SB Nation Atlanta - Cardinals vs. Braves: Controversy reigns as Atlanta loses 6-3https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/46601/atlanta-fave.png2012-10-10T18:28:57-04:00http://atlanta.sbnation.com/rss/stream/32175792012-10-10T18:28:57-04:002012-10-10T18:28:57-04:00Jason Heyward is finalist for Hank Aaron Award
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<p>Jason Heyward is a finalist for the 2012 Hank Aaron Award, given to the most outstanding offensive player in each league. </p> <p><span>Jason Heyward</span> is a finalist for the Hank Aaron Award, given each year to the most outstanding offensive player in each league. Heyward hit .269 in 2012 with 27 home runs, 82 RBI and 21 stolen bases.</p>
<p>2012 was Heyward's third year in the league, and his batting average, RBI total, slugging average (.479) are career highs. He made a splash in his rookie season, batting .277 with an on base percentage of .393 and a slugging average of .456. He was named to the National League All-Star team and finished second in the 2012 Rookie of the Year voting, losing out to <span>Buster Posey</span> of the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.mccoveychronicles.com/">San Francisco Giants</a>. </p>
<p>The winner of the award is determined partly by fan voting and partly by a panel of notable judges, including Tony Gwynn, Paul Molitor, Joe Morgan, Robin Yount and Aaron himself. Some of the other finalists include <span>Adam LaRoche</span>, <span>Jay Bruce</span>, <span>Andrew McCutchen</span> and <span>Matt Holliday</span>. Fans can vote for Heyward at <a href="http://atlanta.braves.mlb.com/mlb/fan_forum/haa/y2012/index.jsp?">Braves.com</a>. </p>
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https://atlanta.sbnation.com/braves/2012/10/10/3485760/atlanta-braves-jason-heyward-hank-aaron-award-finalistsPete Holby2012-10-08T08:00:20-04:002012-10-08T08:00:20-04:00Coming to the defense of Braves fans
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<p>Braves fans have been criticized before for not caring enough about October baseball. Does anyone care to revise that opinion now?</p> <blockquote>
<p><a target="_blank" href="http://rapgenius.com/Bob-dylan-tempest-lyrics">The veil was torn asunder<br>'Tween the hours of twelve and one<br>No change, no sudden wonder<br>Could undo what had been done</a></p>
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<p>I'm just going to come right out and say it: Friday night's game was great. It sucks that the <a href="https://www.talkingchop.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Braves</a> were forced to play a one-game playoff against a team that finished six games behind them in the standings when in any other season since 1995, the Braves would have gone right into a series against the <a href="https://www.redreporter.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Reds</a> with <span>Kris Medlen</span> starting game one.* It sucks that the Braves lost to the <a href="https://www.vivaelbirdos.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Cardinals</a>, a team that continues to show the flaws of allowing inferior teams to have almost equal shots at winning championships. It sucks that the Braves <a target="_blank" href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/NL/2012-standard-fielding.shtml">committed the fewest errors in the National League, led the NL in defensive efficiency</a>, and yet committed three costly errors, thus losing a game in which they outhit the Cardinals 12-6. It especially sucks that the first and most important of those errors was committed by <span>Chipper Jones</span> in his final game, thus illustrating the one good line from <i>Cocktail: </i><a target="_blank" href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094889/quotes?qt=qt0337614">everything ends badly, or else it wouldn't end</a>. It sucks that the Braves mimicked their <a target="_blank" href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/ATL/ATL200210070.shtml">offensive performance against Russ Ortiz in the decider against the Giants ten years ago</a>,** repeatedly getting runners on base (including runners on second and third in each of the final three innings) and then not getting the big hit to get them home.</p>
<p>* - <i>I like the one-game wild card game in concept because it rewards teams for winning their divisions. It's just unfortunate from Atlanta's perspective that it wasn't around for years when it would have benefited the Braves and now it comes into being in a year where it hurts our team. Because of unlucky timing, the Braves get the worst of both worlds.</i></p>
<p>** - <i>In a nutshell, that's what it's like to be a Braves fan in October. Not only do you expect you team to lose, but you always have a comparator when the inevitable disappointment arrives.</i></p>
