SB Nation User Blog: royhobbs

This team needs to relax

royhobbs — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 13:48:09 -0000

I was listening to the radio this morning, and there was a discussion about Joe Buck's recent comments about how he doesn't watch baseball, and the radio personalities were calling into question his love of the game. In the end, it broke down into one conflict, and the two outcomes as a result.

When something you enjoy(ed) becomes your job/occupation, can it still be enjoyed?

One said Joe still loves the game of baseball, but because he does it for a job, he doesn't want to do it when not working.

The other said that Joe no longer loves the game.

I'm a graphic designer, and I love my job. I remind myself of this, quite often. Last night's game, I was there, and I stopped having fun by the end of the 5th. So I got up, and left.

Either way, it got me thinking - I wonder if this mindset/idea is on any of the current Braves players? After all, it is their job and occupation as a baseball player, to play baseball; and naturally they all grew up enjoying the game enough to pursue their talents and break into the professional level. Certainly, with the way they're playing right now, it's gotta be hard to enjoy the game of baseball, but a part of me is wondering how much are they taking for granted?

No matter. Like the subject says, I just think that this team needs to relax. (Re-)Discover their love of the game, and why they do what they do. Everyone is playing all stiff and rigid, and it's showing. Batters have it on their head to not screw up, especially #7. Starting pitchers feel too much pressure to hold off the other team because they probably have little confidence that they'll have any runs, let alone hits from the offense. The bullpen guys are being overworked, and also feeling the stress.

If it were possible, the team as a whole, just needs a day off. Don't even touch a baseball, just do the things we as people do in our off-time. Or better yet, do one of these hair-brained ideas that I'd hope would make a team of athletes relax, remember how to win, and/or just have some fun.

Beat Down Someone

I don't care if it's little leaguers, or a high school team. Just bring in some patsies for the current Braves roster to scrimmage against, and (hopefully) obliterate them into oblivion, just so they can remember what it's like to get easy hits, score runs, and get the feelings of success back. I'd say a college team, but at the rate they're playing right now, and the freakish nature of "today's kids," that level of competition might be more damaging than beneficial.

Movie Time at the Ted

Instead of practicing, and giving everyone more to think about, adjust about, worry about, just bring them to the field for some team camaraderie. It sounds very Disney, but there is a scene in like one of the Mighty Ducks movies, where instead of practice, the Ducks come out to skate around and play with a beach ball. Sure, the evil Icelanders come and ruin the party, but the idea was good - just come out and have some fun. If your job is baseball, and you're not having fun, something's wrong.

Everyone's a pro-athlete - more adjustments, more stress can't be good. So I say, take advantage of the world's largest high-def screen at the Ted, bring out the players, maybe their wives (and maybe some season ticket holders coughcough) and watch one or more of the following movies:

For the Love of the Game

I recommend any baseball fan to watch this movie, if you already haven't. Billy Chapel, an old school veteran, pitching in today's game, while balancing retirement, the changing of owners, and his cantankerous love-life, all while doing his job, on the loneliest place on earth - the pitching mound at Yankee Stadium.

The Sandlot

Baseball is at its purest form when we're children. So why not watch the purest form of the game on the big screen?

Miracle

It's not baseball, but fewer moments in sports capture the feeling of victory like this flick does.

I believe that if everyone, the players, the coaches, the fans, can ease up, and relax a bit, good things will happen. Francoeur might stop tinkering differently every at-bat, and start swinging well again. McCann might not pop out every time he's at-bat with runners in scoring position with two outs.

No longer do I want to go sit in section 127 with a mean message for Jeff Francoeur; I'd rather hold a sign saying "RELAX JEFF" or something like that. At one time in his life, Blaine Boyer was the best pitcher in Georgia; I'd love to find a picture of him as a little leaguer, blow it up, and hold it up in the ScumTrust section, and hope he sees it while he's pitching. Maybe it'll get him to laugh or smile, whatever, but relax a little bit, and then he'll throw a 98 mph untouchable heater past Dan Uggla or something.

Yeah, a lot of this stuff sound corny and hokey, but I'm on my coffee high right now. Regardless, I don't think I'm totally off-base either.

