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
6,746 comments Add your comment
uga-brave
October 19th, 2012
12:43 am
tex, granderson, arod, and cano. Zip.
Venice Jim
October 19th, 2012
12:48 am
Very weak postseason for Yankees’ hitters – until today, the pitching was fine…
Venice Jim
October 19th, 2012
12:53 am
Take care, uga – I am outta here…
Venice Jim
October 19th, 2012
12:54 am
Just sorry I missed conversing with Noacewhere Man earlier…
Nowhere man
October 19th, 2012
1:13 am
You people sure are obsessed with ace. If I knew more about him I might take it has a compliment. Jim does this mean that you and Cab are the same person?
Nowhere man
October 19th, 2012
1:15 am
I would like to converse with you about another former blogger. Maybe we wil be around at the same time.
Nowhere man
October 19th, 2012
1:16 am
Yall be good.
UKUGA
October 19th, 2012
2:02 am
I think the Tigers will win this thing. It’s very hard to pick against St. Louis, because they just seem to have a knack for winning. But, I’m guessing there’s a chance to Verlander goes Games 1, 4, and 7. However, if that is his rotation, 2 of those games will be in St. Louis, so that evens things out a bit.
Go Tigers.
Ward
October 19th, 2012
2:26 am
Hello everyone! Cards success = Steroids………
Ward
October 19th, 2012
2:29 am
Just not buying into the Cards success. Something is just not right, and should be looked into…..(Steroids)………
Ward
October 19th, 2012
2:33 am
Just thought would leave you with something to think about. Just kind of strange all this. I’m not buying into the Cards……All, have a good one! Peace my friends, and “Go!!!!!Braves!!!!!”
Ward
October 19th, 2012
3:45 am
I’m back for just one thought! I too don’t understand why Mejia has not been mentioned by the Braves? He keeps hittng the ball, and still not on the team. Now something is not right? Next year I would like to see Mejia on the team. Peace Out! “Go!!!!!Braves!!!!!”
nolie
October 19th, 2012
4:13 am
If he were a free agent circumstances would be different and he might get a bit bigger contract than that from a team that wanted to cash in on him reaching career goals as their player;but as far as production is concerned he has indeed really slipped.
nolie
October 19th, 2012
4:15 am
Hello everyone! Cards success = Steroids…ward
oh bulloney
Lee in S GA
October 19th, 2012
5:22 am
Cards success = Steroids…ward
—————————————————
Some of you are actually making me want to pull for the Cards to win the whole thing which I believe they will anyway.
phil
October 19th, 2012
6:47 am
And so many thought we had a chance against ole St. louie…..lol
Those boys play baseball.
Us? Not so much. We wet our pants year after year and that’s that. Sigh….
K Conway
October 19th, 2012
6:52 am
You got the mone…get somebdy people would like to come to see play…right now you have nobody…empty seats!!!
phil
October 19th, 2012
6:57 am
Agreed on the empty seats….
We’ll see plenty of em next year unless Heyward and Freddie come out blazing.
Not holding my breath for that, though.
Brave New World
October 19th, 2012
7:07 am
To All: Thanks for your thoughts on my A-Rod question. I’m not sure I’d be thrilled about having A-Rod for 5 years, even at a reduced rate, because the last 2 years he will be in his 40’s. But A-Rod is capable of 2-3 more years of decent numbers.
DS1
October 19th, 2012
7:15 am
phil
So, we “wet our pants” about 94 times this year, I guess.
phil, you are so full of shyt.
Jeff R
October 19th, 2012
7:44 am
The Cards are one tough team. The Tigers, darned solid and accomplished.
The Tigers rolled up the Yankees like a rice paper mat. Granted, the Yanks, they ain’t what they used to be, but the Tigers manhandled them like they were the Astros.
Jeff R
October 19th, 2012
7:47 am
Hello everyone! Cards success = Steroids………
Ward, ward, ward…. Now off to your room. Find paper and a pencil and write: “I am a dolt” one hundred times.
jeffrey d
October 19th, 2012
7:47 am
And so many thought we had a chance against ole St. louie…..lol
We were 5-2 against the Cards this year (postseason included). No need to wet your pants over a coin toss game that’s 2 weeks old now.
flange1
October 19th, 2012
7:50 am
SO if the World Series is the Tigers vs the Cardinals, we will have the team with the 7th best AL regular season record vs the team with the 5th best NL record.
