Martin does the question-and-answer crossover with Metsblog once or twice a year when we play them. This time he asked D.J. from Metsblog some questions and I, in turn, answered some of D.J.'s questions concerning the Braves as we head into this three game set with the Mets. If you would like to read my Q.A. just click this right here. Here is what D.J. had to say:

1. If the NL most valuable player were awarded today, would it go to Chipper Jones, Chase Utley, or David Wright, and why? (Bonus points given for objectivity.)

No contest here. Chase Utley by a longshot. He has been completely locked in since day one.

2. Which Carlos -- Beltran or Delgado -- has been more of a disappointment for the Mets this year?

Delgado is becoming a major concern. I'm beginning to come to grips with the strong possibility that he will never be the same hitter again. I'm sure the hip has something to do with it. Even though Beltran hasn't been hitting home runs, he has hit eight doubles and provides tremendous defense in center. I'm confident he'll be fine.

3. With all the catcher movement the Mets did in the off-season, are you happy with the work of Brian Schneider so far? Was he worth the cost of Lastings Milledge?

Schneider has had a rough week. First, he sat out a few games nursing a pretty nasty bruise on his right forearm. Now, it looks like he could be DL-bound because of an infected thumb. Bizzare. I had worries about the Schneider/Ramon Castro combo primarily because Castro is so injury-prone. Now that both catchers are down, we are looking at a Raul Casanova/Gustavo Molina combo, which is far from ideal. It's a shame because Schneider has exceeded my expectations offensively, defensively and strategically, specifically his gameplans with the pitchers. As far as the cost of Milledge, don't overlook the fact that the Mets also got Ryan Church in the trade. Church has been the most consistent hitter in the lineup besides Wright up until this point. Meanwhile, Milledge keeps making the same mistakes he made two years ago as a "rookie." I can't say he is missed at the moment.

4. Would you judge the Mets starting pitching injuries (Pedro and El-Duque) to be more of an impact on your rotation than the Braves starting pitching injuries (Glavine and Hampton)?

It's almost a wash. The way I look at it, none of the four pitchers were expected to be the anchors of their respective staffs. Hampton or Pedro haven't pitched on a regular basis in a couple seasons. No Met fan is surprised that El Duque is out. The real surprise is Tom Glavine going on the DL for the first time in his career, if only because of how well conditioned he is. It seems that age is finally beginning to catch up to him. Part of me would like to see him pitch in this series, just to see the Mets knock him around...you know, like the Braves always used to do when Glavine was on the Mets.

5. Does it concern you that the Mets are currently (as of Tuesday) tied for last in the NL with only 10 homeruns as a team? Can your team compete in the power-hungry NL-East with light-hitters like Pagan, Schneider, and Castillo (and to some degree Church) composing a large part of the lineup?

Only a little bit. I mean, if David Wright had the April he had last year, then we'd really have a problem. I expect Carlos Beltran to come around. Ryan Church has been a very pleasant surprise. Honestly, out of the teams in this division, the Mets were built more with pitching, speed and defense in mind. So if they don't have the thump in the lineup, theoretically, they can compensate in other areas.

Thanks a lot to D.J. for participating with us.

A lot of people ask me to describe more about what goes on around the Braves clubhouse and the team that I see when I have press credentials. I've been very hesitant to say too much in the past because the clubhouse and dugout are the players' domain, and a reporter - especially one outside the mainstream like myself - could easily get banned for divulging too much or saying things he or she shouldn't. This is actually why MLB and most teams have really clamped down on who gets press access.

That being said, I think I'm at a point now where I have a good idea of what can be repeated in print and what cannot. There is a lot of funny stuff that goes on in the clubhouse, and many of the players that we idolize on the field are just as cool and down to earth as we'd hope they would be in person.

Chipper Jones is one of those guys who is really down to earth. He, like many baseball players, doesn't flout his wealth or stardom, and most of the time his is pretty much an open book. I've also seen Chipper be very standoffish with the press, especially the last two seasons during his injuries. He will duck the camera then because he doesn't want his frustration at what he seemingly can't control to spill over into the public spotlight. At these times he has intentionally avoided being interviewed (boy, does that really burn O'Brien).

In the clubhouse after last night's game, Blaine Boyer, who had a hit in that night's game, was talking to reporters and Chipper walks by and blurts out towards Boyer, "you're showin me up. I'm the only guy who didn't get a fxxxin hit." There was laughter from all on hand and Chipper had one of those Chipper-like eat-shit grins on his face. So far as I can tell, that is classic Chipper. And believe it or not he's considered a quiet leader.

