Show #141: Winning Ways in Braves Opening Series
Looking back on the Nats series. McLouth bats second. And Good and Bad Signs in the first three games.
115 Responses to “Show #141: Winning Ways in Braves Opening Series”
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Pages: « 1 2 3 [4] 5 » Show All
April 8th, 2011 at 3:28 pm
Bub, thanks for asking.
April 8th, 2011 at 4:26 pm
Every time I get upset about that trade (usually after Gonzo wiffs at a pitch way out of the strike zone) I just remember that Escobar almost broke our first baseman’s wrist on a lazy play.
April 8th, 2011 at 4:59 pm
Eric – I agree that chemistry in baseball is not a must. There’s plenty of examples of that. But, I think strong chemistry can make a good team very good to great. And that’s what we saw last year with the Braves.
April 8th, 2011 at 7:46 pm
@ Steve
Chemistry is great but I would have taken any pompous douchebag that could of played second base correctly in the playoffs last year.
April 8th, 2011 at 8:08 pm
Going absolutely CRAZY in my kitchen!!! Love getting Cliff Lee out of the game in the 4th! Keep it up Huddy!
April 8th, 2011 at 9:27 pm
Great game. Steve, did you know it was Chipper’s 2500th hit before he hit it? I mean did you know before they showed it on the jumbo tron?
I really like that Kimbrel kid. I like his crouch before he pitches.
April 8th, 2011 at 9:43 pm
Leah, yes. I knew he needed 2 heading into the game so we went nuts when he hit it. And his mini-curtain call at 1st was great.
What a terrific game. The place went bonkers at all the run scoring hits, obviously, but went almost as nuts when Lee walked off the mound. It was spectacular. What a game.
April 8th, 2011 at 10:15 pm
I can tell you all about the Tampa/White Sox game……….
No Braves in Rosemary Beach, for some reason. Thank you Peachtree TV or Fox Sports South or whoever it is that has been carrying these games.
Eric, from our chats with DOB, it was way beyond “I like Escobar when he is playing well.” They hated that dude. They gave Gonzalez a standing ovation when he walked into the clubhouse. I hated the trade, and still do, but he clearly was more than a little nuisance they were dealing with.
Back to the ATL tomorrow.
April 8th, 2011 at 10:36 pm
“I like his crouch before he pitches.”
Read that wrong.
April 8th, 2011 at 10:37 pm
*I read that wrong, I meant.
April 8th, 2011 at 10:45 pm
1.Great game. I got goosebumbs when Chipper got his 2500th hit. If it weren’t for the injuries the last 6 years he would be right there with Jeter going for his 3,000th hit.
2.I seriously doubt Yunel was as bad as they made him out to be. Yunel had a different style of play from Cuba that nobody understood. It was weird how his errors weren’t seen as mistakes but seen as he somehow did them on purpose. It was also language barrier. If he spoke english he would still be here. Giving A – gon a standing ovation was a bit over dramatic from the braves. They make it seem he was some sort of mean bully or something. Not that serious. Braves will regret that trade.
April 8th, 2011 at 10:53 pm
Hilarious…
Oh Walker. It wasn’t Yunel’s errors that made Braves fans unhappy. It was the not trying.
April 8th, 2011 at 10:54 pm
Hilarious is for #84 and 85, just to be clear.
April 9th, 2011 at 12:10 am
Curt, I didn’t say “like” – I’m saying they tolerated him and that’s all it takes for baseball, especially when the guy you’re giving a standing O to a guy who has a ceiling of .250 at the plate. At some point this season they’re going to miss the production that Escobar provided.
And, for the record, I think it’s reductionist to say it “was just a language problem.” Kawakami was terrible, couldn’t speak English, and a lot of the guys really liked him. Escobar was aloof and gave the impression he only cared about his next paycheck. I think Bobby got tired of him and said, “I’m Bobby Cox. This is my last season and I’m tired of Yunel Escobar.” I probably would have hated him too.
And I still think the trade was a mistake.
April 9th, 2011 at 8:59 am
2008 Rays and 2010 Giants. Those are two teams with great chemistry that made it much farther than they should have, so don’t be so quick to write off the effect of good team chemistry. I hated the Escobar trade as much as anyone. Many on this site can attest to my hatred of the trade, but he’s gone. He will never be a Brave again. Part of me wonders, since they met with Fredi Gonzalez in July, if Fredi Gonzalez didn’t have a role in that trade going down. As in Fredi telling Wren and Bobby that a Cubano couldn’t even turn Escobar around. Who knows? It’s all speculation.
April 9th, 2011 at 9:02 am
This reminds me of last year when KJ got off to a hot start and everybody was saying we shouldn’t have let him go.
April 9th, 2011 at 9:57 am
There is nothing I love better in the world of sports than Jonny Venters and Craig Kimbrel pitch right now.
The rookies impacting the Braves club over the last four years is staggering:
2008:
Jair Jurrjens
2009:
Tommy Hanson
Kris Medlen
2010:
Jason Heyward
Jonny Venters
2011:
Freddie Freeman
Craig Kimbrel
Brandon Beachy
I defy anyone (besides maybe the Rays, who soaked up all those first rounders, but I wonder if even they top us) to show a better crop of 8 rookies in 4 years! Averaging two impact rookies per year??!! Insane. And all but Jurrjens were farm raised. And most of them were stealthily acquired by our scouts – remember Heyward being scouted from the trees? Beachy was undrafted.
Add this to the resurrection project, O’Flaherty and the out-of-nowhere grab, Peter Moylan, and you gotta conclude that the heart and soul of Atlanta’s success is scouting and player development. I’ve heard that said a bunch, but I’ve never really gotten hold of it.
All this and Minor, Teheran, Delgado, and Vizcaino are all trying to get in, too. Will we get 10 impact rookies in 5 years??? If we end up with a dynasty on a 90 million dollar payroll while the $160 million(?) Phillies get old and crusty, how impressive would that be?
April 9th, 2011 at 10:10 am
Also, in honor of our 2011 home opener victory, I’m just going to leave this here:
http://twaud.io/6LC
Never get tired of it.
April 9th, 2011 at 1:52 pm
“…and this stadium is upside down…” you’re right, never gets old. Bummer of a bat break. In the bottom of the 6th. Come on Braves! Send Oswalt packing!
April 9th, 2011 at 2:20 pm
Um, Fredi Gonzalez is a moron, folks. Sherrill has a LIFETIME OPS-Against of .800 against RHB. He left the guy in there for two of them in a row.
Then pulled him when a LHB finally came up, when Sherrill actually has a LIFETIME .500 OPS-Against versus LHB. And puts in a RHP. Wow. In Bobby’s worst moments I never saw anything like what just happened. That was miraculously stupid.
April 9th, 2011 at 2:21 pm
Do we have to keep Sherrill?
April 9th, 2011 at 2:30 pm
I hate today’s game.
April 9th, 2011 at 5:15 pm
The linebrink/sherrill thing is an epic fail. Will be all season.
I know Darren Holmes and Chris Hammond. You two gentleman are neither.
April 9th, 2011 at 10:20 pm
Agree. They are terrible.
April 10th, 2011 at 5:38 am
I listened to the game via At-Bat, and I almost threw my iPhone to the ground when I heard the grand slam. This was after I was grinding my teeth when Sherrill walked the bases loaded. By the way, I’m from Manila, Philippines. Whenever the Braves have day games, I have to wake up at 1am.