BELIEVE Video

They just aired the short version of this on Braves Live -- please enjoy the long version! :)




GO BRAVES!!!

BELIEVE

In case you haven't see it yet, you can download your own "Believe" signs at http://www.braves.com/believe ! If my home laptop was working, I would have driven to work with a sign in the back window of my car. Trust me, it'll be there on the way home. :)

Win streak: 7 Let's go get 'em, Braves!

Charlie Morton's Music

Leah sent over this link last night: Charlie Morton's MySpace Music page. I had run across it last year but he didn't have any songs posted, so it's nice to see he has a few up now! In my opinion, he's got some really good raw talent there. It's not perfect, but it's nice and with some more practice, he could have a song or two on the radio. :) It's very "white boy with a big heart and a guitar" -- think early John Mayer or a more chill version of Jack Johnson (if you can imagine a more chill version, haha).

Thanks for the reminder, Leah!

More 2009 Braves Rookie Hazing pictures

All these are from Lizziebeth -- thank you SO much for braving the weather and sending over such great shots! :) Click to enlarge!

Reid Gorecki

A drool-worthy Brooks Conrad (lucky Mrs. Conrad, right?)

Tommy Hanson and Kris Medlen. How can you not love these two? :)

Kenshin Kawakami, then KK and interpreter Daichi Takasue (behind McLouth)

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Lizziebeth also took some great shots of other boys -- let's take a look.

Lizziebeth said Baby was "sighing". I agree with CABravesFan -- he looks like he needs a hug.

"GQ MattE" indeed. :)

Thanks again, Lizziebeth! See more of her pictures here at Talking Chop.

2009 Braves Rookie Hazing

Reader Amanda shared this commentary on this year's rookie hazing...

We got a short word about the rookie hazing, Big and Little had to wear speedos and walk thru the hotel lobby and KK and his interpreter dressed as ninjas to go thru the airports from ATL to NY. Yawn. No wonder we didn't get pics!

Hee hee, speedos. Thanks for the info, Amanda, and if anyone has more info or pictures, please let us know!

ETA: Here are two pictures from Leann! The first is Gorecki and the second is Medlen and Hanson. Click to enlarge! :)



Quite the minimalist look this year, huh? ;) Thanks for sharing, Leann!


ETAA: Here's a picture from Crista! They really ARE holding hands, hahaha!



Thanks, Crista!

Some odd images from last night...

Baby bunting with an injured wrist (get well soon!).


JJ just stopped running on the way to first and let Figueroa tag him out, then walked back to the Braves' dugout. I know Roger McDowell is of the "don't wear yourself out on the basepaths, pitcher" mentality, but I don't remember ever seeing a player just stop halfway down the baseline when he wasn't injured. I'm sure JJ was just doing as instructed, but it was strange.


Do any of these guys look like we just won the ball game? (Check out the larger version of the picture.)Also, Rossy's cup is insane. It's always poking out at the weirdest angles! I don't even notice most of the guys' cups, but when it's horizontal instead of vertical, you can't not see it, right? :D

11 games to go, kids!

Kawakami's first save!

With Lowe's early exit, the Braves called upon Kenshin Kawakami to take the ball the rest of the way. In doing so, the Japanese right-hander became the first Braves pitcher since Mark Grant in 1990 to record a four-inning save.

Surprisingly, that's all I could find on Braves.com about KK's feat. I think it's a big deal! It's certainly as rare as someone hitting for the cycle -- heck, we've even had a perfect game thrown in the organization since someone last recorded a four-inning save. The AJC didn't offer much either:

Lowe (15-9) gave up three runs and six hits in five innings and Kenshin Kawakami pitched four scoreless innings of one-hit ball for his first major league save.

...

Kawakami notched the first four-inning save by a Brave since Mark Grant in 1990 at San Francisco. Kawakami, a 34-year-old major league rookie starter, last recorded a save in 1999 for his longtime Japanese team, Chunichi.

