ESPN.com - MLB - Recap - Braves at Red Sox - 06/30/2002

I don't believe in clutch hitters -- that is, in players who consistently hit better in big situations. But sometimes players deliver big, unexpected hits, and you have to give them credit. Keith Lockhart doubled to drive in Darren Bragg, breaking a 3-3 tie in the top of the tenth inning. The Braves poured it on from there, scoring three more runs to go up 7-3, which was the final score. With Lockhart earning a reprieve -- at least until he does something memorably awful or goes into one of his 1-20 slumps -- and Albie Lopez on the DL, I don't know who to pick on. Vinny Castilla, probably.

Jason Marquis pitched extremely well for six innings. But in the seventh, with a three-run lead, he gave up two solo homers and was lifted for Chris Hammond. Hammond pitched a good inning but then Bobby got fancy and pulled him for Kevin Gryboski, trying to get the righty against the righthanded hitting Nomar Garciaparra. Nomar homered to center to tie the game.

I was wondering at the time (no second guessing) why he went with Gryboski; with two out in the eighth, if he wanted a righthanded pitcher he really should have gone with Smoltz, who would only have had to pitch an inning and a third to get the save. As strong as Hammond looked, I think he should have been allowed to pitch to Nomar with no one on base. Gryboski is starting to remind me of Jose Cabrera, who was superb early last year, faded in the middle, and wound up all but unused in the last couple of months of the season. Like Cabrera, he's a talented pitcher who hadn't accomplished much with his old team, and who the Braves picked up (this time in a trade) when that team had no place for him. Gryboski hasn't looked good in most of his early outings, and I wonder if he's not falling into bad habits that Leo had knocked out of him.

The Expos lost their last two games (ever?) with the Blue Jays, and have fallen to eight and a half games out headed into a three-game series in Atlanta to start the week. The Marlins lost an extra-inning game to the Devil Rays and have fallen to ten out; the Mets play tonight... The Braves have the best record in the NL, a half game ahead of the Dodgers, who are playing now.

ESPN.com - MLB - Recap - Braves at Red Sox - 06/29/2002

Is Kevin Millwood back? That's hard to say. He struck out ten before leaving with a blister in the sixth; the only run scored off him came later that inning as an inherited runner scored. Millwood actually got a win, 2-1, and looked as good as he has in years. But at the same time his fatigue problems haven't been adressed, because he left early for other reasons. I really want to see if he can go seven or eight innings.

John Smoltz was dominant, striking out two, in closing the game out. He had a terrific month of June. On May 29th, he gave up three runs and got a loss and a blown save, pushing his ERA to 5.93. In June, he's pitched thirteen times, has allowed two runs (both on June 12) and gotten a save in every game he's pitched. His ERA has gone down all the way to 4.53, and in 13 1/3 innings over the month he's allowed only eight baserunners while striking out sixteen. In other words, Smoltz seems to be settling in to this closer thing.

Chipper Jones, like Millwood, has a blister problem and did not start today. He did pinch-hit for the pitcher, who wound up hitting in the AL park because Andruw Jones started as the DH but wound up playing center. It really bugs me when the Braves lose the DH in these AL park games, and it seems to happen a lot. It's not like Bobby (and Pat Corrales as well) weren't managers in the AL for years.

ESPN.com - MLB - Recap - Braves at Red Sox - 06/28/2002

Hey, another win! This is getting scary. The Braves blew a 2-1 lead, left fourteen runners on base, Chipper Jones was 0-5... and Vinny Castilla and Henry Blanco, of all people, drove in runs in the top of the ninth to give the Braves the lead. John Smoltz came on for the save. For my money, the heroes were Darren Bragg (2-2, three walks, two runs scored) and Blanco (2-4 with a walk and the insurance RBI).

Greg Maddux is the latest victim of Damian Moss' Disease, pitching five strong innings, giving up one unearned run, before leaving with a bruise on his leg. Chris Hammond, who has been so terrific, gave up a run in the seventh. The bullpen is getting a lot of wins lately; most of them haven't been of this vulture type.

The Braves remain six and a half up on the Expos. The Marlins and Mets lost and are nine and nine and a half out respectively. Day game tomorrow, Millwood against Derek Lowe, who dominated the Braves in Atlanta two weeks ago.

ESPN.com - Atlanta Braves - BatStatistics

It's time for another entry in our continuing series, "How do the Braves continue to win with these guys in the lineup?" Today, we take another look at the bottom of the lineup: Vinny Castilla, Javy Lopez, and Keith Lockhart.

Vinny hasn't drawn a walk in June, his slugging percentage for the season is now .399, and he's hitting .245. But hey, that defense!

Javy has supposedly "come around" and he is hitting for more power (three homers, three doubles, .456 slugging percentage in June) but his on-base percentage for the season is .288 (.297 in June) and that's good only in comparison to Vinny. But hey, he's throwing out baserunners!

Keith Lockhart... Well, he hit a home run the other day. He's hitting .185/.250/.347 for the season. Skip Caray says he's the most valuable .185 hitter in baseball, which I assume doesn't include pitchers. Jesse Garcia is hitting a robust .225 but with no walks or extra base hits.

It appears that the last game of the Mets series has been postponed with the Braves leading 2-1 after 3 1/2. The Expos won and the Marlins lost, so the Braves head to Boston with a six and a half game lead over the Expos, eight over the Marlins, and eight and a half over the Mets. The Expos traded three top prospects and roster ballast (Lee Stevens) to the Indians for ace starter Bartolo Colon; their already impressive rotation is now every bit the equal of the Braves', on paper, anyway. Colon's health is something of a concern still, and one pitcher isn't worth six and a half games in the standings.

