The Baseball Analysts: Dial: Just How Good Is Chipper Jones?

Now DH’ing...our own Chris Dial.

Chipper Jones is a great third baseman. He’s always been a top tier hitter and a solid fielder. While Chipper’s prowess with the bat is never questioned, his rank among great third basemen has. The problem is traditional metrics have shown Chipper to be a poor fielder. His Range Factor (Assists plus putouts per game) has routinely been below league norms. In the face of a significant groundball pitching staff with Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine, and lots of left-handed pitcher innings, Chipper “should” have seen many more chances than league average. To be converting fewer outs than league average could only mean he is a poor defensive third baseman. Chipper being moved off third base in 2002 to a weak fielder position in left field demonstrated that even the Braves recognized Chipper’s shortcomings.

Traditional metrics are wrong. Chipper’s defensive play is one of the most misunderstood performances in baseball. Chipper’s defense has been below average exactly twice in his thirteen-year career. He’s averaged about +4 defensive runs per season. For his career, he’s about 50 runs above average defensively.

What does this have to do with Ken Griffey? Griffey is going to be considered one of the greatest centerfielders ever to play. He’s going to be mentioned alongside Mantle, Mays, Cobb, Speaker. Chipper may or may not end up being mentioned alongside Schmidt, Mathews and Brett. He could end up being mentioned with Brooks Robinson and Pie Traynor, or worse, Ron Santo.

PIT Post-Gazette: Pirates’ split foils streak, bid for .500

And the Pirates… fell just short of finding the franchise’s holy grail of a .500 record, settling for a doubleheader split yesterday with the Atlanta Braves, a 5-0 shutout and an 8-1 loss.

The opener, highlighted by another quality start from Zach Duke and a bases-clearing double by Freddy Sanchez, brought a six-game winning streak, the Pirates’ longest in four years.
...
Will another chance [at .500] come? To be quite sure, this group sounded optimistic, partly because of the 6-1 homestand just completed, partly because they had taken three of four from an Atlanta team that carried its own six-game winning streak into this series ...

“Things are really different,” center fielder Nate McLouth said. “Not to look at the past, but how many times around here have we looked back at that one point where we could have gone above .500 and didn’t? That’s not going to be the case here. We’re right there. Look at where we were a week ago and how we’ve played since then.”

The Pirates came home from Washington 12-17.

Vegas Watch: What Are The Odds: Chipper’s Quest For .400

Well, since Newsboy Moriarty is no longer with us...VW has the answers. (BTW...Chipper 3-3 hoy, hoy, hoy!)

Ideally, he’d like to get exactly 502 PAs, which is the minimum required to qualify for the batting title. If he did that, his odds would be 1 in 225. As those PAs go up, it gets very unlikely, very quickly. Weighting the 618 PA scenario as 40%, and the other three as 10%, 30%, and 20%, respectively, we come to odds of 1 in 546.

If he keeps this up (unlikely), some enterprising gambling site will probably offer odds on whether he’ll hit .400. I’ll be interested to see what they are, although I’m sure they’ll be absolutely terrible. If they were listed now, I think they’d probably be along the lines of 50:1, maybe even 25:1.

I think this is because it’s a rate stat, rather than a counting stat. What I mean is that he’s hitting .400 now, so at first glance it seems at least somewhat likely that he’ll keep it up. Contrast this with a guy who gets off to a hot start (20 HRs) hitting 70 HRs- he’s still got a long way to go. For a guy hitting .400 with 20 HRs at this point in the season, even if it’s more likely that he hits 70 HRs, it’ll seem more likely, to the average person, that he’ll hit .400, since he “just” has to keep up his pace, rather than more than triple his HR total.

The ideal candidate would walk a ridiculous amount. In 2004, Bonds had 617 PAs, so he easily qualified for the batting title, but only 373 ABs. He probably had a better chance of hitting .400 that year than anyone else in recent memory- he ended up at .362.

WaPo: Boswell: Maddux, Glavine, Smoltz a showcase for great players who did it right

I think the Boswell Museum has kept its doors open a little tooooo long past its closing hour.

Eventually, your wins, like your sins, will find you out.

