The 2014 Major League baseball season

[weezie]

OK, start shoveling. Down 6-1 in the 3rd to the twwwwiiiiinnnnn?????

Gaaah, just turn out the lights and leave me to my misery.......

[Olympic Fan]

OK, start shoveling. Down 6-1 in the 3rd to the twwwwiiiiinnnnn?????

Gaaah, just turn out the lights and leave me to my misery.......

It wasn't that bad -- a 20-6 final. Just two touchdowns ...

Don't mean to make light of your misery -- I've shared it when my Yankees' pitching staff fell apart due to injuries and when my Braves lost 10 straight. All I can say is what I tell myself when things look bleak:

"It's only a flesh wound."

[YmoBeThere]

At this point, the Reds are probably wondering if they should have stuck to Dusty. The window continues to close on them.

[Olympic Fan]

ESPN is running a documentary about Pete Rose and his 25 years in baseball exile.

More interesting to me is this Jayson Stark column in ESPN, explaining why Rose will NEVER be unbanned or inducted into the Hall of Fame:

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/column...son&id=4418586

Fascinating to read about the 2003 meeting between Rose and Selig -- arranged by Joe Morgan and Mike Schmidt -- that was supposed to work out a deal to let Rose back in the game. Stark quotes Schmidt as saying that they worked on a deal -- a detailed deal -- for the steps Rose would take to earn a pardon. Everything was set -- then Rose didn't do anything that they had agreed to.

It doesn't make Mr. Rose look too good.

[Reilly]

Moonlight Graham died 50 years ago today ... played at UNC; brother UNC president; inspiration for "Field of Dreams."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moonlight_Graham

Sort of cool that two v. popular baseball movies -- "Field of Dreams" and "Bull Durham" -- have connections to folks from UNC and Duke ("Crash" Davis).

[throatybeard]

I'm all for unbanning Rose simply because if it were to happen I'd never have to hear about it again.

[weezie]

I'm all for unbanning Rose simply because if it were to happen I'd never have to hear about it again.

Thanks for the first laugh of the day.

[mattman91]

My fellow South Caldwell High School Spartan, Madison Bumgarner, was one out from perfection last night. Darn.

[Blue in the Face]

My fellow South Caldwell High School Spartan, Madison Bumgarner, was one out from perfection last night. Darn.

I thought he lost it in the 8th? (Not that that takes away from a fantastic performance).

[mattman91]

I thought he lost it in the 8th? (Not that that takes away from a fantastic performance).

Yeah, that was the only hit he gave up. I could have worded it better. 13 strike outs as well, just a dominant performance. Super proud of him.

[Duvall]

Andrelton. Simmons.

[Duvall]

Andrelton. Simmons.

Andrelton. Simmons.

[JasonEvans]

Andrelton. Simmons.

Well, that was a little bit ridiculous.

[YmoBeThere]

Well, that was a little bit ridiculous.

Well, I did have to take a half point off for the throw...

(Yes, it was an excellent play.)

[Blue in the Face]

Not enjoying the view looking up at Anaheim, the A's trade for Adam Dunn. He's not going to give you much average, but he'll replace some of the power they lost in the Cespedes trade.

[JBDuke]

The Nats are in the middle of a 9-game road trip. It was supposed to start off easy, with a 3-game series in Philly - the last place team in the NL East. But the Phillies surprised the Nats with a sweep backed up by strong pitching. Now the Nats have moved on to Seattle, who is in the AL wild card race, and they've taken the first two of three - beating Felix Hernandez in the opener. They roughed up King Felix with 4 home runs - first time he's given up that many in his career. Last night, they beat Elias in a pitching duel. The important take away from that one was that Strasburg had his second straight strong road start - something he hasn't done very often this year. The series closes this afternoon with a battle between two pitchers with similar records - the Nationals' Roark, who is 12-8 with a 2.81 ERA versus Iwakuma, who is 12-6 with a 2.83 ERA. After that, the Nationals move on to LA to face the contending Dodgers.

I was hoping to come through this trip with a 5-4 record, but that was counting on 2 or 3 wins in Philly. Now, they're at 2-3 with four games remaining versus winning teams. I'd be very happy with a split...

[JasonEvans]

The Nats are in the middle of a 9-game road trip. It was supposed to start off easy, with a 3-game series in Philly - the last place team in the NL East. But the Phillies surprised the Nats with a sweep backed up by strong pitching. Now the Nats have moved on to Seattle, who is in the AL wild card race, and they've taken the first two of three - beating Felix Hernandez in the opener. They roughed up King Felix with 4 home runs - first time he's given up that many in his career. Last night, they beat Elias in a pitching duel. The important take away from that one was that Strasburg had his second straight strong road start - something he hasn't done very often this year. The series closes this afternoon with a battle between two pitchers with similar records - the Nationals' Roark, who is 12-8 with a 2.81 ERA versus Iwakuma, who is 12-6 with a 2.83 ERA. After that, the Nationals move on to LA to face the contending Dodgers.

