Thread for the 2013 Atlanta Braves Trail of Tears

86 wins - o/u?
Best outfield in baseball? Tell that to the Angels.
The year Wren admits the Uggla contract is toilet paper?
Is nothing sacred?

should have been thread title:
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BBZ1tccCEAEQvMz.jpg

I blame omar.

Starters:
C: Brian McCann + Gerald Laird eventually (Laird + Christian Bethancourt until then)
1B: Freddie Freeman
2B: Dan Uggla
3B: Juan Francisco or Chris Johnson
SS: Andrelton Simmons
LF: Justin Upton
CF: B.J. Upton
RF: Jason Heyward

Rotation:
Tim Hudson
Kris Medlen
Mike Minor
Paul Maholm
Julio Teheran

Relievers:
Craig Kimbrel
Jonny Venters
Jordan Walden
Eric O'Flaherty
Cristhian Martinez
Luis Avilan
Gearrin or Varvaro

Bench:
Whoever's not starting that night at 3B
the backup catcher
Paul Janish
Reed Johnson
a lotta names in competition for the 5th spot

http://cdn0.sbnation.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/8418795/20120617_jla_av3_054.0_standard_709.0.jpg

feel like beachy and medlen could potentially be a devastating pair over the next decade.

OTM. I wish Beachy was a lefty so they could show Maholm the door when BB gets healthy. I love Medlen so much -- he's like a cross between Greg Maddux and Alfred E. Neuman.

beachy to date has quite the statline:

237.2 IP, 252 K, 3.07 ERA, 1.14 whip

Braves improve one of the shittiest TV deals in the league, no more games on Peachtree TV.

http://www.ajc.com/news/sports/baseball/braves-tv-deal-changes-games-move-peachtree-tv/nWcNF/

The shift means that the two Fox-owned cable channels will have rights to all of the Braves’ local telecasts — 150-plus games per season — and that Turner will be out of the Braves TV business for the first time since the mid-1970s. It also means the last of the Braves’ telecasts are moving from a free over-the-air station, which Peachtree TV is in Atlanta, to cable.

no more braves on broadcast tv :(

Yeah, this improves my situation because my local cable co couldn't find its own ass with both hands and somebody was always forgetting to switch the CSS feed over to PTV at the right time, but this is a bummer for Atlanta area people I guess.

julio teheran, 5 IP, 0 H, 6 K today

                                   IP   H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR
 K Medlen (W,1-1)                   5  14   9   9   0   4   1

"I've never had an outing like that in my life," said Medlen.

freddie and andrelton (in his return from honkbal) are a combined 7-for-8 with four homers and eight rbis today. after five innings

it's only the pirates, tho

*snoopydance*

I am very ready for Opening Day.

                                   IP   H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR
 J Teheran (W,3-1)                  6   0   0   0   3  10   0

Havin' a good spring.

One reason I want to get to a Braves game this season is because the Holeman & Finch people are going to have a hamburger spot at Turner Field.

McCann's Burgers cries softly.

Evan Gattis makes the opening day roster as Laird's backup until McCann comes back. (Also, Jordan Schafer is the utility outfielder.)

awesome. gattis started last season in high-a as a 25-year-old; love to see guys like that get a shot.

Apparently he's been tearing it up this spring, and this is McCann's contract year, and he's not getting any younger or healthier. I wouldn't be surprised if the Braves moved him this year -- the Schuerholz/Wren brain trust is refreshingly unsentimental post-Francoeur.

they've got bethancourt in the system, but i don't know that he's ever going to hit (or walk) enough to be viable. only 21, tho

In Venezuela, Gattis acquired the nickname El Oso Blanco, Spanish for “the White Bear,” and became a Paul Bunyan-esque folk hero in Zulia and the surrounding area while belting home runs, including several to give his team a lead or win.

yessss

Roster is set.

