The Atlanta Braves decided they were going to teach Chipper Jones, one of the best players to ever wear a Braves uniform, a lesson by turning their back on him when he was chosen to throw out the first pitch.
Instead, they sent the mascot out to home plate to catch.
Needless to say, Chipper Jones wasn’t exactly happy about it and who could blame him? “Wanna thank the Braves organization for having me throw out the first pitch to the mascot tonight,” Chipper posted on his Twitter account. “Quite sure that’s never been done before! Nor will it EVER happen again.”
The phrase, “take your ball and go home,” couldn’t be more fitting than with this situation right here. What started this was Chipper Jones being asked for his pick in the NLDS between his former team and the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Apparently the Braves, and their fans for that matter, wanted Chipper Jones to say exactly what they wanted to hear. Well, that didn’t happen. Instead, Jones took the Dodgers in four games and hit the nail on the head. If Atlanta really wanted to stick it to their former favorite player, they should have actually shown up for the series and proven him wrong.
Chipper Jones is done saying what he has to say to the media. He spent far too long being politically correct. He was asked a question about his words. Had he been wrong, then by all means the fan base has every reason to rub it in his face. Instead, they’re now at home watching what’s left of the playoffs.
The Boston Red Sox handed the ball to Jake Peavy on Tuesday night against the Tampa Bay Rays and asked the right-hander to make sure they didn’t have to travel back to Boston to get ready for a deciding game five. Peavy did exactly that giving up just a single run in five and two-third innings and striking out three as the Red Sox ended the Rays season with a 3-1 win.
The ALDS is one thing but I can’t help but wonder how Peavy will do when the pressure is turned up that much more in the American League Championship Series as they await the winner of the Detroit Tigers and Oakland Athletics series which will shift back to Oakland after Detroit took game four in Detroit.
I find it surprising that there aren’t longer conversations about the Texas Rangers on the local radio airwaves. I get that football rules this town, until Josh Hamilton and the Angels come to town that is and then all of the sudden the media wants to rub “we’re a baseball town” in Josh’s face, but talking this much about a mediocre football team astounds me.
As far as the Rangers are concerned, the only conversation going on right now centers on a guy who has less of a chance of wearing a Rangers’ uniform than yours truly. There was a story out earlier this week about free agent Robinson Cano and how much he might command on the free agent market. Apparently ESPN New York believes Cano wants 10 years and north of $300 million. Why they think Texas would even be in that conversation is beyond me. Besides, second base isn’t exactly one of those things this team needs to focus on in the offseason, there are other glaring holes.
We actually talked about it on our last Texas Rangers podcast and not only did we talk about the possibilities of Cano, we actually went further with the conversation, something that is foreign to some stations around here, and talked about the problems with bringing him in. The problem has more to do with already having a guy at second base. Need to fix that part first.
Speaking of the Texas Rangers, as much as I wanted to defend Mitch Moreland prior to the 2013 season and talk about how this team needed to give him a chance to be an everyday starter, I’ve grown a little bit and have gotten past it. It’s time to move on.
If Moreland, or David Murphy for that matter, is still wearing a Rangers’ uniform in 2014 I’ll be shocked. Shocked I say!
If you haven’t taken a look at the free agent market going into this offseason you’ll notice one very noticeable thing. Not exactly a sexy list if you ask me. Not to say there aren’t names I’m interested in (Justin Morneau, James Loney just to name a few), there just aren’t a lot of guys who jump out at me enough where I would jump out of my seat and yell, “YEAH, SIGN THAT GUY!”
Tonight, the St. Louis Cardinals and Pittsburgh Pirates will play their deciding game five and I couldn’t be rooting for the Pirates any harder than I am right now. I really didn’t think they had a chance to stay in the series with the Cardinals when it got underway but they’ve proven me wrong.
Who’s my pick in the World Series? I have a simple answer for that – anyone who’s playing the Dodgers. Told you it was simple.
However, there’s nothing quite like still hearing Vin Scully on the radio. I grew up listening to Chick Hearn and I quickly learned what greatness is. The day Mr. Scully retires is the day baseball changes forever, kind of like the day Mr. Hearn passed away. Basketball never sounded the same after that.
Scully says he’ll do one more year broadcasting Dodger games. When 2014 comes to an end, I’ll be that guy chanting, “one more year.” I have just one request left: Hey Detroit, beat Oakland. Thanks. Guess what day it is?! Guess. What. Day. It. Is?! Happy hump day everybody.
