Five things you didn't know about me, meme style

My buddy RehabReject tagged me in this game about six weeks ago now, and I totally forgot to keep the game going.

So here are my five. I don't usually post this sort of thing here, but I thought it would be fun...

1. For Christmas in 1997, my uncle contacted a former co-worker of his at the Braves and arranged for me to receive a personally signed Javy Lopez baseball...and one of Javy's (unused) socks. The ball is still wrapped in Javy's sock and is one of the only pieces of "real" Braves memorabilia I own.

2. I have never been to a Spring Training game nor a postseason game. Didn't have the money when I was younger, and now that I do, I don't have the time. Isn't that how life works?

3. When I played softball, I played every position except shortstop, spending the most time at pitcher and left center. I could always hit well but I run like McCann, so I quit right before high school.

4. I watch way too much reality TV, but not the overly-trashy stuff. Last week I watched America's Next Top Model, Top Chef, Make Me A Supermodel, America's Best Dance Crew, and The Celebrity Apprentice. I'm also a fan of Project Runway, Shear Genius (bring it back, Bravo!), American Gladiators, Ninja Warrior, and Iron Chef. No dating shows for me -- I like the skills-based competitions.

5. If a guy doesn't like baseball, I'm probably not going to date him. He doesn't have to be a Braves fan, but he does need to understand how much I love the sport. I've dated a couple of Red Sox fanguys and they were great fun -- it's wonderful to be around people who are passionate about something. :)


Okay, those are my five. I think I'm supposed to tag two other people, but I rarely send forwards...forward... so this is no exception. If you want to take it and run, feel free!

Back to your regularly scheduled snarking...

Opening Day Jitters

That's what I'm calling last night's loss, anyway. Just jitters. New ballpark, sold-out game, pressure to beat the usually sucky Nats. Those of you who have been reading for the last six months know I'm not one to do in-depth play-by-play analysis here; I save that pleasure for my friends who watch the games with me. (ha) If you want stats? There are plenty of blogs out there that will analyze the numbers to death. I prefer to focus on the fun side of baseball, but here are a few interesting numbers:

1: Chipper Jones hit the first home run in Nationals Park history in the fourth inning.

19: set down in a row by Tim Hudson after his relatively shaky first inning.

2: miles per hour Brian McCann ran, trying to leg out his double in the top of the second. I know he's never been fast, but dude.

6.75: Pete Moylan's ERA after last night's game. I'm not too worried yet -- he's usually lights-out, we have 161 games left, and if Bobby uses him like he did last year, Pete will have approximately 79 more chances to prove his stuff. No biggie, man.


Other comments I made to my friends during the course of the evening...

1. Regardless of personal feelings towards George W. Bush, I think it was extremely rude to boo the President as he came out to throw the first pitch. So disrespectful. Would they boo the Pope? The queen of England? No, of course not. Internet culture has gotten us far away from "if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all."

2. I do not like the new navy road unis. The tomahawk looks purple, not red; I would have preferred the powder blues to make a comeback.

3. "This is the Chipper Jones discussion show on ESPN!"... with occasional game-calling and discussion of Derek Jeter and the Yankees and Mets. My friend Not!Baby (he looks more like Brian McCann than Mac's own brother does) asked me if I'd been keeping count of all the times the Yankees were mentioned in the broadcast. As of 7:45, he'd counted either six or seven mentions of the Yankees. *heavy sigh*

4. Kots is making me miss Andruw, and I didn't think I'd ever admit that. Druw's smiling face was always a pleasure to behold, especially if we were winning.

5. Former Brave Odalis Perez did pretty well. Also, it's PEREZ. NOT PARE-EZ. Someone at ESPN needs a couple of Spanish lessons. (At least we didn't have to hear too much about "On-Drew".)


Tonight's game: Tom Glavine goes up against Ian Snell of the Pittsburgh Pirates in Tommy's return as a Brave to Turner Field. I'll be there, and hopefully the stadium will be full of roars instead of boos. Go Braves!

Wowzers.

Thanks to Leah's comment on my earlier post today, I found this angle of Pete Moylan's tats, an angle I hadn't seen:

I don't know why I'm so curious about this, but I would really love to hear an explanation for each one. Do they have significance, or did he just like the designs? Is there a "story" that goes along the arm? Does he plan to do the same (to this extent) to his other arm?

As long as he doesn't put them on his face, we'll be okay. Mike Tyson, he's not. (Thank goodness.)

PS -- I feel like I should have a tag just for "Tattoos". That day may come if pics like these keep springing up. A lot of the guys are tattooed!

