Kasten: Braves, Hawks and Thrashers sale 'looms in future' - 2002-09-30 - Atlanta Business Chronicle

It could be terrible news. AOL would probably try to sign a below-market deal (or extend the current below-market deal) with the new owners, making the Braves play for years with little return on broadcasting rights. And make no mistake, it's TV money that makes the Braves a "large market" team. Worst-case scenario: Every player of consequence except Chipper would be dealt off, and Atlanta becomes Pittsburgh South.

On the other hand, maybe the new owners will get a TV package with an honest accounting of what the team is really worth to TBS and Turner South. (Or bolt to Fox if AOL won't pay up. I think that's unlikely, because the games are worth far more to a national cable network than to a regional one, and Turner South doesn't even exist without the Braves.) That will put a stop to the constant poor-mouthing of Kasten and others who claim that the team is losing millions of dollars. It's a paper loss, one that would not be doable if the Braves and TBS were truly separate entities.

I doubt the team will be sold any time soon. But the suits might want to cut costs to make the bottom line look better. I don't think that cutting costs actually does that, but keep an eye out for yet more cuts in the farm system. That's usually the first place they go.

ESPN.com - MLB - Recap - Braves at Mets - 09/29/2002

Well, the Mets feel better, having beaten the Braves 6-1. I'm sure the Braves are all broken up about it. The Braves used eight pitchers. Mike Remlinger pitched one inning, gave up one run, and got the loss. But Damian Moss had the worst outing, giving up four runs. The assumption has been that he'd be the fourth starter in postseason, but that can't have helped his cause. Joey Dawley pitched the last third of the ninth, his major league debut. Pretty much everyone got in the game on the offensive side, including Jung Bong as a pinch hitter.

It looks like the lineup in postseason will be the worst one Bobby can devise. At any rate, the starting lineup today was:

Furcal
M. Franco
Sheffield
Chipper
Andruw
Lockhart
Vinny
Blanco

With Javy for Blanco, that's probably what we'll get. Ugh. I'll rant about the playoff roster when I see it.

ESPN.com - MLB - Recap - Braves at Mets - 09/28/2002

You know, the Mets are a really bad team. I'm planning to taunt them at length sometime soon, but I just wanted to point that out.

The Braves beat them 5-2. Tom Glavine started but was held to only two innings, in which he gave up one run. Trey Hodges pitched 3 2/3, and got his second win; callup Andy Pratt also got into the game, his first career action, and John Smoltz got his 55th save.

As you might expect, the Braves had almost a spring training type situation, with a bunch of players seeing action. Chipper got his 100th RBI then left the game. Gary Sheffield, who had been used sparingly, also only played a half game, and so did Andruw; at the end of the game the outfield was Wes Helms, Darren Bragg, and Matt Franco. And Vinny Castilla had another home run. You can see this as evidence he's going to recover his mediocrity, or maybe the general exhibition game nature of recent games means they're not really trying to get him out. But I bet Bobby thinks he's recovered.

Season ends tomorrow, then we'll see the Giants on Wednesday. With Arizona and SF clinching the division and wildcard respectively, the makeup game isn't needed.

ESPN.com - MLB - Recap - Braves at Mets - 09/27/2002

Braves 7, Mets 4. The Braves got their 100th win, and the Mets clinched last place. Good day all around. Kevin Millwood got his 18th win and pitched well, going seven innings and giving up two runs. The back of the bullpen (Ligtenberg and Gryboski) gave up a run apiece and I wonder who's in Bobby's postseason plans.

Chipper had a two-run homer to go to 99 RBI; three batters later Darren Bragg added a two-run shot of his own. But the biggest blow was a three-run job by Javy in the sixth that put the game out of reach. Wes Helms played right field, his first start since coming off of the DL. He was 0-4 but the Braves seem determined to get him on the postseason roster anyway. I'm sure I don't know why.

Night game tonight, Glavine versus Leiter. Then Sunday Albie gets a start!

ESPN.com - MLB - Recap - Braves at Mets - 09/27/2002

Braves 3, Mets 1. John Smoltz got his 54th save, setting a new NL save record. He even pitched an inning and a third, coming in with the tying run at the plate, so it was moderately difficult. I'm not a big fan of the save statistic, but he's having a good year and has been great the second half of the season. Chris Hammond has pitched even better, adding another shutout inning today to lower his ERA to .95. Greg Maddux is pretty good in his own right and pitched five innings, giving up one run, to get his 16th win.

