Braves Playoff Ramblings
It is October and as usual, the Braves have won the division and are in the playoffs. Just as October baseball for the Braves is a fall rite of passage, so is the email exchange that occurs between Richie and me regarding the Braves’ playoff run. Now, we are no “experts” like those guys at ESPN, but we are real Braves fans- the ones that live and die with the team, that were Braves’ fans when they were bad (really bad- i.e. the “worst” in the “worst to first”), that remember Bruce Benedict, Glenn Hubbard, Chris Chambliss, Dale Murphy, Gene Garber, Steve Bedrosian, Al Hrabosky, Jeff Blauser, Gerald Perry, Rick Mahler, that remember the elation of Sid Bream’s slide to beat the Pirates (we GT boys were partying in the streets), and the heartache of the loss to the Twins (Lonnie Smith not running and Jack Morris outdueling John Smoltz) and the Yankees (I think Jim Leyritz cursed us- bad Mark Wohlers) and the Yankees again, and the Cardinals, and the Astros. This year, Richie and I will conduct our conversation via the blog- I’ve posted the previous emails and we’ll continue the conversation via the comments. Feel free to read through and join in the coversation!!
Richie started the conversation:
The Braves sure backed into the playoffs, thanks to the bullpen. They can only win in the playoffs if the bullpen steps it up.
My response:
I saw that the Braves lost their last few games. But, my impression was that they rested a bunch of the guys and played a ton of the rookies. Unfortunately, the Braves have Houston again in a short series. Their pitching scares me and they certainly have a good closer. The Braves bullpen will be key as runs will be at a premium.
Richie’s response:
Hopefully this season ending swoon doesn’t mean anything. Houston will be tough. I think the Braves are 3-1 or 4-1 against Houston in the postseason. But Clemens, Oswalt and Pettite will be tough. Hopefully Smoltz’s shoulder is fine, and the bats come alive.
My response:
I couldn’t agree with you more. I think game 1 will be big- if Smoltz pitches well and the Braves take the first one at home, they’ll have some confidence for the rest of the series. Maybe the bats will get hot all of a sudden and they’ll lay the wood to the Astros. Where is Mark Lemke when you need him?
Here is what Richie wrote today after the Braves loss last night.
Well, the Braves are up to their old tricks. Will Reitsma see the light of another playoff game? Hudson had too many walks. I hope Smoltz shuts them down, and they manage to get a few runs off Clemens. They can’t leave Atlanta down 0-2. It might not be as great of a pitchers match up as everyone thinks though, considering Smoltz and Clemens are both hurt a little. Who knows how Smoltz really is, plus he hasn’t pitched in so long. But he is money in the playoffs.
Cox was up to his old tricks yesterday. I don’t think he should have started Jordan over Langerhans. Cox is the reason the Braves have won 14 straight division titles, and I think he is the reason they’ve won only 1 WS title. He over manages in the postseason.
The Braves kill me in the postseason. I take every game way too seriously, but I can’t help it. I try to stay calm, but I get so worked up over every loss. And it always ends the same.
Read on for my response and more of the conversation (feel free to join in too)…
Tags: baseballRelated Posts (perhaps)
October 6th, 2005 at 2:34 pm
Yeah, the Braves were certainly their playoff-stellar selves yesterday. I made a special effort to get home a little early to watch (left work, fought traffic, delayed errands, etc.) and wish the Braves would have put forth as much effort in the game. Heck, I even put on my old school Braves shirt. At least Marcus, Chipper, and Andrew looked like they cared. When I got home, it was already 4-1. Hudson looked bad- he was all over the place. Way too many baserunners. And then the bullpen was awful- giving up hits, walking in runs, throwing wild pitches. The Braves need to come to play this evening- with some intensity and focus. Go Smoltzie!!
I guess Cox was going with the rightie against Pettite but Jordan is pretty bad these days. He can’t get around on any fastballs. I’d rather see Langerhans than Jordan (though I guess he did make a nice defensive play before I started watching).
October 7th, 2005 at 9:24 am
Great game for the Braves last night. The whole team stepped up - Smoltz, the rooks, Andruw. Cox has to keep Langerhans in the starting line-up. He should keep McCann starting too, but I’m sure he’ll go back to Estrada. I have a pretty good feeling we’ll see a Smoltz-Clemens rematch in Game 5 in Atlanta. I guess it’s good that Reitsma pitched a scoreless 8th and maybe regained some confidence.
October 7th, 2005 at 11:49 am
It certainly was an exciting game and good for the Braves to get a split at home. Though I missed the first half of the game (softball), I caught the latter part. Smoltz looked like he was in control and the bats looked good. Love the diving play from Chipper and the emotion from Smoltz!! Estrada has been really struggling since Erstad clobbered him so maybe McCann should stay. Langerhans will definitely play against RH pitchers but I too would like to see him start all the time. All the youngsters were getting hits yesterday- Francoeur, LaRoche, Langerhans, McCann. Hopefully the momentum will carry over for the game tomorrow.
I was glad Reitsma got in but he didn’t really look all that good yesterday. His control was still off and I would have been nervous had the Braves not had such a big lead. Also, what was what the baserunning in that one inning? Furcal got thrown out going to third (and would have been safe had he not kept looking back) and then Francoeur got caught in a rundown for the last out of the inning. It’s the post-season- runs are sacred!! Overall, a good effort and a great win!!
