I know this has been written about, but do you get the sense the closer’s job will go to Kimbrel exclusively, or do you think it’ll be a closer-by-committee-type thing? I think Venters could handle it as well, especially with some tough lefties coming up, but I’d like to see Kimbrel get a shot at the full-time role. I know it was only 20.2 innings and he walked too many guys, but Kimbrel had a 17.4 Ks per 9 last season, which is absurd.
Basically, spending a lot of money assures more consistency from year to year, i.e. here is a much greater chance that the team will make the playoffs every year. Not necessarily win the World Series since anyone knows it’s pretty much a crap shoot.
For a mid-market team like the Braves, a lot has to go right for them to win a lot of games. There are question marks everywhere:
Chipper Jones. Will he play more than half a season?? or even hit remotely like the old Chipper?
CF. Do we even have a bat for this position? Lots of candidates but…
LF. If Prado moves to 3B because Chipper is out, then who takes over in LF?
1B. Will Freeman hit like we think he can this year? He may not so well until 2012. Who knows?
RF. Can we expect more from Jason Heyward? I think the Braves success hinges a lot on this guy producing MORE than what he did in 2010.
Closer. Who knows if young Kimbrell is going to be able to handle the riggors of closing for a major league club. He has certainly had his bouts with control over the past couple of years in the minors!
He isn’t that far removed from those days.
Starters. Will Lowe pitch like down the stretch or like in the past? Will Jurrjens bounce back and produce like we think he can? Will we see Tommy Hanson break out this year and become a Cy Young candidate?
There are a lot of question marks! Sure, if everything works out this team could be unbeatable, but the Braves don’t have the resources to fix big problem areas that may come up–and you know things ALWAYS come up. The team almost lost the wild card down the stretch because of injuries to key players. How a team deals with diversity is the mark of a winner and if a team just doesn’t have the resources to overcome their deficiencies then they lose out. Big market teams with big budgets can overcome a lot and continue winning. They almost assure themselves of a playoff spot every single year because of this.
I know this has been written about, but do you get the sense the closer’s job will go to Kimbrel exclusively, or do you think it’ll be a closer-by-committee-type thing? — Mikeyc588
Mikeyc: Just from conversations with Fredi G., I get a sense that Kimbrel will get the bulk of the save opps, but that Venters will be option particularly when a team has lefties due up. In those cases, Kimbrel could work the eighth and Venters the ninth, or Kimbrel could get a rest. Venters showed he has a rubber arm last season, albeit a surgically repaired rubber arm (like Moylan). I don’t expect Fredi to use Venters quite as many times in a short period as Bobby did, and I also think he’ll be flexible with the closer role, see how Kimbrel is doing, how he’s holding up, etc.
By the way, many of Kimbrel’s walks came in his first appearances. He had a much better strikeouts-to-walks ratio after that. While striking out two an inning.
Contending this year and contending last year are two different beasts. Teams continue to get better every year. Phillies got better, Nationals got better, Marlins always find a way to win with young guys, the Mets are going to be healthier this year I’d presume. So while the Braves got a little bit better with Uggla, the rest of the division did too.”
The Braves had the second best roster in the National League last year.
Let’s first look at the other teams in the league
The Phillies – The top four starters are the best group since the days when Maddux Glavine and Smoltz were followed by Avery Neagle or Millwood. They lost Werth, but if Utley and Rollins return to form, it could make up for that loss. This team has three weaknesses of varying degrees. Firstly, they are old as a team. Second, their closer is prone to inexplicable and unpredictable streaks of ineffectiveness. And lastly, although he knows enough to set his rotation up for a big stretch series, Charlie Manuel is nevertheless one of the sorrier managers in the game(side note If they retain such a rotation for the next decade straight and dont win anything but Division titles, then we can start to consider whether Charlie Manuel might be almost as dumb as Bobby Cox)
2. The Mets – With ace Johan Santana out until at least mid-season, their starting pitching is barely adequate. Pelfrey has had two nice seasons, but with a career rate of 5.1K’s/9IP, he;s third starter stuff at best. The young lefty Niese looked promising, but totally hit the wall the last month of the season. After that you get to a mid 30’s knuckleballer who had his first decent season ever last year, and Oliver Perez, who once every three years or so finds the right combination of great stuff, PED’s and a good horscope thats enough to overcome the fact that he cant hit the side of a barn. David Wright bo
unced back from his mysterious 2009 power outage, Ike Davis is a nice young player, and Jose Reyes is a good, though overrated – his OBP has never topped .360 for a season), but Jason Bay is on the wrong side of age 30 and has hit better than .270 once in four years, and Carlos Beltran’s career trajectory is starting to bear eery resemblances to that of Andruw Jones. Bottom line – this is .500 roster
3.Florida – If the trio of Josh Johnson, Ricky Nolasco, and Aribel Sanchez all find a prolonged groove at the same time, then they could be right there with anybody. Nolasco is an enigma. He strikes out almost a batter an inning, strikes out 3-4 for every walk he gives up, and gives up just over a hit an inning – an repeatedly ends up with an ERA of 4.5-5. You have to be very unlucky, a mental midget, or a head
case to do that.
