Atlanta Braves Fan Confidence Drops to New Season Low

by gondeee on May 13, 2010 10:00 AM EDT

The sweep of the Brewers this week has gone a long way towards erasing the memory of what could have been a devastating road trip for the Atlanta Braves. Up to that point they had lost two series in a row, including getting beaten by the Washington Nationals in two out of three games -- the true mark of a low point in the season. That led to almost being no-hit by a 47-year old junk baller, and once again losing 2 out of 3 to the Phillies.

The Braves' up and down play this season is again being reflected in the Fan Confidence Poll. This week the FCP went from 64% to 49%, and the two weeks it had gone from 78% to 51%. This EKG-like pattern is something we saw most of last season where there were very few sustained weeks of gains or losses. The good news is that probably means the Braves should do pretty well against Arizona this weekend, resulting in an elevated FCP next Monday.

Fcp-20100510_medium

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49% and we were only like 5 or 6 games back at the time. Yiak! Seem to be a lot of peeps with only short term memory.

by Sparhawk on May 13, 2010 10:34 AM EDT reply actions

I’m surprised it dropped below 50%. 2-4 on the road, vs a team we struggle with and the defending NL champs, with multiple injuries, 49% seems too reactionary. We still have a deep minor league pitching staff, a great pen, a good bench and Heyward.

But, maybe that’s why my friends call me “dumbass”. What am I missing?

Heyward is pretty good

by bighop on May 13, 2010 10:35 AM EDT reply actions

This is what happens when a 47 year old throws a 2 hit CGSO in addition to five other shutouts in the first ~30 games. If the last three games are a catalyst then this poll will be the low point of the season.

by CharlotteChop on May 13, 2010 10:44 AM EDT reply actions

Well said...

I think people overreacted, but hey… that’s what people do. 5 days or so ago I couldn’t help feeling down as well. I hated our lineup (especially when for some ungodly reason Melky batted 3rd. That still makes no fucking sense but I digress). Now, a few days later, I’m confident we’re going to take the series against Arizona and I love our lineup (partly due to the fact Heyward is back o’ course). That’s how baseball is. It’s 162 games people. You have to keep it all in perspective and not lose your mind on the boards when the lows happen though (i.e. trade everyone but Heyward, bring up Schafer, this team is horrible and I’m never watching again, let’s trade for Pujols).

It’s a funny phenomenon that the people who are the most critical and want to dismantle our entire organization are often the most confident once we start doing good.

by strider15 on May 13, 2010 10:52 AM EDT up reply actions

Agreed, and once the season starts it is VERY hard for people to gauge ALL aspects of the organization to determine their level of confidence. Once the season starts, 95% of the interest, expectations, and confidence is derived from what the major league Braves are doing on the field. When the team is getting shutout once every five games and has the next to worst record in the league coming off of such high expectations going into the season, then damn right – confidence is going to lag for even the most staunch Braves fan. And your point is well made…when Melky is hitting third – confidence shouldn’t be high. Fast forward three days – Heyward is back, the lineup looks formidable because of a couple of well deserved adjustments, the Braves get a sweep and knock the fucking cover off the ball in doing so – well confidence is probably just a tad bit higher today than Monday when the poll was opened.

by CharlotteChop on May 13, 2010 10:59 AM EDT up reply actions

Melky is a switch hitter=Chipper is a switch hitter. So therefore, you bat him third. duh.

"Matt Diaz is a baseball player."-Joe Simpson

by 10-4 on May 13, 2010 11:23 AM EDT up reply actions

It was more than just Moyer...

Kyle Kendrick, Scott Olsen, we just couldn’t hit a week ago.

by Mr. Sanchez on May 13, 2010 11:21 AM EDT up reply actions

Alcoholics supposedly have to hit rock bottom before they can commit to getting well...

Any chance Bobby’s lineup with Melky hitting third was an artificially-created rock-bottom moment??

Really, when you look at that lineup, that’s nearly as low as we can go (barring some catastrophic injuries). And while the team didn’t play well at times in that game, they hung in there against the defending NL champs.

Anyway, this week’s confidence poll is for the MarkDukes and Nova Scotia Steves of the group. We have a bright future ahead and I won’t let other people’s lack of belief in the organization dampen my enthusiasm for the years ahead.

Do I wish we had played better to begin Bobby’s final season?? Sure. But, regardless of his impending retirement, this is fundamentally a bridge year with a distinct possibility of success despite that notion.

The Braves didn’t reel off titles year after year by going all-in and I don’t expect us to do that this season, either. If anyone’s understood what it means to stay the course, it’s been Bobby. To be honest, I think it would mean more to him to succeed with this team than it would to bring in a bunch of new faces midway through the season.

