Jun 04 2008
In-game blog starts with breaking news
By Bud L. Ellis
braves.today.com
ATLANTA — It was my plan to open up our in-game blog with some news and notes surrounding today’s Braves/Marlins contest, but that is being shelved for breaking news regarding John Smoltz.
The Braves have called an 11:30 a.m. press conference — just a few minutes from now — to discuss Smoltz’s balky shoulder and his future. There is speculation Smoltz may be facing season-ending shoulder surgery, and the only man in Major League history with 200 wins and 150 saves has said in the past he will not try to recover from another surgery (he’s had four in the past).
More details to come as the press conference begins in the comments section below, where we’ll also do our in-game blogging.
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David O’Brien with the Atlanta-Journal Constitution is reporting Smoltz will indeed have season-ending surgery, according to a team offical:
http://www.ajc.com/sports/content/sports/braves/stories/2008/06/04/smoltz_0605.html
Opening statements from today’s press conference:
Frank Wren, Braves GM:
“When he arrived at the ballpark yesterday, it was evident to all of us this was not something he could get through.”
“John goes to Birmingham (Ala., to see Dr. James Andrews) Tuesday, and will likely end up with season-ending shoulder surgery.”
“It’s a sad day. We don’t know the outcome of surgery.”
“He’s a special guy, in the clubhouse, on the club. He’s meant so much to everything we’ve accomplished here.”
Bobby Cox, Braves manager:
“It’s a tough loss, losing John. During the spring, you could tell John was hurting. He had a dynamic start to the season … but the in-between days were rough. He could only tolerate so much pain.”
“I’m not going to say John’s not going to pitch next year. Hopefully, this operation will allow him to do that.”
John Smoltz:
“Certainly mixed emotions. I’m relieved I don’t have to go through this. Sleep has been very difficult for me. I haven’t had a lot of sleep the past four or five months. I’ve had a lot of pain.”
“I’m totally content with it. It’s not the end of the world. I’m going to be around, and I’m going to do everything I possibly can to continue to pitch.”
“If we win this division by one game, or three games, I feel good because I won three games.”
“For my mind, I had to do some things. I had to go through rehab. I couldn’t make the decision just doing that. I had to get back on the mound … had I struck out the side, I’d be having the same press conference. It was just too much.”
More Smoltz:
“It’d be easy, if I was a different person, after New York, to cash in the chips and ride out the year. But I’m not that type of person … there are no more ‘what ifs.’”
“You get to October, eek out a few innings, then I am talking about retirement … there is not one remorseful, sad, bitter bone in my body.”
“I will listen very intently to the doctors, my body, my rehab. I won’t come back just to say I will come back.”
Smoltz sounds like he still wants to pitch, and that he exhausted every option to try and pitch this season. He’s talked about how the shoulder has impacted his everyday life, and how he’s looking forward to doing things with his kids again. Plus, he knows he can’t help the team and is only going to hurt the shoulder even worse by trying to pitch.
He definitely sounds at peace with the decision to shut it down for the season.
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Obviously, Mike Gonzalez needs to get through with his minor-league rehab assignment. Putting Soriano and Gonzalez with Ohman, Boyer and Acosta still gives this team one of the best bullys in the majors.
Smoltz is still speaking … continuing to talk about not knowing how bad the shoulder is until the doctors get in there, but he wants to come back and pitch again in 2009.
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Initial reaction from me, who’s watched Smoltz’s career since the Braves shipped Doyle Alexander to Detroit 21 years ago for Smoltz, then a minor leaguer:
– You’ve got to admire everything he did to try and pitch through the pain. He easily could have shut it down for the season — or forever — and be content. But the man has as intense of a desire to compete as any athlete I’ve ever seen.
– It would not surprise me in the least if Smoltz is on the bump at Lake Buena Vista at the end of March, throwing strikes. By all rights, Smoltz’s career should’ve ended several years ago (and Smoltz basically said the same thing himself during this morning’s presser).
– With that said, I’m worried about the degree of damage the doctors will find when they get into the shoulder. Smoltz, nor nobody else, knows exactly what’s wrong in there. And, he is 41, mind you. Those innings pile up, and you only can compete against your body for so long.
