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by Carolina Lady
Continuing the thought – who are these guys we see on the field and in the dugout, anyway?
Who’s next?
Aurelio Cadahia.
Chino.
Born in Havana, Cuba on November 22, 1957 so he’s coming up on age 51. His playing info says “Hits right, Throws right, 6’0″ and 245 lbs” – that may have changed… 🙂 Attended and was signed out of Miami-Dade New World Center Community College. Lives in Peachtree City with wife Lynn and daughter Lauren.
Chino was drafted in the first round of the Jan 1977 amateur draft by the Phillies. Played seven years in the minors, started out mostly as a first baseman, but by his 2nd year was an All-Star catcher – despite a Appalachian League-leading 17 passed balls. He spent some time in the Twins chain and was the California League All-Star backup – even with 19 errors.
Cadahia came to the Braves in 1996 after serving in the Texas Rangers organization for 12 years as a pitching coach and manager in their minor league system. He began his coaching career as a pitching coach at Salem of the Carolina League from 1984 through 1985. The following year he managed Daytona Beach of the Florida State League, and in 1987 he managed at Gastonia of the South Atlantic League. From 1988 through 1995, Cadahia managed the Rangers Gulf Coast League rookie squad in Port Charlotte, Florida.
While in the Ranger’s system, Chino was the first manager of a 16-year-old kid named Ivan Rodriguez, is the one who nicknamed him “Pudge,” and is generally credited with Pudge’s development into a first-class catcher. From an MLB article:
“He just called me that name,” Rodriguez said. “Now everybody knows me from that name because of him.”
Giving Rodriguez his famous nickname isn’t the only influence Cadahia had on the 13-time All Star’s career. When Rodriguez signed with Texas in the summer of 1988, he was sent to the Gulf Coast League, where Cadahia was managing a team in Port Charlotte, Fla. Cadahia showed Rodriguez the ropes, on and off the field.
“He always took me to work out and work on blocking and throwing and things like that to make me a better player,” Rodriguez said. “He helped me a lot to become a better catcher and a better player.”
Besides learning the game on a professional level, Rodriguez had to learn a new language after coming to the Rangers from Puerto Rico. Cadahia, who is Cuban, helped him with that. Cadahia also showed Rodriguez how to adapt to life on his own, giving tips on typical household chores.
“We had him at 16 years old and he was brand new to this game,” Cadahia said. “He didn’t know the ups and downs, the everyday grind and how to prepare. He didn’t know how to live on your own or how to do laundry or anything like that. He was just a baby, so he had to go through all those hassles.”
So what is a bench coach, anyway? I liked this description from an article I found:
The number of coaches used by big league teams has evolved over the years. Base coaches often double up as infield, outfield, and base-running instructors. There is also the pitching coach, hitting coach, and bullpen coach, who often oversees the catchers, too. And now you have the bench coach, which usually can be divided among those whose decades of experience – often as former managers – make them invaluable, and those who are managers-in-training.
Joe Torre believes the first bench coach was longtime manager Don Zimmer, who for a decade sat Yoda-like next to Torre on the Yankees bench.
“It started with me and Zim,” Torre said. “(Red) Schoendienst was the closest I had in St. Louis. He’d come up to me and remind me of something from time to time. When I sat with Zim, he sort of brought me along. I was a little bit more on the conservative side and he was more on the aggressive side. We met somewhere in the middle.
“You know what’s great about a bench coach? The fact you can bounce stuff off somebody instead of laying in bed at night, second-guessing what you did.”
“You know what’s great about a bench coach?” Zimmer once told Esquire Magazine? “Not much.”
😆
From a 2006 Baseball America interview with Dayton Moore:
BA: Whenever anyone mentions the Braves, the first thing they talk about is developing pitching. But, like we all started to notice with the emergence of Brian McCann and the development of Jarrod Saltalamacchia, you guys develop catchers too.
DM: We’ve got a great catching instructor here who’s also our field coordinator in Chino Cadahia. He does a tremendous job and has been working with catchers since he worked with Pudge Rodriguez when he was coming through the Texas organization.
![Atlanta Braves catchers coach Chino Cadahia (52) goes over basic positioning at the team's spring training baseball camp in Lake Buena Vista Fla., Wednesday, Feb. 21, 2007. (AP Photo/Reinhold Matay)](https://bravesandstuff.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/chino4instruct.jpg?w=300&h=256)
Atlanta Braves catchers coach Chino Cadahia (52) goes over basic positioning at the team's spring training baseball camp in Lake Buena Vista Fla., Wednesday, Feb. 21, 2007. (AP Photo/Reinhold Matay)
Somehow I’ve lost the link to the next quote so I apologize to the original source while I continue looking for it.
Q: When the Braves win, do you experience a particular kind of satisfaction as a bench coach who prepares these guys every day?
CHINO: Having had a lot of these kids in the minor leagues, and to see where they are and to see them play in this environment in front of 30-, 40-, 50,000 people and get it done, you know, it’s a big satisfaction. You feel like you had a little bit to do with that, you know, and not just me personally, but – what’s the word I’m looking for – the whole program in the minor leagues, you know, all the steps that they took, and the instructional leagues, the spring trainings, you know, all the things we’ve done with them.
We’ve got them not only physically but mentally ready to be able to do this, so you feel like a part of it. In general we’ve (Atlanta’s organization) been very successful doing that with young kids. We take a lot of pride in doing it. A lot of organizations try to do it the way we do it, or, you know, try and copy our system or whatever and, you know, pretty much its black-and-white, but it’s the people that make it happen: the scouts, the coaches, the managers, the instructors, the front-office people, that’s what makes it happen.
And then the end result, you know, you see Brian McCann and Kelly Johnson and Jeff Francoeur and Chucky James and Yunel Escobar and all the young guys that have played here, you know, get it done on this level, it gives you an awful lot of satisfaction to see them, you know, perform at this level.
Every once in a while they’ll talk about stuff they did in Rome, Ga. (where the minor-league Rome Braves play), or in an instructional league, because it takes a lot for them to be able to perform at this level, even as talented as they are. It’s a lot of sacrifice.
Q: And to get where you are today, you had to go through a lot of the same kinds of things.
CHINO: Yeah, coaches are the same way. Brian [Snitker] was a coach up here in the ’80s; it took him 20-some years to get back up to the big leagues, you know, every coach. When I started coaching, this is what I wanted to do, I wanted to be a Major League coach. If I would have known it was going to take 24 years, I might have gone to another profession, but not really.
Q: Is the feeling you have now just utter contentment?
CHINO: No, I think, believe it or not, it’s just the satisfaction. Once I got into it, and you put both feet into it, you know, you feel like a part of something special. I never looked at it like, jeez, I’m on my 20th year now, or I’m on my 21st year or my 19th year, you know, I just did whatever my job was as good as I could do it, hoping that one day the opportunity will come up.
For some guys, it’ll take 24 years (to make it to the Majors), for most of the guys it never happens. So you know, you got to weigh both of them. There are five or six coaches for each team, you know, that’s 180 jobs. You’re looking to be one of 180, so, you know, percentages are not with you a lot of the time. You just hope that you make a difference in the minor leagues and you help a lot of young players and you do your work, your job, and you do it real good and somebody notices.
A lot of this is timing also. It’s just like anything else, you know, you gotta pay your dues, you gotta be a good guy, you gotta be able to do your work and your job and people have to respect you for that, and I’ve always taken a lot of pride, personally doing my job. And I’m surrounded by people that are, you know – I’ve had real good role models to follow. It’s a good combination, as far as that’s concerned.
Chino. We poke fun at him (probably too often) but he obviously has experience though somehow I just don’t see him being a ML manager. What do you think?
~CL~
first??? 🙂
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Nice blog. I’m a life long Braves fan. I have a question. Why do you have that greedy, New York Met (or whoever would pay him more), union thug, Glavine on your banner?
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Now I will go back and read your lead…
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Hey, fullbug! Welcome! And thanks. Glad you’re here.
Yep, he’s there. Why? Because I wanted it there. 😆
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Great lead CL… Another quality production for the Braves and Stuff team.
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The team played sharp tonight. That would explain a lot of the outstanding defensive plays. Plus JJ does not loaf around on the mound. Really speeds up the game. I hope the same A plus defense shows up tomorrow because there are going to be a lot of ground balls hit off of Hampton.
My prediction will be 5 innings from Mike. If he is on like I saw him in his first rehab start in Richmond, you are going to see some really wicked sinkers.
I think the game is being televised by Fox but the Yankees are playing the Red Soxs so who knows if we will see it.
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And SG… Yep, we play ’em rough around these parts… 🙂
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Thanks, Gil! That was a good game tonight. I was just surprised by the defense. And Jair was outstanding! That last play he made to 1st just blew me away! Never thought he’d make it in time.
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The infield play tonight shows the difference between a team playing on it’s toes vs back on it’s heels. We have seen the Braves play both ways now. It is why I get so frustrated when they appear flat. They are capable of playing like this every night.
I think maybe they stepped it up tonight because they know Chipper is not going to bail them out and their backs are to the wall…
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Very nice CL! Nope, don’t see him as a Manager. Didn’t see him being a 1st round pick either! 😈 Sounds like he is a decent catching coach though….Wish he’d teach McCann the Shinguard in front of home plate, facing 3rd base move that other catchers use….no one ever slides thru those….
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Of course they are facing a tough cookie in Hammels tomorrow but if you are going to be the best, you have to beat the best…
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Mets won again….we are still 6 1/2 out….I still can’t believe they are that good…can anyone else???? The Phillies on paper still seem so much better, don’t they??? I mean, except in center or 3rd base, I’d take just about every phils player over a Mutt…
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And Chris, get yer butt back here!!! 😡
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GREAT LEAD, CL! WOW!
This team is REALLY in a weird spot now; the Yankees just aquired Nady. They won’t quit playing just good enough often enough not to have a fire sale, and are prolonging everything long enough that we’re not gonna be able to be buyers, either.
That said, it was nice to see them act as if they were a Major league team tonight for the first time in a while. Anyone still think Frenchy got a raw deal when McCann got the first offer?
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No Grinch….I have to say someone was quite smart to not offer Frenchy a long term deal….I was against winning games in Florida, really….but tonight, playing with such fire…it was nice to see, if nothing else. They did play like it was a playoff game…well, except they won the game! 😀
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Grinch, can’t believe the Yankees got Nady and Marte for 4 minor leaguers…one seems to be 3rd best in the organization, but sounds like he’s quite a ways away…. Pirates do have a great outfielder just waiting to come up(forget his name, Gil?) but they didn’t get Ian Kennedy who has been pitching much better of late….
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Thanks, Grinch! (Fast learner!) 😆 😆
Thanks, Berigan. Chris will be back shortly. He’s got some stuff going on right now.
I just can’t get over how this team really came together tonight! Looked as if they had a whole new mindset and were working together as a team for a change. Wow.
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Chino hasn’t seen 245 pounds since…well, the last time he tried unsuccessfully to look over his gut in the men’s room. 🙂
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Have any of you picked up on the cart?
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?
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Look at Snitker’s side and look at Chino’s side…..
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Maybe he’s just cornering really, really fast! 😯 😯 😯
They should be walking anyway, at least Chino!!!! 😀
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Well, the one guy I have wanted to see pitch all year and I won’t get to watch it. Fox is showing the Red Sox – Yankee tilt.
Man, I hate to rely on other peoples’ eye to tell me if he is going to help the Braves the rest of the way.
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Righty reliever Vladimir Nunez, allowed four hits and four runs in one-third of an inning last night for Richmond in taking the loss. Chuck James left the game with 3-1 lead after 6 innings of work.
Now we know why Atlanta sent him back and no one picked up Nunez.
Did you know that Four-fifths of Richmond’s early-season rotation – Charlie Morton, Jo-Jo Reyes, Jorge Campillo and Buddy Carlisle – now works in the big leagues.
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uh, Berigan – the cart is traveling straight. 😆
I just loved that photo!
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Oh man, Gil! That is rotten!! I’ll be watching via computer, good Lord willing.
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Sounds as if RIC has already moved to ATL!
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While increasing his Major League rookie-best win total to 10, Jurrjens scattered three hits and matched his career-long eight inning effort. Unfazed that he was pitching in an offense-friendly stadium against a team that hurt him with three solo homers at Turner Field on July 3, the 22-year-old rookie consistently kept his changeup and two-seam fastball down in the zone and out of harm’s way.
“The kid is good,” Francoeur playfully said as he walked by Jurrjens’ locker after the game.
This prompted Tom Glavine to smirk and add, “I don’t know what more I can teach him.”
Since the beginning of Spring Training, Jurrjens has impressed with an advanced level of maturity and he showed his poise once again after Shane Victorino walked in the first inning and advanced to third base with just one out. The young Braves hurler responded by striking out Chase Utley and getting Ryan Howard to hit a harmless fly ball to center.
http://mlb.mlb.com/news/gameday_recap.jsp?ymd=20080725&content_id=3194681&vkey=recap&fext=.jsp&c_id=atl
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Looking at the front page of MLB.com, the headlines are:
“Joba carries YANKS to seventh straight victory”
“Dye’s shot powers WHITE SOX to victory”
“Swagger is back for sprinting METS”
“YANKS, SOX face off on Fox”
Not a word about McCann’s homer or grand slam, or of the Phillies being soundly defeated.
😡
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Just got a nice note from flange1 – he’s overwhelmed at work and has had to be traveling all over the South lately. Hopes to have time to stop in when things slow down for him. Says, “I miss hearing from the group!” 🙂
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Braves general manager Frank Wren and one of his top advisors, Jim Fregosi, came to Philadelphia this weekend to gauge where the team stands and discuss potential trades.
http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20080725&content_id=3192087&vkey=news_atl&fext=.jsp&c_id=atl
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from MLB.com:
The Braves activated right-hander Anthony Lerew from the 60-day disabled list and optioned him to Triple-A Richmond. He has been with Richmond all season while recovering from Tommy John elbow ligament transplant surgery. …
The Braves completed the sale of right-hander Chris Resop to the Hanshin Tigers of the Japanese League. …
Rehabbing right-hander Jeff Bennett, on the DL since July 6 with a partially dislocated pitching shoulder, struck out two in a scoreless inning for Class A Advanced Myrtle Beach on Friday. …
The Braves improved to 4-9 without third baseman Chipper Jones in the lineup. …
Brian McCann hit two homers Friday, his 61st and 62nd since the start of the ’06 season. That leads all Major League catchers, with the Mets’ Jorge Posada and the Giants’ Bengie Molina ranking second with 46 homers apiece.
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http://www.starnewsonline.com/article/20080726/ARTICLES/953177610/1004&title=Host_families_open_their_homes__and_often_their_hearts__to_Sharks_players_for_season
Host families open their homes, and often their hearts, to Sharks players for season
By Pam Sander
Assistant Managing Editor
Published: Saturday, July 26, 2008 at 9:57 a.m.
Two months ago, my husband Tom, two kids and I didn’t know Cory Lyda and John Nester, and they barely knew each other. Now they are family. So when they leave at the end of the Wilmington Sharks season in early August, they’ll leave a hole in something that at one point felt complete.
On Thursday night, Nick, my 10-year-old, looked at the calendar in the kitchen to see where they are in the season. Including tonight’s game against Wilson, only four home games remain. I knew that already. He didn’t.
Our family hadn’t planned to host two Sharks players; in fact, a week before the season began, we hadn’t planned to house one. But when fellow host mom Denise Szaloky called to say a catcher from Clemson (my alma mater) needed a family, we were in (well, actually, Nick, 13-year-old Leah and I had to beg Tom well into the night). By the time Tom was squarely on board, we had already rearranged our house to make room. After we arrived at the park on opening night to meet John, I heard general manager Chris Reavis trying to coordinate a short hotel stay for a fill-in player also from my home state of South Carolina. I offered up the couch in John’s bedroom; it would be for only a few days, I reasoned with Tom. We couldn’t send the poor boy to a hotel.
A week later, that boy, Cory, a star for the Blue Hose of Presbyterian College, was one of the team’s top hitters and fielders, and we were secretly hoping he wouldn’t have to go home when the other players arrived from the College World Series. One morning, Tom went into their room while they slept and saw how cramped the 5-11 Cory was. A few days later, Tom and John were carrying a borrowed bed into the house. As I watched them, I knew the transformation had happened for Tom as well.
Offering support
We’re not the first family to open our home to college baseball players. Each May, 25 players from around the country come to Wilmington to play summer ball in the Coastal Plain League. The league, which includes 14 teams from the Carolinas and Virginia, offers top-notch collegiate players more game experience, and because they use wooden bats like Major Leaguers, stellar performances could catch the eye of pro scouts. It’s their summer to prove themselves, and they must do so with the support of people they’ve never met.
“If there’s any part of it that’s a shot in the dark, it’s pairing players we don’t know with families we often don’t know,” Reavis said.
Because of NCAA rules, the players don’t get paid. Much like low minor-league baseball, conditions aren’t great. About one week into their season, the boys went through a 17-day span of game after game, every day. As most go to the gym daily, they had little time for anything other than baseball. John and Cory joke that their bus must be an old junker purchased from a church – it’s ancient with hard seats and a sputtering air-conditioning unit. In June, the bus revolted against their trash talk, breaking down on the way home from Columbia, S.C., 4 hours away. It was 5:30 a.m. when they climbed into bed, exhausted. But by 4 p.m. the next day, they were back on the field for batting practice and another game.
