Talking Chop

If ever there was a must win game,

today’s is one of them

Bob Mackie - October 2, 2010 reply

If ever there was a must win game,

Has been said about every game the Braves have played over the last 10 days…..

Czarcaztic - October 2, 2010 reply

Phillies lineup announced yet?

Rollins SS,
Polanco 3B,
Utley 2B,
Howard 1B,
Ibanez LF,
Victorino CF,
Brown RF,
Schneider C,
Worley P.

leedawg - October 2, 2010 reply

At least there's no Werth or Ruiz...

Why does Ruiz even start?...

Schneider is as good or better than McCann.

We all know Hanson can't hold runners.....

……but what are the chances Manuel takes advantage of that tonight with nothing to play for? Seems to me he’s opting for more speed tonight, with Brown and Victorino getting the start.

tie (schnider has better d)

Yakker - October 2, 2010 reply

I hate Shane Victorino.

MBL1 - October 2, 2010 via mobile reply

I actually wasn’t TOO bummed by last night’s loss because it would be even better to clinch a playoff spot on Bobby day.
Also, Hinske REALLY should be in the lineup.

MBL1 - October 2, 2010 via mobile reply

I agree about Hinske

McLouth may be the fastest guy on the team, but what’s the point of speed when you get HORRIBLE jumps on anything hit in your direction? Hinske can’t be any worse defensively and he’s more valuable with the bat. Braves rarely score runs for Hanson so they need all the offense they can get……a shame, really.

A win tonight could potentially be the second best thing that could happen this year to the Braves.

Bobby deserves a blowout win.

Joseph_C - October 2, 2010 reply

What is THE best? Jason Heyward?

MBL1 - October 2, 2010 via mobile reply

ws

15ks - October 2, 2010 reply

no Braves player has ever faced him

correct at the big league level, but not in the minors. Heyward or Freeman may have faced him last year in AA. I’m not sure about that. But Gwinnett saw him on August 7th, with current Braves Freeman, McLouth, Boscan, and Kawakami stepping to the plate when Worley was on the hill.
http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=t431&t=g_log&gid=2010_08_07_gwiaaa_lhvaaa_1

He got smacked around hard, giving up 7 hits (2 of which were HRs), 2 walks, and 7 runs against the G Braves. Wilkin Ramirez and Brandon Hicks had the HRs. By the looks of it, we’re making a mistake not putting Freeman in there, as he went 3-3 with 2 doubles, a single, and 3 RBI off the guy. Kawakami struck out, McLouth had a walk (then scored a run on a Freeman double) and two infield outs, and Boscan had a pair of infield outs as well.

Good info. Thanks for posting it here. Wish FF would get the start.

Yakker - October 2, 2010 reply

Except DLee is our hottest hitter right now

s.r.j - October 2, 2010 reply

true, but with his back...

a day coming off the bench wouldn’t be an awful thing.

Score some fucking runs for Hanson tonight!

that would be cool.

MBL1 - October 2, 2010 via mobile reply

what are these runs you speak of?

You get them when something you eat doesn’t agree with you. :)

TonyAlmeyda - October 2, 2010 reply

I'm so nervous...

It makes me physically ill. please please please beat the Phillies.

BradPerala - October 2, 2010 reply

Or it could be last night's Jagr talking

Yakker - October 2, 2010 reply

So I guess Bobby is just gonna ignore the fact that Heyward needs to be 3rd until the end?

Eh, at least the next manager will get it right.

ATLandUNC - October 2, 2010 reply

who you putting 2nd?

Lee? yea right
McCann? No way

Fact is once Chipper and Prado went down, no one else other than Heyward in this lineup is good enough to hit 2nd

Ok the only thing I see as acceptable

Put McLouth back to leadoff and have Infante hit 2nd, but I really see no other way of getting Heyward down to the 3rd

-InsertWittyNameHere- - October 2, 2010 reply

Why should Heyward hit third?

well I agree with him on Heyward hitting 3rd

but with the guys we have right now, who are you going to hit 1st and 2nd that would make our lineup any better?

I wouldn't mind Conrad in the 1 or 2 hole....

My ideal lineup for tonight would be:

McLouth
Conrad
Heyward
Lee
McCann
Infante
Gonzalez
Hinkse

But I’ll never see it.

Terrible OBP at the top of the lineup…..

Well, that's true....

