The LaStella Era Begins

And so the LaStella era begins - with two hits and several fine defensive plays. Tuesday night I wondered if that Pastornicky misplay would come back to haunt him. Could’ve picked a place with less pressure for a debut, but perhaps he’ll pull a Kyle Davies. Someone on Twitter asked how quickly fans would turn on LaStella.

Had a good time at the Braves game last Friday night - sixteen rows up from the third base dugout. We arrived way to early (my fault). We didn't go watch BP, and that made it longer. Our tickets had 755 Club access, so we went up there to check it out before eating H&K burgers. L bought his cap there before the game. We discussed the problem of having large heads.

On the way to Tire Deals Saturday morning I was listening to Dimino and Lemke on 680 talk about past Braves trades. They were taking callers and acting like they were giving away Braves tickets, so I called in. They put me right on. I had to come up with a trade to talk about, so I mentioned Domit/Gilmartin. After saying hello and mentioning those two players, they put me on hold, talked about that trade, and went on to the next caller.  

All too often games on hot holidays just go on and on and on. Glad I didn't know Monday's game was nationally televised, since I watched Chip, Joe, and Smoltz on Fox Sports South. Probably a typical outcome for the nation tuning in. The Braves lost because when they were up 6-1, I asked a Facebook friend who was at the game what the score was. I knew, but kinda wanted to rub it in. Of course it backfired on me.

Seems like Pastornicky is worse defensively than Uggla. Both seem to do worse when the pressure is on. So many things went wrong Monday: BJ misplays a ball into a triple, Pena is hit be his bunt in fair territory, Heyward slides past second.

An interesting tweet response said the Uptons lacked good baseball instincts. I agree. How can this be, if they've played since they were kids? A theory: did they always play outfield? Most MLB players grew up playing shortstop, pitcher, and maybe catcher. They were used to handling the ball frequently and grew to quickly determine what to do with the ball. Outfielders and first baseman are not exposed as much. Interesting that the slow-footed Ryan Domit has the instincts to take home on a wild pitch even with Yadier Molina catching and the game on the line, but the speedy BJ gets thrown out needlessly trying to steal third. 

Will and Joel went to the game Tuesday night. Next week I might go to the Tuesday Mariners game and Saturday Gwinnett game. Told you LaStella would get called up before I made it out to Gwinnett. Seattle is the only MLB team I haven’t ever seen. Neither of my kids were interested in seeing Austin Mahone. Haven’t asked Will yet.