Anybody know any words? Regarding these Braves, I’m out
Even the stoic skipper is getting carried away now. (AJC photo by Curtis Compton)
I get paid — way too much, but don’t tell anybody — to write about sports. I’d like to think I know a few words. Regarding the Braves, I’m fresh out. And we’re still two weeks from September.
I realized this last week when I used “otherwordly” to describe this team, “otherworldly” being one of those words you trot out when you can think of nothing else. (It sounds OK, but really: What does it mean? That the Braves are alien beings?) This after four months of tossing around “unlikely” and “improbable” and “outrageous” and suchlike.
And then we arrived at last night’s ending, which came as both a shock and no shock at all. They’d thrown away another game, only they hadn’t thrown it far enough to lose. And sometimes you just have to concede the point: Something is happening here that defies mere words.
Unfortunately, words are all we have on these posts and in the daily paper. And when my word-slinging capacity has gotten overheated, I try to let someone else do the talking. In this case: Chipper Jones.
“We’ve got ballplayers on this club,” he said Friday, “with some heart and some guts.” Also: “This team has a chance to do something really special, and deep down in my heart I feel they’re going to do it.”
Chipper Jones got hurt last Tuesday. The Braves won that game in their final at-bat. They won the next day in their final at-bat. They won Friday’s game 1-0. They won Sunday’s game 13-1. They won last night in their final at-bat. In sum, they’ve lost once without Chipper, and surely some among us feared they’d never win again without No. 10.
No, it doesn’t make sense. But it is somehow the truth. We could call it “improbable” for the 715th time and leave it at that, or we could try real hard to come up with a fresher description. Or we could just sit back and ride the whirlwind.
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116 comments Add your comment
BRAVO TACO
August 17th, 2010
9:48 am
first!
Calvin
August 17th, 2010
9:51 am
I’ll never understand the fascination of proclaiming “first” on a blog by the gentlemen(and lady) here….
Calvin
August 17th, 2010
9:53 am
At any rate, I completely agree with you Mr. Bradley. These Braves seem to love the cardiac wins…..Quite exciting…
Fred
August 17th, 2010
9:56 am
Maybe the word is just plain lucky. I hope not, but lady luck would be as good an explanation as any for this.
Rimfire
August 17th, 2010
9:56 am
Ride, baby ride!
DawginLex
August 17th, 2010
9:57 am
Hypnotized?
classy
gutsy
high character
cohesive
Exciting
Making us proud
Hustlers
refuse to lose
Herschel Talker
August 17th, 2010
9:58 am
MB:
How about plucky?
HT
nice
August 17th, 2010
10:00 am
I prefer SUPERCALIFRAGILISTICEXPIALIDOCIOUS!!!!!!!!!
ormewood
August 17th, 2010
10:00 am
ballers
steve whitmire
August 17th, 2010
10:02 am
another great post Mr. Bradley. This year’s Braves team is what sports is all about. You read about all the overpriced players, the scandals, steroids, some relief pitcher beating up his father in law, etc. but then a team catches your imagination like this one has and it’s all there again, the excitement, the fun, the team spirit, all the things that attracted you to sports in the first place, in other words, GO BRAVES! can’t wait to view the next chapter, I live in Charleston, s.c. so I can’t get to the ball park easily otherwise I’d be there a lot this year.
Scott W.
August 17th, 2010
10:02 am
Fantasticallyexicitable
lanier
August 17th, 2010
10:03 am
still need another bat especially if they get to the postseason.
dont look now but Yunel is hitting .308 according to Toronto’s website Ouch way to go TP
PMC
August 17th, 2010
10:03 am
Just Win Baby.
By any means possible.
Bubba Earl
August 17th, 2010
10:05 am
It’s why we all love sports. Sometimes teams just find ways to win and after a while they assume they can always pull it out. It starts to snowball and the next thing you know, they are doing it in the playoffs. And how ’bout them Dodgers? They are in a tailspin, aren’t they?
MitchC
August 17th, 2010
10:06 am
Mark, my suggestion to you, my friend, is just to sit back, watch every night, and write as honestly as you can, every game. I’m not a soothsayer, and I dont want to get arrogant, as I know we haven’t won anything yet, but, a little voice inside me, has been saying that the sportswriters of the AJC, and the fans, might be writing the ultimate comments, after a Braves World Series win this October.
