By the way, I noticed that Chipper said the following: “Trust me when I say that Tex will get top dollar. He is gonna have to be overwhelmed by the organization and the fans of Atlanta in order to take a little less from the Braves.”
Guess we’re gonna have to overwhelm him, guys. Mac, want to make your next series of short films about how awesome in every way Tex is?
Dang, I forgot to check bravesjournal before I left the house this morning so I’m going to have to wait to see this one. I normally read bravesjournal from work (only on breaks of course) because it’s one of the few sites I read that isn’t blocked here… but youtube videos are. It was just last night that I finally remembered to check on what all the hubbub was about with the other videos. Pure genius Mac. I’m going to put a reminder on the blackberry to check bravesjournal tonight while the family is watching Survivor.
Rob Copenhaver
on February 14, 2008 at 10:25 am
Well, I was 8 then, so I guess that’s why I don’t remember. I was more worried about Power Rangers and monkey bars.
The Second Spitter
on February 14, 2008 at 10:31 am
ugh, thanks for making me feel old, wanna kick me in the generals for good measure? 😉
doubledawg
on February 14, 2008 at 10:44 am
here’s a good trick for you suckers that have big brother controlling your internets.
Those are two sites it’s hard to tell your boss “But I need it to do my work”. I can argue for a lot of things needed for work research, but youtube and fantasy sports are tough to justify to them.
Rob Copenhaver
on February 14, 2008 at 11:35 am
Doesn’t mean we can’t try… 🙂
Best Buy actually blocks quite a few things, but, surprisingly, YouTube is not one of them. However, I think they don’t have Flash or whatever YouTube uses to broadcast its video installed on their machines, so it doesn’t really matter.
Parish
on February 14, 2008 at 11:57 am
Mac, included in the short videos about Tex should be some comparison of taxes in NY and GA.
barrycuda
on February 14, 2008 at 12:20 pm
i hope nobody tells hampton about these vids. he might hurt himself running to the computer.
Rob Copenhaver
on February 14, 2008 at 1:12 pm
You guys are ruthless. Very cutthroat.
Ethan
on February 14, 2008 at 1:20 pm
@8
Yeah, I was ten. I think the most insightful Braves discussion I had was whether or not it would hurt Superman/Batman if Smoltz threw a baseball at him. We decided maybe on Superman, but Batman had a helmet so he would maybe be okay.
BTW, my employer blocks all sites with the word blog, so Mac, it would be awesome if you could keep that out of the journal.
Smitty
on February 14, 2008 at 1:57 pm
Yahoo front page has the Indiana Jones trailer. Looks good.
From Chipper’s blog entry…Was BMac trying to catch Moylan? Hope not.
bledsoe,
From the previous thread (Furman basketball!), you mentioned the late Fessor “Moose” Leonard. I actually saw him play when he was in high school at a Xmas tournament in Columbus, Ga. (I think he went to Carver High.)
A neighbor who went to Baker High played against his school and you can imagine what a fairly nimble 7-footer would do against high-school kids. It was not a fair fight.
Fessor got drafted by the Bullets, back when they were loaded with talent (Elvin Hayes, Phil Chenier, etc.), but never made it.
Mac,
I hope Hampton has a sense of humor. As we all know, he can certainly afford one.
Cliff
on February 14, 2008 at 2:28 pm
DOB has a new Blog up. This is his take on who to watch on players out of options.
Here’s the ones you all should keep in mind, the relevant out-of-options players who could be traded if the Braves don’t plan to keep them on the 25-man roster: relievers Blaine Boyer, Chris Resop and lefty Royce Ring; first baseman Scott Thorman, and catcher/utility man Brayan Pena.
I know my blog partner Corey made fun of you a bit the other day, but gave you some props too. I want to say that you do a helluva job, and it’s good to have some humility of yourself.
I would assume we would keep Ring, but Thorman has to be on his way out. He needs something similar to semi-regular playing time to have any chance at developins, someting he will not get with the Braves.
Kenny
on February 14, 2008 at 2:51 pm
Like the new poll. I was almost fooled the first time, than I reread it and realized it said “pitch,” thus automatically eliminating Hampton. I like how even DOB does not believe Hampton will make it through 6 weeks before getting injured. I am going to go out on a limb and say he makes it all the way to the first spring training game, before going out for the season. I guess that would put the over/under at +/- 2 weeks. Who wants that action?
Stu
on February 14, 2008 at 2:55 pm
Who’s our backup 1B? I like having a power bat off the bench.
He’ll have to do something other than air out the building in spring training in order to make it.
Kenny
on February 14, 2008 at 3:32 pm
I think the most likely candidate would be Matt Diaz, and put Brandon Jones in LF. I think this is what we are going to do as we will probably have 5 OFs on the roster.
Pena worked at 1B quite a bit last year. If Thorman goes, Pena can serve as a 2nd or 3rd catcher and b/u first baseman. This also assumes that Lopez makes the team. I’m not sure if the Braves think Pena is an option at first or not.
Justin Parker
on February 14, 2008 at 4:06 pm
The pessimist in me says that Hampton looks great all spring building up hopes that he is going to be a quality 4th starter and then dash everyones hopes and dreams by blowing out some part of his body in PFPs or BP or some other light intensive activity.
The optimist says he pitches half a season.
