Has no one in the Atlanta Braves front office seen The Lion King?

All season Simba laid claim to everything the light touches.

Has no one in Atlanta's front office seen The Lion King?

The Powerful Yawn of Andruw Jones

Other than the years where this blog has gone into complete hibernation because neither Langston nor I could keep up with it, this summer has seen the least amount of baseball discussion.

For me, this nadir is mostly due to the haphazard fire sale the Atlanta Braves conducted before the season even began. Every player I cared about, from Jason Heyward to Craig Kimbrel to even each Upton brother, was gone, and I was left to face the fact that their time together really had not added up to much other than discussions on met and unmet potential, mostly the latter.

When Belief Becomes Bankable: The Rays Uprising

Carlos Pulido

Josh Spilker is a Tampa Bay Rays fan, and he's written here before about that and other things. He also has a novella out now (digital), which you should definitely check out (hard copy...scroll to bottom), but he's here today to talk about baseball, money, and miracles. Enjoy:

At this dinner meeting with people from church, with a small smoky fire, bratwursts and italian sausage, pumpkin bread, it was fall, near the end of September and the whispers of October hum on the horizon. Things turn inside and then wrap up, and the St. Louis Cardinal fan/homeowner turns on the television. St. Louis taking care of business, Braves stumbling, Boston in a rain delay and the Rays left for dead. A Red Sox fan looks at the TV-- “Call the game,” he says and “Yankees killing the Rays.” There may/

may not have been a high-five and I fell back into a recliner. The recliner sunk and sighed; relieving itself.

The Braves Collapse: The Epitome of Southern Anxiety

It grew out of it, so it must be a part of it, right?

Summer baseball, fall football, and church are pretty much the cliches that felt apart of my southern boyhood, and all those things taught me that most heroes are destined for tragedy: Moses couldn't reach the Promised Land. Jesus was crucified. Robert E. Lee surrendered. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated. Eric Zeier couldn't overcome Spurrier. Bill Clinton was impeached. And the Braves, well, the Braves pretty much lose (except for in '95) once autumn comes.

Hang In There: Watching the Braves Struggle

I threw a remote yesterday. I didn't want to do it, but my fiancee was on the phone with her mom, making plans for my future, while the Atlanta Braves were simultaneously letting go of theirs, and throwing the remote was all I could do to quit from screaming. They say love hurts, and I hope it doesn't; but if it's anything like baseball than it's got to be absolutely devastating.

Yes, McCann!!!

Over at Pitchers & Poets, a guest post I wrote is up. It's about Brian McCann who at age 26 is neither in the past or the future of the franchise--he is, at this point in time, the hand on the till. The article makes it sound like I think McCann doesn't get any credit, but that's not exactly it: It's that this season is the first one in which I've seen him featured consistently in promos for Braves games on ESPN and heard his name come up in casual conversations as one of the best catchers in baseball, not just as the model of consistency in Atlanta. It's also one of the few times in his career when we've started to discuss him as a player and not eyewear, and it doesn't seem like it should have taken this long to appreciate a really good ballplayer. Anyway, that's how I feel, that's what I wrote about, and here's the link.

Number of the Day: Kimbrel's 40th

I know, you were probably expecting something on a richter scale, or maybe some hyperbole about how I survived the most devastating disaster to hit the east coast since I-95, Pilgrims, or the British in 1812. But, no, the number we're talking about is Craig Kimbrel's rookie record 40th save. He's carried my fantasy team. He's anchoring the Braves' bullpen. It's August, and I'm not sure what's more depressing the start of school or the fact that the NBA may not have a season; so let's converse over baseball.

(This is also that annual summer tradition where I start to get my hopes too high.)

Pretty Uggla

It was something my future brother-in-law said that made me pull out my go to reaction when trying to hide my own ignorance, or the fact that I am out of the loop. "You guys got Dan Uggla." That was it: five words. I nodded my head and muttered something to the extent that yeah, hopefully that helps. I knew he was a baseball player, and I was pretty sure he played for the Florida Marlins; and the fact that I kind of recognized the name of a non-Brave player told me that he must be halfway decent or somewhat of an idiot--you know, the kind of guy who drives in reverse on the interstate, drunk, locked, and loaded.

I then feigned going to the bathroom, but actually made a bypass of it, and looked up Dan Uggla's stats and I liked what I saw: a second baseman who consistently hit more than his age in home runs. I then returned to the room my future brother-in-law was in, head held high, dreaming of a postseason filled with tomahawk chops, and said, "yeah, he's gonna definitely boost the offense. . . hitting either before or after McCann in the lineup. . . you know, McCann's the only offense we had in last year's postseason."

