Tell us what you think about the site
Customer Care »
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
AJC Services
Sections
Other Editions
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
3,368 comments Add your comment
keylargo
December 30th, 2010
12:14 pm
McFann – You’d better not be late trying to think of a way to tell me how hard BMac works on his conditioning. It will take awhile.
richbrave
December 30th, 2010
12:15 pm
GTSteve
December 30th, 2010
12:11 pm
I am thinking, but I got nothing
Wow, surely GTS, you got somrthin’.
richbrave
December 30th, 2010
12:16 pm
keylargo
December 30th, 2010
12:14 pm
McFann – You’d better not be late trying to think of a way to tell me how hard BMac works on his conditioning. It will take awhile.
Booyah! LMAO.
Hillbilly
December 30th, 2010
12:16 pm
richbrave 8:36,
Jim Dandy to tha’ rescue, go Jim Dandy, go.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7n3NH8gSrMs
GTSteve
December 30th, 2010
12:17 pm
i got nothing Rich, GT sux in every sport and the Braves don’t start for months…..sad time of the year
BravePack
December 30th, 2010
12:19 pm
Carroll
So have you heard anything new on Uggla’s extension? Is it only because it’s the holidays that it’s quiet?
e. fudd
December 30th, 2010
12:19 pm
You wascally wabbit. Where’s WOW? I want to part with you guy. The two of us together………forget it.
keylargo
December 30th, 2010
12:19 pm
But no, I hope he doesn’t come to camp looking like Javy Lopez did. That was clearly a case where a player had help. Chemical help. keylargo
I am going to reconsider my statement. Brian McCann’s head on Jose Canseco’s body might be a pretty good combination. A 6′ 5″ heavily muscled man with a brain – something Canseco’s body has never worked with before.
Bat Masterson
December 30th, 2010
12:20 pm
I saw Black Oak Arkansas at a Jr college in Albany,Ga. In ‘74, I think, cold and rainy when we went in, snow everywhere when we came out. The car would not start and we broke the battery tapping on it. Wild night, wild weekend, good times!
BravePack
December 30th, 2010
12:21 pm
Any NHL fans on the ole’ blog?
jeffrey d
December 30th, 2010
12:22 pm
Do you fellas include yourselves in that mix, or did you just stand on the sidelines and……LURK?!
I tried to contribute, but there’s only so much I know about hobbits
e. fudd
December 30th, 2010
12:24 pm
GTSteve
December 30th, 2010
12:17 pm
i got nothing Rich, GT sux in every sport and the Braves don’t start for months…..sad time of the year
They kicked azz and took names against my SPIDERS last week. Or don’t you consider that a quality win? We just dismembered WAKE FOREST last night, beat PURDUE at their home, ‘ZONA STATE on the road, and SETON HALL in JERSEY. I’d say the JACKETS got somethin’ goin’ in b-ball.
Bat Masterson
December 30th, 2010
12:25 pm
Could have been Argent.
e. fudd
December 30th, 2010
12:26 pm
jeffrey d
December 30th, 2010
12:22 pm
Do you fellas include yourselves in that mix, or did you just stand on the sidelines and……LURK?!
I tried to contribute, but there’s only so much I know about hobbits
Chuckle. Save it jd, better days are ahead.
richbrave
December 30th, 2010
12:27 pm
presto, chango.
GTSteve
December 30th, 2010
12:28 pm
I do consider that one a quality win, any win over the Richmond Spiders is always a quality win, Tech just doesn’t seem to play that well other nights, but I have a lot of respect for the Spiders
richbrave
December 30th, 2010
12:29 pm
Bat Masterson
December 30th, 2010
12:25 pm
Could have been Argent.
What was that haunting base-line. I can’t quite remember the words. Liked the song though.
Damned short-term memory. Those by-pass operations really ruin it.
richbrave
December 30th, 2010
12:32 pm
CARROLL:
Has anyone else come up with a JOSE REYES born on 11/07/91? The numbers I put up were for a guy born on 01/03/91.
