2008 Atlanta Bravos -- Once More with Glavine

That was cool. Too bad it didn't work out.

I liked the highlight showing them passing the extra glove around the horn to like six different players before the batboy.

i am a lot less optimistic about them this year than i was last season, even though they are possibly better at the moment than they were a year ago now. i miss andruw!!!!!!!!! ;____;

also, i bought fancy dugout seats for the raping game on sunday.

hampton getting scratched 5 minutes before he was supposed to start was pretty hilar

http://209.85.62.26/12257/100/emo/emot-smithicide.gif

tim mccarver is so bad that buck actually comes off as a sympathetic figure in contrast. THAT IS IMPOSSIBLE.

WAU, absolute worst blown call I've ever seen.

Sweet grand slam, 3-2 & 2 outs!

Who are current ILBB mods

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYhwVGgR5SY

ok, I lol'd

never saw a trapped-ball call reversed til yesterday.

It's just baffling to watch Glavine pitch that slow, slow stuff and not get knocked around. Too bad Boyer crapped in his hat.

Two hours five minutes - was there something particularly good on TV last night?

Wait -- was Maddux pitching?

Low-scoring, low-hitting games in Colorado still kinda confuse me, humidor or not.

Smoltz is pitching great tonight, but he's working through monster shoulder pain. Calling for mound conferences and new baseballs between pitches just so he can take a little extra time, and they panned across the dugout just now and he's sitting there holding and rubbing his shoulder.

He is single again.

FYI

if i were to base any sort of man-chrush on the game tonight it would go towards chipperl.

During a Mets / Nats game break, the guy in SNY's studio talked over a Braves highlight featuring "Larry Jones."

Glavine to the DL for the first time in his career.

Gregor Blanco is really exciting to watch. And it's cool/weird for the Braves to have a fast guy named Blanco.

wz there tonight for 3k K, forgot camera tho ;_;

smoltz' last outing; 10 K's in 5 IP, 0 ER, 3 H, 2 BB.
today; 10 K's in 7 IP, 1 ER, 5 H, 0 BB

who are this guy's comparables? his past 3 seasons have probably been better than any of his younger years, aside from the cy young season. i know there's a recent precedent for ancient ass pitchers to remain dominant, but what about for their best years to be in their FORTIES? something tells me this is the last such year we can expect from him, but still... that's nuts.

I am so envious. Smoltz is one of my favorite pitchers.

I think Randy Johnson and Greg Maddux are pitching pretty well at comparable ages. Nolan Ryan pitched pretty late into his 40s but he was a freak.

Cy Young pitched until he was 44.

3,000 strikeouts used to be the ticket to the HOF. Will Smoltz make it?

Smoltz seems like an obvious pick to me.

his past 3 seasons have probably been better than any of his younger years

This isn't true if we're judging by ERA+. His prime starter years were a little bit better (but comparable). And in his greatest season as a closer, his ERA+ was way, way off the charts.

what the motherfuck is ERA+

ERA+ is ERA adjusted to be comparable with ERAs from different eras / years (100 is the presumed average ERA+, though most pitchers end up below average, obv) -- not sure how it's calculated (might just be comparing the pitcher's ERA to the league ERA w/ park adjustments thrown in), but it helps in comparing how good a 4.00 ERA in 1980 was relative to a 4.00 ERA this year, for instance.

It seems to be a decent quick-and-dirty measuring stick w/ regards to starters, but it gets kinda goofy for relievers (because of small sample size & ERA's inherent limitations) -- see Joba's ERA+ last year of 1192! (This year: a more mortal 372.) Also, there's a tendency for nerdy internet folks (not poly) to whip that shit out (also, OPS+ for hitters) in lieu of actually looking at the context of the stats.

does anyone think that his closer period have helped his longevity? did he have some injury problems before going out to the pen?

That's why he went out there, wasn't it? Rotator cuff issues coupled w/ severe bullpen issues?

Yeah, he had Tommy John surgery and missed all of 2000, and I think some of 2001.

The 3000Ks/200+ wins/150+ saves thing pretty much makes him automatic for HoF, I'd say.

i think i remember morbs loling at the notion that he'd return from relief duty to be an excellent starter back in '05 or whenever.

i think smoltz's era+ w/r/t his relief seasons isn't necessarily applicable to what cankles is saying btw

i know there's a recent precedent for ancient ass pitchers to remain dominant, but what about for their best years to be in their FORTIES?

