GDT 7/9/21 - Braves @ Fish - Arcia’s day off

There's part of me that thinks AA wants Freddie to go elsewhere. There are a lot of rumors that FF has a lot of pull with the FO and is largely the reason Snit still has a job. I think deep down AA would love to go full analytics and bring in a numbers friendly manager. But I do think it gets done. The Braves health as a franchise depends on them drawing folks to the ballpark, and Freddie is by far the biggest draw.
 
VirginiaBrave said:
I will say this without Tommy we would be the Buffalo Bills of baseball. I was a fan in 1987 when the league was beating his brains in and I will argue with anybody in a lot of ways he was the best of the Big 3. Definitely equal to the other two even though they had more raw talent. To me Maddux was a hired gun, Smoltz had better stuff, but give me Glavine in a must-win.
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No chance. Smoltz was the greatest postseason pitcher of all-time until Bumgarner came along. Glavine’s overall numbers in October aren’t nearly as good.
 
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CyYoung31 said:
No chance. Smoltz was the greatest postseason pitcher of all-time until Bumgarner came along. Glavine’s overall numbers in October aren’t nearly as good.
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I was thinking the same thing. Smoltz was our best postseason pitcher because he was the only one of the three who could overpower hitters. The other two had to rely on finesse and (particularly Glavine) needed a "friendly" strike zone. Glavine would put the ball in the same place over and over again and umps would reward that placement even if the pitches weren't necessarily strikes. That said, Glavine's game six performance forever kept us out of the Buffalo Bills/Minnesota Vikings comparisons.

I liked Glavine because he was a home grown Brave and he went into the HoF with a Braves cap, even though he pitched in New York for a couple of years. OTOH I realize he was doing his job as a player rep but his work with the players union in the mid-1990s and strike year was off-putting to me. Maddux was the better pitcher of the two but his postseason record was nothing special IIRC. I was disappointed when, as a sop to the Cubs, didn't wear a Braves cap on his HoF plaque.

I can say that being at Cooperstown when both Maddux and Glavine were inducted was one the coolest things ever.
 
Braves and their corporate ownership letting Maddux, Glavine and Smoltz all HOFers and the Murphy and Andruw moves make me nervous about Freddie being retained. I think if Padres should miss but come close to WS that Preller would not let money stand in his way.
 
PawPawMaxwell said:
Braves and their corporate ownership letting Maddux, Glavine and Smoltz all HOFers and the Murphy and Andruw moves make me nervous about Freddie being retained. I think if Padres should miss but come close to WS that Preller would not let money stand in his way.
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I feel like Freddie is destined for the Angels. He grew up an Angels fan and still lives out that way.
 
zbhargrove said:
I remember the Braves came to play golf at the neigborhood I grew up in every year (Polo Fields near Cumming, GA)... I asked Smoltz, Glavine, and Maddux for their autographs at the last hole... Maddux and Smoltz gave me an autograph and Glavine told me to catch him at the clubhouse. Went to the clubhouse and security was keeping fans out but saw Glavine and shouted for him... told the security guy he'd never seen me.
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"I don't understand why these guys were rude to me while I was bothering them while they were trying to do other stuff."

The entitlement of sports fans never ceases to amaze me. Athletes & celebrities don't want to be bothered when they aren't in uniform. Then some people have the nerve to call them "rude" because their favorite athlete won't kiss their ass in public while asking for an autograph. "Chipper was rude to my friend once." Well, did your friend ask him to sign some ****? Because of my line of work, I've met countless athletes and other celebrities, all of whom were only rude to people who invaded their personal space during times when they weren't "on the clock." Chipper's cool as hell if you approach him politely and don't stick a bunch of **** in his face to sign. I don't understand the fascination with autographs, either. I'd much rather shake a guy's hand and tell them I'm a big fan. Generally they're much more likely to shoot the **** for a few minutes if you act like you've been somewhere and don't act like you're entitled to their time.

Sorry. I know that was a rant. I just hate when fans say "this guy was a dick" because they didn't feel like signing a bunch of stuff on their time off.
 
