This post is a little unusual on this version of the site. I would have put it on another page on the old version, but I don't have anywhere set up to put essays as yet.

Two Guys whose names end in "X".

Major League Baseball News

Bill James tries to defend his overrating of Sandy Koufax, and accidentally sabotages it. James ranked Koufax tenth among pitchers in the new version of the Historical Baseball Abstract. This is really indefensible using current statistical methods. Koufax was a dominant pitcher for a short period, but his career numbers aren't that impressive, and other pitchers have been just as dominant for just as long. One is Greg Maddux, who after all won four straight Cy Young Awards in the Nineties, who rates 14th. James himself rates Maddux as the best pitcher in the game four times in that decade (not always in his Cy Young years); Koufax rates as the best pitcher in baseball three times. Koufax probably rates some extra points because he pitched so many more innings in those seasons, but for his career he had more than a thousand innings less than Greg and a similar ERA. Greg is eight hundredths of a run higher, but (a) he has mostly pitched in hitter's parks in his career, and in particular in his best seasons, while Dodger Stadium in Koufax's prime was maybe the best pitcher's park ever, and (b) many, many more runs were scored in the nineties and today than in the sixties. Maddux's career ERA is 45% better than the league, Koufax's 31% better. (This is by ERA+, and I know I'm simplifying.) That's without adjusting for the parks.

It's actually more extreme when you look at individual seasons. Koufax, in his best years, was about 90% better than the league, and only hit that level twice. Maddux was 173% better than the league in his best season, 159% better in another, and bettered Koufax's best marks twice. Now, it's a lot easier to be twice as good as a league with a 4.12 ERA than one with a 3.63 ERA (league averages during their careers) but it is very hard to see how Koufax was much more dominant than Maddux.

James uses his win shares system to try to prove that Koufax had more impact on pennant races than any other pitcher. And if you buy his methodology, Koufax ranks first among 20th century pitchers. But Maddux ranks second! Maddux has far better career stats, was as dominant or more dominant in his best years, and had a big impact on pennant races -- James doesn't say how much, but if he's second to Koufax they're probably pretty close. So how in the world can James justify rating Koufax four spots ahead of Maddux, or ahead of Maddux at all? He can't, not and be at all consistent. James says he rates active players "as low as he possibly can", but (leaving aside that there's nothing Maddux can do at this stage to significantly hurt his career standing) he can't possibly rate Maddux below Koufax, not with any intellectual vigor. So Maddux has to rate ahead of Koufax.

But then, what about Maddux's near-contemporary, Roger Clemens, fourth on the list of big-time pennant-race pitchers? (Which will certainly surprise his admirers in the Boston media.) James has been saying for at least a decade that Clemens rates ahead of Maddux. I don't know that I agree with that, but there's no doubt in my mind that they're very close; they're probably right next to each other on the career list, or at most once removed. But James ranks Koufax ahead of Clemens, too, by one spot! So Clemens has to pass Koufax, too. He rates Three Finger Brown 20th, and Brown is on that pennant-race impact list as well; I don't know if he should rate ahead of Koufax, but if Koufax gets a boost, so should Brown, who after all was the best player on the best team of all time.

Wrapping things up, I'm a big admirer of James' work, but he's way off base here. He's doing something he used to warn against, allowing his personal memories and biases color his judgment. Fighting that is what sabermetrics is supposed to be all about.

ESPN.com - MLB - Recap - Expos at Braves - 05/30/2002

The scientists who need to study George Lombard to see how he can break bones by sneezing or putting on his socks need to turn to Chipper Jones next. Chipper doesn't get hurt easily, but when he does, he heals quickly. After fouling a ball off his leg, and having to be on crutches, in Wednesday's game, Chipper came back after only one game off and had three hits. He does this all the time. He'll have some injury, we think he's going to be out for a month, he's back the next day. Amazing, really.

