Update: After 13 innings, the Braves’ epic failure is complete
Brian McCann can't bear to watch. Can't blame him. (AJC photo by Curtis Compton)
They’d been portrayed, not without cause, as choking dogs. They finished September having won two of nine series and having watched, numbly if not nimbly, an 8 1/2-game lead go poof. But even a choking dog can have his day, or night, and the 2011 Braves tried to give themselves one Wednesday.
They failed. They failed in the way this entire month had been a failure. They took an 8 1/2-game lead and threw it all away, and by the time they got done losing Game No. 162 they had made us suffer through all the failures that comprised this failed month.
They led 3-1 after three innings and 3-2 after eight, but Game No. 162, like the season itself, lapped into overtime. They hit early, then stopped hitting. They saw a key run thrown out at the plate. In sum, they suffered the kind of wobble that had gotten them into this mess in the first place.
Before Game No. 162, Chipper Jones had noted that the populace seemed ready to box these Braves’ ears. (Or words to that effect.) Attempting a tiny joke, someone suggested such civic outrage only went to show that Atlanta cares. Said Jones: “We care, too. We care more than anybody else.”
Fredi Gonzalez, lately portrayed as a do-nothing manager, cared enough to do something after Tuesday’s ugly loss. He sat his men down and told them he wouldn’t pick any other bunch over this to go out and win a game. Then, being practical, Gonzalez advised his charges to get some sleep and come back ready to play. “It wasn’t Knute Rockne,” he said Wednesday. But then, brightly: “Maybe 50 years from now it will be in a book of great speeches.”
It might not have been Henry V at Agincourt, but it — or something — did the trick. The Braves were loose and supple from the start of Game No. 162, which isn’t easy to do when your constituency stands ready to break out the rotten tomatoes. They had leadoff hits in each of the first five innings. They fell behind in the top of the first but answered in the bottom, and Dan Uggla’s crushed homer off Cole Hamels’ 0-2 fastball untied matters in the third.
And not a moment too soon. Uggla’s ball landed in the bleachers about the time the Cardinals were about to begin their game against 105-loss Houston, and sure enough St. Louis put up a huge early number. (Five first-inning runs on seven first-inning hits against Brett Myers, who like Chipper is an alum of Jacksonville’s Bolles School. Chipper had been hoping for “Bolles mojo.” No go.)
This became the game these Braves had played from April through the August: Tim Hudson gave them 6 1/3 innings textbook innings, and then the once-bulletproof bullpen took the baton. Eric O’Flaherty needed two pitches to induce Shane Victorino to hit into a double play to end the seventh. Jonny Venters walked/plunked the bases loaded in the eighth but struck out Raul Ibanez on three pitches.
Then it was the ninth and the kid closer entered to do as he’d done all season. Instead Craig Kimbrel, who’d blown two saves this month, blew another by slinging the ball around like a bad point guard. He yielded a leadoff single to Placido Polanco, walked the bases loaded, saw Chase Utley drive home the tying run with a fly ball and walked Hunter Pence to boot. The bulletproof bullpen had been hit.
Kimbrel was pulled for Kris Medlen, who in his second appearance in 14 months held the tie and got the Braves through the 10th. The Braves had a chance to win in the bottom of the inning, but Michael Martinez hauled in Chipper’s drive with Michael Bourn aboard. And neither Brooks Conrad, who struck out, nor Martin Prado, who tapped out, could drive home Jason Heyward in the 12th.
To the 13th. Scott Linebrink entered. Ahead 0-2 on Brian Schneider, Linebrink walked him. Chase Utley moved Schneider to third with a two-out single, and Pence brought him home with a broken-bat grounder in the second-base hole. (”Couldn’t have thrown it out there any better,” Gonzalez said.) Down a run, the Braves were three outs from elimination.
Jones led off against David Herndon and struck out. (The Braves’ at-bats from the ninth on had been little except hero swings, to unheroic avail.) Then Uggla induced a walk. But Freddie Freeman rapped into a 3-6-3 double play, and the season was done. There would be no trip to St. Louis, no 163rd game.
There will, alas, be only an aftertaste that will linger long. The 2011 Cardinals became the second team ever to trail by 8 1/2 games in September and reach the postseason. The 1964 Cardinals, beneficiaries of the infamous Philly Phold, were the first, and that’s the miserable company these Braves will keep.
