bobby cox is retiring, the 07 BRAVES THREAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

via SABR-L:

on May 2, Braves catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia broke the
prestigious record for "longest MLB surname", with 14 letters. The
previous record of 13 had lasted 113 years since Gene DeMontreville
set it in 1894, and was shared by 15 players.

the Mets shall fall before ATL's freakishly long surnames!

short names were the prob last night, Sosa and Sele.

Until last night I figured Sele was selling tires somewhere.

i think ryan howard will be fuking you in the ass
-- james blount, Thursday, March 8, 2007 5:42 AM (2 months ago)

indeed

haha, and i was just idly thinking to myself the other day, "ha, serves blount right!!!!"

braves have lost 10 of last 14. what does it mean that they've won every series versus the mets, but have gotten their asses kicked by the nats and phillies?

omfg LOL!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46ciaR9Xv6c

its the minor league braves but still..

i'm so proud!!! the part where he makes a sandcastle is amazing.

that and the grenade throw of the pitchers rosin !

Man, there's going to be FITES before the night's over.

It sounds like Lilly got a raw deal.

He got a completely raw deal. Throws two high-and-outside balls to Renteria, then hits him with what didn't appear to be a fastball (then again, it's Ted Lilly). Plate ump calls warning, then somewhere down the line tosses Lilly. Plate ump, who had a mic on him, said he "knew it was coming."

The first pitch once play resumes, Renteria steals second, throws a forearm/elbow into Fontenot. That was OK, apparently -- as well as Soriano getting plunked the day before in his first at-bat.

So, basically, the Braves can do whatever and Piniella gets his just desserts for his antics.

And lol that the Cubs hit two batters after Lilly was ejected. Clearly, the home plate ump has a sixth sense about intent.

Haha, Fontenot just hit his first home run.

I missed the middle of the game for the Sopranos, so tell me if I'm wrong -- Joe Morgan is unwilling to say "Saltalamacchia," isn't he? All he says is "the catcher."

http://img527.imageshack.us/img527/2448/cubsjpg2007061101381972or7.jpg

sorry just saw this thread.

Lilly got the shaft.

It's OK.

So did Fontenot and the Cubs' bullpen.

Wolf, Renteria: MLB Jackasses of the Week.

Hudson, too. Round them all up.

"He got a completely raw deal."

lol you're a fagtard. he was clearly retaliating for when Soriano got beaned the day before. it was still a horseshit call, ump shoulda warned the managers before the game that he was watching for it, but it's not like he decided out of the mighty blue sky that lilly just cold wanted to knock some niggas heads off.

renteria looks like spiderman in that picture~

Slurs LOL

Yes, Lilly's sad "What just happened and why can't I pitch some more tonight?" look in the dugout was a clear indication that the 2-0 beanball was flagrantly intentional.

The cooler heads at AJC prevail and assign blame correctly:

The win wasn't secure until Soriano, who'd homered three times Friday to amp up tensions, lined out hard in the ninth inning.

The message is clear: don't homer in ATL.

The nerve...

Renteria took exception to where the ball hit him on the chin.

hurrr

Had he been hit on some other part of the chin, however...

Steve Phillips acknowledged Hudson beaning Soriano during his salute of the Lilly ejection. "They [the plate ump] went after the aggressor" and "They [plate ump] thought it was done intentionally." OK.

u mad

Loved seeing that 8th inning rally snuffed yesterday. LOOKING.

Top 5th: Boston
- J. Beckett doubled to deep center, A. Cora scored
- D. Pedroia singled to center, J. Beckett scored
Top 6th: Boston
- A. Cora hit sacrifice fly to right, J. Varitek scored

Smoltz to Chipper: earn your paycheck, you big whiny pussy.
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2914283

I've always supported Chipper's refusal to be a big loud rah-rah "team leader" type, but I think Smoltz is right on here.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a315/Matt_2108/chippernonoign8au.gif

hahahaha

ps bobby now tied with tug mcgraw for most ejections!

"tug"

lolll another shutout

maybe they can go after rowand when andruw leaves

At this rate, they'll be able to keep Andruw for pennies on the dollar. Also: I'm not sure the Braves could handle a gutty dude like Rowand, when they already have guttiness in surplus w/ Chipper & Schmoltzie.

