Braves Journal

4/21/98: Some people in The Media have been talking about Greg Maddux’s “poor” performance last night in Pitcher’s Hell — eight innings, five runs, four earned. That’s actually a good performance, it should be remembered. It should have been even … Finish Reading

4/20/98: Dennis Martinez got blasted yesterday. I’m not willing to totally write a pitcher off on the basis of a Coors Field appearance, but he hasn’t really pitched well except maybe in his first start. He looks like he’s throwing … Finish Reading

4/19/98: The Rockies and Braves are playing one of those godawful day/night doubleheaders, not a “doubleheader” in any real sense of the term, since they charge separate admission. Way to bring the fans back, boys. The worst part is that … Finish Reading

4/17/98: Galarraga was OK, and played yesterday. The Braves actually had their favored lineup on the field, for probably the first time since opening day. Smoltz pitched well, but I thought his control was a little off. He threw 75 … Finish Reading

4/16/98: The injury plague continues, as Andres Galarraga was hit on the knee with a pitch yesterday; he is listed as day-to-day. Without him, the offense is hurt a little, but the outfield defense will be better with Klesko at … Finish Reading

4/14/98: Keith Lockhart is back in the lineup tonight, joining Weiss who got back over the weekend. It really does look like Lockhart will play as much as he is capable of against righthanded pitching for now. Meanwhile, Michael Tucker … Finish Reading

4/11/98: Oops. Turns out it’s RAY Holbert, not Aaron (I believe that they’re brothers), who was called up by the Braves. That’ll teach me to believe the first thing I read. Ray was with the Padres system for many years, … Finish Reading

4/10/98: Weiss finally got back in the lineup, but it was only because of a major disaster. (That was a joke.) Belliard tore a quadricep muscle and is out 6-8 weeks. The Braves are down to one fully healthy middle … Finish Reading

4/7/98: Weiss was supposed to be back for tonight’s game, but wasn’t. It didn’t matter, as the Braves scored 11 runs and Belliard actually went 3-5. Meanwhile, Keith Lockhart, who had been playing a lot more than had been expected … Finish Reading

4/4/98 — Walt Weiss has a pulled hamstring. Which means that Rafael Belliard gets to play every day for the time being, since no one else on the team can play shortstop. Graffanino’s played two games there in his major … Finish Reading