Let's give kudos where they're due -- congratulations, Kenshin! Thank you for keeping us in the game! Love, Braves fans everywhere

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To all of you in metro-Atlanta (and beyond) who are affected by the floods, my thoughts are with you. My parents' county has sustained the most damage so far in the area, but they're fine. I'm also fine, and hoping the waters will subside soon.

"Gave his body up"

In case you missed last night's game...


Original Video - More videos at TinyPic

Reason #98,347 to be a fan of how hard BMac plays the game -- he'll never be benched for laziness. ;)

Sing-Along LOL!

Happy Friday, y'all! :) I'm taking one for the team and not going to the game tonight as previously planned -- can't spoil the streak!

KK's impersonations

I love Carroll's stories at the AJC. This is part of last night's article on New Javy wanting to stick around...

Kawakami performs

Kenshin Kawakami has brought more than an extra arm to eat up some innings in the bullpen. He has provided a little comic relief.

In the sixth inning of Tuesday night’s game against the Mets, with Tommy Hanson cruising on the mound, Kawakami put on a show for his fellow relievers by imitating Braves’ hitters. That’s one language that needs no translation.

He started with the easy target: Adam LaRoche. He had them laughing at his Brian McCann imitation, right down to signaling for a time-out to take off his helmet and cleans his glasses. Buddy Carlyle’s personal favorite was Kawakami’s Matt Diaz.

“In Japan I did a lot of impersonations,” Kawakami said through his interpreter.

It should be no surprise, then, that Peter Moylan thinks Kawakami’s best impersonation is Ichiro, which he saw in spring training. On Tuesday night, Moylan was partial to Kawakami’s McCann and to his imitation of Yunel Escobar jumping in the on-deck circle.

When asked whose swing is the toughest to impersonate among his teammates, Kawakami said Garret Anderson.

“He has such pretty form, it’s hard to imitate,” Kawakami said through his interpreter. “It’s so smooth.”

So who can do the best imitation of Kawakami?

“Martin [Prado],” Kawakami said.

As for McCann, he heard about the imitations and got a chuckle out of it.

“I got something for him,” McCann said with a grin.

It's the behind-the-scenes stuff I love. Thanks, Carroll! :)

LOLFRENCHY #8

Just for Amanda. :)

Happy belated birthday, blog!

Heh, I'm a bad blog mom. Braves Love turned two last week (ha ha, "turned two"! I didn't get that till I typed it out) and I totally forgot to mention it. Sorry blog! I still love you!

In honor of the birthday, here are some baseball-themed cakes from Cake Wrecks. :)

Thanks for reading, everyone. I am so grateful for the friends I've made here. *hug*

Go Braves!

She's been taught well...

I saw this on the Today Show and cracked up! What a fun little girl -- this would have been me at that age had I grown up in Philly. ;)

Video Link

Know Your Braves: Clint Sammons

Video Link

Enjoy, Jon! :D

Huddy's hometown discount?

From MLBtraderumors.com: Braves Have Interest In Tim Hudson Extension

I really hope this is true, and I hope DOB's speculation about Huddy and/or New Javy being traded is totally false. Keep those two, JJ, and Hanson and put Lowe and KK out there on the trading block!

In other Braves junk...

- New Javy won the NL Player of the Week, in case you missed the tweet. :)

- KJ talks to the New York Daily News about being bowled over while turning a double play.

- "Until you're mathematically eliminated, you hope for a miracle," [Matt] Diaz said.

- Yay, Yunie's highlights are almost completely grown out! Also, his ginormous hand scared me a little until I realized he's wearing a glove and the dirt is the same color as his arm. :D

"Uneasy"

Thanks for the video, Lizziebeth! He's so awesome. :D Check out the glow-y-ness in his eyes in this picture her son took before the post-game concert:


(click to enlarge)
Thanks again! :)

Huddy's first career home run!!

Video Link

Way to go, Huddy! A big deal has been made about what a great hitter and fielder he was in college, but major-league stats are the only ones some people care about, so it's nice he's gotten this out of the way. Oh, and his slugging percentage is currently .800 (the league leader is Pooholes at .689). :D

"Frenchy, dawg!"