Frenchy is a lot like Chipper, but like Chipper on Ritalin. He always has that full teeth smile working and a look about him like he's always up to no good. After last night's game in which the Braves scored nine runs off of Cleveland pitcher Aaron Fultz, Frenchy comes in the clubhouse and sees Braves strength coach Frank Fultz and yells across the clubhouse, "I hate to break it to you, but we rocked your brother." Fultz, who's a bit of a smart-alec himself, responds with, "he's not my brother." Frenchy comes back with, "then your cousin or your son, but we rocked him."

In a lot of ways the clubhouse is just like you'd imagine a frat-house or any group of guys who watch a lot of sports or play a lot of sports - there's a lot of good natured "talking shit" going on.

Getting back to Chipper, sometimes he is very chatty with the media, sometimes you can hardly shut him up. I caught up to him on the dugout bench the other day during batting practice right after Terrence Moore (who is really nice in person - makes me think twice about completely trashing everything he writes) got done talking with him. I sat there and interviewed Chipper for a good ten minutes - he just kept talking and talking. He's a guy like that who just gets in a mood to talk baseball, and when he's in it he can talk baseball all day long. I probably could have kept him talking another ten minutes, but I always feel bad if I keep players occupied too long.

Other guys will have moments like that, and a lot of it depends on when you catch them and what they're doing or about to do when you try to interview them. I got several short interviews this year because I was only down there two days and the clubhouse is just not open enough and some players are just not available enough to get to everyone in ideal circumstances.

Hopefully that gives you a bit of a look inside the Braves clubhouse. For the most part, the way players come across in interviews (especially TV interviews) is pretty much how they are in person. Oh, and Bobby Cox is about the most amazing person to ever step on a baseball diamond.

After their win against the Indians the Braves cut three more players from their major league roster, all three were non-roster invitees. Catcher Tyler Flowers and infielders Diory Hernandez and Javier Guzman were sent to minor league camp. There was no surprise for most of these guys. Flowers put on a great show and didn't hurt his stock in the eyes of the Braves as an up-and-coming catcher and first baseman.

The cuts of Hernandez and Guzman thin the candidates for the utility infielder position. This helps the stock of Martin Prado and Brent Lillibridge who are both still fighting it out for the job. Prado has been playing more shortstop in order to prove his ability to fill in for Escobar, and Lillibridge has been playing a lot of third. Both are positions those players have not played in a long time.

I darted over to the back fields for an hour to watch Mike Hampton throw his simulated game. Overall he threw very free and easy and seemed to have good velocity. He called it a "good workout without having to stress the legs too much." He felt good enough to say that he looks forward to pitching on his usual turn in five days.

He threw four simulated innings with Clint Sammons as his catch and Roger McDowell and Bobby Cox looking on. The coaches - Perez, Cadahia, Snitker, Pendleton - were playing the outfield. The batters he faced were Javy Lopez, Scott Thorman, Brayan Pena, and Gregor Blanco. Here is the simulated play by play:

First Inning
Lopez - ground ball to third, one out
Thorman - pop out to third, two outs
Pena - broken bat grounder to third, three outs
Hampton threw 14 pitches in the first

Second Inning
Blanco - ground ball to shortstop on the first pitch, one out
Lopez - fly out to left field (in which Eddie Perez tried to make a diving catch for, but missed - they unofficially called it an error on Perez)
Thorman - He got hit in the upper back by Hampton's third pitch, but being a simulated game, they kept going. Thor then flew out to center field, two outs
Pena - ground ball to short, three outs
Hampton threw 15 pitches in the second

Third Inning
Blanco - fly out to left, one out
Lopez - fly out to deep left-center, two outs
Thorman - grounder to second, some may have called this a hit (since the inning kept going). This also gave Hampton a chance to work out of the stretch
Pena - ground ball to second, three outs
Hampton threw 17 pitches in the third

Fourth Inning
Blanco - All the reporters were fairly certain that Blanco struck out on four strikes - essentially striking out twice
Lopez - he got absolutely fooled a 2-0 pitch that looked like some sort of change, and eventually flew out to center
Thorman - flew out to right field for the third and final out
Hampton threw 13 pitches

It was a rather funny game with Eddie Perez making a loud sound in the outfield every time there was a strike thrown (or called). He sounded like a well seasoned umpire, and several of the reporters remarked that he could have a nice career umping.

