Tell us what you think about the site
Customer Care »
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
AJC Services
Sections
Other Editions
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
1,655 comments Add your comment
Kwajbraves
March 3rd, 2012
3:35 pm
Sigh!!!
JAFO
March 3rd, 2012
3:35 pm
If he tips his cap…
nolie
March 3rd, 2012
3:35 pm
1-0 is not surprising, the pitchers should be ahead of the hitters right now
Juan
March 3rd, 2012
3:36 pm
I Think the Guy in GAMEDAY fall sleep
NashvilleBrave
March 3rd, 2012
3:36 pm
Gotcha, must have missed that while cooking lunch…hate to lose, but it’s Spring Training…no big deal…I hope everybody has a great rest of the weekend! Prayers for all who were affected by the terrible storms yesterday.
kenhotlanta
March 3rd, 2012
3:36 pm
What a pathetic performance, I hope Fredi has the team practicing fundamentals until midnight. And Wren need to replace Walker immediately, he’s in way over his head. We’ll do good to win 40 games.
Brava
March 3rd, 2012
3:38 pm
Agree, nolie. We should trade off all the veterans and just field a AAA team this season. Why bother to let them play out the season when they can’t even score one run?
nolie
March 3rd, 2012
3:39 pm
I’m thinkin’ 54 ken but then I’m a glass half full of kool aid kinda guy
Brava
March 3rd, 2012
3:40 pm
On a serious note, there a were a few pretty good defensive plays from what I could gather by ear. The hitting will come.
kenhotlanta
March 3rd, 2012
3:41 pm
nolie, if we replace Hayward with Constanza, you might be right. Chipper needs to retire or go to the AL for prospects.
The Blogger Formerly Known as Billy
March 3rd, 2012
3:41 pm
Well time to take my summer hibernation from the blog.
Brava
March 3rd, 2012
3:41 pm
The pitching was pretty solid, too, for the most part.
Mixxo
March 3rd, 2012
3:42 pm
I’ll go as high as 60 games, but not one more.
kenhotlanta
March 3rd, 2012
3:43 pm
Mixxo, you are one positive dude to say that.
TDub
March 3rd, 2012
3:44 pm
…and so begins another beautiful season, accompanied by the apocalyptic pessimism only this blog can offer. Let me see if I can sum this up: “ZOMG we can’t hit the season is over fire Fredi fire hitting coaches trade EVERYONE to Yankees for ARod and build around him ZOMG Braves suck!”
kenhotlanta
March 3rd, 2012
3:45 pm
TDub: You got it!
TDub
March 3rd, 2012
3:45 pm
*Please insert sarcasm contacts for reading the previous post
iTiSi
March 3rd, 2012
3:46 pm
THAT lineup only got 2 hits? Wow! You would think that even just by accident they could have gotten at least 3. This season may be worse than last year. That’s hard to even comprehend in a spring training game! Jason Aldean, where are you?
Anders
March 3rd, 2012
3:47 pm
Maybe the Braves need to move their fences in? All the good teams are doing it. {:
Mixxo
March 3rd, 2012
3:47 pm
Mixxo, you are one positive dude to say that.
Must be some extra sugar in this Koolaid I dunno.
Juan
March 3rd, 2012
3:48 pm
iTiSi
March 3rd, 2012
3:46 pm
THAT lineup only got 2 hits?
Sorry Pal..only One (1) HIT
ChopChamps95
March 3rd, 2012
3:48 pm
Piching looked good from some guys today and some looked not so good. Offense was paltry all the way around but its the 1st game of the Spring so I’m not hitting the panic button. If I’m not mistaken, the Braves had just a so-so Spring Bobby’s last year and they made the playoffs, so ST isn’t that big of a deal to me as long as the players get their needed tune ups for the season.
The one question I have and have is why Frank Wren insists on keeping Brandon Hicks on life support with the team? He’s not the first guy to come through the organization to have a good glove but couldn’t hit water if he fell out of a boat and he won’t be the last. Pull the plug on him already.
abeeewright
March 3rd, 2012
3:48 pm
just wait til nest year!
DZ
March 3rd, 2012
3:48 pm
A one hitter.
It’s gonna be a LOOOOOOONG summer.
kenhotlanta
March 3rd, 2012
3:50 pm
T’Hawkin must be at the bars looking for Samantha.
njbraves
March 3rd, 2012
3:52 pm
I see the offense was in mid season form today.
DAP
March 3rd, 2012
3:52 pm
in my heart, i feel like the braves get one more contract for mccann. DOB makes a compelling argument though, that it will bepretty tough. i hope they can work something out that works for everyone, and i think they will.