Living with teen boys
First-time hosting can be a bit strange. We try to make them feel welcome, so we treat them like we treat each other, though perhaps a little nicer. I keep pizza rolls, bagel bites and hot pockets in the freezer, bottles of water and orange juice in the fridge and bananas on the counter. I lecture them about getting enough sleep and eating enough food. John swears he doesn’t need much sleep, and I just nod and remember I thought the same at his age. If the trash I pick up in their bedroom is any indication, they spend too much money they don’t have on fast food. About once a week, I gather up the towels scattered about and wash them. Early on, Cory felt inclined to wash his own towels, but towels do not belong in the same load as Ralph Lauren polos and American Eagle shorts, so I nixed that plan.
I’m told some of this season’s 14 host families require their players to keep their rooms clean. And some make them do chores, like mowing the grass. I suppose we could take a more hard-line approach, but we didn’t invite them to get more help around the house. What they give us back is far more valuable.
Cory regularly works with baseball-loving Nick on hitting and pitching. Nick, who plays Little League and AAU travel ball, dreams of playing first base for the Yankees or being a left-handed pitcher for the Braves. We watch The Office, Family Guy and ESPN together; we have late-night chats about life. And as we’ve already learned from our daughter, when you have teenagers in your house, the numbers tend to multiply.
Other players come and go, sometimes they stay all night – Clemson pitcher Kyle Deese, Daniel Parker of Illinois, Matt Kirchner of Elon, pitcher Ryan Vander Tuig of San Jose State and, before he left with an elbow injury, Dan Gerjets of George Mason. We, along with the Szalokys, who host Deese, and the Nicholses, who host Parker, took our boys and some others to Masonboro Island for the day. Charles Nichols also has taken some of them to play golf. And Joe Szaloky has taken some fishing. We hope to have an end-of-season celebration on Masonboro with even more of them in a few weeks.
Loyal followers
We go to their home games at Buck Hardee Field. I covered the sport early in my career and have closely followed the game since high school. About 11 p.m. after every away game, I go to the Sharks’ Web site to see how my boys did. Not all host families work out; some do not understand how a baseball season works; others are not really prepared for what it means to have a 19-year-old in their home.
“We don’t always know until the end,” Reavis said. “But there are signs: when they come out to watch them play, when they refer to the player as ‘my summer son.'”
An evening at Buck Hardee Field is a relaxing, inexpensive and entertaining way to watch the sun go down in Wilmington, whether you’re focusing on the game or the kids chasing foul balls or you’re one of those trying to snag a Sharks Yuengling T-shirt being thrown into the crowd. General admission tickets cost less than a gallon of gasoline, and management has instituted other changes to entice more fans to come out. The specials must be working. Attendance is up this season.
Life lessons
Joe Szaloky, who has hosted players for years, is amazed at what little some of the players have experienced outside of baseball. “They’ve never been on a boat or fishing,” he says.
Nester and Deese recently went on their first boating trip in ocean waters. “Since I was 11, baseball has been everything,” Deese said recently while waiting in the bullpen for the call into a game. “It’s who I am.”
The same goes for Cory and John. While John is just starting his college career, Cory will begin his last season when he returns to Presbyterian in a few weeks. I talk to friends about his great attitude, talent and work ethic and how fast he runs the bases (he’s a league leader in triples).
“You don’t always know what a player’s character will be before he gets here,” Reavis said. “Cory has been great for the team – and the one who you want at bat with the game on the line in the ninth.”
Cory is thinking more practically – at least somewhat. He plans to work hard for six months after college, then go live somewhere along the Mediterranean for a few years.
If John doesn’t let his stubbornness get in the way, he stands a chance in the coming years. Clemson’s last catcher, Doug Hogan, went to the Texas Rangers in the 18th round in this year’s draft. Earlier this season, I worried like a parent when he got ejected from a game, then suspended for two more after a home-plate collision that led to a subsequent bench clearing. Though most fans agreed with the way John reacted, I made him promise he’d try not to talk back during his meeting with management. It’s a good life lesson learned when you can figure out that though you may know you’re right, sometimes, you have to say yes sir and move on. It’s a lesson we’re all still learning.
The next week is liable to be a tough one for Nick, who has had a lot of stability in his life up to this point. People who are close to him don’t usually leave.
“No way, Mom,” he said Thursday night when he realized how soon they’ll be heading back to college.
“We can’t let them leave. They make us.”
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Great article CL… Further proof you get out of life what you put into it. God bless them.. 🙂
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Quick hitter:
I gotta leave for the day (concert tonight) but had to check to see if Hampton was hurt yet. Of course, there’s still an hour to first pitch… 😀
Of course I am kidding. I wish Hampy nothing but the best. I know he very badly wants to contribute again.
Go Bravos!!!
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Good afternoon y’all. Of course the game I miss is awesome. 😦 Any word on Hampton yet? I’ll check the Braves’ site & Gameday after this.
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THE GAME IS BLACKED OUT! I hope Fox knows what it can do!!!
😡 😡 😡
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I just tuned in for the bottom of the third; he gave up a run but looks pretty good. They’re just going out and hitting good pitches. This is the thing that drives me crazy about Hampton; I’m sitting here going “wow, this guy ought to get a shot at the bigs someday with his stuff,” before remembering the deal. 🙂
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5-3 Braves.
6-3 Braves.
Brian brought in 3
Kotsay brought in 2
Infante just put down a perfect BUNT and brought in another.
1 out
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Somebody flied out to right.
2 outs
Tex up.
Strike
Hampton at 2nd, Blanco 1st
HOME RUN for Tex!!!!!
9-3 BRAVES!!!
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Hamels lifted.
Commercial break
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Seanez pitching.
(Didn’t know he was still active!)
bases clear, 2 out, pop up. going to bottom of 4th.
NINE run inning for the Braves.
😆
Pete said there was a feeling of excitement in the clubhouse yesterday knowing that Mike was returning to the mound and everybody was intent on doing well for him. I think it may be ‘Mission Accomplished.’
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Bottom of 4th –
Worth
high – ball 1
strike
foul down 3rd base line
tapper back to mound, MH throws him out at 1st
Bruntlett
ball1 high
strike
(Joe says Mike looks exactly as he did 3 years ago – delivery, etc)
foul
curve outside, ball 2
foul
right field, fired back in, 2 down
Koss (sp)
ball 1
fast ball high
strike
swung, left field line, fair, double
Taguchi (sp)
foul
low (89 mph)
(MH on 90 pitch limit)
grounder to 3rd, foul
curve, shallow center, Kotsay gets it
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Top of 5th:
Adam Eaton pitching
Infante
strike
drive to center, caught, 1 out
Francoeur
ball 1
strike
fouled back
ball
swung, through hole, hit
on 1st
Prado
fly to right, caught, 2 out
Kotsay
ball 1
called strike
hit behind 3rd
Francoeur tried to make 3rd, thrown out.
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Anybody reading this????
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Need fresh cup of coffee….
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I’m here…
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but I am watching the play by play on gameday
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OK – I just listening to Joe and Pete.
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Royce Ring inherits bases loaded, nobody out.
Surely the Braves can’t lose…..can they???
line drive up the middle, 2 score, still nobody out
9-5 Braves
Cox making double change –
Kelly Johnson batting 9th, call to bullpen.
Obviously things went south for Hampton while I was in the kitchen! 😦
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Boyer in for ML leading 55th appearance –
Burrell up, runners at 1st and 3rd
fouled back
strike 2 called (94 mph)
outside – ball
gotta leave a minute
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I am watching the Yankee- RedSox game and keeping up with gameday… Long fifth inning for the Bravos
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I caught a glimpse of the last five innings of the Cubs and Fish..
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10 – 9 Phillies 😥
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In the words of one who wishes to remain nameless… UNBELIEVABLE!!!
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When McCann was told about his numbers compared with Bench, he said,
“I don’t think about any of that stuff,” McCann said. “I’ve only been playing in the Majors for a little more than three years. I don’t worry about what I’ve done so far. I just want to keep getting better.”
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I still think the Braves should have signed Javy to back-up McCann this year.
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That would have been neat!
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😥
That’s a shame!
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Sigh….
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Two out of two? Three out of four? Hmmm.
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Wow. wow….I didn’t realize this game was a day game(Used to be most Saturday games were on Fox, then they started to suck, and not too many games on Fox) and put it on to see we were down 3-0, but Hampton was in! Then, I saw us score 9 runs! Wow!!!!(again) are we going to somehow get back in the race???? I was also thinking Hampton, don’t hurt yourself on the basepath!
He looked decent, but not a whole lot of zip on the fastball today….wasn’t he in the low 90’s earlier this year?? At least he got back….he has to feel good about that….I was wishing Bobby had stuck with him a bit longer, but I could understand wanting to get him out while we had a big lead….and yet we still couldn’t keep the roof from falling in!
For once we scored more than enough runs, and the bullpen couldn’t hold it…the Phillies are a scary team(I really wish there is some way we could get Dobbs, he can play 1st and 3rd, but would be perfect replacing Tex) Tex’s 3 run homer, it should have put the game out of reach. Can’t blame him. Bobby got Hampton out early. Can’t blame him. Who’s to blame??? The bullpen??? Sure, but….why couldn’t we score one run over the last, what 5 innings????
Are we sellers yet??? Or will tomorrow tell the tale????
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Same old story – they had opportunities and couldn’t get it done.
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Hampton’s FB topped out at 89, but he has enough movement and guile to where that isn’t a problem. He pitched pretty well. The Phillies just have a good lineup. Even with poor pitching, they’re what’s known as a playoff team. We could benefit from observing them.
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1 post in 14 hours! Nothing like a rediculous loss to leave folks speechless! 🙄
Even with poor pitching, they’re what’s known as a playoff team. We could benefit from observing them.
I like those lines! I mean, did you see how the fans there looked, after we scored 9 runs??? I’m surprised they didn’t just leave at that point…terrible defense, Hamels imploding….lots of braves hits…Hey, no problem, they’ll get back in it….How many times have we felt a 4-0 deficit in the 6th is too much to come back from???
Still don’t see how the Mets win. It reminds me of the way the Yankees have always just have people play beyond their talents, simply because they have that uniform on….Of course, the mets didn’t win last night, which means we are still “just” 6 1/2 back…
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I am worried we will have trouble trading Tex…which just seems crazy, but teams like the Angels, Dodgers, Yankees, are holding on to their best prospects these days.
We may be stuck with him, unless the Red Sox DFA Manny….I’d really love to see that, the guy is Dick Allen, only with more talent-Harry Carey’s best line ever about Allen, Million dollar talent, 50 cent mind-same holds true with Manny.
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Manny Ramirez is said by a friend to be “very, very frustrated” over his contract, which includes team options for $20 million for both 2009 and 2010
He’s unhappy with $40 million???? He needs to get in touch with reality! He ought to be in a position to sweat out a $928 repair bill and still meet all his other obligations! No sympathy from me, that’s for sure! He disgusts me.
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Man, if this story on Andruw doesn’t sound a bit like groundhog day!
http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-dodfyi24-2008jul24,0,7220299.story
Did anyone see the other night on baseball tonight, Andruw getting booed, while playing in the outfield??? The clip they showed had the announcers wondering if fans were booing since they thought he should have thrown the ball in faster….they laughed, they had never heard of a player being booed like that in the field…and that’s those laidback LA fans!
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I guess I should have said like the film, Groundhog Day….
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Mets just say ‘no’ to Manny
Posted: Sunday July 27, 2008 07:32AM ET
The Mets are seeking a corner outfielder as the July 31 trade deadline approaches, and Mets GM Omar Minaya has long been an admirer of embattled Red Sox star Manny Ramirez. But even the Mets are saying “no” to Ramirez now. Ramirez’s latest antics, which included shoving Red Sox traveling secretary Jack McCormick, 62, may discourage all potential suitors in this trade market if the Mets aren’t even interested. And Mets people suggest they will not be pursuing Ramirez.
SI.com
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CL, not in any way defending Manny, but I am pretty sure he isn’t asking for more than 20 MIL,(Well, maybe he is, what do I know? 😛 ) he just thinks they should have exercised the options by now….. instead of playing hard, and having everyone say, they have to re-up with him, he’s doing the opposite to the fans and the ownership. Like Andruw, he will never find a sweetheart team like they have/had.
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Thanks, Berigan. My take on it was that he wasn’t satisfied with it and wanted to shop himself around for more money. Spoiled. Immature. Self-centered. Too high opinion of himself. Bonds-like. He may be a prince of a fellow, but that’s just my opinion.
Andruw has ruined himself. Hope he enjoys this contract ’cause I doubt he’ll ever get another one. He can thank Boras, I think. That and his own lack of good judgment.
Neither of ’em are perfect like me! 😆 😆 😆
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CL, glad to see Minaya has some scruples….He’d no doubt make the mets about unbeatable right now….but, he is 37 and on top of fake injuries, has has some real ones as well.
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CL, you are perfect….at least in comparison to them thar dudes! 😀
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Ber, your stock just went up 20 points! 😆 😆
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Just 20??? 😉 Man, I need to get a new ISP!!!! Had earthlink for 10 years(Back to when it was a wonderful company in Atlanta, Mindspring) and I refuse to call up India about the faulty box/router/whatyacallit. I had such bad experiences the times before, it just isn’t worth it. They will have me shutting things off, disconnecting phone lines, plugging it into other phone lines…me, “No, honest…it’s the same box I got when I got DSL 8 years ago, IT’S the problem! I’ve unplugged it, shut it off….whatever I do, it’s only a temporary fix! ” Them… “Oh yes sir, I am deeply sorry about your problems. Now, if you will just crawl under your desk and unplug your router for a minute……” 😡 😡
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Whilst I still have a connection….did use guys hear that the Dodgers traded for Casey Blake??? He plays 3rd, 1st, left, and right….and hit’s .394 with Runners in scoring position! It only cost the Dodgers an A ball Catcher, and a staring pitcher in the minors with a 4.97 ERA at AAA (He is supposed to be a better reliever than starter, to be fair) Hemming and hawing will just cost the braves.
I fear( In case I haven’t made it clear of late! 😛 ) that we won’t be able to trade Tex for anything! Arizona seems to be a no go. Tampa doesn’t want to make Carlos Pena a DH. Seems someone would want him, even for just 2 months. Then they get the 2 picks….unless they worry that a team with a terrible record will sign him(Seattle still draws even with a terrible team, Boras is all about the money, at least that’s what I have heard) and they will only get a sandwich pick.
Oh, and I keep forgetting to mention….we talked about possibly trading Kotsay….but I haven’t seen any rumors of teams being interested….who needs a CF right now????
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The season comes down to this…. If the Braves team that showed up Friday night reappears today, then the Braves have a shot. If the guys that played like the Falcons after the dropped ball by Kelly, as a result of letting a win getting away, well then… Big changes are in store for the Braves I think. Sometimes you just have to have moxie…. If not, you become the Orioles…
By the way… Francoeur has finally gotten his stroke back… Is it too late??
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Ber… I try not to fret over things I have absolutely no control. As far as the Braves go.. Well, they have proved to me repeatedly they do not care what I think, why else would they leave town… ? 🙂
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There was a nice crowd at the Richmond game last night (6,000 plus). Kris Benson was pitching for the Iron Pigs (Phillies). I think folks were thinking his wife was with him and would show up…
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Benson is back in the minors? I didn’t know! LOVE your RIC reports, Gil!
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Gil, I wish I could learn not to fret over stuff I have no control over! Worrying about a sports team seems so silly, but still….better than dealing drugs…I guess! 😉
I was just checking out Jordan Schafer’s numbers(Gil I thought you were spelling his name wrong, I sure thought there were two ff’s in there!!)
At AA….. .242 in 178 AB’s . 7 steals, caught 4 times. Hmmm, wonder if the HGH made him the prospect everyone thought he was???? I do see he walks a lot, his OBP is .372.
So, is he our CF next year??? Who plays left??? Do you really think Frenchy has turned it around??? He still is just getting singles….but, you see a better swing I take it???
One last thing for going back to dreamland….Gil, I haven’t heard you, or anyone else talk up Barbaro Canizares! I see he’s “old” 28-29…but, 12 HR’s 51 RBI’s, .295 BA, only 51 strike outs…does he not impress when you see him in person????
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Berigan… Barbaro can flat out hit a basebase… Looks like he is chiseled… Classic latin ballplayer and uh… hands of stone… But he sure can hit… 🙂
Now Thorman… Stormin’ Thorman has really picked it up as far as regaining his stroke. He was playing third base last night for the Richmond club and actually looks pretty comfortable there.
Thorman is strong, he needed to learn that he did not need that big looping swing to be effective. That whooshing noise so described by the AJC beat reported is akin to a swing and a mis when pitchers carved him up with off speed pitches and inside fastballs.
Hard to get fooled when you have a short compact swing. It allows you to react to any pitch. The key is strong forearms and wrist.
