SB Nation User Blog: jug

The Kotch comes to Atlanta: Open Thread 7-30 Cards @ Braves

jug — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 23:07:54 -0000

Way to get the open-thread up gondeee. Too much ether?

Let's see what this kid can do at 1B! He's from Florida, so Chipper said he already likes him.

Game just started and no thread so I guess it's up to me.

GO BRAVES!!

The Braves lineup:

G. Blanco CF

Y. Escobar SS

C. Kotchman 1B

G. Norton LF

O. Infante 3B

K. Johnson 2B

J. Francoeur RF

C. Miller C

J. Jurrjens P

Hampton NAHWAL

jug — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 14:35:30 -0000

Let's get some predictions on what will happen today. I've already read a few, including Hampton's arm fly off and hit Brian McCann, but I want to see what everyone thinks is going to happen today.

Since this isn't a real NAHWAL, there will be no winners, but plenty of losers. Feel free to break away from the traditional format of 1.) Attendance, 2.) Pick-to-Click, and 3.) Above and beyond.

Rivalries.

jug — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 04:13:49 -0000

I posted pictures from my Turner Field expedition on facebook and got a few comments worth sharing:

"Great seats! What are the stands so empty...?" -- A Cleveland Indians fan.

I posted an explanation, but basically the point was there were 29,300+ people there, which isn't too shabby for the conditions.

In response to my picture of the pennants with my cocky caption, Does your team's stadium have 14 consecutive division banners?

"That's like one banner for every person that came to the game . . ." -- Same Indians fan.

That was an easy rebuttal, "Maybe you noticed that the 1995 banner in Cleveland isn't red like ours. Why is that?"

In response to the same picture:

"Of the 14 consecutive banners, how many times did your team make it past the first round of the playoffs?" -- A Chicago Cubs fan.

Another easy response, "8 times. The Braves went to the playoffs more in the 90s than the Cubs have in the past 70 years, and there were no playoffs in 1994! How many people alive today can say they've seen the Cubs win the World Series?"

Has anybody had any "discussions" with friends and or rival fans lately?

Two Tickets to Paradise: A Day at The Ted.

jug — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 04:32:52 -0000

I thought I would do my best royhobbs impersonation, and post about my trip to the Ted. For those of you that don't know, my birthday present from my girlfriend was Braves tickets.

Not too shabby! I had to post a picture, not only to show where I sat, but also that was the only picture of Smoltz that I could get.

After yesterday's dreadful game, I was pretty excited that today would be a better game. Afterall, the Nationals are one of the worst offensive teams in the game. Since this was my birthday present, I wanted to make the most of it, so we got to the park early. We went into the 755 Club, walked around the stadium, taking the obligatory photos.

I can't help but wonder what Jackie Robinson would think about his number being next to a giant chopping cow?

Minutes before first pitch, I was pretty excited to see Jo-Jo warming up. I thought to myself, "He's going to pitch well today. Just look at him!"

Maybe you didn't stretch well enough Jo-Jo, because your stuff just wasn't there today. Of course, the strike zone was nowhere to be found either. That's funny, what are all those numbers doing up there on the scoreboard? A short day for Jo-Jo.

Almost as short of a day for Bobby.

That was a bit ridiculous, in my opinion. That was a strike thrown by Buddy, then he didn't appear to do anything but turn away and he got the "the finger" from Gillooly or Gucci or whatever his name was. I understand arguing balls and strikes is an automatic ejection, but what about waving the finger at players? Apparently Mama Guccione never told young Chris its not polite to point. I was pretty disappointed that Bobby didn't just go on a rosin bag-grenade-tirade and kick dirt a la Lou Pinella's rant against the Braves last year. I thought maybe that was just what we needed.

I have to admit, it was hot, but I refused to leave until the last out of the game. I have the sunburn to prove it (I did wear sunscreen, just did not apply very well). The highlights of the game were seeing Chipper and Teixeira up-close and personal:

And Corky Miller lower his batting average:

But the ultimate, best highlight of the day was seeing former Brave and Canadian All-World Superstar Pete Orr pinch hit!

What were we thinking getting rid of him? All sarcasm aside, I enjoyed my trip and my present very much. I am still a Braves fan, although it has crossed my mind to jump-ship and become an Angels fan. Alas, I'm too old to switch loyalties now (kidding, kidding, will never give up on the Bravos). I did get a great souvenir with the $20 merchandise credit on my ticket! Call it pity, or a guilty conscience for all the name-calling, but I saw about 3,000 of these in the Clubhouse store and felt obligated:

My girlfriend will always love you Frenchy!

I'll leave you with one last image to ponder, as I am really not sure what was going on when I snapped it. It appears as if Mark Teixeira is holding his stick. Potentially a new victory picture, or for defeats, I'm not real sure which.

NOT PICTURED: Julian Tavarez*, jug's vomit

*Credit to Tavarez for the 1-2-3 inning, lowered his ERA to 6.85.

Bonds to Yankees ???

jug — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 04:58:46 -0000

Bonds to Yankees ???

Here is a clarification, for what its worth.

I couldn't think of a better place, except maybe Boston.

Blanton to the Phils

jug — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 04:55:56 -0000

Blanton to the Phils

I doubt anybody will see this, but remember who posted it first!