Hope you love that MLB. The crapshoot continues!
Jeff R
October 19th, 2012
7:55 am
Well, the Braves did have a chance against the Cards in the WC. Thing is, Braves made miscues like Eddie Salcedo (and that’s Eddie on a good day). Errors and base-on-balls, as is said, they’z killers.
But that’s rear-view mirror stuff.
Onto the winter meetings.
DS1
October 19th, 2012
7:55 am
flange1
Just proves my point (that so many others are probably also in agreement with) that you don’t have to have a juggernaut to go all the way. It would be nice, but oft times it is the team that comes together at or near the end of the season who gets all the marbles. 2012 again proves that point.
Talent, development, luck(with injuries) and a surge at the end of the season……..
flange1
October 19th, 2012
7:57 am
Very true DS1.
Jeff R
October 19th, 2012
8:01 am
flange1,
Just goes to show that when you expand the playoffs to teams that wouldn’t have scratched back in the day, you get the distinct possibility that a lesser accomplished team will run the table.
We’ve seen similar instances in other pro team sports where just about every team makes the playoffs (why not skip the season and go straight to the post?).
I doubt the MLB is done expanding the playoffs. Big revenue generator. Always follow the dough.
Lew
October 19th, 2012
8:09 am
That surge at the end of the season? The formula for the Cards success. They are a good (but hardly exceptional) team that continually squeaks into the playoffs by virtue of playing in an extremely weak division and then making the best of the opportunity.
This could well be their third World Series appearance since 2006, yet the most games they’v won in any of those seasons is 90 (and that year took the Braves’ monumental collapse to even get into the playoffs).
Not sure this points to how good St’ Louis’ team is or how lame the playoff system is.
Bawlmer Brave
October 19th, 2012
8:17 am
Or just how lame the NL Central is, where it’s easy to pile up wins against Houston, Chicago, and Pittsburgh. Next year when Houston is an AL team, I’ll be interested to see what the win totals are for the Reds and Cardinals. The scary thing is what it might do to the win totals of the AL West.
DS1
October 19th, 2012
8:19 am
Lew
You gotta admit, if the Cards were our team we’d be out there thumping our chests about how “clutch” our team is!
Later folks. Gotta catch a flight westward.
Lew
October 19th, 2012
8:21 am
DS1 – Yeah, and the same can be said for the Mrlins both times, The Giants the year before last, etc.
Not going to change with this playoff format which rewards teams that get hot at the right time nd makes a mockery of regular season records.
jeffrey d
October 19th, 2012
8:44 am
Or the Giants winning the Super Bowl when they were something like 4-12
Hillbilly
October 19th, 2012
8:59 am
if the Cards were our team we’d be out there thumping our chests about how “clutch” our team is!
Well you left out a few things, so let me help you out, brother:
If the Cards were our team we’d be douchebags. We would be out there thumping our chests, looking down our noses, talking about how clutch our team is. We would act like a jilted lover and sling mud about how much of a POS Pujols is and how he couldn’t sniff Musial’s jock. We would be calling ourselves the greatest team in the National League THIS year (record be-damned) and citing “11 World Series Titles” and “because we’re still playing and you’re not” as the reasons why. (I have yet to figure that one out yet)
We would annoy the ever-loving crap out of people by calling Adam Wainwright “Waino” and posting pictures of that godforsaken squirrel all over everything. We would be the most arrogant, self-righteous @-holes you have ever seen and our rebuttal to any criticism or argument would be, “11 World Series Titles…nah-nuh, nah-nuh, BOO-BOO.”
And people would hate us.
Jeff R
October 19th, 2012
9:17 am
Not sure this points to how good St’ Louis’ team is or how lame the playoff system is.
I think the Cards are very scrappy team. But they wouldn’t have made the post season had it not been for the addition of a second playoff team. So the expansion of the playoffs definitely benefited the Cards.