Arkansas Transplant
December 30th, 2010
12:35 pm
richbrave
December 30th, 2010
12:36 pm
BAT MASTERSON:
Hold your head up – yeah, the tune’s rolling ’round in my brain. Cool. Thanx for the flash-back.
Bat Masterson
December 30th, 2010
12:39 pm
Sure richbrave……………
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FBnSWJHawQQ
Arkansas Transplant
December 30th, 2010
12:39 pm
What do you think the Braves will do with the remaining space on the payroll? Specially if they are able to move KK and free up some additional room.
Hillbilly
December 30th, 2010
12:40 pm
What’s for lunch? Some of you east-coasters may already be digesting, but I have some leftover grilled duck breast wrapped with bacon and marinated with Dale’s Seasoning calling my name.
Arkansas Transplant
December 30th, 2010
12:44 pm
Why aren’t my posts showing?
54Braves
December 30th, 2010
12:57 pm
McLouth has to prove himself in every facet of the game as far as I’m concerned. Not only couldn’t he hit, for most of the year he couldn’t or wouldn’t throw the ball and in the last half wasn’t even reliable catching the ball. Because of his contract he has to be considered a monumental bust.
daniel buck
December 30th, 2010
12:57 pm
So has anyone heard if the Braves have been in contact with a fourth outfielder the last couple days?
daniel buck
December 30th, 2010
1:02 pm
http://rowlandsoffice.wordpress.com/2010/12/29/what-if-his-name-wasnt-andruw/... Read this article and tell me if Andruw would be a good fit back in Atlanta…
Nick
December 30th, 2010
1:11 pm
My Lineup:
CF Posednik
LF Prado
RF Heyward
2B Uggla
3B Beltre
C McCann
SS Gonzalez
1B Freeman
Carroll Rogers
December 30th, 2010
1:11 pm
richbrave, i was told he doesn’t have pro experience so he wouldn’t be in Milb.com etc. This is a different Jose Reyes.
O.J.
December 30th, 2010
1:13 pm
No on Andruw Jones. The guy is too much of a whiff machine, cant count on him late in the game to put a run on the board.
cabravesfan
December 30th, 2010
1:14 pm
I like how some people are plugging people not on our team into our lineup…
Carroll Rogers
December 30th, 2010
1:17 pm
Aren’t they showing up Arkansas Transplant? I see a few….Remaining payroll space would be fourth outfielder, and Daniel Buck, I doubt it’s Andruw Jones. Water under the bridge. It’d be fun to have him back around though.
Arkansas Transplant
December 30th, 2010
1:18 pm
cabravesfan
Isn’t it amazing? Plus leaving off names that are under contract.
Arkansas Transplant
December 30th, 2010
1:18 pm
cabravesfan
Isn’t it amazing? Plus leaving off names that are under contract.
Tyler
December 30th, 2010
1:18 pm
2011 Atlanta Braves
96-66
Wild Card
It amazes me on how many people mispell Jason HEYWARD’s name. Crazy.
2011 Lineup:
1. Matt Young (wins role in ST)
2. Prado
3. Chipper
4. McCann
5. Uggla
6. Heyward
7. Gonzo
8. Freeman
9. Picther
Roster:
Rotation
1. Hudson
2. Lowe
3. Jurrgens
4. Hanson
5. Beachy
Bullpen
Long guy – Christhian Martinez
Sherill
Linebrink
Moylan
O’Flar
Venters
Kimbrel
Starters
1B- Freeman
2B- Uggla
3B- Chip
SS- Gonzo
C- McCann
CF- Young
LF- Prado
RF- Heyward
Bench
Diory Hernandez
Mather
Hinske
Conrad
McClouth
Minor goes back to Gwinnett for a few more starts. Schafer gets his swing back and we see him come up at some point.
Carroll Rogers
December 30th, 2010
1:19 pm
BravePack, no I haven’t. And that’s my belief.
