Braves quotes after season-ending loss to Phillies
FREDI GONZALEZ
“I’m proud of the club. We battled today. The ball that Pence hit, you couldn’t throw it or place it any better. And they got the win. It’s a good club over there, but I’m really proud of our club, the way we battled. We had an opportunity to play for tomorrow, but it didn’t work out. But again, a lot of good stuff this year.”
On poor offense in September
“It’s just one of those things. You wish you could flip-flop it a month with another one earlier in the calendar, but you can’t choose that. We just had a rough month of September and we couldn’t right the ship.”
On injuries to Jurrjens and Hanson, how that affected team
“We could sit here and do this and that, ifs and maybes, but that’s all excuses. The kids that came up did a nice job and kept us in ballgames.”
“It’s sad, because you see the effort that guys have put through since spring training. You see them in the locker room and there’s no tomorrow. But what are you going to do? The Phillies are a good club and the Cardinals did a helluva job fighting from that deficit in the wild card. Sit back and watch those guys play [now].”
On whether he should have sent Roger out to talk to Kimbrel earlier
“That’s here or there, you know? The eighth or the ninth inning, I don’t know, we hit a batter and end up walking five or six. It’s uh… It’s… No.” [Cut off his answer, made clear wasn't going to continue with the line of questioning.]
The last couple of weeks, it looked like Kimbrel and Venters both were on fumes
“That’s just the way it goes. Maybe they are, maybe they’re not. For me, those are excuses. If we hold their appearances back, maybe we’re a .500 club. Maybe we’re not in this situation [playing for a postseason berth]. Again, it’s a long season. It’s over with. Too bad. The fans were great, especially these last three games here against the Phillies. And go get ‘em next year.”
What can you tell Kimbrel
“I told him, hell of a season. We had a bunch of good seasons. Kimbrel’s got a chance to win the rookie of the year. Freddie Freeman’s got a chance to win rookie of the year. Danny got, what, 35 home runs [36], did something no [second baseman] had ever done before. There’s a lot of good stuff you can hold your head up about.”
TIM HUDSON
“We just fell short. We had a few tough breaks early in the game. I felt like we could have scored a couple more runs with some better calls.
“It’s tough. We fought hard. I’m really proud of my teammates. We really battled. It’s a tough way to end the season, because we did a lot of good things this year. We just fell short this last month. Obviously it was a tough go for us the last few weeks, and we just didn’t bounce back from it. We had a game tonight that we could have won, and we just fell short. I I thought we had a little spark there, that if we’d have won there and been able to pull this game out in regulation, take it to St. Louis and you never know what could have happened.
“But I’m proud of my teammates, proud of our bullpen. We leaned on those guys all year, and it’s just a tough night.”
On Kimbrel
“We wouldn’t be here without him. That’s the thing. He’s been a stud all year, one of the best closers in the game this year, probably rookie of the year. He’s unbelievable. Great teammate, great kid, works hard. He just had one night where it didn’t fall in place for him, and it just happened to be the last game of the season. But we wouldn’t be here without him. He closed so many games for us and nailed down so many wins that a lesser closer wouldn’t have been able to hold ‘em down.
“Him, Jonny Venters, O’Flaherty, all those guys in the pen. Scotty. They’ve been so good for us all year. For it to happen the way it did tonight, it’s tough because without those guys down there we would have been out of it two weeks ago.”
Can emotions effect a young closer like Kimbrel in a game like this?
“Young guys, they’re emotional. There’s adrenaline out there that sometimes can be hard to harness at some times in a playoff atmosphere. But he’s pitched in big games for us all year. I don’t think it was nerves at all. I just think it was an inning that didn’t work out the way we wanted it to, and they were able to tie it up.”
“Like I said, man, we don’t have anything to hang our heads about. Even though this last month was a historic type of slide. I mean, I love all these guys in here. I’m pround of ‘em.”
On Kimbrel and Venters, how they looked fatigued down stretch
“We leaned on them hard all year. They were on pace for some record-breaking numbers of appearances for a while. I mean, you can’t blame those guys. Every time we called on them, they came with their best stuff. They came with whatever they had left in the tank, and tonight was no different. We went out there and we gave it our best shot. We tried the best we could.”
CRAIG KIMBREL
“The fact of the matter is, everybody on this team, everybody in this clubhouse, showed up to play today and gave everthing they could to win this game, except myself. I didn’t go out there and pitch to my abililty. Part of being a closer is being able to bottle up your emotions and harness them, and I didn’t do that today, and I let the team down.”
Were you maybe running out of gas down the stretch, that a part of it?
“No, not at all. I just didn’t put it together. September is the hardest month of the year. I just didn’t figure it out, and I let my team down.”
In a couple of weeks, you think you’ll be able to look back on all you accomplished?
“This is actually going to make me work harder this offseason.”
Were you nervous out there, too much nervous energy?
“Like I said, I let my emotions get the best of me today.”
What were those emotions?
“Just being in the ninth inning, being excited. When you let that get to you you’re not the same pitcher, and I let that get to me today.”
What did the older guys like Hudson say to you afterward?
“Just keep my head up. It was a long season. All I can do now is think about what I did today, fix it, and come back next year and help this team win a lot more games.”
On losing and missing postseason
“It’s tough to be so close and have the feeling of it falling out of your hands. And that’s the feeling I have right now.”
On what it feels like to be too amped up in game
“Things start moving too fast, your brain starts moving a little faster, and I didn’t put it together. And it was just too late when I felt like I could.”
On what he can take from this September
“It’s just going to be something that’s going to push me. When I think back to September, I’m going to think ‘I don’t want to do that again.’ I’m going to try my best not to.”
CHIPPER JONES
On the disappointment of falling short of the postseason
“It’s one thing to make it to the playoffs and achieve your goal that you set out in spring training to do, and you accomplish it and give yourself an opportunity in October. Having such a big lead and then sitting here after No. 162 and not being in the playoffs is a tremendous disappointment.
“It’s unfortunate. We left it all out there tonight. We played hard start to finish. We just got a little wild late in regulation, and couldn’t overcome it.”
You’ve said you’re playing next year, this change anything?
“No. I’ve committed to playing next year. I won’t commit past that; let’s put it that way. I’m looking forward to it. As tough a pill as it is to swallow, for a lot of these young guys it’s a learning experience. We got our butts kicked for the last couple of weeks of the season and they’re going to learn a lot from it and be better ballplayers for it.”
Any point in recent weeks where you thought team might be in trouble?
“When you lose a groundball in the lights [as Chipper did in Florida a week ago] and the next guy hits a two-run homer to beat you, that’s when you start feeling that something’s out of your control, something’s going on. It felt like from that point on that we were playing more to protect a lead than going out and trying to extend it.
“When you’re in a slump as a team, you find a bunch of different ways to lose. The bats go silent, you get wild on the mound, you walk in runs – whatever. You find ways to lose. Man, we sure did it in the last couple of weeks.”
On Kimbrel letting emotions get best of him
“That was probably my fault. I thought about going in and saying something to him before the inning – ‘Hey, this is not different, just calm yourself down and play catch with B-Mac.’ I thought to myself, you know what, he’s good enough. He’ll keep it in check and have it under control. I wish I had talked to him.”
“He’s had a rookie-of-the-year caliber year. We couldn’t have been here without him. And he’s a good kid. Just like we felt for a guy like Brooks Conrad last year, we feel for him. But he’s going to be a better closer down the road because of something like this.”
On team’s at-bats after the nine, looked like lot of guys swinging real hard
“We’ve been swinging really hard for a while. I think that’s a part of guys trying to do too much, going up there and not staying within themselves and taking what the pitcher gives you. You know, if he’s going to live two or three inches off the outside corner, that’s not a pitch you can hit out of the ballpark. You’ve got to serve it to left [field] and take your single. But when you’ve got a bunch of guys out there that want to win as bad as we do, sometimes that happens.”
Perfect storm in September — injuries, fatigue and lack of big hits all coming together
“Yeah, and you can’t dictate when you’re going to get in slides like that as a team. We started out the season kind of like that. We turned it around and we really had ourselves in prime position to go to October. Our slump combined with the Cardinals playing really good baseball in September, you’ve got a shocking situation.”
“We didn’t achieve our goal. We had it right there, and we let is slip away for one reason or another. That’s a tough pill to swallow.”
On team’s collapse in Fredi Gonzalez’s first year as manager
“It’s cruel, because probably nobody in Atlanta sports is probably under as much scrutiny as he is filling in for Bobby Cox. To have it slip away in late September, it’s cruel. It’s really cruel. It’s not indicative of the way this team played, the way he managed, and what we deserved in this situation. But baseball’s like that. It’s kind to you one day and fickle the next.”
MICHAEL BOURN
On the loss
“You can’t take anything in this game for granted. When we’ve got a chance to close it out, we’ve got to close it out. We can’t sit back and just think it’s going to be given to us. Every team is fighting no matter if somebody is contending or not contending. They still want to beat us. They’re not going to let us have it. We’ve got to go get it, and we didn’t go get it. We let I slip away, and that’s what happens. You hate it because you always want to be in the playoffs at the end of the year, and we’ve got that kind of a team. And now we’re going to the house. So when spring training hits, hopefully we’ll remember this to learn from it.”
On Pence’s hit
“We’ve had our opportunities. We were fighting but we didn’t get that other run that we needed. We had our chances, not just this game but you can go weeks before, you can go two weeks before. We put our backs into the wall in this game. Tip your hat, they didn’t let us in. That’s what a good team does.”
On being safe at third
“Yeah I know but Uggla hit a two-run homer anyway, made up for it. Could have been a three-run homer, but what can you do? Nothing you can do about it.”
DAN UGGLA
On feeling of shock
“Not necessarily a state of shock. Obviously disappointed. There’s a feeling of missed opportunity, but when you look at everybody’s effort inside this clubhouse, it’s easier to swallow because everybody left it out on the field, everybody gave it their best and that’s all we can ask for. I think it’s going to benefit us this offseason in a weird way to not this happen again next year. Everybody’s going to bust their butts and come back even stronger than we were this year.”
On if thinking it was Braves’ night after homer
“We all thought it was going to be our night as soon as we got to the yard today. Everybody was loose, same way we always were in the clubhouse. Once we tied it up and the homer put us up, Huddy can take of the rest and we turn it over to the bullpen and they take care of the rest. But this is a tough team, man, they put together good ABs on a consistent basis. It just so happens they got a couple guys on and put together some more good at-bats and got a run across. Then did it again in the 13th.
On Pence’s hit
“Liney made a great pitch and Hunter fought it off and it happened to land in no-man’s land. I couldn’t make a play on it. Just one of those things. Kinda describes the whole September.”
On coming here, looking to make playoffs
“It’s disappointing to come up short. But to see the way that everybody battled in this clubhouse and to see the character of this whole team. We’re going to be good for a long time. This was a year that we can use as a learning curve. We had a lot of young kids do a lot of special things this year and now they’ve got a year under their belt and they’ll come back stronger. And I’ve got another year under my belt here too. I feel like I’m going to come back stronger. We’ve got a good clubhouse here to do some special things in years to come.”
On Chipper’s message rallying the team in the dugout before the game
“Just play our game. Make the plays behind Huddy. And stay relaxed and pretty much do exactly what we did tonight except for we didn’t get the W, but we played hard. We played a good ball game, it just fell on their side tonight.”
BRIAN MCCANN
On if looking back, he came back too early from injury
“I don’t know. You could always sit back and whatever, I don’t know. I know I’ve learned a lot this year as far as this in the first time I went on the DL. I want to be out there and I want to play. I just didn’t get it done. It was just a bad month of baseball for me. I feel terrible about that.”
On Kimbrel saying he might have been too amped up
“I thought he pitched good. If you go back and look at his inning, there were three or four calls that could have gone his way that didn’t. It looked like normal Craig that I’ve caught all year long.”
On if he felt he was overswinging, trying to help the team
“No I didn’t. It’s baseball, and I just couldn’t really figure it out.”
On if there was a point in September he realized team just not clicking
“I guess when we went to St. Louis, but again we won 17 games for four months. We almost won 90 games. It’s nothing to (hang your head) on. It just happened the last month we played our worst baseball.”
On physical toll he deals with by September
“Yeah, catching it’s a position, it’s a grind. That’s what it is. It’s a day in and day out grind, and I’ve got to figure out a way to be at my best in September. That’s it. I’m going to go back to work and come back better than I’ve ever been. This is a year that I’ll have to sit back and evaluate what went on. I’ve taken something different each year home with me, and I’ve come back and got better at it. So I plan on doing the same thing this year.”
On if this is most disappointed he’s ever been
“No doubt about it. I feel like I let everybody down. I’m a guy that hits in the middle of the order that’s supposed to drive in runs and supposed to do a lot of things, and just the way I performed wasn’t very good.”
FREDDIE FREEMAN
On his disappointment
“I don’t really have the words right now. I wanted to come up clutch for the team, and I got into a good hitter’s count there and I just didn’t get it done.”
On Pence’s hit
“You just can’t throw a ball better than that, and of course it would happen in that situation. I still can’t believe a broken bat 104 feet wins the game. It’s unreal.”
On trying to explain what happened in September
“I can’t. We fought and we fought hard, I really can’t fathom it. We went out there every day battling and came up on the short end of the stick. The Cardinals took care of business. We fought and fought. We had a chance to keep it going and we didn’t do it tonight.”
SCOTT LINEBRINK
On throwing the pitch he wanted to Pence
“You feel like you do your job and that’s where it ends up, there’s not a whole lot you can do about it. We walk a fine line out there every day. We make pitches best we can, and once it leaves our hand, long as we did everything to execute, the results we don’t have any bearing over that. Of course it’s a tough one to swallow. I think everybody in here did the best they could, went out there and did their job just like they’ve done all year.”
On Pence taking an inside-out swing
“Yeah, he’s got an open stance so we try to run that ball in there. It was a sinker in; that’s what we’ve done all year long with righties. The pitch was in there definitely. It wasn’t out over the plate. He just got to it.”
On decision not to pitch around Pence with runner at first
“We’ve got the right-hander up there. Two different times we had guys up there with two strikes, two outs and a chance to get out of it. Got Utley to hit a ground ball that found a hole and jammed the piss out of Pence. Not a whole lot you can do about that.”
Tough September for team
“It just goes to show you that those last few games are the hardest to win, when you get that close, and you can smell the finish line. It’s tough. There’s a lot of adversity out there you have to deal with. This team handled it well; it just wasn’t in the card.”
On what he’d tell Kimbrel
“There’s not a whole lot you can tell him right now. We’re all dealing with it on our own. I give him a pat on the back. He’s had an unbelievable season and I’m sure a lot more will be said as we go on from here, but those two guys over there Jonny Venters and Craig Kimbrel are the reason we even had an opportunity to be in this spot. Of course, they’re going to take a lot of responsibility on their shoulders because that’s the kind of guys that they are. They take a lot of pride in what they do, but the bottom line is the strength of this team was definitely the bullpen and those two guys anchored it.”
JASON HEYWARD
“We battled. We didn’t go out in an effortless way. That knock by Pence just about fits the way he goes about the game – battle till it falls off, and it just squeaked in there. Credit to him, and credit to Liney right there for getting two outs, two strikes.”
“Looking back at last year, seeing how hard it was to get to the playoffs, that’s my only explanation for this year, seeing how hard it is again.”
On injuries to Hanson, Jurrjens
“Losing those starting pitchers, missing them is tough. It’s no excuse – we win as a team, we lose as a team. But injuries hurt you, you know, whether it’s position players or the starting [rotation]. You’ve got to give a lot of credit to the young guys that came up and filled in for them. I feel like that’s going to do them a lot of good in the future.”
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538 comments Add your comment
LuisG
September 29th, 2011
2:20 am
Thanks DOB!
Tyler
September 29th, 2011
2:21 am
140 days until pitchers and catchers report! Proud of these guys tonight thought, they gave it everything they had
Freefall: Over
September 29th, 2011
2:27 am
wow
what a waste of a season
Freefall: Over
September 29th, 2011
2:33 am
who didnt think it was over when linesh*t came on to pitch?
battling battler
September 29th, 2011
2:34 am
when you finish the season with five losses-are you really ‘battling’?
ohhhYEAH
September 29th, 2011
2:34 am
even in the interview, jsut seems not to really care if they won or lost(Gonzalez)
Joe Maddon
September 29th, 2011
2:37 am
Onward and upward for my guys… RAYS WORLD CHAMPS in 2011!!!!!!!!!
Freefall: Over
September 29th, 2011
2:37 am
keep prado away from excessive training
do not play him in every single ST game again like this season..
he tired himself out.. & the staph infection didnt help much either
LuisG
September 29th, 2011
2:37 am
I believe it was a 2-8 record over the final 10 games of the season, including with those five straight Ls.
shmoe
September 29th, 2011
2:37 am
Release Lowe. Replace Parrish. Replace Gonzalez. Get a new impact LF, make Prado utility and get a stud starting pitcher. That is all.
J-Man
September 29th, 2011
2:40 am
Someone must pay for this collapse, Fredi must go. Enough of this Tip of the Hat crap. Your guys had sense of urgency and all you can do is tip your cap. Maybe it was the fact that you didnt go out and beat those teams that made you tip your cap. This makes me sick almost as bad as 96. I have supported this team throughout the years but I can’t if there is nothing done. This team needed another leader but all it got was a hit tipper. My solution is to make a drastic I say package Prado, Jurrjens and Vizcaino for either Matt Kemp, Curtis Granderson, or Adam Jones. Derek Lowe had NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO BUSINESS pitching on Tuesday’s game but Fredi kept rolling him out only to gt lit up……….D Lowe ITS OVER I understand you wont retire because theres 15 million reasons you wont but you have to give better effort than you did this year. Put him in Double A like you did Kawakami or move him to a reliever role because maybe he can still be decent there. Larry Parrish and Pendleton must go also because this team need a new and fresh face and to truly move on from the Bobby Cox Era and all we got is his unwanted children.
J-Man
September 29th, 2011
2:42 am
There is nothing comforting in this loss
jebrett
September 29th, 2011
2:43 am
Everyone compares to FG to Bobby, but if you read his comments, it sounds like he could care less, Bobby was never like that. I dont care what anyone says,the leadership on this team is bad. Chipper is a team leader as a player,so he can only do so much, but the management controls how the team flows. Poor Management!
Joe
September 29th, 2011
2:44 am
Going to be a long 140 days, but I am looking forward to it.
Just for info, but Evan Longoria (Tampa Bay) hit his wild card clinching home run off, are you ready for this??? Scott Proctor. Pretty appropriate considering how this season ended and went for the Braves.
Josh
September 29th, 2011
2:45 am
still a Braves fan and always will be. Thanks DOB
Matt the Brave
September 29th, 2011
2:45 am
While there is nothing comforting in this loss, I guess we will separate the wheat from the chaff in terms of Braves staff and players. About time that part of this team gets overhauled.
Oh yeah, and GO BRAVES!
rc35
September 29th, 2011
2:46 am
It’s reassuring to hear that some of the players really cared at the end. Given the “cap-tipping” and “long season” and “bloop here and there” recurring quotes, it’s easy to fill in the blanks and assume that they didn’t give a hoot. I appreciate the effort of every player who gave it what he had, no matter the result.
As Spider-Man’s,line goes, “With great power comes great responsibility.” The greatest power, and thus the greatest responsibility, lies with the manager. It’s hard to accept that Fredi Gonzalez could take the players he had on September 1, watch them day in and day out at batting practice and in game situations and fail to figure out some lineup combination that couldn’t play better than .333 baseball.
Many episodes of the old cartoon, “The Tick,” closed with the title character asking, “What have we learned today, Arthur?” I sincerely hope that a 9-18 finish has taught Fredi, Frank, Chipper, or one of the faceless corporate suits at Liberty something that will give us a better 2012 season.
Fire Fredi
September 29th, 2011
2:46 am
Fredi Gonzalez and his staff have to go. Way too many games were decided by his ineptitude this year. The front office owes it to the fans and the players to clean house and get some coaches in the clubhouse who know how to field a winning club.
marshall
September 29th, 2011
2:47 am
Thanks DOB — best in the biz.
West Coast Michael
September 29th, 2011
2:48 am
Tough end to your season, Braves fans. You have a tough young team that will be in the playoffs many times in the years ahead.
ohhhYEAH
September 29th, 2011
2:54 am
I say trade JJ back to the tigers for Boesch, we need a TRUE outfielder. Prado, Lord bless him, i love his hard work and attitude, is just not an outfielder, he is an infielder and not an every day one. we needa true outfielder mannign the position
J-Man
September 29th, 2011
2:55 am
We have a young and talented team but we wont make the play-offs anytime soon until we get rid of these Bobby Cox Rejects……….BRING BACK BOBBY. or get somebody with BALLS I mean hell this team played like a bunch of PU$$YS and their generic and redundant post game “HAT-TIPPING” comments show just how incompentant this staff really was. I say other than McDowell, Eddie Perez, and the ballboys they should can all of EM DAMMIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
shawn
September 29th, 2011
2:55 am
DOB thanks for the blog this season, by far the best of all ajc sports blogs!
Tdavis
September 29th, 2011
2:57 am
Maybe we will go get another power hitter now. We couldve really used it over the past month
Hopeful
September 29th, 2011
3:00 am
How many years will it be before we announce Chipper Jones as the Braves manager? …man that would be awesome – a leader with some fire and drive to WIN.
I agree with a lot of these comments in that it seems like losing and having another “oh well, almost” kind of season is chalked up as the norm in the Braves organization. Just once I would like somebody to say in an interview, “THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE and inexcusable!” I just wish the Braves leadership had that attitude and then did something about it. Why can’t we have the mindset of WINNING so we don’t have to keep making excuses? Phillies fans are laughing at us…and all we ever say is, “Oh well, maybe next year…”
After all that ranting, I sure do love my Braves…no matter what.
jonathan Simeone
September 29th, 2011
3:11 am
I cannot believe Pence was pitched to with Martinez on deck. Moving forward this team needs to get a third and a fourth place hitter. With so much money being tied up in Lowe and Chipper I’m not sure how that happens.
fonzischeme
September 29th, 2011
3:11 am
“That’s just the way it goes. Maybe they are, maybe they’re not.” The Braves will never fire Fredie because they see themselves as this “stable” franchise instead of a WINNING franchise. Anyone with half a brain can tell Freddie should go – one blaring reason is that he is the worst tactical manager I have ever seen _ lets pitch to Kemp with a base open – but also his answers in these press conferences reveal him to be not a very bright person. He had a no brainer team and he still lead them to a massive choke. Braves fans are used to the manager making stupid mistakes in the playoff s but this team literally had to beat both their opponents and Freddie’s poor managing.
NEVER underestimate the power of poor manager decisions to demoralize a team.
Why would anyone go see this team next year with Fredie in charge? He’s proven he can’t mange with the big boys. He sure as hell can’t get a team’s attention enough to make them get the most out of their games.
fonzischeme
September 29th, 2011
3:14 am
Anyone think that the fish would have taken Prado in the Uggla deal over Infante? If they would have, put another pin in Wren. I think Prado is afraid of the ball.
fonzischeme
September 29th, 2011
3:20 am
Fire freddie:”Fredi Gonzalez and his staff have to go. Way too many games were decided by his ineptitude this year.”
Way too many. What do you estimate? I would say at least ten games blown just by not knowing what he was doing. I guess we are supposed to wait while he learns how to manage. I don’t think he is very bright. Listen to his answers to questions. “Well it was tough out there. Alex got a couple of hits. Didn’t he get a couple? Hudson had six strikeouts. Didn’t he have six? But I thought Chipper did great. he had a sacrifice. Didn’t he have one sacrifice? Was it one or two? Oh well it was struggle out there.”
fonzischeme
September 29th, 2011
3:20 am
I think Pendleton is a jinx.
Joe Maddon
September 29th, 2011
3:21 am
Wipe away those tears and root for my Rays, damnit!!!!!!!
What kind of idiot pitches to Hunter Pence with a utility guy on deck? SMFH.
bad dawg
September 29th, 2011
3:22 am
Tonight,should never been a factor,you could see this coming for almost a month.Live and get better.
Fire Larry Parrish
September 29th, 2011
3:23 am
How big of a kick in the pants is it that Scott Proctor is going to the playoffs?
hawaiibravefan
September 29th, 2011
3:26 am
ANY QUOTES FROM DEREK LOWE? I mean we could have use maybe 1 or 2 less losses from him. Atlanta did end up being just 1 game short. But i really want to know what Derek Lowe thinks of his season, 9-17 with and era above 5. Oh by the way, he’s getting paid 15 mil a year, the most on this team. TO ALL YOU CHIPPER BASHERS COMPLAINING TO HIM ABOUT RETIRING, YOU GUYS ARE POINTING YOUR FINGER TO THE WRONG AGED ONE. If Fredi or Wren woulda done the right thing and cut him from the rotation to make him a long reliever, maybe they would have the WC wrapped up a week ago.
hawaiibravefan
September 29th, 2011
3:28 am
BTW, not trying to blame Jack Wilson or anything, but why no quotes from him? He did boot that ball. And i guess he can continue to brag on how he haven’t reach the postseason yet. We had our good luck charm in Hinske, but Jack Wilson’s horrible luck cancelled it out.
fonzischeme
September 29th, 2011
3:28 am
What can you tell Kimbrel
“I told him, hell of a season. We had a bunch of good seasons. Kimbrel’s got a chance to win the rookie of the year. Freddie Freeman’s got a chance to win rookie of the year. Danny got, what, 35 home runs [36], did something no [second baseman] had ever done before. There’s a lot of good stuff you can hold your head up about.” —–
In Fredie’s way of thinking if we can manage to get a player to win the triple crown, have the rookie of the year and have 4 20 games winners and do NOT make the playoffs we had a good year. This man is an idiot. A LOSER.
brave braverson
September 29th, 2011
3:29 am
shame it ended this way. but look forward to next year. we should somehow get stanton and infante. that would be a good upgrade. stanton in Lf, infante ss. but for who??? i hate to say it, but jurj and A-gon. or prado, a gon and mclouth? idk.
hawaiibravefan
September 29th, 2011
3:34 am
Other than that, I will always and still continue to support my Braves. Even with this disappointing end to the season, this is just the end of the dark tunnel this organization been having since 2006 (despite last years magical run). The future looks bright, but as i fan i really want the organization to make some bold moves. Trade or release Derek Lowe and make use of our Teheran’s and Delgado’s. No more Linebrinks, keep it young the bullpen already has veteran like experience with O’ and Venters.
hawaiibravefan
September 29th, 2011
3:38 am
Btw, did anyone else notice Brian Mccanns weight gain after his injury. He did have a good first half, maybe his injury was a factor in his diminish in productivity, or maybe it was his diet? Who knows.
ohhhYEAH
September 29th, 2011
3:38 am
brave braverson
cant trade A-gon being as how, as soon as the world series ends, and technically even right now, he is a free agent. also, infante isnt a SS, and the marlins will NEVER deal Stanton, not with the salary he currently makes anyway. dream on
John A.
September 29th, 2011
3:41 am
The person that wasn’t prepared was Fredi. This was the last game of the regular season, and he should have had the bullpen ready in case Kimble had any problems. As usual he (Fredi) was asleep at the switch and the end result is another loss. SEE YOU NEXT SPRING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
fonzischeme
September 29th, 2011
3:43 am
Fire Larry Parrish – do you think they are dumb enough to put him on the roster? NYY fans would burn Geradi at the stake if he used him when it counted.
I think Braves fans are too nice. If you noticed, Uggla broke out of it and started his streak right at the same time you first heard some boos at the Ted. They need to start booing when Fredi puts someone like Linbrink in at crucial time – the whole stadium knew he was hoisting the white flag, they should have BOOOOOED him..
JM: What kind of idiot pitches to Hunter Pence with a utility guy on deck? SMFH.
The same kind that pitches to Kemp with runner at 2nd and 3rd with a first base open. Fans of the other teams wonder why the braves fans can be so sour. They just don’t know what it’s like watching chokers year after year. The only WS was just an absolute no brainer team even BC couldn’t screw up..
I TOLD My wife in April Feddie Gonzales would put Linebrink into a crucial spot in crucial game and take us out of the running for the series. I hoped he wouldn’t do it till the playoff but Fredi is the gift that keeps on giving.
I am seriously miffed at the loser mentality of Fredi’s replies. He acts like this was just one great year. He had fun, made a lot of cash why is anyone upset?
brave braverson
September 29th, 2011
3:47 am
that doesnt mean infante couldnt play short, right? isnt he a utility infielder?
brave braverson
September 29th, 2011
3:48 am
and yes hawaii, it did look like Bmac gained a bit of the chub back. he really needs to do ALOT of running in the offseason. when he runs he goes back in time
brave braverson
September 29th, 2011
3:51 am
and i will dream on. for any possible way of unloading bad, and bringing in some good. time to make some bold moves if we want a different result next year
ohhhYEAH
September 29th, 2011
3:51 am
he is a utility man, indeed, but you dont usually see those guys at short. it is by far the hardest, and most important of all the infield positions. thats not to say i dont think he COULD do it, but it would be another gamble
Thumbs Up for the Fightin' Phils
September 29th, 2011
3:51 am
The Braves were cursed as soon as they hit Chase Utley in the head. If not for that, the Phillies would have cared less about the last three games of the season. For whatever reason, Phillies pitchers do not retaliate by hitting a Braves star. They win on the field….and guess again, Ben – if you don’t think they’ll be a force to be reckoned with next year. Cliff Lee and Roy Halladay might be a year older … but they’re gonna be sick again in 2012 like they were in 2011!!!
fonzischeme
September 29th, 2011
3:56 am
jman Someone must pay for this collapse,
No one will pay for this collapse. The braves management can’t see. Fredi thinks it was wildly successful year.