– I really don’t think this impacts the bullpen as much as it may seem. Yes, running a guy out there with 154 career saves who throws 95 for an inning is a good thing. But my doubt about Smoltz’s health was just how often could he pitch. I think now we all know the answer: once. The pain was too much. I don’t think you could realistically rely on him to pitch even three times a week out of the pen.
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Now to today’s game: No Chipper in there (Frenchy hitting third; Omar Infante hitting seventh and playing third). If you recall, the Braves’ trainers were talking to Chipper after he scored on Greg Norton’s game-winning double last night. Don’t know if it’s related or not, but no Mr. .409 in the lineup this afternoon.
And FINALLY, Josh Anderson gets a chance to start. The speedy outfielder is in the lineup today, batting eighth. Anderson hit .358 in 21 games with Houston last September, and stole 13 of 16 bases with Triple-A Richmond before being promoted last Friday when Mark Kotsay went on the DL.
Here are the lineups:
Fighting Fish:
SS Hanley Ramirez
RF Jeremy Hermida
3B Wes Helms
1B Mike Jacobs
LF Luis Gonzalez
CF Cody Ross
C Mike Rabelo
2B Alfredo Amezaga
P Mark Hendrickson
Bravos:
SS Yunel Escobar
2B Kelly Johnson
RF Jeff Francoeur
1B Mark Teixeira
LF Greg Norton
C Brian McCann
3B Omar Infante
CF Josh Anderson
P Tom Glavine
Just glancing at Smoltz’s career stats … if there is any doubt this cat is a Hall of Famer, then I seriously question your baseball intellect:
210 wins, eighth among active pitchers, 91st all time
154 saves, 18th among active pitchers, 61st all time
15 postseason victories, most all time
15-4 career postseason record
2.62 career postseason ERA
194 career postseason strikeouts
3,011 strikeouts, 16th all time
3.26 career ERA, top 10 in the NL eight times
3,395 career innings, top 10 in the NL eight times
Eight-time All-Star selection
1996 NL Cy Young Award winner
1992 NLCS MVP winner
Only pitcher with 200-plus wins and 150-plus saves
http://www.baseball-reference.com/s/smoltjo01.shtml
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Uh-oh: Two walks for Glavine with one out in the first, and a good hitter up in Mike Jacobs. Typical first-inning struggles for Glavine …
Base hit by Jacobs to right. Braves and Glavine down 1-0 in the first.
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Pitcher’s best friend: 6-4-3 double play ends the top of the first with just one run scoring. 1-0 Fishies.
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Hey NORTON! Single to left-center scores Kelly Johnson (who singled to left). Francoeur to second. Tied at 1-1.
Anderson to Escobar to McCann cuts down Ribelo at the plate. Perfect execution, and the catcher running didn’t hurt, either.
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Get ‘em on, get ‘em over, get ‘em in:
Anderson beats out a ball to the right side for an infield single.
Glavine bunts him to second.
Escobar serves an inside pitch to right. RBI.
2-1 Braves.
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Nice swing by Francoeur to drive in Escobar and make it 3-1. Maybe Frenchy can build off that nice piece of hitting.
3-1 Bravos after two.
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Wow! Hanley Ramirez just blasted one DEEP into the seats in dead center, a long blast that makes it 3-2 in the top of the third.
Good grief, Glavine left that one over the dish and it got smoked like a cheap cigar.
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So, what would you say if I had walked up to you in March and told you on June 4 the trio of Tom Glavine, John Smoltz and Mike Hampton would have combined for five wins?
You probably would’ve said when does football season start?
Where would this team be without Jair Jurrjens, Jeff Bennett and Jorge Campillo?
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Man, nice grab by Cody Ross in the gap in left-center, running down an Escobar shot in the fourth. That one might have scored Glavine, who worked Mark Hendrickson for a walk.
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Three two-out RBIs for the Bravos so far (Norton, Escobar, Frenchy). The clutch hitting at home keeps on rolling …
Glavine is above 90 pitches in the fifth. Royce Ring loosening in the pen … a double by former Brave Wes Helms puts the tying run on base for Mike Jacobs …
Glavine strikes Jacobs out on a good pitch down low. 3-2 Braves, halfway home.
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Glavine’s day is done after five: six hits, two runs, two walks, five strikeouts, 97 pitches.
