Sports Page Atlanta

Paul over at the Georgia Sports Blog has put together a very interesting look at the Dawgs upcoming basketball season. He’s had to make a few assumptions about early tournament opponents, but all-in-all he’s done a fabulous job looking ahead at the UGA basketball team’s strength of schedule.

Thanks for the work on this Paul!

As I said yesterday, we play a solid mix of Top 100 teams, and we really only play two teams are who are total locks to have sub-300 RPIs. In this age of escalating buyouts for low major RPI teams, it’s a good schedule.

Atlanta 11, San Francisco 4 (box)
Durham 9, Richmond 6 (box)
Huntsville 4, Mississippi 2 (box)
Myrtle Beach 4, Kinston 3 (box)
Rome 9, Hickory 1 (box)

MLB - Atlanta: Mike Hampton hasn’t had a lot to be happy about on the diamond in the past 2 and a half years. He’s been criticized for his injury prone ways and many fans have used him as the butt of their jokes. After last night Hampton can smile with Braves Nation as he earned his first win in almost three years. In seven innings of work, Hampton allowed two runs and four hits. He struck out two, walked only one, and even added to the Braves offense with a double and a RBI at the plate.  Seven Braves hitters notched RBI’s last night and all nine starters got, at least, one hit.

AAA - Richmond: The R-Braves were trampled early on by the Durham Bulls as pitcher Brian Lawrence gave up seven runs and 12 hits in only four innings. And even with a four run 7th inning from the R-Braves, led by Josh Anderson’s two-run home run, Durham maintained control and won handily. Anderson was 2-5 with two RBI, and that 7th inning blast was his second of the year. Brent Lillibridge went 0-4, but did steal his 16th base of the season.

AA - Mississippi: After third baseman Van Pope tied the game in the 6th inning for the M-Braves with a two-run home run, relief pitcher Paul Bush came on and promptly gave up the eventual game winning home run to Huntsville first baseman Chris Errecar. Pope’s home run was his fourth of the year as he went 1-3 with two RBI and a stolen base. Bush fell to 0-1 on the year.

Adv. A - Myrtle Beach: The Pelicans were behind Kinston for most of the game, 25 outs to be exact. It wasn’t until the bottom of the ninth inning, when Designated Hitter Willie Cabrera singled in Jon Owings and Randy Gress with one out, that the home team pushed ahead and won the game. Cabrera was 3-5 on the night with a double and those final two RBI that won the game for the Pelicans. Jaye Chapman won the game in relief, bringing his record up to 1-1.

A - Rome: Scoreless through five innings, the Rome Braves started the scoring in the 6th and never let up, scoring nine runs in the final four innings. First baseman Frederick Freeman started the scoring by tripling in Jason Heyward in the 6th inning and added a home run (his 18th of the season) in the 7th. Heyward was 3 for 3 (two doubles) on the night with two RBI, and Aussie catcher Matthew Kennelly was 3 for 4 with three RBI and is hitting .464 in his eight games since being called up from Danville. Cole Rohrbough improved his record on the mound to 3-4 while giving up only one hit in eight innings of work. He struck out seven and walked three.

There has been a lot of hype this offseason about Georgia signing wide receiver A.J. Green.  Yesterday he practiced for the first time and looked good overall.  If he plays this season and lives up to the hype he could break the reception mark by Bulldog freshman.

Here are the most receptions by a Georgia freshman and the most those receivers have had in their Bulldog careers…

Terrence Edwards: 53 in 1999 (59 in 2002)

Mohamed Massaquoi: 38 in 2005 (current career-high)

Damien Gary: 36 in 2000 (43 in 2003)

Lindsay Scott: 36 in 1978 (42 in 1981)

As you read, heard or seen already today or yesterday, longtime Braves announcer Skip Caray passed away on Sunday.  He has lots of memorable moments on the air, but probably none bigger than the 1992 NLCS Game 7 game against the Pirates.  Every Braves fan remembers that game, but I want to take you back to that October 14th night and tell you how incredible that game was…

The Braves were down 2-0 in the bottom of the 9th… actually when I start the story it is now 2-1, with the bases loaded and 2 out.

Stan Belinda pitches, Francisco Cabrera singles, David Justice and Sid Bream score before Barry Bonds gets it home… (now here is where it gets tricky).