TnBrian
December 30th, 2010
1:19 pm
Nick, I’ve read here and also remember reading some article on Posednik’s defense in center and it wasn’t pretty. I don’t even think he’s all that good of a corner OF either. If he was I bet he’d be signed up by now and probably to a multi-year type thing because of his speed and he can also hit a little. Defense is pretty damn important and we need a solid defender in CF. Nate ain’t either, but he’s already getting like $6 M from Atlanta, so …..
If all goes bad with Nate in ST and if Schafer shows very little than I bet Wren trades for a speedy CF before ‘11 season starts.
Arkansas Transplant
December 30th, 2010
1:19 pm
Carroll, I tried to reply to H-billy earlier and it didn’t add my reply twice. Then it just now posted twice.
cabravesfan
December 30th, 2010
1:20 pm
Arkansas Transplant-
Considering the source, not really
daniel buck
December 30th, 2010
1:20 pm
CF Posednik
LF Prado
RF Heyward
2B Uggla
3B Beltre
C McCann
SS Gonzalez
1B Freeman
First off we have nowhere near the money for Beltre and we don’t need another lefty in the lineup.. Especially one with no power
richbrave
December 30th, 2010
1:20 pm
CAB:
Did you see the culinary masterpiece Hillbilly is ready to wolf down? Yeah baby.
richbrave
December 30th, 2010
1:21 pm
Thanx CARROLL:
I thought those numbers too good to be true.
O.J.
December 30th, 2010
1:21 pm
Nick, you moron, you cant have a lineup with players we dont have, sheesh
cabravesfan
December 30th, 2010
1:22 pm
richbrave-
Was that the duck with bacon? Saw that, may have drooled a little…I LOVE Duck! And BACON! And DUCK WRAPPED IN BACON!
Arkansas Transplant
December 30th, 2010
1:22 pm
Carroll, what’s your prediction on how much payroll is currently left? or what we’re currently at? I know it’s just you oppinion so I won’t hold your feet to the fire if it isn’t correct. I doubt anyone really knows the exact number except those few in the know.
TnBrian
December 30th, 2010
1:22 pm
And I’m not even going there with Nick on Beltre. God dang dude. How much is he asking for, how much do we have? Come on now and we have Chipper …… nevermind. It’s a dumb discussion.
daniel buck
December 30th, 2010
1:24 pm
How do you post a question someone else posted so that it comes up in a different font Carroll?? I can’t figure it out
T for Texas
December 30th, 2010
1:24 pm
Bat and TennPaul,
I have been following the “To bunt or not to bunt” conversation and have been trying to find a probability chart for scoring a runner on 1st with no outs versus scoring a runner on 2nd with 1 out.
I agree that the Run Expectancy Table that shows how many runs are scored total in an inning in those 2 scenarios does not reflect the probability of scoring the one runner on first no outs versus if that same runner on 2nd with 1 out.
I did find this Win Probability study that has a good sample size, that breaks down the exact situation discussed–but only oin the bottom of the 9th inning for the home team. The results show why this is such a tough call to make.
Christopher Shea has invented a “Win Expectancy Finder” to look up the actual Win Probability of every base/out, inning and score combination of all Major League games from 1979 to 1990. Chris used Retrosheet data that had been compiled by Phil Birnbaum, and his WE Finder simply looks up the percent of times a team in a given situation went on to win the game during those years. Next time you watch a ballgame, use it to track the ups and downs of the game. It will change the way you watch baseball.
Here’s an example: Bottom of the ninth, score tied, runner on first, no one out. The home team has a 71% chance of winning according to the Win Expectancy Finder (in this situation, the home team won 1,878 of 2,631 games between 1979 and 1990). Let’s say the batter bunts the runner to second. Good idea, right? Well, after a successful bunt, with a runner on second and one out, the Win Probability actually decreases slightly to 70% (home team won 1300 of 1,848 games), according to the WE Finder. The bunter hasn’t really helped or hurt his team; his bunt was a neutral event.
richbrave
December 30th, 2010
1:25 pm
“………If all goes bad with Nate in ST and if Schafer shows very little than I bet Wren trades for a speedy CF before ‘11 season starts…………” TnBrian
“I’d buy that for a dollar.” ROBOCOP, or in the common vernacular, you bet, or if YOUNG shows well…………..
