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by Savannah Guy
Watched the first two innings last night. A pretty exciting evening it was, but not because of the listless, hapless Braves. About the time the Braves game was called, a powerful storm rolled into Savannah like a freight train with massive lightning, driving pea-sized hail, rain, water spouts and micro-bursts. Pretty exciting stuff. Not so much the Braves.
It’s gotten to the point that Jeff Francoeur is more productive striking out than making contact. If it were not for killing rallies and hitting into double plays he’d get no action at all. Last night’s double-play with the bases loaded was not even a surprise.
As Gil said, it’s not Francoeur’s fault the Braves lost and it’s not Bobby’s fault that French can’t hit. However, Jeff has become the living, breathing metaphor for the entire team, with the exception of Chipper and Mac and our three starting pitchers ….. who are beginning to show their inevitable frustration for the lack of run support. The team looks listless when they take the field. They are a rudderless team. They looked as though they’d rather be somewhere else. Kelly is lost and confused. I’ve never seen this Atlanta team look so bad… ever.
So, what is the problem? Who should take the blame for French taking the field every day? Who is to be blamed for the 250 “slugger” taking a pouting 2-day, truncated stint in Mississippi? Who should answer for 233 hitting (missing) Kelly Johnson being cemented into second base when Prado or someone else could fill the spot?
Who takes the rap for Schafer struggling way too long before finally, appropriately, mercifully being sent back to the minors where he belongs this year? Who is responsible for using Peter Moylan until his TJ-recovering arm falls off? Who is responsible when the entire team goes into a funk and stays in that funk for two months? Who is ultimately responsible when a professional ball club appears listless, lost, confused and befuddled for so long? Who should be called on the carpet?
Who will call those in responsible management positions onto the carpet? With Liberty and the current regime, there will be no response to this miserable, hapless play, other than the usual spin.
For this Braves team, the GM, Cox and his buddies (otherwise known as coaches), there is no accountability for results outside of the accounting department and the dugout where some derrieres rest way too comfortably on their country club, media guarded, bullet-proof, faded and tattered laurels.
C’mon kid.
~SG~
Many thanks, SG! 😆
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Thanks, SG.
I will only say this. It’s hard to bake a tasty cake when the milk is curdled, the butter has turned, the eggs are rotten and the flour canister is empty.
Somebody, though, could go to Kroger…
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Superb lead but it lacked, uh, whaa?
Oh, my…
Note to self: be more careful and spend more time preparing, writing and proofing when submitting a comment as it may wind up as a blog lead. Or at least resist banging out a stream of thought without even proofing it. Yikes… have mercy.
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Yes Raisins. And as we know, sometimes ya gotta break a few eggs…
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Sorry, SG! Gotta get ’em where I can find ’em! 😆
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I had a nice surprise visit from a friend from Romania last night. (First on blog?) After he left, I turned on the TV hoping that I might catch the last inning or so of the game. I was pleasantly surprised to see that it was still early thanks to rain! I watched for about five minutes – long enough for French Poodle to swing at ball four and hit into a double play with the bases loaded. I turned it off and just went to bed.
They have gone from intriguing, to boring to just… well, there are no words. And that is just the point. They can’t even inspire a word.
Position by position:
1B: I like Casey alot. I really do. Truth is, without some power from ANY other source, he is not an adequate offensive 1B. Some inkling of power somewhere in the outfield might give him a reprieve.
2B: We suck.
SS: Brilliant at times; Martian at times. Who shows up?
3B: Venerable. Steady. Sure.
C: Thank you, Lord, for a light in this dark world.
LF: We suck.
CF: Uh, I’ll give him some time to adjust…
RF: We suck. No, he is beyond just sucking. He is not your average Hoover. He is at least an Electrolux. Vacuum of space is not far away. It’s really bad when you begin to pray that he DOES strike out. He doesn’t just kill rallies, he shoots them first in the kneecaps so that they crumble to the ground in a heap. Then he watches them slowly bleed to death before dragging them across rocky ground to a shallow grave and tosses dirt on them.
SP: B+
RP: As schizo as our SS.
sigh
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CL, you have mail. A few minor, merciful edits to the lead.
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Done, SG!
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Yes SG… If it looks, acts and walks like a duck.. it still might be AFLAC… As much as I like and respect Bobby, things may have become too comfortable for him. He deserves a better fate but someone has to take a bullet for this team. Trouble is, does that mean TP will get the job? Is that the only way to move him out of the hitting coach position?
And Raisins, that’s a lot of sucking there…. Sadly, true… Ever notice that no matter where Frency is hitting (I use that term loosely) in the batting order, the big situation finds him.
If they must allow him to bat, why not lead off? At least he won’t be hitting into double plays as much. And since he has primarily become a singles hitter, no great loss… Maybe he will become more patient at the plate.
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Trouble is, does that mean TP will get the job?
Ironically, he may be equipped to be a great manager. I think he could be a pretty good one. He is NOT a hitting coach. I have a feeling he is the successor in waiting, though. No other real reason to retain his, uh, services.
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Gee, my lead was only up a week! 😦 I hope people will still read it…from time to time…
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😛
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He doesn’t just kill rallies, he shoots them first in the kneecaps so that they crumble to the ground in a heap. Then he watches them slowly bleed to death before dragging them across rocky ground to a shallow grave and tosses dirt on them.
V, now that cracked me up!
It is sad though…and why or rather, how is he hitting .250??? That has to be the weakest .250 in the history of .250’s
I see the Red’s Jay Bruce is suffering a bit in his 2nd year in the bigs(He’s only 22) hitting.215 But, he has 15 hr’s and 32 RBI’s . And I believe Nate made a very good catch on a drive he had to center. Looked like a good swing.
Frenchy, except for a liner to right once in a while, never has a good swing. Just like Andruw a few years back, pitches down the middle seem to confound him….sigh…I’d dearly love to see him go on a month long tear. We’d all be so happy to see it happen.
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And very good unintentional blog SG! I don’t know how much to blame Bobby on a day to day basis(I don’t like certain in game moves as everyone knows, but he ain’t the one not driving in runs) but it sure seems like TP’s time has come and gone as a hitting coach. Thought Mark Bradley was going to toss him under the bus, but nope, didn’t happen.
Those 12 hits last night I guess are proof of him doing a swell job. The 2 runs scored, well, that’s just bad luck, nothing else.
Gil, I wondered to myself a few days ago(Have to act like I had the idea myself! 😉 ) if Frenchy might benefit from batting leadoff. What could it hurt???
And isn’t it about time to put Nate down the order since he has power, and has driven in more runs than anyone else on the team??? Just bat him whereever Frenchy was supposed to bat, and he will be guaranteed the bases loaded 2-3 times a game.
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Is it wrong that I laughed at VOR’s description of Frenchy’s rally-killing abilities?
Not sure what it would entail but this team needs a kick in the butt to wake them up.
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Some semi-good news. The Braves are only 4 games out in the wildcard race.
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Raisins, your 11:14 was funny… and true. The last paragraph was downright hilarious. Oh, the visual imagery there. 😆
Carolina Lady, Thanks for making the edits I sent. Much appreciated. As you know, I could keep torturing a story endlessly (and usually do). (You’re welcome! CL)
(edited to lead)
That ending would have brought the story back home to the source of the problem, where it belongs… in the dugout, on the laurel covered pine. These days and particularly with a young team we need more than a “c’mon kid”. That common chirp from the dugout worked when we had three Cy Young winning, future HOF starters. If you’ll remember, even in the winning 90’s we usually just scratched out narrow wins, but we had consummate pros on the mound that kept us in damn near every game they pitched.
The three amigos are gone. Now the kids need a bit more.
Quack.
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Is it wrong that I laughed at VOR’s description of Frenchy’s rally-killing abilities?
No, not that wrong. Now, go say ten Hail Mary’s.
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I guess we should take heart at the example set by the Astros the past couple of years. They proved you can be pretty far out of things and still come back.
And didn’t we all agree back in April that Francouer would be the key to the Braves season? boy, it that one coming to pass….
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And I think Barbaro will be back at some point during the season.
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Get me Barbaro at first, throw in Prado, Diory and Infante and sit Kelly and Jeffy and I’ll win you some games.
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Well, with everyone down on the team, it’s clearly the time for them to start hitting like crazy, right???? Doesn’t it happen every year??? Usually later in the season, with the patented last season push to give us some hope….couldn’t hurt to have one winning stretch pre, then post all star game.
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The name ‘Barbaro’ makes me think of the race horse.
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I hope the Braves don’t feel the need to “put him down”… 🙂
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Poop scoop at first?
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What a great game! Tons of offense, great managing, just great, wonderful, stupendous!
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😛
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Washington vs Yankees… right?
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What game were you watching, Ber?
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What game??? Why the imaginary game in my head of course! It was great, too bad you guys didn’t see it!
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Had an interesting conversation with my doctor today. He’s a huge guy standing at 6’5″ and had never appeared ‘overweight’ to me and I’ve known him many years. He has recently lost a lot of weight, and I told him he looked better before because he had the height and frame to carry it. (Believe me, he could fill up a room just by walking into it!)
Then he explained. All men have about the same size heart, lungs, liver, etc, and all women’s internal organs are about the same size – just smaller than men’s.
Being much bigger (taller) means that his heart has to work harder to pump a larger volume of blood, lungs had to work harder, etc.
I have been trying to figure out how this correlates to the baseball field. There has to be an effect – I just haven’t worked it out.
He’s got me on a new pain med. It’s something that originally was intended for seizures – but it turned out it was lousy for that but pretty good for pain control.
Only problem is – you take one at bedtime each night for 5 nights. Then you take two at bedtime for 5 nights. Finally, you add one in the morning and continue the two at night.
First one taken tonight about 11:00. It’s 4:02 a.m. and here I am talking to myself, dizzy, somewhat sleepy, but still have enough pain that I can’t sleep. sigh…….
Still no response from the scribe – that is worrisome!
Catch y’all later!
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CL! Sorry I missed you here! Sorry you are still in pain too! 😦
I have stayed up late a few too many days, and since I couldn’t keep my eyes open for baseball tonight, I decided to go to bed. Woke up a hour later. Couldn’t go back to sleep, fun! 😕
I am now all caught up on the baseball world.
I even read some comments at the ajc…hey, it’s late.
Supes(A name I recall from our days there) was saying Joe Simpson said Chipper was working on KJ’s hand placement after each AB, trying to help him not get quite as much of an uppercut…then supes asked had anyone heard of TP helping any hitter…great minds think alike.
Speaking of hitters, think we could trade Frenchy and KJ for Micah Owings??? He’d make a great left fielder.
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CL, that is interesting that even if you are tall, your organs stay the same size. Guess it’s true even if you are small…seems that could cause issues as well!
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Chipper, Francoeur didn’t want to face Smoltz in Atlanta
http://www.ajc.com/braves/content/sports/braves/stories/2009/06/17/smoltz_debut.html
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CL.. Topomax?
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CL, sorry you’re having to deal with pain. Must be really bad if it requires meds to sleep. Bummer. Hope the new stuff does the trick for you. In the meantime, I enjoyed your longer post. Can that pain med inspire one to write longer? I’ll have to remember not to ever take one of those. 😀
CL, I noticed that you added my new last paragraph to the lead. I didn’t intend for you to do more and I didn’t expect you to go to that trouble, but thanks. You’re the blog hostess with the mostess.
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Posting at 4:47 in the morning, it was a good thing Bear was around to escort the Lady. Did you guys happen to see BAS wandering around the streets? Anyone in Klobber’s Saloon?
Many years ago, before married, I took percoset after minor surgery. Spent the night with and stayed up all night talking to my mom, who lived closer to the hospital than I did. Amped up and all.
Not bad until the next day. Not sure how she put up with my jabbering and acted interested the whole night. Mom’s are good that way.
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SG, funny how some meds affect people…most pain pills do nothing for me…Hydrocodene (SP?) the really strong stuff??? It will make me quite happy. Scary happy. Also tends to make me have issues related to waste removal. TMI??? Of course it is.
Thank goodness I don’t have an addictive personality. Except for food, baseball, cars, old movies, etc, etc, etc…
But not the happy pills. Happy to be sad.
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Take heart Atlantans.. Relief is on the way… Yes, the Braves have retained the services of the Famous Chicken to entertain those fans in attendance of the Gwennett game on June 26th…
Hey, I took my youngest son to see him at a Braves game 20 years ago. He still talks about it.
Perhaps that what Atlanta really needs, an attraction like the Chicken. it’s worked for Phillie has it not?
Fans would no longer angst (blog first?) over the lack of timely hitting or poor play in the field, they would be guaranteed on field entertainment of the first rate.
Anyway, was sad to learn that the Chicken would soon be hanging up his spurs. Catch his act while you can…
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Berigan, you are lucky the hydrocodone has a good effect on you, they cause terrible mood swings for me. Just a super short temper. I had to stop taking them… And by the way, there is no such thing as an addition to pain medicine when you are still in pain…
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Late start for me today; early start for Los Bravos…
Yesterday, work was very light, so I took off early (3:00p) to take care of some non-work related items before heading off to church. Got home kinda late, ate a coupla bites, chillaxed for a little while and headed to snoozey-land. About midnight:30, a heckuva storm rumbled through with incredible lightning, strong wind, hail and finally the inevitable power outage. As I scrambled around the house to unplug the TV, computer, etc. the power went off leaving me in the dark and up the stairs. I felt my way back down and to the one place I keep a flashlight for such emergencies. No flashlight. (Those darn kids… they love to play with ’em, don’t they?) A little more scrambling turned up a candle, but no way to light it. 15 minutes later, I find the grill lighter and have a small light source. Of course, the whole time, God had been providing me with a pretty cool natural strobe light, which I could not fully appreciate at 1:00a with hail punding and wind howling. Anyway, the storm finally rumbled on through and the worst stopped about 1:30a. I looked out my back door to find my new gas grill tossed onto its face in the middle of the patio, the kids’ trampoline moved about 15 feet over, and chairs strewn all over the back yard. Nice. I righted the grill, noticing the busted handle and torn cover, and muttered all the way back inside. I finally went back to sleep about 2:30a, rising late at about 9:30a. Went up to my office to reconnect things and check on work. Wouldn’t you know, about 3:30p yesterday, a ton of stuff came in. 😐 I have spent all morning trying to catch up from yesterday… now on to today.
And the Braves… starting at 12:30, but weather delayed. I wonder if they can find their flashlights?
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A column just for SG:
http://blogs.ajc.com/mark-bradley-blog/2009/06/18/the-hot-button-do-the-braves-need-a-new-manager/
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Three paragraphs from Mark Bradley’s column. Very well stated, I believe.
OK, you’re asking: Would I fire Bobby Cox? Absolutely not. He’s one of three reasons — John Schuerholz and starting pitching are the other two — the Braves became the Braves. If he wants to keep trying to restore this team to eminence, I’d afford him that chance. He has earned the benefit of every doubt.
But phrase the question differently — if I were hiring someone to manage these Braves, would I hire Cox? — and my answer might be different. And I say that for his sake. I respect the man too much to see him lose with players who have little sense of what it once meant to be a Brave.
I like Bobby Cox. I don’t like what the Braves have become.
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Good
morningafternoon, everyone!Ok. So the new stuff DOES work, it just takes a while to take effect. Slept solidly from about 5 a.m. to – well, about 11:30. Me. In bed. 11:30 a.m. Whoa! Thank the Lord for Kelly and Crystal (mother’s aide)!!
Gil, it is ‘Gabapentin 300mg’, generic for ‘Neurontin. Warnings: may cause drowsiness – do not operate car or machinery – may cause dizziness (no kidding!) – no alcohol (no problem) – very important to follow dosage instructions exactly.
Well, we’ll see.
While I was on the meds for so long after the shoulder surgery, the back/hip/sciatic pain was masked. But now it is in full voice. sigh ….. I manage during the day without meds because my mind has to be clear, but night is another story altogether.
Can that pain med inspire one to write longer?
Dunno, SG. It’s weird sitting at the computer in the middle of the night, somewhat cross-eyed, a whole lot bored, and nothing to really talk about. 😆
Percoset. 10mg = a good night’s sleep, wake up feeling good without any side effects. And they won’t let me have it long term. 😡
You’re welcome, SG. 🙂 (And thanks!)
I need another cup of coffee. If I can get my eyeballs to straighten out, I have a desperately overdue project to work on.
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Superlative post, Raisins! Really excellent!
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These three comments stood out to me in Bradley’s really excellent article:
“It has gotten too easy to be an Atlanta Brave. With few exceptions, these Braves enjoy the reflection of success without having achieved the success itself.”
“I respect the man too much to see him lose with players who have little sense of what it once meant to be a Brave.”
“I like Bobby Cox. I don’t like what the Braves have become.”
Summed up perfectly.
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Cost of illegal health care in ONE Florida hospital:
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Y’all probably already know this – from ajc
“The Houston Astros placed former Braves left-hander Mike Hampton on the 15-day disabled list on Wednesday with a left groin strain.
It’s the 12th time in his 15-year career that Hampton has been on the DL. He is 4-5 with a 4.70 ERA in 12 starts for the Astros this season.”
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Wow! I found a powerful message in this little clip about a man and his dog, Monk. Christian message – watch, don’t watch, your choice:
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Hello all… Watching Tommy H walk a tightrope against the Reds. You just walk batters in the majors and be successful. What’s with the control problems with this rookie.
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Well, didn’t know it was an early day game(Silly me, I thought we were playing in Boston tonight) so I missed Hanson….how’d he look, beyond the walks???
V, I sure heard the storm, tons of lightning, and not a single drop of rain!!! Same with most every storm of late, much sound and fury, Signifying nothing. I don’t think we have had rain in Jonesboro in more than a week….
Weird to catch the game at 7-0 in the 7th and seeing the score stay that. Glad we won, just wish I had seen…something.
Prado played 2nd, and didn’t get a single ball hit to him! 😯
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Mark Bradley also doesn’t think TP should go.
But, he made some good points about Bobby.
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CL, just watched that video, amazing!!! And yet, no one cares it seems.
Everyone cared about the bonuses being paid to exec’s (even if they were in their contracts) but no one cared that we gave $200,000,000 to the nation of Palau to keep those Chinese Muslims from Gitmo.
What a world.
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Ber, I think no one cares because few are aware of it. They are unaware of it because the stinking “MEDIA” won’t report it. Better to keep people occupied with less important things so they don’t notice what is really happening.
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Very nice game today. Hanson still hasn’t shown us his best but he’s making good strides. And it sure is nice to get a little offense.
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I hope you get a good night’s sleep tonight, CL (as opposed to morning). (((hug)))
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OK, only “night” was supposed to be italics. 🙄
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Great video CL… Isn’t it funny how we can find object lessons in our everyday life and how it relates to our relationship with the Lord?
I’m going to share that one with my kids…
Yes Ber, I sit down every month trying to get a little further ahead of the curve paying down debt all the while someone else is making more. I was once young and naive just like our President. He is a smart man from what I can see but like many who have not really suffered the realities of like, he does not fully comprehend the consequences of his words. Wanting to be loved by all usually only gets you despised by many. Not sure of why that is but often works out that way.
And great game this afternoon. Got to love Matt Diaz’s grit. he is not blessed with the most talent but doggone if he doesn’t get the most out of what he has. At least he acts like he cares…
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True that…Diaz does seem to care, bring some energy…
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Warning: Political rant ahead.
He is a smart man from what I can see but like many who have not really suffered the realities of (life), he does not fully comprehend the consequences of his words.
Gil, you have much more faith in the good intentions and motivations of the PresBO than I do. Intelligent? Not so much. I’d say pretty average, which is contrary to the effete media’s glowing, drooling portrayal of the “intellectual”, chosen one. I’ll give him this; he does know how to act intelligent. His falsely magnanimous portrayal of a Presidential candidate should have won him an Oscar, not an Oval Office or a Pennsylvania Avenue address.
BO is not stupid but he’s pretty ignorant with an advanced ability to deceive. The man is the most narcissistic leader this country has ever seen. Will we have to see a press conference, town hall and photo-op every single day of his term, starring the chosen, casual one? When does he read? When does he work? The campaign goes on, as it must when you’re in the nation destruction and rebuilding business as he is.
For a quick little historic comparison, BO’s Teleprompters are more enabling than FDR’s crutches. The braces allowed FDR to look strong, “normal” and stand on occasion. He didn’t need them for any other reason and could have been the same intelligent, articulate leader that he was without them. He was a strong leader in the war but a terrible, socialist leader that turned a recession into a protracted depression, but he was smart. Book smart anyway. I’ll give him that, but that is another story.
Contrasting FDR, PresBO’s Teleprompters provide him with the crutch that affords him the content, appearance of intelligence and articulation that he needs to titillate 90% of the media and fool half of the country. His Teleprompters are like strings to a puppet. The radical left has found their Howdy Doody man who can walk, talk, play the part and forward the socialist agenda.
PresBO naïve? I think not… although, he may not know the intricacies, complexities and depths of the “generational theft”, economic and currency destruction he’s causing or the inevitable hyperinflation resulting from his policies. Yet, he’s acutely aware of what he’s doing to hard working people that have worked hard, saved money and played by “the rules” all of their lives, who are now seeing the rules change and a redistribution of wealth to support those that have never participated in productivity or capitalist, free enterprise system. But redistribution of wealth is still not the primary motivation of the left. They need to spread the wealth so that they build a power base for themselves.
With BO, you have a community activist hard at work changing your community. That’s what he does. He can’t do that if our economy is strong and people are held accountable for their life choices, therefore, he must wreck it and rebuild on the Marxist, socialist model that he ignorantly adores… that same model that has failed every time it has ever been attempted, everywhere in the world. His and the Left’s primary reason for doing this is not due to their contrived purpose of helping the poor; it is, at the end of the day, about their own personal power. When self-motivation and hard work is punished, everyone is in need. When everyone is in need, the government will be there to control us. Those that lead government will control the strings and the people.
Community organizing. That’s what BO does. He has his hands on the big socio-economic pendulum and he is forcing an unnatural, gear-stripping movement to the left. He is not naive and he’s not at innocent. He does understand the consequences of his actions, which is why he’s doing what he’s doing. In order to build a society that he, Saul Alinsky, George Soros and the like desire, he must destroy our economy and create a majority of the “needy” to accomplish his agenda. It is as plain as the value of the dollar, the cost of oil and commodities. It is as obvious as the restrictions and unfair burdens being placed upon businesses, to tax paying individuals and the free enterprise system itself.
