At least the Braves have experience in win-or-blow-it games
Here's how it turned out last season. For reference purposes. (AJC photo by Curtis Compton)
Looking on the bright side — and even finding a bright side takes concentrated effort — there’s this: If any team in the history of baseball knows how to win the 162nd game of a season behind Tim Hudson after losing two to the Phillies and entering Game No. 162 tied for the wild card after blowing a massive lead … well, the Braves are that team. Because they did it last season.
And that’s it. That’s all I’ve got. Rating the collapses, this season’s is much worse than last’s. The 2010 Braves ran out of everyday players; the 2011 Braves have run low on starting pitchers. Last year’s team had a hard time scoring for a pretty good reason; this team has a hard time scoring for no good reason.
Last year’s Braves lost a seven-game division lead because the Phillies got hot and got healthy (and got Roy Oswalt) and blew past them. This team has lost an 8 1/2-game wild-card lead to St. Louis, which was hot but is only 3-3 over the past six days and needed 23 players, eight of them pitchers, to override a five-run deficit against the 100-loss Astros on Tuesday.
So: Here we go again. One more game on the schedule, one game to assure these Braves of playing at least one more game after this.
Loading ...About the Cardinals: You’d have to think Chris Carpenter will win at Minute Maid Park tonight, but you’d have thought Carpenter would have beaten the Cubs on Friday and he could not. Carpenter was pulled after 93 pitchers for a pinch-hitter in a 1-1 game; the Cardinals yielded Alfonso Soriano’s winning three-run homer the next inning.
That Redbird loss pushed the Braves’ lead back to three games with five to play. They haven’t held it. Now they could face elimination if they don’t win tonight, but the way this stumbling chase is going they might lose to Philly and still get to play in St. Louis on Thursday. Indeed, for an hour or so Tuesday night it appeared the Braves — who trailed 7-0 — might take the wild card without actually winning another game. But the Cardinals rallied from 5-0 and 6-5 deficits, and here we are. Again.
Tim Hudson in the 162nd game. A team could do worse. For example: Derek Lowe in the 161st game — that was worse.
By Mark Bradley
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355 comments Add your comment
McOUT
September 28th, 2011
11:00 am
Forget about it! Its Over. & Im outta here, see ya Bravos thanks for the huge paycheck lol
Mitchell
September 28th, 2011
11:01 am
I still desperately want to win.
How could getting swept by the Brewers be any worse than losing to the Cubs in ‘03?
I’m really dumb enough to think they might turn it around tonight.
Or hell, if they lose and the Cardinals lose (not likely) I’m fine with the one game playoff.
Still counts as the playoffs. Unless they call it a “play-in” game. I hope they don’t call it that.
I just can’t believe, the past three years whenever they’ve struggled like this, not to say they’ve struggled anything like this in the past three years, there was always the one big hit that broke them out of their slump and then it was just, over.
I remember Martin hitting the grand slam last year in Milwaukee and then they went on to sweep the series and that was that. Slump busted.
I have very little faith in individual members of this team and even less faith or belief/respect for the organization but somebody’s got to do something.
We have to win. I’m desperate.
Why Is This Man Managing?
September 28th, 2011
11:01 am
I wish I had more confidence in Hudson than I do.
Brock
September 28th, 2011
11:02 am
I’ve watched this team all year. Been to a lot of games. But watching this team these last 3 weeks have been awful hard on the eyes. I was at the game last night and before I could get a beer and get to my seat they were down 1-0. I started laughing to myself thinking, “this game is over”. And sure enough………..
I do partly blame the pitching but if you can’t score runs you can’t win games(i I know, captian obvious) but my point is also, if you don’t score runs you put pressure on the pitchers to be perfect and we all know they are not.
This team simply can’t hit with RISP. Period. Season Over.
Prado's NOT a 3rd baseman
September 28th, 2011
11:04 am
Constanza should have been playing against RH pitchers & bench Pardo, speed doesnt slump & we had some exciting baseball for awhile until Fredi went brain dead, but bottom line this team is not worthy of the playoffs, if they get in, YES its 1 & done no doubt!
