Braves could clinch to start Chipper’s last homestand

Meds on the bump, we’ll win and clinch tonight. Chipper goes yicketty in the 1st with a 3-run HR to tie those records. Breaks them in the 3rd.

Go Braves! Go Chipper!

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O’Brien, are you going to the ballpark, just as a fan, for Chipper’s last home games?

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KC needs starting pitching and has a fine, young third baseman. In the off season, deal Minor and Francisco for Moustakas.

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Mr. Rogers how do you feel about the braves if they lose the play in game?

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Thanks for the list of clinching games Carroll. Was a fun trip done memory lane!

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Great blog Carroll. Looking forward to the special Chipper section on Sunday

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Why on earth would you trade Francisco and Minor for a player who is marginally (if at all) better than Francisco? Teheran and Delgado should be traded before Minor…and if you look at Francisco’s stats MINUS his PH numbers, you have this:
.284 BA, .316 OBP, .534 SLG – 7HR, 23RBI in 116 ABs
Dude deserves a full shot at the 3B job next year. Take away that one inning earlier in the year where he made 3 errors, and he’s only had 2 errors in about 340 innings.

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That is Ms. Rogers Meg Griffin

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A modest assessment of potential pitcher & team match-ups for the Braves in a 1-game playoff on Oct. 5th (Including rotation alignments and September records/stats):

CARDINALS:
ACES – LOHSE is the ace this year, while WAINWRIGHT has the proven track-record, but WAINWRIGHT is having an average year (13-13 with a 4.07 era, including 0-2, 4.88 in Sept.). Both pitched an average game against the Braves earlier this year (though both games were 4 months ago). Both are right handers. LOHSE last started on Sunday. Should the Cardinals need to win game 162 to make the playoffs, he could be used for that game, but if they have clinched by then, he could easily be held for the WC game on the 5th. (However, WAINWRIGHT pitched on Saturday and his last regular turn would come up for game 162, Leaving Lohse for the WC play-in. That would seem to be a more likely scenario.)

HITTERS – It’s a tough lineup (I’d hate to be facing Mr. BELTRAN in the late innings with the game on the line), BUT they are currently easing their way into the post-season. They are 7-3 in their last 10 games, but just 12-10 in September, but have picked on a lot of bottom feeding teams lately. Someone else noted here that the Cards stand to be the only team in the playoffs with a losing road record, a losing record against RHPs, a losing record against teams over .500, and the only team with a losing record to the Braves. (1-5 against the Braves in 2 May series.) Their offensive numbers for the month of September, across the board, sit right in the middle of the 16 team league – except that they rank moderately well with HRs and BBs. They have not faced MEDLEN as a starter this year. He pitched 3 innings against them in relief back in May.

BREWERS:
ACES – YOVANI GALLARDO is their ace, but MARCO ESTRADA had been their best pitcher in September, with a 1.75 ERA in 4 Sept. starts – that is UNTIL his start last night against the Nats when he gave up 8Hs and 6ERs in only 4IP. (The Braves faced him in MIL on 9/11 and he gave up 0R on 4H, 1BB & 6K in 6.2IP.) Both pitchers are Right-Handed. With the Brewers loss last night, they might have to fight until the final game to earn a WC slot. GALLARDO last pitched on Sunday and his rotation spot is currently scheduled for the Brewers’ 162nd game on the 3rd. ESTRADA is pitching right after him in the rotation and would be in line to start the WC game on the 5th (with an extra day of rest).

HITTERS – The Brewers are still fearsome on the road, but they really are a different team away from MIL. Luckily, it seems we’d get to face them in Atlanta. BIG difference. The Brewers are 46-29 in MIL, but only 32-44 on the road. They also have not faced the MED-MAN as a starter this year (he pitched 2 innings in 2 games against them in relief back in April). The Braves are 3-3 against the Brewers, with ATL sweeping at home back in April, and MIL sweeping at home 10 days ago.

DODGERS:
ACES – Lots of danger for the Braves here, as 2 of the Dodgers top starters are Left-Handed, KERSHAW and CAPUANO – and KERSHAW would be dangerous anyway, because he is one of the very best pitchers in all of baseball. KERSHAW, however, is currently dealing with a “hip issue” which has him out of the rotation. His health status is a question mark, but he did turn in a very solid 5 Inning start in a win over the Reds Sunday night (5IP, 5H, 5BB, 5K, 1ER) IF he proves healthy (and his old self) his rotation spot could be used for game 162 or the WC game. The Dodgers though, like the Brewers, would likely have to fight all the way to the final game to get in, making it tough to set their rotation for the 5th.
CAPUANO is less deadly than KERSHAW, but any Lefty is a threat to the Braves in a 1-game playoff. He did have a modest Quality Start against the Braves while taking a no decision back in August, but is also 0-1 with an ERA over 5 in September.

HITTERS – The Dodgers have what should be an impressive lineup, but they are only 8-11 in September and – surprisingly – are last in the league with both a .224 team average and a .615 team OPS. They are also last for the month in Runs, BBs, SLG, OBP, and next to last in HR. (Though, to be fair, the Braves don’t rank a whole lot higher in most of those categories.)
MEDLEN faced only 3 batters in 2/3 INN of relief against the Dodgers back in April, and they haven’t seen him live since. The Braves went 2-1 in LA back in April and 1-2 against them in ATL in August.