Younger Than That Now
September 29th, 2011
3:59 am
Fire Larry Parrish
September 29th, 2011
3:23 am
“How big of a kick in the pants is it that Scott Proctor is going to the playoffs?”
That guy will never, never-ever make the playoff roster of the New York Yankees… write it down!
ohhhYEAH
September 29th, 2011
4:02 am
our BEST bet to improve this team, is to unload a Hanson/JJ (whichever is garnering more interest/value from other teams) is to go out and get a YOUNG, true outfielder to put in left. Names that come to mind are detroits Brennan Boesch, Arizonas Gerrardo Parra, Carlos Gomez(i think he still has at least a year or two left before arbitration), Cincys Chris Heise. All would be better options than Prado, he just isnt a natural outfielder
brave braverson
September 29th, 2011
4:02 am
thats true. could be a gamble. we just really need to sure up the lineup with some more average type guys like bourne and stop putting faith in people who cant produce consistently. honestly, aside from freeman, huddy, bmac, bourne, uggla, and oventbrel, im down with anything else they might do in the offseason
Stinger2
September 29th, 2011
4:06 am
My post will not speculate on what the Braves need to do to avoid another collapse in 2012. Let the GM and Manager
make the changes that need to be made. It is their job not mine.
My only comment is that the fan were the big losers.
AJ84
September 29th, 2011
4:07 am
Well after reading all these comments I am reassured that Atlanta has the most “fair weather” fans than any other city. I do agree that Fredi should show a little more emotion. As for the “fans” that have ten million suggestions for fixing the team stick to your day job. I think the best thing for the Braves would be to have more fans that support them no matter what like real baseball fans. I’ll bet half of the people venting on this forum are the same group that cursed Dan Uggla when he wasn’t hitting but suddenly love him because he started swinging a good stick.
ohhhYEAH
September 29th, 2011
4:11 am
AJ
I have said nothing bad about the team, only what i have seen that needs to be improved. I have done nothing but love and cheer for this team since i can rememebr knowing what baseball was, includin this ENTIRE month of poor baseball. So please, do the die-hards a favor and dont lump ALL fans into your categories
brave braverson
September 29th, 2011
4:16 am
i think we’re allowed to talk about possibilities for next year. kind of part of the fun of baseball…. and i think being mad about losing, is no different than being happy about winning. thats called being passionate about a team. that is pretty much the opposite of “fair” “weather” “fans”
Bobbybrave
September 29th, 2011
4:27 am
thank god for college football…go gators…this is a sad day for all of the braves fans…..someone has to be held accountable for this free-fall….fredi needs to go and the entire staff..bring in fresh smart baseball people…ryne sandberg would be great….i like others by our own choice spent good hard money on this team…i live out of town and drove over 300 miles to see the braves 4 times this year and i also bought the mlb package..way to much talent for this to happen…goodbye until next year enjoyed lots of good and funny humor on this blog…rows if you are out there good luck on your ball playing..
Craig
September 29th, 2011
4:29 am
Major disappointment…..and it was the experienced guys that let the team down …and Heyward…
Kimbrel, Venters, big O….fantastic guys, personalities and great pitchers…even the young pitchers who came up late did a great job
Freeman fantastic year….curious to see how he goes yr 2
Lowe….not good
Linebrink and Sherrill…..gone….way past used by dates
Gonzalez SS ….probably gone too…..not sure what to do at SS
Uggla…way too scatchy for too long….especially Sept
Prado…out of position, too tight mentally and physically
Matty Diaz….good 5th OF….but we needed a big bat…..
McCann….disappointing at the end ….he and Uggla swinging way too had…..remember RISP…..
Bourn A MAJOR KEEPER….need him and Geoorgie in the club
Heyward….jury is out…..I would have given up Heyward, Shcafer and a young pitcher for Bourn and Pence….Pence is gamer….we need more of them and one big for average home run hitting bat…and how many young pitchers can you stack in AAA when the major team is playing .300 ball!
Fredi…not sure yet….could have pulled the whip ealier …..probably too loose and cocky early September…..
for a team with that payroll and depth one would have to say good season…for most of it…anyway but would have, could have should have!
Sean
September 29th, 2011
4:35 am
Amen AJ84, it makes me sick to see these people with hundreds of suggestions for this team. They have no idea what it would actually take to make these changes. Fire Fredi? How would the team feel about that? A new start? We JUST had that, prior to this season. Fredi and Bobby are similar, yes, but it’s new management nonetheless. For the players it makes a HECK of a difference. Trust me. I’ve had new coaches on my teams, things are completely different. People don’t understand–the Braves players don’t give a flip about what the bloggers think. We have no idea what goes on in that clubhouse or in the front office. Most of us have played a little baseball…that’s about the most experience we have. Ever hit a 95mph fastball? Yeah, neither have I. I understand it’s these guys’ jobs to hit, sure, but it just isn’t going to happen every time.
Yeah, let’s just trade such and such for such and such. Yeah, sure, other teams MIGHT go for that. And team chemistry is big too, you can’t just trade Prado. What if the team likes him? What if he works with our young Hispanic pitchers to make them better, since they are of the same heritage? We don’t KNOW what goes on. What does Frank Wren know? Do any of us know Frank Wren personally? No. So let’s just all waste time and guess what he’s going to do. Call him a genius when he does things no one thought he would do and succeeds, but call him a failure when he does something else.
As for tonight’s game, the bloop hit by Pence IS baseball. It’s the same game we all watch our beloved Braves play. It’s a game of inches, a game of chance, a game that is seemingly controlled by the uncontrollable. That ball could have been a little higher so Uggla could have caught it. Linebrink made the perfect pitch to a long-swinging, open-stanced Hunter Pence, and yet Hunter (hate those long socks by the way) got a hit out of it. That’s why Fredi and the rest of the team says there’s nothing you can do about it. BECAUSE THERE ISN’T. The Braves we’re NOT meant to win tonight, and that’s that. I am as sick about it as anyone. I’ve watched all year, just as we all have. I had tickets to tonight’s game and couldn’t go.
The Braves played their heart out–there’s no denying that. I knew they would. The amount of emotion they’re talking about in the quotes IS BECAUSE THEY CARE. I mean people, let’s use logic here, anyone can see from what they say that THEY CARE. It’s THEIR JOB. It’s what they live for. What they breathe. In the off season? They’re still working. Working out and getting better. Why would you work hard for something, sacrificing family time and traveling constantly, in and out of hotels, etc, and then not care about it? They care. I get so tired of reading blogger’s comments about them not caring. Tip your cap? Yeah, that’s a BASEBALL term. You’re talking to BASEBALL players. Yes, you’re going to hear it. I hear it all the time. It doesn’t mean they don’t care, it means they respect the other team for what they’ve done. That’s baseball. It’s a game of respect.
I respect these Braves this year. I had a good time watching them, going to games, and being a fan. I’ll continue to be one for years to come. Next year is going to be sick, and I can’t wait.
Robert
September 29th, 2011
4:37 am
Fonzischeme: funny as hell posts!
Appreciate the sarcastic humor!! Haven’t laughed this much in a long time!
theriddler
September 29th, 2011
4:41 am
I blame the OUTFIELD again this year. Left field was weak, center field a black hole until Bourne showed up and right field was miserable. Worst offensive OF in the league again.
ohhhYEAH
September 29th, 2011
4:45 am
Sean….have you EVER watched baseball? do people not get traded EVERY off season and before EVERY deadline? are you kidding me? Chemistry is definitely a part of the game but guess what, so are hitting, fielding, pitching….etc. Any of the players i suggested we could trade for are a, plausible, b, inexpensive, c, NOT showboat all star cry babies, and d, BETTER OUTFIELDERS than our current left fielder. Dont get me wrong, as i said, i love Prado, the guy is a gamer and a true athlete, but he is a fish out of water in the outfield. so before you start bashing people who give a damn about the team and want to see us IMPROVE instead of stay the same next year, know what the heck youre talking about
Chief Fan
September 29th, 2011
4:50 am
The Braves have some real thinking to do this off season if they want to move up a notch to the big boys. We can’t let a division rival like the Phillies get the top free agent in the off-season- Cliff Lee and in the middle of the season – Hunter Pence … if we are to compete with them. Cliff Lee might not be a good example as he was determined to go back to the Phillies for a lot less money – but Hunter Pence was obtainable for minor league players and could have meant a tremendous difference this season and possibly for a couple of seasons to come.
Robert
September 29th, 2011
4:55 am
Bring back the TEE-PEE
We need the CHIEF! As in Chief Noc-A-Homa. Until he’s back in left field, our Braves will never win the WS again!!!
Man, how I do miss the 60’s.
WAKE UP BRAVES MANAGEMENT!
Sean
September 29th, 2011
4:58 am
Was Prado one of our best players last year? Yes. His bat was crucial. Give up on him now? I don’t think so. It’s tough to judge him on his defensive play, besides number of errors. It’s really based on his perceived throwing arm strength, range, etc. Things that are tough to measure. Tough call on defense in baseball.
People get traded…there is a business side of things. That I understand. The MLB, and it’s individual teams, are out to make money. Chemistry gets shoved aside, and there are upgrades to be had, no doubt. Just trying to make people understand (I say people, not necessarily you personally) that really, Frank Wren is going to do his best with what he has. Think of him getting rid of Prado. That doesn’t click with me. You have to give him a chance to bounce back. You know what he can do when he has a good season, you can’t give up.
Wasn’t trying to bash, but it’s true–people waste a lot of time making guesses about possible transactions when not all of the facts are present. Who saw the Bourn trade coming the way it came down? I doubt many did. Leave it to Wren. It’s fine to make predictions and such, but don’t insult the guy because the team he put together didn’t make the playoffs.
We’ll improve just based off this loss. I have no doubt that we ALREADY have the talent to be better team.
I have watched baseball. I have played lots of baseball. Maybe I’ve managed teams. Maybe I played some minor league ball. Don’t bash my knowledge. I don’t know everything, but I know an informed opinion when I see one–not to infer that your opinion is uninformed. Because I’d say it is.
brave braverson
September 29th, 2011
5:02 am
why do you come on blogs to just talk down to the people on the blog? what would you like them to say? go braves? blogs would be a very boring place if everyone didnt have input and criticism. thats what sports fans do. talk about the teams…. if you dont like it, probably best to steer clear.
Robert
September 29th, 2011
5:04 am
Braves management: This end of the season collapse is squarely and surely on you! Do something next time to stop the bad ju-ju (when our team is spiralling into oblivion).
For starters, next year, do something unreal that all of us Braves’ fans will love: bring back the CHIEF. Yes, Chief Noc-A-Homa.
What’s stopping you? Political correctness BS? Grow a pair will ya. We loved the Chief and need him back!! Once done, the Braves will win many World Series, SERIESLY!!!! Well, even if we don’t win a bunch of series, fan attendance, particularly young fans, will increase as the CHIEF will be a big hit out there in left field! COME ON, WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? You are business men,no? USE YOUR BUSINESS BRAINS AND BRING BACK THE ONE AND ONLY REAL MASCOT OF THE BRAVES!!!!! GEEEEEEZ.
ohhhYEAH
September 29th, 2011
5:06 am
Absolutely Prado was huge….last year. This year he was nowhere near as crucial or as clutch.
I, for one, have not insulted Wren, though i have questioned him at times, nor have i suggested trading Prado, but he is honestly better served as a utility player. I suggested trading either JJ or Hanson, as they are Boras clients anyway, for a young and consistent and more natural outfielder. keeping prado on our team would be a must, but only as the super-utility guy Infante was for us last season. that would take tremendous pressure off having to rely on a jack wilson or a brooks conrad any time we need infield help or a late inning bat. As much as i love Prado, thats what he needs to be for this team.
brave braverson
September 29th, 2011
5:07 am
we should get cliff lee and victorino for mcclouth.
ohhhYEAH
September 29th, 2011
5:07 am
and i thank you for the compliment in my baseball intellect
Sean
September 29th, 2011
5:09 am
It’s all about just doing a little research. Like I said before, I’m all for predictions and whatnot. Let’s just leave the fire Frank Wren’s and fire Fredi Gonzalez’s off. Watch the game, know a little about what’s going on, and have an informed opinion. I’m really not trying to insult and bash people, really, I’m just tired of reading the same thing. Thought I would share my thoughts, just like everyone else.
And yeah, actually, a few more Go Braves would be nice…
Sean
September 29th, 2011
5:11 am
Not a problem. I just think Prado can play better next season. He batted what, .260 or so this year. He’s obviously a better hitter than that. Are you going to have a guy that can hit .260+ on an everyday basis on your bench? Nearly .300 most likely? Defensive might be a little skimpy but I’d take him…
brave braverson
September 29th, 2011
5:12 am
agreed. thats a little over the top with the firings and whatnot
Maria
September 29th, 2011
5:16 am
Yep, when you size it all up, poor management is the reason this team is not in the playoffs. Gonzalez made some of the dumbest moves I have ever seen early in the season and I just knew it would all blow up in their faces at the end of the season. I’m sorry but I thought he did a terrible job of managing this team especially in the second half. John Schuerholz should make him rewatch every single game during the offseason and give him a write up on what he did wrong during a certain game and w3hat could have been done differently. Maybe the idiot will learn something.
brave braverson
September 29th, 2011
5:16 am
pretty excited to see what changes are made, and to see how it plays out next year with uggla being normal uggla all season, and freemans second year. and i think heywards gonna be great again next year. prado and bmac will be back to normal. it was just bad luck and timing this year
Sean
September 29th, 2011
5:18 am
It is. Is Fredi Gonzalez the brightest man on Earth? No. Who is? How do you really judge a manager? By wins? By playoff appearances/wins? How can you tell if that is due to talent on the team or good managing? There aren’t stats for that.
Was the Braves success in the 90s because of Bobby Cox? Or because of great pitching? A combo of both? If so, which had more to do with it?
In other words…let’s give Fredi a little more of a chance here guys. One season of 89 wins and coming close to the playoffs? At least we’re not Cubs fans.
Don’t get me wrong…I’m super disappointed. Fredi might’ve/could’ve/should’ve done better in some games. I bet he feels pretty responsible. Would you feel responsible? Would you show it in the post game interview that you know people could possibly tear you up about?
Robert
September 29th, 2011
5:20 am
BRING BACK THE CHIEF.
CHIEF NOC-A-HOMA!!!
This is a call for all long time (suffering) Braves fans to start a push, a demand, for the team to bring back our one and only true mascot: Chief Noc-A-Homa.
We need him and his tee-pee in left field NOW! The team sorely needs an identity and what better one than the Chief himself. God how I miss the Chief if left field!!!
Finally, anyone out there know how we can email the Atlanta Braves Organization? I tried to find out via the Braves website but couldn’t. I selected the “Help/Contact Us” link buried at the bottom of the page but all I got was this: (appears there is no way to write (communicate) with the Braves organization – not so fan friendly in my opinion… Anyway, here’s what we get when selecting the “Help/Contact Us” option on the team’s web page:
Help
MLB.com FAQs
How Can We Help?
Many questions concerning the Atlanta Braves and Turner Field may be answered by referencing our complete A-Z Guide.
Choose from the options below, selecting the choice that best describes the subject of your question:
Question? Start with our A-Z Guide.
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Sean
September 29th, 2011
5:22 am
I’m pumped for next season too. What if Uggla didn’t slump? What if Heyward had the type of season he had his rookie year? What if Prado played like he did last year?
Plus our young pitching…the Phillies are getting older…the Mets are still in shambles…the Nats might be big in years to come. We’ll see.
frustrated fan
September 29th, 2011
5:27 am
I love this team no matter what. See you all next year.
20 out
September 29th, 2011
5:27 am
Where are the quotes from Wren. Didn’t he have the balls to show up afterwards?
Joe Maddon
September 29th, 2011
5:41 am
So let me get this straight:
Fredi Gonzalez was given MORE talent in the field and MORE pitching talent than Cox had, and the team UNDERACHIEVES, yet you’re throwing all giving him a pass?
LOL
LETS GO RAYS!!!!!!!!!!!!
ohhhYEAH
September 29th, 2011
5:43 am
Sean
there are, howerver, certain things that DO show on the field as a result of bad managing. for example, why bring linebrink in in the 13th? we had moylan, we had viscaino, we had minor. Why run Lowe out every 5th day when he is doign absolutely nothing and our baby arms are lighting it up? other than that, and sticking with proctor WAY too long, i thought he did a good job in his first season. he shuffled the line up, moved players up and down, tried to find that combination that worked. its certainly not all on him
Joe Maddon
September 29th, 2011
5:44 am
Excuses. Give me a $90M roster and I’ll turn it into damn DYNASTY!
SEE YOU AT THE TROP!!!!
Joe Maddon
September 29th, 2011
5:46 am
LONGORIA goes BOOM!
Where’s my champagne?!
Darrell Horne
September 29th, 2011
5:52 am
Bring back the cheif???!! If you knuckleheads believe that’ll stop your loser squad from…LOSING then yall deserve what you continually get..
The Phils won tonight because they have the “Phanatic”… Give me a break. SMDH
Joe Maddon
September 29th, 2011
5:52 am
fonzischeme,
I like the tone of that reply. You seem like a winner and demand results from your team. You should root for the Rays and be a part of this great organization.
No need to worry about the Phillies doing anything, folks. My friend Mr. Pujols WILL knock them out in FOUR. You heard it here first!
LET’S GO RAYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Chief Noc-A Homa
September 29th, 2011
5:52 am
“The Curse of the Tomahawk Chop” is alive and well
Sean
September 29th, 2011
5:54 am
There are things that show on the field, no doubt, I’d agree. I’m not giving Fredi a full pass here, by any means. I guess I am too biased toward people sometimes. I’d like to think that Fredi had a good reason for doing the things he did, but you’re right. Maybe he didn’t really. I suppose managers go on their gut feeling sometimes, and it doesn’t work. Yet sometimes, it does. Do you go with your gut or what the stats tell you?
And then things like Proctor could be orders coming from up top. Scouts that swear by him, he did well in the minors, give the kid a chance, whatever. In the end, yes, he stuck with him too long. There were mistakes this season. It did affect the team. But if we hadn’t crashed in September (which really, who predicted that?), it wouldn’t be nearly as big of a deal.
I’m just saying let’s give Fredi a few seasons to get his feet wet with this team and get going. He’s very blameable as the manager, that’s what he signed up for. But he made a lot of good decisions too, just as you said.
Anyway, I’m heading to bed…6am is not a good bedtime…until next time.
Satchmo
September 29th, 2011
6:00 am
Don’t what to say, except all of this is very sad.
Joe Maddon
September 29th, 2011
6:01 am
A great manager is like a great player… It doesn’t take long to figure out if they’ve got “it” or not. Too many players underachieved this year so big changes are a MUST. Chin up, folks and get rid of the dead weight!
Roots for the Rays or swim with the fishes!
Shakey
September 29th, 2011
6:10 am
Thank you, DOB and AJC, for your great coverage this season.
Thank you, Braves, for a competitive and entertaining season.
I can’t wait to see what next year brings.
Preston Thompson
September 29th, 2011
6:10 am
I believe, I believe. I believe the Braves are going home. As for Kimbrel, just too much weight on a rookies back. Always next year, with a new manager, no Lowe and no Heywood. That Heywood ain’t ready for the big leagues. As the rest on the team has to work in the off season on hitting and not home runs.
Next year folks.
Stevie
September 29th, 2011
6:17 am
LOL @ these crap comments from the fans and players “we (they) fought hard tonight, and left it on the field”. Why couldn’t they fight hard the whole month of September? You fans who are proud of this season have been drinking too much of the Braves kool-aid. This should be embarrassing, not something to be proud of! This just goes to show you, why EVERY game of the year matters. You kool-aid drinking braves fans said in April “we have a long season, the games we lose now don’t matter”. Haha really?!!? Than got a little too cocky going into the month of September. You fans forgot those games do matter in the month of September, even if you have a 8 game lead.
Greg
September 29th, 2011
6:24 am
What’s everyone so down about? “Free Baseball, Free Baseball”. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.” Chip Carary was really on top of things.
M Corleone
September 29th, 2011
6:28 am
“You Broke My Heart” Fredo, “You Broke My Heart”
josh gralton
September 29th, 2011
6:32 am
Chock City | new blog post: http://www.atlantainsight.com
Derek Blowe
September 29th, 2011
6:33 am
time to move beyond the mostly unproductive Chipper-era. Lets dump Lowe’s remaining year on some sucker team. Trade Chipper to the AL so he can DH & fire Fredi.
Lets turn the pitching to our ourn phenoms and go get an everyday thirdbaseman.
Dammed Philly Yankee
September 29th, 2011
6:33 am
To all you Braves fands….
As one who still can’t get over the Phillies epic collaspe in 1964, I really do understand
your frustration and anger…. Hang in there and remember what someone here said a little
while ago that it’s only so many days till spring training starts.
Philly Fan
September 29th, 2011
6:35 am
Hey, Atlanta.
Who’s your daddy ?
The Nationals are one player away from being the second best team in the NL East !
How about an extension for Lowe, Chipper & McLouth ? ! ? ! ? !
bravesfanforever
September 29th, 2011
6:38 am
How about these questions for Freddie Gonzalez: What are you going to do about Derek Lowe who clearly did no contribute much to this club? 17 losses vs only 9 wins is incredible for a playoff contending team. Do you think he contributed mightily to the Braves losing their playoff bid? Do you think it was wise to keep trotting him out there knowing full well he was more than likely to lose?
You know we are only talking about *1* game here. We may be talking about “what if’s”. However, the Braves might have won the wild card if Lowe was not in the rotation.
Can the Braves PLEASE release him? The team does not need him. Just consider it a $15 million epic failure and let Teheran & Delgado develop in the fifth spot.
Dammed Philly Yankee
September 29th, 2011
6:39 am
Forgot to say this just now…..
You would be surprised how many of us up here think the Phillies have taken 5 divisions in
a row in spite of Cholly and his dick-headed moves! I think I’d take Fredi G. over him anytime.
08andAgainIn11
September 29th, 2011
6:41 am
Hey Joe Madden – You had better hope that – in the UNLIKELY event that you make it to the WS – really, really unlikely – someone has beaten the Phillies! Because if the Phillies and Rays meet in the WS this year, we will put an even Worse BEATDOWN on you in ‘11 than we did in 08′. And we dispatched you in FIVE GAMES in ‘08, you friggin Knucklehead Blowhard! Are you for real?!
Darryl Blackberry
September 29th, 2011
6:42 am
Thanks for hanging with us all season long, DOB. As bad as this loss hurt me, there is some comfort in reading these quotes. This was a good game, but the Braves came up short.
So…who do we root for in the postseason? (But let’s be clear: it ain’t gonna be the Cards or Phils…)
08andAgainIn11
September 29th, 2011
6:45 am
Damned P Yankee – Notice I left the Philly out of your name. You, my friend, are an idiot. Period. Are you referring to Charlie Manuel, the winningest manager in Phillies history? Just checkin’. Fredi over Charlie, huh? That’s rich, bro’.
Dammed Philly Yankee
September 29th, 2011
6:47 am
Yo Philly Fan……
Your a classic case of why too many Philly fans are and always will be bush league….
You gloat and rub it in when we win and whine when we lose.
Savannah Fan
September 29th, 2011
6:47 am
Just want to tip my hat to the boyz-The Philles
08andAgainIn11
September 29th, 2011
6:52 am
Damned – It’s “you’re”, as in “you are”. So you’ve (you have) shown your true colors. And to your point, there are definitely arrogant Phils fans in here. They haven’t learned the meaning of humility as yet.
Lee M
September 29th, 2011
6:53 am
Here is what SI on CNN is saying:
“Fredi Gonzalez’s errors in player usage — benching Jason Heyward, using Martin Prado in the second spot, failing to use a double-switch to get at least a second inning from the highly effective Cristhian Martinez — all contributed to the loss. Gonzalez struggled all season long to get his best players on the field, while riding the three relievers he trusted into the ground. For the second straight season, the Braves had a championship-caliber pitching staff and an offense not worthy of it. For the second straight season, the Braves had no path to victory when the pitchers let them down.” That guy got it right, on both ends. The Manager didn’t “Manage” when he needed to and the “offense” was “offensive” in all the wrong ways. Here is a bit of trivia though that is interesting: Linebrink takes the loss for the Braves and Proctor gives up the HR to Longoria for the Ray’s to win and take out the “Sox’s”. CARMA baby, CARMA….See you next year.
bravesfanforever
September 29th, 2011
6:55 am
Pitching was great in 2010, hitting not so much. Wow, just look at all the painful stats. It’s amazing how few people had even average years. The only bright spot was Freddie Freeman and at least Chipper Jones hit about as expected as an old fading star. He apparently is still effective so I would keep him.
Look at all the player who had off years: Uggla, Heyward (we don’t have much to compare to but come on!), McCann, Prado, Gonzalez, and even Michael Bourn after the trade. He only hit .278 with a .321 OBP. That’s not that good.
I say we need to replace Prado and Gonzalez immediately. It appears that Prado is not going to be the player we thought he was since his potential seems to be about 13-15 homeruns. That’s not great production. Gonzalez has NEVER hit and this team needs hitting!
Fire Larry Parrish
September 29th, 2011
6:59 am
36 home runs for Uggla is an off yeah? Yeah, no.
STRETCH
September 29th, 2011
7:06 am
Cant blame Uggla, he turned it around and really carried this team, him and Freeman and Chipper. As for everyone else, its really hard to see some of them back next season.
And if i know Wren, he’s gonna be dealing this winter. People say what they want to say about him, but he makes deals, he makes deals with the money he’s alloted.
They will be back..MINUS D LOWE!
Dammed Philly Yankee
September 29th, 2011
7:08 am
08andagainin11 (whatever)
A typical Cholly move last night….. when the bases were loaded with 2 outs instead of sending
his best cluch hitter with men on base, Valdez, up to hit for the Dominican Hot Dog he lets the one
something and change wonder hit his usual pop up to kill the inning! Then he puts Wilson in as a defensive replacement for JRolle….. why not just send him in to pinch hit for Martinez first? Duh…….
Last…..If Gene Mauch had the talent Cholly has it would probably take more years than he has to
catch Mauch!
PS – No problem leaving the Philly out because I live in Jersey under the boardwalk down by the shore…. PS2 – I’m outta here so the Braves fans can have this blog back….. have a nice day and if
you happen to see the mayor with no nuts, tell him I said he needs to grow some……
Piedmont Blues
September 29th, 2011
7:09 am
Thanks for another great season, DOB. Appreciate all you and CR do.
tim
September 29th, 2011
7:15 am
thank you guys for an enjoyable season. yest it was a roller coaster ride, but given the injuries we had down the stretch to the pitching staff we still had a nice season. it will be interesting this off season to see what subtractions and additions the front office makes. pitchers and catchers report in approx 140 days try to put this behind you gentlemen, thank you for an entertaining season and we’ll see you at dark star in Feb. Go Braves
Fire Larry Parrish
September 29th, 2011
7:20 am
I like how McCann’s dumbass FINALLY had a moment of clarity after the game where he said, “Oh, whoops, maybe I did come back too early.”
Moron.
Good grief Charlie Brown
September 29th, 2011
7:22 am
….and we’re done. any team that hits .178 with RISP the last month of the season doesn’t need to go to the playoffs.
Oh well, hoping for a RAYS and BREWERS World Series. that would be a good matchup.
Old Dawg Fan
September 29th, 2011
7:22 am
It is finally over!!! Issues and problems on so many levels. Epic drop from 8 1/2 up!!!! Embarassing to the state of Georgia!!
mjn99
September 29th, 2011
7:29 am
you know, maybe you guys should of showed a little more disappointment earlier when all this was happening. All I ever heard from them was that it was no big deal, we’re still up, tomorrow’s another day, etc. well there is no more tomorrow and you guys blew it. They showed no heart the last month and I really believe that the bullpen actually pitched better when they were used everyday. They started losing it when they were trying to rest them. I think they needed to pitch everyday.
I’ll I heared all year when I was complaining about losing games in April was that it was still early. That same mentality was in place even through ZSept. and that’s what killed this team. You have to play every game to win because sure enough that one game you lost in May would have put you in the playoffs in Sept if you had just won it. I am disgusted with the attitude this team had over the last month. I saw nothing showing any extra effort to win. It was like they just didn’t care. Maybe that was not true but that was the perception they gave everyone and sometimes that is worse.
