I have to be honest. The Atlanta Braves have piqued my interest very little now that football season is heating up. If you do not already know, I run this site almost full time. I come home from my full-time newspaper job and for most of the night after I work out I blog about the Dallas Cowboys.

Anyway, I want to shoot Mike Hampton. You can get a humorous  rundown here but the guy seriously is a waste. I am so tired of hearing about his injuries and failure to play. I wish the Braves could sue him because what he is doing to this team is egregious. His $100 million contract has become one of the biggest flops in baseball history. Just reading about him makes me feel dejected about my team.

At 6.5 games out of first place in a division no one wants to win, the Atlanta Braves are sitting in fourth place at the All-Star break.

Clearly, it would not take much of a run to put the Braves in contention for a division title. But it will take a bunch of changes in how this team approaches each game to spark a winning streak. Right now, Chipper Jones, Jair Jurrjens and Brian McCann are the only bright spots on the roster that appears to be so talented. An opportunity to grab a Cy Young pitcher in CC Sabathia wasn’t even seriously considered, and there are absolutely no rumors in the mill about the Braves wheeling and dealing.

There was a rumor sharply denied by the Boston Red Sox brass that ESPN’s Peter Gammons said the Braves offered Mark Teixeira to the Red Sox for Kevin Youkilis and Craig Hansen. Hansen is a prospect with a mid-90s fastball, with a real good slider in the high 80s.

To me it sounds like the deal has no legs. To me it seems like the Braves might have already called it a year. And they are only 6.5 games out of first place. The roster is a revolving door of young guys as Bobby Cox prays for one of the kids to get hot, and stay hot.

Braves AJC beat reporter David O’Brien tried to speculate what the Braves may do before the July 31st deadline in this article. He even dared to be silly by saying the Braves can look at the possible return of Mike Hampton.

Who is the only guy O’Brien mentions as a possible player the Braves should look at? Xavier Nady. Yes. I said Xavier Nady, who right now is overachieving for the Pirates.

I guess even he is giving up.

Last night, the Atlanta Braves found themselves embroiled in a game they have been losing with freakish consistency–an extra inning, one run nail biter that featured several grotesque bunts, bases loaded debacles, and perhaps scariest of all, Corky Miller.

But they won.

With the bases loaded and nobody out, Mark Texeira hit a ball into the gap, ending a 17 inning epic that, in all likelihood would have nailed the coffin shut for the 2008 Atlanta Braves had it gone the other way. The bullpen was masterful, essentially pitching a shutout for what nearly equaled the second game of a double header, due in no small part to Buddy Carlysle, who has quietly cobbled together a string of near flawless performances since coming off the DL. If this game turns out to be the turning point (gee, have I optimistically written that before?) Buddy ought to be remembered as a main catalyst.

Jeff Francoeur went 4-5 for AA Mississippi and is on his way back to Atlanta.  The reunion will hardly be bittersweet, at first. If, however, he can do what Texeira did last night with the bases loaded–or at least do it better than 2-20–he should find his status restored with the fans in Atlanta who are irritable but never rabid.

Bloggers, on the other hand, have very good memories, and Benchy Le Frenchy is so damn clever. But I digress.

I hope Jeff’s hitting doesn’t.

I figured Jeff Francoeur was heading to the minors after failing to bring home any runners with numerous chances against the Philadelphia Phillies, in what was a very important series before the All Star Break.

We Atlanta Braves fans remember the spiraling descent of an All-Star and great player all too well because it only happened last year. Andruw Jones continues to struggle, and he may never get his talent back. No one could exactly pinpoint what Jones had done wrong, and what he continues to do wrong. But one thing is for sure: most everyone was wrong when they said he would return to form. He has actually gotten worse. After a long sting on the DL, Jones returned to play for the Dodgers and went 0-5 with four strikeouts. Yuck.

So, here we are with deja vous and the possibility that Francoeur may never be Frenchy again. Oh well.