PHILLIES:
Luckily, our weekend series against them looks to have taken away any reasonable chance of them pulling out some kind of miracle run. We don’t even want to think about all the hurt they could have put us through in a one game playoff.

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Francisco doesn’t hit LHP around .550 OPS so he can’t really be an everyday player,at least not yet or any time real soon.

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Why on earth would you trade Francisco and Minor for a player [Moustakas] who is marginally (if at all) better than Francisco?

Wow. Talk about scouting a stat line. That’s the only reason I can imagine that you would mention Juan Francisco in the same breath as Mike Moustakas.

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Whoever the Braves play in the wild card game, they got to bite the bullet and come up with the goods. While many will be scrutizing every move made by Fredi, I will focus on player execution. Gotta make the pitches and come up with timely hitting.

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Eovaldi is tough; Medlen is tough. I love pitching duels, and this shapes up as a good one. I’m amped.

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While many will be scrutizing every move made by Fredi

I think Fredo will be OK, unless he gets caught up in the moment and starts throwing pitching matchups out there right and left. You know, that “urgency” thing.

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JJ is untradeable, Hanson is very hard to trade. Nontender JJ and try to trade Hanson for a valuable prospect ( a “Salary Relief” type prospect)

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a valuable prospect or a salary relief prospect (which I think is more likely)

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ncscoots, even looking at the stat line, there is not much of an indication Francisco is likely to have the better career than Moustakas.

Yes, Francisco has a 100 career OPS+ to Moustakas’ 90 career OPS+ but Moustakas is in his age 23 season and Francisco is in his age 25 season, Francisco has 22 career walks and Moustakas had 22 walks in his age 22 season when he played only 89 games.

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Moustakas has also been dreadful since the ASB this year….generally, you look for players to IMPROVE with experience….

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Atlanta Braves ‏@Braves
Tonight’s lineup vs. MIA (7:10, SPSO/680AM/BRN): Johnson 8 Prado 7 Heyward 9 Jones 5 Freeman 3 Uggla 4 McCann 2 Simmons 6 Medlen 1

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KC feels just as strongly about Moose as ATL feels about Minor. Emerging star, next wave and all that. Point is, we have an abundance of starting pitching, but no one (save Martin) who can play 3B next season. Francisco, I’m afraid, is one of those guys with perpetual potential. Maybe he’ll develop late, but right now he’s all hack and jack.

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ninja’d. Shouldn’t have typed anything below….

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Best way for the playoff format to change: the Yankees lose the one-game wild card playoff. I’m rooting for that one.

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Moustakas has also been dreadful since the ASB this year….generally, you look for players to IMPROVE with experience….

A player’s development is often a perfect incline in to their peak. He just turned 24 two weeks ago.

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Last 9 Starts of the Starting 9

_________AVG__OBP__SLG___OPS_wOBA_L9S9+
Reed___ .324 .324 .353 0.676 .328 __103
Prado__ .406 .486 .469 0.955 .426 __188
Heyward .222 .237 .361 0.598 .278 ___78
Chipper .281 .395 .313 0.707 .317 __115
Freeman .273 .297 .576 0.873 .352 __157
Uggla__ .233 .351 .433 0.785 .343 __135
McCann_ .194 .257 .323 0.580 .256 ___73
Simmons .296 .364 .333 0.697 .317 __111
Medlen_ .143 .250 .190 0.440 .200 ___34


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Not saying it’s wrong, but folks are hungry for results so much earlier in players careers. No one cares about peak years and what not. It’s sad, imo. Perhaps because of the success of young players like Mike Trout and Giancarlo Stanton. Although, ya know, that’s 2 players out of hundreds, thousands…..

And there is something wrong with someone who feels Mike friggin Moustakas is at the same level of Juan Francisco.

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I’m not a professional scout like you obviously are, but doing the reading I have, he doesn’t drum up any level of excitement IMO

Well, I’m not a professional scout, just observant. Hey, if what you want to go with in public is “Juan Francisco is at least as good a player as Mike Moustakas”, you’re welcome to do so. Who am I to say you nay?

I didn’t suggest trading Minor, by the way. I was only responding to your assertion that one player was only “marginally better” than the other, as assertion with which I disagree.

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I’d try and keep Hosmer, Moustakas, Myers, Escobar, Perez if I were the Royals. Try and use other assets to acquire starting pitching. And of course, not trading young starters like Jake Odorizzi away.

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Heyward .222 .237
Freeman .273 .297

More noticeable on Heyward, but the differences between their BA and OBP is very very small.

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I was only responding to your assertion that one player was only “marginally better” than the other, as assertion with which I disagree.

Boy, that’s a nice way of saying it….

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I keep forgetting about Gordon. Yes, I’d keep him and Butler too.

Hosmer, Moustakas, Gordon, Escobar, Perez, Myers and Butler. Good lord, that’s a lot of position player talent.

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You guys really ought to try to remember that TennPaul does that L9S9 thing as a goof, and stop thinking that a week’s worth of games has much informative value.

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I’d add Gordon to that list….

It’d be good for them to add Gordon to the list, but if we can’t get Willingham, and we do get a RH CF, I wouldn’t mind Frank getting this guy. Good hitter, Prado-like numbers, except against lefties, where he struggles a bit.

