Why Bobby Cox can’t (and won’t) start Conrad in Game 4

First?!?

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First

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I couldn’t agree more, all of this, there’s no crying in baseball!

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the drop that should have been heywards was also a bad play. he should have been benched when he got his 3rd straight error in 3 games and not 7 in 6.

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Giants had great pitching last night, but the Braves gave the game away. We’d have fared better without a 2nd baseman and a manager. Trade Conrad to the US Census Bureau and stuff that petrified fossil, Cox, in a Cooperstown janitor’s closet. Pitiful pitching change decisions in the top of the 9th. Booby single handedly snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. Conrad’s three errors were just icing on the cake…..and it was Cox who left him in the game. He’ll be just as calcified tonight.

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Poor old Brooksy. Dreams of a gold glove look like they’ve gone out the window…

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What a know-it-all

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If Bobby has any sense left in him, please spare us and keep Conrad on the bench. Better yet, hide his glove so he can’t even think about getting on the field. I understand he helped us get to the postseason, but he has killed us this series. We may have one this thing in 3 without his errors.

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Why didn’t Diory come in as a defensive replacement?

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won, instead of one.

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I agree. keep him on the bench. then let him do is 8th inning pinch home run thing and just like that he’s feeling better about himself.

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Mark, your analysis is absolutely correct. The problem is: Bobby, with all his accomplishments as a manager, often has one major fault: He can be too loyal to players.

I agree with you that benching Brooks would be an act of mercy. I hope, for what might be his last game as a manager, (although hopefully not) that Bobby uses his head, and benches Conrad. Unfortunately, it wouldnt surpise me if he was in the lineup. Mark Bradley isnt managing the Braves, and MitchC isnt managing the Braves, and, we aren’t inside Bobby’s head. What we would do, logically, doesn’t necessarially equate to what Bobby is going to do.

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Hammer This! Cox didn’t want to use his last position player, in case of extra innings.

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What was hurting Heyward after he hit the wall?

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MARK BUT BOOBY WILL START HIM ANYWAY,I HOPE SAN FRAN BEATS US SO THAT BOOBY SEASON WILL FINALLY BE OVER WITH!

IF WE WIN THIS SERIES,BOOBY WILL MAKE MORE DUMB COACHING MOVES AGAINST THE PHILLIES,WE WILL GET BEATDOWN!

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I agree. How about giving Diory Hernandez a start at 2B or 3B.

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With all things being the same EXCEPT last night and tonight being regular season games, I have no doubt whatsoever that Bobby would start him. But because of the magnitude of last night’s and tonight’s game I would be shocked if Bobby sent him out on the field. Pinch hit him? Yeah, definitely but he won’t put him in the field unless Infante is injured or he runs out of players in the late innings— shudder the thought.

The first thought that went thru my mind when they did the closeup of Conrad immediately after his third error gave the Giants the lead was the late Donnie Moore, the guy who gave up the homer who kept his Angels from winning the AL pennant in ‘86. I felt the same thing after hearing his postgame comments. Moore was so depressed for the 3 years after his gopher pitch that he shot himself. Think he may have played for the Braves briefly.

Yes, you really can’t help but feel sorry for the guy. I cussed him at the moment, but just think, he will now be mentioned in the same breath with Bill Buckner for the rest of his life. That’s a heavy load to bear for anyone, especially for someone who is a really good guy from all accounts.

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The Giants are due to score some runs. The Braves are going to have to put 7 or 8 on the board to win.

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I am certainly proud of this Braves team as it’s obvious that they are clearly undermanned. What I am frustrated with (AGAIN), is the mind numbing stupidity of Bobby Cox. For those of us who are loyal,unbiased Braves fans, this was painful idiocy.

Now, I will Bobby credit for pinch hitting Hinske which was HUGE, but here’s what I just don’t get. Why do you pull your new designated closer (Kimbrel), with two outs in the ninth, to bring in a guy who has the same experience, but less STUFF to get batters out. Huff was having better success against lefties, and Boy genius brings in a pitcher who’s not as good as the one on the mound…DUMB!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Another huge point, WHY IS BROOK’S CONRAD in the game in 9th????????????? It’s obvious that Brook’s (who I personally think is a GREAT PINCH HITTER), should be replaced defensively with Diory Hernandez (who is a much better fielder). This is the true definition of a love-hate relationship…I love the Braves/Bobby, but I HATE HIS IN GAME DECISIONS!

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Well said. I don’t see how Bobby can start him. However, how many times did we say that about Lockhart, Norton and others of Bobby’s “guys”? Very unfair to Conrad. This should have been a storybook rookie year. Bobby’s “loyalty” to ‘dirt” players has turned it into a nigtmare. That stubborness is the main reason 95 stands alone.One more frustrating day in a long line of them. Sad

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MB:

Is it possible for Bobby to bench Bobby so that he doesn’t make more stupid decisions that cost us games? How come neither you nor Schultz will take him to task for butchering that 9th inning?

HT

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Mark – I agree completely and wish it could have happened before last night’s game. Some people don’t have the mental toughness to play on the big stage, in the spotlight, in prime-time. I don’t think though, that description fits Conrad. He’s been there and delivered this season, providing some of the year’s greatest highlights!

One of the things players love about Bobby is that he plays everyone; giving them time during the regular season, so they’re ready for the post-season. Bobby has positioned Conrad for success, getting to this point. Now, Conrad is pressing, trying too hard, and everything is tense, unnatural, out of synch. He’s not down in a fielding position, uncertain about where to go with a play, basically frozen – not unlike Ankiel in the series against the Cards several years ago.

Hopefully, Ankiel can come alongside and be the voice of experience in what has to be an excruciating time emotionally, for Conrad.

If only Hinske could play 2b!

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Curse of David Justice,

Lay off the CAPS man, you’re giving me a headache.

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Curse idiot,

Are you disputing the FACT that conrad won 2 games for the Braves with walkoff pinch hits? Without those 2 wins, the Braves are not in the playoffs, the Padres are.

Read you moron.

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I feel sorry for Conrad, but I can’t forgive Cox. There’s not a major, minor, or little league manager who would have left Conrad at second base in the ninth with a one-run lead – except ours. I was at the game, and as the ninth inning started, I said, “Well, at least he’ll put Hernandez in for Conrad now” — then I saw Conrad come out onto the field and my head exploded. And then in the post-game press conference, Cox said he never thought about taking Conrad out because “we were down to one [position] player on the bench with Hernandez” – I suppose he was saving him for sometime important? Hell, Les Miles would have handled the endgame better than Cox. Bobby is dead to me.

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How about that Cole Hamels last night? Just business as usual for the Juggernauts…

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Herschel Talker,

Bradley and Schultz have been covering for Cox for 20 years. Why stop now??

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Right-o, Mark Bradley. I criticized your column of last night – but you’re spot on this morning. The options aren’t great, but even Glaus with his injured legs gives the Braves a better chance. Taking Brooks Conrad out is both a humanitarian gesture and the right sports move. Le’ts hope Bobby agrees!

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DAWGINLEX YOU FOOL HE PINCHED HIT YOU BIG DUMMY,HE WAS ON THE BENCH,WHEN HE IS PLAYING FULL TIME HE IS COSTING THE TEAM A WIN,WHAT PART OF TEAM DONT YOU GET?

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He is a good guy in over his head. Let’s be realistic,just getting here after all the injuries is more than we could have hoped for. Sit him Glaus can’t do worse and there is no reason to torture the guy.

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TO: MARK BRADLEY(the real one),

Lots of talk up here that Bruce Pearl is stepping down today.

Any word?????????????????

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[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by labancity, benincool. benincool said: Here's why Bobby Cox can't start Brooks Conrad in Game 4 – Atlanta Journal Constitution (blog) http://bit.ly/bL4wvz [...]

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A blind, one arm man needeing a hip replacement surgery would serve us better at this juncture in the series. If Conrad is in the lineup, we deserve to lose. I would rather watch paint/concrete dry than see Conrad on the field!

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I’m buying all “Conrad” jerseys and making a bonfire at the Ted’s gates. Everyone is invited.

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Glaus at third, Infante at short. Glaus falling down on the bunt attempt on Friday had nothing to do with the play. Chipper Jones wouldn’t have thrown the guy out. BROOKS ROBINSON, (not Conrad), wouldn’t have thrown out the runner. His stumble looked bad, but didn’t influence the play at all. Plus all the talk about 3 or 4 days rest for Giant starters doesn’t matter against this Braves team. All in all, they are just not a good offensive club. Double digit strikeouts in 2 of the first three games…all while throwing very few real strikes. Sadly, this team has been playing on heart for the last month, all while looking for a soft place to fall.

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Why is everyone making excuses for this guy? He’s a bum. He can’t even play high school ball.

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Hate to say it but he has to sit. Like him but a pinch hitter is his only role. BTW Mark you forgot to list the failed bunt attempt also.

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DUMB DUMB BOOBY WILL NOT START TROY GLAUS AGAIN AT 3RD

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MB, makes sense. Question is does Bobby usually do what makes sense? Even with all of this Conrad mess, Braves win if Bobby and McCann make good choices in 9th inning. I think it all comes to an end tonite as we now have $35 Million (40%) of payroll watching from the bench. Who can overcome that? How would the Phillies fair with their entire infield and Brad Lidge out?

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MB : All you had to say was, “Conrad Blows One Run Lead From Second Base.” I’ll take my chances with Glaus on 3rd and Infante at 2nd tonight. Baseball is a funny game and last night, the joke was playing 2nd…This is the Big Leagues, people. No excuses for Conrad’s ability to create error after error after error after…

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Yeah! Free from error cast the first ball.This has been nothing but a year of errors.Fall and spring training for this bunch spring alone will not get it.

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Really?

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I wouldn’t start him. I feel really bad for Conrad.

But here’s the biggest thing- we have a 3-man rotation.

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General Neyland,

what about the Bruce Pearl rumors that he is stepping down today?