Projected opening day lineup:
Andrelton Simmons, SS
Jason Heyward, RF
Justin Upton, LF
Freddie Freeman, 1B
B.J. Upton, CF
Dan Uggla, 2B
Chris Johnson, 3B
Gerald Laird, C

Starting rotation:
Tim Hudson
Paul Maholm
Kris Medlen
Mike Minor
Julio Teheran

Bullpen: Craig Kimbrel, Eric O'Flaherty, Jordan Walden, Luis Avilan, Cory Gearrin, Anthony Varvaro, Cristhian Martinez
Bench: Reed Johnson (OF), Juan Francisco (3B), Ramiro Pena (INF), Evan Gattis (C), Jordan Schafer (OF)
On the disabled list: Brian McCann, Jonny Venters

Uggla looks a lot better without the inflato-arms, and the homers go just as far.

will lose half his gay following

The Diamondbacks are going to seriously regret the Justin Upton trade.

I'll drink to that.

His HR swing last night looked like a mirror image of Utley's, with that short followthrough.

Homerfest is carrying over from spring training.

9th	B Upton homered to center.	5	5
9th	J Upton homered to center.	5	6

Low wattage

fun

@ajcbraves
According to David Vincent of SABR, 25th time in MLB history that 2 bros homered in same game. #Braves

#rallykillers

fuckin love these guys

hahaha, I turned my attention to an Ozu film on the computer when the lead was 5-1, and when I turned back around, Justin was just crossing the plate with the game winner.

ATLANTA -- The Atlanta Braves placed first baseman Freddie Freeman on the 15-day disabled list Sunday with a strained right oblique.

Freeman, who his hitting .417 with one homer and seven RBIs through the first five games, said he was upset that team management did not tell him before making the decision.

He added that the injury first occurred in a workout March 31, the day before the season started, and that he wanted to keep playing through the pain.

Dang, Justin Upton hates baseballs.

I hope Wren is prepared to swap Laird for prospects in a few weeks when McCann is healthy -- the Gattis era seems to have begun.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Evan-Gattis-El-Oso-Blanco-The-White-Bear-LARGE-Shirt-Jersey-Atlanta-/200912540130

https://si0.twimg.com/profile_images/3125043264/0063e1ab8cddf11ff31f199fe12a0e72.jpeg

yessss

p. much the best twitter avatar imo

Marlins announced Francisco's HR at 433', but apparently ESPN looked at it and said "nah, bro, that was 459."

also, GATTTTTTIIISSSSS

Fredi's actually starting Gattis at 1B tonight.

some great 9th innings around mlb tonight

― Pope Rusty I (Dr Morbius), Friday, April 12, 2013 9:10 PM (44 minutes ago)

at least one great 10th inning too

oso blanco

^^^ http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v617/WidowOfDestiny/Jiggle_Panda.gif ^^^

So much fun to watch right now. Maholm's hot start even more unexpected (to me) than Gattis'.

5 runs off of 5 solo homeruns. i have a feeling that hasn't happened very many times.

Luis Avilan, who has picked up every bit of Jonny Venters' slack during his injury, goes down mid-pitch in the 9th holding his left ham -- bad enough that he had to be taken off on a cart with the head groundskeeper holding his leg stable.

uptons here

that was a strike bj

Maholm servin' up some lollipops

I've never really understood how slow-throwing lefties can get anybody out. Like I said on FB, Maholm's hot start surprised me more than Gattis'.

wooooooooo

:-/

Heyward had an appendectomy in Denver last night! The crazy shit pro athletes do to pass the time when the games get rained/snowed out...

damn @ jupton

pretty chilly out there

bupton + jupton

Really good starts in insane conditions from Minor and Teheran today.

Guh! Maholm really shit the bed tonight.

On the bright side, Beachy threw some pregame BP today and said he felt great; and McCann started his rehab start, projected to be 10 games in 11 days, and had two 2-run homers in his first 3 innings.

Chipper's at the park again tonight. I don't know if he's drunk with freedom or just drunk, but he's as sloppy/giggly/incoherent as he was the first time.

