BASEBALL: Atlanta at St. Louis
After a month of fairly unbiased selections, I'm finally making my Atlanta Braves today's one to watch. Give me some credit here, folks. And the truth is, they're finally deserving of the honor. The Braves are hot and try to keep it going tonight following a 3 game sweep of San Diego.
The keys to recent success include Chipper Jones hitting like Joe DiMaggio (he has tied a record with 14 consecutive games with an extra-base hit), the stabilization of the bullpen (with the solid middle relief of Ray, Paranto, Yates, and McBride, they now only lack a closer), and scoring a lot of runs. In fact, even with the all-star break, the Braves have already scored more runs in the month of July than they did in the entire month of June.
I'm glad I didn't give up on the Bravos like a certain friend of mine who wanted John Schuerholz to simply "blow it up." Sure, they're most likely not going to win a 15th consecutive division title. But .500 record is realistic. So too is contending for a wildcard and even sneaking into the playoffs in a very weak National League. The Braves have the record this year that they actually deserved last year when they overachieved. So while it's disappointing and we're not used to doing it this way, it's also not time to panic. Kudos to the Braves for doing it the right way by building a team around young, homegrown talent like Brian McCann, Jeff Francoeur, Wilson Betemit, and Chuck James. Maybe an influx of cash from new owner Liberty Media will help land a closer.
My pick: Atlanta. Horacio Ramirez faces Jeff Weaver in his Cardinals' debut and you have to give Horacio a rare edge. Weaver was 3-10 with a 6.29 ERA during his stint with Anaheim. St. Louis hopes a return to the NL will turn around his fortunes. Maybe. But hopefully not tonight. Atlanta has won 5 in a row and 9 of 11. Perhaps this is the June/July extended winning streak that Bobby Cox seemingly pulls off every year.
Moving right along, and continuing our photo tribute to female athletes, here's Russian beatuty and 2004 French Open tennis champion Anastasia Myskina.
posted by Jeff Briscoe @ 1:56 AM
7 Comments:
Ramirez vs. Weaver? To quote the late, great Gorilla Monsoon, "That's a main event anywhere in the country."
Not.
They are still behind seven other teams for the wild card and even with reeling off 10 of 13, they are still 6 games under .500.
Abd they still haven't made the pitching move they need to make. If they do not make a move to get more pitching, they will not get to .500. Even so they may not make a move if they don't feel it is realistic.
Three against the Cardinals, four follow against the Phillies. If they go 5-2 (which would run them to 15-5 over the past 20) then they can re-enter the discussion.
It's a nice move so far, but to quote the Wolf, let's not start sucking each others' ***** quite yet.
Mike, I may delight in being an optimist, but you sure do enjoy being the Braves pessimist!
Find me another team who undergoes a rebuilding process while remaining a WC contender (2006) and winning a division (2005) while seeing payroll slashed from near $100 million (2003-2004) to $75 million (2006).
Certainly not the Mets. While Minaya has put together a good team, consider the down years following the break-up of the 1999-2001 team and also the big increase in payroll to being behind only to the Yankees and Red Sox.
I don't expect magic this year. But I will give credit where it's due. And I like what I'm seeing from the Braves. Hope they keep it up. And I'm still looking at the glass as half-full.
Find me another team who undergoes a rebuilding process while remaining a WC contender (2006) and winning a division (2005) while seeing payroll slashed from near $100 million (2003-2004) to $75 million (2006).
The A's manage to win repeatedly while changing their players almost every other year. They've lost countless players to free agency, and yet they remain competetive though stuck with a barebones budget.
But believe it or not I do think the Braves have a very real chance at the wild card. The league stinks, and they're certainly capable of finishing with 82-84 wins, which might actually be enough.
Good point. I agree. If the Braves can be worthy of comparisons in the next few years to teams like the A's or Twins, I'd be fine with that! Maybe spend a little more but I know it won't much greater with another corporate ownership.
They have to get close to .500 first. And I still think it will take around 88 wins, which is what I thought they would have this year in getting it. If it's not them, just on sheer math SOMEONE has to get to 88 wins. To have any shot at the WC, they need to finish the month at or close to .500 - they go 5-2 this week, they are close to it and make up ground on several contenders.
As for other teams - A's, Twins, and to an extent the Padres. However, they keep making moves during the season, and TWX has not shown they are willing to do that.
A nice offensive output tonight - which didn't require much bullpen effort. I wouldn't say I'm pessimistic, just very guarded in being optimistic.
Don't worry. With your "blow it up" post you are in good company by declaring them dead prematurely. So too did Harold Reynolds and John Kruk a few weeks ago. And if Jorge Sosa doesn't work out at closer, I'm see a future for him with a bat. Maybe he's related to Sammy Sosa? Or at least he might share a "strength trainer" with him.
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