All that said, a lot’s changed since Monday. Let’s keep the momentum going, on the diamond and in the stands.

-C

by cthabeerman on May 13, 2010 11:41 AM EDT reply actions

This is what happens when you think you have a 92 win team but the team plays like a 76 win team for the first month. We’re all just having a hard time figuring out whether this is still really the team we liked on paper before game 1 or what we see is what the Braves are. The ups and downs in the poll will continue until the Braves start playing consistently good ball and not just vs the Astros and Brewers.

by redwards95 on May 13, 2010 11:57 AM EDT reply actions

I still don't get why the Nats are mentioned as if they still aren't a good team.

I mentioned this before the series with them, they are a better team right now and the scary thing is that they don’t even have their best pitcher yet. The Nats are a decent team, time to give them some credit and stop acting like we’re better.

Confidence fell because the hitting sucked and the pitching sucked, only a couple guys were hitting and a couple of guys were hitting, its all about what have you done for me lately and prior to this series they had done little.

by Magoo12218 on May 13, 2010 12:29 PM EDT reply actions

But were a couple of guys hitting??

-C

by cthabeerman on May 13, 2010 12:31 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs

I can think of three that were hitting Monday, when the poll was taken.

Prado, Glaus, and Heyward.

by HEYJUDE on May 13, 2010 12:52 PM EDT up reply actions

I agree

I feel the Nats are greatly improved this year. We’ve had trouble winning against them before this year. We have no reason to think playing the Nats and winning against them is going to be a “piece of cake”.

by HEYJUDE on May 13, 2010 12:38 PM EDT up reply actions

Yeah they’re probably improved, but then again Livan Hernandez is 4-1 with 1.04 ERA after not having an era below 5.36 since 2007 when he was 4.93. Every year there are bad teams that get off to good starts then fade over the course of the full 162 games.

by redwards95 on May 13, 2010 12:47 PM EDT up reply actions

I suppose that is why they played so poorly against us at the end of last season. :)

by HEYJUDE on May 13, 2010 1:02 PM EDT up reply actions

Fickle fans

are fickle.

With crappy overpaid vets of course!

by TheBravestWay To Block A Decent Prospect on May 13, 2010 12:35 PM EDT reply actions

says the pot to the kettle

by kreese555 on May 13, 2010 4:13 PM EDT up reply actions

I use this expression, but I’ve always wondered why we do. If a pot and kettle COULD talk to one another, wouldn’t they discuss how little they enjoy being subjected to high temperatures?

It’s thoughts like this that kept me out of the really good schools.

When you've said Jason Heyward, you've said it all.........

by UMDBHIK on May 13, 2010 4:19 PM EDT up reply actions

Maybe the enjoy being subjected to high temperatures.

I mean, if it’s true that we’re all made for a purpose I would suggest that most pots and kettles at the very least got satisfaction out of performing their duties and a few probably got some weird sexual high from it. Except for the Disney pots and kettles, that dreamed for more than just boiling water and cooking stew…

by kreese555 on May 13, 2010 5:12 PM EDT up reply actions

Maybe they

by kreese555 on May 13, 2010 5:13 PM EDT up reply actions

Good point. Never considered that.

When you've said Jason Heyward, you've said it all.........

by UMDBHIK on May 13, 2010 5:21 PM EDT up reply actions

I voted 10

do everytime.

You voted 8 last time and 6 this time.

With crappy overpaid vets of course!

by TheBravestWay To Block A Decent Prospect on May 13, 2010 11:00 PM EDT up reply actions

Owned.

This guy wants to suck all the cubs dick can he not have an unbias some what partition reguards
by RWH2 on Apr 5, 2010 10:20 AM CDT

by justincredubil02 on May 13, 2010 11:15 PM EDT up reply actions

If you vote a 10 everytime, you certainly don't post like it

by kreese555 on May 13, 2010 11:23 PM EDT up reply actions

It's hard to convey sarcasm over the interwebs.

i'll use this sarcasm font that I shamefully stole from Royals Review from now on

With crappy overpaid vets of course!

by TheBravestWay To Block A Decent Prospect on May 14, 2010 12:16 AM EDT up reply actions

There really should be a “sarc mark” or something. I’m still a little confused how you know what I voted, seriously felt like Cal Naughton Jr. “It’s entirely psycho-sematic” “Does that mean he can, like, start fires with his thoughts?”

