Off to spring training, and I’ll take your Braves’ questions
You can only find this scene at spring training in Florida. (Jason Getz/AJC)
We start with an affirmation that even one of the most corrupt individuals in American history had at least one good (legal) idea.
William “Boss” Tweed, best known for orchestrating the Tammany Hall scandal — an estimated $200 million swindle, and this was back when $200 million got you more than Prince Fielder — also owned an amateur baseball team, the New York Mutuals. In the spring of 1869, Tweed had the idea to move the Mutuals to a warmer climate than Brooklyn. So the team loaded a train and headed south to New Orleans to play a series of exhibition games against the hometown Pelicans.
The seed for one of pro sports’ greatest traditions was planted.
It’s true that baseball’s spring training has lost some of its charm in recent years, some of its uniqueness. The stadiums are closer to the downsized palaces of the majors than they are to the upsized softball fields of the neighborhood park. Ticket prices have increased. Major league teams have made permanent homes in the two spring training states of Florida (Miami, Tampa) and Arizona (Phoenix), dulling the once-romantic notion of an entire sports league traveling to sunny remote outposts to practice. But it’s still cool.
My son wasn’t a huge baseball fan when he was young. But I surprised him one day when he was in the second grade by picking him up from school and heading to Florida. I wanted to visit different stadiums. He wanted to visit the beach. We reached common ground. We were both right.
For a Braves’ fan, going to Florida isn’t just about seeing if Jason Heyward has fixed his swing. It’s knowing you can get a little closer to the players at a time when they aren’t burdened by the stress of a playoff race. It’s knowing that if you’re at the Braves’ spring training facility in Lake Buena Vista, you can drive anywhere from 20 minutes to a few hours to watch any of 14 other teams — Houston (Kissimmee), Detroit (Lakeland), Washington (Viera), Toronto (Dunedin), the New York Mets (Port St. Lucie), the Yankees (Tampa), Boston (Fort Myers), Baltimore (Sarasota), Florida (Jupiter), Minnesota (Fort Myers), Philadelphia (Clearwater), Pittsburgh (Bradenton), Tampa Bay (Port Charlotte), St. Louis (Jupiter).
Visiting spring training should be on everybody’s bucket list. Not every fan’s. Everybody, period.
OK. I’m done waxing.
I leave for Braves’ camp Friday morning, just in time for the first full-squad workout on Saturday. I would’ve left earlier, but I had no idea that Tommy “Crash” Hanson was going to get squirrely in the turn (NASCAR term), bang his head, get a concussion and add a little bit of drama to pitchers-and-catchers reporting. (I’m driving, by the way, and it’s my plan to make it to the first workout without an incident.)
I’ll have new columns daily from my week in Orlando, the first posting on Saturday (Sunday’s newspaper) on whether we should expect better results this season from largely the same team.
If you’ve got anything you would like to read about, I’m always open to ideas. If you’ve got specific questions you would like asked, let me know. If I get enough of them, I’ll throw them together for a blog during the week.
That’s it for now. Just list your questions below and I’ll check back soon.
By Jeff Schultz
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119 comments Add your comment
AtlantaDude
February 24th, 2012
6:46 am
Jeff –
Any chance that Fredi will change his approach to relief pitching? Maybe he should go back to how they did it 30 years ago, where you bring them in when trouble starts, rather than for some pre-assigned 8th or 9th inning. Let O’Flaherty, Moylan or whoever pitch the 7th and into the 8th (or maybe even the 9th) until they the get in trouble. Then choose either Venters or Kimbrell, based on who the next batter(s) are. That way you don’t burn them out pitching every 8th and 9th inning of the whole season.
Nativebird
February 24th, 2012
7:34 am
There’s only one real serious question that counts with this franchise: when will the Braves get an owner that truly has the singular goal each season of the only goal there is in baseball….a world series championship.?
Larry
February 24th, 2012
7:53 am
What is the betting lines on:
1. Fruiti returing as manager after the All Star Break? After the season?
2. Chipper Jones over and under of 5 injuries?
3. A person with a college degree making the 40 man roster? Coach or Manager?
bali
February 24th, 2012
8:20 am
i hope u will have a really interesting digiblog degiblog ablog with pictures again….my question…. of all the braves who would u select to be your personal driver for a day…..have fun in the sunshine state
blazerdawg
February 24th, 2012
8:33 am
On the way down, make certain to stop at Zaccadoos drive through on Baytree Rd, just off I-75 in Valdosta. Best chili dog anywhere, and pretty good chicken.