And with the expansion of the playoffs, of course teams are going to qualify that may seem less worthy but have as much a chance of running the board as the better teams.
monty
October 19th, 2012
9:49 am
MLB is worse than the NBA. The NBA will let almost everyone but the drubs make the playoffs, but you know they aren’t going anywhere. But baseball is such a crapshoot. A guy gets hot at the right time, some unforseen hero, a pitcher has a career game, a normally accurate throwing 3rd baseman wings one into RF at an inopportune time, and any team can beat any other team, even in a 4 of 7. Heck, baseball could expand the WC to 6 more teams and it’s entirely possible that a team with a .500 record could run the table. Just not likely at all in other sports. THis BUd’s for you! THanks Bud for preserving the integrity of the game.
Efrim
October 19th, 2012
9:56 am
Not sure this points to how good St’ Louis’ team is or how lame the playoff system is.
Like I was saying before, it’s amazing how they’ve taken advantage of everey single opportunity given to them.
They were a good team this year, with a strong run differential, but no, I do not think they were better than the Braves, Nationals, Reds.
Efrim
October 19th, 2012
9:58 am
2004 – Red Sox Cardinals
2005 – White Sox Astros
2006 – Cardinals Tigers
2007 – Red Sox Rockies
2008 – Phillies Rays
2009 – Yankees Phillies
2010 – Giants Rangers
2011 – Cardinals Rangers
2012 – Tigers Cardinals
Cardinals have made the World Series 4 times in the last 9 seasons. Great run for them.
Efrim
October 19th, 2012
10:00 am
Red Sox
Cardinals
White Sox
Astros
Tigers
Rockies
Phillies
Rays
Yankees
Giants
Rangers
11 teams have made the World Series over the last 9 seasons.
Tumbledown
October 19th, 2012
10:03 am
Efrin – I see you have no faith that the Giants can duplicate the 1996 Braves and win three straight NLCS games against the Cardinals.
Efrim
October 19th, 2012
10:07 am
I see you have no faith that the Giants can duplicate the 1996 Braves and win three straight NLCS games against the Cardinals.
Not with Bumgarner and Zito starting 2 of these last 3 games. Bumgarner’s velocity is down and he hasn’t looked right for the last 2 months. Anything can happen, but no, I do not see the Giants defeating the Cardinals three straight games.
Efrim
October 19th, 2012
10:08 am
Oh…..Bumgarner isn’t starting….
Well, that makes it better.
Tumbledown
October 19th, 2012
10:09 am
I don’t either, actually. It’s not exactly Smoltz, Maddux, and Glavine going in the final three games.
Hillbilly
October 19th, 2012
10:19 am
They were a good team this year, with a strong run differential, but no, I do not think they were better than the Braves, Nationals, Reds.
Oh, but you’re dead wrong according to the Cardinal fans on Hogville.net. One Braves fan mentioned that the better team lost both Wild Card games and we were informed that this was false. The better team was the Cardinals because they were advancing and the Braves were not. And because they have 11 championships. How is that for logic?
phil
October 19th, 2012
10:20 am
DS1
October 19th, 2012
7:15 am
phil
So, we “wet our pants” about 94 times this year, I guess.
phil, you are so full of shyt.
**************
In the playoffs…..you know, the time of the time of the year when you hope your team will perform well and go a long way…maybe win a championship.
I’m not content with regular season triumphs, so no, I’m not full of shyt, as you say.
If we haven’t been wetting ourselves at the end of all these seasons since 1995, then what have we been doing? I’m AMAZED at you people who don’t seem to care and who then say “we care but we just don’t like to show it in a negative way like you do.”
To each his own.
cricket
October 19th, 2012
10:21 am
Hope you love that MLB. The crapshoot continues!
hated that 1-game play-in, real crapshoot. but DET won their division. what is MLB supposed to do about that?
pretty much every year we get complaints that best teams are not winning WS or even getting to WS. what exactly is the solution to that? cancel the postseason and award WS just based on regular season record? how is even that fair unless all teams play all other teams at exactly same time in some alternate universes, considering the tremendous number of variables in play during 162-game season of so many teams?
i would prefer that MLB goes back to old format of 1 WC, let the playoffs play out and if the hottest team wins it, so be it. that’s why some people (ok, i) still watch the games – because something unlikely (based on stats and talent) can happen, it gives hope to the unfavored ones, that’s why people still talk about david and goliath, even if odds are long. i, for one, love that about sports.
in MLB, winners can enjoy their victory and fans of the teams that lost can enjoy making arguments that their teams were better than the fluky/lucky/plucky winners. makes everyone happy.
personally, i won’t buy EI next year if i don’t think offseason moves were good enough to get at least a playoff victory. i know braves are mid-level payroll team and are doing very well in terms of ROI based on payroll, but just can’t handle empty victories anymore. will always root for them but will find something else to do every day at 7 / 7:30 pm.
