Saturday at the Ted

I was lucky enough to get a press credential to Saturday's game against the Brewers at Turner Field. I wouldn't say I was unprepared for the game, but I really didn't have any prepared questions for players like I usually do. I was thinking about what to ask the guys all week, but it just felt cheap asking them things like "how do you feel now that you're out of the race," or "were you disappointed when they traded Teixeira?" I felt that all the normal questions would illicit the same cliched answers and nothing really new, so I took a different approach.

When I walked into the clubhouse a few hours before the game, Smoltz, Glavine, and Frenchy were sitting around one of the tables in the clubhouse chatting, and Smoltz was doing something on a MacBook computer in front of him. The overall mood of the clubhouse was a little lower key than I've noticed in previous visits, but that could have been just an anomoly.

I always like seeing locker layout in a clubhouse. In the Braves clubhouse Francoeur's locker is next to Smoltz. McCann's locker is next to Glavine's. Kotchman's locker is next to Chipper's. Charlie Morton seemed very relaxed before his start. He was sitting in his locker with Chuck James hanging out next to him for quite a while.

There is a big Latino presence in the clubhouse, and many of their lockers are right next to each other, with Diaz (faux-Latino) in the middle. Everyone seemed to be excited that Vladimir Nunez was back with the big club. He was getting a lot of congratulations and handshakes -- makes me think he might be a popular guy.

I was chatting with Gregor Blanco and asked him if he's playing winter ball again this year and he answered with an emphatic yes. Through our conversation he told me he really enjoys playing and credits the high level of competition in the Venezuelan Winter League with helping him get ready for this season. I jokingly asked him if Jeff Bennett was going to go down there again (Bennett's locker is next to Blanco's) and he seemed to think Bennett really wanted to go down there again and play.

I asked Will Ohman if he did any impressions of any of the other Caray's, he said that he didn't, and he was "nothing but a one-trick Charlie."

Bobby Cox is also a pretty funny guy, and even at his age he fits right in as just one of the guys. Yunel Escobar was walking in from taking batting practice and Cox quipped to him, "103 in Havana today." Esco laughed, as did Martin Prado, who was right behind Escobar. Cox said sarcastically to Prado, "It's 123 in Maracaibo."

Cox is an interesting person to be around because he will tell you what he "really" thinks of certain players or situations. Of course, he does all this with the preface of "this is off the record." Needless to say one can learn a lot about the game by just being around Bobby.

A while later Bobby was in the little TV room just behind the Braves dugout talking with David O'Brien and Mark Bowman and doing the "Bobby Cox Show" for radio-man Mark Lemke. Cox was saying that both Ned Yost and Fredi Garcia should be top choices for Manager of the Year. About two minutes later Ned Yost walks up and a hearty reunion ensues.

I liked the approach I took this time around the team. No prepared questions, but I was able to strike up some good conversations with several of the players. I think players appreciate that kind of chitchat interview better than a formal question and answer interview -- I also appreciate the fact that I don't have transcribe any interviews.