March 20, 2011

Show #139: Interviews with Roger McDowell and Larry Parrish

We talk with the Braves’ pitching and hitting instructors as well as discuss the future of Brooks Conrad.

Show #139 - Roger McDowell and Larry Parrish Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

 

110 Responses to “Show #139: Interviews with Roger McDowell and Larry Parrish”

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  1. 1
    Walker Says:
    March 21st, 2011 at 3:02 am

    1.Great interviews Steve. Great Insight. No Way Conrad gets a roster spot. He is almost guaranteed to make a couple of errors every time he gets a Sunday start.

    2.McDowell and Parrish seem very excited and have great personalities(sarcasm).

  2. 2
    Danny Says:
    March 21st, 2011 at 5:33 am

    Can’t wait to listen.

    With Utley lame, all the Baseball Tonight analysts now favor the Braves in the National League!

  3. 3
    Steve Says:
    March 21st, 2011 at 8:46 am

    Walker, for what it’s worth, while I agree that Roger was not completely energized (smile), Parrish was awesome in person. And gave me the impression that he would have sat and talked baseball for an hour. He’s just one of those deep voiced, calm guys that may have sounded disengaged on the audio but didn’t come across that way at all in person.

    You’re wrong on Conrad. I’m telling you, he’s in.

  4. 4
    Curt Says:
    March 21st, 2011 at 10:28 am

    Despite my objections, I think Steve is right. I would be shocked if Conrad doesn’t make the team.

  5. 5
    brandon Says:
    March 21st, 2011 at 12:02 pm

    Hey guys loved the show. Loved the Parrish interview. Curt I totally agree with what you had to say about heyward, he reminds me of Griffey Jr. A little, if we get close to what Griffey did in Seattle that’s what I hope for. Both of their drive to go get the ball in the outfield and both violent swings are similar. Longevity is our biggest concern with heyward. He is a natural though with ability.
    With the Chipper question I say right before the all-star break. Say 65 games or so and may 115 total.

  6. 6
    Walker Says:
    March 21st, 2011 at 6:13 pm

    You’re right Steve. I guess I should have just mentioned McDowell. But I hear McDowell was a great clubhouse guy back in his Mets days. Age will slow you down though.

  7. 7
    Curt Says:
    March 21st, 2011 at 7:05 pm

    “Kenshin Kawakami, making his first start this spring, allowed only one earned run and three hits in three innings for Atlanta. He struck out three.”

    Come on Yankees. You know you want him.

    Walker, I like that number on Chipper. I was thinking something like 60 games.

  8. 8
    Leah Says:
    March 21st, 2011 at 10:15 pm

    Note to self: look for new shows! Excited to listen tomorrow! Has anyone else noticed how the white piping on the spring training hats has been colored in with a sharpie? Just curious whose idea that was and Fredi’s hat needs a touchup.

  9. 9
    Bubdylan Says:
    March 21st, 2011 at 11:28 pm

    Steve & Co, congrats on the two interviews. I liked both of them. Larry sounds like he knows what he’s doing and communicates well. Like you, Steve, I found the player-by-player over team-hitting-strategy fairly convincing. Like a quiet little light bulb lit up there.

    I enjoyed Roger as well. Sounded a little wooden, but I’ll take that every day over the over-the-top types. But I needed to hear less from him to be convinced anyway. I’ve heard a handful of players give specifics about Roger’s help (contrasted with the deafening silence on TP’s helping hitters).

    Also worth noting: these coaches aren’t interviewed that often, are they?

  10. 10
    Bubdylan Says:
    March 21st, 2011 at 11:29 pm

    Good grief: that last line up there belonged to a whole paragraph that I cut out. But accidentally left the opening sentence dangling. Disregard.

  11. 11
    Walker Says:
    March 22nd, 2011 at 12:42 am

    Bubdylan. My how we forget. Terry Pendleton was a very good hitting coach. The braves had the best offense in the NL in 2003. We scored 800 runs in 2004. He had to deal with more rookies than usual in 2005 and did great with them. In 2006 we scored 849 runs and 810 runs in 2007. The last couple years we struggled at times but still ended up having a little above league average offense. The reason we missed the playoffs those few years were because of pitching. It was just time for a change. We needed a new voice after 9 years just like with Cox after 20 years. We wondered why Francoeur struggled with him and now we know he was just a horrible hitter. Lets give TP some credit.