Frechy would have served himself better squeezing a rubber ball during the off season than bulking up. It completely changed the mechanics of his swing. Golf will screw you up too. Not a good sport to mix with baseball. They would be better playing handball or even ping-pong to develop quick hand-eye coordination…
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And I often mis-spell names so try not to hold that against me… 🙂
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It is both frustrating and rewarding to follow a minor league club. It helps when you remember that winning at this level is a bonus. The real emphasis is on player development and knowing you have to kiss a lot of toads before you find your handsome prince. Allowing pitchers like Brian Lawrence to build their arm back to major league velocity or Chuck James reinventing himself.
Evey once in a while you get a real gem like Morton or Reyes to comes along and you get to watch them grow up before your eyes. Sometimes though, you have to be willing to watch them fail as it is part of the learning process. It is when they are failing 19 out of 20 times that you can become frustrated…
FYI.. the two major leauge teams with deepest farm clubs in the IL are the RedSox and Tampa
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Well, I can hardly force myself to leave here and go do this, but sometimes you just hafta do what you hafta do. What is it you guys say? Man up? (Not sure just what that means…) Anyhow –
Got to go eat some fresh-out-of-the-Atlantic fried shrimp and flounder. Hot hushpuppies with butter. Ice cold sweet tea. Probably a great watermelon afterwards.
sigh….
😆
Later!
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Oh my…. season over… we can now play the role of spoiler and start talking about next year… I like our chances by the way.
And I would put a fast ball in the Hawaiian’s ear hole his next at bat but likely the Braves will just role over…
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I swear to God if this messes up Brian for his career like the play that messed up Johnny Estrada…I’ll solve the Victorino problem myself. Don’t think I’m joking.
Anybody else confident Corky can pick up the slack?
Agreed, Berigan; pointless waiting has now cost us for the present AND the future. Wren is a moron and I will write him a letter telling him so. Hubris is rarely rewarded with anything other than catastrophe, as this situation bears out.
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Well, Johnny is available.
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I thought Frenchy had turned the corner but I was wrong..
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I slept thru much of the game, woke up to see the score was something like 11-5, and heard we had been up 5-0….well, that was enough for me….haven’t seen the hit on McCann, it looked that bad then???? Wait, just saw it on ESPN….He went in pretty hard….but McCann was moving to the plate as aways, instead of being behind it, and letting the ball come to him. What did PO me is Victorino didn’t even seem to care….
Gil, if nothing else, Frenchy walked twice. When was the last time he did that???
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Oh, and who will start tomorrow, since Reyes pitched today??? Morton can’t be called back up, unless we claim some pitcher is injured, right??? Or if Chipper went on the DL, could we call him back for that???
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Berigan, Carrol Rogers reported the Charlie was on the plane to Atlanta tonight so I think he is headed back to the Bigs…
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Good evening y’all. Back home now. I darn near had a heart attack when Mac didn’t move at first. Ber, he didn’t have time to brace himself, the ball got there barely ahead of Victorino. And I was watching the game live, Victorino stayed right there ’til Brian was able to get up & looked very concerned, to his credit. And the normally nasty Phillie fans stood & applauded when Mac got to his feet.
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FLB, that’s very interesting! The way espn edited it, it looked like he ran into him and was just walking away…it appeared. I don’t hate him as much then….
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FBG, glad to see you back! Hope y’all had a great time off with your Mom!
That was one bad scene at the plate.
Does anybody know why Tex was pulled in the 7th? I can find no news about a trade or an explanation. Even checked the ajc blog.
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CL, Carrol said…. because the game was out of hand was my understanding for Tex’s departure. but since when has Bobby done that??? And the final score was 12-10…very strange!
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Yes CL… Very suspicious that… Normally what is done when a player is about to be traded, pulled from the game so they won’t get hurt. I cannot imagine Bobby taking his second best hitter out of the game otherwise.
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Ber, they do that for Chipper but Chipper is always nursing an injury.
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Okay guys, I will check in later, I think I will just read a while.
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Gil, yeah Chipper, thats true…but shoot, McCann stays in for a full 9 innings even in blowouts….and taking Tex out after McCann was hurts….weird!
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I agree with all. Very strange. After 7, it was 12-5 Phillies but the Braves scored FIVE in the very next inning. Oh, well.
Guess where the car will be TOWED first thing in the morning?????
(Ask me how happy I am!) Or not. 😡
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Another problem CL??? What is it???? 😦
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Went to start it, immediately the CHECK ENGINE light came on, engine tried to run but was ragged. Turned it off, waited a minute, turned the key again, the lights came on again and this time it wouldn’t start. Got out, locked it and stewed for a while.
Can’t WAIT to see the service manager at Capital Ford in the morning! 😡
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Oh no! Poor CL.
Yes, we had a great time. Mom enjoyed all her workshops & stuff and Melissa & I spent large amounts of time floating on their “river” pool. It’s been quite a while since we’ve gone on any sort of trip that didn’t involve working on the Georgia house.
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Hey all. I had to check in once before hitting the sack for some much earned rest.
VERY suspicious action taking Tex out in the 7th. I do not for one second buy Bobby’s explanation… very weak. Something must be going down. And speaking of going down, we gotta get Mac some help, and Corky ain’t it. Heck, I’d even take Johnny Estrada off the scrap heap at this point. Do they still have Javy’s number? (Kidding!)
For my money, I’d DL Chipper and let the dude rest his legs. I’d either pick up Johnny or bring up Sammons, or both, but Corky would disappear into the night. I might even consider DL’ing Mac to get his head clear and get him some rest. Time to see some young’uns. I’d trade Norton, Ohman, Kotsay and Tex. I’d bring up Anderson and BJones, depending on the return from the trades. But, most of all, I’d go young for the rest of this lost season, and let the kids get some experience that’ll pay off next year.
BeddyBye time.
😀
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Sounds like they’re bringing Sammons up. Don’t know at whose expense yet.
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Terrence Moore just wrote a pro Bobby column and Robert of all people was on it in full form. This time though, everyone else was agreeing with him. As much as Terry McGuirk was sounding off about how this team is ALWAYS a buyer and never a seller in that fluff piece, I can only deduce either he’s the dumbest %^$# to ever walk the planet or we’re about to blow everything up quick. My guess and hope is the latter.
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VOR, Javy actually didn’t look bad in Spring Training; I think he just ultimately didn’t feel like going through the wear and tear of a full season again.
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I imagine he was just saying “the right things”.
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And Y’all, Corky was a really cool guy in Spring Training. He gave his batting gloves to kids in the stands and stuff; he and Kotsay were the nicest ones there. It’s not his fault they made him the backup over three guys who were clearly more talented; I’m sure he was shocked as well.
Later; I got an early day tomorrow.
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Y’all wake up! Coffee’s on!
😆
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I’m awake, I’m awake! Don’t have to shout! 😡
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😀
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Here – have a cup, Ber! 😆
Just sitting here – waiting for the tow truck….. 😦
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I forgot to ask, had the car already been driven that day, or did it say check engine right away??? They screwed something up, I bet.
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Hey, heres a fun story about hundreds of gang members fighting in a mall in Raleigh, NC to wile away some time reading! 🙄
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Gee, the 2+ hours of sleep might not have been enough 😳
http://www.newsobserver.com/news/crime_safety/story/1156386.html
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I drove it probably 25 miles Friday after I picked it up. Wasn’t touched until I tried to start it Sunday. Check Engine came on instantly.
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Hope Gil wasn’t right, and it’s a head gasket issue. Have you checked the oil??? If it looks milky, some antifreeze might be in it. Bad news, but you might want to know what’s what, before they tell you whats what. If you can fairly easily check the antifreeze, might want to see if it’s not looking green(Which it should since they’d have to put new antifreeze in after taking the pump out)
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Scrolling up CL, I forgot you said, you weren’t quite sure what man up meant. Well, it’s probably because not that many men do it!
“Today, Jeff Francoeur man’ed up, and said he’s hurting the team grounding into double plays all the time, and he wants to be sent down to AA til he figures out how to quit swinging at pitches 5 inches outside when he has 2 strikes on him. ”
Bobby Cox man’ed up today and admited, “I’m not really good with the X’s and O’s part of the game, so I am going to get a little league coach to tell me when I should bring in a pitcher and when not to. I’ll keep cheering from the dugout, and telling guys to never quit! ” 😛
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Tow truck must have come…..day late and a dollar short, should be my nickname! 😕
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Yep, they just came, Ber. sigh…..
Don’t know anything about the oil. I have it serviced regularly. The Service Dept put new coolant in it and there are no leaks under the car – I did check that. I’m wondering if the computer unit is out of whack.
Well, I’ll know after a while, I guess!
Thanks for the explanation for ‘man up’. It basically means being honest with yourself and doing what is right to begin with instead of waffling around, denying the truth, making poor excuses and being an all-around And Idiot, right? 😆
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Yup! 😀 If I disappear for a few days, it’s cuz I got me a new computer! 🙂 It’s been 6 years since that happened, and I seem to get dumber every year(Say, that Obama is starting to make some sense!) I will try to transfer some files and such….and probably do something between the two computers no one has ever thought of before, and will go back in time. but just a week or so. Perhaps I can bet on some braves games I know the results of??? Nah, who’d bet on them to win? 😕
And I am finally going to get rid of earthlink after 10 years…I am sure that will screw me up as well!
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Good luck, Ber! If you don’t have them, get the direct connect cables to hook the two towers together – makes transferring files SO much easier!
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Huh??? What’s that sonny??? I ain’t up on the latest technology. I still have a beta, and laserdisc player! They WILL make a comback!
Seriously, what are they??? 6 years ago, I used a program called alohabob(Where do they think up these stupid names) to transfer the files from my 1998 computer to my 2002. I don’t recall how I even did it, but I did it! 😳
Right now, I am trying to transfer some emails of my Dad’s (No joke, he has thousands of car related emails!) I was trying to do that months ago, and couldn’t figure out how I had done that in the past(Again, getting dumber with age, nowaways I need to find a kid to open those childproof bottles! ) but finally found a folder in documents with some old emails, and I can drag and drop them on a disc, IF I use that folder. If I create a new folder, it won’t let me! Someone ‘splain that to me please!
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Those cables are at Best Buy, etc – plug one end into each tower, it downloads a little driver and it’s basically drag-and-drop to transfer the files.
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Thanks CL! I read this, as I was wondering if this might work…glad I read about it first!!!!
Connecting any two computers using USB requires a special proprietary bridge cable solution; the usual USB-to-USB cable does not work as USB does not support such type of communication and attempting to do so may even damage the connecting computers as it can short the two computers’ power supplies together, possibly destroying one or both machines or causing a fire hazard. [1] Therefore, Direct Cable Connection over USB is not possible;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Direct_Cable_Connection
This is probably the wrong time to think about stuff like this, with 2 hours of sleep.
I bought the computer online late Saturday, picked it up at Circuit city yesterday(bought online so I wouldn’t have to deal with them desperately trying to sell me a extended warranty) and I wasn’t in any rush to mess with it. Then got tired. Woke up after 2 hours of sleep, excited about playing with my new toy! 🙂 Goofy! Still in box, since I have to do a lot of stuff…I can burn some files, but I’ll look into buying that cable later on….
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Oh brother, missed this at the bottom of the wiki page….
Windows Vista changes
Windows Vista drops support for the Direct cable connection feature [2] as ethernet, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth have become ubiquitous on current generation computers. To transfer files and settings, Windows Vista includes Windows Easy Transfer, which uses a proprietary USB-to-USB bridge cable made by Belkin.
But, the link they show takes me to this page from microsoft, which does not even mention easy transfer…..may have to open the box and find out what the manual says….sounds like a job for berigan after more sleep… Or I need to find some 18 year old that understands all this crap….I used to be the person old folks sought out for help…but that was easy stuff, like setting up a new TV or VCR…I’m old! 😦 Not Bob or Paladin old, but old nonetheless 😉
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/930086/en-us
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Ber, I don’t know what they’re talking about. I have one right here ‘EZ Share’. USB plug-in works on Win98Se, ME, 2000 and XP. If you have Vista, you’re on your own! 😆 Kelly has Vista and it is a whole different animal, at least the best I can tell by the little I’ve looked at it. It may have a built-in program for it, don’t know. Might try checking the manual. 😯 😆
The one I have worked beautifully and easily for me – but I have XP.
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Berigan, check this. It tells you exactly how to do it with Vista, using USB cables:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/928634/en-us
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Ken Rosenthal has lots of Tex talk….Like the way he thinks…
http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/8386852/Braves'-struggles-could-have-Teixeira-leaving-town
On the Diamondbacks….
the D-Backs could send Tracy to Atlanta and return Jackson to first next season, enabling Byrnes to reclaim left. They would need to include a second piece (Micah Owings?) and possibly a third, but two months of Teixeira would win them the N.L. West.
Shoot, getting Micah Owings would solve our left field problems as well! 😀
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Thanks CL! It’s starting to look less scary…we shall see! Even in a cloud of cloudy headedness, I just ordered ATT’s DSL which is about $20 less than my earthlink DSL…can’t wait til I get the new Modem, and can tell earthlink where to go! 😆
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You’re welcome!
I wish Youkilis would be traded to us!
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The Braves scored 27 runs during this past weekend’s series in Philadelphia and won just once. Things certainly might have been different had they had Chipper Jones and Jason Bay in their lineup.
Jones was sidelined by a strained left hamstring and Bay was stuck in Pittsburgh because Pirates ownership was reluctant to move him.
Before the start of Friday’s game, many of the Braves players were asking about Bay. Some were under the impression that they were going to walk into the clubhouse that day and find him to be their newest teammate.
But a proposed deal, which would have brought Bay to Atlanta in exchange for four Minor Leaguers, was killed when presented to the Pirates owners for approval.
Still as the week progresses, the Braves will continue to pursue Bay, who is set to earn $7.5 million during the final year of his contract next year.
The Pirates would have a definite interest in shortstop Brent Lillibridge, who they developed before trading him to the Braves in exchange for Adam LaRoche last year.
In addition, they’d likely ask for Brandon Jones, who would be considered a Major League-ready outfielder. He hit .278 (15-for-54) with seven extra-base hits, including a homer, in 16 games with Atlanta earlier this year.
To complete the deal the Braves would likely have to include one of their talented young pitchers from the Class A level and another marginal position player.
— Mark Bowman
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Wow… 😯
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Which ‘Bay’ would the Braves get…the one from ’07 and ’08 🙄 , or the player from ’04-’06 😯 ? These are his LH stats, the weak link for the current Braves roster; will this be an improvement? Have southpaws found the ‘hole’ in his swing? 😕
AVG OBP SLG OPS
2008 .203 .343 .367 .710
2007 .227 .336 .406 .742
2006 .304 .427 .587 1.014
2005 .347 .444 .620 1.064
2004 .265 .367 .554 .921
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I’ll be surprised if they continue on this track, after this past lost weekend. I especially doubt that Wren would sweeten the deal to appease Pitty’s ownership. I would not be surprised if he is still seeking some RH pop for LF, even if they are running up the white flag. Let’s face it, 7 1/2 out behind 3 teams in the East, 10 1/2 games out in the WC. The fork is firmly stuck. But LF is a need now and next year also. It’d be too sweet if AZ would part with Jackson, but I can’t believe they’d do that… stranger things have happened, though. Tex would make them the immediate fave in the West. I still believe something is cooking… 😐
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Greetings all, Yes, it is a bit like Texas hold ’em with the Braves right now. One thing, folks should not expect to receive the same level of prospects ofr Tex as the Braves gave up, after all, the Braves had his services for 1 and 1/2 seasons (potential) vs 1/2 season left on his contract. That is a big difference these days in baseball years… 🙂
So, the Buccos would not approve the deal? Think they are maybe still mad about the lack of production they received from LaRoach?
Prediction, Sammons will not get the start tonight, Bobby will play Corkey…
And Richmond lost their game yesterday in the 13th by one run… Sammons should feel right at home with the big club.
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What ever happened to JJS?
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I don’t blame Pirates ownership for turning down that trade. If you ask me, they should have kept Nady. Sounds like they got a troublemaker from the Yankees, and some so so pitchers. They might turn into something resembling the Rays next year. They always seem to just about have enough starting pitching, then one guy slips back. If Laroche ever had a fast start, they’d do better as well….
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jimmysmith has changed addresses and resides with the esteemed Southern Jackass… I think he is on a bit of a sabbatical right now but he drops in from time to time.
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Thanks Gil. I’m a long time reader of D. O.ther B.log. I know several of you made your own place over here and a couple of ya drop by over there from time to time…just haven’t seen that name in a while and was curious.
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Gil:
Sammons is penciled into tonight’s lineup.
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For what it’s worth, DL’ing Huddy and Chipper while sending Jo-Jo to AAA ought to signal that the white flag is officially flying.
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Fanintheham, you’re welcome to stop by anytime! Glad to see you.
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Perhaps we shall see inspired play from those who remain.
I would however say, the season is done as far as what was envisioned by the Braves when the broke camp in April.
I will root for them even harder now. It is not like they are selling off players as a cash cow. The Braves really did look like a contender on paper. There just has been too many injuries to overcome and looking back I would say that Moyland was the key.
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CL.. I don’t know if you ever visit John’s blog but he wrote a piece on the Negro Leagues that was absolutely top drawer.
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No.