Belinda was a solid pitcher… a career 4.15 era in 585 games… He also had a 0.87 career postseason era.

Francisco Cabrera sinlges… the man was a .254 career hitter and had only 62 career rbi in 196 games…

Barry Bonds throws home… he was a 8-time gold glove winner… only 5 outfielders have won more gold gloves than he did… he also had 173 career assists from the outfield.

David Justice scored… nothing wow… he was a solid player

Sid Bream… chugging from 2nd base… he’s very slow… in 1,088 career games he had 50 career stolen bases and has never made an attempt in 28 postseason games.

Even with all those all odds against them, the Braves won 3-2.

You can hear Skip Caray now…

Braves win! Braves win! Braves win! Braves win! Braves win!

The folks over at Hoops Addict are running the first annual Hoops Addict Floor Burn Tournament.

Each night ESPN, NBA.com and YouTube are flooded with clips of players soaring through the air for rim rocking dunks, buzzer beating three-pointers and blocked shots that make your jaw drop in amazement. While those are all entertaining plays, teams who win championships need players who are willing to get a little dirty and do the little things needed to help their team win. As valuable and crucial as these players are to their respective teams success, these players rarely get the credit or respect that they deserve. With that in mind, the First Annual Hoops Addict Floor Burn Tournament will kick off this week.

Over the next few weeks we’re going to pare down 32 participants until we’re left with one final player who will be heralded as the First Annual Floor Burn Tournament Champion. As players are eliminated, they’ll be matched against the bracket below them. For example, the winner of the West/Powe match-up will face off against the winner of Dudley/Nocioni in the second round.

In the first round, Atlanta Hawks guard, Mario West is pitted against Leon Powe from the Celtics. West is pounding Powe in the voting so far, but let’s everyone go check out Hoops Addict and Vote For Mario West!

So, Josh Childress is now officially out of the NBA. There’s really no more point in discussing the impact this has on the Hawks (hint: its negative), but, instead, it seems more prudent to understand why Childress is willing to make the commitment to go from a sixth man in the NBA to a star player in a foreign country. Sure, the money it certainly a factor, but what other reasons could have factored into his decision making process? It’s summer and there’s not a whole lot else to talk about in regards to the Hawks (oh, yeah, Maurice Evans… he’s, um… a warm body?) until we lament Josh Smith signing somewhere else. Thus, this seems like a perfect opportunity to delve into Childress’s reasons for leaving. Some possibilities:

• Gyros. So unbelievably tasty. I mean, sure, Atlanta offers some delicious cuisine, but, nothing matches a gyro made with goat cheese.

• Felt offended when he was snubbed for the Olympics team; considered the Olympiacos the next best thing.

• Secretly hoping he gets to play some games in the Pantheon.

• When he does return to the United States, he plans on changing his name to just “Chill” and going by his one name moniker, like so many European sensations before him.

• This Greek goddess. (Safe for work, but just barely)

All these reasons seem legitimate. Also, the whole “our front office and ownership is a complete disaster and is ruining the one ray of hope we’ve had in eight years due to overwhelming incompetence ” thing, but, you all knew that already.

What do the following quotes have in common?

• From the Braves 1995  World Series win. “Yes! Yes! Yes! The Atlanta Braves have given you a championship! Listen to this crowd!”
• How about from the 1992 NLCS? “Here comes Bream! Here’s the throw to the plate! He iiiiiiiisssssssss … safe! Braves win! Braves win! Braves win! Braves win! … Braves win!”

Both of these legendary Atlanta Braves calls were made by Skip Caray, who died yesterday in his sleep while taking a nap.

Skip Caray had been a fixture in Atlanta sports broadcasting since 1964 when he came to town to handle minor-league games for the Atlanta Crackers. He moved to the Atlanta Hawks after that before finally settling with the Atlanta Braves in 1976, where he stayed broadcasting both radio and television games until his death yesterday.

The AJC did a nice write up of some of Caray’s best lines and thoughts about his family.

Bobby Cox, Chipper Jones and John Smoltz had some great things to say about Caray in a different AJC article.

