Braves Lose!, Braves Lose!, Braves Lose!
Some people get embarrassed by their own actions.
Others are embarrassed by, well, others.
This is a case of the "others".
If you have been a Braves fan this past season, you have been embarrassed by your team's reckless disregard for losing. They will hit 8 Home Runs in 9 Innings (May vs. Cubs at Wrigley), then try their best to blow a save, blow that save, and despite all best attempts get out futiled (I know, not a word) by the *most futile* ones who allow a fly ball (Aramis Ramirez) to boink off their noggin into right-field.
But the Braves didn't have the luck of playing the Cubs everyday, no instead it was the Diamondbacks, Red Sox, and Blue Jays who they now had to face in 10 consecutive games at home. All of whom whipped your team to the point of you shedding tears with each of the whip's lashes, whether that lash be a blown save, an untimely but entirely expected error, or another "Brave" specialty, 3 straight outs with runners on 1st and 2nd with no outs.
The Braves "baseball" that played in June was down right suicidal and painful beyond desrciption to watch.
A self-evident truth to all who say it, the bulk of this suicidal type of "Baseball" played by this team was inflicted upon itself by the bullpen. The bullpen managed to blow near 20 saves before the All-Star break. But the horrible pitching by this group did not end after the All-Star Break. Nope, immediately after the All-Star break, in fact, the very first game after the Mid-Summer Classic the Braves had a great offensive game (along with a great offensive series I might add) but traded blown save oppurtunity after blown save oppurtunity with the Padres.
Now after the back end of the bullpen has been addressed with such stalwarts as Bob Wickman and Danny Baez, the middle-relief (specifically Tyler Yates) has stepped up, proffessed their belief in the UFO behind the Hale-Bopp Comet, and is trying to take the entire team down with them, black sneakers, cut off testicles, poisoned kool-aid and all.
When the Braves were blowing saves, their middle-relief managed barely to give the closer(s) the ball so they could lose the game. Now with that option gone, they have decided that they would be the ones to destroy the 14 Straight Division Titles streak (which was severely damaged in June, and of course was and is now history) and the 14 Straight Playoff Appearances streak that comes with it.
This awesome display of flexible losing, by managing to lose in every possible conceivable way is quite impressive and entertaining, if you are a sado-masochist or a Mets fan (same thing).
Since myself and pretty much every Brave's fan is not, I would love to see a reorganization of the entire team next season, dedicated to building a team that wants to win games, and does the little things to win them.
I would love to see a return to Braves Baseball, waiting for Andruw to hit that walk-off Grand-Slam to win a 9-8 game ain't it and never should be considered such.
Others are embarrassed by, well, others.
This is a case of the "others".
If you have been a Braves fan this past season, you have been embarrassed by your team's reckless disregard for losing. They will hit 8 Home Runs in 9 Innings (May vs. Cubs at Wrigley), then try their best to blow a save, blow that save, and despite all best attempts get out futiled (I know, not a word) by the *most futile* ones who allow a fly ball (Aramis Ramirez) to boink off their noggin into right-field.
But the Braves didn't have the luck of playing the Cubs everyday, no instead it was the Diamondbacks, Red Sox, and Blue Jays who they now had to face in 10 consecutive games at home. All of whom whipped your team to the point of you shedding tears with each of the whip's lashes, whether that lash be a blown save, an untimely but entirely expected error, or another "Brave" specialty, 3 straight outs with runners on 1st and 2nd with no outs.
The Braves "baseball" that played in June was down right suicidal and painful beyond desrciption to watch.
A self-evident truth to all who say it, the bulk of this suicidal type of "Baseball" played by this team was inflicted upon itself by the bullpen. The bullpen managed to blow near 20 saves before the All-Star break. But the horrible pitching by this group did not end after the All-Star Break. Nope, immediately after the All-Star break, in fact, the very first game after the Mid-Summer Classic the Braves had a great offensive game (along with a great offensive series I might add) but traded blown save oppurtunity after blown save oppurtunity with the Padres.
Now after the back end of the bullpen has been addressed with such stalwarts as Bob Wickman and Danny Baez, the middle-relief (specifically Tyler Yates) has stepped up, proffessed their belief in the UFO behind the Hale-Bopp Comet, and is trying to take the entire team down with them, black sneakers, cut off testicles, poisoned kool-aid and all.
When the Braves were blowing saves, their middle-relief managed barely to give the closer(s) the ball so they could lose the game. Now with that option gone, they have decided that they would be the ones to destroy the 14 Straight Division Titles streak (which was severely damaged in June, and of course was and is now history) and the 14 Straight Playoff Appearances streak that comes with it.
This awesome display of flexible losing, by managing to lose in every possible conceivable way is quite impressive and entertaining, if you are a sado-masochist or a Mets fan (same thing).
Since myself and pretty much every Brave's fan is not, I would love to see a reorganization of the entire team next season, dedicated to building a team that wants to win games, and does the little things to win them.
I would love to see a return to Braves Baseball, waiting for Andruw to hit that walk-off Grand-Slam to win a 9-8 game ain't it and never should be considered such.
posted by 4SEAM at 9:46 AM
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