Then Dan Uggla lived up to his name, which wasn't a good thing, breathing life and memories into dead lines of poetry: April is the cruelest month. . . .

Dan Uggla began the season in horrific fashion, so horrific--I'm not even sure it needs detailing. But here's the bare bones of it: Through July 4th (86 games), Dan Uggla was hitting .173, and while his 12 home runs were solid power numbers, he'd amassed only 29 RBIs. For any baseball player, terrible. For a cleanup hitter, embarrassing. And the only good that probably came from Uggla's ugly hitting was that it did a decent job of distracting the baseball world from the equally abysmal season that former phenom Jason Heyward was/is having.

Then the meaning of Uggla changed, and with a 33-game hit streak, he resuscitated a lineup, that without the injured Brian McCann, would have failed to fog up a silver spoon that some backwoods doctor might have held in front of its nose, to check for life. And, as the sun grew hotter in the summer sky and flowers bloomed, all Braves fans could feel was the numbness of hope leaving the body, like blood spilling from a cut. The Phillies had a big division lead, and the Wild Card was a dead limb. But then a 33-game hit streak happened.

I'll bring up Jason Heyward for one more reason: he's family. He grew up in Georgia, was drafted by the Braves, came through the Braves' farm system, and has shaped our hearts and minds with busted out parking lot windows and mystical gum chewing. And, for all that, the kid has earned not our wrath, but our pity and encouragement--c'mon, Jason, you can do it. . . bust out of this. 

In contrast, Dan Uggla was an outsider, pulled onto the boat by net, like a slimy, slippery fish. And, when the marlin didn't taste good, we were ready to toss him back. But then 33 straight games with a hit happened, and the pronunciation of Uggla no longer left a scowl on our faces or a bitter taste in our mouths--Infante who? And, as the batting average climbed and he rounded the bases, the sliminess of his scales was transformed before us, and we saw a glimmering light reflecting off his silver scales that were as bright and shining as a suit of armor, as bright and shining as the day our future brother-in-law said: You guys got Uggla. 


And now I know how to respond.


--------

Since Uggla's hit streak began, he's hit .350 with 17 homers and 36 RBIs, and according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution's David O'Brien "Uggla has exactly the same number of hits in his past 41 games (55) as he had in his first 86 games." The article is also worth a read because he details why the Braves' offensive production and Wild Card lead over the Giants has to do with the entire team and not just #26.

Road Trip to Shawshank

My witnessing of the Braves loss to the Nationals last Saturday shows up in detail over at the baseball blog Pitchers and Poets. I only recently started reading their site, but if you're into baseball and/or like sports writing with a literary bent, then they're definitely worth perusing. And if you need more context for the post than the photo above, then also check out what will always be a timeless scene from a timeless movie that, if I'm not mistaken, used to serve as TBS' go to film during Braves' games that got delayed by inclement weather, like the one last Saturday in Washington.

Atlanta Braves, Don't Break the Ice

The days are getting shorter.  The nights are getting longer.  I drive home now, after work, and am left with what feels like a sliver of sunlight.  Cooler days are upon us, which would suggest that those whose fate relies on a layer of ice should be growing braver by the day, more adventurous, and more confident, but in Atlanta that's not the case.

Number of the Day: Atlanta Braves' 1 Game Lead in the NL East

Coming into Labor Day, the Braves have a one game lead over the Phillies in the NL East, the division they've led since beating Philadelphia on May 31st and a lead that at one time stood at seven games.

Breaking the Silence: Jason Heyward and the Atlanta Braves

During last year's Atlanta Braves season, I blogged frequently about the ups and downs of last year's team.  This year I haven't said a word.  They've been remarkably consistent, and I've acted like one word from me might disrupt the delicate balance that goes into making a first place division team.  I've acted like one syllable from me might awaken the wrath of the baseball gods, jinxing everything, ruining the perfect season, the farewell tour for Bobby Cox.  But that would be vanity wouldn't it?  I held my tongue for five months and Chipper Jones, my favorite player since fourth grade, still went down with a season ending knee injury, earned on probably the best defensive play he's made in almost a decade.  He went out with reckless abandon and the team kept winning, so I feel liberated from my muzzle.  Something is in the air, and I feel free to say that I love the 2010 Atlanta Braves.

Tuesday Morning Relievers:

 Our weekly column, where we do our best to recap the teams we love and the stories that captivated us the most in this week of baseball.