David O'Brien
October 19th, 2012
10:21 am
DOB, I concur on Bill’s in Wilson. I feel Parkers Q is just too dry. Of course, the best BBQ at Bill’s is not the stuff already chopped and put in the buffet line but the real pig over the pit that you are allowed to pull the pork from. That my friend is REAL BBQ.
Couldn’t believe, when I went in for Bill’s buffet first time a few years ago, that they had the whole hog out as part of buffet. Best buffet in America. My dad used to do the whole-hog pig pickin’ thing in backyard when I was a little kid. Whole neighborhood was invited over, and the parents would be out there drinking and dancing long after us kids had gone inside, having stuffed ourselves with pork, cornbread and sweet tea and ran around the yard until our legs wouldn’t carry us anymore.
Efrim
October 19th, 2012
10:21 am
The Yankees will continue relying on power hitters, even after a team-wide slump against the Tigers. “I’m not going to turn myself into the Bronx Bunters because all of a sudden we didn’t hit for this week in October,” GM Brian Cashman said.
I love Cashman. Always a good quote.
Walks and hitting for power. Cashman gets it.
ncscoots
October 19th, 2012
10:22 am
It’s not exactly Smoltz, Maddux, and Glavine going in the final three games.
Not encouraging that it’s Zito trying to get you back to SF, but Cain and Vogelsong in the last two? I wouldn’t prematurely hoist the trophy, if that happens.
Efrim
October 19th, 2012
10:22 am
The better team was the Cardinals because they were advancing and the Braves were not. And because they have 11 championships. How is that for logic?
Awful. Tell them to enjoy sports talk radio.
phil
October 19th, 2012
10:22 am
What would PETA say…..sigh.
Jeff R
October 19th, 2012
10:23 am
The better team was the Cardinals because they were advancing and the Braves were not.
On that day (the play-in), which will live infamy, the Cards were the better team than the Braves – by virtue of the Braves playing sloppy baseball.
Efrim
October 19th, 2012
10:25 am
I would not trade Curtis Granderson if I were the Yankees. I wouldn’t extend him, but I would keep him for 2013 and ride it out with him.
But the Yankees are certainly going to be a different bunch after 2013.
https://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=tpQLwiiQL4kzEzLhsUqVjLQ&output=html
I’d bet they go one more with this group. Resign Kuroda, bring back Pettitte and Rivera, exercise the options on Cano and Granderson, Jeter for 2 more years, likely the plan.
But they will be quite different in 2015 – that’s for sure.
ncscoots
October 19th, 2012
10:26 am
Walks and hitting for power. Cashman gets it.
Don’t make outs and hit the ball hard. Big innings, deep starts, and a fearless closer.
My nutshell philosophy of winning baseball. You’ll notice that stolen bases, productive outs, and bunts do not figure prominently.
phil
October 19th, 2012
10:27 am
Yep, and that day of infamy was the one that counted. There are no do overs.
It wouldn’t be such an issue if we didn’t do it all the damn time, across seemingly all sports in this state.
I realize some have an impossible time grasping why that upsets some of us, but it does.
And no, that doesn’t mean we’re depressed and angry and hunched over a keyboard in the basement. On the contrary, it means that where sports are concerned, it hacks us off!
That’s it and it’s ok.
Efrim
October 19th, 2012
10:28 am
Not encouraging that it’s Zito trying to get you back to SF, but Cain and Vogelsong in the last two? I wouldn’t prematurely hoist the trophy, if that happens.
I like the Tigers in the next series. Lots of RHP’s vs. a RH heavy lineup and a less than 100% Beltran.