LOL clemens

every year since they converted him back to a starter i think ' *this* is the year he drops off... it has to be!' dude blows my mind and is a shoe-in for the hof, imho.

yes omar, he has surprised me. i still hate the fucker.

and what WAS your handle in '05, "omar"?

commander adams

^_^

i still hate the fucker.

Why? I appreciate that he keeps his super-Xtianity to himself for the most part.

Take a wild guess which team Morbs roots for.

Also, there's a tendency for nerdy internet folks (not poly) to whip that shit out (also, OPS+ for hitters) in lieu of actually looking at the context of the stats.

What do you mean by "context of the stats," exactly? I'm not sure I actually do that. I'm pretty lazy.

Oh, that. Well fuck a New York Met and all who sail on her in the eyehole, really. I thought he was talking about some personal failing of Smoltz', not what a scout or a GM failed to do 20+ years ago.

Also divorcing his wife, not exactly the cornerstone of hardcore X-tianity.

Smoltz has said some ignorant and insensitive things in the recent past. Although I think he is very handsome and a good pitcher I can understand why someone would hate him.

it helps in comparing how good a 4.00 ERA in 1980 was relative to a 4.00 ERA this year, for instance.

Hm. I don't understand how this would be done but I am reading Moneyball so I am not hopeless. It is very cute to bring up ERA+ here. Ayo, tastycakes and ERA+.

(xpost)

Poly, I was giving you a pass because this is the first time I've seen you use ERA+ :D

But on the Baseball Think Factory forum, there are so many posters that just go ahead and lean on ERA+ and OPS+ as the be-all and end-all of a player's worth and expect that to fly. At least OPS accounts for multiple things (in a quick-n-dirty fashion), so using OPS+ as a proving point is OK to a degree. But ERA is severely flawed, and using that as the basis of some measuring stick that's supposed to level the playing field just seems disingenuous at best.

Hm. I don't understand how this would be done ...

Excuse me while I put on my Boring Ass Perfesser Helmet.

Like I said, don't know how it's done, but this is what's spit out (courtesy of Baseball Reference):

Bob Gibson, 1968:
1.12 ERA, 258 ERA+ (Adjusted league ERA: 2.90)

Pedro Martinez, 2000:
1.74 ERA, 291 ERA+ (Adjusted league ERA: 5.07)

Essentially, ERA+ tries to compensate for the hitters the individual pitchers had to face and come up with a number that's a more accurate representation of the pitcher's worth (relative to peers and history). Gibson's ERA in the first year of the pitching mound / strike zone changes is obviously lower that Pedro's, but as the league ERA shows, pitchers ruled the school. Pedro turned his trick in the DH league in an era where Tony Batista hit 40+ homers. Based on that, it makes sense to think that Pedro's holy-shit performance was "better" than BG's still-ridiculous performance -- ERA+ reflects that qualitative gulf.

haha that's ridiculous. The only thing I know about their pitching is that I can't hit it.

Smoltz did some Met-related headhunting a few years ago, bsides being a rancid fagophobe.

ERA is severely flawed, and using that as the basis of some measuring stick that's supposed to level the playing field just seems disingenuous at best.

I get this intuitively because I take it on faith that ERA is a wildly crude misapproximation of pitching to begin with (or so some pal of McCracken told me /suzy) but I haven't yet fully grasped the forbidden dogma of DIPS and FIPS.

Thanks for the very good explanation of what ERA+ thinks it's doing, Professor.

xp

mike rabellol

once more without glavine (or 3 other starters)

can chipper pitch?

Braves please trade for Greg Maddux and Randy Wolf, whaddayasay.

they should trade Teixeira, Hudson, and Ohman and look to the future.

oh, and send Francouer back to Myrtle Beach while they're at it.

They shd just shore up their bullpen w/ some duct tape & caulk and make a run @ their weak-ass division -- what the hell are you talking about, GM?

Tho I def. agree on the Francouer bit -- welcome to the ass end of Tom Brunansky's career, Jeffie!

Oh fuck you for homering.

Yeah I don't understand some of the fascination w/ Francouer (Joe Sheehan picked him as a breakout candidate this year.) He had a few more walks last year and that's all nice, but his BABIP was also very high and he still didn't break .800 on his OPS. .270/.310/.450 is about his range and for a corner outfielder that's sub-Garrett Anderson territory.

Well Francouer certainly has Zambrano's number today.

ya, well, sheehan says a lot of dumb shit. i've never been v high on francoeur (tho his defense is outstanding) but the braves are sorta married to him at this point because of his freakish popularity.