Offensively, Vinny Castilla, of all people, had two RBI, one coming on a solo homer. He was the only Brave hitter with more than one hit. Chipper had his 97th RBI and still has a shot at 100... The Braves need only one more win, with three or four games to go, to reach 100. They could get it tonight; the game should start in about 20 minutes.

ajc.com | Braves | Platoon solid at second base for Braves

"Solid"? Only in comparison to third base.

ajc.com | Braves | Braves notebook

The Braves' game in Philadelphia yesterday was rained out and (obviously at this late stage of the season) won't be rescheduled. They're playing a double-header today if the rain lets up long enough. Maddux will start, and he's set to start the Division Series opener Wednesday.

ESPN.com - MLB - Recap - Braves at Phillies - 09/25/2002

The Braves won 7-1, and the Good Andruw is putting in an appearance. If he can stick around for the next few weeks, we can win this thing. Andruw hit three homers last night, the first time he's done that in his career. He now has 35 for the season. He tied the game with a solo shot in the second, had another in the fourth, and a two-run job in the eighth. Of course, with Andruw it's all about the contact. He draws walks, he hit homers, but he's still only hitting .262. The big thing standing between him and real stardom is that; if he were hitting .300 he'd have an OPS in the .950 range and be an MVP candidate.

The Good Damian also showed up; Moss went 6 2/3, allowing five hits and two walks, one earned run, and striking out five. Who knows with him, anyway? Chris Hammond pitched an inning and lowered his ERA to .96. Wow.

One more game with the Phillies, then on to New York to finish the season. Maybe. The Giants close to clinching the playoffs, but now they're only two games out for the division and the D-Backs are reeling. I don't know what they'll do if SF is a half game back after Sunday. Would you rather play a hot Giants team or a reeling Arizona team without Luis Gonzales -- but with Schilling and Johnson -- in the first round? With one Braves win, or losses by the Cardinals and Diamondbacks, the Braves will clinch the best record in the NL. The Braves need two wins in four or five games to win 100 on the season.

ESPN.com - MLB - Recap - Braves at Phillies - 09/24/2002

Bleah. Vicente Padilla gets pulled after pitching to four players, and the Braves wind up only getting two runs (plus one off of Padilla) off the vaunted Phillie bullpen. Meanwhile, the Phillies got five runs off of Tom Glavine. Glavine threw 124 pitches, only 66 of which were strikes, in 5 2/3 innings, and Bobby really should have gotten him out of there after the fifth trailing 3-2. Tom gave up two runs in the sixth, but the bullpen did pretty well. I'm not sure if this will be his last start or not. On normal rotation, he'd be due up Sunday. If he's going to start Game Three of the Division Series, he'd probably start then. Or he could start Game Two after pitching a little Saturday on three day's rest. If he's going to pitch the opener, I don't know what they'll do.

Andruw had three hits, and Rafael Furcal hit his eighth homer of the season to lead off the game and later drove in another run with a double. Vinny had two hits and probably has an insurmountable lead over Keith Lockhart for second-most-awful Brave hitter.

ESPN.com - MLB - Recap - Marlins at Braves - 09/22/2002

A landmark day. Greg Maddux got his 15th win of the season, the 15th season in a row he's won 15 or more. Only Cy Young has done that before. And John Smoltz got his 53rd save, tying the NL record. He'll probably hold it on his own at the end of the season, but with only two series left (plus a possible makeup game) I don't see how he'll get the major league record. Still, it's pretty impressive.

The Braves won 4-1, getting al ltheir runs in the sixth. Lockhart, of all people, drove in two runs; he was 2-2 with a walk. He's now hitting .218, and Vinny is at .227, so he's still got a shot to be only the second-worst-hitting regular on the team. As bad as Lockhart is, I'd far rather have him at the plate than Vinny, at least against a righthander. Chipper had an RBI and a run scored on two hits. He needs four more RBI to reach 100 for the seventh consecutive year. He only has 87 runs so he probably won't get 100 of those; he's done that the last six years as well. Has anyone ever done both seven times in a row?

The Braves have a day off and then travel to Philadelphia. The Phillies are a game out of second and a game below .500, and might have some reason to want the wins... The Braves are currently three up on Arizona for the best record in the NL; the Diamondbacks' game is just starting.

ESPN.com - MLB - Recap - Marlins at Braves - 09/21/2002

Pretty sorry game I missed. The Braves scored a run in each of the first three innings and Millwood looked strong, though he'd thrown a few too many pitches. And in the sixth he fell apart, giving up five runs. That's three of the last for games, I believe, he's hit the wall early, a bothersome sign given his history. Each team scored one more run, leading to a 6-4 Marlins victory.

As JR mentioned in the comments, the Braves started probably their best lineup, Giles at third, Furcal at short, DeRosa at second. But Lockhart later double-switched into the game at third in place of Giles. Argh. At least it wasn't Vinny; maybe Bobby's at last losing faith in him.