Also: I AGREE WITH CHIPPER

Also: WTF happened to Francoeur's supposed plate patience this year? Bro is on pace for 36 walks (and I'm thinking he'll only get there if moved to the 8 hole). Two words, ATL - Shea Hillenbrand. SI cover (& when the fuck did THAT happen) don't mean shit if you can't work a pitcher.

lol @ ade calling me something (pre-emptive)

what's nut is they're still only like four games behind the Mets, despite being horrible for over a month.

somehow this June has become even more painful than last year's.

dude i was gonna make a post like that re: francoeur. i think he had double digit walks by the end of april, and it had me going all "wow maybe i underestimated this guy", cuz I've always had a pretty dim view of him - but nah, he's back to hacking at everything now. kelly johnson's cooled off a lot but he was looking like a really shrewd hitter for the first couple months, it was a real contrast.

btw andruw's average FOR THE SEASON is now .197

haha yeah garrett but they're still in third place. tho it's looking like the braves have a better shot at catching the mets than they do any of the teams in the west. it's division or bust.

where do you guys stand on the SALTALACONTROVERSY??? mccann became my fav player last year, he is all chubby and cute and in general seems like a laidback dude i could hang with, no homo, but it's looking like salty is the better overall player :'( it'd be a shame to move him to first permanently cuz he can call a good game and handle himself defensively, but it's better than the alternative (ie. THORMAN)

also, where were kelly johnson and willie harris all this time??? they have been ballin' outta control all year, and along with renteria nobody else has been as consistent & productive imo~

Whatever Willie Harris is doing, he's doing because of some combination of luck, good clean living, ritual sacrifice, and luck.

Memo to self, BENCH WICKMAN AWAY FROM HOME.

BENCH WICKMAN

i think kelly johnson is becoming my fav brave, i never get tired of watching nigga's at-bats.

Ledezma DFA'd. :(

Ledezma DFA'd!!! :)))))

Braves set to acquire Teixeira from Rangers

http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/7074846

god what the fuck

[11:58] me: teixeira's a brave now
[11:58] me: R U SCARED???
[11:58] mets-luvvin friend: Nope
[11:58] me: oh :'(

Do you not like the trade?

not really! i mean i dunno, maybe i should - 1st base has been their biggest (non-pitching) weakness this year by far, both in terms of production in the lineup and defensively (salty wasnt adjusting well), and any excuse to keep thorman and franco off the field is a big plus. but tex is a free agent after this season and salty still has like 6 years left on his contract, and it's possible (likely?) that he ends up being a better player than mccann, much as i hate to say that. i guess schoerlerhulz knows more about this shit than me tho~

He's 27 y/o rent a slugger, but as cankle and I chatted about, it will be interesting to see how his power numbers translate away from Arlington:

Career:
Home .302/.378/.576 = .954
Away .264/.358/.489 = .847

also Teixeira isn't a free agent until 2009. perhaps they can redirect some of the Andruw money towards keeping Tex around for a few years longer.

that's what i was thinking garrett - this is a move to plug the gap in the lineup when andruw jets.

Braves take lead in bidding for Dotel

http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/7074020

Teixeira is a pretty good pickup. Jarrod Saltalamacchia looks like he will be a good everyday catcher, but the Braves have McCann.

I would not touch re-signing Andruw Jones for nothing. That guy screams of having a collapse and he was looking freaking terrible at the plate earlier this year.

in a way i wonder if i should be happy abt andruw's shitty year - if it drives his asking price down then maybe they can afford to keep him after all, which i would be pretty stoked about. i'm not sure how torii hunter being on the market effects this - presumably he is going to be more sought after at this point, which could give the braves some leverage w/druw, not to mention rowand being available as a cheaper alternative. or they could move francoeur to center.

i think the idea that salty will be better than mccann is really what niggles at me, so i am hoping he turns out to be shitty as hell. playing for the rangers probably increases the odds of this.

I expect Willie Harris to be the everyday center fielder next year. I'll be happy to see Andruw go. I think he peaked about a year or two ahead of when most players peak, and he's on the downhill side. And it's fucking infuriating to watch a .220 batter refuse to make swing adjustments. He's fun to watch defensively, but he's dragging the lineup down.

I'm not sure about this deal. Three of your best prospects for a year and a half rental of a guy whose offensive splits have always erred on the side of Arlington seems pretty high.

Every time I watch Speedy McCann stretch a triple into a double, I think it might not be the best deal either. But he's tied up, and Salty's best value is as trade bait to fill their weak spots, so I can't really argue with it.

hey, don't be selling 'em short, Alex, it's five of their best prospects for eight months plus of Tex and eight weeks or so of something called "Ron Mahay".

you really think willie harris is sticking around? i like him but he seems like a wandering journeyman type. also i was really impressed with him for the first month or two (i thought he was a rookie lmbo) but lately i am digging diaz a lot more

they really should've said 'fuk u' to chipper's ego and moved him to first, put esco at third, and ~*blaow*~ they are awesome

also it looks like dotel is a done deal which i am wayyyy more stoked abt than tex.

The Teixeira trade seems crazy to me now that we know all the players involved, especially when they could have acquired someone like Mike Lamb for far less (i.e. not Salty!).

I thought Harris' contract was through 2008, but I see it's just for this year. (Cot's BB Contracts website is already showing Tex, Mahay and Dotel as Braves -- dude needs to get out of the house a little.)

