BERIGAN

Ha! I couldn't think who the 3rd pitcher was, and had to look him up! I remembered Javier Vasquez, and Lowe, forgot all about Kenshin Kawakami! A little less depressing for sure. It just has been such a rough year(as I mentioned before, we have lost the 2 main guys who were the radio and TV face of the franchise for 30 years, in the space of about 4 months) Then, after losing out on Peavy(Still think his elbow will blow out this year) and AJ Burnett, and to only get Vasquez(and gave up way too much,Tyler Flowers will be a star in the majors, mark my word!) well, it was like thinking you are going to date both Jessica Alba and Jessica Biel, only to end up with Kathy Griffin! To think you had 40+ mil to spend, and no one wanted to come to Atlanta, it hurt. To see the guy who has given so much to the francise in Smoltz, be almost forced to leave for a few milllion, sucked , big time. I have never seen so many depressed braves fans. One guy on a blog a frequent said his wife was done with thet team. He lives in Richmond, and had followed the Richmond Braves all his life, now with no minor league brave team in his town, no Braves on TBS, why bother with the team??? He's likely to follow the Nats more than the Braves. And that is just one story. even the signing of Kawakami, then Lowe, it didn't do much to excite the fan base. But, for Lowe to come to Atlanta, and to WANT to be the man everyone counts on, it helps a lot, and people will come around. Our biggest problem last year was starters that couldn't go even 6 innings,which exposed the Bullpen, and Bobby Cox's lack of in game skills....Who could have predicted Smoltz, Glavine, Chuck James, Mike Hampton(ok, someone could predict he was going to miss time) and Tim Hudson all missing large chunks of the season???? Goodspeak, Lowe will help because we didn't have one pitcher pitch more than 188 innings and he was a 22 year old!(Jair Jurrjens) With Lowe, Kawakami, Vasquez, all pitching 200 + innings in 2007 or 2008, it will be a huge break for our bullpen, which will probably be our strongest point next year. Lowe, Jurrjens, Kawakami, Vasquez and either Glavine or rookie Tommy Hanson being the 5th man, at least we can compete. Not saying beat the Phils or Mutts, but at least compete....and that's all you can ask for as a fan.

Did ya guys know the braves signed Derek Lowe??? Used to be a Red Sox player, so that point makes it news, right???

Yes, that was a good one. He seemed to relish the irony of the role. I also really liked his appearances on Columbo, which I've recently seen again on DVD. It really seemed like if there was a role of a bad guy, devoid of any good qualities whatsoever, he was all over it. Silver Streak is another example(even though there's lots of comedy in it) It really seemed like if there was a role of a bad guy, devoid of any redeeming qualities whatsoever, he was all over it. Silver Streak is another example.... He was also a writer at times(Prisoner shows and 2 Columbos) and directed several Prisoners and 5 Columbos...

I think someone needs to develop the invisible fence technology that gives a mild shock to dogs to keep them in yard. If you extend your bat too far in the low & away zone you get a little zap. Such a thing wouldn't be used on all players mind you. If Vlad Guerrero wants to swing at a ball one inch off the ground in the opposite batter's box, let him. A few mild jolts vould discipline zee hitter, no? Invisible dog fence technology seem to be the solution for everything in sports nowadays. Some think the NFL should use it to determine if the plane of the endzone has been breached. Sounds like a plan! Some other players, like Alfonso Soriano have periods of that problem, but they seem to find a way not to control themselves sometimes...

Yeah, was their manager last year as well. Being in the same division as the Cubs, and after the Reds traded Griffey(Admittedly not the Griffey of old) and Dunn, he might have wondered why he signed with them.

Great to hear some good news! Keep on getting better!

