Postseason ball’s back in ATL, with different feel

The headline for this blog:

Postseason ball’s back in ATL, with different feel

I don’t know. Feels about the same.

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Even after all this time I don’t think to read O’Brien’s tweets so I’ve been expecting some comments from him here.

Finally thought to read some and it seems Heap thinks he’ll need surgery and could be out for a a few weeks to a few months. Wren thinks otherwise until some tests say so.

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Bat….
Didn’t realize he was that old. That’s another reason why I don’t play GM like a lot of folks on here do. LOL.

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Yep, Ross has been very good in his role and at his age(catcher wise).

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I wonder who our new third baseman will be, next year.

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Chop Chop I typed the same thing last night. Been there done that.

It’s all about getting hot at the right time. This team peaked over the final 10 days of the season and that about sums it up.

The one game playoff is a joke. It’s not the NFL (nolie tells me this much many times during the season). The season is based on series. The best teams make the post-season because they have depth and a strong rotation. They have the ability to rebound from mistakes the next game and get their sh!t together.

Playing 162 game schedule (and being 5 games better than the next wild card team) and only getting one game to make it in is a JOKE.

If Selig wants to add more teams then give the best record in each league a “bye” and make the wild card matchup be a best of 3 series. I’m not saying this because the Braves lost. I’ve felt it as soon as I realized the Braves weren’t going to win the decision.

As Braves fans we’ve all seen what can happen in a playoff SERIES. The “better” regular season team doesn’t always win. Sh!t happens. So a 1 game playoff is a joke if it’s not between two teams that tied for a final spot or have to battle it out to determine who is the division winner or wildcard or the 2nd wild card.

It’s just a shame. That being said, if the Braves played better they would have won.

Fredi put the team in position to win. He rearranged the rotation to make sure that his best pitcher was pitching that game. He started the healthier catcher who was Medlen’s personal catcher and had hit better than Mac in the 2nd half (and he hit a go ahead 2 run HR early in the game)….

All the team had to do was NOT choke. Even the pathetic offense would have fooled the world with a win if they simply made routine plays. Yes, Chipper’s grounder was a hot shot. But it’s a play (and throw) he’s made thousands of times in 20 years in professional ball. For a HOF player….. that was routine.

Uggla’s grounder was routine. He failed.

Simmons is a defensive guru. For a player of his caliber…. it was and should have been routine.

Braves win that game 2-1 or 3-2 if they make those 3 plays. Simple as that.

They won 94 games this year with inconsistant offense with RISP. So that is nothing new.

But today MLB is a joke. Selig is a joke. The umpires are a joke. For 162 games 4 umpires is enough. Then in the playoffs they add 2 guys down the lines. Why? When was the last time you said to yourself watching playoff baseball “Wow it’s a good thing they had those extra umps down the lines otherwise that call would have been missed”.

I can now think of 3 plays where an outfield umpire has made an incorrect call or affected the outcome of the game.

Last night. The 3B umpire wasn’t going to make that call. so with no umpire down the line, that’s a botched pop up. Bases loaded. One out.

In 1996 it happened twice. Both to the Yankees benefit.

The Tony Tarasco, Derek Jeter, Jeffery Maier play. If the outfield ump can’t make THAT call? why bother having them. all year lon the 1B and 3B umpires get the foul line calls right and are capable of geting it right.

And who can forget the umpire down the RF line getting in the way of Jermaine Dye on that foul ball. Which of course led to a run for the Yankees.

Screw having umps down the line and go to a “challenge” system replay system for baseball. It won’t slow the game down. No more than managers or players arguing. Give each team two a game. If you want to penalize teams like the NFL does with timeout. Tell a team they will lose an “out” in an inning if the cal is NOT overturned. That will make managers think about it.

And allow EVERYTHING to be challenged other than balls and strikes. Safe calls. Trapped balls. Fair or foul. Balks. Homeruns.

Either way. Braves players screwed themselves last night. The umpires just killed any momentum that Braves MIGHT have had brewing by blowing that call. And sadly the fans aided in that momentum kill by delaying the game. who knows what might have happened.

But I know this. If Chipper makes that play and Uggla makes that play. The Braves win.

Simple as that.

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Wow.

My intent was to read everything from the moment this happened, but I may not live that long.

I was there last night – my take:

I actually thought Fredi was just out there to try and get some type of interference call. I had no clue that there was any way possible that a call had been made a against the Braves.

When Simmons came off the field, it was like seeing my dog get run over – again. It was about 15 minutes before I knew what had been called. The wifi and 4G are spotty in the upper level of Turner Field.

My personal take on officials has been for years that the more you have, the more chances there are for someone to make mistake. Last night, as astutely pointed out on radio by Don Sutton (as I read here on the blog) and by Ron Darling during the telecast, the “extra” umpire, in a position he has not been in all year, makes an unnecessary call.

