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KK picked up another loss tonight.  He pitched 6 innings and gave up 3 runs.  Chavez gave up 3 runs in less than 2 innings of work.  Since the Braves were losing when he left, KK gets tagged with the loss.  The Braves ended up with more runs than the Marlins had at the time KK exited.  It seems to me that there should be some discretion on the part of official scorers to award a loss in a case like this to Chavez.  Opinions?

Joe and Boog were talking about Skip today and it reminded me of a great memory.  Skip and either Ernie or Pete ( I think it was Ernie) were calling the game.  The camera man panned over to the other teams dugout (Phillies?).  You see guys pointing at each other and laughing, moving away from each other, and holding their noses.  One guy put a towel over his head.  It took Ernie (or Pete) a minute to realize that someone had farted.  They laughed for the rest of the half inning.  They couldn't get through without breaking up every few seconds.

Does anyone else remember this?
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Inspired by the rhyme fanpost, I decided to start one about sitcoms starring current or former Braves.  For example:

Mike Hampton stars in Hampton's Inn.  Hotel owner Mike Hampton finds wacky new ways to injure himself each week in this slapstick comedy.  With special guest stars, J.D. Drew, Nick Esasky, Bruce Sutter, and Jody Davis.  Ozzie Virgil plays the wacky neighbor.

Bobby Cox stars in a Curb Your Enthusiasm style show called Bobby Cox Gets Thrown Out of Life.  On Showtime.

He suffered a leg injury in spring training and had very few at bats.  When the season started, he wasn't hitting well and because he was careful with his injury some fans showed him no mercy.  There were lots of personal criticisms about how he lacked heart.  He's not a good defensive outfielder and it would be nice to have a guy who hit 30 homeruns in left instead.  Still this is a guy that had already had a major league career that anyone could be proud of.  He deserved more respect than he got early on.  I'm glad to see him turn it around and see people warm up to him a bit.

I know that he has some bad moments and is sometimes in Bobby's doghouse, but sometimes Escobar shows some real baseball intelligence.  He threw out a Marlin who wasn't paying attention.  He has taken bases when players lost focus.  Once in a spring training game he deliberately dropped a soft liner in order to try to start a double play.  The umpire started chewing him out for it.  He's the kind of guy that would get you with a hidden ball trick.  I dig that about him.

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I'll be going to Atlanta to see a couple of games during the Mets series.  I haven't booked my hotel yet.  Any suggestions?  Some things that I'm looking for are:

a.  Cheap and walking distance to the stadium  

Or

b.  Cheap and not too bad a drive

Do you know of any places that offer shuttles to the games?  Or a nice place that is close to public transportation?   I don't care too much about frills.  As long as the place isn't a complete dump, I'm not too picky.  I would appreciate any suggestions.

Scenario one:  Runners on 1st and 3rd, one out.  Non-power hitter A  grounds to shortstop for an inning ending double play.   

Scenario two:  Same situation.  Power hitter B hits ball in the air for an out.  Runner from 3rd scores.  Next hitter singles.  Following hitter strikes out. 

Let's say that these hitters come up 4 times in a game with the exact same scenarios.  A tends to hit the ball on the ground, B tends to hit the ball in the air.  Hitter B can strikeout three times and hit a homerun.  Or he can strikeout twice, homer and fly out.  He would drive in 3 or four runs in these cases.  Plus the inning is still alive in both cases.

When I watched the Braves last year, I saw an awful lot of hitter A's.  In the scenario I described, it seemed that they usually hit the ball on the ground (or struck out).  Since most hitters don't hit 400, they usually did something less than 2 for 4 in those situations.  But assuming that they did hit .400 they would be responsible for driving in 2 runs.  Again, that's with them hitting .400

This isn't based on stat analysis.  This is based upon my observation as a fan that watched a lot of games.  The Braves were a station to station team.  Not much speed.  Not much power.  Not much sucess in the scenarios that I described.

There is nothing wrong with a guy who might walk or might get a single.  The odds say that  it is hard to win when most of your players are that guy. 

I would like to get some feedback on something:  It seems like there are quite a few relief pitchers (several closers or former closers) on the market.  While starting pitching is the Braves big need, suppose that they signed a high quality closer/set up man and then moved Manny Acosta into the starting rotation.  I have heard talk previously of moving Acosta into the rotation.  I like his stuff, and I think he might be one of those guys who just does better starting.

What do you think of the idea?  If you like it, what free agent reliever should the Braves target to take Acosta's spot in the pen?

Will anyone try to acquire Hampton in the next few days?  Close races, pitching injuries, etc. might mean that a good 5th starter may mean the difference in getting into the playoffs and staying at home.  Would the Mets deal for him (or a Braves reliever)?  Would anyone besides the Phillies block a deal (if they fell behind the Mets in the standings)?  Not sure how the money, waiver, etc. would come into play with a Hampton deal.  Any thoughts on the matter?

I was at Sunday's game.  I had a lot of fun catching up with some old college friends.  It was nice beating Ben Sheets and Campillo was good as usual.  I"m thinking (hoping) that he is more than a one year wonder.  I have been really really impressed by him this year.

Saturday Charlie Morton threw a really good game until late.  I'm feeling a little better about  the outlook for next year.

I am I the only one that has had it with the holier than thou attitude of some stat guy types?  I occasionally read Firejoemorgan.com sometimes.  I agree that that statistical analysis is important and that stats tell a lot of the story.  What I don't like is the snarky, we know everything attitude that some stat heads have.    To me this a manner of balance.  Please don't think this is a shot at everybody who is into stats or the use of stats.  It is not at all.

The last few years with the Braves has seen like a case of trying to piece together a puzzle.  Lots of good pieces that don't seem to fit together just right.  Some thinking out loud:

KJ at 1st, Prado at 2nd, Escobar SS, Chipper 3rd, Mac C, Blanco CF, Frenchy RF, and a slugger brought in to play left.

Pros:  Better up the middle defense, KJ and Frenchy could both have better years .  Blanco is developing into a true leadoff man.  Escobar could have a breakout season if healthy.

Cons:  Someone made the comment that KJ is not the player the organization thinks he is.  This may be true.  Frenchy may not improve and will always strike out a lot.  Chipper will always miss a lot of games due to injury. 

To me, something in that equation is missing.  Even with a power hitting left fielder, I think they need another power bat from outside the organization.  Picking up one power bat in the off season shouldn't be that hard.  Picking up two might be.  If so, who do you replace, who do you get and how, etc.?