The Braves Have A Cursed Locker

Living in New Orleans, I'm familiar with ghost tours, haunted hotels and drinking early in the day. So I believe the Braves when they say they have a cursed locker which just claimed Julio Lugo as its most recent victim. Starting with the opening of Turner Field in 1997, the unlucky occupant of the locker next to where Greg Maddux used to sit never made it back the following year. This season has been no different as the locker appears especially cursed...

This year, four Braves have sat in that locker and lived to regret it. Joe Mather was released, Cristhian Martinez was demoted to the minors and Jordan Schafer was traded to the Astros. Lugo was its latest “victim.”

Braves general manager Frank Wren only half-kiddingly instructed clubhouse attendant Chris Van Zant Friday to board it up with plywood Friday.

Lugo was released on Friday to make room for the freshly acquired Jack Wilson. In Lugo's defense, I didn't even realize he was on the Braves until they released him. Lugo hit .136/.208/.136 in 48 plate appearances while filling in around the infield. The Dominican short stop is almost 36-years-old so there's a chance the Giants might be interested.

There is one known exception to the curse. Kenshin Kawakami lasted for more than one season in the locker (2009-2010) and has an 8.10 ERA at Double-A to show for it this year. Jeff Blauser was the first victim of the evil locker of doom but shared the same outcome with Bret Boone, Robert Fick, Wally Joyner, Ken Caminiti and a host of other players most of us don't remember.

Greg Maddux is still getting players out in retirement. That's much more impressive than whatever Roger Clemens is doing in court these days.

Chipper Jones Hit A Ball Out Of Its Skin

Chipper Jones is already putting on an impressive pre-spring training performance as he attempts to comeback from an injury riddled 2010 season. Larry tore the cover off of a ball Tuesday during batting practice when he was striking balls with great vengeance and furious anger...

While hitting in an indoor batting cage at Turner Field, the 38-year-old third baseman hit a baseball with enough force to unravel the stitching and leave the cover hanging loosely from the ball’s core.

“I think this one’s done,” Jones said, pausing to hand the ball to a team official before continuing his hitting session.

I once tore some skin off of my hands in a batting cage when I was 12 so, yeah, I'm pretty bad-ass too. Of course, the first thing I do when I'm writing a post about a player is open up their Fangraphs page. Turns out the 38-year-old Brave has had a pretty Hall of Fame career.

Obviously, I knew how good Jones was/is since I lived in Atlanta for 15 years and the fair weather fans would beat that into my brain. But sometimes you just need to reflect on a player's career stats to truly appreciate them. Or at least I do in this crazy sabermetric/Internet world we live in today.

Jones has 436 home runs and a .306/.405/.536 career slash line. While he spent some time in the outfield over the years, we're going to pretend like he's a 3rd baseman for the following WAR Grid and WAR Graph. First up, the 3rd base WAR Grid and click to enlarge.



If you really squint because you're too lazy to click, Mike Schmidt is clearly number one on that list followed by Alex Rodriguez, Eddie Mathews, Wade Boggs, Brooks Robinson and George Brett. So here's the cumulative WAR Graph by age for Jones, Mathews, Boggs and Brett.



If Jones isn't already a Hall of Fame lock, which I think he might be, another semi-healthy year or two and the HOF bust carvers can get to work.

Julio Teheran Could Win No. 5 Spot

Prospect rankings are out and it appears that the Braves have a right handed pitcher who might be pretty good. Julio Teheran made a big jump in Keith Law's rankings moving from 63 in 2010 all the way up to 6th in this year's rankings. The Braves seem to be on the same page and realize they might not be able to send him back to the minors after Spring Training (from MLB)...

Teheran is one of the finest pitching prospects to ever pass through the Braves organization and they certainly don't have any plans to rush his development.

But based on what they've seen from him, there are some members of the Braves organization who believe Teheran will make it difficult for them to determine when or maybe even if they should send him to back to Minor League camp.

Teheran turned 20 on January 27th and pitched 142.2 innings between A-AA last season. So Teheran is still somewhat of a long shot to make the April rotation.

But if you look at Teheran's 2010 season, you can see why the Braves are optimistic...

League	IP	K/9	K/BB	ERA	FIP
A	39.1	10.3	4.5	1.14	2.39
A+	63.1	10.8	5.85	2.98	2.88
AA	40	8.55	2.24	3.38	3.3

I can't wait for Spring Training. This slow news cycle is killing me. I almost wrote about Adam Kennedy's DUI instead of this post. In hindsight, I'm not sure I made the right choice.