<p>It does not suck that Braves fans responded to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4Z5MIaISrU">one of the worst calls in recent memory</a> by engaging in a little civil disobedience. To be clear, I didn't throw anything myself. I'm fundamentally a risk-averse, obedient person who fulfills the stereotypes of a first-born child. However, I thoroughly enjoyed the experience of watching a loud, passionate crowd express its feelings for an atrocious decision by an umpire who raged against his own irrelevance by inserting himself into the game.* A little displaced anger is emotionally satisfying. Our team, put into an unfair situation, didn't play well, so let's focus on a bad call that went against us instead.</p>
<p>* - <i>Leaving aside the preposterous nature of the left field ump invoking the infield fly rule, the call struck me as an attempt by an umpire to justify his own existence. Think about it, you're a highly-paid professional who has been assigned to plays in left field. You don't get to make a call all game. Now, all a sudden, the ball is coming to your area! It's time to shine, regardless of, you know, whether the call is actually correct or even defensible.</i></p>
<p>In the coming days, there will be all sorts of tut-tutting from various voices about the reaction of Braves fans to the decision. Screw all of that. As far as I know, no one got hurt by the fusillade of flying cans and bottles. (Isn't this why sports teams don't sell glass bottles in the first place? If you are going to give us safe projectiles...) If you are going to put out-sized importance on just one game, then don't be shocked or angry when fans do the same. And let's be honest here, this was an unusually bad call. It's one thing to miss a bang-bang play at second or to miss a pitch on the black. It's another entirely to invoke the <i style="font-weight: bold; ">infield </i>fly rule in left field for a rookie shortstop who was retreating up until the time that the ball dropped and who was clearly struggling with a pop-up. Uniquely bad call, uniquely strong reaction.*</p>
<p>* - <i>My attitude on this might be affected by the facts that I went to a college whose student section is noted for <a href="http://mvictors.com/?ai1ec_event=paint-the-sky-with-marshmallows-u-m-20-boston-college-14-9211996&instance_id=" target="_blank">pelting marshmallows onto the field</a> and I am a member of a futbol club whose fans famously <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWJZcPSJyIs" target="_blank">lobbed a pig's head at Luis Figo</a>.</i></p>
<p>And the real pisser about the situation is that the rewards in baseball for regular season superiority are so marginal and yet the Braves were deprived of that advantage by Sam Holbrook's "look at me! I'm relevant!" moment. Home field advantage barely matters in baseball, but the Braves were lucky enough to have a situation where it did come into play: crowd-noise induced miscommunication between an on-rushing outfielder and a retreating infielder on a critical pop-up. Also, <a target="_blank" href="http://www.thefixisin.net/homefield.html">the primary value of home field advantage is that crowds affect referees</a>. It's hard to swallow the fact that the Braves won 94 games during the regular season and their reward was to get screwed at home against an 88-win team when the value of winning all of those games should have been that the Braves got to do the screwing. That's <a target="_blank" href="http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=7034063">how</a> it <a target="_blank" href="http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=3345251">works</a>* for the <a href="https://www.pinstripealley.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Yankees</a>.</p>
<p>* - <i>If I were an <a href="https://www.camdenchat.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Orioles</a> fan, I would do the cyber equivalent of throwing a Miller Light empty onto the field for the fact that Major League Baseball refers to the Jeffery Maier incident as one of "Baseball's Best Moments." And if MLB is going to laud Yankees fans for interfering in a game and altering the result by breaking a rule, then the hell with MLB censuring Braves fans in any way for legitimate protest.</i></p>
<p>As the Ted was melting down in the bottom of the eighth, I was struck by the sense that in the space of seven days, I went to a Georgia game in Athens and a Braves game at the Ted and the Braves game had the more passionate fans. The struggle for Atlanta pro sports has always been trying to import the visceral, lung-bursting feeling for college football that we get on Saturdays in the South into Falcons, Braves, and Hawks games. For one night, the Ted was Death Valley. We shouldn't be apologetic about that fact. This town could use more intensity at sporting events and more of the shared, memorable experiences that pull a fan base together. Friday night delivered both.</p>
https://atlanta.sbnation.com/2012/10/8/3463896/cardinals-vs-braves-nl-wild-card-2012Michael Bird2012-10-06T14:03:12-04:002012-10-06T14:03:12-04:00Brian McCann to possibly undergo shoulder surgery?
