After a ‘just OK’ first half, the Braves need to get cracking
These two have been very good. Their team? Less good. (AJC photo by Curtis Compton)
Half their season behind them, the Braves awoke Thursday holding third place in the five-team National League East, standing fifth in the wild-card chase. They were six games behind Washington, their biggest deficit of 2012.
(On Thursday night the Braves beat the Cubs to halve the series and the 10-game homestand but gained no ground in the East. First the Mets and then the Nationals rallied to win in the bottom of their respective ninth innings, prompting groans from those Braves players watching in the clubhouse.)
Asked Thursday afternoon to characterize the first 81 games of 2012, manager Fredi Gonzalez said: “Just OK. We have pretty high standards around here. This was just OK.”
Said Frank Wren, the general manager: “I think we’re better than our record. I think everyone — players, staff — would say that.”
At the close of business on the Fourth of July, the Braves were 42-39. At the midpoint last season, they were 46-35. The Braves chose not to make major offseason moves because they believed their September collapse was an aberration, and certainly no month in 2012 has been so epically wretched. Neither has one been outstanding: These Braves were 14-9 in April, 14-15 in May, 13-12 in June.
The Braves rank sixth in the league in team batting average, ninth in ERA. That latter bit flatters to deceive: Their starting pitchers have posted the league’s 12th-best ERA; a year ago, the Braves’ rotation was fifth-best.
Said Chipper Jones, telling no lies: “We haven’t had the same pitching, at least in terms of starters, we did last year. We’ve hit better than last year, but we haven’t always hit consistently.”
There are nights when the Braves’ batting order can seem as potent as an American League club’s — and try finding a better outfield than this — but other times these hitters go hungry. The nightly yield for the Braves in the first three games of their series against the Cubs was one run, then 10 runs, then one again. Quite the pattern, eh?
Wren: “I’ve used the ‘C’ word very consistently — we haven’t been consistent from game to game. I think Chipper said it best the other day: We need to bring it every night.”
Obvious question: Why don’t the Braves bring it every night? (Here we stipulate that, this being baseball and baseball seasons lasting six month, some waxing and waning is inevitable.) Chipper’s suggestion: “When you have young guys, you can get young mistakes and inconsistency.”
That might account for the wobbles of starting pitchers Mike Minor (who’s 24) and Randall Delgado (22), or even first baseman Freddie Freeman (22) and right fielder Jason Heyward (22). But what of second baseman Dan Uggla (32) or catcher Brian McCann (28) — neither of whom was, as of Thursday morning, hitting even .230? What of Jonny Venters and Jair Jurrjens, 2011 All-Stars who have been ordinary or worse in 2012?
Gonzalez: “We could have been better than we’ve played, and I think the reason we haven’t played better is that we haven’t been consistent in starting pitching. I can’t think of many times we’ve gone through five games [or one rotational turn] with quality starts; the best teams do that four or five times.”
So what happens now? Does a team that was good enough to take two of three games at Yankee Stadium, Dodger Stadium and Tropicana Field (Tampa Bay’s yucky place) contrive to miss the postseason yet again? Does an inconsistent team find consistency over Games 82-162? And does Wren make a move before the trade deadline?
“I expect something [meaning a deal],” Chipper said. Then this: “The best cure for an inconsistent team is to heap on the starting pitching. Five lockdown starters can make a team awfully consistent.”
Perhaps the retread signee Ben Sheets, who yielded four earned runs in five innings in his first start in Double-A on Wednesday, can take one sport. Perhaps Zack Greinke, the Milwaukee free-agent-to-be, will arrive on or about July 31. Perhaps a rotation that has hamstrung an otherwise pretty good team will become a second-half juggernaut.
Then again, maybe it’s time to face economic reality. The Braves have the 16th-biggest payroll among big-league clubs, and as of noon Thursday they had the 14th-best record. But that wouldn’t explain the Nationals (20th in payroll) and the Pirates (26th) leading divisions, would it?
Being owned by faceless Liberty Media means this organization will never be profligate, but this remains a sound franchise with a good farm system. There are enough resources in place. To date, the 2012 Braves haven’t maximized theirs. It’s time for everyone involved — this GM, this manager, these players — to implement some halftime adjustments.
By Mark Bradley
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145 comments Add your comment
gcs
July 5th, 2012
10:02 pm
Kimbrell is amazing.