Harris & Braves are a good fit financially and on the field. If he doesn't stay with them, he's nuts, and if they don't offer him a couple of years, they're nuts.

lol but mike lamb sucks :'(

If .299, .378, .480 sucks, please give me some suck.

"hey, don't be selling 'em short, Alex, it's five of their best prospects for eight months plus of Tex and eight weeks or so of something called "Ron Mahay"."

Yeah the deal kept getting more lopsided. Of course then for some reason Daniels got juked by Epstein for Gagne.

mike lamb should be called mike butts, because he is buttsy

(okay i didnt know his numbers at all until now, MY BAD)

scheurholz must reaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaally think this will push them over the top this year. i suppose it is pretty much the best lineup in the NL as long as utley is MIA.

can I be the first to say HEARTBREAK DOTEL

Dear folks who think signing Willie Harris to an actual contract & having him man CF full-time qualifies as a "smart move":

2004 (w/ the White Sox): 129 games played, 262 / 343 / 323

Thanks, Morbs.

Oh fuck you. :)

Dear folks who think signing Carlos Beltran to an actual contract & having him man CF full-time qualifies as a "smart move":

2000 (w/ the Royals): 98 games played, .247/.309/.366

OK:

1) Carlos Beltran had a great rookie year before that (age 21), then had a sophomore slump & got sent down / read the riot act before snapping back & giving the Royals a .306 / .362 / .514 line w/ 32 stolen bases, & was under arbitration during this time (obv), so the cost to the team was minimal.

2) Willie Harris is 29, has done nothing @ the ML level to impress anyone outside of his performance this year, screwed the pooch the one time he rec'd any sort of regular playing time (in 2004), and is leaving July hitting like a bargain-bin Juan Pierre (a punchless .244, & that's after getting 4 hits his last 2 games) after hitting a WTF .391 and .355 the previous two months. Paying him like a starting CF (even as "low" as $5 mil) off of his performance in 130 ABs is something best left to the Pirates.

Or the team paying Gary Matthews Jr. $11 million this year to do what he's done every year except 2006.

yeah i love the year WH has been having but after i looked at his past stats i was like "dang :("

John Schuerholz has a good record trading off prospects, there have been a couple that have done OK after leaving Atlanta, but most of those trades have worked out in the Braves favor. I've got to figure that the Braves are planning on signing Teixiera for a few years.

Schuerholz has also had success finding guys out of the baseball scrap heap like Willie Harris, Jaret Wright or even Julio Franco that seem to come out of nowhere and play well.

Schuerholz has also had success at finding guys to ghost-write the worst book ever on his name.

grr, UNDER his name.

BUZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzz

Oh, sorry - confusing the shitty book about the Cardinals w/ the shitty book about the Braves.

Also HAY

OK:

I was just messin' with ya.

DO NOT MESS

They got rid of Franco. :(

awesome fuck that old dude

okay i think i like this tex guy

this deal is awesome now that it's clear the rangers are moving salty to first for good. he is worth so much less as a first baseman than as a catcher, i am just interested in how elvis andrus turns out now~

Woody Williams is some bullshit.

braves have scorned 50 runs in the last 4 games

wait my bad, 49

And the Astros have now given up 53 runs in their last 4 games.

And for the first time in franchise history have given up double digit runs in 4 straight games.

this game tampered with my emotions

and actually made me like twenty minutes late to work, god dammit

Dear folks who think signing Willie Harris to an actual contract & having him man CF full-time qualifies as a "smart move":

2004 (w/ the White Sox): 129 games played, 262 / 343 / 323

-- David R., Wednesday, August 1, 2007 12:04 AM (2 days ago) Bookmark Link

Thanks, Morbs.

-- Rock Hardy, Wednesday, August 1, 2007 12:22 AM (2 days ago) Bookmark Link

Yeah Daver, don't cite ACTUAL PERFORMANCE facts around the Krukites here! They hate numbers!

One thing that's assured is that Willie Harris shouldn't play 3B.

I love numbers! But I also think the numbers from 130 games in 2004 mean as much or as little as the numbers from 225 ABs this year. I sure as hell don't advocate paying Harris $5M/year based on anything he's ever done -- Dave brought that number up, not me.

Joe M credits Glavine's ability to throw strikes.

Will he do it TONITE?

P Niekro looks younger than I remember him from his last playing years.

I am senile LOL.

Frenchy has made two great throws catching runners at the plate tonight against the Phillies.

...and then a third into the crowd

his glove has been getting better and better all year. and honestly he is really awesome at the plate since the ASB. i guess i wrote him off too soon!~

great Miller call on Frenchy overthrow: TOUCHDOWN!

This in-game interview garbage is going to be all 9 innings soon, isn't it?

