Archive for June, 2011

The Braves are off today basking in a sweep of the Mariners that included beating a resurgent lefty Erik Bedard (4-6, 3.00, 1.111),  the star of their pitching prospects the superb Michael Pineda (7-5 /2.08/1.029) and last year’s AL Cy Young winner Felix Hernandez (8-7,3.35. 1.194). No mean feat as the M’s have been playing well of late. June was a good month for the Braves in spite of the loss of Martin Prado for for most it.

Hello again everyone! Just a note and link to a nice piece on the NL East Team MVP’s as selected by the writing staffs on the various FanSided sites. Fred Owens was kind enough to sit in for me to write a blurb on Brian McCann, an obvious pick for the Braves MVP (with an honorable mention from me to Jair Jurrjens as team Cy Young, though that wasn’t asked about for the article ). Enjoy reading the article at this site!

Hello again everyone from the wonderful weather of that vacation paradise known as southeast Michigan. When I feel the 80 degree weather and low humidity , it helps me forget about the sub-zero temps and snow of the winter . And speaking of vacation paradises, this post is to encourage each of you to vote in the All-Star game selection process, so that Brian McCann can represent the NL as the starting catcher in the vacation paradise of Phoenix, Arizona and vicinity for the 2011 All-Star game.

I know this sounds over simplified but the answer to the Braves’ offensive woes comes down to listening and learning from Wee Willie Keeler. Keeler played before the “modern era” of course but he was some kind of hitter picking up two batting titles, 200 or more hits in eight straight years and a 44-game hitting streak in 1897.  He hit 300+ in 13 straight seasons and a career mark of .345. The man most folks think of as the epitome of a hitter – Ted Williams – said of Keeler, “He may have been small in size but he [...]

Hello again everyone from what has lately and literally become the sun/fun capital of the Midwest, sunny southeast Michigan. All of you that want a break from the brutal heat, come on up; the water’s fine! Given that the Braves are out west, I wanted to make sure that everyone knows that the game today starts at 3:40 PM EDT. The Braves are scheduled to send Derek Lowe (3-6, 4.33 ERA) to the mound against Felix Hernandez (8-6, 3.19 ERA). While it looks like the Mariners have the advantage on paper, Lowe has shown this year that he still has [...]

Hello again everyone from the summer paradise of southeast Michigan, where it’s about 70 degrees as it approaches 1:30 EST. The Braves “Summer Paradise” tour of the Pacific Northwest continued tonight as well, with the Braves besting the Mariners in an exciting 5-4 contest that featured good hitting, defense, and a little offense too.

Hello once again from comfortably warm southeast Michigan. It’s very late at night, or early in the morning, if you prefer; do you know where your favorite team is? If your favorite team happens to be the Braves, they are in the locker room in Seattle, savoring their hard-fought victory.

Hello again everyone! In spite of the best efforts of Delta Airlines, I have made it back to Michigan in one piece, only slightly battered and bruised! Speaking of battered and bruised, I think it’s safe to say that the Braves offense and its batting coach Larry Parrish are battered and bruised by all the negativity coming through both traditional media and the blogosphere. I guess when you perform at the level they have versus the expectations of their fans, you have to expect this kind of reaction.

They say what goes around comes around and it came around quickly for the Braves last night as they whipped the Padres’ tail and Jair Jurrjens notched his 10the victory of the year.  You’ll read better game reports in the AJC or from your favorite reporter. The big news – on a night where Fredi Gonzales and Frank Wren both came out in support of Larry Parrish – was that the Braves bats returned with a vengeance as they responded to their partially self inflicted ass whipping on Friday by returning the favor in spades.

Hello again everyone! Just a quick bookkeeping update for everyone: Joe Mather, who was placed on waivers for the second time by the Braves last week, has elected to take his services elsewhere rather than to accept an assignment to AAA Gwinnett. Mather, who hit only .213 in limited playing time with the big club, actually showed flashes of the potential that both the Braves and the Cardinals before them were sure he possessed. In my opinion, though, he has yet to regain either the strength or the confidence he had before breaking his wrist as a Cardinal. Though he [...]