2009 Braves as of 8/25

The following is a comment on a recent sports feature done on this season's superb play of Atlanta Braves outfielder Matt Diaz.

Here is a link to the story: http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=ap-braves-diaz&prov=ap&type=lgns&success=1#comments


Watch the replay or highlights of Sunday's game. In the at bat he hit the triple to right, he shifted his body in the box. Matt has an amazing swing. I love his speed, I love his heart. He legs out every play. I love Joe and Boog. Met em in LA July 4 a few years back.
I do love the outfield combination, with two lefties in Church and McLouth and a righty in Diaz. G.A was a great player with the Angels, but he can be the replacement to Terry down the line, in my eyes. Same style hitter as TP, just only hit leftie.
I don't wish to indentify them anymore, because that team has changed its name three times.
Been a Braves fan since i could remember.
Remember wearing Yankee stuff (I know, I Know), but that was younger than 8. I always had a love for the Braves. Maybe it was because they were always in the Series.
So what.
But what those Braves teams had was pitching. Smotlz, Glavine and Maddux.
I need not say more, if you catch my drift. Don't care what happened between management while handling Smotlz and Glavine.
Thought sometimes you do need to look at what works. Look at this pitching staff.
Derek Lowe can be the ace, but so can Javier Vasquez. Don't forget about the young Jair Jurrjens and of course, Tommy Hanson.
Tell me that rotation could be that way if we didn't let go of Glavine midseason.
And bringing up Kris Medlen to help shore up the long relief in the bullpen, letting Peter Moylan and sometimes the combination of Mike Gonzalez and Rafael Soriano.
The back end of the bullpen has been amazing of late. Closing down games, unlike one of the few I saw in L.A. this season when Soriano served up a 2-0 fastball to Andre Ethier, leading the Dodgers to a 5-4 walk-off win. The following series, they cleaned house, and the pitching staff shut the L.A. bats down as the offense awoke late in games two and three before getting to work early in the finale on a Sunday afternoon.
The lineup has had its ups and downs. McLouth is a great leadoff hitter, with a great combo of speend and power.
Prado, regardless of his health, has sparked the Brave offense many times ahead of Chipper Jones.
Jones has done his share this year. Sort of a drop off from last season's amazing batting average of .364, and his current .284 is below his career average, but he has done his job getting to McCann.
And have we got another baseball player. I have seen him go from his first game to handling the pitching staff without any calls from the dugout.
He handles the staff like I have seen only Jason Varitek of recent do so and succeed. David Ross is a strong armed backup that keeps Mac on his toes, but a catcher needs his rest, no doubt about it. even to a 25-year-old.
The bottom of the lineup has broken through. Yunel Escobar in the 5 hole followed by a slew of other formidale hitters, such as recently re-acquired Adam Laroche, Omar Infante, Kelly Johnson Diory Hernandez.
Bobby has known where to put each of these players in the lineup, sticking to a system that he has made work for years.
Don't get me wrong, Roger McDowell is not yet comparable to Leo Mazzone, but I still can't stop remembering Rock n' Jock where he always joked around and wore strange, distracting outfits while on the field.
Some talk earlier in the season said to replace Pendleton, but nothing has gone astray during the season. As far back as I remember, the Braves have been reluctant to release a coach during the season, especially if that area was slumping.
The Braves have been hit by the injury bug, and a few years back, even admitted it.
14 years of winning in a row, and people still expect them to win.
It is a winning tradition, a tradition that I have watched from early on.
And this year, that same bug has hit, but not as hard.
What the future holds for the Braves is extremely bright.
Oh yeah, and I forgot one more thing, Tim Hudson has started rehab.
If he can get back to his old self, that is 5 aces, on one staff, just like it was.
Soriano and Gonzalez are both free agents when the season is up, but the starting pitching staff is locked in for at least another year. There are options to pick up in the winter, and Wren will assess what is best for the Braves, as is his job.
Don't get mad at Frank for doing as he sees fit with the team. He is just like John Schuerholz, with a combination of young and veteran pitching and position players, this team can keep up with the best.
The Braves did fairly well against Boston, unable to take the series in a close third game finale, but the All-Star break saw new life, and the team is pushing forward.
This team has a great ora about it, and it brings back old memories.