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JB has some interesting thoughts about the collision with Brian:
http://bravesblogger.wordpress.com/2008/07/28/adding-insult-to-injury-and-injury/
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Down 8-0 in the top of the 4th??? 😯
I don’t want to know…
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hey people….
oh thanks, CL. speak of the “JB” eh?
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Look at the huge non-stop grin on the Cardinal’s pitcher’s face. Even while making the delivery.
Other teams have to be hoping for a series against the Braves.
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Hey, JB! Yeah, I liked your take on that play. Missed you around here lately!
Hope your beautiful bride is doing well!
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Hey folks, people have been calling for the “Big Makeover” … What you see is what you got… No shame in getting beat when your entire opening day pitching roster is on the DL…
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…and the bullpen.
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This is almost like Richmond/Mississippi vs St Louis.
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Sorry about the MIA. Glad to be here tonight.
The bride is doing well and we heard BB’s heart beat last week. Pretty awesome. We may be able to find out boy or girl this week if we want to.
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CL… Almost???
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That’s good news, JB!! KEEP US POSTED!!! 😀
Just heard Joe and Whoever say that Hudson is going to see Dr Andrews in Birmingham in the next couple of days. 😦
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Hudson: MRI results showed re-aggravation of old injury and new damage to ligament.
True enough, Gil! 😆
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Welcome, Fanintheham. I was wondering who go into the ham; some of it is conspicuously absent.
Windows Vista is the Devil.
That’s WAY too much for Bay; and I wish Wren would get it through his head we’re not buyers anyway. Cut the “talented young A prospect” pitcher or make Jones a 2nd “marginal position player” instead and we’re talking. And the BUCS nixed that deal? No wonder they suck. Lillibridge will be a solid SS in a year or two, under contract for peanuts.
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Fuggly game if you are a Braves fan…
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Sadly, not that much different from the season so far…
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Thanks I will.
Ok everyone, where’s the hidden camera? This season is some sort of practical joke right?
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JB You have to have a season like this every so often to make you appreciate how hard it is to win consistently. The Cardinals went through it last year. It will make winning a pennant again in a few years that much sweeter.
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Just came in from my son’s football practice.
Huddy! 😯
Huddy… 😥
I am very tired…
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I heard the game go from 3-0 to 8-0….sounds like Frenchy made another wondrous throw to some place far past home plate….who’s going to pitch for Hudson??? I guess I need to check to see when he was to pitch next.
What happened to the Charlie Morton that looked like a world beater that first time out??? 😦
You know what??? If Hudson ends up needing surgery and misses a chunk of next season, you know what??? We may need to have Glavine and Smoltz come back! Think I’m kidding or crazy??? Well, Reyes doesn’t have the stuff, IMHO to be a consistent major leaguer….. Maybe in time his control will improve…but he may just be a 5th, or 4th starter. Morton, I just don’t know….Campillo and Jurrjens and who??? Hopefully, it’s not too serious with Hudson.
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You know what??? I really like saying, you know what???? 😕
Grinch, you may be right about that trade to Pittsburgh, I just think after giving up Nady, they couldn’t afford to give up Bay for that group. Lil’bridge is an excellent defender, but….he’s so small! I just don’t see him being a regular SS. I could be wrong, but in the olden days, a slick fielding SS hitting .260 would start…but now??? Of course if he hit .290 he could….He and B. Jones are getting long in the tooth, so to speak, and haven’t exactly torn up AAA.
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I hope we get to keep Lillibridge. I’d really like to see what he could do over a season. I think there’s a lot of potential there. And Gil’s appraisals make him even more interesting.
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I, myself, am ready to start seeing some of these kids such as Lilliputian, Anderson and even Carnivorous, the all bat no glove 1B. I’m tired of watching the M.A.S.H. unit.
Gotta get some sleep. My routine is still messed up from my week in Alaska…. 🙄
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CL, I don’t think Yunel is moving, so that means 2nd. I don’t know if kelly Johnson has much trade value with a .265 BA and 45 RBIs. If moved to 1st, Lil’bridge to 2nd next year??? I don’t know…a lot of ifs. Jordan Schafer is hitting .242. Pretty risky to come out with these guys next year….VOR is right, play them all now…..find out what they can or cannot do.
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http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/
Mark Teixeira Rumors: Monday
By Tim Dierkes [July 28 at 9:39pm CST]
9:39pm: Steve Gilbert of MLB.com has a source saying the D’Backs don’t want to part with Conor Jackson, Max Scherzer, or Jarrod Parker.
7:12pm: David O’Brien of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution talked to GM Frank Wren, who says the Braves have deals on the table right now for Teixeira. Wren is still trying to find the best deal.
6:38pm: The Braves are now taking bids for Teixeira. ESPN’s Jayson Stark says the teams in the mix are the D’Backs, Red Sox, Rays, and Angels. Still, Arizona seems the most logical fit. The Angels won’t trade Casey Kotchman, and the Braves don’t care for Kendry Morales.
5:08pm: According to Yahoo’s Steve Henson, negotiations between the Braves and Diamondbacks for first baseman Mark Teixeira are “pretty far along.” Henson talked to a front office source from another team interested in Tex. The Braves reportedly want a prospect plus Chad Tracy or Conor Jackson.
ESPN’s Keith Law wrote earlier today that the Braves have at least four suitors for Teixeira.
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The Braves don’t even have a Major League team right now. It will be a contest with Washington to see if they can stay out of the basement.
Or, go ahead and sink to the basement while kids learn to play. Then, next year go worst to first. Anybody ever done that? 😆
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Tex is home packing, huh? I’ll miss his glove at first! I just want the Braves to get honest-to-goodness GOOD players in return – not a bunch of rejects, has-beens, neverwuz nothings.
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And I like Kotsay. He plays hard.
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Your mission, if you choose to accept it : find whoever has the voodoo doll wearing a Braves’ uni & get it away from them. I didn’t expect Jair to be our #1 quite this soon.
Welcome, fanintheham! I’ll warn you now, you’re liable to get called “Hammy” sooner or later ’round here.
Was out at the beach all evening. My cousins from Atlanta are down, renting a beach cottage, so I missed everything. Guess I’ll go watch the carnage on DVR.
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Don’t say “hammy” around this team; one or more will get pulled off the bone.
And let me say this: The dude who impressed me most in Spring Training with the bat and with the hustle was Joe Borchard. He’s been injured since mid-May, but don’t think he wouldn’t be a Scott Thorman who could make contact at 1st and thus make some trades easier. That dude was STRONG. And I don’t just mean for power, but hit to all fields and made impressive hustle plays as well. A big guy who hits for power and average, and tries hard, and plays good defense (and doesn’t cost squat). Don’t count us out next year yet, even with Huddy gone (and I expect he’s thrown his last pitch in a Braves uni, unless he wants to take 40 cents on the dollar to pitch with us in ’10 compared to what he’ll get offered). We shall see. By the way, for anyone watching the Sports South feed I was one of the dumb@%%es who whipped my credit card out for that package seating deal available to the first 100 callers. 2 lower leverl tickets to four Sat. night games plus a $25 gas card for $96. I couldn’t resist. Now I get to see the AA Braves for my efforts. Oh well; I expect the quality of hot chicks at the ballpark will be the same and that’s all I really do anyway is walk around the concourse drunk and hit on women. 🙂
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Grinch, forgot all about Borchard! Didn’t know he had been hurt that long…the guy I forgot all about!
So, you just go to the Ted hit on Drunk women??? Did I read that right??? 😆
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Well, the MLB Nazis have tried their darnedest to keep folks from seeing a clip BEFORE a game of Will Ohman doing his Harry Carey impression….took some digging, but I found it elsewhere….Never saw it til right now. Pretty darn good!
http://ballhype.com/video/ohman_does_carey/
Oh, before I forget, I bashed Frenchy for that throw home, it was Yunel that airmailed it. Could have sworn Pete said it was him. Must have been his mistake, I never make ’em! Nope. Error free since ’93!
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Funny stuff Berigan…. And Grinch, I would have sprung for that package too if I did not live 900 miles away… I hate to fly…
However, before the season is over, I will bet the Marlins draw better than the Braves…. I still remember TBS broadcasting games when fewer than 1000 people were in the stands…
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Grinch longs the ball chicks.
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Bear, Ohman is probably a lot better at impersonations and with his humor when the camera isn’t on. Hope so anyway. Either way, best keep his day job.
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Gee SG(hey, that rhymes!) I Thought it was pretty good! 🙂 Made fun of the length of time since Hampton had started, calling Infante Julio Iglesias, saying no way McCann weighs 210….And I heard Skip and Pete talking about it, and they both thought it was good. You don’t want to disagree with them, do you??? 😛
Skip said it was much better than Will Ferrall’s impression, he thought that stunk….
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even more Tex rumors from late last night! I have to laugh at how fans overvalue their talent, and undervalue other teams…
http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2008/07/dbacks-deep-in.html#comments
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“odarp nitram”
😆
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OK, I gotta admit… that’s the first I have seen the Ohman Caray bit. I laughed out loud at “Odarp Nitram”. I love the way he introduced Chipper and had to back out. And Francoeur’s swing, “like a chicken wing?” Funny stuff…
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Braves lefty Will Ohman is drawing plenty of interest, with the Tigers, Rays, Yankees, and Cardinals named as suitors.
– Jayson Stark
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Almost immediately after the Braves decided to trade Mark Teixeira on Monday, the Diamondbacks emerged as the apparent front-runner to land the switch-hitting first baseman.
At least two other clubs are in the mix for Teixeira, major-league sources say. But those teams might only be backups for the Braves if their talks with the Diamondbacks about a package built around first baseman Chad Tracy fail to progress.
– Ken Rosenthal
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The Braves would want at least one other quality player to go with Tracy, who also plays third and could help the team protect against injury to Chipper Jones. Right-hander Micah Owings, a pitcher the Diamondbacks offered to the Nationals in their discussions over right-hander Jon Rauch, could be one possibility.
The Diamondbacks would not trade either of their top pitching prospects, right-hander Max Scherzer or right-hander Jarrod Parker. But a lesser pitcher such as righty Billy Buckner as well as center fielder Gerardo Parra and infielder Jamie D’Antona are among the prospects who could be in play.
– Ken Rosenthal
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Some who’ve been involved in the Teixeira trade talks are getting the vibe that Atlanta is leaning toward one team — the Arizona Diamondbacks.
The Braves asked for Conor Jackson early in the conversations between the two teams, and the D-backs said no, and it may be that a deal could be structured around Chad Tracy and a pitching prospect not named Max Scherzer. But the Braves maintain they have a range of offers from which to choose.
– Buster Olney
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???
The Angels continue to be the strongest contender for Teixeira.
– Baseball Prospectus’ Will Carroll
???
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According to a National League source, Diamondback fans might not want to get too excited about the possibility of landing Mark Teixeira. This source believes the Yankees, Rays and Angels are more likely to land the switch-hitting first baseman before Thursday’s Trade Deadline.
As mentioned earlier, Braves general manager Frank Wren spoke to approximately six teams on Monday about Teixeira. Because they would certainly have the funds to re-sign him on the free agent market, the Yankees might be willing to part with a higher caliber of talent.
The Diamondbacks still have the potential of providing a good fit for the Braves. But as long as they’re offering Chad Tracy, instead of Connor Jackson, Wren seems more apt to look elsewhere.
Wren also seems willing to be patient until receiving the best available offer for Teixeira, whose career splits indicate he could make a difference for a legitimate playoff contender.
In the 54 games he played after being acquired by the Braves at last year’s trade deadline, Teixeira hit .317 with 17 homers and 56 RBIs. His career statistics during the second half of the season include a .295 batting average and a .947 OPS (on-base percentage plus slugging percentage).
– Mark Bowman
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Didn’t mean Ohman wasn’t funny… it would’ve been better if he wasn’t trying to sound like Harry. Probably hilarious in the clubhouse. Then again, most things in the clubhouse are pretty dreary right now. Knock-knock jokes probably work these days.
Ohman Humor Score:
Timely Braves content: A.
Presentation: C+.
Harry Caray Impersonation: D.
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It appears Mark Teixeira and Manny Ramirez will not be Diamondbacks.
The D-Backs have been linked to both sluggers in recent published reports, but a major league source with knowledge of the situation said there is “no way” either will end up with the D-Backs before the July 31 nonwaiver trade deadline.
As for Teixeira, the D-Backs have had discussions with Atlanta for several days but have not found enough common ground to make a deal work.
After the D-Backs inquired about Teixeira earlier this month, Atlanta came back with an offer that the D-Backs dismissed out of hand — Chad Tracy and minor league right-handers Max Scherzer and Jarrod Parker, according to two sources. Atlanta also brought up Conor Jackson.
The sides just don’t match up, the source said.
The only thing that could change the balance is if Atlanta comes way down in its demands, a source said, and would take a starter — Tracy — and a mid-level prospect.
– East Valley (Arizona) Tribune’s Jack Magruder
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SG: Sometimes the humor can be found in the presentation, or lack thereof. For me, the “impresssion”, such as it was, was funny in itself. But, hey… that’s just me. 😀
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Impresssion? Hmmm…
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2008 will be known as the end of an era of NL East contention for the Braves, even though we should look at 2005 as that year. Instead of beginning in ‘06 to rebuild, we’ve used bits of string, wire, band-aids and bubble gum to hold this team together while some fans lived (and still live) in denial.
Since 2005, we’ve had a team that some well-intentioned dreamers thought was bound for the playoffs and World Series. God bless the dreamers. More reasonable or seasoned fans thought, with a few lucky breaks, some help from our opposition and barring critical injuries, the Braves were possible contenders… too good to bust up but not good enough to win it all or get very far in postseason. Naturally there are some ‘fans’ that will never be content. They should be leaving pretty soon. Rebuilding will be way too much for them.
We best remember, before “looking to 2009” for the beginning of another run like the 90’s, be prepared to watch more years resembling the 70’s and 80’s first. 2009 will look a lot more like ‘79 and ‘89 than ‘99. What a difference a decade makes. “He who is first will later be last”, like the man said. Then, like in ’91, when good trades are made and player experience is gained, go ahead and add a vice versa to that.
Another end-of-era just happens to coincide with our own. Without steroids, HGH and other such career lengthening potions and quick remedies, the baseball season just got what must seem about two months longer for some players, particularly the older guys that were so inclined. Just so happens, 2008 is not only the end of an era for the Braves, but also the end of a drug era for the MLB. Even with advanced therapies, vitamins, medicines and sophisticated strength/conditioning improvements, stats, records and milestones will probably continue to revert back to early 1980’s levels.
A true Barry Bonds-ish milestone will come around every 50 or 75 years, not every year as it was with Bonds, McGuire and Sosa. Small ball will once again be a bigger part of the game. The little things will win, not just the 3-run homer in the eighth inning. That, and as always… a good starting rotation.
The 14-year run was great and it would be great to start another next year, but I welcome all the changes. I’ll look forward to watching the Braves rebuild. If Wren and Liberty are to be believed in terms of spending to field a contending team, the process could take just 3-5 years. If not… hello 1980’s. Either way, I’ll be there watching, rooting for my team and focusing on the nuance of the game, the AB, the pitch, the steal and the bunt… not just the scoreboard or the standings. It may take some practice, but I’ll try… I’ve done this before.
Like the non-PED MLB teams, Braves fans will have to think small for a while.
Go Braves!
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The Diamondbacks are one of a few teams showing interest in Teixeira, and people familiar with those talks say the sides are discussing a potential deal that would send young first baseman/third baseman Chad Tracy in a package to Atlanta for Teixeira. An executive with another interested team says he believes the Braves appear “locked in on Arizona” at the moment.
The Angels, Dodgers, Rays and Red Sox are among other potential players for Teixeira — though an Angels’ person characterized a deal with them as “unlikely.” The Dodgers have been reluctant to take on additional salary and the Red Sox don’t have a real need for offense, except in the unlikely event they find a trade for embattled superstar Manny Ramirez. The Rays may be the second choice, a real fallback possibility, if talks with the D-Backs fall through.
– SI’s Jon Heyman
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Instead of beginning in ‘06 to rebuild, we’ve used bits of string, wire, band-aids and bubble gum to hold this team together while some fans lived (and still live) in denial.
Don’t forget duct tape! Where would we be without duct tape?
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Yes, duct tape… and safety pins.
Tom Sawyer would be proud.
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Another end-of-era just happens to coincide with our own. Without steroids, HGH and other such career lengthening potions and quick remedies…
My quick take on the PED era. We tend to focus on Bonds, Macguire(sp?), Palmiero, etc. I used to run into, on a regular basis, a former MLB (and Braves) pitcher on a regular basis. He shall remain nameless because his statement on PED’s was not intended for public consumption. He always laughed at the attention these guys got because his feeling was that more pitchers abused PED’s than hitters. Not that it jacked up the MPH or added any type of movement, but that it aided pitchers in their recovery between starts. It helped the “veteran” pitchers go deeper into games and deeper into the season. Quite simply, it facilitated the recovery of the muscles and soft tissues that are stressed due to the unnatural motion of pitching a baseball. The result was more innings pitched by starters, more innings capable by relievers, easier recovery between appearances, less muscle related arm and shoulder injuries.
