Mother’s Day Game Postponed

Due to the continuing rain in Pittsburgh, the Braves/Pirates game today has been postponed and rescheduled as part of a doubleheader tomorrow.  Hopefully the rain will be out of the area by then and the Braves can use the day off to regroup and get things going in the right direction tomorrow.

Julio Hangs It Up

Braves fan-favorite, Julio Franco, has decided that his time to retire has finally come.  Julio, who had hoped to play in the majors at age 50, is the oldest player to hit a home run in the major leagues.  This home run was at the age of 48 against Randy Johnson on May 4, 2007; one year ago.  Julio’s 23-year career was played with the Braves, as well as the Phillies, Mets, Indians, Rangers, White Sox, Brewers and Rays.

His career numbers are: .298 batting average, 2586 hits and 173 home runs.  Thanks for everything, Julio.  It was great to have the chance to see you in a Braves uniform for the end of last season.

Congrats Smoltzie On 3000 Strikeouts!

A gallery of a few photos from John Smoltz’s historic 3000th strikeout, becoming only the 16th pitcher to do so in the history of Major League Baseball.

Off-Day Thoughts

So the Braves have a much needed day off today as they make the trip to Florida to play the Marlins, who have flown out of the gates this year to get off to a great start to the season.  Hopefully the Braves will make a good run at stopping that.  But either way, I wanted to take the off day to make some commentary about the season thus far and things that are on my mind.

The Season Thus Far - It hasn’t been the best start to the season thus far as far as the record is concerned.  We’re 5-7 at this point, but there’s still plenty of time to get things going.  Six of our losses have been by one run, so we’ve been in most of the games and not eliminated early.

Leadoff Runners - We don’t get nearly enough leadoff base runners from our offense.  It seems like every time that we put someone on base, it’s with two outs.  Likewise, we give up way too many leadoff base runners to our opposition.  We need to swing that a little more in our direction.

Jeff Bennett - I liked the guy……..until yesterday.  I know Glavine took the loss in the game yesterday, but in my personal scoring system, I’m giving it to Bennett.  There’s never any excuse to walk four straight batters and definitely never an excuse to give up two runs on walks.

Jorge Campillo - I still don’t know much about him, but I know I liked what I saw yesterday.  I think if he can keep that up steadily through the season, then there’s no reason he shouldn’t find a full-time position in our bullpen.

Starting Pitching - Nevermind, I don’t want to get into our endless list of injuries to our starters.  Hampton, Glavine, Smoltz…….it could be a long year.

Clutch Offense - So we can score endless runs when we’re up in a game (which is good with the condition of our bullpen at times), but it seems like when we need the hits and the runs, we just can’t do it.  I attribute this to our slew of one-run losses so far this season.

I’ve got a few more things on my mind, but these are just the pressing ones for now.  I don’t like off days.  I feel like there’s nothing to keep up with, but the team definitely needs it.  I’m ready to watch Jair start tomorrow against the Marlins.  What’d I miss?

We’re Not Dead Yet

The sky is falling. The Braves are 0-5 in one run games. They’re tied for last place in the NL East. Rafael Soriano is on the DL. Mike Hampton is again on the DL. Tim Hudson is fighting the flu. John Smoltz has had recurring shoulder issues.

And two games have already been postponed.

I feel like it’s time for me to say the same thing Phillies and Mets fans said last week. It’s not over yet. 9 games into the season, and it’s not over yet.

So without further ado, 5 things that have to happen to kick this thing into shape:

1. Blaine Boyer needs to stop giving up home runs. Actually, that goes for the whole bullpen. Out of the seven home runs given up this year by Braves pitchers, six of them are out of the bullpen. And the other one belongs to Chuck James, and he doesn’t count as a starter.
2. The bats have got to string together some consecutive hits. Get this ridiculous offense off the ground. That’s ridiculous in a good way.  And Mark Teixeira needs to get that .167 average up.
3. Jair Jurrjens continues to look good.  He got beat up a little in his last start and how he comes back in his next start is crucial.  He seems very mature as a 22 year old pitcher so I’m not concerned.
4. Bobby Cox needs to get thrown out.  Show some enthusiasm, Bobby.  Go out there and give some poor umpire the what’s for.  It’s fun, it shows everyone you want to win, and the fans and the players need it about now.
5. Like our friend Andrew over at The ‘Ropolitans, who recently shaved his beard only to see the Mets go 2-0, I began thinking back about my facial hair and the Braves.  Since I started the goatee about a year, year and a half ago, the Braves haven’t made the postseason.  So I’m shaving, in hopes that the lack of my facial hair can help the Braves over the next few series - most of which are against the Nationals and Marlins, with the Dodgers mixed in.  I will go baby-faced if it helps the Braves.