Abnerish
September 28th, 2011
11:05 am
Bench Uggla? Then he wouldn’t have played the entire 2nd half (and wouldn’t have had the resurgence he did). Bench your 5 time all star catcher and team leader? You guys have lost it. Constanza is a journeyman outfielder that got hot and then cooled off. End of story.
Abnerish
September 28th, 2011
11:07 am
Besides, the last time I checked, Constanza hasn’t been able to steal home, and frankly, that’s what it would take these days!
Afan
September 28th, 2011
11:07 am
oswalt walks like he got some sugar in the tank and utley has to be gay with that hair style of his.
gadawgs
September 28th, 2011
11:08 am
Heyward is another Francouer…a flash in the pan. Too many holes in his swing and he will or cannot adjust. Why he is still playing everyday amazes me. Instead of all of our “hitters” coming out of their shoes every time they swing why don’t they just try making contact and putting good wood on the ball? They might be surprised by what happens. Hey Braves watch the Phillies approach to hitting and and you might learn something. Hey Fredi the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. What you are doing is NOT working and now you have waited too long and we are now done. Great job there skip.
Big Wally
September 28th, 2011
11:08 am
Excerpts from Coach Parrish’s closed door meeting last night; Coach Parrish: Boys, desperate time call for desperate measures. We’re going to try something brand new, it’s call opposite field hitting. If the ball on the outside part of plate, go the other way instead of trying to pull every pitch. Dan Ugla: so if I’m right handed that means I hit it to left field right? Jason Heyward: Coach, what’s an outside pitch? Brian McChoke: so I can hit weak grounders to 3rd instead of 2nd? Coach Parrish: ok this meeting is going to last longer than I thought.
pitch this
September 28th, 2011
11:09 am
It will really be better for the Braves if they don’t get into the playoffs. Then management will have to at least pretend to fix the problems.
If they get in, management will say; Hey we made the playoffs so we must have done our jobs pretty well. They haven’t. They don’t deserve credit.
Unfortunately there will probably be no significant change until the team is sold. If that happens we can at least hope that the current management will be fired and replaced by people who actually know what they are doing.
kwajbraves
September 28th, 2011
11:11 am
The good thing about being eliminated early is that we don’t have put up anymore with Cards or Phils trolls. Another silver linning.
P Rose
September 28th, 2011
11:13 am
If they get to a one-game playoff and lose, what color will the “2011″ be on the new yellow pennant on the wall next year? They put up a pennant for being the wild card team last year, so it makes just as much sense to put one up there for tying for the wild card. How cheesy can you get?
samsula
September 28th, 2011
11:15 am
GO BRAVES…. AND TAKE THE HAWKS WITH YOU!!!
Afan
September 28th, 2011
11:16 am
If they dont make some kind of effort to get some hitters on this team then why follow them again.
Heyward needs to be a bench guy and see if he can prove something. He is still young and could still develop but he is not a starter. We need a short stop that can hit. chipper has got to go.
He is a burden on this team as a starter. We cant play worried about what chipper is gonna do.
You cant go to the playoffs with one quality starter.
Big Wally
September 28th, 2011
11:18 am
Survey:
#1, the over/under of Braves runs (2),
#2, the over/under of double plays Chipper hits into (2),
#3 the over/under of stupid quotes from Fredi-cat after the game (3),
mike
September 28th, 2011
11:19 am
This is the nice thing about not being a sports fan. I’m not stressed one bit about whether or not the Braves make the playoffs. Or any other team, for that matter. I sleep well at night.
The Abs Man
September 28th, 2011
11:23 am
Mark:
Gotta’ say you print media pretty benign towards Fredi.
In more than 50 years of playing in school and watching, never ever seen more rocks pulled than by Fredi.
Time and time again, he’s jackass-stubborn and just plain overmatched.
In horse racing, Fredi would be called, “common.”
kwajbraves
September 28th, 2011
11:27 am
Braves have struck out 1245 times this season that make us number 3 in the league. I bet that most of them came with RISP with less than 2 outs. Yikes!
The Abs Man
September 28th, 2011
11:28 am
How does local print media not fry Fredi for his many miscues per game?
benchwarmer
September 28th, 2011
11:28 am
Hurray, our team is not the Cubs. Not yet anyway.