Theirs is not a program of creating a better country or empowering the people to live free and prosper according to one’s own education, hard work or ingenuity. The Leftist platform of “helping those in need” is a smoke screen for the truly naïve, well intentioned masses and the myopic media. The true purpose of the fascist, socialist is to increase their own individual power and enrich themselves in the process. This may not make the theatres any time soon, but it’s certainly coming soon to a neighborhood near you.
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Well, that one did it. Must’ve broken the blog. Or maybe the Brownshirts are marching into Stuffville. 😯
Once again, note to self: proofread before posting. When will I learn. Same mistakes over and over. It’s getting Francoeurish. 😯
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Now, mercifully… baseball:
Thanks for the link Raisins. It was a good and fair article, yet I think that Mark Bradley is conflicted. That’s expected. Over time and with familiarity and a certain loyalty, it’s only natural and even good to be that way and have certain conflicts. I disagree with him a some fundamental points, but the irony here is, because of this ever so slight and respectful breach of the Bobby Cox viability discussion that has been published for all the world to see, Cox has just sustained a tiny crack in the fifteen year-old concrete dam that has been protecting him from a swelling flood of criticism. He no longer has upper management and HOF starters to plug the holes in his management skills.
When a guy like Mark Bradley, who has known Cox so long even offers a subtle hint that Cox may not be the right manager for right now, he has thrown a boulder in the river. Surely the dam will continue to erode and sooner than later give way to the harsh realities of results.
Problem is, Cox hasn’t demonstrated that he is willing to leave the job. He certainly hasn’t shown a desire to at least partially retire and spend more time in the twilight years with his wife and family. I won’t judge what I don’t know about that, but it seems awfully selfish and odd.
Cox may or may not be a sterling example of greatest managers of all time. I think not, but he has the wins and, no matter how he got them, he was manager when the pennants were won. Personally and quite probably in the minority on this, even though 60% of the fans that voted on the AJC site believe that the Braves need a new manager, I believe just about half of the managers in the MLB could have won all those pennants with the advantages he had going into most seasons. Those unique advantages were:
• Glavine
• Smoltz
• Maddox
• Turner
• Kasten
The attention of TBS and “America’s Team” brought attention, revenue and good players to the franchise. What Ted gave, Time Warner stifled and sold. What Liberty bought was the end of an era. What they have done with their own ownership and stewardship is… not much. They have funded a business as usual network of executives and management.
Even so, they are not the ultimate fault in terms of budget or salaries. We have as much as many teams. What they have done for the quality of the Braves franchise is… nothing. That has resulted in a mediocre team that has no future until they are owned by an individual that wants to win and makes the changes in management that will begin a new legacy of winning.
The chance for Cox to move on gracefully is past, but if he does the right thing or if someone above him does the right thing, he can still come out smelling like a rose… after the stink of the last 3 years wears off.
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An important life lesson was when I read that it is not your current standing on the social-economic scale, it is the direction in which you are heading.
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Great vids, CL.
Bear… I’ve always reacted in an oposite way to pain meds, which is why the percoset keep me up and jabbering all night when I was expecting to get knocked out and sleep through the pain. Well, I didn’t have pain at least… but no sleep either. That’s why I don’t like taking any drugs except the occasional aspirin.
Before you ask… NO. I’m not taking percoset at the moment. Just my natural jabbering. Had a few minutes and some stuff to get off chest. Feels lighter now.
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SG:
You and I may actually find a slight bit of common ground here. To accomplish what the Braves franchise accomplished from 1991-2005 was unprecedented. It may not happen again. Something like that is not the product of one man, three men, or even three HOF’ers. It really is the culmination of the perfect storm. My contention, though, is that Bobby was a part of that perfect storm. His handling of the players, the personalities, the egos, etc. was a huge factor in the success of those teams.
But as the ingredients have changed, so has the sum of the whole. The dynamic is radically different. He may not be the right man for the current roster – the wannabe Braves – but that should not diminish his importance to the franchise during its most successful period. The right guy may not help a hapless group, but the wrong guy can certainly hamstring a talented team… one need only to look at the recent Brewers and see that.
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Raisins, we agree 100% on what you just said. Cox and JS both deserve a lot of credit and they were vital to the success. I’ve not said that Cox deserved no credit. He was very lucky to be a part of that “storm” that blew into Atlanta, but he does deserve credit. Yet I’ll always believe that we won an inordinate amount of games despite his odd in-game moves. Still… agreed.
The ingredients certainly have changed for the Braves franchise, from top (Liberty) to bottom (right field). We have an old recipe for the 90’s that calls for mashed ‘taters but instead of using Idaho’s finest we’re dumping in the flakes and water.
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For a young team, I’d love a manager with the skillset of Felipe Alou. Montreal was his success story. He got the most out of kids and, if it were not for the strike, he would’ve won the World Series in 94. Wonder if there’s another one like him out there?
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Good article on Smoltz.
Let it go bro, let it go. Godspeed, Smoltzie. Hope you don’t have to pitch your first game back in Atlanta.
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WARNING: COUNTER POLITICAL RANT.. sort of..
I learned long ago to hate the sin, not the sinner. I will not fall into the same trap the leftist suffer in bashing a man because I don’t agree with his policy or ideas. No, that is the methods of the left, to tear down a person’s character because they don’t know any other way to win an argument. Or to shout down the opposition rather than allow free exchange of ideas. If I am talking loudly, they cannot hear your message…
I found that by listening to others, I could learn what they know, when it is I whom is doing the talking, I am not learning a thing.
Now, does this mean I will sit by and let others brainwash me? Of course not. It can be extremely frustrating when others have control of the stick while we appear headed for a certain crash but like a good pilot, I know altitude is insurance.
Do I think making things to easy destroys a person’s incentive to work? Yes I do. Do I think keeping a foot on someone’s neck while they are trying to get up will make the stronger? No I don’t, it only makes people resentful.
Do I begrudge those who have worked hard being rewarded for their effort? Not one bit. Do I resent those who have not worked a day in their life being allowed to determine my fate? Yes I do.
Entitlements ruin a person. No question about that but you do not need to pay the boss $100 and hour to supervise $5 an hour workers.
Our society seems to think that working with one’s hands for a living is somehow to be frowned upon, that unless a person is in some type of white collar job they need not be respected or treated decently. It is that type of thinking that has allowed what has happened politically to occur.
Now, that that mean that I am naive as to not realize the true agenda of the left? Of course not, but I know I could have incited a 1000 good people to walk out in a strike at anytime, what I knew is that I could not keep them out….
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And baseball… One of my favorite bromides has always been..
It’s hard to soar like an eagle when you are surrounded by a bunch of turkeys
Sort of like Bobby Cox and his current collection of players…
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Great posts this morning! Loved reading them!!
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After watching the pseudo-Braves flail haplessly through 2 games in Cincy, I was pretty much sitting on the “Sell” side of the fence for the upcoming July swap-session. But, after seeing how the Phils cannot seem to get out of their own way, and watching the Mets continue to struggle mightily in the face of all of their injuries, why should the Braves consider themselves out of any contention?
Slight tweaks aren’t going to yield any real results, though. It’s going to require a certain calculated roll of the dice. Certain starters need to be swapped off. ML’ers and throw-ins only… NO prospects.
#1- Javier Vazquez has been brilliant. He is arguably the most dominant of all of our starters. He is also the most tradeable at this point. He’s a power/strikeout guy with a moderate contract and no long term commitment. He could yield a bat. Medlen has been a better starter than reliever in the minors, and Huddy may be back in August, anyway.
#2- Garret Anderson… Laugh if you want, but he would be desirable for a contending team that needs a veteran presence and a lefty off the bench… or lefty DH in the AL. His contract is short and moderate. He might yield a prospect that could be flipped in another deal.
#3- KJ. He still has value, though it is dropping daily. He has not reached Francoeurian status, and needs to go now. He could be paired with another guy in a deal. Prado may not have the ceiling KJ has, but doesn’t he seem to be on base alot? How about swap our 2B enigma to Minny for their OF enigma – Delmon Young? It’s kind of a wash on season production, but Young still has potential, and you get Prado in the lineup. A change of scenery might help both of those guys.
#4- Now that we’ve lopped off some salary by losing JV’s contract, swap Kotch to Pittsburgh for LaRoche. “What?!?”, you say? Adam has always been a second half guy, and could anchor the cleanup spot for a couple of years. And you don’t lose any defense either. He can hold down the spot for a couple of more years while Freddie is seasoning. If you can’t get any more power for the outfield, get it at 1B.
#5- The big deal. Gonzo goes for the highest bidder. Are you kidding me? A lefty closer? He would yield a bounty in prospects ala Tex. With both he and Soriano awaiting FA at season’s end, a choice has to be made anyway. Do it now, and get max results.
Now you ask, where does Franky fit into this? Well, into right field, naturally. You know what? For all of the crap we give him, he’s batting over .250 and has driven in 30 runs thus far, only 1 less than Chipper and 4th most on the team. Some production is better than no production, and he has ZERO trade value… so use him for what he is.
Lineup becomes:
Nate
Yunel
Chipper
LaRoche
Mac
Prado
Frank
Young
SP’s: Lowe, JJ, KK, TommyH, Medlen/Huddy
Closer: Soriano
Would this lineup win a World Series? Who knows, but I think it could get to the playoffs. Then it’s a crap shoot in the NL, where there is no real dominant team. Phils? Not enough pitching. Mets? Please… Cubs? Flawed also… Dodgers? Maybe, but not a cinch… Cards? They look eerily like the Braves, except they have Albert…
Worry about the WS and the Sox if you get there…
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SG, I’m in full agreement – re:BO
And psychologists, etc will tell you the dangers of having a narcissist in power. Those who know how to pray should be doing so with great urgency.
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We have an old recipe for the 90’s that calls for mashed ‘taters but instead of using Idaho’s finest we’re dumping in the flakes and water. 😆
Sheer brilliance… and very accurate.
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Here’s an article (Neal Boortz) that addresses N Korea. Excellent, INHO:
http://boortz.com/nealz_nuze/2009/06/gargoyle-gone-berserk-part-ii.html
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Smoltz: “I’ll be forever, as you say, wearing an Atlanta Brave on my hat and on my chest and in my heart,” he said.”
Y’all are fantastic this morning!!! uh – afternoon……
Hey, gimme a break! these pills are really weird…..
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Another one that deserves reading: How did your Congressman vote??
http://www.numbersusa.com/content/nusablog/beckr/june-12-2009/look-their-names-they-voted-today-keep-americans-jobless-so-multitudes-i?jid=170650&lid=9&rid=1689&tid=381529
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Many fine posts today in Stuffville. It is a peaceable kingdom and a smart one too.
Gil, good post. You have a good attitude and much common sense and experience in bringing people together. When the revolution begins, just be careful not be in the middle when the brown shirts take on the white collars. I’ll take issue and add a small addendum to one of your points, though.
No question about that but you do not need to pay the boss $100 and hour to supervise $5 an hour workers.
If a man or woman own a company and they employ a workforce that is paid $5 an hour and keep them productive while paying themselves (or the boss) $100 an hour, then more power to them. If the owner’s salary is out of control, they will go out of business. If $5 an hour leads to employees being unproductive and unhappy, they will not be making good products and the work force will leave. On the other hand, if $5 workers are a dime a dozen, then the boss will replace the disgruntled workers. If there are no replacements, the boss and the owner lose their own jobs.
The option for an employer is to pay workers more and have fewer workers, make less product, less profits and go out of business. There are hundreds of scenarios that can play out in a free enterprise system. Typically, if salaries (owner or employee) gets out of balance, the company loses. It’s a slippery slope when we tell owners that they are making too much more than employees. The owner may be a jerk, but if he’s in business, his fate should rest in his own hands. Not an arbitrary group that dictates what that balance should be.
Much like the current administration is doing with banks, automobiles, insurance companies and such. Very slippery slope when meddling in the business of private sector industries.
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Raisin’s good post and couldn’t’a said it or thought it better… just one tiny issue. Instead of Gonzo, let’s move Soriano out on trade. Methinks he’s the loose cannon.
Man, Gil and Raisins sure do write long-winded posts.
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SG: While we may have a few differences in our baseball views, we see perfectly eye to eye in our view of the free enterprise system, which is becoming less and less free every day…
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Coke replacing giant bottle at Turner Field
By Joe Guy Collier
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Friday, June 19, 2009Coca-Cola Co. said Friday it will retire a 42-foot-tall Coke bottle at Turner Field on July 2 and replace it with a new high-tech version by the end of the summer.
The giant Coke bottle has occupied a spot for 12 years above left field in an area called Coca-Cola Sky Field. It’s made of 11,000 pieces of Atlanta Braves baseball equipment, including 6,680 baseballs, 290 bats and 86 gloves.
In honor of the bottle’s retirement, the first 15,000 fans to enter the stadium on July 2 will receive a commemorative 8-ounce bottle with a depiction of Coca-Cola Sky Field.
Coke did not release images of the bottle’s replacement but said it will be a 21st century version that will “offer even more ways to entertain Braves.”
How about a cleanup hitter?
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How much will that cost??? Why change it? I’m agin it!
“offer even more ways to entertain Braves.”
The BRAVES need to be entertained???
Spending money on geegaws to “entertain” people is a waste. People go to the ball park to see a baseball game. Don’t they?? Or am I off track here?
sigh….
I’m going back to work….
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How about a cleanup hitter?
Ain’t that the truth. Just what we need, another form of entertainment at the Ted to bring in those hordes of fans.
Will the new bottle chop like a cow? These things are but a cheap distraction.
While I’m at it and speaking of distractions, has anyone else wondered how the massive screen in center field might effect the home team? Sometimes I think that the young players, those easily distracted or prone to self-adoration might be negatively effected by seeing their mug digitally reproduced to the size of a, well, a chopping cow head. If that were not enough, they see their stats blown up for all out there in center field.
Could that increase a ‘tightness’ in our players? Could that promote a self consciousness that may be affecting guys like Jeff, Kelly and Jordan? Is there possibly a correlation between the installation of the big TV and the time period that this team fell off the cliff several years ago?
When I’ve been to the Ted (used to go quite a bit)and was fortunate enough to have great second row seats just a few feet away from the batter’s warmup box between home plate and the visitor’s dugout, I’ve noticed how some of the guys (on our team and the visitor)seem to be constantly checking the screen. Are we witnessing the first wave of the video generation in pro sports? The baseball standouts of the future must be very focused and not enamored with their larger than life mug shot or their name in lights.
Just wonderin’…
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I’m with you, CL. Let’s just have peanuts, Cracker Jack and hot dogs and great players play the game. What next, a water slide and merry-go-round at the Ted?
A well played baseball game provides all the entertainment needed.
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Jon Heyman at SI:
The Reds, Braves and possibly the Cardinals are looking for right-handed hitting corner outfielders.
That Heyman… he really brings the cutting edge, doesn’t he?
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Breaking News from Turner Field in Atlanta, Ga:
Due to a mysterious reduction of ticket sales and declining fan interest in the Braves team in Atlanta, the Braves management in concert with their owner, Liberty Media have leaked a story about an undisclosed major candy brand that has just this morning signed a co-branding, cross promotional agreement with Coca-Cola and Liberty Media.
The three brands will work together to create a new, exciting fan attraction and entertainment at the Ted, to join the giant TV and the Chopping Cow. The fireworks that occur after a home run by the home team at the Ted will be replaced by a new, undisclosed fan attraction in center field.
Diet-Coke and candy brand stadium entertainment concept is being developed.
Liberty Media sought a major beer brand to partner with the candy brand, but negotiations were suddenly halted.
Cross promotions talks between beer and candy brand end abruptly.
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It should be a BALL PARK, not an entertainment center. IMHO. 😀
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The camera shots in Turner Field show more and more people talking with each other, guys looking for the girls who show up because they think guys will be there. People too busy talking on cell phones to pay attention to the people they are with, much less what is going on on the field.
And to too many, it’s simply a ‘meeting place’ where some guys run around on the field – doing something – but they’re not quite sure what…..
Then there are the inevitable morons sitting in the stands, cell phones clamped to their heads, waving to the cameras. They’ve just left home an hour ago – “Going to the game.” “Yeah, whatever.”
Then when the camera hits on them, they gotta call home. “Look!!! I’m on TV!!!! Yeah!!! Me!!! Didja see me??? Hey, Ma!!!!”
🙄
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Yep… enough disgruntled workers and you just move everything to China…
Now entertainment eh… baseball… How bout them Nats? Put it to the Yankees they did. Goes to show you that on any given Sunday, every other team in the league can still beat the Braves….
I still think the Marlins might sneak past everybody before it’s all over. A very streaky team but no one could put them away. Let’s see how the next 14 days go, will determine if the braves become sellers or buyers. I say 10 games back will be the magic number…
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Wow, once again, no Berigan, and everyone shows up!
Were do I start??? I don’t know!
I forget what I just read…like reading a joke book. You will laugh a lot, then if someone asks for a funny joke…ummm, errr…well…
Oh, V on Adam LaRoche. Not a bad Idea! though I don’t know what we do with him for the first half of next year. but next year, is next year.
He would be left handed, wouldn’t he???
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Other things I want to talk about, but gotta go with whats in the front part of my whatyacallit.
Was just reading this transcript of a Peter Gammons Radio interview. http://hackswithhaggs.com/2009/06/19/gammons-rangers-angels-yanks-rays-are-among-al-bargain-shoppers.aspx
Anyway, he was talking about how the Rangers really need starting pitching, but are for real.
I thought it would be an easy pick to find an outfielder to trade back to us…but, since I don’t think they will trade Josh Hamilton, their pickings, surprisingly seem thin.
Marlon Byrd has little power, and a low OBP. Andruw seems to have fallen back to earth a bit(Hitting .247 I see)
Nelson Cruz, now with 18 Homers is probably untouchable as well. Hank Blalock??? Then we need to trade Kotchman to make a place for him. 13 HR’s 30 RBI’s, but a lousy .295 OBP.
Man, it’s tough being a pretend GM! 😛
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Man, what a terrible inning for the braves. Dice-K unable to throw a strike. Matt Diaz really helping him out, out Frenching Frenchy. You CANNOT have the the bases loaded, no out, already have a 2-0 lead against a guy sucking…and not score another run.
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China has all of our money, they may as well have all the jobs. Besides, with the new socialist order being ushered into America, there is little difference between losing your company to the Chinese and losing your company due to the stranglehold of powerful or disgruntled trade unions. What’s gone is gone. Unless it makes someone feel better to go bankrupt or nationalized due to domestic political influence as opposed to cheaper labor, foreign leverage and financial influence on our Fed and treasury.
So, in the end, it really makes no difference to business owners whether you are shot by a dubious Chinese businessman or an American trade union. Friendly fire or enemy fire, dead is, well, pretty much dead. Once the unions get what they want and the Chinese get what they want and the Mexicans get what they want, will there be any jobs, profits, manufacturers or money left in our country?
Like the big Braves sponsor Home Depot says, “you can do it, we can help”. Translated into Chinese that means, “you honorable people in the poor provinces that are very poor and backwards will come out of your rice patties and join the modern world of Communist enterprise. You will build many many hammers and screw drivers and wrenches and you will do it for so few Yuan because you must do it for the pride of the country. Work hard and one day you too can have a little Yugo to drive, so you can drive to work to make many many more hammers and nails and screwdrivers…”.
Funny how the Chinese take so many words just to say “you can build it, we can help”. Anyway, that same slogan, translated into Russian reads, “The slave labor camps in China can build planes, rockets, tanks, guns, bombs, missles and defense technology with all of the good iron and steel with all of the profits they make from selling inferior tools made from inferior metals to the foolish American consumers”. Russians use a lot of words too. Like the Chinese, but different.
Ever wonder why you can’t find good Chinese food anymore? Well, because after living in America for a while people naturally acclimate to new tastes, new languages and new foods. That’s why there aren’t many good Chinese places around.
No, it’s not that they have been Americanized and changed their food tastes and menus to cheeseburgers and fries. They’ve all retired… rich. They worked hard and invested well. Now the Japanese, Thai, Korean and Vietnamese have their chance in the restaurant business. So do the Mexicans. They will all feed us until they don’t need to any longer, like the Italians, Greeks before them.
Wonder if Home Depot will follow the trend and come up with a big, chopping hammer for the Ted next year?
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Manhandled by the Pirates, Cincy, Giants and pretty much every other team we’ve played the last two months, yet we come out against Boston and throw four on the board early.
Go figger…
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Well, when they start the “long march” I’m pretty sure I won’t make it, of course that will help reduce health care cost. I would say it would save the government money but I am sure the Congress will find somewhere else to spend it. Maybe send it to another third world country to take some more of the enemy combatants in Gitmo off our hands…
SG.. We agree more than with disagree, just not for the same reasons.
And baseball… 6-0 is a good change…
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And it’s easy to make it cheaper when you have no quality control, no labor laws and no environmental controls…
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easy to make it cheaper when you have no quality control, no labor laws and no environmental controls…
True that. You might also add; no freedom, no independence, no equality, no civil rights, no property rights, no protection under the law with God given, inalienable rights. And they can pretty much forget pursuit of happiness.
They are allowed to put lead paint on children’s toys and toxins in pet foods and toothpaste. I suppose that’s something.
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Just figured out the Braves strategy. Let the lesser teams beat up on us and get healthy right before they play our division rivals.
No, wait…
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Braves manhandle the Bosox. Who’da thunkit? Go Bravos. This has to be a confidence builder.
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Has anyone heard from Mr. Fly since he got violently attacked while working on an off the wall, Daily Buzz report? He got so angry listening to the interviewee that he broke the journalists rule of no bias, no making yourself the story. Adding insult to his injury or demise, after being violently attacked Mr. Fly is dissed, mocked, ridiculed and vilified on national television.
Here is what may be the last clip of the sleuth reporter.
I’m worried about my little buddy. He would NOT want to go like this.
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Poor Mr Fly! Just so one …. uh, …. person could show off! sigh….
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Wax on… wax off… 🙂
I’m just glad he didn’t use chop sticks….
Good win for the Braves tonight. Really, looked like a different team.
