Blog Archives

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I am happy that Bobby Cox has committed one more year for the ‘09 season. Here is a list of things that I think this means for the Braves. Terry Pendelton will have to wait one more year or move on to another team to manage. This kind of sucks for Terry who I think would be the best successor to Bobby Cox I hope he waits it out and becomes or next manager. There will be one less thing to worry about over the off season. The past few years the Braves have went through many changes. They have changed general managers, ball park reservations, tv stations and broadcasters and even major sponsors. Bobby staying means that there will still be that one consistent thing that we have had since the run starting in the 90’s.

Bobby staying also means that on any given night we are able to see the best manager of all time at defending his players. Bobby will see him self get tossed from a few more ball games but will earn more and more respect from the players who love his support. Bobby sacrifices himself in ball games to make sure the players remain on the field. Finally we will be able to hear the positive comments from Bobby after even the worse of losses. Bobby always has a way of calming down situations when they seem negative and not letting anything get too far out of line. Bobby Cox will be severely missed when he is gone but luckily not till atlest the end of the 09 season. Thanks for staying one more year!

Bert’s Trivia of the Week

Smoltz #29,Glavine #47, and Chipper #10 will probably all have their jerseys retired after there playing career is over, who were the last players to wear these numbers before the these 3 guys?

The Braves have now won 4 games in a row and seem to have solved some of the problems of the first few weeks of the season. The bats have started to come alive and the pitching seems to be more intact but everything is not in great shape. The injuries are now starting to pile up with key pitchers Glavine, Soriano, Moylan and Hampton on the injured list.

In today’s ball game Chipper reaggravated his quad muscle and will be further evaluated after the ball game but was again pulled early. If the Braves want to make a playoff run in ‘08 they have to get healthy quick. The injuries to Hampton and Chipper are to be expected because of their history but filling the gap for the other guys is a major issue. Still, the Braves have the youth in the minors to bring up quality players to fill in. Hopefully this will be what keeps them in the race all season long!

Bert’s Trivia of the Week

Last Week

What was the first year for the hall of fame? Who was in and with the most votes?

Answer

1936; Ty Cobb 222, Walter Johnson 189,Christy Mathewson 205, Babe Ruth 215,Honus Wagner 215

This Week

Who was the 1996 HR leader for the Braves?

John Smoltz pitched a gem while on the mound Sunday afternoon. Smoltz pitched shut out baseball in his first start of the year but left the game after completing the 5th inning. At the very beginning of the season the bullpen struggled slightly but was also over used. The win over the Mets allows Atlanta to get back at the top of the East standings after one week of play.

This will also be the first time the Braves fans will get to see Hudson, Smoltz, and Glavine in three consecutive starts. With Hudson, and Smoltz getting the job done over the weekend it will now be up to Tom Glavine to carry the momentum over to the weekend. This week that should also see the 2008 debut of Chuck James. We are also expecting to get a late week update on the Mike Hampton injury. Hampton will hopefully be able to head to the minors and make a few starts before giving it another go in Atlanta. Well this first week is in the bag now and seen a couple of games get away. Will it cost the Braves late in the season and will the bullpen hold up all season long? Give us your thoughts by e-mail at hosts@bravescast.com or call the v-mail at 678-08-2721

Bert’s Trivia

What Atlanta Braves led the Braves in runs scored in 1991?

The Braves have announced there opening day roster for the 2008 season. The unusual thing about this year’s roster is that it will have a totally different look as soon as later this week. Both John Smoltz and Chuck James are officially on the DL this week and can be set to return in time to be inserted in the 6th spots in the rotation. This basically means that they will have to clear room for two more pitchers after James and Smoltz are back. My guess is that they would remove 1 starter and 1 reliever. The question still remains…who?

Bobby Cox has elected to go with 12 pitchers, 6 infielders, 3 catchers, and 4 outfielders. Bryan Pena will serve as the backup for Teixeria at first and will also back up the other two catchers (Brian McCann and Corky Miller). The last and final outfield spot went to Gregor Blanco. This is the only move that the Bravescast crew has not agreed with. Bert and I both would have gone with Josh Anderson as the backup. We feel he has more big league experience and is a faster runner who can play slightly better defense. So with all that being said here is the 2008 Opening Day roster:

Pitchers (12)

Tim Hudson (RH)

Tom Glavine (LH)

Mike Hampton (LH)

Jair Jurrjens (RH)

Jeff Bennett (RH)

Manny Acosta (RH)

Blaine Boyer (RH)

Will Ohman (LH)

Chris Resop (RH)

Royce Ring (LH)

Peter Moylan (RH)

Rafael Soriano (RH)

Catchers (3)

Brian McCann

Corky Miller

Brayan Pena

Infielders(6)

Chipper Jones

Yunel Escobar

Kelly Johnson

Mark Teixeira

Ruben Gotay

Martin Prado

Outfielders (4)

Matt Diaz

Jeff Francoeur

Mark Kotsay

Gregor Blanco

Every year the Braves and other MLB organizations invite way more kids than will every fit on even a 40- man roster. By opening day it is at 25. The 25-man roster is unusually not as important as it is made out to be. By the end of the year normally we see most of the protected 40-man guys anyway due to injury, trades, or lack of production.

This year the Braves are faced with a few guys who are out of contract options. Players like Thorman and Pena may see their Atlanta careers come to an end at the end of this week. For some guys they will make the final jump into the majors and never look back. This weeks show breaks down all the moves that took place this week.

