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© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
1,131 comments Add your comment
LTBF
May 31st, 2011
10:12 am
T.P. 10:01
That was funny, would be funnyer if not so true.
Dadgum.....
May 31st, 2011
10:13 am
Pitchers always have the advantage over hitters which is why good pitching will always beat good hitting. Baseball is in a serious pitchers era right now. Scoring is indicative of that. It is of great importance to manufacture runs, take the extra base, be a patient hitter, draw walks. A’s Buck Showalter opined, there aren’t any fastball counts anymore. Pitchers are developing confidence in 3 pitches they can throw for strikes at any time. I agree. Perhaps it will be tougher for Uggla to break out.
ncscoots
May 31st, 2011
10:14 am
Uggla still has options right?
Five years of service time.
Dadgum.....
May 31st, 2011
10:15 am
Damn spellcheck has as= A’s. Obviously Showalter is with the Orioles.
Arkansas Transplant
May 31st, 2011
10:15 am
DAP, are you saying that 90 and 72 will get them into the playoffs then? Those 2 NL teams with more wins happens to be in the same division.
brian
May 31st, 2011
10:16 am
exactly AT and we have done that with a mediocre Chipper and no production from Heyward or Uggla. Not bad at all
Eric from MO
May 31st, 2011
10:18 am
AT you are saying there is no time for the Braves to get better and increase their win total? I guess you are right, only 100+ games left. No chance to make up three games for the wild card. No chance to make up 4 games for the division. Maybe 2012???
Arkansas Transplant
May 31st, 2011
10:18 am
There are 5 teams with better winning percentages then the Braves in the NL.
richbrave
May 31st, 2011
10:18 am
A win tonight will improve our sour mood. Later.
LTBF
May 31st, 2011
10:18 am
Eric 10:09
I said it did not SEEM as bad. Time heals all things.
TennesseePaul
May 31st, 2011
10:18 am
AT, how many of them have played as many games as the Braves?
TennesseePaul
May 31st, 2011
10:20 am
Kevin Towers, who took over as the Diamondbacks’ general manager last September, learned during his days in San Diego how to build a contending team. Towers can appreciate how statistical reports can provide supplemental information for decision making, but he’s not wedded to the point of overlooking the human factor that is a part of performance.
And though Arizona manager Kirk Gibson is filing out lineup cards for the first time on a non-interim basis, he brings with him a pedigree as one of the most hard-nosed competitors to have played in the big leagues. Gibson understands that mental commitment is as critical as physical ability.
Now, the season is only about a third of the way over, so it’s far too early to declare as cured everything that ailed the Diamondbacks under the control-freak mentality of the previous administration. That, of course, included a general manager who micromanaged to the point of overseeing lineups and who bought into the silly idea it was no different for a pitcher to get the 27th out of a game than any of the 26 others.
–Tracy Ringolsby
Arkansas Transplant
May 31st, 2011
10:20 am
Dadgum, you can bank on the fact that he’d never option him. Shoot, he won’t even move down to hitting 8th, truth be told, I’d prefer seeing a pitcher hitting instead of him right now.
Dadgum.....
May 31st, 2011
10:21 am
Tennpaul…. I don’t think Uggla can be optioned. Unless on a rehab stint. Never looked into it really. Just going on what was told to me. Doubtful Fredi would make that move even if he could be optioned.
LTBF
May 31st, 2011
10:22 am
We are on a pace to win 88 games, not playoff worthy.
Eric from MO
May 31st, 2011
10:24 am
LTBF and no time to better that.
Eric from MO
May 31st, 2011
10:25 am
LTBF also make sure you let the 06 Cardinals know that and they may show you their ring.
Arkansas Transplant
May 31st, 2011
10:25 am
Uggla is just about worthless to this club. You can’t tell me we couldn’t do better then running him out there night after night giving up outs.
LTBF
May 31st, 2011
10:26 am
LTBF 8:02PM
Repost from last night.
Last year and I would think every year the players liked and had respect for Bobby because they knew he always had thier back. He always could be heard in dugout encourgeing the hitters and on closes calls he would be on field to argue. Of course that is not all there is to be a MGR,but it sure helped. Bobbys record speaks for its self. This years team on paper is better than last years. I think if there was a way Bobby could came back and finish the season things would get better in a hurry.
CrαZy
May 31st, 2011
10:27 am
Poor Thrashers fans I really do feel bad for all 5,000 of them.