Hello, its me
September 29th, 2011
7:31 am
Knock knock
Hello, its me
September 29th, 2011
7:33 am
LMAO…the BRAVES SUCK!! My sides are aching from so much laughter. In life three things are for sure…Death, taxes and the Braves screwing up…LMAO!!!
LOSERS!!
Charlie
September 29th, 2011
7:35 am
Just like their September, the comments from this team show they have no bats or balls. They CHOKED…spit it out, to epic proportions. They are a weak-willed group of losers. Winners find a way to win. Losers choke. That’s September for the Braves. Mac sucked for more than September. Heyward bagged an entitre season. Prado gave aways so mant at bats second half, he could have just as well stayed home with his mama. Linebrink bagged a buch of games…fitting he took this final loss. Alex hit about one month’s worth; Uggla hit for 2 and half. Kimbrel spit it out in the biggest game. He choked big time. Too big a stage, I guess.
Fredi isn’t a leader. He doesn’t inspire. He’s a pollyanna, and bring nothings to this team. He’s one of the worst game time managers ever. Under his leadership, his team had one of the biggest collapses in the history of MLB. That speaks volumes about the job Fredi did. Parrish was a joke from day one. That, and the Braves inability to hit a baseball was quite consistent.
Mr. Three Hole commented about “…things being out of our control…” The ultimate excuse, as if fate had anything to do with the group of losers. Wow. Like the rest of this team, Chipper Jones surely didn’t step up when it counted.
This was a season of failure. A total choke job, in the end. I wish there could be big changes to this team, starting with Fredi and Parrish being fired, as a start. It won’t happen. We saw what Heyward and Martin are made of, and that McCann just rolled over for the last 1/4 of the season (”Are you panicking? Don’t be panicking on us…” Great quote…that and a “rough patch”, that lasted the final 38 games. Great quote Mc-O-fer.)
It’s finally over. The Braves played to their potential. At least they can look back at what they accomplished this year…ONE OF THE BIGGEST CHOKE JOBS IN MLB HISTORY.
alex
September 29th, 2011
7:38 am
Don’t think freddie will last long, little respect from anyone .Can’t compete with our lineup,major issues. Last jj and hanson, really hurt ofr saving themselves for more money next year
Boston Braves
September 29th, 2011
7:40 am
Braves gear is now 50% off at the Clubhouse store @ CNN
Wrens Nephew
September 29th, 2011
7:42 am
?First thing I have to say id Fredi grow a back bone! Your team just blew the largest wild card lead in history and you say you are proud of them. COME ON DUDE ARE YOU SERIOUS! And I know Kimbrel blew the save, but you have all those talented arms in the bullpen and you put the most important game in the hands of Scott Linestink. This is pitiful managing in my opinion.
bill
September 29th, 2011
7:44 am
in the 70’s I sat through the Taco Perez era with 400 people in the stands cheering on a team with no pitching or hitting. I wore my Braves stuff proudly. In the 80’s Murphy took us to the playoffs one year and I was proud to be a Braves Fan. The 90’s we were the best team in baseball even though we were underachivers and gave away two world series I was proud through it all. This morning I am embarrassed to be a Braves fan. Fredi and the players owed the fans a better effort and a better result. We choked plain and simple. The Phillies were playing at 80% and still we gave the game away. Its 140 days to pitchers and catchers and I fear we will not be better next year. At best we will be as good as this year. We have one durable frontline pitcher, Hudson. Do you really think the bullpen will be as good next year as this record setting year with eras of 1.00. Last night both Venters and Kimbrel were not tired they were overwhelmed and walked and hit batters on the way to a loss. They will never recover from this. We have no right fielder and we have no bat in left. Freddie Freeman can not hit an inside pitch anymore than Heyward can. Is Heyward playing fall or winter ball where he can get some coaching to repair that swing? One can only hope. Uggla might match this year next year but I doubt he will have more homers or drive in more runs. Gonzalez is 3 years past his prime and looks distracted. Chipper will limp through another 15 mill season but Bone on bone knee damage does not get better and there is no treatment for it. McCann will be ok with some rest. MCOUT is gone the Zero pilot is gone. DLowe cannot pitch relief . He is the worst in the early innings and needs to warm up with 2 or three runs in the first inning he pitches. Fredi is a worse game manager than Bobby which is hard to believe. He is not strong or inspirational and is lost to basic baseball strategy. Case in point. We can not score so one run is critical. Instead of trying to stop the lead runner and not worrying about the second run we hold the runner on first and take the gold glove first baseman out of the defense and a looper hit where he should have been drives in the winning run. Sure it was a broken bat job but a Joe Torre team wins that game last night. Frank Wrenn looked shell shocked and I don’t blame him. Now we are stuck with Fredi and the future is not that bright. Will Bourn resign with us in 2013? Not likely to pay him for his skills. Thank you Mr. Constanza . I hope you catch on with another team that will play you because I know the Braves have no intention of playing you in the big leagues ever again it makes too much sense. I am going to take another valium and try to not put so much emphasis on these losers. See you next year.
Fan's view
September 29th, 2011
7:45 am
I don’t see anything on the missed call at third this morning (replay booth anyone)and the umpirer clapping after Chipper strike out right after that. There was a home run that should have been a 3 runs, not 2. It seam to me MLB wanted the Pujols’ show in the playoffs, not the falling Braves.
cb795
September 29th, 2011
7:46 am
Wow it finally happened, Freddi didn’t say we have more games to get this turned around. Then the genius use Linestink with the season on the line. Yep, that move just made him manager for ever now.
Jupiter
September 29th, 2011
7:48 am
WTH?!?!?! Frank, you must get rid of Chipper.. end of story. If he demands to stay I would leave him in a DH role. Freddi, if another player takes a belt high fastball, first pitch, I think I might just cry. When your backs are against the wall you need to fight back. When the pitcher has awesome off-speed stuff you do not have the luxury of waiting for him to hang a breaking ball. GO GET IT!!! I am glad this season is over.
Hello, its me
September 29th, 2011
7:48 am
Heard around the Jones household years ago.
“CHIIIIPPEEEEEE, come and take a bath with Daddy…”
Chipper Jones, Number one LOSER!!
bill
September 29th, 2011
7:51 am
oh yeah thanks to Carol and DOB for the great coverage and blog for the Braves. I would like to know what you really think but I understand about job security. As bad as things went at least you two are not being traded to the yankees. You were the real season highlight.
Cecil34
September 29th, 2011
7:53 am
Keep reading those “quotes” boys, for the daily excuses…..
Jerry Blooger
September 29th, 2011
7:56 am
Fredi must go
Joe Maddon
September 29th, 2011
8:05 am
08andAgainIn11,
You choke artists couldn’t even win with Roy freakin’ Halladay leading your staff last year and that ridiculous payroll. The Giants had a little league lineup and embarrassed you in your own yard. Fact of the matter is, my Rays don’t have half the resources as your club yet we’re on the same level… isn’t that great? And once your team chokes again with all those big names, this time to Prince Albert, Holliday and Big Puma, there won’t be any excuses. Muahahahaha!
RAYS WORLD ORDER!!!!!!!
Biggs
September 29th, 2011
8:11 am
I think some of you whiners miss the big picture. A lot of teams would love to have the opportunity to have game 162 decide their fate 2 years in a row.
Even though they collapsed and didnt get the job done, they at least made it to game 162 with an opportunity to decide their fate.
Joe Maddon
September 29th, 2011
8:14 am
Back to the regularly scheduled program,
Braves fans, shake it off. You know your team has holes, your team lost key pitchers, and you’re playing with a bunch of rookies. Trust me, YOUR TIME WILL COME SOON… (with a different manager, though.). The Phillies are toast and the Brewers are done once Prince walks. Get another power bat in the outfield, sort out your rotation and you’re a 95 win team.
But in the meantime, put your support behind all that is GOOD in sports. The underdog Rays are trying to do the impossible. Heck, if you want to pull for an NL team, back up my guy Kirk Gibson, also. But screw the rest of these teams! Fight for the small market squad that won’t quit and good things will come your way in the coming years!
Dan Johnson… BOSS.
BWKBravesFan
September 29th, 2011
8:17 am
#1 Get Rid Of Derrick Lowe. He Should Have Been Gone Right After The All-Star Break. Evertime He Pitched This Season, I Had To Watch Something Else.
#2 I Love Chipper Jones, But It Is Time For Him To Retire. I Hope He Doesnt End Up “The Brett Favre Of Baseball”. Bring Chipper Back A The Hitting Coach, Because LORD Knows Alot Of Guys Need To Learn To Hit A Ball. For Example, When You Get Ready To Swing, And Your Body Bends 90 Degrees, 10/10 Times That Would Be Called A “BALL”.
#3 Fredi Gonzales, You Are Not Bobby Cox, So Dont Coach Like Bobby Cox. If Your Starting Pitcher Gives Up 3 Or More Runs In the First Inning, PULL HIS BUTT OUT OF THE GAME!!!!!
ccrider
September 29th, 2011
8:17 am
the injuries were devastating, extra innings led to the equivalant of an additional 6 high stress games and sometimes they just didn’t get the breaks. BUT THERE IS NO EXCUSE FOR THE LACKADASICAL AND UNINSPIRED EFFORT!!! it was as if some, not all, but some, of the braves felt that a 95% effort most of the time was enough. gonzales, shoot, need i say more? the most recent example… when mccann hit that bloop that hit the left field chalk he turned a double into a single by not running hard out of the box. these guys have been around long enough to know that 110% effort on every play is what it takes to be a winner. you saw the lack of passion when the frediot was with the marlins and now you see it here. the braves’ talent is superior to the snakes’ but look at what gibby did there (without stephen drew). as far as next year, the phils have another year left, the nats are on the rise, ozzy will make a difference in fla, and the mets will get better. fredo, mcdowell (he really promotes self-discipline, doesn’t he?) and parrish MUST GO!!!
old head bravo fan
September 29th, 2011
8:22 am
Turn out the lights the parties over…Hey Chipper turn out the lights on your way out. Gee what a collapse.This will hurt for many years.
philly fan 4 ever
September 29th, 2011
8:23 am
SORRY
Henry Aaron's Ghost
September 29th, 2011
8:24 am
Tyler, you are PROUD of these guys??? Does not take much to impress you does it? A HISTORY making event in major league baseball. On the Red Sox blowing a 9 game lead over shadows the stinking losing Braves 8.5 game blow! This is a Atlanta Braves all time high lite of stinking. Joins the sorry 100 game losers of the 70s and 80s. This sorry bunch of nothing needs to be blown up and a new team put together. There is at least 10 I would can right out, starting with the stinking GM and manager. I certainly an through paying my money to this stinking mob until THEY MAKE A TRUE COMMITTMENT TO WINNING!!! Sorry bunch of losers. Places the Loserville tag directly on Atlanta again. Sorry stinking Braves. Lowe cannot leave soon enough. $15 million for 18 losses! Heck, I can lose 18 games and will only charge them a $100 grand!
gotigers72
September 29th, 2011
8:25 am
The Snakes get Kirk Gibson to manage and he motivates his team, shows some fire in the belly and his team wins their division. We have Fredo over there, just stands there like a statue, no fire, no want to, no motivating his players. As Jack Nicholson’s character in “The Last Detail” says to the prisoner [a very laid back, passive individual] that he is escorting to prison, “Don’t you ever just want to romp and stomp and tear somebody’s head off?”
Fredi does not deseve to be a ML manager. The Marlins finally figured that out, and the Braves need to NOW! The Marlins went out and got Ozzie G. Somebody with some salt and the fire in the belly. Bobby Cox had that and the Braves need someone with those traits.
What they’re saying about the collapses | HardballTalk
September 29th, 2011
8:25 am
[...] Chipper Jones: “When you’re in a slump as a team, you find a bunch of different ways to lose. The bats go silent, you get wild on the mound, you walk in runs – whatever. You find ways to lose. Man, we sure did it in the last couple of weeks.” [...]
BravesfaninAugusta
September 29th, 2011
8:27 am
Bobby Cox: I take responsibility for this loss.
Mike Smith: I take responsibility for this loss.
Fredi Gonzalez: It’s just one of those things, Tip your cap to the other team. We tried our best and just came up a little short.
Jeff Loria
September 29th, 2011
8:31 am
Now you know why I fired Fredi.
Joe Maddon
September 29th, 2011
8:34 am
These Philly fans are MIGHTY confident for a team that just guaranteed itself a matchup with the one NL team that has a winning record against them, don’t you think? The Cards just whipped ‘em in Philly a few weeks ago, and you’re beating your chest on a Braves’ board? LOL
Please. You clowns WILL be out of the playoffs by next weekend and I can’t wait to hear the excuses. “We need more pitching, Ruben waaaaaahhhh!”
RAYS MAKE PLAYS!!!!!!
up north
September 29th, 2011
8:36 am
Better that it ended. It was too painful to watch, and I might have had a heart attack watching a tiebreaker today.
Clean out the coaching staff.
George
September 29th, 2011
8:37 am
CHIPPER – Hall of Flop – 0 for 5
Games 8 – 7 – 6 – 5 – 4 – 3 – 2 – 1 – OUT
WALK- walk – walk – Walk – walk – WALK – LOOSE..
fred
September 29th, 2011
8:38 am
everybody on team is to blame nost just a few. still think they have one of best teams in nl , just need to get more batting and get better with it , learn to score!!!!!!!!
Wearing ou the Relievers : baseballmusings.com
September 29th, 2011
8:39 am
[...] a terrible month and a crushing extra inning defeat by the Phillies, Fredi Gonzalez remained positive. Asked if his rookie relievers were worn [...]
Bob the Blogger
September 29th, 2011
8:39 am
To me, this loss was not the worst thing in the world, because the Braves simply did not have enough left to succeed in the post season. JJ and Hanson were out, Lowe was ineffective, Chipper was hobbling on a bad knee, McCann obviously was not over his injury, Venters and Kimbrell were out of gas. Realistically, what chance did they have against the Brewers and Phillies?
steve brown
September 29th, 2011
8:44 am
Who needs to go? I would say the genius or geniuses that structured this team so that during this off season we get to wait in anticipation of next year when $30 million (or around 33% ) of our total player salaries goes to Lowe and Jones.
Fredi Gone zalez
September 29th, 2011
8:46 am
Tip your cap and move on Fredi…There’s absolutely no fire and no improvements being made.
ajc writers included.
George
September 29th, 2011
8:46 am
STRETCH – You think CHIPPER carried the brave YOU are RIGHT
DOWN down down AND OUT.
phil
September 29th, 2011
8:48 am
Sean
September 29th, 2011
5:18 am
It is. Is Fredi Gonzalez the brightest man on Earth? No. Who is? How do you really judge a manager? By wins? By playoff appearances/wins? How can you tell if that is due to talent on the team or good managing? There aren’t stats for that.
Was the Braves success in the 90s because of Bobby Cox? Or because of great pitching? A combo of both? If so, which had more to do with it?
In other words…let’s give Fredi a little more of a chance here guys. One season of 89 wins and coming close to the playoffs? At least we’re not Cubs fans.
Don’t get me wrong…I’m super disappointed. Fredi might’ve/could’ve/should’ve done better in some games. I bet he feels pretty responsible. Would you feel responsible? Would you show it in the post game interview that you know people could possibly tear you up about?
********************
You can have Fredi if that’s what you want. I’ve already said I won’t be attending another game as long as that idiot is in charge of the team. I’m good and ticked off this morning after we all had to sit through this garbage that they passed off as being baseball over the last month.
Did anyone listen to his remarks? The man can’t even complete a sentence. At one point, he said something about a moral victory. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? Moral victory? I can’t believe anyone would let this dunce insult their intelligence to that degree. A moral victory my foot. Give us a damn break. You screwed it up and now you don’t have the guts to take the blame or the fall for it.
Pathetic.
Get rid of this guy and do it soon….
Braves Fan
September 29th, 2011
8:48 am
Time to dispatch Fredi, Chipper & Lowe ! Enough of old & overpaid !
Re-tool the lineup & let the kids take over the pitching staff !
James
September 29th, 2011
8:51 am
Remember all that cap tippin’ early in the year… 1 and done
wow
September 29th, 2011
8:51 am
Guys Frank had his chance to go get Pence and instead got bourn(and hes played well but schafer was coming into is own as well. after that trade we played Bourn and Constanza together and it worked well. then Wren remembered that we needed a RF and right handed bat and got Diaz and gave up on Bourn and Constanza why? if Frank makes the pence move we now have a RF and a power right handed bat!!!! its simple Frank didnt get the job done at the trade deadline and it cost the braves the playoff!! Now bourn will cost us 8 million next years !
batman
September 29th, 2011
8:51 am
Wren got the wrong player from Houston.
Bama Brave
September 29th, 2011
8:53 am
1. Told you all Marteen should not be in the out field 2. For ALL that said that we dont need Hunter Pence You ALL was Wrong!
Buck Nasty
September 29th, 2011
8:53 am
Hey Joe Blow Maddon…The only reason the Rays are in the playoffs is because the Red Sox pulled an epic choke job…The Rangers will club them like a baby seal…and you should thank them for that…do you really want your little league team to get steamrolled by the Phillies again?? The Rays have about as much chance of winning the WS as you have of moving out of your mom’s basement…
BFChris27
September 29th, 2011
8:54 am
I am rooting for my Rays & D-Backs. I will root for Cards to beat Phillies though.
phil
September 29th, 2011
8:54 am
mjn99
September 29th, 2011
7:29 am
you know, maybe you guys should of showed a little more disappointment earlier when all this was happening. All I ever heard from them was that it was no big deal, we’re still up, tomorrow’s another day, etc. well there is no more tomorrow and you guys blew it. They showed no heart the last month and I really believe that the bullpen actually pitched better when they were used everyday. They started losing it when they were trying to rest them. I think they needed to pitch everyday.
I’ll I heared all year when I was complaining about losing games in April was that it was still early. That same mentality was in place even through ZSept. and that’s what killed this team. You have to play every game to win because sure enough that one game you lost in May would have put you in the playoffs in Sept if you had just won it. I am disgusted with the attitude this team had over the last month. I saw nothing showing any extra effort to win. It was like they just didn’t care. Maybe that was not true but that was the perception they gave everyone and sometimes that is worse.
********************
ABSOLUTELY RIGHT!!!
It ticks me off every time I think about the morons on these blogs who thought losing games early was no big deal. THEY ALL MATTER, YOU FOOLS. ALL of them.
Do you get it now???? Helllooooooo? Do you?
You screw around in one damn game somewhere along the line and look what happens when the team proceeds to quit.
I can’t believe how upset I am by all of this….
BFChris27
September 29th, 2011
8:54 am
I meant to say rooting for my Rays & for D-Backs on the NL side.
Ralph
September 29th, 2011
8:55 am
I just want to hear one more thing out of Fredi after he gets his walking papers, “well, its just one of those things”.
Enough of Mr. nice guy, get us a manager that will kick ass and take names.
phil
September 29th, 2011
8:57 am
I love Chipper, but he was a terrible flop down the stretch too….just played awful over all…and I know he was going on one leg.
As for Wayward, if they shipped him out of Atlanta today on a railcar, I would dance a jig. I’m sick to death of his over-hyped backside already. He accomplished zip this year other than helping us lose a bunch of games.
Don’t even get me started on the pathetic McSlump who just totally quit on us offensively and defensively…aaarrrrrrrrgghhhhhhh!!!
Ghostrider
September 29th, 2011
8:58 am
@Philly Fan
I hope and pray the Cards destroy Filthadelphia. They should’ve won with a $200m dollar payroll, the yankess of the NL. God I hate Filthadelphia and their scum bag fans.
Shut Up Dammed Philly Yankee
September 29th, 2011
8:58 am
don’t lIsten to what Dammed Yankee says. Charlie is a beloved figure in this city (Philadelphia), he has the best record of all time for this franchise and we would only trade for Fredi G if you would throw in a six pack of beer and Take Dammed Philly Yankee with you!
Joe Maddon
September 29th, 2011
9:00 am
Batman,
Incorrect! Wren got the right guy from Hosuton (for cheap) because the Braves team needed a leadoff hitter and good defensive player in CF. Bourn did his job, but the rest of the guys like McCann, Jones, Freeman and Prado comepletely vanished when you needed them most. But that’s the past, focus on the future now!
R _ Y S W O R L D C H _ M P S!!!!!!
^Ummmm… I’d like to buy an A, Pat!
panamajack
September 29th, 2011
9:01 am
Glad it’s over, if this team were placed in the standings where they belong they would be in last place, not second.
wow
September 29th, 2011
9:04 am
@ joe maddon we lose 6 million for kk and 6 from mcclouth r we happy with spening 8-10 on bourn for next year?
phil
September 29th, 2011
9:05 am
The Braves let the Bosox beat them out for the worst collapse ever. Oh, do I ever miss Omar.
Larry
September 29th, 2011
9:09 am
phil,
Agreed, and you know to well how I feel about Fruity. I had absolutely nothing against this man but after only about 30-40 games I was on here telling everyone I think we have a problem.
My suspician and concern grew each each month and culminating in an epic collapse. The guy is so in over his head and hadn’t a clue how to.coach and lead his team through this. Up 3 games with 5 to go with the last 3 at home against a team with nothing to game and they go 0-5. Wow!
Anyway, to your point, our only real influence and power as fans I’d the almighty dollar…and this is where we CAN make a difference! Anyone who pays one red cent to finance and enable this garbage is no less to blame. Show your power and demand excellence from the Braves ownership by not buying a ticket. This is the one time where a profit driven corporate owner could work to our advantage. Lower tickets sales = lower profits = Braves Management scrutiny.
It’s been great reading your astute comments this baseball season…always a pleasure to share the ride with a bright and logical blogger.
Best regards,
Larry
feeanch
September 29th, 2011
9:13 am
I feel worse today than I did last night. This one’s gonna hurt for a long time. My 5 and 6 yr old boys cried this morning when I told them we weren’t going to the playoff games we had tickets for. They couldn’t comprehend how we could have tickets in our hands but still couldn’t go. Brutal.
BraveDawg
September 29th, 2011
9:14 am
I really think sometimes the Braves teams in the seventies and eighties were much easier to take. This is really, I”m just , what can you say?
Zenman
September 29th, 2011
9:14 am
Rays-winners
Braves-losers
Red Sox-losers
Phillies fans-the biggest losers
Joe Maddon
September 29th, 2011
9:16 am
wow,
I would do everything to resign Bourn at around 8-10M. He’s a gamer, gets on bases, steals, plays defense, and clearly has fire! (Did you see him screaming in the dugout last night?). One of the best CFs in the business, but underappreciated it seems.
Again, the Braves need a power hitting LF, somebody who can get you 25 HRs 85 RBI. Might cost you a young arm but you have to make the move. If Prado is your future 3B, start grooming him for the position since you know Chipper’s gone after next season. Heyward has to bounce back, 2012 could be a make or break year for him. Don’t know what you can do at shortstop, but it can’t be Alex Gonzalez, time to move on. Your team is on the right, just let the dead weight contracts fall by the wayside and don’t overpay.
Until then: Rays, my man. RAYS!
Philly Fan
September 29th, 2011
9:17 am
Hey, Atlanta.
Who’s your daddy ?
The Nationals are one player away from being the second best team in the NL East !
How about an extension for Lowe, Chipper & McLouth ? ! ? ! ? !
Hey, Chipper: MAN UP ! I bet he’s back on his Texas ranch already !
philly fan 4 ever
September 29th, 2011
9:18 am
Charlie Manuel coached a team with as many major injuries as any team in baseball.Utley out 1/3 of season ..Howard playing one one leg missing games….Polonco out 1/3 of the season…Victorino out….Rollins out and playing hurt 1/3 of the season…Blanton out all year…Oswald out 1/2 of the year…Raul injured missed many games..ect…I wouldn’t trade him for anty manager in baseball…Phil-Yankee you stinkin New yorkers always crying..F U
ATL Fan
September 29th, 2011
9:20 am
Ugh. This hurts.
Billy Marlin
September 29th, 2011
9:20 am
Thank you Braves for Fredi Gonzalez and Dan Uggla. We have some more unproductive players we wanna dump on you !
See ya in 2012 in our new ballpark !
philly fan 4 ever
September 29th, 2011
9:21 am
Ghost rider…WAAAAAAAA…WAAAAAA..The Braves couldn’t even win one game against our minor leaguers that you played the last three innings last night
Larry
September 29th, 2011
9:22 am
And sorry about all the typos. Since DOB banned my home computer isp address for some reason I’ve had to use my iPhone just to comment. The autocorrect feature and small screen make it difficult to review for accuracy…plus, I’m too lazy to bother!
DOB,
What time have I been sentenced to and when will I be eligible for parole?
Larry
Joe Maddon
September 29th, 2011
9:22 am
Philly fans still yapping? Riddle me this: How the hell do you not win a World Series with Roy Halladay leading your staff last season and all of that offense? Pipe down, crybabies.
TBR!
Cornjolio
September 29th, 2011
9:24 am
in 2010 Bobby Cox got us to the post-season on a wing & a prayer.
Bobby didn’t have Uggla, Bourn, Freeman or a healthy Prado & Chipper like Fredi had at his disposal in 2011. Doesn’t say much about Fredi.
alex
September 29th, 2011
9:24 am
there are some people on this blog who kindly accept mediocrity,I do not and FG is a mediocre manager and nice guy that he is , he needs to be in the minor leagues to “support” the young players,the big leagues are TOO much for him, as I have said all season long he will and has lost the team 6-10 games with poor or NO managing.Clearly we have a lot of fair to good players . I believe that no one except bourne and freeman are available for trade. I am NOt optimistic about wrenn, he may be in over his head also…..
Joe Maddon
September 29th, 2011
9:24 am
The Marlins? LOL
bitter in beantown
September 29th, 2011
9:25 am
I can say it WE BLEW 162 game season and it hurts..we hate the Yankees more than you could ever hate the Phillies..but ah SH>T …just sharing the pain I guess..I guess we just weren’t good enough and that hurts.
RFT
September 29th, 2011
9:26 am
DOB, now that the season is over, can you give us a sense what was going on in the clubhouse over the past month? This team seemed to have some comraderie and some chemistry prior to McCann’s injury, but around that time, the comraderie and the chemistry seemed to disappear. Was something going on behind the scenes?
Cornjolio
September 29th, 2011
9:26 am
a real catcher would be nice to have, one that calls a good game & can throw runners out.
Put McCann on thirdbase or trade him to the AL where he can DH fulltime !
ray
September 29th, 2011
9:26 am
the outcome was never in doubt. the only ques was how. they decided to make it exciting. either they can’t score or they score early and bats fall asleep.
when your closer can’t handle his emotions, it’s a problem. when you use Lowe on a regular basis in must wins, you have a problem. when you have an erratic offesne, it’s trouble. when you have a mediocre manager who likes to adore his oppoments, it’s trouble. when you have a GM that mismanages the little money he has, you have a problem. when your draft pitchers constantly and most of your top pitching prospects are undrafted intl signees, you have a problem.
once they lost all 3 vs cards a few weeks ago, the writing was on the wall. having 2 starters out doesn’t help. having little right handed hitting doesn’t either. Diaz and Wilson didn’t add anything significant. when you give away many players for nothing, this is what you end up with. just look around and see all the ex Barves flourishing elsewhere-guys we let go or traded for zilch. it catches up to you.
Jose Constanza
September 29th, 2011
9:27 am
I want to play everyday. When I play everyday I hit and team wins. I get benched & have to pinch-hit, and team loses.
I don’t understand.
mpimentel
September 29th, 2011
9:28 am
10 things the braves need to do for the next season:
1.- fire freddy g, he is the manager of the biggest collapsing team in nl history…doesn’t need more explanations.
2.- get rid of d lowe: release him or via trade for wathever we can find even if we have to pay him the complete next season’s salary…he is bad,mediocre as he can be
3.- send hayward to winter league…he need to play with players like him….he deffinetly can’t handdle it in major league level…more seasoning will help him to find himself
4.- move prado back down to the infield, he can be an exceptional utility ball player…and will play more games at 3b. than crippled jones anyway
5.- sign or make a trade for a cappable offensive outfield player…we finnaly can use the monney of kk to something good
6.- get rid of: c. martinez, linebrick, conrrad, wilson and diaz…if they can’t help you they’re dammagge you…those goost have to be out of the braves’s dogout
7.- sign a ss more productive and proved than gonzalez…that can be a bridge until pastorciny get readdy
8.- make a rotation with huddy,beachy,hanson,vizcaino,delgado…keep in major league level teheran and medlen for any need down the stretch…we have to turn this team to the next level in the shoulder of our top guy’s arms
9.- fire the batting coach, pendleton (guess who wasn’t in the team in our only champ’s year), bring new blood to the team, we have a lot of good batters retired players who can teach better than that fellow…why need new blood because we need to turn around the way of play of this very talented team
10.- forget what had just happend krimbel you will be our closser for years to come….let’s get real we have rockyes playing at 1b, the back part of the bullpen, and a 2 year player in rf…besaides of the youngs guns arms (julio,arodys and delgado)…we can be the next big thing…keep and make a team around: freeman, heyward,mccann,bourn,venters,krimbel,o’flaherty,julio,arodys,delgado,beachy,medlen…with the only two vets can deserve stay in the ball club: huddy and uggla. pdd see yo in march guys time to see winter ball…with my hometown team TIGRES DEL LICEY…rep. dom.
who's crying now by Pattsy Cline
September 29th, 2011
9:28 am
Waaaaaa….Waaaaa…Fredi waaaa…Chipper waaaaa…bull pen…waaaa…infield…waaaaa…line up…waaaaa.errors…waaaaaa
Abogar
September 29th, 2011
9:28 am
http://www.firefredi.com/
Pass it along and ‘like’ the page.
alex
September 29th, 2011
9:29 am
@philly fans you’re right you beat us with AAA pitchers;you’re the real deal, we are not. You’ve got bigger fish to fry, I’m betting on the brew crew to give you a great run. You guys have great attendence with loud fans,great . Come back IF you win a world series, anything less will be a BIG disappointment…. GO brewers
Texas Braves
September 29th, 2011
9:29 am
Hey, Atlanta.