NOTE: The common injury of the 90’s and 2000’s for pitchers was/is elbow ligament. Very few rotator cuff injuries, as was prevalent in the 70’s and 80’s. Suddenly the rotator cuff is coming up in discussions again. Hmmm…
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“… on a regular basis… on a regular basis.” I really should start proofing my stuff a little more closely… 🙄
I always proof my typing, which is atrocious. You guys should see some of the stuff I type before it gets corrected. Funny…. sad but funny…
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SG, I truly hope you are wrong, but I have a uneasy feeling you may be right. So much depends on what we can get for Tex….I wish that some team would say, “Hey Tex, tell Boras to shove it! We, the Red Sox, a team that has won 2 of the last 4 WS, will give you 5 years(Ain’t going 8 again, see Manny) 110 Mil. You will be guaranteed at least 2 WS appearances and most likely the way the NL plays, 2 WS rings if you sign with us, now, right NOW!”
Of course, they are a bit weak in the upper levels….I don’t see any can’t miss hitting prospects in AA or AAA for them….they got lots of pitching though….
Why don’t we see those 3 way trades anymore??? 😦
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VOR, do you get the feeling baseball journalists know about as much about what’s really going on with teams, as DC journalists really know what goes on behind closed doors in the capital, in the Whitehouse????
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You know, Ber, I get the feeling the writers are just trying to grab headlines. After all, some bozo did go out this morning, grab every one of their headlines and post their content here. What a moron!
Wait a minute….
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On Monday, Will Carroll said:
The rumor mill is decidedly quiet today. Some will call it the calm before the storm, but to me, it’s “committee day.” It happens every year, and is the time when everyone gets together (actually or virtually) and sorts out what they think they still need to do. The big, bold deals have for the most part been made, and now harsh reality sets in and the fine work of running a team comes into play. If you can’t get the one big piece, can you get the one useful piece? Was there really a Plan B, a Plan C, or a plan at all?
Since the Braves FOTs (Front Office Types) had their meeting yesterday, with a painfully obvious conclusion, does that make today the beginning of the storm?
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Raisins, good points about pitchers and PED’s. I believe that pitchers, per capita, probably used them more than any other position. No proof mind you, just my own speculation (as is usually the case).
Thing is, PED’s with hitters doesn’t necessarily make them swing better or hit further, but they get the extra boost of energy and stamina to play through when most normal human beings (outside of Cal) need a rest or lose just a bit of hand-eye or bat speed in late innings. Not so with PED’s.
Anyhoo, that’s my story and I’m stickin’ to it. On that note, I’ll need to scoot once again. Duty calls.
Later y’all.
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I think I have run out of words today… Well, maybe not… The fall of the Braves has been coming for some time now. It is a lot like a house in which folks put off making repairs until the roof leaks so badly that now the ceiling falls and the basement floods.
Self imposed salary caps by Time-Warner and trying to get by on the cheap has made the Braves into what they were in the 80s’ …
Now Morton… I told you folks not to get your expectations too high on this kid too soon. He has great potential but he is still just a kid. He will get better but he had one of those outings from hell last night that all rookies have. Hanging curve balls throw to major league hitters have a tendency to go a long way in the opposite direction from which they are pitched.
Clint Sammons has seen a lot of this same type of game recently as a Richmond player… Sad…
And on a bright note… Lillibridge hit one out last night to help take up the slack in the power department since Scot Thorman is on loan to the Canadian Olympic baseball team. Unfortunately the RBraves blew it in the ninth to take a 4-2 loss last night to the Phillies farm club.
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Okay, time to do something useful… I have a lawnmower deck to repair. Later folks… By the way CL… Any word on your car???
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That clip was funny! Nice to see a bit of the ‘personality’ side of a player. He should drop the Carey bit and just do it naturally; funny stuff!
Great to see Raisins and SG back amongst us again!! 🙂
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Gil, the alternator shorted out and took some kind of sensor with it. (PDF sensor?? maybe) Another $650. Should get it back this afternoon.
😦
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Mets contact Red Sox about Manny
Posted: Tuesday July 29, 2008 06:17AM ET
Contrary to the denials that made the rounds Monday, officials from both teams say the Mets have contacted the Red Sox about Manny Ramirez and are interested in pursuing a deal for him if Boston decides to make him available. The Red Sox suspect that GM Omar Minaya wants Ramirez more than Mets ownership does. Regardless, the Mets are reluctant to part with top-prospect talent in exchange for outfielders like Adam Dunn, Raul Ibanez and Randy Winn, but they (rightly) consider Ramirez a far superior hitter to those in that group, and they would discuss players in a Ramirez deal that they would not discuss in others. What remains to be seen is whether a Ramirez deal is too complicated to come together in time for the deadline.
Newark Star-Ledger
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And I will respectfully disagree with the gentleman from Savannah on this point: “If Wren and Liberty are to be believed in terms of spending to field a contending team, the process could take just 3-5 years. If not… hello 1980’s.”
The Braves biggest problem through those really lean years was lack of talent evaluation and development. Oh, they found their occassional “blind squirrel’s nut” like dale Murphy and Bob Horner, but Pat Rockett? Darrell Chaney? Steve Ziem? The Braves organization has a much, MUCH better system of talent evaluation and development now. The well and pipeline through the minor leagues is better capable to produce a Brian McCann and Charlie Morton than a Brian Asselstine, Terry Harper or Preston Hanna. And while we may not have blue chip prospects lurking at every position in the higher levels, we do have:
1. Jason Heyward, OF, high A
2. Jordan Schafer, OF, AA
3. Brandon Jones, OF, AAA
4. Gorkys Hernandez, OF, low A
5. Brent Lillibridge, SS, AAA
6. Cole Rohrbough, LHP, high A
7. Jeff Locke, LHP, high A
8. Tommy Hanson, RHP, AA
9. Julio Teheran, RHP, Rookie
10. Brandon Hicks, SS, low A
… plus whatever can be obtained through the expected trades of Tex, Ohman and possibly Kotsay.
There is talent there to be either used in Atlanta or traded to bring more needed parts. The Braves will compete in 2009, and possibly contend. The big question now surrounds Tim Hudson. If he’s just done for the year, then so be it. This years in the can already. If he’s slated for TJ surgery, then next year’s rotation is missing it’s #1. Every rotation has to have a clear #1. I’m glad the Braves will have some $$$ to spend in FA this offseason. Anyone got Ben Sheets’ cell number?
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Angels apparently are more open to getting the slugger in a trade that could send Kotchman to the Atlanta Braves.
By Mike DiGiovanna, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
July 29, 2008
BOSTON — The Angels appear to be warming to the idea of a rental player, a thawing of their hard-line approach toward short-term fixes that has led them to explore a possible trade for slugger Mark Teixeira . . . again.
Though a deal for the Atlanta switch-hitter would probably cost them promising first baseman Casey Kotchman, the Angels believe Teixeira and Vladimir Guerrero would give them a three-four punch comparable to Boston’s David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez.
Angels bedevil Red Sox, 7-5 Photos: Angels 7, Red Sox 5Maicer Izturis (.263, three home runs, 32 runs batted in) hit third for the Angels on Monday against the Red Sox, the 13th time this month the table setter has hit in the three-hole.
“I would look at any opportunity to make us better,” General Manager Tony Reagins said when asked whether he would pursue a player who will be a free agent after this season. “That scenario is unlikely, but I would look at it.”
The Arizona Diamondbacks, Tampa Bay Rays and Red Sox have also reportedly expressed interest in Teixeira, a two-time Gold Glove winner who is hitting .283 with a .390 on-base percentage, 20 home runs, 78 RBIs, 65 walks and 70 strikeouts.
The Braves, who gave up five players to acquire Teixeira and reliever Ron Mahay from the Texas Rangers last July, are looking for a first baseman, starting pitcher and a power-hitting outfielder.
The Angels, who made a strong push for Teixeira before the trade deadline last season, don’t have much pitching to spare, but they could part with outfielder Juan Rivera. They could also try to expand a deal to include Atlanta left-handed reliever Will Ohman.
Owner Arte Moreno has a strong aversion to rental players, saying repeatedly that he hates the idea of giving up young talent for a star who might play only two months in Anaheim.
But he knows Teixeira would make the Angels a World Series favorite this year, and he is one of the few owners who could afford Teixeira, who could command a deal in the $200-million range this winter.
Reagins said Monday that no deal is “imminent or close.” As for that other potential rental player that reportedly hit the market this week, the slugging enigma that is Ramirez, Reagins said, “I haven’t heard from [Boston] people that they want to trade him.”
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Cardinals shopping pitcher
Posted: Tuesday July 29, 2008 06:42AM ET
A little birdie says the St. Louis Cardinals are shopping ex-Twins pitcher Kyle Lohse for prospects before Thursday’s trade deadline, mostly because they’re not sure they’ll be in the playoff hunt and because they figure the 29-year-old right-hander won’t be affordable with high-demand agent Scott Boras. Lohse is 12-3 with a 3.68 earned-run average.
St. Paul Pioneer Press
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That on TOP of the $917? My dear, they just charged you essentially the value of the car for a fan motor, alternator and a few inconsequential surrounding parts. The Jeep dealer used to take advantage of my Mom the same way; she accepted it because she “liked the way she was treated.” They finally told her the clunking sound when she shifted into reverse was a bad rear end and was gonna be $1500 minimum. I asked her to bring it home and tightened the u-joint in about 5 minutes and the sound mysteriously went away forever. Now she listens finally. It’s an absolute crime what mechanics (especially dealers) will pull on women, and smile while they’re doing it.
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Grinch, it ain’t easy being female – especially when it comes to males! 😆
$928 + $650 = a working, running, nice looking car minus monthly car payments for x number of years.
If it wasn’t this set of mechanics, it would be another set. Don’t have much choice, do I?
Gonna see if I can get some grass cut!
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Tex/Vlad would indeed make a lethal combination.
Tex/Ohman for Kotchman/Rivera/prospect would not hurt my feelings at all.
Would they take Corky and Ring just as throw ins? Maybe for a Halo cap?
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Now the John Deere won’t start. I quit. Somebody trade me for a bag of balls or something.
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On Juan Rivera: The Halos have a logjam in their outfield, and Rivera has played in only 47 games this season. However, he is batting .339 (20-for-59) with five home runs and 13 RBI while starting 18 of the Angels’ last 24 games. Also, he extended his hitting streak to a career-high 11 games last night. He’s a career .288 right-handed hitter, who hit 23 HR’s in 2006. He plays both LF and RF. He turned 30 on July 3. He broke his leg in the Venezuelan winter league prior to the 2007 season and missed most of that season recovering, returning in September and playing in 14 games. He’s making $2.025M this year, and is a FA after this season. His agent is is Diego Bentz of SFX, NOT Scott Boras. The possibility could exist for him to be more than just a 2 month Brave.
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No way, CL; have you priced official Rawlings baseballs lately? 🙂
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I’m not worth a bag of balls??? 😯
Grinch, you know where the keys are! 😡
😆 😆
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What’s next for Tim Hudson won’t be determined for several days. The Braves pitcher was placed on the disabled list Monday before an MRI exam showed damage in the ulnar collateral ligament are of the right-hander’s elbow. Hudson will meet with Braves orthopedist Xavier Duraldo on Wednesday. Then the pitcher will travel to Birmingham to see famed orthopedic surgeon James Andrews. – ajc
Uh, but I wanna know NOW! They never listen to me…
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“I’m starting to wonder if it’s been like this for three or four years, and is just something I learned to deal with,” Hudson said Monday.
Wha?!? 😯
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Uh, Huddy, can you deal with it a couple more? 😀
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Injuries on Braves, Yanks affect market
Atlanta likely to ship Teixeira after losing Chipper, Hudson
By Jim Molony / MLB.com
The injury bug stung the Braves and Yankees hard on Monday, but the trade impact on each team was completely different.
The Yankees confirmed that catcher Jorge Posada, on the disabled list since July 20, would undergo surgery on his injured right shoulder and miss the rest of the season.
The Braves, meanwhile, placed third baseman Chipper Jones (sore left hamstring) and right-hander Tim Hudson (strained right elbow) on the DL on Monday. The injuries to those two, plus catcher Brian McCann (day-to-day with a mild concussion) make the Braves more likely to move first baseman Mark Teixeira before the deadline.
The Yankees, on the other hand, were looking even harder for a bat on Monday in the wake of Posada’s status.
On Monday, the Yankees — who are also looking for pitching — talked to the Braves, who have been mulling their options regarding Teixeira but appear to be leaning towards moving him.
The Dodgers, Angels, Red Sox and Yankees are among the teams eying Teixeira, but the D-backs are believed to be the frontrunners for the Scott Boras client.
A switch-hitter with power, Teixeira could be a difference maker for Arizona in a very tight National League West race. The Braves covet D-backs first baseman Conor Jackson and would likely insist on Jackson or Chad Tracy in any deal for Teixeira.
The other suitors have the talent to put together similar packages for Teixeira, and the Braves are weighing the offers.
They have also received offers for lefty reliever Will Ohman, with the Rays and Tigers aggressively in pursuit.
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Almost immediately after the Braves decided to trade Mark Teixeira on Monday, the Diamondbacks emerged as the apparent front-runner to land the switch-hitting first baseman.
The Angels, however, also are in the mix.
Not only do the Angels want Teixeira, but they also would be interested in an expanded deal that would include one of the Braves’ left-handed relievers, Will Ohman or Mike Gonzalez, according to major-league sources.
The Angels would not include either right-hander Ervin Santana or left-hander Joe Saunders in a Teixeira package, sources say. But they would be willing to make the move if the price was first baseman Casey Kotchman and outfielder Juan Rivera plus a third piece, most likely a prospect.
– Ken Rosenthal
The plot thickens…
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I just wish they’d end our misery and do something! 😆
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T-Minus 48:30:00 ’til ‘misery ends’! 🙄
And…does anyone think the Braves will be weaker, post-deadline?
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Gee… It’s just like an auction… Actually, the Braves are in the catbird’s seat. CL… When it rains it pours… sorry about the Deere… Been there and done that. Battery, fuel, spark? Has to be one of the three.
Now about your car… Mighty suspicious the alternator going out so close to your repair shop visit… However, you are at their mercy right now. It is nearly as important to find a mechanic you can trust as much as your doctor.
Now baseball… Now we know why Huddy was having those bad starts every other game. Explains the loss of velocity. Personally, I would just as soon he get it fixed and come back in time for the playoffs next year. Otherwise he is like a ticking timebomb….
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Salty… I think it is better once you make the decision of what direction you are going in. Everyone can relax and just play. Actually, I’m pretty good at this… Watching the Nationals for the past few years has kept me grounded to the reality of rebuilding.
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Salty, if the Braves could land Kotchman and Rivera in the package, (including prospects, I would assume), then they really don’t lose too much ground as far as the everyday lineup. The loss of Ohman might hurt them in the short run, though. Gonzo isn’t a situational lefty, he’s a closer. Ring isn’t a situational lefty, he’s a loser. Too many cards on the table currently, though, to make that assessment.
Huddy’s loss is the most damaging, and it isn’t trade deadline related, so does it count?
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The loss of Ohman might hurt them in the short run, though. Gonzo isn’t a situational lefty, he’s a closer. Ring isn’t a situational lefty, he’s a loser.
VOR…you said so much with just the drop of a ‘C’! 😆
I dont’ really grasp the Rivera love…not bad, just no biggie. Regardless, I agree, which is why I asked, that the trades don’t have a real negative impact…Huddy does! 😦
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CL, just to pile on…..ask around and see who others have found to be fair, honest mechanics….they do exist. And an honest service station would charge you about 1/3rd what the Dealer charged you. At worst, 1/2. They are charging…dealer prices.
I remember a billion years ago, wanting some wider wheels for my 1969 Chevy. 15X7 to replace my 15X6 rims(A long time ago, like I said)My parents were going to get some at a chevy dealer. Jacksonville was weird. The dealer said they could only get one plain rim, and it was going to be $97 for one lousy black rim! Well, I said ____ that, and checked around. I found I could get a set of rims with the same bolt pattern for the very same money!
Just doesn’t pay to deal with dealers, so to speak.
And hey, I can’t even imagine flying a plane, if you can fly a plane, you can swap out an alternator! 🙂
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And thanks everyone, for the 411! I thought for sure when I got up this afternoon, there would be a trade finalized. Salty, I was talking up Rivera, I don’t know, a few weeks ago, before they started to play him. They could trade us Gary Matthews, as long as they pay all his salary for the next few years! 😀
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Hey CL, weren’t there some swell baseball photos I sent you, that you were going to put up??? 😀
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Ber, I can do MANY things, including fly an airplane.
I can drive a stick shift on the column or on the floor.
I can change oil, change a tire, wash and wax a car.
I can do basic maintenance on most things in the house, including plumbing.
I can paint a house inside and out.
I can measure, cut, prime, paint and install crown moulding.
I can cook about most anything.
I can bake and make candy.
I can manage finances, deal with insurance companies, hospitals, banks, you name it.
I can garden and work outdoors with the best of them.
I can arrange beautiful flower arrangements, I can sew quite well.
I can put together a large computer hutch with slide-out drawers, cabinets doors, etc right by myself.
I can run a boat, I can catch fish and clean them.
I’m a pretty fair shot and can clean a rifle or pistol.
I can create web sites, blog sites (!!), create computer graphics.