I guess few careers ever fell apart as quickly as Steve Blass's, and other hitters have just lost it too at an early age too, but this one seems more mysterious than some of the others. Probably just because it's the latest, though recalling that baby face of his when he homered in the World Series as a kid is part of it too. I hope he figures it out, but he has so far to go just to be plain old awful right now. Agreed. He was such a dominating force of natural talent when he arrived, you really hate to see it come to this. It'd be nice to see him figure it out. Braves don't even seem to want to take a flyer on him. He doesn't want to come to spring training with a minor league contract, which means dropping someone from the 40 man the braves don't want to drop now. I have heard he sucked in winter ball(Don't take this as gospel , but read earlier today he only had 16 ab's, struck out 8 times, then went home for personal reasons) When I saw some early footage of him vs. the Yankees when he left ATL, he was more upright, and closer to the plate, wonder why he didn't try what worked for him at 19??? He and Frenchy have the same exact problem(Well, Jeff Francoeur still seems salvagable, and could hit a fat pitch down the middle still) EVERY pitcher knows they will swing at sliders or curves low and outside. Why someone can't just show them some stats, "hey Andruw, we just crunched some numbers, and when you have two strikes on ya, there is an 87.5 % chance the pitch is outside, DON'T swing with two strikes!!!" then pitchers will have throw the ball over the plate, at least once in awhile. I think the Reds should take a flyer on him, no pressure, Dusty as the manager, just seems like the right move.....

Al, I have had a few dreams like that...one that I can recall...right now, is one about 20 years ago that while watching a news report, I heard them say that Dan Rather had died! I was shocked when I got up(No internet, at least not at my house) kept flipping through the channels thinking I might see more on the story, before it finally dawned on me it had to have been a dream. Why dream that though??? I mean, sure he stole uncle Walter's seat and all, but still, didn't wish him death(at least then! )

If OBP is so important, then why is Adam Dunn without a job??? Jayson Stark had a very good column on the HOF'er choices this year, and the folks he did, and didn't vote for. Sure makes a compelling argument for Raines, Dale Murphy, and others. Murph got a whole 62 votes Stark.... In the '80s, Murphy led the National League in runs and hits, tied Mike Schmidt for the most RBIs and finished second to Schmidt in home runs. More than that, he was also a back-to-back MVP, a five-time Gold Glove winner, a 30-30 man, a guy who once led his whole sport in All-Star votes and one of the best human beings ever to make a home run trot. So if he's not a Hall of Famer, he's sure the best player on this ballot who's only getting 75 stinking votes a year.

It's about time they got it in. Well, if Ricky had retired earlier, he'd have been in earlier! Fire the 4-5 percent of writers that didn't think he was a first ballot guy. Pedro are, but I think they ain't! ')

A Native American!!! http://www.snopes.com/movies/actors/ironeyes.asp

Let us know when you start to look like her. Damn, I was just going to say that!!! I have to say, that photo is about the best one I have ever seen of her....Of course, it was probably taken in 1981

Sorry about that! I only had it happen once, were I truly lost my voice. I was a trainer at Borders in the 90s' and had 2 newbies to give the grand tour of the store, and naturally, had to do nearly all the talking. Started to lose my voice, but kept on keeping on. Well, middle of the afternoon,my throat was getting more sore by the minute, and I had to give up. No sense when I could barely whisper. Next day, I couldn't make a sound! I mean, not a sound. I had to write a note for my Mom to call the store to say I couldn't come in. Never had anything like that. I bet for 48 hours I couldn't make a peep, drank tea, honey, etc....when I finally could talk, the first word of the sentence wouldn't be there. Very Weird....Never had anything like that before or since. Anyway, I really wouldn't push it. You say you have to talk, but you might up doing some real damage if you don't let those vocal cords rest! Then where will you be???? Oh, and quit singing in that Marilyn Manson cover band!

Well, if those 5 anchors holding Smoltz's shoulder together, hold his shoulder togother....should be a very interesting season...not for braves fans, but still interesting. From the ajc beat writer David O'Brien(buried within about 900 posts) Boyer on Smoltz’s mound sessions (Boyer has seen them all): “I tell you right now, if he wanted to, he could be ready start of the season. He’s throwing all five pitches, and throwing [his fastball] over 90 [miles per hour]. It’s just freakish. No other way to put it. He’s a freak of nature. “I’ve never seen anything like it. If he was 22, it’d be ludicrous what he’s doing — and he’s 20 years older than that. It’s unbelievable.” More Boyer stuff in my main story that should be up online, or soon if it’s not.