Dix
on February 14, 2008 at 4:33 pm
He’s gonna pull a hammy covering first on a slow roller to Teixeira. As he’s hopping on the uninjured leg having just pulled the hamstring, he will roll and dislocate the ankle he’s hopping on. That, obviously, will cause him to fall down in the basepath where his pitching hand will get stepped on by the runner, probably Prince Fielder, resulting in every bone in Hampton’s hand being shattered. He’ll probably also concuss, hemorrhage, and get blood in Teixeira’s eye causing Teix to have to go to the clubhouse and get substituted for.
stapler
on February 14, 2008 at 5:04 pm
proxy.org is another outside shot to get around big brother
Jonathan
on February 14, 2008 at 5:18 pm
This was almost a throw-away line in a posted item on the Baseball Prospectus blog:
“Aybar Errors: Reader J.A., who’s here at the Caribbean Series, has spotted Erick Aybar–who I thought had bailed on the tourney because he’s not playing or listed as injured–playing pepper with his team, Licey. By now, we all know the reason that Willy Aybar’s not in Santiago–it’s because he’s been in a jail cell in the city of Bani. My apologies to both guys (well, maybe not so much to Willy, considering the circumstances) for suggesting they didn’t have the ganas to support their team.”
I had not heard anything about that.
Dix
on February 14, 2008 at 5:35 pm
You hadn’t heard about Erick Aybar playing in the Caribbean series, or about the author chastising the Aybars for not appearing and supporting their team?
The Willie Aybar to jail story broke a while ago and alleviated some of the Wren hate stemming from his trade of two players for half of one.
Jonathan
on February 14, 2008 at 5:42 pm
I hadn’t heard that Willy was in jail. Apparently I missed it here when it was discussed.
“…and alleviated some of the Wren hate stemming from his trade of two players for half of one” – that’s what I figured would (or should) happen, though apparently I was not around to see it develop in real-time…
Its been a quite long time dropping by….Is that you,Mac Thomason? HAHAHA Cheers! BUT you know exaggerat:-(
Jonathan
on February 14, 2008 at 10:08 pm
I’m one of those who can’t access YouTube @ work, but I can see the blog. So I didn’t see this until I got home. “Don’t forget to tip your trainer” – priceless!!
CJ
on February 14, 2008 at 10:43 pm
bledsoe. Are you a Paladin or just live in the Greater GSA area?
Now the Feds are claiming Bonds’s November 2001 positive test was a “typo.”
Federal prosecutors mistakenly filed court papers Thursday that incorrectly stated that Barry Bonds failed a steroids test in November of 2001 — one month after breaking the single-season home run mark.
U.S. attorney spokesman Josh Eaton now says that the reference in Thursday’s government court filing regarding Bonds testing positive was actually referring to a November 2000 test that was previously disclosed in the indictment of Bonds and had already been reported.
Mark Cuban not playing fair and being a complete phony, while always expressing “righteous indignation” at David Stern everytime a call doesn’t go his way?
Dan, didn’t ESPN warn us that this is a New York/Boston world and the rest of us are just ‘living in it’?
Of course we should concede the division to the Mets! By all means we wouldn’t want to risk hurting Fox’s post season ratings!!!!
Marc Schneider
on February 15, 2008 at 9:20 am
@50,
Alex, I agree with you about Cuban. He’s a jerk. He thinks all his money makes him supercool or something.
MGL
on February 15, 2008 at 9:22 am
re #49 – I found it interesting that the title of the author of that article was “Senior Fantasy Writer”
bledsoe
on February 15, 2008 at 9:26 am
Ubu, CJ:
I grew up in Greenville, both sisters went to Furman, we had season tix, I went to multiple Joe Williams camps.
UBU, I think Moose died of a drug overdose while playing in South America. My great claim to fame was playing him one on one in a camp and beating him (maybe he took it easy on me, I don’t know: I was 4-11.)
Clyde Mayes was a monster, and I never knew why his game didn’t translate to the NBA.
I was thinking maybe Stitch to round out the starting five?
Dix
on February 15, 2008 at 10:03 am
Mark Cuban is my hero. He has done with his money exactly what I’d have done if it were mine.
So, CBS Sportsline anointed the New York Mets the #1 team in baseball, ahead of the Red Sox, because: “Now, Boston did retain its outstanding core, and it has emerging young stars in Jacoby Ellsbury, Jon Lester and Clay Buchholz ready to pay huge dividends. But Red Sox Nation has now won two titles in the past four years.
When Cuban’s not whining about his basketball team, the refs, the league, etc., I like him. I actually think he’s an alright guy.
He’s done some good things with his money & I like how he makes himself accessible to folks. He actually answers lots of the emails sent to him from fans.
But something happens to him when it comes to his Mavs that makes him completely undignified.
My high school trigonometry teacher went to Furman, and was in the stands for Selvy’s 100-point game. It took him two full class days to tell us the story of the game, but then he was always going off on tangents….
sansho1,
Yeah, we had a few ancient nuns in my grade school who could veer crazily off course.
If we ever wanted to avoid, say, a vocabulary test, we’d just ask Sister Immaculata a question that somehow involved a hot-button issue (pre-marital sex, a TV show that upset the church) & off she went.
BTW, I greatly enjoyed the Mets story by the CBS sports guy. He wrote that the Mets “have no real weaknesses.”
Um, for one, take a look at the last month of the ’07 season & tell me how the bullpen did. Now tell me how much they’ve improved the bullpen.
But seriously, I always love when my team’s main rival is picked over my team. (Happens all the time with my New Jersey Devils.) If the expectations are low for my squad, it makes the winning sweeter & turns the rival’s demise into an off-season sport.