Aww, Frenchy got to meet Randy Jackson and some blonde lady! He's probably having so much fun up there. :)

Click to enlarge -- thanks for the tip, Katie!

See Dale Murphy!

Dale Murphy will be speaking on Saturday night at a local meetinghouse of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints! (Hey, that's my church! Our church!)

Saturday, 12 September 2009
Multi-Stake Fireside - Dale Murphy
6:30 PM - 8:00 PM

Please join us in an inspirational evening with Dale and Nancy Murphy on Saturday, September 12, 2009 from 6:30 - 8:00 PM at the Roswell Stake Center (500 Norcross Street, Roswell, GA 30075). Dale is the former star of the Atlanta Braves and a two-time National League MVP, as well as the former Mission President of the Massachusetts Boston Mission. They are both former members of our stake and the stake is excited at the opportunity to host this event along with the Georgia Atlanta North Mission. This is a multi-stake event so please come early to be guaranteed a seat. Doors will open at 6:00 PM.

Here's a little Mormon glossary for you, haha. A "stake" is a geographic group of congregations (called "wards"). For a "multi-stake" event, up to 100 local congregations likely received invitations and were invited to share the event with their friends. A "fireside" is a complementary meeting to the usual services that usually has one or two speakers address the congregation. Typically held in meetinghouses, Sunday attire is worn and attendees often mingle with refreshments afterwards. (They're optional, but have almost always been worth my time.)

Please let me know if you'd like to come along! I'll be there, for sure!!

LOLFRENCHY #7

I never get tired of his pictures. :D

I can only imagine

They've shown the replay of this approximately 7 (thousand) times, but I didn't notice Nate's knee placement until skimming the pictures this morning. Uh, ouch!

Know Your Braves: Boone Logan

Video Link

1. Thanks for the heads up, Amanda!

2. I'd like to see the house Boone could build me. I really would. That's not sarcastic -- I just wonder if he has a design aesthetic or if he simply has all the tools to build a house.

3. Typical pro baseballer. ;)

Game Day Pictures: Gwinnett Braves vs Charlotte Knights 9-7-09

It's the last game of the regular season of the Gwinnett Braves' season, and some friends and I decided to make the trek to Lawrenceville! The stadium wasn't as far away as I expected, and it's so cozy -- we sat between home plate and the visitor's dugout (here, home is on the third base side), in the shade for only $15 each. (Comparable seats at Turner Field are $60-70.)

As we entered, we were greeted by an 80s cover band, the lineup card, and the League standings. We had a little time before first pitch to walk all the way around the field. The regular seats go from foul pole to foul pole, with only one level. The outfield seating is a grassy slope in right center / right field called the Berm, and they had $1 hot dogs and all sorts of bouncy inflatables for the kids to play inside. Here's the view from the Berm, no zoom:


More of the outfield: pic 1 ~ pic 2 ~ pic 3 ~ pic 4 (My roommate says I just like the bouncy dog because it's belly-up! I do love dogs, especially the ones who like belly rubs.) :D

Views of the bullpens: visitors 1 ~ visitors 2 ~ G-Braves

Before the game, the jumbotron showed us the top 5 plays of the G-Braves 2009 season.



OK, game time!

- Lineup cards are exchanged

- For the national anthem, the infielders and outfielders stood together to honor the flag. The anthem was sung by someone with a spectacular voice and a little too much creative freedom, if you follow. ;)

- I took a lot of pictures of Jason Heyward. He was really wonderful to watch, and I can't wait to see him gain his full "man strength", as one of the analysts called it. You can tell his muscles aren't fully developed yet, and he's still graceful and FAST and has great pop in his bat. pic 1 ~ pic 2 ~ pic 3 ~ pic 4 ~ pic 5 ~ pic 6 ~ and a video of a great catch he made in the top of the 9th!