The Braves lost the previous game, 4-3, when John Smoltz couldn't hold a one-run lead and Vinny Castilla grounded out with the bases loaded and two out in the ninth. Chipper couldn't play that one, but he did pinch-hit (and just missed a grand slam homer with two out the previous inning). The Braves lineup that game was terrifying, even by Braves standards. Andruw Jones was literally the only good player in the batting order; Rafael Furcal was the only other one who could even be considered average.

The rest were Javy Lopez, whose slowness on the basepaths is only exceeded by the slowness of his bat; Vinny Castilla, who a year ago was cut by the Devil Rays, for good reason; Darren Bragg, who was cut by both New York teams last year, for good reason; Wes Helms, a marginal third baseman, playing left field; Julio Franco, who remembers the Johnson Administration; and Keith Lockhart, who is Keith Lockhart.

The Braves now play three in Cincinnati, starting today. The Mets were idle yesterday after catching the Braves on Wednesday, and are a half game out; the Expos, despite losing three of four, have moved to third, 2 1/2 out, a half game ahead of the reeling Marlins. The Phillies are seven out and in deep trouble.

ESPN.com - MLB - Recap - Expos at Braves - 05/28/2002

The Braves are alone in first place, but it was a tough road getting there, and there were casualties. The Braves won 5-2 last night, but by the end of the game Jesse Garcia was playing right field and Wes Helms was in left, and Chipper Jones and Marcus Giles were in the clubhouse. Chipper fouled a ball off his leg in the first; it was later revealed to be a severe bruise. He expects to miss two or three games, but this is Chipper we're talking about, a guy who can get hit in the chest with a thrown baseball from 15 feet away and not miss any time. I wouldn't be all that surprised to see him tonight or tomorrow.

Marcus' injury is more serious. He twisted his ankle trying to avoid a tag at first base, landing very awkwardly. Initial reports are that it is a severe sprain, with no ligament damage, but he will be re-evaluated today. Giles was placed on the DL, and Matt Franco was called up, which should make Alex Ramati happy, but the Braves really need to call up another player. The 12-man bullpen is tough enough to carry at the best of times. With two regulars on the bench with injuries (Gary Sheffield is still nursing a hamstring injury) and unavailable for more than pinch-hitting duties, the Braves' bench is essentially Garcia, Franco, and Henry Blanco.

ESPN.com - MLB - Recap - Expos at Braves - 05/27/2002

The Braves are back where they belong, in first place (tied with the Mets) in the NL East. Predictably, Tom Glavine pitched them there, taking a shutout into the ninth before giving up a solo homer. The Braves still won, 5-1, and the Marlins held off the Mets, and are a game back. Every Brave position player reached base, with Furcal -- who drove in two and scored one on two hits -- the hitting star. He's up to .256, though his OBP is still a measly .303.

The Braves and Mets are very close overall, by the way. Both teams have scored 204 runs; the Braves have given up 191, the Mets 185. The Mets' ERA is 3.06, the Braves' 3.15; the two figures are the best in the league. (The Dodgers have actually given up fewer runs than the Braves, but more of theirs are earned.) In other words, these teams look pretty close and if they continue to play at their present levels it should be a tight race; 90-92 wins would probably do it.

ESPN.com - MLB - Recap - Reds at Braves - 05/26/2002

The Braves won, but so did the Mets, and New York remains a game up. Still, it was a productive weekend, as the Braves moved into sole possession of second place and to two games above .500, all by winning a series from a first-place team. The sorry lineup scored seven runs (Lockhart with a three-run homer), but I wouldn't be too happy with that; I don't think they're going to do that very often.

The AP story I link here (which may change) shows how oddly high the standards are for Greg Maddux. It says he "struggled through 5 2/3 innings" but that's not really accurate. He had a shutout going into the sixth, then ran out of gas. That's [I have no idea what I wrote after this. It's lost now, some sort of glitch I guess. MT, 6/22/2002]

I should probably talk about this article, where Chipper indicates he's not happy playing the outfield. He says he has trouble focusing on the game when he's in the outfield. I'll throw in two other reasons; he's not a very good outfielder, and Vinny Castilla is a terrible, terrible player.