Ron
on February 15, 2008 at 11:01 am
I’m going to enjoy the Mets bandwagon in the media. It’ll only make it that much sweeter when they finish in 3rd place in the division.
Dan
on February 15, 2008 at 11:03 am
Um, for one, take a look at the last month of the ‘07 season & tell me how the bullpen did. Now tell me how much they’ve improved the bullpen.
Mets’ fans: “But what about Duaner Sanchez?!”
Mark Graybill
on February 15, 2008 at 11:31 am
I just realized that a Mets fan sponsors Bobby Cox’s page on Baseball Reference.com. That’s just wrong.
I went there looking for information about Bobby’s coaching career with the Yankees. A colleague of mine–also a Mets fan, of all things–noticed a reference to him in The Bronx is Burning series. Bobby was apparently a coach for the 1977 Yankees. My friend asked if I knew which specific coaching position he had–and I didn’t, and still don’t.
I’m not trying to veer into politics here, but Henry Waxman now regrets the Clemens hearing. In his words: “I’m sorry we had the hearing. I regret that we had the hearing. And the only reason we had the hearing was because Roger Clemens and his lawyers insisted on it.”
Wow, Henry, tell us how you really feel about Rocket, why don’t you?
Gregson
on February 15, 2008 at 11:43 am
bledoe:
Clyde Mayes had a degenerative hip or knee condition that started shortly after he left Furman. I saw him last in 1990 or 91 and for him walking was not too easy (I actually drove him home from the car dealership where I worked in the summer).
For me the most memorable Furman player was Jonathan Moore — those games at Memorial Auditorium in the late 70s/early 80s were raucous, and Moore always riled things up the most.
Kenny
on February 15, 2008 at 11:59 am
AAR,
Yes, that and the tons of publicity that it afforded the honorable senator.
The Mets have not done anything to upgrade their managing either. Willie is a terrible manager, period. There is also that question of the back-end of the rotation and Pedro staying healthy. Of course, except for those small defencies they may as well be the 1927 Yankees.
That CBS piece is the problem with journalism overall. Instead of doing actual analysis you base an argument on a team being “hungry,” whatever that means. It is nearly impossible to find a writer do actual research they will just base thing on intangible stuff that cannot be measured. By the writer’s same argument maybe the Mets are not mentally tough enough to ever win the “big game.”
spike (leaving for Bogota)
on February 15, 2008 at 12:02 pm
For those that care, pitchers and catchers have reported and their first workout is today
Kenny,
I hear you, but writing only about stuff that “can be measured” can make for some pretty boring sports columns.
I’ll agree that the CBS piece read like something a recent J-school grad might write about a high-school football team, but I’m not going to argue with the notion that the Mets have plenty of motivation this year.
Robert
on February 15, 2008 at 12:54 pm
But seriously, I always love when my team’s main rival is picked over my team. (Happens all the time with my New Jersey Devils.)
In October 2001, Bill Plaschke of the LA Times wrote a article titled: “Westwood Ho”, which contained among other nuggets:
“When it comes to college football, Los Angeles clearly belongs to the Bruins.”
“This is a Bruin football town, and has been a Bruin football town, and will continue to be a Bruin football town”
That hasn’t exactly worked out for him.
Marc Schneider
on February 15, 2008 at 1:10 pm
I’m ok with Congress looking into the steroids issue in general. But I don’t understand why they should have any interest in whether a particular player took steroids–other than the obvious publicity opportunity. Who cares if Clemens is or is not a liar? I don’t. His record is what it is, however it was achieved. He did or did not take steroids. Let’s get on with the season.
I have seen congressional hearings in person and they aren’t much different generally; lots of posturing, few intelligent questions, major waste of time. Congress has a legitimate oversight responsibility but it doesn’t, in general, perform it well. And that is irrespective of party.
Kenny
on February 15, 2008 at 1:18 pm
Ububba,
I sort of disagree. I am not saying you need to go THT and break down the pitches of every player on the Mets, but I think at least a cursory explanation of what makes one team better than the other. I understand what you are saying, though.
The other thing that struck me in those rankings was that they mentioned that the Braves did not have the lineup to match up with the Mets and the Phillies. Does anyone actually believe this? To me it seems like we have one week spot in the lineup, CF. I also tend to think that we have a deeper lineup than any of those teams. Is that just homerism?
Marc Schneider
on February 15, 2008 at 1:29 pm
What happens in a lot of traditional baseball analysis is inertia takes over, ie, the teams that were the best last year will be the best this year because we really don’t know that much about the teams and don’t feel like finding out. Most of these people haven’t really seen the respective teams that much and don’t know about pythagorean formulas and so forth. So, they assume that, well the Braves were five games behind, the Phils won the division, the Mets got Santana, so they must be better. IN reality, anyone that really watched the East race last year realizes that all three teams were essentially equivalent. Any of the three could easily have won. So there wasn’t much difference between the teams in the first place and, in fact, arguably the Braves were the best team in the division. There just isn’t much in-depth analysis. That’s why I always find in humorous when fans get outraged when some analyst or another picks against their team. What difference does it make–it’s not like college football, preseason rankings don’t affect the season.
I’m pro-inertia. Unless you have a really good reason to think that a team’s status has changed, it’s best to just assume that things will be pretty close to last year. If I do picks (I don’t think I will) I usually base two-thirds of it or more on what happened the previous season (records and statistics).
Kenny,
I think that writer automatically believes that Santana makes the Mets #1 in MLB. I’m can’t agree, really, but that would seem to be his position.