Atlanta at San Francisco

As soon as I start a baseball blog, the Angels miss the playoffs for the first time since 2006. I hope you like your post-season previews filled with animosity and tears.

The Braves and the Giants will be the last series to get started Thursday at 8:37 CT. I spent a good chunk of my life living in Atlanta, dealing with Braves fans, both the wishy-washy kind and the dozen or so real ones. They're all annoying if you were wondering. Not quite Yankees or Red Sox fans annoying but still. I do have some pretty strong admiration for Tommy Hanson and Jason Heyward and spent many a drunken days at The Ted. That said, get ready for a heavy dose of Buster Posey love (also from Georgia).

My Completely Biased Opinion.
The Giants' rotation looks much better on paper than that of the Braves who will trot out Derek Lowe to open the series against Tim Lincecum and probably pitch him on short rest if there is a fourth game. If you've read this far, you probably know that Buster Posey is a blog favorite. I expect him to hit somewhere around .900 for the series.

Just Some of the Facts M'am.
Buster Posey hit 18 home runs and .305/.357/.505 in 443 plate appearances with the Giants in his rookie season. Posey's NL ROY competition, Jason Heyward, hit 18 home runs and .277/.393/.456 in 180 more plate appearances. Say what you will about the extra service time but, for me, Poesy>Heyward for this season. Lincecum had his worst season since his 24 rookie starts in 2007, pitching 3.43/3.15/3.21 (ERA/FIP/xFIP) while only striking out 9.79 per 9 innings. But that still trumps Lowe's 4.00/3.89/3.65 line. The Giants follow Lincecum with Matt Cain and Jonathan Sanchez to round out the best playoff rotation not based in Philadelphia. The Braves have a solid rotation too with Tommy Hanson and Tim Hudson. But if the pitching matchup in game 4 is actually Madison Bumgarner vs Brandon Beachy, Braves fans better start to worry.

Prediction.
Pitching + Posey = NLCS. There's a little more math that goes into that formula but simplified it for you. You're welcome. Giants in 4.

Shot Of The Night: All Star Edition

Shot Of The Night is Off Base Percentage's toast to a player who had an exceptionally good or bad night. There's always a reason to drink.

Tonight's shot of the night is Star Wars: 1 oz Southern Comfort® peach liqueur, 1 oz amaretto almond liqueur, 1 oz sweet and sour mix, 1 oz Sprite® soda. While Derwood sat in The Big A jinxing the American League in person, I watched the All Star Game alone from my dimly-lit bunker in Louisiana while drinking cheap whiskey. I'm living quite the life, ladies. Just like the rest of the season, the All Star Game was a pitchers duel. That said, the shot of the night is in honor of the MVP, Brian McCann.

The Braves catcher came in for Yadier Molina in the 5th inning and promptly flied out to right. But McCann would hit a bases loaded/bases clearing double in the 7th inning off of Matt Thornton to give the National League all 3 of their runs. I'm pretty sure the messy 7th inning that Phil Hughes and Thornton worked was a tribute to the Angels bullpen. In that case, well done, fellas. McCann would go on to deliver a humble speech at the post game presser while wearing his catcher's helmet frontwards. A look that John Olerud approves of.

Dishonorable Mention: I have a couple of these bad boys.

Joey Votto: Votto was the big snub from the All Star Game but got in through the Last Man In fan voting or some such titled nonsense. Votto is having a monster season for the Reds but his All Star appearance was unspectacular. He went 0-2 and saw exactly 2 pitches.

Omar Infante: DNP. The questionable All Star didn't get into the game despite being the designated player who could come back into the game after being pulled. I hear he did fulfill his utility role by sweeping up sunflower seeds and installing a new bullpen phone.

Joe Girardi: He blew through all of his left handed starters as quickly as possible and saved Alex Rodriguez for pinch-hitting duties in the imaginary 13th inning.

Corey Hart: He continued his poor showing from the second round of last night's Home Run Derby by going 0-2 with 2 strikeouts.

Beavis' Adventures At Turner Field: Strasburg Edition

Being a season ticket holder to the Atlanta Braves is paying straight dividends for the 2010 season. I watched Jason Heyward pummel a home run for his first major league hit on opening day, the amazing come from behind victory over Cincinnati, compliments of Brooks Conrad's walk-off grand slam and as the Braves took first place, we celebrated just as drunken baseball fans should. Last night was one of those nights! With Stephen Strasburg making his fifth major league start, second road start, I wanted a front row seat. I think everyone in Atlanta was thinking the same thing. The place was packed.