ESPN.com - News Wire

First, the Braves have put Albie Lopez on the DL (they say his shoulder hurts, but who cares why as long as he's gone?) and called up Tim Spooneybarger. I'm glad for Spooneybarger but the Braves still don't need seven relievers and should have brought up a hitter.

Second, I've added a comments utility to this site. Just click on the link below this post, or on any post, and fire back.

ESPN.com - MLB - Recap - Braves at Mets - 06/26/2002

No Albie, hence no problem. Tom Glavine had a fairly strong start, giving up only two runs on two solo homers, but has been victimized by a case of the same syndrome that afflicted Damian Moss early in the season and lately has struck Kevin Millwood, where he pitched just well enough to take it to the bullpen with a tie. But Gary Sheffield hit a grand-slam homer off of new Braves whipping boy Scott Strickland (who has now given up three game-winning homers to the Braves this season, including the one to Lockhart on Monday) and the bullpen was solid (except for a monster solo homer allowed Mo Vaughn by Kevin Gryboski) and the Braves have beaten the Mets twice in three games with one game to go in the series.

Chipper was back in the lineup, but Andruw left the game with a sprained left shoulder in the sixth inning. This shoulder may have been bothering him for awhile, but the immediate cause was one of the early homers by the Mets, where he tried to leap and pull it back over the fence. I've always wondered why more players don't get hurt doing that. Darren Bragg will play center if Andruw can't play tonight, but Andruw always plays. Frankly, I think he could use the rest.

The Braves have pulled out to a seven-game lead on Montreal, seven and a half on Florida, eight and a half on the Mets. The Braves are a half game behind the Dodgers for the best record in the league.

ESPN.com - MLB - Recap - Braves at Mets - 06/25/2002

Have I mentioned that Albie Lopez stinks? Albie gave up seven runs, all earned, didn't get an out in the fifth inning, and pretty much single-handedly lost to the Mets, 7-4. Steve Trachsel did start off with five perfect innings for the Mets, but the Braves obviously rallied; if they'd gotten any sort of starting pitching they probably would have won. Albie's carefully nursed ERA skyrocketed to 5.01 and he's been exposed for the no-hoper he is. We traded George Lombard to keep this?

Javy Lopez hit a home run to break up the perfect game and continue his hot hitting. Chipper had back spasms and didn't start, though he was able to pinch-hit... The Marlins and Expos both lost. The Braves lead Montreal by six and Florida and New York by seven and a half.

To the person who reached this site with the search for "are the braves going to pick up a first baseman", my answer is "I wish I knew".

ESPN.com - MLB - Recap - Braves at Mets - 06/24/2002

Okay, you know you're going good when Keith Lockhart picks up the team with a pinch-hit homer leading off the ninth. That made it 3-2, and Smoltz mowed them down for the save. The Braves led 2-0 early, but couldn't stretch the lead (home runs kept going just foul) and the Mets came back to tie it, and had chances to take the lead but couldn't. Kevin Millwood -- stop me if you've heard this before -- was strong early but tired in the middle innings, and wound up with a no-decision. Kevin Gryboski pitched an inning and got the win.

Julio Franco homered as well. I've given up trying to predict if he's through. Right now, he's basically a half-time first baseman splitting time with Matt Franco... Greg Maddux may start tomorrow, or may not. If he doesn't, Albie Lopez is expected to go, meaning he might finally get to pitch in a close game. Always assuming he doesn't give up four in the first. He actually started against the Mets earlier this year and was good for about three innings, then tired and gave up five runs, three earned.

Just a quick note... The Marlins lost, and fall to 6 1/2 games out. And the Braves' team ERA for the season is now 2.97. That is insanely low; no team has broken 3.00 over the course of a season since the 1989 Dodgers. Only two teams have even beaten 3.25 since 1993, the 1997 Braves at 3.18. I can't imagine that will hold up, but I think they can beat 3.25.

The Braves offense, meanwhile, has scored 334 runs, tied for fifth in the league. That's misleading; the Braves are tied with Montreal, and the Expos have played one fewer game. The Dodgers are only one run behind and the Astros two, and both those teams have played one fewer game as well. Still, eighth in the league in runs per game is nothing to sneeze at considering how the Braves performed last year, or early this year. I really don't have a good grasp on how good the Braves' offense really is. They're only 11th in OPS (on-base percentage plus slugging percentage) and 12th in on-base. That suggests they've been lucky to score so many runs and will slip. On the other hand, the offense has looked better the last month. My guess is they really are about the eighth-best offense in the league, at least with the current lineup. Great pitching, middling offense... Where have I heard that before?

A couple of people have written regarding my post of last night (actually, early this morning) on the Braves leading the NL in double plays. Both Brian Jenkins and Michael McHenry have pointed out that while the Braves aren't allowing a lot of baserunners, most of the baserunners they've allowed have been on singles or walks, because they aren't allowing many extra-base hits. (The slugging percentage allowed by the Braves is easily the lowest in the NL, .350 versus second-place New York's .369.)

Michael also points out that the Braves have pitched the most innings in the NL, because they've played more games than most and so many have gone to extra innings; that affects the numbers. I'll throw in that Javy Lopez and Henry Blanco have done a good job cutting down on the running game (throwing out 46% of baserunners) and that teams aren't risking what baserunners they have by sending them, which makes turning double plays more likely for a couple of reasons.

My best guess is that the Braves's infielders are doing a better-than-expected job on the double play, but that they're not as far above the norm as I thought. The other factors -- a basically ground-ball staff, few runners in motion, few extra-base hits, more innings pitched -- account for the bulk of the total. That's not to say that Furcal, Giles, Garcia, DeRosa, Castilla -- and, okay, Lockhart -- don't deserve a lot of credit, because they do. I'm pretty certain that they shouldn't be leading the league in double plays, and certainly not by ten (they turned one today) no matter what the pitchers' characteristics are.