Dan Uggla gives the Braves the lead. (AJC photo by Hyosub Shin)
They won their 81st game on Sept. 1. They never got to 90. They led by three games with five to play and never won again. They lost their 162nd game to a team that had no real reason to care about winning. They had the lead and the best rookie closer ever on the mound, and they lost. If you want to say they choked, nobody will argue.
The kid closer all but volunteered the cursed C-word. “You have to bottle up emotions and harness them,” Kimbrel said. “I didn’t do that today. September’s the hardest month of the year, and I let my emotions get to me. Things just started to move too fast, and I couldn’t put it together.”
Kimbrel was overthrowing. The hitters were overswinging. “We’ve been swinging really hard for a while,” Jones said. “When a guy’s living two or three inches off the outside corner, that’s not a ball you’re going to hit out of the ballpark.”
To return to Chipper’s assertion of eight hours earlier, these Braves absolutely tried their hardest. They actually tried too hard. But part, maybe even most, of being a champion is the capacity to perform under pressure, and these Braves buckled. There was, contrary to popular belief, no great mismanagement in this game: Fredi G.’s team was in position to win the exact same way it had all summer, except that summer ended and September arrived and the winning ceased.
“It just got a little wild,” Chipper said, speaking of Game No. 162 but actually the whole lost month. When the Cardinals began to close, the Braves were never the same. Even without Jair Jurrjens and Tommy Hanson, this team should have had enough to play into October. It won’t. It won’t because it choked. End of story.
By Mark Bradley
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874 comments Add your comment
losersville
September 29th, 2011
8:53 am
Nothing but wait until next year as always until we have ownership that will spend for quality the way championship teams do.
2012!
September 29th, 2011
8:53 am
the braves had a young team and had a lot of injuries. chipper will be healthy in 2012 and the Braves will be in the playoffs—bet the house!
UGA = Yawn
September 29th, 2011
8:54 am
They looked like 8th graders out there. Swinging for the worst pitches, off-balance, throwing like idiots, who was that pitcher? Kimbrel? Just awful. I love Chipper talking still about the grounder he lost ‘in the lights’ LOL. Hey, even if they won last night, they would have had to travel to St Louis today on very little rest. I’m sure that would have ended in a defeat. And they wonder why the stadium is never full during the regular season?
ugafan13
September 29th, 2011
8:54 am
Turns out Heyward is not only below average @ the plate but also in the field. He takes the wrong route to the ball and at times just looks lost. He cost us twice last night. He needs some more developmental time in the minors or he will be the next Jeff Francour.
We had also lived on the edge with Venters and Kimbral all year as they pitched from behind in the count. That caught up with us last night.
I hope our team uses this as motivation next year…this one is going to sting for a while!
The BIG ATL
September 29th, 2011
8:54 am
Enjoy your vaycay, LOSERS!
Aziz
September 29th, 2011
8:54 am
Hey Bradley, what’s Braves’ magic number now? 2012?
L**n
September 29th, 2011
8:54 am
Mark,
The Braves had a difficult season, granted. We all suffered but the players suffered most. I suffered most when I read this blog during the season. It was very depressing. I will be there next season rooting for the Braves but one thing is for sure. I will NEVER read the comments from these mostly pathetic Monday morning managers again. I know that no one cares about that, but I do. Not reading this will actually bring joy to my heart.
gray
September 29th, 2011
8:55 am
Haven’t read the other comments but my only question is why pitch to an All Star instead of a 200 hitter.
doug
September 29th, 2011
8:55 am
The way the Braves were playing it is fitting that it ends here. There would have only been three more losses and we would have gotten our hopes up for nothing. I for one am done pinning any hopes on the Braves. It would have been just as well had the finished last in the division. Gonzolas starting Lowe, when it counted, was a sign that he had given up too.
ED DUNN
September 29th, 2011
8:56 am
I remember around the end of August, or the first of September, when Chipper Jones said, in an interview, that the team had pretty much resigned themselves to the fact that they would be the wild card team. Well, this bunch was 8 1/2 games behind the Phillies, if my memory serves. They had 6 games left head to head against the Phillies, and these jokers are giving up????? I have been a rabid fan since 1976, and I have had enough. This attitude of accepting mediocrity is sickening. But, I guess they got their paycheck all the same, and that’s all that matters.
1eyedJack
September 29th, 2011
8:56 am
Mr. Wren….the ball, sir, is in your court.
Larry
September 29th, 2011
8:58 am
This is all ownership. The Braves should have a $100 million payroll. All you can buy with $80 million is 2nd tier free agents.