In the Central
1. The Reds – They have two very good number two starters, and a decent team around that. Now, there have been teams that have ridden two starters to the promised land – but, no disrespect intended, I dont think Bronson Arroyo and Johnny Cueto are THAT good
2.Milwaukee – This is quite a nice little roster, though their bullpen is thin. They are in the right division, however; 85 wins could take the NL Central in 2011. If, on the other hand, either the Reds or St Louis shows up, then consider that forlast four years in the NL, the wild card has been 90-92 wins. So, did the Brewers ADD 13-15 wins by picking up Greinke?
3. St Louis – This should be the best team in the central. By far, in fact. Of course, the same was true last year, and they fizzled. If you ask me, LaRussa has been a “less with more” kinda guy for a while now
In the West
1. San Fran – A very Braves-like roster – Plus starters 3 and a half deep, a deep and talented pen, and an unspectacular offense consisting of a few fading vets, some scrappers, and a future stud ROY type. Mix ingredients, shake well, and … TAA-daaaaaaa
2. San Diego – They overachieved last season, and they lost their offensive linchpin. Of course, Chris (isnt) Young (anymore) might just have that jaw-dropping season one of these years
3. Los Angeles – They have gotten a little better on the field with the addition of guys like Juan Uribe, Vicente Padilla (whose mugshot on cbs sportsline.com reminds me of a hit man for the Medellin e gcartel), Dioner Navarro, and company. They got a little worse on the bench with Joe Torre’s retirement. Biggest issue here is that the Giants now KNOW they are good and believe in themselves
4.Colorado – They have TT. They are justified in being excited about the future of 2010 breakout Carlos Gonzalez. And they have Ubaldo – who is quite the stud even though he couldnt hold up with Bob Gibson impersonation once July ended. Beyond that, this team is dull. One note – when they talk about PED’s, I have never heard the name Todd Helton mentioned. And yet – isnt it amazing that right around 2004 he went from 35/.335 to 15/.265 in the blink of an eye. Sorry folks, but nice guys did the juice too.
Now the Braves
They should better on offense because they added Uggla and you’d expect JHey to improve on last year given that he will be a year further along in his development and (hopefully)free of the nagging injuries that plagued him last year
They lost a big name closer. Closers arent all that tough to replace. I am not worried about this
Most importantly, this team got ten games better on October 12 of this year, when their idiot manager finally resigned.
Contending WILL be different this year. Because in 2011, we will able to contend, and we’ll have a chance at the big prize too.
For a mid-market team like the Braves, a lot has to go right for them to win a lot of games. There are question marks everywhere:
Chipper Jones. Will he …………………..There are a lot of question marks! Sure, if everything works out this team could be unbeatable, but the Braves don’t have the resources to fix big problem areas that may come up– and you know things ALWAYS come up.
I kinda agree SB. I seldom read one anymore, but I got a gazillion of them burned to dvd. Love the Western channel, . BTW for all the old f@arts who remember it, Western channel will air the first season of Wagon Train with Ward Bond the entire New Years Day. They did it with The Virginianlast year.
I do not often post but keep tabs of your blogs and other responses just about every day. Your reply about Fredi’s use of Kimbrel and Venters has got me thinking of a question for you. You talked about Cox’s overuse of Venters last season and we have often seen this with Cox’s use of the bullpen over his years of managing the Braves. Can you do some kind of comparison of Fredi’s use of the bullpen vs Cox’s during the years in which Fredi has been a manager. Thanks and Merry Christmas!!!!
DOB – This may be not of the right opinion…..but having two closers…was a large part of the problem when we have Gonzo and Soriano……meaning there was no stability in the closers role. As we all know, Soriano had one helluva year for the Rays this last season.
Now if Bobby would’ve said…”Okay..Soriano’s my closer and Gonzo is our main set-up guy”…I think THAT would’ve solved a lot of the problems in the pen when they were both here….and I see it leading to some problems next season…with Kimbrel and Venters.
great list I must say…Black Keys album is one of the best I have heard in a while, cant watch a single commercial though without hearing their songs now it seems like…
DOB got a band here that i recently discovered that i saw play in ATL not too long back that put on a good show… pretty sure you can at least listen to some of the album at their website
DOB, it is hard to believe someone who is supposedly middle aged acts like him. I saw his comments at like 1:00 this morning and he responded to me, and others. I must have missed some. He is really disgraceful
I was wondering the same thing- had this big long speech prepared to repsond to him, full of rightous anger and outrage, and before I even got started it was gone
ESPN.com’s Jerry Crasnick wrote a good story on Chipper (although I’ve gotta text Jerry to tell him Chipper actually hurt the knee when he jumped on the play, not when he landed):
He must have made those comments when I was looking for a …dun…dun..dun link. They went fast, good thing DOB was around. Too bad you did not go ahead and reply, I would have liked to of read that.
