Breather...

I've been busy.

I've still got one more game's worth of pictures to upload, post, and write about.  Last Braves game of the year, last game of Bobby Cox's career... It was a hard-fought game.  And I am so so so proud of this 2010 team.  They were definitely something special.  Somehow, I keep putting it off, because... Well.  Then it really is over.  Bobby's really done.

Oh, and Adriane?  Here's your Derrek Lee trade analysis:  good trade.  He might've been a rental, but he was an awesome one, once he got started.  Second level grand slam against the New York Mets?  Yes, I'll take one of those thanks, with a hefty helping of Mets fans boos on the side.  Music to my ears.  There's nothing I love more than watching my players get booed in a hostile environment, and then having the players SHOVING IT IN THEIR FACES.  That's what you get for booing, assholes.  :P  Where was I?  Right.  Derrek Lee is a BAMF.  He saved us from several potential errors by being a fab-o first baseman.  He played with a torn thumb ligament in the last month of the season... and he not only played through the pain, but he did GREAT.  The best part about Derrek Lee is that he is a class act on top of all of that.  No thrown bats or helmets, no temper tantrums, no screaming the F-bomb, none of that.  He just goes about his business.  :)

Other things I still need to post:
--a graph.  I'm way overdue on a new graph.  Maybe I'll make a pie chart of all my loves... but there are so many... I love so many of them.  Or... maybe a chart showing changing allegiances... haha!

--stuff about fantasy baseball.  Which, by the way, I LOVE.  Next year, I'm going to play with my brothers.  Apparently, when they play with their friends, they impose what they call a "Braves tax."  That is, all Braves players are valued way higher than their actual worth.  For instance:  If one person's fantasy team needed a third baseman, like, say, Chipper Jones, and wanted to make a trade for him, then other party would have the right to demand, say, Mark Teixiera and maybe even one more player, even if Teix is doing better in every category.  Why?  Because Chipper Jones is a Brave, and there is a Braves tax, damnit.  Braves are a luxury item.  OR, if say, one team wanted to swap left fielders or something, a Brave somehow had to be included in the trade, because Braves are the commodity everybody wants.  :P  Evidently, they do an "Atlanta tax" for every kind of fantasy game they play, i.e. Falcons tax, Hawks tax, etc.

--an end of season memorable moments run down, where all my faves are, etc.  And who I will miss... and who I NEED to be back next season.

--discussing why the favorites didn't win... (boohoo, no repeats from last year) and deciding who to root for... :0

--plans for next year. <3 Blue Jays.  <3 Braves.  <3 <3 <3 Gregor Blanco.  :D


SO exciting, right?  :P

Anyhow, pictures coming soon.  I got some good ones, in spite of one of my memory cards crapping out on me.

Gwinnett County, Represent!!

(This post was originally started the morning after the All-Star Game, right before the Yunel/AGon trade was announced.  I just needed a couple of days for the fact to sink in.  Call me a big baby, I don't care; I'm allowed to mourn the loss of one of my favorites, even if a lot of fans don't agree with me.  ANYWAY.  This is late.  And I still want to celebrate the Braves All-Stars.)


Last night, the restaurant was ultra slow.  ULTRA slow.  I sat around with my boss, waiting for customers to come in.    But they slowly trail in.  And finally, it was 8:00 PM.  And FINALLY, I could watch the 81st All-Star Game.  This is probably the only time that I will ever root for Mets or Phillies players (besides, obviously, Jeff Francoeur and Roy Halladay, but!  if and only if they are not playing for the Braves or ahead of the Braves in standings...).  National League Eastern Division, represent!  BEST and TOUGHEST division in the National League.  NL West has got nothin' on us!  (Of the starting lineup for the NL All-Stars, four out of ten players belonged to the NL East.  Four out of the fourteen remaining pitchers are players for the NL East.  Five out of the fourteen reserves are, again, players belonging to teams of the NL East.  Not to mention there was one player that declined his All-Star invitation in order to rest his sore ankle (BILLY WAGNER -- NL EAST).  So of 39ish people named to the National League 2010 All-Star team, 14 are NL East players, and 6 of those are ATLANTA BRAVES players.

