Opening Day 2014

            Opening Day is finally here!  And not a moment too soon.  It's been a long off-season, especially for Braves fans.  

            First, the season ended a lot sooner than we wanted after going 1-3 against the Dodgers in the NLDS.  That was heart breaking. 

            Then, we lost Brian McCann to the Yankees in free agency, no surprise there.  After that, we lost Tim Hudson to the Giants in free agency.  I don't know what everyone else was thinking, but this surprised me.  I thought he would want to stay in Atlanta.  Then the Giants came along and offered him $23 million for two years.  I don't remember the amount the Braves offered, but if memory serves, they only offered him one year.  So, good for him!  I am a Tim Hudson fan; we will miss him as a Brave, but at the same time I am very excited for him.    

            After that, the Braves made the surprise announcement that they are building a new stadium.  (What?!?!?!)  It is set to open in 2017 in Cobb County, northeast of Atlanta.  To be honest, I'm still processing this.  

            In January it was announced that the Braves will have three inductees into the Hall of Fame in July.  Bobby Cox was elected along with Tony La Russa and Joe Torre by the Veterans Committee.   And then Greg Maddux and Tom Glavin were elected along with Frank Thomas (War Eagle!) by the Baseball Writers Association of America.  Six inductees is a lot in one year, especially after no one was inducted last year.  I am so excited to see all of these men go to Cooperstown.  They are all very deserving!   

            Then came the extensions.  This was by far the best part of the off-season.  The Braves signed extensions for:  Jason Heyward (two years, $13.3 million), Freddie Freeman (eight years, $135 million), Julio Teheran (six years, $32.4 million), Craig Kimbrel (four years, $42 million), and  Andrelton Simmons (seven years, $58 million).  They also extended the contracts for manager Fredi Gonzalez and general manager Frank Wren.  They locked up a lot of very important guys for a long time.  

            Everything was looking great.  Sure, we lost two important veterans, but with those extensions, it looked like we were going to be set this year, and for years to come.  Then tragedy struck.  In about a twenty-four hour period, during Spring Training, we lost not one, but two of our top starting pitchers; Kris Medlen and Brandon Beachy.  Both have since had their second Tommy John surgery and will miss the entire season.  Not to take anything away from those five huge extensions, but such a blow to the starting rotation really hurts.  

           In other news around the league:  

               - Clayton Kershaw signed a seven year, $215 million contract with the Dodgers; which is the biggest overall deal for a pitcher, ever.  If any pitcher deserves this, it's Clayton Kershaw.  

               - Derek Jeter will retire after this season.  It does not matter what teams you like (or loathe), everyone likes Derek Jeter.  The game will not be the same without him.  

               - Mike Trout and Miguel Cabrera just signed monster deals with the Angels and Tigers, respectively.

               - We will have repay and certain calls can be challenged this year.

               - The penalty for using PEDs is now more stringent: 80 games for the first offense, 162 games for the second offense and banned for life after the third offense.

            So here we are, Opening Day.  It's been a crazy off-season and I'm so glad we can just play already (or, at least, watch them play) instead of speculating about it. 

Happy Opening Day everyone!

            

The All Star Game

It’s that time of year again….the All Star Game is tonight!  I love the All Star Game.  It is so much fun to see the best of the best play together; to see rivals play side by side.  Unlike most other sports, the MLB All Star Game has significant meaning.  Since 2003 the All Star Game has determined which league gets home-field advantage for the World Series.  Do I agree with this policy?  No.  It makes no sense.  Here is the perfect example of why: In 2010, top of the seventh, Brian McCann, a Brave, hit a bases clearing double, scoring Matt Holliday, a Cardinal, Scott Rolen, a Red and Marlon Byrd, a Cub.  Phil Hughes, a Yankee, allowed two singles (accounting for two base runners) and then Matt Thornton, a White Sox, walked Marlon Byrd and allowed the hit by Brian McCann.  The National League won 3-1 and because of that the Giants had home-field advantage over the Rangers in the World Series.  It would be more logical if the team with the better record got home-field advantage.  But Mr. Selig does not consult me on such matters, so the All Star game is very important.  That year the Giants had the better record, so my example is really a moot point, but still.  I do not agree with it, but that’s the way it is and it does make the All Star Game quite interesting.

            2010 was especially special because it broke the National League’s fourteen year losing streak.  I was so proud of the National League that night.  Having a Brave knock in the winning runs was just icing on the cake.  I truly think the NL is superior and it was so great to see them finally rise above and show it.  The NL has now won three All Star Games and three World Series in a row; hopefully this trend will go on for a long time. 

