Results tagged ‘ World Series ’

Flip Side

I’ve always said it’s hard to be a Braves fan.  Years of suffering through teams that were absolutely no good to years of suffering through teams that were very good but just couldn’t get the job done.  I’m starting to feel like that’s what this team is…very good and very bad.  The Braves have always been bipolar.

This morning the Braves are now 0.5 games BACK of the Phillies.  For the first time since May, the team is no longer leading the division.  The Braves reached the flip side by losing to the Pirates.  The Pirates people.  In the meantime, the Phillies have been winning against the Marlins, something the Braves are seemingly incapable of doing this month.  

It is now September 8. There are now only 22 games left in the regular season.  The Braves have another game with the Pirates tonight and then a 4 game series with the Cardinals at home. After that, they have Nationals, Mets, Phillies, Nationals, Marlins, and Phillies to wrap up the season.  Two series with the Phillies.

Just last week I thought that the season would come down to the last series with the Phillies, but now that they are on the flip side, both series can mean the season.  Add in all the in the division games, and the Braves getting behind puts them in a very, very bad position.  The flip side is no place to be come the middle of September.

Deborah Horton Writing

All About The Short Term

In their recent trades, the Braves have shown they are all about the short term.  It is obvious that the Braves have one goal for this season – to go to and win the World Series.  The Derrek Lee trade only serves to reinforce that goal.

Lee is another short term pick up along the lines of Alex Gonzalez.  Neither one is meant to be a long term prospect.  Neither one is meant to be a team building block.  The Braves have depth.  They have a farm system second to none.  They aren’t picking these guys up to carry them into the next 5 years or even the next 1 year.  These pickups are all about the short term, the right now, the next week.
DLee has always been a favorite player of mine.  He works hard.  He does his job well.  He’s a team player.  He’s a professional.  This is just what the Braves need.  Sure his production has dropped a bit, but not all that much considering he is almost 35  But  he can still hit the ball and he plays a great first base.  
Here are DLee’s stats from this year so far:  109 Games, 63 Runs, 105 Hits, 21 Doubles, 16 Homers, 56 RBI’s,  52 Walks, 101 Strikeouts,  .251 Batting Average, .335 On Base Percentage, and only 16 Grounding Into Double Plays.  These are not bad stats at all.  Especially for a guy who you are bringing in to get on base, generate base runners, generate runs.  He has made only 6 errors at first base in 105 games this year.
His stats are very similar to Troy Glaus’, in fact there are only the tiniest difference in most of the numbers except batting average.  DLee is .251 and Glaus is .239, even still not that big of a difference.  But Glaus’ contributions are unpredictable.  The other night I saw him whiff on a 92 mph fastball and whiff badly.  Glaus is now on the DL for the Braves.
While most people think that DLee was brought in so Glaus could move to 3rd base and that that would somehow help his hitting, I don’t see that at all.  Moving Glaus around isn’t going to help his bat.  The Braves have been platooning 3rd for the better part of this year due to Chipper’s injury battles.  And the players who have come in have been great.  They can play the position AND they can hit.  In all honesty, with DLee coming in I can’t see much need for Glaus at all except on an every now and then basis.  
What this move gives the Brave is options.  Options to make the very most of the talent they have in this run to the World Series.  It gives them options of playing guys here and there and moving things around to get the very best producing lineup they can field on an every night basis.  This is what it takes to get to the World Series and win and the Braves are all about that goal and all about the short term.  DLee just helps that goal along.

McCann To The Rescue

The National League was rescued from All-Star patheticness last night by one Brian McCann.  His bases clearing double led to a 3-1 NL lead and the win. McCann may not have only rescued the NL but the Braves who just may find themselves in the show come October.

Charlie Manuel, for all his mispronouncing of All-Star roster players names, made an obviously correct choice by putting McCann in to play for his offense. McCann is a great catcher, but his power and productivity at the plate made him the perfect choice to insert into the game.  It made Manuel look like a genius.

Joe Girardi on the other hand may be answering the why didn’t you put A-Rod question in for the next 6 months maybe longer.  Even Manuel expected A-Rod to come into the game in the 9th.  Not sure what Girardi was thinking, but obviously his choice worked out far more poorly than Manuel’s did.

McCann did what McCann does for the Braves day in and day out – generate runs.  He put the ball where it needed to be in order to score the men on base.  By doing so, he may have helped the Braves more than even he knows right now.  As the Braves are still in 1st place and have a real shot at the post season, McCann could have just secured home field advantage for his team in the biggest series of the year….wouldn’t that be sweet?

Overall, I thought the game was quite good.  It was a reflection of what MLB has been about all year this year – great, great pitching and the player who comes through in the clutch to win a tight game by just a run or two. Have to say though, I did love me some McCann to the rescue!

Deborah Horton Writing

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