ESPN.com - MLB - Recap - Marlins at Braves - 09/20/2002

Damian Moss' control finally came back to haunt him. He only walked four, but two of those were in the third, the second with two out. By the time the third out was recorded, five runs had scored and Albie Lopez was in the game. In other words, "We surrender!" My opinion is that when a pitcher, particularly a young pitcher, is walking people, it's less the walks that are the problem than what will happen when he starts trying to not walk them. In this case, single, single, double, single, five runs. The bullpen was pretty good, giving up only one (unearned, I think) run by Trey Hodges in the sixth.

Unfortunately, the Braves only scored two runs, so the bullpen's work went unrewarded. Amazing rotating infield update: DeRosa (who homered) played second base, Furcal shortstop, Castilla third, and Giles and Lockhart pinch-hit -- actually, Giles hit for Lockhart when a lefty reliever came in.

Day game today on Fox, unfortunately I'm working and won't get to see it.

ESPN.com - MLB - Recap - Phillies at Braves - 09/19/2002

And the day after singlehandedly losing a game for the 1400th time, Bobby Cox was dragged by his players to his 1800th career win. (Note: I am being sarcastic. Two different people at FanHome did not realize that the other day, so I'm just making sure.) The Braves won 6-0 with Tom Glavine pitching like he did early in the season and the offense having one of its good games. Days like this, you think that the Braves have a great shot. That's usually followed by them playing a 2-1 game and getting three hits against some guy coming in with a 4.79 ERA.

Glavine went only six innings, throwing 74 pitches; he allowed only four hits and one walk, striking out three. Really a superior performance, and no reason to ask him to go any longer at this stage. Chris Hammond pitched a perfect inning to lower his ERA to a perfect 1.00. Actually, it's a shade lower than that; he's allowed eight earned in 72.1 IP, which works out to about 0.9954, but they round up. Kevin Gryboski allowed a walk and Mike Remliger two hits in an inning apiece, but the Phillies couldn't score. I'm still a little worried about Remlinger.

Chipper was the hitting star, with three hits, one a three-run homer. Andruw had three hits as well. Who knows with him, anyway? I've reached the stage where I pretty much accept that he's going to be completely unpredictable. Vinny offers no such problem; he was 0-4. Marcus Giles finally got a shot at second base; he was 0-3 but did draw a walk... The Braves now host the Marlins in a three game series, the last scheduled regular-season series in Turner Field this season. They might still have to play the makeup with the Giants on Monday the 30th. The lead over the Diamondbacks (who could clinch today) is 2 1/2, three in the loss column... The Braves only need four wins with nine or ten games left to play to win 100 games.

CNNSI.com -- Baseball -- Atlanta Braves Roster Page

Somebody seems to have hacked CNN/SI's baseball roster pages and added a few names to the lists. For instance, Bruce Sutter and Greg McMichael are listed for the Braves. George Lombard too, and a few less familiar names. None of them look as out of place as Vinny, though.

(Via Baseball Primer.)

New poll on the left: Choose the MVP. Only space for 10 candidates or I would have added a Franco or two.

ESPN.com - MLB - Recap - Phillies at Braves - 09/18/2002

Bobby really doesn't trust Jason Marquis. Jason was leading 4-2 in the fourth, two outs, but got in trouble and loaded the bases. Any other pitcher probably would have had a chance to pitch out of it -- especially since the game doesn't much matter -- but Bobby brought in Kerry Ligtenberg, who got the next hitter to keep any runs from scoring.

That's fine. I don't mind a quick hook. Unfortunately, Kerry came out the next inning and gave up a three-run homer to put the Braves behind 5-4. Final score, 6-5 Phillies, with the game ending with the tying run on second.

Yesterday's infield alignment was M. Franco/Lockhart/DeRosa/Giles. Today: who knows? Bobby is experimenting. Unfortunately, he doesn't realize that some things no longer need experimenting with. Marcus had a hit and a walk, drove one run in and scored another. Lockhart was 0-5. Who's more likely to be in the lineup tonight when the game starts tonight at 7:35 ET? Who was hitting second in the order? Not the player with actual talent, but the one who is now hitting .211.

ESPN.com - MLB - Recap - Phillies at Braves - 09/17/2002

Maybe Greg Maddux should start on three days' rest more often. (Keep it in mind for postseason.) After a disaster against the Marlins, he came back against the Phillies to throw seven innings of four-hit ball, allowing one run, and getting his 14th win of the season, the 271st of his career. He's one win away from winning 15 in 15 consecutive seasons, something only Cy Young has done before him.

The Braves only scored two runs of their own, on a Sheffield infield single and a Blanco sac fly. But they had ten hits and four walks, and that's a good offensive output. Do that every night and you'll score runs. Vinny Castilla had three hits! In only four AB! That will not happen every night. Or most nights. Or ever again.