But McLouth’s OBP over the past month is .360, compared to Infante’s .299

Conrad just seems locked in from the left side and has decent speed. He’s not the ideal candidate, but Infante is REALLY struggling.

yea I think our true ideal lineup would be if we had Chipper and Prado lol

McLouth
Prado
Heyward
Chipper
McCann
Lee
Diaz
Gonzo
Pitcher

Infante, Conrad, Glaus, Ross, Melky and Ankiel on the bench

Batting Chipper cleanup? Seriously?

ok put him 3rd then lol

McLouth
Prado
Chipper
Heyward
McCann
Lee
Diaz
Gonzo
Pticher

Infante, Conrad, Glaus, Ross, Melky and Ankiel on the bench

Check this... (craziness in 3, 2, 1...)

Prado
Chipper
Heyward
McCann
Lee
Gonzalez
Diaz
Pitcher
McLouth

I actually really like that.....

….and feel that having the pitcher hit 8th makes no difference. But really like that for next year, just replace Lee with Freeman.

Sure.

Definitely swap Lee for Freeman next year. And things could change a bit more if we get a real outfielder besides Heyward….

yeah, he can still drive in runs and get big hits

Sigh....yes....

Infante started slumping at the worst possible time for the team, and completely threw away his chance at the batting title. I’m sure he’s trying and frustrated. Still, it’s highly annoying for us fans. It’s a bit similar to what happened with Prado – they’re both former utility guys who were suddenly playing far more than they were used to. The nagging injuries start adding up and opposing teams learn how to pitch them better.

Infante is popping up at a rapid pace....

….he’s definitely not catching up to anything on the inner half of the plate like he’s done most of the year.

Man, a crooked number in the first couple of frames for the Braves would do wonders for my brain. McCann, Heyward, and Infante really need to step it up and contribute tonight.

I wasn't here last night and I'm sure this was mentioned.....

Moylan against lefties:

.308 AVG
.507 OBP
.481 SLG
22 BB
3 K

So……..as much as I love Bobby and want this team to send him out a winner, that was easily one of the dumbest things I’ve seen him do. Granted the defensive miscues that led to it wasn’t his fault, but Moylan was the worst possible candidate in the pen to face Brown.

You say that... but you also admit Moylan did the job...

SuperNewb - October 2, 2010 reply

Agreed.

He’s generally brought in to induce a groundball. He did precisely that. In fact, what happened last night has happened numerous times with Moylan this season. He does exactly what he’s brought in to do, but the defense misplays it.

I'm not talking about Ruiz at all....

Yes, Moylan did his job with Ruiz. But look at those walks against lefties. Brown’s a free swinger, but Moylan isn’t a guy you want in there in a tie game with the bases packed against a lefty.

Moylan got the ground ball, Conrad went to the wrong bag. But just because he got Ruiz to hit a grounder doesn’t mean he deserved to stay in there to face Brown with the way he’s performed against lefties this year in a very big game…

No Melky?

WOO!

Richard R - October 2, 2010 reply

Amen.

Hi.

Were you around last night? Was that why the team lost so horribly!?

j/k…..mostly

As a matter of fact

I didn’t watch a single minute of last night’s game. I’m a changed man.

Ok, I guess your blood curse has been removed. Go share the secret with KK?

I would

but you greedy f’ers wouldn’t even pay to fly me to Atlanta this weekend! No way I do a service for the community like that without some payback.

The payback is in KK suddenly going 10-1 instead of 1-10. What kind of Braves fan are you!?

A hungover one.

Hello there.

MBL1 - October 2, 2010 via mobile reply

How is life in MBL1’s world?

boring.

MBL1 - October 2, 2010 via mobile reply

Btw, if Hanson struggles early on.....

……just put Kimbrel out there for the remainder. He may walk everyone, but he’s unhittable. With the defense the way it is for the Braves, Kimbrel can make sure nobody puts the ball in play.

Of course I’m just joking, but the thought of Kimbrel, Venters, and Dunn next year just makes me excited to hell.

Dodgers say they would 'listen' to offers for Matt Kemp.....

He’s having a disappointing season and probably has one of the worst attitudes in the game, but he also has some tremendous raw talent. Just hypothetically, what would it take?

I just feel the Braves will have to acquire an impact outfielder via trade. They can’t get into a bidding war for Werth with the Sox, Yankees, and Angels and there really isn’t much else on the FA outfield market.

Crawford?

The Yankees aren’t going to be able to buy both Crawford AND Werth (knock on wood).