It happened too fast…you’d be surprised how quickly I can go from the calm and mellow me to the righteously angry me But it was only posted for like 30 seconds so nobody would have had any idea what I was talking about
I just found it- it’s weird that he’s actually (usually) kind of civil to me, and I’m just waiting for him to call me some kind of nasty name so I can lay into him…maybe it’s just my charm oozing through the blog
cab, I don’t plan on cussing him out, insulting him or his family, I just let him run his course like a bad case of the runs. No need for two grown ups to act like children online. I just let him do what he’s got to do, and let him make a fool of himself.
cab, I try not to take things as personally online. I have gone back and forth with people on here, but I try to not. It’s kind of like scratching the chicken pox; it only makes things worse.
Crime Dog – it irked me. It’s one thing to trash talk a bit before the big game but some of the stuff he posted was just foolish. Don’t need to fire up the defending Super Bowl champs a few days before an important game.
Exactly. And all the people responding were right. He hasn’t won anything. The Saints have. Win on the field and talk all the smack you want. I’ll even laugh.
cab, I don’t. If they insult me or something because of a differen’t opinion; I will just make fun of them for not being able to think of something more grown up than name calling.
Ooh, do you remember “Pass the Magic”? I can’t remember what season it was exactly but it was in the 2000’s and the defense used to all stop and wiggle their hands like magicians after they did something good. The NFL made them stop doing it because they said it was a group celebration and liable for a penalty.
Cab, I laugh even harder if it is someone who happens to be in their 20s or higher acting like someone in their teens. I have seen people on youtube in their 40s that make threats and insult folks that are much younger. It just makes both look very childish.
Really? Now that’s just dumb. A) They are the defending champs…you have not won anything yet. B) Implying God gave them a Super Bowl win to help the city get over a tragic event is both insensitive and just stupid and C) You are playing them on Sunday…maybe don’t give them any more insentive to win??
Yeah, I guess I have gone off on a few people here. Usually something like someone using repeated scatological references, so I might suggest that is low brow.
I went off on a guy for making rape jokes and suggesting a certain activity was not quite rape. I questioned his maturity, and intelligence. I would do it again.
I went off a guy for suggesting, at length, the manager should manage the team like a school marm,and have a player that made an error stand up in the locker room, apologize and promise not to do it again. I expressed that might be the stupidest thing I had ever heard, over and over. I think he was a little naive , so I felt a little bad about it.
There have been a couple of others. I may go at someone’s ideas or opinions, but not their character, unless lack of said is my beef…………… And then there’s Christopher!
Bat, those people seemed to have some mental issues that have been needed to be resolved. There are just some places jokes like that aren’t even appropriate, and some people don’t seem to know that.
For the guy who suggested that about the manager; I’d say just talk with the player privately and if it happens again, just bench him. I don’t believe in humiliating someone in the public.
Some people make moronic statements to get a rise out of folks, and some because they are morons.
B) Implying God gave them a Super Bowl win to help the city get over a tragic event is both insensitive and just stupid
Well, then the city and the media themselves need to stop saying it. It’s gotten really annoying. Roddy didn’t say anything different than how they’ve been promoting their Super Bowl victory for the past year. Seriously, if I see another tearjerker story about Drew Brees saving a city, I’m gonna puke.
C) You are playing them on Sunday…maybe don’t give them any more insentive to win??
It’s Saints/Falcons. If the players on either team need incentive to get up for Saints/Falcons, then they shouldn’t be in the NFL. This is especially true when the outcome of the game will have playoff ramifications.
I agree with everything you wrote. None the less, I would like for Roddy to tone it down a notch. I may not believe in the football gods but why tempt them.
Its a shame there’s no real good footage of chippers play hurting his knee. I know that sounds horrible, but it was hands down the best defensive of the year for the Braves
3,528 comments Add your comment
Mikeyc588
December 22nd, 2010
5:34 pm
DOB –
I know this has been written about, but do you get the sense the closer’s job will go to Kimbrel exclusively, or do you think it’ll be a closer-by-committee-type thing? I think Venters could handle it as well, especially with some tough lefties coming up, but I’d like to see Kimbrel get a shot at the full-time role. I know it was only 20.2 innings and he walked too many guys, but Kimbrel had a 17.4 Ks per 9 last season, which is absurd.
Bat Masterson
December 22nd, 2010
5:37 pm
What are malaria specialists doing in Colorado, I wonder?
Ordinarily I would say cooling off, but the one in jeffery’s comment seems more than a little hot under the collar.
cabravesfan
December 22nd, 2010
5:37 pm
snot-
I know you didn’t just call me Trey, did you??
Snotboogie
December 22nd, 2010
5:40 pm
Sorry cab.
I read it in his voice that’s all.
Does everyone have a blog voice in their heads or should I consider a shrink?
cabravesfan
December 22nd, 2010
5:43 pm
snot-
I think I have a blog voice, but it’s so hard to distinguish with all the others…it’s very crowded in there
Crime Dog
December 22nd, 2010
5:44 pm
Does everyone have a blog voice in their heads or should I consider a shrink?
I read “The Banned One’s” posts in a Kevin Spacey voice. I picture him as the serial killer in Se7en.