Ross
August 17th, 2010
10:08 am
Humpbacked and crooked. Gnarly. Aqualungers. Badgerish. Pugnosed. Cauliflower defense. The latter has to stop – alas Brooks Conrad is no Robinson, gotta get Prado over there ASAP.
Bama Aaron
August 17th, 2010
10:11 am
How about Flabbergasting?
Ross
August 17th, 2010
10:12 am
The Braves do NOT need “another bat” – God I HATE that phrase. They need plate discipline and good defense. Every time I see McCann try to kill the ball with his too-large bat that ends up conking some codger in section 123, I wince (as does said codger). If McCann could get his head together long enough to just put the bat on the ball and not swing for the fences in Cincinnati, not to say Atlanta, our regular offensive production would go WAY up. The Braves’ offense would be just fine if they showed the same plate discipline in innings 1-6 that they do from 7 onward.
John
August 17th, 2010
10:13 am
I applaud the use of “715″ as your arbitrary large number in the final paragraph. Good vibes.
CECIL UPSHAW
August 17th, 2010
10:13 am
I’D RATHER BE LUCKY THAN GOOD BUT SOONER OR LATER LUCK WILL RUN OUT!! HOPEFULLY NOT UNTIL AFTER THE W.S.!!
Plate Appearance
August 17th, 2010
10:14 am
Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!!
Brent
August 17th, 2010
10:15 am
715th…I see what you did there.
DawginLex
August 17th, 2010
10:16 am
This year equals out and offsets the following;
Darrell chaney
Buzz Capra
Biff Pocoroba
Andy Messersmith
Trading Brett Butler
CSpin
August 17th, 2010
10:16 am
How about ‘WTF’?
Hobbs
August 17th, 2010
10:17 am
Calvin, you have to just go with it. “Blogfirst” is a mentality, an entity unto itself. If it has to be explained, well, you know the saying…plus getting a ‘Kudos’ from the writer is probably the cheapest thrill available these days.
I watched the game in a sports bar last night, and the vibe is starting to approach ‘91-’93 levels. In ‘93 my wife found a recipe for “Steve Avery Cabbage Rolls”. We need something new for this team, how about “Melky Cabrera Fish Tacos”?
Katherine
August 17th, 2010
10:18 am
Two words come to mind.. tortuous and extraordinary.
Don
August 17th, 2010
10:19 am
“Anybody know any words regarding the Braves”
Yes — ABSURD – relating to Bobby Cox continuing to play Glaus on and on and on with him not producing – INSTEAD of giving Freeman a chance – even for a few games – to see what he could do.
Who knows – he might not hit – but he might get hot and help carry the Braves for the remainder of the season or at least until pitchers adjust to him.
Point is – with Glaus not producing, it is absurd not to give Freeman a try – even if it is just for a few games to see what happens.
And even more absurd, he keeps hitting him in the fourth or fifth spot in the batting order.
Same Cox procedure — For needed changes that are absolutely obvious to most everyone, it takes Cox weeks, sometimes months, sometimes never.
There is no telling how many losses this approach by Cox relating to different situations has already cost the Braves this season.
wxwax
August 17th, 2010
10:19 am
No guarantee that they’ll make the post-season. But it sure is a fun regular season, so far. Nice, patient at-bats in the 9th.
However, if you’re a Dodger fan, you look at this differently.
The Braves didn’t win this game. The Dodgers bullpen blew it. And frankly, that’s the truth. Walking the bases loaded and walking in the first run of the 9th is more about failed pitching than it is successful hitting.
Ted M
August 17th, 2010
10:19 am
How about “playing with fire”…with considerations to both its positive and negative meaning.
Mr-Ed
August 17th, 2010
10:20 am
How about FIRST….and in IT to win IT
Bud
August 17th, 2010
10:22 am
I have been begging the Braves to fire T.P.all season,but don’t you dare blame Escobar’s problem on T.P.,his problem is between his ears,the talent was always there,the trade just made him start trying,plain and simple.
clay
August 17th, 2010
10:22 am
Please people quit yelling out Freeman’s name. He will be called up but its not going to be until the september call ups. Then he will get his reps.
wxwax
August 17th, 2010
10:23 am
Funny comments.
So many people here are critical of the Braves and Cox, even after an inspiring win.