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A RH fastball pitcher is usually the type of guy Braves hit. I would be surprised if Eovaldi has a shutout through 8 tonight.

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Efrim, I think some don’t realize how difficult it is to be a stand-out major leaguer on a consistent basis and how solid even a 93 OPS+ is for a thirdbaseman. Moustakas actually hasn’t been all that bad a player. Sometimes folks just see what they view as bad stats and don’t realize that relative to other players, those stats really aren’t all that bad.

P-Town Brave, I think a lot of what you’re talking about is evaluating incorrectly more than evaluating too soon. In the case of Francoeur, for example, it wasn’t that he was anointed too soon. It’s that folks didn’t realize what kind of player he was and they anointed him based on their flawed ways of evaluating.

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Oh and btw…..Mike Minor isn’t going anywhere…if they wanted to trade him, they more than likely would have done it by now….

Hanson has little value so theyd be selling low based on his numbers on both 2012 and his 2013 contract…

And JJ….WTF are ppl still talking about him for?! I am 100% stone cold lock sure he will be non-tendered the day after the MLB season ends.

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the braves should retire his number friday night!!!

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I don’t think they are trading Minor, or Gilmartin, for that matter. Both of those guys were Wren’s picks – Minor absolutely was given the timeframe of the draft and it being right before DeMacio was brought in. Wren likes his LHP’s……

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then knowing who is trending upwards and who is trending downwards holds some value, does it not?

Nine games is more of a data point than a trend. Some folks here seem to think it’s a motherlode of information, rather than a nugget. That’s all I was saying.

Aguy could scorch for an entire month, have a bad series, and his recent stats could look crappy.

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Ya know what I’m not for this offseason?

Signing Kevin Youkilis to play 3rd base. Just something about the guy…..bugs me.

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The Royals LOVE former Braves players…maybe they’d take Hanson and Fransisco off our hands for Moustakas. That way, we can leave Prado at 2nd and see if someone wants to take Uggly off our hands. Minor isn’t going anywhere unless Wren gets blown away by an offer for him. Spend the money saved on retaining Bourn. If we can’t keep him, put Constanza in CF and go after a LF with some punch.

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Agree with others JJJ is a non-tender candidate. I suspect he is looking a minor league deals as his best option for 2013. But somehow it would not surprise me if in a couple years he re-emerges as a solid #2-3 somewhere. His stuff was too good. If he spends some time getting his body and head healthy, I believe he can still be a very good pitcher for someone.

Hansen is another case. He is regressing and it does not look to me he could be no more than a #3 on a bad team or a #5/long relief on a average team. At this point I have a hard time seeing where anyone would want to trade for him considering the arb salary he will get. Braves should cut losses here as well and non-tender. I could be wrong though. After all there was a taker for Joe Johnson.

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Let’s have some serious payback against EOVALDI tonight.

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Shaun
September 25th, 2012
3:46 pm

Substitute player for stock equity and you could get a guest appearance on sqwak box.

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Why would ANY of you think MIKE MINOR is trade material?

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Either way P-Town, I do not expect them to be on Braves roster much longer. If they are someone should lose his job.

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scoots

KC no problem – just get me the best deal possible, you know I still have some bullets left in the old arm – LOL

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Sneaky Pete – BAS did…

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I’m coming down from DC for Friday’s game. What time does the pre-game ceremony start?

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If the Braves win tonight, they only clinch the booby prize — the real WC magic number to clinch the first WC is still 4 to get the home field advantage. No real cause to celebrate tonight.

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Shaun I agree, I think people evaluated Frenchy for what they wanted him to be not what he actually was. I once stated on these blogs prior to him being traded he was destined for a journeyman career as a late inning defensive replacement and was lampooned.

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scoots

Right and if not I can hit somebody and start a real donnybrook – ROFLMFAO

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http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/blog/jon-heyman/20361551/youkilis-scutaro-ichiro-top-list-of-best-15-moves-of-2012s-trading-season

14. Paul Maholm, Braves

He’s done his usual solid job, going 3-4 with a 4.09 ERA, and Ben Sheets helped too, with some nice starts after coming back from a year away. Reed Johnson, who was part of the Maholm deal (with cash), is batting a characteristic .291. Though the Braves’ best decision was obviously moving Kris Medlen to the rotation and keeping him there.

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I agree with SPACE MONKEY, and another poster on here. Don’t think I would celebrate anything until I WON the “play-in game” TO SEE WHO THE WILDCARD IS! The way it’s set up now that’s all you’re doing. It’s not officially even the “playoffs” until the wildcard rep is determined. Think about it. It’s just one game, and you have no more than any other team if you lose. It’s, as CJ said, “STUPID” !!!!!!! If I were the manager there would be no celebrating until after that one game is won. The Braves didn’t win the division so what would they be celebrating? (They could have, with another manager)

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Honestly, I’m hoping Hanson is traded quickly after the season has concluded. Not sure I can take the continued bashing of the guy.

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I’m in Houston and would like a copy of next Sunday’s AJC with the Chipper Jones insert. Can anyone help me out?

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Not sure I can take the continued bashing of the guy.

Just have to ignore it. It’s mostly unreasoned, anyway, so it’s not as if you’d be missing anything.

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Efrim, if it wasn’t Hanson it would be somebody. It’s what is done around here.