P Rose
September 28th, 2011
11:31 am
Being a sports fan born and raised in Atlanta is truly a curse. Dallas has the Cowboys, and they have 5 titles. St. Louis has the Cardinals – they have 10. The New York Yankees have 27. Even the Florida Marlins have 2. The Dodgers have won 5 since moving to L.A. The Packers have a total of 13 league championships. The Steelers have 6. Even the Cleveland Browns won 8, dating back to the pre-Super Bowl era. The Braves have won it all only once, despite having the league’s dominant team for 15 straight years. The Falcons and Hawks have nothing to show for 45 years of trying. We have even lost not one, but TWO hockey teams to other cities; neither of them ever won anything. At least we have some glory in our history in college football, as Tech and Georgia have had a few national titles between them. But for professional sports it just doesn’t get any worse than here.
Lemke's Knuckler
September 28th, 2011
11:32 am
Prado’s NOT…”Constanza should have been playing against RH pitchers & bench Prado”
You mean the same Prado that has hit .238 in his past 10 games…higher than anyone else in the top 6 of this lineup over that span (Bourn .176, Chipper .229, Uggla .231, Freeman .176, McCann .182).
Not saying Prado’s lighting it up, because he’s not. And he’s leaving runners on base like crazy. But to single out one player for this skid is asinine. This has been a complete team effort to be this bad.
Freddi Must Go!
September 28th, 2011
11:33 am
PLAY CONSTANZA!
Bulldawg
September 28th, 2011
11:34 am
The Braves need to play Constanza. For those who say he stopped hitting, it’s hard to hit with any consistency when you’ve only had 10 at bats since September 6. I agree with a previous poster who said that he believes it’s purely an economic move because you can’t have a career minor leaguer playing over your “annointed” star of the future.
If you are not going to play Constanza, then what are you going to do with him. Trade him? I bet there are a lot of other teams that would love to have his speed in their lineup.
P Rose
September 28th, 2011
11:35 am
Not only have the Marlins won the title twice, but so have the Dolphins, and the Heat also won one. Even Tampa Bay has more titles, with the Bucs and Lightning having won one each.
Sonny Clusters
September 28th, 2011
11:37 am
Who remembers Chipper’s Diary in the AJC? Some thoughts don’t run very deep. It suffered a mercy killing.
P Rose
September 28th, 2011
11:37 am
But hey, as Yogi said, it ain’t over ’til it’s over. The Braves could possibly still win the World Series this year.
Say, this Kool-Aid is tasty! You want some?
Outside the Perimeter
September 28th, 2011
11:38 am
Look at the fight many teams have in them… the Sox are trying… fighting for their lives… the Cards… even the Diamond backs and Brewers… and then there’s the Braves… lifeless… unemotional… going quietly… no offense… nothing… zzzzzzzzzzzzz
I am a Brvaes fan, but right now I am digusted with the players… ESPECIALLY Lowe and Heyward… and most of all – WREN!!! Would you please get some players with heartbeats!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
benchwarmer
September 28th, 2011
11:39 am
I have to say that based on overall performance there seems to be someting wrong in general with this team. Cant. hit except when it’s meaningless, Strong players having miserable years. And now this awful month of September. Is there a bad climate we the fans can’t see. I open the floor to any conspiracy theory that pops into your head. The only requirement is that you must love good Braves baseball.
timbo
September 28th, 2011
11:39 am
Don Sutton made a great point the other night on the radio. Great pitching and defense doesn’t win games, it just prevents the other team from scoring and gives the offense time to score. Well, this offense is worse than anemic. I love the Braves, have since I moved here in 1974, but this team does not deserve a spot in the playoffs. The Cardinals haven’t exactly set the world on fire, but they have sucked less than the Braves in September. I look for the Braves to score a few runs early, Manual pulls Blanton, Howard, Utley, and Rollins in the 4th or 5th, and the Braves win a low scoring game while the Cardinals score a bunch ‘o runs against the Astros. Then on to St. Louis, and anything can happen in a 1 game playoff, but I don’t think we can match the Cardinals offense and we go down in St. Louis. I hope not, but I don’t think I can watch this team against the Brewers in the play offs. That would be UGLY!!!