Arkansas Transplant
December 30th, 2010
1:25 pm
Beltre would be a great addition if you could offer him a one year contract, then a one year contract, then a one year contract… opps, did I say that? Surely he doesn’t only play in a contract year! And yes I know, don’t call you shirley!
Carroll Rogers
December 30th, 2010
1:26 pm
Arkansas Transplant maybe $2 million or so?
cabravesfan
December 30th, 2010
1:28 pm
Arkansas Transplant -
And now I have Airplane! quotes stuck in my head…
TJ
December 30th, 2010
1:29 pm
1. Prado
2. Chipper
3. Heyward
4. Uggla
5. McCann
6. Freeman
7. McClouth
8. Gonzalez
I really like Heyward in the 3 hole because he can do both of things mentioned in the article from this spot, be a run producer/table setter. Though Chipper doesn’t have much speed anymore, he is OBP is always .400+ and would be ideally suited for the 2 hole. I am not high on Gonzalez’ offensive consistency, but he does provide power, but doesn’t get on base nearly enough to warrant him hitting higher than 7th. I have McClouth hitting in front of A Gon based on the fact he draws a lot of walks and could be a good walk/steal candidate, which is wasted hitting in front of the pitcher much of the time. Ideally, I think McCann is a 6 hitter, but not in this lineup. He has not shown the .300+ average that it looked like he would provide early in his career, and I think much of his value is staked on what he used to do. He is a great hitting catcher, but not a great hitter overall, a good one, but not great in my estimation…
Nick
December 30th, 2010
1:31 pm
Nick
December 30th, 2010
1:11 pm
My Lineup:
CF Posednik
LF Prado
RF Heyward
2B Uggla
3B Beltre
C McCann
SS Gonzalez
1B Freeman
Wha-a-a………… crazy trades nick-o-less………..Are you a bored regular hiding behind the real nick’s skirts again?
Original Nick
December 30th, 2010
1:33 pm
That wasn’t me, it was an imposter
Carroll Rogers
December 30th, 2010
1:34 pm
Hey T for Texas, or somebody, can you tell Daniel Buck how to make a portion of your comments italics? I have a different format than what y’all see and I have an easy option to make things italics.
daniel buck
December 30th, 2010
1:34 pm
It is hard to predict a line up when you are not sure on the center fielder… It could be Willie Bloomquist for Pete’s sake…. Uh-huh huh huh… I said Bloomquist….
Faiding Nick
December 30th, 2010
1:34 pm
I’m melting……………oh-h-h-h {wizard of oz}
daniel buck
December 30th, 2010
1:34 pm
And Willie… LMAO!!!
Arkansas Transplant
December 30th, 2010
1:36 pm
cabravesfan
I picked a bad day to stop…
richbrave
December 30th, 2010
1:37 pm
CARROLL:
how do you do that? Italics thingy, and those yellow smiley faces. Where do those come from?
T for Texas
December 30th, 2010
1:37 pm
Here is a link to a 1 Run Scoring Probability Chart:
http://thenats.blogspot.com/2005/05/sac-bunt-1-run-gambit.html
TnBrian
December 30th, 2010
1:38 pm
Just a few names of guys that helped us win a championship in 1995 and what they were getting paid versus what Nate McLouth is getting paid in 2010-11 for his, uh, services:
Maddux — $6,500,000
Justice — $5,200,000
Grissom — $4,950,000
Smoltz — $4,894,445
Chipper — $114,000
Glavine — $4,750,000
And our former All Star CF is getting $6,000,000
Of course these guys would be getting much more dollars in 2010-11, but it’s still nuts to think about what unproductive players like NM can get now.
daniel buck
December 30th, 2010
1:40 pm
I bet Grissom can still get around… I would trust him at 47 before I would Mcl-out!!
cabravesfan
December 30th, 2010
1:40 pm
Arkansas Transplant -
Don’t get me started! You will drive VJ crazy!
