Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Links for the end of the 2011 season

Yeah, I know, I don't want to think about it any more than you do, but here we go...

  • "Braves complete epic collapse, miss playoffs" - AJC
  • “I’m proud of the club," Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said. "We battled today. The ball that Pence hit, you couldn’t throw it or place it any better. And they got the win. It’s a good club over there, but I’m really proud of our club, the way we battled. We had an opportunity to play for tomorrow, but it didn’t work out."
    "But baseball’s like that. It’s kind to you one day and fickle the next.” - Chipper
  • "Heavy load takes toll on Venters, Kimbrel" - AJC Well, yeah. I liked this blip at the end, though:
  • O’Flaherty finished the season with an 0.98 ERA which is the lowest season ERA by a reliever with at least 75 games since 1900.
  • "Wren Q and A: Neither Lowe, Heyward guaranteed starting jobs" - AJC
  • Q. Has it become redundant to hear [Lowe] say he needs to make mechanical changes? A. No, I just think it’s a situation where you want to put the best five starters out there, and right now the way we project, I’m not sure Derek would be one of our best five starters. I’ll just leave it at that.
    Q. Is re-signing Alex Gonzalez still an option? A. Yes.
  • "Wren Q and A Part II: Talking McCann, Prado, Bourn and more" - AJC
  • Q. How concerned are you about Hanson’s shoulder? A. Based on the information we have right now, not very. It’s just going to take some time. None of the doctors have come back with any structural damage, and so it’s one of those things where we were trying to ramp him up and see if we could get him ready to pitch at some point in the postseason if we made the postseason, and he couldn’t get going that quickly.
    Q. What do you tell Medlen about his role heading into the winter? A. He could do so many things. The great thing was getting him back and getting him into major league games and competing again, because it sends him off with the confidence that he knows he’s back, and we know he’s back. And whether he’s a starter or a reliever – I don’t know the answer to that right now – but he can do either.
  • "Parrish dismissed as Braves hitting coach" - braves.com - Well, someone had to take a hit. The offense just never propelled us.
  • "Wait until next year" - philly.com
  • In Atlanta, where the Phillies swept the Braves in the final three regular-season games, reliever Jonny Venters said he had a sleepless night. "I was just sitting in bed," he said. "I couldn't really believe what happened. "Everybody started struggling at the same time. Everything just kind of snowballed."
    "If you look at our offense for the whole year, it never clicked for whatever reason," manager Fredi Gonzalez said. "It never hit on all cylinders. The pitching covered it up for 5 months."
  • "Two teams folded, but only one really gets ripped" - cleveland.com
  • "Braves Notebook" - foxsportssouth.com - I didn't know Nate had season-ending surgery on August 4. They didn't really announce this?
  • Craig Kimbrel's solid season ends badly for Braves - foxsportssouth.com
  • "My mind was rushing," [Kimbrel] said. "Things started moving too fast. My head started moving too fast. My brain. I didn't put it together. It was just too late when I felt like I could. "It was tough. It was tough to be so close and then have the feeling like it was falling out of your hand. And that's the feeling I have now."
    Poor Kimmie.
  • Speaking of... I hope he got his wallet back. - Deadspin
  • This article seems kinda pissy that Huddy didn't show up for his award. He just got off work. Let him breathe for a second.

Let's end with some nice things, okay? We never got pics of rookie hazing this year, so here's EO with his Princess backpack from back when he was a Mariner:

Cute. :)
cbscleveland.com

And I superlove it when our boys show a little excitement after big moments. These definitely weren't "ho hum" (Joe Simpson) moments:





2 comments:

flbravesgirl said...

I'm trying to come up with positives: Meds was awesome. This was a valuable learning experience for our young guys. Hopefully everyone will be healthy to start off next year.

EO's back pack reminds me, a while back I saw a pic of a Rays' rookie ( don't recall who) not only wearing a Dora backpack to the pen but carrying the matching parasol open over his shoulder like a little girl in the rain. Maybe our boys need ruffly parasols.

Lauren T. said...

I LOVED the matching parasol! In a domed stadium, no less. :D