The view from Philly: First-place Braves are nothing special
The "easy out" celebrates a home run -- against Philadelphia. (AJC photo by Jason Getz)
Bob Ford of the Philadelphia Inquirer still believes the road to the World Series runs through Philadelphia, and maybe it does. A check of the NL East standings, however, reveals that the regal Phillies are six games behind a team that Mr. Ford doesn’t regard as anything special.
Writes Ford:
The Braves are a nice team, really nice in some ways, but the notion that leapfrogging the Braves would require super-human effort is ridiculous. The Phillies, if they play as they can, have nothing to worry about, either from Atlanta or from their alleged co-rivals, the Mets.
Me, I’m a worrier by nature. Were I six games behind the Bad News Bears with 70 games remaining, I’d be getting antsy. More Ford:
The Braves are nothing like the team that so recently dominated the division. Those Atlanta teams were built on great starting staffs, just enough offense and some decent power production in the launching pads of Fulton County Stadium and Turner Field.
What do the Braves have now? Well, they have a [six]-game lead over the Phillies and they have a great player in second baseman Martin Prado and an ace starter in Tim Hudson. Beyond that, they have as many peaks and valleys as any other team …
Beyond Hudson, Atlanta’s staff includes talented young Jair Jurrjens who is just back from the disabled list and carrying around a 4.75 ERA. Kris Medlen had a good first half of the season, but he has just 15 career starts and how he will hold up is unknown. There is Derek Lowe, who won Sunday to go 10-8, but with another ERA over four runs per game. There is Tommy Hanson , also just above .500 and another ERA over four runs. Perhaps on a given day, with one given game to win, Tim Hudson would be a problem, but there isn’t much separating the starting staff from that of the Phillies.
To be fair, Mr. Ford does credit the Braves as having the better bullpen, though he wonders if, “with one game to save, you’d feel any more comfortable with [Billy] Wagner than with Brad Lidge. By the end of the season, the difference could be minuscule.” (Well, I suppose it could.)
And the Braves’ offense, which has outhit Philly’s .261 to .255 and ranks first in the National League in on-base percentage — the Phillies are 12th — is likewise seen as inconsequential. Writes Mr. Ford:
On offense, the Braves are 12th in the National League in slugging percentage. Among their players with enough at-bats to be eligible for league leadership, only Prado is hitting better than .270. Troy Glaus and Brian McCann, the all-star MVP, have decent power numbers, but they are also easy outs. Chipper Jones, the holdover from the previous era, is battling a hamstring injury and has been inconsistent at the plate.
I am now going to cite a first baseman’s on-base percentage. It is .366. I am now going to cite another first baseman’s on-base percentage. It is .357. The first first baseman is Glaus. The second is Ryan Howard. Easy out, eh?
I could do this back-and-forth all day, but I’ll leave that to you. (Why should I have all the fun?) I will close with Mr. Ford’s closing argument, such as it is:
If the Phils don’t go for it this year, hopefully it won’t be because they think Braves are a magical, uncatchable team. The Braves are fine, but they aren’t as good as the real Phillies, should the real Phillies choose to show themselves this season.
The only NL East team truly capable of keeping the Phils out of the postseason isn’t found in an opposing dugout but in the mirrors of their own clubhouse.
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360 comments Add your comment
Christopher Chance
July 20th, 2010
7:24 pm
Finally, McCann catches a throw from an outfielder that nails the runner at the plate, lol. (just kidding, although McCann has had a habit of either dropping throws or trying to do the swipe tag deal with securely catching the ball).
Nice throw by Cabrera.
Boatdoc
July 20th, 2010
7:31 pm
Obee – I thought the same thing. Mark, were you intending to chum the feeding grounds of the Great White?
frank james
July 20th, 2010
7:32 pm
You have to admire Eckstein. He is a winner. You have to feel good for him and his family who have had a rough time fighting kidney disease.
frank james
July 20th, 2010
7:34 pm
You can tell fans across the country are playing too many video games. Way to many homeruns and foul balls dropped. I saw a women hit on the head on ESPN highlights today.
Christopher Chance
July 20th, 2010
7:36 pm
Damn, it looks like Prado has something on his mind, distracting him from make 2 routine plays. 2 errors in 2 innings is very un-Prado like.
Then again, some people on here think that the Braves are winning because of stellar defensive play, lol.
Gerardo
July 20th, 2010
7:41 pm
At the bottom of the article there is a link to email Mr. Ford. I took the liberty to do so, and I’ll share it with you guys….