Lindsey Snot
September 29th, 2011
8:58 am
If the Braves would have scored the 2 runs, we wouldn’t be blaming Kimbrel for screwing up (as he did). Where is the damned offense???? Can’t blame the pitchers for thelack of run production – this bunch couldn’t hit a horse’s behind with a banjo. I’m done drinking the kool-aid. Wake me up next September.
bozo
September 29th, 2011
8:59 am
In the end,the Braves lost to a better team.Three straight games.
BIG TECH
September 29th, 2011
8:59 am
This is for you Braves fans from the movie Major League from Manager Lou Brown: It’s either a leg thing, or a spiritual thing, or a psychological thing, or a heart attack! LOL!!! C-ya Next Year Losers!!
RB
September 29th, 2011
8:59 am
I hear the 680 folks blaming Bourne for the loss. Face the facts, the Braves are the team who has choked most in the last 40 years. This is undeniable. Kincaid blasted a guy yesterday for telling the truth. What matters in the end is winning the ring!
MARK
September 29th, 2011
9:00 am
THE PHILLIES WILL REGRET NOT LETTING THE BRAVES IN THE PLAY OFFS
Don
September 29th, 2011
9:01 am
Mr. Bradley, why won’t someone answer these questions or list these stats??
(1) Since McDowell has been the Pitching Coach (6 or 7 years); each year, how many of the Starting Pitchers who would have been in the rotation have been out with injury at least part of the year???? (If a pitcher is injured and is out for part of two years, he would count in both years.
(2) How many different Starting Pitchers (who have pitched any length of time) have the Braves had during these 6 or 7 years (15 or so – how many) — And how many of these (who pitched any length of time) have not been injured – any of them???
All the discussion about everything else about the Braves team and how to improve the Braves who has done what IS POINTLESS – AS LONG AS YOU HAVE TWO OR THREE OR FOUR OF YOUR STARTERS DOWN WITH INJURY EVERY YEAR – THERE IS NO WAY TO BE COMPETITIVE – everything else is truly pointless. Be it his conditioning program or the way he handles pitchers or just bad luck, it is long, long past due for a change. There was nothing like this under Leo.
James
September 29th, 2011
9:01 am
Watching the first game of the Cardinal series three weeks ago when Kimbrel and braves lost a 3-1 games in the 9th was when I started to wonder if these braves had what it took. That game would of put the cards away mentally, and in the end was the difference. Again last night Kimbrel and Venters were throwing and not pitching. A bright spot was Medlin, in hindsight had the composure and probably should of closed it out.
VABravesFan
September 29th, 2011
9:02 am
Potential starting rotation and batting order for 2012 (Mr. Wren, please take note):
1. Hudson
2. C.J. Wilson
3. Hanson
4. Beachy
5. Delgado
Jurrjens isn’t listed as he could potentially be used in a trade. Otherwise, he’d be #3 and Delgado would be in the minors another year. Medlen and/or Teheran could end up in the rotation as well, but at least for now, it looks like Medlen may be better off starting the season as a long reliver while Teheran spends a few more months in the minors. Minor is another option, but could be used in a trade. Lowe should be traded as long as a team is willing to take on at least half of his 2012 salary.
1. Bourn
2. Heyward
3. Jones
4. Uggla
5. McCann
6. Jose Bautista (in LF and as a backup at 3B)
7. Freeman
8. Gonzalez
Looks like a powerful lineup to me. Prado is awesome, but he’s used in a trade in this scenario. With the potential trade of Lowe and guys like McLouth and Kawakami coming off the books, the Braves should have some leverage to make some serious moves. Any thoughts?
ED DUNN
September 29th, 2011
9:02 am
OH, for those of you that haven’t been following the Barves for long, we that have are certainly entitled to complain. We have seen this scenerio played out many times over the years. Not just due to current management. Bobby Cox had his share of chokes over the years, and mostly due to being so loyal to his players. Whether they are doing the job or not, they are left in the lineup. The good thing about this year….if there is a good thing…is that they put us out of our misery. We do not have to be subjected to a first round of playoffs, only to see our Braves shoot themselves in the foot.
GT
September 29th, 2011
9:03 am
I was thinking last year during the Glavine disruption that Glavine actually didn’t mind the idea of coming back and taking the place of Hanson. We could lose a few games we owed it to the vet to let him go out on his terms. Then in September we started some throw away pitchers that had been in triple A kind of put the brakes on. I didn’t see any brakes in that Philly team.
