Live from Game No. 162: Fredi tries, gently, to rally his Braves!
Is darkness about to descend on the 2011 Atlanta Braves? (AJC photo by Curtis Compton)
You wanted a team meeting? Fredi Gonzalez convened (a brief) one after Tuesday’s game. “He let his feelings be known,” Chipper Jones said, but now I offer this warning:
You’re going to be disappointed.
The Braves’ manager did not hurl invective or furniture. What he said was essentially what he told the press moments later. “I told them I wouldn’t pick another bunch of guys to go out and win one game,” Gonzalez said. “I also told them to get a nice sleep and come out ready tomorrow.”
Then: “It wasn’t like Knute Rockne. But maybe 50 years from now it’ll be in a book of great speeches.”
When you’ve handed back an 8 1/2-game lead and there’s only one game to go, what else is there to say? “If we blow this, you’re all fired”? (Those pesky longterm contracts might mitigate against such a purge.) “Take two and hit to right”? (Sounds like something the hitting coach should have been saying.) “You’re a bunch of choking dogs — now go relax and win this game”? (A bit of a mixed message, eh?)
It’s Game No. 162, you’re can’t install the Wishbone. And if you’re wondering why Fredi G. didn’t try to incite his men … well, these are grown men. They know what they need to do.
Chipper said Wednesday that the city of Atlanta was ready to box these players’ ears. (Or words to that effect.) Someone noted that at least such venom showed this city cares. Said Jones: “We care, too. Nobody cares more than we do. We just need to batten down the hatches and give ourselves a chance.”
Of his manager, Jones said: “I just don’t know what strings he can pull. It’s up to the players to put up good at-bats and up to the pitchers to put up zeroes.”
Of the Braves’ inability to score (four runs in the past four games), Jones said: “We have picked an inopportune time to make outs with runners in scoring position.”
Here he smiled. Baseball can be such a simple game. “If we could control when we struggle and when we’re hot, the game would be pretty easy.”
Nobody disputes that these Braves have made this much harder than it should have been. At the same time, they haven’t quite blown it yet. They’ve got Tim Hudson working tonight, and he’s the guy you’d want taking the ball even if Jair Jurrjens and Tommy Hanson were hale and hearty. And the Cardinals will be facing a hot pitcher.
“We’re big Brett Myers fans,” Chipper said, speaking of Houston’s starter. “He went to my high school. I’m hoping for some Bolles mojo.”
The Braves didn’t appear a beaten team beforehand. They went about their pregame business the way they usually go about their pregame business. And Gonzalez sounded utterly upbeat in an extended media session.
He had, he said, packed “all the way through Sunday night.” If a one-game playoff with the Cardinals is required, the Braves will depart tonight. Should they win in St. Louis, they’d head for Milwaukee or Phoenix. Did Fredi pack attire for both the Midwest and the desert?
“They’re both indoor stadiums,” he said. “Besides, I don’t have that kind of wardrobe.”
The big news of the afternoon: Shortstop Alex Gonzalez could, his manager said, miss up to two weeks with a calf injury. Jack Wilson will start in his stead and bat eighth tonight. And batting seventh with be the right-handed hitting Matt Diaz; Jason Heyward has been omitted from the starting lineup for Game No. 162 — even though the Phillies are deploying righthander Joe Blanton.
Fredi’s reasoning: Blanton is actually more effective against lefties than righties — the numbers underscore the point — and Philly plans to bring in lefty Cole Hamels after three innings, which would force the Braves to pinch-hit early if Heyward started.
Gonzalez: “We’ve got a lineup capable of grinding out a group of at-bats.”
And that, assuming some of the at-bats conclude with hits, would be a good thing. And these Braves weren’t acting as if they were looking for a soft place to plop down. They want to keep playing. They want to win. I think they’ll be playing in St. Louis tomorrow night. So does their manager.
Asked if his team would win tonight, Gonzalez said: “Yes. We’re going to go out and play the best baseball game we can play.”
That might be enough. It might not. That’s why they play the game. “Hopefully at about 10:30 or so we’ll be shaking hands and seeing what’s happening with the Astros and Cardinals,” Gonzalez said.