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<p>There are conflicting reports on whether Atlanta Braves catcher Brian McCann needs shoulder surgery.</p> <p><a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.talkingchop.com/">Atlanta Braves</a> catcher <span>Brian McCann</span> believes he will eventually need shoulder surgery that could sideline him for between four to five months, according to the Atlanta Journal Constitution's David O'Brien:</p>
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<p><a href="https://twitter.com/search/%23Braves">#Braves</a> McCann believes he'll need shoulder surgery and could miss a couple months or up to 4-5 mths.</p>
— David O'Brien (@ajcbraves) <a href="https://twitter.com/ajcbraves/status/254637007555411968" data-datetime="2012-10-06T17:39:28+00:00">October 6, 2012</a>
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<p>On the positive side of the spectrum, Braves GM Frank Wren actually doesn't believe that his veteran catcher will need to undergo this aforementioned surgery after the team medical staff inspected McCann:</p>
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<p>Wren said he the team's medical staff does not believe McCann will need to undergo surgery to repair his right shoulder</p>
— Mark Bowman (@mlbbowman) <a data-datetime="2012-10-06T17:14:18+00:00" href="https://twitter.com/mlbbowman/status/254630677511819265">October 6, 2012</a>
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<p>McCann hit .230 in 2012, .039 below his career low in average, after battling shoulder and knee injuries all season long. The shoulder ailment also caused McCann to see a dip in the defensive department after he threw out only 24 percent (24 of 100) of the baserunners who tried to steal on him this season.</p>
<p>It's possible some extended rest might just do him some good after playing in 121 games, but it's obvious that McCann will have to do something to regain his old form.</p>
https://atlanta.sbnation.com/braves/2012/10/6/3464902/brian-mccann-injury-braves-shoulder-surgeryCody Ulm2012-10-06T13:24:33-04:002012-10-06T13:24:33-04:00Kris Medlen reacts to NL Wild Card loss
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<p>Atlanta Braves pitcher Kris Medlen reacts after the Wild Card loss to the St. Louis Cardinals.</p> <p><a href="https://www.talkingchop.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Atlanta Braves</a> starter <span>Kris Medlen</span>, who suffered the loss as the Braves fell to the <a href="https://www.vivaelbirdos.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">St. Louis Cardinals</a> in the NL Wild Card one-game playoff, reacted following the contest.</p>
<p>The controversial infield fly call was still on Medlen's mind. His thoughts on the play, via <a href="http://blogs.ajc.com/atlanta-braves-blog/2012/10/05/braves-quotes-after-wild-card-loss-to-cardinals/?cxntfid=blogs_atlanta_braves_blog">The Atlanta Journal-Constitution</a>:</p>
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<p>"I saw it. It happened. But I just keep going back to ... I'm not a finger-pointer. We didn't play well today. Obviously that call is magnified by the situation. But if we make plays earlier, if I make better pitches earlier, it's a different game. It's easy to point fingers. Was it a bad call? I'll leave you guys to decide that. I just think we could have put ourselves in a better situation."</p>
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<p>Despite having home-field advantage after edging the Cardinals (88-74) in the regular season Wild Card standings, the Braves (94-68) were unable to capitalize and move on to the NLDS.</p>
<p>Medlen, however, felt the one-game playoff was good for baseball and felt the Cardinals "were the better team today."</p>
<p>On <span>Chipper Jones</span>' final game, Medlen echoed the sentiments of his teammates, saying, "It sucks for him to have to go out like this."</p>
https://atlanta.sbnation.com/braves/2012/10/6/3464684/braves-cardinals-kris-medlen-national-league-wild-cardJay Asser2012-10-06T11:52:57-04:002012-10-06T11:52:57-04:00Fredi Gonzalez says Atlanta has 'legit beef'
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<p>Atlanta Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said based on the explanation he was given on Friday night's infield fly rule, he had a "legit beef" with the call.</p> <p>The entire baseball world has to still be talking about the infield fly rule that was called Friday in the one-game Wild Card playoff between the <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.vivaelbirdos.com/">St. Louis Cardinals</a> and <a class="sbn-auto-link" href="https://www.talkingchop.com/">Atlanta Braves</a> at Turner Field. It could have been a game-changing play for the Braves, but with the ruling, no scoring came of what appeared to be miscommunication between a pair of Cardinals.</p>