Everywhere I went at the stadium I kept hearing the same thing, Strasburg! In line for beer: Strasburg. Smoking a cigarette: Strasburg. It was a complete Strasburg hard-on fest! The feeling was mixed. People wanted to see him succeed and the rest wanted to see him fail. That's what makes a player like Strasburg so great for baseball. Everyone was there to see him!

I witnessed something last night at Turner Field that I've never witnessed before. The fans in Atlanta are far from your battery throwing, first base coach ass whipping fans that other parks are blessed with. It seems to take a little more to get the stands fired up with excitement. Every time Strasburg prepared to throw the place got loud. It's like they were testing him. The longer he pitched the louder they got. Its like everyone in the stadium wanted to see what he could do when the pressure was on.

He pitched a great game but, unfortunately it takes more then a great outing to win a ballgame. I go to Turner Field enough to know how to get away with seat jumping. For the entire 5th, 6th and 7th innings, I managed to get about 10 rows behind home plate for the only offensive gain of the game. This kid is impressive. I can't help to wonder though, if the fans in Atlanta can get that loud for 1-1, 1 out pitch, then he's gonna have some tough road trips pitching in places with rabid fans like New York, Chicago and Philly.

The guy is Strasburg! No nickname needed. He needs to come out to the mound with Goldbergs entrance music and let the crowd chant his name the same way. STRAAAASBURG, STRAAAASBURG, STRAAAASBURG!

If Strasburg is coming to your town, buy a ticket!

Strasburg Takes The Show To Atlanta

Strasburg-Mania goes on the road for just the second time this season when it whips through Atlanta like tornado through your mom's trailer park. Strasburg will make his fifth start and try to rebound after suffering his first loss while pitching 6 innings, striking out 9, walking zero and giving up 1 earned against the Royals. Nice work on the run support, Nats. Now he can only go 400-1. Pfft. I like how his first two road start came against the Indians and now the Braves. Coincidence or is Riggleman racist against Native American?

Strikeouts and Walks
The Bravos are actually right in the middle of the pack when it comes to striking out. The surprising, to me, fact is the Braves lead the league in walks by over 20. That will be something to watch for tonight. Strasburg has walked 5 batters in his 4 starts and they all came on the road against Cleveland.

Phenom vs. Phenom
Unfortunately, the Phenom versus Phenom match up will have to wait. Coming into this season, Strasburg and Jason Heyward were the top two prospects in baseball according to Baseball America. Heyward has been holding up his part of the bargain. Already one of the Braves' best players, Heyward has 11 home runs while hitting .251/.366/.455 as a 20-year-old. But Heyward has a thumb injury that will keep him from hitting against Strasburg tonight. It's a shame because Heyward has a Platinum Sombrero and a Golden Sombrero this season. The strikeout potential had me giddy.

Off Base Coverage
As you know by now, I gots the Strasburg fever. So you can join me over at Twitter and take shots with me every time Strasburg strikes someone out swinging. We also hope to have a guest writer covering the game live tonight. He drinks a lot of beer so only half of the post might be in coherent English but it should be entertaining nonetheless. Look for that tomorrow.

Jason Heyward's Golden Sombrero

A golden sombrero is awarded to a player who manages to strike out four times in a single game (real golden sombrero not included). It's quite the feat unless you're Ryan Howard or Mark Reynolds. Unfortunately, cycles and no-hitters are all the rage nowadays. Not for me, though. I will pour over the box scores to bring you the finest at swinging and missing.

It's only been five days since the last golden sombrero but it felt like a lifetime for me. Plenty of players have had three strikeout games in that time period and I feel confident that this will be the Summer of the Sombrero. Which is good because I just spent a lot of money on Off Base Percentage sombreros and, for some reason, a goat wearing a hat.

[thanks Blasphemous Bicycler]

Where were we? Oh right, Jason Heyward came through for me tonight and racked up four strikeouts. Heyward had a platinum sombrero just last Saturday in a nine inning game. He's quickly becoming one of my favorite players. Let's see what he was up to tonight...

Top 1st: Heyward struck out swinging against Francisco Liriano. Liriano also helped deliver Gabe Gross' golden sombrero on Sunday. Guess who's becoming my favorite pitcher?