I voted early this year and do not honestly remember who all I voted for.  I know I voted for mostly Braves with some Dodgers and Cardinals thrown in; oh, and Martin Prado.  When it came to the American League I was somewhat lost, since I do not follow it as closely.  The All Star Game presents a great way to learn about the players from teams that you may not follow; just another reason to love it.  The Braves got three in and the Dodgers, only one.  The Cardinals are well represented.  I’m disappointed that Freddie Freeman will not be able to play, but I am so glad that he won the final fan vote.  Yasiel Puig is very impressive and I would have definitely voted for him had a Brave not been in the running…but, well, Freddie.   He has been great offensively and defensively for years now and he deserved to go.  I’m excited that Brian McCann was chosen to be Freddie’s injury replacement.  As we learned in 2010, Brian McCann can make things happen.

A lot of people prefer the Home Run Derby (I have noticed that these are usually the same people who think baseball is boring).  Not me.  I think the Home Run Derby gets boring after a while.  It’s batting practice.  I will however say that it is special and touching when the player’s dad is throwing to them.  That is pretty awesome.  At least nothing is riding on the Home Run Derby, like home-field advantage for something really important.  I like small ball better and I think it would be so much fun if there were skills competitions much like the NHL does.  For example, they could test the faster guys to see who can steal a base fastest; the outfielders to see who can jump the highest to steal home runs; the pitchers to see who can pick off runners better; maybe even infield players to see who can turn the quickest double play; things like that.  Baseball is very situational, so it might be difficult to artificially create those scenarios, but at least it would be different. 

By the way, if you aren’t rushing home to watch the game, go out and pick up a copy of 42: The Jackie Robinson Story.  It comes out on Blu-Ray/DVD today.  I saw it in the theater.  It is an amazing movie.  I’m almost as excited about getting my copy as I am the game tonight!

I was afraid of this...

            Before the season started there was a lot of talk about the Braves having one of the (if not the) most powerful lineups in the league; especially after signing BJ Upton and trading for Justin Upton.  It was the hot topic of the off season.  There were lots of articles written, MLBN talked about it constantly and my twitter timeline was full of excitement about this team.  The Braves have what has become known as "The Outfield".  There is no limit to what they can do with the two Uptons and Jason Heyward.  And then in the infield there is Freddie Freeman, Dan Uggla and Brian McCann who can also be very powerful hitters.  I was excited too (still am)!  Well, about 90% excited and 10% concerned.  With power hitters like we have also comes strikeouts and streaks (good and bad).  During the American League Championship Series last year, when the Tigers swept the Yankees, the announcers talked about how the Yankees couldn’t make things happen because everyone was trying to hit a homerun.  Everyone wanted to be the hero and no one was content with just getting on base.  I am still learning about the game, so I love when announcers go into analyzing and explaining mode.  This reasoning made sense to me (I will not pretend that the movie Moneyball had nothing to do with it) and now I try to look for things like this.  So when the talk about the Braves’ power hitters started I couldn’t help but worry that at some point they too will have cold streaks because everyone wants a homerun and will not settle for less.

            The Braves started off hot!  They went 12-2 during the first five series, including a ten game winning streak.  And then they cooled off; going 3-7 during the next three series.  As of Sunday the Braves lead the league in homeruns with 36, and they are second in the league in strikeouts with 224.  I know they will come back around, but when?  And then how long before another cold streak?  Another concern is injuries.  Brian McCann has not played a game this season, Freddie Freeman has missed time and Jason Heyward is currently out.

 They just took the first game in a four game series against the Nationals.  Chip Caray just said during the post game show, “It’s great to see the Braves manufacture runs.”  I agree!  This game was the first game they have won that a homerun was not hit.  Jordan Schafer, who got on base four times and stole two bases in the game, scored on a single by Justin Upton in the first.  (What?  Justin Upton hits singles too?!?!)  Freddie Freeman scored on a single by Gerald Laird in the fourth and Laird scored on a sacrifice fly by Andrelton Simmons in the seventh.  It was fun and exciting to see the boys play small ball to get the job done.  If there is a series perfect for turning things back around it is against the Nationals.  They are expected to be the Braves’ main competition in the NL East.  Plus after being swept by the Braves a few weeks ago a few of the Nationals players said during interviews that they still believed they were the better team.  So beating them is just fun.