  12. 12
    Danny Says:
    March 22nd, 2011 at 5:32 am

    I think Chipper will have his first game-missing injury after about 25 games. I have this strange feeling that small injuries will keep sidelining Chipper this year, but that he will keep coming back. I think he’ll still play about 100 games.

    I’m with you guys on Nate McClouth. Hearing about his commitments to improvement this winter/spring, I’m starting to believe in Nate more than I ever have!

  13. 13
    Steve Says:
    March 22nd, 2011 at 8:09 am

    Extremely important question of the day. If Bobby is throwing out the first pitch on opening day at Gwinnett on 4/7, does that mean he doesn’t do it at the home opener at Turner on 4/8? He seemed like the overwhelmingly obvious choice for Turner, but it cheapens it for me a bit if he’s working Gwinnett the night before. Thoughts?

  14. 14
    Steve Says:
    March 22nd, 2011 at 8:13 am

    Bub – thanks. I really enjoyed doing the interviews as well. It was damn cool for me.

    I think Chipper misses a few games around mid-May, but it has nothing to do with the knee. And that his knee will hold up all season, but other stuff may not.

    Walker – the TP thing gets back to the age old question of how much do you credit the hitting coach with success or ding him for failures. That said, the Braves don’t make change for change’s sake. If they moved him out of that position, it was for a substantial reason.

  15. 15
    Leah Says:
    March 22nd, 2011 at 9:26 am

    I’m drinking the McLouth Kool-aid. Especially after his interview the other day. Seems very humble and relaxed and even able to joke a bit about last year. Great interviews! What an opportunity Steve. Your son must think you are super cool.

    I’ve been wondering about Matty D…anybody know how his spring is going?

  16. 16
    Leah Says:
    March 22nd, 2011 at 9:37 am

    Call me a hater but the key word in #11 is “was”. And I’m not saying that just because I always agree with Bub.

  17. 17
    Nate Says:
    March 22nd, 2011 at 9:45 am

    I just went on the ajc page and saw “Mets get Kawakami” and got really excited for a second, but then I saw that the heading actually read “Mets get Kawakami for three runs”. I should have known that would be too good to be true.

  18. 18
    Curt Says:
    March 22nd, 2011 at 10:24 am

    They did just dump Oliver Perez and eat $12 mill in the process. They have a need for an overpriced, marginal pitcher now.

    Rumor is that the Yanks are already looking at Perez.

    And KK only gave up 1 earned. Not sure why I continue to fight for him. But more bad luck for him in that regard.

    Steve, it has to be Bobby. Maybe he’s just getting loose in Gwinnett.

  19. 19
    Nate Says:
    March 22nd, 2011 at 5:18 pm

    Great interviews, Steve.

    I am pretty optimistic about Chip. He’s going to be a bigger surprise than McLouth. It’s going to be interesting to see how Nate responds to his first slump of the year. The Parrish interview confirms how big the mental part of hitting is for him.

  20. 20
    Steve Says:
    March 22nd, 2011 at 8:41 pm

    Thanks, Nate.

    And yeah, I’m very optimistic about Chipper, too. We haven’t really talked about it on the show, but he’s hit better than anyone on the team this spring. And, he has a chip on his shoulder (no pun intended) after all the doubters this off-season.

  21. 21
    Steve Says:
    March 22nd, 2011 at 8:50 pm

    Interesting. And I don’t believe a word of it on March 23: http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/players/playerpage/1770803/brandon-beachy

  22. 22
    Walker Says:
    March 22nd, 2011 at 10:03 pm

    Steve I thought Rudy Jaramillo was a genius. So why did the Cubs only score 685 runs last year.?

  23. 23
    Bubdylan Says:
    March 23rd, 2011 at 7:49 am

    Steve, do you think the hype over Beachy is to tantalize a trade partner, or do you just think the CBS link is sketchy? I think he’s going to win the job straight up. And you all know how much I love Mike Minor. But I’ve finally been swayed that Beachy is for real.

  24. 24
    BRAVEinNY (Matt) Says:
    March 23rd, 2011 at 10:27 am

    CBS has the worst baseball coverage (in my opinion) out there.

    I hope someone will take Lopez and Kawakami, it will be like Christmas in March!

  25. 25
    Curt Says:
    March 23rd, 2011 at 11:04 am

    How about Luis Salazar throwing out the first pitch to McCann. It just came to me. Screw Bobby

    Bub, wouldn’t you be worried about all righties in the rotation?

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