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Wow, what a good game! I thought for sure we were going to pay for letting them off the hook in the first, but I didn’t realize just how much Dice-K sucked! 😀 Plus, even after being so agressive early(when it didn’t make sense to be, yet worked) the braves hitters got very patient, and it wasn’t just Dice-K they hit, they pretty much hit everyone, to some extent.
The energy of the park, has to help, every game must feel like the playoffs.
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Well…except for Kelly… Kekky looked the same… And Yunel… but other than that, they looked different 🙂
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Don’t forget Frenchy, he looked like a singles hitter, well, if he got a hit at least! 😛 He did get a walk at least.
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If he had gotten a hit… 🙄
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From a Red Sox fan on that jazz board I mention…and his comments are mild compared to what I saw on the sonsofsamhorn.net site…A seattle fan said they might have interest in him….Remember the Sox are in 1st as well! 😉
You can absolutely ______ have him. If you want to give up some semi-warm bodies and pay his salary, fine. If you don’t want to pay his salary, give up a couple of slightly warmer bodies. I don’t ______ care. I am more interested in seeing Junichi Tazawa in a Boston uniform than this piece of living ____. The kid has made 13 starts, pitched to a 3.15 ERA in AA ball, a WHIP of 1.164 and a 3 to 1 strikeout to walk ratio. He can actually throw a ______ strike regularly.
They’ve set it up so that Smoltz pitches in this ______’s spot and made no reference to the ______’s next start. So at least there is hope that the talk about a six man rotation was dependent on the _____ actually pitching as he is supposedly capable, and not an absolute intent to keep all six. So I am optimistic that they will make a ______ move soon, one way or the other.
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Really neat video clip: UCLA squirrels (a momma and a baby)
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ATLANTA (AP) — Star pitcher Tom Glavine plans to “hang out” for the rest of the summer but is not announcing his retirement.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/baseball/mlb/06/19/Glavine.future.ap/index.html?eref=si_mlb
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Interesting article on J Marquis:
http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/recap?gid=290619127&prov=ap
Marquis and Embree – am I the only one fed up with former Braves flourishing on other teams???
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ATL is back in 3rd behind PHI and NYM:
32-34 ,485 4.5 out
The Dodgers are 44-24 .647??? Jiminy Christmas! That leads the majors…..
Holy cow! WSH is 17.0 out. I didn’t realize it was that bad. At least there’s hope that ATL will not finish on the very bottom!
(Obviously I haven’t had time to check standings in a while!) 😆
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Good posts and links from Carolina Lady. Very cute squirrel vid too. Smart little buggers. I knew that… somehow they always figure a way to get seed from my “squirrel proof” feeders. When they learned that their weight on the perching bar would close the access to seed, they changed tactics and shifted their body weight off of the perch and onto the support pole, which is a 4×4.
Strong back legs and haunches on the critters to position that way for as long as it takes to get their fill. That strength makes for some pretty good wall jumping too.
These feeders are adjustable and when adjusted to the lightest setting they’ll keep the crows and grackles from eating all the seed, which they can do in no time. Of course they, like the little furry rats, uh, squirrels are smart. They’ll send a juvenile in the flock to perch and rake as much seed out as possible. No eating, just raking, fast and furious.
The adults sit below on the ground and gobble it up as soon as it hits the ground. Flying rats.
They’ve all outmaneuvered the auto-close perch bar, they’ve outsmarted the designer of the feeders. They have me baffled. There must be a way… maybe a redesign. Hmmm…
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Maybe they need a green monster at the Ted. A Grinch in left field?
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Very cute video CL!
Still can’t get over the game last night. Can’t we just quit while ahead??? 😀
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CL, the Nats have won 3 straight( 2 against the Yankees, one against the Jays)to be just 17 games out! Clearly they are not as bad as the 1962 Mutts, hopefully when we next play them, they will be on the downward slope again….
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Marquis is another headcase. he just finally mature to the point that he would listen. Happens to all of us I guess, I expect Kyle Davis will finally get it some day too. Chuck James, not so sure…
Tommy Hanson will not be a long tenured starter. Yep, great stuff right now but his delivery is not one that lends itself to longevity. Sorry folks but that is just the way it works.. or not.
Kershin looked really good last night. I remarked to the wife about how poised he looked from the first pitch. Much better than when I saw him in Washington. That night he spent as much time walking around the mound and avoiding tossing a pitch as he actually did on the hill.
Soriento looks as good as I have ever seen him. Easy gas…
I hope Lowe is over his yips… The last couple of outings his sinker has not sunk and the results has been some pretty hard hit balls to the outfield and beyond. Like JoJo Reyes .. but different…
And one last parting shot…. Cute squirrel video, very meaninful in what it reveals. While well meaning in their intentions, the UCLA student should realize that enabling the baby to take the easy way over the wall, they take away the squirrel’s ability to learn from trial and error and retards the young one’s development of strong hind quarters so he will become easy pickings for the stray dogs that roam the area.
Anyone else read Gary Larson’s “There’s a Hair in My Dirt! A Worm’s Story” ?
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And the Nats.. Goes to show you what good pitching can do…
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Please, take 5:01 to listen to this video. Please!
The conductor of the orchestra is Andre Rieu from Austria and the young lady is 13-year old Melissa Venema. This is an excerpt from Andre Rieu’s concert during the World Stadium Tour in Amsterdam Arena, the Netherlands, on June 28, 2008. Melissa plays with the Johann Strauss Orchestra. The stage is a reproduction of the Viennese Schönbrunn Palace. If you have never heard Taps played in its entirety, this is really worth 5 minutes of your life.
Thanks, Paladin!
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Gil, I think you might be on to something with Hanson…He reminds me of Peavy…of course, Peavy’s arm is still hanging on, somehow! 😉
I want this t shirt, someone buy it for me, ok???
http://www.despair.com/gomo.html
CL, will check out the clip later, got my Pa’s big ol’ JBL’s cranked up right now…
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One more reason to be proud to be an American:
The uncut and full version of the performance of the US Navy Presidential Ceremonial Honor Guard Drill Team at Norway.
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Really neat clips CL… Why do I have a sudden urge to watch “Stripes” ? 🙂
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😆 They are something else, aren’t they? I truly do appreciate the men and women in our military. They are awesome!!
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My band is playing tonight (at Cool Beans just off the Square in Marietta at 31 Mill Street). Please pray that someone in need might hear and that a life might be changed…
Thanks!
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Amen, Raisins! I’ll stand in agreement with you.
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It should be a BALL PARK, not an entertainment center. IMHO.
I hear ye, CL, but unlike year’s past (over three years back), the team isn’t entertaining. Thus, must have something to give (the few) fans a sense of value for the dollars they laid out! 😛
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You’re certainly right, Salty!
Was just thinking about you! Hope all is well!
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Hey Salty! ’bout time you showed up! 😡
And talking about things that don’t show up often. The braves offense. I know Beckett is good, but come on. A complete game, only 94 pitches??? I heard some of it. Frenchy up got the count 3-1 and had to swing and tapped the pitch back to Beckett. Why oh why doesn’t that bother Bobby??? Why doesn’t Bobby say, kid, every time you get the count 3-0, 3-1, DO NOT SWING!
I know, we don’t want him to be less aggressive, it’s been such a good thing for him to be aggressive the last 2 years, hasn’t it??? 🙄
V, I recall you saying might as well keep him out there, how he has just a few less RBI’s than Chipper. True enough, but I heard them say that he has had more runners on base in front of him than anyone else.
Why not try Gil’s idea, and have him bat first??? Nate leads the team in homers and RBI’s, why have him bat first??? We need a guy to drive in runners, not get on at the top.
I still don’t see how Frenchy can be hitting .245 even….
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Ber, in all fairness to the Frenchman, he he struck the ball well in his at bats. 3-1 is a hitter’s count, that is exactly when you look for a strike. The ball he hit back to the pitcher was hit hard but found Beckett’s glove. It is the way it is going for him.
A misplay by McLouth led to the Red Sox’s first run.
Beckette was not going to be beat last night, plain and simple. let’s hope Wakefield’s flutter pitchers don’t flutter so much today and JJ is sharp. Game time is 12:30 today.
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Kelly hit one about as far as one can in Fenway and it not be a homerun in the ninth. Lowe looked better than his last start but was just out pitched. Oh well, that’s baseball…
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2 very nice videos CL! 🙂
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Gil, after my comments, I watched baseball tonight, and saw the great play Elsbury made on one drive by Frenchy. Looked to be about the best swing he had put on a pitch all year long.
I guess I am just tired of him. I really have wanted him to pull it together, but I just don’t think he will here.
Put Diaz in. He takes terrible swings too, but still hits the ball hard.
Braves never see knuckle ball pitchers, so they should lose nicely today. Oh well…Perhaps his pitch works better at night, than day games.
Such hope from Fridays game. Not going to be like the cubs. 3 straight come from behind victories, late in the game. they will likely run away with the central now.
This division looks so winnable, but the Phils or Mutts will make some moves, get a starter or two, and that will be that.
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Rumors of my demise have been greatly exaggerated.
It’s a sham! A media coverup!!!
On a recent undercover political assignment for a client that I cannot expose, I did something that in all my years as a sleuth reporter I have never, ever done… become part of the story. My sincere apologies. It was not my intention. Just happened.
When it was promoted all over the news that Mr. Barry was going to turn the White House into a stage for his self-promotion, I was contacted to go in, position myself on a wall and report the interview. I did that. Getting in with the TV crew was as easy as ABC… or CNBC or something. The news channel or the acronym, they’re almost all connected with the same talking points anyway.
As I entered the Oval Office nestled comfortably in one of those fuzzy microphone covers, I was surprised to find so many changes in décor. I’ve been to the White House many times, usually by invitation from the sitting President or CIA Director. President Reagan was my favorite. He always saved the orange jellybeans for me. But that’s another story. This time with this President it was definitely different. It was weird. All of the beautiful portraits of past President’s have been removed and replaced with mirrors. Everywhere. Where did all of the President’s go? Why all the mirrors? So many questions…
As soon as we entered the Oval Office, I left my little fluffy hideaway and looked for a perch near the action. As I surveyed the room I noticed a framed photo that was in the perfect spot to hear the interview. I made a beeline to it. By the way, why do they call it beeline anyway? They zigzag most of the time, until they go home to dump their cargo. Eat, eat, zigzag, zigzag, all day everyday. Boring. I digress.
Looking for a discreet spot to report from, a particular photo caught my attention, so I headed to it. Before landing on the frame I hovered to check it out and read what was scribbled on the bottom of the print. It was a group shot of President BO, George Soros, Tony Rezco, Bill Ayers, Rev. Wright, Ted Kennedy and two mysterious men in the middle. They looked like officials. One was wearing a Lei and Puka beads around his neck and the other was holding a Masaai in one hand and in the other, a certificate of some kind, too small to read. I could only make out a date of August 4. Yikes! That’s only one day after my publisher buddy’s birthday.
There they all were… arm in arm and laughing when the picture was snapped, like they just robbed a bank or got away with something. Why were they laughing? Who were these two men that were not identified? I’ll have to investigate that later.
Back to the Oval Office interview incident. As I positioned myself on top of the picture frame about ten minutes before the interview was scheduled to begin. Everyone was in their spot, the lights were set, the cameras were rolling and Mr. BO was chatting with the crew and Mr. Gibbs. It was odd. All of those grown men and a professional journalist were acting like nerdy teenage boys being given an audience with the Prom Queen. Their voices were cracking, their faces were turning red whenever the President would point his attention to them and jive them about something. Really weird. Such inferior, malleable compliance in some humans.
So, as I’m hanging there above a picture of President BO shaking hands with his buddies, I began to take notes. About five minutes before the interview, Mr. Barry began to get serious and told Mr. Gibbs exactly what he would ask, verbatim. He handed a script to Gibbs and said, in a stern voice, stick to this script or you will never be on air again. Wow! I couldn’t believe my, uh, little hearing sensors on the side of my head. And my biggest shock was that Mr. Gibbs just turned red and said, “yes sir, as always”. As Gibbs looked though his Presidential script, he asked Mr. BO if he wanted to say anything about the economy, the bailouts, the social and judicial changes taking place, the ACORN scandal or the Iranian crisis.
Mr. BO just looked at him very seriously and said, “no Gibby. Those things are not important right now. You just stick to the script that I gave you and you’ll have a job tomorrow”. Mr. Gibbs sheepishly said, yessir, sorry Mr. President”.
Now, being a reporter myself, I was outraged. So much going on in this country, our economy and so much danger in the world, and here our President was, giving instruction to the media about what to ask. This President just wanted to talk about how he likes living in Washington, how he feels about the food in his new home, how he plays hoops with Kobe Bryant in the White House gym every day, how he feels about this and how he likes that and how strong and beautiful Michelle’s arm muscles are and other such non-executive stuff as that. As I sat there and listened, I just couldn’t stand it any longer so I left my safe perch and buzzed the Prez.
As I circled a few times telling BO just what I thought of his abuse of power and told him to let the media just report anything they want, he stopped talking to Gibbs and told me to settle on his hand so that we could talk. He assured me that I was safe and that he wanted to answer my questions and talk a few minutes. So, against my better judgment, I let my guard down and landed on his hand. Then he said, “I’ve heard so much about you and your work for the CIA, Telepods transformation and baseball reporting… let’s have a soft little high-five, Mr. Fly”. I remember thinking, what the %$@*… and then he swatted me!
After promising, SWEARING that he wouldn’t hurt me, he brutally attacked me, called me “sucka” and bragged about his speed and agility. Well people, I’m here to tell you, it was a trap! It takes no skill to swat a resting, trusting fly. He fooled me. That was a dirty, nasty lie and a setup.
So there I am, being attacked and ridiculed by the most powerful man in the world. Lying there on the carpet, dazed, knowing I was being watched by millions of people around the globe, I came to my senses and decided that I’d best just lay there and play dead. Learned that from an old possum buddy. About the time Mr. Barry said he was going to pick me up and pull my wings off, Mr. Gibbs took a Kleenex out of his pocket and scooped me up and stuffed me into his jacket’s top pocket. That was close.
I’m glad Gibbs picked me up and tucked me away like that; otherwise I was a goner for sure. Can’t report without wings. Lucky for me, Mr. Gibbs was already positioned closer to me than was the President. The part was edited out, but after Gibbs complimented Mr. Barry on his fly swatting skills, he was already going to his knees about to give BO a shoeshine.
As you might expect, that whole part of the interview between my pre-swat conversation with Mr. BO, his promise of safety and his deceitful, brutal attack and the shoe shine was all edited out. But if you look carefully you’ll notice the video clip does show the very beginning of Mr. Gibbs making his shoeshine move. The truth never made it on TV. Mr. Gibbs is pretty good at shoe shining. Hot wax, power buffing, heel dressing, the whole nine yards. Gibbs must have lots of practice at that.
Right after the interview, Mr. Gibbs left the White House and went outside to the place where the Obama dogs are allowed to poop, which is also known as the “Press Area”. That’s why they never show the reporter’s feet or the ground reporters stand in front of the White House, in case you were wondering. You can see the White House in the background, standing there all dignified and all, but there are many “piles” and many Metsflies on the ground around the media section of lawn.
Gibbs was giddy after his exclusive interview and couldn’t wait to get on air and talk live about how wonderful his visit was, when his cell phone rang. It was the Smithsonian.
It wasn’t hard to overhear them asking Gibbs permission to take possession of my body, which would be displayed in the museum’s new Obama Shrine, currently under construction for five-hundred billion dollars. Mr. Gibbs ignored the amount of money budgeted for such a narcissistic “shrine” for the Chose One, but he simply replied, “sure, right after I do my post-interview report and, uh, change my pants. He’s so powerful and cool and I was so close to him I had a Chris Matthews moment, with the warm, tingling sensation, only mine got a little wet”.
The Smithsonian director cleared his throat and said that they’d “send someone over with a little matchbox to put me in”. Then the director said, “Under orders from the President, and his Chief of Staff, we’re going to perform a Telepod experiment on Mr. Fly and see if we can remove all of the human parts from his DNA. It’s a national security issue”. Strangely, Gibbs showed no natural reporter’s curiosity and just said, “sure, whatever”.
Hearing that, I was tempted to stay put and go along just to see the museum. I think they may have one of my birthplace Telepods over there. That would be a great story, but not wanting to press my luck, I decided to scoot ‘n skedaddle (blog first?), wiggled out of the Kleenex, flew out of Gibbs pocket and escaped to my freedom. If you watch the video, you might see me launch out of his top jacket pocket. Hard to see, it was pretty fast.
Being a sleuth reporter can be dangerous, but this was too close for comfort. I’m going back to baseball reporting. Much safer and the food is better too. This close to Boston, may as well head north and catch a game.
Rubber match… better than a matchbox.
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:-).. Good buzz this morning
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Wow Mr. Fly! Epic Opus there! Amazing story! Also amazing you can type this much after the brutal beating!
Or is SG your personal secretary???
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Where’s FBG??? Back in the FL, right??? So computer should be better there….
Listening to Pandora(thanks again Salty!) and am listening to a Korn version of another brick in the wall, then Alien Ant Farm’s cover of Smooth Criminal, back to back…weird…
Not as weird as me being sick again. Well, since Pa got it, not too weird. But, it is a weird cold…he thought he had a sinus infection, til he started talking like Froggy from the Little Rascals.
I have had a mild sore throat, and a little drainage since…I don’t know, Weds, Thursday??? No bad cough, no fever….can do most anything I normally could, just tired, and have high blood sugar(but, I can ride my stationary bike)…and have trouble sleeping…keep waiting for it to get worse, but if it missed getting worse, I really wouldn’t complain! 😀
But, if I seem even more down on our beloved braves than usual, don’t blame me, blame me getting 3 1/2 hours sleep, and the “cold”
I myself, am blameless…should I run for some office???
Vote for me, Blameless McGee for real change…and if you don’t like the change, don’t blame me! Remember, I’m Blameless!
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Berigan don’t need no stinkin’ buzz…naturally screwy.
Used to freak out a few stoners who worked at Borders with me….hopefully I scared them straight….not that I thought they were gay…
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Terrific, Mr Fly!! 😆
More truth there than may be imagined!!
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Friends, no response from the scribe. Somewhere about mid-April, he just vanished. Anybody got any clues??
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CL, I recall his Father was battling Cancer, did his Dad live in Atlanta, or elsewhere???
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And Happy Father’s Day to all the Dad’s on this here forum/blog/board! 🙂 🙂 🙂
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Ber, I just don’t recall if it was ATL or Savannah.
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WISDOM – FROM THE MILITARY MANUAL
———— ——— ——— ——— ——
“If the enemy is in range, so are you.”
– Infantry Journal
———— ——— ——— ———
“It is generally inadvisable to eject directly over the area you just bombed.” – U.S. Air Force Manual
———– ——— ——— ———
“Whoever said the pen is mightier than the sword obviously never encountered automatic weapons.”
– General MacArthur
———— ——— ——— ———
“You, you, and you … Panic. The rest of you, come with me.”
– U.S. Marine corps Gunnery Sgt.
—— —— ——— ——— ———
“Tracers work both ways.”
– U.S. Army Ordnance
———— ——— ——— ———
“Five second fuses only last three seconds.”
– Infantry Journal
———— ——— ——— ———
“Any ship can be a minesweeper.. Once.”
———— ——— ——— ———
“Never tell the Platoon Sergeant you have nothing to do.”
– Unknown Marine Recruit
———— ——— ——— ——— ———
“If you see a bomb technician running, keep up with him.”
– USAF Ammo Troop
———— ——— ——— ———
“Though I Fly Through the Valley of Death , I Shall Fear No Evil. For I am at 80,000 Feet and Climbing.”
———— ——— ——— ———
“You’ve never been lost until you’ve been lost at Mach 3.”
– Paul F. Crickmore (test pilot)
———— ——— ——— ———
“The only time you have too much fuel is when you’re on fire.”
———— ——— ——— ———
“If the wings are traveling faster than the fuselage, it’s probably a helicopter — and therefore, unsafe.”
———— ——— ——— ———
“When one engine fails on a twin-engine airplane you always have enough power left to get you to the scene of the crash.”
———— ——— ——— ———
“Even with ammunition, the USAF is just another expensive flying club.”
———– ——— ——— ———
“What is the similarity between air traffic controllers and pilots? If a pilot screws up, the pilot dies; If ATC screws up, …. The pilot dies.”
———— ——— ——— ——— ———
“Never trade luck for skill.”
———— ——— ——— ———
The three most common expressions (or famous last words), in aviation are:
1: “Why is it doing that?”
2: “Where are we?”
3: “Oh —-!”
———– ——— ——— ———
“Airspeed, altitude and brains.
Two are always needed to successfully complete the flight.”
———— ——— ——— ——— –
“Mankind has a perfect record in aviation;
We never left one up there!”
———– ——— ——— ———
“Flying the airplane is more important than radioing your plight to a person on the ground incapable of understanding or doing anything about it.”
———— ——— ——— ———
“The Piper Cub is the safest airplane in the world; it can just barely kill you.” – Attributed to Max Stanley (Northrop test pilot)
———— ——— ——— ———
“There is no reason to fly through a thunderstorm in peacetime.”
Sign over squadron ops desk at Davis-Monthan AFB, AZ, 1970
———— ——— ——— ———
“If something hasn’t broken on your helicopter, it’s about to.”
———— ——— ——— ———
“You know that your landing gear is up and locked when it takes full power to taxi to the terminal.”
———— ——— ——— ———
As the test pilot climbs out of the experimental aircraft, having torn off the wings and tail in the crash landing, the crash truck arrives; the rescuer sees a bloodied pilot and asks,
“What happened?”
The pilot’s reply: “I don’t know, I just got here myself!”
– Attributed to Ray Crandell (Lockheed test pilot)
(Thanks, Paladin!)
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Braves game is on TBS today… 1:35
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Thanks, Gil!!
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Mr. Fly must be tired after that political novel. Hoppin’ around on his iPhone, gettin’ after all those letters… much like the man-boy playing the floor piano in the movie ‘Big’.
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CL, that 12:48 was some kinda funny stuff. Where do you find all those?
Still no word from Scribe? Now I’m concerned. Like he vanished. Hope it not anything serious. He lives in the “southern rim” of the Atlanta area.