As they came off the field, Thorman asked Hampton if he would sign his bruise from where Hampton had hit him. Fun was had by all, especially since Hampton seemed to stay injury free.

Hampton warms up for his simulated game with pitching coach Roger McDowell looking on.

It was a day of cuts as six players left major league camp for the minor league fields. Four players cut were on the Braves 40-man roster, right-handed starters Charlie Morton and Jairo Cuevas, and right-handed relievers Phil Stockman and Zach Schreiber. The Braves also cut non-roster invitees, right-hander Matt DeSalvo and catcher Jean Boscan.

Bobby Cox had great words of praise for Morton, saying that he should "be ready" and that the organization likes him as a starter despite some of the rumblings that he could be used in the bullpen.

Bobby also indicated that Chuck James will make his first start of the spring tomorrow, and is expected to go about two innings. Jo-Jo Reyes, who was scheduled to start tomorrow will follow James for about four innings of work.

Mike Hampton is scheduled to pitch a simulated game at five o'clock today on one of the back fields, so I'll try and check that out and let you know how he looks. I wonder if you can be removed from a simulated game in the middle of an at-bat... we may be about to find out.

Recently I was given the opportunity to interview via email a couple announcers from ESPN Deportes who cover Latin American baseball and the winter leagues. Oscar Soria is an ESPN Deportes analyst who covers the Mexican Pacific League, and Kevin Cabral is a play-by-play announcer covering the Dominican Winter Baseball League. I tried to give them some general questions about the winter leagues and then some specific questions about Braves players. The PR firm which arranged this also arranged to have my questions translated into Spanish and their answers translated back into English, so there may be some funny phrasing. Because of the translation delay these questions are also a bit old. I originally sent the questions to them just before Thanksgiving, so there's a question about Hampton and Brandon Jones who are no longer playing in the winter leagues, but this should still give you some good insight into winter baseball south of the border.

Q: What differences, if any, are there between baseball in the winter leagues of Mexico, and the Dominican Republic, and baseball in the United States? What's the equivalent level of competition - triple-A level, double-A level, or another?

Oscar Soria: Baseball is the same wherever you go. However, in Latin countries, including Mexico, going to a game is not only about watching the team's strategy; it's about enjoying yourself too. That's why when you go to a game in the US and there are Mexican fans, they always want to create a party/celebration from the stands and most of the time, they are asked to quiet down by security at the park. They definitely enjoy watching the game, but the party always takes over. The Dominican league is three times as exciting and intense. During their playoffs, you could compare the excitement to the MLB World Series; people really get into it! In Mexican Baseball, you'll see this mostly during the playoffs because that's when the major-leaguers come to play.

Kevin Cabral: In the case of Dominican Republic, it is at least AAA level. In my opinion, when the semifinals start and many of the Dominican Major Leaguers are playing, it might be better than AAA.

Q: How difficult is it for non-Spanish speaking players to play in the Latin winter leagues?

Oscar Soria: Being that there are so many baseball players who play in the minors and majors who don't speak either English or Spanish, when you're on the field, all that matters is your talent. Curt Schilling from the Boston Red Sox has a funny story about his experiences playing baseball in Mexico. He was out to a restaurant and saw the name Tres Quesadillas-Three Quesadillas- and thought it was the name of the dish. He goes on to order three of the dish thinking he was going to get three quesadillas, but in turn was served nine quesadillas. Off the field, you may need to practice a little more, but on the field, it's all about your game.

Kevin Cabral: It is not difficult at all, at least in Dominican Republic. Teammates, team executives, attendants at hotels, etc. speak English.

Q: For a player like Mike Hampton who is rehabbing in Mexico, what kind of training facilities do teams like Navojoa have?

Oscar Soria: The facilities are far from what he could have available to him if he was in the US. There are few teams in Mexico that have training centers, but what Hampton is receiving right now is personal training as well as the opportunity to play against ball players in the AAA level which will prepare him for his comeback to the Major Leagues.

Q: How is Willy Aybar doing in his comeback from substance dependency issues?

Oscar Soria: Aybar has had an OK season so far with the team, Aguilas del Licey in the Dominican Baseball league. He's been walked more than struck out so far.

Q: Brayan Pena is listed as a catcher, but the Braves seem to think more of Clint Sammons as a backup catcher next year. Is Pena playing other positions in the Dominican, or does he still have value as purely a catcher?

Oscar Soria: Peña is playing mostly catcher with the team, Gigantes del Cibao in the Dominican Republic and with that said, he's only had five walks so far.