Eric from MO
May 31st, 2011
10:28 am
LTBF I guess that means the pitchers didnt think Bobby had their back and now Freddi does? Im glad that deserved a repost.
TennesseePaul
May 31st, 2011
10:29 am
Dadgum, it’ll catch blog fire nevertheless. Fan the flames. Give it room to breathe.
flange1
May 31st, 2011
10:32 am
Never going to happen LTBF.
You are wasting your time thinking about it.
Eric from MO
May 31st, 2011
10:33 am
I gues Troy Glaus only thought Bobby had his back for a month and a half last year.
ncscoots
May 31st, 2011
10:33 am
Dadgum, it’ll catch blog fire nevertheless. Fan the flames. Give it room to breathe.
TennPaul going rogue, LOL. Not enough that you have to display Tracy Ringolsby’s disdain for unconventional bullpen management…
TennesseePaul
May 31st, 2011
10:34 am
One more for ya scoots…
Wasn’t this the time when the Braves were going to make up ground in the division? Phillies were finally going to play some tough teams, Braves were going to play the push-overs? Instead the Braves have dropped back to 4.5 games out?
Shaun
May 31st, 2011
10:38 am
Tracy Ringolsby is essentially Murray Chass without dementia.
TennesseePaul
May 31st, 2011
10:39 am
There’s one. Knew I could get that one awake…
LTBF
May 31st, 2011
10:39 am
flange 10:32
I know that, also there is no way money wise that the Braves could fire Fredi to replace him with anyone because of that stupid three year contract.
McFann :Ô: :Ô:
May 31st, 2011
10:40 am
flange1 Get Prado and BMAC hot and folks will be talking about All Star appearances.
BMac’s 9 for his last 13 with 3 Doubles and 2 homers…That’s pretty hot!
LTBF
May 31st, 2011
10:40 am
Yup McFann. No way Brian can be blamed for low run production.
ncscoots
May 31st, 2011
10:41 am
You can’t tell me we couldn’t do better then running [Uggla] out there night after night giving up outs.
But does the team have much playoff future if he doesn’t recover? Sitting him short-term isn’t going to get him fixed for the long-term.
The man blows right now, and that’s a fact. But the team is unlikely to go far without performance from him, and it’s unlikely they could fill his lineup slot with anyone who could make up for a lack of that. Might as well play him and pray he gets well.
SidBream'sknees
May 31st, 2011
10:41 am
Bring back Omar Infante!
ncscoots
May 31st, 2011
10:42 am
Instead the Braves have dropped back to 4.5 games out?
Actually, they picked up 2 games during that 20-game stretch. And yes, I thought they would pick up more ground than that.
TennesseePaul
May 31st, 2011
10:46 am
The man blows right now, and that’s a fact. But the team is unlikely to go far without performance from him, and it’s unlikely they could fill his lineup slot with anyone who could make up for a lack of that
I’m not worried about it. Look, the line of logic still holds right? The Braves 2011 offense was/is going to be good compared to the 2010 because essentially you are replacing Melky/McLouth 2010 with a healthy productive 30 HR hitting second baseman. The 2010 Braves made it to the post season, so certainly the 2011 Braves, with a better offense and even better pitching will make it.
So it turns out the team just moved the production of Melky/McLouth 2010 to second base and improved the outfield. The 2010 team still made it to the post season, so certainly this team will make it to the post season.
carlchamblee
May 31st, 2011
10:47 am
Don’t think you can do anything w Uggla right now except cross your fingers and hope his girlfriend accepts his marriage proposal so he can stop getting on one knee every AB
Gil In Mechanicsville
May 31st, 2011
10:48 am
If you think the chump change (by major league standards) a team pays a manager is a real deterrent for firing them, you just are not very attentive.
Let’s see, the Braves have lost some games they should have won, won some they should have lost, Playing with a gimpy Chipper Jones, an absent Jason Heyward and a clueless Dan Uglla. All and all, I think their record is pretty remarkable.
I hated as much as the next Braves’ fan losing yesterday’s game but I saw it coming when the Braves failed to score even with multiple opportunities.
LTBF
May 31st, 2011
10:48 am
No reason to believe Uggla’s hitting will improve by sitting him and he MUST start hitting soon for us to win often.