ESPN.com - MLB - Recap - White Sox at Braves - 06/23/2002

The Braves completed the sweep, jumping out to a 4-0 lead and winding up pounding Chicago 9-1. Jason Marquis pitched and pitched well, mimicking Damian Moss' outing of last night; occasional bouts of wildness (three walks) mixed in with near-unhittability (only three hits), the only run coming on a solo homer. After being held to three runs on three hits Friday, the Braves scored 24 runs in the last 16 innings against the Sox. Furcal led off the bottom of the first with a homer, and Andruw, Chipper, and Matt Franco all added roundtrippers.

The Mets won and the Expos are on the verge, while the Marlins are yet to play; the Braves should lead Montreal by five and a half, Florida by six, and New York by 7 1/2 heading to a four-game series at Shea. If the Braves can win that series, it would almost eliminate the Mets from contention.

Here's something interesting... The Braves have turned the most double plays in the National League, by a pretty wide margin -- nine more than the second-place Giants. This is interesting in part because the Braves haven't had a lot of baserunners against them; their OBP allowed is tied for third in the league. And while the staff is ground-ball oriented, it's not excessively so. Good pitching teams -- and the Braves are excellent -- don't generally turn a lot of double plays, because the opportunities aren't there.

One reason for the high GIDP rate is that the Braves don't get a lot of strikeouts, meaning the ball is in play a lot. But also, credit has to go to the infielders, even Keith Lockhart. It's particular impressive because the Braves' infield has been so unsettled; really, only Rafael Furcal has been a constant.

ESPN.com - MLB - Recap - White Sox at Braves - 06/22/2002

The Braves scored 15 runs tonight, all in three innings, beating the White Sox 15-2. The only runs for Chicago came on solo homers by Paul Konerko after the game wasn't seriously in doubt. Damian Moss had a typical outing for him, with near-unhittability combined with bouts of wildness; six innings, two hits (including one of Konerko's homers), five strikeouts, but five walks. He's a very interesting pitcher.

Ten Braves had hits; all the starters except Andruw, plus reserves Bragg, Garcia, and Helms. Andruw is scuffling a little; he's hitless for the series and has dropped to .285 for the year. His last out came on one of those outside sliders he hasn't been swinging at lately... The Braves have now won eight series in a row since splitting a two-game clash with the Expos May 21-22. The last series they lost was against the Dodgers, May 7-9.

Albie Lopez is so bad that the Braves are afraid to use him for more than one inning, even with a big lead. They used Holmes to pitch the seventh with a six run lead and Ligtenberg to pitch the eighth with a ten run lead. Not until there was only one inning left, and the lead was thirteen, was Albie allowed to risk pitching. He now only pitches in the sorts of situations where other teams would use a position player.

I never know what to say about something like Darryl Kile's passing. All my best wishes to his family. I'll always remember him pitching for the Astros against the Braves in the 1997 Division Series, matching Greg Maddux pitch for pitch, but taking the loss.

Michael McHenry has the best analysis of the Lombard trade I've seen.

ESPN.com - MLB - Recap - White Sox at Braves - 06/21/2002

You don't win many games on three hits, but the Braves did tonight. Chipper broke up a no-hitter in the fourth with a two-run homer, and Furcal broke up a 2-2 tie in the eighth with a bunt single to score Jesse Garcia (running for Keith Lockhart, who walked twice, making this his best game of the year). Glavine started and allowed only one run, but didn't get the win when Mike Remlinger blew a hold opportunity.

Vinny Castilla was back in the lineup tonight after missing the Detroit series with a hamstring injury. It didn't help the Braves' offense, which is still scuffling. The Braves have won three in a row despite not looking functional on offense for more than a couple of innings. Since an 11-run outburst in the second game of the Minnesota series, the Braves have played eight games, winning six... but have averaged only two and a half runs a game.

The rest of the division all won. The Braves lead Montreal (winners of eight straight) by 4 1/2, Florida by 5 1/2, New York by 6 1/2, with Philadelphia a distant last 11 1/2 out... The Braves' record is 44-29, a .603 winning percentage. It's the first time over .600 since the third game of the season.

ESPN.com - MLB - Recap - Tigers at Braves - 06/20/2002

Wow. You don't see a lot of 3-2 games with that much action. Well, I suppose there wasn't that much, but it was compressed action, with most everything coming in two half-innings. The Tigers got two runs in the sixth off of Chris Hammond thanks to the worst defense you'll ever see; Chipper committed a throwing error, and later Lockhart (new nickname suggestion: Kalista Lockhart) committed two errors on the same play.

The Braves were shut out for eight innings by Adam Bernero, who looked more like Greg Maddux last night than Maddux did. But after Julio Franco doubled leading off the ninth, Bernero was pulled for an old National Leaguer, Juan Acevedo, and the Braves pounded him. Sheffield walked, Chipper singled home Franco, moving Sheffield to third, and Andruw hit a chopper that should have tied the game but Gary froze and was picked off third. Chipper stole third, but it looked like the throw beat him; apparently, the tag missed. Wes Helms, of all people, brought Chipper home with a fly out; Andruw went to second when the centerfielder tripped over the rightfielder.

Then, the Tigers intentionally walked Lockhart, and I started rolling on the floor laughing. Vinny Castilla (still out of the lineup) pinch-hit and fought off a few before getting hit by a pitch. And Javy finished it by lining a ball over George Lombard's head. It was the first game all year the Braves won after trailing going into the ninth.

Greg Maddux went five good innings; he threw a few more pitches than you might expect but allowed only two hits, no walks. But he pulled up lame in the fifth and had to leave after the inning. It was the the calf muscle that he pulled in his last start; he might skip a turn. Kerry Ligtenberg wound up getting the win; Albie Lopez didn't pitch because he only pitches in blowouts, but the Braves really need twelve pitchers and that's final.

