
mccann was the best offensive catcher in the nl. how is that a horrible year? no offense to the good bloggers here, but do you other people back anything up with research? for every good post on here, there are at least 9 or 10 that is useless drivel.
mccann was first in homeruns, first in rbi, first in total bases, and first in ops. the only catcher close to his production was miguel montero. if i’m not mistaken, you cant get much better than first.
http://tinyurl.com/ycx3anv
Braveheart
October 4th, 2009
12:11 pm
McCann had a horrible year?
The Braves have the highest OPS from the catcher position in the National League by a HUUUUUUGe margin. The next team is Arizona, 60 points behind in OPS. The Braves team OPS from the catcher position is the second highest in the majors.
The average OPS for the catcher position for teams is .710 in the NL and .715 in the majors. The median catcher OPS is .687.
The Braves catchers combined for an .842 OPS, 130 points higher than average, and 155 points higher than the median.
The Braves had the second most homers for catchers in the majors (highest in the NL), most RBIS in the majors by the catchers (most in the NL), 4th most runs scored in the majors (2nd in the NL), 4th most hits in the majors (1st in the NL), 2nd most doubles in the majors (1st in the NL), 3rd in total bases in the majors (1st in the NL), 4th best batting average in the majors (2nd in the NL), 3rd highest OBP (2nd in the NL), 3rd highest SLG (1st NL), 2nd most extra base hits (1st NL)
A horrible season for McCann? Gimme a friggin’ break.
McFann Ô
October 4th, 2009
12:12 pm
ryan c–
I totally agree…my main beef with him is the high K total, the low (for him) double total, and his AVG isn’t really where it should be. But really there’s not a whole lot to complain about. The way he bounced back from his eye issues was great, IMHO.
Doc Holiday
October 4th, 2009
12:14 pm
ryan c,
Sure, that might be correct. He might have 1st in popups with bases loaded, popups with runners in scoring position. 1st in GIDP with 2 or more runners on base.
I wont debate he had good numbers and that he was asked way to much. But you will have to agree that he left you scratching your head tons of time. With bad ABs, specially in crunch time. Im not trying to say I would trade him or something, Im pretty sure he if not the best we can get, close to it, but for what he was asked to do, he didnt do well, and that was carry the team as the offensive leader. How exactly could you be the offensive leader with 21 HR and 94 RBI? Maybe if there were 4 guys on this team doing the same, but when nobody else is doing it, then you look worse than you really are.
Steve from OH
October 4th, 2009
12:14 pm
Horrible season for McCann? I…can’t even think of anything snarky enough to respond with.
McFann Ô
October 4th, 2009
12:15 pm
Braveheart–
I agree it was not a horrible year for BMac. Don’t see how someone could call it horrible.
The Braves catchers combined for an .842 OPS, 130 points higher than average, and 155 points higher than the median.
Yeah, but see, that’s combining him with ssoR, and he’s flawless, right?
Keeping It Real
October 4th, 2009
12:16 pm
If the Braves are so optimistic about 2010, then why are they playing so badly now that the NLCS and World Series are off the table? They will be no better next year unless they trade or let go of some of the players they have on the team. This team is not good as has been demonstrated in the recent five game loss streak. A good team would play better to show that they belong in the top elite. This team cannot even beat the worse team in baseball. Hopefully they will add some speed, power and defense to the outfield over the off season(not Schafer).
Lew
October 4th, 2009
12:17 pm
Doc-Dude, go back and read your post. This is NOT Chipper’s worst season, he hit .248 a few years back.
As for the rest-show my one single thing that you’ve said there that HASN’T been said more times than you or I can count. It’s all the same old crap. Over and over and over. Ad infinitum and ad naseum. NOTHING you said is new or even relatively informative.
Bobby sucks. Bobby makes unpardonable mistakes. Bobby played (name whichever player du jour is pissing you off) too much and should have sent (name the player) back to the minors, DFA’ed him, or had him freaking shot in the clubhouse (or maybe you would prefer a pubic execution?) after a failed at bat. Norton should be flayed alive to the delight of the 20,000 who actually bother to show up regularly.