52nd save for John Smoltz, one short of the NL record. And career win 1,799 for Bobby Cox. If he manages next year, and I expect he will, a good year could put him into as high as ninth on the all-time list. For you Bobby-bashers, he's also one loss away from 1400. And all 1400 are obviously his fault, while all 1800 wins are entirely due to the players. Right?

ESPN.com - MLB - Recap - Braves at Marlins - 09/16/2002

Kevin Millwood isn't going to win 20 games. He lost last night, 5-1; it seemed as if he came out strong but tired quickly, a worrisome sign given his history. He could have had better success with better defensive support, but he really wasn't sharp and couldn't win without good offense.

Which the Braves didn't provide. They got a run in the first then had two on, one out, and Matt Franco at the plate. With the count 3-2, Bobby sent the runners, Matt took a called third strike, and Sheffield was thrown out at third. And that was it for the offense.

Furcal and Andruw were back in the lineup; Chipper took the day off and Bragg played left field, hitting eighth. Why anyone would hit behind Vinny at this stage is beyond me. Despite statements by John Scheurholz that Marcus Giles would have a chance to win the starting second base job back, Mark Derosa played second base. Arizona was idle, so the Braves are 2 1/2 up for the best record in the league.

ESPN.com - MLB - Recap - Braves at Marlins - 09/15/2002

Javy Lopez found his Cheerios somewhere and all of the sudden catcher may not be a source of concern. Javy hit a grand slam homer as a pinch-hitter today; he's homered in every game of the series. This one turned the game around, as grand slams often do, turning a 2-2 tie into a 6-2 lead. The Braves held on from there to win 6-4. Maybe Javy isn't all the way back, but it's certainly a promising sign. He got hot late last year only to get hurt headed to postseason; if he can stay both hot and healthy it will be a big boost.

John Smoltz got his 52nd 51st save. The major league record still looks unlikely, since he needs six to tie Bobby Thigpen, but the NL record shared by Randy Myers and Trevor Hoffman is only one two away, and whoever wins the save race between him and Eric Gagne (who is now four three behind him) should wind up with the NL record. [Fixed because I'm a screwup -- MT] Damian Moss had a good start, giving up only two runs and four hits but only going five innings. Atypically, he only walked one batter and threw 55 strikes in 86 pitches.

The latest Bobby lineup still had Mark Derosa at shortstop and Darren Bragg in center. But Matt Franco played right field for Gary Sheffield (who had a pinch-hit single later in the game) with Julio at first, and Marcus Giles actually got the start at third. Andruw and Furcal both have the flu. I suppose if they're going to have the flu this is the time for it. Usually when someone has "flu-like symptoms" that means they're hungover, but that shouldn't last two days so I guess they're actually sick.

ESPN.com - MLB - Recap - Braves at Marlins - 09/14/2002

Braves came back to win, 10-5. Tom Glavine won for the first time in six starts, but he really didn't pitch any better than he had been. It's just that the Braves scored five runs while he was out there and he only gave up four. His ERA went up a tenth of a run despite the win, though he certainly pitched better than Maddux the game before. The bullpen wasn't brilliant, with Spooneybarger allowing a couple of inherited runs and Remlinger a solo shot, while Holmes and Ligtenberg each gave up two hits but pitched around them. All pitched a single inning. It was a typical September/playing out the string game, really; the Marlins used seven pitchers.

Gary Sheffield had a solo homer and three walks, Javy Lopez the biggest hit, a three-run homer that put the game out of reach in the eighth, plus another RBI hit. Mark DeRosa led off and played shortstop, and had three hits. Even Vinny was 2-5, and all eight starting position players had at least one hit. Andruw took the night off, with Bragg playing center, while Julio Franco played first against a righty as Bobby's indecipherable usage pattern continued. It doesn't really matter. Arizona also won, and the Braves are still three up for the best record in the NL. The D-Backs' magic number is nine, so they should play hard for at least the next week and a half or so.

Day game tomorrow, night game Monday, then back to Atlanta. Is it me, or do we play a lot of wraparound series in Florida?

ESPN.com - MLB - Recap - Braves at Marlins - 09/13/2002

Greg Maddux gave up six runs in the first, another in the second, and that was it for the night. It's not something you expect; his ERA, which led the league coming in but does no longer, rose about a third of a run. I'm going to guess it's a fluke unless it happens again. The Braves lost 13-3 in the end. Trey Hodges relieved Greg and didn't pitch any better, giving up five runs in his two innings.

Since it was a lost cause Vinny felt free to hit his first home run in three months. Javy hit one as well. The Braves had only one other hit, by Chipper. You can't be beaten much more badly than they were last night. Bobby took the opportunity to clear the bench and get pretty much everybody some playing time.

Posts will be short for the duration simply because these games aren't very important. The Braves are three games up on the Diamondbacks for the best record in the NL.