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[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Mark Bradley, Brian C. Lorio, George Ray, Jason Sasser, Chris Lewis and others. Chris Lewis said: RT @MarkBradleyAJC: Here's why Bobby Cox can't start Brooks Conrad in Game 4: Managerial mercy is required. #braves http://bit.ly/b9Pegl [...]

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Cox needs to get thrown out in the 1st inning today. Like David Justice said, we won the game he got tossed, lost the 2 he didn’t.

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Mark, Can’t you start diory at third or second?

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I start Glaus at third and move Infante to second. The lineup needs some help and maybe Glaus can help it out. Conrad’s series can happen to anybody. It is a shame but I wouldnt give up on him after the season.

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You could put Chase Utley at 2nd tonight..It doesn’t matter. The Giants are going with a lefty again and it doesn’t take a Rocket Scientist to realize that you have just neutralized Heyward and McCann (who are not hitting righties or anybody else, either). Offense is for “show” pitching and defense are for “dough.” Good bye Bobby, Frank Wren and yes, even Scherholz (or whatever his name is) and bring us a real baseball manager and Front Office next year! Heard Ted Turner was in the stands last night. Maybe he will buy back the team!

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And another thing…..this is a team playing without Chipper, Prado, Medlin, Jurrigens, and NOW Wagner……

I Wonder which one of these you would be slamming?

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We need to say goodby to Conrad, Gonzalez, Lee, Ankle, McLouth, and get some real talent in that lineup. We have pitching but we surely have no hitting. Let Freddy play 1st and get some real players who can hit and play defense. Chipper just simply needs to retire and we get a new 3rd baseman too.

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I like Lowe especially in the playoffs but the Giants are due. They will likely be hitting really good pitches from Lowe. We need runs. Remember at the beginning of the season when Lowe was the only pitcher getting run support. Come on Braves lets channel some of that early season Mojo.

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Bobby’s best mangerial move was getting ejected in game two and letting the bench coach take over.

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sorry for him??….you’re kidding me. There ain’t no room left in pro sports for sorrys….unless it’s to all the people who have supported this team for all the years they have underachieved..sorry me a**.

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Filtering a litle dog again, huh?

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Yeah, the Braves organization was a MASSIVE FAIL by putting the conrad slam on the jumbotron in the top of the 9th….that was terrible. IT was like they were trying to force fans to cheer for him.

I could see in the bottom of the 9th, but we were still in a jam.

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Re: Peter

That was Heyward in right field. I don’t know why he didn’t call him off, but he did just bang up against the right field wall…so maybe that was a variable.

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All for moot, no matter who starts at this point, as long as Bobby Cox is the man in the dugout mismanaging his pitching staff for what, his 15th postseason with the Braves?

Good to see that even with a five year absence from October, Cox is still able to screw up his bullpen at a historical rate.

Worst postseason manager in the HISTORY of baseball.

Most overrated manager in the HISTORY of baseball.

Bye, bye Bobby. I won’t miss you one bit. The sooner you’re gone, the sooner this talented Braves team has of actually winning something that COUNTS.

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Yogi 2 – Suck it you pompous ass. All the “dirt dog” had to do was put his chest in front of the ball, pick it up, and toss it to second since he had plenty of time with a catcher running. No doubt you made plenty of plays just like it during your illustrious college career, I know I did. Yes, some of us made it past high-school ball too, sparky.

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First of all, Kimbrel should have never been pulled last night. Then, whatever happens, happens. They’ve said that Kimbrel is our potential closer of the future. So let him close the freakin game.

I agree with Mark. Brooks needs to sit just to give the guy a break. I feel so sorry for him AND we’re not where we are without him.

Put Glaus in at 3rd, Infante back to 2nd – my sincere hope is that it’s a 2-2 game in the 9th and Bobby sends Brooksy out to pinch-hit… he promptly hits a game-winning home run and turns this whole thing around.

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Not being a Monday morning quarterback. The whole section was saying Infante to 2nd Glaus to third in the ninth. Clearly Conrad has the Steve Sax syndrome and the only cure was to sit him or literally go roll 50 balls to him between inning (maybe a hit of a hookah pipe as well).

Love Bobby just like the next fan but being a players coach is like being a liberal- you think you are doing what is best but you just most likely ruined the season and Conrad will be playing in Japan.

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Brooks should not start tonight, plain and simple, and if Kimbrel is now the closer you have to treat him like a closer and not make situational substitutions; BUT while we’re all busy crucifying Brooks and Bobby let’s take a long hard look at that goose egg that is J-Hey’s avg in this series. Brooks is not supposed to be a superstar, J-Hey is.

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CurlyHoward…I was at the game last night and I agree with you…he should have left Kimbrel in…stupid move. But, after 3 errors that directly led to us losing the game its hard not to blame conrad. When that last one went between his legs the boos were deafening….. he just cannot start him….its not fair to the rest of the team. I do feel bad for the guy..but his place in history is set. It’s a shame.

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reckingball – Jay Glazer used that line yesterday. Did you steal it?

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Dam when did Bill Buckner start playing for us. Bobby should’ve pulled Brooks when he started having problems at 3rd. Brooks hasn’t hit well when he starts so having DH or Glaus wouldn’t hurt the offense. And boy do we miss Prado.

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*That was my blame for Game 3 breakdown.

Go BRAVES!

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What is Conrad’s position?

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Seemore Hiney – Last nights game was great even though it turned to crap. I’m glad I was there to witness it.

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I dont’ blame Brooks…he shouldn’t have been out there.

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Well my comment didn’t show up….but I wouldnt put conrad in the game today. The boos last night were amazing…never seen that at turner field before….it was so sad riding marta home thats for sure.

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First of all, Kimbrel should have never been pulled last night. Then, whatever happens, happens. They’ve said that Kimbrel is our potential closer of the future. So let him close the freakin game.

Put Glaus in at 3rd, Infante back to 2nd – my sincere hope is that it’s a 2-2 game in the 9th and Bobby sends Brooksy out to pinch-hit… he promptly hits a game-winning home run and turns this whole thing around.

Well said, Bravery. My thoughts exactly!!!

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DP 9:57 – You need to take your comments elsewhere. Sane analysis doesn’t belong here.

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Karl Childers

October 11th, 2010
10:07 am
If our all-star catcher had simply called for three more 95 mile-per-hour fastballs up in the strike zone, Buster never would have hit the ball anywhere. Instead he decided to speed up Buster’s bat by calling for Kimbrel to throw a slider. Buster wasn’t even close to hitting that heater so, naturally, we stopped throwing it to him. Someone should have been asking McCann WTF happened on the pitch call?

***************************************************************************************************

SOOOOOOOoooooooooooooooooooo, let me get this straight – you’re faulting McCann for his pitch selection – a selection which induced a grounder to second?

Did you really write that?

Ok then! (cue eye rolling)

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Tami…but he made 3 errors that led to runs…not just one. How can you not blame the guy..I’m sure he is very sad…and I do feel bad for him..but the facts are the facts.

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Please do not start Conrad or Glaus. Let Diory play second. I agree Cox should have put Diory in for defense in the 9th. Did McCann or Kimbrell call the pitch Sanchez hit? Whoever did made a mistake. McCann should overule Kimbrell if Kimbrell insisted, if McCann called the pitch then McCann screwed up.
Talk about dum moves, why in the worls would you take out J Sanchez?

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Good point. I also think Conrad’s mental issues get worse if he goes out there today. I think he needs a good week to get sorted out.

I don’t have an issue with Cox pitching Dunn against Huff but if he’s going to do that, I wish he wouldn’t insult the fans by saying he could put Diory in because it would deplete the bench. Why can you deplete the pitching staff but not the bench? Doesn’t make sense.

I didn’t watch the game, only replays, so can someone tell my why Heyward didn’t call Brooks off on the first error? He appeared to be in good position to make the play but I’m only watching replays.

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20 years of Bobby Cox, and it’s the same old crap. Thank God the nightmare ends this season.

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Marcus Giles, Mark Lemke, Glenn Hubbard…..hell, at this point, I’d even throw Andres Thomas in there. Walt Weiss would have had all three of those grounders. CUT HIM TODAY! DON’T EVEN LET HIM IN THE PARK!!!

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If Conrad gets in the game other than to pinch hit, all the fans need to leave their seats and go to the restroom or buy a dog and a coke. Send a message. Bobby has been known over the years to make the wrong call. Like way back in a [playoff game when it was raining and his pitcher obviously was finished, he kept in and they lost. Bless Bobby, he needs it today.

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Bravery, and you Mark, are right. Glaus should be at third -and as for the bunting, if a guy squares just to see if Troy can make the play, drill him…if he drag bunts (again to see if Troy can make the play) so that there’s no time to drill him, then drill the next guy. After a couple of efforts to ’show up’ the old man, they’ll get the message. It may not be the best strategy, but by damn that bunch from SanFran will learn some damn manners.

Agree that ‘The Kid’ should never have been pulled in the ninth…and somebody should never have called a breaking pitch that that guy could get a bat on…and as for Conrad, the pop-up should have been a routine play for Heyward, who’s acting weirder and weirder all the time. That, so-called, triple should have been a routine play for him if he hadn’t taken the wrong move when the ball was hit, and even with the bad move, he should have gloved it – and he didn’t hit the wall nearly hard enough for that ‘act’ he was pulling out there. It was clearly an effort to somehow gain some sympathy after he had botched that play…and then not to come in harder, and calling, on that pop-up was still more ‘attitude’ than anything else…and don’t even begin to get me started on his performance at the plate. The kid probably could benefit from starting out next year in the minors and I don’t care how much hit hurts his psyche.

Good luck tonight, and if we start Conrad we’ll need it…and McCann too for that matter.

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Here’s why Bobby Cox starts drinking again after Game 3

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Bobby Cox should have absolutely positively known he could not trust his infield defense. Kimbrel is a strikeout machine that over rides the lefty/righty thing especially when the batter hits lefties better.

Bobby Cox messed up big time!

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Mark – Duh.

Sleep on it? I thought that’s what he was doing in the 8th & 9th last night……

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Katherine
October 11th, 2010
10:23 am

Tami…but he made 3 errors that led to runs…not just one. How can you not blame the guy..I’m sure he is very sad…and I do feel bad for him..but the facts are the facts.