Keep his good health in your prayers. B)
Ekim
July 5th, 2012
10:03 pm
Nobody on this team should be smiling. They should all read Charles’ 796-word diatribe. That’ll wipe the smirk off their faces.
Farnsworthy
July 5th, 2012
10:04 pm
Please Fredi. Please Frank. Bench Ugly’s butt before we fans go nuts!! We are sick of watching his pathetic at bats! Better yet, trade him!
Bronkelliott
July 5th, 2012
10:22 pm
How good is Kimbrel? Both the Giants closer and the Phillies closer blew the games for their teams. Kimbrel is truly an all star for this team!
Caseyatthebat
July 5th, 2012
10:24 pm
I can’t believe you counted 796 words!
Just Because
July 5th, 2012
10:37 pm
Is this article from last year? I’ve seen it before.
Harpie
July 5th, 2012
10:39 pm
Mark, if you think that first half was okay, then you have some low standards…
Harpie
July 5th, 2012
10:44 pm
Whoops, now that I’ve read the article, I see that it was Gonzales who said it was an “okay” half. And, that perfectly illustrates the biggest problem with this team: Gonzales.
Michael
July 5th, 2012
10:52 pm
Anybody that thinks Ben Sheets will be an improvement over Minor or Delgado is as dumb as Wren. How can you expect to be a playoff team when the middle of your batting order can’t even hit their weight. Uggla and Bmac stink. It’s nice to have plenty of pitching but the Braves have pitched well enough to win several more games than they have. And Sonny’s right too about Chipper. He’s been one of the best but damn, how many off days does he need?
Nebrbrave
July 5th, 2012
11:03 pm
Maybe what Chipper should have done is pull a Roger Clemons and show up mid season and then play every game. That apparently would make all happy. I for one am happy that the Braves have his .300 + average, 5 hit games, etc, as much as possible. If it means days off here and there, he has earned it after his long career. That would be like all you others taking a day off in your 45th year at a “normal” job. Yes he gets paid a lot, but he sacrificed pay for several seasons.
ACE
July 5th, 2012
11:05 pm
The best possible move would be to start with Fredi. Get a manager that can motivate these guys in the second half. It would be nice to see ONE reporter question Fredi about these terrible moves he makes. There has to be at least one AJC employee that off season plans doesn’t include riding Harleys with Fredi.
Mr. Dawg
July 5th, 2012
11:11 pm
Chipper, Chipper, Chipper. I love him. He’s a deserving first ballot Hall of Famer. He possesses one of the greatest swings – particularly left handed – in the history of baseball. Not a “rah-rah” guy. But baseball is not much of a “rah-rah” sport. Over a 162 game season Baseball is a “cool man’s game”. As far as I know he avoided steroids when it would have been very easy to elevate his play had he partaken in the drug. At 40 years of age it’s amazing how he can still “bring it” when he suits up. To an extent I get excited when he produces and pads his HOF Stats.
Braves managment made a choice when they signed him to the contract he’s still under As a result 15% of the Braves’ middle of the league payroll watches 40% of the games from the dugout, That’s obviously not a positive stat in this day and age of “Moneyball.”
Earlier this season Brian McCann said that what the team gets from Chipper this season is gravy. Well, that doesn’t appear to make this Braves team good enough to make the post season. I hope I’m wrong. But when I was a kid Hank Aaron was worth the price of admission win or lose. Sorry to say, Chipper isn’t Hank Aaron.
One should’t blame Fredi Gonzalez. One shouldn’t blame Chipper. Simply decide what’s most important to your admission fee. Seeing Chipper’s swan song season or watching a mediocre e team come up short.
Burgess
July 5th, 2012
11:26 pm
Remember a few years ago, when Smoltz called out Chipper for not playing hurt ? Some things never change. You can’t be the “leader” when you only play 110-120 games like Chipper has the last 7 years.
bulldogbubba
July 5th, 2012
11:31 pm
Clusters and Charles are on fire tonight!!!! What other job could you have where mediocre performance is acceptable? Usually you are demoted or fired and replaced.It is a sin to have talent and not use it like some of these guys do. Uggla is pitiful. Maybe the Braves need to hire that psyhcologist that John Smoltz used to help him overcome his problems.Maybe they could show these guys how to hit and get a runner to advance. Keep preaching the truth Mr. Clusters and Bro. Charles. The truth shall set u free!!!!!!!!!!!!