ESPN.com - MLB - Recap - Mets at Braves - 09/11/2002

Al Leiter pitched a complete-game shutout, the Braves had only six hits, and the final was 5-0 Mets. Jason Marquis had a terrific first inning, with his pitches fast and moving, and then fell apart. I still think he's off physically, and he hasn't been in rhythm for months. He allowed all five runs, then four relievers (including Albie!) pitched shutout ball the rest of the way.

Mark DeRosa played third base and had a hit; Jesse Garcia played second (against a lefty) and had one as well. Julio Franco played first and had two hits... Rafael Furcal is slumping at the plate, and he also committed two errors. He has a day off to get over it. The Braves will then travel to Florida for four. I'll guarantee at least one ridiculously long rain delay.

ESPN.com - MLB - Recap - Mets at Braves - 09/11/2002

A happy note on a somber day... The Braves won the opener of a twi-night double header, 8-5. Kevin Millwood didn't pitch especially well. He gave up only one run, but allowed ten baserunners (seven on hits) in 5 2/3 innings and had to be bailed out in the sixth by the Amazing Chris Hammond, whose ERA after a perfect inning and a third is now 1.02. It was Kevin's 17th win, and his eighth in a row. He should have three starts remaining.

For the second straight game, the Braves had a player homer twice, this time Chipper Jones. Mark DeRosa, playing second, homered for the second game in a row, had two other hits, and scored four runs. The Braves led 8-2 entering the ninth, but Kevin Gryboski didn't have it and gave up three runs. John Smoltz pitched a third of an inning to save it; he probably won't get the major league save record, but did post his 50th of the season and should get the NL record if Eric Gagne doesn't.

The night game could be interesting. The players who can safely be called regulars (the outfielders, Vinny, and Furcal, plus Blanco) all played. With Javy on the shelf (though he did pinch-hit today), Steve Torrealba will probably have another chance to demonstrate the skills that got him to the major leagues. I'll let you know if I see any sign of them. Darren Bragg will probably play, and I guess Julio will play Matt in the rotating Francos arrangement. And I suppose Lockhart will as well. If Marcus is still hurt that could keep Vinny (who was 1-4 and raised his average to .226) in the lineup, but I hear Wes Helms has been activated and I think he might play instead.

ESPN.com - MLB - Recap - Mets at Braves - 09/10/2002

The Braves own the Mets. Last night, Damian Moss spotted them five runs in the first two innings (the only innings he pitched) and headed into the bottom of the second the game looked like a blowout. It was... for the Braves. They scored three in the bottom of the inning, three more in the fourth to tie it at six, and six in the fifth to make it 12-6. That was the final score. Just to make the celebration complete, Scott Strickland, a Braves' whipping boy all season, gave up the last couple of runs.

The hitting star was Andruw Jones, who had home runs in his first two at-bats. He homered in four straight ABs going back to Saturday night (he didn't play Sunday) with a HBP in the middle. He didn't get thrown at Tuesday, but Gary Sheffield was, and Pedro Astacio was ejected for it. Andruw also had a two-run single, the hit that put the Braves on top. Mark DeRosa and Henry Blanco also had solo shots.

Trey Hodges came on in relief of Moss and pitched three innings to get a win in his first career appearance. He gave up five hits and one run, but he struck out two and didn't walk anyone. You aren't going to be very successful giving up 15 hits per 9 IP, but if he can keep the hits allowed down he could be good. Spooneybarger, Holmes, Gryboski, and Ligtenberg finished it.

Skip and Joe spent a lot of time last night talking about a statement of Stan Kasten's saying that the Braves will cut payroll. I don't know if that's true -- he's said it before -- but the statement by a financial guy that the Braves lose money is an untruth. The Braves make a ton of money, but most of it is made for TBS, Turner South, and a number of other AOL/TW-owned businesses. They then turn around and claim a paper loss to help MLB in its wars with the players. If the Braves are going to cut expenses, they won't be able to keep both Maddux and Glavine. They will pay $15 million next season to Vinny and Javy, which would be more than enough to keep one of those pitchers.

CNNSI.com - SI Online - Tom Verducci - Inside Baseball - SI's Tom Verducci: How the Mets became a mess - Tuesday September 10, 2002 01:22 PM

Verducci, the world's worst baseball writer, attempts to figure out how the media's precious Mets flopped like a flounder on hot cement. You want to know what went wrong? The Braves have the best record in baseball. That's pretty much it. The Mets are about as good as they were last year, but it doesn't matter because the Braves are 20 games better. It wouldn't have mattered if the Mets' additions had been superb, instead of having bad years each and every one (as was more or less predictable in all cases) and the Mets had improved by ten games.