I think I’ve voted between 6-8 every time, mainly because I don’t know how anyone could be 100% confident in their team. I mean, even in the 90’s there was obviously room for improvement. I would be curious to know why you vote a 10 every time.

by kreese555 on May 14, 2010 1:23 AM EDT up reply actions

How did know how you voted?

Magic.(scroll down).

As for the org. how could you not be confident in a team that produced Heyward, Hanson, Escobar, McCann, Medlen, Kimbrel and still has a top 5-10 farm system? I think Wren has done a very good job too. People whine about the Vasquez trade, but it was for upside and cash, which is what Liberty Media owned teams have to do sometimes. The Lowe deal was obviously bad but at the time our rotation was Jurjens, Campillo, Reyes, Morton, injured Hudson. We could have ended up with Oliver Perez.

Everyone seems to forget he got Jurjens for the corpse of Renteria, Infante for nothing, an actual human being for Francoeur, and Vasquez for Flowers (who I miss but he was blocked anyway).

Of course he isn’t perfect. His bad moves were signing Garret "sleepy time Anderson when B. Jones could have done better for cheaper and bringing back T Glavine. That’s actually where I got my name from. The Braves seem like they don’t like to give mediocre prospects an extended look. Oh and Divine for Kotsay. That one was awful.

And every team can improve. Hell none of the Yankees’ starting 8 are the best players in the league.

With crappy overpaid vets of course!

by TheBravestWay To Block A Decent Prospect on May 14, 2010 2:35 AM EDT up reply actions

Haha, well played. I thought, "This guy is a legitimate Warlock!"

I agree with you on the farm system, it is pretty amazing. I wasn’t upset with the Vasquez trade, someone had to go and obviously no one wanted Lowe. And at the time we got Lowe, he was at (about) market value and looked like the right move at the time. I didn’t even criticize the FUGA signing because I could see what Wren was going for and sometimes, those things just don’t work out.

The Jurrjens/Infante acquisitions get overlooked, you’re right. Those two at that “price” is pretty awesome return. I am very confident in the front office and farm system, maybe even a 10.

Actually, if I am really being honest I have allowed the team’s poor play and Bobby’s undying faithfulness to players who I deem lost causes (see Norton, Greg and Cabrera, Melky), not to mention his questionable pen decisions to skew my votes. Therefore, I have been fickle. Wow, I didn’t realize that til your post.

Don’t get me wrong, I’ve never been one to say “This team sucks” or threaten to stop being a fan. I watch every game with fervor, hell I even rewatched Wednesday’s game on Thursday because I was having withdrawals. But looking back on it, my vote of 6 was an emotional vote because of the streak and Melky batting third. I should have stayed at an 8. I’m an idiot. Haha.

by kreese555 on May 14, 2010 4:24 AM EDT up reply actions

Last weeks poll was just a low point.

I voted a 6. Now with the brew sweep and a nice home stand in front of us, I’m sure that many people including myself will be raising there vote this week

Braves Win! Braves Win!

by Frozen Fan on May 13, 2010 1:07 PM EDT reply actions

It only takes a week of baseball for you to change the amount of confidence you have in the Braves organization?

Lordy.

by Skyagusta on May 13, 2010 6:38 PM EDT up reply actions

The Fan Poll...

is kind of pointless.

by mdhenshaw on May 13, 2010 1:48 PM EDT reply actions

but has comedic value.

by fandave on May 13, 2010 10:21 PM EDT up reply actions

lol

Another uninnocent, elegant fall into the unmagnificent lives of adults...

by Smoltz's Beard on May 14, 2010 10:44 AM EDT up reply actions

I won't have confidence...

…until the Braves post back to back wins against some good teams and have a record 4 or 5 games above .500. It feels like another team struggling to break even all year. And with JJ fighting the injury bug since Spring Break, he may not get to 100% before the All Star Break. I’ll be watching though, struggles or no struggles.

by slc333 on May 13, 2010 1:51 PM EDT reply actions

So, what if we win the division or WC with a 82-80 record? Would you still not be confident in this team?

This guy wants to suck all the cubs dick can he not have an unbias some what partition reguards
by RWH2 on Apr 5, 2010 10:20 AM CDT

by justincredubil02 on May 13, 2010 2:04 PM EDT up reply actions

THIS

Six teams in the NL currently fit this confidence criteria. Three of those finished below .500 last season.

-C

by cthabeerman on May 13, 2010 2:49 PM EDT up reply actions

What’s odd, is confidence was higher after the 9 game losing streak than a week with a 2-4 record.

You would think that the fanbase here would have a little tighter grip on reality sometimes.

When you've said Jason Heyward, you've said it all.........

by UMDBHIK on May 13, 2010 2:09 PM EDT reply actions