Live from the Braves’ game, not long after a really tough loss
Jerry Hairston Jr. slides home with the equalizer last night. (AJC photo by Curtis Compton)
A few words about, er, me: For nearly two decades I expected the Braves to win every game — even though I knew they wouldn’t, I still expected it — because for nearly two decades they did nothing but win. Then they stopped winning, and gradually I came to expect less.
But over the past two months I’ve been geeting that feeling once more: That a Braves’ victory is something close to inevitable, that they’re going to figure out a way to win even if you’re never sure just how they’re managing it. And I operated, as you blog and Twitter folks well know, on that assumption last night. And the Braves …
Well, they didn’t win.
They blew a ninth-inning lead for only the second time this season. Billy Wagner failed to close a game for only the second time in almost two months. They messed around a while longer before losing in the 12th inning. It didn’t hurt the Braves in the standings — the Mets and Phils both lost again — but it served as a nice little reminder. (At least for me.)
This is baseball. Nothing is inevitable.
And on that semi-sobering note, I open the floor again for questions, comments and other metaphysical garbage. And yes, before you even ask, it’s hot at the ol’ ballyard today. Too hot. We need a roof. Somebody get Arthur Blank on it, will you?
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540 comments Add your comment
Donny Corleone
July 22nd, 2010
4:01 pm
Hah!
Mark Bradley
July 22nd, 2010
4:01 pm
Braves win.
Brandon
July 22nd, 2010
4:01 pm
Great job today bravos!!!
Batman bin Suparman
July 22nd, 2010
4:01 pm
Great win before the storm moved in (it’s raining elsewhere in the metro).
Mark Bradley
July 22nd, 2010
4:02 pm
Thanks, Sonny. Couldn’t have done it without you.
Ashley
July 22nd, 2010
4:02 pm
Yay for Sea Bass!
Sutton's Fro
July 22nd, 2010
4:02 pm
I wasn’t accusing you, MB. I know you’re just passing along what you think the Bravesd are up to. I’m just wondering why the Braves haven’t caught on that they mis-read McLouth’s potential?
Or is this one of those attempts to get Nate on a long enough hot streak to garner some trade value for him?
Mark Bradley
July 22nd, 2010
4:02 pm
Headed downstairs. I’ll be back in a bit.
urm
July 22nd, 2010
4:02 pm
saaaaaaaaaaaweeeeeeeeeeeeet another series!
deb
July 22nd, 2010
4:03 pm
Redd, thanks again for the ESPN Gamecast tip. I’ll listen to it on MLB and watch the cartoons on gamecast.
ReddJonn68
July 22nd, 2010
4:03 pm
What did Wren expect from McLouth wasn’t he barely a .250 lifetime leadoff man ? I mean duh.
Shane
July 22nd, 2010
4:03 pm
Shane, it worked for Norton all last year.
Not because Bobby wanted it that way. Thats the point. Im sure if he had another option he would have used it.
People complained about Norton last year and I can remember thinking ” Do they think he has Ryan Braun over there and just isnt using him ”
There are only 13 or so positional guys on any one roster. If you are on it you are going to have to play.
Matt
July 22nd, 2010
4:03 pm
Ohhhh….snap to MB on the diss of Kawakami!!
Donny Corleone
July 22nd, 2010
4:04 pm
Okay Shane. I was so wrong.
Katherine
July 22nd, 2010
4:05 pm
Great win ! Have a good day everyone
Mike
July 22nd, 2010
4:06 pm
When does O’Flaherty come off the disabled list?
Anybody know?
NCBravesFan
July 22nd, 2010
4:08 pm
Well, it doesn’t look like the Braves gave up a heck of a lot to get Nate. Morton, Hernandez and Locke aren’t exactly setting the world on fire either.
Jeremy Harrison
July 22nd, 2010
4:09 pm
Hey Mark,
What is going on with Freddy Gonzalez?
J-Smoove
July 22nd, 2010
4:11 pm
I’m one that hates to say it’s over…. but go ahead and hang another division banner in left field today! The Phillies once again can’t put any runs on the board and are tied with the Cards 0-0 in the 8th. The Mets are in LA tonight finishing up their west coast swing. The Braves could easily be up by 8 or 9 games come the end of the week.
blue
July 22nd, 2010
4:13 pm
For all of you ‘experts’ chiming in on the Escobar/Gonzales trade; Today Gonzales was 4-5, 3 RBI…his BA is .370 with OBP over .400. Escobar was NOT doing that here…doesn’t matter what he is doing in Canada! You don’t evaluate a trade in a day or a week! If so, then I choose today as the evaluation point and Braves win.