Oh, Bobby Valentine thinks the Mets can stand pat and win the division next year. Which I suppose is possible, if the Braves lose Maddux and Glavine. And Kevin Millwood tears up his arm. And Gary Sheffield decides to join a monastery. And Bobby Abreu and Pat Burrell drive off a cliff. Mo Vaughn will be five years removed from his last good season, a year older and fifteen pounds heavier. Mike Piazza isn't going to get healthier in his thirties. If the Mets stand pat they'll lose 100 games.

What about the makeup game?

This started as a reply in the comments section to Colin speculating about the lineup Bobby would play against the Giants in a possible makeup game the day after the regular season. (The Braves and Giants played to a tie in their last meeting in Atlanta; the game was called for rain in the tenth inning after the Braves tied it in the bottom of the ninth.) I decided it warranted its own entry.

The lineup I came up with was:

CF Bo Porter
RF Darren Bragg
1B Julio Franco
3B Wes Helms (if he's healthy)
2B Marcus Giles
LF Mark DeRosa
SS Jesse Garcia
C Steve Torrealba
SP Trey Hodges

It's not the most impressive group, God knows. But every one of them except Porter has been a starter at some stage this year. None of them would be a starter in postseason except Julio and Marcus/Mark as RH platoon players.

What if the Giants won/lost that game, which moved them into a tie for the wildcard. They'd have to play another game, on the other side of the country, on Tuesday! And if they won that, they'd have to fly all the way back across the country to play the Braves again!

Actually, come to think of it, the Braves would have a pretty large stake in that game. If the Giants were a half game ahead, we'd certainly want to win and send them back to play the Dodgers. And if they're a half game back... we'd kinda want to lose. I mean, it wouldn't matter to us. But the NL Wildcard will almost certainly be either the Giants or Dodgers, and neither team would play the Diamondbacks in the first round. So the Braves (barring a total collapse that pushed them behind the Cardinals) will play the wildcard team in the first round. Making them play for their playoff lives twice, on opposite coasts, in 48 hours would seemingly take a lot out of them.

It probably won't happen. But they're tied right now.

ESPN.com: MLB - Idle hands don't keep Braves from NL East title

I guess all those people who thought that the Mets were going to win the division were right. They just didn't realize that they were going to win it for the Braves. The Braves are now an unreal 21 games up on the second-place Phillies, who only have 19 games left. Are we still allowed to rant about Bobby playing Vinny every game now that the division has been clinched?

Now, the first seed in the playoffs. The Braves are 3 1/2 up on the Diamondbacks, but five up in the loss column because Arizona has played three more games. Go figure. The Braves will only play 161 games this year, I think, because of a rainout. They're nine games up, ten in the loss column, on the Cardinals for first-round home field advantage.

September 9, 2002 - The Daily Prospectus: A Look at the Pitching Numbers

Michael Wolverton thinks that Damian Moss should be the top pitcher in the Rookie of the Year balloting in the NL. I think he'll probably finish fourth, and second among pitchers to Jason Jennings, but Wolverton makes a strong case that he's been far superior to Jennings.

ESPN.com - MLB - Recap - Expos at Braves - 09/08/2002

The Expos may have fallen out of the playoff hunt, but you can't blame their trade for Bartolo Colon. Colon beat the Braves for the third time, and really it just keeps getting worse. Yesterday he pitched a seven shutout innings to beat the Braves 7-0. The Phillies lost, so the Braves clinched a tie in the division. The Phillies play today but the Braves don't; with a Phillies loss the Braves can clinch the division while eating lunch.

Neither Chipper nor Andruw Jones played. Chipper's neck is still stiff, and Andruw had puffiness around his eye after being hit in the helmet Saturday. I assume they'll be available Tuesday. Mark DeRosa played left field. If you can explain how the Braves have only four outfielders after roster expansion feel free, because I can't. And Marcus Giles still didn't get a start, though he did pinch hit.

Tom Glavine gave up four of the runs, in six innings. He didn't pitch well, but it wasn't like he was shelled. Albie managed to do that, giving up three runs in two innings. I suppose it didn't matter, but he's really awful. Kevin Gryboski pitched an inning, giving up a hit and two walks, but no runs... The Mets are next. It would be nice to clinch against them, though they're actually playing well now.

ESPN.com - MLB - Recap - Expos at Braves - 09/07/2002

The Braves beat the Expos 4-0, and with a win tomorrow and a Phillies loss can clinch the division. Andruw Jones had two two-run homers, then left the game after being beaned by Tomo Ohka. If Ohka isn't suspended it will be a farce, but Andruw should be okay. Greg Maddux wasn't sharp (seven hits and three walks allowed), but didn't give up any runs in five innings, and four relievers pitched an inning apiece, with Remlinger allowing the only baserunner on a walk. (Chris Hammond also pitched to one batter, whom he hit in retaliation for Andruw getting beaned.)