(My beef is generally in basketball. I believe there should only be 2 refs. I would rather the refs “miss” a few calls, than to make too many, as they do now. There is a need to “justify” one’s position).

That umpire should not even be authorized to make that call. Just like only the home plate umpire can call balls and strikes, the outfield umpire should only be there to make fair/foul calls and to determine whether a ball was caught or trapped.

Also, the IFF rule is to protect the offense. That rule clearly punished the offense last night.

And, then, the timing of the call.

Joe Torre: I lose much respect for you now. Listening to his presser on the radio made me sick. When first asked about the call, he hemmed and hawed and it came across as a guy not wanting to stab his employees in the back. I get that.

But then, after stating that he had just been informed that Frank Wren had dropped his protest, Joe comes through with the most oblivious line of the night, and that was saying that he thought it was an infield fly when it happened.

Bull Joe. How can you sit there and say that and ever expect anyone to ever think you have an ounce of integrity? Why stick him out there if all he’s going to do is sit there and praise his umpires?

The Crowd:

A bad display, yes, but, when events like this happen, my take is often different than others. Most people want to blame the fans, I blame the alcohol. MLB and the teams thrive on revenue generated from the sale of alcohol. You want alcohol flowing at the games? Better get ready for the consequences.

My favorite post I read was someone here saying that this is 17 years of frustration being poured out onto the field.

The fans last night were awesome. They dealt with the early start time. They came out in droves. They chopped because they wanted to chop. They cheered Medlen, Chipper, McCann, Freeman, Ross, and Heyward (the catch) like they were heroes.

They were justifiably upset at some close calls going against them. They were upset at the defense. They were upset that the first Simmons call went against them. But they were still proud to see the Braves fighting back. The season was on the line. Chipper’s career was on the line.
And then, the worst call in the history of Atlanta professional sports was made. Andrelton Simmons got shipped off, an out was added to the scoreboard, and we missed a chance to see Brian McCann bat with the bases loaded and one out.

That Simmons play, before the call was known, was one of the five most exciting moments of the night. When it was evident that Kozma was uncertain, my heart jumped a bit, and when the ball dropped, the level of exhalation exceeded anything that had happened so far. More than the first strike out by Medlen. More than even Ross’ homer.
The crowd was now larger. The stakes were now higher. The chopping was inspired not by a guy on a video board, but by a genuine desire to see the Braves come back and salvage their season.

But no. A delay. An argument. An out. And a beer bottle flying out of the stands that almost hit the first base umpire.

Classless? Yes. But hey, once upon a time it was considered classless to get drunk in public and yell.

Dangerous? Absolutely. Not so much for those on the field, but for those sitting in the lower levels who were subjected to falling debris from overhead.
But here’s what I find fascinating in all of this.

No one seems to be THAT down on the fans. Read the quotes from the players. They get it. I mean, consider if this was a poker game in a bar? Do you think one of those players would not have hauled off and hit Holbrook? Of course they would.

We Braves fans have had our passion and commitment questioned for years. We’ve also had our team made fun of for being chokers. Last night, Braves fans were doing everything right. They watched in bewilderment as multiple calls went against them. But then, as the game was moving near an exhilirating apex, the bubble was burst by the men in Blue. And someone exploded.

Some drunk person exploded.

And then, as you looked around, it was pretty obvious that everyone around realized that this was one of the most ridiculous blown calls in the history of sports that had just taken place – and EVERYBODY got it. Everybody. There were no ushers in the aisles, looking for guilty parties. I didn’t even get a sense of security in the stands trying to stop it.

And then, when the big guy came on the screen to try and calm the crowd, he basically thanked the crowd for being so awesome. As a fan in attendance, I couldn’t take it any other way. The very first thing he did was point out how passionate the fans were being. He knew what he just saw. He got it. He felt the pain of the fans and he clearly didn’t feel right acting self-righteous when all these people had invested blood, sweat and tears into this event that had now turned into a travesty.

So, it was up to the PA announcer to restore order. And it happened.

Classless? Yes. But here’s the truth. You’ve got over 50,000 people in attendance. How many pieces of trash hit the field? Maybe 500.

Do the math . 1%. That’s it folks. Let’s not throw the baby out with the bath water.

And as an FYI, leaving the game, fans were pretty subdued. People were talking about the game and the call, but they weren’t acting like they needed to start a riot. If anything, it’s as if people realized that they had just witnessed one of the more significant moments in baseball history and that the loss was just kind of a side story. All seasons end with a loss or some degree of disappointment. But this one was unique. And that seemed to be the theme of the day.

I expected the Braves to lose yesterday. It’s just what happened. But I didn’t expect to see that. While I am proud of some of the players (Chipper namely) standing up and taking blame, the reality is that there is no rule that says a team that makes errors is not allowed to win the game.