Francouer sucks. Schafer sucked. Garret Anderson sucked. Chipper sucked. Brooks Conrad is God. Over and over. We don’t have any power. Casey Kotchman sucked. We should have gotten rid of him sooner. McCann can’t hit cleanup. Our bullpen was good, but they really weren’t because they suck too. If we re-sign LaRoche, then he’ll suck for the first half of the season. Lowe sucks and isn’t worth $15 much less $15 million. Kawakami should go back to Japan to suck.
Dude, exactly what is there in any of that we haven’t heard before or tells us something beneficial. Yeah, we get it. You don’t like the way this season has gone (you think I am?). You’re frustrated about all the things you just mentioned for the umpteenth time this year. We get it. We’ve gotten it all freaking year long. Wer’ll get it all freaking winter lon and liely all of next year, even if they win 95-100 games with the new fixes we’ll definitely get.
Sorry you are so upset with a mere 14 game improvement over last year. Sorry you’re not happy with having the best starting rotation in the NL and one of the best in all of MLB. Sorry you can’t see that since the end of June that this is an entirely different team. Sorry you don’t like that I, like so many more, are sick and tired of hearing the same garbage posted intemrinably. Sorry you don’t like that I said something. Freaking get over it or post something we don’t know or which might actually prove relevant to something.
SwimtrunkDawg
October 4th, 2009
12:18 pm
If Chippers batting third next year the Braves will suck.
Steve from OH
October 4th, 2009
12:19 pm
I wont debate he had good numbers
Then what exactly are you debating? Statistics are a measure of performance! That’s it, that’s all. I know that throws a huge wrench in your player-bashing campaign, but get over it and try being rational and objective for a change.
P.S.–.333/.387/.612=.999 OPS with men in scoring position!
McFann Ô
October 4th, 2009
12:26 pm
Steve I…can’t even think of anything snarky enough to respond with.
Doc H He might have 1st in popups with bases loaded, popups with runners in scoring position. 1st in GIDP with 2 or more runners on base.
BMac hit .313 (5-16) with the bases loaded, .336 (45-134) with RISP, .325 (25-77) with RISP/2 outs…
He hit 15 of his 21 homers with men on base, giving him the highest percentage IN THE MAJORS of homers hit with men on among guys with at least 15 homers.
He hit .323 (51-158) in tie games. He was 14-21 in getting a runner in from third with less than two outs (and that’s not counting those GO with the bases loaded).
Do you know how many DPs he grounded into with the bases loaded this year? TWO. Count ‘em–1, 2. Do you know how many he grounded into with 2 men on base? 5. He did most of his GIDP with only one man on base (10).
Just showing you the facts, my friend. Yeah, he was counted on to do too much…and how could he be the offensive leader with 21 HR and 94 RBI? Hmm…IDK. Why don’t you ask the rest of the team why they didn’t put up better numbers…not BMac’s fault nobody else could drive in more than 94 runs…
Or, I’m sorry, is it? ‘Cause I know BMac clogs up the basepaths.
BraveDanTheMan
October 4th, 2009
12:27 pm
Free agents I would look at:
Mark DeRosa
Marlon Byrd
Jake W.
October 4th, 2009
12:27 pm
Come on people, do you really think that if the braves get swept by the Nats that it has some bearing on how bad they are. Did you not see Tommy Hanson pitch well this series or Jair do what he’s done so many times this year? Lowe unfortunately was the same in that he still struggled although he could of given up 2 less runs if Omar Infante isn’t playing in RF. Pitching has been there all season. Even with Lowe’s struggles we have had one of the best starting rotations ERA in the majors all year long. No if we get swept by the Nats its for the same reason we have lost a lot of games we should have won, lack of offense and even more puzzling lack of offense at home. We need a better offense, something we’ve known basically all season. Getting beat by the Nats proves nothing new, it just reinforces what we already know.
Reid Adair
October 4th, 2009
12:27 pm
Careful with the optimism. Frank Wren has another entire off-season coming up where I feel we will see th Braves tose two starting pitchers (Vazquez and Hudson) – and get little, if anything, to improve the inconsistency on offense.
McFann Ô
October 4th, 2009
12:28 pm
Steve P.S.–.333/.387/.612=.999 OPS with men in scoring position!