Chipper didn't play due to a stiff neck. Speaking of stiffs, Vinny Castilla was 0-4 and is now hitting .227. As I expected, Marcus Giles, who has two homers, two doubles, five RBI and three runs scored in the last two games, did not play today because the last thing Bobby wants is for Marcus to get hot and be impossible to take out of the lineup.

Tom Glavine pitches tomorrow in what possibly will be the clincher. If not, the Braves should finish the division off during a three-game set with the last-place Mets... Maddux's win gives him 13; with three starts probably left for Greg he's got a reasonable shot at keeping his string of 15-win seasons intact. John Smoltz's chance at the all-time saves record seems pretty meager at the moment, with the Braves simply not needing to pitch him even if they get save opportunities.

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

Is Kevin Millwood the best pitcher in baseball? Right now, I mean. Over the course of the season, it's probably been Randy Johnson, and he or Curt Schilling will win the Cy Young. But for the last couple of months, Millwood has been awfully good, and he had his best game of the season tonight, giving up only three hits and no runs, and going the distance, to beat the Expos 5-0. He even was the top RBI man, driving in two with a second-inning double. His season ERA is now 3.06, and since the All-Star Break he is 10-1 with a 2.07 ERA. I think he's only going to get four more starts, so with 15 wins he won't win 20. But 19 is doable, which would be a career high. (Oops, he actually has 16 wins, so if he wins all the rest of his starts he'd get 20. Still tough, but a career high seems very doable.)

Offensively, the Braves got all five runs in the first two innings. Gary Sheffield was back in the lineup at last, and had a hit and a walk. Marcus Giles actually got a start at second base and had two doubles, scoring the game's first run on a Sheffield single in the first and driving in the last in the person of Millwood. Since he had only two doubles instead of two homers, he's obviously in a slump and must be benched in favor of Lockhart for at least two weeks. The only Brave not to get a hit, or even reach base, was Furcal, who was 0-5. If he'd had a couple of hits it would have been a blowout, but 5-0 is good enough.

The Braves have already won more games than they did all last year, 89. With 23 games to go, they only need to play .500 to win 100 games. The magic number is now four.

ESPN.com - MLB - Recap - Pirates at Braves - 09/04/2002

The Braves won 6-0 to close out the series. Marcus Giles hit two homers, including a three-run shot in the sixth that turned a 1-0 lead to 4-0. But he made an error (oh no!) in the first, so you probably won't see him for a week. Because that error, which obviously didn't lead to any runs, is far more important than the two homers and four RBI. We have to get Vinny back in there!

Damian Moss pitched well, going seven innings and giving up only four hits. He did have his usual problems with walks, issuing five against five strikeouts. He's a very odd pitcher, isn't he? Hammond and Remlinger finished it off. Hammond was efficient, using sixteen pitches to retire the side in order. His ERA is now 1.04; he would need to go two and two-thirds innings without giving up an earned run to lower it to 1.00. He hasn't pitched that well -- he's given up seven unearned runs -- but he's been awfully good. Remlinger seems a little shaky still and gave up a hit and a walk.

Every Braves starter reached base. Early on, they had the DP problem that haunted them on Tuesday, with three in the first five innings. But they stopped after that. All six runs came on homers, and I'd prefer to score some runs in other ways. But I'll take it. The Phillies lost and fell to 19 back. The Expos, whom the Braves face next, are 19 and a half out. The Braves still have six games on the homestand and a chance of clinching the division at Turner Field, but I still think it will happen in Florida in the following series.

Braves Report notes that Travis Wilson was designated for assignment. Which is really odd, in that the Braves were so high on him as recently as Spring Training, and each of the last two seasons had considered promoting him to the majors. Merv the Perv, you'll recall, thought Travis was the best hitting prospect in the organization after Wilson Betemit, though of course Merv is stupid.

Anyway, Travis isn't really a baseball player and hasn't made much progress towards being one since the Braves signed him. In the right organization, he might flourish. Heck, Glenn Williams, whom Wilson resembles -- Wilson is from New Zealand, Williams from Australia, and neither did anything in the Braves organization -- is on the verge of the majors with Detroit, I think. Maybe Travis will follow in his footsteps.

The Braves have called up four players, as you probably know already. Jesse Garcia, Kevin Gryboski, and Steve Torrealba you already know. Garcia is the only player of any utility and that's just pinch-running and late-inning defense. The most interesting of the four is the one who hasn't been up, Trey Hodges. Hodges is a finesse-style starting pitcher out of LSU who had a tremendous season for Richmond, but struggled down the stretch, losing his last four decisions, though in two of them he pitched well enough to win. His overall numbers (15-9, 3.16 ERA, 116 K/56 BB in 172.1 IP) are pretty impressive anyway. He probably needs to rest, that's got to be the most innings he's thrown in his career.