When we’re talking sports columns, I’m fine with that guy’s approach. The greatest sports columnist ever, Jim Murray, was no sabermetrician. But in the case of that particular CBS column, I just wish it was a little more compelling.
Fave Jim Murray line. When describing the beginning of the Indy 500, he wrote: “Gentlemen, start your coffins…”
Who cares if Clemens is or is not a liar? I don’t. His record is what it is, however it was achieved. He did or did not take steroids. Let’s get on with the season.
Marc, I generally agree with you, except that if Clemens perjured himself before Congress, he should be hauled on his ass. Lying is one thing; federal perjury’s another.
(That is to say, a member of the House of Representatives.)
Mark Gordon
on February 15, 2008 at 1:44 pm
Lineup wise, the Braves scored 6 more runs than the Mets and 82 fewer than the Phillies in 2007. So, I guess it depends on what you think about our/their offensive changes since then. (Andruw?)
I like the fact that most of our hitters are at prime age or below, so there could be some pick up there.
Seems like it should compare to the Mets, at least…
Kenny
on February 15, 2008 at 1:52 pm
Good point, not sure how I missed that since I have had his name ingrained in my mind over the last few weeks.
Marc Schneider
on February 15, 2008 at 2:01 pm
@76,
Agreed AAR, but the only reason he had a chance to lie to Congress was because Congress called him. IMO, there was no reason for Congress to delve into individual players in the first place. Let’s just say, this was an era in which baseball was plagued by steroids, find out how we fix it and go on from there. I agree that, once he got there, he and anyone else testifying has to testify truthfully and, if not, should be punished.
Re the Mets: I don’t see why everyone is so excited about the Mets’lineup. Reyes, Beltran, and Wright are very good. But Delgado struggled last year, Alou is 42 and injury prone, Ryan Church is really a fourth outfielder, Brian Schneider hits like Marc Schneider, and Luis Castillo is no big deal. To me, the Phillies are much more potent, especially in CBB.
The Phillies lineup would score more runs than the Mets even if they played in the Grand Canyon.
IMO, 2 keys for the Mets are Pedro & Delgado. If they get good (not necessarily spectacular) seasons from both, they can win 90+.
When it comes to the Mets lineup re-joining the NL elites, a lot depends on Delgado. If his sudden decline is real, that’s not good news for them. I hear a lot of radio talk that he was hurt, but who the hell knows?
I’m not going to write him off yet—OK, give me a month or two—but I don’t expect any more 950+ OPS years either.
In, ’07 he had 16 fewer XBHs & 12 fewer BBs than ’06, but the same amount of hits and Ks. His slugging dropped 100 points, his OBP almost 30.
And there were times when my own eyes told me he looked lost at the plate. His opposite-field power wasn’t as terrifying (INSERT STEROID-SUSPICION COMMENT) and pitchers seemed more than happy to face him. Wasn’t always like that.
Stu
on February 15, 2008 at 2:21 pm
The Braves probably would have scored at least 82 more runs than they did if they played their home games in the Phillies’ park.
Well, also, Delgado’s an aging slugger with some back issues. I could expand that to say that he’s a left-handed hitting former American league first baseman obtained by the Mets past his prime, if that brings anyone else to mind. Precipitous declines happen.
I was roundly mocked by Mets fans for comparing Delgado to Mo Vaughn. Well, who’s laughing now, funny guys?
barrycuda
on February 15, 2008 at 3:16 pm
unless i mis-remember, the best part of the hearing was when waxman told rog to shut the hell up at the end. i thought we might get treated to a roid-rage demonstration.
Dix
on February 15, 2008 at 3:20 pm
I think it’s pretty well settled that you don’t roid-rage on a congressman.
I kind of hope Clemens gets convicted of perjury and then pardoned by Bush. To me that would be the cherry on top of all of this. Either that or Bonds and Clemens sharing a cell.
On another matter, from DOB’s blog regarding Chuck James:
Bryan asks: “Any word, Dave, regarding James and if he has thought about changing the way he studies and approaches the game?”
David O’Brien answers: “Bryan, you don’t now Chuck or you wouldn’t ask that question, about whether there’s been any word about him changing his approach or studying hitters, etc. Just not in his nature, for good or bad. He’s not a real, uh, complicated dude.”
As long as Heap knows what’s going on, and James can hit his spots and command his fastball, change-up, and a third pitch, I don’t care how dumb he is. He just needs to hit a target, rinse and repeat.
Marc Schneider
on February 15, 2008 at 4:14 pm
I think it’s hard to be real successful at this level of pro sports without having some understanding of what you are doing unless you have Randy Johnson-like stuff. I think command is, to a large, extent knowing and understanding what you are trying to accomplish. Greg Maddux is no intellectual but he studies the game and has a real idea of what he wants to do out there.
Well, Greg Maddux has long been regarded as the smartest pitcher in the game. I think it’s much more important that Chuck understand what he’s doing mechanically than have an encyclopedic recall of every hitter’s weaknesses. After all, McCann and Cox are calling the game. I think a certain pitcherly solipsism can be healthy. It’s certainly preferable to quaking in your boots when you see Pujols in the box.
Dix
on February 15, 2008 at 5:23 pm
Personally I don’t care if James is a complete brain moron, as long as McCann and Cox are smart enough to think for him and as long as he is never allowed to shake off any sign.
Justin Parker
on February 15, 2008 at 5:43 pm
As long as he keeps his fastball down and develops an average thrid pitch, I don’t care how ignorant he is of who he is facing.
braves14
on February 15, 2008 at 7:18 pm
I think Chuck plays to be dumber than he really is.