So there ya have it - we’re not dead yet.  Time to keep moving on and win the next few games.  Go Bravos!

Rue Grant Defends Jordan Schafer

Scenario 2:  Schafer never used HGH. Rumors are nasty things. I spent a week in high school in the principal’s office for something I never did but someone claimed they saw me do - in a locker room nonetheless. Subsequent monitorings made me look suspicious and guilty, but only because people were looking for something in particular, and oftentimes suddenly normal actions seem extremely unusual. Same thing for Schafer. He was being monitored all through spring training apparently. Maybe growing suspicion just made him seem guilty at the time - and allegations were blown out of proportion.

Scenario 3: He did it, he knew, and now he’s covering his ass. I’m not really thinking this is a valid speculation though, because who would be stupid enough to go ahead and do that after watching the struggles Roger Clemens has gone through day after day recently? I’ve met Jordan Schafer and he doesn’t seem to be that naive.

So where are we? We wait. Will we forgive him regardless? We can only hope that the Braves community will accept whatever comes of this - and if the allegations prove to be innacurate, then my greatest hope is that he does not lose the credibility and hype that he has worked so hard for.  If the truth ends up hurting us all, then hopefully someone down the road  will learn from Schafer learning the hard way.

For now, I’m standing by Schafer for the following reasons:

1. Schafer’s father wants to speak out so badly, but is waiting on his son. Seems that something that needs to be said is not out in the open yet. I anticipate that revelation.
2. If he used it pre-2005, I have absolutely NO issue with it.
3. Not all allegations end up being true. There has got to be more to this than meets the eye.
4. Tom Glavine said that being a great player is about being respected as much for your character as for your stats and numbers. I think that Schafer has had the spotlight on him a lot recently, and was making an effort to be one of those venerated, respected players before moving into the bigs. He had the spotlight on him, was turning heads, making people smile, and impressing everyone who interviewed him. Would he go out of his way NOW to ruin everything he’d worked for? Absolutely not.
5.  He’s offered up far too many samples, has failed to test positive for what he’s being accused for taking, and is obviously very disgrunted about this whole situation.
6. The Braves haven’t thrown him under the bus yet. He’s going to Orlando to keep training with other minor league players who aren’t playing official games. If it were as intense and serious as everyone was making it out to be, the Braves would have cut and run. They haven’t, and show no signs of doing so.

So, for now, I will stand by Schafer.  And I’m one of the harder ones to get to take sides.

Schafer Suspended for HGH Use

The Braves’ star prospect Jordan Schafer, who had a decent spring, was suspended for 50 games after it was revealed he violated the league’s substance abuse policy. Apparently Schafer tested positive for HGH, not something good to see from a young player who is supposedly the future face of the franchise.

Everywhere you read about this guy and his supposed maturity, but I’m not sold on him yet.  Just because you can play ball (apparently with the help of HGH) doesn’t mean you have the composure and maturity you need to be a major league player and the potential face of the franchise.  You can’t convince me he’s ready for the big league level for at least a year or two.

As for his placeholder, Mark Kotsay, the guy has been great so far.  Solid hitter, great arm, and he does his best to cover ground.  Heck, we haven’t even had to add a single point to our “Andruw would have gotten that” counter.

Schafer is going to need to come back from this suspension with some sincere remorse and work hard to make up for this significant shortcoming.  Not only does it cast doubt on his strong spring, but it shows character flaws and immaturity.  I think Schafer has bought into the hype surrounding his rising star career way too much - and has passed way over the line between confident and cocky.  One has to be worried about seeing someone like Schafer go down this path.  The truly good players - character wise - are the Jeff Francoeurs and Brian McCanns.  They keep their mouths shut and play baseball - don’t dig into anything suspect or suspicious, and let their numbers back up the hype surrounding their careers.

Schafer has a long way to go - good thing we have those extra outfielders now, isn’t it?  Josh Anderson next season, anyone?

Smoltz v. Santana Back On

After the rainout of the game against the Mets Friday night, Bobby Cox pushed back the starting pitchers by a day to keep the rotation starting as planned.  This eliminated the much-anticipated Smoltz vs. Santana pitching matchup that was slated for Sunday’s game, instead pitting Tom Glavine against Johan.

Shortly after that change was announced, Smoltz asked Glavine if he’d be okay with switching rotation spots with him to avoid having to make his first start of the season at Coors Field next week.  The combination of the thin Colorado air and projected cold temperatures aren’t good things to subject Smoltz’s recently injured shoulder to, thus the main motivation for the switch.

Glavine, in the interest of helping out the team in the long-run by trying to preserve Smoltz’s arm, and probably to relieve a little of the stress from pitching against his former team, happily obliged.  So to everyone that had tickets for tomorrow’s game just because of the pitching matchup, fear no more, the matchup between Smoltz and Santana is back on as originally projected.