DetroitBraves
February 24th, 2012
8:48 am
@AtlantaDude, you are 100% right that the Braves should use their best relievers to get through the toughest situations. But you know, no team really does that. Some are more flexible than others (the Braves being particularly inflexible) but every team has some kind of predefined roles. I would settle for the Braves just not piling up the innings for O’Flaherty, Venters and Kimbrel in games they are probably going to win anyway. But yeah, I am definitely in agreement with you.
D-bo
February 24th, 2012
9:28 am
It was reported that uggla put on all this muscle
Over the offseason. From what I’ve seen, javy lopez
Comes to mind, whenever someone puts on all
That muscle, their hitting is terrible. Any thoughts?
Joey
February 24th, 2012
9:34 am
“…burdened by the stress of a playoff race…”
*****************************************
Holy Cow! So, the Braves would rather has the bliss of a 4th place finish?
Sadly enough, some deer hunters on this team probably would . . .
Joey
February 24th, 2012
9:36 am
D-bo, maybe Uggla got those muscles from those “workouts” with Bibi?
Larry
February 24th, 2012
9:46 am
Yankees sign Raul Ibanez for $1.1 million. Left fielder who drove in 84 runs last year. After saying all winter they wanted an offensive upgrade in left field, why did the Braves pass on him.
George Stein
February 24th, 2012
9:49 am
I agree, DetroitBraves & AtlantaDude. The bullpen management was horrible last year by many teams, but especially the Braves. I’ll never understand why managers can’t just use their best relievers in the highest leverage situations, irrespective of inning. For example, if we’re playing Philadelphia and Utley, Victorino, Howard are coming up in the 9th inning in a one run game, it might make more sense to use Venters rather than Kimbrell in those situations. Fredi would rather run out Kimbrell, though, because he has to manage to the save metric.
George Stein
February 24th, 2012
9:52 am
Uh, because Ibanez can’t hit against lefties, had a .289 OBP, and is one of the worst fielding outfielders in the game, Larry. Also, RBI is a horrible metric by which to judge performance.
Sonny Clusters
February 24th, 2012
10:00 am
We thought of a few more questions . . . has anybody worked with Heyward on going back for a ball in the field like they have with his non-hitting? Is there a pretty good chance Chipper will have some toenail issues like he did a couple spring trainings ago? We remember when he had those painful ingrown toenails awhile back. That could be from wearing hunting boots all the time. Here’s one for Chipper . . . how many Mizuno logos will you be wearing at each at-bat this season? Is that up or down from last year? Who’s your daddy and what does he do? Will you be wearing more eye black this year after losing that high-hopper in the lights last year and costing the team a win and eventually missing the wild card by one game as a result? Does your deer tattoo look exactly like Adam LaRoche’s deer tattoo and did you two go in together to get them done? Will you be slinging the deerskin this year like we heard rumored or will you go with a more conventional glove? Does it matter?
Hillbilly D
February 24th, 2012
10:40 am
A person with a college degree making the 40 man roster?
Does it matter?
JoeFan
February 24th, 2012
11:05 am
Under current Braves ownership do you believe that the Braves will ever spend big to retain or obtain players or will they be content to growth players internally, trading or losing them to free agency as they expensive ? Given their track record of throwing millions at acquistions that didn’t produce, I can see why they would opt for the latter.
Sonny Clusters
February 24th, 2012
11:46 am
We was reading how painful Chipper’s sunburn is and how he winces when he puts on his shirt and swings the bat and we got to thinking . . . she really is a wus, isn’t she? If we was trying to remember all the reasons he sat out with little hurts and also for Lincecum and Halladay and a few others we might think Chipper is a big sissy with deer tattoos to make him look tough. Ask him if he was a mama’s boy growing up and if he has little feet sewed into his pajamas. This team needs a real leader and Chipper and Fredi looks to be what it’s got. Look for them to miss another wild card championship if something doesn’t change.
PMC
February 24th, 2012
12:33 pm
Will the temperature of the beer at Turner Field this year be cold as advertised or luke warm as usual?
Ryan
February 24th, 2012
12:36 pm
Jeff,
Can you ask John Schuerholz himself about the following statement that he made, released to fans in an open letter shortly after the Sept. collapse, and if he feels that his orgainization has “repaired its weaknesses?” Thanks.
From John Schuerholz, Oct. 6:
“However, our performance in the month of September was unacceptable to all in the organization, and we will evaluate and analyze our missteps to do all we can to prevent this from happening again. Our General Manager, Frank Wren, and his staff have already begun to evaluate our team and will be focusing throughout the off-season on building upon the strengths of this team and repairing our weaknesses to achieve our goal.”