The Braves now host the White Sox for three. The Sox score some runs but their starting pitching (other than Mark Buehrle, whom the Braves will miss) is pretty weak. It might be what the offense needs, though getting Lockhart out of there would help too.

Marcus Giles' baby girl died a couple of days ago. There really isn't anything to be said about that, only that I'm deeply sorry for his and his wife's loss.

ESPN.com - MLB - Recap - Tigers at Braves - 06/19/2002

The Braves broke their little losing streak, largely due to Kevin Millwood, who was sensational for 7 2/3 before giving up a solo homer and giving way to Mike Remlinger. Kevin gave up only five hits, didn't walk anyone, and struck out nine. He threw 108 pitches -- a high number but not unreasonably so -- and 80 were strikes. What I'm saying is he was on.

The Braves were only able to get two runs on five hits off of Detroit's Mike Maroth, getting RBI doubles from Andruw in the fourth and Chipper in the sixth; they got some insurance on solo homers from Julio Franco (playing against the lefty starter; we seem to have an all-Franco platoon going) and Sheffield in the eighth. The offense does seem to have hit a rough spot.

George Lombard's time in Atlanta is over, or will be tonight; he was traded before the game to the Tigers, of all teams. He pinch-hit last night for Detroit and flew out. I'm fairly upset by this. Lombard isn't that much of a player, but he can help a team. Meanwhile, for essentially sentimental reasons, the Braves are holding on to guys who can't help the team as much. Julio Franco, despite his homer last night, has been pathetic in June, hitting .220 with a .304 OBP; Wes Helms has been pathetic since day one and has hit .200, with no walks or extra base hits, in June. And then there's Albie Lopez, getting $4 million to mostly sit around and whine about not pitching. The Braves couldn't have done without these guys?

The Braves' bench has been an outstanding weakness for years, and has continued to come back to bite the Braves in postseason. The biggest reason for this has been that Bobby Cox, for all his strengths, won't cut loose veteran players who aren't contributing, and John Schuerholz won't force him to. Keith Lockhart (who wasn't in danger because the Braves are short of middle infielders right now) is the latest example, but there are many others. Before Lockhart, there was Guillen; before Guillen, there was Belliard. In the mid-nineties, the Braves every year would have one veteran outfielder who hit like a backup catcher. (Look up the Braves batting records of Dave Gallagher and Dwight Smith.)

The Braves' marquee players (currently the Joneses, Sheffield, Maddux, Glavine, maybe Furcal) and pitching depth have always been enough to overcome a weak bench in regular season play. But in postseason play, every at-bat, every pinch-runner, is magnified. Lombard isn't great, but he's faster than any player on the Braves' bench by a long way. He's a better hitter than anyone on the bench save maybe Darren Bragg (considering Matt Franco a platoon regular). Are they seriously saying that they can't find a use for that?

The player the Braves got was a right-handed reliever, Kris Keller. Keller has one game of major league experience, then got hurt and is on the DL. (Since when can you trade players on the DL?) He's going to Richmond when he gets healthy. Keller has a good arm but is incredibly wild, plus the development record of minor league relievers is poor. The odds of him becoming anything of note are remote; it is impressive that the Braves got that much for Lombard considering they were over a barrel.

ESPN.com - MLB - Recap - Tigers at Braves - 06/18/2002

Yikes. Let's not face this Jeff Weaver guy again, huh? Weaver pitched a five-hit shutout, showing exactly what happens when the Braves' facing-a-guy-for-the-first-time jinx coincides with one of the better pitchers in baseball. It was pretty awful. Tonight the Braves get someone named "Maroth" I've never heard of; let's hope things improve.

The George Lombard Saga continues. Apparently there's a rule giving the Braves a day to evaluate him before making a decision. That they didn't make that decision argues that they still don't know what they're going to do.

No game yesterday, one against the Tigers tonight and their ace, Jeff Weaver. The biggest story with the Braves right now is that George Lombard has finished his rehab assignment and the Braves have a decision to make. Lombard cannot be sent to Richmond without passing through waivers, and he apparently has already left the R-Braves, having been told he is in fact going to join the big league club tonight. Therefore, someone has to go, either to Richmond, or on waivers, or on the DL. However, Leo Mazzone last night apparently said nobody on the current roster would be sent down or released, and Vinny Castilla and Rafael Furcal, the two Braves nursing injuries, are both expected to play tonight. It's a conundrum, and someone has to be wrong here.

Assuming Lombard does get a spot, who can go down? Well, the only position player on the 25-man roster with an option left is Furcal, and it's pretty obvious the Braves aren't going to demote their starting shortstop and leadoff hitter. (Actually, I think it would do him some good to spend a month in AAA, but there's nobody to replace him with DeRosa out.) The last man on the bench right now is probably Wes Helms, but the Braves have for years (mistakenly, in my opinion) considered him a better prospect than Lombard and would even his utter failure (career .227/.283/.423, and worse this year) change that? Also, with Castilla gimpy, Helms is the backup third baseman, though Chipper could move back there if needed, or Matt Franco play the position. (In a pinch, even Gary Sheffield could.) I don't think Helms would be claimed if he were sent through waivers to Richmond; I don't know if he would declare free agency, but I doubt it.

