09 Sep
Game Thread: Sept. 9, Braves at Natspos
Today’s fun Mets fact: Only 33 times has a New York Met hit .300 or better in a season when qualifying for the batting title.
Bonus Mets fact: Some of the Mets who have hit .300 include Mackey Sasser (who forgot how to throw to second base), Lenny Randle (who once beat up his 50-year-old manager) and Eddie Kranepool (the franchise all-time leader in career hits).
I’m going to the game tonight. Look for me and my wife in section 209, row 2, about 15 rows behind the Braves dugout on the lower level. Go Braves!
September 9th, 2005 at 3:56 pmFaygo is good, but stay away from Faygo Orange, it is terrible
September 9th, 2005 at 3:59 pmI get the damn Red Sox vs Yankees on the Extra Sucky Pissant Network. Man that makes me madder than hell. Sorry for the cussing but I’m just saying…….
September 9th, 2005 at 4:08 pmHave fun, Kyle, those are nice seats. I was in similar seats except on the opposite side in May (we lost 5-4).
Like the expanded acronym, Johnny.
September 9th, 2005 at 4:37 pmMixed bag tonight:
Furcal, SS
Giles, 2B
Jones, 3B
Jones, CF
LaRoche, 1B
Francoeur, RF
Estrada, C
Langerhans, LF
Ramirez, P
Good job by Bobby using the three good defensive outfielders in a big ballpark with HoRam pitching.
September 9th, 2005 at 5:18 pmNew poster…long time lurker. Why is La Cucaracha batting fifth AGAIN instead of 8th? Grrrr.
September 9th, 2005 at 5:35 pmBobby really wants Andruw to pass Lemke on the walks list tonight.
September 9th, 2005 at 5:51 pmPerez is back? Who came off the 40?
September 9th, 2005 at 6:05 pmThey might technically be 2-4 in this ballpark, but under normal baseball rules, not the Robinson “away HRs don’t count” rules, they’re 3-3.
September 9th, 2005 at 6:08 pmShoulda walked him.
September 9th, 2005 at 6:13 pmJoe, does “You suck, LaRoche!” count as advice?
September 9th, 2005 at 6:14 pmGood timing on that comment, Mac.
September 9th, 2005 at 6:15 pmI don’t believe what I just saw!
September 9th, 2005 at 6:16 pmI guess that three days off does help Adam a little bit…
September 9th, 2005 at 6:21 pmTherefore, kc, I propose the Braves only play him once every four days.
September 9th, 2005 at 6:22 pmTerrible, Ramirez is absolutely terrible…
September 9th, 2005 at 6:26 pmYou suck, LaRoche!
September 9th, 2005 at 6:28 pmIncluding tonight (so far), LaRoche’s numbers after having at least two days off.
.417/.417/.916
September 9th, 2005 at 6:29 pmJoey, your idea is GREAT!!! It supports my believe that LaRoche is not good enough to be a everyday player!
September 9th, 2005 at 6:31 pmIf HR pitches a no-hitter, and the only run is a guy who should have popped out foul and scored on like 8 errors, I’d actually laugh.
September 9th, 2005 at 6:32 pmHow often has LaRoche had more than one day off before a game? At any event, it seems like it’s the young guy who needs to be rested.
September 9th, 2005 at 6:34 pmFour times, including the All-Star break and today. ESPN’s game log makes them real easy to spot.
September 9th, 2005 at 6:36 pmRamirez sucks…sorry repeating myself…
September 9th, 2005 at 6:36 pmConclusion: The sample size isn’t enough to say anything, except that the fact the sample size is four games means LaRoche plays far, far too much.
September 9th, 2005 at 6:37 pmThe Nats have out there about the most feeble lineup that I can imagine a major-league club fielding. Only Guillen is having a season that can be described as even modestly successful.
September 9th, 2005 at 6:43 pmQuite Frankly, that banner behind homeplate gives me a headache.