J-Smoove
July 22nd, 2010
4:14 pm
Braves get the Marlins this weekend and we miss Josh Johnson. Bravos will have to face Strasburg in Washington. Bravos are looking good and the Phils and Mets continue to struggle. The division lead could swell to 9 or more games by the end of the week! GO BRAVOS!!!!!
BC
July 22nd, 2010
4:17 pm
I tell you what, after that loss last night I didn’t think the Braves would come back as strong today as they did. I thought the momentum would be solely on the Padres side. Great game and win by the Bravos.
Sutton's Fro
July 22nd, 2010
4:21 pm
Mike,
Bobby Cox said during yesterday’s pregame that O’Flaherty isn’t doing well at all. He can hardly get off the couch without feeling like he has to lie back down. Docs think hell be OK, but recovery may take awhile.
912 Dawg
July 22nd, 2010
4:30 pm
Looks like the Braves will make a trade. Seeing as how Hinske could miss a few games and McPopUp is constantly getting out!
BoroBall3
July 22nd, 2010
4:32 pm
Time to start thinking of calling up Gary Lee Hyde from AAA Gwinnett… he’s on the 40-man roster and can be a good LH specialist out of the pen
ReddJonn68
July 22nd, 2010
4:39 pm
Hey Mark speaking of call-ups, I know we hit the jackpot with J-Hey. Do we have anything down on the farm ( pitching or otherwise ) that we Braves fans should be excited about in the near future ???
Mark Bradley
July 22nd, 2010
4:41 pm
Freddie Freeman (1B) and Julio Terehan (P) are the big names, ReddJonn68. But they’re not yet ready.
Mark Bradley
July 22nd, 2010
4:41 pm
Writing a little column now, ladies and gents: 5 (or 6) reasons the Braves won’t blow this division lead.
Skeezix
July 22nd, 2010
4:41 pm
Please no one mention Kolb again—It gives me nightmares.
papadawg
July 22nd, 2010
4:45 pm
MB I can give you two good reasons. Right now thw Mets & Phillies SUCK
GTSteve
July 22nd, 2010
4:48 pm
@papadawg….and it breaks my heart…….lol
ReddJonn68
July 22nd, 2010
4:50 pm
Thanks for the scoop, I’ll be tracking these guys from now on.
Skeezix
July 22nd, 2010
4:55 pm
I never did understand why Wren got McLouth. The “sales pitch” at the time of the deal was that he’d add much needed power to the line up. Huh?? I never bought that one. It was painful enough last year having to suffer with Norton’s pathetic at bats (can’t believe it, but I heard Norton was a hitting coach somewhere)…….now we have to suffer watching Nate’s dinky pop ups.
supa
July 22nd, 2010
5:03 pm
Hey Mark,
Here’s another reason. This is a “pick-me-up” team. It always seems that 2 or 3 players are hot when 2 or 3 others are struggling. Now it seems that Heyward, Diaz, and Chipper are coming around while Prado, Glaus, and Hinske are struggling. It’s happened all year. This team has that inate ability to pick each other up. I think it starts with good chemistry in the clubhouse.
john galt
July 22nd, 2010
5:05 pm
19 seasons ago, I remember that when the Bravos were playing I would find a way to get the score. There was that excitement from seeing how the Braves were doing, wondering “did they win last night”, and knowing that we were seeing something special. I was doing business in LA when we were just killing it in September, and being proud to talk up ‘My Braves” to the Dodgers fans there. I was getting ready to board the red-eye and thining I might be landing at Hartsfield in time to see the WS champions come home after Game 6 (and then when Kirby hit that homer). I REMEMBER Braves baseball finally mattering to me.
Well, maybe we are not coming off quite such a run of bad seasons as we were that summer of ‘91, but I am again turning on the radio, opening up the newspaper and/or (now) logging onto the ‘Net just to see how Bobby’s boys did. Will we make it past October 3rd? Will we still be playing in (huh?) November? I don’t know. I DO care, and that is all that matters.
Bob Gibson
July 22nd, 2010
5:10 pm
Bobby/Frank: Next time you play the Brewers hire me for one game. I’d like to deliver a message to Mr. Fielder.
GTSteve
July 22nd, 2010
5:13 pm
and Mark, we all know that if the Braves do blow this lead, it will be your fault for picking them to win….
simply said
July 22nd, 2010
5:40 pm
5 or 6 reasons ?
Pitching
Team Chemistry
Deep Bench
Strong 2nd half by JHey & Others
The Bobby Cox/Chipper factor
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July 22nd, 2010
7:29 pm
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ben
July 23rd, 2010
11:50 pm
Tough loss tonight.