TennesseePaul
May 31st, 2011
10:51 am
Actually, they picked up 2 games during that 20-game stretch
Sh!t. It’s been 20 games since that period began!? Where does the time go? I’m exhausted. Had a busy weekend. Came in here, pushed all the buttons right off the bat to learn that… I don’t know what that does to my time/space recognition. I feel like I’ve been blog-warped. Feel a bit lost. I think I see Uggla.
Don
May 31st, 2011
10:51 am
Without question, Pitching is the most important factor, and the Braves Pitching may really be great — BUT even so, it is going to be difficult with only one regular hitting above .280, and only three regulars hitting above .255. Remember how some of you ridiculed some of us during the off season for questioning the Braves potential offensive problems.
TennesseePaul
May 31st, 2011
10:51 am
By the way, was that one yours scoots? I thought that was a focal blog topic from last week. All these topics from prior times popped into my head this morning. Thought I’d lay them all out and see what happens. A few of the ones I typed in blog-warped to entirely different blogs and I’m too tired to go find exactly which ones.
Shaun
May 31st, 2011
10:52 am
Regarding Ringolsby’s piece, it’s full of assumptions that confirm his biases.
“In trying to ensure the development of Justin Upton, called up while he was still a teenager, Melvin felt at one point that Upton would benefit from being sent to the minor leagues to remind him that the effort he was giving wasn’t good enough for a big league player. The previous administration looked at Melvin like he had a third eye and expressed concern that such a move might hurt Upton’s feelings.”
Let’s see. Upton, in his 152 PA’s in his age 19 season, was below average. He hasn’t been a below average offensive player in any season since. And here are his OBP in every season since, starting in 2008, his age 20 season: .353, .366, .356, .341 this season. If it is true that Melvin wanted to send Upton down, clearly that seemed to have been misguided. There was clearly nothing left for him to prove in the minors.
Ringolsby assumes the decision to keep him in the majors was about Upton’s feelings. Probably had more to do with the fact that Upton was clearly ready for the majors and there was no need for him to go to the minors. If there was a lack of effort, certainly it certainly didn’t show up in his performance.
Murph
May 31st, 2011
10:52 am
Isn’t the team 17-10 in May? I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that there are quite a few teams in the league who would have killed to go 17-10 this month.
The offense at times is abysmal, Uggla looks like a Rule 5 player finally, Heyward and Chipper have been almost nonexistant in the Braves’ offense… and they still went 17-10. Not too shabby.
If the offense picks up then this is a team that could just take off. As they are right now, though, they’ll never be able to put together the 7 or 8 wins in a row run that it’s going to take to get a lead in one of the toughest divisions in baseball. They just don’t have the punch.
I think it’s time to seriously consider benching Uggla for longer than a single game. There’s obviously something not right with his swing, and he’s not getting any better being run out onto the field every day.
I also wonder if Chipper is hurt worse than has been indicated. His average seems to be going down down down this month and he’s taking some pretty awkward swings. If his knee is hurting they should just get it scoped, move Prado to 3B, and keep Schafer in the leadoff spot once Nate returns.
Gil In Mechanicsville
May 31st, 2011
10:53 am
At some point, one has to wonder what it is about Atlanta that causes a player to become a black hole when it comes to RBI production. Fat Andruw Jones, flailing Jeff Francouer, old Troy Glaus, wacky Yunel Escobar. There always seems to be somebody who becomes the “out” opposing pitchers are looking for. Maybe one of the stat guys on the blog will look it up but over the last few years, has any team failed to score after having the bases loaded more than the Braves? I sure can’t remember any other team suffering from such futility.
Arkansas Transplant
May 31st, 2011
10:54 am
Murph, I just hope when our offense decides to come around and look more like a major league team and less like a high school team that our pitching doesn’t decide to take time off.
Earl Williams
May 31st, 2011
10:55 am
You do not want to mess with Gibson.One of the few guys in the game that most players would be intimidated by.
I know the stalker and my good buddyyy will be upset by this post but what the Hell. When you can read comments about why one of the teams you are in a race with CAN’T win, that should be a good thing. I’ve been saying the Marlins are capable of staying in this ONLY if Johnson comes back quickly. The Marlins and their pitiful minor league system can’t bring up a Teheran or Minor to make spot starts. Instead they have to treat a regular season game like a Grapefruit League game and use 6 pitchers.Well,they won the battle and lost the war.the relief corps is devastatedI nothing on the horizon AND also the spectre of Hanley being in full DOGGIE mode with his back injury.Hanley is so toxic–and especially in a young clubhouse–as to FINALLY be expendable before his trade value bottoms out totally. Every movement Hanley makes related to a baseball action results in a grimace or a wince. I can already see him attributing this putrid .210 batting average to an injury that he hid for last 2 months.Now even if this is somehow true, what kind of Phi Beta Kappa hides an injury for 2 months and results in numbers comparable to some other players who are having “difficulties.”