No matter, if you've read all this, I'm hoping that for even two minutes, your mind wandered off of the negatives of baseball, and onto some more positive thoughts.

What would you give ...

royhobbs — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 14:58:18 -0000

... for a streak that looked like this?

Me? I think I'd give up a kidney. Then again, I'd give up a kidney for a lot of exaggerated desires, but for an eleven game streak like the aforementioned picture, where we're scoring runs, and winning on the road; after seeing what we've been seeing all this year, a kidney is seeming like a good bargaining chip.

Anyone else looking forward to the upcoming west-coast road trip? Anyone else actually like staying up until 1:00 a.m. EST to watch baseball? I enjoy it. I find the 10:00 p.m. start-times convenient for my evening schedule, where I can do all the errands I need to do without having to listen on the radio and/or DVR games. That, and that I find the late-evenings much more relaxing, and easier to unwind with. That, and that the Braves seem to play very well in San Diego.

Change of Subject: VIP seating

royhobbs — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 13:05:14 -0000

Both Saturday's and Sunday's games, I was busy during the afternoons, and unable to watch the games live, and bask in the player bashing, random subjects, and verbal-through-text camaraderie with the rest of my fellow Braves fans this weekend. And as much as I enjoyed watching Friday's gem by Jurrjens, I was quite distraught after watching via DVR the two following games.

Normally, at times like this, I try to bring the funny, or the positive, or something to attempt to take the minds off of the disappointment of more one-run, road losses, to yet another below-average team we should've beaten. But even for me, it's getting difficult. I'm tired of hearing beat-writers, friends, and ESPN talk about how great the American League is, and how the "Juniors" keep defeating the "Seniors" and so forth. Personally, I think Interleague is pointless aside from teams with natural, geographic rivals, and the rules of game alignment each year seems to change, and defy explanation. But it's a proven cash-cow, which means it will be around to stay.

I'm tired of watching games that seem completely winnable, finish out as losses, and the Braves having left 10+ stranded base-runners every time. The feeling that when men are on 1st and 2nd, dreading the inevitable pop-fly(s) that will prevent runners from moving over, and/or simply end the inning. Francoeur just keeps sinking further and further, and I heard on the radio this morning for the first time, the 680AM personalities tearing into him. And then after the losses, the site will have about six new members sign up just so they can put up fanposts about how much Francoeur sucks, Boyer sucks, Acosta sucks, Norton sucks, the Braves suck, etc, and then never say anything again until they want to voice displeasure. Nothing personal, but it's quite true - hardly ever do I see the inverse occur; granted, we haven't been winning enough, or in a way that it's worth talking about, but Jurrjens was quite perfect for 4.1 innings on Friday, going 8.0 in all...

So on a change of subject, I hope to bring some discussion - and it goes along the lines of VIP Seating at the Ballpark.

I've sat in 46 degree Opening Weekend cold to see John Smoltz out-duel the Mets. I've sat in 104 degree July heat to see Tom Glavine out-duel the Braves. I've sat in 49 degree New England rain at Fenway Park to see John Smoltz make the Red Sox look stupid. Recently, I sat in the 107 degree Nevada desert dry heat, at a minor league game, wishing that it was John Smoltz pitching. But only once, have I ever gotten my hands on the really, really good, right-behind home plate VIP seats; believe me, if they were readily available to purchase, I'd be more than happy to pay for them. But thank Pujols, that one time, John Smoltz was pitching.

For ever Fenway, Yankee, Shea, Camden Yards, and Wrigley Field, where fans pack the house for every game, whether it's against the Nationals or the Red Sox, there are many other parks that can't even sell out a playoff game.

Atlanta's Turner Field is a good example of this scenario - behind home plate, we have the ScumTrust VIP section right behind home plate, now. Cushy chairs, on-hand food service, and the best seats in the house. And three-times out of four, the section is practically empty. I see it at the games, and I see it on television - yes, people do sit there, but the prime-seats, AKA the ones that are on television for 85% of the air-time, are still dishearteningly empty.