In San Diego tonight, Greg Maddux will try to win his 350th game. Later this year, he may pass Roger Clemens’s total of 354. But whether Maddux hits either number, the verdict is in. It arrived in the Mitchell report. The greatest right-handed pitcher since Walter Johnson is no longer the tainted Clemens but the mesmerizing Maddux.

Just as Barry Bonds’s 762 homers will always be a smaller number—arithmetic be damned—than Hank Aaron’s 755, so Maddux already has forever outdistanced Clemens.

Searching for silver linings in a steroid age is hard work. But there are some. Perhaps none is brighter than the realization that Maddux, and two of his former teammates, Tom Glavine and John Smoltz, all of them presumptive Hall of Famers, will now be among those who move up most dramatically as we reevaluate the stars of the past 20 years.

ajc: Chipper’s switch-hitting prowess no fluke (RR)

Or...How Chipper Jones grew his Mutt n Chop.

Like Mutt Mantle taught his son, Larry taught his only son Chipper to switch-hit in the backyard in Pierson, Fla. Now, 15 years into his career, Jones is in Mantle territory as one of the best switch-hitters ever.

He needs four home runs to reach 400 for his career. He’ll be only the third switch-hitter to get there after Mantle (536) and Eddie Murray (504).

“When I started switch hitting, no way in a million years would I have ever thought that I would be hitting 400 homers in the big leagues,” Chipper Jones said. “I was thinking: steal 30 bases a year, slap the ball and hit .300 from both sides.”

...At age 36, 500 homers is in range, and 3,000 hits isn’t all the way out (2,169 and counting). What will make his final numbers all the more impressive is the “.” next to his name, denoting switch-hitter.

“When you think of Mickey you think of the home runs,” Jones said. “When you think of Eddie Murray you think of the longevity, the runs produced and the 500 homers. I want to be the guy who hit a bunch of homers, drove in a lot of runs, scored a lot of runs, hit for a high average, had a high on-base percentage. I want to be the all-around switch-hitter.”

Bored and restless, Leo Mazzone wants back into baseball

He’s got plenty of free time and still is being paid handsomely by the Baltimore Orioles, so there’s really no limit to what Leo Mazzone can do this spring.

He’s played golf, visited a few nice restaurants with his wife and planted strawberries, blueberries, onions and tomatoes in the backyard of their lavish new home in Roswell, Ga. Yet, Mazzone can’t remember ever feeling so useless, exasperated and miserable.

..."What I’m doing is sitting here dying to get back into baseball again,” Mazzone said. “When spring training hit, it was the first time in 40 years I wasn’t on the baseball field. It affected me pretty good.”

...After a highly successful run with the Atlanta Braves, Mazzone left for Baltimore after the 2005 season. He received a hefty raise and got to work with his best friend, Sam Perlozzo. But if he had it to do over, Mazzone would accept whatever Atlanta offered and assume his customary place in the dugout next to Braves manager Bobby Cox.

“At the time it was a great move, but now I regret it. You see the difference in organizations and how things are run and, believe me, the Atlanta Braves are about as good as it gets,” Mazzone said.

“I got a chance to go back to my home state. My dad’s 86 and my mother’s 81, and they got to see me more in two years than they had in the last 16. Then I have three boys that live up in western Maryland. So we were able to get a lot closer. That part of it was good. But now, as I sit here on my back porch, I second-guess it.”

Thanks to Ruddy Gilbreath. 

Ump Bump: Ward: Will Chipper hit .400?

Going into the ‘78 season...didn’t we think the same thing about sour-swinging Ted Cox?

So with all that said, what do you think, blogosphere? Will Chipper hit .400?

Personally, I think he’s going to do it.

I think Chipper is going to hit .400 because he has health, he has motivation and, frankly, he’s just that good.

...As for motivation, consider this: Last month I wrote a post asking which Braves belong in the Hall of Fame. 184 people voted and Chipper got 72 percent of the vote. This is pretty consistent with the public perception that Jones is a borderline Hall of Fame candidate. Now ask yourself this: would hitting .400 change that perception? Absolutely. Hitting .400 would stamp Chipper’s HOF ticket. And you better believe he knows it.

...That’s why I think Chipper’s going to be the first player since Ted Williams to bat .400. Because I don’t think his hot start is an anomaly. I think he has elevated his game. This isn’t a streak. This is a state of being.

