Back in the Playoffs and Superstition

I am not generally a superstitious person except when it comes to baseball and even then I keep it fairly low key. Admittedly I have not posted much this year but it seemed like every time I did post the Braves immediately suffered a painful loss of went into a losing streak. I decided to wait until the post season was a certainty before I posted again.

After suffering a terrible collapse last September the Atlanta Braves have made that nightmare a distant memory tonight. They have at least clinched a Wild Card spot for the 2012 Major League Baseball Playoffs and still have a good chance of catching their rivals the National League East leading Washington Nationals….

That was the post I started about 4 weeks ago. I stopped in mid type when I realized I was typing the very thing I feared most. I was feeding into the superstition I had created and while I realized at that moment how crazy that notion was I stopped anyway…just in case.

The Braves did indeed win the top Wild Card spot but with the new 1 game playoff format they were forced to play the St.Louis Cardinals in a do or die situation. They died. I will not rehash all of the details but in summary, the Braves dug themselves into a big hole with uncharacteristically poor defensive play and then any chance they had of a rally was quashed by a an umpire’s poor judgment at a critical juncture in the game. Many water cooler, bar room, and neighborly discussions about that game have taken place since but I finally have reached a place where distance from the event and common sense have prevailed. I had nothing to do with either the Braves great 94 win season or their 1 game playoff collapse.

I have watched other teams and their fans suffer similar circumstances the Braves faced last year leading up to the playoffs, namely the Texas Rangers. I have also seen teams with great expectations like the Cincinnati Reds and the Washington Nationals not live up to expectations many were expecting of them in the post season. Most disappointing was perhaps the Baltimore Orioles who had a chance to take the AL East from the New York Yankees but came up short and then couldn’t capitalize on a weak, confused, and injured Yankee team to move on to the AL Championship series.

As the San Francisco Giants and St.Louis Cardinals fight for the National League Championship tied at 1 game each and the Detroit Tigers take the momentum of a 2 game lead over New York into the Motor City I am really enjoying these 2012 MLB playoffs. I am just enjoying the games.

Where is Kevin?

Last year at this time, Kevin posted on this blog that the Braves had everything well in hand. Then things immediately fell apart. When he started to blog last night after the Braves clinched the wild card spot, he remembered how last year’s hubris destroyed it all.
In a scene from Bull Durham, Annie Savoy (Susan Sarandon) busts in on Crash Davis (Kevin Costner) because her beau for the season has given up sex during the Durham Bulls’ winning streak, and she feels he should give in. Crash rebuts: “I told him that a player on a streak has to respect the streak. You know why? They don’t happen very often. If you believe you’re playing well because you’re getting laid or because you’re not getting laid  or because you wear women’s underwear, then YOU ARE.”

 

While the Braves are still in it, Kevin cannot post. Please continue to visit this site in support of his absence, which is a mark of his dedication as a fan. And remember, I have made him commit to all kinds of other things we are not commenting on here. 🙂

Final 40 !

After last night most Major League Baseball teams will only have forty games left in the regular season. It is still way too early to make any predictions but with the new Wild Card format and some surprising performances these last 7 weeks of baseball should prove to be very entertaining.

There are no clear cut, runaway division leaders in either league at the moment. Currently the largest lead by anyone is the Cincinnati Reds with a 6.5 game lead over the Pittsburgh Pirates and the slimmest lead is held by the San Francisco Giants with a 1/2 game lead over the Los Angeles Dodgers. While no lead is safe or insurmountable it is better to be chased than to be the chaser this time of year. All six of the 2011 division winners were leading their respective divisions at this same point last year, not that it means anything.

People who pontificate about baseball on television and the radio , write about it in newspapers and online, or just like to argue about the sport around the water cooler almost always bring up current and historical statistics. Baseball is built on statistics so I understand why these conversations take place but sometimes they go too far. For instance, the Atlanta Braves had lost 14 straight games that were played on a Monday dating back to last season. What!? Who cares, it is just a coincidence. They could have just as well won 14 straight day games played against teams from the NL West on the road, it doesn’t matter!

I prefer to let the baseball season play itself out day by day instead of trying to frame things based on past events. However, you can’t ignore cold hard facts like elimination numbers this time of year especially when your team is trying to fight their way to the top, it is math and can’t be avoided.

The newest conversation piece for the 2012 MLB season is the expanded Wild Card added to the playoff. Now that the final 40 are upon us this topic is picking up some steam and for good reason. I think I’ll save my rant on that one until we are in the final fifteen. By the way, the Braves broke the Monday night curse by wearing their high blue socks on Monday July 30th to beat the Miami Marlins.

PLAY BALL !

It is official. Baseball has begun!

Ok, technically it began last week when the Oakland Athletics and Seattle Mariners played two games in Japan but come on, it is just the Athletics and Seattle!? Neither team has a shot at winning their AL West division or a Wild Card spot for that matter. I’m sure the fans of those two team feel differently but that is the great thing about Opening Day and the two or three few weeks that follow. Every team and their fans still think they have a shot to be the World Series Champions.