Anyhow sorry for the long post, I really didn’t see it as a Marlins post as I realize some of you have seen them as a season long threat. That ain’t happening. You only have to beat the Phillies and after watching snippets of their late inning rallies in 3 of the last 4 games, I can only say that BLANK can’t last much longer. You will get em.
I’m going to go hit some golf ball so if my obsessive compulsive stalker wants me to read his comments, it would best serve him to wait until after 11:00 PM because that’s when I’ll be back on here, and I ain’t reading 10 pages of blog entries.Sorry.
Eric from MO
May 31st, 2011
10:58 am
TennPaul-Instead the Braves have dropped back to 4.5 games out?
Werent they 6-6.5 games out? I thought 4.5 was moving forward. Im so confused.
TennesseePaul
May 31st, 2011
10:58 am
Isn’t the team 17-10 in May?
Yes. And after tonight, they’ll finish the month 18-10. Which also is a pretty good month.
Earl Williams
May 31st, 2011
10:58 am
Sorry.One last thing. Would you guys RIGHT NOW trade Uggla, Minor and McClouth for Ramirez?? Right Now!!
Murph
May 31st, 2011
10:59 am
Sorry.One last thing. Would you guys RIGHT NOW trade Uggla, Minor and McClouth for Ramirez?? Right Now!!
Manny? No.
Alexei? Probably not.
Hanley? Possibly.
Aramis? Maybe.
Ramon? Nuh uhh.
Wilkin? Already got him.
ncscoots
May 31st, 2011
10:59 am
I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that there are quite a few teams in the league who would have killed to go 17-10 this month.
You bet. 18-win months are basically two-outa-three for the entire month, get three of those in a season and you’ll be pretty stout. You can play .500 for the other half of the season and be 25 over at the end. That’s usually good enough.
CB
May 31st, 2011
11:00 am
TP,so I can go ahead and lay a big bet on the Braves tonight?
TennesseePaul
May 31st, 2011
11:00 am
EricMO. I think I’m more confused. Ha! I could have sworn that topic was from last week when the team was 3.5 games out. 20 games went by way to fast.
Interestingly though, 20 games ago the Phillies had a 3 game lead on the division and the Braves were 3.5 games out… 21 games they were 4.5 out.
28 games ago they were 6 out, the furthest out they’ve been all season.
Still though, I’m not saying all that because I’ve given up on the team. I think they’ll end up making the post-season. But I do rather enjoy the occasional bear poking and prodding.
McFann :Ô: :Ô:
May 31st, 2011
11:02 am
LTBF—
Yep! After going 7-42, he’s really gotten it back together, even if it’s “only” been for 3 games so far!
His AVG’s gone up 30 points over that span (was .274 before the game on May 27th, now it’s .304!)
LTBF
May 31st, 2011
11:02 am
The reason we are 30-25 is the pitching. And how long can the pitching hold up the way it has, it is bound to slip some. So something has to be done about the offence. What can be done? Who knows? I sure don’t.
Shaun
May 31st, 2011
11:04 am
Gil In Mechanicsville, the Braves have been one of the top offensive teams in the NL since about 2002. So, without looking it up, I seriously doubt they’ve failed more often than other teams with the bases loaded. When you only watch the Braves and the standard is perfection, you are going to find weaknesses with the offense. Any rational person will realize the Braves have had a good offensive club for about a decade. That was all Terry Pendleton’s fault that the Braves had such a good offensive club.
Regarding the players you mentioned, And
Shaun
May 31st, 2011
11:05 am
Regarding the players you mentioned: Andruw obviously didn’t age well, Escobar was probably never a great hitter and Francoeur clearly was never more than a platoon player (the team just failed to recognize it, for some reason).
TennesseePaul
May 31st, 2011
11:05 am
CB: Certainly.
David O'Brien
May 31st, 2011
11:05 am
Tracy Ringolsby is essentially Murray Chass without dementia. — Shaun
And I’m sure both of them care deeply that you feel that way.
Murph
May 31st, 2011
11:06 am
TP,so I can go ahead and lay a big bet on the Braves tonight?