USA Today: Shandler: Chipper Jones’ .400 tear unlikely to last

Out on a limb with Ron Shandler…

It’s May 7, and Chipper Jones is batting better than .400.

This is not an entirely unusual occurrence. Hitters often top .400 for short periods of time. We take notice when it happens at the beginning of the season, but there are many in-season .400 stretches that pass without a second thought. Did you know that Pat Burrell batted .435 last July?

...If we break down batting average into its component parts, perhaps we can uncover the truth.

A hit is constructed of two general events — a batter making contact with a pitch and the ball falling fair. A batter’s contact rate (at-bats minus strikeouts, divided by at-bats) is a skill we can track over time. An average batter will have a rate of about 80%; in other words, he will hit a ball into fair territory in 80% of his at-bats. The best contact hitters will have rates well in excess of 90% and are typically among baseball’s batting average leaders.

In 2007, Placido Polanco led the majors with a contact rate of 95% and batted .341. This year, Mike Sweeney leads the majors with a 99% contact rate (he has struck out once in 77 at-bats) and is batting .311.

Jones’ contact rate is 91%.

ajc: Chipper Jones ranks among Braves’ greatest (RR)

Well, duh...but it’s always good to hear from Pat Corrales.

What would he be, had his career been played out in New York, Los Angeles or Boston? Among switch hitters, only Mickey Mantle (536) and Eddie Murray (504) have hit more home runs than Jones (394). This is an historic career.

“He’s gotten cheated as far as his exposure,” said Pat Corrales, a longtime Braves coach who’s now a bench coach in Washington. “He hasn’t gotten the coverage [New York Mets third baseman] David Wright has gotten in three years.

“He [Jones] has been doing it for 15 years, and that’s a shame.”

..."That drives me. It really does,” Jones said. “I mean, you walk into the stadium and you see how historic this franchise has been over the years and you see [on the outfield wall] the names and the numbers. And you think, well, not only are all those guys Braves Hall of Famers. But they’re Hall of Famers and first-ballot Hall of Famers at that.

“I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t a goal to be mentioned in the same breath with the Eddie Mathews and the Hank Aarons and the Murphys.”

Yahoo: Andy Van Slyke talks slugging Bonds, coaching first

Here comes Van Slyke! Here’s the punch to the nose! He is...naff!  Van Slyke wins! Van Slyke wins! Van Slyke wins!  Van Slyke wins!...Van Slyke wins!

Q: There’s an urban legend in Pittsburgh that, from center field, you tried to wave Barry Bonds in to play more shallow in left before Francisco Cabrera’s famous game-winning hit in the 1992 NLCS.

AVS: That’s not a legend, that is not a rumor, that is an absolute, 100-percent, truth that I did.

Q: Was he just ignoring you?

AVS: I always felt that I got a sixth sense on the field that, as an outfielder, I had these premonitions that seemed to come true about half the time. I just felt, given when I saw, that Cabrera was going to hit the ball to left field and nowhere else. Based on scouting reports, based on the count, and that he had just ripped the ball down the left-field line foul when it was 2-0. I was trying to make Barry move in to not let the winning run score from second. He chose to ignore me. Now, if he had moved in two steps, I don’t know if it would have made a difference. I’ll never know that. It might have been a harder play for him because the ball was hit to his left a little.

Q: Maybe he could have trusted you?

AVS: Barry was a great player. It’s sort of like, dealing with Barry made me a greater player in center. But also, it was sort of like being a catcher with a pitcher. He made the last decision. He chose not to move. The unfortunate thing was, if the ball had been hit 10 more feet to his right, I have no question he would have thrown out Sid Bream.

...Q: Seriously, why didn’t Bonds just move in?

AVS: Because he’s a [bleeped by request].

ajc: Mike Hampton leaves rehab start (RR)

Bad vibes...The Many Slides of Hamp!

Mike Hampton’s protracted comeback trail took another turn Wednesday when the pitcher left a minor-league game with more discomfort in his left pectoral muscle.

He left in the fourth inning of Class AAA Richmond’s game at Durhman, N.C., after throwing 71 pitches in what had been an encouraging outing to that point.