I have not disputed the errors. I do agree with you there. In fact, Brooks probably needs to play winter ball to work on fundamentals. He might not qualify, though. I’m not sure of the rules. Maybe he works with a private coach during the off-season to get better at IF defense? And, I’m aware that the problem with defense really needs to be fixed prior to game time tonight. Bobby doesn’t have a lot of options at this point. Most of his viable options are on the DL. If he plays Diory, will he be much better? Diory is also not tried & true in postseason situations. I’d like to see Glaus play 3B tonight (& Wed), Omar at 2B, and maybe Diory at SS tonight because Gonzo’s barely hitting. And if he gets steamed at the ump — rightly or wrongly — from a previous at-bat, he brings it on to the field and gets easily flustered. We don’t have a lot of answers. But dumping on ONE guy when it’s a team sport is seriously wrong. The ultimate fault lies with the fact that the TEAM couldn’t get one more lousy out AFTER the 9th inning error. We only had 2 on base with 2 outs. Usually, a pitcher would shake it off and try to induce a ground-ball or flyball out. It took how many — two or three pitchers to record the third out! What’s up with that? THAT was not Brooks’ fault.

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As a former all star high school baseball player I made 3 errors at 3rd base to blow a playoff game and it was the worst feeling in the world….I can only imagine the pain Brooks must be feeling…gut feel is to bench him as this thing could get much worse for him tonight…the only reason to send him back out is so he can redeem himself with a good game to erase the horrible feelings he has right now…tough call.

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Good morning Braves fans…Any questions?? Did you see what the Phillies did to the best hitting team in the NL??…to all of you who predicted a Reds sweep…GOOD CALL!! If the Braves have any brains, they will lay down today and let SF run head first into that buzzsaw called the Philadelphia Phillies…plus it will keep that punk Hudson from getting knocked to the dirt for hitting Polanco and Ruiz. By the way, that tomahawk chop is soooo bush league!! Better luck next year, Atlanta….

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Send him to winter ball and let him learn the Catcher position. He looks like a catcher…might be comfortable there. Some team will keep him around for PH and back-up. The guy can hit. Especiallly from the left side.

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I know I am beating a REWALLY dead horse here, but, for all his supposed greatness, as a tactical manager in big games – can you say post season – Bobby Cox falls way short when it matters the most. Burn Glaus for Ankiel. Brings in Venters in the eighth when he could have closed. No defensive replacement for Conrad when he had Hernandez on the bench. Takes Kimbrell out for another useless lefty/righty switch when Huff hits lefties better than righties. Brings in Dunn who throws mid to upper 90’s and blows the first pitch by Huff and then hangs a slider/slow curve ( I blame Bobby here because he calls all the pitches). Burns 4 pitchers in the 9th which means Saito was all that was left out there if we tie in the boottme of the 9th or were tied. His overuse of the bullpen bites us year after year. If you have the stuff to get major league hitters out it doesn’t matter what side you throw from or who you are facing. Trust the stuff!!! But after saying all that the lineup is just so pathetic now with all oru injuries. And it wasn’t so hot before them. It’s amazing we made it this far. But this is far enough. I don’t want to see us against the Phils now. ANd one more thing. How many pitches have we swung and missed for a K that were not even close to the strike zone before they hit the dirt. Where is the approach that made us so tough early in the year. The Giants lay off closer pitches than we do. A message to Libert Media. Spend some money in the off season to bring an impact offensive guy in here. PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Doctober…typical phillies fan. You haven’t won the world series yet my friend….and as for the chop..its fun and a lot better then what philly fans do…like vomit on people and throw batteries

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Mark Bradley……….I was just kidding at 10:12, but Cox is hard to figure out sometimes.

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CurlyHoward, Bobby Cox “micromanages”? Really? How about when Cox swapped Glaus (not exactly in the zone) for Sanchez (who was most definitely in the zone) in the bottom of the 8th? End result; Hinkse goes yard and the Braves take a 2-1 lead into the top of the 9th. The Braves were one pitch away from victory, but baseball doesn’t work that way. Any player – and any objective fan – will tell you a team wins as a team and loses as a team. Whiffing with runners in scoring postion, two-out walks, and errors lose games. As the saying goes, that’s why they play 9 innings. If Conrad doesn’t hit a game winning GS in June, the Braves aren’t even in the post-season.

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There is a reason that Brookd Conrad was a bench player when he got here. You are probably right when you say that he is pressing too much. Right now, the biggest problem is between his ears. The bottom line is that Bobby Cox did a terrific job getting a bunch of retreads and journeymen into the post season, but neither the Braves nor the Giants are good enough to beat the Phillies in the NLCS. I just wish that someone would buy the team and put enough money into it that Frank Wren wouldn’t have to keep constructing a starting lineup out of spit and duct tape.

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oh and before I forget – I can’t stand Bobby and I’ll be glad when he’s out BUT if we’re going to bash him b/c Conrad was in the game, let’s also give him kudos for the Hinske HR (even though I think he’s making a mistake by not starting Hinske against RH’s).

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Bobby’s tenure at the helm of the Braves may be the greatest managing paradox in MLB history.

When given teams full of all stars and HOF-er’s that make it to the post season purely on talent, he then puts them in a position to lose with his terrible big game tactical decisions and thus they do. And because he’s a great guy that everyone loves, he gets credit for their success when he had no part in it.

However, because of his personality, he gets mediocre teams (like this year’s and 1991’s) to believe in themselves enough to overachieve consistently enough to make it to the postseason, which actually is impressive and laudable. Then, because of his inability to make correct big game decisions he puts them in a position to lose all the same.

We win games we shouldn’t win, and lose games we shouldn’t lose. Unfortunately, it’s the big games that fall into the latter category and that’s what the fans are stuck with remembering every off season. It’s exciting, but terribly frustrating.

If it wasn’t for Tom Glavine and Dave Justice keeping Bobby from making a decision of any kind in ‘95, the net result would be nothing but coitus interruptus for his entire tenure. This is so unlike how other teams are managed it confuses people as to whether it’s good or bad (it’s both), and the national media has decided that they’re going to err on the side of good ultimately because Bobby’s a great guy and it’s impossible not to like him. I know; I’ve met him and I understand.

Is he ultimately a great manager? Yes and no. Is he ultimately incompetent? Yes and no. Will he ever be called out by the media for the “no” part? Not hardly. Unfortunately, that’s the only consistent part of Bobby’s tenure.

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Brooksie is a Braves infielder. As fans we can either dump on him or buck him up. I guarantee you his teammates are doing the latter, so it’s on us to help him out. Yes, next season it’s back to the bench for him, but for the next however many games its got to be “GO BROOKSIE!!!!!” for any Braves fan that wants to see the team advance.

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Any player who makes 2 errors in 1 game (physical or mental, charged or not charged as an error) should be pulled from the game the next half-inning.

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Old Mike, You obviously don’t play chess. Cox made a brilliant tactical move in the 8th. He didn’t “burn Ankiel for Glaus” – he took Sanchez off the table, and got Hinske (switch hitter) into the mix. It was a pawn for a queen, and it paid off. Geez. My 10 year-old Little Leaguer recognized that move.

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Yes, Kimbrel should have stayed in the game last night, too.

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Grinch@10;45……..You nailed it right, on the head.

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I think putting Conrad back in the starting lineup tonight will just be cruel….especially if he makes another error. He will get booed off the field.

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I hope Bobby changes the lineup today and removes Brooks, but I would not be surprised if he doesn’t. One of Bobby’s best qualities as a manager is also one of his worst; he’s loyal to his guys. He may decide to trot the guy back out to 2nd to “rebuild his confidence”. Bobby’s legend and reputation are set, and I don’t think he cares what happens this postseason. Don’t get me wrong, I believe he wants to win, but I don’t think he’ll make a lineup decision based on that. If Brooks doesn’t start, it will only be because Bobby thinks he can’t mentally do it, not because of his incompetency. Bobby doesn’t bench “good guys” only perceived malcontents like Escobar.

Brooks had some great at bats this season so I really feel bad for the guy.

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If you are in to benching someone it should be heyward,he is totally out of it,cannot throw,hit or any thing else!

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No one has mentioned Heyward either…..I’m sorry to say he has sucked it up in the playoffs. He doesn’t have one hit…a big fat 0.00 on the scoreboard. He seems to just strike out everytime…why is he still hitting 2nd?

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D Braves…….If Cox wants to be loyal to Conrad, he won’t start him.

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KEEP YOUR HEAD UP BROOKS. You are one of the main reasons we are even playing extra baseball. Us real Braves fans (and ballplayers) know that things like that happens to the best of us. We are behind you 100%. Go get ‘em next time.

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Mss…to imply that those of us are upset at Conrad aren’t real fans is absurd. Sure those things happen…but 3 times in one game? Come on…..people have a right to be upset.

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Maybe the new manager can do something next year, if the GM can get him some hitters with some power, some defense, and some speed.

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This goes beyond baseball. This is all about human dignity. He must sit–No question about it.
I feel more sorry for him than I feel about the loss and that’s saying something. It’s made extra hard because of the persona that Conrad has developed as a Brave. Gritty, hard working, a throwback. A 30 year old rookie that’s making the minimum this year and has existed on minor league wages for the last decade. Probably would have been easier for me if it had been Chipper or another guy who is set for life financially. I’m pulling for him to come in and win us a game in his usual role, that of a pinch hitter. Good guys deserve better. Go Brooks!!!!

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I’ve got to defend Cox on the pitching changes…I mean, Kimbel already gave up a walk and a base hit…who says he wouldn’t give up another hit? Kimbel blew his chance. The big issue by far is with having Conrad out there to give up the winning run.

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That was a great move in the 8th but that doesn’t exonerate him from the bad move in the 9th.

There was more than plenty of sound reasoning to keep Kimbrel in the game.

Bobby Cox messed up big time!

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Kimbrel that is

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Hinske may be a better option at third. He can charge a bunt; Glaus can’t.