And I’ll be here until we know what’s what, baseball-wise. I ask you to join me as Game No. 162 unfolds. I thank you, as ever, in advance.
By Mark Bradley
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1,908 comments Add your comment
The Bottom Line
September 28th, 2011
6:33 pm
Seems like Angel McCoughtry is the only athelete with any guts in this state.
WhoMe
September 28th, 2011
6:33 pm
I have a feeling that after the season is over, it will come to light that McCann has been playing hurt which is why he enhales briskly…….if not, someone has some ’splaining to do’
Sonny Clusters
September 28th, 2011
6:33 pm
Filtered! Already. First post nowhere to be found. Brian Jordan says the Braves must play abc and manufacture runs tonight. Did he tell Fredi? No Constanza tonight.
Tom
September 28th, 2011
6:33 pm
isn’t this the same manager who said you really don’t plan for a game you just go out there and play???!!!
Mark Bradley
September 28th, 2011
6:35 pm
Anyone having a hankering to attend a key regular-season game … come on down. You’ll be able to find a ticket.
Marlo Hand
September 28th, 2011
6:35 pm
Fredi Gonzalez is a loser and should be coachin little league. Why can’t we get a guy who is a proven winner. The Braves don’t deserve to be in the playoffs! Choke artists!
Don
September 28th, 2011
6:36 pm
Mark I gotta tell ya. I was so disappointed that you didn’t write your squander article on Sept 1st. It really would have made my year!!
Sonny Clusters
September 28th, 2011
6:36 pm
Was we bad? Was we banned? We’ve been filtered twice tonight.
Don
September 28th, 2011
6:37 pm
Of course there are tix. Who wants to see a loser!
Miami Marlins
September 28th, 2011
6:39 pm
You braves better win now cause next year we will be the wild card winner
jmor
September 28th, 2011
6:39 pm
So Freddie “Wouldn’t pick another bunch of guys to win one game”…Me, I’d take the Phillies, Yankees, Cardinals…Who can even take Freddie seriously?
superiorblogman
September 28th, 2011
6:40 pm
Once again, Freddie is a weak little grown man trying to blame this on Jason Heyward, Jason is going to end up just like Hanny Ramirez. Anyone that does not dislike Jason because of his skin color be honest and tell me how not starting Jason today is going to help you more than you could have helped yourself by not starting Lowe yesterday? Freddie is really reaching on this history mess, playing favorites and looking for a scapegoat. It’s your history now Freddie biggest collapse in team history. You have a so-called 1st ballot HOF’er, 3 kids that finished either 1 or 2 in the ROY voting within 2 years, one of the best catchers in the game and you can’t hold on and you can’t get them to play up to there potential for you. We got a greyhound bus for you and you can surely check your travel history online.
Mark Bradley
September 28th, 2011
6:40 pm
Chipper is an outstanding interview. As you’ve gathered.
Max
September 28th, 2011
6:41 pm
Why is Dick Vitale a Rays fan?
8.5 games, Really?
September 28th, 2011
6:41 pm
@Marquis Bradley,, Do you think that Chipper Jones is too old and fragile to be a starting ML baseball player?
Can Carpenter come through? – STLtoday.com | االله.net
September 28th, 2011
6:42 pm
[...] previews today's game between …Possibilities abound on season's final dayMLB.comLive from Game No. 162: Fredi tries, gently, to rally his Braves!Atlanta Journal Constitution (blog)Braves Try To Snap Losing Streak, Win NL Wild Card Vs. [...]
Mark Bradley
September 28th, 2011
6:42 pm
Dick Vitale lives in the Tampa area.
Max
September 28th, 2011
6:42 pm
Actually Freddi I would take the nats or the mets or the marlins, after all they won series against you over the past 2 weeks in games that mattered. Yep I’d take your old club without Fugla.
Mark Bradley
September 28th, 2011
6:42 pm
Chipper is getting close to being a part-timer. Trouble is, the Braves haven’t developed a third baseman.