That's 35.897% representing the NL East... and 15% Braves.  (That's 42% of the NL East players... yeah, baby.)

ANYWAY.  Wow.  That was a long tangent.  So the restaurant was slow... and the game started at 8.  

I was so excited and happy when I saw J-Hey, Huddy, Infante, and BMac.  Omar looked so happy and excited.  Seriously.  He's so perfect.  ::dreamy sigh::  Lauren of Braves Love claims that J-Hey got more cheers than any of the other Braves, especially Omar.  I couldn't actually tell because... I was in a restaurant.  BUT I did cheer and applaud Omar, even if it was only in front of my coworkers and a couple very amused patrons.  The J-Hey cheers aren't surprising, though.  Even Braves fans cheer more for him than anybody else.  (EVENTUALLY I'LL ACTUALLY POST MY OPENING DAY POST... I have most of it written, it just needs to be edited and pictures need to be inserted...)  I went to a game in which Martin had a multi-hit game (including a homer) and made this spectacular defensive play... and still, J-Hey got more cheers than Prado.  I know Martin prefers it that way... but show the man some love!  

And then when they announced the starting lineup for the NL, I was super thrilled to see Martin.  If you haven't noticed, I LOVE Martin.  I've loved him ever since he was on our bench, and I felt only slightly guilty for loving him more than Kelly Johnson, who was my first big Braves crush (that is, when I was older... not like 5th grade crushes).  Martin is perfect.  

I wonder if he is single... Hispanic and Asian babies are BOUND to be cute, right?  must somehow meet Martin... *plot, scheme, swoon*

ahem.  what?  

Oh.  Right.

Excuse me.

So Martin did really well.  He made great plays and while he didn't have any hits, he didn't strike out either.  He made contact with the ball, and considering that each pitcher he faced was a fresh All-Star (and all dominating starters, too, I think), I'd say he did GREAT.  

BMac, though... BRIAN McCANN.  What a guy.  WHAT A GUY.  Pinch hit for Yadier Molina.  And drilled a ball to right field.  A couple more feet, and it would have been a 2 (or was it 3?) run homer.  Oh, don't worry, American League.... so, you got on the board first, eh?  Gwinnett County was about to get its vengeance.  

7th inning, bases loaded... And who hit that bases clearing double?  BRIAN McCANN, that's who.  

Brian McCann.  There's really nothing else you can say, other than "Brian McCann.  MVP."  He drove in the 3 runs that won the game for the National League.  He drove in the ONLY 3 runs that the National League would score.  It was perfect.

I also loved that the National League dug out exploded.  J-Hey was super excited (and huge, good grief).  Omar had this look of "yeah, buddy!  that's how we do it! in the ATL"  Didn't see Martin's reaction, but I bet it was something great. Did y'all see Ubaldo Jimenez's face?  He was ULTRA happy.  And the guy next to him with the funky glasses pumping his fist?  Who is he?  I don't know, but I like him.  That's right, man.  Cheer your heart out!  :)


How fitting that a member of the first-place Atlanta Braves would be the reason the NL won?  Yeah, baby.  He's from Gwinnett County, folks.  And so am I.


Lots of home-grown talent there. :)

Cute All-Star Related Things (sort of)

GO NATIONAL LEAGUE!!

Omar Infante, on learning of All-Star Selection:
"When my phone rang at 8:30 this morning, and the caller ID said 'Frank Wren,' I thought I had been traded.  I was really nervous, very shook up.  When Frank told me, I thought he was joking, but it is a great honor."

He's so cute.  I can't stand it.

Random useless information I've decided to share:  I like the number 4.  Have you noticed?  Most of my favorite players have "4" in their numbers.  Martin Prado (14), Omar Infante (4), Roy Halladay (34--though he spent most of his career as 32), Kris Medlen (54)... I mean, there are the guys with 4s in front of their numbers (e.g. Tommy Hanson, 48; Jair Jurrjens, 49), but really, I like the guys with numbers ending in 4.  So for Chinese people, "4" is the scary number, the number to be avoided.  It sounds like "death" in Chinese (and also Japanese), but luckily, I don't believe in superstitions like this.  I was born on a "4."  :)

Also, the NL team is STACKED.  Ubaldo vs. Price?  Please, AL... you are going down.  I don't care if you DO have Papi and Wells and Bautista (even though I love me some Jays).  We've got awesome awesome guys on OUR team (and lots and lots from the NL East, REPRESENT!).  