Sonny Clusters
February 24th, 2012
12:44 pm
If we was the manager we’d never admit that Pastornicky might not have known he could report early and get some work in. We’d just tip our cap and be quiet.
GermanBravesFan
February 24th, 2012
1:12 pm
Sonny Clusters: you crack me up, dude! Here’s a good German beer to you!! We thinks you might like it…
Leon "Pooch-Kick" Trotsky
February 24th, 2012
1:43 pm
Jeff, you lucky, lucky dog! Have a great time at Islands of Adventure… err, I mean Spring Training.
LawDawg
February 24th, 2012
1:51 pm
If Heyward reaches his potential, we should be much improved even standing pat. It is hard to believe we will have as many injuries, that Uggla will start out so horribly, or that everyone on the team will hit prolonged slumps at the same time.
Last year was a nightmare of misfortunes, and the Braves still missed the playoffs by only one game. I, for one, am pretty confident about the team and I think the acquisitions made by the Marlins are overrated and the Nationals are definitely a year or two away from being a threat. The Mets may be the worst tea in the league.
Color me optimistic, I guess.
Jack in Macon
February 24th, 2012
2:05 pm
Jeff let me preface my question by first communicating my belief that Prado’s does not seem to attack the ball in the number 2 hole. I just don’t think that is the best place for him in the batting order. He often seems to slap at the pitch when Bourn is on first. So my question is; if Pastronicky shows by the all-star break that he is making good contact and not intimidated at the plate, please ask Fredi if he would consider moving up to the two slot giving us a lot of speed at the top of the lineup?
Stinger2
February 24th, 2012
2:05 pm
Notwithstanding his preceived wit by some on these blogs, Clusters act is beginning to become annoying to some Braves fans. His constant negative rantings about Chipper,Freddie and the team in general are sickening.
Go root for the Mets if you dont like the Braves Sonny Boy.
Chipper = Fat
February 24th, 2012
2:09 pm
How many times did Chipper visit an all you can eat buffet this off season? How many games to you think that he will miss due to injury? Which Brave is most likely to hit under .230 this season? Is there a ratio that corresponds to Uggla’s bicep size and an increased number of strikeouts? Why haven’t the Braves addressed any glaring holes in their roster at several positions? How many times a day does Freddi pray that he will still be employed by the all star break? Will Braves fans pay to come to Turner field to watch a sub-par product that will be lucky to win 70 games?
Chipper = Biggest Loser
February 24th, 2012
2:11 pm
How many cases of Moon Pie’s and gallons of Mountain Dew did Chipper consume this off season?
"Boss" Tweed
February 24th, 2012
2:13 pm
I wouldn’t pay a nickle for Chipper Jones or that sorry Manager Freddi Gonzalez. In my day I woulda sent them out of town on a rail, never to be seen again
Sonny Clusters
February 24th, 2012
2:16 pm
Stinger2, fans don’t have to be cheerleaders. You must be one of those “real fans” or maybe you are a “true fan”. It doesn’t matter much which you are. You go on and say “golly, gee whillikers” when you talk about them and we will just express our opinion on here like you do yours (or whoever thinks for you). Have a nice day and if you want us to root for the Mets you should know that a friend of ours played for them awhile back and we rooted for him just a little bit. We was thinking you might be challenged or in a special school so we hope we didn’t hurt your feelings.
Sonny Clusters
February 24th, 2012
2:24 pm
Chipper says he’s not fat nd that’s good enough for us. We don’t want to see him with his shirt off so he has nothing to prove to us. Some people get a little tender when we criticize Chipper but you have to remember that this season he’s going to shape those chin whiskers into a Mizzuno logo and anybody that would do that opens himself up for criticism. When we was little and playing ball at a championship level we would sometimes run into fans like Stinger2 and they would be wanting us to sign something for them and wanting us to date their daughters. True fans like that are sickening and they’re annoying to some fans and they should change teams.
DetroitBraves
February 24th, 2012
2:28 pm
@George Stein, have you seen the Fredi Gonzalez bullpen flowchart? Hopefully the link works.
http://i51.tinypic.com/wrb9jc.png
Ted M
February 24th, 2012
2:31 pm
Jeff – How out of shape does Chipper Jones look to you? He looked terribly out of shape to all of us.
Larry
February 24th, 2012
2:41 pm
My eternal gratitude to George Stein for the 411 on Raul Ibanez. 84 RBI’s – guys a bum! Enjoy another year with the dynamic 2nd rate duo of Prado/Diaz. The object is to score runs. Oh, and the question was for Jeff, you idiot.