- Barbaro (who is still slow as molasses but hits great!)

- Diory!

- Wilson Betemit, former Braves farmhand, and his enormous man-area. It was stunning. Just saying.

- Chopper the mascot, trying to get the crowd fired up -- he has his own concession stand! The concessions were all run by very happy volunteers, trying to earn money for local schools' sports programs. (I bought a pretzel from a mom whose kid played lacrosse.)

- The "K" signs aren't exactly the same in the minors than in the majors. ;)

- In game entertainment! Let's see, they shot t-shirts into the crowd, but they didn't have hot girls in my area. Chopper has been studying tapes of the Philly Phanatic. Chubby Checker got people to "twist again". And here are a couple of videos:



This one didn't go as well...


And my friends' favorite entertainment, "The Wiggle":


G-Braves won, 7-4! Confetti shot from all angles of the field -- that was fun, but the eventual-mom in me can't imagine how long it'll take to clean all that up! haha! Confetti 1 ~ 2 ~ 3 ~ 4 ~ 5 ~ 6

This was the most fun I've had at a game in a long time. Go G-Braves! Fans, go see the G-Braves! It was a wonderful experience. :)

Full Album

Someone's not telling the truth about the Home Depot Tool Race...

At Friday night's game, before the Home Depot Tool Race, they put up a scoreboard that claimed "Two Bit" (hee hee) aka The Drill has never won a race. See here:



Except, I KNEW I had been there when Drill has won. And guess what? I have video footage proof! This is from the June 25, 2009 game against the Yankees:



Lesson of the day: Don't believe everything the Braves tell you. ;)

Game Day Pictures: Braves vs. Reds 9-4-09

Can't complain about corporate tix -- thanks again, B's dad's office! :)

The game's score wasn't in our favor, so we won't talk about what you could see on TV. Instead, enjoy some pictures, please!

BP

- Clint!

- New Javy and Boone's intimate conversation

(by the time we were allowed to go to our ticketed seats, the last round was batting -- Nate, KJ, Clint, and Brooks Conrad)

- Clint & KJ

- Chipper talking to some friends, and with his arm around a young fan. Hopefully he's wiser with his choice of words to this youngster than he was towards my brother.

- Speaking of Brother, he caught a Reds home run in BP! pic 1 ~ pic 2 ~ pic 3

- Braves BP is over. It felt like it ended earlier than usual. pic 1 ~ pic 2 ~ Moylan's "Smoltzie" 'do

Time out -- speaking of "The Smoltzie", if you haven't seen the video on the Braves Multimedia page, here you go. There was a longer interview on Braves Live, but this captures the essence perfectly. :)

Finally, the cutest picture of JJ I have ever had the pleasure of capturing. :)



Between BP and first pitch:

- Boog!

- Fred Hickman from Braves Live and Ronnie Gant's *awful* pants: pic 1 ~ pic 2

- Huddy's Roberto Clemente award for community service, with his wife Kim and one of the families they helped.

- Tool Parade

- Brooks Conrad in a "closest to the pin" contest. His shot was very good, but he didn't win. pic 1 ~ pic 2 ~ pic 3 ~ pic 4

- Chipper and LaRoche warming up together.

- Gay Lumberjack alert! Get a room, boys! ;)

Game Time!

- Pre-game intros: Lowe ~ Baby ~ LaRoche ~ Prado ~ Chipper ~ Escobar ~ Infante ~ Church ~ MattE!

- Lowe on the mound

- Batting circle: MattE 1 ~ MattE 2 ~ Baby 1 ~ Baby 2 ~ LaRoche

- Bo and Daisy Duke were on hand to sign autographs and sing the national anthem very, very slowly. Video here, check out Joe laughing.

- Puddy!

Tool race!


