Girly Man Hampton Should Retire

Mike “Girly Man” Hampton took the mound for the Richmond Braves today and in the top of the 4th inning, all looked great for the oft-injured $15 million man. He pitched more than 70 pitches, 3 hits, walking 2 and striking out 4. I was started to get excited.
But the inevitable happened. And I nearly [...]

Bobby Cox Needs Lineup 101 Lesson

Ray and I talked about this last night, and it makes a good blog post as I sit home sick with infected ears and throat. Why in the world is Kelly Johnson batting lead-off for the Atlanta Braves?
Johnson’s average is .241 and his on base percentage is a pathetic .323, and somehow Bobby Cox believes [...]

Time to Test the Braves’ Mettle

As John Smoltz likely makes his exit (hopefully a very short one) he’ll be holding the door open for a few people who need to have an immediate impact upon their return. Tom Glavine will pitch tonight against the Nationals after suffering a sore hamstring and introducing himself to the DL for the first [...]

Smoltz Reports Shoulder Pain

After his first bad outing of year, Atlanta Braves pitcher John Smoltz reporter “discomfort” in his right shoulder.
ESPN reported the following:

“The next couple of days I should know what paths we’re looking at,” Smoltz said

Pretty vague statement from Smoltzy, who started the season on the DL with shoulder problems. As the Braves struggle to stay [...]

Mets Pound Braves

The New York Mets put a pounding on the Atlanta Braves in the last two games of the series. The NFL draft took me away from the games, but there are a few points I want to make:

Tim Hudson left Saturday’s game after a poor outing, his second in a row. Not sure if something [...]

Bobby Cox and his Ingenious Plan

This may be too much inside baseball, but I really enjoy reading the Wall Street Journal. You will find articles in this paper that don’t get in the mainstream media monsters.
In today’s Weekend Journal section, there’s a story titled “Baseball Dares to Be Different” with a few paragraphs about our beloved coach Bobby Cox.
It turns [...]

Happy Birthday, Chipper

The Atlanta Braves have been struggling mightily to do several things right simultaneously of late. Hitting but not scoring; pitching, but not fielding. Against the Marlins tonight, they finally managed to have their cake and eat it too. Birthday cake, that is.
The Earth began its 37th journey around the sun since [...]

The Carborator is Fixed–but the Timing Belt Snapped

Some day the Atlanta Braves will figure out how to play every aspect of the game well at the same time. Why is it that the moment they solve one nagging problem, the thud of a dropped shoe is heard somewhere else?
It would be difficult to remember another Braves line up [...]

5-Game Win Streak Hits 2-Game Losing Streak

Are the Florida Marlins really this good? They are 13-8, which happens to be the third-best record in this early season.
The Atlanta Braves lose again to the Marlins, this time 7-2, after another pitiful performance with runners in scoring position. The Braves were 1-14 with runners in scoring position tonight, which is hard to comprehend.
Jeff [...]

Braves Sweep Dodgers

The Atlanta Braves are back at .500 for the year (9-9) after a sweep of the LA Dodgers. A few notes about the game, starting with level of importance:

Chipper Jones left the game with a strained right quad. Not a good sign that Chipper is going to miss games this early. Imagine if he were [...]