September 9th, 2005 at 6:46 pmNick Johnson walks a TON. Getting on base 40% of the time while still having decent power (especially in that park) is a pretty good year.
September 9th, 2005 at 6:46 pmThere is an ad for “Quite Frankly” behind the plate. I feel ill.
September 9th, 2005 at 6:47 pmI beat you to it Mac.
September 9th, 2005 at 6:47 pmWHY, GOD, WHY?!?!?
Oh, goody, a double.
September 9th, 2005 at 6:48 pmNO BUNTING!!! STOP BUNTING!!!!!!!!
September 9th, 2005 at 6:50 pmWHY IS MARCUS BUNTING?!?!?!?!?!?!?!
September 9th, 2005 at 6:50 pmMarcus shouldn’t be mad at himself.
He’s the best hitter (for average) on the team. He should be mad at Bobby.
September 9th, 2005 at 6:52 pmI am mad at Bobby…
September 9th, 2005 at 7:01 pmAnd with the Guillen out, Horatio officially proposes to RFK stadium.
September 9th, 2005 at 7:04 pmLet’s trade Horacio for Guillen, I will take that in a sec…
September 9th, 2005 at 7:05 pmThe Nats have their roster built correctly, strong pitching to go with the huge RFK, they just need a little bit better offense to be a very good team.
September 9th, 2005 at 7:07 pmThe perfect RFK player would be Ichiro. There is so much room for him to place the ball…
September 9th, 2005 at 7:08 pmLaRoche, you suck!
September 9th, 2005 at 7:09 pmTurkey Hill is ice cream, FYI.
September 9th, 2005 at 7:12 pmAH, 2 errors? who did!
September 9th, 2005 at 7:16 pmI don’t remember for sure, Braves Rule, but as I recall, they suck.
September 9th, 2005 at 7:19 pmHow could Estrada not field that? Sure, Marcus stalled, but it was in plenty of time.
September 9th, 2005 at 7:24 pmHe was thinking about the injury yet again.
September 9th, 2005 at 7:25 pmEstrada’s Eddie George Disease is flarring up tonight
September 9th, 2005 at 7:25 pmMcCann would have made the play. So would have my 14 year old sister
September 9th, 2005 at 7:26 pmMaybe he was distracted by actual pain. He looked a little hurt earlier.
September 9th, 2005 at 7:28 pmCould be, since he was acting gimply earlier, I hope not.
September 9th, 2005 at 7:30 pmOh, I’ve missed this…
You suck, Vinny!!!!
September 9th, 2005 at 7:31 pmMaybe Bobby bunts so much to set up plays like that.
September 9th, 2005 at 7:31 pmOh, Andruw.
September 9th, 2005 at 7:39 pmOne.
September 9th, 2005 at 7:39 pmAwesome!
September 9th, 2005 at 7:39 pmI love Andruw!!! MVP!!!
September 9th, 2005 at 7:39 pm46!
September 9th, 2005 at 7:39 pmAndruwometer.
September 9th, 2005 at 7:40 pmJoey, I really like the “Adam plays once every four days” idea!
September 9th, 2005 at 7:40 pmmy Vitamin, Andruw
September 9th, 2005 at 7:41 pmCan you believe that I got Andruw off the waiver wire about a month into this season in my fantasy league.
September 9th, 2005 at 7:44 pmChecking in again from Spain & I couldnt have picked a better time.
Andruw has the magic wand working. All his homers seem to be big ones. Apache!
Off to the nightlife & go Bravos!
September 9th, 2005 at 7:44 pmurlhix, I was able to draft Andruw as my THIRD outfielder on all my fantasy baseball team. Boy, what a bargain!!!
September 9th, 2005 at 7:47 pmREETSMAHS HERT! ITS MY TERN!!!!
September 9th, 2005 at 7:50 pmIf the Braves really want the Padres instead of the Astros, it might come down to fielding a B team that last series with the Marlins.
September 9th, 2005 at 7:54 pmWow, kc, that’s insane. I’m assuming you are winning your league too?