Rollo
July 5th, 2012
11:37 pm
Time to face the music, the Braves weren’t very good last year and aren’t very food this year. Standing pat this past offseason was a strong message that Liberty is not willing to invest more money in the team. It had nothing to do with the BS we were fed. Bottom line is the Braves will be fortunate to make the playoffs and will not make it out of 1st round if they do. Been the same story around here since 2003 if anyone’s willing to be honest with themselves. Our time of dominance was the 90’s when we managed to win 1 WS title. Joint blame goes out to Cox and Schuerputz for this major underachievement.
NorCal Brave
July 5th, 2012
11:59 pm
In the past I might have argued Braves are a better team than their record. With Beachy gone, Hanson is now the most consistent SP. Outside of the phenomenal Kimbrel, the bullpen is average at best. Prado has to be MVP so far on offense, and Heyward and Bourn are fine, though the latter is a bit too streaky for a leadoff hitter, imo. The first half failures of Uggla, McCann, and to a lesser degree Freeman, are really dragging this team down.
STRETCH
July 6th, 2012
12:57 am
I was sittin here watching MLB channel and Mike Trout just stole third and after the bad throw he trotted home to score. See thats the problem with this Braves team, they won tonight cause they hit 4 hrs.
Thats what they expect every night, but in a real world, you dont hit 4 homers every night, But these guys dont have anyone after Bourn that gets on base and has the ability to cause havoc. Heck they sent Constanza down(AGAIN). Then for some reason, they treat Wilson like he is a good luck charm while Pasternicky could turn into a utility player that can hit a little. He needs to be up here.
People, this is on management and the manager. They DONT know what they are doing. This team as currently constructed wont make the post season this year…mark my word.
Lee Maye
July 6th, 2012
1:42 am
This team smiles, hugs, and dances too much. Then, usually don’t hit and strike out in the clutch. Look for Phillies to beat us 2-3 and Lee to get his first win. Chipper will rest Sunday and McCann will need to take at least one game off in Philly too.
Buster brave
July 6th, 2012
1:55 am
FIRE IN DA’ BELLY ? I GOT SOME PEPPERS THAT WILL SATISFY THAT FOR YOU………
clay
July 6th, 2012
3:42 am
Braves should get rid of minor and delgado for grienke even send them pastornicky if they want him too. That’s a fair trade. Pastornicky can be their ss of the future.
Longtimefan
July 6th, 2012
4:13 am
A long time ago, me, Dinky, Pinky and Stinky were passing around a Blizzard we bought at the Dairy Queen with the last 1.99 we found in the backseat cushions. That nite, back in 1996, we wuz feelin kind of down cause Dinky had let one go thru his legs in the bottom of the ninth. We tole him that our hero Chipper had one time made a mistake in a big game, that’s what athletes do sometimes and that made him feel a bit better. Chipper wus our Hero cause he could hit from both sides of the plate, he could hold the biggest chow in his cheek without dribbling down his shirt and like him we also thought Hooters had the best pair of wings. Anyway, we all had our game jerseys and we wuz going to get Chipper to sign them. We figured if we got to the park 3 hours early we could watch Chipper hit them from both sides in practice. At the park that nite we were all excited, holding up our shirts, yelling “Chipper, over here, your our Hero, sign my shirt!!”, but Chipper ignored us. Maybe Chipper was a little scared of these 30 something year olds yellin and waving high school baseball shirts-we had to repeat a few grades-our math figuring wasn’t so good-but he never came over. After that game we made a pact-no more rooting for Chipper. It even made us forget about the ball between Dinky’s legs. And that’s the Real reason I don’t like Larry.
Around The Horn
July 6th, 2012
4:53 am
FREDI’S BLAME GAME
Fredi — from what he’s quoted as saying above — is taking an “I’m OK, but our pitching isn’t OK” approach toward accessing the first half of the season.
Time for a reality check Fredi.
You’re really not OK Fredi, and you’ve hurt the team more than the pitching has — in the way you’ve chosen to use the pitching and in the decisions you’ve made at critical points in a game!
It’s time to take a long hard look in the mirror Fredi!