Q: Brandon Jones is also having a great season. Does he have a shot at winning an everyday job next year for the Braves? We hear that Jones is playing some centerfield for Navojoa, do you think he has what it takes to play center in the major leagues next year?

Oscar Soria: At the beginning of the Mexican Baseball season, Jones was playing all the games as a left fielder, however, soon after that they switched him to center field. He's playing much better now which gives him the opportunity to shine and maybe become the Centerfielder for the Atlanta Braves next year. He's still struggling to get on base though and that may hinder his chances.

Many thanks to Ben Mann of Formula PR for arranging this interview opportunity and furnishing the pictures posted above.

So, apparently I did do an interview with Jo-Jo Reyes this spring. I guess I just never got around to posting it, but I dug it up and here it is. There is a bit of static noise that comes from the wind blowing over the microphone, but overall the audio is pretty clean.

Go here to download the mp3 file of the interview. (Size: 2.54 MB / Running Time: 2 minutes 46 seconds)

After an early flight this morning I am here in Cleveland and at the Jake. It's my first time to Cleveland, and after walking around the ballpark, it's a pretty nice stadium - reminds me a little of Coors Field without the views.

So far through the first inning, the team likes playing loud random rock songs - but not the usual stadium rock songs. Cleveland is seemingly too cool for "standard" stadium rock songs, so they've been playing anything from the Beastie Boys to Akon. It's all a bit annoying as every PA sound bounces off the big scoreboard in left field and echoes back across the stadium. And someone(s) in the bleachers in left brought a drum and continues to bang on it relentlessly - perhaps that will let up just a tad.

Anyway, more thoughts from Cleveland as the game goes on.

Update [2007-6-15 20:0:45 by gondeee]:

Sitting in the press box above home plate and looking around the stadium, there are a lot of open seats in the outfield upper deck and on around to behind home plate. The lower decks are pretty full, and so are the luxury suites – of which there are tons of; multiple decks, almost like a football stadium. I mention the open seats because Atlanta and her fans always get dinged for not selling out games. Well the Indians are a first place club and tonight is fireworks night – and one thing about Atlanta fans is that they can at least sell out fireworks night.

This crowd is also 99% white, which sort of freaks me out a bit. That’s probably another reason this stadium reminds me of Coors Field.

Also, much like the Chop House is to the Ted, the Jake has a bar area called the batter’s eye behind the right field stands. And also like the 755 Club at the Ted, there is a white tablecloth restaurant in the left field area.

Update [2007-6-15 20:27:15 by gondeee]:

I know there’s a lefty on the mound, but McCann is batting behind Salty tonight, in the eighth spot… and he’s looking like he deserves to be there. I really wish he would break out of the funk he’s been in for the past month.

Update [2007-6-15 22:11:48 by gondeee]:

It was another nice start from Buddy Carlyle. He wasn’t on his game, but unlike our other 3rd-4th-5th starter options, he "managed" the game well, keeping the Braves close and giving them a chance to come back - and come back they did… twice.

There was not much of a reaction when Bob Wickman entered the game in the ninth. There was a tiny amount of booing, and a few people clapping, but not a big response for the big guy. By the way, the Cleveland rally video they played on the jumbo-tron (can we still call it that) was not very motivational and didn’t do too much to rally the crowd. Honestly, this crowd doesn’t need much external prodding to get it to make some noise – just a very annoying drum beat coming from the outfield.

Anyway, Wickman got into a little trouble in the ninth, but closed it out for the win… finally, a win. I would think it would be pretty embarrassing for Andruw Jones to be hitting .215, but his ugly and unproductive at-bats continue. Oh well, that was just a final jab on the night. Tomorrow I’ll be in Toronto at the Nationals-Blue Jays game, eh.

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I was fortunate enough to catch up with Braves outfielder Willie Harris over Memorial Day weekend before a game in the Braves clubhouse. Willie is having a heck of a year, batting almost .400 in the month and a half he's been in the majors. Like most Braves players he is very cordial and laid back and was happy to take some time to talk with me. In my two or three minutes with him I could tell that he has a great sense of humor and seems like he might be quite the jokester.

Q: What do you attribute to your very good success so far this year?