Snotboogie
December 22nd, 2010
5:45 pm
but it’s so hard to distinguish with all the others…it’s very crowded in there
Uh Oh.
cabravesfan
December 22nd, 2010
5:46 pm
Snot-
Bat Masterson
December 22nd, 2010
5:47 pm
Sorry cab.
I read it in his voice that’s all. _ SB
So you are saying Trey’s voice is a little high?
Snotboogie
December 22nd, 2010
5:48 pm
I read “The Banned One’s” posts in a Kevin Spacey voice. I picture him as the serial killer in Se7en.
So you just went with a famous psychopath. Good choice.
Spacey was icy cold in that one. (shudder)
I’m sure some went with Dexter.
Bat Masterson
December 22nd, 2010
5:50 pm
Don’t ruin Dexter for me, okay.
Snotboogie
December 22nd, 2010
5:52 pm
Let’s not go there Bat. Suffice to say there was a “whoosh”ing sound involved.
Snotboogie
December 22nd, 2010
5:54 pm
Alright, no Dexter, it is. He’s a good guy after all.
Speaking of Kevin Spacey:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKKDKAKNH-k
bravesfanforever
December 22nd, 2010
5:55 pm
Basically, spending a lot of money assures more consistency from year to year, i.e. here is a much greater chance that the team will make the playoffs every year. Not necessarily win the World Series since anyone knows it’s pretty much a crap shoot.
For a mid-market team like the Braves, a lot has to go right for them to win a lot of games. There are question marks everywhere:
Chipper Jones. Will he play more than half a season?? or even hit remotely like the old Chipper?
CF. Do we even have a bat for this position? Lots of candidates but…
LF. If Prado moves to 3B because Chipper is out, then who takes over in LF?
1B. Will Freeman hit like we think he can this year? He may not so well until 2012. Who knows?
RF. Can we expect more from Jason Heyward? I think the Braves success hinges a lot on this guy producing MORE than what he did in 2010.
Closer. Who knows if young Kimbrell is going to be able to handle the riggors of closing for a major league club. He has certainly had his bouts with control over the past couple of years in the minors!
He isn’t that far removed from those days.
Starters. Will Lowe pitch like down the stretch or like in the past? Will Jurrjens bounce back and produce like we think he can? Will we see Tommy Hanson break out this year and become a Cy Young candidate?
There are a lot of question marks! Sure, if everything works out this team could be unbeatable, but the Braves don’t have the resources to fix big problem areas that may come up–and you know things ALWAYS come up. The team almost lost the wild card down the stretch because of injuries to key players. How a team deals with diversity is the mark of a winner and if a team just doesn’t have the resources to overcome their deficiencies then they lose out. Big market teams with big budgets can overcome a lot and continue winning. They almost assure themselves of a playoff spot every single year because of this.
Frank from KS (now living in CO)
December 22nd, 2010
5:55 pm
Cab/Snot
Well, I can hear the jerk off say, as DOB banned him AGAIN…in the words of Arnie…
“I’llllll be baaaack”
Lol
Smolzy
December 22nd, 2010
6:06 pm
Steve 2:40pm
AWESOME POST!!!
David O'Brien
December 22nd, 2010
6:07 pm
I know this has been written about, but do you get the sense the closer’s job will go to Kimbrel exclusively, or do you think it’ll be a closer-by-committee-type thing? — Mikeyc588
Mikeyc: Just from conversations with Fredi G., I get a sense that Kimbrel will get the bulk of the save opps, but that Venters will be option particularly when a team has lefties due up. In those cases, Kimbrel could work the eighth and Venters the ninth, or Kimbrel could get a rest. Venters showed he has a rubber arm last season, albeit a surgically repaired rubber arm (like Moylan). I don’t expect Fredi to use Venters quite as many times in a short period as Bobby did, and I also think he’ll be flexible with the closer role, see how Kimbrel is doing, how he’s holding up, etc.
By the way, many of Kimbrel’s walks came in his first appearances. He had a much better strikeouts-to-walks ratio after that. While striking out two an inning.
Trickster
December 22nd, 2010
6:12 pm
I finally got back to the blog. Some of us work ya know…
I’ll go with 108-118 wins DOB.
DOB, check out “Your Decision” song by Alice In Chains. You owe me one for putting you on this song. A pair of Falcons playoff tickets will be fine…
Bat Masterson
December 22nd, 2010
6:12 pm
SB_
Okay, got it ………..
Not enough episodes in a season for Dexter if you ask me.
Thanks for the Spacey link, pretty impressive impressions.
Robert
December 22nd, 2010
6:13 pm
Contending this year and contending last year are two different beasts. Teams continue to get better every year. Phillies got better, Nationals got better, Marlins always find a way to win with young guys, the Mets are going to be healthier this year I’d presume. So while the Braves got a little bit better with Uggla, the rest of the division did too.”
The Braves had the second best roster in the National League last year.