GO NATIONAL LEAGUE!!!!

Check out the pictures from :  http://twitpic.com/photos/MLB

A Better-Late-Than-Never Contribution from a Connecticut Yankee (hah. that's a good one.)

Two years ago, I moved to the cold northerly lands of Connecticut only to find myself in a baseball dilemma - should I also align myself with a team closer to my adoptive city? Local allegiance is pretty evenly split between the Yankees (never gonna happen – see John’s beauty of a post) and the Red Sox (when they’re playing the aforementioned evil empire…otherwise… hrm). Plus, I’ve never successfully cared about any AL team (sorry folks). People would then suggest the Mets. Problem A) The Mets play like girls. Yes, I can say that. I would probably throw a 20 mph fastball on a good day. It’s truly sad. Problem B) More importantly, the Mets are in my Braves’ division – so HELL NO!

After a half-hearted attempt to let the Red Sox grow on me, I came to a decision. Drumroll – screw you guys, I’ll wait till my own damn team comes to town and then piss you off! So there. J Until recently, some silly thing called grad school had gotten in the way of my plan of visiting team fan belligerence, but finally, the sweet sweet days came. My father even drove his (crazy?) self up Philadelphia on his Harley to participate. Oh father-daughter bonding.

Game 1: July 7^th – Braves vs. Phillies

This was just beautiful. First at-bat. Martin –I love you – Prado. Homerun. The Phillies’ fans hadn’t even opened their beers. Bwahahaha. With Philadelphia-native cousins at the game, I kept that celebration to a smirk, a clap, a triumphant stomp, and a wink. I didn’t stay nice much longer. It’s fun to harass family, and after a better evaluation, the big loud guys behind me were all talk. J

And boy did they talk – they booed, they taunted, they tried to pick a fight my Dad in any way possible (even though they loved his –totally awesome- “Jesus Hates the Mets” shirt, borrowing my Braves hat gave it away). Since we were only a couple of rows back and little left of center field, Melky Cabrera and Matt Diaz got the brunt of it. “Melky – do you miss your pin stripes?” Mispronouncing names was apparently very amusing to the drunken Phillies’ fans. Melky, Milky, Mooky. Dah-az, Dee-az. As was calling players by their given names. Larry, Larry, Larry. That’s a sorry excuse for an insult, folks.

Still, what was perhaps more baffling was that they taunted, yes, their own players. And this was not just a few people. It was at least a few hundred people. Who boos and shit-talks their own players?!? For example, Shane Victorino was maybe two feet away from a homer in the Phillies’ first at-bat. A lot of respect for that man’s skill, by the way. Anyway, the next inning when he’s out in the outfield I hear, “Couldn’t make it, huh, Shane? Boo. Hiss. Etc.” Ridiculous. I wasn’t feeling the Brotherly Love, Philadelphia.

Without going into detail that you probably already know, and team-bias aside, it was a good game – never feeling like a sure thing, and both teams were playing with pretty few errors. That’s the way I like it. Sloppy baseball is like sloppy [preemptively edited] … even if it ultimately happens to stumble its way to a positive result, it still leaves something to be desired.

And boy did the Braves satisfy. *Raises eyebrows*

Ahem… sorry, I couldn't resist the opportunity to reverse baseball metaphors.

Game 2: July 10^th – Braves vs. Mets

I never made it to Shea Stadium, but I have to give it to the Mets - CitiField is a nice ballpark (even if it is in Queens). ;) Although the escalator made me feel like I was entering a bizarre and grandiose shopping mall, the (oddly opulent) entrance has giant beautiful windows and is dedicated to Jackie Robinson. Respect.