That is soooo wrong.
But funny as heck.
Mac’s tip jar should be overflowing on that one.
Reggie “rally kill” Sanders is not the answer to any problem. I’d rather resign Mark Whiten.
We had Mark Whiten? Four Home Runs Mark Whiten?
You dont remember that Rob?
Yeah, we had him for 107 PA in 1996.
By the way, I noticed that Chipper said the following: “Trust me when I say that Tex will get top dollar. He is gonna have to be overwhelmed by the organization and the fans of Atlanta in order to take a little less from the Braves.”
Guess we’re gonna have to overwhelm him, guys. Mac, want to make your next series of short films about how awesome in every way Tex is?
Dang, I forgot to check bravesjournal before I left the house this morning so I’m going to have to wait to see this one. I normally read bravesjournal from work (only on breaks of course) because it’s one of the few sites I read that isn’t blocked here… but youtube videos are. It was just last night that I finally remembered to check on what all the hubbub was about with the other videos. Pure genius Mac. I’m going to put a reminder on the blackberry to check bravesjournal tonight while the family is watching Survivor.
Well, I was 8 then, so I guess that’s why I don’t remember. I was more worried about Power Rangers and monkey bars.
ugh, thanks for making me feel old, wanna kick me in the generals for good measure? 😉
here’s a good trick for you suckers that have big brother controlling your internets.
http://proxify.com/
Heh, I have internet filtering right now, and that was restricted too.
Youtube must be universally blocked. My employer only blocks 2 sites. Youtube and Yahoo! Fantasy sports(?!?).
Best Buy blocks Braves Journal. I could never get my Braves Journal fix at work. Not cool.
Those are two sites it’s hard to tell your boss “But I need it to do my work”. I can argue for a lot of things needed for work research, but youtube and fantasy sports are tough to justify to them.
Doesn’t mean we can’t try… 🙂
Best Buy actually blocks quite a few things, but, surprisingly, YouTube is not one of them. However, I think they don’t have Flash or whatever YouTube uses to broadcast its video installed on their machines, so it doesn’t really matter.
Mac, included in the short videos about Tex should be some comparison of taxes in NY and GA.
i hope nobody tells hampton about these vids. he might hurt himself running to the computer.
You guys are ruthless. Very cutthroat.
@8
Yeah, I was ten. I think the most insightful Braves discussion I had was whether or not it would hurt Superman/Batman if Smoltz threw a baseball at him. We decided maybe on Superman, but Batman had a helmet so he would maybe be okay.
BTW, my employer blocks all sites with the word blog, so Mac, it would be awesome if you could keep that out of the journal.
Yahoo front page has the Indiana Jones trailer. Looks good.
From Chipper’s blog entry…Was BMac trying to catch Moylan? Hope not.
bledsoe,
From the previous thread (Furman basketball!), you mentioned the late Fessor “Moose” Leonard. I actually saw him play when he was in high school at a Xmas tournament in Columbus, Ga. (I think he went to Carver High.)
A neighbor who went to Baker High played against his school and you can imagine what a fairly nimble 7-footer would do against high-school kids. It was not a fair fight.
Fessor got drafted by the Bullets, back when they were loaded with talent (Elvin Hayes, Phil Chenier, etc.), but never made it.
Mac,
I hope Hampton has a sense of humor. As we all know, he can certainly afford one.
DOB has a new Blog up. This is his take on who to watch on players out of options.
Here’s the ones you all should keep in mind, the relevant out-of-options players who could be traded if the Braves don’t plan to keep them on the 25-man roster: relievers Blaine Boyer, Chris Resop and lefty Royce Ring; first baseman Scott Thorman, and catcher/utility man Brayan Pena.
I know my blog partner Corey made fun of you a bit the other day, but gave you some props too. I want to say that you do a helluva job, and it’s good to have some humility of yourself.
We Should Be GM’s @ http://pabaseball.blogspot.com
Why wouldn’t we keep Thorman or Ring?
I would assume we would keep Ring, but Thorman has to be on his way out. He needs something similar to semi-regular playing time to have any chance at developins, someting he will not get with the Braves.
Like the new poll. I was almost fooled the first time, than I reread it and realized it said “pitch,” thus automatically eliminating Hampton. I like how even DOB does not believe Hampton will make it through 6 weeks before getting injured. I am going to go out on a limb and say he makes it all the way to the first spring training game, before going out for the season. I guess that would put the over/under at +/- 2 weeks. Who wants that action?
Who’s our backup 1B? I like having a power bat off the bench.
If it isn’t Thorman, the Braves might not even have one.
It would be Prado or Infante…but like I said, I’d rather have the HR threat.
He’ll have to do something other than air out the building in spring training in order to make it.
I think the most likely candidate would be Matt Diaz, and put Brandon Jones in LF. I think this is what we are going to do as we will probably have 5 OFs on the roster.
I don’t even know what to think about Thorman anymore. He’s not worth a whole lot in a trade & he’s not worth a whole lot in a Braves uniform.
Is this why some call them The Criminoles?
http://www.ajc.com/sports/content/sports/stories/2008/02/14/fsu_0214.html
Pena worked at 1B quite a bit last year. If Thorman goes, Pena can serve as a 2nd or 3rd catcher and b/u first baseman. This also assumes that Lopez makes the team. I’m not sure if the Braves think Pena is an option at first or not.
The pessimist in me says that Hampton looks great all spring building up hopes that he is going to be a quality 4th starter and then dash everyones hopes and dreams by blowing out some part of his body in PFPs or BP or some other light intensive activity.