Lefty
September 29th, 2011
9:03 am
Bourn was not safe at third. Watch the highlight on ESPN (the Braves broadcast didn’t follow it all the way through). Bourn took his foot off the bag when he stood up. He clearly was out when he switched feet while the tag was still on him. It’s actually a very easy call AFTER he stands up.
Leslie
September 29th, 2011
9:05 am
Chris Benoit for Braves manager!
vesaversa
September 29th, 2011
9:05 am
Pathetic is the word i would use in describing these Braves .Chipper should retire he looked like he was in la la land or ready to go Deer hunting he wasn’t the same leader he have been in pass play-off series games like last night . I believe chipper struck out three time last night . One thing is for sure the Braves can not start the 2012 season with the same case of characters .All of the coaches should be fired even the Manager .And all those player that can be cut with out legality should be cut . Heyward should be sent to the winter league so he can learn how to hit a fast ball.I don’t blame the young closer he did exactly what rookies in pressure game like last night do he chocked but i think he learn from last night game and it will make him a better pitcher next season . Braves should go young it’s time to bring up some of that young talent in the minor league .What a fk up baseball season and now we will have the pleasure of watching the falcons collapse.
Sonny Clusters
September 29th, 2011
9:06 am
We was never so disappointed. At least the other team didn’t get to celebrate much on our field since they had nothing to win, nothing to lose. Braves fans have seen this before, many times before. The game was a must win because in earlier games there seemed no urgency to win, no urgency to play in Chipper’s and Heyward’s and Alex’s case. Well, now they can go home and watch on television or retire to the woods and talk with the deer. We was hoping that next year maybe we can see some new players with new urgency and no more BobbyBall. That abc game looked good and Bourn is now our best player. Imagine that Bourn is our best player – a late season acquisition from Houston! What does that say? Freddie will be a great one if they don’t mess him up and we would not bet against it. It is time for all the know-it-all Braves (can you say Chipper?) to recognize that they know little about winning the big ones . . . very little at all about winning the must wins. Fans have suffered for many years as the team shuffles off the field after losing the one they had to win. We love the Braves but we don’t love the way this organization allows “almost good” to be good enough.
erubi
September 29th, 2011
9:06 am
The buck stops where? You can only take “a player’s manager” so far. In order to win you do what you have to. Derek Lowe should never have pitched in this last series. Why not Medlin? Why not use all of the young guns throughout nine innings to get a win? Quit trying to be the overpaid players’ friend and be their boss and leader. I am glad the Braves lost before they advanced to be squashed by the Cardinals. Tony L. knows how to be a leader….Freddi G. does not.
Doug
September 29th, 2011
9:08 am
It was hard to appreciate Freeman throwing down his helmet in anger and frustration over hitting into the game ending double play. The Braves stopped playing the kind of baseball they were capable of at least 15 games ago. All they had to do was win one more game from all those they lost in their sloppiness. Then to feel sorry for themselves for swinging at bad pitches, failing to hit good ones, and not throwing timely strikes is difficult to appreciate.
pirates
September 29th, 2011
9:08 am
Thats whatthey get its karma for that man getting attacked at that game years back and they didnt do anything theyve been sucking ever since suck on braves suck on
Lefty
September 29th, 2011
9:09 am
If Freddi proved that he’s not capable of managing a winner, what does that say about Terry Francona? He’s got two rings and the Red Sox blew an even bigger lead than the Braves. I guess losing 40% of your starting rotation to injury is Freddi’s fault, huh? If Jair & Tommy are in the rotation, the Braves are in the playoffs (even with Derek Lowe pitching every 5th day).
bravefan
September 29th, 2011
9:09 am
Fredi Gonzales is largely to blame. Of course losing Hanson and Jurgiens contributed significantly but Fredi G made some real bonehead decisions. The big one……. sticking with Lowe when he was obviously imploding in every game. Win one of those games with someone else pitching and worst case the braves play the cards to get into the playoffs. In last nights game, Gonzales had much better choices than Linebrink who has had some melt downs in the past month and a half in critical games. Many others to numerous to cover
Jon
September 29th, 2011
9:09 am
The Braves free giveaway last night should have been Prozac subscriptions…not tomahawks.
Fan of the Game
September 29th, 2011
9:10 am
The bottom line is that this team over achieved. Worse offensive team Atlanta has ever put on the field. Depended on rookies too much and the loss of Jurrigens really hurt. If he and Hansen can’t stay healthy put them together and get us a stick like a McGriff. That is what this club needs. Even kind of like in 69 when we got Cepeda.