07 Yunie and 08 Unis

When a certain Braves-flavored magazine arrives in my mailbox every month, I have a funny way of reading it. I skim the front cover, look at the pictures of the first article (usually a tour of a Brave's home), find the birthday list, then flip to "Beyond Baseball", which is totally the gossip section. (The April issue -- with Chipper and Teix on the cover, now available at newsstands -- has an adorable picture of Matty with his two babies in the Beyond Baseball section. Exactly as cute as I thought they'd be! I just want to wrap that whole family in a big huge hug!)

Tangents. After reading BB, I go back to the beginning and read the mag cover-to-cover. The spotlight for April was a "home visit" article was with Yunel Escobar. His touching story of escaping from Cuba and getting his family out in pieces is told, and there is a detailed comparison of their home in Cuba to their new home in Miami. He and his wife Minerva split last fall, according to the article; all divorces are sad to me, but I'll always remember Minerva for glowing with pride when Yunie got his first major-league hit last year. He pointed to her in the stands, and the tears were streaming down her face while she cheered for him. I'm choking up now, just remembering it. (Such a girl!) She was lovely, and I wish her the best.

Now Yunie's parents and his 11-year-old sister, Yunay, live in his house. They seem very happy to be in America, and we're happy to have Yunie on our team. Pick up a copy if you can -- it's not subscription-only anymore, and there are some very interesting tidbits in this issue!


Okay, on to a different topic. There are rumors swirling that the Braves will have another alternate jersey this year, a blue one similar to the reds they wear for Sunday home games. A very interesting blog called Uni Watch has this to say:

A little birdie tells me that the Braves' long-rumored blue alternate jersey may make its debut in the team's very first game of the season, this Sunday against the Nats. "GM Frank Wren wants it to be a big surprise," reports my source. "The Braves have delayed putting out their merchandise catalog this year solely because the road alternate jersey is featured in it. The feeling is that by unveiling them in this fashion (nationally televised game on ESPN), sales will be through the roof as soon as the catalog is sent." Nice to see uniforms reduced to nothing more than a sales gimmick.

Hmmm...I didn't even realize I hadn't gotten my Spring 08 merchandise catalog yet. It usually comes in January or February, and I've been getting it for nine years -- you'd think I would have noticed. Another reason to look forward to Opening Day!

Moylan seeks to build on stellar rookie season

Accompanying AJC article


Another gem on the AJC's Braves page today looks like this:


I don't know why, but I'm hearing Chris Farley say in his best Tommy Boy voice, "...what a loser he is." If I owned a baseball team that was looking to win a world championship, the only one I'd take back is Salty. (I do love Langy and Pete Orr!™, but those two are true bubble players.)

I'm very glad I don't make these decisions. I would let my personal feelings come into play far too often, as I think Bobby does sometimes. The good thing is that the Braves have built a reputation of being a classy organization, and troublemakers are not welcome -- they either shape up or ship out. That's probably why Mr. Bonds hasn't been picked up yet...

Frenchy's blogging, y'all

Check it out!

Orr, Langy cut

No, this isn't a Nationals blog -- see how I used pics of Langy and Pete Orr!™ from when they were still Braves? -- but I wanted to share the sad news that two of my favorite former Braves didn't make the 40-man for the '08 Nats.

From the AP, via SI.com:

The Nationals also sent outfielder Ryan Langerhans, infielder Pete Orr and pitchers John Lannan and Chris Schroder to Triple-A Columbus as the team finalized the 25-man roster.

From Dave O'Brien, via the AJC:

Orr and Langerhans both cut from Nats’ camp roster, and Langy already cleared waivers and was outrighted to Triple-A. Orr was a non-roster invitee who had a great spring, batting .390. But that’s the life of a non-roster guy. Rough.

Langerhans had a bad spring, hitting .226 with just one extra-base hit (double) and 13 K’s in 31 at-bats.

Best of luck, guys. :(

Mark T. for MVP!

Chipper Jones was dressing this morning in the clubhouse and Tex was sitting at his stall across the way.

“I just read a magazine where they predicted you’d be the National League MVP this year,” Chipper said.

“Whoopidy-do,” Teixeira replied, and both of them laughed.

“You should be flattered they think highly enough of you to predict you’ll be the MVP,” Chipper said, with his familiar smirk.

“You want to hit fourth and I’ll hit third, then maybe it’ll happen,” Teixeira said, smiling.

Chipper shook his head no, and smiled.

Lefties are different: Will Ohman blew into camp talking a mile a minute, often in a loud voice that filled the room. He’s gregarious, to say the least. This raised a few eyebrows in the low-key Braves clubhouse, at least initially.

