NLDS Game 4: Remember When They Said The Series Was Over?

As the MLB regular season came to close and the Atlanta Braves had clinched the NL East Division, all the sports “experts” were flapping their gums about who the Braves would face, many declared no matter who their opponent would be, Atlanta would fare better on the road than at home in SunTrust Park based on their road vs at-home record.

That logic turned out to be a whole lot of hooey.

The LA Dodgers shut out the Braves 6-0 in Game 1 and 3-0 in Game 2.  Things were looking pretty dismal for Atlanta coming in to Game 3.  The fans were rocking the ballyard Sunday night.  Their enthusiasm was contagious.  I felt the excitement sitting in my den.  It brought back the treasured memories of those glory years of Smoltz, Glavine, “Mad Dog” Maddox and Chipper Jones.

Faced with elimination, Manager Brian Snitker masterfully used 7 pitchers to pound out a win.  He pulled Sean Newcombe out at the top of the third inning.  Then he brought in Kevin Gausman, Max Fried, Touki Toussaint, Chad Sobotka, A.J. Minter and closed with Arodys Vizcaino.

Snitker said he will start right-hander Mike Foltynewicz for this afternoon’s game.  Folty, I’m sure, will look to redeem himself after throwing 50 pitches and going just two innings in Game 1.

I’m not very good at predictions, but I’d have to say the Dodgers were definitely intimidated by the raucous fans chanting and chopping with their tomahawks.  I mean, what other ballpark dims the stadium lights so everyone can turn on the flashlight on their iPhones and send up a thunderous “warchant”?  It’s an impressive sight.

I say the Braves take Game 4 forcing Game 5 back in Chavez Ravine.  Then their penchant for doing well on the road will become a factor.

"My heart's still pounding," first baseman Freddie Freeman said, moments after the last out. "That's how we've been all year."

Tomahawk Chop. Grand slam. Goosebumps. pic.twitter.com/hrv5r6MiRz

— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) October 8, 2018

"@FreddieFreeman5, party of one! Your dinger is ready."#ForEachOther pic.twitter.com/mKp1PPQ9hE

— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) October 8, 2018

 

UPDATE:  The Braves were eliminated in Game 4 tonight.  This was not the ending they were hoping for, but it was one helluva ride.  See ya next year.  #ForEachOther #ChopOn

NLDS: Atlanta Braves Vs LA Dodgers

Finally! The long, dry spell for devout Braves fans is over. Atlanta will face the LA Dodgers at Chavez Ravine Thursday night.

The Atlanta Braves are headed back to the postseason for the first time since 2013.

The news of the day comes at you at such a furious pace it’s a little like drinking from a fire hose and for that reason I am looking forward to tuning in to watch my beloved Bravos and wash away the dreck of the day.

Every Sports Illustrated “expert”, save one, is predicting the Dodgers will emerge victorious over Atlanta.  That may well be the case, but that will not dampen my hope they could be very wrong.

The Braves might be the best in late-game situations. Their three game-winning homers are tied for most in the bigs with the Cards. Over the last two seasons, they’ve scored 37% of their runs in the 7th inning or later. They've scored 100 runs in the seventh inning or later this year, the most in the National League, while hitting a league-best .262 and posting a majors-best .351 on-base percentage in late situations.

It’s been a long time since America’s Team won an unprecedented 14 consecutive division titles.  Dodgers right fielder Yasiel Puig boasted when LA clinched the NL West Division, “Hey, Atlanta, I’ll see you soon baby! And the next one─Chicago, Colorado, no matter who’s going─we’re gonna beat it.  And we’re going to the World Series again.  And this time, we’re going to win the World Series.”

I know some fellas who would like nothing better than to make Puig eat those words.

The Boys Of Summer: Braves Vs Yankees

Major League Baseball reached the halfway mark in the 2018 season over the weekend.  The All-Star Game is right around the corner and the Atlanta Braves are leading in the National League.

The Braves were the best ball club from 1991-2005. Those were the glory days I remember fondly. After that they were on a skid.  In fact, the last time the team was in first place beyond the second week of the season was back in 2014.