Julio Franco has hit even worse than Helms this year, he's approximately 45 years old, and unlike Helms is limited to first base. He has shown flashes of usefulness, unlike Helms. He also probably would clear waivers, but I don't think he would accept a minor league assignment. Matt Franco has the shortest tenure of anyone on the club, but he has hit very well (.364/.417/.682) in limited and platoon duty since joining the Braves, and he's apparently the regular first baseman for now. Franco might not clear waivers, and I'm pretty sure he would declare free agency if the Braves sent him down. The same goes for Darren Bragg, who has performed admirably of late as the Braves' fourth outfielder. He's hitting only .268, but with decent secondary skills (.338 OBP/.435 SLG) and can play any outfield spot. He's in the Lombard roster spot, but I doubt he will go. Keith Lockhart and Jesse Garcia are both playing extremely poorly as the second basemen in Marcus Giles' absence, but neither is in danger because demoting either would leave Chipper as the Braves' top reserve middle infielder. Both would clear waivers easily (Garcia already did once at the end of spring training) and either would be insane to declare free agency.

The Braves could demote a pitcher and go down to six relievers. This would be my preferred course. As it is, Kerry Ligtenberg only pitches in extra innings and Albie Lopez only in blowouts; I think their jobs could easily be combined. Kerry does have an option left, which seems odd (he's been in the Braves' pen longer than any pitcher) and really needs more work. Albie deserves the demotion more, however, and the Braves seem to lack any faith in him. If Lockhart and Garcia would be insane to refuse an assignment to Richmond, the $4 million dollar mopup man would be stark-raving-Hannibal Lecter-rolling on the floor-mad to. It's just vaguely possible that a team needing back-of-the-rotation help would claim him; the Braves are definitely shopping him. The only pitcher other than Ligtenberg with an option is Jason Marquis; like Furcal, a trip to AAA might do him some good, but he doesn't deserve it, and the Braves won't do it.

I've no idea what the Braves will do. I think their preferred option is to trade Albie, but I don't see many takers. They might ship Ligtenberg out, promising a recall when they unload Albie. Or Julio Franco will get waived, or traded for peanuts if someone wants to take a flyer. We'll see.

Chat Wrap -- Mike Piazza

Yes, it's a fake. But it's a good fake.

Deranged Braves fans in Australia?

Diners flee tomahawk attacks

MEN armed with tomahawks and hammers smashed windows and terrorised diners at four city restaurants last night.

Idiot of the Week

From Baseball Prospectus' Week in Quotes:

"[I]f you look at the record the last 15 or 20 years, outside of the Yankees, we've been in the playoffs and the World Series nearly as much as any other team."
--Carl Lindner, Reds CEO

Postseason appearances, 1982-2001 (19 playoff seasons total because of the 1994 strike):

Atlanta Braves, 12 (1982, 1991-2001)
New York Yankees, 6 (1996-2001)
Cincinnati Reds, 2 (1990, 1995)

I don't have the patience to look through to figure out all the teams that have more than two postseason appearances over the last 20 years. Some, but probably not all, would include the Astros, Dodgers, Giants, Mariners, Athletics, Blue Jays, and Red Sox. The Arizona Diamondbacks have two playoff appearances and one World Series title, equalling the Reds, and they're in their fifth season of existence.

World Series Appearances, 1982-2001:

Atlanta Braves, 5 (1991-92, 1995-96, 1999)
New York Yankees, 5 (1996, 1998-2001)
Cincinnati Reds, 1 (1990)

Teams with more than one WS appearance in the last 20 years would include the Blue Jays, Athletics, Indians, Padres (!), and Twins.

UPDATE: Brian Jenkins has done the compiling, and 18 teams have made the postseason more than twice since 1982:

AL East: Yankees, Red Sox, Orioles, Blue Jays
AL Central: Indians, White Sox
AL West: Mariners, Athletics, Rangers
NL East: Braves, Mets
NL Central: Astros, Pirates, Cubs, Cardinals
NL West: Dodgers, Padres, Giants

Also, the Angels have two playoff appearances plus a one-game playoff in 1995. Even if you leave them out, we're talking about sixty percent of the teams making the postseason more than the Reds over twenty years.

ESPN.com - MLB - Recap - Red Sox at Braves - 06/16/2002

Ah, you can't win them all. Tom Glavine wasn't quite right today, Derek Lowe was superb, and the Braves lost 6-1. Still, they won the series, and will at worst have a 5 1/2 game lead heading into a three-game series with Detroit. Boy, Detroit! Great to see them come to town, huh?

Rafael Furcal was hit in the elbow (actually, it appeared to be the funny bone) with a pitch in the third inning and left in the fourth. He is day-to-day; an off-day tomorrow will help... Matt Franco played first base today after Julio Franco played yesterday. He drove in the Braves' only run with a single in the third, and had another hit. He's now at .364; we'll see if Bobby sticks with him for now.

ESPN.com - MLB - Recap - Red Sox at Braves - 06/15/2002

I think Interleague Play is stupid, but it's sure been good for the Braves, now 7-1 against the AL. Greg Maddux pitched six shutout innings, but fell apart in the seventh, leaving the game with a 3-2 lead and runners at first and third, no one out. Then the Amazing Chris Hammond stepped up, and pulled another of his escape acts, getting out of it with no damage. Smoltz gave up a couple of hits but got the save anyway, and the Braves continue to roll. The Mets and Marlins also won, and the Expos are winning; the Braves look to be 6 1/2 up on the latter two, 7 1/2 up on New York.

Maddux complained of a sore calf muscle after leaving the game, and is listed as day-to-day. I'm worried about his conditioning; this sort of thing seems to happen to him a lot. Vinny Castilla also left the game, after suffering a strained hamstring running out a double. The Braves won't really miss him except on defense, as Wes Helms is equally incompetent.

John Burkett got the loss for the Red Sox but pitched pretty well, and is my new hero.

Alex Ramati wants the Mets to hit Roger Clemens. Probably in the face. They tried, actually, but failed miserably. The Mets are a pretty sorry team right now.