Let’s first look at the other teams in the league
The Phillies – The top four starters are the best group since the days when Maddux Glavine and Smoltz were followed by Avery Neagle or Millwood. They lost Werth, but if Utley and Rollins return to form, it could make up for that loss. This team has three weaknesses of varying degrees. Firstly, they are old as a team. Second, their closer is prone to inexplicable and unpredictable streaks of ineffectiveness. And lastly, although he knows enough to set his rotation up for a big stretch series, Charlie Manuel is nevertheless one of the sorrier managers in the game(side note If they retain such a rotation for the next decade straight and dont win anything but Division titles, then we can start to consider whether Charlie Manuel might be almost as dumb as Bobby Cox)
2. The Mets – With ace Johan Santana out until at least mid-season, their starting pitching is barely adequate. Pelfrey has had two nice seasons, but with a career rate of 5.1K’s/9IP, he;s third starter stuff at best. The young lefty Niese looked promising, but totally hit the wall the last month of the season. After that you get to a mid 30’s knuckleballer who had his first decent season ever last year, and Oliver Perez, who once every three years or so finds the right combination of great stuff, PED’s and a good horscope thats enough to overcome the fact that he cant hit the side of a barn. David Wright bo
unced back from his mysterious 2009 power outage, Ike Davis is a nice young player, and Jose Reyes is a good, though overrated – his OBP has never topped .360 for a season), but Jason Bay is on the wrong side of age 30 and has hit better than .270 once in four years, and Carlos Beltran’s career trajectory is starting to bear eery resemblances to that of Andruw Jones. Bottom line – this is .500 roster
3.Florida – If the trio of Josh Johnson, Ricky Nolasco, and Aribel Sanchez all find a prolonged groove at the same time, then they could be right there with anybody. Nolasco is an enigma. He strikes out almost a batter an inning, strikes out 3-4 for every walk he gives up, and gives up just over a hit an inning – an repeatedly ends up with an ERA of 4.5-5. You have to be very unlucky, a mental midget, or a head
case to do that.
In the Central
1. The Reds – They have two very good number two starters, and a decent team around that. Now, there have been teams that have ridden two starters to the promised land – but, no disrespect intended, I dont think Bronson Arroyo and Johnny Cueto are THAT good
2.Milwaukee – This is quite a nice little roster, though their bullpen is thin. They are in the right division, however; 85 wins could take the NL Central in 2011. If, on the other hand, either the Reds or St Louis shows up, then consider that forlast four years in the NL, the wild card has been 90-92 wins. So, did the Brewers ADD 13-15 wins by picking up Greinke?
3. St Louis – This should be the best team in the central. By far, in fact. Of course, the same was true last year, and they fizzled. If you ask me, LaRussa has been a “less with more” kinda guy for a while now
In the West
1. San Fran – A very Braves-like roster – Plus starters 3 and a half deep, a deep and talented pen, and an unspectacular offense consisting of a few fading vets, some scrappers, and a future stud ROY type. Mix ingredients, shake well, and … TAA-daaaaaaa
2. San Diego – They overachieved last season, and they lost their offensive linchpin. Of course, Chris (isnt) Young (anymore) might just have that jaw-dropping season one of these years
3. Los Angeles – They have gotten a little better on the field with the addition of guys like Juan Uribe, Vicente Padilla (whose mugshot on cbs sportsline.com reminds me of a hit man for the Medellin e gcartel), Dioner Navarro, and company. They got a little worse on the bench with Joe Torre’s retirement. Biggest issue here is that the Giants now KNOW they are good and believe in themselves
4.Colorado – They have TT. They are justified in being excited about the future of 2010 breakout Carlos Gonzalez. And they have Ubaldo – who is quite the stud even though he couldnt hold up with Bob Gibson impersonation once July ended. Beyond that, this team is dull. One note – when they talk about PED’s, I have never heard the name Todd Helton mentioned. And yet – isnt it amazing that right around 2004 he went from 35/.335 to 15/.265 in the blink of an eye. Sorry folks, but nice guys did the juice too.
Now the Braves
They should better on offense because they added Uggla and you’d expect JHey to improve on last year given that he will be a year further along in his development and (hopefully)free of the nagging injuries that plagued him last year
They lost a big name closer. Closers arent all that tough to replace. I am not worried about this
Most importantly, this team got ten games better on October 12 of this year, when their idiot manager finally resigned.
Contending WILL be different this year. Because in 2011, we will able to contend, and we’ll have a chance at the big prize too.
Trickster
December 22nd, 2010
6:14 pm
Venters was dominant early in the season but kinda sucked the final month. I’d go with Kimbrel easily over Venters as closer unless Kimbrel falters.
McFann O O
December 22nd, 2010
6:15 pm
cabravesfan That’s what happens when someone insults our McFann
Hey wait…who insulted me this time?
Trickster
December 22nd, 2010
6:17 pm
Nice analysis there Robert but its Annibal Sanchez.
Braves would be fine if they had a CF worth a dammm.
Frank from KS (now living in CO)
December 22nd, 2010
6:18 pm
McFann
I’ll give ya three guesses and the first two don’t count…who it was
Lol
Crime Dog
December 22nd, 2010
6:18 pm
McFann-
It was…”him.” The posts were thankfully deleted.