I love how they missed the Braves scoring a run because they were too busy showing another replay of Hank Aaron's congratulatory video from last week.

Big Tex!

2 multihomer games in a row = okay i'm sold

WICKMAN SENT DOWN, ABOUT FUCKIN TIME YOU FAT FUCKIN COCKSUCKER SHITBALLS DOUCHEBABY

so uh now who's gonna close

the Braves are closed for the season. put yr Falcons stuff on.

lol why u think i'm even paying attn to the braves rn? the falcons are DEAD TO ME now~

the Braves are closed for the season. put yr Falcons stuff on.

I was holding out hope until this roadtrip, but yeah, they're done.

ya this team aint winning shit

Hudson picks a fine time to drop out of the Cy Young race.

It's like everybody else said "whew, Big Tex is here, he'll save us" and quit trying.

uh, okay, I made that happen with the power of my doubting mind.

YAY BRAVES!!!!!

hahaha, I QUIT WATCHING IN THE SEVENTH INNING :(

my only hope for them at this point is that they can ruin the playoff hopes of other teams (like, say, philly). even if they did make the playoffs they wouldn't get anywhere, since you can count all their decent pitchers on one hand.

JOHN SMOLTZ IS DOING SOMETHING THAT INVOLVES THE LETTER N AND H

I HOPE THIS IS NOT A JINX

His slider is insane.

Except for that last one.

he was pretty nasty last night, but, y'know... it's the nats :/

lol

well, the Bravos are just 3 behind the Phils going into Tuesday. Sufficient motive to sweep 'em.

i'm not sure whose playoffs hopes i'm more interested in seeing be crushed - philly's or nym's. either way we win~~

atlanta has the most pythagorean wins in the division btw~~

you win the RS/RA trophy then (or Bobby Cox SHOULD retire)

i hope he fucking does, that shitbag is a fraud and always has been. i can't wait until pendleton takes over.

he's gonna be a Hall of Famer,dude!

hahaha dude i was going to make an aside along the lines of "if he gets into the HoF you can officially write the whole thing off as a joke," the guy's a chickenshit and should've been run outta town years ago. what the hell does he bring to the table anyway? besides his masterful strategic acumen. will it really be so hard to find another guy who can clap and shout "go get 'em Jeffery!!!" from the bench?

Dude, you are HIGH. On DRUGS. Cox is grebt.

He certainly belongs there as much as Lasorda.

Hudson and Smoltz better come through...

THANKS, LARRY

So long, Andruw

Brooklynsnakes (33 minutes ago)
ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR DAMN MIND??????? Who do you think is going to give you Andruw $20 MILLION A YEAR! My Yankees would not give you that if they were hungry for a centerfielder (ok maybe they would sign you if Melky had not come on so strong). Dude, in your walk year you hit .222! You are the Venezuelan Richie Sexson. Go dive into the Dodgers. They're waiting for you. Juan Pierre, please pick up the white courtesy phone!!

lol, ya i heard this afternoon. it's amazing... a year ago now i would've been ready to boycott this team if they let my nigga go. and i honestly still do LUV ANDRUW. i love watching dude play center, and i just love how *~*~*~*kewl*~*~*~* he is. but dude just fukkin sux now.

btw, just for kicks go back and look at his pecota writeups from 10 years ago, they're.... something.

1997

A comparable prospect to Alex Rodriguez. He’s going to be a slightly better hitter than Rodriguez, and probably will develop more strongly. I wouldn’t trade him for Rodriguez or vice versa. Probably one of the top ten outfielders in baseball right now, and will be the very best within four years. The Vladimir projections aren’t meant to be more than a one-year tool, and we all know that iterative modeling is a dicey proposition at best, but let’s throw caution to the wind and let Vladimir project his entire career. Just for fun.

Works for me. Alex vs. Andruw will be the next generation’s DiMaggio vs. Williams, but the arguments will be more equal. Why hasn’t Atlanta offered him a 10-year, $50 million deal? I don’t know. The scary part is that Andruw could take it, and be 30 when it ended.

But that's before A-Rod started juicing.

Scheuerhoelz out as GM, in as president.

I wouldn’t trade him for Rodriguez or vice versa

What does this even mean.

Juan Pierre, please pick up the white courtesy phone!!
Juan Pierre, please pick up the white courtesy phone!!
Juan Pierre, please pick up the white courtesy phone!!
Juan Pierre, please pick up the white courtesy phone!!
Juan Pierre, please pick up the white courtesy phone!!
Juan Pierre, please pick up the white courtesy phone!!
Juan Pierre, please pick up the white courtesy phone!!
Juan Pierre, please pick up the white courtesy phone!!
Juan Pierre, please pick up the white courtesy phone!!
Juan Pierre, please pick up the white courtesy phone!!
Juan Pierre, please pick up the white courtesy phone!!