The Phillies put the smackdown on the Braves, and so far this year, the Phillies have dominated them. The Braves looked lifeless in the series and never had any real chances of winning a game.

Now, back home playing the Houston Astros, the Braves pull together a . However, they are seven games back and five games under .500 and 41-46. It has not been a pretty season. No comeback wins. Under-achieving offense and over-achieving pitchers who are starting to face reality a bit. And heck, when they do pitch gems, the offense becomes ghostly invisible. It’s eerie how the season has gone so far.

The Atlanta Braves recently added a 40-foot cow in left field that does the famous chop and woos fans with its presence. This recruitment of the cow has done very little to jumpstart this struggling team, which is playing in a division no one wants to win.

Maybe the NL East is that bad. On paper, the teams are that good. Even the Braves. Even with a rotation that is foreign to most baseball fans.

But this cow isn’t doing what the organization intended. Or is it?

Did the Braves add this cow as a message to fans that this season is over, so here is your toy for the year? Instead of snagging a top pitcher to help us through tough times and make a playoff run, the Braves bring in a cow. I guess there is still time to make a run and snag a pitcher or two, but right now all we have is a cow. Mooo.

Hey, just a head’s up: Blayne Boyer sucks. He sucks so bad I want to scream.

Charlie Morton had his first real rough outing as a Brave. He has actually looked worse each time on the mound. That’s depressing because the Braves really do need some farm system luck right now, and it needs to be on the mound. ‘It ain’t hapnin’ as they say in the boonies of Georgia.

Hey all, Babes Love Baseball is having a contest and I am one of the four finalists. I personally think my picture is the funniest, too. Go to the page here and vote for me “Dan at PNC Park” on the left sidebar!!!

They also have a witty, hilarious site on baseball. I make daily, regular visits. You should, too. Enjoy, and vote for me!!

Boy oh boy do the Atlanta Braves need a few days off. Not only is most of the rotation out with major injuries, not the batters are feeling the pain. Braves shortstop Yunel Escobar was held out of toay’s game against Milwaukee after jamming his left shoulder the previous night. He has a few nagging injuries he is dealing with right now.

His replacement, Omar Infante, strained his right hamstring and had to leave the game. I know what a strained hammie feels like, because I am dealing with one now. I am on pain killers, anti-inflammatory drugs, muscle relaxers and steroids. Yeah. And I have been unable to run for months.

Rookie shortstop Brent Lillibridge entered as a pinch runner after Infante got hurt. He may become a fixture for a little bit to allow Escobar some rest.

Which brings me to a scenario I think could play out for the Braves if Escobar does not get his act together, and a talented rookie on his heels. One of them is trade bait and both would be well-sought-after players. The Braves won’t keep both of these guys on the team for much longer and I have a fear that Escobar may be the one who is given the fish line to other teams. His sulking fit this week didn’t help his chances.

Before Tuesday’s debacle against the Brewers, word got out that Jeff Francoeur had done something to help his game: my interest was piqued-extra batting practice with Chipper Jones or Terry Pendleton, I wondered? No. Watching game film, then? No, not exactly. I did some research and discovered…he inserted a new contact lens into his right eye. O…kay. Well, maybe it will give him a mental boost.  Maybe we can rebuild him… Hell, if Jeff Blausers‘ turned backwards cap could start rallies, a brand new contact lens couldn’t hurt, right?

Right?

As the ball rolled beneath Jeff’s glove in the first inning, negating a play at the plate (sound familiar?) an unsettling thought came to me, one that had likely been repressed for some time, but finally had reared its ugly head, demanding to be acknowledged.  Yes, despite my lack of patience in wanting to see my team make a run NOW, it has become abundantly clear that it is time to rebuild this team from the bottom up.  No more tweaking; no more dealing away prospects.  The only thing the quick fixes have done is keep the ship afloat until the second to last week of the season, before it sinks to the bottom. The Braves are exactly at .500 going back to the 2006 season, rarely putting together the impressive winning streaks the way they used to, when entire months would roll by with the pleasant easiness of an autumn breeze.

