The End Of An Era (cont.)

No, I’m not referring to anything resembling ceding the division crown to the Mets. The series at Shea began with a loss, too, and a couple of days later we were feeling pretty good. A fickle mistress is baseball fandom — a powerful and uplifting presence when things are going well, but as [...]

FOX Sends Skip and Pete Packing

That’s right, Braves fans. The faceless overlords of conglomerate media have pissed on you once again:
From AJC:
Fox Cable Networks announced it will replace the familiar Turner South broadcast team of Skip Caray, Pete Van Wieren, Don Sutton, Joe Simpson and Chip Caray. Beginning next week, the Braves games on Turner South will be called [...]

Is Being 8 Games Back on May 1 a Big Deal?

I am the pessimist here at Brave-O-Matic (and the wordy one). Those who read this blog have surely deduced that by now. So, it is with this overbearing pessimism that I ask the question – if we are swept by the Mighty Mets this weekend and fall eight games behind, is that a big deal?
The [...]

Swept by the Brewers – MIL 5 ATL 4

We all know that our offense is Casey-esque in its futility of late, but today’s woes are the defense’s doing. And a sweep is the result.
We actually had two important things go our way today – Sheets didn’t absolutely dominate us, and Sosa didn’t absolutely suck. In fact, Sosa pitched pretty well, but some shoddy [...]

No "O" — Brewers 4 Braves 2

Recent trends continue — good starting pitching, no offense. Chipper hit a 2-run HR in his return from the DL (bye, Prado — we’ll see you again), but the Braves got no other offense, as Tomo Ohka scattered 7 hits, followed by scoreless innings by Capellan and Turnbow.
Francoeur got a cheap hit, but he’s [...]

The Other Race

The Braves-Brewers series is important for the Braves. With another weekend against the Mets looming, it would be a huge help for us to get a game (or 2) closer in the standings before Friday. Then the series winner would be division leader. But don’t forget about the other big race to keep your eye [...]

Pesky Ole Brewers – Milwaukee 3 Braves 2

Tough game last night. The Braves rarely muster much offense off the Brewers, especially with the weak-hitting lineup we employed last night. Davies pitched well except for one bad pitch to Corey Koskie. When you consider that it was Koskie’s first HR and first two RBI in 51 ABs this season, you then can see [...]

Things Are Finally Looking Up

What a change a few days can make in the long, long trek through a major-league season. Last week things looked bleak for the Braves. We had a decimated infield, our starters looked like a junior varsity squad and we were facing a Mets team that couldn’t be beat. But today, all that seems long [...]

The Future Is Now

OK, this is actually bad news. But, here at Brave-O-Matic, we can’t help but beam with pride that our official mascot has been brought up to sub for Marcus Giles, who is out with a ligament tear in his finger. Or rather, in the modern parlance, he’s “out with a finger”.
In the meantime, [...]

We are Still the Braves – Braves 2 Mets 1

That’s more like it. Braves win a wonderfully pitched game 2-1 behind Andruw Jones, who has once again put the team on his back, and a flinching of the Mets. Let’s get to work on re-writing all those New York tabloid headlines that greatly exaggerated the death of our Braves.
Hudson did indeed pitch like the [...]

Announcers Talk Good

The ‘Matic has always taken great joy in pointing out that the vast majority of sports broadcasters do not understand the differnce between the literary concepts of coincidence and irony. In that spirit, I offer this gem from Chip Caray this afternoon. This came in the 7th inning while it was still a 0-0 tie. [...]

One For The Good Guys, 7-1

With Kyle Davies’ struggles late last season and early this season, and the uncertainty regarding the Braves’ rotation as a whole, it’s been easy to forget that Davies is one of the better pitching prospects in the game. He reminded us tonight, pitching his first career CG and 3-hitting the Mets at Shea Stadium. [...]

Round 1: Mets 4 Braves 3

Round 1 of a 19-round marathon bout goes to the Mets, who beat the Braves 4-3 last night behind Xavier Nady and Carlos Delgado home runs off the ineffective Sosa. The good news for Sosa is that he actually lowered his ERA to 10.45, allowing only four runs in four innings of work. Let’s face [...]

Here Comes The Pain

While the collective we at Brave-O-Matic always remain positive regarding the Braves’ chances – especially since we haven’t done anything but win for the past 14 seasons – occasionally the tea leaves portend bad tidings, at least in the short-run. For example, take our upcoming three-game series with the Mets. Bad, bad stuff.
At 9-2, the [...]

Pitchers at the Bat

Throughout the Braves long run of championships there has been an ongoing semi-public competition among the starting pitchers for slugging supremacy. With the hyper-competitive Maddox gone, and the valid home-run threat of Mike Hampton sitting at home, who is this year’s Hitter among the non-hitters?
It’s quickly becoming apparent that John Thomson is the man to [...]