Gwinnett @ Norfolk - 8/13

Gwinnett came to town last week for four games, but, unfortunately, I was only able to go to one of them. So, this post won't be as lengthy or awesome as mine usually are. But, I still wanted to share a few pics of a few guys.

I really don't understand why Brooks Conrad isn't with the Major League team:

Greg Norton has not been very good this year, and, at this point in their careers, there's nothing he can do that Conrad can't do much better. Brooks definitely made his case in this game, collecting three hits, including a 5th inning grand slam. That slam was interesting, because the pitch before it that walked Chris Burke, and scored a run, was pretty clearly a ball. That missed call caused a walk that tied the game and Conrad demolished the next pitch to help turn the game into a laugher. A few inches or a better umpire, and who knows how this one could have turned out.

Regardless of how Norfolk's pitching faired, Gwinnett starter Todd Redmond was very solid:

Todd pitched 6 innings, allowing only 2 runs, on the way to his 9th win of the season. Nothing about him is overpowering, but when he can keep his walks down and his sinker sinking, he's a very effective pitcher. Given all of the Braves' depth and his underwhelming stuff, Redmond profiles best as a reliever in the future. If anything, his low 5/8 delivery should make for an intersting angle out of the pen.

While I didn't get to see Tim Hudson pitch, something that a few people suggested I coudl get kicked off of TC for, I did get to see one rehabbing Brave throw, Buddy Carlyle:

Buddy looked great, striking out 2 in a scoreless inning. He said he's doing well with the changes after being diagnosed with Diabetes and he feels like he's close to being able to come back and help Atlanta. Personally, I've been a fan of Buddy's since I met him when he was playing AAA for the Dodgers, so I'm looking forward to seeing him pitch well, and hoping that his poor performance from early this year was soley because of his undiagnosed condition.

The end of the game was a bit confusing, as the Gwinnett players appeard to be heading out to congratulate each other after the win, but instead began heading en mass toward the right field fence. There was a lot of pointing and gesturing with some fans in the stands above, with both the Gwinnett players and the Norfolk relief pitchers helping to keep Brian Barton from climbing the wall. Apparently, a couple of "fans" decided to spend the night hanging over the right field fence, drinking and heckling Barton, first with racial slurs, and then with personal ones, going as far as looking up the names of his wife and kids and using this information as fodder for their inflmatory remarks.

Personally, this is one of the worst things I've every heard about, or sort of seen, at a baseball game. Brian Barton is an outstanding person; he's incredibly nice, ridiculously smart, and he's very, very good to the fans. But, even if he wasn't, there's no call for these kind of ridiculous actions. I've never understood the desire to go to a game and root against someone. Sure, when the Braves play the Mets, I don't want the Mets to play well and I especially don't want them to win, but I'm going to show that by rooting for my team, not against the Mets.

The only redeeming part of all this, is Barton himself. He stood and took that crap from those idiots for a good portion of the game; in fact, he excelled, going 2 for 2 with a home run and 3 RBI. Yes, he did lose his cool, after his job was over, but I doubt anyone could blame him. He, and the other players, made sure that those "fans" knew their actions were uncalled for, and made sure the police were made aware of their actions. But, most impressive of all, outside, after the game, you never would have known anything happened. Brian came out, was polite and gracious as always, and treated everyone with the respect he always does.

So, not a lot of pictures, but I guess it was still kind of a long post. As always, hope you enjoyed it.