<p>Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez thinks his team has a legitimate beef with the call, since infielders don't normally make plays in the outfield, nor do a pair fielders miscue on a play like that, ordinarily. Here's Gonzalez, <a href="http://blogs.ajc.com/atlanta-braves-blog/2012/10/05/braves-quotes-after-wild-card-loss-to-cardinals/">via the Atlanta Journal-Constitution</a>, on the explanation he was given Friday night on a call that led to a 20-minute delay in the game and the vandalizing of Turner Field:</p>
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<p>"It's an infield fly rule. I was arguing or protesting that it was not an ordinary effort. I thought that the shortstop had to go way out there to make a play on that flyball, and I think we've got to take account of the crowd, 50,000 people yelling, and I thought there was some miscommunication between Holliday and Kozma. I went out there and protested the game, and they came in and talked to Joe [Torre], because the protest – obviously there is no game tomorrow, so it's got to be done right there and now.</p>
<p>"So they came back and told me that they're going to go with what they called it on the field. I thought the umpires did a nice job handling that with my protest, and calling, and trying to get information. Again, from where I was, I just kind of took a glimpse of the replay, I [think] we have a legit beef."</p>
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https://atlanta.sbnation.com/braves/2012/10/6/3464428/chipper-jones-retirement-braves-cardinalsBrandon Scott2012-10-06T09:39:13-04:002012-10-06T09:39:13-04:00Sam Holbrook defends IFR call in Wild Card game
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<p>Friday night's left field umpire Sam Holbrook defends applying the Infield Fly Rule in the Wild Card game between the St. Louis Cardinals and Atlanta Braves. </p> <p>Umpire Sam Holbrook stood by his controversial Infield Fly Rule call in the Wild Card playoff game between the <a href="https://www.talkingchop.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Atlanta Braves</a> and <a href="https://www.vivaelbirdos.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">St. Louis Cardinals</a> at Turner Field. It was a play in the eighth inning with runners on first and second base, when <span>Andrelton Simmons</span> lobbed a fly ball between Cardinals' shortstop Pete Kozma and left fielder <span>Matt Holliday</span>.</p>
<p>The Infield Fly Rule was applied by Holbrook, meaning the Simmons was out and both runners advanced to the next base. The rule is in place to keep infielders from purposely letting pop-ups drop with runners on 1st and 2nd, because a double play could easily be turned in that scenario.</p>
<p>The point of the rule is to protect the baserunners and keep the infielder from cheating, neither of which happened in this case. Here's Holbrook, defending his call, <a href="http://blogs.ajc.com/atlanta-braves-blog/2012/10/05/braves-quotes-after-wild-card-loss-to-cardinals/?cxntfid=blogs_atlanta_braves_blog">via the Atlanta Journal-Constitution</a>:</p>
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<p>"I saw the shortstop go back and get underneath the ball where he would have had ordinary effort and would have caught the baseball, and that's why I called the infield fly."</p>
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<p>When asked if there a difference making that call starting from third base or left field:</p>
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<p>"It's all judged on what the fielder does. Once that fielder establishes himself and he has ordinary effort on the ball, that's when the call is made. So it wouldn't matter whether it was from third base or on the line out there. But, again, it's all based on what the fielder does, that's what I went on, and that's what I read."</p>
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https://atlanta.sbnation.com/braves/2012/10/6/3463984/braves-cardinals-nl-wild-card-umpire-sam-holbrookBrandon Scott2012-10-06T09:08:53-04:002012-10-06T09:08:53-04:00Chipper Jones didn't think it would end like this
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<p>The Atlanta Braves had a lot of opportunities to be in position to win Friday night's one-game Wild Card playoff with defending World Series champion St. Louis Cardinals. Read what Jones had to say following the last game of his 19-year MLB career. </p> <p><span>Chipper Jones</span> said after Friday night's loss in the one-game National League Wild Card playoff game against the <a href="https://www.vivaelbirdos.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">St. Louis Cardinals</a> that he didn't think his career would end like this. To say Friday night's game was peculiar would be appropriate.</p>
<p>Atlanta committed uncharacteristic errors at the worst possible time and <span>Kris Medlen</span> lost his first start in 14 starts. To top it off, the <a href="https://www.talkingchop.com/" class="sbn-auto-link">Braves</a> left a total of 12 runners on base, putting the tying run at the plate in three consecutive innings without being able to cash in. Perhaps a questionable Infield Fly Rule call applied to a scenario that took place in the outfield had something to do with the Braves not scoring again after the seventh inning.</p>