ESPN.com - MLB - Recap - Red Sox at Braves - 06/14/2002

The Braves beat Pedro Martinez, sort of. He obviously wasn't right, giving up eight hits; he was about five MPH off on his fastball, throwing about 88-90. But he only gave up two runs, so he was doing something right. The second run came on a Gary Sheffield sac fly, scoring Rafael Furcal, in the eighth inning. Kevin Millwood didn't get the win, but pitched more than well enough to. He went seven innings and gave up only one run on three hits; it was his second straight good outing winding up with a no-decision. Chris Hammond got the win, pitching one inning of perfect relief with two strikeouts. Hammond has won five games now.

Matt Franco got the start at first base. Julio Franco has been mired in an awful slump, as has (on the occasions he's played) Wes Helms. Franco had two hits, both singles, the second setting up the winning run. He might be the first baseman of the moment, at least against righthanded pitching.

ESPN.com: MLB - Reds took to bolster staff, acquire Chen from Expos

The ESPN picture still has Chen in his Mets cap. Bruce is setting some sort of record, though at least he managed to get out of the NL East finally.

Notes on an Off Day

The Braves are the hottest team in baseball, and they're doing it with about fifteen players. The Braves win with stellar pitching, starters and relievers, baseball's best outfield (at least as long as Manny Ramirez is hurt), and pretty much nothing else. The gap between the Braves' third best position player -- Sheffield, this year -- and their fourth best -- probably Furcal -- is immense. Sheffield has an .809 OPS (well below his standard, but rising). Furcal's is .686. The team's gotten good bench work from Darren Bragg and (recently) Matt Franco, and from Mark DeRosa when healthy... but the Braves have been getting basically nothing from the bottom three spots in the order, and not a whole lot from the first two. The only infielder playing above replacement level has been Furcal, and that barely. And yet, the Braves have risen to the middle of the pack in the NL in runs scored; they're seventh, though the Dodgers have played one fewer game and are only four runs behind.

One of the reasons the Braves played so well in Interleague play was that they could use the DH to get Bragg or M. Franco in the lineup, and they produced. On the other hand, the pitchers have been hitting. Jason Marquis' .786 OPS is better than any regular Braves infielder. Kevin Millwood has outslugged Julio Franco, Javy Lopez, and Keith Lockhart.

The Braves will need to make a decision soon. Marcus Giles, Mark DeRosa, and George Lombard all are due to come off the DL in the next few weeks. Giles would normally be expected to return soon, but his family situation (if you haven't heard, his wife gave birth to a daughter four months prematurely; the child is still in serious jeopardy) has set back his rehab. Lombard is tearing it up in his rehab assignment and the Braves will need to make a decision when that runs out. (Of course, the odds are he'll just get hurt again. Happy thoughts!) Darren Bragg would seem to be the player whose spot would most be in jeopardy, but he has played very well and Bobby seems to like him. It seems more likely (assuming the Braves don't try to send Lombard through waivers to Richmond) that one of the excess corner infielders will get the axe, most likely Julio or Matt Franco. When Giles or DeRosa comes back, whoever comes first, Jesse Garcia will probably get sent down. After that... I really don't know who the third cut would be. It might be the other Franco, but that would leave the Braves short at first base. They should cut Lockhart, but we know that won't happen. Maybe they'll unload Albie Lopez; I'm quite certain they wouldn't care if he got claimed on his way to Richmond.

My favorite hit ever

I'd just like to thank the person who found this site while looking for larussa overrated manager. Because really, he is.

OK, ante up.

ESPN.com - MLB - Recap - Braves at Twins - 06/12/2002

The good Damian Moss showed up, throwing seven shutout innings (two hits, eight strikeouts) and got just enough support. The bad John Smoltz put in an appearance, giving up two runs in the ninth, but came in with a three run lead, and the Braves won 3-2. Gary Sheffield homered, Rafael Furcal had three hits and scored twice, and though Andruw Jones had a hitting streak broken he reached base three times.

The Braves should have scored more than three runs; they had twelve baserunners, eight on hits. But Vinny Castilla kept coming up with runners on base, hitting into a double play on one occasion and grounding out with two out and the bases loaded on another. Vinny will get a lot of RBI hitting sixth behind the Braves' three outfielders because they all get on base (Sheffield, .357; Chipper, .415; Andruw, .401). And he winds up getting most of the credit, even though a decent hitter in that spot should have far more than 42 RBI. He makes a ton of outs (OBP: .278) and all the defense in the world doesn't make up for that. He should be benched when DeRosa comes back, but we all know that won't happen.

The Mets lost, the Marlins and Expos won; Florida is alone in second, five and a half out, with the other two six and a half back. Everybody's off tomorrow; the Braves will play three against the Red Sox in Atlanta starting Friday. Just to make it extra special, the Sox are bringing their three best pitchers, Pedro, ex-Brave John Burkett, and Derek Lowe.

ESPN.com - MLB - Recap - Braves at Twins - 06/11/2002

Oh, much better. Braves 11, Twins 0. This means that the Braves have actually outscored the Twins in the Metrodome all-time, 23-19. I don't think it helps much.

The Braves broke it open in the fifth, scoring seven runs. The highlight was three consecutive homers (Andruw, Vinny Castilla, and Matt Franco). It was the first time the Braves had done that since 1994, long enough ago that the victim was Rick Sutcliffe. The Braves had six extra base hits in the inning, one short of the record.

Tom Glavine, meanwhile, had a typical start, at least for this season; seven innings, two hits, no runs. Albie Lopez is so bad that he was only allowed to pitch one inning (the ninth) with an 11-run lead; Darren Holmes, a real reliever, pitched the eighth. I am taking suggestions for a nickname for him. I'm leaning towards "Albie Duty", as in any game where the Braves are winning or trailing by more than seven runs is "Albie Duty Time" -- the only times he gets to pitch.

