Hampton Being a Poopy-Pants

Hope springs eternal in, er, Spring, with Bobby Cox being the head of Glee Club. Hell, even Charles Kerfeld would draw rave reviews from Bobby during spring training. And while optimism is one of the things that makes spring training great, Mike Hampton is not feeling the love.
- “I’m still not where I need to [...]

Braves Organization and Pitching

fascinating how many former Braves pitchers, either ones who came up through the organization or those picked up off someone else’s scrap heap by the organization, just keep hanging around
as evidence, the following non-roster invitees, for the Grapefruit League alone:
Orioles: Rob Bell, Chris Waters
Red Sox: Adam Bernero
Reds: Kerry Lightenberg
Marlins: Mike Koplove, Wes Obermuller
Astros: Brian Moehler
Dodgers: Rudy Seanez, Travis [...]

Andruw’s New Look

I keep hearing that Andruw Jones is “noticeably slimmer” this spring.  I suppose he’s gearing up for free agency, as you do.
Not being a SportsCenter or local TV news watcher, though, I hadn’t had a chance to see the evidence for myself until just now.  Is he really in better shape?  I have to say [...]

Et Tu, Mad Dog?

Following up on Sam’s post about how aging players from So-Cal all want to spend the waning years of their careers in San Diego, the AJC offers a big box on Greg Maddox- now a Padre. Maddox says that he has wanted to play for since his free-agent year in 1992, when he signed with the Braves.  Of [...]

Parting Shot from Giles

It seems Marcus was none too pleased about the way his Braves tenure ended. I can’t really blame him — he knew he wasn’t coming back, yet the scuttled Linebrink trade delayed his free agency.
But all’s well that ends well, and now he’s been united with his misshapen older brother in his hometown of [...]

Bobby Loves Everybody

I understand that its tough for the AJC to offer alot in the way of worthwhile coverage at the start of Spring Training. But I’m starting to believe that there is no need to quote Bobby Cox in every story.  We know his professed love of every single player in camp. The Rose-Colored World According [...]

Home Depot Profits Down 28% — Chuck James To Blame

The Atlanta-based home improvement store reported declining profits in the fourth quarter of 2006, and the new CEO has a theory:
“Reflecting the challenging housing market, our 2006 retail results were disappointing,” said Frank Blake, chairman and CEO, who replaced Bob Nardelli in January. “We may not be able to impact the housing market or general [...]

You Are Sooooo Old

Once again, our hero, Julio Franco,will be the league’s elder stateman. Midway through the first week of the season, Julio will become the oldest player to have eaten 20 eggs before starting a game. And thus he will begin his 25th season. Here in Atlanta, John Smoltz is the senior Brave, embarking on his [...]

Bradley on KJ

Mark Bradley opines today on the most intriguing storyline of the spring — can Kelly Johnson, a 25-year-old with all of three months of major league service playing LF and hitting second in the order, suddenly morph into a leadoff-hitting second baseman?
We’ll explore the possibility in greater detail once he’s got a few spring training [...]

BPro Player Forecasts

Baseball Prospectus uses a system they call PECOTA (hey, a former Brave!) to predict the numbers for every MLB player (and many others who haven’t yet arrived) for the upcoming season. Their results are phrased in all sorts of stat-wonk terms like VORP and EqA, but they also do some basic rate and counting [...]

You know its Spring Training when…..

Ken Griffey, Jr. tells reporters that he expects his latest injury to be fully healed soon. This time its a broken wrist from an off-season accident on his yacht. The story is an interesting contrast to our Chuck James, who did not hurt himself this off-season while installing windows and doors as a Lowe’s subcontractor.
Someone’s [...]

Vintage Knucksie

They just don’t throw ‘em like this anymore:

Too Early for Spring Training?

I’m very excited and obligated to be trying out the new blog this weekend. Pitchers and catchers arrived at Lake Buena Disney to find daytime temperatures in the 40’s. Not really what I think of as Spring. Local right-wing radio hacks, Boortz and Hannity, offer comfort to us all by pointing out that because it [...]

Meet The New Boss, Even Less Interested Than The Old Boss

Hate to start the new season off on such a downer note, but it’s hard to spin the acquisition of the Braves by Liberty Media as a positive. Note the lack of any quote from a Liberty exec concerning the product on the field in the AJC article about the “swap”.
Here’s some required reading [...]

Q: What are the four sweetest words in the English language?

A: Pitchers and catchers report!
Welcome to the new look Brave-O-Matic. We’ve ditched the pretentious quill-and-parchment design (along with our Google-infested former host), added a couple of new authors (take a bow, Jim and Raymond), and now it’s time to limber up those well-rested blogging muscles for another Braves season.
The Braves blogosphere has grown [...]