Ducks Quack
September 29th, 2011
9:10 am
I’m writing what will be the biggest country hit song ever. I’ve been working on it for TOO MANY YEARS already. It will be about all Atlanta sports teams. I’ve already named it. It will be called “There’s Always Next Year”
Fan of the Game
September 29th, 2011
9:11 am
The easy way out is to blame the manager.
Jonathan
September 29th, 2011
9:12 am
Thank goodness its football season. I am ashamed of the play by the braves the past month. They should bring back the powder blue uniforms of the 80’s. Bobby Cox may have only won one world series, but i guarantee the braves would not have collapsed like this if he were manager this year. This team has no heart. None! Zip! Nadda! Like i said, thank goodness its football season and my crimson tide will show the braves how to win a title! ROLL TIDE! Go Braves and take the falcons with you!!!!
Blackberry Cobbler
September 29th, 2011
9:12 am
Last nights game was played the same way Freddi plays every game– get runners on with no outs and refuse to try to move them in to scoring position. One on with no outs, don’t move the runner, hit into double play. Two on with no outs, don’t attempt to move the runners– next batter up strike out, next batter hit into double play. It’s been this same insane crap all season long. I was a big advocate of Freddi being the next Braves manager but he’s been a huge dissappointment. He and Frank Wren both need to be replaced. Most fans realized the Braves needed to trade for more pitching and a big bat before the trade deadline. Wren did neither. Wren and Freddi have got to go.
Sid
September 29th, 2011
9:13 am
ATLER (Ramblin Wreck)
September 28th, 2011
11:56 pm
Loser baseball team and loser sports writers. Braves, M.B. and J.S. = LOSERSVILLE!!!!!
************************************************************
You didn’t throw Ledbetter in there, he’s not a writer and who knows….maybe his summations aren’t written well either but Bradley and Shultz I have to take exception.
Late April series against Cardinals Braves lose 1-2. Early September Braves lose 3 to the Cardinals to finish the year 1-5 against St Louis. The better team is in the playoffs and I hate we aren’t in the dance but I will be pulling for St Louis. Go Braves (wait until next year).
vesaversa
September 29th, 2011
9:13 am
The Braves need a new Manager
Fire Wren, Gonzalez, Snitker & Parrish
September 29th, 2011
9:14 am
Time to clean house. John, do your job, and get rid of Frank Wren first. He has run this team into the ground with piss poor personnel decisions. His big off-season acquisition this year just hit less than .240. I don’t care that he hit 30 plus HRs. Then there’s Kawakami, Lowe, McLouth… Need I go on?
Get rid of Snitker. He has no idea what he’s doing at 3rd. “Well, I didn’t send Bourn when I should have, somI’ll send Uggla.”. This clown doesn’t know the cardinal rule about basecoaching: Know who the runners are! Then again, he gets his cues from…
Fredi. The WORST manager in baseball. His in game decisions and indecisions are horrific. No wonder the Marlins fired his a$$.
Finally, if you people thought Pendleton was a bad hitting coach, Parrish broke the mold. He has done nothing to correct the holes in Heyward’s swing (who was brought up a year too early–thanks, Frank). He killed Uggla’s swing for 3 months. And, on top of that, he’s not a good, friendly ambassador of the franchise.
Time to clean house and get rid of the chokers.man up, Jo
Awful Display From Fans
September 29th, 2011
9:14 am
Watched the game at home and saw fans leaving after the Phillies tied it in the 9th. Reading articles this morning, I saw that the Braves didn’t even draw 2.5 million people to the game. A pathetic showing for a team that was a playoff contender for the more than 1/2 of the season. The Braves fans have as much heart as their team. Just awful. Dodgers fans are laughing at you.
DetroitBraves
September 29th, 2011
9:15 am
Fredi Gonzalez is in over his head. His lineups are sub-optimal, he rode his best relievers into the ground, and he failed in terms of in-game strategy (not double-switching to allow Martinez to stay in the game another inning last night? Starting Matt Diaz? Electing to pitch to Matt Kemp? To Carlos Gonzalez? Allowing Alex Gonzalez to hit for himself in close and late situations?). The stage Atlanta offers is too big for Fredi. I know some people out here have mentioned that even a bad manager only costs a team about 4 or 5 wins over the course of the season, that their impact is usually overstated. That’s true. But the Braves missed the playoffs by one game – and even had they made it shouldn’t the organization seek every advantage? Our manager is a disadvantage. I know Mark Bradley will defend Fredi, citing the Braves record in the face of several injuries and limited financial flexibility. That’s confusing causation with correlation. It’s speculative. The lineup configuration, the high leverage decisions, there are win probabilities associated with these things. They are measurable. They are objective. They generally do not favor the Braves.