Inside, it’s a nice, normal ballpark and all New York. Cosmopolitan, but somehow in being so, could not be more American. Reggaeton, Pizza, Bakalava, and Nathan’s Hot Dogs… anyway. Love New York. Dislike New York baseball teams – dislike, I say!!!

As another tangent, there is one particular member of the New York Mets who I can’t stand watching. He strikes out - I’m bummed. He hits - I’m annoyed. Jeff Francouer. Or as we, the Parkview High School grads of 2002, called him – Frenchie. See, I want the goofy hometown guy who stuck pencils in my hair in 8^th grade math class to do well, BUT I refuse to let him get in the way of the Braves winning. That is just not allowed. He should understand. Recently that has not been an issue… strike-outs and pop-ups prevail. Sigh. I also dislike seeing him in a non-Braves jersey and Jose Reyes (grumble… grumble… grumble) wearing his old number 7.

Anyway, the game had me worried for the first few innings. When the Braves don’t score early in the game, it can be cause for concern. We also were making some annoying errors… Chipper… for example. The poor guy got booed everytime he did anything though. And then there was the “Larry, Larry, Larry” chant. Lame. Anyway, Los Bravos tightened it up and pulled it together, and we didn’t let the Mets score. Not once. Still, staying one grand slam away from tying kept things interesting.

Parting thoughts. First, let me say that I adore the cities of Philadelphia and New York. HOWEVER, I LOVE to watch their baseball teams lose, lose, and lose some more! I’m sorry, Phillies and Mets, it’s nothing personal, you just get in the way of my Braves, and that’s a bad place to be in my book. Also, now I feel even less bad for wishing losses upon them since both Philadelphia and Mets fans were not pleasing me in the respect-for-the-game department (especially the Phillies – come on!). You don’t boo people at games. You just don’t. I don’t care if it was even Alex (hijo de p*%$) Rodriguez. No booing! [edit: booing terrible calls and pitchers who repeatedly hit your players is acceptable]

I didn’t get to see Halladay pitch in person. A little sad, but I would have been much more worried about winning that game, so it’s okay. Heyward was injured and didn’t play at either game. Sadness. I love that kid. Guess I’ll have to see another game. Oh Darn. J I haven’t quite managed to adopt Melky to the Braves yet in my mind… he’s still a little tainted by Yankee-ness, but I’ll come around. Diaz seems to have his swing back, which is sweeeet. Prado is most obviously the shit. I will have a soft spot in my heart for McCann (you adorable, Gwinnett County, home-run-hitter, you) until the day he retires, regardless of who he’s playing for. And finally, yes, Infante. I had been cultivating a deep affection for Omar Infante for quite some time, but those last two games made it blossom into a full-blown baseball crush. He’s just so amazingly versatile and solid… and slim… and shy… and boyishly cute… and Venezuelan… and *swoon* *Snaps out of it.* If I hear one more goddamn uppity excuse for a baseball fan knocking his All-Star worthiness… well… I cannot ensure that person’s continued physical well-being! That is all.

Cross your fingers for the NL tomorrow guys! It’s been waaaaaay too long!

P.S. – Although I don’t really understand, Seattle, thanks be to all that is holy that Cliff Lee didn’t go to the Yankees.

P.P.S. – GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO BRAVES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

edit by Alison: added link to John's post and labels/tags. :)

All-Star Game Campaigning -- Billy Wagner

Billy Wagner isn't optimistic about his chances to go to the All-Star Game this year.  He's "not a fan favorite."  WHAT?  I mean... Billy Wagner is one of the best closers this game has ever seen.

He deserves it.  It's his last chance to go.  So get out there and vote!  This time, you can vote as many times as you want.  And... I plan to do it.

So I think the K's in the background really make this "Vote Wagner" picture.  I'm pretty pleased.

Also deserving is Omar Infante.  don't give me this "snub" business.  I don't give a rat's behind.  "Why didn't you select Joey Votto, he deserves it more than this guy" blah blah blah.