One more game in Minnesota, then home to Atlanta to face the Red Sox. The Braves lead is back to five and a half over the Marlins and Mets (both won Monday and lost last night) and six and a half over the Expos. The four other teams in the division are all closer to one another than any are to the Braves.

ESPN.com - MLB - Recap - Braves at Twins - 06/10/2002

I HATE THE METRODOME!

It's an evil place. Last night, the chamber of horrors opened again, and the Braves lost 6-5. In fifteen innings. After going down 5-0 in the first and rallying back. We even had, in honor of the 1991 series, an umpiring call at first base that was so bad it could have been better made by a blind, retarded gibbon. A catcher scored all the way from first to win the game.

Other than that, it was fine.

ESPN.com - MLB - Recap - Braves at Rangers - 06/09/2002

Nothing like a visit to Dallas to get the offense going. The Braves wound up scoring 28 runs in the series -- nine last night -- while giving up only 13 -- three last night -- and sweeping the Rangers. Together with losses by the Mets and Expos, and a win by the Marlins, the Braves stand five and a half games ahead of a three-team logjam of .500 teams in the NL East. It's not just a weak division, mind you; the Braves have the third-best record in the NL and a better record than the leaders in either Central Division.

The hero last night was Javy Lopez, who had three hits including a homer and drove in four runs. The Braves also got good work from Vinny Castilla. Mind you, they both still have sub-.300 on-base percentages, and you can't score a lot of runs like that, but at least they're driving some in. The move of Julio Franco (and in DH games Darren Bragg) into the lineup has been a boon for these guys. You can get away with one or two low-OBP sluggers (not that Javy has been hitting for much power) but if you throw another -- like Wes Helms -- into the mix, there aren't enough baserunners for them to drive in. Castilla has been cleaning up with the RBI, but the people hitting behind him have been getting very few RBI opportunities.

On to the Metrodome! Let Charlie Leibrandt be avenged!

ESPN.com - MLB - Recap - Braves at Rangers - 06/08/2002

I kind of wish I still had my Andruw-o-meter. Andruw Jones was 3-5, with two homers, four RBI, raising his average to .300 (with .399 OBP and .579 slugging percentage, both highest on the team) in the Braves' extra-innings win over the Rangers. The big blow was a three-run shot in the tenth. Andruw's on an eight-game hitting streak, and it's not one of those with a lot of 1-4 games. He's had multi-hit games, hit for power, and drawn walks. Bobby Cox compared what's going on with Andruw right now to what happened when Sammy Sosa found himself to become one of the game's elite hitters. And Andruw's about five years younger than Sosa was at that time.

Kevin Millwood had a good start, six innings, two runs. Those two runs came in an odd sixth inning where a lot of balls seemed to fall just right for the Rangers, and he looked much better than he has lately... John Smoltz got the save, and looked very strong. The Braves' defense didn't, committing three errors.

ESPN.com - MLB - Recap - Braves at Rangers - 06/07/2002

Now that they're watering down the baseballs at Coors Field, you have to go to the American League for Arena Baseball, and Arlington, Texas is where they play it the most. The Braves scored 11 runs in the first three innings, leading by ten after two and a half... and at one stage in the fifth, the Rangers had the tying run on deck. The Braves held on to win 13-7, scoring their most runs this year. Matt Franco, getting his first start of the season at first base, homered, Rafael Furcal, Darren Bragg (playing right field with Sheffield DHing) and both Joneses had three hits, and Keith Lockhart had two but is still hitting .189.

Damian Moss had a rough go of it, giving up six earned and leaving during the fifth. Chris Hammond wound up going 2 2/3, giving up only two hits, and getting the win, his third in his last three outings. He really has been a godsend in long relief.

The Marlins lost and the Mets and Expos won last night. All three teams are at .500, and four and a half behind the Braves. Only the Twins have a bigger lead in their division. The four-game winning streak is the season's longest... ESPN for some reason lists yesterday's starters as starters for today's game, but in fact it will be Kevin Millwood against former Braves farmhand Rob Bell.

ESPN.com - MLB - Recap - Mets at Braves - 06/06/2002

Well, that was fun. The Braves completed a sweep of the Mets, 3-2, as Andruw Jones went 3-4 with his 15th homer, and Keith Lockhart, of all people, scored the winning run after tripling. I have no intention of laying off Lockhart, though. The Mets fell a game below .500, are four and a half out (tied with the Expos for third), and have lost five in a row. The Braves are three and a half up on the Marlins, who play at Philadelphia tonight.

Tom Glavine won his tenth game of the season, against two defeats, going seven and giving up two runs. That was enough to rocket his ERA up all the way to 1.64, still easily the best in the NL. Only Curt Schilling has more wins, and nobody has thrown more innings... John Smoltz saved all three games of the series and is fourth in the league in that wildly overrated category with 17.

A little more about Andruw, who has reached the level where if something happens to Barry Bonds he has to be considered a real MVP candidate. He's hitting .284 with walks (a .387 OBP) and power (.545 slugging). There are players in the NL with better statistics (Andruw is tenth in the NL in runs created, 15th in OPS)... but none with near his defensive value. Most of the players ahead of him are left or right fielders. Lance Berkman plays a lot of center, but isn't really a CF; Jim Edmonds also rates well offensively but is wildly overrated as a defensive player. Junior Spivey, the amazing out-of-nowhere second baseman for Arizona, probably comes closest to Andruw in defensive value, but only because it's hard to find a second baseman; his defensive statistics are probably the worst in the league.

Barry Bonds is head and shoulders above everyone offensively; after him, there are several candidates. And I think if Andruw keeps hitting like this, you're going to start hearing his name, and soon.

Challenge!