Latos vs Minor… I’d stick to friendly bets and keep your money in your wallet if I were you.
ncscoots
May 31st, 2011
11:06 am
Ha! I could have sworn that topic was from last week when the team was 3.5 games out. 20 games went by way to fast.
Fast even by blog-warp speeds, LOL.
The 20-game stretch to which I’ve always alluded was from May 6-24 for the Phightens.
Braveone
May 31st, 2011
11:09 am
From the previous blog which had 1,164 comments, VaBravesFan led the way with 64 posts. There were 156 different poster names. Here are the Top 25:
Rank Poster Frequency
1 VaBravesFan 64
2 Tbraves 48
3 BFChris26 43
4 Tomas 38
5 count_schemula 37
6 jeffrey d 36
7 cabravesfan 31
8 Lew 30
9 Tom O’Hawke 29
10 noleee 29
11 shmoe 28
12 David O’Brien 26
13 kwajbraves 26
14 LTBF 25
15 Trey 23
16 CaptainMudderland 22
17 JC from DR! (You gotta tip your cap to ____) 21
18 McFann :Ô: :Ô: 21
19 cricket 21
20 Eric from MO 19
21 Venice Jim 19
22 Bay Area Steve 18
23 Bravefaninok 17
24 Woody Woodward 17
25 GT Alum 16
Danga
May 31st, 2011
11:09 am
Latos vs Minor… I’d stick to friendly bets and keep your money in your wallet if I were you.
Pads triple slash vs lefties: .228/.296/.334
MLB ranks 30/30/29,
DAP
May 31st, 2011
11:09 am
arkansas transplant DAP, are you saying that 90 and 72 will get them into the playoffs then? Those 2 NL teams with more wins happens to be in the same division.
no, the marlins have 30 wins, just like the braves.
will 90 wins secure the playoffs? i dont, know, maybe. if things continue like they are going right now, then probably yes. my point is, the braves are right there. its not unreasonable to think this team, as it is, will make the playoffs.
by the way, NL teams with more wins than the braves are the phillies and cardinals.
ncscoots
May 31st, 2011
11:10 am
And I’m sure both of them care deeply that you feel that way.
Well, they’re just “ignorant BBWAA geezers”, after all.
David O'Brien
May 31st, 2011
11:10 am
Wasn’t this the time when the Braves were going to make up ground in the division? Phillies were finally going to play some tough teams, Braves were going to play the push-overs? Instead the Braves have dropped back to 4.5 games out? — TennPaul
Well, one of those was supposed to be Arizona. Little did anyone realize they’d be the hottest team in baseball in late May — they’ve won seven in a row and nine of 10. And the Angels are 6-4 in their last 10 and a game out of 1st. Even the lowly Pirates are 5-5 in their last 10, still only a few games below .500 at a point when they’re usually about 10-15 below.
Gil In Mechanicsville
May 31st, 2011
11:14 am
A healthy Heyward would go a long way in boosting the Braves offense but until Uggla starts producing, the Braves are going to continue to meander they way through the season.
Hanley could be a great player if he wanted to be but like many players blessed with great talent, he does not think he has to also work at it too. At least Jeff Kemp of the Dodgers finally got it that he could be a good as he wanted to be. Too bad he realized that later rather than sooner
Nope, wouldn’t make that trade…. One head case at shortstop was enough for me….
On Uggla, to be honest, he has put so me good swings on the ball of late, just too many times of late he has been unproductive in crucial spots.
LTBF
May 31st, 2011
11:14 am
I read that it is a sad day for ATL Hockey fans. We also lost the Flames years ago. It is sad for the fans that have supported the Thashers.
David O'Brien
May 31st, 2011
11:14 am
We are on a pace to win 88 games, not playoff worthy. — LTBF
As of today, Florida would be the wild-card leader, one game ahead of San Francisco. The defending World Series champion Giants are 1/2-game ahead of the Braves, who’d be third in the wild card standings today, 1-1/2 games behind Florida.
ncscoots
May 31st, 2011
11:16 am
The Phightens managed to play .500 through that stretch, and I didn’t think that they had a prayer of doing so. You gotta (dare I say it?) tip your cap.
TennesseePaul
May 31st, 2011
11:16 am
The 20-game stretch to which I’ve always alluded was from May 6-24 for the Phightens.
That would have been a good stretch to pounce… The Braves were 4.5 games out heading into May 6. Phillies had a 2 game division lead. At the end, the Phillies had a 1 game division lead and the Braves were 3.0 games out.
