Fed Up With BJ

Rough road trip for the Braves. Thank goodness Sunday I was only able to change over to the game with two out in the top of the ninth, bases loaded full count to Schafer.

I know BJ was hitting 30 or 40 points higher than last year, but after Saturday I’d had enough. The dropped ball Friday night was a tough catch. Though I’m ok with scoring that one a hit, the team needs balls like that to be caught. If you rank all the centerfielders in the MLB by defense, BJ is far below average – behind Schafer in my book. After Saturday’s four strikeouts supposedly he went inside and watched the tape. He’s been working with Walker and Fletcher for months. Fredi pulled the plug on Uggla. Surely his patience is wearing thin with BJ. This weekend I was wondering about the AAA option myself. Last year he did well at Gwinnett. I wish he’d go to Rome – if BJ plays much more in Gwinnett then the GBraves will have a BJ bobblehead night, like they did Gattis. Nah, the GBraves are smarter than that.  

Justin botches at least two balls in left. Schafer loses one in the sun. Backpedaling Pastornicky doesn’t give way to a gold glover with a runner on third, though even though Heyward pulled up, it looked like a tough catch for Jason. A tough hard shot went off Freddie’s wrist and he was hit in the back – sure hope he is ok. Just a tough weekend to watch, especially when the Cards do everything so well. Great the Braves could capitalize when Matheny trotted his closer out a fourth straight day. Not knowing that, I was watching the pitch count climb to 23.

Gattis threw one into centerfield. He has a strong arm but a weird throwing motion. I like Evan, but it’s doubtful he’ll be signed to a long term deal.

I know that Sundays Fredi (like Bobby before him) fills the lineup with bench players. But when I saw the lineup I thought it may have been too quick to give Pastornicky a day off.  He did have a long day Saturday. Everyone is calling for LaStella, but should he get called up and then fall flat, those same fans will quickly wash their hands of them. 

The guys on Facebook’s Atlanta Braves Tomahawk Club are the worst. Jordan Hutchinson knows all and is never wrong. I’ve tried not to comment, though sometimes when they’re obviously wrong I just can’t resist. Still funny that people on Twitter think they know more than DOB, who has been a beat writer for years. If they are so smart why don’t they have thousands of people following them?

I was wrong about the missed tag at third and foot not on the bag at first Saturday. Gotta tip your cap to Molina for following through on the play – something Harang did not do. I like the Cardinals and can appreciate the hard work Yadier put in to make himself such a great player, though I’m not a big fan of his.

Sunday I listened to a good chunk of the game on radio. Love those guys. While they rightly discussed the league-wide growing strikeout problem, the guy on the postgame show talked about the need for a true leadoff hitter – despite acknowledging that MOST teams don’t have a true leadoff hitter.

Will might go to a game this week with Joel and Kevin, since the GF’s are out of town. Haley Hurt is in Europe.

Johnny went out to a game in San Francisco last week, and spent the weekend in Yosemite. Zack Hample isn’t Johnny Pierce’s hero, but Johnny has read many articles about him, including his blog. Hample seems like a pest for me. At least he raises money for charity.

I see you are conversing with the King, Chuck Oliver. I like him. Last week he said something that made me realize that he makes a list of all the college football games he watches. He was talking about a player from Wisconsin, and he knew which games he saw him play. Said the player did not stand out to him. He probably watches games and takes notes. One time he went to Las Vegas to broadcast an Arena League game. Instead of going out on the town during his free time, he stayed in his room and watched some rinky-dink game.ugh weekend.