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not sure I can see any more of his degrading the Braves uniform or getting bashed by opposing hitters P-T

yes he is so much worse than dozens of pitchers we have had over the years

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Or stupid people pretending to having knowledge.

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Any chance you can send the Braves to Winnipeg instead of the Thrashers? By Friday? I would really like to see his last home game…in Winnipeg…

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I’ve always wondered, what do you do with that peg after you have won it, Fols?

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Does anyone know that status of Ben Sheets? Is he going to be able to come back for the playoffs or is he done for the year?

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“About as unwarranted as fat girls wearing stretch pants and halter tops”
**************************

I could have a long time without that image in my head. Now I gotta go find the SI page with the body painted models to try to clear it out.

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Here we go again – People actually believe that the Braves will trade all the players they no longer view as viable for all the players other teams don’t want to trade.

Happens every year.

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Pretty sure several folks said of Frenchy, “hey, is this guy ever gonna take a walk or what?” We all knew (didn’t we?) that it couldn’t last. But even the mighty SI was blinded by the light.

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“hey, is this guy ever gonna take a walk or what?” @Rammer

same thing they will say about Francisco is he starts. He will never even be a Frenchy unless he strictly platoons

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scoots stop thinking that a week’s worth of games has much informative value.

what are you talking about? it has plenty of informative value! it tells you what the lineup has done over their last 9 starts.

shaun We should use stats to help us get a picture of what kind of player a guy is

unless youre wondering what his slash line is over his last 9 starts. in that case, you go ask 10paul.

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Hanson’s been bad the last 2 years, and it’s due to injury.

Mostly – and poor mechanics. Or likely due to poor mechanics.

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SNEAKY PETE, yes Tommy Boy has been terrible lately. Considering he has a few more years experience than Minor, it is reasonable to expect him to have a more consistent performance. Minor is still in the figuring it out stage although he should be graduating from that any day now if he does not already have that diploma. When you look at the trajectory, Hanson is heading down and Minor is trending up. Hopefully we have seen the last of the early 2012 version of Minor.

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Wonder if Tampa would take him [Hanson], Delgado, and Salcedo for Shields… probs not

I think Wren will find a taker for Hanson. I’m not sure Shields is gettable, except for a higher price.

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Mostly – and poor mechanics. Or likely due to poor mechanics.

True…. it is likely those deplorable mechanics that lead to the injury. Expected him to have arm troubles soon, but not as quickly as he got them. It’s a darn shame.

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I first came across this blog in 2006 and Shaun was trashing Francoeur then.

Hey, the guy had an OBP under .300 and tried to pull warmup pitches, LOL. You didn’t have to be Branch Rickey (or even Tom Tango) to figure out by then that he might go south.

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i was watching the royals game on MLB network, and francouer was up to bat against Justin Verlander. I think it was the royals feed, because right as i was drinking from a bottle of water, the announcer said “Francouer has always been a good hitter. This year he’s known for his defense…” I almost drowned on my mouthful of h2o.

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Minor is still underrated – expect by Braves’ management.

Minor made adjustments and pitched effectively this season. He doesn’t have much of a track record, granted. We’ll see what Minor does moving forward, but he’s got more upside than Hanson, I believe.

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You can’t trade Tehran or Delegado the up side is to good, they need to pitch in the majors next year. If anyone in July had said Minor would turn out this well we would have called in the men with the white coats. The trade that needs to happen is Hanson and Malhom for Cain of KC and a low level prospect. If Bourne resigns then Cain is your left fielder if not he plays center.

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i hope the braves don’t put a stupid banner up for getting to play in that dumb ‘play in’ game.

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I guess I should explain what I find irksome is this: the implication that some folks, being enamored of RBI and such (thus being ill-informed dinosaur geezers) were simply too stupid to see the sabercentric tell-tales that would have given Francoeur away as a scrub, and that these were seen, in their totality, from the very beginning of the guy’s career by those smart enough to look for them. I find that implication distasteful, certainly disingenuous, and close to a flat damn lie.

Ergo, I am irked.

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Jeff-

Well I would sure hope so….

Minor was a team #1 draft pick and Hanson was drafted out of junior college in what, the 22nd round….

Plus even after his few seasons head start, Hanson has done a whole lot of nothing, sad when you consider his highest win total is this year in unarguably his worst season yet…..

Maybe if he went and played for the Red Sox or Rangers where they score 7 runs a game he wouldnt look so bad….

Of course, could you imagine Tommy Hanson pitching in Arlington Park…..yikes….talk about missiles heading out in Texas…..

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Scoots-

When arent you irked

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Good stuff…

“…if you had illumined us on his liabilities during his rookie year.”

Here we go, ncscoots…
Shaun– May 28th, 2009: N8, the problem with Francoeur started in 2006

Excellent retort.. a post three years after his rookie season.

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Shaun, did you seriously just go back to a blog from 3 years ago to find a post, by you, about Frenchy?

I know it’s an internet cliche, but you really should push back from the computer and go outside for a little while. Get some fresh air.

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and Hanson was drafted out of junior college in what, the 22nd round…P-T

Hanson was a draft and follow which is nowhere near the same as a #22 pick. Braves used that more than many but it is no longer allowed

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Excellent retort.. a post three years after his rookie season.