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Oh, that was an ugly play, dropping between Chipper and Yunel. That was Yunel’s ball… 2 feet in front of him. He obviously deferred to Chipper. You’d think they would work those things out ahead of time after so many games.
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Oh, just realized the question was about Scribe’s dad. Dunno.
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SG, the 12:48 was sent to me by Paladin.
Scribe lives “on the southern rim of the city”; don’t know about scribe sr.
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All of his sites have been abandoned. No response to email or messages.
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Odd as it sounds, Cox should have started French today. As screwed up as his swing is, he may have actually hit the knuckler. If not, at least it would have been entertaining to watch.
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CL, that does not sound good. Prayers for Scribe and family.
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Wife says she has a new nickname for Chipper… Pitbull… never seen him so mad, I guess we could just shorten it to Maddog… 🙂
It’s all good, now, let’s win this game.
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Hard way to lose one… enough runs to take the game but errors killed us.
At least it was finished by the swift sword of a walkoff homer.
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Errors and the jerk of an umpire.
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Good for Chipper. Somebody should cuss Hohn out for doing his job so poorly.
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Sorry for being absent. I had a computer issue to deal with Fri. night & yesterday we went to the new Ikea in Tampa & I was so tired that I never got online last night.
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Yes SG… very frustrating.
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Iran… the evil has been unleashed for all the world to see. The “Supreme Leader” orders the death of his own citizens. What evil will next be unleashed by the evil ones? I watch the news and can’t believe my eyes. Such inhumanity. Such rampant, blatant evil.
Those brave Iranian souls that want freedom have been hung out to dry by our “leader”, who revealed his seeming support of Iran’s current regime just as the revolt was gaining momentum. His words were unwise and dangerous. Words… just words. Very dangerous times need the right words.
Watching Neda’s death was horrible and so sad. Maybe in death she can lead by inspiration and outrage her freedom seeking countrymen to continue the struggle. They have much more evil, death and horror to contend with.
So disturbing. These are dangerous times. Israel had best be on high alert. America should, against all odds with the current administration, be the voice of outrage at this atrocity and mass murder. America needs to be the voice of freedom and justice, not worried about making the Mullah’s hate us. They can’t hate us any more than they do.
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I have one peach tree. Anyone care to guess how many peaches a single tree can produce? Uh…lots…lots and lots. Have peaches your way, any way, all day…all the time. Look like a peach, smell like a peach 😯 Not so bad! I like peaches…but….holy cow! And they’re huge this year…nothing like the end of a drought to bring out the best. Oh, and the blueberries…lots of blueberries on the way…huge…look like grapes! No, we don’t have a farm…but my wife plants everything…EVERYTHING! The neighbors love it…the squirrels, the deer, the chimpmunks, the birds, the box turtles…the rabbits. I’m married to the ‘Noah of the plant world!’ Two , at least, of everything…that she’s seen so far! The good news…I could almost cut the grass with a weed eater! 😆
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Salty, I’ll be right over. Peach cobbler… mmm. We bought peaches up in Rabun & they were so bad we threw them away. So I haven’t gotten any peaches this year. Got a bumper crop of blackberries in our field though. Dad is on his way up to the house today with a friend who’s very handy. He’s gonna check some things out for us & Dad’s going to mow.
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Terrific, Salty!! I love me some goooood peaches! Your wife and I would get along great! I’m sometimes called ‘Ellie Mae.’ 😆
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Okay – let me guess!
Holiday?? noooo
Workday? maybe
Birthday? Nope
No news? Most probably!
Will check back later! 😀
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Lotsa work… unfortunately, not alot of billable hours…
😐
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Raisins, LOVE the new avatar!!! 😆 😆
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😯 Would have been the steal of the decade!!!! Should have offered some other prospects to get him!!!
Jason Bay Was Nearly A Brave
By Ben Nicholson-Smith [June 22 at 12:20pm CST]
We know that the Braves and Rays almost acquired Jason Bay from the Pirates at last year’s trade deadline. Rob Bradford of WEEI.com has some specifics on who the Pirates would have received in return and just how close the Braves came to completing the deal:
* The Braves would have sent Concepcion Rodriguez, Brent Lillibridge, Brandon Jones and Jeff Locke to the Pirates.
* Interestingly, Locke was eventually dealt to the Pirates for another All-Star outfielder, Nate McLouth.
* The Braves actually had Bay’s name sewed onto a jersey. I wonder who has it now…
* Pirates president Frank Coonelly called the deal off since he wanted more major league talent in return.
* Bay had no idea that he came so close to becoming a Brave and said he’s happy to be in Boston.
http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2009/06/jason-bay-was-nearly-a-brave.html
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And who is Concepcion Rodriguez????
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And while I’m at it…blackberries look good…though not so many as F(sometimes)BG(in Georgia)! 😆 Also have a fig tree that simply exploded the past two weeks…dozens of figs. We have a farmer’s market in our front yard! The wildlife do eat well. Did you know a deer will eat peaches right off the tree? Pretty funny…walk outside and see a half-eaten peach hanging on the branch. More than enough to go around.
If you were close by, I’d say come and get the peaches…and if you’re in the area, then come on!
I spent a week in the high desert of Oregon; incredible area…I’m willing to move there. The last day there, the temp got above 70 😯 , and typically in the 40’s at night. Went to San Diego from there…got hot…up to 75. Arrived back in the ATL Saturday morning…AFRICA HOT! WE did get a respite this afternoon with a line of storms. Just means the peaches and blueberries will get even bigger! Salty, out!
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Bay had no idea that he came so close to becoming a Brave and said he’s happy to be in Boston.
I guess he is. 🙄
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Salty, no joke, you should find a way to sell those suckers! Heck, I was going to say give to some shelter or something, but I bet they don’t take fresh foods…
Man, one time the braves try to be aggressive, and Chipper strikes out, and Nate is thrown out for the first time…
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Greetings all, love fresh peaches… When I was a young lad, we had a peach orchard, however, my mom’s weapon of choice was a peach tree switch. Honest, she could do some amazing things with one of those. Needless to say, she killed an entire orchard wearing me out with those switches….
Still loved the home made peach ice cream my next door neighbor made two or three times a week.
Still… every time I walk by a peach tree I feel a little apprehensive… Sorta like a guy who has been struck by lightning seeing a thunderstorm come up on the horizon…
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Peach marmalade, peach jelly, peach jam, peach cobbler, peach pie, peaches ‘n cream…
Blackberry marmalade, blackberry jelly, blackberry jam…
Mmmm… good eatin’s.
Boy, Chipper needs to sit as far away from French as possible. Hope he called his dad on Father’s Day.
Daggblastit!!! Laser shot caught. Would’a scored two.
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Braves hitting some balls hard tonight but at people. Another base running mistake cost us a run….
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We have plums down here right now, so many the limbs’ll break if you don’t pick’em every day. Trade some plums for peaches and blackberries?
‘maters are coming in good as are the bells. Okra is taking forever. They’d better hurry up… got gumbo to make.
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I’m with Joe on that stupid padding that stops about 8 or 10 inches above the ground. No excuse for that. When he slid after and rammed the base of the concrete wall going after the foul tip back, McCann could’ve been out for the year or had a career shortened injury without those knee pads for protection.
Wasn’t it Diaz that did that in the outfield and was out quite a while.
Is it going to take a serious injury for the Ted to fix that?
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Gil, my grandmother used a NC hickory switch. Not sure how they compare to Peach switches but they did the trick.
I got over it. Now I soak them and burn’em every chance I get. The steaks don’t complain.
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I would not complain bit if the Braves added a couple of more runs in the eight.
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Yeah, 2 whole runs for Javy…another really good game by him…
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Yep. Build that trade value…
😀
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V, 😉
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Braves win, braves win!!!
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Gonzo in the 8th; Soriano in the 9th. Lethal combination.
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V, they really are!
Jerome is giant!!!! 😯
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Jerome was interviewing Nate…Nate looked like a Junior High kid next to him…
Ok, one of my super swell trade proposals.
Soriano we will lose after this year, correct???
Nady is making his comeback in AAA after some injury.
I hear the Yankees were not going to deal their outfield depth when he comes back, but that’s got to be a crock, since they have a very weak bullpen.
I know, it hurts the bullpen to lose Soriano, but Nady if healthy, he would be a big boost over Frenchy. He’s a Free agent I think after the season as well…
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Almost had a heart attack when Mac didn’t get up right away. Fix the padding!!!!
SG, I think it was a gate that Matty hit. Milwaukee, wasn’t it?
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Pretty much the same set up FBG only Matt did not have the knee protector.
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Good game for the Braves. They’ve played well lately. Maybe they’re adjusting to dragging a few 10-pound weights around each game. Last night, just one.
Javy is exceeding all of my expectations. Hope we keep him. Good mound presence, good arm. Tough guy.
FBG, you may be right about Diaz and the fence in beer city. Not sure, but I do remember someone royally screwing their knee on the concrete base, either at the Ted or in another park with the same concrete base as ours. I must’ve put that document in the wrong memory file.
Was it Langerhans? BJ Surhoff? Hmmm…
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You have heard of the Chicken flu, plain ol’ Bird Flu, and swine flu???
I seem to have turtle flu….only after 5-6 days am I getting some sinus congestion, a cough, and a temperature.
Sigh….can’t sleep. I wish there was some special shot, pill, that was just guaranteed to knock you out, no matter what. I am sure I could get over this sooner, if you know..I could sleep.
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Turtle soup. Cajun penicillin.
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Turtles, the cause and the cure! 😉
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I sure like the President of France, has much more guts than the previous one(s)
Sarkozy says burqas are ‘not welcome’ in France
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D98VP85G1&show_article=1
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France, Italy… is this a trend?
a href=http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/World-News/Silvio-Berlusconi-Italian-PM-Denies-Spicy-Time-With-Teenager-Noemi-Letizia/Article/200905415291139?lpos=World_News_Article_Related_Content_Region_6&lid=ARTICLE_15291139_Silvio_Berlusconi%3A_Italian_PM_Denies_Spicy_Time_With_Teenager_Noemi_Letizia rel=”nofollow”The Italian Prez doesn’t care much for Burquas either.
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SG, that’s some mighty fancy html’in you’ve done there! 😉
It’s too hard for me, the way wordpress does it to make a link blue, and hide the address.
Other forums, a piece of cake. Oh well, how much does it cost again???
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and you ruined my joke, can’t be a thread killa if you post! 😉
Funny, I see Berigan, (WSOML) and thread killa….has it always done that??? I know the avatar changes on all posts, but is that true with, with…I’m sick and sleepless…whatyacallit??? can’t think….
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Man, I sure botched tha’un. Try again:
France, Italy… is this a trend?
The Italian Prez doesn’t care much for Burquas either.
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SG, you had me going on that one! 😛
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We need a big bat in right field.
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Howdy, all!!
Really interesting video clip:
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SG, putting a really big bat in RF isn’t a problem. Having someone in that position who can wield it – is! 😀
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We will beat the %$@* Yanks. Pardon my French.
CL, I saw that clip this morning. Interesting, incredible stuff. Particularly liked, “we are living in exponential times”. True.
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OOOOOkay!
ATL 33-36 .478
NYY 38-31 .551
Hanson (2-0)
Wang (0-5)
Any predictions??
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Yes… we need a big bat wielder. A lumberjack. A cowhide punisher. A ball-crusher. A home run machine. A cleanup. A threat. A monster. A mighty Casey.
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Yamn Dankees. 😀
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A batmeister. A slugger. A merciless executioner of little baseballs. A baseball travel agent. A powerhouse. An outfield souvenir provider. A big bopper…
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Gooooo, SG! 😆
From Reader’s Digest:
My boss is without peer when it comes to the rules and regulations that customs officials must follow. But when it comes to the law, well, that’s a different story. We were attending a court case in which we were prosecuting a smuggler. The judge asked the court, “Who makes these allegations?”
My boss stood up and proclaimed, “I am the alligator.”
😆
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Another: (sounds like the client SG mentioned recently)
In a software design meeting, we were using typical technical jargon to discuss a data exchange interface with a vendor. One co-worker said the programming we had ordered was delayed because the vendor was suffering from a “severe nonlinear waterfowl issue.”
Curious, the team leader raised his eyebrows and asked, “What exactly is that?”
The programmer replied, “They don’t have their ducks in a row.”
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Damn Yankees?!? Maybe we need to show that pitcher from Japan that we can still rock in America.
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Rock in America. 😆 Spinal Tap-ish.
Now, where was I? Oh… A one-man home run derby, A batting champion, A stadium lights exploder, A sultan of swat…
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A Mick, A Beast, A Hammer, a King of Swing, an Iron Horse, a Splendid Splinter, a Steady Eddie, a Say Hey kid, A Killer, A Crime Dog, A Big Cat…
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So many animals…
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A Roy Hobbs… but Natural… 🙂
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A Barry Bonds, without the drugs, personality and other baggage.
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back from a lovely….laydown. I really do feel better, just imagining what real sleep would feel like.
CL, IF the braves are patient, Wangs sinker will be called a ball.A ton of pitches gets him out early, and their bullpen is overworked, and sucks. If he sinker doesn’t, we do well, as well.
Of course, they score runs by the bucketful, which often makes it a moot point knocking their starter out early, and getting to the bullpen.
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A slugger, a bopper, a stadium lights exploder..
A Swisher?
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Don’t we have one of those already in right? 😕
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No Swisher. Don’t need another .240-.250 bat.
We need a bop-a-maniac.
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An auto-bopper, a bopaholic, a bop bop bop, bop bopper anne.
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Be-bop-a-lula! (Remember that one?)
Don’t stop now! 😆
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No Swisher. Don’t need another .240-.250 bat.
We need a bop-a-maniac.
The problem is, there aren’t any of those available. The closest you come is Russel Friggin’ Branyan – 16 HR’s – who couldn’t catch the flu in Mexico. He’s a DH/1B at best. The next guy is probably the well chronicled Jermaine Dye – 15 HR’s – whom I like, but will cost too much. Then it drops to Mark DeRosa with 13 HR’s. Then there’s Swisher with 12…
Bop-a-maniacs are simply not available.
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V, right you are…didn’t Wren say a week or so ago, that many teams are looking for bats, and few are to be had???
Too bad the Pirates have already traded away their whole starting outfield from last year. 🙄
Phillies probably could spare John Mayberry, and could sure use a starter, but we sure know that deal ain’t going down.
I mentioned Nady yesterday, any thoughts???
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It’s close, but Bobby’s leadin’…
http://espn.go.com/sportsnation/post/_/id/4276675/espn-20-years-baseball
😀
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Thoughts? Yes…
He’s coming off an injury and is only a 1/2 year rental. Can’t like it…
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Yes, boppers are hard to come by. That’s why we need to trade and spend to get one. My first choice would be Albert Pujols, but a more realistic (sane) expectation may be an Ian Kinsler or Nelson Cruz, TEX. Carlos Pena, TAM. Adrian Gonzales, SDG. Mark Reynolds, ARI. Then maybe an Adam Dunn, WAS. Jay Bruce, CIN. Ryan Braun, MIL.
Onto the AL, maybe a Curtis Granderson or Brandon Inge, DET. Tori Hunter, LAA. Russell Branyan, SEA. Justin Morneau, MIN.
I don’t profess to know these guy’s stories, their contract terms, their availability or their desire to be traded, but one of these dudes must be ‘gettable’. Let’s just get Wren to go shopping at the Bop-o-rama.
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Raisins, I checked out the ESPN site you linked. Then I checked out the votes each have received. 34% for Bobby and 33% each for Torre and La Russa. Pretty darned close. A horse race.
Given all the givens, I gotta go with 1) Torre, 2) La Russa, 3) Cox.
A good argument can be made for any of the three. Torre has more rings, although he did have lots and lots of money. Even though I’ve never much cared for his personality, La Russa has done more with less. Bobby certainly deserves to be in the list of three, but based on his failure to manage but one ring and due to his having more than Yankee money in The Three Amigos effect on pennants, he comes in third in my book. I just can’t be a Braves homer enough to overlook all the facts to place him higher than third.
If Torre and La Russa retire after this season and Cox stays on until Global Warming causes the ocean to rise all the way to the outskirts of Atlanta, then he might move up the list.
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SG; I am no insider, or beet righter, but of the names you mentioned, only Branyan is realistically available, and he has hands like Roberto Duran. (Former boxer… huring his career he was nicknamed “Manos de Piedra” or “Hands of Stone”.) He is definitely NOT anything other than 1B, maybe 3B in a real pinch. As for 1b, while not prototypical, Kotch is not the problem here. RF and 2B are the problems. LF is starting to heat up a little, and given his career numbers, he should produce something over the 2nd half. But RF and 2B are the gaping holes at the moment. No boppers available there.
Now, as for wishful thinking… I’ll take Cruz in a New York minute. Speaking of New York, TommyH is on Centre Court tonight. It’ll be interesting to see how he responds.
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No, on Nady. The 2 year rental doesn’t bother me, in fact I’d almost prefer that with an “almost bopper”. It’s the question mark about his condition that would worry me. That, and his mediocre OBP ain’t at all what we need. Not a big bopper, hardly a bopper until he runs into one about 20 times a year… in his good years. Not who we need.
Did I say that we need a bopper?
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the names you mentioned, only Branyan is realistically available
Oh, ye of little faith. So, if no boppers are available, we need a gap burner? A line driver? A laser gunner? A steady poker? A duck runner? A pond cleaner?
A bopper-lite?
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Thaw Ted Williams?
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Chopperholic? Chopmeister?
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Chopped liver… same, but different
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SG, I am afraid V is right…most of those guys are going nowhere. Most of those teams are in the hunt still. Heck, the Mariners don’t have much offense, yet are only 2.5 out of the lead in the AL west. So, unless they fall way out, why trade Branyan??? No one is going to give much up for him.
What a weird line he has. .305 BA, .407 OBP, 16 HR’s yet only 31 RBI’s!!! 😯 How do you do that??? Just looking at the Mariners roster, I see Chris Woodward has somehow made it back to the bigs, 4 hits in 11 AB’s did he have 4 hits during his entire stay with the braves???
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Hey, I didn’t want your opinions on Nady if you were not going to agree with me! 😛
I was thinking if/when he comes back, and shows he can hit, is healthy…why not/?? He bats right handed. between Pittburgh and the Yankees last year, 148 games, 25 Hr’s 97 RBI’s. and hit .305. You know, the kind of numbers Frenchy we hoped would put up.
I just don’t think there’s much out there, but they don’t really need him, unless they are thinking next year.
Damon and Godzilla won’t be playing for them next year.
No way the braves are going to re-sign Soriano. They don’t need 6 outfielders, which is what they are going to have when he comes back.
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An old truth… If you have everyone in a room write down their problems on a piece of paper and place them in a hat, mix them up and let everyone choose which problems they would rather have, 9 out of 10 would keep their own…
Could that be the case with the Braves?
reading the other night about how the Braves needed a slugger at first, then a serviceable SS. I thought, what if the Braves traded Pittsburgh stright up for LaRoach and Jack Wilson for Escobar and Kotchman, would both teams be better for it or would things stay exactly the same?
Infante returning will be a huge boost for the Braves, problem will be how long will it take for him to get back.
An observation… from what I can see, Francouer is getting better. More patient, better swing on the ball, better contact. I think he is about to break out…
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Gil, sure hope you are right! It does seem to have more 3-1, 3-2 counts of late.
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Chicken pox? Mumps?
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Break out? I suppose that depends on your definition of break out… but he does have 30 RBI, 4th on this anemic team. Interesting, I think, the number Ber pointed to. Branyan has only 31 RBI for his 16 HR’s.
I’m not sure about a breakout, but at least he does hit the ball sometimes. Unfortunately, many times it’s into a rally killing DP.
But better? Yes, I think he is hitting better. And I also think I see improvement in the economy. Doesn’t mean it doesn’t still suck…
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Well, a little like the difference between being poor versus broke. It’s all in how you perceive yourself. Even the best hitter will hit into DPs.
Truth is, the Braves need to gain some ground on the Mets and the Phillies before those clubs get healthy.
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Tru dat!!!
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Stopped in across the street to check out the chatter, still a lot of and idiots and morans over there…
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Gil, I agree. He’s taking better swings.
Just to let y’all know, Grinch got a text from Scribe a short time ago. So he’s OK, just very busy I guess.
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Hey Jenn, I hear the heat wave moved into Tampa today… Hope you are staying cool.
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Moved in? It’s been here. High 90s every day & so humid my windows are fogging up.
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All I can say is, whew. Bases loaded and Hanson did the job
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Scribe has been spotted. Good to hear.
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Hey, I didn’t want your opinions on Nady if you were not going to agree with me!
And lose that valuable learning opportunity? 😆
Swisher got swished. Well, not swished, but out.
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Now that I’m over the relief of hearing about Scribe being ok, now I’m mad and he’s got some ‘splainin’ to do.
Ala, my parents, when I would show up very late. Relief, then anger. The relief part was more fun. It lasted about 30 seconds.
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Wow, Hanson was so confident in that slow, diving curve working thst he was halfway to the dugout before Posada struck out flailing for the third out.
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Just remembered… no blogging during games.
They just don’t make big boppers like they used to.
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FBG, tell the Grinch to kiss my buttocks.
That’s guy talk for, “Hey man, how ya doin’, long time no see, your fingers broke?”.
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Dom, Dom, Dom…
Dom Dom inate.
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Going for an uninterrupted ten…
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I’m really cracking myself up here. Can’t help it. Must stop.
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Wow, slept a few hours, and temp is down, feel close to human! 😀
SG, who is in your avatar???? A young Reggie Jackson???
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What is Stuffville without a Saloon? Just about to go over there and see what’s cookin’. Prolly Mr. Invisible talking to Mr. Gone with the Wind.
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Ten!!!
Man, that was close. Bear was a tad late on that slide home.
Bear, that’s an old Brave. An unsung, virtually unknown slugger named Tommy Holmes. He was a big bopper that should’a been a contender for all kinds of stuff. Played right field. Helped the Braves win the 1948 pennant.
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Well sir, time for me to feed the coons and hit the showers so I can watch the 8th and 9th.
C’mon boys, let’s get some insurance before these Yanks wake up.
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SG, ah yes, Tommy Holmes, that was who I thought it was! 😛
Sounds like just the guy we need!