I don't know why we pwn the Gnats so hard this year, but I'll take it.

Also, Hudson hitting like Micah Owings tonight.

If anyone wants to have a little scream-reaction a la Theismann's leg or Jose Reyes' ankle, look for the clip from tonight's game of Juan Francisco rolling his ankle. Somehow he managed to walk off under his own power.

man, Wright looked hopeless vs Kimbrel's inside heat on the first 2 swings, then they go over the middle of the plate and he hits it 430 feet.

I blame Dale Murphy, crowing about Kimbrel domination before the AB and the inning were over. Total jinx.

the Mets' broacasters were too! "unhittable" etc

Only 5 strikeouts by the position players today; only 1 of 9 runs via homer. I'm still not convinced that the streaky whiff-or-crush thing is a legitimate winning strategy, and today reinforced my doubts.

Mac is back!

Gattis to LF, Jupton to RF despite Fredi's protestations that he didn't want to do that.

kimbrel k's votto w/ 2 on base to win, p nice job there

I confess my butt was kinda clenched up before that K.

omg deja vu for Kimbrel

and holeeee shit

first time ever 2 hr in an appearance?

Guh! Regression is a bitch.

God bless the Francisco and all who sail on her.

Justin was supposed to move his brother from first to third, but his grit-deficient ego took over and he hit a home run against the Arizona Diamondbacks and their vastly improved clubhouse culture.

26 games on the road and 8 at home since April 8th. I suggest they try a little thought experiment and imagine every baseball is the face of whoever is in charge of scheduling at the league office.

Tommy John surgery #2 for Venters.

aaahhhhhhahahahahahahaha

The "aaahhhhhhahahahahahahaha" went 461 feet btw.

O'Flaherty: torn UCL, surgery on the way.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v617/WidowOfDestiny/Jiggle_Panda.gif

3-0 opposite-field grand slam for Gattis.

He needs his own thread, doesn't he?

He deserves some talking about, at the very least! Anybody who tries anything with him on the inner half of the plate will be treated rudely.

I wonder if Gerald Laird will be a Brave all season.

Andrelton's committed his 1st error since 6/29/12.

GATTTTTIISSSSSSS

12 HR/132 AB

Siddown for a few days, B.J.

Juan Francisco DFA'd.

Andrelton's committed his 1st error since 6/29/12.

― Only my cardiologist knows for sure. (WilliamC), Friday, May 24, 2013 8:45 PM (6 days ago)

Yeesh, I totally jinxed him!

The boos after B.J. Upton's strikeouts aren't surprising, and they've been coming for a while now. Uggla's been getting his share over the last few days. But even McCann got some boos after a K tonight.

7-game division lead feels like threshold of some sort.

Not sure what they'll do when Beachy is ready to come back on the 18th. Send Alex Wood back down, let Beachy have lefty relief/long relief with the occasional start?

teheran with six k's through three innings

oso blanco

that mythical beast

Tough loss for Hudson (game score 70). Dan Uggla needs to be horsewhipped.

C.B. Fuckin' Bucknor

Fredi Fuckin' Gonzalez

Atlanta - Top of 1st
A Simmons doubled to deep center.
J Heyward walked.
J Upton sacrificed to pitcher, A Simmons to third, J Heyward to second.
F Freeman struck out looking.
B McCann struck out looking.

‏

@mlbbowman
A first-inning sacrifice bunt from Justin Upton was certainly not something I expected to see when I woke up this morning

http://www.talkingchop.com/2013/6/11/4419230/how-has-the-braves-defense-stacked-up-thus-far

One Andrelton Simmons covers a multitude of sins.

http://markbowman.mlblogs.com/2013/06/11/a-breakdown-of-gattis-incredible-success-as-a-pinch-hitter

I've watched all but about 3 or 4 Braves games this season and seen a lot of Gattis ABs. I think what it boils down to for him is preternaturally fast pitch recognition (very open stance, still head, straight view of the pitcher) combined with an upper-body swing that doesn't require a complicated timing mechanism (either toe-tap or bat-waggle) or load-up. He doesn't stand deep OR forward in the batter's box -- his stance is so wide he takes up the whole damn thing. He's hard to fool -- he can just foul off pitch after pitch until he either walks or blasts off.