“We were counting heavily on him,” said Braves manager Bobby Cox, who had the left-hander scheduled for a May 10 start at Pittsburgh, but will have to reassess that plan as the Braves’ rash of injuries continues unabated.

“He went 31/3 [innings] and felt it, is all I know,” Cox said, adding that he wouldn’t know more until the Braves see Hampton after they return to Atlanta. “He came out [of the game]. Maybe he came out just in time.”

Smoltz willing to take on bullpen role when healed

Must blow Stu Miller off the mound in career saves! (tied at 154...if yer counting)

John Smoltz, who dominated the National League as a closer for 3½ years, is willing to return to the Atlanta Braves’ bullpen when he comes off the disabled list, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.

Smoltz, who was placed on the 15-day DL on Tuesday with inflammation in his right rotator cuff and biceps tendon, said “Yes” when asked about becoming the Braves’ closer again, the newspaper reported.

“Right now I’m sitting at ground zero, taking it day by day, looking at every option to help this team get to the playoffs and end my career the way I’d like to end it,” he said, according to the report.

MLB: Smoltz lands on disabled list

Veteran right-hander John Smoltz was placed on the 15-day disabled list on Tuesday because of biceps tendinitis.

Smoltz visited Dr. James Andrews in Birmingham, Ala., on Tuesday. The noted surgeon found that Smoltz has a severely inflamed biceps tendon and an inflamed rotator cuff.

The Braves hope that a few weeks of rest will bring Smoltz relief in his shoulder.

Smoltz has been bothered by tightness between his neck and shoulder for more than a month and experienced more discomfort while pitching four innings against the Mets on Sunday.

Thanks to Mike Glum.

N.Y. Observer: Megdal: These Braves Look Like a Spent Force

Are the Braves heading back to bad times?...The Megdal Theissis looks into it.

The Plan Bs in the rotation: rookie Jair Juurjens, career minor leaguer Jeff Bennett, and the uninspiring Chuck James and Jo-Jo Reyes, don’t remind anyone of the younger Smoltz-Glavine-Maddux-Avery foursome that paced Atlanta during the team’s glory years.

The bullpen is in even worse shape. The closer, Rafael Soriano, who has a history of elbow troubles, is on the disabled list. The setup man, Peter Moylan, is expected to be out for the season due to a bone spur pressing against his elbow.

Left behind are pitchers like Manny Acosta, who has struggled to throw strikes at every level, converted minor league starter Jorge Campillo, lefty mediocrities Royce Ring and Will Ohman, and Chris Resop, who owns a career major league ERA of 6.18, due largely to control problems. Only Blaine Boyer shows much promise—and Boyer, coming off of an injury himself, isn’t nearly enough.

...Either way, though, the Atlanta teams that won 14 straight division titles did so on the strength of their arms. This year, the Mets’ old tormentors are a shadow of their former selves.

ajc: Smoltz complains of sore shoulder after shaky outing (RR)

As distressed Braves fans turn to puffing poisonous sternoclavicular-laced joints!

The ache in his shoulder, which landed him on the disabled list last summer and to start this season, seems unlikely to subside while he’s trying to throw fastballs and sliders past major league hitters.

All four of his arm surgeries have been on the elbow, but it’s been his shoulder causing problems the past four seasons. Smoltz has said before that he wouldn’t endure another major surgery and rehab.

On Sunday, he couldn’t make adjustments to pitch effectively and with tolerable discomfort.

“The [recovery] cycle has not been the way I would like it to be,” he said. “Meaning, certainly today, I didn’t have some of the stuff I had the first four games. And there was nowhere to get it.

“So that’s why I’m going to assess it, see what we need to do to either make the changes or rest it or do whatever we have to do. Because I can not pitch like [Sunday]. That’s not going to help the team.”

ajc: Moore: Smoltz is what greatness is all about (RR)

And these poor schlubsters ain’t got it!

In this case, such combinations lead to brilliance, longevity, toughness and a 3,000th strikeout. As for the latter, Smoltz, along with all of his splendid attributes too numerous to mention, pitched in a major-league game for the 706th time. By the end of that third inning, he had accomplished something that Cy Young couldn’t do while compiling a record 511 victories.