Imagine what the Dodger fans must be saying. After all, their team actually made the mistakes that lost the ball game.
Judging by the comments here, it was a fight between two bad teams and two deluded managers to see who’d lose!
DawginLex
August 17th, 2010
10:23 am
I disagree Don. How about considering the number of games Bobby won by remaining loyal to a player who earned the starting job and didn’t panic and start calling up unproven rookies to try and hold off the 2 time defending National League champions?
Don
August 17th, 2010
10:26 am
The Braves have two big problems:
(1) Bobby Cox is still the manager,
(2) And there ain’t no cure for stupid.
wxwax
August 17th, 2010
10:27 am
If you’re going to be critical of the Braves, talk about the defense, not the hitting or the pitching.
Defense should be a constant.
But lately, the Braves have made huge errors that either cost them games, or should have cost them games (like last night.)
They won’t win anything if they keep that up.
Luther
August 17th, 2010
10:27 am
You walk into the room
with your pencil in hand
You see somebody naked
and you say “who is that man?”
You try so hard
But you don’t understand
just what you’ll say when you get home
Because something is happening here
But you don’t know what it is
Do you, Mr. Bradley.
Sonny Clusters
August 17th, 2010
10:28 am
Clusters-like. We was always that way. We was at the game last night and we can say that the rain took its toll on the field and Conrad got some tough bounces at third base. The sense of the crowd was “get the Glaus bat over with” and see if somebody (likely not Ankiel) could pick things up. The double play Glaus hit into had some in the crowd muttering, but not this Clusters. We was confident that the Braves could overcome Glaus in the lineup. We was reminded of a fella we used to play ball with named, Leonard “Straight Leg” Abercrombie. Straight Leg Abercrombie ran just like Glaus and he couldn’t bend over, either. But that’s not why we called him “Straight Leg”.
All I'm Saying Is...
August 17th, 2010
10:28 am
True Grit.
LET’S GO BRAVES!
wintervilledawg
August 17th, 2010
10:29 am
Nice 715 reference!
Tweets that mention Anybody know any words? Regarding these Braves, I'm out | Mark Bradley -- Topsy.com
August 17th, 2010
10:30 am
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Mark Bradley and mmixon, Michael Watkins. Michael Watkins said: At Will. Turn it on when we want. RT @MarkBradleyAJC: Anybody know any good words regarding the #Braves, I'm fresh out. http://bit.ly/cmj9Ju [...]
Brave since 82
August 17th, 2010
10:35 am
To all yall out there who don’t like Bobby and want Freeman to start….you clearly DON’T
Joey
August 17th, 2010
10:38 am
SCRAPPY!
Mark Bradley
August 17th, 2010
10:40 am
If I can go back to nice’s comment: SUPERCALIFRAGILISTICEXPIALIDOCIOUS! was actually the inspiration for one of the greatest headlines in the history of sports.
Inverness Caledonian Thistle — yes, that’s the team name — beat Celtic in the Scottish Cup (football, the other kind) in 2000. From the Sun: “Super Caley go ballistic, Celtic are atrocious.”
Fred
August 17th, 2010
10:41 am
Keep in mind these same dodgers had a 9-2 lead over the phillies last week only to give up 4 runs in the 8th and 4 in the 9th. I wouldn’t get too excited over this win. It’s one in 162.
Mark Bradley's Fan Club
August 17th, 2010
10:42 am
The only time I’ve seen something like this was with that 1991 team– great starting pitching, solid bullpen, occasionally anemic offense. That team had a penchant for just winning games that it seemed like it had no business winning– much like the game the Braves won last night.
Also… Melky’s starting to look like another kind of overachieving Cabrera, isn’t he? (Viz., Francisco!!!!!)
Steve
August 17th, 2010
10:44 am
GUTS and HEART! Only two words that you need to describe this TEAM!!!
Mark Bradley
August 17th, 2010
10:45 am
I’ve said this reminds me of 1991, MB’sFC, but it’s also an entity unto itself. (Sui generis, I believe the Latin is.)
Francouer Delight
August 17th, 2010
10:45 am
“I guess it wasn’t Pendleton’s fault!”
Booyah
August 17th, 2010
10:46 am
Mark – go with Booyahlicious… it is perfect.
Booyah out!