Fredi was kind and said the team didn’t score runs. Well Fredi, we scored 3, and might just have scored more if not for a certain significant event.

Fredi should’ve gotten tossed. He should’ve gone out to the spot in left field and made a scene. He should’ve found the divot where the ball hit and then paced off the steps from there to home plate, and then from there to the outfield wall.
Some fans started chanting “Bobby, Bobby!” because they knew what he would’ve done.

I never thought we would’ve lost a game in which David Ross hit a two run homer to put us up early. I never thought we’d lose a game like that, not after Heyward robbed a home run.

All that said, the Braves need a different mojo. There is something wrong in their DNA. You expect those things to wear off over time, but the fact is, they don’t. There is always a connection to the past.
Next year, perhaps in the WC game again (as the #5 team maybe) most of these guys will be back. Just like there are players who played in the 2010 series before that. It’s hard to shake. Especially when you keep getting back to the post-season. The memories stay fresher.

But it’s okay. We’ll cheer again. Freddie Freeman is a star. Jason Heyward will hopefully learn to carry a team next year for a full season.
Dan Uggla has to earn his meal money.
Brian McCann needs to come back healthy.
David Ross deserves to play as much as necessary.

We’ll be okay. This was disturbing, but not disheartening. We get to blame someone and that takes some of the sting out.

I saw history last night. I enjoyed the game and the over-all experience. The play-off format has its problems, but we ultimately lost a home game in which our defense failed our best pitcher and we stranded a bunch of runners.

I suspect we would’ve lost a best of 5 too.

Something in the DNA. Let’s fix it.

Go Braves!

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Excellent post, UKUGA. Well put.

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Thanks Sopheee. Just disappointed that that is what I had to share.

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The next day and I’m seeing many fans & media move on. It’s disappointing. I thought a good rest would help, but it did not.

We should have made more of a statement. The trash throwing was needed. After the 19 min delay and play was set to resume without the changed call, Fredi should have called his players off the field, at least temporarily, to make a statement and gotten tossed. In the press conference, he should have stated it was the Worst Single Call in MLB history that happened in a 1 game playoff and cost his team a shot and momentum, despite the errors.

I’ve never been more upset with MLB. That is the worst call I have ever seen. If we still lost, fine. But to see MLB and it’s umps still say that was a legit call when a double play could not have been turned, it’s total ridicule.

Frank Wren already talking about next year? Grow a pair & cause a raucous with MLB because this sh!t is not ok.

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Some braves now don’t like the one games WC Game…..Any of what happen yesterday can be abort if we win the Division….we have a lot of opportunity to grab the Division when Was lost 3 game n a row and we can’t capitalized.

Leson learn for next yrs….WIN THE DIVISION

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For starters it blew my post out of the water in length. Thanks. N8

UKUGA_

Thanks for the first person perspective. Very, very good comment.

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Well written and emoted…

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McCann need surgery…Out for 5-6 Months……Napoli Great Idea

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I thought it said 2-5 months. If that’s all it is, he could be back for Spring Training.

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5 months from spring training…

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Yeah, kinda hope the dawgs win…never been a fan of Spurrier.

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Bat….

Need I even say what i expect to happen to us tonight in Columbia?

Sigh….

0-9 in our last 9 top ten encounters? I’ll be watching regardless….and hoping.

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phil’s gonna end up pulling me over to the dark side.

Probably not that hard to do. Hell every year I say Georgia is going to beat Florida knowing full well they’re going to lose, cause that’s what Georgia does. At least for most of this century, anyway.

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Bat….

Sigh….

Ha, I made that comment at 4:49 before I read yours, phil.

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I’m still bitter so this might just be me but Harold Reynolds on MLB Network is really getting on my nerves with his take on yesterday’s call.

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Soph_

I don’t get the MLB network but if he’s saying anything other than the Braves got hosed on that call he’s a tool.

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I see Ga Tech is involved in another defensive battle.

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Harold Reynolds is a douche. He was a over-rated player and a worse analyst. Real charmer with the ladies he worked with at ESPN too.

Still mad at him for the whole Ken Griffey thing. Sticking his nose where it doesn’t belong.

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MF – not NF. I can’t type and my keyboard is possessed anyway.

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Sounds like fake Trey showed up again.

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Blog is having issues.

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The did NOT tag up to advance Lew. Watch the replay. Runners were half way and never went back. They advanced without tagging.

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Lew, here is a link to ESPN’s story and highlights of the game. At 1:48 of the video clip they freeze it where the ump raised his hand. The runners are off the bases and as the replay continues, you can clearly see they NEVER went back to tag up. They simply advanced when the ball hit the ground.