Trickster
December 22nd, 2010
6:21 pm
I’m least worried about Tommy Hanson from the worry list. Chipper & McLouth have to be the biggest worries. McOut worries me continuously !
Modest Lebowski
December 22nd, 2010
6:22 pm
DOB-
You should check out the Futurebirds first EP if you haven’t already, its free at http://futurebirds.bandcamp.com. It is excellent.
Btw, I was the intoxicated guy who yelled “hey O’brien” at you at the Futurebirds/The Whigs show.
Trickster
December 22nd, 2010
6:25 pm
Mclouth should have paid Tommy Hanson to pitch BP to him a whole lot over the winter. If he learned to hit TH, he could hit anyone…
McFann O O
December 22nd, 2010
6:25 pm
Frank—
Crime Dog—
Ah, lord…yeah, shoulda known. Glad it got booted.
It’s no big deal, really…I just didn’t see the post around and I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to comment on it or not.
Bat Masterson
December 22nd, 2010
6:28 pm
For a mid-market team like the Braves, a lot has to go right for them to win a lot of games. There are question marks everywhere:
Chipper Jones. Will he …………………..There are a lot of question marks! Sure, if everything works out this team could be unbeatable, but the Braves don’t have the resources to fix big problem areas that may come up– and you know things ALWAYS come up.
Boy don’t I…………..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OSaNWYHmUvI
nolie
December 22nd, 2010
6:34 pm
I kinda agree SB. I seldom read one anymore, but I got a gazillion of them burned to dvd. Love the Western channel, . BTW for all the old f@arts who remember it, Western channel will air the first season of Wagon Train with Ward Bond the entire New Years Day. They did it with The Virginianlast year.
Mike Berry
December 22nd, 2010
6:48 pm
***DOB***
I do not often post but keep tabs of your blogs and other responses just about every day. Your reply about Fredi’s use of Kimbrel and Venters has got me thinking of a question for you. You talked about Cox’s overuse of Venters last season and we have often seen this with Cox’s use of the bullpen over his years of managing the Braves. Can you do some kind of comparison of Fredi’s use of the bullpen vs Cox’s during the years in which Fredi has been a manager. Thanks and Merry Christmas!!!!
Frank from KS (now living in CO)
December 22nd, 2010
6:54 pm
DOB – This may be not of the right opinion…..but having two closers…was a large part of the problem when we have Gonzo and Soriano……meaning there was no stability in the closers role. As we all know, Soriano had one helluva year for the Rays this last season.
Now if Bobby would’ve said…”Okay..Soriano’s my closer and Gonzo is our main set-up guy”…I think THAT would’ve solved a lot of the problems in the pen when they were both here….and I see it leading to some problems next season…with Kimbrel and Venters.
Just mo tho
aBraveVol
December 22nd, 2010
6:56 pm
great list I must say…Black Keys album is one of the best I have heard in a while, cant watch a single commercial though without hearing their songs now it seems like…
DOB got a band here that i recently discovered that i saw play in ATL not too long back that put on a good show… pretty sure you can at least listen to some of the album at their website
http://www.theblackcadillacs.com/
Trey
December 22nd, 2010
7:19 pm
Someone insulted McFann?
David O'Brien
December 22nd, 2010
7:22 pm
Trey: Yes, Tomahawkin’s friend did. Repeatedly.
Frank from KS (now living in CO)
December 22nd, 2010
7:22 pm
Trey – yes, the usual blog jerk-off…(if ya know who that is)
Bat Masterson
December 22nd, 2010
7:28 pm
I missed those somehow. But really, what could McFann of all people have done to set him off.
Trey
December 22nd, 2010
7:29 pm
DOB, it is hard to believe someone who is supposedly middle aged acts like him. I saw his comments at like 1:00 this morning and he responded to me, and others. I must have missed some. He is really disgraceful
cabravesfan
December 22nd, 2010
7:31 pm
Bat-
I was wondering the same thing- had this big long speech prepared to repsond to him, full of rightous anger and outrage, and before I even got started it was gone
David O'Brien
December 22nd, 2010
7:34 pm
ESPN.com’s Jerry Crasnick wrote a good story on Chipper (although I’ve gotta text Jerry to tell him Chipper actually hurt the knee when he jumped on the play, not when he landed):
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/hotstove10/columns/story?columnist=crasnick_jerry&id=5946218
Trey
December 22nd, 2010
7:37 pm
Yeah, I wonder how he treats his family.
Bat Masterson
December 22nd, 2010
7:37 pm
Cab_
He must have made those comments when I was looking for a …dun…dun..dun link. They went fast, good thing DOB was around. Too bad you did not go ahead and reply, I would have liked to of read that.
Snotboogie
December 22nd, 2010
7:38 pm
although I’ve gotta text Jerry to tell him Chipper actually hurt the knee when he jumped on the play, not when he landed
Wait.. what? I thought it was the landing that did it too. He tore up ligaments while jumping? Huh.. odd.
Trey
December 22nd, 2010
7:44 pm
Cab, he sent a comment to you early, early this morning.
McFann O O
December 22nd, 2010
7:45 pm
DOB Tomahawkin’s friend did. Repeatedly.