Murph
May 31st, 2011
11:16 am
Well, one of those was supposed to be Arizona. Little did anyone realize they’d be the hottest team in baseball in late May — they’ve won seven in a row and nine of 10. And the Angels are 6-4 in their last 10. Even the lowly Pirates are 5-5 in their last 10, still only a few games below .500 at a point when they’re usually about 10-15 below.
There’s nothing like a series with the Braves to break a sub .500 team out of their funk and get them going.
lexbrave
May 31st, 2011
11:17 am
buster posey goes down on a clean play and all of a sudden players are calling for protection for catchers. nobody seemed to get so bent our of shape when darrin erstad ran out of the baseline just to put a forearm shiver into the head of johnny estrada in ‘05, effectively ending his career.
ncscoots
May 31st, 2011
11:18 am
Man, the time-warp thing really is a little disconcerting, isn’t it? Gives you a Linda-Blair head-spin.
TennesseePaul
May 31st, 2011
11:20 am
DOB, Little did anyone realize they’d be the hottest team in baseball…
I like this because I’m nearly positive there was some gnashing of teeth prognosticating that such a thing would occur simply because the baseball gods are against the Braves (despite the the favorable season record). But yes, the Braves ran into all the lowly teams right when those teams got hot… Or maybe that says something about the Braves? We’ll know at the end of the season when all the dust has settled.
David O'Brien
May 31st, 2011
11:22 am
Let’s see if this one catches on…
Uggla still has options right? — TennPaul
Let’s see if this one catches on: Take all the time you want, and find one player, just one, who has ever been optioned to the minors in the first year of a multi-year contract even remotely comparable to Uggla’s $62 mill deal. Just one player who was ever optioned to the minors (not sent for an injury, but just for poor performance).
Again, take all the time you need.
TennesseePaul
May 31st, 2011
11:22 am
You gotta (dare I say it?) tip your cap
Yup. That team has swagger I tells ya.
Murph
May 31st, 2011
11:22 am
On Uggla, to be honest, he has put so me good swings on the ball of late, just too many times of late he has been unproductive in crucial spots.
3 hits, 1 walk, 0 runs in his last 10 games…. not exactly filling me with much hope.
Although, I was actually surprised to see he’s only struck out 8 times total in those 10 games. I would have guessed twice as many.
LTBF
May 31st, 2011
11:24 am
Last night nothing much on tv, so I watched the Reds defeat the Brewers 7-3. It was fun to see teams score some runs. Not saying I don;t like pitching duels at times.
monty
May 31st, 2011
11:25 am
Phillies on pace to win 101 and the Braves 88. So much for them falling apart, bad bullpen, body parts falling off with age, etc..etc.. I said at the begining of the season Phillies win 100 games, most everyone laughed. Maybe they will, maybe they won’t, but the point is unless they lose Howard, Hamels,Lee, or Halladay, they win the East. That is, unless Uggla has a banner 2nd half and Heyward returns healthy enough to resemble something of his 1st half 2010 self, our pitching holds up and no major injuries from here on out to any key people. Lot of hoping and crossing of fingers there. Realisticly were are going to fight the Marlins for the WC. I’m OK with that.
TennesseePaul
May 31st, 2011
11:27 am
Again, take all the time you need.
Don’t need to. Uggla doesn’t have options left. He’s past that point of ‘return. There was such vitriol and bile all over with Uggla as the main chunk sitting in the center of it all… It had gone from “drop him in the order” to “bench him”, options seemed a logical, natural, even organic, stage 3 venting point.
ncscoots
May 31st, 2011
11:29 am
said at the begining of the season Phillies win 100 games, most everyone laughed.
monty, I would never laugh at you. Laugh with you, maybe, but not at you.
“Phillies win 100″ does get a silent eyeroll, though.
LTBF
May 31st, 2011
11:29 am
No way we send Dan to G Braves. He has to work it out here and he has to play to do it.
TennesseePaul
May 31st, 2011
11:30 am
Although, there is a guy finishing out a $23M contract in the minors for the Braves. And the Yanks spent $46M (posting plus contract) to option Igawa to the minors. Which is pretty crazy to think of it. Two pitchers and nearly $70M total. #flopsandbusts
monty
May 31st, 2011
11:32 am
Murph-”There’s nothing like a series with the Braves to break a sub .500 team out of their funk and get them going.”
