Still, big congratulations are in order for a rare feat. The cycle is kind of interesting in that it is so rare, and yet most regular major leaguers are capable of pulling it off. Doubles are just singles that found a better hole, so you have to have the speed to leg out a triple and enough strength to clear the outfield fence once in a while. If Brian McCann can do the former and Gregor Blanco can do the latter, there are few men who aren’t within reach of the cycle.

Interestingly, as reported by Carroll Rogers at the AJC, this should have been Kotsay’s second career cycle:

He had very nearly become the first San Diego Padre to do it seven years ago on May 19, 2001, when he needed a triple in his final at-bat against Montreal but stopped at second base.

Kotsay went 4-for-7 that game with a single, two doubles and a homer. It was the ninth inning of a game the Padres won 20-7, and he stopped at second out of respect, he said.

“Graeme Lloyd was on the mound,” Kotsay said. “I didn’t want to show anybody up. But everybody was yelling at me from the dugout that I should have gone for third and hit for the cycle. Nobody had done it in Padre history. I legitimately could have walked into third base and stood at the bag.”

Class act.

Also note that Kotsay brought his average back up to .300 with a 5-5 day. It had dropped way off after a slow start returning from the DL in July. Chasing the dream, once again.

Cubs fans, on the other hand, are just nasty people. The way they go about cheering for their team is tasteless. It’s as much about goading the other team as it is about supporting their own team.

And in Atlanta tonight, they decided that they owned the place as much as they own Wrigley field, chanting “Let’s go Cubbies,” something about “I fucked your mom,” and unfurling big blue W banners when the game was over. Folks, coming into our home and cheering for your team is just fine. As a city with a short sports history, booming only recently due to suburban diaspora, we’re used to that. But when you do, remember that you are guests in our home.

(The Cardinals, with their notoriously loyal fans, just recently came through town during another series in which visiting fans rivaled the home fans. And yet, we got none of this from them. They were positive supporters of their teams. Good sports both when they won and lost.)

Part of the reason, I think, that Braves fans get a bad rap for being fair weather fans is that is we’re just not like these people.

What was truly abhorrent though, was when the Cubs fans decided that the tribute they played to Skip Caray before the game was really a Cubs tribute to Harry Caray and blew up every time Skip’s dad appeared in photos on the screen. That was our moment, our solemn farewell.

Cubs fans, you are an embarrasment to yourselves and to baseball. I for one will be cheering loudly when the Phillies once again crush your dreams this October.

Rich Harden Pitches 5 Crappy 2-Hit Innings

On to the game… I don’t know how a guy can pitch a game in which he walks approximately 432 batters and gets pulled after 5 innings because he’s already thrown over 90 pitches and yet give up 0 runs and only two hits. But Rich Harden pulled it off tonight. Good job.

Jorge Campillo, on the other hand, must have walked under a ladder on the way to the game. The Cubs managed to put 4 on the board in the first inning without getting a single hard hit ball. They were helped on the way by a terrible throw home from Casey Kotchman that cost us a run and out. Campillo would allow one more in 5 total innings of work, though it was one of those “he pitched better than his line” games.

The first run would be all they needed, but they collected 3 more in the 9th when Mike Gonzales decided that if walking pretty much every batter you face is good enough for Rich Harden then it’s damn well good enough for Mike Gonzales.

The public masturbation from the Cubs fans in attendance became unbearable after that.

Breaking News: Kotchman Unimpressive So Far

I want to catch Kotchmania, I really do. I’m trying. I wish it was the most virulent disease to hit Atlanta since the Teixeira Fever epidemic of August ‘07. Yet, Kotchman has been unimpressive so far. We all knew going into this relationship that he didn’t swing quite a weighty bat as his predecessor, but we heard that he was still solid and a clutch performer for the Angels this year. We also heard that his defense was at least as good as Teixeira’s, in not better. (Though, anyone who said better obviously wasn’t watching Tex this year.)

So far, though, Kotchmania has barely rivaled Thormania. (And Thorman’s a freaking Olympian right now. Like in Beijing. For real.) As a Brave, he slipped under .200 tonight and has only 3 extra base hits and 5 RBIs in 14 games. Tonight, he grounded softly to first twice with 2 out and runners in scoring position. His defense hasn’t been spectacular either. Maybe some of that can be attributed to adjusting to a new park, new league, and new team. If that’s the case, let’s hope he gets pretty well adjusted before next season.

With the trade of Mark Teixeira to the Angels for Casey Kotchman and Some Duder, the Braves made it clear that they’re in rebuidling mode. But the question that we should all be asking is, “When are we rebuidling for?”

After losing Tim Hudson for most of next year to Tommy John surgery (and I’m wondering if I prophesied this way back when), it’s not quite such a sure thing that we should be looking to compete in 2009. With Hudson and Jurrjens, we would still have a fomidable front end of the rotation which we’d be able to fortify in the back in with guys like Campillo, Reyes, or Morton, and maybe the offseason acquisition of a reliable number 3ish quality veteran.

But with Hudson gone for the first two thirds of the season and in rehab mode if he makes it back for the rest, the whole tenor of our offseason search changes. Jair’s been fantastic this year, don’t get me wrong, but he’s still a bit off in development and durability from being a number one guy. So now we’re at least an ace-caliber starter away from contention for next year. With the price and scarcity of starting pitching, even if we’re ready to drop a huge load on an arm of that caliber, it’s not even certain that we could find someone. And while we’ve got some talented pitching in the minors, none of those arms are ready to take up that mantel next year either.

Aside from the pitching, we’re also going to need some help in the outfield next year. Left field has been a train wreck. Right field has been a train wreck for different reasons, and I don’t expect we’ll be seeing the return of Mark Kotsay next year. Honestly, after the year Francoeur’s having, I wouldn’t give it more than 2-1 odds that he’ll be back, especially when there’s been some interest in a guy who’s turned into a bit of a risky proposition.

The infield is pretty much set with Kotchmania, KJ, Yunel, and Chipper and his body double. McCann is looking more and more like the guy who will inherit Chipper’s role as the face of the Braves as Chipper’s health continues to limit his role.

So we’ve got a big choice. Do we re-up and aim for 2009 or do we take a few steps back, load up on prospects and build from within for 2010 and beyond? We’ve got a lot of exciting talent that we keep hearing about in our farm system, and a shot at the post season for next year will definitely cost us some of that (and some serious cash). After the patchwork, band-aid rosters of the past two seasons, I could probably accept another rebuilding year next year if that gives us hope to reignite the old dynasty. At the same time, losing has become a foreign, uncomfortable feeling for Braves fans, one that I don’t think most of us are ready to accept in the name of rebuilding. I think we all know which direction the front office will be looking, but what do y’all think?

That’s exactly where the Braves have been at the All-Star break the last couple of years. After so many years of winning, they don’t know what to do when they’re not.

Well, here’s my free (and worth every penny) advice to the Braves’ front office for the 2008 season: hang it up. Your goose is cooked.

You can say throwing in the towel makes me a bad fan, but my fan credentials are there. I was at the Ted for every inning of every game both times the Bravos got swept by the Phillies. I stayed for 17 innings last weekend. My girlfriend dreads each loss knowing the funk it puts me in. I want to see this team win. But let’s face it; it’s not in the cards for 2008. Rather than selling the future for the next Tex that will push this .500ish team towards a .505ish team, let’s start sorting out the lessons to learn from this year and start putting together the pieces for next year and beyond.

Sure, we’re only 6.5 back in an underachieving division. The Mets really aren’t as good as we should be. The Marlins and Phillies are playing way better than their pitching staffs should allow. And we’ve overcome bigger deficits than this in our long run.

But I was sucked in by that siren song last year and ra-ra’ed when we added an impact player whose huge impact didn’t impact our record much. The fact of the matter is adding a couple of pieces to fill in our holes – a big outfield bat and maybe another solid reliever – just isn’t going to cut it. There is something more fundamental that is flawed with the 2008 Atlanta Braves. This team is less than the sum of its parts. They don’t know how to win. What’s missing is more than any sabremetric is going to figure out. It’s confidence. It’s leadership. It’s all those intangibles that the numbers guys hate.

Of course, the folks in the front office won’t wave the white flag. They just don’t know how. Buckle yourself in for another second half in which we hang on until mid-September with the playoffs just tantalizingly outside of our grasps. We’ll pick up the Cubs’ fans’ old mantra of “wait ’til next year,” but next year and the next years to come won’t be quite as sweet as they could be had we decided to be sellers this year.

I cringed at our big win in San Diego tonight for just that reason. Maybe two straight series losses going into the break would tip the honchos to our fate. But just like that 5 game streak of huge wins after the break in 2006, just like Tex’s big entrance in 2007, we go into the week off with one tiny little straw to grasp at.

On Francoeur

I salute Bobby Cox and Frank Wren for their decision to send Francoeur down in spite of whatever bad blood it might cause. Francoeur’s reaction was incredibly childish, so let’s hope it was just a reaction and he sees the wisdom of the move. (Seems like he might be coming around to that.)

Frankly, it’s incredibly selfish of him if he thinks the Braves owe him the opportunity to sort out his struggles with the big club. If the Braves weren’t 5 games under .500 and 7 games back – all but out of contention for the second half – it would be one thing. If Francoeur’s struggles weren’t a big contributing factor to the team’s underachievement this season, he might have a case. Even a handful more clutch hits from Francoeur would have been enough to keep us in the hunt.

And up to this point, Francoeur is a superstar in marketing only. He’s a very good player who has yet to live up to his full potential. Does he have it in him to be great? Absolutely. But he’s not there yet. And until he is, he should get the deference his performance – not his hype – affords him.

On High Notes

Fourth of July: Atlanta 6, Houston 2. After a crushing sweep at the hands of the Phillies, it was great to see some excitement again at the Ted. The first sellout of the season watched the Braves win one the right way. Tim Hudson pitched a gem. Jason Perry, up from Richmond to fill in for Francoeur, hit a triple in his first major league at bat. Kotsay had a single, an RBI, and a defensive gem. And KJ went deep. What was particularly satisfying about this one was the 6 runs on 8 hits. We haven’t seen that kind of efficiency in a while.

On Low Notes

Thursday Night: Philadelphia 4, Atlanta 1. I was going to write a post on Thursday about how we can’t give up the season yet. About how the 1991 Braves were 9.5 games back on July 7 and came back to win the division. But then the Phillies completed their sweep, and took my remaining optimism with them. Now, the 1991 Braves reeled off wins in 9 of their next 11 games to bring them back within 2.5, and we’ll need the same kind of streak. And we’ll need Frenchy to come back from Mississippi with his head on straight to drive in some runs for us.

In the past, I’ve contended that the Phillies’ putrid starting rotation is going to sink them before the season is up. But damn, those guys can hit. We’ll need some help from the Phillies, too, if we’re to make a run in the second half.

And yet…

We managed to make things happen and win the game against one of the AL’s top teams. And Chipper turned out to be just fine. Maybe that moment will end up being a different sort of turning point for the season.

On Jo-Jo Reyes

With each start, Jo-Jo Reyes is starting to look more and more like a quality major league pitcher. He looks much more confident, and he’s not getting flustered so easily. It’s as if someone finally told him that as a starting pitcher in the Major Leagues, giving up a run or two doesn’t make a bad start. His last four starts have been strong:

And those numbers include a 4 run performance against Philadelphia in which he pitched better than his line showed.

The best news in all of that might be the 7+ innings per game average. Last night, Jo-Jo went a career high 8. Having someone besides Huddy going more than 5 each game is big considering how worn down the bullpen already is.

Here’s to Jo-Jo.

I still don’t think the Phillies have the starting pitching to go the distance, but they’re playing like a team possessed right now. The Braves on the other hand are playing like a team about to get repossessed.

So, now we’re 6 1/2 games back from the lead on Philly, 3 behind the Marlins, and about to go on the road where we’re a pathetic 7-21. We’ve got a day off to learn how to win on the road because another .300 road trip might put us out of it for good in the competitive NL East.

Saturday

Philadelphia 6, Atlanta 2. This game was a relief after Friday night’s debacle. At least we didn’t have to hold our breath at the end waiting for whatever colassal cluster-phuck our boys would arrange to assure another loss. This one was out of hand by the bottom of the ninth. Jo-Jo Reyes pitched another strong game. Bobby should have taken him out after pitching 7; he was obviously running out of gas. That cost us the go ahead run.

Sunday

Philadelphia 6, Atlanta 3. The Phillies figured out that to hit Jorge Campillo, you’ve just got to take what he gives you. They blooped their way onto the board with two in the first and picked up one more in the third. Tex brought the lumber today going 3-5 with a HR and 3 RBIs, but he was the exception. Jeff Francoeur left 6 on base today. That boy is obviously driving an automatic because he’s got no clutch in him right now.

The Ugly

I’ll skip the good and the bad for this series because it was mostly ugly:

• The bullpen, which had been great all season long suffered catastrophic meltdowns in all three games. Though, to be fair, the bullpen wouldn’t have had the chance to meltdown on Friday had KJ gloved that ball, but no one is still bitter about that, I’m sure. To top it all off, Soriano is doing his best Mike Hampton imitation and has decided that he can’t pitch again.
• Jeff Francoeur. Francoeur went 3 for 13 with 0 RBI and left 15 men on base in this series. What happened to the guy we saw in 2006 who hit 29 HR or the guy who hit .293 in 2007? He’s worse than dead weight right now, he’s an anchor dragging us down.
• Injuries. Chipper sat today with a slight tear in his quads and will miss a couple. Kotsay is nowhere near ready to come back. Soriano is all gimped up again. I can’t imagine they’ll let him sit much longer without DLing him again.
• Attitude. This is not a team playing with a winning attitude. This is a team playing like it expects to lose. They’re playing sloppy baseball, making lots of mistakes, having bad at bats, and consistently choking at key moments. Ultimately, this is a leadership issue, and I don’t see the leadership stepping up to do anything about it.

As hard as it was watching the Braves collapse of June 2006 putting them out of contention and watching the team last year just not quite having enough, this year is just so much more frustrating because this is a team with more than enough tools to get it done. Yet almost every chance they get, they seem to just want to give it away. It’s hard to keep rooting for that.

• Smoltz talked a lot about being at peace with this decision, and that really manifested itself in his bearing when he was talking. You can tell that if this really is the end, he’d be okay with that.
• If you look at his body language, you’ll notice that his right shoulder doesn’t budge at all for most of the conference, even though he does a lot of gesturing with his left hand.
• Smoltz on his last game:
  

  If I struck out the side, I’d still be having this press conference…. I realized an hour afterwards, the pain was too great.

• Smoltz on coming back next year:
  

  I won’t come back just to come back.

The truth is, though, the bullpen hasn’t been letting us down. We have only two blown saves on the road this year: Soriano yesterday and Blaine Boyer in Colorado on April 7.

So, bolstering the pen with the big guns isn’t going to help us.

The hitting aspect is spot on. We’re not hitting. And that’s exactly why it’s so bizarre. This shouldn’t be a club with hitting problems. The lineup is stacked.

You can run the statistics any way you want and they’ll show you the same thing. But they don’t tell you why why we’re not hitting. I think we should be more patient and get better at bats, but we made Edinson Volquez throw 102 in six innings on Friday night and managed to score only 1.

Is it bad luck or some kind of mental block. Is it all of the above. I just don’t know. No one else seems to either. How do you go about fixing a problem when you don’t even know what the cause is?

On a day when Jo-Jo Reyes looked not just like a passable stopgap solution but like a legitimate major league pitcher, 7IP, 2H, 1R, 3BB, he gets the L.

Here’s your key stat:

Left on Base: Teixeira 3, McCann 5, Braves 8.

I think after tonight I might start looking into whether there’s a section 435 at the Trop.

Your Daily Kotsay

Mark Kotsay finally got wind that someone ordered custom Braves t-shirt with Kotsay #11 on the back and that was all the inspiration he needed to tough it out for the time being.

Asked about what would happen to Kotsay, shortstop Yunel Escobar responded, “No DL, no DL!”