Even though Matt Carpenter has filled in nicely, who by the way, would probably be a above average regular at 3rd base if David Freese wasn’t so damn good.
Most depth in the sport. From their best major league player down to the kids in the DSL, man. Cardinals are absolutely stacked.
phil
October 19th, 2012
10:29 am
scoots, your philosophy is a good one and is one that is sorely needed in a certain large city in Georgia….of course we need players with which to execute it as well.
Efrim
October 19th, 2012
10:30 am
You’ll notice that stolen bases, productive outs, and bunts do not figure prominently.
Or defense.
cricket
October 19th, 2012
10:33 am
Walks and hitting for power. Cashman gets it.
speed on basepaths is now out of flavor? didn’t that and defense negate cabrera’s triple crown earlier?
phil
October 19th, 2012
10:34 am
Bring back Brooks Conman….
ncscoots
October 19th, 2012
10:35 am
Or defense.
Run prevention provided by the pitchers. That’s what those suckers are paid for.
I like a good defensive player, all right. But I do not consider that element of the game nearly as important as good starting pitching and a bunch of hangers-and-bangers.
Tumbledown
October 19th, 2012
10:36 am
My post above referring to the 1996 NLCS made me think back to a time where all seemed possible with the Braves and Atlanta sports in general. After all, 1996 was the year of the Olympics in Atlanta. And then . . . BOOM . . . followed by the fallout of the last sixteen years. I alternate between being frustrated, angry, and then hopeful.
Gary O.
October 19th, 2012
10:38 am
Couple notes from T.R Sullivan/mlb.com fan mail section;
What’s the chance Atlanta will decline Brian McCann’s option? And if they do, would the Rangers be interested? — Danny R., Gilmer, Texas
McCann, one of the best catchers in baseball, just underwent shoulder surgery and will need 4-6 months of recovery. The option is for $12 million. If the Braves decline it, the Rangers absolutely have to at least be interested and look at the medical reports, especially if McCann is willing to do a one-year deal and then re-enter the market while coming off a better season. .
If the Rangers do not bring back Hamilton for next season, what do you think of the Rangers going to get B.J. Upton or Michael Bourn to play center? — Todd R. Paris, Texas
The Rangers definitely have interest in Upton’s bat, although they may feel he is better at a corner spot than center. Upton hit 28 home runs this year with 31 stolen bases, but his .454 slugging percentage was his highest since 2007, and he struck out 169 times. With Upton you’re going to get more of the same from the Rangers: big swing and big strikeouts. Bourn struck out 155 times and his .346 on-base percentage ranked 19th among players with at least 100 at-bats from the leadoff spot. .
TheOnlyBravesFan
October 19th, 2012
10:38 am
Good points in your 8:09 Lew…. however, the Cards do seem to be competitive year in year outm and under the current rules, they have qualified. All about getting hot at the right time. And that team does it.
Ward: I didn’t know that steroids made players clutch… I guess that because of testing, that’s why clutch is going away….
cricket
October 19th, 2012
10:42 am
I like a good defensive player, all right. But I do not consider that element of the game nearly as important as good starting pitching and a bunch of hangers-and-bangers.
depends on the position, or does it? SS is considered premium defensive position but then Jeter has played there for million years
TheOnlyBravesFan
October 19th, 2012
10:42 am
The MLB should change the name of the playoffs to “clutchoffs”. Cuz it certainly doesn’t tell us who the best team is.
Lew
October 19th, 2012
10:42 am
Walks and power are good things. Getting runners in scoring position across the plate – whatever the method – is really, really good.
phil
October 19th, 2012
10:42 am
Tumbledown….What about all of our regular season triumphs over the years? Those were oh so much more meaningful and important than some stinking chance to win a championship!!
Efrim
October 19th, 2012
10:43 am
But I do not consider that element of the game nearly as important as good starting pitching and a bunch of hangers-and-bangers.
And the best starting pitchers are the one who keep the game between them and the catcher. Miss. Those. Bats. That’ll keep the ball in play limited because even the best defensive teams can make errors and the ball in play sometimes doesn’t bounce your way – case in point, two weekes ago.
ncscoots
October 19th, 2012
10:43 am
and his .346 on-base percentage ranked 19th among players with at least 100 at-bats from the leadoff spot.