Blaine Boyer, who hasn’t pitched since hurting his knee Sunday, toeing the slab for the Bravos to open the sixth.
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Boyer in the sixth: pop-up, strikeout, groundout (13 pitches, nine strikes). Maybe all he needed was two days off … after all, Bobby’s run him out there just about every day (or so it seems).
3-2, on to the bottom of the sixth.
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The subs are doing just fine, and I’m not talking Subway, either: Omar Infante doubles deep to left, and Josh Anderson singles him home.
2-for-3 for Anderson.
4-2 Braves, bottom of the sixth.
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More good fundamental baseball: Boyer drops down a perfect bunt down the first-base line, moving Anderson to second.
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Boyer walks one in the seventh, but otherwise breezes through. Very good outing, and a healthy one, too. Still 4-2 Braves.
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Wow … Boyer is back out there. Guess when Bobby’s running the bullpen, two days off is enough to run you back out there for a third frame.
Wow … Boyer’s been so good (and so important) this season, I don’t know if I’d push him in this heat. But he’s the skipper …
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And as soon as I write that and post it, Boyer gets a groundout, Bobby emerges from the dugout for a double switch …
Blanco in for Norton (so we’ve got the speedy kids — Blanco in center, Anderson moving to left — out there in the field). New pitcher is Will Ohman, who got the win last night.
Boyer’s line: 2 1/3 innings, no hits, no runs, one walk, two strikeouts. 36 pitches, 23 strikes.
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Man, the Marlins just got hosed on a play at first. KJ barehanded the ball and threw way late to Tex, but first-base ump Adrian Johnson somehow called Mike Jacobs out.
Fredi Gonzalez came out and got tossed. Horrible call. Benefits the Braves, for it keeps the tying run from coming to the plate. But a horrible call nonetheless.
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And, after the late throw that wasn’t ruled late, KJ dives to his left and makes a great play on Gonzalez’s ball, throwing him out to end the inning.
4-2 Braves, mid eighth.
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On to the ninth, and the closer of the day is …
Manny Acosta.
4-2 Braves.
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Oh boy … leadoff single in the ninth for the Marlins. Mike Rabelo up as the tying run.
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BANG! Tied game. Rabelo with a two-run homer. Pitch belt high, over the plate, and it got ripped.
4-4, folks.
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Hey, look at it this way: If Acosta can get out of the ninth with no more runs scoring and the Braves can score one in the bottom half (Chipper’s still on the bench, remember), it would be a one-run victory.
OK, I’m trying to find the positive out of a negative situation. Darn it!
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Jorge Cantu with a double off another Acosta offering up in the zone, breaking ball that got WAY too much of the plate.
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Manny Acosta ain’t foolin’ anybody. Hanley Ramirez just missed a double off the wall in right by 5 feet or so … foul ball, but ripped just the same.
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ANOTHER hanging breaking ball and Hanley Ramirez deposits it deep into the seats in left-center. Two-run homer (second homer of the day for Ramirez), and Manny Acosta has melted down in the Georgia heat.
Four hits, four runs, 1/3 of an inning. A near certain win now looks lost. 6-4 Fish, and Acosta hears some boos as he comes out of the game.
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Mike Gonzalez, where are you?
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Royce Ring comes in and gets two outs to end the top of the ninth. Unfortunately, Manny Acosta came in to start the inning and totally destroyed things.
6-4 Marlins, on to the bottom of the ninth.
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Escobar fouls off a couple of pitches on a 3-2 count, then walks. One on for Kelly.
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KJ just missed it (and you could tell by the look on his face), a deep fly out to center.
Frenchy up as the last hope.
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And that’s it … a chopper up the middle, Ramirez fields it, steps on second, and that’s that.
What a wasted opportunity for the Braves. This one is going to sting. Thanks for visiting; full recap tomorrow morning.
Marlins 6, Braves 4
Marlins 6 runs, 10 hits, 0 errors, 6 LOB
Braves 4 runs, 9 hits, 0 errors, 8 LOB
WP: Miller (2-2)
LP: Acosta (3-3)
SV: Gregg (11)
HR: Florida, Ramirez 2, Rabelo
That was painful…..extremely painful. Lord please don’t let this day be the turning point of the season.