Tonight’s Game Cancelled

The Braves and Mets will have to wait one more day to get their season rivalry underway.  Due to the severe storms and lightning in the area, the game has been postponed and will be made up as part of a double-header on May 20th.

The rainout policy for the Braves is that there are no refunds on ticket sales, but tickets can be exchanged at the box office (or via mail) for comparable tickets to any game with available seats later in the season. The tickets can also be used for the 1:00pm game on 5/20.

The cancellation of tonight’s game has shaken up the pitching matchups for the series, eliminating the much anticipated Smoltz vs. Santana matchup on Sunday. Bobby Cox has decided to push back the starters so Hudson will make tomorrow’s start and Glavine will take the mound on Sunday.

Home Opener Thoughts

I’m not trying to manufacture drama here, but I do need to say, last night reminded me even more why baseball is still America’s pastime passion and why the game is important.  Sure, the Braves lost, but that’s not the point.

What did I love about last night?

The feeling of walking up into Monument Grove at 4:30, hours before the game started and seeing the crowd of Braves fan. Looking at those statues of Aaron, Spahn, and Niekro…it felt like…history.  Looking at the Phil Niekro statue. Knowing that, like his fellow Grove-mate, Warren Spahn, he’s not going to be with us forever.

The smell of the ballpark food.

Batting practice. Where any slob (myself included) can, for a moment, be a big league outfielder.

The Braves showing the ultimate salute to one of their own. Asking Javy Lopez to throw out the first pitch. You gave us your best years, Javy. And, most recently, you gave us everything you had. Yeah, it wasn’t enough, but we love you for the effort.

And catching Javy’s pitch? In a beautiful and timeless role-reversal: One John Smoltz.

Tom Glavine. Not only was he wholeheartedly cheered when announced in the roster, but at his first pitch, the stadium stood and screamed encouragement and approval.

But how about the game itself?

Read more »

Remembering Andruw

Jonathan and Charles were watching the first spring game of the year on TV a few weeks back and had a discussion regarding our new center fielder, Mark Kotsay. Now, we’re not experts, and we know we won’t miss Andruw’s bat, but we know Kotsay doesn’t have the range Andruw did.  We’re a little concerned about Kotsay’s back, too. Every time he dives for a ball, we’re afraid it’s the last time he may dive. It’s kind of like watching Mike Hampton pitch.

Now we have nothing against Mark Kotsay and we hope he has a great season. But he simply cannot match the range of the amazing Andruw Jones, who is one of the best center fielders to ever play the game. Thus, Jonathan and Charles decided to start a “Andruw Would Have Gotten That” counter. Every time we’re at or watching the game, and Kotsay doesn’t get to a ball that we all know Andruw would have caught, we’re adding one to the counter, in an attempt to quantify how much we miss Andruw in the outfield.

In our game recaps, we’ll mention how many points we add to the counter, and if you think we’ve missed one, chime in and we’ll add it to the list.

Join us this year in watching every game and saying “Andruw would have gotten that.”

Braves’ Offense Rolling

Contrary to popular belief, and by popular belief I mean the all-time great former Mets’ GM Steve Phillips’ NL East preview on ESPN.com, the Braves are alive and well and clicking. The Braves, after losing to those Mets today, are sitting at fourth in the Grapefruit League in runs scored. Among teams in the NL East, the Braves finished ahead of all four rivals. Of course, this number doesn’t take into account the Phillies’ playground stadium. The Phillies’ spring training stadium-Bright House Field-does have a short fence, but on the right side of the field as opposed to the left at Citizens’ Bank Park.

Getting back to the team at hand though, the Braves should have little to worry about offensively from their starting nine. Yunel Escobar is hitting a cool .400 this spring after last year’s .326 (319 ABs); more importantly for Escobar, he slugged .557, second only to Chippers’ .658. Of course, this is spring training we’re talking about and stats don’t translate to the regular season, but Escobar’s work ethic and hitting discipline has never been questioned since he was drafted by the Braves.

Other surprises included included Martin Prado (.318 in 66 ABs, most on the team) and Gregor Blanco (.400 in 35 ABs), both of whom have a chance to make the team. Prado more than Blanco, but at this point I think Bobby’s seen enough from Anderson and Blanco offensively to make the decision based on defense and whether they will be proficient in all three outfield spots.

As far as the rest of the cast goes, Francoeur is projected to have a breakout year by many “experts” and fantasy gurus. McCann is healthy again and could potentially put up the numbers he put up in 2006. Teixeira hit just .188 but, again, this is Spring and isn’t really a preview of things to come. He’s been warming up as of late, anyways. Most of the players seem to be getting into form quickly, but to be successful this year, the Braves need to do better against left-handed starters. The team should have little problems manufacturing runs and may even be better with Tex in there from the get-go.