After arriving in southern California after a 5-plus hour flight from Chicago, a town we just couldn't get out of fast enough after a sweep from the mighty Cubs, things looked bleak for the Bravos. The starting pitching staff went thin with, Glavine, Jierjunns on the disabled list, Smoltz way beyong the disabled list. As if that isn't bad enough, the team couldn't put together a multi-run inning, or an ANY run inning for several games, the 'bull'pen became the 'bear'pen, as relievers, came in late (actually pretty early in some games) and gave away leads that were, in most cases, not more than one or two runs. Even the broadcasters were somber at the start of game one against the Anaheim Angels, criticizing the young players for not performing well during their opporutnity to play in the Bigs.
As the division rivals, and quite possibly the best team in the National League, The Phillies stayed hot, as the Braves went on to break the record for losing the most one-run games on the road ( twenty-something I believe) . Things couldn't any worse. And then, they did.
Only minutes prior to the first pitch in Anaheim, Chipper, one of only two consistant performers (the other being McCan), and the backbone of the team, gets injured, quite freakishly, during batting practice. A ball hit off his bat, ricashaid off the metal in the batting cage and got Chipper on the cheek. The injury, although sounds silly, actually looked painful, as Chipper winced in pain, walked off the field with excorts and his cheek immediately began to swell. He left the premisis to get x-rays. And once again, the cards we were dealt, were a a bad hand, stacked with a whole bunch of nothing. But ol' Luke was right because "sometimes nothin' is a real cool hand,: because 'nothing' turned into something.
Something happened. We took the lead on Vlad Guierro and the Angels. Jo-Jo Reyes, a pitcher recongnized by Braves broadcasters as a genuine, eager to learn pitcher, threw a beauty of a game after recovering from two speedbumps, one being a leadoff homer.
Blanco hit a two-run double, getting the Braves in the lead, one that would stay a lead and turn into a bigger lead. Jo-Jo put faith in his defense, piching to allow contact, but trusting the guys to take care of it... And they did.
Brandon Jones, the new guy in the lineup had a fantastic debute batting in the lower part of the order, went on a hitting spree with Blanco and Franceour, who, as the three-player entourage, gave the lower end of the order most of the credit for the runs produced. For the first time a week, the Braves came out on a top beating National League-style coach Mike Scocia and the American :eague Angels 5-2.
Then, I there is the mlb.com sports reporter, who lead his game coverages story stating that nothing has gone according to script for the Braves. What scipt? There is no script..."You can't script October" ringing any bells?
There is still plenty of baseball to be played. The Braves are going to come out of this. Maybe not now, but soon enough.
Did we just get lucky tonight? Did the Angels play below their abilities tonight? I don't know. But I do believe that everything happens for a reason. Chipper going down while the ship was sinking is no exception. Maybe there was a spark. Maybe Bobby game em' hell in the dugout before the game. Or maybe, it was a sign, a message telling use to disperse our egges more wisely and not rely on Chipper to carry us. A sign directing us to a different road, one we have taken yet.
However, to contend, not just win, but pose an October threat, the Bravos hasve some holes to fill in.
- WITH A QUICKNESS: Speed, we need it. We need a speedy Gonzalen lead-off man, a base-stealer, someone to give us that edge, Blano, while swift, is not a "smart" runner, a skill that be honed to be effective.
-BAG OF TRICKS: picking off runners, catching guys trying steal, lineup order shake-up, small ball by with the old get em' on, get em' over, get em' in tactice,sqeeze plays ...
-CONSISANCY ALL AROUND: hitting, piching.........
-INSURANCE RUNS: A hotel room is refuge, something to support a family by providing a place to sleep when their house burns down ... insurace is a something you pay into over time, but helps to get the displaced family through to the other end.
The point? Run support just gives us a lead for a little while, insurance runs are consistant throughout the game, an accumulation that helps the team to the
other end allowing breathing room for everyone.
The Obvious:
ability to take a lead, and keep it
ability to come from behind
leave less Braves players on the basepads
make opponent pay for mistakes (error, up and in pitches, walks, lack of hussle ... etc.
starting pitchers staying in deeper
And so on......
Let's just hope we can keep our hales.
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