Nepotism Update

Also from Braves Report:

Jon Schuerholz was promoted to Macon on Friday. The Braves' 8th-round draft choice hit just .237 in his 66 games with Danville, but he did lead the team in walks (38 in 245 ABs) and went 11-for-15 in steals. He was a full-time SS and made 29 errors.

I mean, you have to reward a performance like that. A college graduate who hits .237 in low-A ball and holds that error total below the all-important one every two games level? Why, I'm sure this has nothing to do with his father running the organization!

ESPN.com - MLB - Recap - Pirates at Braves - 09/03/2002

The Braves lost 3-0 to the Pirates and Salomon Torres, of all people. If you'd forgotten Torres, I can't blame you, but he was the prospect who was supposed to be the pitching savior for the Giants back in the '93 stretch run and whose career fell apart when he collapsed in the final game of the season allowing the Braves to win the Last Pennant Race without a playoff. He'd spent three years retired from the game, and generally his story is such you'd expect him to be in the Braves' bullpen. Instead, he shut out the Braves. Tom Glavine pitched well enough to win but got no run support and gave up two homers in the sixth and another run in the seventh, which were more than enough.

The Braves only threatened twice, in the second and the ninth. Both time the Pirates got double plays to get out of it. In the second, the umpires got an assist when the second base umpire, playing well inside the bag, was too slow and stupid to get out of the way of a sharply hit ball off the bat of Matt Franco with Andruw standing on second, no one out. Andruw would have scored easily if the ball had gotten to the outfield. Franco was credited with a hit, but Andruw had to stay at second, which made no sense. He would have made it to third even if the ball had been fielded, and it could not have been. Since the next batter flew out to left, then Andruw would have scored. But no such luck. Vinny, naturally, hit into a double play, one of four the Braves hit into.

The last four spots in the order (DeRosa, Vinny, Blanco, Glavine) were hitless, though Marcus Giles did get a hit pinch-hitting in the ninth. The Braves only had six baserunners all night, and three of them were Matt Franco (two hits and a walk). Sure is a good thing he doesn't play too often, huh?

There's a new Vinny-abusing poll on the left. Have fun.

Aiming Some Chin Music at Major League Baseball Announcers

An LA Times critic praises the TBS broadcasts of the Braves games. Then asks why everything else on TBS is so bad...

ESPN.com - MLB - Recap - Pirates at Braves - 09/02/2002

The Braves won again, beating the Pirates 5-1 behind Greg Maddux. Chipper homered and Andruw had two hits, one a double to drive in two. Even Vinny had two hits. Maddux was the star, singling and scoring a run and pitching eight more good innings against the Pirates, allowing only one solo homer. He had seven strikeouts as well; if he's getting those he should be in good shape.

I'm going to get back on my soapbox here and complain about the AP story, which centers around Maddux "winning for the first time in a month". He'd been pitching well, and had his best outing of the year in his last start against these same Pirates, but since he didn't "win" they make it seem like he's been in some sort of slump when he hasn't. During his "slump" he had an ERA a smidgen over 3. But apparently he's supposed to score and drive in enough runs to win as well. Like he did today when he scored the Braves' first run.

Julio Franco played first base, scoring a run on one hit. Why he played against a righthander for the second straight game is beyond me. I honestly don't understand Bobby's usage patterns. Keith Lockhart, who still isn't getting enough abuse here, was 0-4 and committed another terrible error. If Bobby really thinks that Lockhart is more reliable at second than Giles or DeRosa, then you can make a case for playing him. But if he keeps making dumb errors how can you justify it?

ESPN.com - MLB - Recap - Braves at Expos - 09/01/2002

This is more like it. The Braves won 6-4, Kevin Millwood doubled home two runs and got his fifteenth win, and John Smoltz got his 49th save. I'm a little worried about Mike Remlinger, who gave up two runs in an inning of work and may not be quite right yet, but any time you get a sweep on the road, even against a struggling Montreal team, it's good.

Millwood was cruising through 5 2/3, simply dominating the Expos' hitters, when he suddenly ran out of gas. He hasn't been doing that lately, and it's something to keep an eye on. But it's only one game. If it happens again, Bobby should probably think about maybe giving him some long rest or skipping a turn, just to make sure he's fresh for postseason.

Rafael Furcal returned to the lineup, and Mark DeRosa played second base. Unfortunately, Vinny Castilla played third again. He had a hit to drive in a run, but he also managed to leave three runners on base. Every Braves starter had a hit, with Julio Franco (3-4 with a walk) and Darren Bragg (2-4 with a walk) the only players with multiple hits.

The Braves now host the Pirates. They have nine games in a row at home. It's possible they could clinch by the end of the homestand, but only if the Phillies cool down. It's most likely that they will clinch the division in Florida, where they play a four-game series in two weeks; if not then, then it would probably be when they host the Phillies in the series after that.