Soriano going to be the closer again…interesting. Perhaps even more important than getting out some tough lefties in the 8th, it is also showing that Soriano can close. Thing is, any competing team in need of a closer????
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Back after shower and still quiet.
Peachtree TV gives a bad name to peaches. Should be called Pea TV. Gonzo in the windup and the screen freezes then goes to commercial. CSS…
Here on the coast we have Comcast cable with many games on HD, very few Braves games on HD. Aggravating to be in the home state or the region closest to the team and watch the worst game coverage while Yankees, Mets, LA and Chicago teams are covered.
A Mac attack!!! Solo shot.
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Wow, first back to back shutouts by the braves since 2005!!!
We just need to play good teams, enough with .500 and lower teams.
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Uh, I think I’ll let you tell him that, SG.
I actually got the Peachtree feed, which is weird because our ExtraInnings never shows Peachtree. Forgot how much Chip bugged me. The game however was lovely.
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Tommy Holms eh? He might be a bit slow with the bat now….
And Tommy Hanson, pitches like Jo Jo Reyes, but different… Difference is he does not seem to get rattled… Maybe he still thinks he is playing in Gwinnett.
Defense still looks a bit shaky behind him but did not come unglued.
Josie thinks Yunel is a drama queen…
Nice job by the bullpen tonight, and it’s good BMac gets some exposure to that big Yankee Market… Boy sure can hit, defense, well not so much but the boy sure can hit…. 🙂
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Gil, I think Brian needs to take up Yoga again…or did he only do that a few times??? Help him get down on the ground better….He just looks stiff. Except for hitting, then he seems nice and fluid.
I thought Yunel was just faking it, but I read somewhere that they think it’s gotten in his head, being pitched inside, and will be pitched inside more because of it.
Ninotchka is on Turner…been on almost too long for folks to join up, but the best movie Greta Garbo ever made.
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It’s an incredible relief to know that the scribe is well! Thanks for the info, FBG!
OK, while no body is around, I think I’ll get the streets swept and water the flowers. Next, I’ll tackle the Saloon. WHERE IS CHRIS???
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Greetings B&S’ers!
Slept 6 hours, which did me a world of good! 😀
Glad to hear Scribe has been heard from!
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Hey, Ber! Glad you’re feeling better! Good news!! 🙂
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Bears hibernate for a reason.
Tommy Holms eh? He might be a bit slow with the bat now…
Gil, he’s starting in right field this afternoon, near a cornfield in the American heartland somewhere. DiMaggio is in center, Mantle in left. Lou Campanella is behind the plate, being an old Brooklyn boy. The Babe is on the mound.
They let Ruth pitch whenever he wants. There are hot dogs and beer, but there’s no DH or DL in the league they play in now. 😀
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Braves’ Search For Bats Limited By Payroll
By Ben Nicholson-Smith [June 24 at 11:02am CST]
Braves GM Frank Wren told ESPN.com’s Buster Olney that the Braves would consider adding a hitter, but may be unable to make a deal because few teams have financial flexibility. Wren said he’s been impressed with his team’s hitting recently, but he remains open to adding a bat that fits the Braves’ needs.
However, the Braves cannot add a significant contract to their payroll. This obstacle is especially problematic this year, since other teams have “very little financial flexibility,” too. Despite being two games below .500, the Braves are just 4.0 games back of the division lead, thanks to the surprising number of injuries to hit the NL East this year.
http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2009/06/braves-search-for-bats-limited-by-payroll.html
Olney link
http://insider.espn.go.com/espn/blog/index?name=olney_buster&action=login&appRedirect=http%3a%2f%2finsider.espn.go.com%2fespn%2fblog%2findex%3fname%3dolney_buster
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Speaking of bat speed. One thing I have noticed about Matt Diaz is that he has really quick bat speed… Unfortunately, he has an awful swing. Such a pronounced uppercut that he reduces the chance of actually striking the ball square. It really looks as if he is swatting at the ball rather than swinging at it.
hey, I could get the bat on any ball thrown in the vicinity of the batters boxes too, it took a stern coach to teach me to wait for a pitch that I could strike well before I swung. it did make a difference.
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Looking for Big Bats.
“Holliday said this week that he is open to a potential deal from Oakland.”
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“La Russa indicated that the club has some financial flexibility, and it’s clear that St. Louis has some young pitching to deal — especially relief pitching.”
Financial flexibility = ability to spend
ability to spend = better team
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The Cards have been pretty darn cheap for years….their budget is less than the braves.
Just looked at the attendance this year. Not competing(And the economy) is starting to catch up with the braves.
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/attendance
#5 St. Louis 1,486,546
#18 Atlanta 867,018
St Louis is in the top 5 in attendance, we are in the bottom half.
So I can sorta understand what’s happening. Though, wasn’t Tim Hudson’s salary insured this year????
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So, I hear rumors about DeRosa for the Cards, now Holliday???
We should really be in the drivers seat in a trade. I imagine if Kawakami has another good game, and fairly cheaply signed for 3 years, he might even be an option over Javy, for some teams.
But, if we can’t even take on a 3 month rental contract like Holliday, we are in trouble.
GA, if he keeps hitting like he has of late, might solve LF, but if Frenchy doesn’t improve, and soon, can we really expect to win the division????
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Well, I always heard that if you were buying, you didn’t tell the seller how much you had to spend up front. I think Wren already picked the Pirates’ pocket in getting McLouth. I am sure there is a team somewhere that would take a major league ready pitcher and prospects to unload payroll.
Terry McGirk has said Liberty has not put a limit on the Braves payroll so it is a self induced cap.
So who is ready to toss in the towel? Arizona, San Diego? Cleavland? Baltimore is already going young, who do they have?
If a team is dumping payroll, then you need to be able to pay the difference. Nobody is going to give up a guy just to be rid of his salary.
At least not yet… No, you have to look for someone who needs what you have available in return for someone you can use.
I read where people keep wanting to ship off Javy but I don’t think there is another pitcher available in the Braves organization who could take his spot. At least not this year.
I guess that what makes this season so interesting, every team has flaws… Even the Yankees…
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Yep, insurance covering part of it. Let’s face it, Atlanta has been hit really hard by the recession. The stadium is in the middle of a slum, prices for tickets are just out of the reach of many folks. Easier to just tune in on TV.
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I may or may not take Josie to see the Braves when they play Washington this summer. Just don’t know if I want to put out that much cash just for the privileged of having someone pour beer down my back.
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Mark Sanford now? Is there no one left?
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Like Geraldine use to say, “Don’t let your mouth write a check your body can’t cash… Very disappointed in Mr Sanford. Of course, at least it was with a member of the opposite sex and someone over 21….
And the Braves, sigh.. Jeff Francouer breaks out and Jeff Bennett throws a boneheaded pitch…
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That was a horrible pitch that Aroid was able to drive. How can you slow down and put it on a tee when Aroid couldn’t catch up to it. Joe and Chip just talked about it at great length… before and after the pitch.
Opinions – Was that 0-2 pitch by Bennett:
1. Bad pitch call by BMac
2. Bad pitch call by Cox
3. Bad pitch location on a good pitch call
4. Pitch call misinterpreted by Bennett
5. Other
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Meant to say, Aroid couldn’t catch up to the 95 mph fastball, so Bennett slowed it down for him. Ugh. Boneheaded is right.
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Is Bennett just a bonehead with a fast ball? Sheesh.
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what happened to Kawakami? I’m too lazy right now to look it up.
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SG… Kershin was struck in the neck by a line drive off of Chamberlin’s bat in the third.
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Like I said earlier, Francouer’s bat is coming around, now if they can just find a way not to use Bennett… And the ump did blow that call on Cuno.
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Thanks, Gil. I must’ve come in after K got hit. Sounds terrible. Hope he’s ok. You’d think at some point the broadcast dynamic duo would mention it.
This is an ugly, ugly game. Kotchman is worthless at this point. Kelly is worthless. Big hole between first and second.
The second string pen is worthless.
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Great game 🙄
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I missed seeing Kawakami getting hit by a pitch, I was really wondering why Medlen was in in the 4th. Joe and Chip mentioned it once, but that seemed to be the only time from then on.
Ump screws up a call once again against the braves.
I don’t know what Joe was talking about, blaming Yunel for a terrible throw by McCann in the 9th. Yeah, some guys get in front of the base to get throws, but no matter, the ball hit Jeter in the back on a head first slide…a bad throw.
Rivera came in and the braves clearly had no idea what to do, except swing hard at ANYTHING he threw. 4 batters, 4 strikeouts. Good grief.
10 Runs in 3 games is not enough.
Gil, you are right though, Frenchy does look to be coming around, sure hope he can keep it up.
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Bleeeehhhh!!!!
Other than that, I hope KK is alright. It was quite a hard shot to the neck.
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Mark Sanford, huh?
We’re talking politicians, folks. Don’t give them ‘false idol’ status, as if some need it! 🙄 Vote their message/actions; not their personal lives. One has nothing to do with the other…just my view. Disappointing? Sure…but at day’s end, either you want governing, or you want nothing. Cause sure as the sun rises in the East, any politician worth their salt (and I know Salt!
)will be smeared…the media will see to it. Any politician that gains traction, particularly those with a conservative bent, will be scrutinized beyond reality, and the media will insure one of two things:
1. they find a ‘smoking gun’, or
2. create perception of a ‘smoking gun’
Either one is sufficient to throw the official off his message.
Resign to cynicism, or narrow your focus of what your officials mean to you and your expectations. Don’t expect more of them personally than you would of yourselves. In fact, don’t expect that much…just hold them to their message. Rant concluded! 😆
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That was the worst played game I’ve seen this year. Mental and physical errors all around. We had more mental lapses and physical errors last night than were on the scoreboard. I’d rather get beat 10-0 and play sound, fundamental ball than to see something like that.
The stupidest play I’ve seen all year was by Kotchman. He had his mind made up when he caught the grounder that he would mail it in and toss to O’Flaherty, even though he was a lot closer to the bag than the runner or the pitcher. What in the world was he thinking? Nothing would be my guess. That hurt.
Then, as usual, the umps added their usual bit, blowing calls in critical plays that always hurt the Braves. They blow a lot of calls on both sides, but when the game is on the line you can count on them to give runs to the opposition or take them away from us. Adding insult to injury, they have a horrible, all-powerful attitude.
If I didn’t know the Braves so well, I’d think that last night was just a rookie team playing the mighty Yankees. This rookie team was so proud to have won the night before that, when the mighty Yanks hit a home run, the rookies caved. The Yankees have been in such a slump they were ripe for the taking. The perception of the Yankees can be enough to intimidate rookies.
Now that we’ve inoculated a slumping team once again, the Yanks may have punched through their funk. Tonight’s game will show us who the Braves are. I’m thinking the Braves are more last night than the Tuesday night version.
I’m hoping that French gets on a tear and helps the team while helping himself and his trade value. His swing is not sustainable. How long is Bobby gonna pencil Kelly in? The boy is Medoza bound. If we could trade French, the timid Kelly Johnson and the mediocre Kotchman, our chances would be greatly improved. Basically, trade everyone to the right of second base.
There. All better now. 😀
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So… SG, how do you really feel??? 🙂
Sage advice there Salt…
Yes, many boneheaded plays made last night, funny how you can see the wheels coming off the wagon even before the event occurs. Sometimes we ask ourselves if our eyes are playing tricks on us or did we really see a wobble?
Yes, Kotchman goofed, actually the first time I have seen him screw up on a play… Lollygagging me thinks, California dreaming perhaps? Anywho, Yunel has been playing with his head up his butt for about two months now.. That’s so obvious that even the wife has commented on it.
Don’t worry about it though, it’s all really Frank Wren’s master plan to rid the team of Bobby Cox by making sure this team is just good enough to fail…
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Vote their message/actions; not their personal lives.
Salty, knowing you as I believe I do, I’ll mostly agree with your points, although we have to look at these on a case-by-case basis. It’s the only way. If we forget actions, we forget habits and character. Character counts. Otherwise, by your point above, we get the likes of good speech givers like Clinton and Obama. Have we not learned anything about the importance of character in our leaders.
To err is human. Politicians are human, although I sometimes wonder where some of them have been bred. We are all sinners… of this we have no doubt. To do what he did, all the while professing the opposite is betrayal… not just of his wife and family but his own touted values and beliefs. OK, I’m not done here. Even that lie and betrayal is forgivable if he repents and asks forgiveness. Yet, in the context of politics, it all depends on circumstances, behaviors, and trustworthiness… and how it plays out. Again, it’s on a case-by-case.
In Sanford’s case, going on with this protracted affair could be not so much forgotten but forgiven or just ignored as not relevant to governing. That seemed to work pretty well for Clinton. Works for the Italians and French too. Maybe it’ll work for Sen. John Ensign out in Nevada, although Harry Reid will pound that transgression into the minds of all that will listen. That’s his only chance to win.
Thing is, with Sanford, his affair may not have done him in. His sin and his betrayal can be forgiven by his family and his constituents. This would not be incredible. His confession was fundamental in healing. Stay with me here. All that said, Sanford’s long, rambling, overly… excruciatingly, nauseatingly detailed press conference was unnecessary and ill advised. He broke a cardinal sin of politics when his disappeared from the radar without being in touch. This makes him untrustworthy and gives him at least the perception of instability in crisis.
Then, in the dubious press conference, confessional, psychoanalysis woe is me session, he aired it out in such an odd, rationalizing, rambling way that he proved himself unstable. Either one of those political “sins” are a death blow for a politician.
Sanford may continue as Governor, whatever… but can forget higher office. The speculation, the PAC development and the fundraising for a Sanford Presidency is over. Not done in by the sin, but by his disappearance and by his explanation of the “relationship”. Politicians best follow a bit of FDR’s advice when explaining something difficult or unseemly to the public: “Be sincere; be brief; be seated.”
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Italics? How did that happen? Hmmm… I must be just leaning to the right when I type. 😀
Frank Wren’s master plan to rid the team of Bobby Cox by making sure this team is just good enough to fail…
The grand scheme finally revealed. Now it’s all becoming clear. 😆
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From what I saw on TV, Sanford also disappeared last month while wildfires broke out…she must really be a hottie! 🙄
SG, yup, can’t count on this guy in a crisis one bit.
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Sanford also disappeared last month while wildfires broke out…she must really be a hottie!
Smoke during sex?
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😛 Nice! I put a 😛 up and nothing else, and wordpress says I have already said that! 😛 to that
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SG…you know me well enough not to take me literally word for word! 😆 Big picture…
My point is this, alone. In the current climate, the folks you hope to see succeed, are the very ones who will be scrutinized for any impropriety. That said, it also means a lot of very well-intentioned people will not even seek public office because of the double standard. So…the media wins…and we lose.
Sadly, I’m to the point where I’ll take the blemishes over the hypocrisy. At least I know what I’m getting…or at least have a better idea of the package. Pretense, on the other hand, sucks!
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Any politician that gains traction, particularly those with a conservative bent, will be scrutinized beyond reality, and the media will insure one of two things:
1. they find a ’smoking gun’, or
2. create perception of a ’smoking gun’
One last thought on the subject: There is not much the media can do to find or create the perception of a smoking gun with Sanford after his press conference.
He brought the gun, waved it around, displayed it for the cameras, showed the smoke, apologized for shooting the bullets, took the gun apart piece by piece and attempted to clean the thing right there in front of the world. Then he teared up because he knows he can’t put that gun back together again. Like Humpty Dumpty, but different.
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Salty, dittos on your 9:46.
Yes, with the media, the double standard is applied at every turn.
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Question: How can we right the wrongs of the world?
Answer: A big bat. 😀
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Now, I have to make like a tree and leaf.
Or make like a big bat and hit it on out’a here. 😀
Be back after I circle the bases.
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Poor, poor SG, he’s going to be so sad when the big bat turns out to belong to Chris Woodward, when we trade to get him back.
😉
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Come along with me, and feel a bit dirty after reading Sanford’s emails to Maria…who leaked these??? Maria??? His wife??? A demmycrat???
http://www.thestate.com/sanford/story/839350.html
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No thanks, Bear. I’ll leave those emails where they belong… in the trash. Maybe you could just give us the, uh, dirty parts. (kidding) 😆
Reminds us that we never put anything in print that we wouldn’t want the world to read.
I’ve broken that rule so many times that I’d surely be roundly bashed for the content. Oh well, I’ll just hope to be judged fairly and understood in the context of the times or the conversation.
Guess many of my rants rules me out of running for office as a Dem. I can live with that.
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Chris Woodward 😯
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Speaking of politicians….
This guy’s video on youtube has been so popular that Obama
called him personally. He said that he was very disturbed with the video and invited him to the White House. Obama also said he wanted the White House to handle the Press and not to talk about the video or the White House visit. That’s interesting.
This may be the best 6:35 invested in your future. You may have to turn your Sound Control up some.
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There is only one politician that I would vote for to remain in office – and, believe it or not, he’s a Democrat! Mike McIntyre, my rep in Congress. An honest, humble man.
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A blue dog no doubt…
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Mike McIntyre, my rep in Congress. An honest, humble man.
Or just dang good at hiding his tracks…
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Good video CL. I’ve seen a few of Bob Basso’s Thomas Paine vids. Good stuff. I’d like more info on Obama’s “invite” to the White Hose if you have a link that story.
Common sense ain’t common. Unfortunately, currently in America for the first time since our founding, outrage at political corruption, unfair taxes and lost freedom has been replaced by fear, greed, apathy or all of the above.
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Maybe he got “hosed” in that House? 😳
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Wonder if Basso took a big bat with him?
Speaking of big bats…
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Basso-matic?
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Breaking News!!!
Jeff Bennett has been DL’d. He broke his left (non-pitching) hand last night when he punched a door in the clubhouse. I never cheer an injury, self-inflicted or not, but I ain’t exactly cryin’…
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Puree or chopped?
Yawn…. I’m bored… Too hot to go outside for any prolonged period of time. I have been working on my mower deck in spurts. I should have realize that if one spindle was bad, the other two would not be far behind…
Was just sitting here thinking how stupid Mark Sanford is… Man, I don’t want to know the sordid details… Almost like he was bragging….
Still supporting Bob McDonald, I wonder what skeletons he has hiding in his closet I don’t really want to know about.
Josie wanted to ride up a see John Smoltz pitch tonight for Boston, I talked her out of it for now…
And another stadium plan is dead in Richmond, the city should have taken the Braves up on their offer when they had the chance. Of course, that would have meant we would still be stuck with a cruddy AAA team….
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Rubber match at 7:00.
Bennett broke his hand on a clubhouse door? Very bright of him. Does DL mean Dumb Loser? Did he miss the door on the first few attempts? Did he just make a stupid mistake and, after two strikes at the door, put one right smack down the middle? Force of habit maybe.
Lumber always seems to find Bennett.
Will Cox show him, uh, another door?
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Jeff Bennett took one for the team last night, fell on his own sword so to speak and broke his non-pitching hand when he punched a door. He was placed on the 15 day DL and Boone Logan recalled from Gwennette.
Says he hopes the Braves will give him another chance as his act was unprofessional.
My wife is a bad person.. she clapped when I told her…
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Applauded? She was probably just happy that he didn’t hurt himself any worse. 😆
Just nabbed this lineup card from a kiosk across the street:
Prado’s in the lineup at 2B
LINEUP:
1. McLouth
2. Prado, 2B
3. Chipper
4. McCann
5. Escobar
6. Anderson
7. Francoeur
8. Kotchman
9. Lowe
At least Kelly’s out. Sometimes it’s best to end a slump on the bench. Different perspective and all…
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Test (after I’ve posted the last few the screen goes bland and I have to click my bookmark to get back to the blog).
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Happened again. Aggravating. Did Salty screw something up?
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again?
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yes. 🙄
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Just cleaned out and started over. Sixth time the charm?
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❓
😥
😈
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If you’d get a real computer…
😀
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Uh… I think it just happened to me and my real computer, to… 😐
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Somebody broke WordPress!!! 😯
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WordPress is not able to communicate with a user friendly platform such as Macintosh, thank you very much. 😛
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If you look closely at Raisin’s avatar and close one eye, you’ll see Bobby repeatedly smacking himself in the forehead.
Maybe it’s just my imagination.
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Well, at least it’s not just me and my little mac buddy.
Scrambled signal in Stuffville. Call the fire department. Call the power company. Call the Mayor.
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Blog meltdown. Avatars and Gravatars are missing. Malfunctioning comment posts. It may be a cyber attack. Red alert, red alert. Did the Yankees do this?
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Damn Yankees…
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Wow…what a day. First Farrah Fawcett dies, now I just saw that Michael Jackson has died of cardiac arrest! 😯
Michael Jackson had so much talent, and just wasted it…
I am pretty damn sure he was a child molester…though I blame his jerk of a Father for most of his issues.
Sure created some nice pop music in the 70’s and 80s….who didn’t have the Thriller album????
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Me. Was never a Jackson fan. Sorry!
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I didn’t…
I did have alot of Ozzy, Van Halen, Deep Purple and Ted Nugent, though… 😀
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Farrah Fawcett upstaged by Michael Jackson.
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Blog still acting up. Back later.
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Dear MLB:
Welcome to Atlanta, home of the Braves Rehab Facility. Come on down, enjoy our southern hospitality and get out of your slumps. That’s right, we’ll have you back to your winning ways in no time at all. We may take the first game getting you warmed up, but by the second game our team will lose confidence and run out of steam about the time you’re hitting your stride.
So relax, slumping teams, there is a place for you. Arrive in the dumps and leave on a tear.
Oh, and thanks for playing in our fair city. Our fans are just happy to see struggling teams come here and prosper. If you hit a tough spot later on, y’all just come on back. We’ll pick you right up and let you pound on our boys again.
All the best,
Atlanta Chamber of Commerce (formerly known as the TED).
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Call me a homer, call me unrealistic, but I still believe.
It makes the games alot more fun and enjoyable. Do I get disappointed sometimes? Sure… But I still love ’em, and still believe in ’em. It makes the highs higher, and smooths out the lows.
And I don’t get as many wrinkles! 😀
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8-6… and still comin’.
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Wellll… shut my mouth. Look at all them runs. AL park?
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Raisins, that avatar just cracks me up! THANKS!!!