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There are TWO PLAYERS who should be sitting down next game tonight. Jeyson Heyward and Brooks Conrad. For whatever good they are doing, they are not producing anything positive that we could use to win a ballgame. Heyward mistimed a ball at the fence last night when he tried to leap into the air like superman to corral a ball. He caught the ball but crashed into the fence and the ball jarred out. Instead of coming out of the game because he was visibly hurt and useless at that point, he tries to man up and stay in the game and subsequently goes 0-4. What a great decision to stay in and hurt your team with THREE STRIKEOUTS and getting ZILCH at the plate. Heyward is giving us nothing. Conrad is hurting us badly. Sit them both down until they come back to life.

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Can Hubbard still play second?

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How do people know that Glaus can’t charge a bunt.

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Mark,

What do you think of my last comment?

Showing the highlight in the TOP of the 9th? Odd at best.

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Okay Bobby- maybe the worst decision I have personally seen in quite sometime. You remove a pitcher who last time he faced him struck out Aubry Huff and was throwing bb’s “yes he had just given up a single” and replacing with that ” by the book ” mentality for a guy who last time gave up a single to Aubry Huff. Logically how does that make sense.

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Has anybody given thought to Chino being the next manager?

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I hope you are right, reckingball.

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The HOF manager will also continue batting Heyward second, even though the kid is totally clueless, lost, and out of his league.

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Glaus can call a conference with his infield, with the bases loaded, and let them know that he is going to try for a double play if the ball is hit to him hard(to end the inning), instead of trying to gun down the runner at home, leaving SF 1 more out to win the game, with Farnsworth pitching, like he did in the last game in SF.
And then do it.
That is called experience and leadership.
That is why Glaus should have been starting at 3rd yesterday.

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Bobby Cox is going to continue to play this bum and he is going to continue to play like a guy that does not belong. There were insane people that were actually attempting to articulate that our Braves were better without Chipper. Well, welcome to a world without Chipper. It includes a 30 year old rookie that is physically and mentally incapable of making a play.

As for those people proclaiming that people should not “boo” Brooks Conrad, give me a break. This is not an amateur high school or college athlete. This is a professional that is getting paid big money to perform. Instead, he is making a disgrace of the game and the uniform on his back. Conrad needs to simply quit. If he were performing on stage, he would get booed. Why should it be any different when he fails to make plays that 12 year old girls could easily make?

People can point to other players and Bobby. He is the single cause of 2 of the 3 runs scored by San Francisco. We lost 3-2. It is all on Conrad. End of story!

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Re: reckingball

Good analysis. I agree.

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This thing is practically over ! It’s too late to pull Conrad now! The damage has been done ! This guy was tough during the regular season (hitting) and he’s the reason we’re in the playoffs, so since we’ve reached the final hour, why not let him finish out his career in a playoff game ? I know one thing! I get on here and rant and rave about how sorry Bobby is, and criticise players, but my heart is still “BRAVES” and I don’t have a clue what some of these folks are going through, so please until I’ve walked in their shoes, let me be less critical……I do like the idea of a switch to outfield for Conrad next season because he is a hustler and gives 110 %……

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Brooks is CONFUSED? You catch the ball or field the ball, and throw it to first. I learned that when I was three years old!

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and bench ROY who should have called him off on the second error or who should have been busting it to make the catch in the 9th or who has exactly the same number of hits it october that I do (zero) and then bench your All Star catcher for calling a hanging slider on a 2 strike count where the man has just shown you he cant hit the heater (1996 Yankees mean anything to ya about using your 2nd best pitch) Or howz about benching all your right handed hitters when they pitch a left.. This from the HOF manager that always uses percentages. Or hows about benching an offense that had gotten exactly 3 hits (one from our pitcher) in two of the first three games. really we need to bench the Hitting coach that refuses to talk to these guys about thinking about not swinging at every 53 foot bouncer to the plate. Hell lets bench the manager that pulled out our closer. Well he is our closer now that our True closer is hurt… Plenty of reason to bench and moan… Go play the Game.. There are reasons that some people are fill ins… There are reasons that people rise to the level of their incompentency. There is plenty of blame to go around.. The manager may need to look in the mirror.

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Cox should have let Kimbrel win or lose the game. My bet is that he would have won it, and Conrad wouldn’t been goat. Chop!

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Phillistein, is it better to throw a guy a pitch he has not come close to hitting or throw him something slower? Seems very obvious to me. Are you saying that since Buster can’t catch up to the high fastballs you would throw him an off-speed pitch so he’ll hit a ground ball to your patchwork infield? Thanks, but I’ll take my chances with the strikeout. And, by the way, that grounder wasn’t “induced” it was hammered. McCann screwed the pooch.

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fine- Ross, Hernandez, or anyone eles at third- Conrad has the Steve Sax disease and it will not be majically cured- do something. Also Sanchez wasn’t close to getting around on Kimbrel’s fastball- why Wohlers it and throw an offspeed pitch?

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Why does everyone feel sorry for Conrad? Does anyone feel sorry for surgeon’s when their mistakes kill patients? “Oh Dr. Smith is all heart and he was trying really hard. And the only reason he had the opportunity to do this surgery is because he saved the patient before, so obviously it is his right to kill the patient…”

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Canrad has been a great player for the Braves, coming off the bench.
He doesn’t deserve to be booed.
I just don’t think that there are many managers in MLB, that would have started him at 2nd yesterday.
I was even supprised when Cox started him.

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Tim: Right on.

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They need to sit Brooks. God bless his heart, anybody who plays sports has been there. You make a mistake, then another, and then you start to get jumpy and anxious, and that little voice inside of you starts saying “please don’t hit it to me.”

The throat gets dry, the palms get sweaty, the eyes twitch. It’s a terrible feeling. It’s Nick Anderson shooting airballs from the foul line in the ‘95 NBA Finals. It’s Dustin Johnson on Sunday at this year’s US Open slicing tee shots into the next county. It’s Kerry Collins in the 2000 Super Bowl throwing the ball to the Ravens, again and again.

He needs to sit until this passes. He simply CANNOT play the field right now. Any games with the Giants figure to be tense, low scorng affairs. Another error would kill us and would destroy the young man’s future.

He is having, let’s be honest, maybe the worst playoff series by a position player in MLB Playoff history. Four errors in three games. A popped up Bunt. A .100 average. Its just brutal to watch.

Start Diory Hernandez at second, or third, play Infante at the other, and pray for a few timely hits.

If there is any justice in the universe, Conrad will come off the bench to hit a three-run homer off “the freak” in Game Five to win the series. Wouldn’t that be something?

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Win tonight and its a five game series just like everyone thought.. NOONE is hitting the ball. If not for our good pitching, we’d be out already.. Bobby is too loyal but thats life.

Win tonight and we move on to another night. anything can happen..Please hit the ball..

Poor Conrad… Go Braves..

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I’ve been there. You screw up one play, so you just HAVE to redeem yourself. And so you push…and what happens? You overreach, you try to do too much, you forget the fundamentals in trying to do something amazing. You get caught up in trying to show everyone that you’re not the idiot that just made an error, but rather the amazing fielder that you know in your heart that you are. You try to balance out the awful play with an amazing play — and instead you make several more awful plays.

That first error? Totally the right-fielder’s ball — but Conrad was going to make an amazing play, throw out the runner, etc. He was going to show everyone that he was a solid fielder — he was going to do the amazing. And…well, it turned out how it always turns out. After that, it was all downhill — after that, his mind just couldn’t let him do the little things, because it was trying to do the amazing. And you just can’t play good baseball that way.

That’s not an indictment of the guy — it can happen to anyone. In fact, it happens more to the guys who really care — the guys that give 110%. If you don’t care, then the ball goes by you and you just shrug and catch the next one. It’s only if you care a LOT that you get caught in this trap of always wanting to redeem yourself for the last mistake. And you can’t blame a guy for caring too much.

So it’s not like he’s a bad guy for getting stuck in this mental trap — quite the opposite. But at the same time, he’s totally stuck — he’s only going to keep getting worse until he has time to step back and just play ball again. You have to sit him until he can hit that “reset button.”

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Brooks Conrad should NEVER field any position for the Braves ever again. Pinch hit only, pinch run, and if no other choice, then field a position (as long as he is with the Braves). There is a reason why is a 30 year old journey man type minor leaguer. He can’t play consistently good enough defense to stay in the big leagues and his bat is pretty average. He pinched hit above his head all season long and had some huge hits, but he’s made many errors when in the field (not just last night’s game).

I wonder if the old senile fool will start him today, that would be a great way to end his Braves tenure…epic fail again.

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When we used to play softball, sometimes, after we’d each had about 4 to 12 beers, we’d just mix up the line up in the most absurd of ways. I think it would be mildly funny if Cox did that tonight. The lineup:

C – Brooks Conrad
1B – Johnny Venters
2B – Kyle Farnsworth
3B – Chipper Jones (why not?)
SS – Jayson Heyward
LF – Omar Infante (this may actually work. Dude can play anywhere)
CF – Derrick Lee
RF – Alex Gonzales
P – Brian McCann

If nothing else, it would be entertaining.

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When you make 3 errors in 1 game, is that bad?

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agree. Thought he should have been replaced earlier. It was apparent that his nerves were getting the best of him. He can still hit but get him off the infield. Work with him in the Spring to become a better/confident infielder. Now is not the time.

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David@11;24……Have you heard about anyone having a stroke or heart
attack, and dropping down dead, while watching the Braves game yesterday?
It’s only baseball.

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All of this is moot. No WAY does Conrad play in the field today. No way. Not even worth discussion.

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reckingball@11:33: True dat. Horrible analogy. And yes, I DO feel bad for surgeons who lose patients – as long as it wasn’t pure incompetence.

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On the bright side; look at all these rookies getting playoff experience. With an offensive upgrade (a real one, not a Glaus-like bargain bin one), shedding of some dead wood (KK, McClouth and Melky come to mine), and we’re back in bizness.
I’d keep Ankiel for 4th OF role, non-tender Diaz and go hard after Crawford and/or Werth.
Re-sign Hinkse now!
Oh yeah, get a real back-up 3rd baseman; Wiggington?
But we HAVE to get a legit cleanup hitter.

