It terrifies me that some of you guys are too young to remember this. For those of us a little older – my first favorite Brave was Claudell Washington – who came of age with the team in the 1990s, there are only two states of the world. The state where the Braves win the division and take their chances in the playoffs, and the state where everything is just broken and wrong.
Put things aright with the world, Meds. It’s been way too long. Fix it, and then we’ll go see about doing this again…
Of course, since 2001, we’ve tended to combine the two- the Braves take their chances in the playoffs, but they’re broken and wrong.
Tonight’s the night!
@2 afternoon
I saw Claudell get plunked once, run to first, and his next time up the bat slipped out of his hands and when he went to get it, he charged the pitcher before anyone could get there.
@ 3 Night here in Europe
Being in Richmond in the bad old days, I remember when one of my daily rituals involved checking the attendance to see if the IL R-Braves outdrew the big club when both were at home on a given day. Far too often, the scrub Virginian Braves of Steve Shields and Paul Zuvella did.
In 1991, as the crowds built and enthusiastically chopped, I got chills watching it on TV. I don’t long for a return to the days of low expectations and results.
They rolled out patches for the hundredth anniversary of Wrigley Field before the broadcast today. Sadly, they didn’t go with my suggestion for a slogan: “Wrigley Field: A Century of Futility.”
BJ gave one a ride, but Sweeney made a fine catch running into the ivy.
BJ can’t catch a break.
BJ was robbed! That was his best contact since I can’t even remember when.
GATTIS!
El Oso Blanco! (With an assist by Schierholtz.)
And BJ continues, to our dismay, to be BJ.
Classic BJ.
How can BJ hit a ball when his pants legs are hanging over the backs of his shoes?
Kris Medlen and Jason Hayward have me so excited for October.
Interesting that the unintentional intentional walk to Uggla makes Freeman’s run earned.
IWOTC, but Meds has pitched a great game. Scoring another run or two would make life easier for us old folks, however.
The bullpen’s recent struggles justify the decision to keep Medlen in, but it’s still a dicey proposition regardless. Hang in there, Meds.
This shouldn’t hurt, but it does. The bullpen is a big problem.
Poor Medlen. He pitched a great game and he deserves better than this.
Down with Downs
Agreed. Scott’s overuse gets me Downs. And Carpenter getting nailed doesn’t help.
Damn.
I’m so mad.
Who do you trust at this point in the ‘pen beyond Kimbrel? They’re all getting smacked around lately.
Well…that was stupid.
Fredi’s one-baserunner leash on Medlen comes back to bite him. #managing
Laird, Uggla and BJ up in the 9th. Good morning, good afternoon and good night.
@24 Unfortunately, right now, nobody. Which is a pity, because these guys were great all summer.
Laird, Uggla, BUpton due up. What an uninspiring trio.
I have seen enough of Scott Downs for awhile. Seems like he has been mostly ineffective for a few weeks
Downs’ September WHIP: 6.00. Done with him for a while, I am.
I don’t really think there’s any guarantee that Medlen wouldn’t have given up the runs or the bullpen wouldn’t have coughed up anything just due to starting with the bases empty.
@28 Agree. Let’s get it out of the system now and back to excellence in October.
Can’t believe McCann is not pinch hitting here.
Yeah, is McCann hurt? I know we were facing a lefty, but with a chance to clinch today, another day game tomorrow, and being only two days removed from an off day, I was surprised to see Laird start today.
I think it’s safe to say that lasik surgery was not the answer.
This is all too familiar.
Dooooooomed?
And to the surprise of absolutely no one, all three of those guys strikeout. Go Nats. Getting into the postseason officially on someone else’s loss after we can’t take care of our own business would be sad. I hope the Nats keep winning until the Braves do again.
37- I’d say doooooomed, but the Dodgers and Cards aren’t playing much better of late and the Reds and Pirates are going to be beating up on each other. So maybe not.
Laird, BUpton, Uggla…I’d say we forfeited.
The last eight games:
Bullpen WHIP: 1.50
Individually:
Downs 4.50
Walden 3.60
Avilan 2.25
Kimbrel 1.80
Ayala 1.33
Varvaro 0.50
Carpenter 0.25
Loe 0.00
The small sample size deceives, of course; see Loe for evidence. Dooooooomed? Most definitely not yet. Worried? Damn straight I am.
Us doomers are way more worried about the offense.
It is so strange how this lineup acts without Heyward in it. Even yesterday, we looked amazing through the fifth inning, which was the inning Heyward left. Then we were lifeless. The ninth was cool, but McCann really should have been struck out to end the inning, only the catcher couldn’t hang on to the ball. Today we could get the guys on, but were stumped on how to get them in. I was amazed to see the Braves record while Heyward was on the DL was .500. I thought it was much worse than that, but I guess we did have that stretch of great pitching that helped us win a few games.
@39
Unfortunately, St. Louis is 10-4 in its last 14 games, plays its final week at home and leads the Brewers 2-0 already.
At the moment, the 5 NL playoff teams are within 3 games of each other. Should be an interesting crapshoot.
They did it wrong.
recapped.