Why did he get this stupid nickname? It’s not like he’s an old man. It seems like “Ol’Ball Coach” should be Paterno or some other fossil like that.

BTW, between watching the Braves and the USC/UGA game, I haven’t seen so many Cox/Cocks since Dave tricked me into that airport bathroom with Sen. Craig last year.

Which athletes do you feel have really given the Atlanta Sports scene a blackeye over past decades?

1. John Rocker- Didn’t do much for promoting a new South, did he? He is the epitome of the dumbass redneck that closed-minded Northerners think of when they describe Southerners. I guess his career washing out was Karma.

2. Michael Vick- Maybe all of this will be a blessing in disguise as we will get rid of that albatross of a contract. While he was exciting, it just seemed like he was never going to take us to the next level. It’s not surprising that he was involved in something so stupid; his decision-making on the field wasn’t very intelligent at times either.

3. Kasten/Babcock- The effects of the ‘Nique trade are still haunting us; just plain stupid to trade away your best player when you’re in first place with less than two months left in the season. Jon Contract was another of their disasters and it seems to me that this deal really started the ball rolling in terms of mediocre players getting huge contracts. Way to be trailblazers, boys!

4. Dave Braine- No AD should ever admit that his Football program can’t be expected to compete and should basically strive for 7-8 win seasons. How could anyone be that stupid to utter something like that to the media? So much went wrong under his (mis)direction, including of course the Gailey extension after another 7-5 finish and a blowout loss in a third-rate bowl. Now, because of Braine-Dead’s 11th Hour dealings,  new AD Radkovich is stuck with this loser for four more years.

5. Otis Nixon- I really believe that we would’ve won the 1991 World Series had Nixon not been suspended for drug use right before the Playoffs. His speed and defense would’ve made all of the difference and I think that we would have won in Atlanta and wouldn’t have had to return to Minnesota in the first place. Imagine if we win that first one…who knows what might have happened after that? Maybe 4-5 World Series?

Is it time for Matt Diaz to be starting every day over Willie Harris? I like them both, but Diaz is just hitting too well not to have in the lineup every day. He’s hitting over .333 from both sides of the plate, so you don’t lose anything in the L/L and L/R matchups. While Willie has done a great job this year, his production at the plate has hit a bad patch and he’s not giving us what he was earlier in the season. I think that he’d be better off as a backup to both Diaz and Andruw and also as the first Pinch Hitter off the bench. I’m sorry, but Chris Woodward just ain’t getting it done; you might as well let the reliever hit for himself. Willie would be a great PH as he has speed and a decent bat. If only he could bunt.

I was going to post this yesterday before the game, but it’s even more relevant now. Has Francoeur lost his patience at the plate? He’s been so disciplined all season and has shown no signs of his freeswinging past. However, over the past few weeks, he’s been worse than Andruw about chasing bad balls. Last night’s 5 K’s did nothing to help his cause.

This team is so maddening as they can’t get everyone on the same page to put a run together.

Another game, another blown opportunity for Slob Sickman. Why you throw a ball right down the middle to Adam Dunn is beyond me. Also, that was a sweet drop on his run to cover first base; really highlighted his athleticism.

Any hopes of making the playoffs are quickly slipping away; one need not look any further than the 1-6 record against the Reds over the past month to understand why.

Although the majority of Riseup contributors were at this game (Steve, Matt, Dave, Al), no one bothered to write it up, so I guess i’ll do the honors.

Dave bought tickets for this game in advance, securing eight tickets with a deal through Topps baseball cards. Dave demanded no payment for the tickets, only a beer in return (of which he had many). The seats were in a great location for homerun balls-in leftfield, a few rows back from the wall. In fact, one ball was hit in our section and supposedly hit a girl in the eye (unfortunately, I didn’t see it as I was on a bathroom run).

Jo-Jo Reyes got the start for the Braves; he was trounced again and gave up five runs in the third. This guy has supposedly been dominant in the Minors, but he’s shown nothing in his Atlanta starts. I don’t see anything special in his arsenal and it seems like he can’t consistently get the ball over the plate.

The bullpen took over in the 4th and Moylan calmed things down, pitching two scoreless innings. The Braves scored two runs in four straight innings (including Tex’s second HR in his second night) to take a 9-5 into the eighth inning, a seemingly secured game. However, Rafael Soriano continued his run of poor pitching performances, riddled with home runs, by blowing the Braves’ four run lead, allowing a Grand Slam to Geoff Blum. The loss of the lead silenced the crowd and seemed to drain all of the energy out of Turner Field.