The optimist says he pitches half a season.
He’s gonna pull a hammy covering first on a slow roller to Teixeira. As he’s hopping on the uninjured leg having just pulled the hamstring, he will roll and dislocate the ankle he’s hopping on. That, obviously, will cause him to fall down in the basepath where his pitching hand will get stepped on by the runner, probably Prince Fielder, resulting in every bone in Hampton’s hand being shattered. He’ll probably also concuss, hemorrhage, and get blood in Teixeira’s eye causing Teix to have to go to the clubhouse and get substituted for.
proxy.org is another outside shot to get around big brother
This was almost a throw-away line in a posted item on the Baseball Prospectus blog:
“Aybar Errors: Reader J.A., who’s here at the Caribbean Series, has spotted Erick Aybar–who I thought had bailed on the tourney because he’s not playing or listed as injured–playing pepper with his team, Licey. By now, we all know the reason that Willy Aybar’s not in Santiago–it’s because he’s been in a jail cell in the city of Bani. My apologies to both guys (well, maybe not so much to Willy, considering the circumstances) for suggesting they didn’t have the ganas to support their team.”
I had not heard anything about that.
You hadn’t heard about Erick Aybar playing in the Caribbean series, or about the author chastising the Aybars for not appearing and supporting their team?
The Willie Aybar to jail story broke a while ago and alleviated some of the Wren hate stemming from his trade of two players for half of one.
I hadn’t heard that Willy was in jail. Apparently I missed it here when it was discussed.
“…and alleviated some of the Wren hate stemming from his trade of two players for half of one” – that’s what I figured would (or should) happen, though apparently I was not around to see it develop in real-time…
I think this is going to be a last video for awhile. There’s a limit to the number of times you can fall down before it starts to hurt.
lol…Mac your films are almost as painful to watch as Chris Woodward’s at-bats last year.
Just messin’, man.
😉
If anyone cares:
Bonds failed a steroid test in November 2001.
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3246542
thx ububba…………i’m glad that link didnt work.
Its been a quite long time dropping by….Is that you,Mac Thomason? HAHAHA Cheers! BUT you know exaggerat:-(
I’m one of those who can’t access YouTube @ work, but I can see the blog. So I didn’t see this until I got home. “Don’t forget to tip your trainer” – priceless!!
bledsoe. Are you a Paladin or just live in the Greater GSA area?
Now the Feds are claiming Bonds’s November 2001 positive test was a “typo.”
Ooooooooooohhhhhhh… that’s also intersting.
Time to start talking about college football, the Mets have already won the division.
http://cbs.sportsline.com/mlb/story/10637459
Mark Cuban not playing fair and being a complete phony, while always expressing “righteous indignation” at David Stern everytime a call doesn’t go his way?
http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=aw-stackhousesnag021508&prov=yhoo&type=lgns
What a liar and a phony.
#49
Dan, didn’t ESPN warn us that this is a New York/Boston world and the rest of us are just ‘living in it’?
Of course we should concede the division to the Mets! By all means we wouldn’t want to risk hurting Fox’s post season ratings!!!!
@50,
Alex, I agree with you about Cuban. He’s a jerk. He thinks all his money makes him supercool or something.
re #49 – I found it interesting that the title of the author of that article was “Senior Fantasy Writer”
Ubu, CJ:
I grew up in Greenville, both sisters went to Furman, we had season tix, I went to multiple Joe Williams camps.
UBU, I think Moose died of a drug overdose while playing in South America. My great claim to fame was playing him one on one in a camp and beating him (maybe he took it easy on me, I don’t know: I was 4-11.)
Clyde Mayes was a monster, and I never knew why his game didn’t translate to the NBA.
I was thinking maybe Stitch to round out the starting five?
Mark Cuban is my hero. He has done with his money exactly what I’d have done if it were mine.
So, CBS Sportsline anointed the New York Mets the #1 team in baseball, ahead of the Red Sox, because: “Now, Boston did retain its outstanding core, and it has emerging young stars in Jacoby Ellsbury, Jon Lester and Clay Buchholz ready to pay huge dividends. But Red Sox Nation has now won two titles in the past four years.
The Mets have got to be blood thirsty.”
That’s some logical figgerin’, right there.
When Cuban’s not whining about his basketball team, the refs, the league, etc., I like him. I actually think he’s an alright guy.
He’s done some good things with his money & I like how he makes himself accessible to folks. He actually answers lots of the emails sent to him from fans.
But something happens to him when it comes to his Mavs that makes him completely undignified.
My high school trigonometry teacher went to Furman, and was in the stands for Selvy’s 100-point game. It took him two full class days to tell us the story of the game, but then he was always going off on tangents….
sansho1,
Yeah, we had a few ancient nuns in my grade school who could veer crazily off course.
If we ever wanted to avoid, say, a vocabulary test, we’d just ask Sister Immaculata a question that somehow involved a hot-button issue (pre-marital sex, a TV show that upset the church) & off she went.
Bye, bye vocab test.
BTW, I greatly enjoyed the Mets story by the CBS sports guy. He wrote that the Mets “have no real weaknesses.”
Um, for one, take a look at the last month of the ’07 season & tell me how the bullpen did. Now tell me how much they’ve improved the bullpen.
But seriously, I always love when my team’s main rival is picked over my team. (Happens all the time with my New Jersey Devils.) If the expectations are low for my squad, it makes the winning sweeter & turns the rival’s demise into an off-season sport.
