But there were bright spots.  Despite giving up a couple of broken-bat hits in the first, that led to two runs, Hudson was lights out.  Chipper described him as “outstanding” and “flat-out dirty.”  But we didn’t support him with the bats – besides Chipper’s homer.  Brian McCann almost got a long ball of his own, but he came a foot or two short and was thrown out trying to stretch it into a double.  He’s not the speed on the team. Mark Teixeira also came about a foot shy of putting one over the fence as well.

This is the same issue Hudson had last year – had we given him just a little bit of run support, he could easily have won 20 games.  I stand by that claim.  I think this year he has a legitimate chance to do so and would be considered my dark horse for the Cy Young award.  His stuff is downright nasty and he truly deserves the #1 spot in the rotation.  In the game vs. the Nats, Hudson got a little roughed up in the first inning, but fired back with 6 1/3 perfect innings, retiring 19 straight batters.  We need to get settled in the first inning as those runs come back to haunt in the long run.

Next up, we’ll all be at Turner Field tonight for the home opener.  If you’re there, drop by and see us – we’ll be in the front row of 437.  Should be the beginning of some great baseball.  And get there early – it’s sure to be crowded.  Drop by here for in-game converstaion, too.  Last night was lots of fun.

Tonight we’ll get to see President Bush throw out the first pitch to kick off Nationals Park.  We’ll also see the Braves new alternate uniforms for 2008.  They’re blue-on-blue uniforms with navy blue hats with the Braves logo ‘A’ in white.

The ESPN analysts’ World Series Predictions were just on as well:
Steve Phillips – Tigers (W) vs. Mets
Eric Young – Red Sox (W) vs. Braves
John Kruk – Cubs (W) vs. Indians
Karl Ravech – Cubs (W) vs. Tigers

Is this the year for the Braves?  It all starts tonight….