In a just world without Scott Boras clients, that would drive his price down to a point at which the Braves could re-sign him.
Efrim
October 19th, 2012
10:45 am
and his .346 on-base percentage ranked 19th among players with at least 100 at-bats from the leadoff spot.
Wow. Didn’t realize that. I’ll miss his defense and baserunning, for sure, but the guy is not a great hitter and that’s sort of important in baseball.
Efrim
October 19th, 2012
10:47 am
Scherzer was something else yesterday. That four-seamer has some serious movement and late zip. Verlander and Scherzer need to take them home. Win this thing for the city of Detroit. Cardinals have had enough trophies, time for the Tigers to win one.
cricket
October 19th, 2012
10:48 am
Cuz it certainly doesn’t tell us who the best team is.
love this if for the players and FO. no pressure to win a single postseason game from very understandable and knowledgeable fans…
ncscoots
October 19th, 2012
10:48 am
depends on the position, or does it? SS is considered premium defensive position but then Jeter has played there for million years
Exactly, LOL. Oh, I don’t think you can put a team full of brickmasons out there, but I think you have to be very careful as to the weight you ascribe for defense when evaluating a player. Pitching and defense can only prevent the team from losing; only runs can create a win.
Lew
October 19th, 2012
10:48 am
phil – The fly in your ointment is that without those regular season triumps (and might be even more relevant with the current format), there would have been no chance at the elusive Championship.
As Efrim pointed out, eleven different teams in the WS in the past nine years and in a decent number of them hardly having the best record in baseball. It’s all a crap shoot and the Braves at least had the opportunity to roll them bones more than any other team over the past two decades.
cricket
October 19th, 2012
10:52 am
can’t decide – i want cabrera to win as he represents most of what i want in a hitter but i also want cards to win so that lots of people here can get pleasure from pointing out how undeserving they were and how braves, reds etc. were way better than them.
win-win for fan of team that is already out.
RC
October 19th, 2012
10:52 am
The MLB should change the name of the playoffs to “clutchoffs”. Cuz it certainly doesn’t tell us who the best team is.
My personal preference is the way the English Premier League (soccer) does things. They have 20 teams, and play a 38 game schedule. Every team plays every other team in the league twice; once home, once away. At the end of the season the best record is crowned the champion (well, most points….stupid ties).
THEN they have an entirely separate tournament called the “FA Cup”, which has elimination games and the like, resulting in an “FA Champion”.
Basically, they separate their regular season champion from a tournament champion, which is certainly the most “fair” way to go about things. But we Americans love our playoffs, and baseball loves it’s money, so I don’t see MLB changing the way they do things anytime soon. The best I think we can hope for is that they eventually get rid of divisions and play a balanced schedule within each league.
RC
October 19th, 2012
10:55 am
can’t decide – i want cabrera to win as he represents most of what i want in a hitter but i also want cards to win so that lots of people here can get pleasure from pointing out how undeserving they were and how braves, reds etc. were way better than them.
win-win for fan of team that is already out.
Tigers are the only team left that hasn’t won a WS in the past 5 years…gotta pick them.
Although with my luck, who knows. The teams that I prefered to go on in the first round all ended up losing (Orioles, As, Reds, Nationals).
phil
October 19th, 2012
10:56 am
I agree, Lew…the regular season obviously is fun, has meaning and counts for a lot.
But falling flat on our snouts each fall gets old. All I’m saying.
As for it being a crap shoot, I don’t agree. It looks that way, but these teams aren’t just winning based on guile and luck. If it was just a crap shoot, wouldn’t we at least come close once in awhile? We have been abysmal failures for 10 straight years now and not even close.
RC
October 19th, 2012
10:58 am
Pitching and defense can only prevent the team from losing; only runs can create a win.
Yeah, but pitching and defense can prevent the team from losing long enough to scratch out ONE lousy run…..
I’d argue they are pretty even sides of the same coin. If choosing between the two equally valued (because I agree that a single players defense has less impact than his offense), I’d go with a pitching/defense combo that prevents 100 runs vs. an offense that produces 100 runs, simply because pitching and defense are less prone to “slumps” than offense can be.