—-
Well Mr. Ford, after reading your article completely discounting the Braves as an actual threat to the Phillies, I must say I can only see it as maybe a way for you to fire up the troops or the fans. But for an accomplished writer such as yourself, your article had some serious holes. All I gathered from it is that you sure know how to pick your stats to highlight in order to make your team look superior to the one currently in first place. Troy Glaus may be an easy out, but he also has 3 home runs this season against your beloved Phillies and would have 5 if not for a couple of beautiful take-aways by Shane Victorino in center (hey look at that, at least one of us is giving credit where it’s due). And they weren’t just inconsequential solo shots, they were daggering blows that put you guys away. You mention that the Braves are 12th in the NL in slugging percentage. Way to find a stat we’re not excelling in, there’s not many to choose from. Did you not have access to see the league leaders in on-base percentage or runs scored? Cause we’re up near the top if not at the top in those two, and I think they’re more important than your precious slugging percentage. Not to mention we lead the world in walks. You mention that Jair Jurrjens has a 4.75 ERA, pretty much discounting him as nothing special. You do know he was hurt for two months and has less than 10 starts this season? Maybe you should instead have looked at his career numbers, which are far better, or at least looked at how he’s fared in the three starts since coming back from his injury. There’s one final very important stat you’re overlooking. The Braves have a six game lead on your third-place Phillies with roughly 70 games to play. I’d maybe start worrying if I were you and the city of Philadelphia. I sure hope for your sake that your hometown boys are as good in the second half at finding ways to win as you are at picking unimportant stats to try to discredit the Braves as a legitimate threat. We’ll see you in October. If you make it, that is.
Sincerely,
Gerardo Valdez
Feel free to share your thoughts, my email is bravesfan_18@yahoo.com
—-
I’d say we won that exchange, what do you think, Braves Country?
gayle
July 20th, 2010
7:47 pm
History can repeat itself. In 1993, the vaunted Braves finished first in the western division with 104 wins and proceeded to fall flat on their faces and lose to an inferior Phillies team in the first round of the playoffs. Sound familiar, Braves fans? Perhaps Mr. Ford knows of what he speaks.
jeff
July 20th, 2010
7:54 pm
GO BRAVES!!! PHILLYS SUCK!
TheAntiMe
July 20th, 2010
7:56 pm
Bob Ford says that because he is a homer and if he says anything different then all the Philadelphia Inquirer readers will make fun of him and say mean things to him.
TheAntiMe
July 20th, 2010
8:15 pm
It’s kind of like when we were kids on the playground. After the game there was always one kid on the other team that we beat who would always say, “We would have beaten you but we just let you win, that’s all!”
Bob Ford is that whiney little kid that just let us win.
BullDawgMike
July 20th, 2010
8:16 pm
Hey Bob, who besides Chase Utley , scares anyone? The real Phillies? If they were for real this year, they wouldn’t be in third place hanging on by their toenails.
extremus
July 20th, 2010
8:16 pm
Nothing like a journalist to try to stoke a fire between ballclubs during a season. Not that Mr. Ford’s observations don’t have merit, but baseball involves many, many intangibles that simply go beyond the numbers. Some of these include the timeliness of the hitting, player effort and morale, team chemistry, and just plain dumb luck. The Braves have had all of these in spades this season. While the Phillies may well be the favorite to win the division and certainly few people would call a six game lead at this point insurmountable, there is one more intangible Ford didn’t mention: that the Braves are going to fight tooth and nail to win a World Series in the final year of two and perhaps three Hall of Fame careers (Cox, Jones, Wagner).
As I recall, the Los Angeles Dodgers kind of dismissed the Braves (along with A LOT of other folks) about this time through the 1991 season. Just a thought.
It’s our year.
Dennis G. Berdanis
July 20th, 2010
8:45 pm
I’d be happy reading every year how we won the division but weren’t really better than the Phillies.
Jeff T
July 20th, 2010
8:48 pm
I live just north of Philly and I read his column this morning. Wondered if it would make it to Alanta and if so, how quickly. Wow! That was quick. Plus all the fan comments! As a Braves fan since the late 50s (Milwaukee for those too young to know) but growing up in the Philly area, I have have come to like the Phils but the Braves will always be my team. I generally enjoy Ford but I just laughed at this column. He is doing his job I realize, but it actually shows me how much he worries about us that he felt he had to write this this morning. Go Braves!