September 9th, 2005 at 7:55 pmI completely agree with Leo’s list of not-crummy relief pitchers on the Braves.
September 9th, 2005 at 7:57 pmBring out Boyer now. I don’t care what inning it is. This is a critical moment.
September 9th, 2005 at 7:59 pmThere is no way I will let HoRo starting a playoff game…
September 9th, 2005 at 8:00 pmMy bad. Good job, Leo.
September 9th, 2005 at 8:00 pmI know Bobby really wants Horacio to qualify for this victory, but innings like this, and the lack of mental toughness they indicate, terrify me. Is Davies at least warming up?
September 9th, 2005 at 8:00 pm110 pitches by now for HoRo, that’s insane…
September 9th, 2005 at 8:00 pmurlhix, all my teams have great offense as you can imagine, but leading a pitching staff with Schmidt and Sheets isn’t a good idea this year.
September 9th, 2005 at 8:02 pmEstrada’s back looks really stiff on these swings.
September 9th, 2005 at 8:04 pmProbably because of HoRo long innings…
September 9th, 2005 at 8:06 pmWill Marte ever get in a game?
September 9th, 2005 at 8:07 pmNot likely, I think he is like the third right handed bat off the bench behind Julio and Jordan…
September 9th, 2005 at 8:08 pmBoyer? Now? This isn’t a critical role. Put Lerew or someone in here.
September 9th, 2005 at 8:09 pmkc, I got real lucky and was able to get Santana (my first pick), Jake Peavey, K-rod and Izzy. Everyone was too busy getting all of the Sox and Yanks players and there were some gems available in the middle rounds.
September 9th, 2005 at 8:11 pmIf Boyer works the sixth, and Foster works the seventh, then…
September 9th, 2005 at 8:11 pmAnd plays like that make me think Marte will be warming a bench well into next year.
September 9th, 2005 at 8:11 pmThen Lerew works the 8th, right? Right?
Davies?
McBride?
…
September 9th, 2005 at 8:12 pmI think it’s sad that we all know the narrative of the game. The score stays the same until the bottom of the 8th where Kolb loads the bases. McBride isn’t able to completely bail him out, making it a one run game. Then Farnsworth gets the four out save.
September 9th, 2005 at 8:14 pmNICE throw.
September 9th, 2005 at 8:14 pmJeez, Estrada double-clutched and got him anyway. Plus, running here is stupid, as Skip (more or less) said.
September 9th, 2005 at 8:14 pmThat’s a very good throw by Estrada…
September 9th, 2005 at 8:15 pmI always hear the TBS guys talking about how Bobby builds his bullpen from the 9th inning backwards. He gets his closer, then figures out his 8th inning guys, then 7th, and so on.
But it seems more and more like Bobby is using Boyer first, then hoping that some magical bridge will appear to get from him to Farnsworth. Foster’s part of that bridge, but that leaves a lot of magic yet to happen.
September 9th, 2005 at 8:16 pmAlso, under that bridge there are a lot of trolls.
September 9th, 2005 at 8:17 pmWhy would Mets fans be in DC?
September 9th, 2005 at 8:18 pmIf Bobby is really to let Boyer pitching the sixth inning, it must mean Reitsma is ready to pitch tonight…we will see…
urlhix, you have a great pitching staff, but I tend not to pick a starting pitcher on my first pick. Hey, let’s play in the same league next year!
September 9th, 2005 at 8:19 pmIM ALREDY GITING REDY. I 1RST START BYE DREENKING 4 BEERES. I CAL THIS LUSENING UP!
September 9th, 2005 at 8:21 pmThey should save the clip for the MLB rulebook, and use it for the definition of “error”.
September 9th, 2005 at 8:23 pmJust out of curiosity, who’s calling the game on ESPN?
September 9th, 2005 at 8:25 pmkc, I wasn’t really planning on it, but I got put real low in the draft order and there he was, so I just went with it. This is the first year in many that I’ve been around my computer regularly enough to join a league and it’s been real fun. We should totally have a league for all the folks that hang around this site. That would be a blast!