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Sorry dude. Gotta bench ya. You gave us many thrills and chills with your game winning homer and other homers during the season. But you have made 2many errors. Hope you overcome this and I do beleive you will overcome this. Still hope you remain on the Braves. GoBraves. Beat SanFran!!

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Sit him out, and if anything, let him pinch hit. At this point he’s a major head case. The pitchers will have no confidence with him attempting to remember how to play defense.

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They have come this far with what they have left from April. Injuries and some bad trades and still made it. Cut em some slack.

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You absolutely bench him and have him pinch hit when needed. He is a professional baseball player making errors. GET IT RIGHT OR GET WHAT YOU DESERVE! Go Braves! Do the right thing!

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Glaus at third. Infante at second. Hinske in left field. This is it. No time left for Cox stragegy.

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Was Conrad a yahoo when he came off the bench and hit a walkoff grand slam?
He should of have been on the bench, and used to pinch hit, not starting the game.

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Anyone, Anyone

When Prado went down, why was Glaus not given at least 1 maybe 2 starts at 3rd during the reg season to see what would happen? I would’ve like to have seen a Lee, McCann, Glaus middle of the order at least once as we stumbled to game 162.

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Re: Skip

Bradley actually did call out Bobby for this game, even though most Braves fans realize that most of this game’s fault was on Conrad. It was horrid.

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Maybe Mark Lemke can start tonight?

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Another vote for Cox screwed up taking out Kimbrell, and whoever decided to throw something other than his fastball prior to the single (McCann?) screwed up big-time as well. Throw another high fastball for a strike at 1-2 and the game would have been over. Hitter could not catch up to it, we did him a favor, stupidly in my view. Their was a lot of stupid in that 9th inning, but Cox taking out Kimbrell and not putting in Diori add on to the bad pitch selection at 1-2.

Losing Wagner killed the series – I see no chance for Braves to recover at this point.

Go Falcons!

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Hey David,

So if the hot girl who is way out of your league agrees to go to the prom with you and then goes home with the football stud after you drive her there you would “cut her some slack”?

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Let’s not forget that Heyward’s TERRIBLE route to that ball in right sure didn’t help things, or his allowance of a ball to drop 3 ft. in front of him, or his bad throw up the line.

3 things as a baseball player you should be able to do:

Throw strikes
Put the ball in play
Make the routine plays

If you can only do 1 of these things you won’t win any games, 2 out of 3 and you won’t win many games, 3 out of 3 and you put yourself in a position to win every game.

More blame goes to Cox for continuing to put him back out there. I don’t care if you send Diory up there without a bat and concede the out. He’s better defensively and right now I’ll take that!!!

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Skip- HUH???

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Sonny, if “Conrad was never born,” we miss the playoffs by about 4 games. Dufus.

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Sonny-

No

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There’s an old saying about managers – heck, bosses in general – you’re the boss, you make the decisions; but don’t put me in a position to fail. You’re supposed to know my strengths and my weaknesses and deploy my efforts accordingly. Challenge me when appropriate, but don’t over-extend me and sit on your hands while the predictable carnage ensues.

That really is an old saying – no crap. I saw it on the wall of a Men’s Room – the Quick Trip on 316. I guess the author had a lot of time to compose his thoughts.

Conrad’s meltdown last night was painful to watch. But at what point does a manager manage? When a game fighter has been rendered defenseless, a good manager throws in the towel.

Was Bobby committing all those errors afield? No. But, were Conrad’s errors an aberration – the whim of the baseball gods Bobby so often musters as justification for his chronic managerial shortcomings? No again. Quite predicable, they were.

Brooks, God Bless him, can’t field worth bat turds. He’s game, but he’s defenseless.

Yet another Braves meltdown. Lotsa blame to go around.

There’s another old saying – Today’s another day.

Saw that on the same wall at the same Quick Trip. Right under “For a good time, call Brandi- 555-1212″.

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……and Kelly Johnson dropped his share of grounders and let’s see …… a third-out, pop-up behind 1st base that lost a game to the Phillies.

You have a short memory.

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What do Michael Jackson and Brooks have in common? THey both wear a glove on their hand for no apparent reason…….

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Sonny, Agreed the bunt was probably the biggest “error” of all, but this team has been held together with duct tape since August, and you can’t predict errors. There are only 25 players on the roster and if Hinske could play 2B or Glaus could give you 7 or 8 innings at 3B, then you question having Conrad in the line-up; but with Prado out, Hinske and Glaus are the PH’s, and until the top of the 9th, it would appear Cox was making all the right moves. Forget Conrad’s error. How’d 2 runners get on base in the 9th, with the Braves protecting a 1 run lead? And Skip, if you think “hot girls” are out of your league, you don’t ask them to the prom.

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He blew/lost the game for the Braves last night, of course Cox will play him.

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Unemployment is at an all time high yet Brooks Conrad has a job???

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I cringe every time I think of BC’s nightmare. I still can’t believe it happened. My senior year in HS I let a hard hit liner to left field get behind me and a run scored on my error. I should have at least knocked it down, but didn’t play it right. I felt like crawling in a hole somewhere. I can’t even imagine what BC must have felt like making 3 errors in the bigs, in the playoffs, on TV, with Turner field stuffed full of fans.

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Why do bad things happen to such good people?? I love Brooksie and he’s done so much for the team this season. But I said it even during the game yesterday: take him out. I didn’t want to humiliate Brooksie but it was apparent he’d lost it. I remember another of my favorite Braves, Mark DeRosa making 3 errors in one game at 3rd base but it wasn’t a playoff game. Time for Diory Hernandez to play 2nd or like you said, it it really is a lefty tonight (I find it so hard to believe Bochy isn’t trotting out the Freak to mow us down tonight) then indeed, start Troy at 3rd. In this game, you can always sub for Troy if needed. I guess we know now how the Giants felt after we stole one from them late Friday/Sat. It’s gut-wrenching. If not for 3 errors and a popped up bunt, we probably would’ve won. Go Braves.

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And worse yet is the fact that contributed $80 towards that salary!

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How come my comments never post on this blog?

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To chillahill43 @ 11:46am

I have been a Braves fan since I moved here as a 10 year old in 1974. Believe me, I have seen far worse baseball then what I am seeing right now. Remember ostrich races just to get fans to come to the park? Or Ted Turner putting their nicknames on their backs instead of their names. I remember the Braves signing Andy Messersmith from the Dodgers for a million bucks, and his name on his back was ‘Super’, and his number was 17. That was back in the day when WTCG was called ‘Super 17′. But I digress……

I don’t recall ‘tons’ of people picking the Braves to be where they are today back in March. I seem to remember one of the analysts on MLB Network saying the Braves would contend for the wild card, but most were thinking middle of the pack behind the Phillies and the Marlins or Mets.

All I am saying is that this season has been a whole lot of fun, kind of like 1991 all over again, and if it weren’t for a few injuries, I think this team could have won the East. I said back in June that this team is still young, and that their best years are a year or 2 away. Once Heyward, Freeman, Medlin, Hanson, Dunn, etc. get a few years of experience under their belt, that is going to be a fun team to watch.

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Is there any way to determine the Braves record during games Bobby Cox was thrown out of? Is it me or do we seem to do better with him sitting in the clubhouse unable to change pitchers after every 3 pitches? People say it works out good for the Braves because he boosts morale by defending bad calls against his players but after last night and Game 2 im starting to think the true benefit of him getting tossed is the fact that he cant overmanage the bullpen.

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Bobby has to bench him. He’ll be scared to death every time a ball is hit to him. He’ll be praying that nobody hits a ball to him. He’ll be so mentally focused on fear that he won’t be able to properly react to anything in the field. This will affect his hitting as well. Your suggestion for Glaus at third is the right one.

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I thought Diory Hernandez was part of tha team…. Has he been traded??

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I really feel bad for Brooks. I hope he will find redemption in a dramatic pinch-hit situation. I know Bobby stands behind his players and he will give him a chance to contribute. I agree that he does need to sit this game out, though. His error in the 9th was almost Buckner-esque. At least it didn’t happen in what could have been the decisive series clincher, though.

Keep your chin up Brooks!

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Dont tell Brooksy that the game time changed and we will be fine…

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This guy would only start for the Braves. No other playoff team would let him play the field after he has repeatedly shown he can’t catch and throw.

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I usually let a Braves loss roll off me and I’m good to go the next morning.

Right now, I’m still so cheesed off about last night.

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Bobby will start me because I am related to Norton.

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yea Ive been here since 1961 and saw them fold to the MAzing mets. What Im saying is – If you would have told me make in April WTFever that dont mean a thing. This is the here and now. They made it here Now stop acting like you dont belong.. Your saying I should just be happy they made it. Well yea Im happy they made it… Well I should just be happy they are 1-2 in post season, Yea I am Happy But I aint happy how its gone down… So the old addage that if you would told me in April YADA YADA YADA dont hold water.. Your a playoff team- Act Like it PERIOD. and oh yea.. GO BRAVES…

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The guy is his own worst enemy right now, but why is nobody talking about how Jeyward has disappeared? Someone asked what he hurt when he hit the wall. The answer is “His Ego”. He barely jogged on that fly that Conrad dropped. That was his ball but he was afraid to take charge. He is lost at the plate. He is afraid to embrace this opportunity. The polar opposite is Posey. Having a great series, calling for fly balls and even though he has less big league experience than Jeyward, he is playing like a veteran. Maybe Jeyward has bought into all the hype that he was rookie of the year after one game and a lock for the Hall of Fame.

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There is no way Cox can start Conrad…hope fans don’t boo him if he does play.

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Cox always says the playoffs are a crapshoot. The Braves are crap, shoot!

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BC = Bobby Cox, Brooks Conrad, Blown Championships

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Start him, and then maybe Georgia will fire Richt. Georgia, you can’t rehabilitate someone who’s a loser by nature. Fire Richt!

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No one should boo any of the Braves. They are doing the best they can. Unfortunately, that may not be good enough.

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@ Scott B – “Keep your chin up Brooks!” You need to tell him to keep his arse down on grounders.