Warren Spahn couldn’t do it, either, despite 14 trips to the All-Star game, and Bob Feller couldn’t do it along the way to three no-hitters and 12 one-hitters. In fact, they’ve played professional baseball since four years after the Civil War. That said, only 15 other pitchers have done what Smoltz now have done for a career.

Three thousand strikeouts.

Smoltz Records 3,000th Strikeout

Atlanta Braves pitcher John Smoltz became the 16th pitcher in major league history with 3,000 career strikeouts in Tuesday’s game against Washington.

...

In the third, he got the opposing pitcher John Lannan swinging for the first out. Then Felipe Lopez missed on a low splitter in the next at-bat, as Smoltz reached the milestone.

Bobby Cox might have to postpone postgame cigar at Shea

Unfair by a White Owl!

Puffing on his usual postgame cigar, Atlanta Braves manager Bobby Cox flashed a startled look when asked what he thought of Shea Stadium’s total ban on smoking.

“You mean the new one?” he asked, referring to Citi Field, where the New York Mets will begin playing in 2009. No, skipper. The Mets announced in March that they were going smoke-free in their final season at Shea Stadium. The only area where smokers can light up is a designated area outside the park.

Which brings us to Cox, the longtime Braves manager and cigar aficionado. He’ll be at Shea this weekend when the Braves face the Mets in a three-game series. “I think that’s a great idea,” he said after Monday night’s 7-3 victory over Washington at Turner Field (which, by the way, is listed as “a primarily smoke-free facility,” according to the team’s Web site, and lighting up is allowed only in certain entryways, stairwells and landings).

Even for himself?

“The clubhouse doesn’t count,” Cox quipped.

The Mets wouldn’t say Tuesday whether the ban applies to the clubhouses.

Dugout Central: Payne: Is Andruw Jones Still a Future Hall of Famer?

And full of gurgitating chestnuts!

I suspect when Andruw retires most voters will naturally look at players like Bill Mazeroski and Ozzie Smith when evaluating Andruw’s worthiness.  Smith played for 19 seasons and was never close to Andruw with the bat.  Mazeroski may have been worse than Smith with the bat and played 17 seasons.

Mazeroski is probably the most similar to Jones if we are looking at overall value.  Mazeroski is regarded as the best defensive second baseman of all time and played 100 games in a season in 13 seasons.  Because of his offensive downturn, it’s looking more and more possible that Jones may not contribute to his teams beyond a decade or so.

But does Mazeroski have an edge on Jones defensively, and is that edge enough to offset Jones’ offensive contributions?  I don’t think so.  If a player is a Ron Gant/Reggie Sanders type hitter for ten years and a Bill Mazeroski/Ozzie Smith type fielder for seven or eight seasons, I would consider that player a Hall of Famer.

Of course, the voters love milestones and Jones already has 368 homers, over 1,000 RBI and runs scored and close to 1,700 hits.  Even if he’s a subpar hitter for the next couple seasons, he’ll likely add to those numbers.  Plus the voters will remember his glove and his Gold Gloves.  He likely won’t get in on the first ballot but my guess is he’ll eventually get in with relative ease.

Chipper exits after aggravating quad

WTF!

Chipper Jones was forced to leave Sunday afternoon’s game at Turner Field after aggravating his strained right quadriceps muscle.

After driving Dodgers right-hander Hiroki Kuroda’s pitch to the right-center-field wall in the fifth inning, Jones slid into second base with a double. As he slowly rose to his feet, he appeared to have some discomfort. He remained in the game and wasn’t forced to try to race from second base toward the plate.

When the sixth inning began, Martin Prado entered the game to replace Jones at third base.

Jones originally tweaked his right quadriceps muscle during an April 9 game at Coors Field, and he felt some more discomfort while playing the entirety of a game two nights later at Nationals Park.

Former all-star Ryan Klesko retires after 16 seasons in major leagues

Come down to Bootworld and tell them I...packed it in.

Ryan Klesko is retiring after 16 seasons in the major leagues, agent Joe Sambito said Friday.

Klesko, an all-star in 2001 with San Diego, hit .260 last season with six homers and 44 RBIs in 362 at-bats for the San Francisco Giants. He played in only six games the previous year for the Padres because of shoulder surgery. The 36-year-old became a free agent following the World Series and didn’t sign.