Top 3rd: Heyward struck out swinging against Liriano again.

Top 6th: Heyward struck out swinging against Liriano for the MTD hat trick (striking out 3 times, the same way, against the same pitcher). I send Liriano a basket of muffins.

Top 9th: Heyward struck out swinging against Jon Rauch.

That's a lot of swinging and missing for one night, kid. If Heyward keeps this up, he might have some real competition for the ROY with that Strasburg guy. Or if Heyward keeps this up, he could be Off Base Perentage's Golden Sombrero Player Of The Year. And I think we all know which he'd prefer. Our trophy is made out of cheese!

Jason Heyward's Platinum Sombrero

Last summer when I was actually posting at Monkeys Throwing Darts, I became obsessed with the Golden Sombrero. For those not in the loop, a golden sombrero is awarded to a player who manages to strike out four times in a single game (real golden sombrero not included). It's quite the feat unless you're Ryan Howard or Mark Reynolds. Unfortunately, cycles and no-hitters are all the rage nowadays. Not for me, though. I will pour over the box scores to bring you the finest at swinging and missing.

Since we've opened, I couldn't wait for the first sombrero. Hall of Fame rookie, Jason Heyward, rewarded my patience tonight by blessing me with baseball's 54th platinum sombrero. You've earned a special place in my heart. That's right, Heyward struck out five (5) times against the Dodgers. Let's all join hands and see how he did it.

Top 1st: Heyward strikes out swinging against Clayton Kershaw. Russell Martin was checking out some girl in the second row and Heyward makes it to first on a passed ball.

Top 3rd: Heyward strikes out swinging again against Kershaw. This time, he's actually out.

Top 5th: Heyward strikes out looking against Kershaw, just to switch stuff up.

Top 7th: Heyward strikes out swinging against Kershaw for old time's sake.

Top 9th: Heyward strikes out swinging against Jonathan Broxton because, I assume, he heard I had a bad day. Thanks Jase.

My Memorial Day At Turner Field

I just happened to be in Atlanta over this holiday weekend for a wedding and managed to score tickets to the Braves and Phillies game today. The wedding was last night and I've been known to indulge in the free adult beverages. Let's see how my day went.

*10 a.m.* Wake up, slight hangover.

*10:15 a.m.* Realize I'm not at my friend's house I'm going to the game with. Puts on pants.

*10:45 a.m.* Get to my friend's house. Prepare a breakfast rum and coke. Don't judge me, it's a holiday.

*11:30 a.m.* Pour rum into flask. Leave for the game.

*12:30 p.m.* Spew profanities at Atlanta traffic. Get cut off. More profanity.

*1:10 p.m.* Park.

*1:20 p.m.* Miss Chipper Jones' homerun waiting in line at Will Call.

*1:40 p.m.* Visit the 755 Club and enjoy air conditioning for the last time ever.

*1:50 p.m.* Arrive at my seat down the third base line. Immediately regret my decision to wear pants. Drink hot rum out the flask.

*2:00 p.m.* I try to take a picture of Tommy Hanson.


















*2:05 p.m.* I die of heat stroke.

*3:14 p.m.* The Phillies score 3 to make it 6-3 Braves. I discover why I'm not a beat writer. I missed a lot.

*3:23 p.m.* I take this picture of my buddy who got a ball during a cigarette break. Don't be impressed, I'm pretty sure he stole it from a small child.



















*3:41 p.m.* Miss Troy Glaus' homerun standing in line for a $13 bottle of Powerade. It was blue.

*4:30-ish p.m.* Braves win and take over first place in the NL East.

*5:20 p.m.* I die of heat stroke and dehydration. You thought it was going to be dysentery this time, didn't you? Oregon Trail'd.

*5:35 p.m.* Beach Boys concert kicks off. Their lip synching makes Ashlee Simpson proud.



















*5:37 p.m.* Remember I don't like the Beach Boys. Leave.

*6:12 p.m.* Do that thing where you nod off and catch yourself and try to play it off.

*8:30 p.m.* Nap.

*10:00 p.m.* Write this post.

*10:18 p.m.* Make a rum and coke, turn on Wii.

*11:20 p.m. in the future* Hot girl's car breaks down in front of my friends house.

Sorry, I can't publish the rest of the night but I hear Cinemax got the rights to it. How was your Memorial Day?