The game would remain tied until the 12th inning when the Astros scored two runs. We decided at that point (around 11:45 or so) that it was time to go. Ismail has fallen asleep in my lap at 10:30 and had school the next day, so I had no problems leaving. When we got back to our cars, fireworks went off from the Coke Bottom atop Turner Field. The Parking Attendant told us that Matt Diaz had just hit a two run shot to tie the game up again. Regretting the early leave, we headed back home anyway. When I got in the house, I switched the game on the TV and promptly saw the useless Oskar Villarreal give up a run, making the score 12-11. The Braves could not score in the bottom of the inning and ended up losing the heartbreaker that was all but in the bag at one point.

A lot of baseball for two nights and I was worn out on Friday morning. Ismail ended up sleeping late and was tardy for school by an hour. We didn’t tell them that he stayed out until midnight, otherwise they might’ve called DFACS on me.

Matt was in town for the week for a Family Reunion, serendipiously at the same time his Astros were here to play the Braves. This would be the first of two consecutive nights that he and I would attend the games. I was excited about attending this game in particular because it was the debut of newly acquired first baseman Mark Teixeira. Tex would not disappoint…

The Braves jumped on the Astros from the get-go, scoring seven runs in the first inning. Matt had very little optimism with Wandy on the mound, so he was not too worked up by the seven run outburst. My favorite highlight of the night was a Teixeira homerun in the sixth inning, the first of hopefully many. Also making their debuts for the Braves were Octavio Dotel and Ron Mahay, both acquired at the deadline; both pitched shutout innings.

The game was pretty low-key and seemed to drag on as the late innings approached. With the score 12-3 in the eighth inning, we decided to leave to conserve our energy for the next night’s game. We were wise in doing so as you will see in the next game recap…  

Forgot to write this up, but better late than never. Ismail’s friend had his b-day party at the game, so we got to go for free. It was NASCAR Night, so they passed out free Braves Rally Flags ( we ended up with four, so if anyone wants one, just let me know):

The crowd was the largest crowd in Atlanta Braves history at just under 54K, which is strange because I thought Fulco held 56K, but I guess I was mistaken.

The Braves dominated from start to finish and the game ended 14-6. Willie Harris went 6-6 (tied ATL record) with two triples. It’s safe to say i’ve never seen a player get six hits in a game and I don’t think i’ve seen two triples by one player in a game either. Chipper and Edgar each had three hits to help out the cause. Buddy Carlyle pitched a fine game and picked up the win and even had two hits.

The game dragged on forever, so with the game no longer in doubt, we left in the bottom of the eighth at 10:30. With all of the kids up way past their bedtimes, I was surprised that they made it that long. I was glad they did as we were able to catch Willie’s historic night.

Where do you think Andruw will be playing in 2008? Do you still want him to be in Center Field?

I personally don’t think we need to re-up his contract. Bor-ass will demand way too much for him and we don’t need to tie ourselves up long-term again like we did with Chipper and Hampton. Because of Chipper and Hampton, the Braves have been limited in recent years with what they can and can’t do in the off-season. Adding another albatross of a contract for a player that is batting .213 and is still as undisciplined at the plate as his rookie year is not what we need. I realize his glove will be sorely missed, but we can find someone cheaper and younger to stick out there that can serve us adequately (rumors already about Torii Hunter and Mike Cameron have surfaced). Even Willie Harris would do OK out there as he has great speed and has looked comfortable in the position when Andruw has sat out.

By not tying ourselves to Andruw, we’ll at least have the flexibility financially to make a run at Tex after the 2008 season.

Almost 2600 hits and a .298 average are solid , but i’m not so sure he’ll make it.

To his credit, he has 3 All-Star Games, 1 A.S. MVP (90), 5 Silver Sluggers and 1 AL Batting Crown.

Baseball-reference.com has two indexes for HOF Credentials and he falls short on both.

At this point, he’s more known for his age than his accomplishments, so in some ways his recent years might be helping his chances popularity-wise. However, to some voters, he might be tarnishing his chances by being known as a player that doesn’t know when to quit, even though his numbers have been pretty solid up until this season.