Thanks again for the Texeira trade.
We are still reaping the rewards of that brilliant move and look forward to another World Series.
Texas Rangers
RICH
September 29th, 2011
9:30 am
HEY CHIPPER WORRIED ABOUT THE PHILLIES NOW.PHILLIES 2011 WORLD CHAMPS.BRAVES FANS WHAT EXCUSE DO YOU HAVE NOW.AND YEA IM SAYING IT LOUD
tina
September 29th, 2011
9:30 am
Great day today sun came up and and no Braves baseball. Being there last night calling Braves office see if I can get my money back.Phils score 4 runs 3 we help by walking batters 7th inning 2 errors come on Heyward you piece of crap your nor an RF. We get 2 walks to start an inning cant score THANKS Pence you are a RF.AAA next year Heyward. Prado and JJ in a trade for leftfielder.Tampa has best Manager in baseball so take that Freddi you loser like we want to hear your comments about how they gave it there all. Please Wren make alot of changes. We need a SS LF and RF and a catcher who can catch and for Lowe to never throw another inning for the Braves. Like to us fire Freddi and if they dont surethe hell would if in springtraining he saids Lowe is one of the starters.As for the 2011 chokers maybe in 2012 but with this roster we will be fighting the Mets for 4th place so again SS LF abd RF.
eastbound and down
September 29th, 2011
9:30 am
Regarding Fredi’s following comment, “maybe they are, maybe they aren’t..” look at the number of appearances! FIRE THIS GUY! DO NOT REWARD FAILURE!!
The last couple of weeks, it looked like Kimbrel and Venters both were on fumes
“That’s just the way it goes. Maybe they are, maybe they’re not. For me, those are excuses. If we hold their appearances back, maybe we’re a .500 club. Maybe we’re not in this situation [playing for a postseason berth]. Again, it’s a long season. It’s over with. Too bad. The fans were great, especially these last three games here against the Phillies. And go get ‘em next year
Lobosolo
September 29th, 2011
9:31 am
Thanks to Sean for some of the best comments on the crybaby threads all season… Sean, these armchair cryboys don’t realize any of what you said about the game… they don’t know the game and are not smart enough to figure the “game of inches” part out… They are basically just a bunch of whiners that sit on their behinds and yell at the TV after they failed once again to set the world on fire in their own miserable jobs… They are stupid and jealous of the fact that ball players and managers make so much more than they do, and feel like because they do that they are owed a perfect game every night… They live in a world of 20-20 hindsight, convinced that they would have made the correct decision every time Fredi made one that didn’t pan out… They don’t know the game and refuse to learn about it, or are just incapable of doing so…. They don’t realize the beauty of the simpleness of the game, one given to failure most of the time…
They don’t take a season of finishing in the top ten in all of the major leagues as an accomplishment, just like they don’t appreciate the accomplishments of Bobby Cox’s years, because they just flat out DON’T UNDERSTAND THE NATURE OF THE GAME… I’ll bet there’s not one of these whining, sniveling, sissy crybabies that is anywhere near the top ten of their professions…
I for one am as disappointed as any over their loss, but I enjoyed this team battling through injuries and slumps to remain in the chase until the bitter end… To play as well as they did, relying on so many rookies, was heartening… They did a great job… watching Uggla break out of his slump was heartening, too, given how hard he played and his failure to make excuses… Watching the chemistry of the team in the dugout was great, something you don’t see on teams that don’t have it or a manager who supports his players no matter what…
These jacklegs that have nothing better to do in life but complain failed to see any of these and the other positives of the season… They talk about heart… I can’t imagine that there was one player on the team that didn’t try his heart out this year, but the blubbering bozos on here think that, in addition to their “expertise” about every facet of the game, from hitting and pitching to strategy, that they are all mind readers, and that their self-appointed genius can tell what a player is thinking by looking at him while sitting in their armchair with a nice cushion on their behind… If the Braves had made it and won the World Series, these same cryboys would be walking around gloating about how “their” team won it all, while all year long they had NOTHING but derogatory and derisive comments to make about “their” teammates…
Have a miserable Fall and Winter, Cry-bots… try to do something useful, like LEARN something… I imagine you’ll just be transfering your “expertise” to the drudgery that is football, where you really belong… I imagine y’all know everything there is to know about that, too… As your rear end spreads wider by the day, and what remains of any sense you have dwindles down to peanut proportions, consider giving up on the team you so love to kick, yell, and scream at… They don’t deserve such a bunch of enlightened know-it-all-CRYBABIES as you…
Congrats, Bravos… you gave it your all, of this I am sure… As with every baseball season I experience, I got to see some great moments of stellar play to tamper the bad days, as always happens in a season this long… Thanks Fredi, for finishing in the top ten in your first year… looking forward to next season for sure… Can’t wait to see how all the young’uns pan out..
And finally to you sissy-boy crybabies… A BIG TIP OF THE CAP… you are the champions of the boorish, whiney, sports fan louts… You win the booby prize of truly being the best at what you do, and have set a very high bar for the rest of the rest of the oafs in the country that are trying to keep up with you…
who's crying now by Pattsy Cline
September 29th, 2011
9:31 am
mc cann…waaaaa Hayward…waaaa…LIstening to you guys you have no good players..then how did you win 95 games..luck I guess
southern hope
September 29th, 2011
9:32 am
I envy those of you who are angry right now….I’m just incredibly incredibly sad.
This Boston.com article made me feel a tad better…it turns out that misery truly does love company.
http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/articles/2011/09/29/sox_make_unwanted_history_with_historic_collapse/
philly fan 4 ever
September 29th, 2011
9:33 am
ALEX you are right now the Phillies have to beat everyone they play or we will be broken hearted like you are…If we don’t win we suck
Mako
September 29th, 2011
9:34 am
Between Chumper & Lowe….next yrs team is screwed before Spring Training……Chumper stay home and see if maybe you can hit a deer or two…the Braves need your 11 or 14 Million more than you…and Lowe I think this 2nd half you achieved a new LOW…hang it up or else go back to Boston. WREN you should be fired…2 yrs in and you still haven’t managed to improve the team…1st Kamakize, then Lee and now Ugglia…that pretty much shows how good you are picking talent. Yikes!!
darrell starks
September 29th, 2011
9:34 am
Dam im good like i said the braves will get sweept by phillies if Constanza ride the pine, the braves are now 8 wins and 20 losses when Constanza on the bench and still counting, O my bad the season is over LOL!!!!!!!!!! WHAT A WASTE OF SEASON, now im on band wagon of fire Fredi.
FIRE FREDI !!!!!!!!
Obee
September 29th, 2011
9:34 am
Failure isn’t the Braves. Houston, yes.
Garfkinle
September 29th, 2011
9:35 am
what up jrod. this be in that comment section. AYYYYYYYYYYYYYY
Lobosolo
September 29th, 2011
9:35 am
Wow, tina… for someone who can’t read or write, you sure do seem to know a lot about baseball… go back for your GED if you want to write in public forums, Einstein… LOL! What an idiot!!!
mike
September 29th, 2011
9:37 am
Waaaa, waaaa, waaaa. Quit whining. It’s not the end of the world. The sun will come up, the leaves will fall, life goes on.
MoneyBall
September 29th, 2011
9:37 am
2012: you have $47 million tied up in Derek Lowe (5.05 ERA); Chipper Jones (old & oft-injured); and Dan Uggla (.232 average & lots of solo HRS)
Not exactly “bang for the buck” when half your payroll is tied up in these clowns !
Expect the NL East to get tougher the next few years as the Nationals & Marlins start rising and the Phillies continue to dominate.
Not looking good for the Braves !
darrell starks
September 29th, 2011
9:39 am
When Constanza was playing the braves avg atleast 4 runs a game, since Fredi put him on the bench the braves avg 2.8 runs a game, how retarted is that for and head coach, one of the most dummest move in the history of braves baseball.
GO BRAVES!!!!!!!!!!
bruce
September 29th, 2011
9:40 am
Disappointed last night, sad this morning. If I had opportunity to speak to any of the players in person I would say thanks for a great season, for giving it your all. And I would clap, give a standing ovation. No booing from this fan.
Chipper Jones
September 29th, 2011
9:41 am
I’m back on the ranch in Texas, living the good life. I plan to do a little hunting with Mike Hampton.
Looking forward to spring training and lots of fishing & golf in Orlando.
Keep sending those big, fat paychecks !
See ya in 2012, SUCKAS !
Joe Maddon
September 29th, 2011
9:42 am
Oh man. Now Rangers fans are talking smack, too?
Texas is the home of Rick Perry. ‘Nuff said.
LOL. Rays in four.
elainewilliams
September 29th, 2011
9:44 am
First of all I am and always will be a Red Sox fan…but have followed Derek Lowe’s pitching career since he left Boston.For months I have read you Braves fans ostracize him because he didn’t meet your expectations, Well the same can be said here in Boston,……same situation…but the fans in Boston do not openly humiliate a pitcher (like some of you moronic Atlanta Fans) How much confidence does that give a pitcher going out on the mound? Don’t you all think that if he had a team who was producing hits to back him up it would kind of build his confidence…Where were they? All the blame cannot be put on one man…Was he responsible for your loss last night?? We all have had bad days…imagine if that was a member of your family or a close friend pitching. How would you all feel hearing all that derogatory crap?I am a mother and if I had to sit it the stands and listen to it I would be sick.Suck up your loss like true fans like we are doing in Boston, some nights were great, other nights we are not.Don’[t hide behind blogs who protect you, give your names….You would be more respected. Some of you have all the answers to what’s wrong with your team…Step up and submit your ideas.Don’t hide behind blogs crucifying the person you don’t like and spreading your garbage.
Or even better if you want a perfect game with a perfect pitcher the next time you are planning on going to a game, give God a call…who knows he might not be busy that day.Sorry for your loss, but its not just one man’s fault……………..revise your thinking………………
damngooddawg!
September 29th, 2011
9:44 am
They Braves and the Falcons have one thing in common which reinforces Atlanta’s rep as “Losersville”. They flop at the end. For Freddie Freeman to throws Down Lowe out there against Oswalt night before last shows that he’s another Bobby Cox. He has no concept of urgency in or near the playoffs. Get rid of Lowe. Find some guys who get clutch hits every once in a while. Get some starting pitching that won’t wear out your bullpen by 130 games into the season. Or better yet…get out of town!
reckingball
September 29th, 2011
9:44 am
Oh well, get em next year.
Dennis Reynolds
September 29th, 2011
9:45 am
Well….wow. I guess Im excited for winter..?
See who we get to tweak this already really good team.
Number one priority is to hold Larry Parrish accountable for the lack of hitting and get his ass out of town.
damngooddawg!
September 29th, 2011
9:45 am
I meant Freddie Gonzales…I’m soooooo angryyyyy!
SPhillyPhilliesFan
September 29th, 2011
9:47 am
Dammed Philly Yankee, speak for yourself. Charlie’s ‘dick headed moves’ have worked out every time. go back and take a look.
Braves fans, tough one. Was half hoping they pulled it out last night— would not have minded seeing the braves and cards have to battle it out one more day!
GO PHILS!!!
bozz
September 29th, 2011
9:48 am
Lobosolo,
I couldn’t have said it better myself. All these fairweater “fans” coming on here with their idiotic posts is the cherry on top of a turd sundae. Shut up with the ridiculous firings and trades and swallow this collapse and move on. Yes, it sucks beyond belief but it happened and there’s nothing to do now but look forward to next year.
The back of the bullpen will be a year older and more experienced, Uggla probably won’t start off so slow, McCann will be healthy, our starters will be healthy, we’ll have Bourn’s speed all year and hopefully Jason will figure things out. We’re not the Pirates for God’s sake so quit whining like there’s no tomorrow, it’s embarrassing.
Aside from that, thank you DOB for another great year of coverage.
invictus mon
September 29th, 2011
9:50 am
So what these guys are saying is, top to bottom, we gave it our all and we weren’t good enough. It’s okay because we tried. This isn’t the dadgum public school system where you just get passed on for mediocrity. This is the once proud Atlanta Braves! If you go out there and consistently give it your best and it is consistently not good enough STOP TIPPING YOUR HAT! Make some dadgum changes, or get off the field! By that logic we should fire the whole lot of you and get a new team in place.
sportsmandh
September 29th, 2011
9:52 am
“Like I said, man, we don’t have anything to hang our heads about.” – Hudson
That comment is why this organization fails to win championships.
Baseballguy
September 29th, 2011
9:53 am
The Braves season went bad because of injuries to 2 of their top 3 starters and overusing the back of the bullpen. Hindsight is always 20-20 but you have to wonder if Fredi would have used O’Flaherty, Venters and Kimbrel a little less, they may have been fresher at the end of the year. The hitting was inconsistent all year long but the starters and bullpen allowed the Braves to keep winning until the wheels (arms) fell off. McCann’s oblique injury probably was the key problem with the offense dropping off. I really thought that Bourn would put the Braves over the top because when he gets on first it’s almost an automatic double. With a smart hitter like Prado, you figure that the team would score a lot of small ball runs which the pitching would be able to hold for low scoring wins. Next year the Braves need to ramp up because it looks like Washington is in it to win and the Marlins will have more revenue if South Fla shows up at the new stadium. And, oh yeah, the Phillies are going to be competition for the long haul. Ruben Amaro, Jr and the ownership has committed to winning and seems to be able to fill any holes they have.
CardsFanNumberOne
September 29th, 2011
9:53 am
God Bless you all, Braves Fan. We always have next year. Good luck to you all. May the best year yet to come.
fan since 1964
September 29th, 2011
9:53 am
Sean..you crazy. What if don’t win games.. Fire FREDI!!!!!!!!
phil
September 29th, 2011
9:54 am
phil
September 29th, 2011
9:05 am
The Braves let the Bosox beat them out for the worst collapse ever. Oh, do I ever miss Omar.
*************
not me.
wow
September 29th, 2011
9:54 am
@joe maddon with kk and mcclouth money about 12 million we have to pay prado in arb and 8-10 for bourn and we r stuck with no monies for LF,RF and shortstop.
reckingball
September 29th, 2011
9:55 am
So many crybabies, well I suppose they have a legitmate reason to whine, but come on, man up it’s only baseball.
The Braves blew it, for sure.
They have the makings of a very good team, for years to come.
Wasn’t their time this season, but wait until next year, I think that they will go all the way.
SportsRadio PD
September 29th, 2011
9:55 am
Love the Braves;
- I just can’t believe the WAY we lost last night
-no single player can be blamed for a loss, it’s a TEAM.
-Hoping for good moves in the off season, see you next year.
bring back blauser
September 29th, 2011
9:55 am
dear santa,
please bring the atlanta braves a hitter that can hit with runners on base.
we really do not care if he hits .100 as long as he can hit with runners in scoring position
alex
September 29th, 2011
9:56 am
@elaine, can’t call GOD, your player said he/she was busy watching the sox/orioles game…..sheeesh.Lowe get’s paid 15 mill to pitch ,that’s it he’s not my friend or family member and I don’t give a shi# how he feels, earn your big money and pitch well, noexcuses or get the he** out. sheesh
Jborodawg
September 29th, 2011
9:57 am
Perspective is a funny thing. St Louis Post Dispatch articles paint it as the Cards overcoming the odds; having a great run. Here, it’s a sorry team and manager.
Yes, last night’s loss hurts…big time. But it was bloop-broken-bat-hit, off a pretty good pitch. It was not like Linebrink hung one or something. Just a very lucky at-bat for Pence.
No fire; no effort? I don’t agree. I think they played hard and Fredi did a credible job. Yes, a terrible September. Happens to the best sometimes.
Some of y’all say pull the pitcher after three innings or never should have pitched Lowe. Then some say Fredi overused his bullpen. Isn’t that contradictory? A manager has to use the players he has available.
If you think Fredi and Frank don’t know about the unproductive bats and Lowe, well, I think you have another think coming. They know; and they know what this club needs.
Yes, it’s totally disappointing. But my Braves will be back next year, stronger and better and ready for September. Ya gotta believe.
tina
September 29th, 2011
9:57 am
FOR SALE have first round playoff tickets if anyone wants to buy them.
Tom
September 29th, 2011
9:57 am
Bring out the tarp. Cover the field. I cant watch this anymore. Its over. Turn the lights out. Bring in the bull dozers and turn this place into a parking lot
ChokeArtist
September 29th, 2011
9:58 am
K. MEDLIN was the ONLY RELIEF PITCHER LAST NIGHT THOWING STRIKES. The other relief pitchers were wild and gave the game to the Phillies. The Braves should have won the game 3-2 in the ninth inning. Gonzales brought in Kimbrell and Kimbrell COULDNT FIND THE STRIKE ZONE. Thats what cost us the game in case anyone wants to know who is the blame. The blame falls at the feet of FREDI GONZALES. FREDI GONZALES BROUGHT KIBRELL IN, IN THE NINTH INNING. FREDI GONZALES SHOULD GET FIRED AND BE REPLACED BY Ozzie Gillian.
Jborodawg
September 29th, 2011
9:58 am
recking ball….you’re absolutely right.
Phanatic
September 29th, 2011
10:00 am
TO THE BRAVOS FANS:
Dont think we dont enjoy ending your season. We watched you rub our noses in in for 12 years and payback is a real bitch. So enjoy the feeling this year like the last 6. We own you now and probably will for the foreseeable future.
Get used to it.
alex
September 29th, 2011
10:01 am
@lobo , ,you’ve got 140 days to get better;do NOT miss any of your appointments and take all of your meds on time AND take Ms. Wrenn(if there is one) on a nice long vacation,about 5 years worth)
reckingball
September 29th, 2011
10:02 am
Phanatic……10:00am………The Phillies do have one of the best teams that money can buy. Enjoy.
Brandon
September 29th, 2011
10:02 am
My only guess is that Fredi is a Cards fan?
Why on earth did he put Lowe out there? Why did he bench Heyward for Diaz? And why was Jack Wilson at SS and not Prado? ANYONE and I mean ANYONE could make better decisions!!!
He tinkered with the lineup on a daily basis and then scratches his head when none of his hitters can get into rhythm
he benches a young star for any warm body that wants to try out in RF, and scratches his head as to why the kid isn’t hitting in his once game a week.
He throws pitchers out there that are CLEALY done and scratches his head when they get lit up, keeps them out there and scratches his head.
He throws rookie relievers out there to lead the MLB in innings pitched and scratches his head when they run out of gas in September.
No wonder he has no hair…
At any rate Fredi HAS to get fired! Already rumors Boston is making a coaching move and their manager has a MUCH better record than this clown we found in a garbage can outside of the Marlins’ locker room. I was never a huge fan of the decisions Bobby Cox made, but that said I NEVER questioned if he cared, with your season on the line Fredi looked bored, when Bourn was clearly safe stealing 3rd he walked out there and seemed to just chat for appearance and trot back to the dugout.
HIRE ME, I CAN DO BETTER!
phil
September 29th, 2011
10:02 am
bozz
September 29th, 2011
9:48 am
Lobosolo,
I couldn’t have said it better myself. All these fairweater “fans” coming on here with their idiotic posts is the cherry on top of a turd sundae. Shut up with the ridiculous firings and trades and swallow this collapse and move on. Yes, it sucks beyond belief but it happened and there’s nothing to do now but look forward to next year.
The back of the bullpen will be a year older and more experienced, Uggla probably won’t start off so slow, McCann will be healthy, our starters will be healthy, we’ll have Bourn’s speed all year and hopefully Jason will figure things out. We’re not the Pirates for God’s sake so quit whining like there’s no tomorrow, it’s embarrassing.
Aside from that, thank you DOB for another great year of coverage.
*************************
Some of it IS over the top, but even worse is guys like you who want to accept mediocrity and getting your butt kicked as if it doesn’t matter. Some of us want to win titles. Others, apparently like you, just like a little friendly competition and oh well, we lost.
That’s great but quit trying to tell the rest of us how to think.
PeteInPhilly
September 29th, 2011
10:03 am
I thought it was a terrific game last night. And probably the most exciting night in regular season baseball for years and years, what with TB’s incredible comeback win and Boston’s heart-breaking loss.
The Braves fought hard for the entire game, using the tools available for them by the management they had in place. We approached the game with a “tune up the pitchers” approach, but make no mistake, the Phillies had to EARN this win.
Changes are needed for the Braves next year, but I’m not one to point at particulars; you guys know your team far better than I could. I do expect the Braves, which missed the playoffs by so slim a margin, will be an even better team next year and I wish you well. Hopefully last night’s attendance will become a norm in the future.
Go Phillies!
Shaggy1973
September 29th, 2011
10:03 am
Dear Braves,
Can I have my summer back? What a waste.
phil
September 29th, 2011
10:05 am
sportsmandh
September 29th, 2011
9:52 am
“Like I said, man, we don’t have anything to hang our heads about.” – Hudson
That comment is why this organization fails to win championships.
**********************
Exactly. I’m surprised Hudson would say something so clearly wrong. They have EVERYTHING to hang their heads about, as well they should for about the next week. We’re an embarassment to sports in general and he says that?
I’m so disgusted with them all that I can’t see straight.
Phanatic
September 29th, 2011
10:06 am
Hey, might makes right and the Phillies win. The name of the game is to spend and make wise decisions and right now the Phillies do both. I cant say the same for the Braves.
If Braves were smart ...
September 29th, 2011
10:06 am
2012 starting rotation will be:
Delgado
Teheran
Minor
Beachy
Medlin
Take offers on Hanson & Jurrjens, and unload Lowe by whatever means necessary !
A starting thirdbaseman & leftfielder should be TOP priorities !
Chipper needs to ride off into the sunset !
Jo-Jo
September 29th, 2011
10:10 am
At least Red Sox player took the blame. Braves players except Bourn and Kimrel…(two took the blame) WE DID OUR BEST CRAP!
Next year is another joke if major changes don’t take place.
RF and LF is crap…SS is needed.. Bench is needed..DAMN MANAGER IS #1 Need
Braves Fan
September 29th, 2011
10:11 am
“2012: you have $47 million tied up in Derek Lowe (5.05 ERA); Chipper Jones (old & oft-injured); and Dan Uggla (.232 average & lots of solo HRS) Not exactly “bang for the buck” when half your payroll is tied up in these clowns !”
This is why we won’t be in the post-season anytime soon !
Frank Wren needs to be held accountable.
Blake
September 29th, 2011
10:12 am
This team didn’t hit when It needed to and that was their demise.They only have themselves to blame.I mean c’mon,how many times have the Braves gotten big hits In their history compared to otherwise?
Larry30
September 29th, 2011
10:14 am
I can’t believe I read on here that maybe we’ll get another power hitter next year. Good grief, were you watching the game last night. Our long ball hitters were swinging like they were trying to hit it to the moon every time they swung the bat. Did you see Utley’s swing on the hit that tied it up? He just reached out there and punched it into left field. It is obvious that our guys have never even considered an approach like that. If anyone can ever teach them the art of hitting, maybe we won’t leave 1000 runners on base in a season. They probably left more than a thousand on base. And can someone tell me how many solo homers we had this year?
Phredd
September 29th, 2011
10:15 am
“We had our chances,” center fielder Michael Bourn said. “Not just this game. You can go weeks before.”
only Bourn and Chipper were honest, everyone else needs to grow up and act like men, especially Fredi.
Larry30
September 29th, 2011
10:15 am
We had a good right fielder. How did that Ryan Church trade work out, Wren?
PMC
September 29th, 2011
10:16 am
DOB, Did Fredi ever explain why with a base open in the top of the 13th he decided it would be a good idea to let Linebrink pitch to the best hitter (Pence) that was currently left in the ballgame?
I just don’t get that decision at all.
Vince
September 29th, 2011
10:17 am
Martin Prado simply was not the same after his illness and his production fell off. He has the whole off season to overcome that.
He is one of the best natural infielders and hitters in the majors but went to the outfield to make room for Uggla and worked too hard learning the new position.
Trading him and keeping any of the lesser players would be one of the biggest mistakes Mr. Wren could ever do.
If he is kept look for the same spark plug next season that he was when this season began.
Jo-Jo
September 29th, 2011
10:17 am
Red Sox mgr mad as hell!
Braves mgr. tip my hat we played hard , I’m proud of our guys…..BS! What a Great winning attitude right?
Fire the whole Staff !
Jo-Jo
September 29th, 2011
10:17 am
Red Sox mgr mad as hell!
Braves mgr. tip my hat we played hard , I’m proud of our guys…..BS! What a Great winning attitude right?
Fire the whole Staff !
Jo-Jo
September 29th, 2011
10:17 am
Red Sox mgr mad as hell!
Braves mgr. tip my hat we played hard , I’m proud of our guys…..BS! What a Great winning attitude right?
Fire the whole Staff !
Jo-Jo
September 29th, 2011
10:18 am
damn did I do that?
Taste E. Cake
September 29th, 2011
10:19 am
reckingball, you get what you pay for – no exceptions. Your sorry town hasnt sold out a Braves game in how long? What pro athlete wants to play were fan support is so weak. Phillies payroll is a direct reflection of their citys support.
I think Joe Maddon is either brain dead or has selective amnesia. Who embarrased your AAA Rays in 2008? Feel good about that miracle last night…party will be over soon.
PMC
September 29th, 2011
10:19 am
Elaine, Derrick Lowe is paid 15 million dollars to pitch and he’s been remarkably terrible at it. Now, go back to berating Bill Buckner….
Ghostrider
September 29th, 2011
10:22 am
I can’t wait for Filthadelphia to lose, I wanna hear the excuses the those pig phillie fans have….God I hate that Team and the azzhole Fans. Their just like the Yankees buying a championship with a massive payroll.
Stiffneck
September 29th, 2011
10:23 am
Good to see Chipper giving the team a pep talk before the game. They played hard and with emotion. Almost pulled it out. Kimbrel man’d up and put it on himself for the loss. He’s been a bright spot for most of the season. Too bad they didn’t play with this type of determination for the last 20 days.
JHey's better
September 29th, 2011
10:23 am
I STILL LOVE MY BRAVES THAT GAME LAST NIGHT IS THE WAY THEY NEED TO PLAY THEY GAVE IT ALL THEY HAD AND YOU COULD SEE THAT. RALLY AROUND THESE BOYS CAUSE ALOT OF THEM ARE STILL HURTING
jch
September 29th, 2011
10:24 am
Vince, I agree. Prado was never the same after the staph infection. I would expect him much closer to the old Prado after an off-season to get his strength and timing back.
Phredd
September 29th, 2011
10:24 am
PMC, I also want to know why Freddie is holding the runner on in the 13th with a man on second. If Freddie is in position, the inning is over
Nate from State
September 29th, 2011
10:25 am
“Someone must pay for this collapse”…
That’s our problem right there. We all want SOMEONE to blame for EVERYTHING that happened this year. The reality is there are so many people that didn’t come through that to put the blame on one person is silly. Fredi overused the bullpen and might have pulled his starters too early throughout the year, Derek Lowe had one of his worst seasons as a pro, for half the year Dan Uggla couldn’t hit the baseball, after his injury McCann couldn’t hit the ball either, Prado had his worst season since becoming a starter, Heyward had a terrible year compared to last year, JJ and Hanson got hurt, Frank Wren overspent for Lowe and KK…..
It was a combined effort. There will be changes next year but to put all the blame on one person ignores the collective effort… Did no one watch the Bartman documentary?
Biggest need? Inning eaters. They need good starting pitchers to go the distance. And I believe they will go get one or 2. But sweeping changes? No way. This is the Atlanta Braves, they don’t make rash decisions.
Preston Thompson
September 29th, 2011
10:25 am
It’s really hard not to see all the bitterness and to a large degree I have to say it’s warranted. But I read all the blasting of the pitching staff and wonder if a lot of you know what talking about. With the staff the Braves had this year, no changes as they stand now, with some decent hitting, and not HR’s, but singles and doubles, the Braves would have won the division. The Braves can’t hit, period. That is their downfall. But, Freddi and Lowe- have to go. And have Wrens trades really done any good? I don’t think soooo.
David O'Brien
September 29th, 2011
10:25 am
PMC, you might have missed my comment from wee hours today: When asked the question about pitching to Pence, Fredi ended the interview. It was the third or fourth question of a second-guessing sort of nature about his moves — I asked him about worn-out relievers, Bradley asked him about not sending Roger out sooner to talk to Kimbrel, etc — and he was apparently tired of answering them. His office was packed with about 35 reporters/camera crews and radio guys, and at that point he said “OK, guys, thanks,” or something to that effect, ending the interview.