Meanwhile, Ernie Johnson Sr. is broadcasting the game for TBS today, for some reason. And he needs his tapioca, apparently. During Chipper's first at-bat, he said that he thought "Chipper has become a really good hitter." Yeah, cause you know how awful a hitter he was when he came up.

ESPN.com - MLB - Recap - Reds at Braves - 05/25/2002

The Braves had a shot to move into a first-place tie, but couldn't hold off the Reds. They had an early lead, 2-0, on a Rafael Furcal homer of all things. But Jason Marquis, who started out perfect through 3 2/3, ran out of gas in the middle innings, and gave up a three-run homer in the fifth that put the Reds up for good. Marquis still doesn't seem quite right after getting overworked earlier this season. I think the Braves should consider passing him over the next time the schedule permits, and letting him rest his arm.

Today, the Braves have an early 1-0 lead on the Reds, but they have put out one of the worst lineups ever seen. They have the Joneses hitting 4-5, but Lockhart and Bragg are hitting in front of them, and Castilla, Helms, and Blanco behind them. That's just awful.

ESPN.com - MLB - Recap - Reds at Braves - 05/24/2002

Well, that was fun. 11-2 Braves, and the game was pretty much over in the third when the good guys scored seven runs. Ken Griffey played his first game of the season for Cincinnati, but it didn't do them much good. Moreover, the Braves scored all those runs basically on singles and doubles, not the homers they relied on earlier this year. Every Braves position player got a hit; in fact, everyone but Wes Helms got two hits. Kevin Millwood had six strong innings to get the win, and the back of the pen (Hammond, Ligtenberg, and Albie Lopez) all got in successful innings. All in all, it was a great day.

The Mets and Marlins are tied in the tenth. At the start of the day the Mets were a game up on the Braves and Marlins, so a Marlins win would create a three-way tie for first. The Mets have two runners on in the bottom of the inning, with no one out, so that seems unlikely, but at least the Braves would be alone in second.

Gary Sheffield didn't play. He's expected to return no later than Monday. Darren Bragg is starting in right field. This would be a good time to release Keith Lockhart and use the roster spot on an outfielder. Of course, any time is a good time to release Lockhart.

ESPN.com - MLB - Recap - Braves at Expos - 05/22/2002

Thanks to Tom Glavine, the Braves recorded their first complete game of the season. Thanks to Andruw Jones, who made a spectactular diving catch with two out in the ninth, it was a shutout. The win came after a loss on a blown save Tuesday, only John Smoltz's second of the season. While the Braves were splitting with the Expos, the Mets and Marlins were both losing twice. The Braves now are in second place, a half game behind the Mets and a half game ahead of Florida. The Braves now go back home to play the Reds, starting tomorrow. Unfortunately, Gary Sheffield might miss time with a hamstring pull suffered running out a ground ball in the fourth inning last night.

Also on the injury front, Mark DeRosa had surgery on his ankle, and is expected to miss about two months. Wilson Betemit paid a visit to Dr. Andrews in Birmingham, and is going to try to play through the broken bone in his foot, something I am not at all happy to see. I seem to recall George Lombard trying that with the same injury, which eventually cost him an entire season when they finally had to remove the bone. Of course, that's Lombard, who can hurt himself sneezing.

ESPN.com - Atlanta Braves - BatStatistics

Did you realize that with Mark DeRosa on the DL, Chipper not only is the only Brave on the active roster hitting better than .300 (.320) but the only one better than Andruw at .257? 63 points between your best hitter and your second-best... That's pretty extreme. Of course, Andruw is doing some other things (12 homers -- as many as Chipper and Sheff combined -- a team-high 27 walks, gold glove defense) while most of the other guys on the team have bad batting averages and no peripherals. Four regulars (Furcal and the triplets, Castilla, Lopez, and Helms) have OBPs below .290. Pitching has been pretty good, though, third in the league and closing.

Oh, no.

Braves Report (how did I not know about this site?) says that Wilson Betemit broke a bone in his foot Saturday night. I can't help thinking about George Lombard, who had a similar injury he still hasn't recovered from. They also report that Pat Manning, who was something of a prospect, announced retirement from baseball and is getting on with his life.