Try being a stand up guy for once and taking some of the blame yourself!
willieghatelibertymedia
July 6th, 2012
5:31 am
the braves dont play fundamental baseball
willieghatelibertymedia
July 6th, 2012
5:44 am
Enter your comments here fire john scherholtz who hired frank wren fire freddie because frank wren. is stupid release all the players to the minors bring up aa or aaa team let them finish year i will pay to see minors leagers play not millioners who dont give a damn. this team will go to philly and getbeat becsuse they never beat the phillies the braves need to watch the yankees vs boston and see yhe hate and fire and passion in that series because i will be because both those franchises have ownetship that wants to win and they give there team players the best money can buy to play boston has not been they are like atlsn
Atlanta there psyroll is more much more
willieghatelibertymedia
July 6th, 2012
5:51 am
But boston let go there best manager and got another stupid manager in valentine. bring terry to atlanta or joe torre get someone with passion to manage i guarantee i would hsve this team winning more than the clown they have now
We as Okay as two peas in a Pod
July 6th, 2012
5:52 am
whatever said by charles 790 words were so darn right must be a sports writer with balls…Sure wish ajc staff of idiots had Two also…..Now for the double A atlanta braves here it all starts with GM who gave half team to Texas rangers see where they been 2 world series may lost but lets compare to apples and a dozen bag eggs…..One the apples always stay fresh n play like with no worms are holes and rotton….Now take a dozen eggs and try keep fresh you can’t you get cracked and brokein shells which get smelly and No matter How you try to cover up the smell gets worst..That like the atlanta braves cracked staff of coach’s who try cover up there bad ideas with new ideas.And run around all wet and get sports writers to repair it….In words you understand Tampa rays who has lousy Fans sorta like here…..have a team that go’s out and play 100% all times may not win at times..But with strong leaders who shells not cracked are smells they win and make Playoffs ….The End!
willieghatelibertymedia
July 6th, 2012
6:00 am
Hire me to manage this team they would be bunting taking pitches till they get 2 strikes look its simple get 10 hits in an inning score 7 0r more runs but when you get a leadoff double and he is there3 batters later there is aproblem freddie has never played in big leagues sohe does not have feel for game . get s manager that will fight for his players
Steve
July 6th, 2012
6:26 am
Fumbling Frank Wren is the problem. After all, he signed Dan ‘whiff’ Uggla to an albatross of a contract. He signed Fredi to manage. He stayed pat after last year’s failure. He has saddled us with an ineffective bench. Who plays if Uggla is benched? Jack ‘hitless’ Wilson? Move Prado is second and play Diaz in left who is hitting .230? Wren has hamstrung this team with his decisions.
Benny
July 6th, 2012
6:37 am
“We are a better team than that…” They are a .500 team. Their record says “you are what you are.”
Stinger 2
July 6th, 2012
6:54 am
Again last night, Clusters posted three items that were typical of his mentality. He has so much dislike for Chipper and the Braves that he
cannot recognize anything positive. Keep on ranting Clusters. However, you might want to think about this: Sometime people who say nothing are considered smart.
Chipper's ACL
July 6th, 2012
7:31 am
Better than your record Frank? Really?? I beg to differ with you sir. In most team stats this team is middle of the pack. Couple higher, couple lower. That’s not where the top teams rate. The one’s that stand out, and will bite this team again this fall, second to last in quality starts and second most pitches per at bat. What does this tell us? The starters aren’t getting the job done. Seven innings should be the norm for a starter,not five. Granted there are two rookies in the rotation but this was by choice of management. So this tells us the pen will again be burned out this fall. So this issue is part Wren’s, for not addressing this need sooner, and part McDowell’s, for not having the knowledge to build stamina in a starting pitcher. Again Braves management, please decide which direction this team is going. Either embrace a youth movement or dump them all for proven players. This half and half stuff isn’t working and frustrates us fans. We just want a consistant team on the field whether it be good or bad. Playing .500 ball is not accepted in the ATL any more.
And how in the world Uggla gets voted in the ASG is beyond me. The lowest slugging % out of the Braves starters and on pace for 200 k’s. How embarrassing.
DetroitBraves
July 6th, 2012
8:19 am
Ekim, it will take more than belly fire to win this division.