Next week we will each pick out our 25. We want your help to do so. Let us know which one of those bubble guys are going to make it and why. To do so just e-mail us at hosts@bravescast,com or call the voice mail line at 678-698-2721. We welcome your opinion as always.

We will debut our new rosters the middle of this week and will have the final one this upcoming Sunday “sounds good to say” for opening day! This weeks Pat’s Pet Peeve covered “OPTIONS” in contracts and how guys always get put on the final roster not because of their ability or potential but just because they are out of options.

Bert’s Trivia

Who wrote the baseball poem “Spahn and Sain and pray for rain?”

It certainly can, which is what the Braves are hoping and many fans are ready to believe. There are a few slots that have to be worked out before opening day and many players have shown up. It is like a job. Three openings and six hundred applicants show up. Well, not that many but you see where I am going. The interview process has been a good one for Bobby and the gang…maybe too good.

Only one or two spots in the rotation need to be filled but four pitchers have had great starts. One centerfield spot and a backup in left are also up for grabs. Five have come out and staked a claim. What to do? Keep playing. Kotsay or Shaffer? Don’t forget Anderson. Diaz and who? Anderson? What about Jones? That is just a small problem in the field that I bet Bobby is glad to have.

Hudson, Smoltz, Glavine, fourth and fifth spot. Hampton already with a small injury, Jurrjens, great spring, James is late on spring but going strong. Can we really forget about Bennet and Carlyle? We can all remember the things they did for us in ‘07.

Just about two weeks left to go and it seems like we have too many players. Stay tuned to see what happens next. We may find out we don’t have enough. Who will be eliminated next week on…..? This isn’t a reality game show, but it’s as close as it could be. I’m just glad Jeff Probst isn’t managing the Braves.

After suffering without baseball for months we can now get our first glimpse of what things will be like for the ‘08 season. Week one has almost concluded and most things are right on target. Hampton made a nice opening return and Glavine looked as great as I remember him. There a few players who are being cautious — one of those is Chipper Jones. Jones suffered a hamstring injury and is day to day for the Braves. It should not be anything major but is one of those nagging reoccurring injuries.

Josh Anderson is impressive in the outfield with not only his defensive play but also his speed. He is showing just why the Braves traded for him in the offseason. Javy Lopez is trimmed down and looks great and should be a good addition to the team. He has also been working hard on defense and should step in well when McCann needs some off time. It will not be long and the Braves will be making their return to beautiful Turner Field. I passed by yesterday and thought to myself, “It’s been too long and won’t be much longer now.”

I can’t wait and I know you can’t either. I want to thank our two correspondents from spring training, Braves Insider Grant McAuley and also Baseball Paul who will be doing some updates soon. If you are headed to spring training and want to call-in an update feel free to leave us your update on our “hit or miss” voicemail line at 678-608-2721 or e-mail us at hosts@bravescast.com.

Bert’s Trivia of the Week

Name five all time baseball commissioners

On a day that is meant to celebrate love, I could think of no better day for the return of MLB baseball. Most years February 14 is the “Day of Love”, but this year it has much more meaning because it is also the return of pitchers and catchers to spring training. Soon we will have daily video and coverage to question we need answers to.

Questions like:

• How healthy is Hampton and James?
• Who will make the team as backup outfielders and infielders?
• What can we expect out of Javy?

With 4 television networks covering the Braves spring you will have 11 chances to see the games on TV and other selected games on the Braves Radio flagship stations. Also, soon we will debut a spring training video special to air on YouTube. This will detail some of those matchups and things to look for this spring.

Some other things to note will be the play of the new Braves players. Kotsay, Anderson, Infante and others. Coming up in our next show we will speak with Dan Gordon, the author of the book Haunted Baseball. He will surprise you with many supernatural stories from players and other team members. This includes many comments made from current and former major league players and coaches. For more information on the book go to www.hauntedbasball.com.

Bert’s Trivia of the Week

Name all the home venues the Braves franchise has played in all time.

One of the reason I love baseball more than any other sport is the diversity. From the players, coaches, fans, and even the umpires, baseball is a very diverse sport. We get in a variety of fans from many different states and even countries. Our interactive listener map shows people care about Braves baseball around the world! On our latest episode we are proud to announce we had our first female Bravescast caller Rue call in to the show. She is not only a huge Braves fan, but also an aspiring sports writer. I am sure she can also spell much better than me as well. We strive to not only be the one site that bridges the gap between the majors and minors but also to be the one place that any, yes any Braves fan can interact. We are the place for diehard braves fans.

In upcoming shows we will have a fan that doesn’t care for Bobby Cox as a manager as well as perspectives from more women and even the opposition (like Philly sports writer Patrick Gordon who picked the Phils to win the East on our show). In our last episode we also debuted a new segment called “Pats Pet Peeves”. This is where I examine comments “usually negative” made by so-called Braves fans. Things that really make me shake my head. One of my biggest pet peeves: this week we called out the fans online who have been saying Atlanta needs to add an American league team. The closest thing we will ever get to that will the AAA team moving to Gwinnett in ‘09. To submit a comment or subject for “Pat’s Pet Peeves” e-mail us hosts@bravescast.com or call our Voicemail line at 678 608-2721.

Bert’s Question Trivia of the Week

What is the number of season that Hank Aaron led the league in total bases?