Boatdoc
July 20th, 2010
8:52 pm
FanTAStic to see Heyward 2 for 3 so far with a double. Diaz is Glaus-in-May hot. There are WAY too many hitters who can hurt you in this lineup for the Braves to cool completely off. If the Braves stay anywhere CLOSE to this hot I’d like to see the Phillies make up that 6 game lead. The last couple of days the Phillies have looked anemic in Chicago. They lost 3 of 4, including Halladay giving up a crooked number to the Cubs en route to an 11-6 loss. They “rebounded” with an 8-4 loss to the Cards yesterday.
We’re scared.
Boatdoc – Occasional Employer of Sarcasm
jojatek
July 20th, 2010
9:48 pm
Are those the same Phillies who are dumping another game tonight? LOL
Todd
July 20th, 2010
9:49 pm
Wonder what ford thinks now. Moron
tony reynolds
July 20th, 2010
9:57 pm
well what are the phils waiting on then?
It's a shame what he did to that dog
July 20th, 2010
10:04 pm
Philly down 6-0. Someone should inform that Philly hack to shut his damn mouth. He should write about things he’s familiar with like cheese steaks and fat people who attend Eagles football games.
MitchC
July 20th, 2010
10:04 pm
Mark, I dont want to be cynical, but I have to ask you something: Did you post that article to : A. Be a good journalist, and print the truth? B. Rile us Braves fans up, to hate Philly even more than we already do? C. Did you post it, because you partially agree with the writer in Philly, and aren’t sold on this Braves team yet, or.. D. All of the above? I’m not trying to get too complex here, but I think you understand my point, Mr Bradley.
Here’s the thing: You were the guy at the beginning of the season that said: “Bah humbug, third place, at best”. With this team possibly 6-1-2 games up in late July, they are making every skeptic eat their words.
I’m just wondering if there was intent, if any, behind you posting this, and if so, what was it?
jojatek
July 20th, 2010
10:09 pm
The Phillies are done, and everyone who knows baseball has known that for several weeks, if not months. The Mets may catch us as they get healthier, but doubtful. It’s the Braves to lose this season, which is great news for Cox in his final season (and remarkable given their record poor start to the season…). Go Braves!
TheAntiMe
July 20th, 2010
10:11 pm
I guess that Ford’s Phillies are just laying back so that the Braves will get overconfident and then the Phillies will just blow right by the Braves in September.
It looks like his plan is working as the Phillies are down 6 – 1 in the 7th to the Cards. I guess they’re going to let the Braves go up to 7 games ahead to make it look good. Yeah, Ford’s plan seems to be working to perfection.
E.Lo
July 20th, 2010
10:16 pm
The Braves biggest advantage is chemistrey. As far as I know, no player on the Braves is banging another player’s wife. Yes, I’m talking to you Jason Werth. Chase Utley will have to put a leash on his wife if the Filthies have a chance to get back in to it.
Dawg Whisperer
July 20th, 2010
10:17 pm
Maybe, Mr. Ford is the one sporting the Philly fanatic mascot suit. All fanatic, no reality. Right now, the Phillies can’t beat a retreat, let alone the Braves.
NickGranite
July 20th, 2010
10:17 pm
Hey Ford, Jurrjens is now 3-0 with a 2.19 ERA in his 4 starts since returning from the DL and Heyward is fully loaded. It’s more than that mirror in your philthy clubhouse wall that;s going to beat you.
Michael C
July 20th, 2010
10:21 pm
What I don’t get about his drivel — er, uh, um — his article is his reference to the “real Phillies.” If the “real Phillies” magically appear, then they have nothing to worry about. Indeed. What’s the definition of “real?” What he wishes the team to be? Well, then if my “real Braves” show up, they will include Warren Spahn, Phil Niekro, Henry Aaron, Dale Murphy and several Cy Young Award winners from the mid-90s. (And Steve Avery, my sentimental favorite.)
My REAL BRAVES can beat the bad-ass Yankees.
What a bunch of crap. I swear he must not have had anything to write about.
GtAllTheWay
July 20th, 2010
10:25 pm
Turner Field a launching pad?
Delbert D.
July 20th, 2010
10:43 pm
Mark, I can’t wait for your complementary article for the Inquirer. In spades. Stick it and twist.
What garbage coming out of my former favorite newspaper. Oh, well; they were the days of Schmidt, Luzinski, Carlton, Maddox, Bowa and Boone, and I left them behind on Dec. 31, 1979. Go Braves!!
Mark Bradley
July 20th, 2010
10:46 pm
Delbert, I usually don’t get into that back-and-forth thing with other cities and other teams. Cleveland was an exception in the NBA playoffs last year. And I’m on record as not being fond of Birmingham. But that’s about it.