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N8 -Doesn’t matter – batter is automatically out and runners advance at their own risk. THough not sure how anyone could have thrown any of them out when they decided to just let the ball drop.

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Besides – could you imagine the reaction if they called the runners out, too?

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I’m pretty sure in 55 years of watching baseball, that that’s the first time I’ve ever seen runners actually advance in that situation.

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5:21 Trey, please do the world a favor and jump in the bath with a blow dryer.

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Think it will have adverse affect Lew, unless a team has a shot at the division they aren’t going to go all out for a one game playoff/play-in game. If they get there they’ll take it but trade deadlines may be a little more boring.

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Got on the St. Louis Post Dispatch website earlier (sports section, of course) and even some of their fans think it was a BAD CALL on the so-called “infield fly” play

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Lew, I could care less about arguing with you about what the call should be and why. You just stated emphatically that the Braves “DID” tag up. I’m simply stating that the did not.

Nothing more.

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Lew: Why wouldn’t they pick up the option even if Mac has surgery? That seems pretty weird to me. He’d be back in May at the latest (hopefully)

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Lew, I don’t have DOB’s e-mail.

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“They do NOT “have to” tag to advance if the fielder CATCHES the ball….”,

That line should have read “if the fielder DOESN’T catch the ball….”

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Eh, I just sent him a message on FB.

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Why don’t we go the Oakland A’s route and go with an all-young pitching staff. Don’t take Tim Hudson’s option, non-tender Tommy Hanson, don’t take Malcom’s option either.
Go with Medlen, Minor, Delgado, Tehren and ……..
take some of that extra $$$ and sign Zack Grenke–
Plus you would have money to sign an outfielder (righthand hitter, please) with some pop.
That kiddie corps pitching staff worked pretty well for the A’s—-just saying…

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It’s a thought Playoffs. But I would say to pick up Maholm’s option then trade him. Someody will give up somthing for a full year of him. But it’s a theory to contemplate.

I don’t think Wren would go that route. Why not pick up Huddy’s option (skipping a guy like Greinke) and spend ALL of the available money on bats?

Huddy is going to cost 9 million i believe. Greinke will cost much more.

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with Chipper’s and Lowe’s and non-tender of Jurrgens, we have an extra $30 million, but with raises to some of hold-overs —-that dips to about $20 million. Enough or almost enough to sign a guy like Grenke.
Then we don’t take options of Hudson or Malcom, and non-tender Hanson. That’s another $20-$21 million, Enough to sign a couple of good hitters—outfielders (righthanders or switch hitters. They should consider Victorino
And go with the kiddie corp pitching staff

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N8—–Yes, I see what you’re saying. But I like Grenke because he is a true #1 starter in my opinion, and we need that. Hudson is a few years past being a true #1

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If Mac’s option isn’t picked up, that’d be more money for Zack tho… Napoli probably wouldn’t command a 12mil contract.

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I’m telling you playoffs. There is ZERO chance (no matter what the plan) on not picking up the Maholm option.

At his price, Wren would be a fool to not pick up the option. When he can pick up the option and even get simply a low-level prospect for him.

Not picking up the option would be damn near criminal, even if he has no intention of him being in the rotation next year.

I actually could see Maholm filling the (now hear me out), Charlie Leibrandt role in a “kiddie rotation” as you call it.

He’s cheap. Left handed. Healthy and eats innings.

So at 6 million or whatever it is…. it’s silly not to keep him around. Even if he’s not in the plans of a possible playoff rotation. Just to eat innings while the kids dazzle.

But if Wren doesn’t want him around. He still picks up that option and trades him. Period.

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Braves will not be able to afford Greinke. I would look for them to make a play for swisher and either pagan or victorino.

Another CF option is Bourjos in a trade while keeping reed Johnson as a platoon partner and 4th OF

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What about -

CF/ Victorino

3B/ Prado

RF/ Heyward

1B/ Freeman

LF/ Willingham

C/ McCann

2B/ Uggla

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Coming off books

Chipper 13 million
McCann 11.5 million (Has 12 mil option or 500k buyout for 2013)
Lowe 10 million
Hudson 9 million (Has 9 mil option or 1 mil buyout for 2013)
Bourn 6.8 million
Jurrjens 5.5 million (Should be non-tendered)
Diaz 2 million
Ross 1.6 million
Hinske 1.5 million
McLouth 1.25 million (2012’s Buyout)
Moylan 1 million
Wilson 1 million
Durbin 900k

Plus not sure how much we paid Maholm and Reed for the 2nd half, Maholm does have a 6.5 million option as well. But regardless whatever was the cost is off the books.

Raises Due

Prado ARB 3
EOF ARB 3
Heyward, Venters, CMart, Hanson, Medlen all are ARB 1

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N8—Grenke was GREAT with the Angels. The Angels failed because of their bullpen.

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