September 9th, 2005 at 8:27 pmWow, Davies must be very closed in getting onto the playoff roster…
September 9th, 2005 at 8:28 pmYay, Davies!
September 9th, 2005 at 8:29 pmPhillies are mauling the Marlins, and Clemens is getting roughed up by Milwaukee–he went out with something last start; if it lingers and he’s ineffective, the Astros become much less scary.
September 9th, 2005 at 8:29 pmBoo, Davies!
You still suck, Vinny!
September 9th, 2005 at 8:30 pmDespite the Vinny homer, I still like the idea of using Davies in this role.
September 9th, 2005 at 8:34 pmMac,
I’m sure you saw the trackback, but Deadspin.com did an entry on The Road From Bristol today. I wrote them yesterday to nominate Braves Journal as the best Braves blog and mentioned the tourney, as well, and I guess they hate Stu too. It was cool to see you mentioned as “intrepid”.
September 9th, 2005 at 8:36 pmThanks. I actually emailed him this morning, too. (About Braves Journal, when they get around to linking Braves sites — they appear to be working their way up.) The title of my email was “Shameless linkwhoring”…
September 9th, 2005 at 8:38 pmOh no, it’s Anonymous Middle Reliever! He owns us!
September 9th, 2005 at 8:40 pmMajewski’s really good, drew. On his best days, he has ridiculous motion on his pitches.
September 9th, 2005 at 8:41 pmBobby has more confidence in Davies than in Boyer…interesting…
September 9th, 2005 at 8:43 pmHeh. I’m hoping it turns out to be a good site. Most of those Gawker Media sites are, even if you aren’t into what they are covering.
September 9th, 2005 at 8:44 pmNaw, I think it’s what’s drew mentioned earlier. Boyer’s the first out. Then … uh … we need a guy who can go multiple innings. Davies, YOU’RE UP!
September 9th, 2005 at 8:44 pmActually, Majewski I know, because he looks like he belongs behind the keyboards in a weekend-warrior prog-rock band.
But the Braves let teams stick around too long by not extending leads in the 6th-8th innings, and that’s quite the danger with our middle relief.
September 9th, 2005 at 8:45 pmIt’s driving me crazy. Good middle relievers, bad middle relievers, swingmen, starters pressed into service, infielders moonlighting, doesn’t matter. They all own us.
September 9th, 2005 at 8:47 pmThis sucks…
September 9th, 2005 at 8:53 pmOh, God, no…
September 9th, 2005 at 8:53 pmI guess that’s what you get for walking Cristian Guzman.
September 9th, 2005 at 8:54 pmMy dinner is up to my throat.
Keep my dinner down, Foster!
September 9th, 2005 at 8:54 pmKOLB IN THE BULLPEN! OH MY GOD WHAT IS HE THINKING?
September 9th, 2005 at 8:54 pmI don’t want to think that we just put it on cruise control when we get a lead but it sure seems that way sometimes.
September 9th, 2005 at 8:55 pmThis is atrocious.
September 9th, 2005 at 8:55 pmFarnsworth needs to come in NOW. This is a far more critical situation than starting an inning with no runners.
Man, they NEED TO LEARN TO SAVE BOYER.
September 9th, 2005 at 8:56 pmGod I hate this pen.
September 9th, 2005 at 8:56 pmThis is just chaos, is this Bobby’s plan of using the bullpen after an off-day?! I never find using the bullpen as one of Bobby’s strength…
September 9th, 2005 at 8:57 pmFarnsworth needs to come in NOW.
Absolutely. If Kolb blows it again, I don’t know what I’m going to do. Definitely lose all faith that Bobby will ever make a good in-game decision.
September 9th, 2005 at 8:58 pmThat’s what you get. Kolb does this.
September 9th, 2005 at 8:58 pmI hate Bobby more than the bullpen…
September 9th, 2005 at 8:59 pmSo, we have two relievers. Boyer, who pitches the sixth, and Farnsworth, who is the closer if we have a big enough lead that the guys who pitch the seventh and eighth can’t blow it.