Oregon Brave
July 20th, 2010
10:57 pm
Michael C. I like your REAL BRAVES. Do you have Eddie Mathews on that team?
Cosmo
July 20th, 2010
10:59 pm
Make that 7 games behind. In 3rd place. So if the playoffs began to day they would be….at home. ‘nuf said.
wiley
July 20th, 2010
11:00 pm
The Phillies have looked terrible this year…are they really that naive? Sometimes…talent doesn’t mean much…giving up Cliff Lee was very stupid also. The braves have little star power when compared to them but our players are having great years and getting clutch hits. If this trend continues…the braves may have the east locked up by mid August.
SuperB
July 20th, 2010
11:04 pm
Mr. Ford: I’m not sure the Phillies could beat the Bad News Bears right now. Not if Kelly Leak is on a hitting tear and Amanda has her curve working.
alan
July 20th, 2010
11:11 pm
This guy’s an arrogant idiot – typical northeastern bias. I have a word (actually an acronym) for people like this: HUHA, which stands for “head up his a$$”. He really should step away from the computer for a few minutes and get some perspective on what he wrote and why he wrote it. I remember some famous last words from 1991, when the Braves were about 8 1/2 games behind the Dodgers in July, something to the effect of “we’re not worried about the Braves”. The words belonged to Darryl Strawberry, and were probably said by everyone on that team, including Tommy Lasorda.
I think Mr. Ford and Philly fans and the team should be afraid of this year’s Braves as well. It’s amazing that, given our lead, the fact the we took two out of three from them before the All Star break, and the fact they’ve played so poorly since then, that they are not just a little bit worried. They should be careful about underestimating anyone in this division except for the Nationals, and truly they should never just think they can throw their gloves out onto the field and expect to beat them.
A little humility is called for, but hey, it’s Philadelphia – you’re never gonna get them to admit that anyone or any team from the south could ever be better than them – they just don’t have it in them.
James
July 20th, 2010
11:17 pm
Let’s Go Braves!
coach smith
July 20th, 2010
11:17 pm
Somebody let Mr. Ford know that the Philthies are now SEVEN GAMES BEHIND
Baldemar Huerta
July 20th, 2010
11:19 pm
Nobody keeps stats for “hit at the right time”. That is what is going on with the braves, producing when the situation warrants, unlike the disaster in April. But in true Braves fashion, I predict backing into the playoffs with a loss on the last day of the season and out in 3 against the WC.
Chip Caray's Eyebrows
July 20th, 2010
11:19 pm
What an idiot! I mean wow. The Lidge/Wagner thing was the most complete homer/garbage I have ever heard. I think most Philly fans don’t even believe that pile of crap Mr. Ford called an article. It’s one thing to say the Braves can be caught, sure they can, but to sit there and tear them down phase by phase saying the Almighty Phillies are better, irresponsible in my book, and bad journalism. Most of all, it is simply wrong on most accounts.
thunderbull56
July 20th, 2010
11:25 pm
Get to twenty games over ,500,get team batting avg. up to .270, team era under 4 prefer .360 or lower.Check old World Almanacs and every team that won had similar stats.In other words, as long as the Braves play .600 or better ball, good luck Phillie.And these guys have it in them.
Tom
July 20th, 2010
11:25 pm
Unfortunately, Bob Ford is right- at least as far as he goes. The baseball players on the Phillies are better than the baseball players on the Braves. What does that mean? Perhaps nothing. I’ll have to admit I was wrong about this group of Braves. I thought they were destined for a 5th-6th place finish. What is going on? Bobby’s last season? Our GM is suddenly a genius? There actually is a bb god? Law of averages? I don’t know, and I really don’t care. All I know is that I’m enjoying the *ell out of it! My only hope is that the braintrust realizes that something special is going on, whatever it is, that it won’t necessarily last, that they have very little to do with whatever it is, and take some steps now to take advantage of the situation and their incredible good luck, and try to keep it going. Translated, lets close the gap on natural talent between our Braves and some of the other more talented teams, and keep the magic going!!! Go Braves!
moldavite
July 20th, 2010
11:29 pm
NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE, BUT THE BRAVES ARE GOING TO WIN THEIR DIVISION EASILY. STARTING PITCHING WILL WIN IT FOR THEM
Zach
July 20th, 2010
11:31 pm
Bold comments from a blogger whose team is 7 games back and in 3rd place in its own division.