Justafan
September 29th, 2011
10:25 am
Cake..Rays had fire sell and turn over this year and still won when they had to..what the hell do you know…at least they have something to party about. Braves stay in BC Clone stage and lose again..damn joke..so is Fredi!
Braves Way
September 29th, 2011
10:26 am
“Tip your Hat” and “We left it all out there” The Phils beat you with there bench where is the anger where is the emotion. You lose 3 to the Phils and they could care less. The “braves way” sucks.
NO FIRE NO BALLS I am done with these losers.
Mcnuggets Sandwich
September 29th, 2011
10:26 am
A day in the life of Fredi G.
Mr. G how is your mcdonalds for lunch?…Gotta Tip Your Hat to the cook
Mr. G.did you have a good vacation? …Gotta Tip your hat to Delta
Mr. G. did you enjoy your romantic vacation? Gotta Tip your hat to the ladies
Mr. G. did you need to use the restroom? Gotta tip your hat to fiber
Bag-O-Bats
September 29th, 2011
10:27 am
There’s a lot of folks (bloggers and team) who are leaning on the absences of JJ and Hanson, bot pitchers, but their batting averages together wouldn’t be anymore than .075! Our young pitchers did step up and keep us in ball games but we can’s expect any pitcher, rookie or veteran to go to the mound night after night and hold the opposing team to zero, 1 or 2 runs. To coin a phrase taken from “Money Ball”, the Braves couldn’t hit water if they all fell out of a boat and having those two pitchers back wouldn’t have helped us get on base anymore than the pitchers we did utilize!
David O'Brien
September 29th, 2011
10:27 am
DOB, now that the season is over, can you give us a sense what was going on in the clubhouse over the past month? This team seemed to have some comraderie and some chemistry prior to McCann’s injury, but around that time, the comraderie and the chemistry seemed to disappear. – RFT
Then you sure saw something different than I saw/heard every day in clubhouse. I never saw anything what you’re describing. Clubhouse chemistry was about the ONLY thing that didn’t go wrong down the stretch.
Braves Fan
September 29th, 2011
10:27 am
“2012: you have $47 million tied up in Derek Lowe (5.05 ERA); Chipper Jones (old & oft-injured); and Dan Uggla (.232 average & lots of solo HRS) Not exactly “bang for the buck” when half your payroll is tied up in these clowns !”
Phredd
September 29th, 2011
10:29 am
DOB, did they say anything about why Freddie was holding the runner in the 13th?
PMC
September 29th, 2011
10:30 am
I did miss it, Thank you DOB.
Dirty Dawg
September 29th, 2011
10:32 am
If ‘Ifs and buts were candy and nuts’…and all that…
I do wish that they had asked Uggla if he thinks he could have run harder from the ‘get go’ on the base-hit to right that he was thrown out at the plate. ‘Iso’ on him showed him only half-way running from second to third and turned it on after rounding the bag. Was he assuming that they wouldn’t ’send him’? Did he assume that he could score without bustin’ his butt? Regardless, he very well could, and probably would, have been safe. Just another ‘what if’.
a disappointed braves fan
September 29th, 2011
10:32 am
fredi needs leadership training. he does not have the guts to take a player out when necessary because he is afraid he will hurt his feelings.things could have been better if he would have stood tall and be a manager (boss)
jch
September 29th, 2011
10:33 am
If Braves Were Smart… – what are you doing with Hudson? How is he not in the rotation. He’s starting opening day in mine.
1. Hudson – he’s earned this time and again, should have been last year
2. Hanson – assuming he’s healthy
3. Jurjjens – again, assuming he’s healthy
4. Beachy – great year overall
5. Lowe – no choice, we’re paying him too much to put him in the bullpen, no one else wants him with a 5+ ERA and his salary so we can’t move him.
If, by some miracle, we’re able to move Lowe or he’s OK with coming out of the bullpen (both longshots in my opinion) we have a pretty good list of candidates for #5 (or to fill in for lingering injuries of JJ or Hanson) – Minor, Delgado, Teheran, Vizcaino, Medlen… Of these, I’d personally like to see Medlen but, admittedly, this is as much an emotional decision as it is a “baseball” decision. I’d like to see the guy make it back to where he was – I love watching him pitch!
All in all, we’re in a VERY strong starting pitching situation. One most teams would give an arm and a leg for!
ijudgenot
September 29th, 2011
10:34 am
I thought the moves of Charlie Manual were with class. His job as Phils manager is to have his team primed for the playoffs. He also has a duty to the game to not put 9 pitchers on the field as position players. What he could do was give the prey a sporting chance. He did that. Instead of starting lefthanded Hamels, who the Braves have had problems hitting any lefthander, he started Blanton to give the Braves a sporting chance to score some early runs. But what does genius Fredi do? He starts righthanded hitting Diaz instead of Hinske,Constanza, or Heyward. Fredi says he did not want to burn a player early, What? Constanza, or Hinske were not going to get but one pinch hit opportunity anyway and you would only pinch hit if you had a scoring opportunity. Priceless strategy. Manual then pulls Howard after he gets hit by pitch. Howard can get hit 3 times in a row in the playoffs and will take his bat the next time. Manual sent the back of his bullpen from the 9th inning on and the Braves still could not score. They could not even get a hit. Manual in my opinion is not a HOF manager, but his motivational moves and strategic in game moves makes Fredi Gonzalez look like a litle league manager at best. I don’t like LaRussa, but I have to respect him for making his team believe that they could do what many ,me included, did not think was possible. Fredi could not get his team to truly believe that they could WIN ONE GAME. LaRussa believe me would not have been as classy as Manual, he would have tried to slaughter the hapless prey for public display. Hope the Phils beat the Cards.
Justafan
September 29th, 2011
10:34 am
Thanks DOB and Carroll for all you do!
Phredd
September 29th, 2011
10:34 am
Dirty Dawg, I caught that too, when Uggla looked to pick the ball up he slowed down. just listen to Snitker and run hard!
PMC
September 29th, 2011
10:36 am
I do wish guys on the team would admit that they did not handle the pressure of the Cards well whatsoever, and this was an epic choke job. If it wasn’t they are essentially saying they don’t have the talent to win which is BS, they just fell apart mentally at the plate.
The pride comments should be left for the spring, this was not the time to be patting each other on the back publically and “we’ll get em next year” stuff. It’s like these comments were canned.
Skokie Dog
September 29th, 2011
10:36 am
The way this season ended is disappointing but hardly shocking. If you put a Bobby Cox protege in your manager’s slot, this is what you get: lousy tactical managerial decision-making, inexplicable losses to below average teams, especially early in the season (when there are “still plenty of games to play”), and overused talent in the bullpen. If the Braves stick with the same basic philosophy in managing this team, don’t be surprised to see the sam outcome, regardless of the talent level on the field. And there were some shortcomings there this year too. Some of our players need to learn again how to hit, especially with runners on base.
elainewilliams
September 29th, 2011
10:37 am
Alex….Doesn’t sound like you have any friends or care about having any…Do you think Derek Lowe is the only high priced pitcher who has screwed up this year…..If you do you haven’t been doing your homework..;;Derek Lowe was great last year and everyone knows it, and is still great…Now if he had a team (that’s the Magic word) who would back him up with a few hits some time,perhaps things would have turned out better. We have 3 great pitchers for the Red Sox and they have all screwed up this year at one time or another and making just as much money AS Derek LoweIF NOT MORE….Getting rid of him would be a huge mistake mark my words. SHAME ON ALL OF YOU FAIR WEATHER FANS WHO HAVE SO LITTLE FAITH…..IN YOUR PLAYERS, YOUR MANAGER ETC.
PMC
September 29th, 2011
10:39 am
One of the worst collapses in Major League history says they have a great deal to hang thier heads about.
This team has a lot more talent than 89 wins.
Carol
September 29th, 2011
10:40 am
Face it Chipper. You have a strong desire but your body simply can’t keep up with the strain it has experienced over the years. Please consider that you are standing in the way of the Braves replacing you and either retire or go to an AL team as their designated batter. Your regular playing days are over but you would make a hell of a good batting coach, preferably for the Braves. You would still have your hunting preserve for income to offset the lower salary from either move.
Phredd
September 29th, 2011
10:41 am
praising Derek Lowe should get you banned! and he was not great last year. He was very good in september
Justafan
September 29th, 2011
10:43 am
Got to say what everyone else thinks..Fire Fredi!
Wren is also to blame..Fire Both!
PMC
September 29th, 2011
10:45 am
Fairweather fans? For criticising a professional baseball player really?
I cannot speak right now because I screamed my head off for the Braves last night. All Derrick Lowe has to do to avoid criticism is either not take that massive contract or show up and earn it.
He’s paid like a #1 at best he’s an emergency starter at this point.
Deflated
September 29th, 2011
10:45 am
As the saying goes, the players “played their hearts out”, and I am proud of each and every one of them. Unfortunately, when you are off your game on any particular day, “playing your heart out” doesn’t cut it at this level. And when the game is a very crucial one, you don’t need to be on the field if you are not “hitting on all cylinders”.
We need to tip our caps to Freddi-Bobby, as he has to take full responsibility for the loss last night along with so many others all season long. Bobby managed for the long season, sacrificing some games to keep pitchers sharp and egos in tact. However, when post-season came around, Bobby was never able to adapt to the new reality of short series and “win or go home games” leaving too many pitchers on the mound way too long (like in regular season). As a result, we could only complete the deal once in almost 20 years.
Unfortunately, Freddi-Bobby has learned at the foot of Bobby, and is also unable to think out of the box when it comes to play-off pressure (well, this was as close to play-off pressure during the regular season that you can get). When you send your rookie closer out there in this intensely pressure-packed situation, with the entire season on the line, and he walks and hits batters, don’t you think a reasonable manager would recognize that the rookie has let the pressure get to him and pull him for a more experienced pitcher (except for way over the hill, automalic-loss Linebrink) BEFORE he is allowed to blow the save, the game, the SEASON???? Hello!!!! Maybe we need to bring in a late season reliever for our manager; his lateness in pulling pitchers in distress all season was the reason that we found ourselves in last night.. Maybe they should study the bio-rythems of the pitchers, or maybe even react before it is too late. I suggest that we find a new manager that can find his way to the mound before the game is out of hand.
jch
September 29th, 2011
10:45 am
Elaine… Lowe, great? True he’s had precious little run support but, he’s also sporting an ERA over 5 with a very, very good defensive team behind him. That’s far from “great” in my book.
Was he great? For a month last year, yes. Has he been a valuable addition to the team over the past few years, yes. Does he appear to be slipping a bit do to age, yes. Am I at all confident in his ability to turn it around next year, no.
He’s old. His stuff isn’t what it used to be. It happens to all of them eventually.
No, he’s not still great.
Naboo the Enigma
September 29th, 2011
10:48 am
Closing thoughts an comments on the 2011 season
1.Freeman, great job this year kid. Future looks bright for you
2.Kimbrel, HELLUVA job this year kid. Rookie closer, top 3 closer in the bigs already, hang in there.
3.Venters, stud
4.Huddy and the young kids, thanks for giving it you all when called upon.
5.Lowe, you suck and you are washed up ya BUM
6.Prado, gotta get you back in the infield. Rebound next season bigtime for you.
7.M Bourn. Finally a CF in Atlanta, haven’t had one since Andruw left.
8.Heyward, Maybe the Rangers have a hitting coach you can talk to in the off season.
9.A Gonz, great D all year. Some of the best plays I’ve seen there in a Braves uni in years.
10.Chipper…. Oh Chipper…. Probably my alltime favorite player. Hang in there hoss, your leadership is worth its weight in gold with these kids. Next time make that trip to talk to Kimbrel.
11.McCann, injury free season next year. You are the cornerstone.
12. Fredi G… Ohhhhh Fredi G…. No idea where to even start with you. Mismanaged games on and off all season long. How do you NOT walk Pence with a base open and two outs. a hit still scores the run for them. Show some fire next season, enough Mr. Gee Golly Nice Guy crap. And when you go out to “argue” a blown call, take a page from Bobby’s book and rip someone’s ARSE. Your players feed off that fire.
13.Frank Wren, I honestly don’t think you are that great at your job. Try to get out of this hole payroll wise and stop locking up so much money in three or 4 jokes of a player like Mclouth, Kawakami, and Lowe.
Who to pin this collapse on? It always starts at the top. Wren and Fredi G (Parrish too).
They only thing that wil lighten the sting of this EPIC FAIL would be if the Phils get sent home in the first round. TO HELL WITH PHILY
Moron commenter
September 29th, 2011
10:48 am
Fredi G. has to go dadgummit. I mean he has every opportunity to put himself in and get the hits we need just like Pete Rose used to do as a player manager. When JJ and Hanson went down Fredi should have warmed the old arm up and got himself out there to throw some innings and save this season. What the heck was he thinking, fire his butt.
In other news, commenters who think Fredi G. should get fired should change their name to match my handle.
Phredd
September 29th, 2011
10:48 am
maybe Berkman can opt out of his extension and teach our talented guys how to hit consistently
Naboo the Enigma
September 29th, 2011
10:49 am
Oops, forgot the #1 and #2 aces on the squad. Gentlemen, untimely injuries this year for you both. Thanks for pitching your arses off this year.
Nothing to see here..
September 29th, 2011
10:50 am
@lobosolo and bozz
There are posters out here who are idiots and irrational because they are pissed, so I will give you that, but your the kind of dumb@ss fan they do close-ups of during the Braves games — bowed up redneck with an attitude that wants to kick anyones @ss who says anything bad about His beloved Braves…. “bunch of whiners..Chipper is the Man…don’t talk about my Braves or I’ll pull out a can of whoop @ss”. Your problem is you take all of this way to personally and have zero ability to discern whining, as you call it, from fair criticism that is warranted based on a fan not accepting mediocrity from the team they love. Same guy who can’t take criticism from others about yourself ,,, because you ain’t done nothin’ wrong ,,, you gave it 110 percent and who cares if you made a mistake that maybe cost your company thousands of dollars ,,, your boss is nothin’ but a dam whining SOB.
So, keep believing that Fredi is the greatest manager ever, because how could your beloved Bobby ever make a mistake. Keep believing that the washouts on this team will deliver in this game of inches and that the historic failure that just happened was nothing more than a bad dream, And oh yeah, stop by home depot to get a drywall repair kit to fix that hole you punched thru the wall.
Jay Dubu
September 29th, 2011
10:54 am
I’m not going to blame the pitching for last night’s loss. They have been the backbone of this team all season long.
The Brave s had numerous opportunities, and they have in other games this season, to manufacture runs without the benefit of a hit. It’s impossible to do that when you’re striking out. You have to be able to make contact to play small ball.
Wait till next year
September 29th, 2011
10:56 am
D Lowe needs to contact Roger Clemens to find out the secret to pitching well, in you late 30’s to early 40’s.
While at it, have Chipper contact Barry Bonds for some tips at the plate too.
ccrider
September 29th, 2011
10:57 am
i’m not a fan because “fan” is short for fanatic and i’m hardly fanatical. i see hope for 2012 because of a reduction in payroll and lots of trading chips. solid pitching and possibly a 6 man rotation would make sense. jj and hanson are injury prone, huddy’s getting up there in age and the young arms would benefit from more rest. if they could give more than 5 innings it would take the strain off the pen. lowe’s going nowhere unless we eat at least 10 of the 15 mil and get nothing back in return so why not put him in the pen? hayward needs to start 2012 in AAA regardless of his spring so he can EARN his way to the bigs instead of having it handed to him. it would help if he quit reading his 2010 press clippings. an overused expression is “play like your hair’s on fire.” the braves played like they just got out of the shower. don’t care how good his D was, gonzales was a cancer. he loafs like pujols does sometimes, only he’s nowhere near the talent. how could mcdowell expect self-discipline from his pitchers after his antics. he should have been fired on the spot!!! we need leo back. the frediot, as well as parrish and tp, must go. lure bobby valentine out of the booth and (never happen) get tony gwynn. the players are just very well paid entertainers playing a kids’ game and, for the most part, i was entertained. this blog sometimes irritates me; you praise them to the skies when they do well and berate the unmercifully when they don’t. i put the blame for the demise on fredobut not entirely. like william calley at mei lai (anybody remember that?) he was put in a position he was not capable of handling but got all the blame. i honestly feel the brave can go far next year with a little tweaking but, who knows?
The Monger
September 29th, 2011
10:59 am
From Yesterday’s postgame quotes, this sums up the loser Brave’s mentality from the worst leader to have on a team Chipper Jones…
this is truly the saddest but yet most accurate reflection of Chipper Jones’ mentality and attitude about the game of baseball. Now, I’m not the type of guy that will agree that one quote can sum up a man’s entire baseball career. Most of the time I would even say it is almost impossible, but I want you all to read, and I mean really read Chipper’s remarks when DOB asks him about his struggles whith elite pitchers like Lee, Oswalt, and Vazquez (although I wouldnt rank Vazquez in those 2 guys class), but also Wang and Deitweiler. Listen to this response, and tell me if it sounds familiar…
“Yeah but I can’t really disrespect those guys because they executed their pitches. I was out there 60 feet, six inches away from them and I’m getting backdoor sliders with two strikes on the black. We’ve run into a string of pitchers that have executed. Can we run into some guy that just doesn’t have it one night? Haven’t been too many of those lately”
-Chipper Jones, word for word quote…
WOW!!! CHIPPER FREAKING JONES!! I know I will get flamed for this but I dont care, because I have known of this attitude from Chipper for ever!! I have told countless people he is not a leader, and its mainly this attitude right here as too why we sadly wont win another WS with him as our leader. Yes, occasionally mediocre to poor pitchers execute their pitches, but it is your job as a MAJOR LEAGUE hitter to hit pitches even when executed, take the pitch the opposite way, wait for a mistake, make the pitcher work the count. It is YOUR JOB to find a way against guys like Wang and Deitweiler…Other teams dont have this attitude of “they were just too good. hats off to them, tip your cap fellas”, that is a losers mentality. Freddie Gonzalez has this disease, Chipper has it, and Bobby to some extent had it. It is a disease, because it eats away at clubhouses, and suddenly a 14-run loss to the Astro’s 17th best Single-A pitching prospect becomes… “man, that guys was painting, I mean I think the 27 yankees would have been no-hit, he was just lights out, tip my cap…tip my cap….cap tippin”.
Sad……….. just sad….Thanks Fredi and Chipper for this horrible loser mentality leading to one of the worst collapses in MLB history.
Phanatic
September 29th, 2011
11:00 am
Hey Ghostrider -
Thanks for the hate and keep watching. Knowing you’ll be gritting your teeth while we’re in the playoff is awesome. Enjoy loser.
PeteInPhilly
September 29th, 2011
11:01 am
Naboo the Enigma said: “They only thing that wil lighten the sting of this EPIC FAIL would be if the Phils get sent home in the first round.”
Huh. I can certainly understand the bitterness; Philly and Atlanta fans haven’t had a lot of love between them in a lot of years. But I’d think it would be better if the Phillies went all the way and won the WS. Wouldn’t that take the sting out of this loss more? Knowing that the Braves were beat by a WS Champion and not a first-round loser?
Besides, last night’s game was certainly not an “I hate Philly” game. We respected the game but also gave you a chance by putting out a pitching lineup that was there to tuneup for the playoffs. We COULD have put Hamels out there for the entire game. He pitches third in the rotation against St. Louis, but that game isn’t until Tuesday. That’s normal rest plus one day for Hamels.
ATL Fan
September 29th, 2011
11:01 am
Bag-O-Bats,
Getting two all-star quality pitchers back next year will not help us score runs, however, it should reduce the number of runs we need in order to win.
alex
September 29th, 2011
11:01 am
@elaine, your points and excuses for the braves and sox are PATHETIC,give yourself a trohy and slither away….sheeesh-idiot/moron/whatever
jim
September 29th, 2011
11:02 am
If people on this blog take a more realistic look around at the division, they might cool their optimism for next year a bit.
The Phillies might lose Rollins, but they still have the 5 aces, Utley, Pence, Howard, and Victorino + a big budget — they are not ready to fade into the sunset any time soon.
The Nats have a true ace — Strasburg, a very good bullpen, a lot of young talent about to come up from the minors (they have made a lot of good high drafts the last 3 years, not just Strasburg and Harper) + Zimmerman, Morse, Desmond, Espinosa, and the cave man.
The Marlins get Johnson and Hanley back and go into their new stadium with Stanton, LoMo, and Ozzie
The Mets — even if they lose Reyes, their offense was still pretty good with Murphy and Davis returning, and Bay showing signs of regaining his previous form. Duda looked like a pretty tough out at the end of the year. Who knows what will happen with their finances, but if they could get some pitching, their lineup was one that worked the count and bunched hits — two things we didn’t see much from the Braves.
ccrider
September 29th, 2011
11:02 am
GO SNAKES!!!
Kimbrel rocks
September 29th, 2011
11:03 am
fredi needs to go. i’m sorry but this is the biggest collapse in braves history. the MANAGER is the problem.
alex
September 29th, 2011
11:03 am
@pete, your better, you beat us with callups, move on man….send a cheesesteak, PLEASE
elainewilliams
September 29th, 2011
11:05 am
pmc…if someone hired you for 16 million dollars..to do a job….I bet you would turn it down real quick…sure you would.As far as the snide remark about Buckner….he was never berated by the Boston Fans…we treat our players with more respect than some of you Atlanta Fans…As a matter of fact he has been back in Boston several times since that infamous bloop….and had alway been treated with great respect.;..;..it was a game….and one that we all got over quickily….and life still went on for the Boston Red Sox and there fans. By the way are you contributing to his salary….if not…
and my advice is if you know he,s pitching….stay…..home. Try sipping on honey today…….
Naboo the Enigma
September 29th, 2011
11:06 am
Pete not even close, I’ve hated Phily for years. The Eagles can follow the Phils straight to Hades.
The next best thing after rooting for you favorite team to win is rooting against the team you hate most. It’s pretty easy if you think about it.
dave morgan
September 29th, 2011
11:06 am
Finally, 1991 Atlanta Braves pitcher Charlie Leibrandt has some much needed company with closer, Craig Kimbrel. Just wait ’till next year… as we so often say!
BRAVES FAN
September 29th, 2011
11:06 am
CLEAN HOUSE! FREDI HAS GOT TO GO (MANANGED LAST MONTH LIKE A HE DIDNT HAVE AN IDEA OF WHAT TO DO) OTHER TEAMS HAVE PROBLEMS BUT SEEN TO OVERCOME THEM, THE BRAVES MANAGER AND COACHING STAFF LOOKED LOST THE WHOLE MONTH. WREN HAS HAD LONG ENOUGH AS GENERAL MANAGER, IF THIS WERE THE YANKEES HE WOULD HAVE BEEN GONE A LONG TIME AGO, I KNEW THE BRAVES WERE DOOMED AT THE WAIVER DEADLINE WHEN HE REAQUIRED DIAZ (NO POWER, NO SPEED) HIS MANAGER HAD SPEED ON THE BENCH AND LEFT IT THERE (CONSTANZA) AND PLAYED HEYWARD (A .220 TO .230 HITTER) THE OVERWORKED BULLPEN SHOWED THE LAST MONTH AND YOU COULD MAKE EXCUSES FOR INJURIES (HANSON AND JAIR) BUT HOW LONG DOES YOUR GENERAL MANAGER SIT AROUND AND WAIT FOR SOMETHING TO GET BETTER BEFORE DOING SOMETHING ABOUT IT. NEXT YEAR THE BRAVES GO INTO THE OFF SEASON NEEDING A LEFT FIELDER THAT CAN HIT MORE THAN 13 HOME RUNS OR AT LEAST STEAL A BASE, THEY NEED A RIGHT FIELDER, SHORTSTOP AND A PITCHER THAT CAN LAST 200 PLUS INNINGS THEY ALSO NEED A NEW GENERAL MANAGER, MANGER AND COACHING STAFF, AFTER SUCH A COLLAPSE YOU CANT LEAVE IT THE SAME AND EXPECT THE FAN BASE TO ACCEPT IT)
John H Rocko
September 29th, 2011
11:08 am
I still can’t believe the Atlanta Braves blew that ..what was it? 7.5 or 8.5 game wild card lead with 3 weeks left in the season??? there is NO excuse for this… a team that plays like the Braves did this September don’t deserve to be in post-season play. I say send all of these no hitting players back to the minor leagues and teach them how to hit again, that was pitiful and pathetic. I get so tired of getting my hopes up over this team only to ALWAYS have something go wrong at the end of the season, or getting their tails kicked in the first round of the playoffs. I saw ads on TV yesterday about Post season tickets….ha ha! what a joke. Atlanta Braves??? i say the Atlanta Chokers would be a better name for them.
PeteInPhilly
September 29th, 2011
11:09 am
Sorry, Alex. I had no intention of rubbing salt in the wound. The Phillies are better than the Braves. THIS year. And maybe next year and for a couple years after that. And maybe not. Nobody knows losing quite like the Phillies do.
That doesn’t mean it stings any less to have your team lose like last night. I just think the Braves are better than some of the fans here seem to think; that there truly is reason to look forward to 2012. There are a lot of teams that would take your present heartbreak if it came with your near future potential.
PMC
September 29th, 2011
11:11 am
No one is being fired, they aren’t going to make major changes. There’s no reason to even discuss it. That’s not how this team operates.
Kudos to Kimbrel for owning it and showing real true emotion the way he feels. No one is going to be mad at a guy who didn’t give up a run for seemingly half the year. He’s really good, he was awesome this season.
jim
September 29th, 2011
11:14 am
Sean made some points earlier about Prado and chemistry. But maybe the chemistry is good, but it is too familiar and has produced contenders but not winners the past 3 years. Prado is a tough decision to make — with arbitration he will be making > $5 million dollars next year. With the Uggla trade, he doesn’t have a defined role on the team. He is neither a true left fielder nor third baseman. He was having an off year even before the staph infection. I think being jacked around between LF and 3B (two new positions) took a toll and hurt him both in the field and at the plate. I hated that idea right from spring training. Being put into power positions may have hurt too — too much weight training and became too pull happy. In the past Prado hit a lot of 2Bs to the right center field alley. This year he served a couple of grounders to right in a few key spots, but much of the time he was committing to pull and only hitting weak fly balls on outside pitches.
alex
September 29th, 2011
11:15 am
Pete, don’t need your platitudes, I need a real philly cheesesteak and a pretzel to go with it with lots of hot mustard!!!!
Phredd
September 29th, 2011
11:15 am
Elaine, you are a liar! I live in the Boston area. Buckner’s entire family was threatened. His daughter had to change schools and he eventually left MA out of fear for his family. He declined to even show up in Boston for over 20 years. You are an uninformed fool!
cardsfan
September 29th, 2011
11:16 am
THANKYOU BRAVES! No more god forsaking tomahawk chop………….is that all you can come up with? Enjoy the playoffs……………from your couch lol
PeteInPhilly
September 29th, 2011
11:16 am
@Alex: I won’t argue that. It’s a sweet, sweet thing seeing the Dallas Cowboys lose. It’s not that way for the Braves, though. At least not for me. I love beating the Braves, but not because I hate them. It’s just because for years they were the team the Phillies looked forward to playing and beating.
As for the Eagles… I like them. But I grew up in Wisconsin during the 1960s, so my team will always be the Packers.
ATL Fan
September 29th, 2011
11:18 am
Mr. Kimbrel,
Great job all year. It’s unfortunate that last nights game was the last of this season. Use it as motivation for next year. You’re a great pitcher.
I’m looking forward to you getting 40+ saves next year too.
Larry
September 29th, 2011
11:18 am
THIS is journalist courage…
http://blogs.ajc.com/jeff-schultz-blog/2011/09/29/braves-collapse-and-the-sh
PeteInPhilly
September 29th, 2011
11:19 am
@Alex: *lol!* Fair enough.
I know there used to be a company here that specialized in sending out “Philly care packages”, promising a 24-hour delivery of hot cheesesteaks, still salty pretzels, and packages of Tastykakes. I don’t know if they’re still around or not, though.
John H Rocko
September 29th, 2011
11:19 am
Freddie G couldn’t manage a little league team…he kinda reminds of Dan Henning’s coaching in the NFL…with no emotion, no spirit, and indifference….i am DONE with the Braves!! i don’t care if they move to another city, good riddance…
ccrider
September 29th, 2011
11:20 am
SEASON’S OVER!!! you folks need to get a life!!! seriously!!! i’ve been reading your comments for a while now and, WOW, what a bunch of fools. i guarentee you that in 3 days you will all have something else to gripe about. i’m retired, but why aren’t the rest of you at work (or looking for work)? maybe that’s why you’re not working. all to do is berate, gripe and complain and coworkers won’t put up with you!!! IT’S JUST A FREAKIN’ GAME!!! GET A LIFE!!!
jim
September 29th, 2011
11:21 am
The Philly fans might take a little less pleasure in what just happened when they sober up later today. Their road to that championship just got a lot tougher.
leftrecursion
September 29th, 2011
11:21 am
What a bunch of classless Philly Fans!
