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Update on races:
Lee SLG: .672
Neifi OPS: .687
Murton VORP: 13.1
Other Outfield VORP: 13.4 (w/o Macias)
Zambrano hitting VORP: 13.2
Neifi hitting VORP: 12.4
And who has a better name J.J. Furmaniak or Tom Gorzelannny?
I would take no small pleasure in knocking Houston out of the wild card.
But the rest of this week... meh. We're not trying anything even halfway interesting, just running the same ######## lineups out there day after day in hopes that maybe *this* will be the game where Macias and Neifi at the top of the order makes any ####### sense to anyone not named Dusty Baker.
***
The Tale of Kelly Johnson is the tale that says it all about the 2005 Braves.
On Memorial Day weekend, after it had finally become apparent that Raul Mondesi wasn't an Atlanta kind of guy, the Braves called up a 23-year-old outfielder to replace him.
And two weeks later, Kelly Johnson was embarrassed to look up at his average on the scoreboard -- since it was .033 (1 for 30).
So how did the manager react? By putting him in the lineup the next day. How else?
It's a tale the veteran players in Bobby Cox's clubhouse love spinning -- because it sums up the way of life and leadership that has led them to title No. 14.
"Anywhere else, a kid goes 0 for 20 -- he's gone," Perez laughs. "Not here."
Nope. Never even occurred to this manager. OK, that 1-for-30 wasn't real picturesque -- "but he looked good doing it," Cox says, sounding as if he's talking about a guy hitting .450. "And he was walking and getting on base. And he wasn't striking out at all."
So what did the manager tell this kid -- a kid who easily could have come to the conclusion he might never get his career average over .100?
"I told him, 'Quit listening to so many other people and don't change a damn thing,' " Cox says. "I just said, 'Be yourself.'"
So of course, Kelly Johnson then went 14 for his next 34 (.412). And has hit close to .270 since. And has, more than anything, fit right in on another journey of Bobby Cox's First Place Express.
Talented as this group of Braves rookies might be, is there any other team that could have plugged in this many of them and just kept on rolling? Is there any other manager who could have made this work?
"I don't think so," Schuerholz says, "because if it's someone who is more demanding, more volatile, more unsettled or more unsettling, that makes it all the more difficult for young guys to respond and play comfortably in a championship setting under these kinds of circumstances. But Bobby makes it possible for them to do that."
And it isn't as if Cox just stumbled upon that approach three months ago, either. There was a time, remember, when the young guys in his clubhouse were named Smoltz and Glavine and Jones. And they all turned out OK, we hear.
"The thing about Bobby is, he gives you confidence when you don't even think you're worthy of it," Smoltz says. "In 1991, he stuck with me even though I was 2-11 and the fans were pushing him to put me in the bullpen. And I could give you 20 stories like that with individual players."
How many managers have we all witnessed who would rather send a kid to the Southern League than send him back out there after a couple of weeks of struggles? But in Atlanta, that isn't how it works. Not just because the kids have talent. Because the manager believes in that talent.
It's all about "faith and patience," Bobby Cox says. "You've got to have that. They're up here for a reason. They've earned it. You don't want to give up on them and not give them a good look. You've got to give them a chance to show their talent.
"I don't think anybody should be able to say, 'This kid can't play,' after watching them for two or three games. I know some people do that. But somebody had to have faith in them to push them up here. So I go along with that."
And as he goes, you may have noticed, so go the Atlanta Braves.
They ought to paint this in big black letters on the wall across from Dusty's desk in the manager's office. Just let him stare at it day after day after day, until maybe it finally sinks in.
Hell, Baker sent Murton back after weeks of hitting 350.
And just in case you didn't already know that Chicago is the coolest city (or metropolitan area) with the coolest people in the world, Furmaniak is from Bolingbrook and Gorzelanny is from Orland Park.
Theriot
Perez
Lee
Nomar
Barrett
Burnitz
Murton
Patterson
Maddux
Baker with a sympathy start for Louisiana native Theriot.
I thought it would take a broken leg to get Macias back to the bench.
I hope Theriot does OK, although I don't see him having any real place in future plans.
He's being saved for that bases-loaded, 2 outs, 1-run deficit, bottom of the 9th, groundout to first.
Either that, or the Cubs want to make sure that Lee isn't the MVP so he'll be cheaper to resign in the future.
That's crazy. When do the Cubs ever load the bases?
Every other time they have to go to the bullpen.
He only needs 3 more to get to 100. I hope he makes it, just for the ridiculously low RBI total that will set the record.
It's like deja vu to about 30 other 1st innings this year.
Free Todd Hollandsworth!
Er, Reacquire Todd Hollandsworth!
Macias
Perez
Lee
Nomar
Murton
Burnitz
Blanco
Patterson
Prior
Update on races:
Neifi OPS: .678
Lee SLG: .671
Neifi VORP: 11.9
Zambrano hitting VORP: 13.2
Murton VORP: 14.4
Burnitz VORP: 16.9
All non-Murton outfield VORP: 11.5
When it's all said and done, the Cubs will have essentially fielded a replacement-level outfield this year. Ok, maybe a slightly lucky replacement-level outfield. Sort of staggers the mind.
Neifi 18 BB
Murton 16 BB.
It's all very exciting.
Theriot was to start today but has food poisoning.
You don't see Jose Macias going and getting food poisoning, do you? It's his veteran's stomach, that's why.
By my count, Prior only had one spectacular game this year -- July 14th vs. Pittsburgh, where he gave up 2 hits, no earned runs, and struck out 10 in 8 innings. Game Score of 83. He had maybe two other very good games, a handful of good games, and many more average or below average ones. His average Game Score was 57.
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