Tsk tsk tsk! That would be .336/.387/.621=.999 OPS with men in scoring position!
Tell It Like It Is
October 4th, 2009
12:31 pm
Lew,
So the Braves improved by 14 games over last season. They were lucky as the Mets played injured all year. The losing streak that they are going through right now does not bode well for next year. They better make some trades over the off season. This team will not improve next year with the players they have.IT IS WHAT IT IS.
Jurrjens4NLCY
October 4th, 2009
12:33 pm
B Mac’s numbers have declined from last year. Not horrible, but disappointing. Esoecially when hes been hyped up to one of the greafest catchers of all time.
I suspect he’ll hit .300 with 100Rbis and 25HRs next year…
Jake W.
October 4th, 2009
12:36 pm
“This team will not improve next year with the players they have”-Tell It Like It Is
Um, Duh
Piedmont Blues (x-BFIR)
October 4th, 2009
12:37 pm
McFann, Steve, others,
McCann’s problem was that he didn’t have enough RISP on ahead of him. Given the team’s basic lack of athleticism, you needed to have three guys hitting in front of him with Chipper-like OBPs. Prado and McLouth in the high .350s (Mc’s Braves stats) is not bad, but not enough.
Salamander
October 4th, 2009
12:39 pm
Braveheart
I agree – all this “McCann has had an off year, blah, blah…” chatter is kinda silly when viewed from the perspective of his position as a catcher. He wasn’t what the Braves badly needed offensively, but expecting/relying a catcher to be your #4 hitter, and provide pop for the entire lineup is asking too much from the dude behind the plate.
Post steroids era people! McCann is not suddenly going to morph into Piazza.
David O'Brien
October 4th, 2009
12:40 pm
McCann’s out of lineup, got hit in the family jewels yesterday after previously being hit in the wrist. And David Ross is also too “beat up” to play, Bobby said. Has a sore knee and other nicks.
Chipper’s also been scratched, don’t even know an official reason for that yet.
Anyway …
LINEUP
1. McLouth
2. Infante
3. Prado
4. Anderson (batting cleanup, baby)
5. LaRoche
6. Escobar
7. Kelly Johnson (forgotten man returns)
8. Clint Sammons (really, really forgotten man returns)
9. Hudson
Steve from OH
October 4th, 2009
12:43 pm
Look on the bright side, people…last time we have to see Loaf in a Braves uniform!
ryan c
October 4th, 2009
12:45 pm
doc,
i dont have to admit anything. baseball is a 162 game season and not individual at-bats. mccann’s batting averages was great. do you expect him to get on base every time? is a .336 batting average and .999ops not good enough for you with risp? good advice: dont ever take individual at-bats for a baseball player to prove a point.
http://tinyurl.com/yaxmwrk
JJ4NLCY
October 4th, 2009
12:46 pm
McCann’s season:
As a catcher – GREAT!
As McCann – Ok. plus or minus
As a clean up hitter – Horrible.
Braveheart
October 4th, 2009
12:48 pm
Yeah, it just sucks having a catcher who produces like Piazza when he’s going well, and produces like Posada when he’s not. That guy is horrible
McFann Ô
October 4th, 2009
12:48 pm
Piedmont Blues–
Guess that’s true…he did have a ton of guys on base in front of him, though. Somewhere in the neighborhood of 394…
Salamander–
I agree.
Thanks for the lineup, Chief. Least my man went out on a good note…but never got one more double or defensive CS.
TnBrian(Vazquez ace 2010)
October 4th, 2009
12:48 pm
Yeah, this team needs two things… a pest at the top & a masher in the middle. Problem is where will that pest pay? Not CF/RF/2B/LF/3B/C/SS/1B… that pretty much leaves out that speedy leadoff guy so many are yelling for. Nate is the leadoff guy for next year it seems. At least that’s what Wren was saying on the radio yesterday. I also understand what he was talking about regarding that need for speed & power. It just doesn’t seem that financially they’re able to afford both for next year. Plus, like I mentioned above, no room for both either.
David O'Brien
October 4th, 2009
12:49 pm
Keeping It Real, Tell It Like It is, other similar screen names: Does the word “presumptive” mean anything to you? How about “self-aggrandizing”? Contrarian? Or just a simple one: “pessimist”?