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Call me a homer, call me unrealistic, but I still believe.
I believe you’re a Homer.
Hey, I want to believe even when I don’t.
But I’m with ya. I just take it an inning at a time. Wrinkles and all. 😀
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Logan’s run.
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Well, everyone I have talked to had Thriller at one time! 😛
Anyway, I’m sorry…I am with SG here(Well the SG at 8:24)This team is not going anywhere. All the opportunity in the world to make progress and we can’t. I almost wish the Phils would just run away with it, and take us out of our delusions.
Trade what we can, and aim for next year. Bring up…well, get Freddie Freeman and Hayward at AA then get them up here in August or September and get them ready for next year.
I know, look what happened to Frenchy coming up so soon. Well, look what happened to McCann. Did it hurt Ken Griffey Jr, or A-Rod to come up at 19????
I don’t know, just tired of this team….
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Well, trying to look for positives…the different lineup did seem to work pretty well…Prado can hit, unlike the regular 2nd baseman.
Diory Hernandez…is there no one better in the minors right now who could be called up??? .108 BA. Sigh….
wait, I was trying to look for positives, right??? I am postive he sucks! 😕
Acosta is starting to come around, his Change up made some of the Yankee hitters look silly.
And ol’ Gil seems to know his baseball, Frenchy is hitting a bit, game after game! 😯
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It was quite a sad and bizarre day yesterday. We saw the end of two cultural icons. One, a beautiful woman who, through her looks alone, achieved a high level of stardom. She was not known for her talent, but for her God given physical beauty. Gorgeous woman. And the swimsuit photograph became… The Poster. She squandered it all in a very sad and troubled adulthood. Then the physical disease of cancer claimed her. RIP Farrah.
Ironically, in a similar way as her career was all but forgotten, the media circus began the cycle with news of her life, her career and her death until Farrah’s news was cut short and disappeared from the headlines. She was eclipsed by the untimely death of an even more famous icon.
The young, ultra-talented boy named Michael was blessed at birth with God given gifts of natural beauty, vocal, dancing and creative abilities that enabled him to create pop music masterpieces and entertain millions around the world. He soared to the highest heights of fame and fortune.
He squandered his gifts. He destroyed his looks and his body with a multitude of emotional and mental problems. Whether his problems were rooted in an inability to handle stardom, a mental disease or a more dubious, self-inflicted cancer of narcissism. More than any other damage, his purported pedophilia was the most damaging of all, not just to himself but also to his victims. From Michael Jackson the ‘Thriller’ to Wacko Jacko, from the ‘I’m Bad’ icon to the sick man-child of sick Neverland darkness, his fall was gradual.
As his wackiness reached the heights of bizarre behavior, he no longer received admiration and applause… at least not from any decent person that was aware of his doings. What he ultimately achieved were public sentiments of simultaneous shock, pity, scorn and outrage. His publicists and agents couldn’t overcome his behavior and the negative public perceptions of this troubled soul. His career was over. Slowly, painfully, miserably over. His health was failing. In the end, his lawyers couldn’t pay off the Grim Reaper.
After last respects are paid to these people by their families and friends, I hope the tragic side of their life stories are told by the media in the right, balanced, respectful yet honest way and not just continue the current canonization and false idol worship for fallen pop idols. From that truth of their lives, both good and bad, lessons may be learned by the next generation of beautiful, talented youth.
RIP Michael and Farrah. May your beauty and talent, troubles and pain provide a life lesson for generations that follow, whether they are talented, beautiful or just average kids that have no desire for the spotlight.
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Now, baseball. Yes, Acosta did seem to have better stuff last night along with the changeup. Maybe the pressure being off helped?
Kelly being out of the lineup helped too. French is clicking now. Hopefully, for his sake and ours, it is sustainable. Not sure about that one. I’d guess no. Prado can be a little spark. Scoring 7 runs will win you most ball games. Giving up 11 will lose you most ballgames.
Unfortunately, Lowe is showing what I am afraid is what we’ll get from him. He’s a good pitcher but by no means an ace, as I’ve said when he was first signed. His age is also working against him. His best sport would be as a No. 3.
Well, win or lose they are my Braves, so I’ll watch, root, be frustrated and occasionally vent here. So forgive me in advance if I seem to be down on the team. I’m not a homer, because I can’t any longer trick myself into believing we’ll win most games with our current roster. I’ll try to keep my humor throughout the Braves rebuilding and struggles. Winning is certainly more fun, but it ain’t everything.
Humor will get us through times of no wins better than winning will get us through times of no humor. Not sure if I made that up or just remember it… but it’s one of my mottos, whether in sports, business or life.
Those were just a random thought from Savannah, a drinking community with a fishing problem.
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SG, glad someone finally showed up! 🙂
I can’t forgive MJ molesting children, but he had such a rotten Father, I wonder how different he would have been if Joe Jackson had died 40 years ago… An interesting article on Jackson.
http://www.salon.com/ent/feature/2009/06/26/michael_jackson_crossover/
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A FoxNews reporter referred to Farrah as “one of the greatest actresses of our time.” Don’t know where he got that.
I don’t understand the mass ‘hysteria’ when somebody in Hollywood dies. They are just people like us – more money, maybe, better known, but they are just people. Some entertained us for a while, some just made fools of themselves.
Read the obituary section of any newspaper and you’ll see the names of people listed who are every bit as important to others as those from California.
Exceptions? Bob Hope? John Wayne? That’s all I can think of right now, but there are probably a couple of others.
Y’all are FAR more important to me than any of those will ever be!
Just my opinion.
Are the Braves still “playing”?
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SG, Lowe to me, like so many other sinker pitchers, is SOL if hitters are patient. That homer A-Rod hit was not a bad pitch. That has to mess with your head to have that happen.
Give me a power pitcher any day of the week over a sinker pitcher.
He did great during the Red Sox run , and he wanted to be a number one, so I give him credit for that. It’s just come playoff time, the Rick Reuschel’s of the world, that pitch their hearts out, can’t blow guys away if they lay off the pitches 2 inches below the strike zone.
Still not sorry we got him, and I think he will be fine the rest of the way.
And talking about the playoffs, like we have to worry about who pitches in the playoffs this year! 😕
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ATL
34-38 L2 .472 4.0 back = 4th place
Thank goodness for the Nats!
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At least Bennett has enough sense to be ashamed of himself. That’s something a dumb teenaged boy does.
Thunderstorms last night & today. We desperately needed the rain but it knocked our power out for over 4 hours last night. Got a bit toasty in here.
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Used to hear about 1-2 pitchers a year would do that, usually to their pitching hand…at least Bennett hit it with his left hand…funny, I have pretty strong bones, in my youth(Teenaged years) I punched a lot of walls and doors…the walls and doors lost…
FBG, that is no fun to swelter with no fans even…don’t miss the frequent power outages we suffered in Jacksonville.
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Given that it was a bone 2 inches south of his pinky, I suspect it was more a downward hammering slam with the meaty part of his hand as opposed to a straight punch with a clinched fist… ere other bones might be broken as well. As I understand it, it was the metal clubhouse door. Bennett vs. metal door. Stupid for picking that fight…
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Exactly, VOR. Did he think he was going to beat up the door?
One very nice feature of the house in Tiger is the whole house generator. I guess power outages are a frequent occurence with all the trees but we don’t even notice them ’til someone hears the generator running.
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Good afternoon all, finished up the mower deck and took it for a little test cut. It has not cut this good since I bought it… Actually better than new.
Got into it with the county engineer this morning, after they put in a new sewer line, they half-way fixed my road. I am willing to put up with some inconvenience because it is my nature to get along. However, when I called them about it, they sent an inspector who told me he didn’t see anything wrong with the road as long as I didn’t drive over 5mph… WRONG ANSWER…
I hit the roof and blasted them and anybody who looked like him… They called back a few minutes ago and said it would be fixed to my satisfaction by Monday…
I hate having to do that but it seems it is the only thing they understand… (government officials)
Now baseball… Very astute (blog first?) observation by Mr SG on the tonic called the Braves has on ailing baseball teams. I hate to hear that a team is struggling when they come into town.
John Smoltz was very Derrek Lowe like in his performance last night. Very hittable pitches and the Nats took advantage of it. He will get better though I think. I think Lowe needs to skip a start….
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And a parting shot at Hollywood… CL, I must disagree with with your observation that Hollywood celebrities are just like us… They are nothing like us… They live in a fantasy world where folks stoke there misguided egos and enable them to do things way beyond the pale.
While it is tragic that Farrah Fawcett suffered from they terrible scourge called cancer, it was her own vanity with led to her ultimate demise. She suffered from anal cancer, the normal course of action would have been a colostomy. Yes, that is a very inconvenient thing but she choose to circumvent that procedure for one less invasive.
Still, she was not a great actress, not even a good actress as far as that goes. She was a sex symbol and icon but hardley worthy of the air time given to her.
Michael Jackson was an even more tragic figure. A pedophile who used his money to shield him from jail time. Talented? yes but again, not worthy of the adulation given by the media.
I thought the Dixie Chicks were talented too but I don’t think I would want my kids hanging out with them. I have not listened to them since they dis our President in London. I am no prude but some folks are just too crass to be allowed in public.
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And while I am being wordy, a comment about Kelly Johnson… He is thinking too much… and it’s hurting the team….
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I agree with your assessment (2:27). Most, not all, but most fit perfectly into that category.
I’ve met a bunch of ’em at various times. Some were great folks whom I would be happy and comfortable having in my home. Others were something that I won’t even write! (It has something to do with a mule’s anatomy…)
I think of those like Pat who died recently. Salt-of-the-earth who knew he was just a regular person who happened to be in a high-profile profession.
Took his work seriously, but not himself. When he moved to the beach 20-some years ago, he bought a modest place that suited him and his wife (his ONLY wife of many years, I might add!). Yes, it probably cost a bundle because it was right on the water, but it is no mansion, that’s for sure.
He did a lot of work with the local theater groups here and he said he got more pleasure from that than anything he could think of. He loved working with young people – and they loved him right back.
Another one who is in that same category is the woman who played (shoot! I can’t remember the series!!) Aggggh! “Kiss my grits” was her line, I think. Anyhow, she does the same thing. Lives here quietly, does her thing with the local groups. She’ll be playing Jennifer Lopez’s mother in some film soon. WHY CAN’T I THINK OF HER NAME??!!! Rats!
Anyhow – there are two examples I know of who actually know that they are just people.
Then, there’s that other bunch!
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Linda Lavin! (I’m slow but I do get there!) 😆
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Wait! This memory thing….. It can’t be ….. Naaaaaa. Not at my youthful age!
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Alice?
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Yeah!
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Much good commentary on the board today.
As we all know, talent, riches and beauty can be a great advantage in life. Those attributes can also become a great disadvantage, depending on the individual’s priorities, value system, core beliefs and behaviors. The same can be said for those with opposite traits and circumstances; the poor, plain and those that have ignored or haven’t discovered their own remarkable or unique talent.
Therefore, the only thing that matters is what is inside. We all know that but most of us forget it on an hourly basis. As I consider these recent, untimely pop icon departures, I’m reminded once again how so many in our society place so much value on those people that place their own value on such shallow ideals, useless priorities and harmful behaviors.
Without humility and compassion, integrity and goodness we are lost souls. When we place too much value on superficial things like beauty, fortune and fame, we squander our blessings and suffer the lowest form of poverty, which is a character embellished with narcissism, greed and moral bankruptcy.
No news in any of that for any of you. We know it. I’m just thinking out loud, rambling… jotting my thoughts while the media continues it’s non-stop coverage of Wacko Jacko. I suppose it just always amazes me when so many can idolize such miserable, despicable and pitiful “icons”.
I’m over it. Won’t mention again. Nothing to be learned or gained from it.
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Well, now that’s behind me, I can resume being my usual silly self.
The media can all just kiss my grits, y’all. 😀
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This memory thing….. It can’t be ….. Naaaaaa.
One too many laps around the yard with that John Deere?
One too many falls off of that old ladder?
😛
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SG, you may be closer to the truth than you know!
Aaron took the ladder away from me.
I mean, put it on his SUV and took it home with him! I was instructed to call if there was anything that required a ladder.
“Ummm, OK.”
And Cathy (his wife, my cousin) still thinks it’s funny. I don’t.
😦
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Just having to deal with THAT J Deere is enough to age anybody!!
Never! Never! Never! buy a John Deere!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
NEVER!
“It’s green!”
Yes, because it takes a boatload of money for the constant repairs! 😦
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Maybe it’s green because it’s one of those environmentally sensitive tractors. Emits very few carbons. You should cash in all those carbon credits.
So, by not working, it works. It’s the new way in America.
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Emits very few carbons
You sure got that right, SG! ‘Course I don’t know if turning the air blue is earth-friendly or not….
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After a hot, muggy, sunny day, we just had a major blow through here a couple hours ago. Came out of nowhere… 60-70 mph winds, lightning, dime sized hail and driving rain blowing sideways. Also had another twister/spout that went right through the yard, over the house and out the driveway by the garden, tearing of half of a large water oak, flattening much of my garden, tearing shingles off the house, leaving large and small limbs all over my lot. Just went out and lifted the tomato cages back to upright and untangled the limbs on the tomato plants. Most survived but a few look pretty damaged.
Normally I love storms but the hurricane force wind and spouts I could do without. Now I have to redo everything I spent all day doing last Saturday, when we had another storm and another twister and another Oak limb come down. Time to get out the chainsaw and put on a new chain. Wore out one last week. The large limb last week was about a 1 foot dia. This one is a two foot diameter and about 60 feet long with many large limbs attached. Fun fun fun.
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Blue air?
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Oh, man, SG!! That was CLOSE!!! I’m so sorry for all the damage!! Wow. Will insurance help with the house damage? That’s just plain bad!!!
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Wow SG!!! 😯
Thank God it didn’t do more damage!
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Now baseball…shoot, do I have to???? 😦
Sad to see the team down 2-0 in the 6th(Well, after Frenchy’s double play) knowing it’s nearly impossible that we could come back. Another great outing by Jair wasted.
Beckett is a great pitcher, but come on! Runners on, but no running. Veritek as Chip said, not very good at throwing runners out. Nate almost never gets thrown out…but, no running.
Perhaps Papabon is overdue for a blown save…
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SG…Did you know a chainsaw is the most dangerous piece of equipment you can operate without a license?
CL.. you and ladders.. just because you like airplanes doesn’t mean you can fly…
Someday I will tell you about the time I was cutting tree limbs with a chainsaw and the ladder slipped… Fortunately, a barbed wire fence broke my fall… well for a few seconds anyway. To tell the truth, I was in denial the whole time.
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And Frenchy…reminds me of Lenny, in of Mice and Men…George, George, I’m gonna be the heero…yup, I’m gonna hit a ball reeel far George. He throws me two pitches in the row outside for strikes, he won’t do that a 3rd time… 🙄
Really??? We are going to have Jurrjens bat for himself, down 2-0 in the 7th???
I bet the red sox fans are laughing like crazy at us.
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Yes Ber, it is becoming painful to watch the Braves and their lollygagging… A bunch of lollygaggers is what they have become.
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Well, we need to stop giving them lolly’s then! 😀
Sorry! 😳
You are right though. Heck, even Chip, who can be a bit…Obtuse?? Said how flat the braves are.
Gee, sure am glad Bobby left Jair in there.
Bench is short they say??? Yunel can’t play, McCann can’t play(Just heard that, why?) hey, here’s a crazy idea! Acosta just pitched yesterday, why not send him down for a few days and bring Barbaro back up??? you can send players down as much as you want….or call up another pitcher and send Boone down for a day….nah, just play short. Have the pitcher hit…make a hard comeback impossible.
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CL, I hate to ever contradcit you, but Polly Holliday (AKA Flo,) was the one on Alice who said Kiss my Grits! 😉
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So, after the storm, there I was… plopped down in that old saloon in Stuffville and… what was the name of that place? Oh, yea, Klobber’s. That’s it. Nice fellow, that Klobber. Wish he’d pop in now and again. Miss him.
Anyway, there I’m sittin’, all comfy and everything, fixin’ to yap a little and I started thinking… why sit here and write on this blog when I’ve got better than a few hours light left. I could go clean up all the debris on my lot. It actually wasn’t as much as last weekend. I think in this storm the wind was so much higher that it blew most of the small stuff down the way. I’m sorry for whoever got all those little limbs and leaves dumped on their lot, when they may have landed a half-mile away. Very sorry they have to clean my mess. 😛
Is there an avatar for ‘finger’s crossed’? Where was I? Oh, so I’m sittin’ there thinkin’ I should get at least a head start and get as much cleared out as I could. Better than wasting time in Stuffville when prolly everybody’s having dinner, off the streets and not even around.
Then I decided, nah, to heck with productivity… I’ll sit right here and run my mouth so to speak. That’s when it happened.
The power went out. Two hours the storm’s been gone and the power goes out. Mrs. Guy comes in and say’s, “now I can’t cook, let’s go out for pizza”. It took no arm-twisting. Can’t blog with no power, don’t wanna clean the mess up outside, may as well go eat a pizza.
Finished eating, returned home and the power was still out. So, not wanting to go into a dark house and do nothing so I picked up one limb, then another, then another. Before you know it, I’d cleaned up half the limbs and moss wads off the lawn. Then retrieved the big heavy county trash dumpster that had blown almost to the street. Washed it. Picked up the shingles and all I could find were a few. Doesn’t seem to be any missing from the roof. Maybe they were just laying up there, dunno. That’s good. Was afraid I might have a big hole up there but all seems fine. All except for that big Oak. That’s for tomorrow.
Now I’m coming in the house, sticky, dirty, messy, nasty and ready for a shower. As I came in I commented to Mrs. Guy, “when I’m dirty and sticky and need a shower I hate when the power is off…”. The very moment that the word “off” came out of my mouth, the power came on.
Then I could take a shower (need power for water with a well), so I did. Turned the game on, made a little toddy (rooskie), sat myself back down on this saloon stool and say howdy do. Braves don’t look so hot. Mental lapses and errors all around. Boy, oh boy, our boys are in a bad way. The contrast between the Braves and the Bosox is quite stark. Opposites in the way they approach each at bat and the game.
Where is the proprietor of this here saloon when you need a drink, a quarter for the jukebox or just somebody to tell jokes to when nobody else is around?
Did Smoltzie come out and wave to the crowd earlier?
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No insurance required CL. The twisters we get around here are pretty powerful, but not like a tornado. More like a strong water spout. They break trees and make big messes but rarely destroy homes and heavy structures. Just another day’s labor and another chain. Hate it when that happens. Water Oaks don’t hold a candle to Live Oaks. Glad I have more of the latter.
Gil, yep, chainsaws are dangerous. I handle them with great care.
Lollygagging… yes. That’s pretty much it. The Braves are lost. Oh, the humility!
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Funny… ran into a friend at the little pizzaria who lives no more than two miles away as the crow flies. I asked him if he’d survived the storm ok and asked if he’d also lost power. He looked at me like I’d lost my mind. He said that they hadn’t seen a drop of rain or any more than a slight breeze. We’re pretty much right on the furthest eastern point of the island, but wow… must’ve just swept the coastline.
We need to start Ross more often but we can’t leave Mac out of the lineup. Let’s put Mac at first. Personally, I think Ross is a better catcher.
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SG, amazing your bud didn’t even see rain!
I like the idea of Ross behind the plate more, and McCann on 1st…we need more bop and pop. Of course, the only guy to hit Beckett tonight was Casey, but all singles of course…hey, who wants a nice hitting, no power first baseman???
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Wow, SG. Glad the damage wasn’t as extensive as you feared.
Ber, Red Sox guys said Mac had some dizziness. Didn’t seem to bother him hitting in the 9th.
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Someday I will tell you about the time I was cutting tree limbs with a chainsaw and the ladder slipped… Fortunately, a barbed wire fence broke my fall…
Nothing like a nice, cushy barbed wire fence to break a fall. 😯
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Heck SG… We may as well put BMac in left field, I cannot see where there would be any defensive lapse from Loaf…
I cannot help but think that the current Braves team plays exactly like the teams that once occupied the Diamond here in Richmond. Same tease… Same attitude…. Same bone headed play…
As much as I hate to say it, it may be time for a new sheriff in town. It is usually the only thing that will motivate a team to get off their butts. Takes away the comfort zone so to speak.
SG… glad the damage was minimal.. However, I would be careful if I were you before taunting God as he seems to have your place zeroed in… 🙂
Kiss my Grits… Now that’s a phrase I haven’t heard for a while.. 🙂
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Braves… bad stretch. Listless lollygagging. Lost and lackadaisical. Rudderless and repressed. Dumfounded and discombobulated. Bewildered and befuddled. So many adverbnounish adjectives.
How will they break this logjam? Who will provide the crowbar? Who will get axed? Who is bringing the lumber? Who will light the fire? Who has matches?
Who will man the rudder? Who will navigate? Who will hoist the sail? Who’ll tighten the jib? Who has a compass? Where is the captain? So many analogies…
We’ll get’em tonight. 😀
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would be careful if I were you before taunting God as he seems to have your place zeroed in…
Yes Gil, He does… for certain. But that is a very good thing in this case. It was His shield that kept us safe. But it does make one wonder if these recurrances aren’t powerful little reminders… or just nature being its unbridled self. Plenty of trees left for me and the critters. Now, I’d better quit procrastinating and yappin’ and get to the cuttin’.
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Man, why didn’t you guys tell me you were up???
FBG, thanks for the 411, weird, Chipper and McCann have had issues with dizziness this year…
From a Phillies fan on jazzforum’s baseball thread.
I know there’s still 3 more months of baseball left and the WFCs are in first place but the Phillies are done. DONE. Stick a fork in ’em. I can’t see them recovering from this funk that they’re in right now. They’ve lost 11 out of the last 13 w/ 6 of those at home in back to back sweeps. Hopefully they won’t trade the farm system for a late run at the playoffs. Ruben, pack it in and stock up on some arms for next year when everyone’s healthy.
Such a shame we can’t make any sort of run. Marlins year I guess, unless the Phils can get an arm or 3.
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June 27… Braves are 34-39. 73 games into the 162 game schedule and the Braves are 5 games below .500. Not quite half way, but far enough in to make some easy assessments.
Let’s go position by position, shall we?