Juan
March 3rd, 2012
3:52 pm
Only One hit…But also a lot of first Pitch Swim….I don’t think the Detroit Pitching has more than 27 Pitch…DOB correct me if i’m wrong
Mr. Wednesday
March 3rd, 2012
3:52 pm
Not a pretty performance from the Bravos, but I’m still going to give it a few more weeks until deciding that the sky is falling.
Samantha
March 3rd, 2012
3:53 pm
I am not allowed in bars. Not 21
Joe 12-Pack
March 3rd, 2012
3:53 pm
Hits by Chipper, Prado, Bourn, Heyward, McCann, Uggla, Hinske, Diaz and Tyler Pastornicky = 0
Hits by some journeyman minor leaguer = 1
nolie
March 3rd, 2012
3:53 pm
why Frank Wren insists on keeping Brandon Hicks on life support with the team?
for sure not gonna dump any SS til Jumpin’ Jack gets well, and anyway Hicks done tore up the AAA last season…at least for him
Brava
March 3rd, 2012
3:54 pm
Well the Phillies are losing to the Yankees 8-2 in the 9th, so I don’t feel so bad.
kenhotlanta
March 3rd, 2012
3:54 pm
Samantha, where do you work?
Juan
March 3rd, 2012
3:56 pm
All NL East Team are Losing today
Samantha
March 3rd, 2012
3:57 pm
Why is it impotant to you?
Brava
March 3rd, 2012
3:57 pm
And the Phillies are trying to comeback, as usual. 8-4 now.
Mixxo
March 3rd, 2012
3:58 pm
Samantha….when is your birthday?
MFin04
March 3rd, 2012
3:58 pm
1-hitter. Wow. Hitting coaches have been put on notice. Frank Wren has been put on notice.
Way to bounce back from the collapse and put it behind them.
kenhotlanta
March 3rd, 2012
3:58 pm
Uh, because you invited us to ask you questions. I was just trying to be friendly.
Mixxo
March 3rd, 2012
3:59 pm
We’re NOT the Philadelphia Phillies.
David O'Brien
March 3rd, 2012
4:00 pm
Weird to see Leyland’s kid in the game. He was about 10 years old when I covered Leyland’s Marlins….
Pastornicky also making trip to Lakeland tomorrow, originally I said only Prado and Diaz among regulars.
Samantha
March 3rd, 2012
4:01 pm
Fair enough. Lets just say I work in a nite club but have nothing to do with liquor.
Patrick
March 3rd, 2012
4:02 pm
1 hit un f-ing believable, i dont’ care if it’s the 1st spring training game of the year
kenhotlanta
March 3rd, 2012
4:02 pm
Thank you.
Disgusted
March 3rd, 2012
4:03 pm
Get prepared after 2013 when its time for B-Mac to get paid and get paid handsomely.
I would not trade him for peanuts like they did with Texiera, but take back the draft picks. That is how its going to be with this ownership.
B-Mac is worth in the high teens of mil per yr for five yrs. Some high payrolled team with space might even offer him 20 mil for 5 yrs. LM will not allow that.
As for the ST opener, hope they put their hitting shoes on late in the ST, ST games do not count but I like to see them finish the Grapefruit league with positive momentum as the team heads North.
Not a bad outing by Minor today—good job.
Bier Breth
March 3rd, 2012
4:03 pm
Picked up right where we left off: One hit. I know it’s the first spring game and all, but it’s the Tigers’ first game, too. They scored twice and got ten hits. Ugh; please don’t let this be a sign of things to come.
El Bravo
March 3rd, 2012
4:04 pm
Well, not a very entertaining game but at least it was brisk. For all of you out there blowing a gasket already, it is the first game of Spring Training!!! There is no pennant for practice…
Brava
March 3rd, 2012
4:05 pm
I know that all too well, Mixxo.
Anders
March 3rd, 2012
4:06 pm
DAP- I think McCann is gone in time. No way the Braves will pay him what he’s worth compared to Molina and I don’t blame them. As I’ve said on here many times having had Piazza as one of the main cogs of my teams offense it just doesn’t work especially in the later years. Catching is just too demanding. It has to be even tougher in the hot Georgia summers. I have the utmost respect for the guy and I get why you want him to stay but spending that much on a catcher when you have a limited budget just not be the wisest use of funds. Plus there are some teams with more money that can spend that on catching. Even my Mets might be in that market next year if they clear this Madoff hurdle this summmer as has been reported as a possibility.
Samantha
March 3rd, 2012
4:06 pm
Mixxo, Birthday Oct 10 1993.
Mixxo
March 3rd, 2012
4:07 pm
Samantha -
I think we may be compatible.
Juan
March 3rd, 2012
4:08 pm
DOB…Leyland Kid…we get it Old Did you?…
Anders
March 3rd, 2012
4:08 pm
And while it sounds like I was talking out of both sides of my mouth on that last post I wouldn’t view McCann as important to the Mets offense or as big a part of their overall payroll as Piazza was. Doubtful he’d end up there anyway but I figured I’d clarify that anyway.