I’m going to enjoy the Mets bandwagon in the media. It’ll only make it that much sweeter when they finish in 3rd place in the division.
Um, for one, take a look at the last month of the ‘07 season & tell me how the bullpen did. Now tell me how much they’ve improved the bullpen.
Mets’ fans: “But what about Duaner Sanchez?!”
I just realized that a Mets fan sponsors Bobby Cox’s page on Baseball Reference.com. That’s just wrong.
I went there looking for information about Bobby’s coaching career with the Yankees. A colleague of mine–also a Mets fan, of all things–noticed a reference to him in The Bronx is Burning series. Bobby was apparently a coach for the 1977 Yankees. My friend asked if I knew which specific coaching position he had–and I didn’t, and still don’t.
Does anyone here know?
I’m not trying to veer into politics here, but Henry Waxman now regrets the Clemens hearing. In his words: “I’m sorry we had the hearing. I regret that we had the hearing. And the only reason we had the hearing was because Roger Clemens and his lawyers insisted on it.”
Wow, Henry, tell us how you really feel about Rocket, why don’t you?
bledoe:
Clyde Mayes had a degenerative hip or knee condition that started shortly after he left Furman. I saw him last in 1990 or 91 and for him walking was not too easy (I actually drove him home from the car dealership where I worked in the summer).
For me the most memorable Furman player was Jonathan Moore — those games at Memorial Auditorium in the late 70s/early 80s were raucous, and Moore always riled things up the most.
AAR,
Yes, that and the tons of publicity that it afforded the honorable senator.
The Mets have not done anything to upgrade their managing either. Willie is a terrible manager, period. There is also that question of the back-end of the rotation and Pedro staying healthy. Of course, except for those small defencies they may as well be the 1927 Yankees.
That CBS piece is the problem with journalism overall. Instead of doing actual analysis you base an argument on a team being “hungry,” whatever that means. It is nearly impossible to find a writer do actual research they will just base thing on intangible stuff that cannot be measured. By the writer’s same argument maybe the Mets are not mentally tough enough to ever win the “big game.”
For those that care, pitchers and catchers have reported and their first workout is today
http://www.ajc.com/sports/content/sports/braves/stories/2008/02/13/braves_0214.html
Baseball will soon be here.
Kenny,
I hear you, but writing only about stuff that “can be measured” can make for some pretty boring sports columns.
I’ll agree that the CBS piece read like something a recent J-school grad might write about a high-school football team, but I’m not going to argue with the notion that the Mets have plenty of motivation this year.
But seriously, I always love when my team’s main rival is picked over my team. (Happens all the time with my New Jersey Devils.)
In October 2001, Bill Plaschke of the LA Times wrote a article titled: “Westwood Ho”, which contained among other nuggets:
“When it comes to college football, Los Angeles clearly belongs to the Bruins.”
“This is a Bruin football town, and has been a Bruin football town, and will continue to be a Bruin football town”
That hasn’t exactly worked out for him.
I’m ok with Congress looking into the steroids issue in general. But I don’t understand why they should have any interest in whether a particular player took steroids–other than the obvious publicity opportunity. Who cares if Clemens is or is not a liar? I don’t. His record is what it is, however it was achieved. He did or did not take steroids. Let’s get on with the season.
I have seen congressional hearings in person and they aren’t much different generally; lots of posturing, few intelligent questions, major waste of time. Congress has a legitimate oversight responsibility but it doesn’t, in general, perform it well. And that is irrespective of party.
Ububba,
I sort of disagree. I am not saying you need to go THT and break down the pitches of every player on the Mets, but I think at least a cursory explanation of what makes one team better than the other. I understand what you are saying, though.
The other thing that struck me in those rankings was that they mentioned that the Braves did not have the lineup to match up with the Mets and the Phillies. Does anyone actually believe this? To me it seems like we have one week spot in the lineup, CF. I also tend to think that we have a deeper lineup than any of those teams. Is that just homerism?
What happens in a lot of traditional baseball analysis is inertia takes over, ie, the teams that were the best last year will be the best this year because we really don’t know that much about the teams and don’t feel like finding out. Most of these people haven’t really seen the respective teams that much and don’t know about pythagorean formulas and so forth. So, they assume that, well the Braves were five games behind, the Phils won the division, the Mets got Santana, so they must be better. IN reality, anyone that really watched the East race last year realizes that all three teams were essentially equivalent. Any of the three could easily have won. So there wasn’t much difference between the teams in the first place and, in fact, arguably the Braves were the best team in the division. There just isn’t much in-depth analysis. That’s why I always find in humorous when fans get outraged when some analyst or another picks against their team. What difference does it make–it’s not like college football, preseason rankings don’t affect the season.
I’m pro-inertia. Unless you have a really good reason to think that a team’s status has changed, it’s best to just assume that things will be pretty close to last year. If I do picks (I don’t think I will) I usually base two-thirds of it or more on what happened the previous season (records and statistics).
Robert,
You have a long memory, (but so do I).
Kenny,
I think that writer automatically believes that Santana makes the Mets #1 in MLB. I’m can’t agree, really, but that would seem to be his position.
When we’re talking sports columns, I’m fine with that guy’s approach. The greatest sports columnist ever, Jim Murray, was no sabermetrician. But in the case of that particular CBS column, I just wish it was a little more compelling.
Fave Jim Murray line. When describing the beginning of the Indy 500, he wrote: “Gentlemen, start your coffins…”
Who cares if Clemens is or is not a liar? I don’t. His record is what it is, however it was achieved. He did or did not take steroids. Let’s get on with the season.