I’ve never heard turner field called a launching pad.
scottbravesfan
July 20th, 2010
11:54 pm
The Phillies are done and now are in panic mode. I like how this douche bag who wrote the article said that Glaus and McCann are easy outs? Easy outs? Brian McCann’s on base percentage is .381. What the hell is that guy talking about?
Tripple Lindy
July 21st, 2010
12:00 am
I was driving through south jersey this afternoon and picked up Philly’s FM sports station. And the way that station spoke of the braves was completely different. That city knows theyre doomed and is royally pissed about how the phillies havent shown up this year. They’re looking for a big trade to bring their starting rotation up to the braves level but know they can’t compete with the yanks (looking for help now that pettite is down) on the trading block. And to top it off Jason Werth was seen partying at a casino in St Louis until 4am the in between 2 losses. They want to hang the guy.
just went to the game
July 21st, 2010
12:02 am
The idiot that wrote this will be eating his words come October when the Philthies are at home crying into their cheese steaks and the Braves are popping the corks of Championship champagne.
just went to the game
July 21st, 2010
12:03 am
By the way, I heard somewhere that they use Cristal for World Series celebrations. Anyone know if that’s true?
Dawg'88
July 21st, 2010
12:09 am
Next time do your homework. Braves lead the league in OBP. 2nd Best Bullpen ERA in NL.
Besides Howard’s numbers (inflated in little CB Park), the Phillies are nothing special offensively.
Brian McCann a 5 time All Star an easy out? He strikes out less than the majority of the Phils lineup….and as your own manager says…he kills the Phillies.
Hudson’s 5 losses? (3 of them are when he gave up 2 runs or less) so he is an Ace to carry you as much as Halladay with his 6 losses and getting blasted the day of your article (good timing…slam Hudson and speak glowingly about RH before he gets trashed by the awful Cubs lineup. Jurrgens with a 4.75 ERA doesn’t tell the whole tale…get some facts for a change. He was injured at the beginning of the year and finally went on the DL. But if you take away only one start (vs SD…8 er)…he has a 2.99 ERA for the rest of his starts and since coming off of the DL is 3-0 with a 2.39 ERA. One of those was against your vaunted lineup that is so much better in your bandbox of a park. Besides Halladay who are your great consistent starters…Blanton, Kendrick, Hamels (Braves lit him up last time facing him), Moyer(Braves lit him up last time as well)…. you’re going to rely on those guys..LOL! Good luck!
Tommy Hanson has had just 3 bad starts to inflate his ERA but other than that has been dominant. Who would I want Wagner or Lidge? You mean the same Lidge that blew 7-8 games in 2009 and got replaced as closer. Or the one that is still seeing a Pujlos home run rising and disappearing in Houston. Wagner has not even issued a walk in his past 19 innings or so. The Braves are 45-1 when leading after the 7th inning. That’s unheard of to lead that early and still win..the ATL is heads above Philly’s. You had better start worrying about even making the playoffs as a wild card because you are now even trailing there by 3 games behind an always 2nd half hot team in Colorado.
The teams you compared are on paper. You don’t play the season on paper. Its why you actually play the games. And don’t hit me with the injury excuse. Jurrgens missed 3 months, Chipper is in and out of the lineup, Glaus has had a bad knee for weeks now and is limping each day…McClouth is still out and lefty killer Matty Diaz missed 2 months. The difference our guys didn’t make excuses or sit around waiting for all to be healthy…the backups went out there and did the job….your didn’t. One of our backups even earned an All Star bid for his play…Omar Infante. Even your manager is more respectful of the Braves.
The Braves are the better TEAM this year….period! No excuses. The Braves have won 5 of the last 6 vs Philly…nuff said. This article just gave a motivated, chemistry driven TEAM more ammunition to stick it to you guys…THANKS! BTW….you’re 7 games out now with only 69 to play. The countdown has begun. If the Philies and people like you don’t start respecting the Braves for what they are and can do…you’re going to be sorry. And a long offseason will begin soon. Maybe thats the problem…you don’t respect us! don’t hold your breath waiting for us to fall….too many vets and young exciting players on this team to let the Phillies win anything!
Your 2-3 years of winning are over…time for the real division champion to take it back over!
Dawg'88
July 21st, 2010
12:09 am
I sent the above message as an email directly to Bob Ford.
Dawg'88
July 21st, 2010
12:10 am
Sent the above email to Ford.
lfp6
July 21st, 2010
12:14 am
301st.
Yeah, almighty Philly…..if those goombas hadnt traded lee, they wouldnt be in the pickle they are in now.
And we may not need to make a trade, with Diaz hitting so well….but thats just me.