ESPN.com - MLB - Recap - Braves at Rockies - 05/19/2002

After a 7-3 loss Saturday, the Braves rebounded to win 2-1 on Sunday, to move back to a game under .500 and a game and a half out of first. Julio Franco's solo homer -- his first RBI of the season -- in the eighth won it for Mike Remlinger; Damian Moss, yet again, got a no-decision after pitching well.

Mark DeRosa is officially on the DL. He will probably miss about two months. Jesse Garcia was called up to take his place on the roster, though I assume he'll be limited to pinch-running and late inning defense. Garcia should have had Keith Lockhart's job anyway.

The Braves have a day off, then play two in Montreal, then three at home against a surprising Reds team.

Note: I've added some more weblogs to the links. If you have a site, or you know of a site, that I should link to, drop me a line.

ESPN.com - MLB - Recap - Braves at Rockies - 05/17/2002

Braves win, 4-2, and move back to a game over .500. The Mets are currently in first, a game and a half ahead of the Braves, and the Marlins in second a game behind the Mets. The hero was Tom Glavine, who not only pitched 6 2/3 strong innings but also drove in a run. Wes Helms homered and walked intentionally; he's drawn four walks in the last two weeks. Smoltz pitched a perfect ninth for the save; Bobby had said that he wasn't going to pitch except in an emergency, after being used heavily in the Giants series, but that was apparently a misdirection.

Unfortunately, the Braves have apparently lost Mark DeRosa for an extended period. He hurt his ankle running out a double (his second hit of the game) and suffered ligament damage. He'll almost certainly go on the DL, with Jesse Garcia getting a callup. You have to feel for DeRosa, who's never been considered a prospect and was summarily benched by the Braves last year after the Sanchez trade. Here he finally gets a regular job, and less than a week later suffers a major injury. Presumably, Marcus Giles will be back in the lineup, with Rafael Furcal going to short, but never underestimate the Braves' willingness to screw with Marcus.

ESPN.com - MLB - Recap - Braves at Giants - 05/16/2002

Well, back to .500. The Braves erupted for four runs in the eighth, three scoring on a Chipper Jones double, and wound up splitting a four-game series with the Giants. Jason Marquis was excellent for the second game in a row after coming off the DL; he's lowered his ERA to 4.40 from 6.75.

John Smoltz pitched the ninth, in a non-save situation, and almost blew it anyway. He's got the highest ERA on the staff, 5.32. A normal pitcher would probably have been losing save situations (though he's actuall 11-for-12 in those) but they can't do that to Smoltz. For one thing, he's John Smoltz, but for another he's getting more than $8 million a year, and he's not going to middle relief with that salary.

The Braves now go to Colorado, where it hasn't been quite as hard to pitch but it's still no picnic, for three.

Briefly: I've been having some computer problems at home, and I can't currently access my normal email address. But I have a solution! I have set up a new email address: mac@bravesjournal.com.

If you sent an email in the last couple of days, I probably didn't get it. I try to answer anything I get, with the exception of extremely rude letters or offers to buy human growth hormone. So if I didn't get back to you, I'm sorry, and I blame the computer.

ESPN.com - MLB - Recap - Braves at Giants - 05/15/2002

Greg Maddux and Livan Hernandez faced each other -- again -- but this time Eric Gregg was nowhere to be seen (and Gary Sheffield was on Maddux's team) and the best pitcher won. Maddux went eight-plus before giving way to John Smoltz, allowing only one unearned run and pulling his ERA down to 2.89. The Braves scored six runs, Vinny Castilla driving in three. But Castilla still stinks and still has a .263 on-base percentage. He doesn't belong in the lineup.

But who got benched? Marcus Giles. Giles, who is third among Braves regulars in OPS and OBP, was benched in favor of Mark DeRosa, who played shortstop with Rafael Furcal at second. I'm all for getting DeRosa some at-bats, but not at Giles' expense. It's not that Marcus has been great -- he hasn't -- but he's been a lot better than Castilla or Helms or Franco. On a team whose offense this year has basically come down to the Jones Boys, they can't afford to give any up.