Marvin Mangrum
July 6th, 2012
8:22 am
Sorry, cant help it, and I promised myself I was thru with this. Are they paying John Scuholtz, why? Why is Frank Wren GM? Really what has he ever done? Tell us! I read daily about Charlie, Harry and Bubba being an assistant to somebody, I dont get it! If Scuholtz dont do anything but offer advise, it aint working. Frank Wren has yet to make his first good decision! And why hire a stumbling idiot 18 assistants if he cant do it by himself 444 assistants wont be enuff.Then Fredi G. Worthless. No need to carry on. The pitching coach, yea sure, yea he is really good.. Look here, hire winners. Winners win, thats what they do. You dont got any other than maybe Kimbrel. Quit players folks that are hurt. When Cox was with the Yanks he was hurt every day, but he became a manager and expected you to play. If a guy aint 100% he aint 100%.Look here, I bet 95% of players that went away went away cause they played hurt and never could figure it out. Fire everyone from Wren to Gonzales all the coaches everybody. By God find somebody, dont you reckon theres a few guys that know how to do it? I cant imagine 25k folks going to a game, I wouldnt go if it was free. Thats how bad it is. 3 back, 40 back, whats the difference?
63 year Braves Fan
July 6th, 2012
8:28 am
At least Fredi is not overworking Kimbrel.
2011champs
July 6th, 2012
8:30 am
The Braves are exactly what I thought… a 3rd place team with no leadership, no heart, and no fire. Uggla starting the ASG is an embarrassment to the National League.
Larry
July 6th, 2012
8:43 am
Ron Ronerts: “We don’t “make things happen.” We sit back and wait for the big hit.”
And just who does this remind you of?
Hint: coupled with his first stint as the Braves manager, followed by his stint with Toronto, he has an all time 1-16 (.059) record in the last, deciding game (and series) in the postseason.
Atticus
July 6th, 2012
9:01 am
Mark you mention payroll and the Pirates and Nationals numbers. Those are anomalies the Nationals have the advantage of all the high draft picks and the timing of them coming together. They also made a wise move in getting Gio. We are spending a lot of money on Lowe, Chipper, Uggla and Hudson and they are all overpaid or not even there in Lowe’s case, and even though Chipper does great when he plays. The Pirates are somewhat similar. The rule is mostly the teams with the highest payrolls are the teams that are the most consistently at the top. The Braves don’t need to spend THAT much more but certainly another $20million would help a lot.
This team is not consistent at all.
Too many injuries (which all teams have but we have less depth)
One player that isn’t carrying his weight (Mac) and misses one game a week. Chipper usually misses at least one too.
Starting pitching has been a major. If we hadn’t lost Beachy this could be rectified but now we are left with two pretty good (not great) pitchers in Hudson and Hanson (what happened to his velocity?), one guy we have no idea what he has or why his velocity is so down in Jurjjens and two guys learning on the job. This won’t work. We need at least one more starter.
A manager that is learning on the job. I love his willingness to steal bases but he gives the impression (we don’t see what happens behind closed doors) that players aren’t held accountable at the level they should be. And the way he has handled Medlen is a freaking joke.
Sonny Clusters
July 6th, 2012
9:02 am
We was noticing that not everybody on here believes the PR coming out of the Braves’ front office. Some of us don’t believe Dan Uggla is really an All-Star. Heck, some of us don’t think he should be in the lineup with his undisciplined at-bats. We was noticing, too, that the Cubs would go into a shift and confound Freddie Freeman and each time Freddie would hit a ball to Castro and make an out and the announcers would say something like, “There’s that shift again . . . and it worked!” We was thinking the Cubs players and coaches are smarter than the Braves right here. Why would Fredi allow the Cubs to take the bat out of Freddie’s hands because of a shift? How about Freddie making an adjustment and beating the shift? If the Braves played smart baseball it wouldn’t be so easy for the other teams to beat them with shifts and such. Fredi Gonzalez could take that away from them is he was smart like a Clusters. Sadly, he is more like the guy who managed the EPIC Collapse. You fans do remember the EPIC Collapse, don’t you?
PMC
July 6th, 2012
9:11 am
You are, what your record says you are.
juice sourcer
July 6th, 2012
9:12 am
Uggla heading towards the Mendoza don’t help.
Sonny Clusters
July 6th, 2012
9:13 am
You are about to enter another dimension, a dimension not only of sight and sound but of mind. A journey into a wondrous land of imagination. Next stop, the Twilight Zone. We was thinking that’s where Fredi is most nights and he’s got some of his players there with him. Uggla must be stuck in a time warp of strikeouts and popups. Freddie can’t adjust to a simple shift. McCann is a shadow of his former self. Prado plays on and plays big. Heyward has emerged and so has Simmons. We are seeing too much of Diaz and Hinske because of day’s off and tender tulips not feeling like playing today. When we was playing ball coach would say, “Clusters, you better get some hits today or we may miss the playoffs and the eventual championship that comes after the playoffs.” That was all it took! We didn’t deer hunt and we always liked to play in the post season. If we’d ever collapsed like that EPIC collapse last year we’d be gone.