This team's going nowhere. Their best pitcher basically just retired, Glavine is as old and washed-up as Mets fans thought he was, and Teixeira is gone after this year anyway. Instead of trading away more prospects for futile quick fixes they should try to make good deals for next season and beyond. I don't think a complete rebuilding spree is in need, since they do have a relatively young offensive core, and with a few smart deals and off-season pick-ups they could contend next year even without Tex, Hudson, etc. I mean, I don't really want them to trade Hudson, but he probably has more value than any other Brave, since he's been really good the last two years and is under a reasonable contract for two more. So, y'know, it might be in the franchise's best interest.

Is Texeira def. gone? I thought there was talk about a hometown discount somewhere?

I can't believe the Yankees wouldn't love to rent Texeira for the year although given that they'll probably get him next November probably lessens his value there.

the yankees would probably love to have him, but they won't give up any of their best young arms to get him.

Given the flameout of their young arms, I could see them packaging a couple of dudes for him. Ian Kennedy's got to be on the block, right haha? But it'd be a light package def. given that again they only get him for 80+/- games.

Tex is pretty much gone. He's never said anything about any discount, has said he'd love to play and live in New York a few times, and Boras is his guy, anyway, I think. So, yeah, unless they stupidly cough up $140 mil or so over 7 years, he's only got a few more months as a Brave.

Yeah Teixeira's good, but he's not proven himself to be $20 a year good (yet anyway) and he'd definitely be entering the old part of his career by the end of a 7 year deal. Still he's a pretty good athlete whose been pretty healthy and who might put up a string of .300/.400/.600 seasons with GG defense over that period of time so I don't know if it's the worst signing either.

jesus

Chipper has 12-13% chance of hitting .400+ in 2008:
http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=7652

http://rchrd.com/weblog/images/morton_feldman_nyt_1985sm.jpg

Morton vs Feldman tonight

I lol'd

xxp: with 499 PAs?

Chipper's down to .394

THANKS A LOT OMAR

I swear!

¯\(°_o)/¯

I would bet moneys that Yunel is sitting today as punishment for last night's tantrum. They're saying "strained shoulder," but I think Cox is trying to break a wild horse.

Jurrjens' manager lauded his young pitcher after the game.

"That was as good a game as I have ever seen pitched," said Cox.

Jurrjens has not given up an earned run in his last three starts, a streak spanning 21.2 innings.

Francoeur sent to AA Mississippi to get his shit together. I didn't expect anything that sensible.

heh...sounds like he saw Frank Wren's face on every baseball he swung at during his 3-day demotion.

is he back already? whatta crybaby

"the bases have been loaded all day... and i wish i was"

huddy and larry going down in the same night pretty much seals the deal for me re: dumping tex, just get what you can for him at this point

I think I just finished watching this passel of little-leaguers for the year.

this team has been more perplexing than the last couple years' versions, i just hope they get somethin decent for tex and ohman and whoever the fuck else.

Two doctors have advised Tim Hudson to have ligament-transplant elbow surgery, but the Braves pitcher will wait a week before making deciding whether to have the procedure that would keep him out for the rest of this season and most of 2009.

watch 'em give Sabathia $150 million just in time for his long-prophesied collapse...

I don't see current ownership opening their wallet that wide for anybody.

well, not enough data yet to really evaluate current ownership, and there's a lot of money coming off the books this year.

liberty media's already displayed a lot of penny pinching tendencies, tho frank wren did assert on the day after the kotchman trade that they offered tex a market-value contract at the beginning of the season that would've put him among the highest paid players in the game.

Infante in the glare! get that man some goggles.

Don't forget Ohman's "oh shit was I supposed to cover 1st?" gaffe that tied the game.

Koyaanis Kotsay (Team Out of Balance)

haha!!

A+

nice reverting to form, crackers

LARRY JONES ERROR = 2 RUNS

I look forward to Smoltz the color-commentary guy. He's really good. (He spent an inning in the booth for today's Braves game and was pretty funny talking about Glavine's wooden legs.)

― Rock Hardy, Wednesday, June 4, 2008 2:53 PM (4 months ago) Bookmark

I've had to fast-forward through some of the Brewers-Phillies series but what I've heard from Smoltz has been some of the best commentary I've heard in a long time.

http://assets.sbnation.com/fan_shot_images/29233/image_8280663.jpg

Jeff Francoeur signs one of the new easier-to-hit baseballs that will be used when he comes to the plate this year.

lol, is he in a Home Depot demo kitchen?