Klesko batted .279 with 278 homers and 987 RBIs. His best season was 2001, when he hit .286 with 30 homers and 113 RBIs.

He spent seven seasons with San Diego after playing his first eight years in the big leagues with the Atlanta Braves.

AP: Glavine goes on DL for first time in 22-year career

Braves pitcher Tom Glavine went on the disabled list for the first time in his 22-year career Friday night, forced out by a strained right hamstring that needs more time to heal.

The 42-year-old left-hander had hoped to start Saturday against the Los Angeles Dodgers, six days after leaving a start at Washington in the first inning.
...
“I never envisioned a hamstring problem, especially as flexible as I am and as loose as I was before the game,” Glavine said. “Hopefully it was just one of those freak things.”

The lefty threw a normal bullpen session on Thursday without any problems, but noted that he never throws at full speed on an off day.

“If I had ever thought I was going to miss a start or be on the DL, it certainly wasn’t going to be leg related,” Glavine said. “You never know.”

Palm Beach Post: Braves’ power prevails against Marlins

Chipper Jones, Mark Teixeira and Brian McCann connected for consecutive home runs off Ricky Nolasco as part of a five-home run assault on the Marlins.

“It’s tough when you put your team down so quick like that,” Nolasco said. “It’s tough for any team to come back from something like that.”
...
Facing Jones [in the fifth], Nolasco went ahead 0-2 in the count before the Braves’ third baseman sent a drive into the right-field seats.

The next batter, Teixeira, worked the count to 2-2 before he sent a Nolasco fastball into the same area.

McCann capped the surge with a long home run to center that made the score 6-0.
...
The last time a Marlins pitcher allowed three straight home runs was April 27, 2004, at Colorado, when Darren Oliver gave up homers to Jeromy Burnitz, Charles Johnson and Matt Holliday.

AP: Braves reliever Moylan may be out for year with elbow injury

Atlanta Braves reliever Peter Moylan may need season-ending surgery on his injured right elbow. Moylan will undergo another two weeks of treatment, the team said Thursday.

Moylan was put on the disabled list Tuesday. An examination Wednesday determined that a bone spur is pressing against a ligament in his elbow.

The Braves said he’ll be re-evaluated after further treatment. If that does not work, Moylan might require reconstructive surgery.

“You move on,” manager Bobby Cox said before Thursday night’s game at Florida. “Somebody’s got to pick him up.”

ShysterBall: Calcaterra: It Was 20 Years Ago Today

Or...When I’m Sixty-Four (Scott Sobkowiak’s uniform number...as if ya’ll didn’t know!)...as Calcaterra looks back at being a Braves fan.

It started innocently enough. Random channel surfing that summer caused me to stumble upon my first WTBS broadcast, and I was curious. I was initially attracted by the NWA wrestling—the Koloffs and the Rock and Roll Express were engaged in quite a feud, if I recall—but the Braves games sucked me in, with random little things holding my interest each time as I tried in vain to maintain my fidelity to the Tigers. “Is that Rick Cerone? I wondered what happened to him.” “Len Barker? I thought he was supposed to be good. Maybe I’ll just watch a little more of this start.” Two hours later I would realize that I had watched every last Rafael Ramirez at bat, every Pascual Perez victory

I wasn’t hooked yet—hell, Pascual Perez went 1-13 in 1985, so seeing all of his wins wasn’t much a trick—but by 1986 I was past the point of no return. I was a Braves fan, even if it took me a year or so to admit it to myself. Desperately, like a man trying to save a dying marriage with purchases of jewelry, I continued to follow the Tigers via The Sporting News. But without Ernie Harwell around, it wasn’t the same. I hung around as late as the last great team of 1987—that season-ending weekend series against the Jays was like that last ditch B&B weekend in which you fool yourself into thinking you and her still have a future together—but as soon as it was over I knew that my rooting was more about inertia than anything else.

Huffington Post: I’m a Diehard Atlanta Braves Fan. Does That Make Me a Jerk?

Stretched the limits of muzzleloading performance...only from Remington.

