From a must-read blog post by David O'Brien:
Braves who’ve been on the team a while say it’s not just their most balanced team in recent years, but already perhaps the most cohesive.
Another good piece of off-day reading. The whole thing will make you smile and feel even more confident about this 2010 Braves team.
0 recs | 46 comments
Nice jab at who I presume to be Francoeur there by Chipper.
Bobby Cocks - March 22, 2010 via mobile
lol. probably Frenchy. it wouldn;t have been at Kelly
Chief Noc-A-Homa - March 22, 2010
Wouldn’t it be more aimed at Wickman and ilk like him?
justincredubil02 - March 22, 2010
Great article,
if these numbers carry over into the regular season, it’s going to be a fun year to be a Braves fan!
HEYJUDE - March 22, 2010
i mean
3 players batting over .400 it sure would lol
drumzalicious - March 22, 2010
Meh, these fluff pieces come out often in the spring and are fairly cliche. Spring brings out optimism, and we also heard the same thing about the 2007 team; we know how that turned out.
However, thanks for sharing, and its just one more thing to get us itching towards baseball starting again.
soup du jour - March 22, 2010
Exactly
Until the team’s W/L record in April (and other months) improves from recent years, all the balance / cohesiveness / chemistry in the world doesn’t matter. We’ll get our answer starting in about 2 weeks.
fphjr01 - March 22, 2010
lol
the team with this opening day lineup?
Matt Diaz
Jeff Francoeur
Andruw Jones
Chipper Jones
Brian McCann
Mark Redman
Edgar Renteria
Craig Wilson
Chris Woodward
drumzalicious - March 22, 2010
cringe
ATLforlife - March 22, 2010
D’oh, I meant the 2008 Braves. The one that was stoned by injuries to Glavine, Smoltz, Chipper, Hudson, Soriano, Moylan, Hampton, and Kotsay. Oh, and the incompetence of Jeff Francoeur.
soup du jour - March 22, 2010
So, the Braves clubhouse is in...
The Best Shape of It’s Life?
Mr. Sanchez - March 22, 2010
The influx of new personalities is the psychological equivalent of of P90X.
!Vive la Francoeur! - March 22, 2010
+1
justincredubil02 - March 22, 2010
I think this stuff is vastly overrated but hey, it can’t hurt
eaheckman10 - March 22, 2010
All those good feelings will turn into fire (not the basketball kind, the bad kind), if the FO sends Heyward down to AAA.
bwellnjonesco - March 22, 2010
I think team chemistry, while intangible, is an important aspect of overall production. The season being 162 games (and hopefully at least 11 more in the post-season) how well the players mesh both on and off the field is important.
DawgB - March 22, 2010
I agree. When a player steps up to the plate or fields a ball, there is more than talent involved. Intangible is as good a word as any. Comfort, not letting the team down, stepping up for your teammates, bearing down, all come from good team chemistry. It is huge for underdogs. The Yankees can afford a clubhouse cancer, lesser teams can’t get past one. Has Milton Bradley ever made the playoffs? Reggie Jackson/Thurmond Munson made it while at war with one another, but it seems pretty rare. I’m a golfer, golf is an individual sport. But every other year they play a team match, the Ryder Cup. Every player at some point talks about “not letting the team down”. Watching a Ryder Cup, you see how good those guys can be, and it’s a lot better than you see week in and week out. And there is no money on the line, they play for a trophy.
bighop - March 22, 2010
Gary Sheffield
Bary Bonds
Ricky Henderson
Alex Rodriguez
Roger Clemens
John Rocker
Those are just off the top of my head that disprove your point. I am sure that there are dozens of others, if I wanted to look them up.
justincredubil02 - March 22, 2010
Thanks
knew I could count on you Justin.
bighop - March 22, 2010
lol.......