PMC
July 6th, 2012
9:19 am
The Nationals have drafted high and drafted very well for years. Their manager is doing a really good job with that club, even with injuries
They are getting more production out of thier young players. The Braves have not drafted as well as the Nationals.
Pitching hasn’t been good this year even though the hitting has been slightly better most of the time they still can’t drive in runs regularly and 2 of their highest paid players aren’t pulling thier weight at the plate.
They are a 3rd place team right now, it is what it is. 3rd place management, 3rd place Front Office, 3rd place club.
PMC
July 6th, 2012
9:21 am
The Braves depend on guys like Uggla and Mac (we can debate the wisdom of that all day) but the fact of the matter is that they depend on those guys to be run producers.
Uggla and McCann are not producing runs, regularly, so while they may score 7 on a good night, when they slump, they get 0 or 1 or maybe 2.
DawgDad
July 6th, 2012
9:22 am
Sorry, Mr. Wren, but you ARE your record. This is a .500 club right now, they just spent the past two months proving that. Sure they beat the Yankees twice in New York, but what did they do HERE? They just split with the Cubs. They SCREAM .500.
The offense is just as inconsistent as the starting pitching. Chipper wants consistency? He’s the personification of inconsistent, not being able to play every day.
All I can say is it will be interesting to see what they do. In the long run they might be better off selling, going young and taking their chances with the kids this year.
PMC
July 6th, 2012
9:23 am
The Fact of the matter is that September showed that they are NOT better than thier record as constituted.
It’s a nice team, a decent ball club, but they aren’t losing on luck. They are losing because they have off weeks at the plate and the mound.
They almost got no hit by Joe Blanton….. seriously.
Jimmyraybillybob
July 6th, 2012
9:32 am
McCann’s will hit and drive in runs, he always has. Every hitter has slumps. Hehas never slumped for prolonged periods. Uggla is streaky. While that’s bad now, we know that should mean that he will go on a tear the 2nd half. It’s all gonna come down to pitching. Hanson and Hudson have been o.k. Not great but pretty good. Losing Beachy really hurts. Venters must have a physical problem b/c he has always had nasty stuff and now its like bp when he’s on the mound. If we don’t get a quality starter I think we should start Medlin and see what he can do. Without better starting pitching we’ll be watching the playoffs.
Sonny Clusters
July 6th, 2012
9:40 am
Saying Uggla is streaky and may get hot sounds comforting until you need him to do something basic in baseball like put a ball in play with runners on base. Instead, you get a powerful swipe at a ball that runs in on him above his shoulders. He strikes out or pops up and what have you got? We’d much rather have as our All-Star somebody who has plate discipline and intelligence and knows how to play some team baseball. It’s a lot like Francoeur or Andruw from a few years back who gave you the same thing every at-bat . . . swinging and falling down and failing to advance runners and bring in runs from scoring position. This is not a very smart baseball team. A manager as bad as the one the Cubs appear to have is smart enough to confound and confuse and render the Braves harmless just by going into a shift. That shift works because the Braves can’t/won’t/don’t adjust and take the initiative away from the other dugout. Fredi lacks something and there, too, does the team.
Atticus
July 6th, 2012
9:41 am
Jimmyray, you mean batting .210 for the last 5 months isn’t prolonged? I hope he comes back and it could be likely but he has cost us games and we don’t have the luxury of that when we have a manger training on the job and two young pitchers learning on the job as well.
Sonny Clusters
July 6th, 2012
9:45 am
Anticipating a post telling us how we’re a bad fan or not a real fan or something like that because we want to see better baseball . . . when we was watching MLB we saw some of the old Reds teams that was always playing hard and playing hurt and getting dirty and winning and not hugging or fanny-patting or doing sweet things in the dugout. All this sweetness and not playing if it’s too hot or if something is sore is going to put the Braves into another EPIC collapse if they don’t watch out. Better get to the park early, Fredi.
js
July 6th, 2012
9:45 am
I think Chipper is right on , pitchers young but we still need a 3rd baseman that can play every day. We need a rt. handed bat with power . Seems like everybody throws every left hander they have at us.