But Ohman’s outgoing personality - he says he’s “loquacious” — has found a fit in the eclectic bullpen mix, with its tattooed, gregarious Aussie (Moylan) and its glaring but good-natured Dominican (Soriano) and quiet flamethrower (Acosta).

Source

Another one bites the dust!

Creepy Tyler Yates has been traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates for a minor-league starter, Todd Redmond. Welcome aboard, Todd! So long, Tyler! Tell Matt Capps that my brother says hi, okay? They played Little League together.

AtlantaBraves.com article

AJC article, DOB says later:

Tyler Yates on arriving at the clubhouse this morning: "I walked in and Roger said, 'We need to talk to you.' I thought, 'Oh, God.'"

(Awww, check it! Todd and Jordan Schafer could be brudders!)

Has the season started yet?

I got my Home Opener tickets today -- hooray! This off-season has just crept by, hasn't it? We've got less than a week to go!

Here are a couple of interesting articles spotlighting Teix and Pete Moylan...

A new Mark

As pitcher Tim Hudson’s conversation shifts from serious to scandalous, Teixeira’s head snaps up.

“Hey-Oh!” he yells out.

Moments later he interrupts Chipper Jones discussing what he believes to be a hook in his swing.

“Chipper, are you a mental midget?” he jokes. “You rip one line drive off the top of the wall and you think you are hooking?”

Teixeira may only be in his first spring training with the Atlanta Braves, but he cuts and cracks on teammates with all the savvy of a clubhouse veteran.

MLB players proud to play in Classic

As this melting pot of comments suggests, each of the 16 teams in the WBC field has Major League representation, one reason the concept is so credible and has so quickly gained acceptance.

"It's the reason that I'm here right now," said Peter Moylan, the reliever who catapulted from Team Australia into the Braves' bullpen. "If I hadn't been found in that scene, I'd probably still be in Australia with my salesman job."

...

The Braves' Mark Teixeira recalls the 2006 event so fondly, he altruistically wants others to experience what he had as a 25-year-old.

"I loved it," Teixeira recalled. "Just getting to play with all of those guys was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. I've had my chance and I'd like to do it again, [but] I'd actually like them to give a chance to the younger [first basemen] like Prince Fielder and Ryan Howard."

...

Australia's Moylan thinks the initial exposure to international competition will have his country better prepared the second time around.

"This time, the whole Australian team will know what to expect," Moylan said. "We came out in the first game the last time, [a 10-0 loss to Italy], and were a bit shell-shocked. I think about the whole thing. Next year, we'll know exactly what to expect."

Definitely looking forward to '09. :)

So long, Javy

The Braves cut Javy today, and as a result, he decided to officially retire. I'm sad to see his bid end, but I'll be honest, I don't think he's as versatile or as defensively sound as the other backup catchers.

"I just want to thank the Braves for giving me this opportunity," said Lopez as he was driving back to Atlanta early Saturday evening. "Not every team would have even given me a chance. I knew I had to produce numbers offensively and defensively, and I didn't do it."

During an early afternoon conversation with Braves general manager Frank Wren, Lopez said he was happy to have the opportunity to retire as a Brave. Wren replied by telling the veteran catcher that the organization was proud to call him one of its own.

"He thinks of himself as a Brave, and I told him that's the way we feel about it too," Wren said. "We wish him well and want him to be a part of the organization for a long time, as far as feeling welcome to be around the ballclub as one of our former great players."

Full articles on the official website and in the AJC.

In My Own Words: Tom Glavine

TiVo alert! SportSouth is airing Tommy Glavine's "In My Own Words" biography special at 4pm EDT tomorrow, March 23, 2008.

Another "Awww, Matty..." post

From today's DOB blog:

Go to sleep, little ... where'd she go? Matt Diaz crashed into the left-field wall making a spectacular catch a week or so ago at Wide World of Dark Star, and afterward needled Mark Kotsay for shouting "Plenty of room!" as Diaz drifted back to make the catch.

Cox gave Diaz the next game off to rest, so he got to spend a lot of quality time with his newborn daughter at the Diaz home in nearby Lakeland. Daddy took something for his stiff neck/back and sat down in his recliner with baby.

"The problem is, when you take a muscle relaxer and you're holding your baby daughter," he said, "and the next thing you know, she's slipped down into your armpit."

Hee! Has anyone heard the name of Baby Girl Diaz yet? I'm always curious about this sort of thing.


ETA: Her name is Anna Grace.

Ouch!

In this afternoon's game, I nearly had a heart attack when I heard this on the radio. My roommate was in the car with me, and asked, "Who?" Me: "Frenchy!" Her: "No, not the moneymaker!"

Ha, but still. Ouch!