October 9th, 2005 at 8:45 pm
Braves suck! What else can you say? How do you lose a game in which you lead 6-1 in the 8th inning? How? I think they were 1-14 or something like that with men in scoring position. Unforgiveable. The only thing I can say is that I get my life back now and don’t have to waste more time watching this underachieving team until April.
October 10th, 2005 at 8:40 am
Whohoo- another Division series loss!! Richie, I feel your pain (and relief that we didn’t get strung along for an even more crushing defeat)!!
Saturday’s game was more of the same- bad bullpen, bad bullpen!! Sosa really fought hard and kept the Braves in the game but the bullpen is a sieve. So, that set the stage for Sunday- do or die.
I am just flabbergasted that the Braves lost this game (though perhaps I shouldn’t be after all this time). But, quite frankly, they only have themselves to blame. They were up 6-1 in the 8th inning!! But, they could have been up more than that. Yeah, LaRoche got thrown out at home but he was trotting around third and looking back over his shoulder. He thought he was just cruising into third but that is why you have a third base coach!! Bet the Braves would have liked that extra run. They consistently failed to execute with runners in scoring position (the official stat was 1-19- you’d think someone would just stick their bat out and get lucky once in a while). Giles failed to lay down a sacrifice bunt- a really sorry attempt. Heck, Clemens can do it, even Franco managed to do it and get on base. Actually, I thought they should have given Furcal a chance to steal second rather than trying to bunt right away. Gotta make something happen in the post-season. The conservative strategy of get someone on, bunt, and then get a hit wasn’t working since we couldn’t get any hits. Aaarrgghhh!!
Hudson gave a heck of an effort last night. He was really solid and I hated to see him go (though he was clearly out of gas). Farnsworth looked a little like a deer in the headlights, all wild-eyed and frantic. The Braves defense definitely let him down with those two off the bag plays (wonder if Franco actually did stay on- hard to tell in the replays) but he just didn’t make pitches. The Berkman HR wasn’t too bad a pitch but the one to Ausmus was awful- up and out over the plate. The sad thing is they still could have won after the Berkman HR- they were still leading, even after all the badness of the 8th. This time the rest of the bullpen (save Farnsworth) came up big. Those were some big innings that they pitched to keep the Braves in the game- they just couldn’t get a big hit. And that poor Devine kid (he had already given up two grand slams in his first two appearances- to steal a line from ESPN, “He hands out home runs like cheerleaders tossing candy from a homecoming float; everybody gets some, even the goth kids nobody ever talks to”)- not his fault. The Braves should have won the game long before he came in- they had some awful ABs all throughout the game. The Astros deserved to win because they executed better and came up with some big hits and had some clutch perfomances by some big time players.
It would have been interesting to see a game 5 after Sunday’s marathon. Both teams would be depleted but the Astros would have a rested Pettite. I don’t know who the Braves would have started- didn’t sound like Smoltz could go. The Astros would have had the edge but anything could have happened after that game. It should be interesting in the NL though I think the Cards look tough.
Guess it is back to the drawing board for the Braves. Just wait until next year- we’ll win the division and then find some new way to lose in the playoffs…
October 10th, 2005 at 11:53 am
At least the future looks good. At least it looks good for winning more division titles and losing in the postseason. Unfortunately, none of the good rookies are pitchers. Davies looked good early, but bad later. I can’t understand how Mazzone wasn’t able to get this bullpen to pitch better. I think Farnsworth and Devine will be the only returning relief pitchers. Hudson and Smoltz will be back. Will Sosa be in the starting rotation next year? That leaves Thomson and Ramirez as the other starters. Smoltz can’t pitch forever. It just doesn’t seem like a starting rotation that can win a World Series title. Will they resign Furcal? They need him, as poorly as he hit in this series. Then again, maybe they don’t. Their offense just has a poor history of bad clutch hitting in the playoffs. All the blame for losing in the playoffs and winning the division lays squarely on Cox. But you can’t fire him because they wouldn’t even be in the playoffs without him. No other manager could have won the division with this team. I think it would be good for the team to miss the playoffs and have some kind of rebuilding. Of course, they did have a rebuilding year of sorts with all of the rookies. But they need to miss the playoffs to get the desire back.
October 10th, 2005 at 3:31 pm
I guess it is pretty good to “rebuild” with a bunch of rookies and still win the division. I am not sure what to expect from this team next year. Hudson and Smoltz are a good start. Smoltz is getting up there in age but looked good this year. He’ll be solid if healthy. The rest of the starting rotation is a question mark. I’m assuming Sosa will be back as he was great this year. The rest of the rotation is a bunch of question marks- Thomson, Ramirez, Davies? I think Hampton is out for next year too? The bullpen needs work and I don’t know who will be back. Did they sign Farnsworth to a long term deal? I don’t recall. The Braves have gotten by with a make-shift bullpen but I think they’ll need something much more solid to make a good playoff run. Regarding Furcal, I hope they can sign him affordably as we need someone who can provide some speed at the top of the lineup (and his defense has been solid this year).
October 12th, 2005 at 9:48 pm
I agree with Richie. The Braves suck. Of course, I’m a Phillies fan saying this. So, let’s see the Phils win the NL East next year so that the Braves, as Richie (sagely) again points out, can reclaim their desire to be playing ball in October. See that look in their eyes, Rock? You gotta get that look back, Rock. Eye of the tiger, man.
Full disclosure: I didn’t get to see a single NLDS/ALDS game. I think I saw one inning of the Yankees/Angels, game 4, maybe, before I couldn’t keep my eyes open any longer. It’s the kids.