“It’s a sad day,” Smoltz said. “There are no words. Sad doesn’t do it justice. I will always remember Skip for his humor and his ability to go about life the way he did. I gained so much respect for what he did and how long he did and how he did.”

Jones was at home with his family on Sunday evening when he was informed.

“I figured Skip Caray is as much a part of Atlanta Braves baseball as any of us,” said Jones, who will rejoin the team in Arizona later this week. “We all grew up listening to Skip, whether it be on TV or radio. Any time the guys on ESPN imitate [you] calling the highlights, you’re pretty much a legend. From a fan’s standpoint, he’s going to be a huge loss for them because he relayed the games to fans for so long.”

And Dale Murphy and few other famous Atlanta sports figures speak about Caray in this AJC article.

“I knew that he had been battling some health issues, but I was just really shocked and saddened when I got the e-mail,” former Braves star Dale Murphy said upon receiving the news that longtime Braves broadcaster Skip Caray died Sunday at his Atlanta home.

“And I was grateful for the many years I was able to be with Skip from 1976 until 1990.

“Skip saw the funny side of things and enjoyed making people laugh when we weren’t giving them too much to smile about during some of those years that I was with the Braves.”

Skip died at the age of 68 after following his father Harry Caray into baseball broadcasting. His son Chip Caray still broadcasts games for the Braves. Just about anyone who has listened to and watched the Braves for a while know the names of Skip and Pete [Van Wieren] just as well as Chipper, Smoltzie, and Bobby Cox. This loss to the Braves family is devastating and it will be a long time before the mourning ends for Skip Caray.

Pitcher Jorge Campillo dominated as the Braves shut out the Brewers 5-0.  The right hander went 7 innings, 6 hits, 0 earned runs, striking out 6 and walking no one.  This was not the first time Campillo took control of Milwaukee, nor it was the 2nd time.  In fact it was the 3rd time as he improved to 3-0 against the hard hitting central team.  He is not doing horribly against the rest of the majors, but there is a difference as you can see…

                                    Season vs Brewers                Rest of Majors

Record                                      3-0                                       3-4

ERA                                         1.42                                    2.83

Opp Average                           .200                                   .239

Walks                                           0                                       21

Strikeouts                                 18                                        54

Well, Chuck James is back and he is back to his old tricks… that is not necessarily good.  The southpaw pitched 2 2/3 innings yesterday and gave up 6 runs as the Braves lost to the Brewers 9-0.

In the game James gave up 2 home runs… one to Prince Fielder and one to Mike Cameron.

When it comes to James there is a big difference in triple A and in the majors.  In 76 1/3 innings at Richmond, he has allowed just 3 home runs, but in 25 2/3 innings he has allowed 9.

The record for most home runs allowed as an Atlanta Brave is 386 held by Phil Niekro.  Knucksie surrended 482 long balls overall which is 3rd all-time behind fellow hall of famers Robin Roberts and Ferguson Jenkins.

Ouch!

Before today’s series opener against Milwaukee, catcher Corky Miller was sent down to Triple-A Richmond, and Chuck James was brought up to start.

The Miller move was pretty obvious. In 54 at-bats, Miller only had 5 hits. An .093 batting average with a .148 slugging percentage just isn’t going to cut it in the big leagues. And with Clint Sammons coming up big in his first two games, and Brian McCann’s return imminent, there was no room for Corky.

James, on the other hand, has had huge troubles in Atlanta with an ERA of 8.22 and a record of 2-3 in five starts. Furthermore, he’s given up seven home runs in five games, has a 17:16 strikeout to walk ratio, and allows hitters to bat .284 against him.

For James though, a player with potential, it’s his Triple-A numbers that keep getting him sent up. In 13 starts in Richmond, he’s only given up three home runs, has a 67:34 strikeout to walk ratio, and has a 2.48 ERA.

Is James a big league pitcher or someone who’s too good for Triple-A, but not good enough for MLB? Some call players like that Quad-A players.

Well if tonight’s performance is any indication, james may well just be a band aid for the Braves pitching staff; one that gets ripped off once Hudson, Smoltz and the like return from injury.

James pitched 2.2 innings tonight giving up six hits, six earned runs, and allowing two home runs. He also walked four batters in those 2.2 innings. He’s clearly not ready for big league hitters.