Oh my…ha, glad I missed it…Thanks for deleting them!
Bat M. But really, what could McFann of all people have done to set him off.
Well thanks! You, too, cabravesfan!
cabravesfan
December 22nd, 2010
7:48 pm
Bat-
It happened too fast…you’d be surprised how quickly I can go from the calm and mellow me to the righteously angry me
But it was only posted for like 30 seconds so nobody would have had any idea what I was talking about
cabravesfan
December 22nd, 2010
7:48 pm
Trey-
What did he say??
Trey
December 22nd, 2010
7:49 pm
It was his response to you about the skiing thing.
Soph
December 22nd, 2010
7:49 pm
I think we’ve seen righteously angry cab before.
cabravesfan
December 22nd, 2010
7:50 pm
I just found it- it’s weird that he’s actually (usually) kind of civil to me, and I’m just waiting for him to call me some kind of nasty name so I can lay into him…maybe it’s just my charm oozing through the blog
cabravesfan
December 22nd, 2010
7:51 pm
Soph-
It doesn’t come out very often, but it’s usually volcanic when it does
Bat Masterson
December 22nd, 2010
7:51 pm
Someone insulted McFann? _ Trey
This is how I see trey asking that question.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8Kyi0WNg40
Trey
December 22nd, 2010
7:56 pm
cab, I don’t plan on cussing him out, insulting him or his family, I just let him run his course like a bad case of the runs. No need for two grown ups to act like children online. I just let him do what he’s got to do, and let him make a fool of himself.
Bat Masterson
December 22nd, 2010
7:57 pm
cab–
Yeah, I can go from’ it’s all good’ to ‘hair on fire’ in a blink of an eye. The right (wrong) kind of comment and boom, it’s on!
Bat Masterson
December 22nd, 2010
7:58 pm
lord, some of these analogies.
Trey
December 22nd, 2010
7:58 pm
Bat, I remember you going off on folks in the past. I remember you have gone off on me before.
Trey
December 22nd, 2010
7:59 pm
Bat that was the most mild thing I could think of with him. Speaks a lot for what goes on in my mind, eh!
cabravesfan
December 22nd, 2010
8:00 pm
Trey-
I’m usually not like that, but I do have a temper and he just hits all the right buttons (and usually it’s not even directed at me…)
Bat-
absolutely!
Soph
December 22nd, 2010
8:01 pm
I scroll. It used to rile me up but it just makes me roll my eyes now.
Trey
December 22nd, 2010
8:02 pm
cab, I try not to take things as personally online. I have gone back and forth with people on here, but I try to not. It’s kind of like scratching the chicken pox; it only makes things worse.
Was that better Bat?
Trey
December 22nd, 2010
8:03 pm
By on here; I don’t literally mean on this page.
Crime Dog
December 22nd, 2010
8:04 pm
DOB-
Have you heard this mashup of The Black Keys and Big Boi? Pretty interesting.
Soph
December 22nd, 2010
8:04 pm
Bat, did you see all the dumb stuff Roddy posted on twitter today? Great timing.
Trey
December 22nd, 2010
8:05 pm
Has anyone seen The Fighter?
Crime Dog
December 22nd, 2010
8:06 pm
Roddy went bananas on Twitter today. I was a little surprised.
cabravesfan
December 22nd, 2010
8:07 pm
Trey-
I try…I fail horribly sometimes
Soph
December 22nd, 2010
8:09 pm
Crime Dog – it irked me. It’s one thing to trash talk a bit before the big game but some of the stuff he posted was just foolish. Don’t need to fire up the defending Super Bowl champs a few days before an important game.
Soph
December 22nd, 2010
8:10 pm
This one is funny though -
Can the AJC gave me a great christmas gift this year and stop posting my tweets I would love tht
less than 10 seconds ago via ÜberTwitter
Crime Dog
December 22nd, 2010
8:13 pm
Soph-
Exactly. And all the people responding were right. He hasn’t won anything. The Saints have. Win on the field and talk all the smack you want. I’ll even laugh.
Trey
December 22nd, 2010
8:13 pm
cab, I don’t. If they insult me or something because of a differen’t opinion; I will just make fun of them for not being able to think of something more grown up than name calling.
Trey
December 22nd, 2010
8:15 pm
But I’m not going to waste my time getting into arguments.
cabravesfan
December 22nd, 2010
8:15 pm
Trey-
There are people on here that just amuse me with their stupid comments and attempts at insults…
Soph
December 22nd, 2010
8:16 pm
Love Roddy but come on?
The grace of god gave them tht championship so tht city wouldn fall apart now and now they think they hot sh*t in …
Ugh.
Crime Dog
December 22nd, 2010
8:17 pm
Yeah Soph. If he wants to taunt, he should just do the dirty bird when he gets in the end zone. I miss that dance so much.
Bravo Nam
December 22nd, 2010
8:19 pm
DOB et al
Great blog- Merry Christmas to you all! Go the Bravos!!