Plus he can go from clean-shaven to Grizzly Adams in about 3 days.

BTW, thanks for posting that link, mookie.

So many little problems that need fixing... Andrelton is at the top of the MLB list, not just the NL, in infield popups, and down in B.J. Upton territory in OBP. This is our leadoff hitter?

What to do with Brandon Beachy? I like the suggestion I read the other day -- 6-man rotation, with a different starter getting skipped each time through the order. That gets them through the All Star break, more or less... then make a decision.

lol - first place problems!

well they did get swept by san diego and split 4 with the lowly dodgers..

sacrifice dan uggla in a satanic ritual and reap the rewards

the reward being a new second baseman?

lol, yes

With Uggla's walk rate, he should lead off.

do u ever fantasize about not having 25 mil a year tied up in bj and uggla

"fantasize," "tied up" and Uggla in the same sentence makes me nervous, but yeah.

do u [...] fantasize [...] bj

Beachy's been scratched from Tuesday's start, "tenderness" after last night's rehab start.

Yeesh, my nerves can't take too many wins like that one. But lol Romo.

Gattis on the DL with an oblique strain last night, and Laird ganked up his left knee running the bases just now.

http://cdn2.mocksession.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/UPTON-COLLISION.gif

Great little run of base-ball playing we're on these days.

Fucking hell. Good thing they're playing in the worst division of the six.

The starters need to load up their socks with bars of soap and go to town on the position players.

lol

Wacky game with the Marlins, collisions and near-collisions. Logan Morrison's going to hurt like hell tomorrow.

here comes joey turds

http://www.gondeee.com/2013/07/08/blaine-sims-the-next-braves-knuckleballer/

Sims flew up to Gwinnett to meet with Niekro and as he tells it, “I throw two knuckleballs, and he said ‘stop, that plays in the big leagues. Hands down,’ he said, ‘you’ve got a big league knuckleball.’” Blaine was blown away by the instruction that Niekro gave him in just a few short days.

"Talking to Mr. Phil, he says it doesn’t matter. He remembered one game in which he walked 12 and threw a one-hit shutout."

Love checking stuff like that. He's not on this list of most walks in a shutout:

http://junkstats.com/mlb/most-walks-without-giving-up-a-run/

Either he's a little off on the runs or the walks, it happened in the minors, or he's just making stuff up.

Jason Heyward is hurt.

fucking idiot announcers. claiming Terdoslavich at 12 has the record for most letters on the back of a jersey. Get one Saltalamacchia.

http://www.psv.nl/upload/0e6c00c7-48f1-4795-a360-9926b13d39f0_1160477903126-VennegoorCeltic3751.jpg

http://gs1.wac.edgecastcdn.net/8019B6/data.tumblr.com/4608d345784bdce2ebdfd5bb3631f063/tumblr_mnktn1WLWq1qzniimo1_500.jpg

Mark Lemke was standing with fellow infielder and good buddy Jeff Blauser on the field when the blaze erupted. "We were just watching the flames, and suddenly there was a huge boom, and we went tearing out into center field," Lemke said. A photo of the two gazing in disbelief as the press box burns is in the Hall of Fame. Sid Bream, the Braves' first baseman who was about to lose his job with the arrival of [just-acquired Fred] McGriff, said of the blaze, "I know I’m the most likely suspect, but I swear I didn't do it."

Get a grip, Kimbrel.

catchers look like Choo Choo Coleman in this game

fuck, great catch

whew

move heyward to cf full time imo

Dan Uggla has reached the 20-home run plateau for the 7th time in his career, tying him for the 2nd-most such seasons among 2nd baseman all-time. Uggla leads all 2nd baseman with 229 home runs since he entered the league in 2006 (8th-most in MLB among all players).

cooperstown awaits

Broken ankle for Hudson.