Dave
September 28th, 2011
11:39 am
While I would love to see the Braves in the post season, the Cards have been hot and I think would make the post season much more interesting to watch. The Cards took a couple games off the Phils recently, something we can’t do, plus they have been able to handle all the other lowly teams that have made us look silly. The wild card should go to a team that can actually put up a fight. I can’t see the Braves magicly turning it around once in the playoffs with the way they are playing right now.
lexbrave
September 28th, 2011
11:40 am
Can someone confirm that Fredi is thinking about sending Lowe back out tonight on 1 day’s rest?
dongkumong
September 28th, 2011
11:41 am
Read it and weep Braves fans who dont go to their own games… The Phillies led the majors in attendance for the first time in club history, with 3,680,718 fans passing through the turnstiles at Citizens Bank Park. The New York Yankees finished second with 3,653,680.
The Phillies averaged 45,441 and finished the regular season with 204 consecutive sellouts covering 21/2 seasons. They played to 104.1 percent capacity, highest in the majors, according to statistics compiled by Major League Baseball.
Leading Off: What a Finish for the Baseball Season | My Top News. All News.
September 28th, 2011
11:41 am
[...] night’s flop against Philadelphia, it has begun to feel like “Bull Durham” in reverse. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Mark Bradley mined the situation for a bright spot and decided that at least the Braves have been here before, [...]
Coach Rodney
September 28th, 2011
11:41 am
Hopefully the NBA lockout will end soon. Then we can be disappointed by yet another ATL team.
SR
September 28th, 2011
11:42 am
Give me a break, this team does not deserve one iota of praise after this epic collapse, NOT ONE. BFD if they somehow manage to win one lousy game tonight, (which by the way, I don’t believe they have it in them to do) the Cards would still have to lose and then so what, Braves get smoked in the Playoffs as they always do. Or, let’s say somehow the Braves do manage to somehow win tonight as do the Redbirds, then what- Braves get their arses kicked in St. Louis, just like they did when they laid down and got their miserable butts swept a couple of weeks ago. Get some other players, can’t you see the chemistry on this team stinks?? No one can even sniff a 2 out hit, same as it as ever was. These clowns absolutely positively cannot get it done, no how no way. Isn’t that, oh I dunno, just a little apparent by now? Jeesh.
Outside the Perimeter
September 28th, 2011
11:44 am
PS – I am not impressed with Heyward’s defense. He could have gotten a jump on the fly ball sacrifice last night but instead just stood under it and didn’t come close to throwing him out.
Rich T
September 28th, 2011
11:45 am
If we could win the World Series, I’d pull for a win tonight, but we can’t, so I won’t.
Yes, Mark, the Braves have experience in win-or-blow-it games, but they also have plenty more in the same.
They have broken my heart every year since I began paying attention in 1976 except 1991 (mulligan on the finish) and 1995.
dongkumong
September 28th, 2011
11:45 am
The Phillies averaged 45,441 and finished the regular season with 204 consecutive sellouts covering 21/2 seasons. They played to 104.1 percent capacity, highest in the majors, according to statistics compiled by Major League Baseball.
FARTPANTS
September 28th, 2011
11:46 am
doesnt matter if we have linc, ker, ver pitching
cant win with this offense.
i am so sick of being a braves fan, they are always the most under achieving sports team.
maybe its their laid back culture. yanks are the same but in the 90s they had different player do something to win a game every night, the 2000s they have bought all the talent so theres that.
Im all for eddie perez managing.
dongkumong
September 28th, 2011
11:47 am
stop complaining ATL fans… the blame is on you for not supporting your own team.
Jo Blough
September 28th, 2011
11:47 am
And as far as Heyward’s defense is concerned? Peee-you… He could have gottn a running start on that fly ball sacrifice but chose to stand under it. He seems lethargic to me… tired of this team… lose tonight and put the team out of its misery!!
scott case
September 28th, 2011
11:48 am
I forgot Constanza, Brooks Conrad, and Eric Hinske were even on the team. Where is it written that Jason Heyward has to start every game?
Love Brian McCann’s .260 average – maybe last night showed he’s in the zone? We need to hit some balls over the fence tonight.