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Heyward should have called him off and caught it….but yes, Conrad should not start tonight….he can pitch hit….lets remember, Conrad made clutch hits for this team and they would not have made the playoffs without his contribution…but I definitely feel for him as he does look lost out there…and over the many playoff runs, there were miscues that cost the Braves a couple more World Championships. But perhaps this team has a little destiny in its wings….and that they’ll play beyond tonight. Go BRAVES !!!!!! Go Conrad.

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Well at this point Conrad isn’t doing much defensively or at the plate. It’s time to sit him down and Bobby next time please leave Kimbrel in the game to finish the 9th. Stop going by stats and follow your instinct.

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of course he couldnt, hell he couldnt catch her!

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mike -

What bat? He has a single and 4 Ks in 10 ABs. Not much of a bat there. I can’t find the split, but the guy hits next to nothing before the 7th inning. He’s best used as a pinch hitter in key situations.

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Amen, lefty. It is a TEAM game. If Heyward wasn’t 0 for 12 or whatever it is, perhaps Conrad’s errors wouldn’t an so much.

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I love Brooks. But why wasn’t Glaus out at 3rd anyway? Moving infante to 2nd…not sure what that hasn’t been done to begin with??? Puzzling for sure.
Stay strong Braves, grind it out and win tonight. One game at a time.
Bobby, get your head out of your &ss and lets go.

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Conrad even being in there in the 9th is reason enough to be happy that Bobby wont be able to screw things up next year. Way to bring in Dunn too. Brooks should be mad a Bobby for bringing in a pitcher that allowed the ball to be hit in the first place.

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Glaus @ 3rd? I’d rather put Diory at 2nd and keep Infante @ 3rd then to ALL OF A SUDDEN think Glaus can do any better defensively than Brooks.
I would have never taken Kimbrel out of the game, Coxsy. The matchup of Dunn v Huff was not advantageous. Huff hits lefties better than righties and he is now batting .667 v Dunn in THIS series!
Plenty of blame to go around but all that matters NOW is winning tonight!
I thought it was funny last night when after the disasterous top 9, the TBS team said, “the Braves have one last chance BUT they have the heart of their order coming to bat!” It made me laugh at an otherwise depressing situation!

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Brooks should have never been in there yesterday. Glaus should have been at third. If he struggles then replace him with Diory, but until then let him play. Chino, put him in there Friday night and he paid dividends. Come on Bobby!

Infante
Ankiel
Diaz
McCann
Lee
Heyward
Glaus
Gonzalez

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Bobby has one more chance to make things right and get the Braves past the Giants and into the NCLS with Philadelphia. Give Jeysen Hewyard a rest and Clutch Conrad, SITTING BOTH OF THEM DOWN. However, bring Conrad and Jeysen in late in the game to pinch hit ONLY. Conrad might be wounded mentally, but he swings a mighty stick at the plate and may deposit a ball into the blue seats. Jeysen is mired in an aweful slump right now and better to sit Jeysen and WIN the series or keep him in the starting lineup and lose the series. Bobby, the choice is yours and I’m sure you will make the wrong choice. It was clear to me yesterday that Jeyson was hurt when he crashed head first into the wall in right-center field. Jeyson was literally knocked into next week by that collision with the wall, but somehow shook it off and decided to stay in. When Conrad made an error out in the field when he dropped a ball out by second base, Jeyson would have made that play if jeyson hadnt been injured. Its unfortunate and I’m mad because the Braves should now be leading 2 games to 1, with a chance to close it out tonight. Thats what should have happend. But Bobby Cox had his plans to be “Mr. DecidionMaker” when he should have stayed put in the dugout and let the game unfold naturally instead of making a fool of himself, by bringing in Charlie Liebrant to give up the ball game. It almost reminds you of ‘91 when he did exactly the same thing and lost that series for us as well. Of course Lonnie Smith made a baserunning error because he couldnt tell that a ball was trapped in the outfield and should have scored the winning run in regulation giving us a 1-0 win instead of game 7 being tied 0-0 after nine innings. BOBBY COX and LONNIE SMITH cost us that first world series in the worst to first year of 1991. I DONT CARE WHAT ANYONE SAYS, THATS THE TRUTH BECAUSE I SAW IT MYSELF.

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Good managers always make defensive changes late in close games. I don’t blame Conrad for the loss. I blame Bob. Conrad should have been in the dugout for the ninth inning- if not before.

Bob is much like modern educators who don’t want anything to harm the self- esteem of students (they can’t read or write but they feel good about themselves). As with the educators, he failed. Conrad has no self-esteem left and Bob has likely blown the chance to move on to another round.

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My family is a baseball family, and my dad and I understand that once the errors get in your head, there’s no way out except to not play. We both knew after the end of the regular season and the first error he made in game one Conrad was done. These aren’t difficult plays, they’re as routine as they get. I’d be a million dollars if you asked D Lowe off the record if he thought Conrad should be in he would give you an emphatic NO. Bobby has to think about his pitcher and his team, and that means the bench for Brooks. On the other hand, Kimbrel should have stayed in the game to face Huff. If Cox was truly playing the statistics that would have been the decision. Another case of a manager completely overmanaging in the specialization age. Then again, Cox has done this in numerous other playoff series, and the result has usually been the same-losses. Like his team, a great in the regular season, but not built for the playoffs. With that being said, let’s win these next two. Go Braves!!

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lefty fielder –

The only other player on the team who has an error in this series is Ankiel, who hit the game winner in the only game we’ve won in this series. The guys you name have been non-factors in this series. Brooks has been a factor, unfortunately he’s been a negative factor. Anemic hitting is bad, but it’s honestly something that we’ve come to expect from this team. Brooks has compounded poor hitting with terrible defense.

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Give Conrad a one way bus ticket to Tim-Buc-too, put in the bat boy as he would be a worthy replacement.

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brooks conrad is a pinch-hitter. period.

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Conrad is a great guy to come off the bench. He just shouldn’t be starting as he has shown.

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I think the reason Bobby will go with Glaus today has more to do with getting Glaus’ right-handed bat in the lineup against the lefty than getting Brooks out of it. Brooks is a better hitter from the left-side of the plate and he would be more useful tonight as a PH against a RH reliever. Getting Brooks’ glove off the field would be an added bonus.

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This is exactly why the Braves need an owner and not a greedy corporate ownership. If Ted was still the owner $#!+ would have been stirred long ago. Heck, He might of tried managing again.

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Joe Cox -

Given that logic, why can’t we give Glaus at least one start at 3B this series? We wouldn’t be here if not for the 6 weeks he was on fire earlier in the season either. Doesn’t he deserve some of the same love that you want to give Conrad?

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Does Cox ever use data to make a decision? He is SO obsolete. Left handed hitters against Kimble have a lower batting average than against Dunn. Huff has a higher batting average against left handed pitchers than against right handed. Cox never switched Wagner to match up lefty vs righty. Who was calling the signs for Kimble’s pitches? Sanchez could not catch up with Kimble’s fast balls and so a slower pitch is called (by Brian or Cox?) Wells and Eckersly were in agreement after the game that you never take the fast pitch away from a fast ball pitcher when batters cannot catch up to it. Does Cox know that Hinske played third base for the Yankees for 3 years?
I was more disheartened with last night’s loss than any in memory (and I have watched or attended every game for past 5 years)..As for Jason, someone last night said that Terry had been working with him to get his swing fixed. Tell me one hitter who become a better hitter after Pendleton’s coaching? Two weeks ago Chipper (and I hope he does become our batting coach) in an interview on t.v. said that what “they” were doing to help Jason was not what he would do. If we lost tonight, at least Cox will be gone….no more sitting in the dugout yawning, picking his nose, and NEVER talking to a member of his own staff.
I guess he knows it all….which equals ZERO.

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GO GIANTS!!!!

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Yeah Conrad made errors that ultimately cost the game but the teams lack of hitting, Heywards inability to make plays in RF and Cox’s removing of Kimbrell all played major parts in this loss. So don’t heap all the blame on Conrad. he didn’t do it by himself.

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jumper57

Giants had great pitching last night, but the Braves gave the game away. We’d have fared better without a 2nd baseman and a manager. Trade Conrad to the US Census Bureau and stuff that petrified fossil, Cox, in a Cooperstown janitor’s closet.

Kudos to this poster.

Real act of mercy to almost ALL Braves’ fans?
Getting Cox’s stale act GONE.
Sight unseen has to be better.

Almost all of us knew going into postseason, Cox would screw it up. A late-game tactician Cox is not. And never has been…
Most agree lifting Kimbrel was not a rock, it was a 10-ton boulder. Live or die at that point with your best arm. No comparison whatsover with Kimbrel vs. Dunn.

Personally, so livid at that point. even before Dunn allowed Huff to tie game, I embarrassingly forgot Conrad was still in game–drew a blank he called off Lee on popup–and assumed best defense was on the field.
Pulled a Cox myself.

Personally, I will cut cut Brooks some slack, for all his over-achieving when plugged in all season.
But my biggest gripe about Cox is he never ever admits error. Mumble something brainless dribble about not using last man available to replace Conrad.
Man up, senile skipper !
Show some size and admit, like so many times in the post season, you MADE the biggest error.

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I WISH TONIGHT WE GET BEAT SO THAT OLDMAN DUMB BOOBY COX CAN GET THE HELLON!

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Hope Glaus doesn’t have any playoff incentives in his contract.If so,I guess Hernandez is playing. Braves ownership deserves all this embarrassment. Why hasn’t any writer/paper/website contacted Braves ownership about their obvious greed and lust for the almight $$$.

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Last night was awesome!

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Yes this would be the Hall of Fame manager doing what he does best … wait til it is so freaking painfully obvious what he ought to do and then doing it. MENTAL MIDGET managing

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Come see my final edition tonite. I plan on putting a good lineup together, hopefully I can get Melky in there as he is playing really good these days. I also want everyone to know that Edgar Rentaria is a bad man as his bunt cost me another world series ring.