No.  Omar is friggin' fantastic.  He doesn't get to play every day, isn't paid a ridiculous amount of money, and basically works behind the scenes.  He isn't high profile and doesn't garner a ton of media attention.  And that's the reasoning he's less deserving?  If anything, that's more the reason to send him to the ASG.  In spite of the fact that he is not an every-day player, he still puts up great numbers, plays great D, and is offensively consistent.  He is versatile, fast, and just plain good.

I can't believe Charlie Manuel is catching flak about this!  Get OUT of here, naysayers.  This guy deserves it so much it's ridiculous.  It's about time someone recognized how good he is.  So thank you, Charlie Manuel.  Show the rest of the nation what we Braves fans already know--Omar Infante is a valuable part of any team.

Campaigning for Martin Prado

http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/events/all_star/y2010/ballot_pop.html?tcid=cp_asg2010_ballot&cmpid=445988&cme=141586

Click on it.  Vote for Braves!  Also, vote for the gimpiest players you can find for the AL.  :)

Being Busy is Not An Excuse

... for not posting about how awesome the Braves are.

You will notice that I haven't posted much about the Blue Jays lately.  They're not doing poorly, you know, but they're in the toughest division in all of Major League Baseball, in my opinion.  The Jays are currently in fourth place with a win percentage of .544.  If they belonged to the NL Central, they'd be in second place, in contention for first.  It's really too bad, because they are playing better beyond anybody's expectations.

Ahem.  And now to transition abruptly back to the Braves and the NL East.  How about some love for our division, y'all?  Only the National League Eastern Division can boast that all its teams have a win percentage of over .450 in Major League Baseball*.  That's both leagues, ok?  Take that, gimpy Designated Hittin' American Leaguers.

And I just want to mention how awesome Martin Prado is, once again.  (He is awesome.)  And thus shouldst thou forthwith go and cast thy lot for Martin Prado!!*  Do it now.  Immediately.  Straightaway. This instant.  I'll even provide the link for you.  Remember, there are less than 2 weeks left to vote for him, and you can vote up to 25 times PER email address.  (I've got 8 addresses I've been using just to vote for Braves and Jays:  3 school emails, 1 personal, 1 resume-y, and 3 spam/old accounts.)  Prado is behind Chase Utley in votes.

Let us compare these two, please.
Utley's BA this season is .260, while Prado's is .338.  He has had 11 HR as opposed to Prado's 6 (BUT I maintain that grand slams should count more... just sayin').  Both players have 30 RBIs and an OBP of .378.  Utley's SLG is .468 and Prado's is .469.  So their stats are pretty similar.  But Prado's the unsung hero, here... even though he was leading the league in BA (batting average AND badassery.  Yes.  I went there), nobody, not even Braves fans seemed to sit up and take notice of who he was.  And the man is getting paid $440K this year.  What a friggin' deal for the Braves!  Utley, on the other hand, is getting paid 34x as much, and the Phillies are definitely not getting 34x Prado.  Moral of this story:  Money is not everything.  And Prado is awesome.  Vote for him.  :)

Also worth noting:  Troy Glaus.  What a beast.  Friends Ryan and Andrew from north of the border (hi boys), fellow Jays fans, tried to douse my excitement over our Glaus acquisition during the off-season.  And in April, he did appear to be... not-so-good.  But oh, then there was May 2010.  And he shut EVERYBODY up.  Since Awful April, he has had 51 RBIs.  TAKE THAT NAYSAYERS.  And then Ryan and Andrew were like, "He was a former Jay."  Yep... but he's a current Brave.  :D

Melky Cabrera.  All season, there have been all these people talking all sorts of trash about Melky (e.g. Why is Bobby still playing him?  Why did we trade Vazquez for an automatic out?, etc.).  First of all, don't question Bobby.  He's only been doing this for 25 years.  The man has got this, ok?  Trying to couch-manage the team when Bobby's still at the helm, trying to question why he didn't already retire, must be out of your damn mind. /grumble.  Secondly, the Braves front office knows exactly what they are doing, thank you very much.  Did it suck that we had to trade Javier Vazquez?  Yes.  But we got a good deal.  And Melky has been hitting up a storm, thank you.  RBIs this, singles that, doubles, this.  And he works hard.  You can tell.  Get out of here, naysayers!  Bench this!!!  ::points at butt::