Yeah Dan, your team has some real issues! Only 23 starting pitchers, no back up 1st baseman, thank God the Braves don't have problems like that! Seriously, no one can imagine what it's like to lose someone like Smoltz,(Maybe Brett Farve fans, but Smoltz actually performs come playoff time) for a few million dollars!!! He has taken smaller contracts , deferred pay(I think he has, I know Chipper has) pitched with a seriously damaged arm, and very well with said damaged arm. And this was the thanks. Sign for the Braves for less money for virtually no chance to get in the playoffs, why didn't he do that??? Fans are really, really, pissed at the GM Frank Wren. He probably needs body guards right now. Supposedly we had 40 mil to spend, and only got Javy Vasquez(And gave up way too much to get him) I cannot remember a worse off season. Actually, no other off season has come close. Nearly had Peavy, but no trade. Nearly had AJ Burnett, but didn't sweeten the deal. HAD Rafael Furcal, but being a pussy, he and his pussy agent reneged on the deal. For some reason, the team shows no interest in Derek Lowe, or Oliver Perez. Team really wants a right handed bat, so ignoring Dunn and Abreu. Team seems to want to waste time and money and give Andruw Jones another shot. Attendance is going to be abysmal this season. Add to that a season that Chip Carey died, and his long time partner Pete Van Weiren retired...and well, nothing seems the same. I guess "we" are paying for all those pennants when it seemed all the Braves had to do was throw their gloves on the field, didn't matter what rejects were pitching, or hitting.....

Apple Introduces Revolutionary New Laptop With No Keyboard

It's not going to be any fun being a braves fan this year!!! The Red Sox are getting perhaps the most competitive player in the game, no matter what the age....the question will be what he can still do.... http://www.ajc.com/braves/content/sports/b...tz_red_sox.html

It's underpriced!!!! And Allen, what's wrong with it??? It's got the All Star Blue Lou, and a live track of I Found A New Baby with Tommy Dorsey from 1940.

I have my doubts,(Esp. the Bunny and Red cd) but I have never seen the cds before.... http://music.shop.ebay.com/items/_W0QQ_dmp...amp;_osacat=307

Finally a use for the mostly disappointing Neyer/James Guide To Pitchers. Well, not really as there's no info about the end of his career. The book lists Blue's pitch selection as 1. Fastball 2. Curve 3. Change 4. Blue developed a slider in 1978. The sources are the 1972 book Vida and a 1979 Sporting News article. Given he threw 312 innings at age 21 and a bunch more years of heavy use it's not hard to imagine he had elbow or shoulder trouble later! If the elbow (and I think that's right) one sure wouldn't want to throw the curve anymore. Once past 1980 he was below 200 IP and then he got caught up in the Pittsburgh drug trials. I recall Bill James, then King Stathead writing when Vida was traded to the Royals he couldn't help but get all dreamy thinking "Vida Blue, oh boy we have Vida Blue!", even though in his head he knew he wasn't the player he once was. It is such a great name - symmetrical too. Wow, 2 responses to what Vida Blue, threw!!! As a kid, don't ask me why, I liked to say very quickly to my non baseball friends, blue, blue, vida Blue! Hey, I was a kid! It's funny though that I recalled his later years not having any pitch but a fastball(it seemed) I didn't pay much attention to the ways pitchers mixed stuff up, but it just stood out like a sore thumb with him....gee, a curve or a slider would sure come in handy in the 5th or 6th inning.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

It might have been this one. Jim Wohlford batting cleanup and Joe Strain batting sixth... hard to believe Philly could pull that one out. What I recall about Vida Blue at the end of his career, was he threw fastballs, and nothing else! Anyone remember that, or why that was?(Bad elbow?)

I missed out on one of their Hit of the Week volumes, perhaps #2 on ebay a few weeks back...Need to get those someday...

My wife, once I get my time machine to go backwards as well as forwards...

I have never seen even an average print of it, does UCLA, anyone have one????