1B: Casey Kotchman. He plays a stellar defensive 1B and is a steady gap to gap hitter. He plays the game the way it should be played, but is slow and limited in his game such that it’s 1B or nowhere. Honestly, not nearly enough pop for 1B, but passable if there is sufficient power elsewhere. On the Braves, there isn’t. 😐
2B: KJ. Just damn. Too much to list. He’s has not only hurt the Braves this season, he has destroyed his trade value. He is now a glorified bench ornament. I’ll take Prado at this point. Not even that difficult a choice, is it? 😡
SS: Yunel. Supremely talented physically. Supremely juvenile mentally. To me, the mental drag is more detrimental to the team than the physical is beneficial. Unfortunately, there is no Plan B. Diory ain’t cuttin’ it. 🙄
3B: Chipper. Still the man… but an increasingly apparent old man. He’s beginning to look stiff in the field, and is taking bad swings like I’ve never seen him do before. Let’s hope it’s a temporary slump, and the his Dad can help him out again. His Hitting Coach surely won’t. 🙂
C: Mac. He is a stud. Period. And his backup, David Ross, is just about my 2nd favorite guy on the team. Real baseball players playing the game it is supposed to be played.
LF: Garret Friggin’ Anderson. I tried to like the signing early; I tried to cut him some slack later; I tried to see an upward trend lately; I totally lost respect for him last night. The lazy look turned into lazy play last night. Unforgivable. In my mind, he should be immediately DFA’d and Brandon Jones should be given an everyday opportunity. We’ll at least see someone show some heart and hustle. 😡
CF: Nate McLouth. Thank you for bringing your game to Atlanta. My kinda player. Hustle… does the little things… another true professional. 😀
RF: Francoeur. Couldn’t wait for this one, could you? Guess what… He holds my respect because he still gives his all on every play, which is more than I can say for some of his teammates. Jeffrey has had to put up with a ton of crap this season, and he continues to fight hard. Nobody wants him to get his game back more than he does. Not even us. Guess what else… It looks like the fight is paying off. Improvement is definitely detectable. Will he improve enough? I imagine we’ll get the opportunity to see. 😐
Starting pitching: Where would we be without them? Javy Vazquez has been a beast. JJ is a developing ace. Hanson has been worthy of the hype. 🙂
Middle relief: Harder to read than a doctor’s handwriting. Jeckyl and Hyde. Without the contributions of Jeff Bennett, I’d say OK. But, 😦
Co-closers: Gonzo and Soriano. Lights out. I’ll miss one of them… maybe both of them.
So… what to do? Most seasons, it’s an easy call. Trade a closer for a Teixeirian bounty and hold an auction for JV and send him to the highest bidder. DFA Anderson. (I’d still do that today!) Punt for ’09 and give some youngsters some experience. But dang! We’re still only 4 games out of a division that looks completely winnable with a little more offensive production.
I am so glad I am not the GM. He probably sleeps less than Ber… 😯
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But I still love ’em… 😀
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CL.. you and ladders.. just because you like airplanes doesn’t mean you can fly…
Gil, that “heavier than air” thing gets me every time! 😆
Thanks, Ber! I finally remembered something – and it’s wrong! Do I get credit for effort?? Anyhow, I did finally get her name right! 😀
SG, glad it wasn’t as bad a feared! Surely bad enough but at least there was no structural damage to the house. And look at all the EXERCISE you’re getting! Very healthy! 😛
Homefront news: Mother is declining rapidly. Can barely walk 3 steps, very confused, barely eating. It’s in God’s Hands. I’ve only prayed and asked that He not let her suffer. About all I can do now is try to keep her comfortable. It would be such a blessing for her if she could just slip away in her sleep. July 2 she will be 85.
Braves on TV tomorrow. If anybody cares….. 😦
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CL, so sorry about your Mom…Do I ever understand the feeling, if only she would pass in her sleep…She did eventually, about a week after the hospice folks said she would be gone in 48 hours.
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And turning back to the less important things in life…
CL, the game should be on today on Fox up in your neck of the woods. Being the Red Sox, everyone here should be in luck. Just not with the broadcasters! 😉
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RF: Francoeur. Couldn’t wait for this one, could you? Guess what… He holds my respect because he still gives his all on every play, which is more than I can say for some of his teammates.
V, very well put! As much as we all bash his seeming inability to put 2+2 together at times. But you cannot fault his work effort, or his fighting through a terrible 2 years, still a good teammate, still grinding it out.
I would so love to see his success of the last week or so continue, as we all would.
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Hey, this guy will be available soon it sounds like! 🙄
http://www.bleedcubbieblue.com/2009/6/27/927270/milton-bradley-must-go
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To tell the truth, I was in denial the whole time.
In other words, Gil, you were in your 20’s! 😆
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😆
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V was of course right about me. I only slept 2 hours last night, (TMI time, stomach woke me up) so, I decided to go to the gym, swap out my 5-6 year old cell phone(it was falling apart, but still working!) go to Barnes and Noble…anyway, I got really sleepy before the game, so missed every single inning. 1-0. Was it at least a well played game by the braves??? I guess it must have been, to a point.
I do know that “we” are leading the majors in shutouts. They said that last night before David Ross hit the homer. I think this makes 8.
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Oh, my aching back. Sunup to sundown this time of year, in 100-degree heat is a long day. Just finished eating. One of the best feelings in the world is to work hard all day, get drenched with sweat, worn out, covered in wood dust, get sunburned and then take a long shower and put on a clean tee and gym shorts (my uniform of choice) and turn the AC down to about 68. Ahhh…
Tomorrow morning as I get out of bed that glorious soreness may have turned to pain, but that’s tomorrow. For now, just good sore and good tired.
So I missed the game. Obviously a pitcher’s duel with the score. Vasquez deserved a win, but I suppose Wakeman deserved it just a bit more. Wakeman can make the best hitters look silly when he’s on, and he must’ve been throwing wiffle balls. Even so, these Braves of ours are in a bad, very bad place. Our starters have to be at wits end with their lethargic teammates. The few that are contributing with their bats also have to be peeved at this point.
I expect something to happen soon. Something big. I’m talking more than a “team meeting”. No idea of course what that something might be or whether it’ll be a good thing or not, but something surprising and big is gonna happen… soon. It has to, or we’re going to lose our best talent as soon as they are able to hightail it out of Atlanta.
Thing is, replacing just one person would make a huge difference in this team. I’m sure you all know who I think that should be. Funny though, even Kelly and French would probably improve if the one, ill equipped person would involuntarily volunteer to step down.
Most of the kids need to be coached up. They need discipline and instruction and a fire from one who can light it. They crave it at this point. At present, as bad as some of the young players are, they are doing the best they can with their own talent, but it’s not enough. They’ve reached a ceiling. Sure, they get paid a lot to play in the MLB but most (all) that arrive in the Bigs have not finished their baseball education and have not yet earned their Master’s Baseball Degree.
The kids deserve competent leadership and coaching to improve their skills. Player’s careers can be enhanced, stifled or doomed with the wrong manager. The paying fans deserve qualified leadership and management from their team too. Neither fan nor player are getting what they deserve at this point.
Something is about to happen. I can feel it.
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CL, I’m so sorry to hear that. I’ve been there with my grandparents. (((hug)))
VOR, good analysis. I’m concerned by the swings Chipper is taking lately. Makes me think something is hurting & he’s trying to play through it.
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All I can say after watching the game today is.. Unbelievable…
Yes SG… Something big is about to happen… Hopefully before they are swept by the Red Sox and the Phillies.
Wakefield was pretty good but he wasn’t that good.
The Braves have made a lot of opposing pitchers look Cy Young worthy this year.
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Not too sore this morning. Surprising. I’ll take it.
When I check into Stuffville I usually pick up the Blog Times and catch up on what I’ve missed before posting anything. Last night, knowing I was not long for the roost pole, I just babbled and watched a little TV and fell asleep on the couch. There is no better sleep than on the couch. When Mrs. Guy was ready for bed she awoke me and I did my zombie shuffle to the bedroom and immediately collapsed into my coma-like sleep.
Now that I’ve caught up, I’ll throw in:
CL, prayers for your mom, Kelly and you. You are a blessing to your family. Florence Nightingale.
FBG, I’m inclined to agree about Chipper. Something is hurting him, causing his slump and his errors. His dad can only do so much. Docs and trainers will have to help too. And rest. We need a suitable utility replacement so Hoss can have the best chance to help the team.
Gil, yep… we have a tendency to make opposing pitchers look like Cy Young’s when they play us. It’s that Chamber of Commerce Atlanta Rehab Clinic thing. But thing two is, the NL East is so weak, some team is going to be left standing and win it, not so much because they have a great team but because they last.
The Marlins go on a tear. They have the ingredients and the passion. If they can execute, they could be there. So could the Braves but I don’t see how under current management. Either way, I don’t expect a team in our division to go far in the playoffs… but ya never know these days. Is this partly the post-steroid era when there is naturally less domination and more parity between teams? Sometimes I wonder.
Bear, I have a cure for your sleep issues. Grab a chainsaw and spend all day cutting up an Oak tree into firewood, hauling it, stacking it and taking the branches and clutter to the dump. You’ll sleep like a baby. Just don’t cutting any of your own limbs in the process.
Raisin’s, that was a very good post. No need to call out the time posted, there are so few, but your assessment of each player/position was a good read and pretty much expresses my views on all. You give a bit more credit to a few players than I do, but we agree on all but a few nuances. When you lay it out like that it shows, in context, the holes and the hopes. In this year’s Braves, the holes have it.
Tagging a couple of random bases behind you, I’ll start with the catcher position. You and I agree completely on Ross. Love that guy… my kind of player. As much as I love Mac, I think Ross is a better catcher. Mac seems to lumber back there and with his body type, has a hard time getting to wild pitches. Mac is 6’3”. Seems hard for him to move that big frame around like a catcher needs to.
Mac will not get lighter and smaller with each passing season. His tendency is to have a gut and a large lower frame. Add to that, his eye/glasses fogging problems. He would make a fine first baseman. We would then have Ross and Mac in all the games. Mac’s glasses wouldn’t fog and he could eat the cheeseburgers. Braves would win more games with that not so simple move. I’d go so far as to say, why not go against convention and give Mac a few starts over there at first right now? What’s the worst that could happen? Lose Kotchman’s bat?
Now, Casey. Everyone say that Kotchman is an excellent defensive player. I just don’t see it. He’s good but by no stretch great. And he makes some pretty boneheaded plays. He seems to be a mediocre player that will on occasion hit well but then slump. Not consistent with the bat. Not fired up. Seems lost at times. Listless. Injury prone. Send him away.
On to Kelly, the boy among men. I used to think KJ would make some team a John Olerud type player. I no longer think that. Not unless some manager has the skill set to work with him, get him over the timidity, yips and the hesitation at the plate and forces him to man-up. Otherwise, Kelly is a utility at best. Hopefully on another team in our division.
Yunel has natural talent and off and on he has fire, but he’s either prone to daydreaming, losing focus or lost in his own little world somewhere between Cuba and Miami. A good manager and a good (empowered) coach could get so much more out of the kid.
Chipper. Not sure who gave him the nickname, but he actually is more Hoss than Chipper. Deer hunter. Man’s man. Not a passionate team leader but one who leads by example and execution. HOF player. Stud at the plate and in the field. Yet he’s old in baseball years, injury prone and will need to have a solid backup for the next few years. I hope we get to see him break more records and, when he’s hot, carry the team on his shoulders like he has so many times for so many years.
Lowe, Jurrjens, Vazquez, Kawakami and Hanson are a good rotation. Not the best, but good enough to win us enough games. They should each have a lot more wins, especially JJ. But we know the rest of that story.
Then we have Nate. Another throwback to tougher, more passionate and grittier players… like Ross. Every team needs a guy like him and I’m glad he’s a Brave. Hopefully he feels that way too and doesn’t get sucked into the black hole of the Cox vortex and his outfield mates on his right and left.
So, with good SP’s and half of the pen being good, Mac, Yunel (at times), Chipper, Nate and Ross, we have some great players. Even so, they aren’t enough. Too many holes. I suspect that if turn things around and make a run of it, it will be with the addition or call ups of a player or players that we don’t even talk about or consider. Maybe a trade or three is in the works. Whoever player X is, or players X, Y, Z, we’ll get over the hump because they will fill the holes and really contribute in a big way. One, two or three new guys that play like Ross and Mac. Far be it from me to speculate who that might be or if that’s even a remote possibility. But I can always hope.
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Well, guess the Cards are going to get all the good players available…
Cardinals Acquire Mark DeRosa
By Eddie Schmid [June 27 at 9:58pm CST]
According to MLB.com’s Anthony Castrovince, the Cardinals have acquired Mark DeRosa from the Indians for reliever Chris Perez and a player to be named later.
DeRosa, 34, wasn’t in tonight’s lineup though this was supposedly a “standard day off,” according to Castrovince. DeRosa posted a .270/.342/.457 line in 314 plate appearances for the Indians and is making $5.5MM in the final year of his contract (about $2.9MM remains). He’s been the subject of rumors for weeks, and it looks like the Indians are officially sellers.
Perez turns 24 soon. He posted a 4.18 ERA and 30/15 K/BB ratio for the Cardinals in 23.2 innings this year. He was one of the Cardinals’ top relief prospects and profiles as a future closer.
More…
http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2009/06/cardinals-acquire-mark-derosa.html
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Cardinals Pursuing Matt Holliday
By Tim Dierkes [June 27 at 7:05pm CST]
SATURDAY, 7:05pm: Peter Gammons tweets (account protected) that any discussions would have to start with Brett Wallace, as the A’s don’t need to trade Holliday.
FRIDAY, 11:13pm: The Cardinals are “redoubling efforts to acquire” Matt Holliday, according to Joe Strauss of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Strauss says the Cards have warmed to the idea of offering a multiplayer package. They were previously reluctant to send a Ryan Ludwick-fronted package to Colorado in November. Strauss believes that the Cardinals would now probably be willing to offer Ludwick, one of Jason Motte, Chris Perez, and Kyle McClellan, and a prospect to Holliday’s current team, the Athletics. Strauss adds:
Chairman Bill DeWitt Jr., who opposed the November deal for Holliday, is apparently on board with assuming the remainder of Holliday’s $13.5 million salary.
Only about $7.6MM remains on Holliday’s contract, and he is of course a free agent after the season. Holliday, a Scott Boras client, currently profiles as a Type A free agent despite a decrease in production with Oakland.
More…
http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2009/06/cardinals-pursuing-matt-holliday.html
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Hmmm, could we be considering trading Jordan Schafer to the Nats???
http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2009/06/nationals-scouting-outfield-options.html
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Yep, take DeRosa off the board… Makes me believe the Braves are too cost conscious. They certainly had the players to match was St Louis had to offer.
I doubt Schafer will be traded. Would really have to be for a prime player for that to happen and Zimmerman is not available. The Nats however would love to unload Dunn…. I still think any number of players could post up in left field for the Braves. Trade Anderson to some American League team for a low level prospect and be done with it.
Facts are the Braves are going nowhere with their current line-up.
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Yep, they could release Anderson, call up Sammons as a back-up catcher and platoon Ross and Mac in left field. Kotchman would be an attractive trade piece for a lot of clubs too. Not every team needs a big bopper to play first. Baltimore would be a good fit for him.
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How about we hop into the Pirates mix and trade for Delwyn Young and Nyjer Morgan. With Nate, an all Pirate OF would rock. Much improved. Then Kelly and French can rejoin old teammate, LaRoche. Throw in Jordan Schafer too. Of course the Pirates would be complete idiots to do that, but I can dream.
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Did somebody say big bopper?
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How about if we just trade starting line-ups with the Pirates except for the pitching staff and McCann?
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How’bout we just find a southern Steinbrenner to buy the team, fire everyone in management, start from scratch, keep Chipper, Mac, Nate and Ross and then buy up every player we want.
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It’s HOT, people.
It’s so hot…
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How hot is it???
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It’s so hot, Stuffville has nobody on the streets.
It’s so hot, the ‘maters are cooking on the vine.
It’s so hot, the squirrels are asking to come inside.
It’s so hot, the cats are not wanting to go outside.
It’s so hot, Chipper doesn’t hurt anywhere.
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It’s so hot, Bear couldn’t sleep through the game.
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SG is on a roll!!! 😆
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A hot buttered roll? A Cinnamon Roll? A bed roll? A pick and roll? A barrel roll? A rock and roll?
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Kaiser or sesame seed???
SG sandwich…
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Drum roll, please…
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Jelly roll.
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😆 😆 😆 😆
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I’m awake!!! Good un’s SG!
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Yep, take DeRosa off the board… Makes me believe the Braves are too cost conscious. They certainly had the players to match was St Louis had to offer.
Yep… the Braves do. I don’t think they had a real interest in him, though. While DeRo is a nice player, he is essentially what Omar Infante is – super sub. Really good at alot of spots, but not a superstar anywhere. And not a true “bopper”, eh SG?
And that’s what we lack. Boppage. So, in my mind, any move the Braves make would have to bring a real power bat back. It’s gonna be tough. It’d probably be a name nobody expects. And I doubt we’d hear about it until it is near done. I’m not holding my breath, to be perfectly honest. I don’t think Frank will part with any more prospects, and I don’t think any contender looking for pitching – ala JV or a closer – would be willing to part with a major league ready bopper. But who knows? It has certainly been an atypical trade season thus far.
Me? This team maddens me. I am soooooo close to wanting them to bag this season and aim for 2010 and beyond – you know, parting with expensive pitching parts for future pieces. I just can’t punt yet though. I do think they are going to have to part with one of Soriano or Gonzo. It makes absolutely no sense to keep them both past July 31 knowing there is no realistic way to re-sing both of them. And I think it would be irresponsible to knowingly lose one of them and get no return.
SG and Gil: I like Casey, but he is a bad fit for this team. He’d be a decent trade piece given his budget-friendly salary. I have no idea if Mac has the ability to field 1B, but I’d rather him make any transition that will keep him in the lineup every day and add years to his career. David Ross has proven he can catch every day, and I love his field leadership. It’s be awesome to have both of them in the lineup.
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Boppage – blog first?
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BRAVES WIN, BRAVES WIN!!!!!
Knew it all the time! 😉 Actually, I was getting pretty worried when they didn’t turn the DP. You don’t want to give that team extra outs. Gonzo can pitch in pressure situations.
And as much as we don’t like GA, he is getting hot now…great time to trade him to a
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Joe Simpson:
According to Elias Sports Bureau, Tommy Hanson today became the first rookie ever to beat the Yankees and Red Sox in back to back starts.
Pretty cool… 😎
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And as much as we don’t like GA, he is getting hot now…great time to trade him to a
suckerteam in the AL.I couldn’t possibly agree more!
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It appears to me that Kelly Johnson is playing himself off the team…
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V, you watching the post game show??? Did a reporter ask if they would trade GA to the AL, or did I hear wrong??? Dad was flapping his gums a bit, but I thought after Bobby said he’d been hitting well…all year long, that he said we need him, and not going to send him to an AL team…hmmm…let me see if tv in bedroom with DVR is still on the game….
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Ber, I have it on but wasn’t paying 100% attention. I thought I heard him say that trading someone wasn’t in their plans, but I didn’t hear who they were talking about. Regardless, he’d say that even if they were in the middle of strong talks. I wouldn’t sweat it…
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Listening to the Hanson post-game interview. This kid handles the media as well as he handles hitters – very, very good… very un-rookie like.
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V, guess you are right…I found I could run back the footage and the reporter asked if he expected AL teams to come knocking after the way he has been hitting of late.
And yeah, Bobby said no way would they trade him…hopefully, that’s his poker face! 😀
Anderson is a streaky hitter….
Oh, I did want to mention DeRo has 50 RBI’s, but having TP as his hitting coach, might screw him all up! 😛
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On Terry Pendelton working hard to straighten out the Atlanta hitting problem.
Practice does not make perfect, it is perfect practice that makes perfect…
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Pitchman Billy Mays was found dead today in his Tampa Fla home. He was 50 years old. The cause of death is unknown but his wife said he bumped his head following a hard landing at the Tampa airport Saturday night. Note, the landing blew out the front tires on a US Airways jet and was severe enough to leave debris on the runway. It is not known if his death is related to the incident.
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Chipper on Hanson:
“He’s got great poise,” Chipper Jones said. “You can have all the stuff in the world, but if you have a rock for a brain and not real good nerves, this game is going to get the best of you.”
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Just got back from a boat excursion. Too hot even for that. Pouring sweat. It was so hot… 😆
Righto Raisins… DeRo is no boppmeister. We need serious Boppage… like it. Need it. Good’un.
Braves won. Well I’ll be a monkey’s uncle. (another blog first?) This Hanson kid is lighting it up.
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Was Chipper complimenting Hanson and his approach (intelligence), or was he talking about Hanson’s “poise” as a nice way to compliment him without referring to his noodle as a “rock”? Methinks he must’ve been saying that Hanson is a smart pitcher. So many analogies in baseball.
In pitching parlance:
Rock = dummy
Poise = smart
Batting references:
No plate discipline = not anticipating the pitch = dummy
Good approach at the plate = smart
Management style:
Strategic + demanding + fair = smart
Plays by the old-school tattered book + inexplicable in-game moves + burning out the pen + letting a player with obvious struggles with fundamentals and plate discipline = Chance Gardener
Other baseball analogies:
Big bat = big bopper = what Braves have so few of and need
Massive holes and mediocrity in the lineup = what Braves have
All used in a sentence:
Most opposing pitchers show great, Cy Young type poise on the mound when pitching French and Kelly, who seem to be in black hole-like protracted slumps due to their lack of plate discipline, but they keep playing every single day for Bobby ’cause they, like all the players, love playing for Chance, uh, Bobby, who let’s them do what they want and he thinks that they can be boppers on any given day every few months, which excuses them permanently from mediocrity.
Whew. That was hard. These baseball terms and analogies and really silly if you think about it. Why not just say, X player is too lacking of plate discipline to figure out, coming to bat after 3 consecutive walks immediately preceding their plate appearance, that to flail at the first pitch is a dummy.
Yet, to learn this nonsensical, beating-around-the-bush-to-protect-the-guilty parlance is no can of corn.
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Aside from some little defensive adventures, great game. Impressive performance from Hanson considering he wasn’t feeling well.