I know there’s a line somewhere, because by definition Yankees fans are across it. New York Yankees fans, if they’re self-aware—and may they have all my neuroses and then some—understand the low sacrifice and low moral stakes involved in rooting for the richest team in the game, for rooting for Ivan Drago to beat Apollo Creed. No one wins a moral victory in high school by blowing out the other team. There’s a purity in defeat, just as there’s a bullseye attached to every championship ring. For almost 20 years, I loved my team through thick; now that my team’s suffering, I finally can prove my loyalty by loving them through thin. But I don’t want a moral victory. To hell with close competition and a well-fought match; I want all the other bums in the cellar, and I want my guys to lap the field.

The Boston Red Sox did that last October, and their fans are learning the collateral joys of being insufferable. By spending a few well-placed dollars wisely, the Red Sox recently traded futility for dynasty in a matter of 36 months. Now, replica Cheers bars and college campuses are filled with poser bandwagon fans, outnumbering true bleeders by as many as green-hatted drunks outnumber Irish Catholics on St. Patrick’s Day. I admit I envy their success. I hate that they’re better and more popular than we are, and I hate that I have no right to complain.

ATL Journal-Constitution: Concerns grow over Glavine, Braves (RR)

Glavine faced only four batters and did not record an out, setting the Braves on course for a 5-4 loss to the Nationals. What’s on course for Glavine’s next scheduled start Friday against Los Angeles is yet to be seen.

“I’m not concerned that it’s going to be a long time, but I really don’t have anything to go on to know whether I’m going to be throwing in five days either,” said Glavine, who said he’s never had any leg problems. “We just have to wait and see.”

The Braves wanted to wait to make a decision whether to disable Glavine based on how he feels in the next day or so. The 42-year-old veteran has never been on the disabled list in his 21-year career.

“Tomorrow, if it’s really sore, obviously that’d be an indication I might be in some trouble,” said Glavine…

ESPN : How in the World did this guy win 347 games?

Maddux wound up and threw. By now, pitching coach Darren Balsley was watching, along with a few other Padres who had received word that a strange experiment was taking place involving a catcher attempting to catch without the benefit of vision. The ball left Maddux’s hand, and Akerfelds yelled “Now!” and Risinger clenched his mitt around the ball.

He opened his eyes. There it was, in the mitt.

Penny, figuring he’d take advantage of the situation, asked Maddux to call a game for him against the Cubs. And so, on the night of Sept. 13, Penny glanced into the dugout before every delivery and found Maddux, who signaled the next pitch by looking toward different parts of the ballpark. Penny threw seven scoreless innings with no walks and beat the Cubs 6-0. “Maddux probably won’t tell you that story,” Penny says

A fantastic article about my favourite pitcher. Nuff said.

AJC: Braves release Spiezio (RR)

The Braves released Spiezio on Saturday after he showed up to a AAA Richmond Braves game unprepared to play Friday, according to Braves general manager Frank Wren.

“We had an agreement with Scott,” Wren said. “There were three things we asked him to do: No. 1 is to continue his aftercare, which included testing, No. 2, that he attend AA [meetings] and No. 3 he would show up at the park every day ready to play. And yesterday he was not ready to play.”

Wren declined further comment on why Spiezio was unprepared to play. Spiezio’s agent Barry Meister declined to comment on specifics on Saturday as well.

“We appreciate the Braves being so sensitive,” Meister said. “[Scott] is going to go home and spend time with his kids and continue to work on his aftercare.”

AJC : Braves’ prospect unable to clarify HGH charge {RR}

Schafer was targeted in an investigation that began in spring training. It was conducted by baseball’s new investigative department, which was created after the Mitchell Report on performance-enhancing drugs came out in December.

There was no positive drug test — baseball doesn’t recognize any test for HGH as reliable (though the World Doping Agency says there is one).

The official would say only that there are other “non-analytical” means of establishing guilt, including possession of a drug.

“I want so bad to clear things up, and I want so bad for Jordan to clear things up,” said David Schafer, a Florida businessman. “But unfortunately the powers that be say not to say anything. I want so bad to straighten this thing out, I just can’t say. ... I don’t know what to do. He’s in a bad spot. It’s not the way it seems.

I would say why I posted this, but my attorneys told me not to reveal anything.