Tuesday Morning Relievers: The Circling of The Diamond

Our new weekly column, where we do our best to recap the teams we love and the stories that captivated us the most in this week of baseball.

Monday Morning Relievers:

Our new weekly column, where we do our best to recap the teams we love and the stories that captivated us the most in this week of baseball.  

1.  Bleacher Report: Guess who leads the NL in home runs.  Yeah, that's right, it's Corey Hart, and over at The Bleacher Report Jesse Motiff discusses if that's exactly the sort of thing that might move Corey out of Milwaukee.  Regardless of whether his time with the Brewers is limited or not, this is good news for all those who long for "sunglasses at night" jokes to be relevant once more in baseball.

2. ESPN Stats: The Toronto Blue Jays lead the majors in home runs as a team, with 105.  The next team is Boston, with 93.  The Blue Jays are doing this primarily through the performances of Jose Bautista, who has 18 HRs, and Vernon Wells, who has 16.  However, even with all this power, the Blue Jays are still a fourth place team.  In 2009, they were fifth in the majors, in home runs, and, yes, they finished fourth in the division race that year also.  

3. Talking Chop: Braves fans are now fully behind Troy Glaus.  I know this because they're doing stupid photo shops of him as Godzilla, calling him the Glausosaur--they've even got t-shirts.  Welcome to cult internet stardom, Troy.

4. Big League Stew: The Pittsburgh Pirates are bad, so bad that we wouldn't be surprised if the next Major League was based on them. That didn't stop them from giving their manager and general manager extensions in the midst of a twelve game losing streak. However one of the racing pierogies wasn't so lucky, after sharing his thoughts on the extension on Facebook 24 y/o Andrew Kurtz got canned from the $100 a month gig.

5. LAist: Caleb Bacon caught up with Dodger VP of Communications, Josh Rawitch. In the interview they touch on a variety of subjects from what it's like to work at historic Dodger Stadium to how the Dodgers decided to credential bloggers. But the most interesting part of the conversation for was this piece of information about Rafael Furcal: " He started telling me about a lot of the stuff he does in his hometown -- Loma de Cabrera -- in the Dominican Republic and he wasn’t doing it to brag. He was saying how crazy life is down there. He’s the town financier -- anybody who goes into the hospital and can’t afford to pay their bills, Furcal pays the bill for them."

6. Dodger Thoughts: Jon Weisman points out how fickle fans can be towards closers, forcing me to realize that I need to cut Broxton a little slack. After all it's not as if the best hitter's success rate can even compare to the worst closers, let alone one of the best.

7. Bats Blog: Dave Waldstein breaks down the problems with managers basing strategy on the save rule, and closes the article with a save of his own: "This is backward thinking, not just by Manuel, but by most managers who allow the save statistic to dictate their thinking. The save statistic was intended to measure something that happened in a game. Instead, it is too often dictating what will happen."

8. Seat Geek: Steven Strasburg struck out 10 while giving up just one run on Friday night in a no-decision, encouraging White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen to call him "maybe the best pitcher in the national league." However, his impact isn't only being felt on the field as the guys at Seat Geek point out in their piece on "Baseball Jesus," finding that tickets on the secondary market are 10% higher than the Nationals season average.

9. Matt Capps' Girlfriend: In Washington right now, Stephen Strasburg dominates pretty much any baseball related headlines, but, still, one would think that there would be something more interesting on the web about Nats' closer Matt Capps than this forum discussing his romantic life; after all, he does lead the majors in saves this season, with 20.

Number of the Day: Braves take 1/2 game lead over Phillies

In the year of our Lord, 2010, on May 31st, the Braves moved into sole possession of first place in the National League East, with a 9-3 win over the Philadelphia Phillies.

This New World Order may not last, but today's win by Atlanta does strike a blow against the Axis of Evil, that is Philadelphia, New York, Boston, and, to a lesser degree, St. Louis and Los Angeles, a group that has dominated Major League Baseball on the field and in the press the last few years.

The Braves now join an alliance consisting of Tampa Bay, Minnesota, Cincinnati, Oakland, and San Diego (all in first place) that looks to turn the tide against baseball's dictatorships.  So consider this, on Memorial Day of all days, a blow for freedom, bravery, and good will towards all in the baseball world.

MLB 2010 Preview: Dead Ball Era

 For our 2010 MLB preview, we're lumping teams into the eras we feel they most resemble.  This will cause our rankings to look more like Power Rankings than Divisional rankings, but, like most things at LCB, I wouldn't take any of it too literally.  Enjoy, comment, critique, lambast.