Bad Horacio isn’t in the same league as bad Ramon Ortiz, but he’s plenty bad enough to cost us a chance at victory. Maybe he was spooked by the park dimensions (which are ridiculous), but it was still disheartening to watch. Comparisons to Glavine are appropriate in this case — when Horacio is the slightest bit off, it’s happy hour for the other team.
Still, a blowout might have been easier to take than a game in which the offense started to mount a rally in the later innings, only to be undone by one of the best fielding plays you’ll ever see. Five straight singles in the seventh cut the score to 8-5, then Betemit singled to start the eighth. Estrada hit one up the middle that looked like it might sneak through, but Mercker tipped the ball with his hand, slowing it enough for SS Lopez to glove it. He flipped it backwards to 2B Freel, who lunged and caught it barehanded, then threw to first to double up the ponderous Braves catcher. We went quietly after that.
One bright spot was Francoeur. Three hits got him back over .400, and he gunned down two runners on the bases. The play to get Dunn at second was truly spectacular. Francoeur now has five assists, which is already second among NL RFs (Jenkins - 9). This game should cement his reputation as nobody to trifle with. At the plate, he continues to swing away. Fox showed a graphic at one point which said Francoeur had faced 197 major league pitches, and had swung at 126 of them. Ladies and gentlemen, the anti-Wade Boggs!
Tomorrow’s game at 7:10 — Davies vs. Harang on TBS.
28 Comments
August 4, 2005 at 3:33 pm
I recognize that this blog is about the Braves. However, with all that has transpired with steroids and the game over the last several months, I thought I would bring up the subject and a get the reaction from other Braves fans. The lie and deny game that has progressed incrementally since Conseco’s first book came out is tiresome. We have heard what there is to currently disclosed about the BALCO crap. Unfortunately, and this is merely from the layman’s perspective, the scariest revelation up to this point has to be the Palmero fiasco. Bond’s blossoming cranium, Maguire’s shrinking shape, and Sosa’s dissapearing thunder thighs, reinforced what I always considered to be obvious. They were juicing and the on-field results were part of the program. However, in Palmero, his size and his appearance did not set off the same alarms. If he is and has been dirty, using since his days in Texas with Conseco, and his physical stature hasn’t ballooned like the aforementioned “hall of famers”, where does that leave us? What are the numbers in baseball, 10%, 20%? How many ballplayers were getting the edge? Ever look at the “before and after” of a Brett Boone as he matured. It’s very difficult to avoid becoming a complete cynic. Now, not only do I look at the swollen one hit wonders like Brady Andersen, but I really am cynical about the Roger Clemen’s of the world. Not to touch off a firestorm of hate, but how do you view 60 year old infielders with the biceps of a 20 year old? I hate this crap.
August 4, 2005 at 7:14 pm
I’m actually surprised that Francoeur has taken that many. I seem to remember that at one point he had swung at 18 pitches in a row. But hey, if he keeps hitting .400, swing away!
As to David’s post - well, I just don’t know what to make of the steroid thing, so I won’t comment.
August 4, 2005 at 8:13 pm
Look at Ryan Franklin, the latest player suspended. He’s tall and skinny looking — not at all the type you would suspect of using. Just more proof that there’s no way to be sure who is and who isn’t. Except maybe for Craig Counsell.
Anyone who looks at Julio’s physique in the present climate is bound to wonder about him, sure. But men are fully capable of adding muscle mass into their early 50s, so his bulging biceps are not prima facie evidence of steroid use. Innocent until proven guilty is the only rational way to approach an issue that is so shrouded in mystery.
That said, my personal opinion is that 75 to 90% of the 2003 Braves position players were using, so there you go. I’m not as distressed about the situation as david is, and I think it’s going to be several years before it all plays out, if indeed it ever does.
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