Posts tagged sports
The Braves, Braves Fans, and Facepalming
Four-game losing streaks are ugly. But “0-4” is infinitely more ugly.
So here we are, just four games into baseball’s 162-game marathon, and the apocalypse has come and gone. Or, at least, you would feel that way if you talked to a Braves fan.
It doesn’t help that the four losses have come against the Mets and the Astros, the consensus picks as the worst teams in the NL. And they weren’t pretty losses, either (if there is such a thing).
Meanwhile, the Phillies are 1-3 and the Marlins 2-3. We should probably go ahead and give the division crown to the Mets.
Coming into this season, the Braves looked like an 85-win team. A good team that could potentially be great, but playoffs were certainly not a given. What keeps them from being great is their penchant for slumping at the plate.
We’ve seen this for a while now. It’s a lineup full of former and potential All-Stars: Michael Bourne, Martin Prado, Chipper Jones, Brian McCann, Dan Uggla, Freddie Freeman, Jason Heyward… on paper, it looks great. But these guys slump, and then they tear it up, and then they slump again. I’m not sure who is to blame for that– or if it’s just the natural ebb and flow of baseball– but we knew coming into this season that it would be feast or famine.
Heck, the Braves are not even two full years removed from a very ugly 9-game losing streak. Boy, was that a fun time to live in Atlanta. Naturally, less than two months later, the Braves sat atop the division, fought their way to a 9-game winning streak, and finished the year in the playoffs.
So, to Braves fans who find themselves scraping at themselves with broken pottery– I don’t blame you, but I have to ask: is this your first baseball season?
Hey, Braves– meet me at Camera 3.
(Image: Mark Serota/Getty Images)
Baseball’s a tough game. We can all agree on that right now. Playing consistently good baseball over the course of 162 games is a task that no team without a $65 million dollar starting rotation* (ahem) is up for. It’s a long grind, and there are going to be ups and downs.
But this is really, really down. A month ago, we all rested easy. I told many people that it would take a collapse of epic proportions for you guys to miss the playoffs. Well, that epic collapse has come and gone. The deed is done, and now, face it– you’ve entered into a best of 7 playoffs series with the St. Louis Cardinals.
You’re 1 game up, so we can say that you won Game 1. That’s a positive way to spin “you’ve crapped away a 9.5 game lead down to 1” (technically it’s a 1.5 game lead, but is anyone really expecting St. Louis to lose to the Mets this afternoon?). Let’s take a look at Games 2-7.
Hope Springs Eternal
I recognize four seasons, just like everyone else: Fall, Christmas, Hot Sticky Days, and Spring Training. And we are finally so blessed to put the sub-season of post-Christmas couch-dwelling behind us and begin Spring Training.
It’s when 30s and 40s finally give way to 73 and sunny. It’s when your favorite team is in action for over a month and remains (technically) undefeated. It’s the “next year” of “wait until next year.” It’s when you check for daily reports of the progress of young kids with seemingly unlimited potential… all of whom are the next Micky Mantle, you’re sure. It’s when you’re free to speculate about all of the breakout players that are going to translate into October glory, no matter how close your team is to the Pittsburgh city limits.
Yes for the baseball fan, life begins anew in Spring Training. The discretions of the past year are forgiven. There are better days ahead. Nothing but sunshine, smiles, and Micky Mouse photo-ops.
Then (insert #4 starter’s name here) takes the mound in mid-April, and you realize just how truly shallow your starting rotation is. And then there’s your Mendoza-line dwelling first baseman, who is still “getting his timing down” in July. And your left field platoon of a utility infielder and a former DH who got poor directions and ended up in the National League.
Ignorance is bliss, so Spring Training is euphoric.
There is one thing that makes Spring Training legitimately exciting: a solid farm system. There are few things in sports I love more than a solid farm system. That’s the way it should be done. Thankfully, my hometown Braves currently have (depending on who you talk to) either the best or second-best farm system in the bigs. It cranked out Jason Heyward last year, but the well is far from dry with J-Hey’s roommate (Freddie Freeman) and three of the ten best pitching prospects in all of baseball (Julio Tehran, Mike Minor, and Arodys Vizcaino) waiting in the wings. Sure, a lot of superstar prospects never quite live up to the hype, but remember, this is Spring Training. These guys are going to be golden.
Then there’s another fresh face in new manager Fredi Gonzalez. Yes, Fredi is roughly 50, so it’s difficult to consider him fresh, but he is replacing Bobby Cox, whose wizened image has been burnt into the Turner Field cameras. I’ve been assuming that Fredi would eventually take the reins for a few years now, so it’ll be interesting to see how the new era goes now that it’s finally begun. But I’m optimistic. Just like Bobby, he’s a “player’s manager;” I’m not always sure what that means, but it just sounds right. It’s got to be worth more than, say, a “batboy’s manager.”
So let’s get this show on the road, especially since this football nonsense has run its course. I can’t tell you how ready I am to hear the crack of the bat, the pop of the mitt, and the creak of Chipper Jones’ knees. It’s springtime at last.
Real-Lee?
UPDATE: Joe Pasnanski in Sports Illustrated just wrote up a great article comparing the potential 2011 Phillies staff to the 1993-98 Braves staff. Great read for Baseball stat junkies (myself included, but I’m seeking help).
Late last night, the Philadelphia Phillies came out of nowhere to sign superstar pitcher Cliff Lee. For the uninitiated, Cliff Lee is likely one of the best five pitchers in baseball. Two more spots in that top 5 would have to be given to Roy Halladay and Roy Oswalt- two more guys who fill up two spots in the Philadelphia Phillies rotation. Not since the mid-90s heyday of the Braves with the top 3 of Maddux, Glavine, and Smoltz has there been such a dominant starting-pitching threesome. However, Hallday, Oswalt, and Lee will make roughly $50 million combined next year, which would exceed the entire combined team salary of those same mid-90s Braves. To the point: the Phillies are buying their dominance. And like whiny Anakin strapping on his Darth Vader mask, the transformation is complete: the Phillies are now officially the Yankees of the National League.