ESPN.com - MLB - Recap - Braves at Giants - 05/14/2002

This is too depressing to write much about. After looking like they might finally be turning it around, the Braves have lost three in a row, and were shut out last night. And -- typically -- the only runs of the game were driven in by a former Brave, in this case Reggie "We Traded Klesko for This?" Sanders, who singled in two runs in the eight. Sanders also robbed Chipper of a probable two-run double earlier in the game.

The 6-9 spots in the order (the three slow righthanded guys, Damian "No Support" Moss, and pinch-hitter extraordinaire Keith Rasputin) went 0-12. Something must be done, and soon.

ESPN.com - MLB - Recap - Braves at Giants - 05/13/2002

Hey, I'm all for home field advantage, but you think that the Braves were maybe a little disturbed by the flipping earthquake?

Anyway, the Braves lost another extra-inning game. I'm getting sick of those. Chris Hammond, who is back to being worthless, walked in the winning run in the eleventh; Albie Lopez, who was never worth anything to begin with, almost kept it from getting that far by giving up two runs in the eighth, but the Braves rallied against Robb Nen of all people. Javy Lopez, who may be back to being useful, had three hits and two RBI, while Andruw kept up his hot hitting with two hits and two walks.

The list of players who should be released: Vinny Castilla, Julio Franco, Albie Lopez, and Chris Hammond. I will update this periodically until the Braves start playing better. At least the Marlins lost.

ESPN.com - MLB - Recap - Padres at Braves - 05/12/2002

Argh. The Braves should have swept, but let a lead get away from them yesterday and fell back to .500. Glavine -- who hasn't been nearly as sharp in May as in April -- took the loss.

Javy Lopez had a big night in Saturday's win, but I wouldn't stop being worried. He's still hitting .191/.258/.303. Jason Marquis got that win in his return from the DL, and hit a homer. Tim Spooneybarger got demoted to Richmond to make room.

ESPN.com - MLB - Recap - Padres at Braves - 05/10/2002

Andruw may be making what Bill Simmons calls The Leap. He's only hitting .268, but with a .376 OBP and big-time power. He now has 12 homers -- tied for third in the league (and the majors) --and 26 RBI -- tied for seventh. I've always said that with his defense he doesn't have to hit like Barry Bonds to be one of the best players in the game. If he keeps the power and walks up and hits .270 he's an all-star. If he hits .300 (and he's raised his average about 100 points already) he's a viable MVP candidate.

Andruw hit homers 11 and 12 last night, driving in five of the the seven runs the Braves got in their 7-3 win. He also doubled. The Braves are getting offensive production from five players -- the Joneses, Furcal, Giles, and now Sheffield -- which would be more than enough if the bottom of the order were doing anything. But they're not. Last night, Bobby tried something, inserting Julio Franco into the lineup, hitting second and playing first, moving Marcus Giles to the seventh spot. Franco had a hit and two walks. Keeping him there might pay off, though I'd rather they benched Castilla than Helms.

But Bobby did something incredibly boneheaded later on, pinch-hitting -- with the bases loaded and two out -- for Giles with Keith Lockhart; this is roughly equivalent to Mr. Burns hitting Homer Simpson for Darryl Strawberry. Unfortunately, Lockhart wasn't hit on the head and instead hit his usual grounder to first base. He did homer later on, after the Braves had the lead. Pinch-hitting there was completely inexplicable. Pat Corrales was actually running the team because Bobby had been ejected, but I'm sure Bobby was making the decisions.

Entries for today's and Sunday's games should be posted Monday morning.