Damn.

That was a beauty from Minor tonight under somewhat high-pressure circumstances.

Even better followup from Teheran today. Too bad he didn't get the decision, but beating Wainwright last night and taking this series feels like a real accomplishment after all the injuries lately.

i appreciate it

hahaha, if you're taking credit, I'm more than happy to give it to you.

oh no, not taking credit -- it is helpful to my team to have the cardinals lose, is all

even though i kind of love them deep down

Can't remember, are you a Pirates or Reds fan?

smdh

dude, I'm not jaymc!

lol it's okay

reds, tho? jeez

I think I blocked it out because the Pirates make me more nervous than any other NL team. If the playoffs started today I would give a Pirates-Rays WS strong odds.

small ball, y'all

gondeee otm: "I’m going to start referring to it as the Chris Johnson trade, which included Justin Upton."

I dig these six-run innings.

Not sure what to be more excited about -- Jupton getting his swing back, Chris Johnson's career .364 BABIP, the 7-0 homestand, the 11.5 game lead, or finally coming up with Heyward as a viable leadoff hitter.

Or the huge drop in their strikeout rate.

if you're looking for something sobering, bupton should be back this weekend

hahaha, true. But he had 3 hits in a rehab start tonight!

C. Johnson ties Hank Aaron for team record (8) for most consecutive multi-hit games.

One thing that both Uptons have in common -- they both apparently think their strike zone is about the size of a testicle. They bitch about every called strike.

the braves took craig kimbrel's younger brother matt in the 31st round last year. in his last five appearances for danville (appalachian league), this is his line:

9.1 IP, 25 R, 25 ER, 28 H, 3 HR, 7 BB, 5 K, 2 WP

too bad some sheetrock didn't fall on him, i guess

btw Fredi Gonzalez was in the audience at SABR convention presentations (at least the second con he's shown up at).

lol mookie

The only time Fredi has ever seemed really stat-averse to me is this year when he persisted in batting Andrelton Simmons leadoff, and it looks like he's finally over that.

(btw, there are plenty of SABR members who don't give much of a damn about nu stats, tho he's likely not one)

http://www.reddit.com/r/mlb/comments/1jtko4/i_am_john_rocker_former_mlb_pitcher_here_to_take/cbi54tx

Racist? If dating 3 black women, Denis Martinez's daughter who is Nicaraguan and god knows how many women from Puerto Rico and Venezuela makes me a racist then I guess you got me.

the ongoing john rocker AMA is incredible

Heyward, out with a muscle strain in his neck in his first AB. He almost didn't finish the at-bat.

A dozen straight, and now over .500 on the road. Heyward looked fine when he ran out on the field during the never-quite-a-fight and in the dugout during the last couple of innings. I figure he'll sit tomorrow and the off day Thursday, then be fine on Friday.

So glad gondeee got a screencap of this --

http://www.gondeee.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/bravespen1-1024x768.jpg

the non-fight prompted Twitter sniping btwn the clubs' official twittiots

Yeah, so dumb, esp by the Braves to start a twitter slap-fight. I agree with mookie that Harper's slow-trot wasn't egregious enough to call for getting plunked.

lol, the Braves are winning because the manager is juicing

It turns out that the streak happened to begin on the day that bullpen coach Eddie Perez first gave the manager some sort of protein drink. Gonzalez hates the taste, but he can't stop drinking it with his team on such a roll; sure enough, he was sipping the concoction from a cup in the dugout a couple of hours before Wednesday's game.

"They may be giving me poop. I don't even know what it is," Gonzalez said. "But I've been drinking them for 13 days in a row now. We're superstitious, you know."

chipper quit twitter over plunkgate

lol larry

Braves TV coverage has a new toy, a 2500-fps camera. They were having loads of fun last night with shots of Beachy's repertoire of pitches and the violence of major league pitching on an arm. They showed Cishek's delivery in the 9th and it was truly disgusting and Cronenbergian, with what Simpson said was the ACL bulging out under the skin... Joe/Chip and JJ/Klesko were all squealing and grossing out and saying "I can't stand to look at that," etc. Loads of fun.