Ahhh, I don’t even care. I got the irkiness out of my system.

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he was supposedly doing that last season.
I doubt he ever gets rid of that hitch though if I recall Ortiz managed it for a few years, but they were not very productive years.

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Any update on nolie? Second time here, but haven’t had time to read through comments yet.

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Off topic, but am I a bad baseball fan for not wanting Miguel Cabrerra to win triple crown?

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in the first half of last season he was 10-4 with a 2.44 ERA.before his arm acted up

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Efrim-

And he hasn’t been the same since….

So why are all you guys dry humping him when clearly he isn’t the best looking girl at the prom anymore?!

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It has nothing to do with sabercentric or not sabercentric. Francoeur didn’t show anything to indicate he was an outstanding hitter for average, an outstanding hitter for power, @Shaun

yeah right. it had everything to do with sabermetrics as opposed to traditional stats dude

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yes the 6 inning limit has always been his bugaboo

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Sneaky Pete,
KC has a good young group of postion players and a good group of young pitching prospects they need a few arms to bridge the gap and Hanson and Malhom would make perfect sense. They have two other good young outfielders who can play center the trade makes perfect sense. If I am the Braves might even take a flyer on Frenchy for one year at 3 mill.

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KC is not going to pay Malholm 6.5 million dollars to be a mid rotation starter
That is not how they operate

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SNEAKY PETE, I honestly don’t view everything in baseball through the lens of sabermetrics or anti-sabermetrics, as some folks think I do and as some folks seem to do themselves.

Francoeur is a platoon player, at best. It was apparent pretty early on that he wasn’t likely to be as good as those who anointed him or hyped him thought that he would be. It was just apparent in what he did on the field, things which were measurable.

Perhaps some want to label those measures and that information and the interpretation of that information “sabermetrics.” I’m okay with that. Call it whatever you want. The fact is no matter what you want to label it, the information was there early on to indicate what kind of player Francoeur was and was likely to become.

If that bothers some of you because that information is not what they would call “traditional stats,” so be it. It’s not about sabermetrics versus traditional stats or sabermetrics versus scouting or whatever. It’s not some false dichotomy for me. I just want to get at the truth through some reliable information. If that offends you, sorry. I truly am sorry if it does. But I’m not going to stop getting to the truth or as close to the truth as I possibly can because of some phony war of sabermetrics versus traditional stats or sabermetrics versus scouting or sabermetrics versus anti-sabermetrics or whatever terminology some want to use.

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Shaun-

Just curious….

Did you ever play ball?

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Thing is, Sneaky Pete, for a mid level starter, Maholm isn’t a bad pay….

In fact, he has more quality starts than anyone on the Braves this year….

He usually wont wow anyone with his stat line every time out, but he does give 6-7 IP and usually provides a good line, especially if you’re not asking him to be an ace like they were in PIT

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Injury’s changed him. He had #1 potential, now it’s to #3 and that’s if his shoulder gets healthy, and likely would require him to change his delivery as well.

I agree.

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hope the Braves learned something when they faced Eovaldi last week … don’t need him shutting down the offence again this go round

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Mixxo,you probably got that reaction from a few of your “fans”.

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no he isn’t for us, but I seriously doubt KC would be interested

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Did you ever play ball?

Obviously I just played Strat-O-Matic in my parents’ basement, right?

And everyone clearly know that you must have played 500 games at the major league level to understand the basics of baseball, like getting on base, gaining bases and things of that sort. Concepts like the game being about getting on base and gaining bases and measuring on-base percentage and total bases are just way too difficult for anyone who hasn’t played in the majors to understand, correct? Because those who have played 500 games in the majors clearly understand that the game is not fundamentally about those things. It’s actually more about hits in non-sac, non-walk plate appearances and how many runs come in during your plate appearances more so than it’s about outs and bases.

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The Braves should miss R.A. DICKEY when the Mets come in this weekend. He’s schedule to pitch against the Pirates on Thursday. Don’t have to worry about BUEHRLE against the Marlins this week… Is JOSH JOHNSON the best pitcher the Braves have to face these last 9 regular season games?

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I’m already sad….even with the best BEST case scenario, there are only about 5 weeks left of baseball….and then it’s on to watching the replacement refs….

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Also, I think the Braves may see AJ Burnett in PIT unless he just doesn’t care to pitch or they shut him down once theyre out of it…..

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From the previous blog which had 1,979 comments, TheOnlyBravesFan led the way with 122 posts. There were 156 different poster names. Here are the Top 25:

Rank Poster Frequency

1 TheOnlyBravesFan 122
2 Jeff R 81
3 Efrim 80
4 Brian from SC 79
5 SNEAKY PETE 69
6 Half Empty 59
7 Capt.Mudd 56
8 ncscoots 56
9 David O’Brien 50
10 jeffrey d 48
11 George_George 47
12 Venice Jim 47
13 Mixxo 43
14 Veer 37
15 Ghost of Chipper Jones 36
16 Tomahawk Mafia 35
17 chipontheroad 33
18 Lew 32
19 abeeeewright 32
20 phil 32
21 DAP 28
22 Shaun 28
23 usnavyvolfaninva 28
24 Tomahawkin 27
25 raleighbravefan 27

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NO celebration after a win tonight! Beat the Cards on 10/5 for the play in game, and then spray the champagne. If the legendary Bobby Cox was managing this year, we would have caught the Nats! MERCY

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southern hope, thanks for that. Good memories

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Special one-hour pregame show!