Yesterday, in 92ºF heat and a heat index of 103, the Braves swept the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium. It marked their first sweep in St. Louis since 2012. It was so oppressively hot that just a 4-hour drive away in Chicago the fire department was forced to hose down the Michigan Avenue Bridge after the extreme heat expanded the steel reducing the clearance for passing boats.

Tonight, my beloved Bravos face the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium.  The Braves are a respectable 25-17 on the road, but the Yankees are 31-12 at home.  They’re going to have their hands full with the Bronx Bombers given the fact they walloped the Red Sox 11-1 on Sunday.

Jonathan Loaisiga and Anibal Sanchez represent the pitching matchup for Game 1.  Domingo German will pitch for the Yankees and Sean Newcomb will be the hurler for the Braves in Game 2.  Game 3 will feature C.C. Sabathia vs Julio Teheran.

I’ve been really stoked by how well my Boys of Summer have been playing. It’s been like déjà vu for me.  I can think of no better way to celebrate Independence Day than watching America’s favorite pastime and maybe, just maybe, a Braves’ win or three against the Pinstripers.

That’s What America Means To Me

I’ve been a witness to history just as you have.  America has been the noblest country the world has ever known and nothing the other side says will ever persuade me to change my mind.

The greatest generation liberated Europe in the Second World War, we sent a man to the moon, we led the Industrial Revolution and ten days after the attacks of 9/11 when the nation was so terribly sad, my beloved Atlanta Braves played the New York Mets in Shea Stadium in the first public event after the attacks.  The stadium was still being used as a triage center.

After Marc Anthony sang “The Star Spangled Banner” the rival teams, standing on the first base and third base lines, crossed the diamond to hug each and shake hands. Everyone was rooting for the Mets to win as a symbol of the nation’s resilience.

For game three of the 2001 World Series, President George W. Bush walked ramrod-straight onto the field of Yankee Stadium and threw out the first pitch.  His pitch was a perfect strike.  The crowd erupted into chants of “USA, USA, USA.”

The city of New York had been reduced to rubble, but the crowd swelled with national pride.  If baseball could carry on, then so could we.  Watching President Bush toss that ball gave me a lump in my throat and every, and I mean every time I hear the national anthem I get a lump in my throat.

A “Gibraltar in cleats”, Lou Gehrig, on July 4, 1939 gave his farewell speech to baseball in Yankee Stadium—a place dedicated to the courage of men.  Seventy-six years ago, with tears streaming down his face, Gehrig humbly told 61,808 fans in the bleachers that he had been forced to retire due to ALS.

We are the country that authored the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights and we’ve had more than our fair share of heroes. 

This July Fourth I will ignore the people in the beltway with abscessed hearts who try desperately to divide us.  I am going to remember what America means to me.  Come Monday, I will take up the fight again.

On this most American of holidays, I will dwell in a happy place and enjoy the most American of things:  baseball, apple pie and Independence Day.

I wish you all a safe and happy Fourth of July.  God bless America.

Pomchi On Board

Beginning today, I’ll be on the road with my little furkid Sophie for two weeks.  My plans include visiting my best friend at the beach and then heading to Hotlanta to catch the home stand of the Braves against the Washington Nationals.

So far the Nats are 7-7 and my Bravos are 8-5.  Atlanta is on the road battling their division rivals the Mets who lead the NL East 11-3.  Next week the Nats come to Hotlanta and I will be there rooting for my boys.  My seat is behind the Bravos’ dugout.  I’ll be wearing my home jersey, a Braves ball cap and holding a cool, refreshing brewski so you should be able to pick me out of the crowd pretty easily if you catch the games on TV. *snicker*

I’ll get to the Ted (Turner Field) a few hours early to watch batting practice and get some autographs to add to my awesome collection of Braves memorabilia.  I hope my boys are able to beat the Nats.  If they do, I’ll being tweeting their No. 1 fan, Dr. Charles Krauthammer, to give him some guff.  If my Braves lose, of course, I’ll keep my big mouth shut.

While I’m away, co-blogger Proof will keep the place going with content.  This time however, I’ve queued up “Flowing Curves of Beauty” so there won’t be any Star Trek hotties unless, of course, Proof decides to throw some in the mix.