Mixxo
March 3rd, 2012
4:08 pm
oops Libra……..
Oh well……wild guess anyways.
El Bravo
March 3rd, 2012
4:08 pm
In the words of the immortal Kenny Powers “we are not trying to be the best at exercising!!!”
Soph
March 3rd, 2012
4:10 pm
Spring training bingo. jeffrey, get on it!
Mixxo
March 3rd, 2012
4:10 pm
If we get 125 games out of Mac this year, I’ll be ecstatic.
Any production will be a bonus.
ChopChamps95
March 3rd, 2012
4:13 pm
@nolie
anyway Hicks done tore up the AAA last season…at least for him
That was pretty good but at the same time sad when you look and see he hit .249 with a .443 SLG and realize that was by far his best year above the rookie levels.
ChopChamps95
March 3rd, 2012
4:14 pm
My mistake, meant A ball levels.
Harry Doyle
March 3rd, 2012
4:15 pm
This year would be the time to trade McCann. There’s no way the Braves can or should re-sign him. You use the player on the roster with the biggest trade value and shore up the other holes in the lineup. They have David Ross as the stop gap. And this year’s team will not finish higher than 3rd, at best.
Samantha
March 3rd, 2012
4:15 pm
Sorry Mixxo, It is 1992.
haggard
March 3rd, 2012
4:16 pm
David O’Brien
Thanks for the new–if potentially sobering–blog.
Ray
March 3rd, 2012
4:17 pm
mixo and kenatlanta… Would you like to make it interesting on your prediction? no more than 60 wins.. willing to back that nonsense up?
Brava
March 3rd, 2012
4:17 pm
And, Cody Ross, who we couldn’t afford, hit a solo homer and a grand slam today.
kenhotlanta
March 3rd, 2012
4:20 pm
Ray: We are just funnin’ and making light of the doom and gloomers and Kool-Aid drinkers.
Mixxo
March 3rd, 2012
4:20 pm
Ray -
Nah, the team will back it up just fine.
RE: Cody Ross…..figures. That always happens to us.
VaBravesFan
March 3rd, 2012
4:21 pm
crazy how much 1 spring training game will change the blog haha
Bill M.
March 3rd, 2012
4:25 pm
I think McCann is gone. He;s a great player but Braves could make up at other positions. Why wait, just go ahead and trade him now. It’s no tellings what they could get for him. They will try and sign Born but he will be gone to. We may not even know this team next year. The problem with this organization is ownership and management.
Ray
March 3rd, 2012
4:26 pm
that’s what I thought mixxo,
Samantha
March 3rd, 2012
4:28 pm
Hi VaBravesFan, I do not think these guys are being fair. Give them a chance. Go Braves.
Samantha
March 3rd, 2012
4:29 pm
Should be not being fair
phil
March 3rd, 2012
4:34 pm
Great job, guys.
Way to bounce back!
McCann’s best days are about to be behind him. Let him walk if he insists on being the usual greedy sob most athletes are. We’re heading into some dark days as a franchise, so why make it worse overpaying an overweight, poor defensive catcher?
One hit. Let the excuses and accusations of overreaction begin!!
VaBravesFan
March 3rd, 2012
4:36 pm
Samantha, get used to seeing it lol. most of the time everyone is just being sarcastic and such for fun. Of course we do have a few knuckleheads in the bunch.
phil
March 3rd, 2012
4:37 pm
Joe Mather would’ve had 2 hits….
Coach (2012 Fredi's beisbol fandango)
March 3rd, 2012
4:37 pm
Two more seasons of watching Brian McCann, enjoy it while we can
Ray
March 3rd, 2012
4:38 pm
Samantha, there are some on here that are logical. There are some on here that are definitely the glass is more than half full no matter what. And then there are those where is not only the glass empty but so are their heads. Some on here if the Braves won the World Series in 7 games, they would complain because the Braves didn’t win it in 6.
phil
March 3rd, 2012
4:39 pm
McGriff and Justice will play tomorrow, thus we have hope.
phil
March 3rd, 2012
4:40 pm
I say whine and complain if we don’t win it all in three! Go bravos!
VaBravesFan
March 3rd, 2012
4:41 pm
On the Brian McCann convo, I think having McCann play for us for the next 2 season’s is more valuable than anything we could get in trade. He’s a key player to this team and I doubt we have a chance at winning anything without him.