RC
October 19th, 2012
11:00 am
I’d also note that pitching is a bit more proactive while hitting is more reactive. The pitcher is the one who decides how he is going to approach and attack each batter in the game. The hitter can have a “plan”, but in the end he’s only able to react to what the pitcher gives him. A hitter who can homer on every strike he sees wouldn’t be as valuable if the pitcher throws him 4 balls 3 feet off the plate.
TheOnlyBravesFan
October 19th, 2012
11:00 am
I want the Tigers to win, but I bet the Cards do. At least then we can take comfort in the fact that the teams who beat us out in the playoffs (or passed us for that final spot) won the World Series. We’ll have just 1 hurdle to clear…winning that first series.
Kinda like what’s happened to my Falcons.
RC
October 19th, 2012
11:03 am
I want the Tigers to win, but I bet the Cards do. At least then we can take comfort in the fact that the teams who beat us out in the playoffs (or passed us for that final spot) won the World Series. We’ll have just 1 hurdle to clear…winning that first series.
Kinda like what’s happened to my Falcons.
Ugh….how many years in a row have the Braves and Falcons been eliminated in the first round by the eventual WS/Superbowl winners? It feels like we are going on 3-4 years….
King of Carrot Flowers
October 19th, 2012
11:03 am
Interesting A-Rod video story on this page today:
http://scores.espn.go.com/mlb/scoreboard
“This wasn’t the first time Alex Rodriguez vanished when the stakes were highest…not even close. He’s hitting .162 over his last 117 post season ABs.”
It’s hard to even make the “small sample size” argument any more in support of this all-time choke artist.
But I’m sure Shaun’s Abacus will be able to dispute what the rest of the world sees.
Brave New World
October 19th, 2012
11:06 am
Now that the “Steroid Era” is somewhat waning, the name of the game will once again be pitching, defense, and good fundamentals. The Braves have the pitching and defense – they need everyday and bench players who can hit for average, have high OBP’s, and know how to play “small ball.” If the Braves can score between 4-5 runs per game on average, they will consistently win 90+ games and be a playoff team. We had 4 regular bats with high (app. 150) strikeout totals (Bourn, Uggla, Heyward, and Freeman). We will likely lose Bourn, so we need to replace him with someone who can steal 20-30 bases, but more importantly get on base more often. We DO NOT need another high strikeout hitter (see Josh Hamilton, Nick Swisher, etc.). Angel Pagan and Shane Victorino would be far better fits. GO BRAVES!
TheOnlyBravesFan
October 19th, 2012
11:07 am
This will the 3rd time in the past 4 years if it occurs for the Braves. Already happened for the Falcons (2 of the teams ended up winning it all)
Shaun
October 19th, 2012
11:08 am
That surge at the end of the season? The formula for the Cards success. They are a good (but hardly exceptional) team that continually squeaks into the playoffs by virtue of playing in an extremely weak division and then making the best of the opportunity.
This could well be their third World Series appearance since 2006, yet the most games they’v won in any of those seasons is 90 (and that year took the Braves’ monumental collapse to even get into the playoffs).
Not sure this points to how good St’ Louis’ team is or how lame the playoff system is.
St. Louis has guys who can knock the sh** out of the ball throughout their lineup. They don’t really have any stand-out hitters but their lineup is usually at least 5 players deep. There may be something to relying on 5 hitters versus 1 or 2, especially in the playoffs.
Maybe some other teams look better than the Cardinals in the regular season because those other teams have 5 hitters who can handle weaker pitching.
Throw in a lot of chance that goes in favor of the Cardinals and you get some postseason success.
I have a hard time believing that the Cardinals’ postseason success is all a result of some sort of characteristic and skills that the Cardinals possess, though I think there are some that help them in the postseason. If it was all about skill, why were they put in a position last season and this season in which they had to fight and claw their way back and why weren’t they a better team throughout those regular seasons. I think randomness/luck/chance has played a pretty big role.
cricket
October 19th, 2012
11:09 am
how many years in a row have the Braves and Falcons been eliminated in the first round by the eventual WS/Superbowl winners?
like they did earlier, falcons can avoid getting knocked out in 1st round by getting a bye. hope their 1st playoff game isn’t against giants.
