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Post by keystone61 on Mar 3, 2023 10:24:03 GMT -5
Dansby left for money......why not just own it and cut the BS? BTW, did anyone else notice that his wife is like a female version of himself? Weird
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Post by Hart's Middle Finger on Mar 3, 2023 11:16:27 GMT -5
Dansby left for money......why not just own it and cut the BS? BTW, did anyone else notice that his wife is like a female version of himself? Weird The BS like that is to be expected. It means little. It's not an indictment of Atlanta fans. When he was here he praised the support quite a bit. He's just playing up to his new fan base and their reputation earned when they sat there watching terrible baseball for years because there isn't that many sporting things to do in Chicago. Meanwhile back in reality... with virtually equal seating capacities, the Braves outdrew the Cubs in 2022 by an average of 6000 fans per game. 38,600 vs 32,600 with both stadiums capacity just a tick over 41K Meanwhile the lowlifes in Philadelphia with a seating capacity of right at 43K, drew only 28,500 on average. That's the Braves drawing 93% capacity The Cubs drawing at 78% The Thugs drawing at 66% Such amazing fandumb.
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Post by wncbravesfan on Mar 3, 2023 12:01:04 GMT -5
Friday, March 3, 1:05pm Today's lineup @ Astros
Wall LF Adrianza 3B Ozuna DH Hilliard RF Casteel C Shewmake SS Hechavarria 2B Fuentes 1B Sierra CF
Elder P
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Post by wncbravesfan on Mar 3, 2023 12:10:58 GMT -5
Braves think they can run wild, reopen 40-40 club with new rules. ‘Why not?’
NORTH PORT, Fla. — The good old 40-Homer, 40-Steal Club has been dark for 17 years now. The passwords have all expired. It’s been years since anyone even knocked on the door.
But maybe not for long. Not if the Atlanta Braves have anything to say about it.
What do you get when you combine a team of elite athletes with a set of new baseball rules that limit pickoff throws, pump up the size of the bases and shrink the distance between those bases? You get a team that says its mission is to reopen the 40-40 Club.
But now here’s the wildest part of that mission. The Braves are not just talking about opening the doors to admit one new member of that 40-40 Club. Would you believe three?
Right. Three: Ronald Acuña Jr., come on down. Michael Harris II, you too. And Ozzie Albies, feel free to ring that bell if you’re also in the neighborhood.
Three? Yep, three. We know this might sound like your standard dreamy spring training talk. But we’re passing it along because we had this actual dreamy spring training talk with Albies, the Braves’ resident second baseman and energizer.
“I think it’s gonna be an awesome year,” he began. “It’s gonna be a lot more running game for sure.”
So does that fit into his team’s plans? Albies smiled.
“Yes,” he said, “because we have a lot of speed runners in our lineup that can easily get 20 to 25 bags a year. Why not?”
So let’s start with Acuña. What is he capable of?
“He can easily get 40 to 50 bags by himself,” Albies said matter of factly.
Wait. Does that mean Acuña could do more than just join the 40-40 Club? Could he even become the first member of the (gasp) 50-Homer, 50-Steal Club?
“Why not?” Albies said. “Let’s do it. Nothing is impossible.”
Hmmm. Let’s put aside, for a moment, the inconvenient fact that nobody has ever entered that club. If Acuña is as healthy as he appears to be this spring, nearly two years removed from his gruesome knee injury, we’re talking about a player who can do things other humans can’t do. So who are we to say the impossible isn’t possible in his case?
Then what about Albies himself? We’d heard buzz in Braves camp he’d been dreaming of joining the 30-30 Club. So we asked him if he thought 30-30 was doable?
“I’ll take 30-30,” he said. “But my goal is to go 40-40.”
Hold on. Did he really say 40-40?
“Yeah, that’s the goal,” Albies reiterated. “That’s the mindset. When me and (base-running coach Eric Young) were talking, he said, ‘Why not go for 40 bags?’ I said, ‘Yeah, let’s do it.’”
Ozzie Albies talks with first-base coach Eric Young after hitting a single in a spring game. (Dave Nelson / USA Today) So if you’re doing the math in your head, you know they’re now up to two 40-40 guys, at least on Albies’ stat sheet. We thought we should notify him that no team has ever had two men do that in the same season. He wasn’t impressed.
“Well, maybe this year,” Albies said, without blinking. “Why not? Work hard. Might as well do it.”
So that’s 50-50 for Acuña, and 40-40 for Albies, huh? Then what, we asked, was Harris going to do? For the record, he had 19 homers and 20 steals last year as a rookie, or 24/31 if you include his 43 games in the minor leagues. So is he headed for 30-30?
“40-40,” Albies retorted confidently.
C’mon. He’s going 40-40, too?
“Why not?” Albies replied. “He’s a speedster. Plus, he has power. So 40-40, that would be great. That would be amazing.”
We wanted to make sure we had this straight: 40-40, 40-40, 40-40? Is that what he was saying?
“Why not?” Albies said. “I guess that’s history right there.”
He guesses? He guesses that’s history? How ’bout this for history:
Major League Baseball is about to launch its 148th season. In nearly a century and a half, a total of four men have gone 40-40 in any of those seasons. Only one of those four has done it in the 21st century. And no team has ever had more than one player join the 40-40 Club — not merely in a season, but in the history of its franchise. That’s the kind of history we’re talking about here.
The 40-40 Club
Year Player HR SB 2006
Alfonso Soriano
46
41
1998
Alex Rodriguez
42
46
1996
Barry Bonds
42
40
1988
Jose Canseco
42
40
So if that happened, we told Albies, and his team really did have three 40-40 guys, we could promise one thing for sure: The Braves definitely would be the talk of baseball.
“Why not?” he said again. “Why not? Nothing is impossible.”
Why not? He uttered those words over and over. It’s a beautiful motto. It’s a fabulous bar to set. It’s hard not to admire the ambition behind those words. But when he asked — eight times — why not, he can’t possibly have wanted to know the actual answer. Because there are many more reasons that actual answer is “not” than “why not.”
Here we go:
• How many active players have even had a 35-35 season at any point in their career? Exactly one. That would be Acuña himself. He went 41 homers, 37 steals in 2019, and did in fact have his sights set on 40-40 until a September hip injury. But again, he’s the only guy who has ever come close in the whole sport.
• How many teams have ever even had 35-35 teammates? That would be zero — in the history of baseball.
• How many leagues have even had two members of the 35-35 Club in the same season? Even that has happened only twice. Alex Rodriguez (Mariners) and Shawn Green (Blue Jays) did it in the American League in 1998. Eric Davis (Reds) and Darryl Strawberry (Mets) did it in the National League in 1987. So that was kind of a while ago.
• All right, what about 30-30 teammates? Even that has happened only twice in any season. Strawberry and Howard Johnson did it for those 1987 Mets. And Ellis Burks and Dante Bichette did it for the 1996 Rockies. And that’s all.
But you know who also played — and stole 53 bases — for those 1996 Rockies? That would be a guy named Eric Young. And why do we mention that? Because that very same Eric Young is — as Albies mentioned — the base-running coach/guru for these 2023 Braves. And this team, he said, reminds him of that team.
“You know what would be nice?” Young said, without prompting. “Going back to those Rockies days: 200 home runs, 200 steals.”
You should write this down then: Only one team in the history of this sport has ever put up 200 home runs and 200 stolen bases in one season. That team was Young’s ’96 Rockies.
They swiped 201 bases, with six of the eight position players stealing 17 or more. They launched 221 home runs, with Burks, Vinny Castilla and Andres Galarraga each bopping 40-plus, in the glorious, pre-humidor days of Coors Field. They led the league in both categories.
Eric Young led the NL with 53 stolen bases in 1996. He swiped 465 bags in his career. (David Banks / USA Today) So how many teams have stolen 200 bases in a season since? That would be one — José Reyes’ 2007 Mets (with exactly 200). How many teams have even led their league in both categories, with any number, since? That would be two — the 2012 Brewers and the 2017 Brewers.
We know the Braves have lead-the-league-in-homers potential, because they did that last year, with 243. (The Yankees led the majors with 254.) But they stole only 87 bases, which ranked just ninth in the NL. The way Albies is talking, he and Acuña could beat that by themselves this year. Does that seem realistic?
We’d vote no on that. But if the Braves are talking big numbers and big dreams, Young knows he needs to admit something: That’s probably his fault.
“I always teach my guys to have a set of high goals,” he said, “because when you set a smaller number, it limits you. So when you get to that number, then what? They can get 10 (steals) in the first month if these opportunities come up. So I always tell my guys to think of a higher goal than that. Why limit yourself with 20 (steals) or 30?”
Higher goals are a beautiful thing. But are the goals Young and Albies are setting even remotely possible? Let’s think that through.
Can Ronald Acuña Jr. get back to his 2019 form? (Brad Penner / USA Today) CAN ACUÑA REALLY GO 40-40 OR 50-50? Albies and Young are both adamant about this part. Don’t assume Acuña can’t do 40-40 based on anything you saw last year, when he hit just 15 homers and stole 29 bases (but also was thrown out 11 times).
Acuña scuffled all year with knee soreness. But remember, in 2019, he just missed going 40-40. And when he blew out his knee in 2021, he was on pace for 44 homers and 34 steals. So when we asked Young what Acuña can do this year that he wasn’t physically capable of doing last year, Young painted 2022 as just a blip on the Acuña radar screen.
“I think Ronald is going to come back to the 2019 numbers,” he said. “That’s what I think. Ronald looks very good. So 40-40 is a strong possibility. And I think he’ll hit close to .300. And if he does all that, you know what you guys are going to be talking about at the end of the year for Ronald Acuña Jr? MVP. That’s what.”
It’s easy to be skeptical. But how about we just accept that idea, that Acuña is a threat to do pretty much anything if healthy. We’ve at least seen that. On the other hand …
Michael Harris II stole 20 bases in 22 attempts last season. (Dale Zanine / USA Today) HOW COULD HARRIS POSSIBLY GO 40-40? The folks around him are predicting big things. Harris is aware of that talk. He just doesn’t want to be an active participant in that talk.
“I don’t really want to put a number on it,” he said. “I guess we’ll just see, as the days go on. I’m just trying to get as many wins as I can.”
But you know who is showing none of that restraint when they talk about what could lie ahead for Harris, last year’s NL Rookie of the Year, who doesn’t even turn 22 until next week? That would be pretty much everyone in his camp. Harris has the look of a guy who could win the Falcons’ running back job tomorrow if he put his mind to it. And his teammates and coaches can’t stop gushing about his rare package of coolness, agility and pure strength.
“You know who he reminds me of, with those legs, is Bo Jackson,” Young said. “When he runs, it’s power. It’s a force. And the only guy I can remember like that is Bo Jackson.
“So I’m anxious to see his career development and how many bags he can steal, because let me tell you: He’s become a better hitter since he’s been up here (in the majors). And that’s only going to get better with experience. And when it all clicks, he’s going to be really special.”
OK, no argument there. But 40-40? Harris’ home run total for his professional career is 33 — in 311 games. So is he really doing that 40-40 thing this year, in his first full big-league season? Why are we inclined to take the under on that? Speaking of which …
Ozzie Albies, pictured this spring, set career highs with 30 homers and 20 steals in 2021. (Nathan Ray Seebeck / USA Today) HOW THE HECK COULD ALBIES GO 40-40? We want to believe every word that rolls off of Albies’ tongue. But 40 steals and 40 homers? It’s going to take some convincing to believe those words.
• Stolen bases by Albies last year — three!