Mr. Spock
October 4th, 2009
12:51 pm
Did you see the line-up the Nats have posted? All scrubs. Pete Orr is batting third! Tim Hudson should be thinking..perfect game here I come.
McFann Ô
October 4th, 2009
12:51 pm
Braveheart–
Seriously. Let’s forget the Lasik and just dump this clown.
David O'Brien
October 4th, 2009
12:51 pm
Careful with the optimism. Frank Wren has another entire off-season coming up where I feel we will see th Braves tose two starting pitchers (Vazquez and Hudson) – and get little, if anything, to improve the inconsistency on offense. — Reid Adair
Please explain why they would “lose” Vazquez while getting little, if anything, to improve the inconsistency on offense? I’m interested to hear what you think they would trade Vazquez for, if not to do precisely that — improve the offense.
McFann Ô
October 4th, 2009
12:52 pm
Can’t believe I spelled “my mann” with only one “n”…
What is this world coming to?
TnBrian(Vazquez ace 2010)
October 4th, 2009
12:53 pm
Wonder if they’ll do a Boog tribute thing? He’s kind of grown on me this year, so it sucks to see him go. If I had a choice at his replacement then I’ll go with Jim Powell.
Doc Holiday
October 4th, 2009
12:53 pm
Lew,
This is a blog, not the news paper………….if you want to read only stuff nobody knows about, go ready the newspaper and go and see some mind reader or psychic.
BTW, you think we a re a completely different team from june or what ever? come on……….just look at their record for this week………..against the marlins and the nats? LOL. Wow, they sure are different. Its the same stuff………….win 2, lose 2…………win 5 lose 5………………win 15, lose 15……………..BTW, since they won something like 7 or 9 in a row, they will begin next season on a losing note, just to make up for the differential on the winning vs losing streak.
And never said Im frustrated, I love the Braves, but not enough to make my live frustrating. I think disappointed is the term I would use in this case.
On the other had, if you think I just post crap and old tiring stuff, just dont bother, s soon as you see “doc Holiday”, jump to the next post, since mine are so damn bad an boring.
Steve From OH,
Numbers are not enough. I know you are a good braves fan, you know what happens in most of the games they play. And Im pretty sure how many times Mc disappointed braves fans throughout the season, and it did occur tons of times.
Matt Diaz had a better OBP and he is just a platoon guy and he was almost beaten by Prado………2 guys people on this blog refuse play everyday because they say those 2 guys are not good enough…………so where does that leaves Mc?. 2nd in GIDP on the team. 28th in the league in OPS. He lead the league in PB. He was 42nd in CS%, both of their backups were better than him. He was below leagues average. He lead the league in E with 12, next catcher had 9…………lots of difference there.
Once again, Mc is good, maybe great, but he is not perfect as some of you like to think.
David O'Brien
October 4th, 2009
12:53 pm
NATS LINEUP
1. Justin Maxwell, CF
2. Ian Desmond, SS
3. Pete Orr, 3B
4. Elijah Dukes, RF
5. Mike Morse, 1B
6. Josh Bard, C
7. Alberto Gonzalez, 2B
8. Jorge Padilla, LF
9. J.D. Martin
McFann Ô
October 4th, 2009
12:58 pm
Doc H. He lead the league in PB.
Eat your heart out–Joe Mauer had more PB (9) than McCann (7). Caught fewer guys stealing, too. (17 to BMac’s 21). But Mauer did have a better percentage rate: 24% to BMac’s 22%.
Once again, Mc is good, maybe great, but he is not perfect as some of you like to think.
Well, duh. He’s only human. Not like he’s Mauer or something.
TnBrian(Vazquez ace 2010)
October 4th, 2009
12:59 pm
Doc Holliday, you don’t annoy me at all, but they are a different team than they were in June, man. Right now, this second when they lost all excitement from being in a race? No. But, do you really judge how they’re playing right now as to how you view their future? I really don’t understand why you would. The air has been popped out of the balloon & they’re just floating back down to earth & then they’ll finally crash after today’s game.
Efrim
October 4th, 2009
1:00 pm
Wow, Nats got the “hit squad” going today…..
Wait…..GA hitting cleanup???
