"and Estrada made a nice throw to pick off a runner at second, defusing a runners-first-and-third, one out situation in the second."

Ahem. First-and-second.

Big win, and the Marlins are getting trashed. Hopefully we add a little distance.

I'm very happy about today's win. Hudson was good, and we got to one of the best lefties in the league.

By the way, Frankie was batting 5th and Roach was 7th... maybe Bobby's wising up to what a good idea it is to drop Adam in the order.


Some day, Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, John Smoltz, Bobby Cox, John Schuerholz, and very possibly Leo Mazzone will be in the Hall of Fame. The Joneses may make it, but our success has always had more to do with the organization (especially player scouting and development, as Dave Justice noted) and pitching, and less to do with hitting. Today's a perfect example.

Not to split hairs, but in my opinion Chipper is a lock for the HOF, Andruw still has a ways to go but I would not rule him out either...

&@%^$%@#. Stupid fingers.

Chipper first has to overcome the Ron Santo syndrome of dramatic 3B underrepresentation at the Hall.

HR lead over Lee is three, I think, since Lee hit a second one today.

Troll deleted and banned.

It was four when I wrote it.

Another troll, or possibly the same one, deleted. Get a life.

Fkkk....first we have to draw Sheets now we get Patterson.

Bowman quotes Cox as saying he will bring up the expected in September ( Brower, Pena, etc.) and alludes to bringing up James and Marte but only if he can play them enough. Richmond ends its season September 5th and they ain't making the playoffs. So why not give them some experience in a pennant race?

I'm out of sequence here--I really meant to post this after last night's game--but Rafael Furcal has turned into a heck of a shortstop. His hitting stats for the year are back where they should be (which is to say pretty darned good for his position, at least in the NL). But what really impresses is his fielding. Two of those plays last night were unreal--the double play from in the hole and the "go in the hole, check second, then gun it to first play." On top of which he is no longer booting routine plays as in the past.

I'm infinitely more concerned with this season than any future season; but also cognizant that this could be his last as a Brave. Enjoy it; I know I am.

W.Diehl,

Roger that, sir.

When Raf made that "check-second-first" play last night, it occured to me that there's probably not another shortstop in the game who could make that play. Furcal's arm is simply a cannon.

Glad to see the Braves won today. We were in terrible traffic evacuating the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Please remember us in your prayers. We don't know what we will go home to.

link

I don't think it's a coincidence that Andruw got back on track on a day when he had a real hitter batting behind him. That 3-1 pitch on Andruw's three run homer was as fat as they come. I don't think that happens if you've got Mr. GIDP coming up next.

Padilla is so bad. I can't believe these guys are threatening for the division and in the Wild Card lead with only one starting pitcher. I guess a good bullpen and bats that fit your ballpark go a long way.

Things are getting a little easier, now. Not too easy, of course.

Every team in the National League except the Pirates and Rockies is within eight games of the playoffs.

Since I'm rooting for the Dimondbacks tonight ...

That was a SWEET save by Clayton to turn that DP. With that terrible throw, he'd be lucky to turn one, and he got the double.

Did you know the Red Sox will win the NL East because "they have great emotion on their ballclub"?

Joe Morgan deserved a Foul Four berth.

Missed the game today, but I have an unrelated question: Does anyone here subscribe to MLB.TV and if so, is it worth it? I'm going to be at college where there's only 1 cable TV hookup for the whole floor so I'm not going to be able to see any games at all except maybe a few playoff games. It's $30 for this year, probably because the season's mostly over. Is the web streaming good, can you see enough, is there good announcing/any announcing at all, etc.?

Why don't you buy it for one day, try it out, then, if it's acceptible, buy it for the rest of the year? One day is like four dollars.

I bought it once to watch a particular game, and it's not that great. I mean, it's what you expect from web streaming video. Tiny and blocky. For me, it was difficult to see the movement on pitches. It's just a TV feed from one of the teams at tiny size.

