Fun little ditty we can all do

by RehabReject on Sep 28, 2007 1:34 AM EDT Comment 10 comments

well, then again... I don't know how much FUN it'll be but I have an interesting thing we can do.

The Braves will finish around 4 or 5 games out of first place in the NL EAST. What I propose is that however many games out the Braves are at the end of the season we pick the games that REALLY stick out that we should've won. So 5 games out means we come up with 5 specific games that us Braves fans knew would come back to haunt us.

For example, I would certainly include that one game against the Marlins where Hudson had a shutout into the 9th and things took a turn for the worse. Another one would be the same exact situation.. except when it happened in Minnesota. So start mentioning "memorable" games from this season to see which ones make the cut so we can wallow in self-pity.

0 recs | Comment 10 comments

Story-email Email Printer Print

Comments

refuse the pity, but i'll list some games

vs. florida in april, can't pin it all on wickman when bobby could've pulled huddy at the first sign of trouble
vs. arizona in arizona, when escobar made the "nobody's watching" steal and tied the game to go into extra innings, before chad paronto blew it
vs. colorado where tulowitzki converted the unassited triple play, yet the braves managed to stick around for extra innings before holliday walked off on them
vs. cincinnati that went like 14 innings - normally i'm not this mean but come on - it was cincinnati.

on the flip side, one game that glares at me for a game that the braves should've lost, but won was the third game of the season, in philadelphia - with the bases loaded, in late innings, bobby cox goes to the 'pen and brings out macay mcbride to pitch to ryan howard. if this wasn't the recipe for a massive meltdown grand slam, i don't know what was. but miraculously, mcbride throws one pitch, and howard belts it right into the shift, and the braves get out of it, heap ties it with a homer off of flash gordon, and then thorman hits the go-ahead homer in extras. if this kind of grit and clutch were indicative of how the braves were going to play all season, than the braves would have like 97 wins by now.

by royhobbs on Sep 28, 2007 7:57 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

yes

I would definitely include that game where Escobar stole second off of the entire D-backs infield. When someone pulls off a play like that and you DON'T win ..... argh, that sucked

by RehabReject on Sep 28, 2007 1:41 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Fun But Maddening Post

I went to a game at Shea on Aug. 9th I think, and with nobody out we rallied and got the tying run to third in the ninth and Escobar and Andruw Jones choked and couldn't get the run home.

Also, I posted about it at the time and Salty did the same exact thing with one out and a man on third in a game in Atlanta. This has happened a few times.

Also, this may be blasphemy - and it was a long shot anyway - but I'm a little tired of hearing about how much of a big game pitcher Smoltz is. Maybe he was at some time, but not lately... The reason I say this is because there have been many times when we've said, "Let's get through (fill in the blank of a crappy starter we have deep in the rotation) and then we have Hudson and Smoltz" and then one or both lose. I know it's baseball and that it's hard to win at will, and technically Smoltz had a decent year, but I don't remember many times when we desperately needed one and he brought it home.

On a positive, it was fun to play hard these past couple weeks. It looks like we got our sea-legs a bit too late but I admit that the teams in front of us are a little better. i think next year is going to be great. I really do.

by finchy on Sep 28, 2007 4:49 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

not blasphemy, just wrong...

You just have to look at the numbers. The guy has only given up more that 3 earned runs in a start 4 times all season. Most of his losses can be blamed on the absence of run support. It just happens that one of the times he was spectacular was last night... so that's what stands out in your mind.

You give me a game that has to be won, and my list of choices for starting pitchers includes a healthy John Smoltz, then he's in there. I would bet a number of major league managers would agree.

by sddbaker on Sep 28, 2007 5:18 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

check that

...I meant "one of the times he wasn't spectacular"

by sddbaker on Sep 28, 2007 5:20 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Maybe You're Right

Numbers don't lie, I know, but I'm not just talking about quality start stats. I talking about games where a hall of fame starter needs to give up zero runs or one run. I'm not really talking about last night necessarily. I don't have the seasons game results in front of me but it's just a recollection of the year, and last year, too, and the playoffs the year before. I mean, we pretty much had no chance, win or lose, last night but in big games sometimes you can expect little run support against a psyched-up opposing pitcher and you still need to win. Look, I love Smoltz. He's given me great joy over the years and I'm not giving him a hard time. Just an observation/feeling not based on stats. You can probably pull up numbers that say something different.

by finchy on Sep 29, 2007 12:13 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Yikes

Just checked out all the post-season Smoltz stats...
Pretty great.

by finchy on Sep 29, 2007 12:32 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

in a must-win situation...

who really is someone to go to? andy pettitte seems to never lose in the second half of the season, as does johan santana, but when a game really matters, or they go to the postseason, both seem to disappear.

i understand, i really do, i felt the same way on thursday, watching smoltz completely melt down in the 1st inning, sending irate text messages to my friends that "he should've let chipper field it" or "just give up the single," but let's face the facts here - smoltz was definitely on that night, indicative by the way he dominated guys after the 4-0 defecit, except for one hanging slider to burrell. he just happened to be cranked to 11 to start the game, before settling down - most good pitchers require some time to settle down before being awesome.

smoltz's 15 postseason wins are reasoning for his "big-game pitcher" status, because we've all seen the best of the best lose in the playoffs. i think greg maddux and roger clemens (albeit a prick) are two of the greatest pitchers out there - but we've all seen them lose in the playoffs, several times, no less.

look at smoltzie's 15th post season win, against the astros in 2005. i don't know how many of you remember, the luxury the braves had by clinching early to the point where the weary smoltz could actually rest prior to the post season, and was even still questionable, but when the braves dropped the opener to the astros, smoltz did what he had to do. he outdueled roger clemens, and held the astros in check as they won, something like 7-2. afterwards, there were lots of reports how he could hardly move the right side of his body, he was in so much pain. even if they made it out of houston, the likelihood of smoltz going again was slim, but there wasn't a person that didn't believe that a 40% smoltz still wouldn't attempt to take that mound in a game 5.

smoltz is still the man for the big game, it's just unfortunate his teammates can't rise to that level when he's on it. he can lay down challenges, or ultimatums for his teammates, but until they can rise with him, one man can't defeat a team on fire that just wanted it more.

by royhobbs on Sep 29, 2007 11:58 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

losses

I can pick out at least 10, but that would require me to look at line scores for the games, which would result in me smashing my computer to bits and going to Bob Wickman's house.

By the way, here's a little fun thing that will make all of our heads swim.

TEAM PYTHAG W/L ACTUAL W/L
PHILLIES: 88-74 89-73
METS: 87-75 87-75
BRAVES: 89-73 84-78

18-25 in one run games, a miserable 4-11 in interleague games. Thats what happens when the WORST team you play interleague is the Twins.

by bigjoe on Oct 1, 2007 11:09 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

re: Losses

The Mutts Sweep. That was the season. There certainly were games here and there that killed me and I'm sure, all of you. But, when they had their chance, when they were starting to put things together, towwwwwwwwwwwwww. 3 games, season over.
Then again, the Braves were doomed when JS didn't get another arm. Granted, the market was thin and the price was probably too high, but it's something that should have been addressed way before the deadline. I don't have the exact numbers in front of me, but the 5th spot in the rotation was deplorable. If I remember correctly, the worst in MLB!! Redman, Carlyle, Cormier, whoever. They were all crap.

by NorCalAtlFan on Oct 2, 2007 8:05 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs