Section 435 An Atlanta Braves blog. From the upper deck at Turner Field.

Farewell, Bearded One

My emotional side certainly agrees with you. How could it not? Smoltz is an icon, one of the greatest players ever to don a tomahawk. And there’s certainly a good chance that he’ll put in productive innings again next year. I was mad and hurt, too, when i heard the news.

But take a step back, [...]

Hampton in 2009?

We turn our attention to the future once again. Here’s what Mark Bowman says about Mike Hampton returning for 2009:
No, there likely won’t be many teams knocking on Hampton’s door during the offseason. But if he stays healthy the rest of this season, I could see the Braves offering him an incentive-laden contract. They’ve paid [...]

Goodbye, Tex

When Mike Hampton of all people is the only Brave not currently on the DL, it FINALLY became apparent to management that this season was over. So, mark your calendars for Casey Kotchman bobblehead day sometime in 2009, 2010, and 2011.
With Kotchman we get some stability at first base for the next few years, a [...]

Grasping at Straws

There’s a scene at the end of the movie Miracle, about the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team, when the upstart Americans are leading the Soviets with less than two minutes to go in the semifinals. The Americans start wondering when the Soviets are going to pull their goalie to get an extra skater in the [...]

On Francoeur, Low Notes, and High Notes

So I’m a little bit behind after early bedtimes and early rising the last couple of days for my second Peachtree Road Race and other Patriotic Hat Day festivities. A lot has been going on with the Braves in the meantime.
On Francoeur
I salute Bobby Cox and Frank Wren for their decision to send Francoeur down [...]

Your 2008 Atlanta Braves All Stars

The All Star game is just around the corner and balloting is coming to a close on Wednesday. Let’s take a look at who’s going for the Braves and who should be going.
Chipper Jones
Chipper will be the Braves’ only starter (you know, if he can play). He’s crushing the competition and that’s how it should [...]

More on Jeff Francoeur

Kenny Doyle put together a nice analysis of the reasons for Jeff Francoeur’s struggles this year at Dugout Central. Unfortunately, his conclusion for how to deal with the problem is essentially grin and bear it until Frenchy figures it out.

While Josh Anderson or Brandon Jones probably wouldn’t do better than Francoeur over the course of [...]

Key Stat: Record by Uniform (Update)

A few weeks ago, I reported on our record by jersey. A lot has changed in that time period:

The Braves started experimenting with mixing and matching caps and jerseys on the road.
The AJC cribbed my story.
The Braves started sucking everywhere they play.

So here’s an update on those numbers:

Uniform
W
L
PCT
RS
RA

Blue jersey, Blue cap
2
9
0.182
36
46

White jersey, Blue and Red [...]

Trade Winds: Starting Pitching

The first in a series on the Atlanta Braves’ potential for making moves this summer.
Most of the talk about moves the Braves would make this summer involve starting pitching. After the loss of John Smoltz and Mike Hampton to injury and the loss of the Chuck James Experiment to excruciating suckitude, we’ve been plumbing the [...]

So Long, Brayan Pena

Yesterday, the Braves activated catcher Brayan Pena from the need-room-for-pitchers 15-day disabled list and promptly designated him for assignment, meaning the end of Pena’s career in any sort of Braves jersey. I’ve got to say that this absolutely blows my mind. Not because I think Brayan Pena is so great, but because Corky Miller is [...]