Any other East Coasters awake when Andruw Jones' HR beat Arizona a little before 3 a.m.? Of course, I cheated by sleeping through the first ten innings.

Did Boob Brenly ape his All-Star carelessness by running out all his position players, as it appeared?

I REALLY like Tim Spooneybarger's long legs.

Hello, Bill W. --Thanks for the good Braves news! I stayed with the game until about 2:00 am, when dreamland started calling my name. (And speaking of dreams, John Smoltz's pitching may have allowed the D'backs to tie-up the game in the 9th inning last night, but I swear he's getting lovelier as he's getting older, so, I tend to forgive him very easily...)

The Beguiling Mr. Smoltz

[ August 07, 2002: Message edited by: fielderschoice ]

What I want to know is how the Phillies and Padres could squeeze three more innings than the Braves and D-backs into roughly the same amount of time (4:34 in Arizona and 4:51 in San Diego)? And the Padres used 9 pitchers, yet.

I was up 'til 11:30 out here in LA watching the game. Which is an hour past my bedtime. Cannot fathom how anyone on EST could stay up for the ending.

Arizona appears to be the only team in the NL that can play with the Braves. They are tough, indeed. But this Braves team is different than any I've ever seen...and in a very positive way.

The playoffs are shaping up for ATL vs. LA/SF (IMHO, the Dodgers have better pitching and will probably get the wildcard) and AZ vs. StL (nice little rematch from last year...but there will be no drama this year).

I really believe it will come down to ATL and AZ in the NLCS. Should be a doozie! If they started it now, I'd lean toward ATL in 6.

Am I the only one who laughs my ass off when Bobby Cox gets run, as he did last night? He's the most animated tantrum-thrower since Earl Weaver (OK, save Piniella)...

Rubber game tonight. I will probably cross league lines for this World Series if the AL team is anyone but the Yankees, since these two NL juggernauts are not in any way lovable (studly as some of the AZ oldsters are)!

The Braves in general ... and Larry Wayne Jones in particular ... consistently have been the biggest whiners in baseball over the last 10 years. While they may have won only a single World Series title over that stretch, each year they have taken the title as biggest cry-babies in the Sport.

Example #454: After last night's loss to the much classier D-Backs, Chipper was crying big ol' sissy-girl tears over the strike zone of home plate umpire Angel Hernandez. Bitter Chipper sobbed: "Some people just don't take pride in their job. None of us feel like we got beat, but we've got an 'L' in the loss column. It's hard enough to beat the world champs, without some help from others."

What a whiner! First of all, over the last several seasons, Braves pitchers, especially Glavine and Maddux have appeared to benefit from a generous strike zone, much larger and wider than other pitchers get. Second, there is no allegation that the strike zone given the D-Backs pitchers was any different. Unlike games where the Braves get a more favorable strike zone, Hernandez applied the same one to both teams. It just wasn't the one that the Braves thought they were entitled to.

The Braves sore-loserman attitude is at the core of why this team consistently under-achieves in the post-season and why there is every indication they will do likewise this year (assuming there is a postseason).

Jealousy rears it's ugly head once again.

Season series between AZ and ATL stands at 3-3, if I'm not mistaken. Should make for an interesting postseason.

I'll go with the Braves cause they got Darren Bragg and he's so fine.

Yeah, those whinny Braves have cried themselves into first place and left the rest long behind. Chipper Jones wasn't the only one cripping about balls and strikes. Both the Braves and D-backs had problems with the ump. Crapie officiating all around the bases. Loved it when the ump got his lights knocked out by the D'backs baserunner. And Charlie, if the braves are the biggest whinners in baseball you are the biggest whinner about the Braves. Oh yes, thanks LA for letting Sheffield go. He hasn't cried once since being in Atlanta.
The series this year belongs to the Braves. (if we can get past the strike)

The Braves may have the best team of their dynastic era... only weakness seems to be
two catchers who can't hit.

That said, remember the gratuitous off-days in the LCS are a gain for Arizona -- Unit and Schilling could pitch 5 of the 7 games. An October meeting would be a tossup.

[quote]Originally posted by Charlie in the Trees:

The Braves sore-loserman attitude...

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Can't resist sneaking in refs to Electoral Coup 2000, CITT?

I don't know about whining, but in all these years the Braves have managed to win just one World Series. They almost always manage to lose in the postseason--whether in a year like this where they dominate in a weak division, or in a year like 1993 when it went down to the very end.

I see no reason to believe that this year will be any different, especially if they face Arizona at some point.

I believe the fact that a team has managed to be successful for a decade and yet win only one World Series lets you know how tough it is to win one. This year they should be favorites because they finally have some consistent run producers to support their outstanding pitching staff. Chipper is having an off year and is still batting .310, Shef and Andruw are pressure hitters, Furcal is a solid lead off with fantastic speed, etc. Beating Schilling in Arizona goes a long way for confidence and the two AL teams that poses the biggest threats i.e. Yanks and Mariners, have to beat each other up first.

Z

[quote]Originally posted by Zman:
Beating Schilling in Arizona goes a long way for confidence

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I'm not sure such an accomplished team should even have a confidence problem. I mean, the Phillies have beaten Schilling a time or two since the trade.