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And I’m unhappy about the DeRosa trade but from an entirely different perspective… Chris Perez is a local kid. He was in Little League with a family friend. Now he’ll have to go to ST in Arizona. I’m sure his family is bummed.
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Yawn… it’s 25 or six to 4… this waking up in the middle of the night is very tiresome…
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Hollywood is not all bad.
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<a href=Hollywood is not all bad. rel=”nofollow”>Better than Google Earth.
More clear, better arial and has birdseye view. zcheck it out.
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😯 Try again…
Better than Google Earth.
Mo clear, mo betta arial and has birdseye (fly) view.
Better than WordPress too.
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Phillies coming up. We’re pitching lights out and way overdue for some hitting and solid defense. Phils have been stinking it up. Now’s our chance to get back in it or be taken out of it.
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“If he was sick, I don’t want to see him when he’s not sick,” Red Sox manager Terry Francona said of Hanson…
😀
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Think Rollins can show Yunel a thing or two about the mental aspect of the game?
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The game within the game.
Head games at short: Yunel vs. Rollins
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SG, file not found…
Chipper on Hanson: “I can see this guy being another Halladay. I know that’s lofty expectations, but I’m just trying to give you my impressions, who he reminds me of…. He’s not initimidated. He doesn’t care who’s up at the plate. He knows that with his stuff, if he executes his pitches he will get anybody out.”
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He doesn’t look like any rookie I’ve seen, including some of the hallowed past Braves hurlers.
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… except maybe Avery. He’s the best rookie Braves pitcher I’ve seen thus far…
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Gil, gee, you were sleeping pretty well there for awhile….
The Phils might call up Kyle Drabek this week….you know, Doug Drabek’s son! 😯
http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20090628/SPORTS01/906280332/1021/Lauber–Drabek-due-for-promotion?
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Off to Best Buy this morning to stimulate more of the Far East’s economy. Buying Josie a new laptop for her birthday…
I seriously thought about driving up to DC for the Brave series with the Nats but noticed it is going to be the 4th of July… No way am I going near that nut farm on a holiday.
As I get older and reaction times get slower, I find the scenic byways to have much greater appeal. Unfortunately, there is not much scenery with in 50 miles of the Capitol.
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V, right you are. He’s special for sure. Funny, never even thought of comparing him to Halladay, til I read that. It makes perfect sense. Same “short arm” delivery, they even look similar! Funny, Hanson hasn’t gotten strike outs like he did in the minors, but as long as he pitches great, it doesn’t matter, does it??? I’m sure they will come with time.
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Nobody around? Too hot? Or just taking a Halliday?
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It’s baking out there. Need a soda.
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Thank goodness for AC… Waiting for it to cool down a bit before undertaking any strenuous labor outside.
Always things to do around here, thankfully, some will wait until fall…
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A month or two ago I got what I though was a credible report via email that I posted, concerning the planet Mars, which was supposedly, on August 27 going to be closer to Earth than ever before in our lifetimes. Just saw a Snopes debunk of that claim.
Snopes debunks Mars proximity.
😳
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Waiting for it to cool down a bit before undertaking any strenuous labor outside.
October sounds good to me! 😆
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Labor in October? Boy or girl? 😀
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…with Xavier Nady almost certainly now done for the season, the Yanks would consider Shelley Duncan again if they needed a righty bat. Duncan is currently hitting .288 at Triple-A with 21 homers and 64 RBIs in his 63 games. –New York Post
Would they consider a trade involving Duncan and a couple of prospects for Soriano and Anderson?
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Where’d the italics come from at the end?!? 😯
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Lemme try again…
…with Xavier Nady almost certainly now done for the season, the Yanks would consider Shelley Duncan again if they needed a righty bat. Duncan is currently hitting .288 at Triple-A with 21 homers and 64 RBIs in his 63 games. –New York Post
Would they consider a trade involving Duncan and a couple of prospects for Soriano and Anderson?
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Raisins, I don’t think your trade ideas at 5:11 were very good.
However, your 5:16 was an excellent trade idea.
At 5:16 you did a double hand gesture like this…
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Kinda like this…
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It was a little more diagonal than that…
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And with that, we are off to VBS. I don’t know who has a better time, the kids or adults… 😀
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Would they consider a trade involving Duncan and a couple of prospects for Soriano and Anderson?
I don’t know…they already have old lefthanded bats in Godzilla, and Johnny Damon. I am afraid we are stuck with G.A. for the rest of the year.
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I just think Sorianto is a plus option for somebody. No need to give him away. I think the next three days should tell us if the Braves will be buyers or sellers.
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We’re at nearly 500 comments – and could use another lead! Anybody??
(You know I’m not beyond hi-jacking!) 😆
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Only Francoeur would have lucky turkey underwear. Hysterical.
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FBG, that is pretty funny! Keep wearing it Frenchy!
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New lead (welcome to lift):
Once upon a time in Atlanta…
(insert a buncha stuff here for the middle. Could go in any number of directions).
In closing, that’s our outlook for the next few years.
~
just a little insert here and edit there and we have a new lead.
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Oh, I have an idea. This would be a great followup to the “C’mon Kid” lead. Here goes:
In Defense If Bobby Cox.
I got nuthin…
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Should be “of”. Can’t even get a headline straight.
Here’s another lead:
What Makes Francoeur Tick?
Um, no… would be too short.
How about:
Why Does Kelly Johnson Seem So Lost and Timid?
Uh, nah… would be too long.
Hey, this might work:
Searching Home Depot For Boppage.
Starts off like this: Last year we didn’t have the arms, due to injury. This year the arms are back, but the hammers have disappeared. Lumber is in short supply. Maybe Wren needs to shop in a different place. Maybe he should think inside the box. He’s spending too much time at Ace Hardware. We already got enough Lowe’s. We need to nail down a big bat or we’re screwed. Makes fans go nuts. If we don’t pry a bopper away from another team it may be a wrenching summer. Many players will want to bolt. We need a true number 4 that can drill it. We need serious lumber. We need a stud. We need treated pine that can reach the upper deck.
Maybe Raisins or Gil or Bear can finish? Otherwise, is boppage stoppage.
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I’ll bet the Rangers would trade us Andrew Jones for only a couple of first line prospects… 🙂
Now back to reality… Why not bring up Brooks Conrad to take Kelly’s place?
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Mainly because Brooks Conrad has 15 errors for the season between 2B and 3B. Not exactly Brooks Robinson, if you know what I mean…
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You know, 15 errors used to be the number players made in a year. Sounds like a lot this early in the year. but, check out the error numbers for our guys. Yunel, 11 errors. Chipper, 13 errors. KJ, 6!!! How the bleep does KJ have only 6??? He’s made 6 in a game it seems.
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I verified the facts at Snopes.com:
“Col. Ed has flown West.
He wanted to be a Marine fighter pilot. The US was building up their military force, but they were not at war yet and the Navy required all its potential Navy and Marine pilots to have two years of college. So Ed started classes at Boston College.
When Pearl Harbor was attacked the Army and the Navy both dropped the college requirement and Ed applied to the Marines. His primary flight training was in Dallas and then he went to Pensacola, Florida. He was carrier qualified, which means he knew how to perform a controlled crash of his single engine fighter, onto the rolling deck of a Navy floating runway.
It took Ed almost two years to get through all the Navy flight
training. His problem was he was a very good pilot and the Marines needed flight instructors. He had a great command presence and public speaking ability, which landed him in the classroom, training new baby Marine pilots.
His orders to the Pacific fleet and the chance to fly combat missions off a carrier came in the spring of 1945, on the same day the Atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. Of course his orders where changed. He never went to sea and he was out of the Marines in 1946.
Ed stayed in the USMC as a reserve officer. He became a successful personality in the new TV medium, after the war. His Marine command presence helped. He was recalled to active duty during the Korean War. He never got to fly his fighter aircraft, but he saw his share of raw combat.
He flew the Cessna O-1E Bird Dog, which is a single engine slow-moving unarmed plane. He functioned as an artillery spotter for the Marine batteries on the ground and as a forward controller for the Navy & Marine fighter/bombers who flew in on fast moving jet engines, bombed the area and were gone in seconds. Captain Ed was still circling the enemy looking for more targets, all the time taking North Korean and Chinese ground fire.
He stayed with the Marines as a reserve officer and retired in 1966 as a Colonel.
The world knows Ed as Ed McMahon of the Johnny Carson, Tonight Show.
One night I was watching the show when the subject of Colonel McMahon earning a number of Navy Air Medals came up. Carson, a former Navy officer himself, understood the significance of these medals, but McMahon shrugged it off, saying that if you flew enough combat missions they just sort of gave them to you. McMahon flew 85 combat missions over North Korea; he earned every one of those Air Medals. The casualty rate, for flying forward air controllers in Korea sometimes exceeded 50% of a squadron’s manpower. McMahon was lucky to have gotten home
from that war.
Once a Marine, always a Marine.
When the public was spitting (taking their personal safety into their own hands) at Marines on the streets of Southern California during Vietnam, Colonel McMahon was taking Marines off the streets and into his posh Beverley Hills home. I spoke to a retired Marine aircrew member the day Colonel McMahon died and he personally remembered seeing McMahon at numerous Marine Air Bases in California in the 1960s. He was known for going to the Navy hospitals and visiting the wounded Marines and Sailors from this country’s conflicts, even in the last years of his life.
Colonel McMahon presented awards and decorations to fellow Marines and attended many a Marine ceremony and the annual Marine Corps Birthday Ball. He stayed true to his Corps as a board member of the Marine Corps Scholarship Fund and as the honorary chairman of the National Marine Corps Aviation Museum.
After retiring from the Marine Reserve, one night on the Johnny Carson show, members of the California Air National Guard came on stage.
Colonel McMahon was commissioned a Brigadier General in the Air Guard in front of millions of Americans who watched it happen live. You will not see anything like that on TV anymore.
The three core values of a United States Marine are: honor, courage and commitment. This is what a Marine is taught from the first day of training and this is what that Marine believes. That was Colonel Edward P. McMahon Jr. USMCR Retired.
Before he was a national figure he was a true combat hero and a patriot the nation needed then and this country needs now.
Your war is over. Thank you Colonel McMahon. Semper Fi, sir!
23 June 2009
Major Van Harl USAF Ret.”
(Carson was briefly assigned to sea duty, but wound up in intelligence. CL)
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I wonder if the Dodgers would trade Blake DeWitt??? Hadn’t given a thought to him this year, but he got tons of playing time last year with the Dodgers, then they traded for Casey Blake. And Jeff Kent was playing still. Anyway, his numbers for the Dodgers last year. 368 AB’s 9 HR’s 52 RBI’s .264 BA .344 OBP. They signed Orlando Hudson during the offseason, so no place for him now, or the foreseeable future.
This year at AAA. Not so hot….250 BA 2 HR’s 23 RBI’s .347 OBP. But, he proved (more or less) he can hit at the major league level. And he is only 23.
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How the bleep does KJ have only 6??? He’s made 6 in a game it seems.
It’s his balance. In his quest to become a better second baseman defensively, he’s worked hard and improved quite a bit. He’s now a little below average at second.
In the meantime, his focus on defense has taken him from an average, streaky hitter prone to long slumps all the way down to a way below average… no, make that poor… no, make that horrible offensive player.
Even with improved defense, there is no defending his offense. Or something like that.
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When asked why his defense has improved but his hitting is Mendoza like, Kelly just mumbled something like, “sorry, no offense intended”.
Maybe he worked that out with Bobby, dunno.
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SG, 😀
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CL, thanks for the nice story on Ed McMahon!
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So, the Yankees needed a right handed back, and got left swinging Eric Hinkse?? I must have been wrong, would could have traded G.A. to them! 😯
Yankees Acquire Eric Hinske
By Ben Nicholson-Smith [June 30, 2009 at 10:38am CST]
Dejan Kovacevic of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that the Yankees acquired Eric Hinske from the Pirates for two minor leaguers, Eric Fryer and Casey Erickson. ESPN.com’s Amy Nelson says the Yankees are also sending the Pirates cash.
Erickson, 24 in August, has 37 strikeouts and a 2.25 ERA in 44 innings of A ball in Charleston this year. Fryer, who will turn 24 two days before Erickson does, has an OPS under .700 and 11 steals as a catcher and outfielder in A ball.
http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2009/06/yankees-acquire-eric-hinske.html#comments
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Hinske’s numbers are worse than Francoeur’s…
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Wow…
I just peeked across the street. Has the quality of posts over there really taken a nosedive or what? It seems that most of the new “regulars” are about 12-15 years old, and can’t produce a reasonable argument without resorting to name calling. The observations are mostly extremely subjective, and often with extreme prejudice, and the trade proposals… man they can really bring ’em from outta nowhere…
The sad thing is that there are still some holdovers who are marshalling on, and sometimes getting sucked into the immature fray…
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yes raisins, but the AJC would much prefer quantity over quality
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but the hammers have disappeared.
We had hammers last year? I must’ve missed ’em!
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How the bleep does KJ have only 6??? He’s made 6 in a game it seems.
Range…or lack thereof!
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My wife mentioned that Mars thing a month or so ago. I was incredulous and told her that was completely unrealistic. How can a planet the size of Earth that is millions of miles away, be larger, even at it’s closest point, than th e moon, only 😯 a quarter-million miles away! Besides, if it got that close, the asteroid belt would smash it into…more asteroids! Heck of light show, though! 😆 I’m such a geek, at times!
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But you’re a lovable geek, Salty! Makes all the difference! 😆
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Salty, your 3:37 is correct of course! 😉
That, and a lot of you can’t assume the double play errors.
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Aw,shucks, CL! 😳
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Salted Geek. Is that a Swedish dish?
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We had hammers last year? I must’ve missed ‘em!
Tex? Woodward?
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Game time…. Lowe looks better tonight, lower humidity?
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Going with the “B” team line-up tonight with Blanco and Hernandez.
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Not sure having Prado in for Kelly is a downgrade…
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Whew…..
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Just got back in…the guy who does play by play with Sutton(Truly can’t ever remember his name) was even criticizing the braves offense, saying with little team speed, to go along with little power…it was no wonder they left so many runners on base.
And then Blanco triples, and Prado drives him in…breaking a 0-28 streak for the braves with runners in scoring position.
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Classic Bobby Cox, runners on 1st and 2nd, no outs, so he has Diory bunt them over(admittedly no great hitter so far)with Lowe up, who strikes out, then Blanco can’t drive them in either.
Red Sox don’t believe in giving up an out to move runners over, but hey, what do they know???
Sigh…..
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Nice skate save by O’Flararty… Very efficient 6 pitch inning for the lefty.
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Just got here… what’d I miss? Blanco triple, Prado Ribby, who else. Can check the box but that’s not as much fun.
Oh, and another classic Cox move bunting ahead of Lowe. Are you sure it was a called bunt play or was Diory trying to bunt for a hit? Sounds Coxian.
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Francouer with an excuse me RBI
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Even after the Janks and the Blood Sox, if the Braves win this series in a way that shows command and control, they can make a run of it.
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Brooks Feliz playing third for the Phillies tonight.
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Blind hog stumbles over an acorn, eh?
Funny, but I don’t think French fits the profile of one that would benefit from Acorn.
Chip is getting all giddy over Phillies defense. Some good plays, sure… but gimme a break with the gushing.
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Well SG… You don’t think he would dis the Braves hitter do you?
Near miss by Howard..
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Oh well…
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Yeah Bobby, I’m disgusted too…
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This blog is slow on the uptake.
How slow is it?
This blog is so slow that I walk into the kitchen, make some popcorn and get back before my post is uploaded. Maybe we need a small lead, just to bridge the gap.
Here’s one:
If the Braves win the Phillies series, do they have a chance to go on a winning roll into August and beyond? How are the comparative matchups with our division rivals in July?
Or anything. Just a line or two.
Gonzo just gave up back to back dingers for the Phils to tie and go ahead. Well… maybe a different lead is in order.
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Of course, if we scored more than 3 runs, we might have a better chance to win…
Feliz’s last play was Brooksian, IMO…I don’t see Chipper throwing anyone out from that distance. Frenchy really could have 3 hits, if not for that….
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Trips to Atlanta Georgia have been more therapeutic for folks than the ones once taken to Hot Springs….
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FDR would’ve walked away from Atlanta… without a cane.
Then again, Bear is right… not going to win many games with 3 runs.
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Maybe we trade Yunel for Feliz?
Or Yunel for Rollins?
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You guys are on a roll! 🙂
Its just weird. Phils hit and run, and it works perfectly. When the braves did it the other day, Chipper struck out.
Today, G.A. hits it right up the middle, where Rollins was covering 2nd.
If it worked once in awhile, Bobby would probably do it more often…Can’t blame Bobby for that kind of bad luck, but I can blame him for not trying it more often.
Prado homered, his 4th, then was called to bunt the next time. Frenchy has 5 homers. Is he ever called on to bunt???
After Prado has a 2 for 3 day, with 2 RBI’s will he play tomorrow, or will KJ be back in the lineup???
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Prado!!! Tie game.
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Excuse me, Prado is now 3 for 4, with 3 rbis, he better be in tomorrow!!!!
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Prado is playing great baseball
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Boy, I’m glad they are walking Chipper because his swing is awful right now.
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KJ will be back in the lineup tomorrow, no doubt at all. Cox never lets a good deed go unpunished.
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SG, I don’t know if your fancy-smanchy Apple can do this, but if you open two browsers to this here thread, you can post on one, refresh the other, and not have to wait 2-3 minutes. Posts show up right away, yet it takes forever for them to show up on the same page…
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Big at bat here for BMac
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Weak ab by Mac
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Do I smell extra innings????
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I really thing this series and season hinges on this game for the Braves.
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Hinges on this series for sure.
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Uh… Think too
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IF… IF Sore-iano holds it together, we can win this thing.
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Make that, Kelly for Rollins.
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Loaf would not have gotten to that pop up
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Kotchman for Pujols?
OK, now I’m letting this get completely unrealistic. Sorry. 😆
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C’mon Yuni, win this thing
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Clutch won’t be used as a descriptor for Braves in June.
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Sigh….
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do I smell extra innings? Why yes I do! Am i good or what?
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I typed that one handed, with a cat on my lap….
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no excuses, My cat is trying to supplant my laptop too… 🙂
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Heh!
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Prado for Prez!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Prado is da man….
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Sweetness!!! Prado!!!
That’s one.
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Perez Prado????
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Okay, time for the late news and bed… catch y’all in the morning.
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Oh, that was fun. Maybe that’ll wake the boys up a little.
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KJ will be back in the lineup tomorrow, no doubt at all. Cox never lets a good deed go unpunished. –SG
Afterward, Braves manager Bobby Cox said Prado would be the starting second baseman over slumping Kelly Johnson…
“He’s too hot to take out,” Cox said of Prado. –ajc
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That was a nice win last night. They can take these Phils.
Raisins, you know that Kelly had to stink it up really bad for a really long time to be seated.
Is there an acorn in the dugout? Cox seems to have stumbled on that logical, rational move. How will Cox get Kelly back in? After Prado has an 0 for 4 night? Would he then be no longer “too hot to take out”?
Could slumping Kelly be platooned with loafing Garrett? Who will fill in for limping Yunel if his hip gets worse and give Chipper a break now and again?
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Oh, and how about that celebration after Prado’s game winning hit. That seemed more than an emotional release… more like a turning point, or something more than a won game right there.
Prado had to run or it would’ve been a pileup with him on bottom.
Great to see… it was one of those special games and game winning hits that Mrs. Guy and I were cheering and applauding. Good stuff.
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I’d best give the blog a break so it doesn’t crash from the weight of another post. If I didn’t have to hit the ground running on some other stuff I’d write a short ditty.
Maybe Bear could write a timely post, titled “Thriller”? “Don’t cry for me Argentina”? “Baseball Cap and Trade”?
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Not sure having Prado in for Kelly is a downgrade…
Quite prophetic, Gil!
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Man, everyone was up early today! Guess everyone wised up, and went back to bed!
Was trying terribly to say I told you so about Prado, but I kept finding blogs where others were saying Prado should be given a change…did a google search…
Was having way too much fun seeing what we said about him through the years. Well, 1 1/2 we have had this forum to play on….Sad too see the names that used to be here at the beginning. Oh well…we are just too hard core for some folks! 😉
Anyway, do a keyword search on Prado and see what we were saying in praise of him last Oct.
https://bravesandstuff.wordpress.com/2008/10/18/60-winds-of-change-are-in-the-air-part-ii/
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see, keep two browsers open to this page, and no problemo’s!
Did ya know Smoltz got his second start??? Pitched 4 innings, gave up one run, then the rains came. The Red Sox were up 9-1 when it started to rain…when the rain ended, naturally he didn’t go back out there, and to top it all off, the Sox lost to Baltimore 10-9!!!! 😯
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For those all asking about Perez Prado’s music….
Oh wait, those were just the voices in my head…nevermind.
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The blog would load really, really fast if we had a NEW lead!!!
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I don’t know if your fancy-smanchy Apple can do this, but if you open two browsers to this here thread, you can post on one, refresh the other, and not have to wait 2-3 minutes.
My Mac is not fancy-schmancy. It is humble and perfect. 😀
Thanks for the tip and I know I could do that (since my Mac knows everything), but if I speed up the posting process I won’t have enough time to see all the glaring mistakes I’ve just made after it is too late to change them or stop the post.
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The Bill Clinton legacy:
http://www.ajc.com/news/content/shared-gen/ap/National/US_SC_Governor_What_Is_Sex.html?cxntlid=homepage_tab_newstab
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All Clinton got was a giggle and a question about his underwear.
Glad that stuff doesn’t happen in baseball reportage. 🙄
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SG, I can’t argue with the logic espoused there! 😛
Wow, Bobby’s going to let Prado keep playing??? Cool!
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CL: You have mail…
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Did I sleep through morning? Actually, I’ve been up since 6:30 AM but thought I would devote a little time to chores before it got hot.
Yes Ber, Miss Carolina Lady runs a tight ship….
The Nats make a trade with the Nationals, I’m glad the Braves won’t have to face Hanerhan this week end. Also see where Ryan Langerhans has been called up to play in Seattle.
I don’t know what light bulb switched on for Frency but boy does he look better at the plate. The double he hit to right field was a c