ESPN.com - MLB - Recap - Dodgers at Braves - 05/09/2002

The Braves finally found an ex-Brave they could beat, in the person of Andy "We Just Traded Bruce Chen for a Worse Pitcher" Ashby. Damian Moss -- despite not pitching as well as he had his last few starts -- finally got a win, 6-2. Gary Sheffield helped out with a three-run homer and really seems to have recovered; that will help a lot. The Braves are still a game under .500 but the Mets and Expos are playing terrible baseball right now and the Braves aren't losing ground. The Marlins have won four in a row to take over first place; I tend to think they're the team to beat, at least until the Braves fix the bottom of their batting order.

Why are the Braves struggling? Well, here's the biggest reason:

.252
.286
.239

Those are the on-base percentages of the normal 6-8 spots in the Braves' batting order, Vinny Castilla, Wes Helms (who finally got his first walk of the season last night), and Javy Lopez. When Lopez doesn't play, he's replaced by Henry Blanco, at .255; when Castilla or Helms doesn't play, Julio Franco, at .266, usually would get the start.

You can't win in modern baseball with three everyday players like that, especially in the National League where the pitcher adds a fourth. (For that matter, Maddux has outhit all three of the above by OPS.) Unbelieveably, the Braves really miss BJ Surhoff and his .369 OBP. There aren't any easy answers here. Giving Mark DeRosa the third base job and benching either Castilla or Helms is the only thing I can see, but I don't think they will, especially since Castilla would probably be the victim and they're paying him lots of money. Given a free hand, I'd probably move Chipper back to third, and try out Darren Bragg in left, but I know they won't do that.

ESPN.com - MLB - Recap - Dodgers at Braves - 05/08/2002

We have a theme for this series now. Well, "Dodgers beat Braves" -- which happened again last night, but mostly it's "Ex-Braves beat Braves". Odalis Perez went eight innings and gave up only one run last night. His ERA is well below 2 for the year and he's clearly the most valuable player from the offseason trade right now. I'd be concerned about his innings if he were still a Brave, but the Dodgers are very happy so far.

ESPN.com - MLB - Recap - Dodgers at Braves - 05/07/2002

If you play a 16-inning game, you at least hope to win it. The Braves didn't. Tom Glavine for the first time this year didn't pitch well, but he wasn't bad and the Braves and Dodgers were tied at 4 going to the ninth. Brian Jordan hit his second solo homer to give the Dodgers the lead, but Gary Sheffield answered to tie. And then the game went on and on until Marquis Grissom scored in the 16th, largely due to a Javy Lopez error.

In other words, the Braves were beaten largely by the efforts of two ex-Braves and a man who probably should be an ex-Brave but we're stuck with through 2003. Javy is hitting .182/.250/.260, and if he doesn't hit why play him? Henry Blanco is putting up about the same numbers, but at least he plays defense.

Andruw Jones hit his 10th homer in the loss, had another hit and two walks. He's slugging .531 with a .366 OBP; anyone who thinks he's a problem because his average is only .262 needs to do the reading.

ESPN.com - MLB - Recap - Braves at Cardinals - 05/05/2002

The Braves we were expecting put in a cameo appearance today, and the team is back to .500 again, winning 4-2. Greg Maddux was sharp, going six and giving up no runs. He only threw 65 pitches, but apparently Bobby wanted to be cautious. Spooneybarger and Smoltz each gave up a run, but John finally finished it off. And Gary Sheffield was 3-5, including a double, bringing his average up to .230. Bobby made a move in the starting lineup, flipping Gary to the three spot and Chipper Jones to cleanup, and it seems to have paid off. Every Brave starter got at least one hit; when that happens, you expect more than four runs. But a win's a win.

ESPN.com - MLB - Recap - Braves at Cardinals - 05/04/2002

I swear, every team should keep one or two minor league veterans around to make a spot start against the Braves. Yet again, a pitcher making his major league debut, 28-year-old Jason Simontacchi in this instance, beat the Braves 3-2. Albie Lopez pitched for the Braves, and he was all right, but if he gets starts when Jason Marquis gets back (Jason has a rehab start in Richmond tonight) and Damian Moss is in the pen, Damian could kill Bobby and it would be justifiable homicide.