I’m experienced in genealogy research.
I can run a table saw, a miter saw, a band saw, and a 5-speed drill press.
I have a chain saw (though I admit I’m not entirely comfortable using it.)
But car engines baffle me.
I know the gas goes here, the oil goes there, the windshield fluid is over there. I know what has to be serviced and when. I have a tire gauge and use it regularly. And I’m a very good driver, have an excellent sense of direction, know many shortcuts and never get lost.
But for some unknown reason, car engines make And Idiot out of me. 😦
But thanks for the vote of confidence! 😆
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She can skin a buck/
and run a trot line/
’cause a country girl can survive
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😆
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More rumor stuff….why hasn’t anyone talked about this today??? http://www.mlbtraderumors.com
Mark Teixeira Rumors: Tuesday
By Tim Dierkes [July 29 at 3:46pm CST]
3:46pm: SI.com’s Jon Heyman has the D’Backs, Rays, and Angels vying for Tex. A first baseman is not a requirement for Atlanta, though all three teams could part with one. Heyman talked to one Angels source who considered a deal “remote.”
ESPN’s Buster Olney says the Braves want pitching in return.
2:33pm: Joel Sherman sees this is as a battle between the D’Backs and Red Sox. However, the Red Sox will only jump in if they are able to move Manny Ramirez.
1:01pm: ESPN’s Jayson Stark says the Dodgers and Yankees have also flirted with the idea of acquiring Teixeira. The Braves want a big-league ready bat, preferably a first baseman, in any trade.
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🙂 I am married to your clone CL… Well, she cannot fly a plane..
However… A lot of what they have done to cars the past 15 years has been to make them so the average person cannot work on them… I can… I just choose not to… Well, except for minor stuff now.
Anyway, good luck
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Funny, I was thinking of an old Mildred Bailey song, that goes something like I can make a dollar, stand right up and holler, talk about your lemon meringue , but I can’t make a man!
Bet DOB doesn’t know that song!
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4:35 p.m.
The Diamondbacks, Rays and Angels appear to be the most enthusiastic players in the Mark Teixeira Sweepstakes. Atlanta has said it doesn’t absolutely have to have a first baseman in exchange, but they’d get one back from Arizona (Chad Tracy) and probably also from Tampa Bay (Carlos Pena). But the big question now is whether the Angels will trade their first baseman, Casey Kotchman. The Angels have always been relucant to deal their young players, but there are differeing reports about whether they’d surrender Kotchman.
One Angels person just characterized their chances for a deal as “remote” now, so perhaps they wouldn’t. If not, Arizona, which has been shown to be a deal-maker, may wind up with Teixeira.
– SI’s Jon Heyman
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Bet DOB doesn’t know that song!
Who? 😀
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Dob Wilson, an old friend of mine….
VOR, make them trade him now!!!! I don’t think there is any chance we’d get Carlos Pena, he’s got to be due a big raise. Heck, I think one of the reasons we are so hot to trade Ohman is because he might get a whole 3 million dollars! 🙄
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Well, that’s not monopoly money they are playing with… Hummm, on second thought.. MLB… maybe it is monopoly money… 🙂
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And just to let you folks know… Thorman looks very good these days, he has really cut down on his swing. He no longer is trying to hit 500 foot homeruns, he has discovered he can hit it 400 feet pretty easily with a shorter swing. He is also playing quite a bit of third base… he does not look lost over there. may actually be a better position for him that first.
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Berigan’s new photos!
Grinch’s new photos!
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Okay folks, I am going to take a little pre game nap… I worked pretty hard today and manage to complete my list of to do items. A new list is in the offering but like they say, “you just can’t eat a pig that good in one day… “
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HEY!!!
I just heard an unconfirmed report that a deal with the Angels is done. I am trying to find something more solid. Thunderstorms are on my back porch, though. ROTTEN TIMING!!! 😡
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Sources close to the situation told ESPN.com’s Jayson Stark on Tuesday that Atlanta Braves first baseman Mark Teixeira is headed to the Los Angeles Angels for Casey Kotchman and minor league pitcher Steven Marek. ESPN
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The Atlanta Braves have traded first baseman Mark Teixeira to the Los Angeles Angels for Casey Kotchman and minor league pitcher Steven Marek.
Kotchman was reportedly pulled off the field during pregame warmups at Fenway Park on Tuesday afternoon. – The Sporting News
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ajc is now reporting it.
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VOR…AJC confirms.
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Full Name: Stephen Andrew Marek
Born: 09/03/1983
Birthplace: Houston, TX
College: San Jacinto CC, TX
Height: 6′ 2″
Weight: 200
Bats: L
Throws: R
(2-6) 3.66 ERA, 57 K’s in 46.2 IP at Arkasas of AA Texas League
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… that would be Arkansas…
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man, thats it???? Oh well….
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OK, now that’s outta the way, I’m late to leave for rehearsal. I’m heading into the storm. Say a prayer, and I’ll chat tomorrow.
Later taters!
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Ber, that’s it for Tex. Not gonna get much more for a 2 month rental. If you ask me, they did very well to get a young Casey Kotchman in exchange for a rental player.
Now the Ohman watch begins…
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Later…
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Bet they will sign him long term…could be wrong, but then they really got a deal, IMHO.
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Bowman: Marek is a 25-year-old right-hander who has gone 2-6 with a 3.66 ERA in 34 relief appearances for Double-A Arkansas this year.
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http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/players/profile?statsId=7293
Stats for Kotchman
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CL, all that 411 on your 5:11 was great, but careful where you post it. You might just get a flurry of email-order proposals from prospective grooms that come a’knockin’… and they won’t care whether you know motor from a toad.
Grinch, about two line items into CL’s post I was thinkin’ the same thing… Bosephus.
Tex is gone. Good luck to him and welcome Kotchman and Marek. It is a good day to be getting the hell out of the LA area. Hope it works out.
So, did Raisins get the scoop? A good scoop of Raisins! 😀
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CL, I’ve been out so much that I forgot to say how much I enjoyed your lead. Very nice work. The coach “Who are these guys” series is a great idea. Good stuff.
Chino seems like a nice enough guy… makes me miss Corrales.
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Many thanks, SG! I miss Pat also.
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CL, how did I know you were deliberately going to leave out the photo of my bar? Klob will be disappointed. Actually, it wasn’t a very good photo anyway. I’ll send some more later. 🙂
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Believe me, I didn’t intend to, Grinch! I’ll go see if I can find it in a little while.
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Oops. Found it. Sorry, Green One! Now corrected. 😳
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Berigan, I think we got a steal. Kotchman’s only 25 and making 1.5 mil or so and under contract through 2010. Plus that pitcher has 57 k’s in 46 innings. I bet you even though the power numbers will be down a bit we won’t see all that much difference in wins and losses. Everybody’s so excited about how formidable Tex will be behind Vlad. Well if it makes as much difference as Tex behind Chipper Angels fans are soon gonna realize they screwed up when that 230 mil contract bid goes up in couple of months (and Tex and family are staying at Boras’ guest house ’till they can find somewhere! How sweet; wonder what he’ll charge for rent?) . This is a lot better than I expected, and better than Chad Tracy. Maybe Wren’s not such a moron after all. 🙂 I’m really quite glad to have the stench of Boras away from the team.
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There is a photo of Tex on mlb.com’s website showing him leaving the stadium after learning that he’d been traded. He’s got a big ol’ grin on his face. It just occurred to me that I can’t ever recall seeing him smile before, especially that big. In fact, I can’t recall him showing any emotion before. All this time I just thought he was a robot, incapable of expressing human emotion……
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I think the interview with Frank Wren by Joe Simpson and Chip. You get the feeling the Braves are just getting started with the trades.
Now Kotchman, Come on Koochie???
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Wren said they made an aggressive offer to Tex to sign long term prior to the beginning of the season. Said they were turned down so they knew they could not sign Tex for next year…
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Klob, he is perfectly capable of showing two distinct human emotions: indifference and greed. He knows the Angels are the favorite to win the WS and that he’s fixin’ to get PAID. And the former part is only important because of the latter.
Gil, let’s hope he just goes with “Casey.”
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Funny, Tex just said on ESPN he was open all year to signing an extension but that the Braves didn’t do it and business was business.
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Actually I think it is a very good trade for the Braves…
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Keep in mind, Kotchman plays good defense also.
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Perhaps Boras didn’t tell him the Braves made an offer
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Casey will get tested with some of the wild arms in the Braves infield
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And how can you not love Blanco in the leadoff spot???
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and yunel has he head up his butt for some reason…
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Ah… The Corkey I know so well from Richmond…
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Sad…
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from MLB.com:
Teixeira, who hit .295 with 37 homers and a .943 OPS (on-base-percentage-plus-slugging percentage) in the 157 games he played with the Braves, said Tuesday’s development was “bittersweet.”
“I told everyone I love playing here,” Texeira said. “I love this team. I love Bobby Cox. He’s an amazing man. He’s an amazing manager. When my career is over, I’ll be able to tell my kids and grandkids that I played for Bobby Cox, I played with Chipper Jones, I played with John Smoltz and Tom Glavine, and those are things that I’m going to be proud of.”
When told that Teixeira indicated he had envisioned playing the rest of his career with the Braves, Wren revealed that the Braves made a substantial contractual offer that was declined during Spring Training.
With Teixeira’s offensive and defensive attributes, there’s certainly reason to believe his agent, Scott Boras, can land him an annual salary that exceeds $20 million during this winter’s free-agent market.
“We offered a very aggressive multiyear contract that would have made him one of the highest-paid players in the game, and it was not accepted,” Wren said. “We knew from that discussion that we were not going to be able to sign him, and we didn’t feel like it would be best for the club to go into the offseason just receiving [compensatory] Draft picks when we could get established Major League players to fit our plan going forward.”
It would be just like Boras to NOT tell Tex of the offers. IMO.
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Oh sure, now he says all that. Good riddance. Unfortunately I was stuck with the Cards’ broadcast so no info there.
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Turns out Jurrjens is a Boras client too. What must we do to get away from that man?
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What?!? Oh *%$#@!
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Hello everyone! Back online with my new computer! Darn, new keyboard, they are stiff! May go back to the original one. Had more trouble than I recall having with my 2002 Compaq….It didn’t recognize my mouse at first, or this new keyboard…..had to shut down in the middle of the start up process….don’t know what problems that caused….Got my package to start my new AT&T DSL, but as I was starting it, I found it says to not start til after 6 PM, and on the day mentioned on the paperwork…the 3th….drat. So, hooked the mindspring up….hope I can figure out how to use outlook express…CL, if you get no emails, you know the reason! And thanks for putting the photos up! 🙂
Power went out soon after I found out about the Tex deal….need to catch up….
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Grinch…. That’s okay, JJ has a long time until he becomes a free agent…
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After the dust settles on the debacle of this season and we get over the negative emotions (unrequited love?) of departing players like Tex, I expect we’ll regain a bit of perspective and realize how futile it was for Braves fans to realistically hope that the Braves would have a chance to be competing for post season this year. Even without injuries, we really didn’t have what it takes to get to the playoffs.
If we were currently within a game or two on either side of first place in our division (which we could easily have been), we still would have come up short in my opinion. That’s because we have three insurmountable problems with our franchise. I say franchise because I see our situation as more systemic than just being about the team. The critical problems, in order of detriment, are:
One: Liberty Media – Braves are but a line item on the ‘to eventually be sold’ block. The short term Balance Sheet needs to improve. Until we have a new, independent, non-media owner that has passion for the game, wants to win and is willing to invest the money to field a winning team, Braves will be a middle of the pack team. For now we have Wren and everyone above him handing out PR spin and talking points that will placate gullible fans into thinking there is actually a building process going on. Baloney. It’s about the bottom line. Period. But then again, Wren looks like a Prez, don’t’cha think, with that gray hair and all? Quite distinguished in his bird nest up there.
Two: Bobby Cox – Love him, hate him, whatever… he needs to retire. Ask yourself this: without Maddux, Glavine, Smoltz and others along the way like Avery, Pena, Seanez and such, would Cox have so many pennants and a sure place in the HOF? I think not. Without Pat Corrales or Leo? Nope. Bobby goes through the motions.
Three: Braves fans – Yep. We are willing and engaged accomplices in mediocrity. Because we are homers all, we will get excited about a new damn advertising vehicle that’s shaped like a cow. Look, I hope Kotchman works out fine, plays beyond himself and turns out to be a lovely first baseman… but he ain’t Tex. Even if Braves offered Boras-like money, do we actually think that a competitive player the caliber of Tex would want to sign with a dysfunctional team right now? Honestly, do you think that?
Oh, but the fans (and the Atlanta media) are right on board with the franchise talking points, the excuses, the rationale and the ‘bad luck injury year’ tripe. Yes, we’ve had an unprecedented string of injuries. It’s bizarre. But pitching didn’t lose all of those one run games. No, the reason for that can be found in item two above. Have players’ stretch, practice fundamentals and, uh, insert them and remove them from the lineup when it’s obvious to everyone that watches the games. Seems to escape Bobby and Chino.
Anyway, I digress. The fans… us… we enable the Braves to continue on the course of putting butts in seats and, like lemmings, do the wave upon cue. If you don’t think the fans have bought into the spin, ask yourself this: Would the Boston, Anaheim, New York Mets, Philadelphia blogs spend so much time trying to figure out how we can attract discount players and massage a low budget as we see on the ajc blog? Would they be glad to get rid of a ‘robot’ like Tex for a good guy like Kotchman? Hell no. They would have screamed bloddy murder.
Oh, wait, I forgot… we’re rebuilding for next year. Right. All the little chessmen are being strategically moved around and, voila… instead of a fourth place team for the next few years we have a third place team. Yea, that’s improvement. Who needs Tex? After all, we want to save Liberty some money, right? Isn’t that the objective? Field a team just good enough to give Atlanta false hope and say the right things each year so that your butt will sit in their seats and buy their beer and root for your third place team.
Good teams don’t think about which of their best players they can trade, they just don’t think that way. Good teams don’t assume they can have ‘either’ ‘or’… they have both. But we have Liberty. Cox and our enabling selves, so surely we can all get our heads together, sharpen our pencils and find ways to save our way to success. Liberty has done something truly incredible… they have the fans themselves rationalizing cutting budgets and trading away good players, so let them eat cake. And drink beer and eat hot dogs and pay the high ticket prices. They won’t complain, they’ll buy anything… even our spin.
It’s laughable when you think about it. Now, whom else can we trade and save some money? That’s the objective, right?
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SG: Don’t throw in next season’s towel so quickly and easily. The loss of Tex is, well, really not that big of a loss. Anaheim will have him for his 2 productive months of the season and swoon. We did the same last year. But whoever signs him for 2009 and beyond will also realize what Atlanta realized this year, and that Texas knew before that. Tex doesn’t give you a whole season. I got so sick of “He is always a slow starter. Just wait ’til he heats up.” that I almost puked nightly in June. And clutch? How many times did we see Chipper, who was ALWAYS on base, left on base? There are many reasons as to why the Braves are where they are in the standings. I will strongly maintain, though, that if Tex had performed remotely close to his vaunted reputation, that a large portion of the early 1 run losses would have been 1 run wins. His trade wasn’t a salary dump, it was a trade of an overvalued expiring asset for proven steady, if not spectacular, production for at least 3 more years after this one. CaseyK was actually one of the better 2 or 3 hole hitters in the AL. He’s a gap to gap contact hitter that can be very productive if the leadoff guys can get on base. Will he hit 40 HR’s? No. 20-25 is realistic. Do you have to do that to be a better than average 1B? No. I see him as a Mark Grace kinda player… I can think of worse. And, by the way, there is no dropoff defensively.
Now, that being said. Wren does need to make up the power shortage in a LF acquisition of some sort. He still has Ohman to parlay into value, which he undoubtedly will do. I also would not be surprised to see Kotsay dealt. There is still much to do before tomorrow at 4:00pm, much less before next April. I think the fact that there is still no starter announced for Friday’s game is a good indicator that pitching is being sought. BC said as much last night in saying that they really didn’t know right now who all would be available for that start.
As for pitching, Tim Hudson’s health is much more of a portent of next year’s fortunes than the comings and goings of an agent proclaimed superstar that has yet to put together a full season. A team cannot go into a season without a clear ace, and without Huddy, Atlanta has only JJ to look to. He might be it one day, but next year is a bit soon to thrust that upon him. They have to, ahem, HAVE TO, go after pitching in FA this year. And I’m not talking second tier pitching, I’m talking Sabathia/Sheets pitching. We’ll all know where this team stands with Liberty Media after the offseason FA period. There’s alot of money coming off the books. They’ve promised to spend. Time to walk the walk… or watch the fans walk.
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Kotchman, arguably the MVP on the team with the Majors’ best record, would be under the Braves’ control through 2011. Marek is a hard-throwing reliever.
— Lyle Spencer, MLBlogs network
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Raisins, I wish I had your optimism about this team, but I don’t. I don’t think I’d call it throwing in the towel… it’s more like just seeing things the way I believe they are and lowering my expectations. That, and it’s just a reasonable reaction to my team, their owner, their manager and their season… capped off by trading away Tex. It’s not even about Tex himself, it’s about being sellers.