There is announcing, but I'd imagine it's hit-or-miss whether you get Braves guys or the other team's feed.

Jenny, I subscribe to MLB.TV because I simply has no choice as I live in Hong Kong. This is the only way I can watch the Braves on a consistent basis. The web streaming has improved a lot this year, and that's when I am talking about streaming data all the over across the Pacific Ocean. There is no control over the announcers. Sometimes, they will broadcast the games through the Braves affiliated network, some times (or most of the time, which I have written numerous complains to mlb.com) you get to watch the game through the opponent’s affiliated network (usually Fox Sports).

The resolution, as JoeyT has mentioned, is obviously not as good as watching the game on TV. So, I would support JoeyT’s idea. Try it yourself for one day and see if you can tolerate the shortcomings or not. I subscribe to it because I have no other choice, and it’s a good birthday present which I actually like, and my wife don’t have to think what to buy for me every year.

Jenny,

If you are trying to save some cash, watch the Yahoo 'Gamechannel' and spend your money elsewhere. Just a thought?

Did Miller just say that 50-in-50 is in Louisiana tonight? Talk about bad timing.

But can't you see Berman covering a hurricane?

"Hi, everybody, we're here in 'Nawlins' which is about to be destroyed by Hurricane Katrina 'And The Waves'! Nobody's walking on sunshine here! The Swami predicts a storm surge of up to 25 feet..."

Bell the out machine with another.

I still don't get that trade. I mean, sure, Urbina's good, but to trade the player who should be your starting third baseman for a THIRD dominant late-inning relief pitcher? Creating a hole in your lineup to overstock a position is the OPPOSITE of what is supposed to happen in a trade.

I'd like to see a hurricane covering Berman.

Yeah, but they were stuck with Bell. The mistake was signing him in the first place when Utley was already almost ready.

Another school of thought was that Ed Wade was trying to keep Urbina away from the Braves. I remembered we were supposed to offer Betemit to the Tigers or something. Too bad we get Farnsworth, who is actually better than Urbina this year.

Braves, W
Mets, L
Marlins, L
Nats, L
Phils, L
Astros, L

As Lou Reed once sang, "Oh, it's such a perfect day..."

Bell shouldn't be a starting third baseman in the majors. Even if you're committed to having the guy on your roster, it's a poor use of resources to start him when Polanco's on your team. Being committed to paying a guy isn't really a factor in this trade. The manager committing to playing him so much is a problem, but if I'm a GM, that's a separate issue. The real issue is reducing the potential offense of a position to scrub-level in order to increase talent in a position where the Phillies are already strong.

Of all third baseman in all of baseball, according to ESPN stats, only Mike Lowell has a lower OPS. Aaron Boone has been better. Vinny Castilla has been better. Adrian "off the juice" Beltre has been better. Bell is awful. He's hitting in an EXTREME hitters park, and he's next to worst in all of baseball among regular third basemen. Regardless of his salary, he shouldn't be in there every day.

This weekend illustrates why the Braves only need to play just above .500 the rest of the way to win the division. Not one of the other eastern teams is superior enough to the others to put together a serious roll. Now that they will be playing each other, when the dust settles they will all be at about the same level as they are today. 90 wins will be enough to take the division, and the Braves will probably win a couple more than that.

If MLB.TV is the same quality as the highlights they put in the Top Play archives, I think I can deal with that. And if you have problems with announcers, you do know that you can get MLB.TV and Gameday Audio, which lets you pick which team's announcers you want, for $40?

Alex, I know GameChannel is free, but it's not the same thing...I can't go that long without seeing my Braves. Unless I buy a TV/VCR and have my parents mail me VHS tapes of the games every day...heh.

Jenny, I think I have paid enough to get MLB.TV, and I don't feel like paying anymore just to hear the voices I want to listen. Besides, sometimes it's good to hear what the opponents think about the Braves.

Jenny, where do you go to college? I'm up in Connecticut, and it's mostly a wasteland up here of NESN, YES and MSG. Are you at school in the South?

