Saturday, February 5, 2011

BOBBY COX AFFECT

I Respect Bobby Cox to the fullest. He won many games for the Atlanta Braves and had 14 division titles, a wild card berth and World Series Championship - the only one ever in the city of Atlanta. But I have to be real with myself- in my opinion he was not the best postseason manager. If you look at some of his moves over the years he made some head scratchers. A huge reason why the  Yankees had great success in the  late 1990s was because Joe Torre  made great decisions in big situations in games. Of course they had Rivera which helps them alot. But the difference between the Braves only having 1 championship and the Yankees having 4 under Torre was Torre always seemed to  push the right buttoms when making a subsitution as far has hitting changes in the line up  or pinch hitters,and  he always seemed to make great decisions as far as the bullpen went. What relievers to bring up when and where. To me Bobby Cox in the playoffs sucked at that. Even this year game 3 of the 2010 divison round vs the Giants- the Braves were one strike away from winning the game and Cox takes out   Craig Kimbrel ( who is suppost to be the braves closer  in 2011) and brings in a lefty Mike Dunn who gives up a couple hits and blows the lead. I have nothing against Mike Dunn- but if Kimbrel is suppose to be your closer in waiting why the fuck do you pull him out of the game? I was at the game cursing Bobby Cox out in my head as I saw him make his way to the mound to remove Kimbrel and bring in Dunn- I had a bad feeling about the move even before Dunn threw his 1st pitch. Yeh Kimbrel did walk a batter and give up a hit but he wasnt scared, he wasnt caught up in the moment- I truly believe if Cox left Kimbrel in the game the Braves win that game. It was just a horrible decison to take Kimbrel out in that situation and those little moves right there are so huge in the playoffs. Bobby Cox never managed bullpen decisions well in the playoffs especially and thats a huge reason why I think the Braves only won one championship during there years  of dominating.

 Also why did he never encourage the braves to run more? he was a manager that always seemed to sit back and wait on the 3 run homer? That was ok when you had Justice, Mcgriff, Gant and Klesko and all those home run hitters but as the braves lineup slowly dwindled off why did Cox still try to wait for the big swing to win games? If you look at the teams who are winnin today in baseball they play the ABC part of baseball- GET THEM ON, GET THEM OVER AND GET THEM IN. I love that idea and it always blew my mind why the braves were never aggressive in stealing bases. Yeh Furcal stole some but it seems everytime the Braves braught up a guy who had speed or traded for one who had speed- they never used it. The Braves under Bobby Cox seemed to forget how to play small ball. and in the playoffs teams that can excute small ball mostl often win. In the playoffs you cant sit back and wait for the 3 run home run because most playoff games are pitching duels and good pitching isnt goin to give up big home runs alot. thats why alot of playoff scores are 4-3, 3-2, 2-1 type scores.. all 3 games the Braves lost in the 2010 playoffs to the Giants were one run games and low scoring affairs. Boy could we have used some speed and aggressive base stealers in games like those.

 I will miss seeing Bobby Cox at the games because I grew up to him managing the Braves so hes all I know- but in a way I think the braves will be ok without him because he made so many  bonehead choices over the years.I respect fully what Bobby Cox did and accomplished in his time in Atlanta and I will miss him but sometimes changes is good- I hope Freddi Gonzalez can manage pitching changes better and  is more agressive when it comes to manufactoring runs because nowdays thats whats winning championships takes..

Friday, February 4, 2011

THE PLAYOFFS GAME 3.. 10-10-10.. CONRAD!

Is it just me or does other braves fans still think about the Game 3 playoff game in Atlanta... I was so hype that game. I was actually blessed enough to be one of the 53,000 who had tickets for the game. The stadium was  hype, the fans was into the game. It was a low scoring game and the braves didnt get the fans into the game til Eric Hinske came up as a pinch hitter and hit the 2 run home run that gave us the lead. I have been to many many braves games in my life but that is the crazyest most hype I have ever seen Turner Field. I was goin f*ckin nuts at the stadium. That is a memory I often think about. Eric Hinske is the man. Instead of being the hero of that game 3 no one will give him the props he deserves because of Brooks Conrad. I try to be forgiving of Conrad. He had alot of big hits for us during the season- hes a  gamer he gives his all everytime he steps out on the field. But to committ 3 errors in a playoff game just kills me. I wanted to slap him in his face after we lost game 3. I kid you not I sat at the stadium for 45 minutes after the game just in shock.  We was one strike away from going up 2 games to 1 in the best of 5 series and we lost to be on verge of elimination. It was such a tought loss to get over. The toughest loss Ive ever had as a braves fan. I will try to cheer for Conrad next year but I promise you his 3 errors in that game 3 will always play in my head anytime I see his face. I pray for forgiveness but when I think back to how excited I was after we took the lead on Hinskes home run - to lose that game just leaves me speechless. I still have dreams about that game. I wish we could replay it.

WHAT TO EXPECT FROM THE BRAVES IN 2011

I believe the Braves will be a good team in 2011. The pitching staff will be good just like last year as long as we stay healthy. The bullpen is young but has alot of talent I think we will be ok in that area. The defense concerns me- Chipper playing 3rd base seems to get worse defensively every year as his age is getting up there. Prado in Left field is a bit of a reach for me. He seems like a good athlete but I would rather him play the infield. Im not crazy about Dan Uggla defensively but I hope he will suprise me. Recalling last year our defense was a big reason why we didnt advance in the playoffs and GM Frank Wren didnt do much this offseason to shore up the defense so this is a major concern to me.Now I do believe the offense will be better- getting Dan Uggla is a big upgrade- gives the braves that big popper in the middle of the line up- thinking about - prado,heyward,uggla,mccann and chipper that gives me hope for this offense. I believe Jason Heyward will be a big contributor this year offensively. Im still a bit concerned about the health of his thumb but he seems good to go. The sky is the limit for this kid- I look for him to  have a great year. Im not expecting much out of Chipper Jones this year because since 2008 he hasnt given us much. I see him hitting  .270 with 15 home runs and 75 rbis if hes healthy. but who knows if he will be. if he gets hurt you put Prado @ 3rd base and the braves have to make a trade for an everyday left field in my opinion.
Im excited about the upcoming season- I dont believe the Braves can beat the phillies for the division but I do believe we will be very big players in the wild card. I cant wait to see what happens.