Tag: Atlanta Braves

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MLB General

July 12 in Sports History: Disco Sucks!

In 1976: Owner Ted Turner of the Atlanta Braves offers perhaps one of the goofiest promotions of all time to fans attending the game versus the Mets. First, 34 couples were married in a ceremony at home plate. Then, Turner held a card for his fledgling Championship Wrestling league on the field; thus the (I guess) appropriately named “Headlocks and Wedlocks” promotion.

In 1979: As strange as Turner’s promotion might have been, it doesn’t hold a candle (or should I say blowtorch?) to a charter member of the Sick Promotions Hall of Fame: Disco Demolition Night at Chicago’s Comiskey Park. The White Sox were playing a doubleheader against the Detroit Tigers, and White Sox owner Bill Veeck encouraged fans to exchange their unwanted disco records for a dollar admission to the game. Fans also brought records into the game and were tossing them like Frisbees. It quickly got ugly, as Chicago DJ Steve Dahl blew up a box of disco records in center field (and tearing a hole in the field). Fans quickly rushed the field, started their own fires, and police in riot gear had to clear the field. The White Sox forfeited the second game of the doubleheader.

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MLB General

Full Count for Mon May 29 2006: The HRs ESPN didn’t cover this weekend

1. Game of the Year: Possibly the most entertaining game of the season took place on Sunday when the Atlanta Braves faced the Chicago Cubs. The Braves set a club record with 8 team homeruns, including two by both Edgar Renteria and Adam LaRoache. They scored six runs in the first two innings to knock out first time Cubs starter Jae Ryu. Braves starter John Smoltz lasted six innings, but he gave up six runs as well. The Braves were leading 12-8 going into the 9th inning, but when Chris Reitsma is in the game it’s never over. He allowed 3 hits and 2 runs in the inning, in addition to two runs allowed by Lance Cormier. The game went to extras, where an error by Aramis Ramirez in the 11th cost the Cubs the game. Ramirez was under the infield popup, but was unable to make the grab, resulting in Ryan Langerhans making it to second. Marcus Giles drove him in, and the Braves won this battle to sweep the series. Braves reliever Oscar Villarreal won the game to improve to 7-0 on the year, and if he keeps this marvelous pace he will become the first 20-win reliever in history. The Braves have now overtaken the Phillies in the NL East, and are now only 3.5 back of the Mets for the division lead.

2. The power surge continues: The homers weren’t reserved for Wrigley Field alone yesterday. Petco Park, widely believed to be the most pitcher-friendly park in the majors, was the site of 3 of the longest 4 homeruns in its history. Though Jake Peavy and Mark Mulder were pitching for San Diego and St. Louis, this was anything but a pitcher’s duel. Mulder gave up eight runs, and Peavy six as the offenses dominated. San Diego’s Mark Bellhorn hit a 438-foot shot, believed to be the longest in park history. Albert Pujols became #2 with a 436 foot blast, his 24th of the season. And one of Josh Bard’s two homers tied the previous Petco record of 434 feet. The Padres won the game 10-8, and are in a three-way tie for 3rd in the NL West division.

3. New York State of Mind: Orlando “El Duque” Hernandez has seen his share of major league teams in recent years. He has bounced around from the Yankees to the White Sox to the Diamondbacks, and now he’s with the Mets. In his first start with the team he pitched five innings and allowed three runs, but that was good enough for the victory against the atrocious Marlins. Carlos Beltran helped power the Mets offense with his 14th homerun. Beltran has been on fire recently and has hit 10 round trippers in May alone. The Mets won 7-3 to achieve their 30th victory of the season, while the Marlins have half of that total.

4. No one cares about 715: Barry Bonds finally hit his 715th homerun yesterday against Colorado, but nobody outside of San Francisco really cared. The serious overhype of Bonds by ESPN in addition to his completely untrustworthy, self-serving personality contributed to 715 becoming just another story. This is completely unlike Hank Aaron’s 715, as most sports fans can remember where they were when Hank broke the record. But every sports fan has tired out of the Bonds story, as he has taken more than a week to hit each of his last two homers. Outside of the 42,935 people that packed AT&T Park yesterday, true baseball fans care more about other stories than Barry Bonds’ homerun total. So now Bonds is 40 behind Hank Aaron’s 755, but can he break that? Unless he goes to an AL team where he can DH, the answer to that question is no.

5. Let’s go to extras: The unanticipated Houston-Pittsburgh series ended up giving us two very entertaining games. Saturday’s matchup went an incredible 18 innings, and Sunday’s contest went to extras too. Down 4-0 in the 9th, the Astros rallied to tie the game. Then, in the 10th, Preston Wilson finally ended the game and the series with an RBI single. The combined time of these last two games was 8 hours and 54 minutes.

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MLB General

Full Count for Tues May 16 2006: Half Empty or Half Full



Property of Boston Red Sox

1. It’s not that bad: The Braves’ situation isn’t as bad as it was a few weeks ago. After defeating the Marlins last night, they improved to 18-20 on the season. They are 6-2 in May, and are only 5.5 games out of the division lead. Last night, they put on an offensive showcase in a 11-8 win over the Marlins. Brian McCann, the Braves’ vastly underrated catcher, drove in five runs and hit his 5th homer. McCann is leading the NL in batting average with .352 on the season. Andruw Jones also was excellent, going 4-4 with 4 RBIs. The Braves are taking advantage of a 10 game stretch against lowly Washington and Florida.

2. It is that bad: The Orioles, expected by many to finish last in the AL East, have surprised many this season by going 18-21 so far. Actually, their record would be a lot better had they not played the Red Sox so many times. They have lost all of their 7 games against the Sox this year, and dating back to last year the streak is 12 games. Nothing changed last night, as Boston soared to a 11-1 romp. Josh Beckett pitched excellently, with a 2-hitter through 7 innings on his 26th birthday. Jason Varitek scored a career-high 4 runs, and Willy Mo Pena homered and drove in 3. The Sox, at 22-14, have a one-game lead in the East.

3. Stuck on you: We haven’t written about Barry Bonds in a while here at Full Count, and that’s because he hasn’t done anything. Last night, he continued his homerless streak in the Giants’ 10-1 blowout over the Astros. Bonds did hit an RBI double, but he failed to go yard for his seventh straight game. The pressure of getting the next one (and another) homers is weighing on Barry. Before, Bonds spoke of the “ghost of Babe Ruth” hovering around.

4. Inner City Rivalries: Interleague play starts this week for some teams, and there are definitely some interesting matchups to look forward to. The Yankees and Mets play at Shea, which could prove to be one of the more intense series of the regular season. The White Sox host the Cubs, which might look intriguing on paper but will likely be a blowout. On Sunday, Carlos Zambrano and Jose Contreras face off in a guaranteed pitcher’s duel. And, in what is inferably considered an inter-town rivalry based on the name change, the Dodgers and Angels play. There are also multiple interstate rivalries which are less interesting. St. Louis travels to Kansas City, San Francisco to Oakland, Texas to Houston, Baltimore to Washington, and Florida vs. Tampa Bay (which will easily be the least-attended series of all time). Atlanta and Arizona are the teams left out of interleague play this time around, though the Hudson vs. Webb matchup on Sunday could be worth watching.

5. This is where the pot goes: Freddie Garcia’s tokin’ in the offseason hasn’t affected his game. Last night, he won his sixth game in a row, allowing 3 runs on seven hits in 6 2/3 innings. That’s good enough to lead the league in wins. Let’s hope little leaguers don’t take notice of his training habits.