Brick
September 29th, 2011
11:22 am
Look at it this way………….89 wins with one of the worst offenses in MLB………….Not bad. We just need a few changes,here and there. Learn from this trainwreck. NOBODY is going to GIVE you anything and THEY DIDN’T…………….The sun still rose up this morning and baseball is DONE for Atlanta. Wait til Spring training…………….bring on football!!
Braves Fan
September 29th, 2011
11:23 am
2012 starting rotation will be:
Delgado
Teheran
Minor
Beachy
Medlin
Take offers on Hudson, Hanson & Jurrjens, and unload Lowe by whatever means necessary !
A starting thirdbaseman & leftfielder should be TOP priorities, with an upgrade at SS !
Chipper needs to ride off into the sunset !
Phredd
September 29th, 2011
11:25 am
maybe we are all retired! If it’s just a game to you, then why care at all? why get happy or sad about any outcome? I think people have a right to any emotion they want. You invest time and money into something you can’t control. I think griping and/or boasting is at the sportsfans’ discretion.
John H Rocko
September 29th, 2011
11:25 am
PeteinPhilly: I am also a huge Packers fan…for 45 years now~! and i didn’t grow up in Wisconsin…i grew up right here in GA.
mpimentel
September 29th, 2011
11:26 am
mr. lobosolo…so we have to be proud of this team ah…let me explain you something WE HAVE JUST MADE THE WOERST COLLAPSING PERFORMANCE IN THE NATIONAL LEAGUE HYSTORY…EVEN WORST THAN THE METS A OF COUPLE YEARS AGO…SORRY BUT WE CANNOT BE PROUD OF IT…
mpimentel
September 29th, 2011
11:29 am
this fans deserve a better team to cheer…a lot of bloggers here have made a good observation….we need for the next season a LF,SS AND A MANNAGER…trade jj , get rid of lowe…send chipper to the retirement …and fire the complete coaching staff
Rowsdower
September 29th, 2011
11:30 am
A truly devestating turn of events. I never thought it would actually come to fruition. Having a 3 game lead with 5 to play and not able to get a single win is pretty tough to swallow.
I am proud of how this team played for 5 months. Not so much in September, obviously. They certainly didn’t phone it in, they just couldn’t get anything going offensively all month. The pitching, with the exception of bLowe, was pretty solid. Clearly the backend of the bullpen was out of gas. Those guys just didn’t have much left in the tank. You could tell from their command.
I have the utmost confidence that Wren will improve this team this Winter and we’ll be right back in the thick of it next year. Go Braves.
Damn this hurts…
Phredd
September 29th, 2011
11:31 am
DOB is right though, with nagging knee injuries, there isn’t a team in the league that is going to pay for JJ or Hanson with shoulder issues.
ccrider
September 29th, 2011
11:32 am
reverse the situation with the braves’ fans and the phils’ fans. you would be as equally bad winners as you are bad losers. IT’S JUST A FREAKIN’ GAME!!!
stoky
September 29th, 2011
11:32 am
Joe Simpson dissed Shane Victorino last night when he hit into a double play. Very unfair!!! so here goes a little more unfairness. Please tell Chipper (larry) that we are sick of his gull-wing homerun trots (all 18 of them) we are also sick of the ugly faces of Uggla and Gonzo. They look like they are mad at the world… I’m sick of the whole bunch of braves and their stupid chop-singing.. all 22,000 of them. Can’t even fill a stadium with a pennant race on the line. Ya’all stink
Phredd
September 29th, 2011
11:32 am
is it just a game? or just a freakin’ game?
jim
September 29th, 2011
11:36 am
The complaint I have with Freddi is that he never figured out how to make full use of Bourn’s speed at the top of the lineup. I liked the idea of the double steal in the 3rd inning last night. How many times have we seen Chipper or one of the other middle order hitters ground into a DP (or K like last night) It didn’t work, but it was the right call. We were playing a better team and we needed to be aggressive. What NEVER happened was a hit and run. Prado seemed an ideal hitter to hit the ball to the right side behind the runner but it never happened in 2 months time. I would have liked to see them try the hit and run in the 12th after Heyward’s single instead of the bunt. How often have we scored with a runner on 2nd and 0 or 1 out over the past month?
alex
September 29th, 2011
11:37 am
There are bad philly fans, but we’ve got lobo,et al.Kum by ya(sp?), I.m thinking phillies and yanks in the WC with the phillies winning in 5….But ,I’d love to see the brew crew,great tailgaiters there, win it all.. Holidays and birthdays on the horizon, 2 children..have agreat winter, in spring:hope springs eternal!
ccrider
September 29th, 2011
11:38 am
yes phredd, it’s only entertainment. sometimes you’re more entertained than othertimes but, yes, IT’S JUST A FREAKIN’ GAME!!! your comment sounds like something i heard on a grade-school playground.
ccrider
September 29th, 2011
11:42 am
unless, of course, you lost some serious cash and nobody, unless you’re a problem gambler, bets on baseball. way too many variables.
Mister Frisky
September 29th, 2011
11:43 am
Where to begin,this eulogy might be in several parts over many days.First the easy and obvious.Lowe has pitched his last game for us 15 mil or not don’t let him anywhere near the bump wearing the tomahawk.Gonzalez,Prado,Mc Cann,Heyward definitely gone.Freddie and Bourn you stay.As for Uggla I think he could be moved especially to the AL to dh.If Uggla stays he bats in the 8 hole.Dude is a two trick pony either a strikeout or solo HR.Chipper stays takes 5 mil to PH and fill in at 3b deferring the rest of his $ over the next few years.If Chipper doesn’t come back the image of him huddling the guys together in dugout before the game is something I will never forget. Too bad that didn’t happen when we were great there might be a couple more WS banners hanging at the Ted.Hudson and every young live arm in the rotation.Two more set up guys for O ‘Ventril till the starters prove they can go more the 5.It ain’t rocket science Frankie start working now.
Antoino DiMarco
September 29th, 2011
11:45 am
To say “I’m proud…” of this club is crap. You lost a 8.5 game lead in 23 days. You also went 0-9 against your two biggest competitors (Philadelphia and St. Louis) in Sept. and lost three consecutive series to the division’s crap (Mets, Marlins, Nationals). You choked. You are NOT good enough. The Phils know how to win and what it takes. Take a lesson from them and enjoy the off-season.
PMC
September 29th, 2011
11:46 am
Elaine, you’re on a Braves blog spouting off about how bad a fans we are. I provided you a mirror. Bill Buckner was CRUCIFIED in Boston for one mistake, so much so that only after 2004 was he brought back and people apologised for being so mean to him. He couldn’t walk around in Boston. Your memory is selective and it’s wrong. They treated him worse than Cubs fans treated Steve Bartman. Boston fans are some of the most myopic, critical and cynical fans in the world.
Derrick Lowe had an absolutely terrible year and he deserves criticism. People online always take criticism over the top but everyone knows this and Derrick doesn’t care and doesn’t read this stuff, he counts his money and goes home. He’s happy, this won’t bother him in the least. He’s up for another 15 million next year whether he pitches well or not and or contributes to the team winning.
Let it go, and look in the mirror. Go to southy and see what they think of Francona this morning or John Lester.
Phredd
September 29th, 2011
11:47 am
ccrider these are just fan comments. you don’t have to read them or be here to tell us all that, “IT’S JUST A FREAKIN’ GAME!!! nobody asked for your input, but here you are giving it just like everyone else. I wonder how great your memory must be to remember statements made to you or around you during your grade-school years. As far as your constant reminders about what constitutes a game and/or entertainment, some would say that everything is a game or a form of entertainment. right now, you and I are entertaining each other and probably boring everyone else.
bring back blauser
September 29th, 2011
11:48 am
if terry francona gets fired get him immediately. he has a axe to grind against philly and he has always had a great rapport with players. maybe he will find someone who like freddy freeman knows how to just try to make contact and move runners over. that was the truly bright spot on the braves this season other than those great young pitchers whom we will have many chances to see in the future. this is a great team and i hope they learned from this and carry the anger over to next season and make everyone pay
Banned Poster
September 29th, 2011
11:49 am
ccrider
September 29th, 2011
11:20 am
“SEASON’S OVER!!! you folks need to get a life!!! seriously!!! i’ve been reading your comments for a while now and, WOW, what a bunch of fools. i guarentee you that in 3 days you will all have something else to gripe about. i’m retired, but why aren’t the rest of you at work (or looking for work)? maybe that’s why you’re not working. all to do is berate, gripe and complain and coworkers won’t put up with you!!! IT’S JUST A FREAKIN’ GAME!!! GET A LIFE!!!”
Now that is comical coming from a poster who has a UGA blog dedicated to ripping Mark Richt and any fan that likes him. Maybe you need to take your own advice sometimes, you know, ITS JUST A GAME.
Mister Frisky
September 29th, 2011
11:49 am
CC Rider see what you have done.Francona would be perfect.
wow
September 29th, 2011
11:50 am
Braves = EPIC FAIL
Phils Phan 80
September 29th, 2011
11:51 am
Only ones to blame for this is the players. The Phillies were ready to come into to Atlanta and just roll over. With the exception of playing for franchise record in wins and Charlie Manuel becoming franchise leader in wins, they had NOTHING to play for. They weren’t even trying these past few games. Otherwise they would not have had Joe Blanton start this game.
Hello, its me
September 29th, 2011
11:51 am
The combined IQ of the Braves is lower than that of Barry Obama plus they are bigger losers than the Presidential loser. I didnt think it was possible.
AH HAHAHAA~~~!! SCREW YOU BRAVES!!! LMAO! LOOOOOOSSSEEERRRSSS!!! LMAO!
bobby cerasuolo
September 29th, 2011
11:52 am
Chipper needs to call it quits Frank Wren needs to call any and all GMs and ask for how much for thier star 3rd baseman
NYM
TB
BAL
anyone and The big three of Teheran Vics and Minor will be open to a trade
mpimentel
September 29th, 2011
11:52 am
starting rotation 2012:
1.- hudson
2.- beachy
3.- hanson
4.- minor
5.- vizcaino
keep medlen, teheran and delgado for any need down the strecth
make a trade involving jjj and lowe
2013 lineup:
1.- bourn cf
2.- freeman 1b
3.- (a LF from free agency or via trade)
4.- (a RF from free agency or via trade)
5.- mccann c
6.- uggla 2b
7.- prado 3b
8.- (a SS from free agency or via trade)
9.- pitcher spot
….chipper do something rigth for the team AGAIN an please retired yourself
….heyward need a complete or almost a complete season in minors, to find himself
….constanza is cappable enought to be productive, but been the 4th. outfield
….keep hinskie in the bench
….get rid of conrrad, wilson, diaz
bullpen 2013:
kimbrel cl
venters
o’flaherty
medlen
delgado
….release linebrick, c.martinez and sherryl
bring up someones from AAA and look in winters leagues for veterans (but just a couple)
coaching staff:
new managger (fredi had just made that any other managger in nl history has done)
new pitching coach (2 yaers of a start pitchers plagued of injuries and 2 years of tired bullpen)
new hiting coach (we din’t have an offensive lineup in 3 season in a row)
new coaching staff (new and modern baseball blood)
…………………………………………….PLEASE DO IT F WREN …………………………………………
Brave4life- tough pill to swallow
September 29th, 2011
11:53 am
Jason Heyward is not deserving for an interview, if anything he cost us games this year
1 really depressed fat fan
September 29th, 2011
11:54 am
I will say this…..Chippers true colors really showed this season. He is not a leader. I love the guy, he was a good ball player. But I cant believe we are paying 14 million dollars to a guy who has 2 bad knees and at best will play 120 games(start 95-105). The team will be in contention next year but will not get the wild card. No shot with San Fran coming back. Braves have at least 2-3 years away from being a contender.
I will say in 2-3 years the future is bright… BUT! THAT is only depending on the development of freeman, heyward(dear lord), kimbrel(clutchness), venters(wore down again),hanson, jurjenns(be nice to join us down the stretch)
SR
September 29th, 2011
11:54 am
A lot to be proud of, are you freakin kidding me? They went down in flames, epic fail beyond belief, reaching the pantheon of shame reserved only for the grandest of chokers and someone wants to talk about things of which this team can be proud??!! There are none!!!! Every single player on this 25 man roster contributed at one point or another to this complete meltdown, from McCann’s worthless at bats to the bullpen’s walks and walk off homers, to batters flailing away at pitches they couldn’t possibly hit like Prado. From mindless errors such as Wilson’s to Alex Gonzalez, the double play machine. From Lowe’s miserable softballs catching the entire plate to Chipper losing a ball in the lights. And to Fredi Gonzalez’s inability to get more out of this team when it really mattered. Proud??!! That is an adjective that has no connection to this team, the word shame is far more accurate and appropriate. That and shameful.
Phils Phan 80
September 29th, 2011
11:56 am
Francona with an axe to grind against Philly? If you think that former managers/GM’s don’t like Philly, you should take a trip to Houston and ask the fans there if they think Ed Wade still likes the Phillies. How he GAVE the Phillies Brad Lidge, Roy Oswalt and Hunter Pence.
Austin
September 29th, 2011
11:59 am
The Braves won 91 games last year. They won 91 games with Kenshin Kawakami, Troy Glaus, and Melkey Cabrera..and with an injured Chipper for most of the year.
This team won 89 games with Dan Uggla essentially replacing Melky, Freddie Freeman replacing Glaus, and Brandon Beachy replacing Kawakami. Oh, the bullpen was also better, Jurrjens and Hanson has career years, and Chipper had a better year. Granted, Lowe, Heyward, and Prado also suffered from setbacks, but those are nothing in compared to how the team improved.
I haven’t though Fredi Gonzalez was a good manager from the start. I’d fully support the firing of him. Not because of how the season ended, but because this is easily a 95-win team. I’m also not a fan of Larry Parrish. No batter in our lineup made vast improvements under his watchful eye. They were all almost worse.
ccrider
September 29th, 2011
12:01 pm
frisky, love your comments and agree with most. gonzales must go. hayward might be salvagable but needs to quit being a “legend in his own mind” and work on being a good, never great, but a good major leaguer. bunch of tradable parts like prado, beachy, minor, venters and payroll reduction in kk, mcclouth, gonzales etal. if chipper would just retire and take 5 mil and lowe could be dumped. don’t think anybody would be interested in either jj or tommy. hanson was headed for the dl from the jump because of that funky delivery and jj is mediocre at best. the off-season will be interesting.
bring back blauser
September 29th, 2011
12:03 pm
are you people crazy? in no way do you give up on heyward. he needs someone to work with him extensively in spring training. this kid along with freeman are our future. it is true he had a terrible season but he will surely turn it around. i really hope to see the same starting 8 back next year. trade lowe if possible. the young pitchers have everyone else salivating to get any of them.
ccrider
September 29th, 2011
12:06 pm
hey banned poster, must be a different ccrider, i’m in columbia, sc and we beat your sorry “dawgs” two weeks ago. GO GAMECOCKS!!!
SR
September 29th, 2011
12:09 pm
Good points Austin, at one point last night, no matter which Philly pitcher was on the hill, the pathetic Braves hitters were overmatched- following Uggla’s homer, from the 4th inning to the 13th, 10 “hitters” struck out and 10 feebly grounded out. Pitiful.
smithyred
September 29th, 2011
12:09 pm
I think manager did a good job. Need to get another hitting coach.
It will be nice to see different clubs in playoffs for a change. Thank goodness, no Boston Red Socks and maybe Yankees will get beat. Tired of them.
smithyred
JAFO
September 29th, 2011
12:11 pm
An absolutely stunning display of managerial incompetence not only last evening but all season. He was over matched and unable to stay ahead of the game. STH who attended 60+. I will not renew until FG is removed. A vote of ‘no confidence.’ i will not allow my loyalty to be exploited any longer. Why are we forced to accept mediocrity with our baseball team? Does that make me a fair weather fan? No, it makes me an informed consumer.
Sean
September 29th, 2011
12:14 pm
Thanks to Sean for some of the best comments on the crybaby threads all season… Sean, these armchair cryboys don’t realize any of what you said about the game… they don’t know the game and are not smart enough to figure the “game of inches” part out… They are basically just a bunch of whiners that sit on their behinds and yell at the TV after they failed once again to set the world on fire in their own miserable jobs… They are stupid and jealous of the fact that ball players and managers make so much more than they do, and feel like because they do that they are owed a perfect game every night… They live in a world of 20-20 hindsight, convinced that they would have made the correct decision every time Fredi made one that didn’t pan out… They don’t know the game and refuse to learn about it, or are just incapable of doing so…. They don’t realize the beauty of the simpleness of the game, one given to failure most of the time…
They don’t take a season of finishing in the top ten in all of the major leagues as an accomplishment, just like they don’t appreciate the accomplishments of Bobby Cox’s years, because they just flat out DON’T UNDERSTAND THE NATURE OF THE GAME… I’ll bet there’s not one of these whining, sniveling, sissy crybabies that is anywhere near the top ten of their professions…
I for one am as disappointed as any over their loss, but I enjoyed this team battling through injuries and slumps to remain in the chase until the bitter end… To play as well as they did, relying on so many rookies, was heartening… They did a great job… watching Uggla break out of his slump was heartening, too, given how hard he played and his failure to make excuses… Watching the chemistry of the team in the dugout was great, something you don’t see on teams that don’t have it or a manager who supports his players no matter what…
These jacklegs that have nothing better to do in life but complain failed to see any of these and the other positives of the season… They talk about heart… I can’t imagine that there was one player on the team that didn’t try his heart out this year, but the blubbering bozos on here think that, in addition to their “expertise” about every facet of the game, from hitting and pitching to strategy, that they are all mind readers, and that their self-appointed genius can tell what a player is thinking by looking at him while sitting in their armchair with a nice cushion on their behind… If the Braves had made it and won the World Series, these same cryboys would be walking around gloating about how “their” team won it all, while all year long they had NOTHING but derogatory and derisive comments to make about “their” teammates…
Have a miserable Fall and Winter, Cry-bots… try to do something useful, like LEARN something… I imagine you’ll just be transfering your “expertise” to the drudgery that is football, where you really belong… I imagine y’all know everything there is to know about that, too… As your rear end spreads wider by the day, and what remains of any sense you have dwindles down to peanut proportions, consider giving up on the team you so love to kick, yell, and scream at… They don’t deserve such a bunch of enlightened know-it-all-CRYBABIES as you…
Congrats, Bravos… you gave it your all, of this I am sure… As with every baseball season I experience, I got to see some great moments of stellar play to tamper the bad days, as always happens in a season this long… Thanks Fredi, for finishing in the top ten in your first year… looking forward to next season for sure… Can’t wait to see how all the young’uns pan out..
And finally to you sissy-boy crybabies… A BIG TIP OF THE CAP… you are the champions of the boorish, whiney, sports fan louts… You win the booby prize of truly being the best at what you do, and have set a very high bar for the rest of the rest of the oafs in the country that are trying to keep up with you…
************************************
Thanks Lobo…thought I would tell them how I feel. I’ve been sitting back for most of the season. You were dead on, a world of 20/20 hindsight. That’s just not baseball. Or anything in life, really.
ccrider
September 29th, 2011
12:15 pm
JAFO spot on!!!
GumbyWilkinson
September 29th, 2011
12:16 pm
Good Bye Chipper–great career, but you can no longer hit a lick. I do think that the Braves should build a statute of Chipper Jones to be placed outside the grounds of Turner Field to go alongside Hank Aarons statue. Chipper helped bring a world series to Atlanta in 1995 and was the GREATEST SWITCH-HITTER IN THE HISTORY OF MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL, EVEN BETTER THAN MICKY MANTLE. Chipper Jones is one of the top 10 greatest baseball players of all times.
Mister Frisky
September 29th, 2011
12:17 pm
CC good points as well.Would love to see Heyward work out.Only concern is this,It’s a corner outfield spot that has to bring offense to the table.If they upgrade LF and SS big time than we can wait for Heyward if they don’t another 225 year will leave us in a bad spot.
Sean
September 29th, 2011
12:18 pm
Like I said before about Fredi, let’s give him more of a chance here. How can you say it’s his fault completely? We all know it’s not. It can’t be.
We have enough talent to beat the Phils and the Nats. Heyward and Prado will have big seasons next year. Lowe will do better, he cannot get worse. Our pitching is just the right mix of vets and young guys. Our lineup is solid, especially with Bourn.
We lost this year, but I can’t wait for next year. The returning talent is enough to win it all if they play like they’re supposed to. Heck, it was enough to get to the playoffs this year, barring an unheard of September collapse. We won’t see that happen again in baseball for a long time, I’d bet.
Braves Fan
September 29th, 2011
12:24 pm
Gumby,
Take your medication !
Chipper is a better switch-hitter than Eddie Murray, Pete Rose & Mickey Mantle?
You must be his mother.
Braves Fan
September 29th, 2011
12:25 pm
Fredi was a loser with the Marlins & he’s a loser in Atlanta.
Joe Torre should have been hired on a 2-year contract as an interim until someone qualified was fouind
GumbyWilkinson
September 29th, 2011
12:25 pm
Listen folks, no matter how much you hate Chipper, Fredi and the boys for choking, remember Chipper Jones helped deliver us a world series championship in 1995. Without that, the Braves would have continued to have been the LAUGHING STOCK OF BASEBALL. At least since 1995, the Braves franchise has been among the elite franchises in all of baseball, second only to the New York Yankees. YOU CAN THANK CHIPPER JONES FOR THAT!
Braves Fan
September 29th, 2011
12:29 pm
Since the Braves’ became “Chipper’s team” its been a lot of losing and a lot of near misses.
Time for Chipper to retire or accept a trade to the AL where he can DH and reach career milestones.
His daily quotes will not be missed. Time to “Man UP” !
Brick
September 29th, 2011
12:32 pm
Braves did not treat Joe Torre in a professional manner when they sent him away. Torre had class,but that was a long time ago,anyway.
Braves Fan
September 29th, 2011
12:33 pm
Gumby,
Chipper was not a major factor in the 1995 Championship. It was his rookie year and we had leaders named Maddux, Smoltz, Glavine, Avery, Justice, McGriff, Lopez, Grissom, Blauser, Lemke & a host of others. Chipper was a very small cog in the machine that wonderful season.
I’ll give Chipper kudos for the 1999 season, our last trip to the World Series. That was 12 years ago.
There has been nothing “elite” about the Braves since 1999.
You are still sniffing the fumes off the 1990s. This is 2011 !
Freddie t
September 29th, 2011
12:34 pm
The difference between the Braves and the Phillies is having a brilliant GM. The Braves didn’t want to give away some of their best prospects for Hunter Pense while the Phillies knew that Pense is a difference maker and made that deal. Pense is better than any player on the Braves and will be for years to come.
ccrider
September 29th, 2011
12:35 pm
thax for the comeback frisky. ya gotta look at who’s available and at what price and what kind of contract. who’s out there??? cory hart? new contract but the cost would be too high and would make to brewcrew even stronger. i really like the the descalso kid in st louis as a prado type but no power and would cost prado and a pitcher. scott hairston (now a met) would available and affordable but not a starter (better than diaz though). how about mccann and a young arm for david price? interesting lol.
GumbyWilkinson
September 29th, 2011
12:37 pm
I DONT CARE WHAT ANYONE SAYS ABOUT CHIPPER. CHIPPER MUST DO THREE THINGS TO SECURE HIS PLACE AMONG THE GAMES MOST ELITE PLAYERS AND MAKE SURE HE HANDLES HIS CAREER HIMSELF AND NOT LEAVE IT IN THE HANDS OF FATE THE WAY FRED MCGRIFF RUINED HIS CAREER [AFTER FINISHING ONLY 7 HOME RUNS SHORT OF 500].
CHIPPER NEEDS TO DO THREE THINGS TO BE CONSIDERED AS GREAT AS HENRY AARON, JOE DIMAGGIO OR EVEN WILLIE MAYS:
#1: Accept a trade with an american league ballclub where he can continue to hit home runs until he reaches 500. [i dont care if he has to do that in a wheelchair]. HIS SUPREME LEGACY IS AT STAKE.
#2: Do more of what he did last night–phony pre-game speeches that was too-little too-late. If Chipper had been doing that every night since the penant races started on september 1st, the Braves would have made the playoffs. Why did chipper wait till the LAST GAME of the season before he made a fool of himself last night.
#3: If you take care of #1 and get to 500 home runs, then #3 will take care of itself.. A STATUE WILL BE ERECTED OF LARRY JONES TO BE DISPLAYED AT TURNER FIELD, to indicate one of the greatest careers of all times.
Chipper if you are reading my blog, take care of #s 1, 2 and 3 will be done automatically. CHIPPER JONES–THE GREATEST LIVING LEGEND IN BASEBALL TODAY.
Brava
September 29th, 2011
12:38 pm
elainewilliams, I don’t know what relation you are to Derek Lowe, but your posts in support of him are pathetic. What do you not understand about a pitcher whose record is 9-17, sports a 5.05 ERA, a 1.51 WHIP and a .285 opponent average? I’ll grant you that he didn’t get much run support, but neither did any of the other pitchers who managed to achieve much better results.
You’ve admitted that you’re not a Braves fan, so why are you here? You’re making yourself look very silly.
nashvillewill
September 29th, 2011
12:40 pm
So the Braves disappoint again (I’ve been a Braves fan since 1957) and most likely will disappoint me again by not firing Gonzales. He mismanaged this team in historic fashion, but the former Beaneaters will not acknowledge this and will point to the injury situation. My wish list in order:
1. Fire FG
2. Fire Parrish
3. Fire McDowell
4. Sign or trade for a LF with experience and a track record of .310 BA or better
5. Sign or trade for a SS with experience a track record of .280 or better.
6. Acquire a 3B prospect to groom and play in Chipper’s off days, which will become more numerous
7. Release, buy out or otherwise remove Lowe from the roster
8. Assign Heyward to AAA until he gets his swing together
9. Release Diaz, Conrad, Hinske, Wilson, Alex Gonzales.
10. Return Prado to the utility role
11. Decide future of Ross: either play him more, use him to PH, or let him go. Major underused talent
12. Insist McCann up his off-season conditioning program
13. Inform Delgado and Teheran that starting roles are theirs to lose.
14. Inform Minor and Beachy they will be starters.
15. Release or trade Jurrgens.
That would be a start. Or just fire FG
Komminsk
September 29th, 2011
12:41 pm
Really should have traded Lowe to the Tigers at the deadline and gotten some more bullpen help. The trade for Bourn was a great move, but just not enough.
Biggest disappointment of the year is Heyward. Biggest surprise is Freeman.
2012 rotation:
Hudson
Hanson
Beachy
Delgado
Teheran
Bullpen: Kimbrel, Venters, Medlen, O’Flahtery, Martinez, Minor, Morylan, Viscaino
Trade: JJ
Fire: Lowe
ccrider
September 29th, 2011
12:45 pm
if chipper was a real leader gonzales would have either run out grounders and pop ups or be run out of town. this team had no leadership from ownership, the front office or from the players themselves. gotta light a fire but if ownership accepts profit and mediocrity as the standard, whatta ya gonna do?
WBW
September 29th, 2011
12:46 pm
Sean, what you waiting for next year the same BS…I worked for braves 7 years and somethings just don’t change. Thats why I’m gone..Braves need reconstruction from top to bottom. You right about one thing Braves don’t have the balls to make right changes. Therefore nothing will change always will be 2nd place. Win or Lose old Fredi will be there till death do us part.
Sean
September 29th, 2011
12:46 pm
I guarantee Chipper would NEVER be traded to the AL. He would trade every home run, every MVP award, every batting title and other career accolade for Braves wins. He’d retire before he got traded. That’s the way he plays the game. He knows more about the Braves than we ever will–he played on the team.
I cannot believe that this blog would call for Chipper’s trade. The guy hit above the league average in batting average this year, and has come up with numerous clutch hits. No, he’s not the player of old, and yes, his salary to production ratio is not good. But I don’t CARE. If ANYONE on this team deserves $15million in 2011 it IS Chipper Jones. Every single person in that clubhouse, including the guys that produce more than Chipper, will tell you that. Just because DOB hasn’t typed it up doesn’t mean the team doesn’t feel that way.
I NEVER wanna hear trade Chipper or force him to retire again. That is a ridiculous claim.
Madame Headhurts
September 29th, 2011
12:47 pm
To all the classless Phillies fans who have come on here to gloat, may Karma pay you your just rewards. I am cooking up a little curse to help her along. BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
bill
September 29th, 2011
12:48 pm
Nashvillewill..agree on 99% of your plan.
!st fire Fredi G..asp
Sean
September 29th, 2011
12:51 pm
Yeah Nashvillewill, let’s just release our entire team and fire our coaching staff. In fact…let’s just not have the Atlanta Braves anymore. Man, they sucked so badly this year.
You make me sick.
O-me
September 29th, 2011
12:54 pm
Sean..you the homer that makes everyone sick..who are u anyway ..just another smart *#@ kiss up to Braves.