GTSteve
December 30th, 2010
1:40 pm
before the comment after the comment, but without the spaces
richbrave
December 30th, 2010
1:40 pm
Of course these guys would be getting much more dollars in 2010-11, but it’s still nuts to think about what unproductive players like NM can get now.
What they can get with long-term contracts. The trend is away from such to one-year deals with exceptions for DAN UGGLA types.
T for Texas
December 30th, 2010
1:41 pm
Daniel–
To do italics type , as bookends to the type you want italicized.
T for Texas
December 30th, 2010
1:42 pm
Okay, that didn’t work.
Arkansas Transplant
December 30th, 2010
1:42 pm
richbrave,
I’ve got a link to the smiley faces if you’d like, all you have to do is copy and paste command.
T for Texas
December 30th, 2010
1:43 pm
TnBrian
December 30th, 2010
1:44 pm
Yeah, now Grissom was what you called a true leadoff hitter damnit. HE knew how to cause hell in the box and on the bases. Also could play some defense.
Arkansas Transplant
December 30th, 2010
1:45 pm
There’s no reason to become alarmed, and we hope you’ll enjoy the rest of your flight. By the way, is there anyone on board who knows how to fly a plane?
FWIW
December 30th, 2010
1:46 pm
http://baseballanalysts.com/archives/2006/07/empirical_analy_1.php
Empirical Analysis of Bunting
By Dan Levitt
Baseball analysts have been near universal in their condemnation of the overuse of the sacrifice bunt. While acknowledging it as the correct strategy in a small number of cases, most feel that any gain in moving players around the bases is more than offset by giving up an out, the “clock” in baseball. Much of this disparagement of the sacrifice bunt derives from analysis based on expected runs tables (ERT). In this essay, I will introduce more detailed and targeted expected runs tables along with an empirical comparison with what happens when teams actually bunt.
Table 3 demonstrates that when teams actually bunt they sometimes do, in fact, increase the expected runs over the remainder of the inning, particularly late in the order with no outs and a runner on second or first and second. And this analysis aggregates all bunts: intelligent, ill-advised and those in between. The results imply that managers have at least some ability to recognize those situations in which bunts can increase run scoring. Overall, table 3 highlights that, in general, when managers elect to bunt they produce results superior than that assumed by the expected runs tables.
Table 4 provides a little more evidence of why managers bunt. The probability of scoring a run decreases only from .432 with a runner on first and no outs to .414 with a runner on second and one out. As these values represent an overall average of all games, one can imagine that it many cases it surely increases the probability. Table 5 indicates a number of cases in which a successful bunt increases the probability of scoring a run. Table 6 compares the probability of scoring one run based on the overall run probability tables with what actually happens when teams bunt, using as reference the various lineup positions. As the table makes clear, when managers elect to bunt (on average) they typically increase the probability of scoring at least one run. In some cases the jump can be substantial. Once again the data underscores that managers employ the bunt much more advantageously than an arbitrary reading of the run probability table would suggest.
It is in the case of playing for one run, however, that the overall aptitude of managerial decisions shows up most clearly. As table 6 reveals, when managers bunt they usually increase the likelihood of scoring at least one run in the inning. And this increase is materially greater than that suggested by simply looking at run probability tables. While the bunt should and will remain a controversial managerial decision, it is clear that managers use it more judiciously than a cursory analysis based on the run expectation and probability tables would suggest.
Arkansas Transplant
December 30th, 2010
1:49 pm
Carroll, you think there’s any animosity between the Braves and Willy Aybar? I would thihk if there wasn’t he’d be a perfect candidate for our utility infielder and possibly would come at a very reasonable rate.
daniel buck
December 30th, 2010
1:49 pm
Hey Carroll… How is that Edward Salcedo coming along in winterball?… I think he will be a good lead-off guy a couple years down the road…
GTSteve
December 30th, 2010
1:50 pm
T for Texas
December 30th, 2010
1:52 pm
italics?