DetroitBraves
February 24th, 2012
2:47 pm
While I happen to think Chipper has been a very good player, and is still a positive contributor on offense (at least he’s not allergic to walks like most of the Braves), I understand where Clusters is coming from, and I definitely appreciate their wit. As for Fredi, Clusters is spot on. He is amongst the worst managers currently employed. I don’t see why the Braves tolerate him and I certainly don’t see why we should cheer his incompetence. In fact, many real fans just want to see the club win so we feel we have the right to demand better.
DetroitBraves
February 24th, 2012
2:52 pm
@Larry, George Stein is correct on Ibanez. RBI are about as useless as you can get in evaluating hitter skill. Ibanez hit .245/.289/.419 in a hitter’s ballpark. He was an ungodly negative defender, a negative baserunner, and a below replacement level player. However, I’m willing to listen to why you think this type of player would make the Braves better. And I promise that no matter your argument I will not resort to calling you an idiot.
DetroitBraves
February 24th, 2012
2:58 pm
DOB, I appreciate you answering my question on Gilmartin, but the Braves are comparing him to Glavine? Seriously? Didn’t Glavine grade at plus-plus for both his change and his command? Or maybe the comparison ends at being able to repeat his delivery. Obviously there is value there, again with command but also in projecting long-term health. If the comparison goes beyond repeating the delivery that’s got to just be considered spin given they took a marginal prospect with a first round pick due to the low ticket price involved.
George Stein
February 24th, 2012
3:08 pm
That made me laugh, Detroit. I might print that out so I can follow along during games this summer.
TONY THE TIGER.......
February 24th, 2012
3:11 pm
Are all the Orlando chicks still in the $300 range ?????
George Stein
February 24th, 2012
3:13 pm
You didn’t address your question to anybody, Larry.
I did get a pretty good laugh out of someone that thinks RBI are a useful metric in evaluating player performance calling me an idiot, though. The irony is pretty good.
George Stein
February 24th, 2012
3:20 pm
One other thing, Larry. You are mostly correct that the object is to score runs; the other part is preventing them. Ibanez would have done nothing to contribute to either objective and likely would have put the team even further away from accomplishing the goals.
Felix
February 24th, 2012
3:25 pm
Jeff: You asked for questions…so where are your answers?
cowdogit
February 24th, 2012
3:42 pm
HEY JEFF” Any truth to the rumor,s that the GREAT WHITE HUNTER is going to have a bunny shoot at Turner Field this year ?
taylor
February 24th, 2012
3:51 pm
Jeff, ask Fredi why Medlen isn’t being considered for the last rotation spot?
Patrick
February 24th, 2012
3:56 pm
Jeff:
Here’s my question:
Are you going to answer any of the questions that you asked people to ask you so that you can answer them back?
A Father
February 24th, 2012
4:37 pm
Jeff: do you let T. Hanson drive while getting high???????
Sonny Clusters
February 24th, 2012
6:35 pm
We was wondering if you would ask Fredi what did he know and when did he know it? We aren’t sure he ever knew or knew he didn’t know but that’s just us.
SeATLite
February 24th, 2012
6:53 pm
Jeff, you might also have mentioned that the Braves got their team name from being owned at the time by a member of Boss Tweed’s Boston contingent (the Tammany Hall minions were often referred to as “braves” to Tweed’s chief).
History FTW!
mikeb
February 24th, 2012
8:44 pm
The Braves 2012 Broadcast Schedule posted on braves.com:schedule
shows only 8 of 162 games are scheduled to be telivised on FOX TV this year. I saw that WPCH was dropped from DISH recently because they wanted a huge increase to televise braves games in 2012.
What is the latest story ?
I’m not going to pay $ 100+ to see them on MLB TV network.
blazerdawg
February 24th, 2012
9:01 pm
Happy Birthday, The Atlanta Journal!
Stinger2
February 25th, 2012
7:16 am
George Stein: Why do you think RBI`s are not a useful or important stat in measuring player performance? Just Asking.
DetroitBraves
February 25th, 2012
9:55 am
I know I wasn’t asked but I don’t find RBI to be a useful metric either. I mean, if a #3 hitter hits .300/.400/.600 while the #1 and #2 hitters post a .400 OBP, given a decent sample size, it stands to reason that the #3 hitter will have more RBI than if the #1 and #2 hitters post a .300 OBP. However, the #3 hitter has the exact same skill set either way. He has no control over what the two hitters ahead of him do. Therefore, RBI are a context dependent stat. They can’t be used to evaluate the abilities of the #3 hitter.