Well, at least the Marlins are losing.
September 9th, 2005 at 8:59 pmBobby, with all due respect…you suck. Kolb…please do us all a favor and cut off your right arm.
September 9th, 2005 at 9:00 pmDan Kolb, ground ball pitcher.
September 9th, 2005 at 9:00 pmHopefully, this will finally provoke the kind of hard questions that need to be asked before October. Hopefully, they sit down and restructure the bullpen after today. Because if that’s what happens, then it’s worth losing this game. Otherwise, this is going to be a very brief postseason.
September 9th, 2005 at 9:00 pmThis is absolutely lack of plan by Bobby. Using Kolb in this situation is basically hopeless. I don’t agree with using Farnsworth now, the point is Boyer should be saved for the eighth.
September 9th, 2005 at 9:01 pmI still think Reitsma, when healthy, is a good option. I’d like to see Boyer-Farnsworth at the end, but Reitsma’s a solid middle option.
And how about we see some more Lerew and Devine before the playoffs start? McBride hardly gets any work, either.
September 9th, 2005 at 9:03 pmThere are a lot of roller coaster pitchers. Bobby Please think over!
September 9th, 2005 at 9:03 pmI just tuned in, and I’m sorry I did. Why can’t Bobby and Leo see that Kolb is not getting the job done? Are they waiting for him to fall on his sword or something?
September 9th, 2005 at 9:05 pmAlex is going to explode when he sees this. You thought those were F-bombs before?
September 9th, 2005 at 9:06 pmFurcal, just get on base.
Any way you can.
September 9th, 2005 at 9:06 pmReitsma would be a good pitcher. The trouble is that he has no confidence in himself right now, and he’s a very mentally shaky pitcher, not to mention a reliever with zero stamina, not a good combination. Our best chance would be to trade him for someone ugly but effective, like Joe Borowski or Gary Majewski.
September 9th, 2005 at 9:10 pmBobby just had an off-day to setup his bullpen, and that his hall of fame way of juggling pieces in the bullpen and showed absolutely no plan whatsoever, make me sick to my stomach. Davies pitching the seventh and the eighth?! Why not sixth and seventh with Boyer pitching the eighth?!
I don’t even hate Brower and Kolb anymore, and the fault is on Bobby for using them in any kind of meaningful situation.
September 9th, 2005 at 9:11 pmReitsma is hurt and has been pitching hurt.
September 9th, 2005 at 9:11 pmJoeyT, I think they are shutting down Devine for the rest of this season. I heard he hurt his leg or something…
Tonight is the situation when I thought trying out Hampton is not a bad idea…
September 9th, 2005 at 9:13 pmSpeaking of which, Dan Kolb is a [expletive]-ing AWFUL pitcher. He should be taken into the street and shot like a horse. Bobby Cox’s in-game managing abilities, especially in managing his bullpen, are worse than a blind deaf mute.
September 9th, 2005 at 9:14 pmPhew! Glad I got that off my chest.
can’t trust in Kyle Davis. NOT YET. He has a bad controller
September 9th, 2005 at 9:15 pmAnother Alex, I think just being fired will be good enough.
He does NOT need to be taking up a roster spot, though. He’s just bad. Put him on batting practice duty for the rest of the year.
September 9th, 2005 at 9:16 pmOops misspell .He has bad controll.Mac,Whenever I make some mistakes I feel inconvenient at this point.
September 9th, 2005 at 9:25 pmYou’re a lot better than I am in Korean. (It is Korean, right?)
September 9th, 2005 at 9:28 pmOh, I guess we could just fire the guy. But somehow it would feel anticlimactic, after everything he’s done.
September 9th, 2005 at 9:36 pmoff topic:
September 9th, 2005 at 9:49 pmIt’s top secret! kkk!!!
It is difficult to learn a minority language. Never think about it. Even though I can speak & read some languages, Nothing to guarantee it.