("The Boss" is my favorite EVER at-bat song for Mac)

- Moylan's beard

- Kawakami came in to pitch a no-hit inning with a strikeout. pic 1 ~ pic 2

- Dear Braves / Publix Fireworks planning staff: Chubby Checker is "Golden Oldies". The Beatles are NOT. They can be considered "oldies", but slapping the word "golden" in front indicates music from the 1950s -- doo-wop and pop. I don't even know that much about music but I know that! :p

Full album here. Good times. :) Have a great Labor Day, everyone!

I *finally* got a MattE shirt!!

(Picture by my friend B in a scary-empty parking lot behind Legends)

Thanks for loaning me $4, Lizziebeth; I am SO EXCITED TO HAVE THIS SHIRT!!! This is his fourth season with the Braves and I would have had a shirt in 2006 if I could have found one. It was $24 at a vendor stand at the map below -- tonight they only had "my" large and two XXLs left, but they were expecting more soon. (I bought my first McCann shirt here in 2005 -- they always have them before the clubhouse store does!)

Real pics tomorrow -- in the meantime, get yourself a MattE shirt! :D

(Corner of Ralph David Abernathy and Pulliam St, just under the bridge and across Pulliam)

Rally Head

Just...go look. :D Link

Will put up the pre-game interview soon!

"Do you kiss your momma with that dirty mouth Matt Diaz?"

That's a quote from my friend B, after "the incident" last night. Did you see it? If not...

Video Link

I think MattE just jumped to my roommate's top two -- I don't know that anyone will trump Huddy for her, but this incident helped!

As for the plunking...again, that's just part of baseball. We (unintentionally) hit Bonafacio, so they (unintentionally) hit our current best hitter. That's just how it goes.

"Chest" protector

Because that's all it protects... ;)

Belly is returning since Frenchy's been gone, huh? I suppose we should be looking for the fourth annual AJC McCann Weight Loss Watch article in a few months. ;)

Know Your Braves: Ryan Church

"Churchy"...that's original. ;) The proposal story was sweet, though.

Also: CALL OF DUTY!!!

Welcome back, Huddy!

Here's Jerome's pre-game interview with Huddy (nice camera angle trick there -- Jerome is much taller than Huddy!)


Original Video - More videos at TinyPic


Also, Brooks and Clint talk about helping the team:


Original Video - More videos at TinyPic

Clint's hair is looking excellent, isn't it? If you want to go see his (and my) stylist, call Jon David Salons!

Sound familiar?

I've been on Jessica Shops' email list for a while now (she tells us about all the great sales and boutiques in Atlanta, not that I can afford boutiques anyway!) and this section in last week's email caught my eye:

Don't forget to visit www.jessicashops.com for the best shopping, deals and sales, plus free giveaways!!

Follow JessicaShops on Twitter:
www.twitter.com/Jessicashops

Facebook: Jessica Shops Atlanta

If you do decide to take advantage of the sale, make sure you mention you saw the ad on Jessica Shops, not here. I have no association with Uptown Girl and you probably wouldn't get the discount. ;)

September Roster Expansion!!

From Bowman's Blog:

After Monday night's win over the Marlins, the Braves announced that Brooks Conrad, Luiz Valdez and Clint Sammons will join the big league club when the rosters are expanded on Tuesday.

I'm very excited to see Conrad back -- I think he made a very positive impact on the club while he was here, and y'all know I like a "gritty" player. :) I'm always happy to have Clint back too! As for Valdez, I don't remember him performing very well for us, but he was Gwinnett's closer and Gwinnett has a better winning percentage than the Atlanta Braves, so I suppose we can't complain!

Was anyone left out in the callups? I wouldn't mind bringing Barbaro back up as a pinch-hitter, but he's the only one I'm missing. I'm glad Jo-Jo wasn't invited to return. I'm sure some Braves fans are surprised BJones and Gregor weren't invited up, but let's be honest -- they aren't superstars. We will have plenty of outfielders when Nate gets healthy again, and I think we'll be okay with what we have.

So what do you think?

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ETA: Speaking of the G-Braves, Chopper the mascot was at the Falcons pre-season game on Saturday night. I still can't figure out what he was doing to Freddie the Falcon here!!