I couldn’t watch those games in Japan because they came on at 6:00am in the morning so they don’t really count for me. However, last night the Florida Marlins…oops I mean the Miami Marlins christened their new stadium, new name, new uniforms, new players, and new coach by opening the season against the reigning World Champion St.Louis Cardinals. Marlins Park, or whatever they are calling it, is a great looking facility. It is sleek, modern, and practical but the decor leaves something to be desired in my opinion. The lime green walls are a bit much and there is a hideous sculpture just past the left-center field wall that is supposed to light up and move and make noise when a Marlin hits a home run. Maybe it will look really cool but unfortunately no one got to see it in action last night because the Marlins lost 4-1 and their one run did not come via a home run.

I felt a little bad for the Miami fans because of all of the hype and excitement surrounding the team’s dramatic overhaul and it being Opening Night. My sympathy didn’t last long because the Marlins are in the same division as my Braves so every loss the Fish suffer is good for the Bravos. Speaking of the Bravos…their season opens today in New York against the Mets. It is a bummer that they are starting on a weekday and at 1:00pm when I am at work but I no longer have to fight with my radio to tune in the game. My computer crashed several months ago and was replaced by a computer that is capable of streaming the game audio on line! Looks like I will not be leaving my office very much today between the hours of 1:00 and 4:00.

YEAH!!! PLAY BALL !!!

Too close for comfort (part 2)

The Boston Red Sox and the Atlanta Braves are making sure there is still some drama left before the end of the regular season.

The Red Sox are hanging on to a half game lead in the Al Wild Card and the Braves only have a one game lead in the NL Wild Card standings. While the Sox and the Braves are playing terribly, the teams chasing them are playing exceptional baseball. The Tampa Bay Rays and the St.Louis Cardinals can smell the post season and they are playing with passion and drive to make it happen. The Red Sox are playing like they played at the beginning of the year when they lost their first eight or nine games. The Braves pitching staff if laboring and the offense is anemic.

There are three games  remaining in the regular season and the fate of these four teams hangs in the balance. I could care less what happens in the American League so please wake me up on Thursday morning and tell me that everything is okay and the Braves are set to play the Brewers on Saturday.

 

Deja vu all over again

After I told Joey that the Braves lost their game today he said “Didn’t they do this same thing last year?”.

He must have been paying attention after all because the Braves were unable to distance themselves from the Wild Card competition and had a narrow 2 game lead at this same time last year. Atlanta has a 3 1/2 game lead over the St.Louis right now and it looks as if they are going to have to fight hard the rest of the season to keep that lead and win the Wild Card again.

The Braves are limping during the final two weeks of regular season play. The starting pitching staff is in shambles, the offense is struggling, and the unbeatable bullpen seems vulnerable. Still, they have the lead with their fate is in their own hands.

You gotta hit to run, you gotta to run to score….hit, run, score!

I’m back!  I’ve been watching every inning when possible but blogging has been low on the priority list. With less than two month to go I’m ready to update…let’s start with Atlanta.

The Braves finally got the speed that has been lacking from their offense with the acquisition of Michael Bourn from the Houston Astros. As an added bonus, just before the arrival of Bourn the Braves called up Minor Leaguer  Jose Constanza who is a burner on the base paths. Constanza or”Georgie” as his teammates call him (after George Costanza from Seinfeld) has been taking advantage of his opportunity by getting a hit almost every time he goes to bat.

"Who's legs you want me to break boss?" Joey thinks Uggla looks like a Dick Tracy thug...haha!

Dan Uggla and Freddie Freeman have been the hottest hitters on the planet and have been carrying the team on their backs for the past 3 weeks. The absence of Brian McCann (injury/ on DL) and Chipper Jones (nagging injuries/ not playing regularly) have hurt because even with the addition of speed and the great work of Uggla and Freeman, the Braves are struggling to score runs.

I posted several times last season about the horrible numbers the Braves had with runners in scoring position and they are doing the same thing this season. I have chose not to post about it this season so far because it is so damn frustrating and I have been hoping they can break out of the pattern. They haven’t !?!

The Philadelphia Phillies are not losing so the Braves are not able to make up any ground on them for the NL East lead. Unless the Phils go on a prolonged slump or catch the injury bug like the Braves, then Atlanta is going to have to set their sights on the Wild Card if they want to get into the post season.

First things first, get those runners in from second and third !!!

Congratulations !

Congratulations to the 2010 National League Wild Card winning Atlanta Braves!

It was a hard fought season and the Braves provided some magical moments with some very dramatic late inning wins. Manager Bobby Cox might not be remembered for this season but I think it was one of his finest because of all of the adversity the team faced. There were no doubts about the Atlanta pitching staff but the offense struggled and the defense was uncharacteristically sloppy. Regardless of their weaknesses the Atlanta Braves still managed to do something that 22 other teams were unable to do, play in the 2010 MLB Post-Season.

Way to go boys! Now enjoy some time off but be ready for Spring Training because it is less than 5 months away.

Oh yeah, and congrats to the San Francisco Giants for their gritty, hard fought NLDS victory. Good luck with the Phillies.