With Libery Media being a bunch of stingy bitches, there’s no way we pay Crawford for 5-7 years as most think he’ll get.

I’d love Kemp. Gotta stick him in LF though.

Didn’t you read about possible new ownership?

WHAT?

absolutely

quit worrying about the attitude and get the talent. werth will be too expensive – thats for sure. gotta do something.

llabyug - October 2, 2010 reply

I meant Crawford and Werth.....

…..sorry bout that. I just don’t see the Braves outbidding those teams for either.

I expect Crawford to Yankees, Werth to Red Sox….seems to fit.

Adam Dunn for LF?

[sigh]

LULZ!!!!

If i was an American League team

I would be all over Adam Dunn so quickly it’s not even funny.

No doubt....

A 40 HR, .350+ OBP bat would look quite good in the middle.

Except he doesn't want to play in the AL...

which is kind of important in signing a player. I don’t see why Washington hasn’t extended him yet. If only we signed him and one of the one year deal starters last year instead of Lowe and the Professional.

Anybody for keeping Glaus around next year?

Sounds crazy, but I think he can be an effective platoon candidate with Freeman. Gives him adequate rest, won’t cost much, but they’d have to compete with some AL teams wanting a DH………but there are plenty of DH candidates on the market.

Surely Glaus is past the point of thinking he can be a starter….

Depends on if he could play 3rd...

which he obviously can’t since Conrad is there.

I don't see why he would have to prove he can play 3B....

He wasn’t great defensively at 1B, but he wasn’t completely terrible. And if Freeman is as good as advertised and swings a hot bat, flip the guy to an AL club.

Because if he's on the bench,...

versatility helps. See Hinske, Conrad, Infante, basically everyone on our bench but Ross.

I just think they need some sort of fallback....

….at 1B in the event that Freeman really struggles. Glaus would be cheap and I think he can be an effective bat in limited time.

But compare Glaus to other options...

like Hinske, Nady, even Diaz. Those guys could play 1st “in the event that Freeman really struggles” or if he succeeds also help us elsewhere like LF.

I like Glaus more than all of them

not many would agree, especially as a bench player

See Lee, Freeman, and Glaus right now...

it’s hard to get more than one pure 1B consistent at bats unless you platoon them. And hopefully, Freddie won’t need a platoon and won’t be Thorman.

I have Dish

And Dish and Fox have gotten into a pissing contest, so no FoxSports for me. Is there anywhere else I can view the Bobby Cox ceremony?

Zach Towery - October 2, 2010 reply

braves.com

s.r.j - October 2, 2010 reply

Just to be sure....

A Braves win and a Padres loss clinches the WC for the Bravos, correct?

Yes.

correct

and just a Braves win (or Padres loss)...

guarantees we play after Sunday (play-in game).

I want no part of that....

So long as we play after Sunday...

I’m not going to complain. I’d like to play Thursday too, but just win today.

Yep, just win today and I'll be happy

Ed Zachary...

let the Padres (and Giants) worry about the Padres. The Braves can only take care of Braves’ business.

Perfect scenario:

Braves win today and tomorrow, Padres also win today and tomorrow.

There's no point in cheering the Padres anymore.

The most the Reds can do now is tie the Giants, and the Giants get the #2 seed because they beat the Reds in the season series.

Ummm.....

If the Padres sweep the Giants, they tie for the west. They would then be forced to do a one game playoff.

True.

The Pads have been losing so much lately I forgot they won last night.

Crapballs, i missed the beginning of the Bobby thing. I recorded it at home anyways.

Here in God’s waiting room we get NYY/BOS, the worst of the 3 games. Ugh. I’m hoping the Padres will lose before our game is over so we can celebrate on the field, assuming we win.

Braves game wont even be on TV

How fucking lame

No Braves game
No Padres game

Way to go MLB, Yankees fuck us over again

I like how there's still college football on my FOX.

And I’m 50 miles south of Atlanta.

I don’t give a shit about Ole Miss vs. Kentucky, FOX. Put on the Braves.

Yankees are on anyway

No Braves game

No Padres game

They will delay it until football ends.

So Schuerholz called Hank Aaron the “real homerun king of baseball?”

Yep.

So what is happening in the game since I cant watch it?

How lame, 2 days before the end of the season and I cant watch my Braves try and get into the playoffs

FOX is now showing highlights of the Cox tribute.

not here

here they are showing the Yankees/Red Sux game

Since we’re getting Yankees/Red Sox here, I guess I’ll got back to watching Petit LeMans.