Oh yeah, number fourteen, Beachy with a beautiful 81 game score and only two 3-ball counts iirc, etc. Focus semi-officially shifts from the division to the Pirates and getting home-field advantage through the playoffs.

Correction, Cishek pitched the 8th inning, not 9th.

@DamUgglaATI
gonna get lasok brb

Good. He's useless as-is, and was talking about having it done after the season.

In any showdown between Jason Heyward and someone else's left knee, the knee is always going to lose. I figure Pastornicky will be DL'ed before tomorrow's game. That knee looked bad last night as he was coming out of the game.

gondeee: I don’t wish Pastornicky any injury and I hope he’s okay, but if he has to be disabled I would love to see second baseman Tommy La Stella called up from double-A, where he’s hitting .339/.412/.463. This kid has hit at every level he’s been at, compiling great career minor league numbers: .325/.408/.495. He looks like a miniature version of Adam LaRoche when he’s at the plate, he uses the whole field, and can have surprising power to the alleys. He’s an on-base machine who could ease into the Majors in the 8th spot in the lineup for Atlanta.

Would love to see him get a shot to show his stuff, just to see as many alternatives to Uggla as possible before that contract finally ends.

iirc la stella is a terrible fielder, but that's okay because fucking andrelton can cover half of his territory

I keep forgetting to follow the Fangraphs blog! I'm so overdependent on RSS feeds.

Fucking Andrelton seemed a little out of sorts at having to come in on his night off after the Pastornicky injury last night, but maybe it's just that he's gotten more and more stonefaced as the season has ground on. He and Freeman both need some rest in September.

lol Pee Wee Heyward

I've been fascinated/perplexed by the Braves' ability to play .600+ baseball this year with Upton and Uggla both hitting under .200. I know it's only BA, and that they have great pitching to compensate, but there's still a disconnect there. (And while Uggla's hit a few home runs and taken some walks, it's not like he and Upton are providing much offense elsewhere in their batting lines.)

Turns out Atlanta's on the verge of doing something really rare:

http://valueoverreplacementgrit.com/2013/08/11/one-team-with-two-full-time-sub-200-hitters/

There have been only seven instances of a team having two batting title-eligible players bat under .200 in the same season. The last time it happened? 96 years ago.

That's not seven winning teams, just seven teams period. Three of the seven also managed winning records, although all played in the deadball era.

heyward out for rest of regular season w/a fractured jaw

http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/2013/8/21/4645734/jason-heyward-injury-atlanta-braves-out-for-season

god dammit

I drink a Boost for breakfast
An Ensure for dizzert

i'm reading 4-6 weeks on Heyward

Yeah. He'll be back for the playoffs, but fuck, he was fine tuned and humming on all 64 cylinders right now -- seeing the ball well, timing, everything. He and the leadoff spot were made for each other, go figure. Hard to imagine he'll step right back into that level of productivity as soon as he gets back on the field.

Beachy scratched for Sunday, will see Dr. Andrews on Monday.

;_;

braves acquire freddy garcia for cash considerations

Jeez, patching tires while the car's still in motion. But the Beachy chatter doesn't sound good, and Maholm didn't look so hot last night.

no help at all

lol... El Oso Blanco Night concludes with El Oso Blanco getting sent back down to AAA.

There are Circumstances, but still pretty funny.

God, this game is going to run 4 hours for no good reason.

The Nationals won because Craig Kimbrel blew a save on a ball that went through Andrelton Simmons' legs.

DESTINY

This is what happens whe I go on vacation.

