Braves News:
Braves Falter Despite Solid Start by Minor
In a game where Mike Minor (who has struggled all season) can give you 6.2 innings of work while allowing just three-runs, you need to capitalize on that. Apparently the Braves didn't get that memo when they faced the Dodgers on Tuesday. Atlanta was only able to prroduce two runs for their starter Minor, who gave up just a few too many at three. No Brave was able to record more than one hit, while B.J. Upton went deep for his ninth big fly of the season in inning number four.
Braves to Don Throwback Jerseys Against Oakland
The Braves will be taking on the Oakland Athletics this weekend at Turner Field. The Braves will be celebrating their 1914 World Series victory (which they won in Boston) on Saturday. It has yet to be announced as to what the uniforms will look like, but something old-timey is expected.
Braves Season Report Card (so far)
Karl Buschek of Bleacher Report released hit three-quarter way report cards for every major league team, and the Braves fell into that category. Overall, he gave Atlanta a B for their season so far, citing their inability to score runs a huge factor for their recent decline. For a team that's encountered major injuries to key contributors, and failed to get much production out of some of the "stars" on the team, I think a B is pretty solid.
James Russell Continues to Struggle Against Lefties
When the Braves acquired lefty relief pitcher James Russell at the trade deadline, it seemed as if he could come in and be a perfect situational lefty out of the pen, to take down left-handed batters. Well would you look at that, pitching against lefties appears to be the one thing he can't do. In fact, lefties are batting a whopping .324 against him, while right-handers are slumping to a .113 average. Freddi Gonzalez referred to it as a "reverse season" of sorts, and that's about as accurate as it will get.
Terry McGuirk Not Worried About Attendance Decline
The Braves average attendance number per game is down by about 2,000 fans from what it was just last season. The Braves currently rank 17th in the league in average attendance, but team CEO Terry McGuirk doesn't believe this decline is a dark sign for the future:
"I don’t really have any concerns. We’re going to have to do a little better on the field and we’ll deserve to ask for a little more attendance."
MLB News:
Looking Back on the 1994 Strike
This year is the 20-year anniversery of the infamous 1994 MLB strike, which started on August 12th, and lasted for 232 days. Cliff Corcoran of Sports Illustrated takes a look back at the strike, and goes over the ins-and-outs, who was right and wrong, and how it helped Major League Baseball. .