Why? My hypothesis is, being former ScumTrust overhead, that a conglomerate of the 3,217 Assistant Vice Presidents within the company are the ones whom officially have the season tickets to those seats, and unlike they do with their Falcons tickets, don't use them. It's too hot. Too much traffic. Whatever excuse/reason, they go unused, most of the time.

Washington DC, and new Nationals Park is the same way - Boog and Joe were making fun of it earlier this season too. While Jeff Francoeur slugged his way to a two-homer, seven RBI day (sigh), there was next to nobody behind home plate to see it.

PETCO Park, when I went just weeks ago, their VIP section, deserted. Dodger Stadium's VIP section, practically empty, while the rest of the covered-areas were practically elbow-to-elbow - heat wasn't a factor that day, it was 67 degrees.

What I'm getting at, is that a lot of parks suffer from having fair-weather/dispassionate/corporate stiffs having the rights to the best seats in the house, while there are hundreds to perhaps thousands of other people, passionate fans, who would be willing to pay decent money for those seats. The team's already gotten the money for those seats, but do they not see the repercussion of visibly looking poorly attended on television?

If I were a park owner, I would like to do one or more of the following:

1. The Mark Cuban Approach - after purchasing the Dallas Mavericks, Cuban realized that nobody was going to Mavs games. He realized that he needed attendance so that the team could generate revenue on its own, instead of having to go out-of-pocket on everything. So he kinda cheated. He took stacks of unsold court-side tickets, and went to Dallas nightspots. He sought and targeted the most attractive, visually appealing women he could find, and basically gave them all free court-side seating to Mavs games. Sorry gals, pro-sports still are heavily swayed this way. Lots of these women took advantage of these seats; dolled up, and went to the games, hoping to catch the eye of an NBA player, or something. On television, male viewers were consistently treated to, along with the basketball, up and down the courts, row after row of gorgeous women in the stands. The rules of attraction took place here, and soon enough, attendance started to go up. Revenue increased, the Mavs rebranded, and with their influx of money, they were able to pursue free agents, and sign guys like Dirk Nowitzki to big-money. And the Mavs have pretty much been upper-tier NBA since.

2. Guerrilla Ticket Upgrading - VIP seats still unaccounted for in the 3rd inning? Put them up for grabs. Like at an airport gate, offer unclaimed VIP seats up-for-grabs at a reasonable, discounted rate after a certain point in the game. Sure, attendance might look bad on television early on, but when the game gets to the key late-innings, behind the plate might actually look like people give a shit. Owner of a VIP seat, and don't like the idea of someone sitting in your cushy spot? Then show up to the game - it's as simple as that. This benefits the team/park greatly, because it allows the opportunity for more revenue, as well as making the venue look good on television. I'd like to think that this would work, instead of having security have to pay so much attention to those who try to sneak down to better seating all through the games.

What do you folks think? Am I just blowing smoke, or can anyone else see some logic in my outlandish ideas? The point of this is discussion, not arguing, keep that in mind, please.

Tomorrow's today, and unfortunately today's an off-day. So there's always tomorrow, and good riddance to Interleague, and it's against our rival Phillies. Kelly Johnson will be two-handing everything this week, I hope.

Injuries ... humorous?

royhobbs — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 18:02:34 -0000

Pujols is it slow today. Yeah, I know we have an off day, before we head up to the great white north, but alright, already, someone post something! I'm bored! I put out my fire for the day, and now I'm kind of on the slow crawl until 5:30.

I was planning on going to Toronto to visit my friends up there, and "coincidentally" go to the Skydome (I know it's the Rogers Centre) to go see the Braves take on the Blue Jays. Unfortunately for me, my friend up there decided to have a little Pujols, and housing me as well would be a little bit inconvenient. No big deal - I've already been to the Skydome a couple of times.

Anyway, onto ways to pass the time - injuries. Yeah, it sucks for us that pretty much our entire roster is hurt, but there's nothing we can do about it. So instead of being sad about all the injuries, I'm going to attempt to try to bring some light-hearted humor into the subject. I know it's not really nice to laugh at someone's misfortune, but there are times in which it can't be helped.