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The Stadium Should Be Full The Rest of The Way Right?

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SportSouth ‏@SportSouth

To those asking, show will not be posted to website but we launch a Chipper Tribute page @ 7PM w/ most of content featured in show #FSBraves

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I can only imagine what’s going through Chipper’s mind right now. Heck, I’VE got butterflies thinking about this being his last homestand ever!

BTW, the formula for calculating magic #’s —>

Magic # = (# games left) – (# games ahead) + 1
If # games ahead = xx.5 then it’s (#games left) – (# games ahead) + 1.5

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Correction: You don’t clinch a playoff berth by getting a spot in the play-in game. you clinch a playoff berth by WINNING the play-in game. This one-game playoff is merely a scheme to allow one more general manager to crow about “making the playoffs”.

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I think that Tommy Hanson’s real future lies in becoming an assistant pitching coach. He can assist a real pitching coach in demonstrating the pitching mechanics that don’t work to young pitchers. Please keep him out of the playoff rotation Frank, I’m not sure that Fredi will.

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Doesn’t the Ted have a larger seating capacity than most other MLB stadiums? Not making excuses, mind you, but that could be why it’s hard to fill up. I don’t live in the ATL, so I’m sure those who do would be able to offer more insight.

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Stadium in a terrible neighborhood…

School….

Economy….

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6:27.

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Ridiculous cow…

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Don’t feel like sifting through the commentary… Has a lineup been posted?

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Here ya go!

Kevin McAlpin ‏@KevinMcAlpin
#Braves lineup (vs MIA/Eovaldi): Johnson 8, Prado 7, Heyward 9, Jones 5, Freeman 3, Uggla 4, McCann 2, Simmons 6, Medlen 1

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Quick question… how any years would you say Chipper has been with Atlanta .. 20 right? 1993 to 2012 I have seen some people say 19yrs…

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Kat

September 25th, 2012
7:02 pm

Quick question… how any years would you say Chipper has been with Atlanta .. 20 right? 1993 to 2012 I have seen some people say 19yrs…

19 seasons in the majors I guess.

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He didn’t play in ‘94.

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So 19 ’season’ since he didn’t play in ‘94 but wouldn’t that still be 20 yrs with the organization?

1993 to 2012 is 20yrs not 19…hmm

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“There’s a wild card to be clinched,” says Mark Bradley.

Gosh, I thought we were supposed to win the division last week.

Talk about a guy utterly bereft of integrity.

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Notice they’re not showing the stands.

Guessing not a lot of people there.

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he was a sep call-up in 93, missed 94 but got paid 109,000 which looks like ML salary. so it should be 20 years.

Salary -
93 109000
94 109000
95 114000

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Great catch J-Hey.

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shoulda caught that

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Carroll your thoughts on the number of years Chipper has been with the Braves organization.. it would be 20yrs? The ‘94 year where he didn’t play but got a paycheck that would still count as being a Brave right?

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bad angle by JHey, seemed to be coming in a bit, but it didn’t hurt. Would be nice to see us hit this kid early

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Good evening, fellow Braves fans. Missed y’all lately.

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We will be lucky to get a hit tonight. This dude is throwing gas

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Love this time of the year, playoff baseball!! Go Braves!!

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Yeah, thanks T-Dawg

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BallGame

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Well, crap. Let the rookie hit one out. That’s enough of that, Medlen.

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Just what the Braves don’t need to know…that Superman (Medlen) can also be Clark Kent (regular guy).

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RISP chance here, with Danny at the plate. A HR would be nice.

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Marlins announcers

First guy: all these numbers Medlen has been putting up, I mean they’re all historic

Second banana: and impressive

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Uggla!!!!!

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Well done, Dan!!!

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Uggs!

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Hey, VJ, guess you know I’m coming out there week after next, right?

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old man chipper forgetting the outs the other night, now forgetting to touch home?

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Release chipper….

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bravesgrl4life-

He actually remembered even though I forgot (Did he pop up? I’m just scanning at the moment and didn’t see him…)

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Boooooooooooo!

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“Lots of empty seats…..lol”-phil

really?

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Brief pop-in…

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Yes, sadly, really…..

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cab, yeah, he’s up there above my “that’ll work” comment. I’m jacked for this trip!

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Friday…..mini-stroke.

Probably caused by an a-fib episode he had. Hope he’s ok. Should be.

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Any of you bloggers going to be at any of the games this weekend? Hit me up. I’m going to all 3.

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regardless of who is there to report on it let’s get it done.

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‘Teen!!!!!

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Teeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeennnnnnnnnnnnnn!!!!!!!!

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Reed Johnson looks overmatched by Eovaldi.

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Almost made contact.

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Wayward resurfacing when it can least be afforded…sigh.

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Lane Kiffin = ACE

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Simmons back to the minors…..

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That should make you happy phil, i know you must have missed being able to rip on him all the time

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Freeman just missed that tag.. throw was a bit too close to home.

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Phillies 5 Nats 1

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Let’s go Phillies!!!

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Snitiker is awful…..

I agree. Running through a stop sign and having a bang-bang play at the plate is one thing

Running through a stop sign and having the ball cut off is another.