Also, Kawakami.  Poor Kenshin.  Nine losses when he should have had more than 3 wins.  He's been pitching well, but if our offense AND defense would both decide to show up for work when he pitches, that'd be nice.  And yes, there are been games where he made some bad pitches.  But it is then the offense's job to bail him out.  It isn't fair to pin it all on him.  But when JJ comes back from his rehab starts at Gwinnett, will we have to move KK to the bullpen?  Or will Kris Medlen go?  Because KMeds has been kicking ass and taking names.  He has more than proven that he deserves to be a starter.

I hope Omar and Mighty Mouse and MattE are better soon.  I can't wait to see them back.  :)

*I'd like to give a shout-out to Stephen Tyndall, who has been helping me with wording in this-here blog.  Evidently, I have forgotten all grammar and vocabulary.

My Babies Are Back!

I haven't posted in two weeks.  That being said, what could I really say in response to a nine game losing streak?    We were swept by both the New York Mets and the St. Louis Cardinals.  Although I will contend that for the Mets game that was called in 6 innings due to the rain (Hanson vs. Pelfrey), we totally would have come back from that.  Lucky NY jerks.

We seem to have turned things around a bit.  After that horrific 9-game losing streak, we hurried home and swept the Houston Astros.  I went to the Saturday game with Thomas and Lauren (pictures to follow when I am not lazy).  Houston scored first (we were late because I had faulty information about transportation and also contact lens trouble)... but Tim Hudson allowed nothing after that.  By the time Hudson was pulled in the 7th inning (6 2/3 IP), we were up 6 to 1.  We scored 4 more runs in the 7th inning, just to drive the nails a little deeper into the coffin.  Troy Glaus was 3 for 4 with 4 RBIs.  Can you believe our own fans booed him?  Attaboy, T-Roy, for shutting them up!  <3

The plan was actually to go to the Sunday game with Billy the next day, but instead we went to the Hawks game (since it was Game 7... and at the same time as the Braves game).  I love the Braves, but an early  regular season baseball game vs. game 7 of the first round of the playoffs?  The decision was made for me there.  And Atlanta did not disappoint:  the Hawks won by 21 points (74 to 95, vs. Bucks) while the Braves won 7 to 1.  Brutal beat-downs.

With rejuvenated confidence, the Braves were back on the road... first to Washington and then to Philadelphia.  The results were not pleasing.  So you can see why I, again, did not post.  I can only spend so much energy being angry, you know.  I don't care that the Nationals are a good team this year.  I don't care that they are suddenly now challenging the Phillies for first place in the NL East.  We lost both series, though.  Some of the games were even close... but still, taking 1 game out of a 3 game series for 2 series isn't exactly a winning combination.

Oh, but then we went to Milwaukee.  The Braves got out their brooms... and sweep, sweep, sweep.  We Hanson-Hudson-Lowe'd it.  Milwaukee who?  We just kicked the crap out of them, complete with a grand slam from one Martin Prado (a career first).  What a fantastic player.  Anybody who wants to argue with me about whether or not Martin Prado is good should get ready to receive the biggest verbal ass-whuppin' of their lifetime.  :P  (And yes, someone has actually argued with me about Martin Prado.... wake up, genius.  The man is an All-Star.  And I'm going to to single-handedly send him to the game if I have to.  J-Hey may be the big name and the new face of the Braves... but Martin Prado is the guy who is work-horsing it, and doing it in stellar form.)

Speaking of which:  Vote for Martin Prado and the Braves to go to the All-Star Game!  Remember, you can vote 25 times per email address (I've got 8; yes, 8)!!  If anybody deserves to be an All-Star, it's our own Martin.  <3 <3 <3

Meanwhile, up north... Toronto has been surprisingly good, in spite of the fact that Doc is no longer playing for them.  (What gives, boys?  Why couldn't you produce these numbers when you had Doc?  For an entire decade?  :P)  They've been winning series after series, being very offensively consistent.  Attaboys!  Tear it up!!

(will finish later)