HEYJUDE - March 22, 2010
I’m just saying that the “intangible” that you speak of really does not exist. Sure, team chemistry is great, and it is nice if everyone likes each other. It has little to do with winning records though.
justincredubil02 - March 22, 2010
Also, nobody “steps up for their teamates”. They step up for their paycheck and for wins and championships.
justincredubil02 - March 22, 2010
Spoke like a true “airman” :P
bravos1984 - March 22, 2010
You know it.
justincredubil02 - March 22, 2010
I guess every team needs a clubhouse cancer. I stand corrected
bighop - March 22, 2010
Obviously, that isn’t what I was saying.
justincredubil02 - March 22, 2010
I think
some of these names are quite questionable to be called clubhouse cancers, annoying yes, cancers maybe not. also you have a few yankees on there whom he exempted from his argument
Don Draper - March 22, 2010
Actually, I was exempting “big” payroll teams in general, but I wasn’t clear about that. I knew better than to post that, just couldn’t stop myself. I still think a team that gets along well is better off than one with lots of bickering and bitching.
bighop - March 22, 2010
Sheffield was pretty well-liked by Bobby Cox and players
If i remember correctly
Mighty Healthy - March 22, 2010
Except for the fact that he lied to us fans and to the city of Atlanta, by saying,
he loved Atlanta, and playing for the Braves, and had no plans to leave us in the off-season, then he left for a little more $. I really liked the guy and was taking him at his word. I was disappointed when he left.
HEYJUDE - March 22, 2010
I hear you there, but..
business is business. It’s not as if the Braves scouted, drafted, and groomed him. This is the Free Agency Era, baseball players more or less are Mercenaries to the highest bidder. Sheffield had just got the shaft from the Dodgers before that when they opted to pay what they did to Shawn Green and not him.
Mighty Healthy - March 22, 2010
Has Milton Bradley ever made the playoffs?
Yes, and he’s hit well.
dutchschultz - March 22, 2010
Thanks
I had no clue
bighop - March 22, 2010
I have always thought chemistry is overrated, but I love Eric Hinske’s comment from an earlier video at the Braves web site, something along the lines of “we got white dudes, black dudes, latin dudes, Japanese dudes…” Priceless line.
Ray Steele - March 22, 2010
not to mention a God too.
Scott Coleman - March 22, 2010
Ol' Thundermuffins hisself out in right field
J-Freak - March 22, 2010
I read that with the voice of Bubba from Forrest Gump.
justincredubil02 - March 22, 2010
Dudes on a stick, dude stewwwwww…
oVecKid - March 22, 2010
Haha yea, Chip is def talkin bout Francouer…I don’t know how much more of this anticipation I can take, can’t wait to be sittin in right field April 5th!!!
ClemsonBrave - March 22, 2010 via mobile
Kind of a slow day on the blog...
Scott Coleman - March 22, 2010 via mobile
Atlanta Braves, Armed and Dangerous. Read up. It says it’s written by some ’fella named Martin Gandy. I think he writes pretty well.
Actually, great job gondeee, I really liked it. Although I’m going to respectfully disagree and say that this rotation is just below the ’90s rotation
GoBravesNY - March 22, 2010
Nice read
I feel it’s a little optimistic about Saito and our bullpen in general, but most know I’m not as crazy about our bullpen as others.
I also think it’s a little out there to compare Glaus to Tex, but if he stays healthy and his hitting, Glaus will certainly help the middle of our lineup.
Besides that, I agree 100%
Scott Coleman - March 22, 2010 via mobile
I poorly wrote that 2nd part
MG didn’t compare Tex and Glaus, but the role each guy will play in the lineup. And while I really like how Glaus has swung the bat in Spring Training, I’m a little worried about how his surgically repaired shoulder and 34 year old body will hold up for 162 games. That’s all.
Scott Coleman - March 22, 2010 via mobile
Great article.
DawgB - March 23, 2010
Considering the article linked here the other day...
showing those 90s rotation as so much better than the rest of the league, this year’s staff is nowhere close. It could still be the best in the division or even all of MLB, but those 90s rotations were routinely the best of the past 50 years.
Mr. Sanchez - March 23, 2010
Yeah…when the likes of Denny Neagle and Kevin Millwood are your 5th starters you know you’re doing something right.
soup du jour - March 23, 2010
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