KC
October 4th, 2009
1:00 pm
AJC, PLEASE STOP LETTING FURMAN BISHER WRITE ABOUT BASEBALL!!!
I’m sure he’s a wonderful person, and I’m not trying to be cruel, but the simple fact of the matter is that he embarrasses himself, and the AJC, every time he writes about the Braves.
Not too long ago, we had his gem about the Braves talent on the farm having dried up… not long after multiple publications ranked the Braves farm system as the best in the NL.
Then he mentioned that maybe Chipper should be traded, but admitted he wasn’t sure if Chipper had a no-trade clause. Huh? First of all, the Braves have never offered ANY player a no-trade clause. But what makes his ignorance even worse is that… any journalist who feels he or she knows enough about baseball to write about it should understand the 10-5 rule. (If you’ve been in the league for 10 years, and have spent the last 5 years with your current team, you have veto power over any trade.) I’d be willing to bet that nearly everyone who frequents this blog understands that. Yet, Mr. Bisher, who writes about sports for the Atlanta Journal Constitution, wasn’t aware of the rule.
Which brings us to his most recent jewel of an editorial…
Bad trades cost the Braves a post-season berth? Really??? And which trades would those be?
According to Mr. Bisher, the fact that we traded away Chris Carpenter and Jason Marquis years ago cost us dearly this year. HOW???!!!! The Braves had the best starting rotation in baseball. How did parting with Chris Carpenter years ago, or Jason Marquis (who folded in the second half, BTW) injure the Braves post-season hopes this year when they led all of baseball in starters ERA??
And then he brought up the Mark Teixeira trade, and all that talent we gave up to get him.
But how exactly would the players we sent to Texas have made the difference here this year? Would we have been better off with Elvis Andrus at SS instead of Escobar??
Would we be in better shape if Salty were at 1B or behind the plate instead of Adam LaRoche or Brian McCann? I mean, how does he come to these conclusions???
Then he said the Braves “invested heavily in Kenshin Kawakami, the good-natured Japanese, who has since fallen from grace — into the bullpen.”
Fallen from grace? What?! In his last month as a starter (August), he posted an ERA of 2.87. His performance since May 1had been stellar. He was moved to the bullpen only because the Braves had a #1 start coming off the DL, and SOMEONE had to be moved to the ‘pen. As undeserving as he was to lose his place in the rotation, KK was the guy. But if you think KK had “fallen from grace”, you just have no idea what you’re talking about.
Does he get paid to write this stuff?? Again, I’m not trying to be insulting. I’m sure he’s a good guy. But I’ve never seen a less informed sports writer in my entire life.
McFann Ô
October 4th, 2009
1:00 pm
Doc H And Im pretty sure how many times Mc disappointed braves fans throughout the season
How many? I wasn’t keeping count like you. Tell tell!
KC
October 4th, 2009
1:01 pm
Adam Wainwright, not Chris Carpenter. Sorry.
Jake W.
October 4th, 2009
1:03 pm
Who said McCann is perfect Doc. I think most here are just realistic in knowing that we have the best offensive catcher in the NL. This is a position that most teams don’t count on to do much offensively. McCann grounding into a lot of DP’s proves what. That he is like most on this team in that he’s a contact hitter and not very fast. Really doesn’t matter who it is, Chipper, Esco, Prado, GA. They all make contact a lot and neither is really fast so if its a grounball to someone with a person on 1st base it will probably be a DP. McCann is not the disapointment. Francoeur and Johnson are the disapointments because if they would have been anything close to what we were hoping to get from them this would have been a good offense that wouldn’t have to dwell on everything McCann does.
Doc Holiday
October 4th, 2009
1:03 pm
McCann late&close situation: in 74 AB———– .203 .280 .297 .578 ———- how exactly is that being an offensive leader?
Shamus Thacker
October 4th, 2009
1:05 pm
If McLouth is next season’s leadoff hitter, there’s no hope…
Braveheart
October 4th, 2009
1:06 pm
Are there 2 jets headed to the Ted right now? If not, I want to know why they were just flying so low and loud past my house?
Doc Holiday
October 4th, 2009
1:06 pm
McFann Ô,
Mauer? I said “league” not “majors”.