• My mantra tonight watching the game: “Jo-Jo is pitching. We’ve got this one in the can.” Man, something has switched on in this youngster. It’s a bit exciting to watch. Keep it up, young Jo-Jo.
• (Also, apparently badjojo is a porn site. I’ve been getting a lot of traffic to this post for people looking for some hot booby action.)
• Why all the hate for Tex lately? He’s only leading the team in RBIs. Is Bing Rs I no longer important in baseball or is that still the whole point of the game?
• Helluva welcome back for Mike Gonzales. And none to soon. When Soriano’s elbow heals again, I swear he’s going to find the lights out and the locks changed at the stadium.

Here’s some things going around in the rest of the Braves and baseball blog-o-verse:

• Talking Chop is ready to sell.
• Chop-N-Change prophesied the whole damn mess in March. You know, sort of.
• Apparently our dismal road record can be attributed to our lack of amphetamines. (via Kottke)
• Maybe our luck will be changed by a giant, tomahawk chopping cow.
• Finally, at least we’re not the Mets. Their fans are so distraught at this point that they’ve gone incoherent.

This is a huge homestand, with the Fish and the Phils. We’ve got a chance to make up the ground we lost in the NL East. But with the way we’re playing on the road, the pressure is on to continue to tear it up at home.

Quick hits for Monday:

• I think we’re setting ourselves up for a letdown with Smoltz’s return.  Yes, Smoltz is one of the greatest pitchers of all time. Yes, I hope to see him tonight. Yes, it will be good to have him back, but he’s going to have less of an impact from the bullpen. And frankly, the bullpen has been doing well. Smoltz has said that he doesn’t plan on closing and he’s not going to offer us the durability of a younger arm. Of course, I expect him to be as dominant as he always is in whatever role he takes. I just don’t expect it to be any sort of salve for our various woes.
• Nice piece on the Braves’ announcer at the AJC. He does a really great job. I love when he comes on 20 minutes before the first pitch and welcomes you to the stadium with, “Hello, Baseball Fans!”
• Speaking of the AJC, they’re cribbing my signature piece for story ideas. I’m sure my sources deep inside the AJC are tracking down the responsible parties and bringing them to justice.

After New York Giants’ manager John McGraw told reporters that Philadelphia manufacturer Benjamin Shibe, who owned the controlling interest in the new team, had a “white elephant on his hands,” [Connie] Mack defiantly adopted the white elephant as the team mascot, and presented McGraw with a stuffed toy elephant at the start of the 1905 World Series. McGraw and Mack had known each other for years, and McGraw accepted it graciously. By 1909, the A’s were wearing an elephant logo on their sweaters, and in 1918 it turned up on the regular uniform jersey for the first time.

On Smoltz

Does anybody else think that the most interesting part about the John Smoltz bullpen interview was not the bullpen part but this part (emphasis mine):

Right now I’m sitting at ground zero, taking it day by day, looking at every option to help this team get to the playoffs and end my career the way I’d like to end it.

Smoltz and the Braves have a mutual option for the 2009 season, and John is the kind of guy you’d expect to want to pitch until his arm falls completely off.

On Braves Fans

SI posted a survey of baseball fans’ rankings of the experience at their respective stadiums, and the experience at the Ted ranked 19th out of 30 teams. And while I agree that there’s nothing much else going on down in Summerhill besides the stadium and crime, I’d say Braves fans come off as spoiled in this survey. Take for instance the ranking for affordability of going to games. The Ted is the second most affordable stadium in baseball, but Braves fans ranked it 15th.

On Starting Pitching

Glavine looked fantastic last night and that’s the best news we’ve gotten in a while. A healthy Glavine is key, and frankly more important than one L.

Jurrjens was even more fantastic this afternoon. Don’t get me wrong, I miss Edgar something fierce, but there’s no denying we picked up a good one in young JJ.

Hampton broke his manboob again in his second rehab start in Richmond and had to come out after 71 pitches in 3.1 innings. Unfortunately, I will have to continue to eat crow about my Hampton belief beyond the May 10 date that he was expected to return.

(At least for the full season plan.)

• The Marlins entire payroll this year is less than the Yankees are paying A-Rod. They’re obviously some bargain basement shoppers if they can get Wes Helms for a buck.
• Moylan goes down with elbow problems. Odd, as he’s a sidearmer and there should be less elbow strain for a sidearmer.
• You steal our World Series trophy 17 years ago, we steal your hometown airline. Look out Toronto and New York City!
• Anybody else want to try to convince the Braves to have a blogger night? You know, someone who has readers? Sounds like a lot of fun.

• Does anyone else think that maybe Hampton’s biggest problem is a really lousy warm-up/stretching regimen. Since his arm finally recovered from the Tommy John surgery, his three tweaks in the winter, spring, and regular seasons have all been strained muscles. And maybe a bit of the old learned helplessness.
• Looks like it’s time to put the big FRAGILE sign back up on Chipper, too.
• What’s the deal with no one going to games at the new Nationals Park? You know, besides that the Nationals have cooties.

Update 3:45pm: Apparently Smoltz is a little bit broken, but if he comes out he loses his making fun of Hampton privileges, so he’s going to tough it out.