Marc, I generally agree with you, except that if Clemens perjured himself before Congress, he should be hauled on his ass. Lying is one thing; federal perjury’s another.
Also, Kenny, Waxman’s a Congressmember.
(That is to say, a member of the House of Representatives.)
Lineup wise, the Braves scored 6 more runs than the Mets and 82 fewer than the Phillies in 2007. So, I guess it depends on what you think about our/their offensive changes since then. (Andruw?)
I like the fact that most of our hitters are at prime age or below, so there could be some pick up there.
Seems like it should compare to the Mets, at least…
Good point, not sure how I missed that since I have had his name ingrained in my mind over the last few weeks.
@76,
Agreed AAR, but the only reason he had a chance to lie to Congress was because Congress called him. IMO, there was no reason for Congress to delve into individual players in the first place. Let’s just say, this was an era in which baseball was plagued by steroids, find out how we fix it and go on from there. I agree that, once he got there, he and anyone else testifying has to testify truthfully and, if not, should be punished.
Re the Mets: I don’t see why everyone is so excited about the Mets’lineup. Reyes, Beltran, and Wright are very good. But Delgado struggled last year, Alou is 42 and injury prone, Ryan Church is really a fourth outfielder, Brian Schneider hits like Marc Schneider, and Luis Castillo is no big deal. To me, the Phillies are much more potent, especially in CBB.
The Phillies lineup would score more runs than the Mets even if they played in the Grand Canyon.
IMO, 2 keys for the Mets are Pedro & Delgado. If they get good (not necessarily spectacular) seasons from both, they can win 90+.
When it comes to the Mets lineup re-joining the NL elites, a lot depends on Delgado. If his sudden decline is real, that’s not good news for them. I hear a lot of radio talk that he was hurt, but who the hell knows?
I’m not going to write him off yet—OK, give me a month or two—but I don’t expect any more 950+ OPS years either.
In, ’07 he had 16 fewer XBHs & 12 fewer BBs than ’06, but the same amount of hits and Ks. His slugging dropped 100 points, his OBP almost 30.
And there were times when my own eyes told me he looked lost at the plate. His opposite-field power wasn’t as terrifying (INSERT STEROID-SUSPICION COMMENT) and pitchers seemed more than happy to face him. Wasn’t always like that.
The Braves probably would have scored at least 82 more runs than they did if they played their home games in the Phillies’ park.
Well, also, Delgado’s an aging slugger with some back issues. I could expand that to say that he’s a left-handed hitting former American league first baseman obtained by the Mets past his prime, if that brings anyone else to mind. Precipitous declines happen.
I’m certainly rooting for such a thing.
The thing I like about Waxman (since nobody asked) is that when he is written about locally it comes out like this:
Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Beverly Hills)
Makes me laugh because he just looks like such a Beverly Hills kind of guy. Or not.
Precipitous declines happen.
They sure do. Let’s hope they don’t happen to us because we also have some prime candidates.
I was roundly mocked by Mets fans for comparing Delgado to Mo Vaughn. Well, who’s laughing now, funny guys?
unless i mis-remember, the best part of the hearing was when waxman told rog to shut the hell up at the end. i thought we might get treated to a roid-rage demonstration.
I think it’s pretty well settled that you don’t roid-rage on a congressman.
I kind of hope Clemens gets convicted of perjury and then pardoned by Bush. To me that would be the cherry on top of all of this. Either that or Bonds and Clemens sharing a cell.
Last year, Delgado basically was the ’02 verion of Big Mo. Good call there, Mac.
For fun, here’s Mo Vaughn’s line in 2003: 27 G, 79 AB, 10 R, 15 H, 2 2B, 3 HR, 15 RBI, .190/.323/.329, $17,166,177.
On another matter, from DOB’s blog regarding Chuck James:
Bryan asks: “Any word, Dave, regarding James and if he has thought about changing the way he studies and approaches the game?”
David O’Brien answers: “Bryan, you don’t now Chuck or you wouldn’t ask that question, about whether there’s been any word about him changing his approach or studying hitters, etc. Just not in his nature, for good or bad. He’s not a real, uh, complicated dude.”
AAR,
That was when big Mo’s bicep fell off (with his career).
AAR,
Bleh. I think we need to rely more on Reyes getting better than James then.
I can’t wait for Santana’s bicep, shoulder and elbow to fall off
As long as Heap knows what’s going on, and James can hit his spots and command his fastball, change-up, and a third pitch, I don’t care how dumb he is. He just needs to hit a target, rinse and repeat.
I think it’s hard to be real successful at this level of pro sports without having some understanding of what you are doing unless you have Randy Johnson-like stuff. I think command is, to a large, extent knowing and understanding what you are trying to accomplish. Greg Maddux is no intellectual but he studies the game and has a real idea of what he wants to do out there.
Well, Greg Maddux has long been regarded as the smartest pitcher in the game. I think it’s much more important that Chuck understand what he’s doing mechanically than have an encyclopedic recall of every hitter’s weaknesses. After all, McCann and Cox are calling the game. I think a certain pitcherly solipsism can be healthy. It’s certainly preferable to quaking in your boots when you see Pujols in the box.
Personally I don’t care if James is a complete brain moron, as long as McCann and Cox are smart enough to think for him and as long as he is never allowed to shake off any sign.
As long as he keeps his fastball down and develops an average thrid pitch, I don’t care how ignorant he is of who he is facing.
I think Chuck plays to be dumber than he really is.