That being said, Exhibit A:

Joel Zumaya, RHP, Detroit Tigers - injures himself playing Guitar Hero.

Between that, and Sammy Sosa's injury-inducing sneeze, I don't know which one's funnier. Chipper reaching for his sunglasses and inducing back spasms is along those lines, but he's one of our own, and I won't bother to laugh about it.

What's your guilty pleasure? And please no mention of Smoltz and the iron...

The Bobby Cox Show!

royhobbs — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 17:47:39 -0000

Here we go again - another one of my vain attempts to divert attention from a loss, and try to get us to continue to love baseball. Yesterday's loss was loss, but I tell yous, it didn't even sting. I don't know if it's because it's sinking in that we might actually be a mediocre squad this year, despite being well in the playoff hunt. Or maybe it's because losing to Ben Sheets is nothing to be ashamed about, because the guy is enjoying a good, healthy season now, and he was just locked in. I wouldn't mind dropping the first game of a series to an ace, as long as we can take the next two.

Regardless, I'll not be joining in the threads tonight or tomorrow - tonight I'm going to go see comedian Eddie Izzard; after the George Carlin death, I'd rather not miss chances to see my favorite comics when opportunities arise (I missed out on Carlin while in Vegas; that was his last performance.) And Wednesday, I'll be at the afternoon businessman-special, to collect my B-Mac Bobblehead, and hopefully see Campillo cruise to another victory against Beertown.

But anyway, on with the diversionary tactics.

Contrary to what many others here feel about Bobby Cox, I love Bobby Cox. In my book, he's free to stay in Atlanta as long as he wants, and I will consider a sad day when he steps down from being the manager of the Braves. So in honor of our esteemed skipper, I present a photo montage of Bobby, doing what he does best - getting ejected. He hasn't done it in a while, it seems, so I'm going to remind y'all what we've been missing out on. Maybe an ejection would get our boys fired up to do some winning sometime.

I think it's because he shows such a calm, ambivalent exterior through most of the game, that makes his ejections that much more amusing. People call him such a great manager, which I won't disagree with, but let's face it - he really doesn't do much that the average fan sees during the games, aside from walking to the mound to relieve Blaine Boyer, sit calmly, staring at a three-quarter angle, and run out to get ejected when Francoeur loses his cool, and starts barking at Tim McClelland or Angel Hernandez

And who can forget the sounds of the game; all the "C'mon ____-ey!" or the profanity that PeachtreeTV picks up so clearly when Yunel Escobar hits a grounder to the shortstop on the first pitch he sees while he runs it out.

But anyway, on with the show.

Young(ish) Bobby

Okay, we got those out of the way - because let's face it, he doesn't look like the above, or anything close to it anymore. Once Bobby hit like 58 years old, he transformed into what we see now on a daily basis, and has looked pretty much the same throughout the last ten years.

The breakdown of an ejection, featuring Bobby Cox

First, it starts off with the approaching of the objective umpire, for some words, not involving any direct eye-contact. Because direct eye-contact to an umpire is a sign of being shown-up. And umpires don't like to be shown-up.

And then, comes the eye-contact. But Bobby's still wearing his Oakleys, so there's still a layer of protection from the inevitable showing-up of the fragile umpire's ego.

Bobby continues to plead his case using hand gestures this time. Notice the continual use of shades to prevent the umps from seeing his irate eyes.

Throwing up the arms is never a good idea, but Bobby's been around so long, he gets a little more leeway than younger/newer managers do. And he always covers it up, post-game, when he describes his respect for the umpires, and how they're just doing their job.

The Oakleys come off, and now Bobby's dealing with the entire officiating crew. Never a good sign.

Uh oh - Bobby's now pointing at things. But it's not at the umpire, so he's still got a little bit of time left.

Notice neither the ump or Bobby is actually looking at what Bobby's pointing at. That's clearly a sign of both losing their patience, and never good for Bobby.

Bobby retorts back with the "are you #()$*ing blind? response. The Oaks are gone, and fingers are gesturing. This can't end well.

And now Bobby's getting up in the ump's grill, trying to condescendingly explain the strike zone, that is getting a little too tight for Bobby and his players' preference.