Marcus Giles his his fifth homer of the season, his third of the week, in the loss. He missed last night's game after burning himself while ironing. He's passed Chipper as the Braves' second-best hitter after Chipper... Meanwhile, Rasputin lives; Lockhart ended the seventh with one of his patented weak groundouts with the tying run on second. The only time he doesn't hit the ball weakly is when he doesn't hit it at all. He's 1-20 as a pinch hitter, his designated role, and hitting .125/.152/.188 overall. There is no justification for that man being in the major leagues.

At one stage in today's game the Braves had four players in the lineup below the Mendoza line -- and none of them was the pitcher, because Lopez is right at .200 this year. Sheffield had a late hit to get to .207, and Castilla one to get to an even .200, but Julio Franco and Javy Lopez (who also had hits, oddly enough) are still below it... Franco got the start in place of Wes Helms, who is the worst .283 hitter you'll ever see. He does have two homers this year, but he's yet to walk in 55 plate appearances. He has been hit by a pitch.

Braves win as Moss throws seven-inning no-no

Damian has to be wondering if it's something wrong with him. He goes seven innings, doesn't give a hit, much less a run... and gets another no-decision, because the Braves didn't score until the eleventh. Moss has five starts this season and no decisions, despite a 2.61 ERA. The Braves are 4-1 when he pitches, however... After Moss left (he had thrown 117 pitches), Mike Remlinger allowed a hit to the second batter he faced.

Chipper finally got the Braves on the board with a two-run, two-out homer in the eleventh. Tony LaRussa gets an assist, for his moronic choice to pitch to Chipper with first base open. Well, "pitch" is a bit of a mistatement; the pitcher was supposed to pitch around him. But once it got to 3-0, he really should have just issued the intentional walk. The pitch came too far inside and Chipper mashed it.

ESPN.com - MLB - Recap - Braves at Brewers - 05/02/2002

That was a weird one. Kevin Millwood rebounded with a good start, but the Braves couldn't score after Furcal's leadoff homer and and trailed 2-1 after six. But Javy "Rhymes with 6-4-3" Lopez came through with an RBI single to tie, and the game went to extra innings. In the tenth, Henry Blanco, of all people, hits a solo homer. Smoltz blows away the first two, lets the next two reach, but gets Tyler "Drafted Ahead of Frank Thomas, and No, I'm Not Letting Go of That One" Houston to finish off the win. The Braves crawled back to within a game of .500.

Gary Sheffield is now 0-10 since returning to the lineup; I have ot assume he's still hurting. Bobby did make a move today, benching Vinny Castilla to get Mark DeRosa into the lineup at third base; he's played five positions already this year. DeRosa responded by going 2-4 and scoring the tying run. Let's see if Bobby lets him hold onto the job; I wouldn't count on it. Sooner or later, Castilla has to either hit or sit.

ESPN.com - MLB - Game Update
Atlanta 3, Milwaukee 2

WHEW.

ESPN.com - MLB - Game Update

Very interesting... The Braves lead 1-0 in the second, but what's interesting is that Bobby has put Mark DeRosa in the lineup at third base, in place of Vinny Castilla, and hitting seventh, ahead of Javy Lopez. Let's see what happens.

I won't normally post during games, but the new setup gives me the chance to do this. Again, let's see what happens.

ESPN.com - MLB - Recap - Braves at Brewers - 05/01/2002

Every fifth day, the Braves win. Unfortunately, Tom Glavine can't pitch more often than that. After Greg Maddux gave up four runs in one inning yesterday (but other than that pitched well), Glavine went eight, gave up one run (an 8th-inning solo homer) and generally continued to pitch better than he ever has before.

Javy Lopez got back into the lineup last night, but hit eighth, behind Wes Helms. He's hitting only .194, and if he doesn't start playing better the Braves might as well give the job to Henry Blanco. Meanwhile, Gary Sheffield still isn't right. The offense right now is pretty much Furcal, Giles (who has homered in each of the last two) and the Joneses.

The Braves have a day game in Milwaukee, Millwood versus Rusch, today, then go to St. Louis for three over the weekend.