• Home runs by Albies last year — eight!
“Ozzie had a lot of things going on health-wise last year,” Young said. “So the fact that he’s actually saying that is a good sign, because that means he’s going to be looking forward to making it happen.”
It’s true that it was One of Those Years for Albies. He broke his foot in June, then came back and made it through one game before breaking his finger in September. So he played in only 64 games — and wasn’t 100 percent in most of those.
Did we see enough, then, in 2021 — when this guy mashed 30 home runs and 77 extra-base hits, while stealing 20 bases in just 24 tries — to have faith there really is a 40-40 season in him? And is it OK if we also mention that he’s 5-foot-8?
Whatever. You know how Albies answers those questions, right?
“Why not?”
But there’s one other thing to remember. This isn’t Ozzie Albies’ track meet to run, and it isn’t Eric Young’s track meet. The manager, Brian Snitker, and the front office get to make this call, about how much these new rules will allow the Braves to run amok. And that jury is still out.
It’s way too early for any of these men to know for certain what’s doable now that wasn’t doable before. But it’s not too early for them to do anything and everything they can to find out.
Through their first five games this spring, the Braves were second in the Grapefruit League in stolen-base attempts (with eight). They’ve also had quite a few other times when their runners took off but the pitch got fouled off or put in play. So this fact-finding mission is on, full speed ahead. Literally.
“I don’t know what to expect, quite honestly,” Snitker said, “what teams are going to do and how they’re going to approach this. But I’ve got a feeling we’re gonna see some weird s— in spring training.”
Well, as the manager of a team whose very first game of spring training ended on a pitch-clock violation, that’s easy for him to say. But what’s not so easy to say is whether the new limit on pickoff throws is all it will take to allow his team to run like Whitey Herzog’s 1987 Cardinals.
So his runners have tried taking longer leads, just to see what they’re comfortable with. And after opposing pitchers even make one move to first base, look out. We’ve seen Braves players just take off, on first move, after that happens. So it’s pedal to the metal so far this spring. And it’s something to watch as we go along.
Then again, it’s all in the lab-experiment phase right now. But if Young and Albies have a vote, it’s here to stay. And what if they’re right? What if this does become the first team in history with two 40-40 teammates … let alone three … let alone one of them even going 50-50?
“If we have that, then guess what?” Young said. “Guess what the Braves are going to be doing at the end of this year? Spraying champagne. That’s what.”
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joeyg39
AA prospect
Go Phillies!
Posts: 1,024
Likes: 70
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Post by joeyg39 on Mar 3, 2023 12:53:20 GMT -5
Dansby left for money......why not just own it and cut the BS? BTW, did anyone else notice that his wife is like a female version of himself? Weird The BS like that is to be expected. It means little. It's not an indictment of Atlanta fans. When he was here he praised the support quite a bit. He's just playing up to his new fan base and their reputation earned when they sat there watching terrible baseball for years because there isn't that many sporting things to do in Chicago. Meanwhile back in reality... with virtually equal seating capacities, the Braves outdrew the Cubs in 2022 by an average of 6000 fans per game. 38,600 vs 32,600 with both stadiums capacity just a tick over 41K Meanwhile the lowlifes in Philadelphia with a seating capacity of right at 43K, drew only 28,500 on average. That's the Braves drawing 93% capacity The Cubs drawing at 78% The Thugs drawing at 66% Such amazing fandumb. ***He's just playing up to his new fan base and their reputation earned when they sat there watching terrible baseball for years because there isn't that many sporting things to do in Chicago.*** Your indictment of one of the best sports towns in the country is laughable. You must be trolling because I've never heard a more ignorant statement.The Cubs stink and the fact that they're still getting 78% capacity is a miracle. If the Braves were as bad, what do you think that would look like? It would be Meemaw, Papaw and junior most likely showing up at about 50% capacity, while the hipsters and other fair weather fans checking out. www.forbes.com/sites/christinasettimi/2020/07/17/americas-best-sports-cities-2020/?sh=60369777daef