A: I'd have to lean towards the off-season program I was on; hitting twice, sometimes three times a day, breaking my swing down from 2001 all the way to 2006 on film, and really just trying to find something that worked for me from a comfort standpoint. Then when I got to spring training I told Jack Maloof  (roving minor league hitting instructor) and Terry Pendleton what I was trying to do this off-season and they came up with this new batting stance for me, and it worked in spring training. So I was like, "what the heck, I'm going to try it here in Richmond." It worked in Richmond, so I get here and I say, "what the heck, try it," and it's still going pretty good for me so far.

Q: What's different about your new stance from your old stance?

A: I don't want to talk about that. <both laughing> I can't tell that.

Q: Well, we could watch film and find out!

A: Yeah, if you knew what you were looking at, yeah, you could!

Q: Are you having a lot more fun this year with all your success?

A: Yeah, a lot more fun. I'm also closer to home, closer to my family. They can come here whenever they want to, and I can go home whenever I want to; I think that has a lot to do with it - being close to home and in the state of Georgia, I think that helps a lot.

Q: Did you grow up a Braves fan?

A: Oh yeah! If you're in the state of Georgia and you like baseball then you're going to be a Braves fan. I grew up a big time Braves fan; I love the Braves. You know when I was with other organizations I kept an eye on them and I pulled for them.

Q: Who was your favorite player for the Braves, growing up?

A: Dale Murphy. I'm sure he's a lot of people's favorite player.

Q: How is the attitude of this team verses the other teams that you've been on?

A: Same. I've been fortunate enough to have a great group of guys wherever I went. The attitude's no different here than it was in Chicago or Boston. I mean, it's fun everywhere.

I was able to catch up with second baseman Kelly Johnson in the Braves clubhouse on Memorial Day Weekend.

Martin Gandy: We talked during spring training, and you were confident about playing second base, but you just didn't know how it would go. It's gone pretty well, so how settled indo you feel at second base?

Kelly Johnson: I feel very good, but it's still going to take this entire year and maybe even another year just to get all the different things that could happen, like the way the ball bounces, or how to deal with situation with the runners, there's always going to be something. So, it's going to take another year or two to get all those things to come out in a game, because you can only get them in game situations. But as far as the other stuff goes, the fundamental stuff, standard day to day stuff that's going to happen each game, I feel really good, I feel confident, I feel like I have a routine set and I'll go forth from there.

MG: You started out slow but patient, and then you caught fire for the last three weeks towards the end of April, but since then you've slowed down a little bit this month. This is really your first full-time big league experience, how are you making adjustments?

KJ: The league's made adjustments, so it's my time to make adjustments too. It's a long season so it's going to be a roller coaster - offensively, defensively - things are going to be hot and cold. It's the same way it is in the minor leagues. There's going to be days when your body hurts a little more. There are going to be days when you're facing a string of really good teams and really good pitchers. It's one of those things where you just have to bear down and stick with your routine and don't change anything and don't get too panicky.

MG: How have you handled left-handed pitching?

KJ: It's been fine. Actually it helps a lot of times I've noticed when I get into funk when I can get some lefties, when I can get in there against some lefties, it kind of helps me get locked back in because I don't try to do too much; I let them come to me. Then when I get some righties I feel like I'm locked-in again. Facing the lefties actually helps. Like right now we're in the middle of a streak where we're going to face a bunch of lefties and to be honest with you it's perfect timing really.

MG: So you're looking forward to it?

KJ: Yeah, I don't mind the lefties. I look forward to it, because like I said, I feel like they get me back on track...gets me right again for the most part just getting back to being myself and not trying to be too much.

MG: Any advice for Saltalamacchia, switching positions to first base part-time?

KJ: It's something that a lot of people have speculated about for a while now and he looks like he's willing to do whatever just to be up here. He's got such a big bat you want to try and get his bat in the lineup somehow. I just tell him to do it every day. I've already told him once to get with the infield coaches and try to make it a point to get something going each day.

MG: Have you noticed a difference in the way the team plays when they're facing winning teams versus when they're facing losing teams?

KJ: No, not really, I think it's all just kind of random and coincidental how you seem like you don't play as well and get into some kind of funk. I just think, we have so many other good teams in our division, and we know that, so I think we definitely are a little more focused and a little more up to the task when they come to town and when we go there. I don't think anything that we purposely do, I just think it's human nature.

MG: Do you all think you'd be this close to the Mets at this point in the season?

KJ: Yes. Absolutely! We have a really good team and they do too, but I feel like with our pitching and if we just continue to do the things that we can do offensively, as far as scoring runs and getting on base, we'll hang with them all year and it will be a good race all the way to the finish.

MG: Well, thanks a lot and good luck to you.

KJ: Okay, thank you.