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Also, I don’t see why so many people are on McCann. He’s thrown well on base stealers in this series, and he’s hitting 364 with a BB. He’s the only guy with at least 5 ABs who’s hitting over 250 or has a OBP of at least 290. Given, he only has 1 extra base hit, but he’s at least getting on base.

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Lets go Giants!!! Lets go Giants!!

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The biggest error of the night goes to Bobby for bringing in Mike Dunn. No knock on Dunn but he’s no Wagner. Kimbrel had the better shot of getting Huff out.

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I do think after 5 seasons or so, people forgot what a numbskull Cox was in the post season – Wagner should not have been in the game where he got hurt. You have Glaus & Hinski who can play 3rd, Conrad should never see the infield again until next season, which may be just one game away

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Also, Conrad is one helluva a pinch hitter – but in the field, he just plain out sucks.

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William Robert Mobslinger : People don’t come down to McDonald’s and boo you when you put ketchup on a Big Mac.

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It seems that everyone on this blog is an idiot, at least from a baseball standpoint. All season you guys go after Cox and want him gone. Did he make a mistake last night taking out Kimbrel? ABSOLUTELY. Has he made mistakes before and will he make some again? ABSOLUTELY. The thing is , who in gods name do you think could or will do a better job? Bobby Cox is one of the best managers of all time? Do any of you people honestly think Freddie Gonzalez, Terry Pendleton or Eddie Perez are going to be better and do more then Bobby Cox? Cox got us into the postseason this year with the walking wounded. Our players came back 47 times this year for BOBBY, not for anyone else nor will they play better for anyone else. Hopefully he will get the job done tonight and bench Conrad and let Diory play. As much as I would prefer to have Glaus play third rather then have Diory in the lineup. I honestly don’t think he can really move at all and I think he will wind up making another 3 errors tonight. We’ll win tonight and force the game 5 in San Fran and hopefully take out Lincecum.

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Nate, glad you finally came out of utopia – you can’t hit a lick, never could – so I hope you invested all that overpaid $$$ you’ve earned – heck, you did not even earn the $$$ Pittsburgh gave ya.

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What is more likely? Me getting a hit in the series or a vote for Rookie of the Year? Man, what a bust have I become. Its not my fault, though. It is that terrible excuse for a batting coach in Terry Pendleton. How TP can have a job is beyond me. He stinks!!!!

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This sounds spiteful, but honestly I didn’t feel bad or sorry one bit for Conrad last night. Sure his bat has been huge for us at points this season, but his glove hasn’t. It might be easier to forgive the guy if he doesn’t make an error after error after error since the final series against the Phillies

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Play Glaus at third already! Our offense is nonexistent! I’d take a chance that his bat could help this lineup and that his third base D is adequate. He did save the game the other night by starting the double play!

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The lineup I would have tonight

Infante 2B
Gonzalez SS
Lee 1B
McCann C
Glaus 3B
Heyward RF
Diaz LF
Ankiel CF

Gonzalez has shown more of an ability to bunt runners over and do the kinds of things a #2 hitter is supposed to do. And it allows you to move Heyward down into more of an RBI spot, which may shake him out of his funk. Glaus may give the lineup some more punch. Since Bobby trusted him enough to put him at 3B late in game 2, I think we need to make SF show that they’ll take advantage of his limited mobility before we eliminate the possibility of starting him at 3B.

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I’m surprised at all the rips on Heyward on this and other blogs. He’s 21 years old, this is by far the longest season he’s every played, he’s had injuries and this is the first time he’s ever seen MLB playoff pitching and been under playoff pressure. With regard to the tying run last night, he charged the ball and got rid of it quickly. His throw was off line but the runner was sliding home as the ball got to the catcher. No way a good throw would have gotten the runner.

Heyward is the key player in the future of this franchise, and we’ve seen throughout the year that he can go from cold to hot pretty quickly. The Braves certainly don’t have anybody to put in his place. They can’t even put major league quality outfielders in center and left.

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Should’ve lived or died last night with Kimbrell. If Kimbrell (or Venters) is the closer in waiting…there’s no more waiting. Put them in in the bottom of the 9th and treat them like Wagner: all or nothing.

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Jason Heyward’s (and on a bigger scale, the Braves’) biggest problem at the plate is that he tries way too hard to be disciplined and not be the next Jeff Francoeur (I’m sure he was well aware of Francoeur’s initial success and subsequent fall from grace coming in). So he has let the first pitch go by uncontested what has to be a large majority of the time. Big league pitchers have listened to their scouts, so Heyward (and an alarming number of other “patient” Braves hitters) often quickly see themselves in an 0-1 or 0-2 hole.

Yes, Heyward’s gotten enough walks to boost his OBP significantly…but then he’s not being expected by this franchise to just get to first base somehow, is he? He can and should be hitting 30-plus home runs even if it’s sacrificing some of that OBP, because this team sure as heck has enough trouble getting runs home as it is. When he was told by Cox and/or Pendleton early in the season to get more aggressive at the plate, he took off for awhile and really did well, even keeping his strikeouts relatively low while doing so. But then he regressed to that earlier form, especially after he injured his thumb, and afterward apparently NOBODY reminded him to be aggressive and that the Braves needed power from him more than they needed him to play it “safe”. The result has been a guy up there who seems unsure of himself in clutch situations and especially against top-tier pitching; you can tell he’s becoming frustrated when you see him starting to bark at umpires who ring him up looking. But like Nate McLouth, Yunel Escobar, and Troy Glaus (to name just a few; funny how Escobar took off after being shipped to toronto, isn’t it?), nobody seems to have had a serious one-on-one to emphatically tell him what’s really wrong. Meaning somebody didn’t do their jobs.

That’s why I have to lay the biggest blame for this problem on Terry Pendleton, and then Bobby Cox if he sees that Pendleton isn’t doing his job with these players. The Braves need a HOUSE CLEANING come the offseason, and a new manager is only the beginning. I think the entire coaching staff and certainly the ownership need to change; perhaps some of the front office as well. Because from top to bottom, 2010 has been a year where obvious problems that could have been addressed internally even without trades simply WEREN’T. That kind of ineptitude and inaction goes all the way to the top given how long a MLB season is.

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If I had been in Conrad’s shoes I would have made it easy for BC, even before last night’s game. I would have gone to him and requested to be removed from the lineup. Even sitting out one game could have worked wonders. That would have been the smart thing to do. Also, BC’s big mistake was taking Kimbrel out. Pitching changes are Cox’s “Achilles Heel”!

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Sit down Conrad and Heyward tonight. Heyward could have prevented Conrad’s second error, and Jason is a liability at the plate. Give Hinske a chance to shine tonight.

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jay dubu, if you’re not going to lay out for a ball in the playoffs with the game on the line, then when will you?

And saying that Heyward “hasn’t been stellar” at the plate is laughable. He’s our two-hole hitter and he’s hitless in the post-season.

I’m afraid that Heyward has already been poisoned by the uninspired and underperforming style of play that is Bobby Cox baseball

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Ironicly, the 1 game the Braves won this series, 6 was kicked out. Techically, he did not manage the victory.

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also, why are you guys being so cruel to Conrad? – that guy has worked his butt off to get where he is with half the talent of a Jayson Heyward. Heyward is killing the braves more than Conrad – give him a break. My anger would be directed toward the malcontent D Lee or Heyward if I was a braves fan…

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That’s really great, Yogi 2, I will make sure when I pay the $$$ to attend Braves’ games that it’s all OK to be a choking dog like Brooks Conrad was last night and be woefully lacking of anything resembling the “right stuff.” He didn’t “just make a mistake.” He sucks and lacks ability/talent/whatever to be playing in a post-season.

I am actually proud of the ATL fans who boo’d this bum last night because you either show up or don’t when it all really matters. Conrad failed to answer the call and drug everyone else down with him.

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Chipper Jones For Batting Coach!!!!

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BillnJax

October 11th, 2010
1:09 pm
Can anyone tell me why Kimbrel threw a 87 mph slider on a 1-2 count when Sanchez showed no sign of catching up with his fastball which average 96 mph. One strike away from holding a 2-1 lead in the series and we speed up Sanchez’s bat. Come on now. What was they thinkin…
—————

I can tell you why – because your vastly overrated catcher, Brian McCann, called for a slider.

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Maybe if Kimbrel threw more heaters than sliders like Wohlers, we never get to Conrads error

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Brooks got on Facebook this morning and apologized to the fans. He’s sincerely remorseful, and is giving no excuses but that he botched that routine grounder.

So instead of focusing on tonights game, he’s on facebook first thing this morning!?!?!? Gota love it!

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Glaus at third is just, plain stupid! He can’t move people! Did y’all not watch any of the Gwinnett games when he tried to play 3rd? If you are going to play someone else on the infield, it better be Diory Hernandez. 1. good glove. 2. Speed on the bases 3. Good glove. and 4. Speed on the bases.

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As punishment to tha team, they ought to make all the braves players that wont sign autographs stand at the fence and wait on fans to ask them for one..

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Brooks got on Facebook this morning and apologized to the fans. He’s sincerely remorseful, and is giving no excuses but that he botched that routine grounder.

Gota love that he’s on Facebook the morning after. You know….instead of trying to focus on playing better!!!!!!

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TROY GLAUS CARRIED US WHILE WE WERE IN 1ST PLACE,BOOBY DESERVES TO BE FIRED EVEN THOUGH HE HIS RETIRING!
WHY HAS’NT BOOBY PUT TROY IN AT 3RD BASE?
DUMB COACHING IM GLAD THIS IS HIS LAST GAME!

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I know one thing he’s not going to be a Brave next season. He’s only with the Braves now cause he is their only option right now they need to find some better bench players for next year.

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Lay off of Conrad. The guy had enough game winners to get us into the playoffs. He is trying to fill someone else’s role the best he can. He is a bench player, primarily. There is a reason for that. Personally, I would have made an outfielder out of him this year and got rid of some of the dead-weight OF’s that we have!