Have to admit that thought crossed my mind. Ailing pitchers and hitters get healthy all of a sudden against us. LOL!
Murph
May 31st, 2011
11:34 am
No way we send Dan to G Braves. He has to work it out here and he has to play to do it.
Just playing devil’s advocate here, but… he’s started every game but one this month… and his average continues to go in the wrong direction.
How long do you give him a chance to “work things out”? There has to be a limit, no matter who the player is. July? What if he’s hitting .150 in August and the Braves are still in the race?
When do you pull the plug on an unproductive player in favor of some sort of production?
TennesseePaul
May 31st, 2011
11:36 am
to be followed shortly thereafter by the put-him-out-of-his-misery-like-a-broke-down-nag stage 4.
Isn’t that the full version definition of “trade him for batting practice balls”?
monty
May 31st, 2011
11:37 am
Scoots- Thanks for the vote of confidence.
ncscoots
May 31st, 2011
11:38 am
It had gone from “drop him in the order” to “bench him”, options seemed a logical, natural, even organic, stage 3 venting point.
…to be followed shortly thereafter by the put-him-out-of-his-misery-like-a-broke-down-nag stage 4.
The stages of baseball grief.
TennesseePaul
May 31st, 2011
11:40 am
Nice! Blog-warped that two comments and 2 minutes ahead!
ncscoots
May 31st, 2011
11:40 am
When do you pull the plug on an unproductive player in favor of some sort of production?
After a Heyward collision, LOL?
monty
May 31st, 2011
11:41 am
Have they ruled out sessions with sports psychologist?
ncscoots
May 31st, 2011
11:43 am
TennPaul, now that I think about it, trade-him-for-a-bag-of-balls is probably stage 4. Mine is probably stage 5, since shooting him is probably a little bit final.
TennesseePaul
May 31st, 2011
11:44 am
Have they ruled out sessions with sports psychologist
Seriously? Haven’t we covered this already? The guy is in the big leagues. He doesn’t need a psychologist. If he did, he’d have never made it to the big leagues.
Murph
May 31st, 2011
11:44 am
A Heyward/Uggla collision would create a shockwave that would turn Nate’s hair red and cause Schafer’s balls to finally drop.
Gil In Mechanicsville
May 31st, 2011
11:44 am
I said he had some good swings on the ball, those don’t always result in hits. Much like all those at’em balls Marteen was hitting early in the season. Pop ups and weak ground balls and strikeouts reveal flaws in a swing. Hitting the ball on the screws but having it caught is just part of the game. That said, Uggla is really pressing right now, trying to hit 5 run homers every at-bat. Reminds me of McLough last season. Sometimes a hitter has to be willing to punch the ball the other way, otherwise, pitchers are going to continue to expand the strike zone. A major league ballplayer cannot continue to keep doing the same thing over and over in the hopes a pitcher is going to make mistakes.
Lew
May 31st, 2011
11:46 am
Aramis Ramirez has two HR so far this year – guess there’s not a Ramirez out tyhere we’d make the deal for – IF any other team were dumb enough to want to, anyway.
Gil – Yesterday on the AB where Uggla walked. Dude had to physically restrain himself from swinging at every pitch of that AB. That’s part of his problem – no attempt at pitch recognition – he’s swinging at everything. He really needs to get much more selective and do what Chipper has done for years – wait on his pitch and then drive it.
TennesseePaul
May 31st, 2011
11:47 am
Mine is probably stage 5, since shooting him is probably a little bit final.
Could be, but I think missed the denial-relapse/last-positive-hope stage in there some where.
The Victor-Zambrano/Scott Kazmir stage: Distraught fans irrationally believe they can trade him straight up or package him with another failure for a truly great on-the-verge prospect…
monty
May 31st, 2011
11:47 am
I liked how the Fox guys were ribbing Huddy about him having trouble with Uggla in the past and that maybe Huddy should throw some batting practice to him to get him going again. I had already thought something similar.
Gil In Mechanicsville
May 31st, 2011
11:49 am
Oh well, little we can do but hope at some point Dan will get it. At least Freddie Freeman has played gold glove defense and his bat has warmed up. .250 is a very respectable average for a 21 year old fist year rookie. He will only get better.
Chipper has looked like he has been playing hurt for a week now. Power is down and I can’t remember when I have seen him take so many pitches down the middle for called strikes. Perhaps his knee is more of a distraction than he lets on.