Buck Nasty
September 29th, 2011
12:56 pm
Hey Madame Headhurts…lay off the moonshine for a while…the only thing that’s cursed is your stinkin’ Braves….They got smacked around by the best team in baseball…live with it…tomahawk chop this, suckers!!
Cornjolio
September 29th, 2011
12:56 pm
“CHIPPER JONES–THE GREATEST LIVING LEGEND IN BASEBALL TODAY”
Time for someone to call the mental institution to see if one of the inmates has escaped !
Sean
September 29th, 2011
12:57 pm
Being realistic with an optimistic outlook is kissing up? I’m defending the team I love? What? Unheard of, I know. What the heck is a homer anyway? What does that mean? I live near Atlanta yeah…
Cornjolio
September 29th, 2011
12:57 pm
Chipper Jones is the face of the Brasves, and its an ugly, losing face !
He will never be mentioned in the same breath as Dimaggio, Aaron & Mays.
InnocentBystander
September 29th, 2011
12:58 pm
Chipper DESERVES a SALARY RAISE next season from $15 million per season to $30 million per season. CHIPPER HAS DONE MORE THAN HIS SHARE SINCE HE WAS A ROOKIE YEARS AGO. Chipper has been an MVP, a batting champion, multiple all-star starting positions and has ammassed over 450 home runs during his illustrious career. Chipper will soon eclipse 500 home runs and is a shoo-in to be enshrined into Cooperstown. What more do you want from Chipper? He has done it all in his career and will continue to be great until he is finished. The blame for this seasons epic collapse dosesnt fall on the shoulders of Chipper Jones. The reason for the Braves failure to make the playoffs should be placed at the feet of Fredi Gonzales. FIRE THE MANAGER AND YOU HAVE SOLVED THE PROBLEM.
afan
September 29th, 2011
1:00 pm
Sean you sound like Joseph are the other guy named reckingball always playing Dr Phil. Braves can do no wrong. Go back to you gameroom where you always control the out come.
Bill
September 29th, 2011
1:03 pm
Make no change and expect the same.
Fire Fredi and Wren~~~Make the move.
Preston Thompson
September 29th, 2011
1:04 pm
You folks want to keep BM behind the plate just love heartache. So he finds an acorn here and there, but how many dp’s and his defense is pathetic. Ross is hands down a better catcher.
And look at Minor, how many times did he go into the 6th inning with no runs? I don’t see how any young pitch can keep his ethusiasm intact when the team around him is dead. Beachy the same thing. The coaching staff as a whole is lost. They all have lost respect for themselves and their jobs.
Why not just move the Dominican National Team up here and put them in the stadium, each with his own translater.
PreciousStevens
September 29th, 2011
1:04 pm
Looks like the Chipper LOVEFEST has continued into the afternoon. Everyone was down on Chipper when he was hitting about .218 earlier in the year. Like he always has done throughout his entire career, Chipper got hot and almost carried the team to an improbable playoff appearance. Chippers average went over .280 and was very respectable, and he finished close to .277 which is incredible for a 39-year old player. I believe chipper could hit .300 in his sleep and if he was blindfolded at the plate, chipper would still hit close to .300. THAT IS WHY I SAY THAT CHIPPER JONES IS A FIRST-BALLOT HALL OF FAMER and there is absolutely no doubt about that!
chris hill
September 29th, 2011
1:05 pm
Tough way to end such a wonderful season. I am a die hard Braves fan and the problem i see with the braves are they are one of the worst fundamentally sound baseball i have see. They left so many runners in scoring position. How many times coming down the stretch, was a runner on second, no outs second and third, one out and they never moved from that base. Can any of the players bunt a guy over, hit backside to get a runner over or in. That is on the coaching staff for not practicing or calling the play and if the player can’t do it find someone who can. It is so frustrating seeing players hitting 230 or less coming to bat and continuing to swing as hard as they can and leaving runners out there. Come on Coaches have some balls next year and make these guys do the routine baseball plays that you learn in little league.
Cornjolio
September 29th, 2011
1:08 pm
Gumby,
Retiring at age 36, Mickey Mantle hit .298, hit 536 homers, 1509 rbi’s, played in 20 AllStar games, 3 MVP Awards, won the Triple Crown in 1956, had 7 World Series Championship rings, and was selected to the MLB All Century team.
Chipper Jones has had a solid career, but he will never, ever be mentioned in the same breath as Mickey Mantle.
Let the facts speak for themselves.
Lobosolo
September 29th, 2011
1:08 pm
Nothing to see here… You know less about me than you do about baseball, and your grammar isn’t too good, either… Not one of you sobsters can claim to “love” this team when y’all talk about them the way you do… What an a-wipe… Give it up, man… you don’t know your behind from third base…
Mr. Met
September 29th, 2011
1:08 pm
I must say I loved watching the Braves lose last night like a bunch of suckers in front of all 5 of the Brave fans that exist. WOOOOOO! Braves Suck!!!
Lets Go Mets!!!
ccrider
September 29th, 2011
1:09 pm
this blog gets funnier all the time. am i the only sober one here? you clowns keep forgetting that IT’S JUST A FREAKIN’ KIDS’ GAME PLAYED BY OVERPAID PRIMADONNAS WHO DON’T CARE IF YOU LIKE THEM OR NOT AS LONG AS THEY GET PAID!!! YOU MIGHT NOT LIKE IT, BUT IT IS WHAT IT IS.
Braint
September 29th, 2011
1:12 pm
Love how people want to package JJ or Hanson for a Kemp like player. Hello? JJ and Hanson have the “injured often” label. Who is going to give up A+ talent for pitchers who can’t make it through a season?
Sean
September 29th, 2011
1:13 pm
Yeah, Dr. Phil over here.
The Braves have done plenty wrong, Fredi has been disappointing, but not for the most part. This team won 89 games and was STILL in the race even after a terrible September. I’m glad for that. However, they underachieved. Heyward hit terribly, Uggla’s average tanked of course, Prado underachieved. We had no lead-off hitter for the first part of the season. We then had a September for the ages…a wildcard blow up that will be talked about on ESPN for awhile.
And yet winning 89 games in a manager’s first season, with the injuries, the young guys, the inconsistencies. Wow.
Mickey Mantle
September 29th, 2011
1:19 pm
All you complainers go to this site, http://www.atlantamsbl.com and join a team for next year. Then you can show us all your great your baseball skills. Don’t worry it is grouped by age up to 55+. Weekdays or weekends. Then you won’t have to remember how great you were, you’ll see how hard it is.
PaulCrieder
September 29th, 2011
1:21 pm
Its amazing how back in 1995 when the Braves won the world series, people were saying how great Chpper Jones was, since he had just helped the Braves team win their first and only world title. Now 16 years later after chipper completed the biggest choke job in baseball history, folks are calling for chippers release and retirement and attempting to have chipper run out of town on a rail. LISTEN PEOPLE, CALM DOWN. CHIPPER IS A FIRST BALL HALL OF FAMER AND WILL DEFINITELY BE ENSRINED IN COOPERSTOWN AFTER HIS YEARS OF ELIGIBILITY AFTER HIS PLAYING DAYS ARE OVER. My suggestion is go down and visit cooperstown after Chipper gets enshrined and vent your frustrations in the halls of fame, where you are certain to find chipper jones’ memorabillia and all of his great accomplishments following his CERTAIN ENSHRINEMENT.
Braves Dave
September 29th, 2011
1:31 pm
I am a HUGE Braves fan and have been for over 40 years now. I went to my first game in 1967 as a child. I’ve suffered through many years and been THRILLED to see the success of the 90’s and early 2000’s. I am not however a Fredi Gonzalez fan. He seems to be complacent, emotionally withdrawn and not at all upset over what was a MONUMENTAL and HISTORICAL collapse. This could easily carry-over to next season and beyond in my opinion. Give Ned Yost a phone call, pronto. Fredi is a 3B coach and nothing more. Go BRAVES in 2012!
Jim
September 29th, 2011
1:34 pm
Very sad ending–very disappointed in the veterans and the manager. That being said, this team is going to be very good for years to come. Kawakame and McClouth off the payroll this year—Chipper (hopefully) and lowe (for sure ) next year. They are loaded with quality young pitchers 26 and under—Hanson, JJ, Kimbrel, Venters, Madlen, Beachy, Minor, Delgado, Teharan, and Viscaiano. Need an outfielder and a shortstop, which you would think they could get based on above assets.
Cornjolio
September 29th, 2011
1:35 pm
PaulCrieder,
Chipper was not a significant factor in the 1995 season.
Where is this revisionist history coming from?
shan
September 29th, 2011
1:36 pm
the season was great…the loss painful. I will say this…I love Kimbrell…he is the best closer I have ever seen…he gave it his all, but didnt get the calls in the end…what I can say is that the team did not seem to be inspired…that comes top down! I feel so strongely that Gonzales doesnt have it in him to inspire…havent seen it all season! Think of all the times this season he should have challenged bad calls…but NOTHING! We were still winning at that point and we ALL overlooked it! But I wonder if he has it in him to inspire when he doesnt seem to be!
Sean
September 29th, 2011
1:41 pm
Chipper’s coming back next year, Jim. Alex Gonzalez is an incredible defensive shortstop, let’s keep him too.
And Cornjolio, he WAS a significant factor in 1995. Played in 140 games and hit 23 HRs and 86 RBIs with a .265. Finished second in the ROY voting. Not the top player that year…but dang close. He WAS a factor. In 1996, just a year later, he hit 30 HRs and had 110 RBI’s with a .309 average, the Braves went to the World Series and lost.
Chipper is a Braves great, and a HOF player.
reckingball
September 29th, 2011
1:41 pm
Just wait until next year, they will do a lot better.
RICH
September 29th, 2011
1:41 pm
ITS AMAZING EVERYBODY HATES WINNERS.THAT WHY EVERYBODY LOVES THE ATLANTA BRAVES.LOSERS AGAIN.HAHAHAHAHAH ……..GO BRAVES TAKE YHE DAMN FALCONS WITH YA
PaulCrieder
September 29th, 2011
1:43 pm
Cornjolio: YOU ARE AN UNGRATEFUL FAN. i beg to differ. Im sure in 1995 the year the Braves won it all, chipper hit 30+ home runs and drove in over 100 rbis, scored over 100 runs and hit over .300. Chipper did that for over 10 years in a row. When was the last time someone did that? I think chipper is the ONLY player in major league history to accomplish that feat. Yet people are headhunting for chipper today and trying to minize his illistrious and glorious career and accomplishments. CHIPPER WILL SOON BE A HALL OF FAMER SO MAYBE AFTER CHIPPER IS INDUCTED INTO THE HOF, YOU CAN LOBBY TO HAVE HIM REMOVED.
John
September 29th, 2011
1:43 pm
Will you retire now Jones. Let a young player come up. You are pitiful..
LuisG
September 29th, 2011
1:44 pm
How about FIRED Gonzalez instead of FREDI Gonzalez?
Sean
September 29th, 2011
1:47 pm
I daresay Chipper’s stats echo someone’s who played a huge role in the Braves season this year…Freddie Freeman. .270 or so, 20HRs or so, 80-some RBI’s.
InnocentBystander
September 29th, 2011
1:48 pm
John: What are you talking about. Chipper shouldnt retire. Chipper’s salary should be DOUBLED from what it was this season. Chipper made $15 mil this year and next year he should make $30 million for what he has done throughout his career. Michael Jordan was paid like that in basketball and Chipper has had MORE OF AN IMPACT ON THE BRAVES IN BASEBALL than the impact Jordan made in basketball.
JAFO
September 29th, 2011
1:49 pm
AMEN afan.
Colobrvslifer
September 29th, 2011
1:50 pm
I’ve been a Braves fan for 55 years, since I was 7, through good times and bad, and I’ve seen the umps make a lot of bad calls. It seems that no one is acknowledging that last nights call at 3rd on Bourn’s attempted steal was a truly awful thing. If he had been called safe (which the replays show he clearly was), then the score would have been Brave 4, Phillies 1 after Uggla’s homer. That means the score at the end of the Phils last regular at bat would have been Braves 4, Phillies 3, and there would have been no extra innings and no Linebrink. We would be playing in St Louis today. It just seems like a lousy way to end a whole season as a result of one missed call!
ccrider
September 29th, 2011
1:52 pm
I’VE BEEN A BRAVES’ FAN SINCE ‘57 WHEN THEY BEAT THE HATED YANKS SO I CAN SAY THIS. noone has given attaboys to this phillies’ team. they are good, really, really good. every one of their starters, besides being good at what they do, are real pros. they hustle on every play, they work at their trade. they were good before pence and he fit in, the missing ingredient. they beat the braves at every position and, not counting starting pitchers, are better. i think of roy halliday’s work ethic and compare it to derrick lowe’s… i see hunter pence’s hustle and compare it to gonzales’. i see the fire in the eyes or worley and compare it to beachy. look at the bench comparison; hinske(fat and sassy and done), conrad (never was much) etal. the phils have a bench that could start for most teams. the yanks are good but i’ll be rootin’ for the nl(hate the dh). love the snakes and gibby and the hustle and how maddon has brought his team around but, as a lover of baseball, i’m gonna root for the phils. they play the game the right way AND SCREW THEIR ARROGANT FANS!!!
Philly Phanatic
September 29th, 2011
1:55 pm
Couldn’t have happened to the biggest homey announcer I’ve ever had the displeasure of listening to. I live in N’Ville and MLB channel bocks out Brave games for whatever reason so as glad as I was when comcast picked up Sports South and the fox station that would at times have the Braves and sometimes the Reds, the Braves were on every night. If you listen closely I believe the only two people on the planet who think tha Braves are better than the Phillies are Chipper, who leads by conceit and Homer Simson, absolute worlds worst announcer when it come to following the Braves. I saw his career stats so I often wonder what does he bring to the dance as far as being a semi unbiased announcer with his expetise anaylization as it applies to give the other team a compliment when deserved he has silly little anecdotes as to why such and such went against the Braves vs. the other team is out of your league as is the case of the Phillies. The heck with replacing the manager, he had to overuse the relievers or you wouldn’t have been close. You need for Chipper to go home to Jacksonville and be the redneck he is and get rid of Homer Simpson the oldest Braves groupie on the planet.
Sean
September 29th, 2011
1:56 pm
Yeah, when you have a payroll that far exceeds ours, you can be good. Phillies do. They are a good team. Better players are higher priced, and will the trend is not true every season (WS champs come from all different types of payrolls), the teams that are good every year–Red Sox, Yankees, Phillies, to name a few–have high payrolls. Braves are much lower than the Phillies. We competed with them this year, and I’m proud of that because they’re a good team.
Braves Dave
September 29th, 2011
2:01 pm
CCRider? I DESPISE the Phillies but you’re right, they are a helluva’ good baseball team. Great pitching, timely hitting and they EXCEL AT THE FUNDAMENTALS. Thank goodness they’re graying around the edges. I couldn’t stand 5 more years of them dominating. GO BRAVES!
JAFO
September 29th, 2011
2:01 pm
The Phils are 15-3 vs the Braves the last two Sept. That is not competing. That’s domination. We can’t worry about them, we have to fix THIS house first.
Phillyfan4ever
September 29th, 2011
2:02 pm
@ Dammed Philly Yankee : Charlie would not have pitched to Hunter Pence. Gonzales made that dick-hesd decision
Bob
September 29th, 2011
2:02 pm
Fredi G. will be a great MLB manager someday but for now he needs to learn this from the 2011 season: There’s little point in keeping your powder dry when the ship is sinking in a storm.
is this joke?
September 29th, 2011
2:04 pm
http://twitter.com/#!/ajcbraves
Seriously!? Fredi says he will bring back the entire coaching staff! NO! This is unacceptable! Someone has to have accountability for this nightmarish season and it begins with the manager! Parrish for sure has to go! He should have been gone by the all star break at the latest!
SW
September 29th, 2011
2:05 pm
I’m going to miss these articles for the next 6 months. Thanks, DOB looking forward to ST 2012.
JAFO
September 29th, 2011
2:07 pm
Linebrink should have been LAST on the list right before ross as a pitching option. He should not have even been on the roster. Abject stupidity on the part of fg.
Hy Ronatt
September 29th, 2011
2:10 pm
“we’ll just go back out there and try again tomorrow”.
ccrider
September 29th, 2011
2:10 pm
SEAN, QUIT THE EXCUSES!!! WHAT ABOUT ABOUT THE TAMPA AND ARIZONA PAYROLLS? LESS THAN ATLANTA’S. WHAT YOU SPEND ON WHAT TYPE OF PLAYER MATTERS. UGGLA, NOT ENOUGH VALUE, CRAWFORD, NOT ENOUGH VALUE. HUNTER PENCE – WOW!!! MAYBE WREN AND HIS “BRAINTRUST” NEEDS TO GO. GET SOME PLAYERS WHO WANT TO WIN AND I’M NOT REAL SURE BOURN’S ON OF THEM.
Isn't It Obvious?
September 29th, 2011
2:11 pm
Freddi must go. That’s all I’m going to say.
Strikeoutlookin
September 29th, 2011
2:11 pm
I swear some of you losers pray for us to lose just so you can get on here and type I told you so…. Your idiots.. Did you really expect to make the playoffs with a rotation that had 4 rookies in it?!? Hanson and JJ have not pitched in 2 months and have not pitched effectively in 3! We made it to the last game AND battled our asses off with a rookie 1b, a rookie closer, a RF who played like a lost rookie, and 4 kids under 22 pitching MAJOR innings as starters with zero experience at the major league level, and MINIMAL experience at the minor league level’ barely ANY of that above AA.. If your going to be a fair weather fan, go bitch somewhere else.. I love this team, I’m proud of this team, and this TEAM is going to bounce back and be unreal the next few years.. So please get it out now, because I don’t want to hear you ignorant FANS cheering next year…
Strikeoutlookin
September 29th, 2011
2:12 pm
People complaining are probably the same people who live in Atlanta and watched the game on tv….losers.
Big Wally
September 29th, 2011
2:12 pm
We will have the same ineptitude next year. Fredi-cat will keep mismanaging the team, blow out the bullpen by August, keep throwing Blowe out there every 5th day. Chipper, McCant, Uggla, and K-ward will keep trying to pull low outside pitches, that results in weak groundballs (double plays) and Wren will get us more useless, washed up talent from Pittsburgh.
Chipper Jones
September 29th, 2011
2:13 pm
Here in Braves’ Country I’m a living legend. From the little leaguers that yell my name to the babes sunning in the bleachers flashing their **** to the grandmothers that name their cats after me.
Yeah, retiring will be hard but I’ll be back in 2012, 2013 and however long I want to continue my hall of fame career as long as I have delusional fans like Gumby and PaulCrieder coming to my defense and singing my praises.
Win or lose, just keep those ridiculous, big paychecks coming. The cattle on my ranch gotta eat.
SUCKERS !
ccrider
September 29th, 2011
2:15 pm
Yeah, lets let Bourn get away, and re-sign McLouth for CF.
Big Wally
September 29th, 2011
2:17 pm
This is blog for those of you who are uninformed. There is where people come to vent. If you are content with ineptitude and incompetence, then great for you. The rest of us have a problem being part of history of a team that choked away one of the biggest leads in the history of baseball.
ccrider
September 29th, 2011
2:23 pm
BIG WALLY; WHO REALLY CARES WHAT YOU THINK? it’s just a game.
Felix
September 29th, 2011
2:24 pm
Hey Dave: This was a monumental breakdown. So I don’t want to read comments from this bunch of losers.
Big Wally
September 29th, 2011
2:29 pm
Great response sleazyrider, now go back to your room and let the grown up’s talk now.
ccrider
September 29th, 2011
2:30 pm
felix log off and don’t read them PROBLEM SOLVED
Maria
September 29th, 2011
2:31 pm
A guy just posted on the Braves site on Facebook that all of the coaches are returning next season. What the hell is the front office thinking? This was the worst hitting team in the major leagues and Larry Parrish gets to keep his job? Are you serious? Why should Braves fans even support this team anymore when the management does not care to make changes?
ccrider
September 29th, 2011
2:37 pm
WALLY haven’t heard anything interesting from you – oops somebody else’s is using ccrider – did not post
September 29th, 2011
2:15 pm
Yeah, lets let Bourn get away, and re-sign McLouth for CF.
is that the way this blog works? use someone else’s handle? that was not my post. could it be you BIG WALLY?
JJ
September 29th, 2011
2:40 pm
Boy this blog is hot.I would like to thank The Braves for a exciting summer and make a few suggestions.The first thing I hope Freddi become The Manager next year and stop trying to be Bobby Cox.I hope Chipper take a buy-out,but if he don’t I hope he shut his mouth and let Freddi manage his Team.I also hope Jason get with a hitting coach during the off season and try something different if he wants to be a PLAYER.I hope Prado is treated better than Escabor and not traded because he wasn’t the Star he was last year.As for our young pitchers,I hope they take some long vacations and remember the joy they had playing baseball this year.I hope Mac gets in better shape,again I hope we buy Chipper out because if he has BONE on BONE knee problems he is through.I know,I have been through it and have an artificial knee.I like this TEAM and as for D-Lowe,I hope he retires or spend the summer in AA like KK did this year.Freddi,this is your TEAM and with the talent that you have and with the MONY that could be avalable if Chip and Lowe do the right thing you could be dangerous next year.Take charge Freddi.You have honored Bobby,but it is time to move on.GO BRAVES
Frank Shab PA
September 29th, 2011
2:40 pm
Braves Nation , face it, the Braves are not clutch hitters as currently composed.They put togther nice numbers till it’s crunch time and they can’t execute.
Look at Melky Cabrera, last year he stunk up the place here. This year with KC 21 homers, batting over .300 with 22 stolen bases. Why? because in KC no pressure. Same thing here with the Braves.
This is from a Braves fan over 52 years (Milwaukee then) living in the middle of Philly Land Scranton/Wilkes-Barre PA
Philly Phanatic
September 29th, 2011
2:40 pm
I’ve read a couple of Cardinals will kill the Phillies. Right now it’s far and away the highest odds for an underdog. It’s basically 2.5-1 for all who want to bet with your heart and not your head. Bet a dime on Cards and pick up $2,500, I dare you. Afterall, these jerks destroyed our playoff chances. Wait a minute there is another scenario nobody thought of. It just may have been you who blew your playoff shot. What a novel thought.
ccrider
September 29th, 2011
2:41 pm
it was, wasn’t it? gotcha.
Big Wally
September 29th, 2011
2:42 pm
It’s not me. You must have an evil twin.
ccrider
September 29th, 2011
2:43 pm
ah wally, you’re so transparent
ccrider
September 29th, 2011
2:44 pm
why can’t we be friends?
Big Wally
September 29th, 2011
2:44 pm
Maybe you have split personalities.
ccrider
September 29th, 2011
2:45 pm
this has stopped being fun – see ya
Ron The Baptist
September 29th, 2011
2:46 pm
THEY CHOKED!!!!Plain and simple.Fire Parrish, Package Prado, Heyward, and Jurjens and get a legitimate Left and right Fielders and get somebody who can hit behind Bourne and work as a compliment, not a deterent. This TEAM needs a shakeup, starting with some of these so called COACHES
GoBraves!
September 29th, 2011
2:47 pm
It’s tough to swallow but it wasn’t meant to be. I respect Phillies for playing like that game meant something to them instead of letting the Braves in. They fought but wasn’t enough.
Looking on the bright side, Chipper had another stellar season even though he’s slowly regressing and couldn’t be healthy all season long. It’s amazing the guy never had OPS below .800 in 17 years. He’s more than welcome to come back another year to go for it again. O’Flaherty, Venters, and Kimbrel all had a sensational season. Even if they were out of gas at the end, they were the best bullpen trio in the Majors. Freeman had a great rookie campaign. He’d easily win ROY if it wasn’t for Kimbrel. He could improve even more next year. Uggla had a rough start but he was able to turn it around. He could start strong next year and go for 40+ hrs. Finally, rookie pitchers all chipped in. They’re still too young but it could only help them in the future.
The future’s bright. If they can find a decent 3B to back up Chipper when he’s not feeling well and find a big outfield bat, they should be set to play deep in October. Of course, health will always be the key. Go Braves!
The teacher
September 29th, 2011
2:52 pm
Why didn’t anyone ask Heyward about the ball he lost in the lights? It would seem to me if we are going to make a defensive replacement in RF – for Diaz, that we would have put in the faster and better outfielder Constanza.
PaulCrieder
September 29th, 2011
3:01 pm
The Braves GM made a lot of mistakes during last years off-season. He should have never gotten rid of Milky Cabrerra, Mark Texiera, Jermaine Dye, Kevin Millwood, Gary Sheffield, Yunel Escobar, etc. the list goes on and on. You could start an all-star team with the guys that were tossed out. THE ONE GUY WHO HAS AVOIDED CRITICISM HAS BEEN JAYSON HEYWARD. What happened to him this year, after having virtually a rookie-of-the-year season last year. OK there is enough blame to go around.
Jose Constanza
September 29th, 2011
3:02 pm
When I play I hit and we win. When I sit on bench we lose.
I just don’t understand. Me & Michael Bourn were scaring the pitchers when we played together. I get benched so a .220 hitter can play and strike out and fu*k up in the outfield.
Choices
September 29th, 2011
3:10 pm
Chipper should have said IM DONE. I cant stay healthy and my knees are shot. I will be on the bench more then playing but instead he says ITS ABOUT THE MONEY AND I CAN KEEP THE BRAVES DOWN 1 MORE YEAR.
Dan Ugla should have said, I signed for 4 more years, WHAT WAS I THINKING!
Michael Bourn had the right to say I DID MY JOB BUT NOBODY ELSE DID. WHERES THE TEAM HERE.
jim
September 29th, 2011
3:16 pm
The Jim with the uppercase J is not me and has a different assessment of what needs to be done.
I think that an honest assessment says that we lost the last 5 games because the other teams were better! The core of this team — Chipper, Uggla, Mac, and Prado — may have individual qualities, but form a flawed nucleus. Prado and Uggla are free swingers who give away too many ABs. Chipper’s bat has slowed a bit with age and he has become a guess hitter who is very vulnerable to off-speed pitches. He is a nice complimentary player, but is no longer the “straw that stirs the drink” and his presence and contract prevent the team from moving on. Mac has tailed off considerably in the 2nd half of the season for the 2nd year in a row, is not a strong defender, might have vision problems, and is fast approaching the age when catchers start to decline. All but 3 of the runs in the last 5 games were the result of HRs (all but one solo). Game-after-game the opposing pitcher, be he Cliff Lee or Ross Detweiler, went quickly through the lineup with the minimum number of pitches. We rarely go to the bullpen until the 7th or 8th innning and we were facing their setup guy and closer. I feel that believing this team is a legitimate title contender with a patch here or there is a mistake. I am far from ready to declare Heyward a complete bust and either get rid of him or relegate him to a bench role, therefore if the core 4 are left in tack, the only spot that is available to upgrade is SS. Our 2 best position-player prospects play this position. I would love to see the Braves build for 2013 around a new core of Freeman, Heyward, Bourn, the kid pitchers, and the big 3 in the pen. Fredi is not a great manager, but if I were Wren, I would make a clean break with the recent past, bring in a new staff, and try to move Prado, Uggla, and Mac for younger, more disciplined hitters to add to the younger core and create a new team identity.
Braves done, yes they are
September 29th, 2011
3:22 pm
Jason Heyward will end up being a super player but it wont be with the braves. Why you might ask? The guy is a 5 tool player on a team who has want a be managers and coaches. Do you ever wonder why no matter who the player is, they come to Atlanta and forget how to play, but once they leave they find it again. It happens over and over. The braves dont have the right people in place to manage a rookie who is in a slump and so he gets advise from everyone and starts to put everyones advise to play. Hes thinking to much now.
Heyward goes to the plate. In his mind he says …..stand this way, hold the bat back, lower your grip, slide your hands, tap your foot three times, lift the bat, and they that time he has missed the ball.
Instead of having real managers and proven coaches, they take friends of friends who they think can do the job and then theres Pendleton who stayed because Gonzalez likes him and hes a total clone maker. He has hurt more players then hes helped.
Yes a team will take Heyward then watch out. You Heyward bashers will be eating your words when the kid takes pitcher after pitcher deep over and over. All he needs is a real coach. A REAL COACH AND MANAGER.
jim
September 29th, 2011
3:25 pm
Sorry foir the spelling above. in tack = intact
Naboo the Enigma
September 29th, 2011
3:25 pm
ccrider, you have been blabbing on here all day long. Go change your diaper already grandpa
Dealmaker 9610
September 29th, 2011
3:25 pm
A sad way to end the season:
1. Everyone has injuries……………..that’s no excuse.
2. Using your bullpen for 75 – 80 games a year is a recipe for disaster……as it proved to be. That only happens because you can’t score runs.
3. Jason is not ready…he needs a year in AAA to get the hitch out of his swing and to recover completely.
4. Chipper, it’s time to go. You made a great effort but Prado is being hurt by the instability.
5. Bye, bye Lowe……take the hit and swallow hard.
6. Give B-Mac 2 days a week off; Ross is excellent. If B-Mac doesn’t get more rest, his career is over in 3 – 4 years and his hitting will continue to deteriorate.
7.Michael and Jose and Martin #1,2, and 3 will set the stage for “small ball” and more scoring.