^_____^

I love games with big leads, because Joe Simpson and Chip Caray have time to try to get their heads around sabermetrics, and that shit is hysterical.

the braves, in the event that they played the pirates in the playoffs, invited sid bream to throw out a first pitch. he declined

love that dude

This fuckin' Uggla --

2012: 168 Ks in 523 ABs
2013: 170 Ks in 445 ABs

bref has him at -1.1 war

$26M is a lot to eat, but God they gotta get rid of him somehow.

turdgla

swedish for 'shitty owl' iirc

i find this year's team kind of unlikable tbh. they keep having these bitchassed outbursts that im not feelin. they should sign smoltz & chipper to the postseason roster to cheerlead the team

i find this year's team kind of unlikable tbh

can't even imagine what you're talking about, chip

who imagined they wd get more hateable w/out Larry Jones?

he sure didn't act quite as *B*A*L*L*E*R* as some of those rapscallions today, what with their rap music and their sideways ballcaps

and their "swag"

http://www.datingtrek.com/images/you-certified-baller.gif

Can't wait for the team/broadcaster spin on the Chris Johnson/Terry Pendleton confrontation last night. Simpson has made some very oblique references to CJ's "competitiveness" -- i.e., he's a moody dick and TP had his fill of it after the game.

http://www.mlb.com/news/article/atl/atlanta-braves-first-base-coach-terry-pendleton-third-baseman-chris-johnson-share-heated-exchange-in-dugout?ymd=20130928&content_id=62106088&vkey=news_atl

i was hoping pendleton got mad because johnson slid into first

was TP mad about CJ throwing the helmet, or did CJ do one of those typical baseball player moves where he didn't run his fastest out of the batters box until he saw Rollins catch it? the replay doesn't show CJ until the play at 1B so it's tough to tell.

Here's a Vine of CJ's effort out of the box: http://www.talkingchop.com/2013/9/28/4782016/terry-pendleton-chris-johnson-fight-braves -- he's not trotting, but he does need to put his head down and quit looking at Rollins. I think the explanation that TP was sick of CJ moodily throwing shit is the right one.

CJ's shoulder jammed

http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/2013/9/29/4783356/chris-johnson-injury-shoulder-atlanta-braves

“Hey, I’m a nut job sometimes,” said Johnson, who got thrown out by Jimmy Rollins on a close play to strand the tying run in scoring position in a 5-4 loss. “My helmet slipped out of my hand and hit someone. That’s not good. I’m in the wrong right there. I came in today, talked to TP, apologized and we’ll move on.”

http://www.ajc.com/news/sports/baseball/c-johnson-apologizes-to-pendleton-after-dugout-con/nZ97p/

Hey

"My helmet slipped". guy can't even man up and admit to throwing his helmet.

Indications are that Braves are leaning toward Freddy Garcia to start Game 4. Has not been officially decided.

Names I never expected to see on the Sept. roster in April: Garcia, Elliot Johnson. (Mainly because I'd never heard of Elliot Johnson.)

think he had a band in the 90's?

http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/10/01/dan-uggla-to-be-left-off-braves-roster-for-nlds

winning comment:
That’s cool bro, just more time to lift weights.

all the white fans who bust on BJ give uggla way more slack and it ticks me off

la stella's final line at double-a: .343/.422/.473 with 37 walks and 34 strikeouts in 81 games

la stella's first seven arizona fall league games: .429/.625/.619 with 11 walks and 0 strikeouts

no homer power or speed to speak of, but i think dude is ready

RIP Popeye Arms
(not that that is in much doubt anyway)

rest in piss

Andrelton's 2013 highlight reel lasts almost a half hour.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=stx_4PZrFqw#t=1023

gtfo cobb county

Yeah, what the fuck?!