The Braves will visit the Twins for three games, Monday through Wednesday of next week. I've got a bet on with John of Twins Takes regarding the upcoming rematch of the Greatest World Series Ever. If the Braves win the series, he has to post a big picture of Mark Lemke. If the Twins win the series, I have to post a big picture of Kent Hrbek. Considering the Braves' record in the Metrodome, John kind of has to like his odds.

Lonnie @%&#*! Smith...

ESPN.com - MLB - Recap - Mets at Braves - 06/05/2002

The Braves knocked the Mets back to third place last night, the finishing blow coming from the bat of Henry Blanco, of all people. Henry hit a titanic homer to center field with a runner on base to break a 4-4 tie in the eighth. John Smoltz blew the Mets away in the ninth, and the Marlins are now in second place, three behind the Braves and a half game up on the Mets.

I don't know what to make of Smoltz as a closer. Yesterday, he didn't throw a pitch slower than 97 MPH, and the Mets looked hapless; he was pretty much the same the game before. But sometimes, he seems lost out there. He still has a sky-high 5.51 ERA, but at times, he looks unhittable. I don't know what the problem is or if he's solved it.

Lockhart-bashing Update: Keith Lockhart had a hit last night (every Braves starting position player had at least one) which raised his batting average to a whopping .159. Now, normally I'll tell you that batting average is a poor statistic to judge a player's worth, but in Lockhart's case the batting average merely reflects an all-around sorry game. His on-base percentage is .207 and he's slugging .280. In fact, Kevin Millwood, hitting .182, has a better OBP and SLG. Jesse Garcia is 4-10 since his callup and really should get a chance to play until he shows he can't hit any better than Lockhart. And then he should still play, because at least he can run and play defense.

Braves game postponed to Sept. 10

Kind of an awkward date, that... The Braves/Mets game was rained out with the Mets leading 1-0 after two and a half innings. Everything that happened is wiped off the books. So nothing much to report on the field. Meanwhile, the Braves drafted John Scheurholz's son Jonathan in the eighth round. They're saying they think he can play, but he's a utility infielder at best; a poor shortstop without much power. Plus he went to Auburn.

There's a new Baseball Free Press article up, enjoy.

ajc.com | Braves | Braves select Francoeur

The Braves picked -- you might want to take a deep breath, keep calm -- a high schooler from Georgia with their first round draft pick. They always take high schoolers, they're always from the South, and they're often from Georgia. Well, at least this one is an outfielder. Let's see if AOL ponies up to sign him. (BTW, there's a report that Ted Turner led the effort to oust AOL TimeWarner president Gerald Levin. If Ted starts taking a bigger role in the company, that's good for the Braves, good for TBS.)

ESPN.com - MLB - Recap - Mets at Braves - 06/03/2002

The Braves almost blew it. They were up 4-0 in the first on a grand slam by Vinny Castilla, but (a) were unable to follow through by getting any more runs off of longtime whipping boy Steve Trachsel, and (b) Kevin Millwood, after looking strong early, fell apart midway through the third. Eventually, he was lifted in the fourth inning with a tie game and the go-ahead runner on base, but Chris Hammond got them out of it. Andruw hit his 14th homer in the sixth and the bullpen was superb, Hammond (who got the win) in particular, and the Braves won 5-4.

Millwood is a concern. Sometimes, he looks very good; if not at the level of his near-Cy Young season, like a strong second or third starter. But he does tend to run out of gas, and it's not getting better. Last year, he tended to fall off in the sixth inning. This year, it's been the fourth and fifth, and last night, as I said, it was the third. That is not the trend you'd like to see. He's failed to make it out of the fifth in four of his thirteen starts this year. If Albie Lopez didn't stink, I would suggest moving Millwood to the pen; if Smoltz continues to struggle and they decide to make him a starter again, Millwood should go to the pen, though I expect they'd move Marquis instead.

Three more remain with the Mets, and Glavine and Maddux await; the Braves are now 2 1/2 up, and one win would guarantee a lead coming out of the series.

ESPN.com - MLB - Recap - Braves at Reds - 06/02/2002

Some terrible baserunning (three runners lost in the early innings) and Bobby leaving Damian Moss in too long, and the Braves lost to the Reds 5-1. Fortunately, the Mets lost as well. The Braves are 1 1/2 up on New York, 3 up on Philadelphia, and 3 1/2 up on Montreal. The Braves now host a four game series with the Mets, and hopefully this oppressive heat will take something out of the northerners, whose ace Al Leiter won't pitch in the series.. Then, it's interleague play time for five straight series, mostly against AL Central and West teams we haven't seen before. A trip to the Rangers will be first up.

Albie Lopez is whining about how he never gets to pitch when the game is close and has been ejected from the starting rotation. Well, $4 million buys a lot of diapers.

ESPN.com - MLB - Recap - Braves at Reds - 06/01/2002

The Braves are playing not only their best baseball of the season, but probably their best baseball since early 2000. They waxed the Reds 7-0 last night, and today beat them again, 7-1. They've won 12 of 16 and five of their last seven series, the other two being ties. Currently, the Braves are a game up on the Mets, with New York playing tonight.

Gary Sheffield is back in the lineup, and has made his presence felt quickly. He had two hits last night, one a double, and today was the hitting star, with two homers and five RBI. He hasn't been himself this season, obviously, but he's apparently coming around, giving the Braves three bona-fide weapons in the lineup, all outfielders. Andruw hit his 13th homer today, breaking a long slump; he and Chipper both had two hits. If the Braves were getting anything from Rafael Furcal (who admittedly has been a little better of late) and the rest of the infielders, the offense might be something special; at the least, it's better than the Mets'.

Julio Franco appears to have won the first base job again, with Wes Helms on the bench. Julio is hitting .250, with a .328 on-base percentage. That doesn't sound like much, but he was hitting .195 only a week ago and .146 at the beginning of May. The twists and turns of the Braves' first base situation probably aren't done yet.