Grizzled Veteran
March 3rd, 2012
4:41 pm
There are so many smart people on this blog – so much smarter than me! I never realized how much a really insightful person can glean from just the first spring training game. Thanks so much for letting me know all this useful information – you know, things like this game proving that Heyward is finished as a big league hitter. I wouldn’t have realized that. And that Walker should be fired as hitting coach – thanks for telling me. I’ll certainly get right on that bandwagon! And I never would have figured out that this means the Braves will have a terrible season with only 60 wins! Maybe only 40! What acumen! What insight! Wow, great stuff, guys.
phil
March 3rd, 2012
4:43 pm
Good post, Grizzled! And great screen name. Have always loved that description of an old, worn out bum player.
phil
March 3rd, 2012
4:45 pm
Add Mercer to the list of teams in this state that choke when it matters most. Threw their game away last night. Sound familiar? Braves, falcons, hawks, dawgs in multiple sports.
Lord forbid any of our teams that should get it done actually manage to do so.
Brava
March 3rd, 2012
4:47 pm
Must be Chipper in disguise, phil.
Samantha
March 3rd, 2012
4:47 pm
VaBravesFan, personnally I am excited about this team. Win or lose. Go Braves.
Dan
March 3rd, 2012
4:49 pm
DOB….just wondering if your gone be @ the John bell/Warren Haynes show @ theHOB,dark star on 3/31?gonna catch the braves day game and hit the show afterwards..would love to meet you
phil
March 3rd, 2012
4:49 pm
I hate to think of chipper being grizzled, but he is.
But i think he can still produce, obviously, if his knees hold up and he only plays 5 times a week.
Ray
March 3rd, 2012
4:50 pm
Oh and Samantha, there are some that can kill a blog. You will be able to pick them out real easy. Especially the ones you can fit their knowledge of any sport especially baseball in a thimble.
phil
March 3rd, 2012
4:52 pm
Ray has a nice colection of thimbles, btw.
Just kidding….
phil
March 3rd, 2012
4:52 pm
And i can’t spell collection….where’s MY thimble.
The Monger
March 3rd, 2012
4:53 pm
Just to let it sink in…this was our offense that is supposed to get us to the World Series…
Michael Bourn 0-3
Martin Prado 0-3
Chipper Jones 0-1
Brian McCann 0-1
Dan Uggla 0-2
Eric Hinske 0-1
Jason Heyward 0-2
Matt Diaz 0-3
Tyler Pastornicky 0-2
Another year of possibly even worse offense is something I cant comprehend. I just can’t understand how a major league offense can be this inept for this long. I understand this is the first spring training game, but after hearing about all the work they put in these past 2 weeks, and how almost everyone showed up early to jump in the cages, and this is the result we fans get? Last year I did not think an MLB offense could get any worse than the 2011 Atlanta Braves, yet I have a creeping feeling the 2012 Braves offense will somehow be even worse. But hey at least they are having fun, goofing around, laughing all buddy-buddy, and high-fiving a bunch this spring- that’s all that matters to these guys. Yeah right….Get Freddi and Wren out of town ASAP and then blow this offensive “juggernaut” up, then maybe I will buy another Braves ticket…
brian
March 3rd, 2012
4:53 pm
I know this is the first game of preseason but there sure was some deja vu here. 1 hit. Any good hacks, hard hit balls?
Great job by Minor and our pitching staff as well.
The Monger
March 3rd, 2012
4:55 pm
More of the same from last year already….Detroit pitches a ONE HITTER against our starting 8 (with Hinske instead of Freeman). That one hit, by the way was by a non-roster player, so basically the Braves started the spring season going a mind-boggling 0-25 at the plate with their starters and bench players. This was done against Detroit, who other than Verlander, is not known as a great pitching staff. Way to go….I’m predicting our offense will only get shutout 57 times this season…
Silver lining….another year of stagnant offense and missing the playoffs should get Freddi out of town forever…
Samantha
March 3rd, 2012
4:55 pm
My dad taught me at age 6. If you are a true fan you believe in that team no matter what. I love the braves.
phil
March 3rd, 2012
4:56 pm
Monger…
Seeing those numbers chills my blood, first meaningless game or not. Someone should’ve gotten a hit by accident.
Here’s to 3 hits tomorrow!
UKUGA
March 3rd, 2012
4:57 pm
Bye-bye McCann
Take the money. Atlanta will still love you when you return. Even though some will say otherwise when you leave.
phil
March 3rd, 2012
4:58 pm
Dads aren’t always right.
But that is a good philosophy. Many of us manage to keep believing, even in the face of seasonal sports despair. It gets hard after decades of chokes. Believe me.
ncgary
March 3rd, 2012
5:00 pm
its 5 o clock somewhere , this time it just happened to be here
phil
March 3rd, 2012
5:00 pm
Let’s be nice to FG….
I always stand by him, even as we clearly get worse and worse and worse and worse.
Fat Fredi will win manager of the year!
Samantha
March 3rd, 2012
5:02 pm
I have faith in them. Go Braves.