Anyhoo, as far as Tex goes, I realize that he’s been a slow starter, but Anaheim and whomever signs him next won’t have Francoeur backing him up through the first half of the season. What might Tex have done if he’d had consistent protection behind him? Chipper sure benefitted from Tex behind him.
Braves are my team and I’m not happy about them right now. I’ll get over it. Everything else is just fine though, so no real complaints. It’s baseball.
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Good news for today? Gregor Blanco, to whom I have given much grief, is beginning to look like he is a real ML player and a real leadoff hitter. Jorge Campillo (which is my favorite Braves player name to say – Jor-ge Cam-PI-llo 😀 ) is for real. Uh… that’s about it for today.
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Yes, SG, we mature adults can realize that we may not be in 100% agreement, but it’s all good.
By the way, Tex had McCann batting behind him. 😉
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Well, I have stated repeatedly that the Braves will spend what they choose to. That said, just spending money won’t get it done, you have to be wise with your cash. However, having it available if needed can make a difference when it comes time to buy. Having money is infinitely better than not having money…
I would like to have kept Tex but too many forces were working against that end. At least the Braves have a viable replacement.
Didn’t everyone see the melt down of the bull pen coming? All those appearances add up and can account for just enough hanging breaking balls to send the team ERA into orbit.
Oh well, life goes on… The sun will still rise in the east and set in the west…
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“I thought I’d be here the rest of my career,” Tex said of Atlanta. “I really wanted to stay here.” Please… don’t make me regurgitate my Rice Krispies.
“But business is business, and it’s time for me to move on.” Yes, the sun still rises in the east…
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Now, if I want to keep a roof over my head to protect me from the sun which always rises in the east and sets in the west, I should get to work. Lest I find myself moving on. 😯
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Grinch,
Nice Lizard King theme you’ve got going on with the mantle. Thumbs up.
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Waddup, HillBill!!!
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Let the Ohman circus begin…
Ohman is virtually certain to be traded before the deadline for non-waiver deals hits at 4 p.m. ET on Thursday. The Rays, Cardinals and Red Sox are believed to be among the teams interested.
– Ken Rosenthal
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After watching their pitchers surrender 10 or more runs in three straight games, and after learning that Tim Hudson has suffered a serious elbow injury, the Braves were ready to deal Teixeira and begin focusing on 2009. But while Kotchman represents a downgrade when compared with Teixeira, he’s markedly better than any other player the Braves could have installed at first base this season, and as such, the trade does not completely sabotage their efforts for 2008. Plus, now rather than having Teixeira for two more months—and a very slim chance at the playoffs—they’ll have Kotchman for at least the next three years and added payroll flexibility. Over the course of 162 games, though, the difference between the first basemen is much more stark, so the Braves will have to add offense elsewhere.
The Braves’ acquisition of Teixeira did not achieve its desired result: a playoff appearance. But now that the book is closed on Teixeira’s Atlanta career, the net result for the Braves breaks down thusly: Saltalamacchia, Andrus, Feliz, Matt Harrison and Beau Jones for Kotchman, Marek and Florida prep lefty Brett DeVall, whom the Braves took with the 40th overall pick this year. Atlanta obtained the pick from the Royals for the loss of Type B free agent Ron Mahay, the other player in the 2007 Braves-Rangers trade.
– Matt Eddy, BaseballAmerica
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The Braves would also like to trade oft-injured outfielder Mark Kotsay, and they would deal lefty reliever Will Ohman if they received the right offer.
– Dan Graziano, Newark Star-Ledger
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It would appear as though I am conversing with myself, so to speak… 😐
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How
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many
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times
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can
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I
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do
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this
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?
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If an end user interface crashed on the network, and no one was around to notice, would it make a noise?
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That’s a trick question; it wouldn’t make a noise anyway…
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Sigh… 🙄
I guess I have to go back to work…
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I was going to write a short essay on how much it sucked getting old(er) … However, no one really likes it when I whine so I will just say… OUCH!!!! I feel like I did after two a days …
Okay, 2 more weeks until vacation…. Who would have thought that a retiree needed to take a vacation?
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Now you know how I feel, VOR. There’s never anyone here when I’m on at night & daytime computer access is nonexistant with my dad home (he injured his foot, off for a month). Back to supper preparations.
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Folks, the season is not over… Who knows, a miracle could happen.
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MOVING AROUND: Braves catcher Clint Sammons was promoted to Atlanta, lefty Jo-Jo Reyes was sent down from Atlanta, Richmond INF Derrick Arnold was placed on the disabled list with a leg injury, and Double-A Mississippi sent INF Paul Bennett to Richmond. That’s 116 roster moves in 110 playing days.
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You see, when you do an MRI on the organization, you get an idea of the depth of the problem in Atlanta. The farm system needs time to heal…
Nationals have some pretty nice talent in their pipeline now. I hope the folks in DC give them time to develop. I think the Nats will be contenders in 2010…
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Pudge to the Yanks for Kyle Farnsworth?!? 😯
Wow…
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Raisins, how much you renting that space for? 😀
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Raisins, you may have just set a new blog domination record. Thanks for the comment on my earlier rant, er, post. Was McCann always behind Tex? Seems like I remember French being back there way too much early in the season. Maybe I’m misremembering, like Roger.
I started to come in a break your domination streak just out of pure meanness, but the phone rang. Then, after reading around sports blogs and sites a bit, I got all fired up in between work, business calls and was compelled to procrastinate and drop some similar but different stuff across the river earlier today. Nobody cried, nobody died.
Gil, as you know, growing old is not for wimps. And I agree, the season is far from over. Still some good baseball to watch… that is, uh, if I can get those other teams on TV. 😀 Nah, I’ve already gone through an expectation transmutation, lowered the bar and can now relax, watch the Braves and look for sterling plays and such. Winning is more fun but I still love baseball and Braves are still my team, win or lose… or trade, or suck or be mismanaged or owned by Liberty. 😯
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zzzzzzzzz zzzuup zzzzzzz! uh, wha? zzzz zz zzzzz z zzzzz. urp!
excuse me… stuffy nose.
ahhhhh… where was I? Oh…
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.
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(Sung to tune of “Froggy went a’ courtin'”)
Corky’s at the plate and he struck out, uh-huh/
Corky’s at the plate and HE struck out, uh-HUH/
Corky’s at the plate and HE struck out, boy this team could use some clout/
Corky’s at the plate and he struck out, uh-huh
Thank you, thank you; I’ll be here all week. Unfortunately, so will he. 🙂
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Grinch 😆
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AJC: “Two doctors who have examined Braves pitcher Tim Hudson have advised him to have ligament-transplant elbow surgery, a procedure that would force the veteran to miss the rest of this season and probably more than half of the 2009 season, a person familiar with the situation said Wednesday.
A dye-injection MRI done Monday showed a tear in the ulnar collateral ligament in his pitching elbow, an injury that typically requires “Tommy John” ligament-transplant surgery and a 12-month recovery period.”
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Frenchy just made a defensive play that earned him a good bit of respect back from the fans…hope it’s the start of something.
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Frenchy’s fender benders… 🙂 Yep, good play..
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Check out the article on the AJC about “Casey happy to be here” or something to that effect. He sounds like EXACTLY was I was hoping for to replace Tex.
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Now that’s funny, Gil!!
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Lordy mercy! An outside pitch and JF didn’t swing at it!
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I like Omar… A gamer.
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JJ can field too…
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I get the feeling the Marlins are going to make a serious run if they get Manny.
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BASES LOADED! TWO OUT! AAAAAAANNNND……..
Corky took a swing and grounded out, uh-huh/
Corky took a swing and GROUNded out, uh-HUH/
Corky took a swing and GROUNDed out, should do like Chuck and just lay some grout/
Corky took a swing and grounded out, uh-huh
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Agreed, Gil…Omar’s an everyday player…just pick the position. He can give lots of guys a day off, plus one for himself, and still keep sharp at the plate.
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Yeah, Gil; wouldn’t that just be a hoot if they picked him up, won another WS and then blew the team up again? We’d forever be the laughingstock of our division.
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I think Omar would be a good second baseman…
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Blanco is getting robbed tonight
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Grinch… I don’t even want to think about it.
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I think the best way I can describe the current Braves team is they are a lot like my golf game. Only different…
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Grinch/SG/VOR…since you’re musician types. Got to see Mark Knopfler last night at Chastain. Excellent…and the guys who backed him were outstanding.
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I could never get my game together. Some days I could drive em straight and long, couldn’t putt. Other times my iron play would be stellar, Would suddenly develop a duck hook or a bad slice… Braves are like that…
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Yep.. PB on Corkey.. Seen that a lot in Richmond..
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I just don’t think Javy would have been worse than Mr. Miller…
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If a guy is going to hit below .100 then he better be able to catch and throw the ball…
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Escobar got deeked by their third base coach.
I don’t care about Poo-holes getting a hit; I like what I saw from JJ in that sequence. He’s legit.
Salty, you lucked out. Knopfler’s one of the greats, and he’s a musician’s musician. I love to get to say that; I’m tired of pitcher’s pitches. My turn! 🙂
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Gil, in ST Javy was pretty much a three way tie with Sammons and Flowers for 2nd best catcher. Corky was obviously a distant, DISTANT 5th. I honestly though he was just some guy like Kevin Costner who was about to retire from a career in the minors (as a backup) and they were throwing him a bone by letting him catch the big boys on the side during camp. I didn’t even imagine (nor did anyone else there) that he would be given the # 2 job; it passes understanding. But he WAS a nice guy.
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With Sammons and Flowers it is understandable to send them to the minors to get at bats because they are obviously not going to get a lot of playing time behind McCann.
I was surprised when he was first called up to replace Pena’ last year because he wasn’t that good in Richmond. He really hasn’t done anything to change my opinion. Yes, a really nice guy but I will take Attila the Hun if he can win ball games…
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Boyer has a tired arm… How could that happen???
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My theory on Javy is that he was on the juice for his big season (43HR), then got off it and struggled, then spent the off-season getting back into perhaps the best natural shape he’s been in for this tryout. He looked really good; cut, almost no fat, good power…I think he just realized his body might not stand up to a whole season anymore and ducked out. Flowers was amazing but still raw; I know why they kept him down. Sammons was a touch raw himself but good lord. He still should have gotten the job. I guess Bobby thought with our all-veteran rotation and presumed power lineup we just needed a guy who wouldn’t get rattled every 5th day. Oops.
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I rest my case…
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I’m worried that even if Boyer stops pitching now he’ll pull a Moylan next year. Please nobody here act like 88 appearances (most of them 2-4 innings) the previous year wasn’t what killed Moylan. Bobby has a rep for loving his boys, but sometimes I think he loves them a bit too much like Bing Crosby loved his. 🙂
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August is when a worn out bullpen will rear its ugly head…
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Braves are just getting a jump on that
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Okay Braves… six outs to come back..
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Two bloops… need a blast.
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Oh well…
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Later folks, I am about to fall asleep at the wheel.
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Red Sox One Of Five Teams Pursuing Ohman
By Tim Dierkes [July 30, 2008 at 2:51pm CST]
According to Gordon Edes of the Boston Globe, the Red Sox are one of five teams pursuing Braves lefty Will Ohman.
Previous reports have mentioned the Red Sox, Marlins, Rays, Tigers, White Sox, and Cardinals as suitors for Ohman, who is a free agent after the season.
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Good evening y’all. CL, the “signs” email was hysterical. Green one, I agree. I expect arm problems for Boyer next year. Extreme overuse & that sucks ’cause he’d shown a lot of promise ’til he started getting worn out.
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Maybe this was a turning point for Francoeur. His ABs are gradually getting better & that catch was great. I feel like he’s starting to rebound.
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Hey, FBG!
Found some quote from/about Tex at the Angels I round interesting:
his friend Derek Oliver with whom he plays golf: “He’s cool. One thing I can tell you about him is that he’s always wanted to be out on the West Coast. Who wouldn’t?”
Tex: Teixeira reiterated that he was “ecstatic” with the move to a contender in the Tuesday swap that sent first baseman Casey Kotchman and pitching prospect Stephen Marek to the Braves.
Gary Matthews jr: “We’re happy to have him, and he’s happy to be here.”
Teixeira nodded in appreciation.
Tex: “People in Atlanta gave me a hard time, saying I’m all business,” Teixeira said. “It’s true. I’m boring. I go to the ballpark the same time, do my routine. I’m here to work and win ballgames — and I think I’ll fit in great with this team.”
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I really do hope JF is getting it back together!
Sorry to duck out just when you arrive – but it’s THAT time again. zzzzzzzz
😆
See ya!
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Ohman likely going to Cardinals for low level prospect, according to AJC. Based on his numbers, which they list, that would be a trade so bad it would wipe out the good feeling from the Tex/Kotch trade. Why? Why would they do that? Liberty must be cutting us back down to around 80, or even less.
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I sure wish they’d find a way to keep him!
‘Night!
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Found one more Tex quote:
“Teixeira is driven by the desire to compete in postseason play for the first time after 4 1/2 seasons in Texas and the equivalent of a full season in Atlanta.
“No doubt,” he said when asked if the Angels are a World Series-caliber club. “All of our goals are the same. This team has so many pieces. I just want to be one of the pieces.” ”
Doesn’t quite line up with his claims that he wanted to finish his career in ATL!
Going to bed now.
Really.
CL out!
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OK, after reading Wren’s comments, perhaps I’m wrong. Maybe there’s something about Ohman (like maybe he’s a d-bag) that I wasn’t aware of. He certainly seems reasonable by all his comments so far (save those related to Frenchy) and his record isn’t bad with trades…if he says he’s got the reins and Liberty has given him “100 percent” control…I’m just sayin’, there better be some moves in the offseason. And I don’t mean Thorman for (insert worthless player here). You know, I can’t help but feel a little bit of a feeling that he’s gearing up for some big stuff that will surprise us all. I hope so. Bradly calculates 47 mil off next year’s payroll. I’m thinkin’ some major coup like getting CC AND Lackey or Sheets. The money’s there (in theory) and he seems reasonably competent. We can hope. We’ve already been written off as a BS small market has been team; maybe we’ll make a splash. Now would be a damn good time to get season tix just in case.
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Had A LOT of problems getting started with my new ISP, AT&T. Plus, my old ISP(Well, it will be a former one tomorrow) wouldn’t connect after about 1 hour last night on the net…..then couldn’t get the Modem to even work on the old computer!!! 😡
Had to call the help line….got a very cute sounding girl in….the Philippines!!!! Very smart….and it took a long time to get the stuff to download. But, the important thing is it wasn’t my fault! 😛 Did I mention she sounded really cute??? 😀 😀 Sounded vaguely eastern European. Asked her a lot of questions…she then asked me how much computers over here were….if we are to believe her, computers are 25,000 to 30,000 dolllars there!!! Good grief!!!!
Need to catch up!
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She just wanted some love, man…and a plane ticket to the promised land. You’re a jerk for leavin’ her hanging. 🙂
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Yes, Scott Thorman will surprise a few people if he gets a chance to return to the Big Braves… A much has improved swing. He has cut down that big hole that left him susceptible to fastballs. He still can hit the ball a long way, he has figured out that he does not have to hit it 500 feet for it to go out of most parks, 400 feet will do. He has been playing third base and looks better there than first.
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Boyer will be alright if he can get a bit of rest.
I thought JJ pitched a nice game last night.
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I am not quite the gloomy Gus SG is right now….I guess I am in-between he and VOR. But, if we give away Ohman because we can’t pay our best reliever 3 million next year….I will be PO’ed. Might as well hold on to him and get a B pick, right? 🙄
And Grinch, I really hope you are right, and we will open the purse strings some this winter….but I think “we” have sticker shock. When I see how little McCann will get paid the next several years….I just can’t imagine us paying CC or Sheets what they will be able to get. And I would be a bit worried with Sheets health. That’s all we need, another guy getting a ton of money to be on the DL.
And who will drive in runs???
For all the griping about Tex not being clutch enough, he still drove in what, 133 runs in about 157 games???? Even if some of them came in blow outs….it’s still a lot of runs to drive in….I hope Kotchman will be a good RBI guy, he can hit for average if nothing else.
Wish they had tossed in Rivera.
Oh, does anyone know if/when Hudson goes under the knife, will the braves “save” even more money this year and next like they did with Hampton’s insurance policy???
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Berigan, The Braves carry insurance on all their pitchers. Generally, the reason the Braves don’t like to sign contract longer than 3 years is most insurers will not underwrite a policy for longer than that.
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Gil, I wonder what will happen with Thompson! Chipper will clearly be only a 3rd baseman for the rest of his career. Thompson could fill in there, and pinch hit….do they have him become like Norton, and play left some as well???
I have to say, Blanco looks like a smart player. His bunting gets better all the time. but, he needs to hit higher than .268 to be a regular, right????
I just don’t see how we can go into next year thinking Schafer will win CF with him doing nothing at AA. Diaz sounds weeks away still, so we won’t get a handle on whether he is still worth starting every day.
And who would want Kotsay right now??? Who in a race needs a CF???
If you asked me(I know, no one did! 😕 ) We should just re-sign him to some incentives laden contract for next year. IF he’s healthy pay him what he got this year from the A’s. If not, hey no big deal then!