I am always grateful to Proof for taking the reins here when I’m on my “Obama-esque” vacations.  Meanwhile, thanks to all of you for your loyal readership.  Take care out there.

Take Me Out To The Ball Game

When I was a young girl and television was broadcast in black and white, I remember joining my dad in the living room to watch the New York Yankees play. I became enamored with the game and players like Yogi Berra, Whitey Ford, Roger Maris, Tony Kubek, Mel Stottlemeyer and Mickey Mantle.  The games were called by LA Dodgers HOFer Pee Wee Reese and St. Louis Browns’ HOFer Dizzy Dean on NBC and by Pee Wee and Curt Gowdy on CBS.  My dad would always laugh when ‘ol Dizzy would say, “He slud into third.”

According to club chronology, the Boston Beaneaters changed their name to the Braves in 1907.  The Braves played their first game in Milwaukee in 1953.  Their first season in Atlanta was 1966.  They played in what was arguably the worst-kept field in baseball—Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium—where, in 1971, “Hammerin’ Hank” Aaron hit his 600th homerun.  Just three years later, he broke the Babe’s homerun record by smashing No. 715 off Dodgers’ lefty Al Downing.

Throughout the 1970’s and 80’s the Braves were pretty much the worst team in baseball, but when Ted Turner decided to buy the team in 1976 he began broadcasting the Braves’ game on TBS and after a while the Braves became known as America’s Team garnering fans everywhere as Pete Van Wieren, Skip Caray, and Joe Simpson called the games. 

The Braves made history in 1991 after going from worst to first to reach the World Series.  I never forgave the Twins’ Kent Hrbek for his thug play at first base in game two.  It was a highly controversial play in which Hrbek grabbed Ron Gant’s leg and pulled him off the base.  The call by umpire Drew Coble was ranked as one of the Top Ten Worst baseball calls by both ESPN and Sports Illustrated.  I know what you’re thinkin’.  You’re thinkin’ I’m biased in favor of my boys, but I challenge you to watch the video.  Even announcers Tim McCarver and Jack Buck knew it was a bad call and said so on air.

The Braves went on to play in the 1992 World Series losing to the Toronto Blue Jays, but, but there was yet another chance for glory in 1995 as World Series Champions against the Cleveland Indians.

I had me some kind of a serious crush on Steve Avery, Atlanta’s young pitching phenom.  There was also Smoltzie and Maddux and Glavine whom I adored.  Hell, I loved all those guys.

And so it was for 30 years until the advent of ESPN when ratings began to plummet and Turner ended the affiliation between TBS and the Braves.

I had been on the road with my employer from 2002 until 2007 and it was a joy to be able to tune into a game and wash away the dreck of the day.  When I came off the road, I was working the night shift, usually 1 to 9:30 PM or 2 to 10:30 PM and wasn’t able to follow the boys from Atlanta.

Now that I am retired, I can sit back with my furkid Sophie and enjoy Braves baseball once again, not on TBS but on Fox Sports South and Sports South.  Old friend Joe Simpson is still calling the games.  Though Skip Caray has joined dad Harry Caray in the broadcast booth in Heaven, son Chip Caray is in the booth with Joe and occasionally former pitcher Tom Glavine will join them.

Things change over the years as they always do.  The Braves in conjunction with Sun Trust Bank are building a new stadium in Cobb County, Georgia.  It will be incredibly easier to get to the park there than in downtown Hotlanta.  I’m looking forward to that.

I’m planning on visiting my friend again next week and the following week I will be at the Ted (Turner Field) to watch my boys beat Charles Krauthammer’s beloved Washington Nationals.  If you watch the games, look for me behind the Braves dugout, chanting the war chant and tomahawk choppin’ with the best of ‘em and during the 7th-inning stretch when it’s time to sing “Take Me Out To The Ball Game” I’ll be the one singing the loudest.  I should be easy to pick out from the crowd.  I’ll be wearing a home jersey, Braves ball cap and I’ll have a beer in my hand.

I’ll get to the stadium a couple of hours early to watch batting practice and get some autographs to add to my other Braves memorabilia  Look out Dr. Krauthammer, your Nats are going to lose.