8. Trade some of the young pitchers for another bat…..a veteran outfielder until Jason is ready.
.
Naboo the Enigma
September 29th, 2011
3:36 pm
Oops, missed his final post where he said his diaper was finally full to the brim. So long CC, don’t forget the baby powder down there…
jim
September 29th, 2011
3:38 pm
Dealmaker,
Just which young pitchers would you trade? JJ and Hanson are injured and not worth very much right now. That leaves leaves Beachy, Minor, Delgado, Teheran, Medlen, and Vizcaino. With Lowe soon to be gone, and Hudson not getting younger, those 6 could be the fixtures in your rotation or bullpen in the near future. The two guys you may want to trade are not worth very much right now, and as this year proved, you never have too much pitching.
jim
September 29th, 2011
3:41 pm
A veteran bat until Jason is ready sounds like a Ludwick/Willingham type of player. Not the kind of guy you give up any of those pitchers for.
old head bravo fan
September 29th, 2011
3:43 pm
when the going gets tough the tough get going..and the Braves quit…no heart.
sax1196
September 29th, 2011
3:46 pm
Well we still got our young pitchers, and the guy we would not pull the string on Hunter Pence drops the hit to send us on vacation. Every year save pitching and every year we cannot get a key hit.
bitter in beantown
September 29th, 2011
3:48 pm
misery loves company,WELCOME TO MY WORLD
jim
September 29th, 2011
3:48 pm
Now that we have seen Freeman and all the young pitchers, there is not a whole hell of a lot left down in the system that any one in the rest of baseball is very excited about. We have gone cheap in the last few drafts (the Pirates spent more on their 2nd round pick than we did on the whole draft), and we need to restock fast if we are going to fill in around the talent promoted in the last 2 years. This year please draft and sign the best guy available, not the best guy that will sign for slot.
old head bravo fan
September 29th, 2011
3:50 pm
A O A A O A oh it’s over ,gee I miss it already
O-No-Lowe!
September 29th, 2011
3:55 pm
If Wren doesn’t trade Lowe or release him then the bird brain(Wren)should be run out on a rail!Next make Chopper Jones Retire(chopper justs chops away at pitches or lets the good ones pass!).Let A-GONE and McOut walk..and if Fredi doesn’t fire Larry then Fredi should be FIRED TOO!
old head bravo fan
September 29th, 2011
3:56 pm
Why me? I go to church.
mutts fan
September 29th, 2011
3:59 pm
whos a mutt now,no you guys are mongrels ,mutts will fight.
Bright Spot
September 29th, 2011
4:01 pm
Freddie Freeman is a Bright Spot on the Brave’s…..lets see another bright spot is pitching!……another Bright Spot……Freddie Freeman……oh I already mentioned him!It seems that the only one on the Brave’s that gives a Damn is Freddie(not Fredi!)…….the future looks bright for Freddie…..a kid with Heart and Class!………….Freddie Freeman is the player we all thought Jason Heyward would be!
Jim Mora Sr.
September 29th, 2011
4:02 pm
Playoffs……………….Playoffs……..we just got to win 1 damn game first!
mutts fan
September 29th, 2011
4:04 pm
Did you call us mutts…oh no you didn’t…who’s sorry now…CHIPPER a.k.a. CHOKER and the curs,the not so Braves have no heart..we may be mutts,but we know it.You eletist F..KS in Atlanta deserve it.
Not Feeling Bad in the Atl
September 29th, 2011
4:07 pm
I am not feeling bad in the Atl…….not as bad as those Schmucks in Boston!At least the Brave’s have an Excuse with a payroll half that of the Beantown Blowers!……………Lol
Charlie Manuel
September 29th, 2011
4:08 pm
Big Mouth Chipper: The Phillies just swept your butts. My team did that without fully using our starters; and on Wed., I used a bunch of second and third stringers on the mound. That was the second time we swept you losers this month.
You said you wanted the Phillies—well you got them.
Did you get the message yet?
George
September 29th, 2011
4:09 pm
I am a citizen of Philadelphia and have been a fan of our squad for many years. The Braves were the one team that scared Phillies fans all year. Trust me. I listen to Philadelphia sports talk everyday. The hosts of the shows were concerned and so were the callers. That being said, don’t be down on your team. I and the thinking fans of Philadelphia know that it’s injury that did your team in. You lose 2 of your top starters, McCann wasn’t the same after his injury and Chipper is really playing on one leg. We know up here. We have seen it happen here, too. Real fans in Philadelphia know the Braves and if they had stayed healthy, you would have been there at the end. I figure if your front office tweaks the team just a bit in the off season and your top players are healthy, it will be a dogfight next season. After all, there are only 2 teams in this division right now. So take heart, Atlanta, it’s a bitter pill but we had to watch your reign for 13 years. We’ve only had 5. You’ll be back and it will be fun from a Phillies Fan perspective to watch the match up next year. By the way, your bullpen is set for the next 5 or 6 years barring injury. Despite that Venters and Kimbrel struggled down the stretch. They’re rookies! They were great for most of the season. It just caught up to your team.
PaulCrieder
September 29th, 2011
4:11 pm
BRIAN MCCAN SUCKED LAST NIGHT! I COULDNT BELIEVE HOW MANY TIMES HE CAME UP TO BAT AND KEPT TAKING STRIKES. MY ADVICE TO HIM DURING THE OFFSEASON IS “FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, PLEASE LEARN WHERE THE STRIKE ZONE IS” SO THAT YOU CAN AT LEAST SWING YOUR BAT DURING A STRIKE AND STOP TAKING STRIKES AND GETTING CALLED OUT. REMEMBER BRIAN, YOU CANT GET A HIT IF YOU DONT SWING THE DAMN BAT. THANK YOU.
ccrider
September 29th, 2011
4:11 pm
naboo the enigma??? hi wally – you’re a clown
George
September 29th, 2011
4:15 pm
I just want to add one more thing. I’m reading the comments to this sight and I am astonished. I thought Phillies fans could tough! Your fans are obviously frustrated;I get it. But I really believe injuries were the problem. The Phillies had lots of injuries, too, but only Oswalt out of the top of the rotation missed significant time. Go easy on them, Atlanta, if Philadelphia had lost Hallidayand Lee or Hamels for a third of the season, where would we be?
GumbyWilkinson
September 29th, 2011
4:15 pm
That was the most HEARTLESS, GUTLESS season by a Braves team in recent years. that played cold-hearted, gutless baseball and the hitters were up there taking strikes when all we had to do was punch a few more runs across to give us some insurance runs. At least on Monday when Prado came up in the ninth inning, Prado BELTED THE BASEBALL IN THE UPERR DECK, looking like “Popeye”. I’m sure he had eaten plenty of spinach in order to do that. Unfortunately it was much too little, too late to save the Braves season.
Hay-Boy
September 29th, 2011
4:18 pm
This season Jason Heyward looked like the chinese butler on Have Gun Will Travel named Hay-Boy….maybe the Brave’s need to Hire Palladin(Richard Boone) so he can whip Hey-Boy into shape!That’s Right Boone is dead and so is the Brave’s hitting!
ArJBraves
September 29th, 2011
4:21 pm
@George
Thanks for the kind words. It does help take some of the sting out. And hopefully things will go better for the Braves next year and there will be more exciting baseball between the Phils and Braves.
Some of these negative comments are excessive but true. Fredi is simply not a good manager, and Larry really doesn’t seem to have any idea what he’s doing. He had a very poor/mediocre career just like Terry. The offense has been bad under both of them. The team needs proper managing/coaching. They’re not getting that. Derek Lowe really needs to go. Eat the salary. At least you’ll be paying $15 million to have less of a chance to lose. That’s much better.
Alex Gonzalez isn’t a great offensive player, but he has great defense. They will most likely re-sign him to be a bridge for Pastornicky. Hopefully Pastornicky will be ready early or at least by mid-season. Really excited to see what he can do.
And I don’t even want to think about Linebrink.
Oleo in South Ga.
September 29th, 2011
4:21 pm
I have said this at the end of every season for the last 6 years. ” We need a !$#^%&(!!! outfield.” I said, outfield, not outfielder.
Reply:Phillie fan George
September 29th, 2011
4:22 pm
Thanks for the kind comments George……………..NOW SIT BACK AND CRY WHILE THE CARDINALS WHIP YOUR TEAMS ASS!
Najeh Davenpoop
September 29th, 2011
4:22 pm
Does anyone have a link to the news I just was texted about Fredi keeping the staff in tact? THIS JOKE OF A BEAT BLOG AND SUPPOSED BRAVES SECTION IN A TOP TEN MEDIA MARKET OFFERS ME ONLY LAST NIGHTS QUOTES. Drop sports if you don’t care and go fulltime to music and BBQ and other crap that this writer eats for dinner.
Liberty Media
September 29th, 2011
4:23 pm
We are taking a survey. We would like to get the fans opinion of the Atlanta Braves. Please respond as it will help us in our sincere desire to bring the best baseball product to the city of Atlanta.
On a scale of 1 to 10 (10 being superior and 1 being terrible), what is your opinion of the baseball team we fielded for the city of Atlanta?
NickB
September 29th, 2011
4:24 pm
Alrighty, that pretty much sucked…. But with the rather unfortunate nature of our hitting this year (which contributed to the overworking of our pen) it wasn’t hard to believe…sigh
Here are the things that WILL happen this offseason:
Chipper will be back. He was in the top 3 in 3rd base production. I don’t think some of you understand that. This isn’t the roid era where every position has a 40 HR guy.
Fredi and all of the coaches will be back.- Because our Team President is an idiot and doesn’t believe in OBP. (he said this when asked about the Moneyball movie) So even though the team went from near the league lead in OBP in 2010 to near the bottom in 2011, JS won’t feel the need to change our hitting coach….sigh
Heyward will be better- the last 2 weeks he was back to the old Heyward again, hitting .286 with a .830 OPS. It appeared to me he was taking more pitches again and was therefor getting more balls to hit.
Constanza will not be on the 25 man roster next year- Braves carry 12 pitchers, 8 starters so that leaves 5 bench spots , assuming Jack Wilson isn’t brought back, we Have Hinske,Ross,Diaz all under contract (assuming they pick up Hinske’s option) they will either move Prado back to utility role and get a LF’er or they will leave Prado in LF and get a backup SS. They will need a defensive OF replacement, but Constanza’s limited ability to hit makes him a poor choice (and the fact he’s a terrible CF’er) I know many of you believe he was the “spark” but the truth of it is he got on a hot streak and once pitchers stopped throwing him strikes he began to struggle (last 36 games of the year he hit .188 with a .376 OPS) He’s not really a legit big leaguer.
They will offer Bourne an extension and he will decline- Boras guy, he ain’t coming back after next year
Everything else…who knows. I doubt they get any takers on Lowe unfortunately. Even at $5 mill his age and recent sucktitude have made him nye untradeable
BraveinPA
September 29th, 2011
4:25 pm
First of all the Phillies window is closing fast- I live up here with all the “so called fans” for all of them calling out the Braves fans- I recall going to the Vet on Gameday and buying tickets for the Braves-Phillies game- so don’t act like you have always supported the team you have not. Rollins is gone after this year….Hammels is gone after this year…Chase is on the down slope after his injury- Palanco is about finished as well-We want start on Raul- Don’t say Valdez or Mayberry or Brown- stop now- I’m sorry but Doc’s and Lee’s arm is only going to hold only so much longer- Look at Hudson’s number’s before his arm went- IP he topped as many as anyone— they have some wear and tear- it is not desire- the body has a way of letting you know as you age- this is just a fact. Don’t talk about announcers either- the phillies announcers are terrible. Sad thing is if the Sillies don’t win then they would only need win 9 more straight years and they would mirror what the Braves did in the 90’s and early 2000’s. We will see if they stop the cards as hot as they have gotten- I can’t stand the Phillies- I’ll cheer for a Met’s team before the Phillies- the guy on here earlier is the first philly fan I’ve ever seen give another team credit- I’m not taking anything away from them- they are good- but you play the games first- as I’ve said before Braves fans should know this better than anyone- cause on paper we were the team to beat every year! Let’s go CARDS!!!!
Carry On My Heyward Son!
September 29th, 2011
4:26 pm
Right on back to Gwinnett county!
mutts fan
September 29th, 2011
4:26 pm
Yipe…Yipe Yipe…yip,whine.
mutts fan
September 29th, 2011
4:29 pm
Brave in Pa..still breast feeding…you’re a joke.Ooops it ninny time.Nite-nite.
Phillie Payroll
September 29th, 2011
4:32 pm
The Phillies have the best pitching staff money can buy…..what do they pay their big4 per year $75Mil???Only 20 mil more and you can buy the whole Brave’s Roster!
ArJBraves
September 29th, 2011
4:33 pm
I forgot to mention, the negativity towards Heyward is a little too much. We’ve seen what we can do. Frankly, we only saw about half of what he can do in his rookie season. Playing hurt all year with very poor help didn’t do a thing for him.
And let’s not forget Liberty Media. Baseball does not need to allow things like this to happen. Liberty Media’s CEO makes more in a year than the Braves were given for a payroll. It’s disgusting when things like this happen. All they care about is making money off of the Braves, not giving them what they need to properly compete. They don’t care if the team loses as long as they bring in money for them.
Bill M.
September 29th, 2011
4:33 pm
Freddi G. was not the problem. Did he make alot of mistakes, of course he did, what manager don’t. It’s plain and simple, no hitting. This will be a good team when Chipper retires and they can get rid of Lowe, plus new ownership. I do think they need to get rid of coaching staff except McDowell and Perez. There will be changes and look for them to be major.
cowdogit
September 29th, 2011
4:39 pm
Leo Malzzone had fourteen division titles with no pitching break downs. Six years with out Leo the pitchers have broken down every year with no division titles. No season tickets unless Leo is rocking on the bench.
BraveinPA
September 29th, 2011
4:41 pm
@mutts fan- you are the perfect example to why folks call UGA fans rednecks and Hillbillies!! Thank You- been a Brave fan for a long time- now take a sip of your BUD cause we know you ain’t getting no weiser!
FWBSTEVE
September 29th, 2011
4:42 pm
While Chipper’s numbers may have been supporting the team, his continued lack of leadership throughout the years has been an ongoing problem. He looked like a toad sitting on the bench was that perma-scowl on his face. If he plays next year, let it be somewhere else.
BRAVESFAN
September 29th, 2011
4:46 pm
More time to rest and get ready to win it in 2012. Thanks for the great coverage AJC.
Freeman/Kimbrel for rookie of the year.
Go Braves and Puck the Fhillies!
Big Wally
September 29th, 2011
4:48 pm
With so called veteran leadership from Chipper, Lowe and McCant, is there any wonder why the youngsters soiled themselves?
MR
September 29th, 2011
4:52 pm
The future is still bright for this team despite what happened this season. However, with corporate ownership, I don’t expect the Braves to actually win a WS. Heck, if Time Warner wouldn’t pull out all the stops to create a true Braves dynasty with three hall-of-famers in the starting rotation, what can one expect from Liberty Media and a handfull of Frank Wren hyped young starters. Frank Wren is a time tested loser. Liberty Media is a time tested tight wad corporate devil who only owns tht team for tax purposes. Why does anyone still give this organization money? Lookit Time Warner let Glavine, Smoltz, and Maddux, die on the vine with no WS series wins (Ted won one) Liberty Media is not reaching as high as Time Warner did.
billmaier
September 29th, 2011
4:53 pm
how appropriate for scott linebrink to give up the winning run to cost us the season– when is the last time that linestink got anyone out when it meant something– minor was warming up but not brought in–vizciano could have pitched– but why in the world were gearrin and ascenscio not brought up when the rosters were expanded
Sad Bravo
September 29th, 2011
5:00 pm
Wasted a good season. The whole team looked gas out. Fredi G. is an okay MGR, no Bobby C. He makes too many bad decisions.
To improve this team, get rid of Lowe and Alex G. Sign SS- Jose Reyes and put Prado back at 2B. Move Uggla to LF. Sign a good Free Agent SP.
Joe Maddon
September 29th, 2011
5:02 pm
Chipper Jones is not a good leader and the great Braves fans need to recognize it. How many years over the past decade has this team been eliminated AT HOME?! He went 0 for 5 last night with the season on the line, after he ran his mouth about beating the Phillies. On the other hand, my guy LONGORIA was faced with that same situation and went BOOM into the night. Most of you are great fans who demand more from your team and I love that, but if your organization accepts mediocrity, this is what will happen. How does the saying go? Keep doing what you’re doing and you’ll keep getting what you’re getting! Now’s your chance to root for the Rays.
DOE-RAY-ME-FA-SO-LA-TI-GO-ALL-THE-WAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
jim
September 29th, 2011
5:26 pm
The heavy load certainly took a toll on Venters, but also the league began to figure him out. Early in the season he got a lot of swinging strikes on pitches almost in the dirt. Late in the season, the hitters stopped swinging at those pitches.
Dr. Kenneth Noisewater
September 29th, 2011
5:28 pm
Braves new theme song: Wake Me Up When September Ends by Green Day
cowdogit
September 29th, 2011
5:38 pm
When the braves were winning nearly every day with Jose Constanza, Hank Aaron clearly intimidated a spineless Fredi into replacing him with Jason Hayward. Fredi needs to take charge and stop trying to please everyone!!!
Ron
September 29th, 2011
5:47 pm
I’m disappointed too….it is wildly unfair to want to fire Fredi after one season taking over for a legend like Booby Cox,Bobby would’ve gotten ejected tonight most likely for defending his team,but that’s Bobby,Fredi did a great job,nobody was complaining when they were rolling,winning games this summer,no one! Now larry Parrish must go it’s his job to prepare these hitters to hit,not take pitches and swing at crap,he’s not a hitting coach and an unproven major league coach of any sort. Now craig Kimbrel,he’s 23 years old or there abouts,it took Mark Wohlers 5 to 6 years to put it all together and was short lived due to bad mechanics and and a fragile mental make up,Kimbrel’s got it all,right now,he just needs to harness it,this kid is gonna be an awesome world series closer sooner rather than later, Venters same thing,the youth movement will prevail here in Atlanta,Chipper needs to be player/hitting coach,this guy sleeps hitting and could hit and teach it blind folded,what he knows is now more valuable than being on the field at this point,Derek Lowe is an embarrassment,he wins one game in Washington,and the game the other night,we’re going to the NLDS,with no drama,he needs to be released or put in the bullpen let the young guys start,he can’t anymore, The Phillies are as good as advertised but beatable,but you have to hit in the clutch and play absolutely mistake free baseball to beat them….it’s time for this group of Braves to get tired of tipping the cap,put they’re collective foot down and become dedicated to not making excuses and winning, not good enough to just “make the playoffs” but what it used to be when Maddux,Smoltz,Glavine, McGriff and Justice were here, which was World Series or bust, it takes hard work dedication,desire and not taking NO for an answer, getting in the face of under performing players and demand that they play up to the standard that Bobby,Greg, Tom John,Fred and David and countless others paved the way for This group of Braves will win and win alot for years to come,it just needs to be tweaked a little and a mindset change before anybody puts that uniform on because the players represent the Altanta Braves,the city of Atlanta,themselves as men, and by God they represent me as a fan and millions of fans that cheer for them from coast to coast,this isn’t just a team,this isn’t just a game it’s OUR team and OUR game, You dont have to have big money stars to win,you have to have heart,desire and a will to execute it….Our Braves will get past this and next year will rise higher than we all can imagine.
NickB
September 29th, 2011
5:55 pm
They stopped playing Constanza cuz he started to suck really really bad…. Not because of any intimidation you dolt………
FWBSTEVE
September 29th, 2011
6:20 pm
I like the idea of using Chipper as a hitting coach, just get him out of a so called “leadership” position. I’ll never forget a few years back when the Braves won a game in the bottom of the ninth and all the young guys went nuts leading to a statement from Chipper something like “these guys need to act like they have been here before”. He needs to remember that it’s men playing a boy’s game – sometimes you need to act like a boy. He could really benefit from reading a book called “The Leadership Challenge”. Oh well, now he has more time to cruise the local Hooters.
HammondXK
September 29th, 2011
7:21 pm
everybody has to go the only one that have to go are the idiots that write that crap we came up short
next year we win it all
Charles
September 29th, 2011
8:44 pm
No excuses. No reason why this lineup shouldn’t score 6 or 7 runs every game. I’m tired of everyone defending Chipper when he goes 0-5 in the biggest game of the year. We pay money to support this team, and we expect them to win. Plain and simple. Very disappointing, and will take a long time to get over this one.
Jordan
September 29th, 2011
9:01 pm
http://isportsweb.com/2011/09/29/braves-blow-wild-card-lead/
Dammed Philly Yankee
September 29th, 2011
9:14 pm
BraveinPA……Good post even though I disagree with you other than Rollins, Utley, Polly and
Raul being on or approaching the down side of their careers. But I think you should keep in mind
that the number of Philly fans (all sports) who give us a bad name, while not in the majority, are more
than just a few. And the ‘iggles’ fans are the worst IMO. Even worse than the A-holes from NY
and N. Jersey. And that says a lot…. I took my son to his first Eagles game a while back and he and I both swore we would never go to another one. Why? Because we had to watch almost the entire game soaked and smelling like brewery because a woman sitting a few seats was a Bengals fan
and had the nerve to wear a Bengals jersey. As for myself, my father took me to my first game at Connie Mack in 1956 to see the Phils play Brooklyn and it was love at first sight. But in addition to being old, I’m old school too. Which means when I was younger I played hard and to win. And I knew (and still do) know the difference between being a poor loser and being a poor sport, which is the problem today. This the last post I’ll be making to here (this newspaper) until next year. That is
unless Penn St. winds up in a ‘Garbage Bowl’ against Georgia or Tech……
Joe Maddon
September 29th, 2011
9:40 pm
Charles,
Well, you have gaping hopes in LF and SS, your RF had a down season (ot don’t give up on him), and you lost two key starters (three if you count Lowe’s decline. Having said that, you guys seem to have a lot of money coming off the books this season and even more in 2012, so I’d say you guys are in great shape for the future. Your manager and hitting coach MUST step it up, though. Fill in LF and SS, deal Jurrjens and maybe Minor for a minor league 3B or corner OF, sign Willingham to s hort deal, and you’re ready to roll in 2012, my man! We’d love to see you pulling for the Rays for the rest of 2011, though.
STOP, TROP and ROLL! THE RAYS ARE ON FIRE!!!!!!
Chillahill
September 29th, 2011
11:00 pm
Fire Sean!
Phillyroni
September 30th, 2011
12:59 am
Phillieyankee,,,, yea I would agree,, plenty of times I have scratched my head at Chollies moves,,, BUT,, Cholly is loveable and he wins. Also Cholly takes responsibility and demands that his players do the same. Cholly never tipped his hat to anybody and will light a fire under his players when necessary. This bunch of bums is and was too girlie to motivate,, they just quit. Last year on this same blog it was Cox’s fault,, well Lanta,, you don’t have Bobby to kick around anymore. maybe if you guys could sell out a game or two management would be able to spend the money necessary to obtain some real players…
Phillyroni
September 30th, 2011
1:00 am
just sayin
We can beat those Cheese Steaks!
September 30th, 2011
2:21 am
“Gant, Justice, Grissom, McGriff ”
The Four Horseman!
Now we got Four Hamburgers!
Joe Maddon
September 30th, 2011
2:55 am
Why do Philly fans continue running their mouths?
Sellouts mean almost nothing, it’s about a competent front office and good managing in the dugout. The Cubs have sold out for years and have nothing to show for it. Same goes for the Eagles. More money doesn’t guarantee anything if you’re throwing at the wrong players. The Braves just have to clear out some bad money over the next couple of years but they’re still in great shape. My Rays have a payroll under $50M (!) and you don’t hear me complaining, do you? We just knocked off a team with a payroll FOUR TIMES larger than ours. How’d that big payroll work out for you last year, Phillies fans? Anyone can be beaten. Get ready to watch Senor Pujols tattooing cutters over that short porch of yours.
RRRRRRWWWWWWWOOOOOOOO! YO!
David MK
September 30th, 2011
3:32 am
My quote is… Braves Choke, Braves Choke… Don Sutton sucks and that is about all that matters.
Go Rays….
COME ON!
September 30th, 2011
11:50 am
I was born and raised rooting for the Braves but I am at my wit’s end. I am tired of what I hear from our team, which is the total opposite of what we now hear coming out of Boston (they won’t put up with failure). I know this town all too well, it’s pure malaise… just be nice… don’t hurt anyone’s feelins… be civil (except for when it comes to their political leanins – then the extreme red state shows its venom and intolerance). I think I am done with this organization. Time to find another team to invest my money and emotions in.
Phils fan
September 30th, 2011
12:49 pm
joe maddon… if the yanks used mo your body would be floating somewhere in clearwater. the yankees “wink, winked” that one to the rays. redsox loose and a minute later a walk-off? that can’t even be done in a video game. hats off to the rays, but put the pipe down.
GumbyWilkinson
September 30th, 2011
1:25 pm
I know that the majority of the BLOGS have been blasting McCann, Heyward and chipper Jones and JUSTIFIABLY SO; ALL 3 STUNK IN THE LAST 3 GAMES. I have had a very reliable CRYSTAL BALL and I can tell you how these 3 giants who are larger-than-life CERTAIN FUTURE HALL OF FAMERS will respond next season and I have written their projected final numbers how I think they will finish at the end of 2012:
Projected Totals for chipper, heyard and mcCann
Brian McCann .325 27HRS 105 RBIS
Jayson Heyward .304 26HRS 97 RBIS
Chipper Jones .330 50HRS 145 RBIS
This is how I think these 3 larger than life studs will fare next year at the plate and will probably have career years.
altonosa
September 30th, 2011
2:25 pm
I can stand losing. What I cannot stand is Fredi G saying he was proud of his team. Really. If you’re proud of the effort of this bunch in September then that is part of the problem. Just once somebody man up and say we were terrible.
Geno
September 30th, 2011
3:07 pm
I hope Kimbrel does win Rookie of the Year. Then he’d feel pretty guilty and crappy having this award and blowing the biggest game of the year.
Geno
September 30th, 2011
3:11 pm
Francona’s out of Boston. I’d rather have him in the Braves clubhouse. He has 2 Championships in 7 years.
FerrociousTiger
September 30th, 2011
4:07 pm
Francona’s out in Boston. By all rights Gonzales should be out in Atlanta. He Fk’d up our playoff chances by pushing all the wrong buttons, putting in relief pitchers who were wild and had control problems and botching up our chances by not making the correct defensive replacements in the later innings for regulars who needed rest when the games got late. FREDI GONZALES IS A JOKE FOR MANAGER. HE SHOULD GET HIS PINK SLIP TODAY. I also saw in the headlines where CHIPPER REITERATES HIS INTENTION TO PLAY IN 2012. Of course, that makes total sense. Why would Chipper not play another season for a paltry $15 million when he can make a kings ransom of $5.00/hr at Kroger bagging groceries. Chipper may be a lot of things, BUT HE IS NO FOOL. Especially in todays economy. IF CHIPPER DOESNT GRAB THE $15 MIL NEXT SEASON, WHAT FOOL IN THEIR RIGHT MIND WOULD TURN THAT DOWN. Chipper isnt even worth 15 pennies per season with the way he is playing right now. But he should take the money if its offered to him and have a go of it one more year. Unfortunately for Chipper, for him to get to 500 home runs next year, he will have to hit 50 home runs. Chipper is certainly capable of doing it, but he must be committed to get in shape in the off-season and earn his paycheck. It might even be a good idea to let someone else play in front of Chipper and let Chipper come off the bench as a backup or for defensive replacements in the latter innings. CHIPPER WILL BE A FIRST-BALLOT HALL OF FAMER AFTER HIS PLAYING DAYS ARE OVER AND AFTER HE HAS EXHAUSTED HIS CAREER.
BostonStrangler
September 30th, 2011
4:15 pm
Geno: you are a genius. I would take either francona or ozzie guillen. Both of them have won championships and each are better than fruitcake Gonzales.
Hightopfadeout
October 4th, 2011
12:35 am
LOL i haven’t laughed this hard in a long time just read all the comments and count how many times everyone shifts the blame back and forth anyway I think despite the whole “September” thing we had a decent enough season compared to past braves seasons not including last one so I think guys are going to get better over the winter can’t wait for the return of o’ventbrel, for prado McCann heyward and uggla to get hot beginning next year and stay hot, tear up the phillies, and win it all next year but hey it all starts in spring training I shouldn’t get ahead of myself also side for all the phillies fans that get on here all the time just don’t leave us alone next year and for all the years to come I don’t get on phillies blogs and make lame ass comments so don’t do it here and btw when you guys wont stay off it shows me how afraid you are of whats gonna happening in braves country so off my soap box but bad taste in my mouth can’t wait till next year counting down the days -”People ask me what I do in the winter when theres no baseball I’ll tell you what I do I stare out the window and wait for spring” we can go nowhere but up from here and hopefully just far enough up to make the phillies remember yeah we can win divisions too
Hightopfadeout
October 4th, 2011
12:47 am
And do it without being useless crappy ass holes