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Gil, I did not know that! Good, “we” have even more money! Lets sign CC and Sheets!![:mrgreen:](https://s0.wp.com/wp-content/mu-plugins/wpcom-smileys/mrgreen.svg)
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And no one commented on Grinch’s or my photos??? 😥 well, CL commented on Grinch’s not so humble abode. Grinch, was sure I was going to see whiskey bottles strewn around the floor, wall to wall photos of naked starlets….I was sorely disappointed to see a place with class, a place William F. Buckley would feel comfortable in! 😉
And the Monte looks sharp! Like the interior!
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I like Kotsay, he is a smart player. Blanco is getting better everyday. At least twice last night he was robbed of a hit. He is a good lead off guy. Escobar worries me. I don’t know what it is but he seems a bit disconnected right now.
Infante’ is really solid I think. He is hitting the ball hard and seems recovered from his hamstring pull.
The Braves are just having a really hard time getting all the facets of their game going at one time. Say what you will but not having Smoltz and Glavin as well as Moylan has really hurt the Braves this season.
The young pitchers have looked pretty good at times but they are still young pitchers. The are prone to blow-ups and hanging breaking balls… Come to think of it, the two go hand and hand.
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Berigan… I really like the baseball photos. Great memories with your dad no doubt..
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Gil, believe it or not, most games I went to as a kid where with my Mom, including that spring training in 1981. Dad went to many a cards and even a few St. Louis Browns game in his youth, but he has never been a huge baseball fan.
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And Gil, have you had this avatar for awhile, or am I just seeing it better since my new monitor is brighter than a candle now???
No rush in answering, I am going to bed! 😛
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Opposite of my dad, he was a huge baseball fan, absolutely hated football and basketball.
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I put it up a couple of days ago… needed a change
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And a little commentary from the “Lip”. Of course he is stating the obvious..
http://www.inrich.com/cva/ric/sports.apx.-content-articles-RTD-2008-07-31-0076.html
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An excerpt from:
http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20080730&content_id=3228447&vkey=trade2008&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb&partnerId=rss_mlb
MIAMI — The prospect of Manny Ramirez becoming a Marlin remains a real possibility.
A source on Thursday morning confirmed that talks continue for a possible three-team trade that would send Ramirez to the Marlins.
Under the scenario, Ramirez would become a Marlin for the final two months of the season. Florida outfielder Jeremy Hermida would head to the Pirates, and the Red Sox would acquire left fielder Jason Bay from Pittsburgh.
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Please forgive my negligence, Ber! I DID enjoy the photos, especially the one of you with Landrum. Great pic!
Over long-term, I’ve noticed on the stats page that, the majority of the time, when a link is posted – for anything – info, music, whatever – it will get only 1 or 2 clicks. Folks here just don’t follow links very much. Don’t know why, but obviously only 1 or 2 are interested enough to follow the link. sigh…..
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Aaaaaaaagggggggghhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!! 😡
What a day and it isn’t even noon! OK, well it is now.
All of my clients are banging on me because of something they are needing that I cannot supply at the moment. I obtain this info from a 3rd party resouce (outsourced for liability purposes) who is not able to operate because the info they retreive has been offline for almost 2 weeks (government SNAFU) so I am caught in the middle with nowhere to go.
Also, school starts here tomorrow and Mrs. Raisins is now teaching full-time. She has been bogged down in pre-planning, meetings and setting up her classoom, which is much more of a task than either of us realized since she is starting completely from zero. It is both time consuming and money consuming.
Did I mention that in the middle of this, my youngest had her class orientation already this morning, my son has his at 3:00 before I hustle him to his allergy shot at 4:00, taekwondo at 5:00, and football at 7:30. Somewhere between I have to pick up some more needed classroom items for Mrs. Raisins’ new classroom, who has her students’ orientation at 6:30.
Oh,yeah… and I have to figure out some time for my job, too…
Where can I squeeze in some B&S time?
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The Red Sox today are talking to the Braves about reliever Will Ohman, who has a 2.84 ERA, 13 holds, and 41 strikeouts (with 18 walks) in 44 1/3 innings pitched this season.
Besides the Red Sox, five other teams are discussing Ohman with the Braves, who are looking for a pitching prospect in return. A logical name that might surface in trade talks with Atlanta from the Red Sox farm system is Double-A pitcher Daniel Bard, who is 2-1 with a 2.63 ERA in 37 2/3 innings pitched for the Sea Dogs this season.
– Gordon Estes, Boston Globe
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The Red Sox today are talking to the Braves about reliever Will Ohman, who has a 2.84 ERA, 13 holds, and 41 strikeouts (with 18 walks) in 44 1/3 innings pitched this season.
Besides the Red Sox, five other teams are discussing Ohman with the Braves, who are looking for a pitching prospect in return. A logical name that might surface in trade talks with Atlanta from the Red Sox farm system is Double-A pitcher Daniel Bard, who is 2-1 with a 2.63 ERA in 37 2/3 innings pitched for the Sea Dogs this season.
– Gordon Estes, Boston Globe
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The Red Sox today are talking to the Braves about reliever Will Ohman.
Besides the Red Sox, five other teams are discussing Ohman with the Braves, who are looking for a pitching prospect in return. A logical name that might surface in trade talks with Atlanta from the Red Sox farm system is Double-A pitcher Daniel Bard, who is 2-1 with a 2.63 ERA in 37 2/3 innings pitched for the Sea Dogs this season. – Gordon Estes, Boston Globe
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… well, it is obviously MY dau to litter the filter… 😐
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The Braves feel like they’re in good position heading into Thursday’s Trade Deadline. More than five teams have shown great interest in Will Ohman and it’s believed the Rays, Yankees and Red Sox are among those bidding for his services.
Despite late-Wednesday reports to the contrary, meanwhile, it appears very much that the Cardinals are out of the bidding for Ohman.
With these three AL East teams involved, the Braves may receive a greater return for the left-handed reliever than they originally envisioned.
— Mark Bowman
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test
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hello filter
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Dedicated to Raisins!
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g’bye filter
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Thanks for the dedication CL… 😀
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Just dropped in to say hi and bye.
Hittin’ the road to Atlanta in a few minutes. Y’all behave yerselves, now, heyah.
Raisins… I had a day like your’n yesterday. Now I’ll have four hours of peace and quiet while driving. Other than some phone calls I need to make. Uh, make that three hours of phone calls and one hour of… no, wait… make that three hours of phone calls and one hour rockin’ out on some new tunage. It’s all good.
Go Braves… whichever ones that are left after today.
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Raisins, the filter is clear!
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Be safe, SG! (Remember the tire!!)
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I wish they’d keep Ohman. They sell everybody off, who is going to pitch??
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All sorts of moves going on… Griffey to the White Soxs… There are some real gems to be mined out of the Tampa minor leagues system. Now if we can just get a kid with a rubber arm to go with JJ and Jorge..
Yes, I like Ohman too but unless someone is willing to take Soriano, I think he is gone…
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I’m afraid you’re right, Gil. 😦
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Ohman knows the game…let him get two months elsewhere, pull in some playoff money, get the Braves a prospect or so, then re-sign in the offseason. The advantage he has is in knowing the Braves…then again, maybe not an advantage. Alas, the chips fall where they may.
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😯 😯 😯
Mrs. Raisins’ students’ orientation is not at 6:30… it’s 3:00 – 6:30. I have made a grave miscalculation. Somehow, I’m not gonna pick that last stuff up at 5:00 and get it there on time… 😦
Uh, CL, can I rent the doghouse for a while?
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I think you get a pass on the doghouse this time, VOR. Sounds like enough errands for 3 people.
I have just now gotten to the photos, Ber. Great stuff there. I considered posting some pics from the 95 NLCS but they’re pretty blurred & I have no idea how to get them into the computer anyway. Now Grinch’s… I have to say I’m rather impressed. A major upgrade from the usual bachelor pad.
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VOR, isn’t it about time the littlest raisin started to pull their weight, and did some of the driving chores!? 😆 From the you didn’t ask dept, I’d drop the taekwondo. One lesson missed won’t hurt, will it???(have no clue, wish my parents had pushed me towards some martial arts, I’d be even more fearsome than I am! 😕 )
Also, can you pick up my dry cleaning tomorrow??? Never had any cloths dry cleaned before, but this seems like the time to start! 😛
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FLB, do you are your parents have a scanner??? If they do, pretty straighforward. If not….not!
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ESPN NEWS has a baseball deadline show on now…..
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Maybe for you. My sister has a scanner but asking her to scan 13-year-old blurry photos for me will probably get this response : 🙄 .
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I will miss most of the game tonight (I’ll DVR it, of course). Got a family get-together with a bunch of cousins, most of whom I haven’t seen in several years. Betcha they’ll all want to visit us in Tiger once they see the pics of the house.
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FLB, I have literally scanned thousands of items thru the years, I could easily talk you thru it here, or via email….or, you could just say, I’m just a girl, I couldn’t do that….
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reverse psychology!!!! 😀
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Sal Fasano …. .320 ave, 4 Rbi’s in 25 AB’s
Corky Miller…. .093 ave,3 Rbi’s in 54 Ab’s.
So glad we were able to help Cleveland out! 😕
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Ohhhhh, Raisins! No charge for the first 30 days for regulars. Don’t know whether to laugh or cry for you!!! Never mind… 😆 (sorry – can’t help it!)
” it’s more than any man can take –
being Mr. Mooooooommmmm “
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Red Sox fans on my jazz blog say Manny HAS been traded…but espn is running a really bad recap show on the NEWS channel…we shall see…
Oh, to the Dodgers supposedly….
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Manny traded to Dodgers! Pirates make a very good deal, after a pretty bad one(Unless that AA guy from the Yankees becomes a star)
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3513383
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Jason Bay to Red Sox; there goes that one.
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Good photos, Berigan; love the clothes. That’s one thing I miss about the 70’s. 🙂 Thanks for saying so about the house, though there’s a reason there was only a photo of half the den. The table in front of the sofa and loveseat looked like a recycling center. Same with my office. I’ll send in some more later on. The interior of the Monte’s in good shape, no? It was garage kept ’till I bought it about four years ago. It’s starting to fade a bit; Grinch Pup ate the cover I had on it. Really; no joke.
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HA! Got J Deere running! (water in the carb) Grass is now cut!!
Got the car back this afternoon.
It’ll go back first thing in the morning.
(CHECK ENGINE light came on before I got back home…..)
….sigh….
😦
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OHMAN STAYS!!! per ajc
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Hampton is having a tough time throwing strikes tonight…
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Okay, that a little better, let’s get some runs Braves…
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Man… these Cardinals can go get the ball….
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Maybe they should just let Hampton play left field..
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Way to go defense….
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Oops
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I have seen Mike look sharper but not too bad all things considered..
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Wow! I actually saw Bobby conferring with McDowell!!! Hope it wasn’t about pepperoni or anchovies.
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Sammons’ first career homer!! 6-4 Braves 😀
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Successfully avoided a sweep: 9 – 4 Braves
I’ll leave the night light on…..
Raisins, you need a pillow for the doghouse?
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Hey, everyone…
All is well. Mrs. Raisins survived orientation, I made all my stops and everybody was everywhere they needed to be. The only thing left was for me to actually sit down and do some of my own work.
I sat down to work, needing to login to GoToMyPC to access the “office” server only to find it unavailable. Partner #1 has it offline while backing up all the files. Can’t work tonight!
You say “just do it early tomorrow.” Well, I can’t because partner #2 is dismantling the server in the morning (hence tonight’s file backup) in order to deliver it to me to actually move the server from what used to be the centralized office to my home office.
In other words, no work done today job-wise. My clients will be ecstatic… 😐
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I think I’ll go to bed… if it is still accessable…
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Good evening y’all. So it’s actually a game worth watching, huh? I’ll have to try to get that in before bed. Had a very nice mini-reunion, though it was impossible to talk to everyone. Bunny is much, much better. She has a slight limp & will probably need surgery to clean out excess scar tissue around her knee but otherwise is doing great. She’ll be headed back to work soon.
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Frieda ate the car cover? Wow. So if any of us ever visit Grinch Manor, we should keep all personal belongings within reach at all times?
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Just dropped by on my way to bed; been storming here all evening and missed the game. I expect Corky’s just lost his roster spot, but you never know around here.
FBG, only if you hold them in high regard. 🙂
G’night.
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Yeah, lots of storms on the southside, amazing that the game wasn’t delayed at all! Heard some of the game, and we seemed to get those key hits, homers that we rarely get….good game!
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That was a local game? Wow; the thunder, lightening and rain had me practically under the house from about 6:30 to almost midnight, and I’m about 20 miles South of the stadium.
Anyhoo, I’ve got two lower-level tickets to Saturday’s afternoon game and I can’t make it. Anyone who wants them e-mail me at voton1066@yahoo.com and I’ll arrange them to be available at will call.
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Richmond is 8-33 in its last 41 games, they have lost three in a row to the Nationals, farm club (Columbus, Ohio). Yes, time are tough and I doubt they will turn around before the end of the season.
Very generous offer Mr Green One…. I hope one of you local folks take advantage of it.
Yes, Sammons may as well stay in Atlanta now, it’s only a month until the September call ups anyway and I think he got sufficient at bats for the season. Certainly is more viable and alternative than Corkey. And right handed too…
He will not be confused with Javy or BMac but I think he adds to the club.
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I was out, so I missed seeing his homer, but saw the replay….There is no reason in the world not to have him catch once a week, but I could really see this club sending him down and keeping the guy with the .093 Average…. check this out!
What do Buddy Carlyle, Jorge Campillo, Tim Hudson, Jeff Bennett, Tom Glavine
and Jair Jurrjens alll have in common??? (besides being injured at some point this year! 😛 ) They ALL have higher batting averages than Corky!!!
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I heard Skip say something interesting during the game…he said with all the power hitting outfielders the Cards have, that they and the Braves should make a trade in the off-season. Kind of makes sense….Kelly Johnson or Lil’Bridge perhaps????
I am wondering if Infante might not be a regular, after all! Did someone mention that here a few days ago????
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G’morning everybody!
Quick hitter before I venture out to a business partners’ meeting this morning.
I heard the new homeboy upstairs on a radio interview yesterday and he made no bones about it. He didn’t beat around the bush and all those other cliches. He was very direct in saying that the Braves willl have alot of payroll flexibility in the offseason, and that they would use their resources in seeking a top tier pitcher and a power bat for LF. He was very specific in saying that pitching is their main focus right now, and that LF is also plainly on the radar. He also said that they will be talking to Ohman after this season about a long term deal.
Now, granted, it’s all words at this point. But there was certainly no dancing around the topics, and he was very blunt and direct about all of the personel matters. Time will tell…
Later!
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VOR, that sound good to me! 🙂 No reason in the world to let Ohman get away. Ron Mahay got away, and even at 36, his ERA is under 2.00. And thats in the DH league. Think it would be nice if he was still around???
Ha, I just saw that I had typed “and that’s in the DL league” If there is a DL league, the braves are not only in it, they are in 1st place! 😆
Wren is pretty smart, I think it’s safe to say…..
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Listening to another interview now. Stessing again their interest in Ohman long term. He says they were working on a Bay deal up to the last moments, when he was dealt to Boston.
Interesting stat just told. Tex has more RBI than Kotch, but Kotch has driven in 18% of the runners on base during his AB’s as opposed to Tex, who has driven in only 16% of the same. Tex has just had a ton of runners on.
He’s re-emphasizing the need for a top tier starting pitcher and power right handed bat for LF.
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Stessing?
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He says they “have to” bring in a top notch starter, and that they will be “very competitive” and “aggressive” in the FA and trade markets.
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The phrase “very competitive” was used in a direct question about a run at Sabathia or Sheets.
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Wow…
He says the Braves see Tex as a “very good” player, but “not a superstar player” like Boras does. Ouch!
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He says Tex’s last statement sums up his attitude: “Business is business.”
Did I already say ouch?
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OK, now I’m out for a while…
Later!
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Thanks for the 411 VOR! I really hope it’s true! CC would make a huge difference here…could you imagine a pitcher who could you know….complete games????
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Remember when the big three used to throw complete games? We were really spoiled; almost as bad as their bullpens were.
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A man on his Harley was riding along a California beach when suddenly the sky clouded above his head and, in a booming voice, the Lord said, ‘Because you have tried to be faithful to me in all ways, I will grant you one wish.’
The biker pulled over and said, ‘Build a bridge to Hawaii so I can ride over anytime I want.’
The Lord said, ‘Your request is materialistic, think of the enormous challenges for that kind of undertaking; the supports required reaching the bottom of the Pacific and the concrete and steel it would take! It will nearly exhaust several natural resources. I can do it, but it is hard for me to justify your desire for worldly things. Take a little more time and think of something that could possibly help mankind.’
The biker thought about it for a long time. Finally, he said, ‘Lord, I wish that I and all men could understand women; I want to know how she feels inside, what she’s thinking when she gives me the silent treatment, why she cries, what she means when she says nothing’s wrong, why she snaps and complains when I try to help, and how I can make a woman truly happy.’
The Lord replied, ‘You want two lanes or four on that bridge?
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Hey-o! Good one. 🙂 And like all good ones, oh so true.
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Thought you’d like that one, Grinch! 😆
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NEW BLOG IS UP!!
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