So, I can't say that this solidifies them at the top of the NL East...Any thoughts?

ESPN: Making Time Stand Still

jug — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 16:38:22 -0000

ESPN: Making Time Stand Still

"In the shadows of Turner Field, terminal cancer patients and the compassionate nuns who care for them find joy in baseball."

Story by Eric Neel

Why doesn't anybody like baseball or Bored @ work open-thread.

jug — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 02:59:00 -0000

I am not sure what irritates me more: 1) two ESPN golden boys, Joe Buck and Colin Cowherd, dogging baseball or 2) that most of the nation feels the same way.

I came across this after mourning another coulda, woulda, shoulda loss by the Braves. I don't feel the need to explain my fanhood, I'll simply give a brief synopsis. I've watched Braves baseball forever. As a 10, 11, 12-year old kid I remember many trying to stay awake to watch the game on TBS. I got older, and I followed but I didn't make an effort to watch every game. When I found out that TBS wasn't going to show all the games anymore, I realized I had taken for granted being able to see every game on national TV. I made special efforts to watch games, since I knew they were limited. The more it was taken away, the more I realized I loved it. Now, I can see every game and I can't get enough of it.

Needless to say, I'm probably a bigger fan of MLB baseball than anybody I know. Which is why I'm on the blog, because nobody else I know follows this team enough to have a conversation. And this brings me to why number 2 above bothers me so much-- so many people don't watch baseball. At least not like they follow football.

Although I've never really cared for him, Joe Buck has a point. Our society likes football because its much easier to be fan. If your an NFL guy, your team plays 16 regular season games. Everything happens on Sunday, and you can see the whole league's highlights during half-time of the Monday night game. College has more games per weekend, but your team actually plays less. You don't have the demand of 90-something games a week from April until September. In football, players can make an impact from they day they are drafted or their freshman year. In baseball, it could take 4 of 5 years for a guy to even wear an MLB uniform. Football players have bad games, baseball players can slump for a whole month. Much more is on the coaches in football, because they hand-pick every play or every defensive set. Managers have less control of whether a guy can get a clutch RBI single to the opposite field in the 8th inning. I feel like George Carlin (R.I.P.), and that isn't point. Everybody knows the difference.

I like football too, don't get me wrong. NFL and NCAA, and I like NCAA basketball as well. My point is not to complain that people need to start watching baseball instead of football, but just to implore other baseball fans: what does baseball need to do to get more fans? What happened to the national pastime (I realize it hasn't been that for decades)? Has good ol' fashion American laziness taken the place of the Great American Game?

I don't think Joe Buck should have said what he did. You have a guy with a baseball pedigree calling national games, and then he basically says he isn't interested in baseball outside of work. I know if he ever calls a Braves game I'll be listening to the radio, simply because I want to hear a baseball fan calling the game. Not somebody doing it because it's their job. Unfortunately, I think that his comments echo much of the sentiment of the nation.

If you've read this far, and you are at work, you're lucky you don't get fired! But what do you guys think? Why has baseball fallen out of favor?

Some recent non-Braves baseball stories of interest

jug — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 00:14:47 -0000

Over the past few days there have been a few interesting stories on Yahoo (I know, gasp) that I thought would be worth a look. Since tonight is an off-night, I thought it would be a good time to post.

1.) 3,494 and counting - By Pat Graham, AP. The content of this article actually annoyed me. Here's a guy that is not satisfied just going to games and enjoying the sport, cheering on his team and marveling in the great players of today. No, he's simply on a mission to collect baseballs. At least he gives a few of them to deserving kids.

2.) Pujols is a faith healer - By Jeff Passan, Yahoo! Sports. Uh, Pujols doesn't talk to God, he is God. That is why he heals so well. Mystery solved.

3.) Ramirez considers incident with team official over - By Fred Goodall, AP. This goes back to my comments about Barry Bonds, relates to the Chacon fiasco and is relevant to the discussions about Yunel. First, Manny is a great player, but the whole persona is something I'm glad we don't have to deal with. "Manny just being Manny." What the hell does that mean? Not only does Manny smack around his teammates (ask Eukilis), but secretaries as well. Now Bonds never did this type of stuff (that we know of) but his attitude seems similar-- both are bigger than their team (or think they are). Now, had Manny had an altercation with his manager, like Chacon, would he be gone? If Chacon had more than 2 wins or an ERA under 5 would he have been released (and subsequently clear waivers)? I don't know, but I wouldn't want either on the Braves. And finally, Yunel's temper needs to be scaled back, because he can't get away with upstaging the umpires. But so far, it seems that he is not directing any of his temper toward players, coaches or staff (that we know of). I think Yunel is just frustrated and really is passionate about winning.

Poem for Hampton by Jeff Passan

jug — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 05:07:49 -0000

Many of you have probably already seen this, but Jeff Passan just wrote an article featuring the all overpaid and under-paid teams. Guess who was a SP for the all overpaid team? Oh yeah, Mr. Hampton. He even wrote a little poem, reminiscent of "Spahn and Sain and pray for rain."

"Hamstring, elbow, Tommy John
Disabled list you’re always on
Mr. Hampton, you’re the best
Working on three years’ rest."

That is all, enjoy.