SB Nation User Blog: traphicg

HeLowe heLowe heLowe!!!

traphicg — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 18:50:14 -0000

I know i havent been around much at all in several months, but I finally took some time to read up a LOT about Lowe, the Smoltz sitch, and even back to Furcal. So, i feel up to date and ready to go. I wanted to drop a piece about Lowe, and maybe someone will holler back.

I'm very pleased with this deal. I'm impressed with Lowe's attitude, despite being a Boras client, and he seems appreciative that the Braves just basically gave him whatever money ol' Scotty wanted. So with that, I am confident he'll bring good rapport and very good clubhouse assistance, leadership, etc... he was always a class-act guy, and you felt like you rooted for him from afar. I remember switching to alot of those dodgers games when AJ, Furcal, and Betemit were playing, and Lowe was a good dude to see up there.

Compared to the other options, i'm VERY happy. Peavy was a blown deal and a disaster from the get go, and on the Braves homepage, he breaks it down really nicely about the costs and years per Burnett, Peavy, and Lowe. It seems like we paid what we could expect, but ended up SAVING money, and guaranteeing LESS years than we almost had to. It seems great!!

Almost done - Smoltz leaving is sad as hell, but its not so clear who's "really" being the "baby" in this. Lowe can bring good leadership and skills, similar to Smoltzie. And if he's still trucking away the way he was until recently, Lowe should be able to continue his regimen and stay healthy for this contract.

And, hello??!!?!?? What about when Huddy comes back? If all goes well, we would have the two best sinkerballers in the MLB! Our 1-2 punch would be great, and game time would probably average 2 hours!!

But the final point comes back to his attitude. If pitchers go to the Yankees, it would'nt have been a good match with us anyway. Perhaps i'm sour grape-ing the AJ and Peavy, or doing the opposite with Lowe, but I just feel good about this whole offseason all of a sudden.

Go Larry....

Mr. Glass.......

traphicg — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 12:19:08 -0000

I'm sure hoping I can fill 75 words while talking about this %#%^ *!$ steal we took from the Rockies years back. I dont know if I need more than a few though.

Ha.

That's what I had originally envisioned.

But seriously, I doubt anyone on here even actually considered his return a possibility. Even through all the stupid BS we've been hearing, about how he's optimistic, Hampton could improve the rotation, etc..., I didnt seriously think we'd ever see him pitch again. So, this new addendum to the Glasstastic Voyage is really a much needed humorous chapter. Funny in a haha way, not in a "I better laugh or I'll cry" way we're so familiar with.

I think the Braves need to get their asses beat. Someone should throw at their heads, behind them, whatever, but get them charged up. I dont recall seeing one before, but if the Bravos had a bases clearing brawl, and it went either way, I think that might charge them up into playing as a ^#%$ team for a change.

Doubleheader last night

traphicg — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 03:31:43 -0000

I just thought that a new fan post about last night's game would be more effective than adding to that thread. And, I guess, I'm assuming that people want to talk more about last night's awesome marathon. At least I do, or would want to point out a few things. It was RIDICULOUS! It was awesome at times, and excruciatingly tense and boring at others.

Yunel went 4-9!!!!!!! Thats crazy.

Mac came in late, really late, and still went 0-5. What's up with that?

Chip, of course, manages to turn a 9-plate appearance into an amazing line. Wow. I saw it and I dont believe it. 3-5, 4 BB, HR, 3B, 2 RBI, 3 R..... COME ON MAN!!!!!!

Gonzo, wow, his snake charm is something else. I mean, when its a save opp, he is just ALL over it. Its like he's feeling the ball and pitch surge through him, he's just SO anxious and ready to pitch, he wants it so bad, all while he's almost taunting the batter. He's just like begging them to step in, they dont even have to be ready. In fact, often, they're so off their timing that they just get locked up. He shut Beltran down last year near the end for him, and I remember thinking these same exact thoughts. I LOVE THIS GUY!!!! I've liked him since the get go, and wished he was the 8th inning man, when they had Gonzo-Rafi-whomever that i dont remember right now.

I'm just totally for this guy, and we should be locking him up good. We cant wait around for Smoltz to see if he'll be the closer, and Rafi's "mysterious" aches are too reminiscent of my old school homeboy Steve Avery. "Uhh, where'd my speed go?" Yeccchhh, i'm worried for him.

11 INNINGS of scoreless relief!!!

Again, I saw that with my own eyes, and just flat out cant believe it. As a matter of fact, it sort of pisses me off with this proof that our team IS good, and that they just dont play well together, per se.

Yeah, so's i was just thinking i would get down on this first, since, i figured, if I devoted 4+ hours to baseball already, I should give it a little more. You know, close it out right.

Those damn Astros and their need to play epics with us.

Happy trails.