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Conrad! Conrad! Conrad!
Anybody out there ever have a bad day at work?
No? Well here is a handful of stones to throw!
Bobby made 3 mistakes that cost the braves thee game:
2b at 3b and 3b base at 2b???????????? Why not Lee at shortstop and Gonzo at first?????????
Second mistake: why take out Hudson? Your ace reliever is out!!! OK, Venters comes in, struggles, but strikes out three, Braves get lead, why pinch hit for Venters with Cabrera??? Back to beating dead horses, Hudson would have had a better chance of getting a hit than Cabrera!

Bobby! Bobby! Bobby! Admit you had a bad day! Conrad did his best under the circumstances!

Bobby is a great manager, but I think we need that first inning toss to fire up the Braves!!!!

While I’m here, SMOLTZIE FOR MANAGER – A LITTLE FIRE!

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FOR YOU STUPID PEOPLE THAT KEEP SAYING WE SHOULD STILL START CONRAD,THESE MUST BE MIKE BOBO FANS,BECAUSE ONLY THEY WOULD PUT-UP WITH THIS CRAP DEALING WITH CONRAD!

BOOBY COX = MIKE BOBO

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I forgot to apologize to everyone for not diving for the ball that would have been the 3rd out in the 9th and would have won us the game. I had my iphone in my front pocket and didn’t want to damage it because I had this hot piece of tail calling me after the game. Man, she was smoking and she helpt me forget all about that loss. Hopefully, we can end it tonight so I can my groove on with this chick all week. Maybe, next year, I’ll hustle and learn how to hit a baseball when it matters.

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Plain and simple. If Booby would have stayed with Kimbrel, we would not be talking about this.

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I hope Booby has one of his tirades in the 1st inning, and gets ejected – maybe then the Braves can win the game.

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Test

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Why am I on the roster?

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Phillies, Class of the NL -

Yeah, I’ve noticed he calls a much better game when he’s got Lee, Halladay, Oswalt or Hamels on the mound. He doesn’t look like nearly as much of a genius when any of your other starters pitch.

When Ruiz catches about 140 games a year and still hit around 270 (or above) with 20+ HRs over several years, then I’ll consider him in the same class as McCann. He’s had a great year, but, even this season, he hasn’t had near the level of wear and tear or shown as much power as McCann. Hell, McCann even has 5 SBs this year, and 17 over his career.

If you want to say Ruiz is better behind the plate, I might not completely disagree with you. But he hasn’t come close to be a better all-around ballplayer at that position.

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WE DONT NEED NO MORE WOHLERS LIKE SLIDERS

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I love Hooters!!!

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I had no problem with Bobby Cox starting Brooks Conrad Sunday, despite the continuous errors in the field. Not much choice. I have a real problem with Bobby Cox leaving Brooks in for the ninth inning with a one run lead and Brooks having already committed two errors in the game and mentally, a train wreck waiting to happen. In the ninth inning Bobby did have a choice. He had a decent defensive infielder on the bench in Diory Hernandez, whom he has put in for late inning defense before.

All the focus is on Brooks, but it was his manager who made the decision to let him don his ball glove and take his position at 2nd base at a crucial time in the game, in the playoffs and in the season.

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All I know is the Braves need some offense. Terrible bats and they all look lost at the plate with fear in their eyes. Terry Pendelton needs to hit the road for sure.

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Longtime Braves fan (yes not a bandwagon fan of these days) that grew up in ATL – neighbor of Biff Pocaroba so I DO remember sitting in the stands in Fulton Co stadium where their might have been 1,000 fans in the seats. I am now on the west coast (Bay Area) and YES I saw Lincecum the other night and he would have dominated the Yankees or Phillies so don’t blame Cox or the team for that loss (maybe the ump for a bad call or the ball that got through with a 3B not playing his natural position).

Let’s be honest:

Conrad is a career minor league guy who has given the team some special moments this year. However, Cox HAS to bench him as the guy is mentally done.

IF Braves had a Mariano Rivera as a closer for all these years, they have AT LEAST 4 Titles. While you want to blame Cox for this and that, the PLAYERS have to get the job done and they just frankly didn’t make it happen yesterday. While I believe you leave Kimbrel out there to get it done, Cox always seems to overmanage with the “percentage” play in baseball which I never agree with most of the time. As Cox said, you all would be killing him if Kimbrel gives up a 2 run HR in that situation. Bottom line, you take the blown saves by the Reardon’s, Wohler’s, etc. of the world and the Braves are looked at as the Yankees of this era.

I get all this crap from the Giants fans out here – let’s be honest, NEITHER or these teams will match up at all against the Phils – I still believe the Braves will win this evening and take its chances with Lincecum in Game 5.

Let’s fill up that stadium again this evening and create some positive energy for the Braves as if you all are being honest, this team has already overachieved this year and are about a year or so away from making those deep runs they made in the 90s (given they get two more bats and a closer).

Good luck to the Braves form here on the west coast.

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I swear to God, if Bobby left Kimbrell in, and Huff hit a jimmy jack, I would NOT be asking why he put in a lefty. Someone said yesterday that closing by committee last season mind fcked Soriano, and I couldn’t agree more. It must be Kimbrell come hell or high water.

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Giants please spare another game with Bobby Cox as the manager. Obviously you are not that good, but can you please just win one more game? Please!! This is a disgrace. Are those prescription glasses Heyward wears when he is hitting? Obviously not…

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CHINO CADAHIA MUST START AT MANAGER TONIGHT!

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Braves Fans! Cheer up! Bochy’s starting Bumgartner tonight instead of The Freak. Maybe we have a chance? {{{sigh…..}}}

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Start me tonight.

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BC will show mercy on BC.

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Hey Mark: Ask Wagner what he thought about Cox jerking Kimbrell after McCann’s dumb pitch selection.

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Conrad needs to sit. Yes, he helped us into the postseason with clutch hits, but who cares? You can’t rely on numbers from the regular season. Braves fans should know… 14 division titles and ONLY one world series. Winning in the postseason is more about who’s playing well at THAT moment. The sad thing about having Bobby Cox as manager is that he’s more about “player loyalty” than playing who’s best. How long did it take for Bobby to play Martin Prado?

Conrad, do what’s best for the team and take a seat. Bobby, do you want to win or have player’s like you?

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Bobby should give him the retirement Lexus, and let him drive away….anywhere…..
Seldom can one player blow a game and take all the blame, but this is one of those times. If he digs the hole, i’ll throw the dirt on top of him. Deal?

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I am sick and tired of you people who know nothing about baseball except how to watch blaming Brooks Conrad…. The blame goes squarely on the shoulders of Bobby Cox folks!!!! What the hell was he thinking by taking Kimbrell out??? He’s your freaking closer now! Would he have took Wagner out?? Hell no!!!! People you’re also forgetting that the Giants had already tied the game before the error. 27 more outs and good ridance to Cox….. Hopefully Fredi won’t make the same stupid decisions Cox has made for many many postseasons….

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The pitching changes in the 9th appeared to be “knee-jerk” and really blew the momentum of the game, which at that point was totally in favor of the Braves. Bobby is known as a “player’s coach”, but sometimes he sticks with folks too long – that has always been a complaint about him. Heyward is 0 for 12 in the DS…OH FER TWELVE!! Huddy had to get the first Braves hit last night. WTF??? Is Pendleton just taking these guys out for ice cream when they should be working on hitting? Far as I can tell, they should be able to hit the heck out a golf ball based on the swings they have been taking…when they actually swing, that is. I can save the Braves a ton of money because I will charge them only $250k per year to stand there looking and go down on strikes. Sheesh. One bright note – the fans last night were AWESOME!

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IF BOOBY COX DID’NT HAVE DAVID JUSTICE!

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He single handedly lost the game for Atlanta. Bench him. Why is this a question.?

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For the people jumping on Cox for taking out Kimbrel. Bobby’s a pretty by the book manager, tries to match up lefty pitchers with lefty batters, wants his batters to hit from the opposite side that the pitcher throws from. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. I didn’t agree with the decision, but that philosophy is also why he brought out Hinske to pinch hit when the Giants changed relievers.

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As a formal in fielder Conrade doesn’t even know how you have to play certain ball. When you get to major league that has to be a natural move. Now you know why he hasn’t made it to the big show before now. He can’t play defense.
At his age this will end his career . He seems like a nice guy but I have personally known a few players that hit in every league they played close to 300 but never made it higher than AA ball because they were so bad defensively.

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I’m probably in the minority, but I feel awful for Conrad. His role on the team is a bat off the bench and an emergency backup. He is NOT a starter, but injuries have thrust him into a starting role.

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As a High School baseball coach. I get it all the time. Everyone can coach after the plays are over. Funny thing is if he would have hit the walk off homer. He would have been praised on the front page of sports this am.

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WHY IN THE WORLD DIDN’T BOBBY PULL A DEFENSIVE SUBSTITUTION WITH A LEAD IN THE NINTH? DIORY HERNANDEZ IS ON THE TEAM WHY IF NOT FOR THAT SITUATION? I BLAME THIS LOSS ON COX AS MUCH AS CONRAD. STILL HAVE RESPECT FOR BOTH GUYS THOUGH. ALSO, NOT THAT IT WOULD HAVE MADE A DIFFERENCE BECAUSE WE COULDN’T BAT HIM IN, BUT ROSS PINCH RAN FOR MCCANN….DID THAT MAKE ANY SENSE TO ANYONE SEEING AS HOW DIORY WAS ON THE BENCH. I PROMISE I’M NOT DIORY OR RELATED TO HIM, BUT IT SEEMS LIKE THOSE WOULD HAVE BEEN EASY MOVES TO JUSTIFY. HE IS ON THE ACTIVE ROSTER RIGHT?

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THE CURSE OF DAVID JUSTICE WILL BE BROKEN THIS YEAR

October 11th, 2010
1:24 pm
WHO COACHED THE TEAM IN SAN FRAN WHEN WE WON,AFTER BOOBY GOT TOSSED IN THE 2ND?

ONCE AGAIN,GAMES BOOBY COX COACHED 0-2

THE GAME WE WON WITHOUT BOOBY COX 1-0

BOOBY WAS OUT COACHED BY HIS AST MANAGER
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Hey Dipwad, Bobby coached from the clubhouse. Chino was simply the messenger. Get some new material.

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