RC
October 19th, 2012
11:10 am
“This wasn’t the first time Alex Rodriguez vanished when the stakes were highest…not even close. He’s hitting .162 over his last 117 post season ABs.”
It’s hard to even make the “small sample size” argument any more in support of this all-time choke artist.
He batted .307 over his first 179 post season ABs. So while he’s pretty bad now, I’m not sure “all-time choke artist” is exactly accurate here.
ncscoots
October 19th, 2012
11:12 am
Yeah, but pitching and defense can prevent the team from losing long enough to scratch out ONE lousy run…..
Let’s not forget that the opposing pitcher draws a paycheck, too.
Given two equal pitchers who are extremely lethal, what’s the outcome? A tie at zero. Thus, pitching and defense cannot win a game. They can make winning easier or harder, but that’s it.
My point is that “not losing a game” and “winning a game” are two different things, and only the bats can effect the latter. Thus, my stance on relative importance of the various elements.
jeffrey d
October 19th, 2012
11:12 am
But I’m sure Shaun’s Abacus will be able to dispute what the rest of the world sees.
I pictured Shaun using some big wall of a computer that has voice command and talks back to him to.
Shaun: Computer, calculate Brian McCann’s WAR on the 2nd Tuesday of May.
Computer: (female British accent) Calculating…
jeffrey d
October 19th, 2012
11:13 am
too*
phil
October 19th, 2012
11:13 am
Doesn’t matter, RC….
Only the regular season is important. Pathetic, annual, choking, gut-wrenching collapses are a-ok….
Just go do some yard work and pay em no mind.
RC
October 19th, 2012
11:14 am
like they did earlier, falcons can avoid getting knocked out in 1st round by getting a bye. hope their 1st playoff game isn’t against giants.
True, but they still lost their first playoff game. Just happened to have the misfortune of playing the Packers in their first game.
jeffrey d
October 19th, 2012
11:15 am
Only the regular season is important. Pathetic, annual, choking, gut-wrenching collapses are a-ok….
Who said it was ok? Just because I don’t let it comsume my life doesn’t mean I wasn’t sad about it.
Lew
October 19th, 2012
11:16 am
phil – Unfortunately, the nature of crapshoots is you NEVER know which way the dice are going to fall unless you have loaded dice.
How many of those final game losses were by a single run? How many actually hinged on a single pitch? Most of the time, that’s the way it is and – as we’ve seen numerous times – the best team doesn’t always win and a good bit of the time the worst of the bunch does. What else would you call that BUT a crapshoot.
Your frustrtion is understandable, but since this is a twenty year trend and involves entirely different personnel in almost all instances (for the Braves) that you cant even call it a team trend because essentially, it’s not the same team in any way other than that they happen to play in Atlanta – not the same players, not the same teams played against, not the same coaching staff or even the same manager. Hell – not even the same ownership.
DAP
October 19th, 2012
11:16 am
i was just looking at the 2006 Togers team, that played the Cardinals in the WS. there are only a few players from that team that are on the playoff roster now.
Justin Verlander, who pitched pretty bad in the playoffs that year. ramon santiago, back up infielder. and guess who else played on that team in 2006 that is also on the team this year? Omar Infante. how ’bout that? i had forgotten about that.
another familiar name from the Tigers in ‘06 is chad durbin. but, he didnt pitch in the playoffs that year.
Venice Jim
October 19th, 2012
11:16 am
Bill Plaschke’s LA Times column today is an impassioned plea to the Dodgers and Angels not to be tempted by A-Rod…
RC
October 19th, 2012
11:17 am
Doesn’t matter, RC….
Only the regular season is important. Pathetic, annual, choking, gut-wrenching collapses are a-ok….
I fully believe that the regular season is a better method of judging a team than a playoff that can last as few as 3 games (or this year, 1 game).
That said, it still hurts just as much when your team loses in the playoffs. May not be a great measure of the “best team”, but as far as the emotions and drama it invokes it’s pretty hard to be logical about it.
King of Carrot Flowers
October 19th, 2012
11:21 am
jeffrey d, you’re probably right. It’s doubtful that he uses an abacus.
Another theory is that his source was derived from this movie…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IMqXfn7NBRw