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Post by PABraveFan on Mar 3, 2023 14:04:09 GMT -5
Braves 6 Astros 0 Bottom 4th
Elder 3 IP, 1 H, 0 BB, 3 K, 1 DP/Faced the minimum Adrianza 2-2, BB, 2 RBI Fuentes 1-2, HR Ozuna 2-3, 2B Hilliard 1-3, 2B, 2 RBI
Astros Urquidy 2 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 3 K Stanek 1 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 2 K
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Post by keystone61 on Mar 3, 2023 14:37:30 GMT -5
The BS like that is to be expected. It means little. It's not an indictment of Atlanta fans. When he was here he praised the support quite a bit. He's just playing up to his new fan base and their reputation earned when they sat there watching terrible baseball for years because there isn't that many sporting things to do in Chicago. Meanwhile back in reality... with virtually equal seating capacities, the Braves outdrew the Cubs in 2022 by an average of 6000 fans per game. 38,600 vs 32,600 with both stadiums capacity just a tick over 41K Meanwhile the lowlifes in Philadelphia with a seating capacity of right at 43K, drew only 28,500 on average. That's the Braves drawing 93% capacity The Cubs drawing at 78% The Thugs drawing at 66% Such amazing fandumb. ***He's just playing up to his new fan base and their reputation earned when they sat there watching terrible baseball for years because there isn't that many sporting things to do in Chicago.*** Your indictment of one of the best sports towns in the country is laughable. You must be trolling because I've never heard a more ignorant statement.The Cubs stink and the fact that they're still getting 78% capacity is a miracle. If the Braves were as bad, what do you think that would look like? It would be Meemaw, Papaw and junior most likely showing up at about 50% capacity, while the hipsters and other fair weather fans checking out. www.forbes.com/sites/christinasettimi/2020/07/17/americas-best-sports-cities-2020/?sh=60369777daefMeemaw, Papaw, and Junior? Yet more evidence that you're a troll. Gotta love the way northerners put down southerners, and yet they're all moving here as fast as possible. Besides that, a southern redneck can't hold a candle to a northern redneck.......hell, even the non-redneck northerners have no class (they dress like sh/t). As for Chicago being a sports town, I think HMF nailed that pretty well with his attendance figures. Chicago had the Bulls' run, the Cubs won 1 title in 200 years or whatever, the same for the Sox, and the same for da Bears (the Blackhawks don't register for me, as I'm not a hockey guy).
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Post by PABraveFan on Mar 3, 2023 15:15:09 GMT -5
A bunch of minor league pitchers have turned a Braves 8-0 lead into a 10-8 deficit in the 7th inning.
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Post by Fumbduckery on Mar 3, 2023 15:16:27 GMT -5
***Meanwhile your contemporaries in Philadelphia decided to basically burn their own city like the pack of animals they are.... because they lost a football game.*** Thanks for making my point... It's nice to see you finally admitting the Philadelphia fans are psychotic animals. The city of brotherly lard can have that all they want, and keep it right there. Anybody who thinks acting like barbarians and criminals is a badge of honor, something to brag about, is obviously an idiot.
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Post by Fumbduckery on Mar 3, 2023 15:22:11 GMT -5
I saw an article that said so far spring training games are lasting on average 30 minutes less than games from last year.
That cracks me up that someone would be that agenda driven and/or that ignorant to even bother mentioning that.
Nobody is trying to win these games, there's no strategy and starters are hardly playing at all.
Let's wait until the games matter and everybody and their uncle starts stealing bases left and right, stretching innings out by more runs being scored, DP's being eliminated, etc etc...and having 6 extra pitching changes made DURING innings. Right now managers are likely just letting pitchers pitch full innings rather than trying to strategize and make moves during the innings. Laughable anyone would even waste time with this right now.
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Post by Hart's Middle Finger on Mar 3, 2023 15:24:25 GMT -5
I'm just throwing out statistical facts.