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S/O SNEAKY
I just got here. Do you have any new news on nolie?

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You would really think DOB would want to cover these important games this week.

And you would really think that you would know by now that DOB does not make his own schedule

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Sneaky is more concerned with ripping people than he is with nolie…

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cab,
I owe you an apology…. seems my subbing Alex Smith for Tom Brady jinxed the ‘Niners.

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Gotcha, Pete…..

No, no, no…..last thing i want is for him to fall on his face now.

Need him badly if we’re to do a thing.

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Screw the niners…..hate that bunch.

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I had more faith in the Ravens D than I should have, and I sold the Vikings short.

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Screw the niners…..hate that bunch.

Why?

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Fredi should have at least 15 more home runs with as much power as he has. If you’ve ever watched him in BP, he simply launches shots into the upper decks of almost every park. I have no idea why this doesn’t translate into the games.

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Thanks SNEAKY

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T-Dawg, he did miss a handful of games with the eye problems and finger injury.

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same young pitcher who shut them down last week, Jay

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good to see that you finally learned the reality Bat

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Chance to gain ground on Nationals today

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Wow, Bat, that was rather Shakespearean!

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I knew someone would bring up the schedule.

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Let’s get some runs!! Ready to see a celebration tonight!!

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Torii Hunter, JR, COMMITS TO NOTRE DAME? Didn’t know Torii Hunter was old enough to have a JR going to college! sHeesh!

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“@ajcbraves 56 pitches for Medlen through five innings, still 1-1″

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This is disheartening…the Braves have a chance to clinch a playoff spot, with their best pitcher on the mound, and they’re struggling against a kid with a big era.

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BAS_

I did and I’m really sorry I was a day, or so behind, it would have been fun to wade in.

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Best pitcher in baseball and we cannot provide any kind of run support for him.

It’s embarrassing to watch time and time again.

How are we going to win one game against any playoff team when we’re being owned again by a relatively unknown Miami Marlin starting pitcher?

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I really like pitching against the Braves hitters. It reminds me of when I pitched in the minor leagues.

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Nice play, Old Man

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94 pitches in 5 innings and we have 1 run.

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Any ideas on answer to the trivia question? Besides Chipper, which other Braves player has hit 200 HR in Atlanta?

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Andruw?

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Eovaldi is tough.

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Run, my son JHey!!!

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Make this triple count, please!!!!

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The young Eovaldi is ripe for the picking this inning. Third time through the Braves’ lineup, 90+ pitches, with the heart of the order coming up.

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there’s your 2 runs Meds

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Yay, Chipper!

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Play on, Chipper Jones!

Attaboy.

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Good baseball there in the 6th inning.

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cabravesfan
September 25th, 2012
8:15 pm

Screw the niners…..hate that bunch.

Why?

********
well, used to own the falcons…..you would hate em too if you had been on the other side of Montana all those years.

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Outta here to watch game. Have a good one. BELIEVE IN THE MEDS. Nite all.

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Literally in atlanta? Andruw or dale.

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Bob Horner……blasted ‘em; however I didn’t see the question in it’s original context.

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Chipper has 259 (and counting) in ATL

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dang

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Why a 89 mph fastball up on an 0-2 pitch? Why? Too good of a pitch

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Same thing started to happen to JJ. Medlen is much better but still.

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“Solano with 2HR in this game…. he’d never HR’d before”

Happens alot against the Braves….

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How do you allow two homeruns to Donovan Solono? That is some bad luck to allow the bloop directly before the bomb.

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Nice pitch call, Mac…..

Good grief.

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Nice pitch call, Mac…..

Seriously, go back and look where he wanted that pitch. And look where Meds threw it.

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“It was not supposed to be up. It was called low and off the plate. Meds just missed his spot (by about 18 inches)”

Regardless, go to the changeup (his best pitch) at his shins, if he hits it, it will be into the ground.

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Let’s pick Medlen up here. Keep on rolling. Go Braves!

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Methinks Kris has been hanging with Tommy Hansen a little too much, perchance for giving up gopher balls are rubbing off on him

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A young pitcher and a young 2B taking the Braves’ linch money.

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Kevin McAlpin ‏@KevinMcAlpin
How good has Kris Medlen been? Tonight marks the second time ALL SEASON he’s surrendered 3 runs (first as a starter) #Braves

cab: Agree that it’s Med’s “fault” for missing the spot, but I never really did like throwing fastballs 0-2, unless it’s overpowering like Kimbrels.

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Please pinch run !!!!!!!

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What an empty feeling it is to be watching the same game for what seems like four years in a row.

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You know, I think MEDLEN might actually be a better hitter than OVERBAY. Can they just have MEDLEN re-pinch hit for him?

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Can’t take that risk on a guy that has one home run all season? on a pitch that was supposed to be down and well off the plate?

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With Nationals losing it is a sinking feeling to lose this game with your best pitcher out there. We could have cut the lead to 4 games with 8 left. However being 5 games out with 8 left is pretty much the end. If we dont win today then our division hopes are over 100 percent

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Aaron …… Could be

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If only the Braves could score some runs.

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This is my fear in that one game thing. Medlen, as great as he’s been, can be taken to the woodshed by some unknown scrub with no career homeruns and boom – season down the toilet.