I was hoping to come through this trip with a 5-4 record, but that was counting on 2 or 3 wins in Philly. Now, they're at 2-3 with four games remaining versus winning teams. I'd be very happy with a split...

What does it matter? Barring a near-historic collapse, the Nats are making the playoffs. I suppose one might desire to lock up home field against the Dodgers, should you face them in the NLCS, but aside from that there is little that the Nats are playing for at this point. Put another way, The Braves ain't catching the Nats... not... gonna... happen.

-Jason "I am starting to come to grips with the fact that the Braves are a bit of a longshot to make the playoffs... just too many bad offensive players on this team" Evans

[JBDuke]

What does it matter? Barring a near-historic collapse, the Nats are making the playoffs. I suppose one might desire to lock up home field against the Dodgers, should you face them in the NLCS, but aside from that there is little that the Nats are playing for at this point. Put another way, The Braves ain't catching the Nats... not... gonna... happen.

-Jason "I am starting to come to grips with the fact that the Braves are a bit of a longshot to make the playoffs... just too many bad offensive players on this team" Evans

As of this morning, the Nats lead the Braves by 6 games. That's a pretty good lead, but they have 6 games remaining with the Braves - 3 in DC and 3 in Atlanta. If you just look at Atlanta's hitting numbers, they collectively suck, but if you look at those numbers against the Nats, they look like world beaters. Something about seeing that curly W makes Freddy Freeman turn into Hank Aaron. And I think the Nats are solely responsible for keeping BJ Upton's average above the Mendoza line. The trend this year would suggest that the Nats go 2-4 in those games against the Braves, but I wouldn't be surprised if that turns into 1-5. Suddenly, six games is now 4 or 2. If the Nats have learned their lessons from last year, they'll finish strongly and go into the playoffs looking to secure home field advantage. If they haven't, the pressure will get to them, and the Braves will take advantage.

[Olympic Fan]

As of this morning, the Nats lead the Braves by 6 games. That's a pretty good lead, but they have 6 games remaining with the Braves - 3 in DC and 3 in Atlanta. If you just look at Atlanta's hitting numbers, they collectively suck, but if you look at those numbers against the Nats, they look like world beaters. Something about seeing that curly W makes Freddy Freeman turn into Hank Aaron. And I think the Nats are solely responsible for keeping BJ Upton's average above the Mendoza line. The trend this year would suggest that the Nats go 2-4 in those games against the Braves, but I wouldn't be surprised if that turns into 1-5. Suddenly, six games is now 4 or 2. If the Nats have learned their lessons from last year, they'll finish strongly and go into the playoffs looking to secure home field advantage. If they haven't, the pressure will get to them, and the Braves will take advantage.

I agree that the Braves have had the Nats' number -- not only this year (9-4), but also last season (13-6).

But you are wrong about Freeman and BJ Upton. Neither is particularly effective against the Nats this year. Freeman has an overall .861 OPS ... he's .827 against the Nats. That's a good number, but less than his normal production (and certainly not Aaron like). BJ Upton has as terrible .607 OPS overall .. is even worse -- .493 -- against the Nats.

That got me interested and I checked the rest of the Braves' regulars. Juston Upton is also less productive against the Nats (.880 overall; .718 against the Nats) and Jason Heywood (.746 overall) is positively putrid against Washington (.508 ... with a .146 BA).

Three hitters are better against the Nats: Evan Gattis goes from .839 overall t0 .911; Andrelton Simmons goes from .636 to .727; Chris Johnson goes from .672 to .727.

So why do the Braves dominate the Nats?

I looked at pitching and found that most Atlanta pitchers improve their ERA against the Nats. Harang goes from 3.64 to 1.38; Wood from 2.92 to 1.86; Minor from 4.70 to 2.57 (although that's just in seven innings of work vs. Washington). On the other hand, Teheran does drop from 2.90 to 3.15 and Santana goes from 3.53 to 5.25.

I guess the point is that none of the Braves play like supermen against the Nats (with the possible exception of Gattis). It's hard to finger WHY Atlanta has been so dominant in the the series.

I think the Nats are in pretty good shape. Yes, the Braves could close the gap with a 6-0 or 5-1 head-to-head record, but that's an awfully thin reed to hang your hopes on. I think the wild card is a much more viable option.

[wilson]

Yes, the Braves could close the gap with a 6-0 or 5-1 head-to-head record, but that's an awfully thin reed to hang your hopes on. I think the wild card is a much more viable option.

Start the clock on the Cobb County Curse...