Soph
December 22nd, 2010
8:19 pm
Ooh, do you remember “Pass the Magic”? I can’t remember what season it was exactly but it was in the 2000’s and the defense used to all stop and wiggle their hands like magicians after they did something good. The NFL made them stop doing it because they said it was a group celebration and liable for a penalty.
Trey
December 22nd, 2010
8:21 pm
Cab, I laugh even harder if it is someone who happens to be in their 20s or higher acting like someone in their teens. I have seen people on youtube in their 40s that make threats and insult folks that are much younger. It just makes both look very childish.
Trey
December 22nd, 2010
8:21 pm
Bravo, Merry Christmas!
cabravesfan
December 22nd, 2010
8:21 pm
Soph-
Really? Now that’s just dumb. A) They are the defending champs…you have not won anything yet. B) Implying God gave them a Super Bowl win to help the city get over a tragic event is both insensitive and just stupid and C) You are playing them on Sunday…maybe don’t give them any more insentive to win??
(I’m alone and bored- I’m blog babbling. Sorry)
Bat Masterson
December 22nd, 2010
8:22 pm
Trey_
Yeah, I guess I have gone off on a few people here. Usually something like someone using repeated scatological references, so I might suggest that is low brow.
I went off on a guy for making rape jokes and suggesting a certain activity was not quite rape. I questioned his maturity, and intelligence. I would do it again.
I went off a guy for suggesting, at length, the manager should manage the team like a school marm,and have a player that made an error stand up in the locker room, apologize and promise not to do it again. I expressed that might be the stupidest thing I had ever heard, over and over. I think he was a little naive , so I felt a little bad about it.
There have been a couple of others. I may go at someone’s ideas or opinions, but not their character, unless lack of said is my beef…………… And then there’s Christopher!
cabravesfan
December 22nd, 2010
8:22 pm
That was in response to the bit you posted from Roddy White…
Crime Dog
December 22nd, 2010
8:23 pm
I remember passing the magic. I wasn’t as much of a fan, but I loved the Dirty Bird.
Soph
December 22nd, 2010
8:25 pm
Yeah, cab it was idiotic. He kept going and going too. Not sure what got into him today.
Bat Masterson
December 22nd, 2010
8:25 pm
Bat, did you see all the dumb stuff Roddy posted on twitter today? Great timing.
Soph-
Yes I did, what’s he thinking? I’m thinking ‘lets not screw this up, again’. So stop, okay.
Trey
December 22nd, 2010
8:34 pm
Bat, those people seemed to have some mental issues that have been needed to be resolved. There are just some places jokes like that aren’t even appropriate, and some people don’t seem to know that.
For the guy who suggested that about the manager; I’d say just talk with the player privately and if it happens again, just bench him. I don’t believe in humiliating someone in the public.
Some people make moronic statements to get a rise out of folks, and some because they are morons.
Braveheart
December 22nd, 2010
8:35 pm
B) Implying God gave them a Super Bowl win to help the city get over a tragic event is both insensitive and just stupid
Well, then the city and the media themselves need to stop saying it. It’s gotten really annoying. Roddy didn’t say anything different than how they’ve been promoting their Super Bowl victory for the past year. Seriously, if I see another tearjerker story about Drew Brees saving a city, I’m gonna puke.
C) You are playing them on Sunday…maybe don’t give them any more insentive to win??
It’s Saints/Falcons. If the players on either team need incentive to get up for Saints/Falcons, then they shouldn’t be in the NFL. This is especially true when the outcome of the game will have playoff ramifications.
BravesFanChris26
December 22nd, 2010
8:40 pm
Boy am I happy I got all my shopping done early this year
Tommy T
December 22nd, 2010
8:45 pm
Isn’t True Grit out tonight??
Bat Masterson
December 22nd, 2010
8:46 pm
Braveheart _
I agree with everything you wrote. None the less, I would like for Roddy to tone it down a notch. I may not believe in the football gods but why tempt them.
Bigwheel
December 22nd, 2010
8:49 pm
Its a shame there’s no real good footage of chippers play hurting his knee. I know that sounds horrible, but it was hands down the best defensive of the year for the Braves
Trey
December 22nd, 2010
8:54 pm
So, my dad apparently met Matt Ryan.
Crime Dog
December 22nd, 2010
9:20 pm
Hellllooo?
nolie
December 22nd, 2010
9:21 pm
Seems pretty dead tonight huh CD?
Trey
December 22nd, 2010
9:22 pm
Hey, Crime Dog. I know it slowed down. Kind of a shame, becaue I have nothing to do tonight. I already came in for the day.
Crime Dog
December 22nd, 2010
9:22 pm
Yeah I’m incredibly bored.
Trey
December 22nd, 2010
9:25 pm
Crime Dog, as am I. I just keep refreshing to see if anyone else is on. It’s like folks just vanished.
Trey
December 22nd, 2010
9:35 pm
Gosh, it is dead again. I have seen more life in a cemetery.
Trey
December 22nd, 2010
9:39 pm
We need some Weekend at Bernie’s music to play for people to dance back to life on this blog.
Trey
December 22nd, 2010
9:42 pm
I think I hear my own echo in here.