Seeing the Braves ahead by 4.5 games is such a comfortable feeling. Even more comfortable is that we have Smoltz and Hudson heading our playoff rotation this year, not Ortiz or Wright.

Was it just me or the other night when I was listening to the braves game on the radio. Did chip say that eddie perez was in the sausage race?

wow.

Other Alex R: I'll be in Minnesota. As far as I know, their TV stations get jack.

Ouch...
I've never been to Minnesota, but I'm sure there's not much fun for a Braves fan up in that cold air. Except for the Mall of America, of course!

jenny, i am subscribing to mlb.tv for the third season now and the quality of the picture has staedily improved. Living in Germany, it's the only way to watch the Braves. $99 well invested.

There's mall talk again...

Everyone here was brutally ragging Raffy early in the season. Fans, or just jerks?

We should go to the booth for the instant replay, but I think I was pretty supportive of Raffy. I could be wrong.

Is it time for me to re-link the Andruw thread from June yet, or do I have to wait another little while? :)

Jenny, just buy the games you want to wath. The first few weeks of school you will be out meeting people and doing stuff. You won't have time to watch all the games anyways.

Apparently, Marcus's propensity for running into things is genetic: Brian Giles hurt his knee colliding with Dave Roberts in the outfield last night. Somebody should do a study.

She can meet people AFTER baseball season. They're not going anywhere.

Jenny - don't forget Restaurants and Bars (that allow people under-21) as a great place to watch games. When I lived in Seattle, I just had to go down to the local Jillian's to watch Turner South games. I don't know what kind of town this school is in, but there's probably at least one place nearby that has far too many TVs per square foot and can pick up just about any game at any time. That and selective pay-per-view on mlb.com can probably get you through. Maybe you can mix in some TBS games in an empty TV lounge somewhere on campus too.

Jenny, fake ID and real bar is another option exercised by many of your fellow students. Look into it.

Besides, college life doesn't stop at 10:30pm. In fact, most activties don't start until late at night.

Leaving out the tricks you can play with the DL, can someone explain to me postseason roster eligibility? Do you have to be on the 25-man roster at the end of August? The 40-man roster?

I think I mentioned trading Raffy a few times earlier in the year...

It's 25-man at the end of August, I believe. And there are two DL angles. One is the position-for-position 60-day DL trick. The other is any person on the 15-day DL at the deadline immediately put back on the 25-man upon his return can play.

So if, say, the Angels had a young minor league pitcher without much big league experience on the 15-day DL, brought him back in the middle of September and immediately put him on the 25-man, he could pitch in the World Series.

For the Braves, it could apply for Brian Jordan.

Anybody expect any Chipper/Guillen payback? The way the Natspos have been playing, I bet they'd love a brawl right about now.

I expect Farnsworth to throw at Guillen.

Does anyone know why Sosa and Thomson swapped starts? Did Bobby not want a Thomson/Patterson matchup?

What's wrong w/ Franco's elbow? LaRoche might be coming around, he looked decent in his last two outings. At least more patient, maybe good to let Francouer follow Jones and then Laroche.

Thanks, Joey T. I guess the 15 day DL trick would also in theory apply to Hampton.

No reason to bat LaRoche fifth against left hander. Jenny, my nieces will be at your arch rival St Olaf in Northfield. Cardinal fans from Mizzou I'm afraid

Do you think Bobby is trying to get extra innings out of Smoltz and Hudson to save our bullpen for the other three? Or is it just luck of the draw that HUdson is pitching great right now.

Sosa and Ramirez are pitching well, but we can only count on Sosa going 6 anything over that is a bonus. Ramirez is going late into ball games, but you never know what wil happen w/ this guy. He has looked great after his relief appearance.

Thomson, one can hope he will turn it around and I believe that this start against Washington will be the one. This is a big series and Thomson is good in the clutch. Lets look for good performances by our starters in this series!

Braves win this series 3-1