Show #107: The Braves’ Bats Wake Up
Chipper and retirement. Firing TP, take two. Lowe’s new pitching approach. And the resurgence of Troy Glaus.
471 Responses to “Show #107: The Braves’ Bats Wake Up”
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Pages: « 1 … 7 8 9 10 11 [12] 13 14 15 16 17 … 19 » Show All
May 21st, 2010 at 1:11 pm
Great blog by BinNY. I hope his boss doesn’t read his blog. This picture made me laugh and cringe at the same time.
http://twitpic.com/1ppxno
May 21st, 2010 at 1:57 pm
Bub, I’ve been there, too, man. It says a lot about our society that like 4 of us on this blog have gone through similar situations. I feel your pain and am sorry man. “Some people just suck,” possibly the best advice my mom ever gave me.
Steve- love the picture of Kimbrel and his backpack. That is hilarious.
May 21st, 2010 at 5:33 pm
Good to see Huddy back in the line up hitting with a higher BA than the 7 and 8 hitter. GO BRAVES!
Would LaRussa bat Hudson 7?
May 21st, 2010 at 6:01 pm
Wouldn’t normally do this, but here’s the INSIDER article on the Grand Slam. Feel free to delete if you think it should be on the site:
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Brooks Conrad wanted a brief scouting report on Francisco Cordero as he prepared to pinch hit in the ninth inning Thursday. So as the switch-hitter went back to the dugout to get his left-handed equipment after the Reds changed from left-hander Arthur Rhodes to the right-handed Cordero for Conrad’s at-bat, he asked Chipper Jones what to expect.
Jones gave him a little rundown of Cordero’s stuff, and gave him a simple suggestion: Make him throw strikes, Chipper said. Conrad was absorbed by all this, in this moment. Bases loaded, the Braves down three runs, after being down by six to start the bottom of the ninth, and Conrad wanted to move the inning along.
He walked to the plate, and home plate umpire Lance Barksdale dusted off home and said something to Conrad that he didn’t immediately understand. Then Ramon Hernandez chimed in, as well: Conrad had forgotten to change his helmet, to bat left-handed.
“I tossed it over [toward the dugout], and I had to move past that embarrassment,” Conrad said Thursday evening, chuckling over the phone.
Did he ever; what followed was one of those moments that we’ll remember long after the season.
What led up to that has been years of work, years of perseverance. Brooks Conrad was an eighth-round pick of the Houston Astros in 2001, and he would have about 4,000 at-bats in the minors before seeing a pitch in the major leagues. He got to know Round Rock, Texas, very well, probably much more than he would’ve liked — he played Double-A there for the Express in 2004, and remained there after the franchise moved up to Triple-A, for 2005, 2006 and 2007.
Conrad says he never thought about quitting, about finding a new profession. “I love to play the game,” he said. “I wasn’t about to go and do something else. … I never had that attitude.”
What he hoped for was a better opportunity in another organization, and he signed with the Oakland Athletics before the 2008 season — and for the fourth consecutive year, he hit 20-plus homers in the minors. At age 28, Conrad got his first shot in the big leagues, with the Athletics.
He signed a minor league contract with the Braves before the 2009 season. “We liked his versatility, and the fact that he was a switch-hitter with power,” recalled Braves GM Frank Wren, through e-mail. “He’s a gamer with a great attitude.”
As Conrad shifted into a support role for the Braves, he asked questions of others, like Greg Norton, about being a pinch hitter, about how to prepare for a moment that he found himself in on Thursday afternoon, in Turner Field.
Cordero threw a strike, and Conrad dropped the head of his bat, smashing the ball squarely, toward left field. Off the bat, he thought his long drive had a chance to clear the fence in left field … and then saw Reds left fielder Laynce Nix close on the ball, reach out for it.
“I thought he caught it,” Conrad said. “I kind of turned.”
He looked away, and what he did not see was that the ball had glanced off Nix’s glove and bounced over the wall, for a grand slam. Not knowing what had transpired behind him, Conrad lifted his hands over his head with some exasperation — and that was the moment when he saw the fans going crazy, and his teammates running out of the dugout.
And then Conrad went crazy, too. It was the No. 1 moment in Conrad’s career, for sure, he said. “It’s a really cool feeling to get up there in a pinch-hit situation,” he said, “and make the most of an opportunity like that.”
May 21st, 2010 at 6:33 pm
Yikes. “I think we ended the game with no outs… may have had one, I can’t remember” – Bobby talking about yesterday’s ending. How could he forget the Heyward at bat in 24 hours??
Happy Birthday, Bobby. 8)
May 21st, 2010 at 7:21 pm
Great article on Conrad. Thanks for posting it. Of course, I’d be b*+{hen if it weren’t for the fantastic new multi-page format.
May 21st, 2010 at 7:24 pm
hehe…is it just me or did Glaus just head to the wrong dugout.
May 21st, 2010 at 7:48 pm
YEAH BABY!!!!!!!!!!!!
JAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY
HEYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!
May 21st, 2010 at 7:50 pm
McCann’s transgressions really piling up this early year.
May 21st, 2010 at 7:51 pm
(I know, I know…)
May 21st, 2010 at 7:53 pm
Glaus’ fit was just for you Bub.
May 21st, 2010 at 7:54 pm
Glaus had another fit? I’m on radio. Put Glaus and Escobar in a pouting contest.
May 21st, 2010 at 7:59 pm
Or in the corner…which ever. Slammed his bat on home plate. These Pirate broadcasters are teeeeeerrible. Does Huddy usually throw this many balls?
May 21st, 2010 at 7:59 pm
None of these balls Huddy and Cox are complaining about are in the strike zone on gameday.
May 21st, 2010 at 8:01 pm
No, Huddy’s scuffling, Mara.
May 21st, 2010 at 8:03 pm
Thank the Sweet Lord for grounders. Gutsy call, throwing a change up when the command is struggling.
May 21st, 2010 at 8:04 pm
Whew…am I crazy or is the visitor’s dugout behind 3rd base? Glaus keeps walking directly toward the 1st base dugout.
May 21st, 2010 at 8:11 pm
uh…I swear I could call this game better than these two yahoos.
May 21st, 2010 at 8:12 pm
The Pittsburgh radio guys? I like them. I mean… they’re not excited, but… it’s the Pirates.
May 21st, 2010 at 8:12 pm
huh…at PNC park visitor’s dugout is 1st base. Is that weird? So Glaus isn’t crazy…I am.
May 21st, 2010 at 8:13 pm
I don’t know if it’s the radio guys but they’re calling it for MLB.tv.
May 21st, 2010 at 8:14 pm
Pradooooooooooooo. I love that man.
May 21st, 2010 at 8:17 pm
Careful Bub…he’s mine. Cracks me up when a pitcher is running the bases. Huddy totally ran out of the base line to avoid any sort of contact with 2nd baseman. Makes sense but looks comical like the tiny kid in little league who doesn’t want to get hurt.
May 21st, 2010 at 8:18 pm
All kinds of rookie love…
May 21st, 2010 at 8:18 pm
Good GRIEF! How good is JASON FREAKING HEYWARD?????!!!!!
It makes my buttocks spasm!