Facts like the 22 Cubs record was 74-88 and they had less attendance by 4K per game than the 2017 Braves who were 72-90. The 72-90 Braves coming off several bad seasons that hadn't won anything since 1995.
I also like how the facts about Philly were deftly ignored. Like their middling attendance this past year while in a playoff chase with a with a baseball HOF legend like Harper to come and gawk at.
Hell... more people showed up for the post SB loss car burning festivities than showed up for Phillies games.
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Post by keystone61 on Mar 3, 2023 15:42:56 GMT -5
A bunch of minor league pitchers have turned a Braves 8-0 lead into a 10-8 deficit in the 7th inning. Dat's what Spring Training is for.
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Post by keystone61 on Mar 3, 2023 15:54:36 GMT -5
I saw an article that said so far spring training games are lasting on average 30 minutes less than games from last year.
That cracks me up that someone would be that agenda driven and/or that ignorant to even bother mentioning that.
Nobody is trying to win these games, there's no strategy and starters are hardly playing at all.
Let's wait until the games matter and everybody and their uncle starts stealing bases left and right, stretching innings out by more runs being scored, DP's being eliminated, etc etc...and having 6 extra pitching changes made DURING innings. Right now managers are likely just letting pitchers pitch full innings rather than trying to strategize and make moves during the innings. Laughable anyone would even waste time with this right now.
In trying to attract new customers, baseball is running off old customers. NASCAR did the same thing. I'm not saying some tweaks aren't in order, but making the amount of time it takes to play games the focal point seems stupid to me. It takes all day to play NFL games now with every other play being reviewed, but apparently that's fine. How do short games help the teams? They don't. When customers leave an hour earlier, that means less time to have a couple more beers, get the kids another ice cream, etc., so it certainly doesn' t help the bottom line. Who exactly is this supposed to help? People are gonna now say, "geez, baseball games last 20 minutes less now, I think I'll become a baseball fan now?" It's stupid, and it amazes me that people who supposedly have the qualifications to run these organizations come up with this kind of stuff.
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Post by Hart's Middle Finger on Mar 3, 2023 16:33:15 GMT -5
All they had to do with the pitch thing is limit batters stepping out of the box and limit pitchers stepping off the rubber.
Instead of taking small measured steps, they do nothing including enforcing existing rules and then overreact when they finally decide to do something.
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Post by Fumbduckery on Mar 3, 2023 18:21:23 GMT -5
I saw an article that said so far spring training games are lasting on average 30 minutes less than games from last year.
That cracks me up that someone would be that agenda driven and/or that ignorant to even bother mentioning that.
Nobody is trying to win these games, there's no strategy and starters are hardly playing at all.
Let's wait until the games matter and everybody and their uncle starts stealing bases left and right, stretching innings out by more runs being scored, DP's being eliminated, etc etc...and having 6 extra pitching changes made DURING innings. Right now managers are likely just letting pitchers pitch full innings rather than trying to strategize and make moves during the innings. Laughable anyone would even waste time with this right now.
In trying to attract new customers, baseball is running off old customers. NASCAR did the same thing. I'm not saying some tweaks aren't in order, but making the amount of time it takes to play games the focal point seems stupid to me. It takes all day to play NFL games now with every other play being reviewed, but apparently that's fine. How do short games help the teams? They don't. When customers leave an hour earlier, that means less time to have a couple more beers, get the kids another ice cream, etc., so it certainly doesn' t help the bottom line. Who exactly is this supposed to help? People are gonna now say, "geez, baseball games last 20 minutes less now, I think I'll become a baseball fan now?" It's stupid, and it amazes me that people who supposedly have the qualifications to run these organizations come up with this kind of stuff. Just wait until they cut the games to 7 innings. I give it two years of this current nonsense, and when they see it's not working (and possibly making games longer with more runs and less DP's), they'll cut the games down to 7 innings.
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