Max
September 28th, 2011
6:43 pm
So? I know 6 people from all over an none are braves fans but they are baseball fans of where they are from.
MitchC
September 28th, 2011
6:44 pm
Mark, I agree with you about their likely being a playoff in St Louis tomorrow. It just doesnt seem like this thing will be over tonight.
As we know, the Braves have their best pitcher, Hudson, going against maybe Philly’s weakest. I throw that out the window, though.
Not to melodramtize this, but..I dont know if you ever saw the movie Rocky 3. Rocky had been beaten to a pulp by Clubber Lang in their first fight, and he’s training for a rematch, with his old nemsis, Apollo Creed. Rocky gets tired, and says. “I’ll train tomorrow”, to which Creed screams at him: “There is no tomorrow”. We must play desperate, because that’s our situation now.
We can win this game, but we need to play much better than we have in the first two, like the team that got the 10 1-2 game lead in the first place. If we do that, we will be either on our way to the playoffs, or at least in St Louis, tomorrow. If not, our season will be over in a few hours from now.
Hopefully the Braves of before late August will show up tonight.
Ed
September 28th, 2011
6:45 pm
Max he should live in Durham.
jmor
September 28th, 2011
6:45 pm
Superiorblogman–What does the color of his skin have to do with anything…The Braves have all the colors of the rainbow on their team. If Jason was not hitting .220 he would be in there every day.
Lazlo
September 28th, 2011
6:46 pm
Baseball playoffs are more like work than fun. Hard work (for Braves fans, they ceased being fun after 1992).
Been 12 years since we entered the playoffs with even a chance to win. The last two years have been ridiculous.
I always thought that after years and years of playoff futility, we’d win one when we weren’t supposed to. I no longer think such foolish thoughts.
Either way tonight goes the fans win.
Brave4life- Have faith!!!
September 28th, 2011
6:46 pm
Mark Bradley
.280 20HR for a 3b who missed 1/3 of a season is still pretty good
One of the tops in the league too…….Only if he stayed healthy
Ed
September 28th, 2011
6:46 pm
Isn’t he from the NY area? Find it hard to believe he’s not a yank under all that jibber jabber.
P Rose
September 28th, 2011
6:46 pm
Thank God I’m a Country Boy
by Chipper Jones
Well, me and ol’ Dan, we’re a-mighty laid back
Last dang game, gotta take another hack
Fredi Gonzalez don’t give us no flack
Thank God I’m a country boy
Got a million-dollar pitcher with a 10-cent arm
Couldn’t hit the side of his daddy’s ol’ barn
Much better kids throwin’ down on the farm
Thank God I’m a country boy
Them Cards got hot as a cake on the griddle
Astros helpin’ but very, very little
Baseball’s nothin’ but a funny, funny riddle
Thank God I’m a country boy
When the season’s all done and the sun is settin’ low
We’ll be loadin’ up the rifle and a-stringin’ up the bow
Bucks are a-waitin’ and I’m gonna shoot a doe
Thank God I’m a country boy
We’d play in October, if’n we could
But the dang ol’ Phillies is just too good
Baseball’s hard, it’s understood
Thank God I’m a country boy
Well, roundabout nigh-near Hall-o-ween
When the Phillies are paradin’ in a lim-o-sine
We’ll be a-puttin’ on a putt-in’ green
Thank God I’m a country boy
Dang bats as soggy as Dan’s chaw spittle
Whole front office is non-com-mittal
Baseball’s nothin’ but a funny, funny riddle
Thank God I’m a country boy
Runner-
September 28th, 2011
6:47 pm
Man, i’m wondering what the reaction will be like from the crowd when we’re down 4-0 heading into the bottom of the 9th… pretty much the only interesting thing to wait for all night
next season
September 28th, 2011
6:47 pm
Even if we make it we are not built to make a run this year – we need to makeover our offense – think about this – Martin Prado for Jacoby Ellsbury – obviously we would need to throw in some pitching to make the Red Sox bite – but they have a kid who can play center and Prado would be a monster hitting balls off the monster and hustling – Ellsbury could hit 2nd behind Bourn next year and those two could run wild in front of McCann, Uggla and Freeman. Thoughts?? – would the Red Sox bite?