Uh oh - Bobby's now pointing at the umpire, and that's pretty much the beginning of the end now.... which brings us to...

The Shouting Match, starring Bobby Cox

Shouting and pointing - a lethal combination

And then Bobby realizes that his finger and arm are only getting in the way of really getting up close and personal and screaming at the ump's face, grill-to-grill. This is also coincidentally Smoltz's Beard's current user pic. I love seeing Bobby get angry - it's like seeing our own calm, peaceful grandfather lose his shit and go off on someone.

The reaction from the ump is almost like "I can't believe you just said that about my mother!"

Bobby getting up in Brian Runge for his shitty strike zone against our loveable B-Mac. Unfortunately, Bobby was a trifle slow, or Runge was a trifle quick to pull the trigger, because B-Mac got the boot before Bobby could approach.

And unfortunately, when Bobby made it up himself, he ended up getting tossed as well.

But he doesn't let it go, and then Charlie Reilford has to show up. Notice all the fans standing and/or cheering for Bobby's tirade. Clearly, I'm not the only one who gets a kick out of Bobby going apeshit.

The Toss, of Bobby Cox

"YOOOOUUUURRRRRRRRRRRRREE" I like how Bobby's lips are clearly ready to drop an F-bomb right in this picture.

I think this is my favorite picture of them all. You can clearly see the word "shithead" right on the tip of Bobby's lips.

"OUTTTTTAA HEEEEEEREEEEEEE!" And the look on Bobby's face is along the lines of "God damn it, why did I get myself ejected for Roach-ey and his caterpillar eyebrows?"

The Walk, starring Bobby Cox

And most of the time, as quietly as it started, it ends. But I think my favorites are when Bobby gets tossed after saying something loudly from the dugout. You just kinda see the ump throw his finger arbitrarily, and then the camera goes to the dugout, where Bobby Cox is standing with his arms up in the "what did I do?" manner.

And then after every game, next day, it's the same thing. "I don't mean to show anybody up, I have a lot of respect for those guys" And when some reporter inevitably asks them what he thinks about having the ejection record, he always says "It's really kind of embarrassing."

I found this image while searching for Bobby Cox images. How could anyone hate this man?? I hope Bobby outlives me, and manages the Braves in all those years, forever. Shame on all other Bobby-haters.

"Impact, not stats."

royhobbs — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 19:13:53 -0000

What, are you all working or something?

Pujols is it quiet here today - it's slow over at my place of work, and I've got two more hours to kill before I can bolt. So, something I thought would spark some debate, the subject line:

"Impact, not stats."

Said by the most intelligent man at SI.com, Jon Heyman, about how Curt Schilling is a lock HOF'er, despite having not-quite Dickhead, Greg Maddux, or even Mike Mussina-like numbers. BUT, he has a debatable bloody sock, and gave us one of the most dramatic, memorable playoff runs in the history of our game, as well as having pretty good numbers in his own respect.

What do you guys think?

B-MAC STEALS A BASE ... STANDING

royhobbs — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 02:59:56 -0000

Short, sweet, and to the point. Two animated GIFs, because YouTube can't can these out from under me.

I heart Brian McCann. He plays his ass off every night, shows good degrees of consistency, hits for power, hits for average, and is most certainly the foundation for the Braves of the future.

Best of all, he never hesitates to do things that are considered uncharacteristic for a catcher, when the opportunities present themselves. That being said, here are two little animated GIFs showing the first stolen base by B-Mac since June 21, 2006. Standing stolen bases, no less, which Ichiro himself couldn't do, in two attempts.

Great win tonight. Total Jeckyll & Hyde of emotions in tonight's open thread. Reverse psychology is a beautiful thing.

Free Ticket

royhobbs — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 21:21:53 -0000

Alright. Yeah, today's game sucked too, but at least we're coming home tomorrow. That being said, I snagged some free tickets from a friend of mine, and I'm having difficulty finding a recipient for the second one. None of my local friends want/can't go, so with some hesitation, I offer this ticket up for grabs. Tomorrow's game, against the Seattle Mariners, 7:30 p.m. start time.