Great wording:

✔ @Braves
We have secured a large tract of property at this location & will work to build a world-class ballpark for our fans. #Braves

The Atlanta Journal Constitution is now reporting (no named sources, just "we’re told") that the Cobb County stadium would involve $450 million in public money, $200 million from the team.

http://www.fieldofschemes.com/2013/11/11/6174/report-braves-to-announce-plans-for-new-stadium-in-cobb-county

now the worst people in Metro Atlanta will feel safe enough to go to Braves games

they can't work with Turner Field because it doesn't have a MARTA spur, so they're building a new stadium in a county that won't let MARTA in because of racism.

not surprised that Schuerholz, a dude who mentioned Limbaugh repeatedly in his autobiography, would be all about white flight.

why the fuck is public money still being used to build stadiums?!

the office of Cobb County's commissioner is saying there's no public money involved and that the deal is private, at least according to a guy on Twitter.

daily reminder that sports owners are bad people

'cumberland braves'

who paid for Turner Field?

After the 1996 Olympics were complete the stadium was leased by the Atlanta Braves. Private entities, including NBC and other Olympic sponsors, agreed to pay a large sum of the cost to build Centennial Olympic Stadium (approximately $170 million of the $209 million bill). The Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games (ACOG) sought to build the stadium in a way that it could be converted to a new baseball stadium, and ACOG paid for the conversion.[1] This was considered a good agreement for both the Olympic Committee and the Braves. The 71,228 seat Georgia Dome had been completed four years earlier by the state of Georgia, so there was no need for another large stadium in downtown Atlanta. Furthermore, the Braves had already been exploring opportunities for a new stadium. The Atlanta Fulton County Recreation Authority owns Turner Field and leases it to the Braves, who operate the stadium. The current lease runs through 2016.[8]

http://www.sportsonearth.com/article/63845824/

http://www.grantland.com/blog/the-triangle/post/_/id/82022/saying-good-bye-as-the-braves-leave-atlanta-for-atlanta

Let me just state that it’s comforting to live in a city, a state and even a country where our elected officials feel so free to build sports facilities with public dollars for private businesses. It’s reassuring to know that our schools, police departments, fire departments, roads, bridges, parks and sewers are in such tremendous shape that we can afford to commit $650 million for two new stadium projects.

If the Sudan got a new soccer stadium, it would totally revitalize the area.

If Mayor Kasim Reed hadn’t been carrying Arthur Blank’s water for month, making it seem like a Falcons’ potential move to the suburbs was like the coming of apocalypse, he would deserve praise for his comments Monday. But he is being a completely phony because he took the opposite position with the Falcons.

"I started off thinking this is one of the worst things ever, got most of the way toward thinking it's not, and now I'm back to worst ever again. Which is what I always wind up thinking about these deals. What Selig and His Merry Band do isn't as disgusting as the NFL's brain-injury coverup, and it's not as disgusting as the NCAA's various perfidies. Mostly because, for all of our complaining, the free ballpark money is generally disbursed by freely elected public officials, with only the usual, mostly legal low-level bribery and coercion."

http://www.baseballnation.com/2013/11/12/5094666/atlanta-braves-ballpark-moving-cobb-county-2017

http://www.talkingchop.com/2013/12/11/5200864/local-tea-partiers-to-file-lawsuit-in-effort-to-block-new-stadium

If it is just a procedural issue, it shouldn't raise any problems. However, based on the language used by the group, it would seem that they're challenging the Commission's right to extend a tax that was set to end for an additional 30 years without a referendum.

after an adjustment period i'm pretty much 'whatever' about this. i'll go to the cobb stadium once to see what its like and catch the rest of the games on the radio. i cant even imagine how abominable the area around the cobb cloverleaf is gonna be on gamedays

funniest quote to come from this -

Cobb County GOP Chairman Joe Dendy sent out a statement that included these thoughts on mass transit and taxes:

"It is absolutely necessary the solution is all about moving cars in and around Cobb and surrounding counties from our north and east where most Braves fans travel from, and not moving people into Cobb by rail from Atlanta.
"The other important part of the formula is for the citizens of Cobb not to experience any kind of tax increase. The influx of people into the county for the games should provide the revenue needed to make this a successful venture."

the pics here are pretty amusing - http://deadspin.com/chipper-jones-rescued-freddie-freeman-in-the-snowstorm-1511430389