Ed
September 28th, 2011
6:47 pm
Braves4 life
The problem is they NEVER hit when it matters.
8.5 games, Really?
September 28th, 2011
6:48 pm
@Mark Bradley, You would think that he would understand that he is doing more harm than good on the DL all the time. Being in and out of the line up does not help the team. It’s pathetic to see him limping and groaning when he has to run. I think that he is in it for his ego and pay check. What about moving Uggla to third?
Runner-
September 28th, 2011
6:49 pm
Martin or Chipper can do at 3rd for the next couple of years until Salcedo is ready… dude is going to be a star
Mark Bradley
September 28th, 2011
6:49 pm
Ellsbury will finish in the top five in American League MVP balloting. Don’t season Boston trading him for Martin Prado.
tony
September 28th, 2011
6:50 pm
Philly showing no mercy! All Philly starters are in the lineup!
Brave4life- Have faith!!!
September 28th, 2011
6:52 pm
tony
no, the Braves killer Victorino is not in the lineup
Which is huge. He always seem to get that clutch hit. Its one player but still something
next season
September 28th, 2011
6:52 pm
I agree about Ellsbury – but if they lose tonight and the Rays win – they will be dealing with the same collapse we are and they might make some drastic choices as well – could we throw a package of Prado, Lowe, Minor to entice them?
Inquizitive Nemo
September 28th, 2011
6:53 pm
Are the paratroopers funneling in yet?
jmor
September 28th, 2011
6:55 pm
The Phillies are loose, they have won 101 games and clinched the division. They are laughing at the Braves, have no pressure, and will beat the Braves badly tonight in a game that will be over by the 3rd inning. This is the script that has been playing, and I see no reason for it to change tonight. The Braves want out, it’s too hot, and the beach/golf course awaits this weekend.
Runner-
September 28th, 2011
6:55 pm
Also can anyone please explain to me why Heyward was played in favor of the hottest hitter in MLB Constanza after a minor ankle injury for several games straight? Since then Constanza has not seen consistent playing time even though he’s done deserving to lose it. This downhill slope is all on Fredi and his misusing of the lineup and bullpen. Jonny and Kimbrel are finished, all thanks to him
Who else but quagmire?
September 28th, 2011
6:55 pm
Evening mark, how is the feeling in the stadium tonight? Also do like man vs food?
Sonny Clusters
September 28th, 2011
6:56 pm
Deer Fredi, Tonight we will need to go balls to the wall. We need to batten down the hatches, pull some strings, and put up some zeroes. What do you mean I am batting sixth? Your Pal, Chipper Jones
8.5 games, Really?
September 28th, 2011
6:56 pm
@Runner, That’s what everyone said about Heyward. It sucks that when players come to Atlanta they start underachieving.
tony
September 28th, 2011
6:57 pm
I think the braves and STL win tonight. Who’s the braves starting pitcher against STL?
I don’t want to see a lefty against STL!
Brave4life- Have faith!!!
September 28th, 2011
6:57 pm
Runner
Go through the first page and you will know why Constanze is not starting
8.5 games, Really?
September 28th, 2011
6:57 pm
Costanza should be the Starting right fielder every game. The best players should play regardless of their pay
Biff Pocoroba
September 28th, 2011
6:58 pm
It’s kinda of a shame that Ozzie Guillen went to the Marlins. Could have really lit a fire under the Braves asses. I hope the Braves take the 15 mil hit to the payroll and fire Derek Lowe. He’s done.
1eyedJack
September 28th, 2011
7:00 pm
Well, hold your breath.
Mark Bradley
September 28th, 2011
7:02 pm
Brandon Beachy will start on Thursday, if need be. Kyle Lohse would work for the Redbirds.
Mark Bradley
September 28th, 2011
7:02 pm
The feeling in the stadium feels rather sedate. I’m a little surprised.
1eyedJack
September 28th, 2011
7:03 pm
Can we afford to pay Derek Lowe 15 million to pitch in Mississippi next year?