<p>Either way, <a href="http://blogs.ajc.com/atlanta-braves-blog/2012/10/05/braves-quotes-after-wild-card-loss-to-cardinals/?cxntfid=blogs_atlanta_braves_blog">here's what Chipper had to say to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution</a> after the game about the error he committed, which was one of three by the Braves:</p>
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<p>"On my play, I made a good play on the pick got a two seam grip, and it just sailed on me, no other way to explain it. Looking back I realized later on that Beltran had to stop on the line drive, and if I had to do it all over again, I probably would have double clutched and made sure I got a four seam grip and give Uggla a little more time to get to second base, and give myself a better opportunity to make a truer throw. We gave up six runs on six hits, and I don't know how many of them were unearned. But as far as I'm concerned the only one they should have scored was the homer."</p>
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https://atlanta.sbnation.com/braves/2012/10/6/3463890/chipper-jones-retirement-braves-cardinalsBrandon Scott2012-10-06T08:03:52-04:002012-10-06T08:03:52-04:00Reflecting on the Braves' 6-3 loss to St. Louis
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<p>The Braves were on the wrong side of an infield fly call, but the simple fact is the club had more than enough chances to win.</p> <p>The Braves' season is over following their fiasco in the inaugural Wild Card Playoff Game.</p>
<p>Last season, as the club finished in second place following a miserable run in September, Atlanta would have been grateful for a shot at a one-game playoff opportunity.</p>
<p>This year, despite having six more wins than St. Louis in the regular season, one frustrating night has knocked out a team that had the pieces to win a World Series.</p>
<p>The play that stole the headlines was an infield fly call by umpire Sam Holbrook. You've seen the play by now: Andrelton Simmons hit a ball about 250 feet to left field; rookie shortstop Pete Kozma backed off when he thought Matt Holliday called him off, and the ball landed for what appeared to be a hit. As the ball was about 15 feet from the ground, Holbrook signaled for an infield fly.</p>
<p>Panic, chaos and about 300 thrown bottles ensued.</p>
<p>The Braves ended up not scoring that inning. If the play would have been called correctly, the club would have had bases loaded with just one out and Brian McCann at the plate. Maybe he draws a walk. Or perhaps Mac shoots a ball into the gap for a bases-clearing double, tying the game at 6-6. Or maybe he would've rolled into his 93rd double play of the month on a weak grounder to second base.</p>
<p>We'll never know.</p>
<p>And despite all of this being said, it's still hard to think Atlanta didn't blow this game.</p>
<p>Three throwing errors all led to runs being scored. For it being Chipper Jones' final career game, he sure picked a bad time to turn in arguably the worst postseason effort of his life. Simmons and Dan Uggla, who had both been so sure-handed this season, turned routine plays into disasters.</p>
<p>The Braves went 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position. They left 12 on base. And even with the bad call in the eighth, neither McCann nor Michael were able to deliver the big hit to tie the game up. Uggla had a chance to tie it in the ninth against a pitcher struggling to throw strikes. He ended up grounding out weakly to end the game.</p>
<p>You can't say Atlanta didn't have their chances. It was a tough loss, and one that will sting for quite some time.</p>
<p>Now comes one of the most important off-seasons in franchise history. The Braves have been strapped for cash the last few years; that won't be the case this winter, and they have a ton of holes to fill. General manager Frank Wren will have the flexibility to make multiple moves with approximately $25 million at his disposal.</p>
<p>Who becomes the new center fielder?</p>
<p>Assuming Martin Prado shifts to third base, who becomes the new left fielder?</p>
<p>Does the team pick up Brian McCann's and/or Tim Hudson's options for next season?</p>
<p>Is an ace such as Zack Greinke a fit, or does Wren pursue cheaper options through trades?</p>
<p>Is it time to consider locking up Jason Heyward or Freddie Freeman for the foreseeable future and beyond?</p>
<p>All of these questions will be addressed in the coming months.</p>
<p>Until then, let's look back at this team in a positive light. They put on one hell of a show in 2012 and ended up falling just a little bit short. They left it all on the field, and that's all a fan can ask for.</p>
<p>--</p>
<p><i>Follow me on Twitter: </i><a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/scottcoleman55">@ScottColeman55</a></p>
https://atlanta.sbnation.com/braves/2012/10/6/3463588/braves-vs-cardinals-umpire-bad-callScott Coleman