Prado's NOT a 3rd baseman
September 28th, 2011
11:48 am
Lemke, yeah .238 is smoking hot….NOT! If Constanza makes any contact, he has a chance to get on base, Prado was great, he hit a solo dinger when we were down 7-0, thanks alot Marteen & like I say, he cannot play 3rd, cost us a few games this year with his Ole’ swipe at the ball as it went by him into LF!
Ted M
September 28th, 2011
11:51 am
Mark,
You have been quoting some source that gives the odds of teams making the playoffs. I can’t remember what it was. I’m not blasting you for quoting it but I would genuinely like to know what odds they give the Braves now of making the playoffs.
Jo Jo
September 28th, 2011
11:52 am
2.4 million in a year of mediocrity isn’t that bad, dongumong
cdog
September 28th, 2011
11:53 am
FREDDY GONZALEZ PROVED TO ME LAST NIGHT HE DOESN’T CARE ABOUT LOSING OR PLAYOFFS, ALL HE WANTS TO DO IS KEEP CERTAIN PLAYERS HAPPY.WHY WAS DEREK LOWE ON THE MOUNDS IN A CRUCIAL MUCH NEEDED SITUATION.HE WOULD HAVE BEEN THE LAST PITCHER I HAD ON THE MOUND.I GUESS HE’S SATISFIED NOW.ITS AS THOUGH HE ACCEPTS LOSING.HE THREW BATTING PRACTICE AGAIN AND CAME OFF WITH THAT LOSING SMIRK.ERIC HINSKI, PRADO, HEYWARD, CONRAD, IN CRUICIAL GAMES.THAT TELLS ME GONZALEZ DOESN’T CARE ABOUT LOSING.THEY ARE TIED NOW WITH ST. LOUIS.YOU KNOW HOUSTON IS GOING TO THROW GAMES TO THE CARDINALS SO YOU SHOULD HAVE YOUR BEST ON THE FIELD.BUT NOT GONZALEZ, HE’S WANTS EVERYONE TO BE HAPPY WIN, LOSE OR WHATEVER. CONSTANZA SOULD BE IN THE LINEUP BUT PRADO IN GONZALEZ EYES IS BETTER.HE’S A LOSER.WELL BRAVES, YOUR BACKS AGAINST THE WALL.THE NEXT 2 DAYS WILL TELL WHETHER OR NOT YOU CARE.I WISH OZZIE GUILEN HAD WAITED A LITTLE LONGER.I USED TO THINK THAT FLORIDA DID GONZALEZ WRONG BUT NOW I SEE OTHERWISE.HE’S A LOSER.
WHY, WHY, WHY...
September 28th, 2011
11:54 am
Why was Lowe on the mound last night? Why did a major league manager put a guy in to start a game that has given up 32 hits and 18 earned runs in his last 19.2 innings? Fredi, is Lowe really your go-to guy in that situation? I would have put Tehran out there and told Beachy and Minor to go to the pen and be ready to go an inning if neccesary to get you to the 7th inning. Yes, it seems like a desperate measure but what do you have to lose besides the game? Why wasn’t Hudson on the mound last night pitching on 3 days rest? The game last night was the important one, not tonight’s. The idea is to clinch as early as possible, not wait until the last day of the season, so last night’s loss is on Fredi. Now, here’s the pitching scenario, Hudson starts tonight, Beachy starts either Thursday in St. Louis or Saturday in Game 1 in Arizona / Milwaukee, Minor starts Game 1 on Saturday if Beachy pitches on Thursday or Lowe starts Game 1 on 3 days rest or Game 2 on Sunday and Hudson starts Game 2 on Sunday on 3 days rest or Game 3 on Tuesday. If the offense and the starters don’t get it together, we’re going home either this Wednesday or next Wednesday. The team has a winning record against both the D-Backs and the Brewers this season, but we haven’t played either this month, so that really doesn’t matter. If this team doesn’t pull off tonight’s game and make a deep playoff run, Fredi had better be on the first Delta to Florida because he’s going to take all the blame for this collapse.
Larvell Blanks
September 28th, 2011
11:55 am
You know how, after repeated exposure, Pavlov’s dogs started drooling every time they heard a bell? Well, now my blood pressure rises every time I hear the words, “Sometimes you just gotta tip your hat.”