If no one takes it, I'll probably just scalp it for a few bucks outside the Ted.

Yeah, it's awkward, because it means forfeiting anonymity on the blog, and revealing faces to the names. But I've grown to like many of you folks, regardless of where you live, so I suppose it wouldn't be the end of the world to enjoy a game with some somewhat friendly company.

It's a good ticket - section 205, which under the shade, and slightly shaded on the 1st base line.

Anyone interested? Email me - creativejock@gmail.com

Rubber Match in Arlington: Braves @ Rangers impromptu game thread

royhobbs — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 17:59:04 -0000

Seeing as how gondeeee is probably trashed in a gutter after too many Wild Turkeys and White Russians, we find ourselves in the need for a game thread, so that we can all stop working in the next five minutes and blab about baseball, veiled wrestling/movie/pop culture things while the Braves try to take the rubber match, and come home with a solid .500+ Interleague record thus far.

Is this enough words yet?

The John Smoltz Show!

royhobbs — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 13:31:56 -0000

Well, before I departed on another one of my debaucherous gambling trips, I said that if our resident Lizziebeth returned to the fold, I would post all the John Smoltz pictures I had. Being a man of my word, I come to deliver.

In this case, it would be more like "All the John Smoltz pictures I could find," on my computer that is, because there's a good variety of swiped AP images, and ones that I've taken myself at games.

Either way, there are 39 images going to show up here.... so hold on to your butts.

Starting slowly...

2006 season - Parrothead Day.

Apparently, it was a Jimmy Buffett themed day, and as shown above, all players were put onto the big screen with Hawaiian shirts. But only Smoltzie got the captain's hat.

And as is the norm, Captain John Smoltz was un-hittable that day, even pitching to contract-year Alfonso Soriano. I was four rows behind home-plate that afternoon, and Smoltzie even complained about sun-reflections coming off a lanyard from a guy four seats down. Smoltz was actually perfect through the first four innings, and went 8 strong, as they downed the Nationals like a 59-1. Or at least it felt that way to my friend, who came down from DC to see his Nationals get blown out. I just remember him exhaling as we left saying "nobody can hit Smoltz."

I also have this propensity for taking screen grabs of things that catch my eye - as the forgettable 2006 season came to an end, the Braves annihilated the Mets in a relaxing evening game, where the Braves were playing for nothing but pride. As shown above, the Braves blanked the Mets, and Smoltz was once again unflappable, as he scattered 6 hits in eight innings, and showing once again how useless he is, Macay McBride closes out a meaningless game.

2007 Season - 200th Win

A myriad of pictures I took from the milestone 200th game against the Mets.

John Smoltz Strikeout Hunger canned food drive

Anyone remember the first optimism story I told? These are photos from that day. Where I scalped tickets for thirst, profited while getting a ball autographed by Smoltzie, and then met and sat with one of my potential future ex-wives.

2008 Season

On this day, John Smoltz out-dueled new Met, Johan Santana in the first meeting between the Braves and Mets.

The 3,000th Strikeout Game

Everyone could feel something in the air that night. Something magical was going to happen.

Austin Kearns striking out, being one K closer to history. He should feel so lucky that he wasn't #3,000.

As we crept closer, and closer to the magic number...

After John Lannan struck out, Felipé Lopez stared at destiny, 60 feet and 6 inches away.

I thought I'd add a whole bunch of spaces to be suspenseful, as if we all don't know what happened. Or be funny. Cute. Or to just be lame.

A swing and a miss! That's history.

And after every milestone moment, I often take images and screen grabs of the ensuing evening/morning's tributes.

And so concludes the John Smoltz Show. For what it's worth, the time is a small price to pay, to have you back, Lizzie. It's not like we're not all going to tune out the rest of the world and our jobs at 2:00 p.m. today. I'm sure no Braves fan is going to object seeing some of the better moments of one of our favorite players ever, either.

As cool as a late-season return would be, I'd object against it if it means that anything short of a 99.999% Smoltz stepping the mound. I'd rather be able to take more photos and post the John Smoltz Show 2 in a future time rather than be stifled with what I've got now forever more.