We Brave fans might have to be willing to endure several years of 80’s like misery before it gets better, but if it means 2010 and beyond mimics the 90’s, it would be worth it. The current philosophy, if there is one, is clearly not working.  It’s not that they aren’t rife with talent, it’s that the talent doesn’t gel.  Bobby Cox is undeniably at wit’s end.  He was on his way out to argue Yunel Escobar’s gripe with the umpire, until his prodigy shortstop threw his helmet like an insolent child throwing his spoon from his high chair, which cost him an ejection–and perhaps the game.  Bobby just turned around and went back to the dugout, probably wondering if he still has Edgar Renteria’s cell phone number.  There can be no doubt that Bobby does his share of post game reprimanding, but for whatever reason, the behaviors don’t change.  The mental mistakes don’t stop.

It is likely time to face the music and become sellers.  Or, we could trade a couple more prospects and land a helpful starting pitcher or outfielder, and stay in contention, delusional, until september, before coming up short again.

Let’s not.  We don’t need 20/20 vision to see the writing on the wall, and the ball rolling to it in right field again.

I wouldn’t make such a critical statement if it was another 1-run loss to the worst team in baseball, but it wasn’t that. It was a 10-2 ass whooping that left me in shock. Not the kind of surprise shock, but the shock one gets when the realization hits that the Atlanta Braves season is over.

They are the worst team in baseball. And by the way, Chipper Jones is back in the injured block with irritation in his quad.

How the Braves couldn’t even muster enough runs to win against the Seattle Mariners bullpen is beyond me. However, this broken record keeps skipping to the same tune, sort of like it did in the movie “The Strangers,” spinning on the creepy voice in the creepy house with the creepy masked people.

Not until the end do we sort of see the unmasked creatures of death. There is an analogy here because right now we’ve got a bunch of masked men portraying baseball players right now with the Braves. Do you realize that the Braves have not fully recovered from the Kelly Johnson drop? The curse of The Strangers continues. It is truly strange.

It is downright painful to watch games right now. I am tired of the bizarre managing of Bobby Cox. Some of the things he does just make no sense. The coaches are not doing what they are supposed to be doing. And Mark Teixeira still sucks! Why the Braves are not entertaining trade offers when THEY KNOW they are not going to be able to resign him is beyond me. Here is an idea: See if the Mariners want to part with Erik Bedard, who refuses to pitch more than 5 innings in a game, and often leaves early because he knows his team sucks. If the Braves could bring on a strike out, hard throwing pitcher, there’s a slim chance of turning this sad face to a smile. But right now, these guys are truly the strangers in the park.

Twenty-two straight 1-run losses away from home. That’s your Atlanta Braves. Listen, it boggles my mind as much as yours why Bobby Cox didn’t call in the closer in the bottom of the ninth to ensure the heavy-hitting Texas Rangers did not embarrass the Braves once again, but what can we after the effect?

This team plays in a bubble. You cannot even tell that the players and coaches have any knowledge that they are so horrible on the road. It is the same despondent look after any loss, but this was a really, really  bad loss. Why? Well, for starts, the rookie kid they had on the mound today deserved his second win of the year. Charlie Morton deserved better than a 2-1 game before he was escorted off the mound.

To make matters worse, Bobby Cox insists on bringing in Blaine Boyer for what seems like very damn close game. See what I mean about the bubble?

I have no idea what it will take to bring some consistency to this team, but it just seems to get more and more hopeless each week. Watching 22 of the 1-run losses away from home is just painful. I am finally numb from it and when I see such a score near the end of the game I just expect a loss. Finally, the Braves come through with expectations.

Chipper Jones’ race for .400 is dwindling as fast as their standing in the East. Jeff Francoeur and Mark Teixeira are laughing stocks. And have we had enough of Corky? I mean, seriously.

I really have nothing else to say. Let’s just sleep on it.