A changeup hit the right-handed hitter on his lower left cheek. A preliminary examination found lacerations lining the inside of his lower left lip and a small amount of blood by his mouth. No teeth were damaged and his jaw was able to move normally. Francoeur was taken to the hospital for X-rays as a precautionary measure, just to make sure there was no hairline fracture. Everything was negative, and Francoeur returned to Roger Dean Stadium shortly after the game was completed.

"There's no doubt I'm feeling some pain," said Francoeur, folding down his lip to reveal swelling and bruising. "Luckily, it didn't mess up my jaw."

Our thoughts are with you, Jeff. You can read the full article on Braves.com.

The Royce Ring Bandwagon

Reasons I'm rooting for Royce Ring to make it into the bullpen:

1. We need a designated LOOGY (Lefty One Out GuY).

2. Will Ohman scares me. (okay, not really)

3. He's really cute! Looks a little like Scott Caan, no?

Henchy talks about their (individual) youth baseball experiences

("Henchy" is one of the nicknames Jenny and I came up with for the Heap/Frenchy friendship.)

Signed Photos of KJ and Thor

I got a nice envelope in the mail this week with signed photos of Kelly Johnson and Scott Thorman, and I thought I'd share:


(click the pics for full-size)

We won't go into why the photos were sent this way, but let's just say that someone in the Kelly Johnson camp is both eagle-eyed and kind. (And my roommate is very excited about the Thor pic -- she's asking if we can frame it and put it in her room. Um, no.) :D

Everyone likes to snark on Baby

In Wednesday night's broadcast, we were treated to this story, as told by Joe Simpson:

Brian, in batting practice, hit a ball over the fence in right field and Bobby, as he likes to do when some pitchers are throwing on the side, was sitting in the bullpen watching the pitcher throw. And the ball came down and hit Bobby in the back of the neck -- on the fly -- and Bobby was really hurting. I said, "That's just a shame," and he goes, "Yeah, but thankfully it was McCann because it was losing velocity as it came out there."

You crack us all up, Bobby.

Spring Training Fashion Update

From today's DOB blog:

OK, couple things. I failed to mention recently the, uh, unusual ensemble that Tim Hudson wore recently to a road game when he started (it was at Dodgertown). Gray slacks, tight-fitting dress shirt, wraparound shades, square-toed dress shoes, and the piece de resistence: a black belt with a big ol' Harley belt buckle. Clearly, his fashionable wife (she has a law degree, by the way) is not here to dress the man on the road....

Which reminds me. Talking to Kotsay the other day, noticed he had a pair of ultra-hip sneaker with "Death or Glory" on the side along with some avant-garde type design, like a piece of artwork on shoes. They were made with no laces. He mentioned the designer, said he frequents his store in Los Angeles.

They were not what you'd typically see on a white-boy baseball player.

Next day, he had on some very expensive looking black boots. Again, not typical, at least not in the Braves clubhouse, where John Smoltz's golf attire Chipper Jones camouflage hunting hats and Brian McCann's uh, well, everyman wardrobe set the tone.

"I know; I've gotta stop," Kotsay joked. "I've got too much style for this team."

Please don't stop, Kots! We love stories like this.

(And did he seriously say "white-boy"?? Wow. It's not like he's wearing FUBU, Dave.)

More this weekend - I got a fantastic piece of mail today!

Wait...what??

I got a text message late last week from my friend Suzanne (we became friends when she saw my Javy Lopez portrait keychain at church nearly five years ago -- she's awesome), and the text called my attention to page 21 of this month's CT. Specifically, this section:



Check out what they're giving away on July 2 vs. the Phillies (read carefully):


Um, ew. Thanks, Braves, but I don't want one. ;) Also, how does a typo like that get through, all the way to the print edition?

Finally got the internet working at home again! More to come as soon as I work my way through the emails. :)

“What’s wrong with you? You’re getting fat.”

That's Edgar Renteria to Jeff Francoeur, according to DOB's blog today. Heh. Good one, 'Bateria'.

The Shirt

...but the true highlight was the "Dancing With the Stars" competition featuring Lowell, Alex Cora, Jonathan Papelbon and Dustin Pedroia.

Papelbon traded in his kilt for a black mesh shirt that has to be seen to be believed. Javy Lopez claimed that Julio Lugo texted him, saying he wanted his shirt back.

Thanks for the laugh, GoldBlog. Those BoSox kids are insane.

Frenchy sings about his contract negotiations

(Thanks to Jenny's post about The Teeth, which reminded me of Dr. Teeth. It's a shame one of Frenchy's isn't gold.)

Happy 30th Birthday, Matty!

Loves, Matty! Hope you had a lovely birthday.

Will post more soon...I'm "borrowing" the neighbor's internet for this one!