T for Texas
December 30th, 2010
1:53 pm
http://wpbtips.wordpress.com/category/italicized-text/
Daniel Buck-
Click on this link to learn how to use italics, etc…
cabravesfan
December 30th, 2010
1:55 pm
STOP IT!!!!!
banjobrave
December 30th, 2010
1:57 pm
Bat Masterson…….did you know William Boney aka Billy the Kid is about to be pardoned? Does that get you going?
zmerk13
December 30th, 2010
2:00 pm
italics is: text you want to italicize
but take the spaces out of the tags before and after the text. I just put them in there to make them show up. Got it?
daniel buck
December 30th, 2010
2:01 pm
Thanks T for texas…. To much computer lingo for me tho.. lol
zmerk13
December 30th, 2010
2:01 pm
italics is: text you want to italicize
take the *** out of the tags…
zmerk13
December 30th, 2010
2:02 pm
okay, I just cant get the tags to show up, sorry guys. google “italics in html” and it will tell you.
jeffrey d
December 30th, 2010
2:03 pm
Remember when all we had to do to bold or italicize was surround the text in *s?
Hillbilly
December 30th, 2010
2:12 pm
Was that the duck with bacon? Saw that, may have drooled a little…I LOVE Duck! And BACON! And DUCK WRAPPED IN BACON!
The Dale’s Seasoning is the kicker. It will make you back up and throw rocks at the next bottle of worchestershire you see. Damn that was good.
Carroll Rogers
December 30th, 2010
2:15 pm
Arkansas Transplant, I’d put Willy Aybar in another water under the bridge scenario as well. Don’t think there’s animosity, but can’t see either side wanting to go back there.
Thanks to all of you for helping with the italics. Just makes me awfully glad to have this little button I can use and avoid all that jargon. What a pain! I guess if you do it a lot, you get used to it. Or set some function keys to remember it or something.
GTSteve
December 30th, 2010
2:17 pm
One last try….it is the less than symbol, then the letter i, then the greater than symbol, then paste your comment, then the less than symbol, then a forward slash ( the slash that is on the same key with the question mark), then the letter i, and then the greater the greater than symbol
Nick
December 30th, 2010
2:18 pm
Lots of impostors on here.
Hillbilly
December 30th, 2010
2:18 pm
less-than sign em greater-than sign TEXT YOU WANT ITALICIZED less-than /em greater-than
daniel buck
December 30th, 2010
2:18 pm
I got the coolest Jersey for X-mas… A 1972 old school braves #24 Deion Sanders jersey… I do love prime-time
daniel buck
December 30th, 2010
2:21 pm
see if this works
daniel buck
December 30th, 2010
2:21 pm
Awesome
daniel buck
December 30th, 2010
2:23 pm
Thanks guys
Carroll Rogers
December 30th, 2010
2:24 pm
daniel buck, don’t think Salcedo is playing winter ball. They must have figured the best thing for him was to get a little breather, and come back mentally fresh in spring training.
http://mlb.mlb.com/milb/stats/org.jsp?id=atl
DCBrave
December 30th, 2010
2:26 pm
The lineup still. Seeing McClouth up there at the #2 slot and Carroll’s reading Gonzalez’s mind makes me wonder just what is motivation and what is pressure, and what might be better for McClouth. Unlike what Carroll conjectured, putting McClouth way up there may actually put too much pressure on him to produce, and produce quick. He, as well as everybody else, knows that he’s on a short leash. Thus, I really think putting Heyward at #2 and McClouth #8 may help both of them: Heyward may turn the pressure into motivation at #2 based on what we know him so far, which is not too much admittedly but enough, and McClouth may relax a bit at #8 and actually start to produce.
Carroll Rogers
December 30th, 2010
2:26 pm
Hillbilly It will make you back up and throw rocks at the next bottle of worchestershire you see.
You’ve got some skills man, and not just in the kitchen. Write away, friend.
Hillbilly
December 30th, 2010
2:27 pm
Silence is golden. Duck Tape is Silver.
GTSteve
December 30th, 2010
2:28 pm
Daniel, to make bold use B instead of I, to make underlined use U instead…etc