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what the hell tried to do Medlen with fastball over the plater with 0-2 ??? it’s a shame allow 2 hrs by a garbage player…..

i suppourt Smotlz…no medlen for WC game…… Hudson you are the man for WC game…at least you dont allow Hrs ….

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Not sure I agree with pinch running Constanza right here esp with runner on first because we will need Mac probably in the 9th inning with game on the line. If MAc was at 2nd then i could see reason to pinch run but not with runner on 1st and 2 outs. Mac’s at bat later would been far more important

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Phillies 6 – Nats 3

Bottom 6th

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Meds picked up the bats all year, time for the bats to pick up a bat!

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ugh

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No run scored and BMac’s out. Pinch-running with 2 outs didn’t help. Baker falls to 1-10 as a Braves.

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Baker….is cooking, right? Sigh! RISP

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Medlen pitched a phenomenal game. Credit the kid for hitting the only two mistakes he made out of the ballpark. Time to get some runs off of one of the worst bullpens in baseball.

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Thomas Boswell ‏@ThomasBoswellWP
The whole N.L. East needs to take Donovan Solano to dinner and ask him how to hit Kris Medlen’s 89 mph fastball. Both HRs on same pitch.

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What makes you think the Braves aren’t relaxed, Mitchell? They seem to be taking it pretty easy to me.

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Mitchell:

You enjoy repeating yourself don’t u?

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Let’s 1-2-3 this ho and score some runs.

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“T-Dawg: Worst bench in baseball.”

based on DOB’s Sep 21st column quote, “They’re also last in the majors in pinch-hitting average at .162″ … there’s no debating that

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Oh crap. Heath “Ding Dong” Bell will come in and pitch like Cy Young.

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medlen maybe only allow 3 runs…but he stinks tonight only because he allowed that HR’s by a garbage AAA player….he deserves to lose the game…..and now im not sure about him for WC game…

i think it’s Hudson the right man for that type of games…..

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Do we need to be reminded every game that this is CJ’s final season? I think most fans know this by now. I mean I love the guy too, but I’m not drooling at his feet and worshiping the ground he walks on either. He’s just a baseball player.

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i suppourt Smotlz…no medlen for WC game…… Hudson you are the man for WC game…at least you dont allow Hrs

I guess since you aren’t a stathead or maybe don’t care to look them up, you don’t know this stuff, but since Medlen joined the rotation, he’d given up 3HR before tonight (so now 5 total). Hudson had given up 6 over that same time frame.

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I think we all know the constant Chipper plugs are mostly, maybe all of it, due to making money. Plug, plug, plug. Money, money, money. Really all it’s about.

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Bench is an achilles heel this year for sure….

Need to beat up this bullpen. Save the streak!

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Talk about fat boys…..bell….pathetic slob.

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ok ,, but how many games have Medlen in playoffs??? and how many have Hudson???…

i dont want to watch Medlen meltdown under pressure ,,,, Hudson have the experience and the guts for win important games

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Brian from SC, I enjoy the Chipper stuff like most other fans. That’s all I’m saying about that.

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A preview of october 5th, this probably is….

Utter, numbing frustration.

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Gosh, has the game been that frustrating? I think it’s been pretty fun to watch, myself. Well-pitched on both sides. It’s not like the Braves have played poorly.

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heyward swinga at 3-0 junk

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Went down 1-2-3, but Chipper will lead off the 9th. Hope he has some magic in him.

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cool Heyward swings in 3-0 count,,,,,,what a loser

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2 outs, no one on, down by a run, your best power hitter trying to juice one. Bell made a good pitch.

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Man, he just hates to not swing lately. Gotta look to get on base with Chipper on deck and Freeman in the hole. Took it the other way for crying out loud…..

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This is the frustrating part of the Braves…if we give up 3…we’re in trouble.

I don’t want the streak to end…

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Brewers are down 2-4 in the bot 7th.

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Elway….retires a same team HOF champ in 1998.

Robinson….retires a same team HOF champ in 2003.

Strahan….retires a same team HOF champ in 2007.

Chipper…..retires with a whimper in 2012?

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Kimbrel?

I swear……

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The Chipper farewell tour has indeed become a tiresome affair.

The Braves publicity people must have sent out press releases to every team strongly encouraging them to lavish Chipper with gifts throughout the season.

Not to say he’s undeserving but It’s been a little unspontaneous.

And the non-stop promos; it’s getting to be a little much.

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Sad….

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If the offense can’t put up 4+ runs, we might as well start Durbin.

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Rossy!!!! Guess it’s a good thing that Fredi did run for Mac

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Come on let’s win it!

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Chipper…..retires with a whimper in 2012?

Probably. Through no fault of his own.

It’s just his team. Can’t handle the pressure. At all.

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There will be no chipper magic here…..weak grounder to second, maybe.

Atlanta is where dreams go to die….remember?

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I have faith in Chipper’s ability to reach base and begin a rally in the bottom of the 9th inning.

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Mike Dunn can be wild, be patient

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If you lose your respect for Medlen because he allowed 3 runs on 2 HR, you should’ve lost respect for Huddy after he gave back 5-6 runs leads multiple times.

Both guys are good, Medlen is better right now.

CHIPPER!!!!! Pinch run Fredi. Pastornicky!

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That’s only appropriate.

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