Only one more for Huddy....

traphicg — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 02:38:42 -0000

Now, granted, when Smoltzie and Glavs (and Mr. Glass) were slated to be in our rotation, I had even loftier expectations for Hudson - i thought maybe if pressure was taken off of him, he could relax and get his true ace form back. But, as the season grew, and injuries SURMOUNTED even the biggest skeptic (read: Mets fan) prediction, I've sort of slated Hudson for a nice run this year with a lot of wins and few losses - and the ever present woulda-been's, blown-by-whomever-tonight bullpen fiascos leading to the no-decisions.

So, in my head, i've had Huddy lined up to go something like 18-8, 20-6, 19-7, etc, for the season. I think that's reasonable to assume someone in his shoes should strive for at least.

But now i'm looking at those loss totals, and averaging them out (i mean, i'm not Beard, but I do think I remember how to figure an average from 3 numbers) scares me. By my calculations, Huddy better start winning and hoping for no-decisions, b/c he's on pace to have HELLA losses. I'm not bashing him, not at all, I love the guy. He gives it his all, its his life, he wants to succeed, and he's not FYF.

I guess I'm trying to start a new conversation about Huddy, to see what everyone else is thinking. B/c damn, he's the guy we all thought was the sure-fire W, the dude who you knew would bring it home. And lately, victory is being spelled J-U-R-R-J-E-N-S.

8-6...... damn......

"...occasional lumps..."

traphicg — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 05:41:26 -0000

I didnt actually think reading about the Braves tonight was going to make me feel better, but I was cracking UP at this... LOL!!!! This is classic - from the same mailbag about the Tex trade:

Manny Acosta and Blaine Boyer are still learning and that's why they're taking their occasional lumps in some pressure situations.

Oh, occasional lumps? Like, "occasionally" Acosta gets a strike? Or like FYF "occasionally" strikes out with men on?

Injury update: Can you guys help me out please?

traphicg — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 17:00:12 -0000

I've been trying to keep up. I have, honest. But, with the 6 game sweep, and the road trip with the Halos lingering, i took a few days off of Braves. Thankfully, too, since they won a series actually.

But part of this Braves fast, even before it included the actual games, was that I stopped reading all the reports, articles, and seemingly by-the-minute injury updates.

What this post is intending, is to have all our injury info on one post for quick reference. Currently, i feel like I have no idea what's going on. I see posts about Hampton and Glavine in the same sentence. I see Soriano gone. Gonzalez? Who? I didnt even catch a follow up about Smoltzie.

So, it would really help me out if we could get this all out here. Who is injured, why, and what is the expected outcome? Desired outcomes maybe should be held off on until we can get the facts straight.

Thanks ya'll, whoever will end up posting a lot.

Minor League Rehab Assignment x 3

traphicg — Fri, 16 May 2008 02:58:15 -0000

SHOP THEM ALL!!!! SHOP OFF EVERYONE!!!!!

Seriously though. Potentially, we have the somewhat near future gifts of both Gonzo and Rafi, AND SMOLTZ coming (back) to our bullpen. That is a VERY enviable bullpen. When we had Gonzo, Rafi, and Wicky as our 7th and 8th and closer, it was working really well. Gonzo has closed before, and did well. Someone else can posts the stats. Rafi is the bomb, we all know what he's capable of. And, if Smoltz can do it while not running on fumes, maybe we'll have the only real lights-out closer around.

When a healthy Gonzo is your 7th inning man, that's a solid bullpen. (I like him more than Rafi though, so i'd actually put him 8th)

Therefore - why not try to ship off our boatload of shitty, unreliable relievers? As i'm typing this, I realize that we wouldnt get shit of a starting pitcher for what we have and what's out there, and I cant think of a position that we would need to fill now either (except LF?). Maybe this whole post is a farce. Or, maybe its a ploy to get your creative juices flowing, and to have someone else come up with a good idea of how to dump our soon to be excess bullpen baggage.

C'mon Beard, dont let us down.

NAHWAL NEPOTISM!!!

traphicg — Wed, 07 May 2008 13:29:43 -0000

Not fair!! bigjoe got a point for the most posts?? I'm dying with these picks, my gosh. I pick Kotsay a million times, and stop right when he gets lessons from Chipper.

Smoltzsbeard, jug, and I, traphicg, deserve at least half points. Without any one of us, the whole conversations would have dropped.
Plus, those of us who watch via MLB.TV had to stop during the 9th, so we wouldnt have two bouts of heartburn due to the delay.

Oh its time to sing for '08

traphicg — Sun, 02 Sep 2007 20:56:21 -0000

I'm not going to let myself get so disappointed this year - wasnt it too hard on everyone else also last time? I wont be able to take three years in a row, you know? Especially not, living in St. Louis, where any decent boss KNOWS on Cards playoff games (or even stretch games that are important) that are in the day, EVERYONE goes home early. And you can wear whatever you want. As long as its red.

We've got a good group gelling, Frenchy and McCann are still young, Tex and Chip will still bash next year, Shmaltz and Chuddy will be ace 1 and 2, and we've gotta fill in the gaps. Who knows, maybe we'll get something good, and actually get to utilize Matt Diaz.