Enjoyed the discussion out here this season, even the Heyward arguments. Hate the way this thing ended up. Next year…..
EPIC FAIL
September 29th, 2011
9:15 am
A history of choking just received a large cherry on top with THE WORST CHOKING COLLAPSE IN NL HISTORY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I don’t know how these guys can look at themselves in the mirror…Don’t blame injuries or pitching. It was a complete mental breakdown among all position players on the team not being able to hit. I don’t know how you fix weakness of the mind.
TheUniversityofGeorgiaTech
September 29th, 2011
9:15 am
I know it is hard to take as a fan, but think how the players, coaches, and employees of the Braves feel. the tough thing about sports is when you are close it hurts more and Braves are the kings of almost! But I would much rather be almost all the time then not compete most of the time. This one hurt the most of all of the Braves disappointments, which is why everyone is talking to fast…let it go for a day or two and don’t have fire everyone vision like Mark Bradley(who at one time actually use to write now just sells papers and rales fans with fire coach articles) then lets rally the troops and realize we had injuries, choked, and we live and learn! And come back next year with Bourne for an entire season at lead off and Gonzalez /a year under his belt as a brave’s leader, and we will be better because of this.
Lindsey Snot
September 29th, 2011
9:15 am
@Ducks Quack
You got it good buddy, Atlanta Professional(sic) Sports teams; where mediocrity reigns supreme! Just enough effort to get the fans interested in spending their $$, but not enough effort to finish the job! Hawks, Braves, Falcons, please know this: The Kool Aid is no longer drinkable! Hope all 3 of you enjoy less $$ next year.
Ken Shelton
September 29th, 2011
9:17 am
No doubt, uttering words like “Choke” are fitting here for what all us Braves fans just witnessed. Rewind only a mere month back and probably nobody could see what the end result would become when Freddie Freeman rolled into his game-and-season-ending double play. True the end result stinks “BIG-TIME”, and no doubt its hard to fathom how a roster made up of talent of the likes of Chipper, McCann, Uggla, Bourne, and the other supporting cast could become such a laughable cast of “light-hitting” relics, and no doubt our pitching despite a few lapses from the mostly very-very young hurlers did OK. As we all know if the script had of went as planned most of these rookie pitchers would not have been counted on in such pressure situations, and one big consolation is this can only serve to make these same young hurlers even stronger in 2011. I, along with many other fans think Braves Management need to give serious thought to giving the boot to hitting coach Larry Parrish, as while LP can’t grab a bat and hit, still in the past few weeks it became apparent some very bad ‘approaches’ with crucial at bats were taken from what should of been very capable hitters, with over-swinging and too-often, playing like there was a time clock like football, and swinging at first pitches. Here’[s to a much-much brighter and successful Braves team in 2012!
Braves2012
September 29th, 2011
9:17 am
Next year starting rotation:
Hudson, Hanson, Beachy, Minor, Tehran
With Lowe gone ($15m, hopefully someone will take him and some of the money off our hands), McLouth at $6m, Gonzalez at $6m the Braves need to go out and get Reyes from the Mets to add some hitting and speed at the top to go with Bourne. I hate to say this, but find a right fielder. Heyward is going down quickly and how many errors and lost balls (last night again) can we give up and the .225 batting average is NOT good.
Put Delgado in the pen with O’Flaherty, Venters and Kimbrel and start preparing someone in the minors to take over from Chipper when he hangs it up.
This team needs speed and hitting, get Reyes!
Just saying
September 29th, 2011
9:18 am
Loser baseball team (?) plus loser sports writers equals Loserville? Where are the LOSER FANS in this equation? Just like fans always wanting to blame some one else….Losers desire a losing baseball team. Such poor sports fans…No wonder you have named it Loserville
jason
September 29th, 2011
9:18 am
Hello from Pittsburgh…you guys deserve this! hahahaha
Gone
September 29th, 2011
9:18 am
how do the braves get 2.5 million chumps out to see these losers? next year, look for attendance to go way down.