PawPawMaxwell said:
Braves and their corporate ownership letting Maddux, Glavine and Smoltz all HOFers and the Murphy and Andruw moves make me nervous about Freddie being retained. I think if Padres should miss but come close to WS that Preller would not let money stand in his way.
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All were the correct moves.
 
You have to understand that if it were not for fans, these megamillion dollar contracts would not be available or I guess I should say the players need to understand. I see your point tho. Once upon a time I was fortunate to meet my hero team, the 1956 Tigers. Jim Bunning didnt have time to put down his newspaper, Al Kaline tho only a few years older than us seemed no to want to be bothered, I think it was Harvey Kuenn who offered all of us a cigarette, Reno Bertoia lectured us all to stay in school. But then there was Charlie Maxwell who is my hero to this day for the 30 minutes teaching me things about baseball I havent forgotten now 65 years later. Then I need to mention Davy Concepcion buying my breakfast one day, Deon Sanders playing spades with us til 2:00 AM, Gaylord Perry taking time to shake my hand. Takes all kinds to make a still imperfect world. There my rant is done.
 
Glavine, Aaron, and Murphy are my all-time favorite Braves. I remember the day well when I got the impression Glavine was going to be somebody. It was a Sunday in mid-July in 1988 and the Braves were playing the Mets. The national Democratic Convention started in Atlanta the next day and it was a tyically small crowd at the game composed mostly of Mets' fans (the convention being in town probably contributed). Braves were down 2-0 in the 6th and Mookie Wilson was at the plate for the Mets with Glavine on the mound. Mookie had taken Glavine deep earlier in the game and when Glavine hit him with a pitch in this particular at-bat, Mookie took a couple of steps toward the mound and starting jawing a bit. Maybe it was the hockey player in Glavine or maybe it was just Glavine, but he jawed back a little and kind of struck a pose that said "Come get some." The benches didn't empty and Bruce Benedict got betwen Mookie and Glavine. The next batter--Tim Teufel--took Glavine deep (which pretty much put the game out of reach for that edition of the Braves), but the moments before is what struck me and stuck with me.

The Braves were crap when Glavine arrived and he was learning on the job. But Glavine kept building on his game and I think without that inner steel, he wouldn't have made it. And I think that steel became part of the Braves' incredible run. Braves were a talented bunch and Schuerholz was sitting on Ted Turner's thick wallet, but I've seen a lot of talented teams in my time as a fan that really lacked the cohesion and inner strength those teams had. I think that firmness was exemplified by Cox in the dugout and Glavine on the field.

In retrospect, I always laughed because I'd get so ticked when Baseball America constantly ranked Mets' LHP David West above Glavine when they played in the same minor leagues. West turned out to be a flake who couldn't make his impressive physical talents translate successfully at the major league level while Glavine's (who is certainly no slouch in terms of athletic ability as his being drafted by the L.A. Kings attests but never had West's big fastball) persistence and utter determination put him in the Hall of Fame.
 
chopdrew said:
"I don't understand why these guys were rude to me while I was bothering them while they were trying to do other stuff."

The entitlement of sports fans never ceases to amaze me. Athletes & celebrities don't want to be bothered when they aren't in uniform. Then some people have the nerve to call them "rude" because their favorite athlete won't kiss their ass in public while asking for an autograph. "Chipper was rude to my friend once." Well, did your friend ask him to sign some ****? Because of my line of work, I've met countless athletes and other celebrities, all of whom were only rude to people who invaded their personal space during times when they weren't "on the clock." Chipper's cool as hell if you approach him politely and don't stick a bunch of **** in his face to sign. I don't understand the fascination with autographs, either. I'd much rather shake a guy's hand and tell them I'm a big fan. Generally they're much more likely to shoot the **** for a few minutes if you act like you've been somewhere and don't act like you're entitled to their time.

Sorry. I know that was a rant. I just hate when fans say "this guy was a dick" because they didn't feel like signing a bunch of stuff on their time off.
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Wtaf? You can't lump good fans with bad fans sticking crap in an athletes face. There are scum collectors who do that but some people actually like these guys /gals and the opportunity to make just one fans day, week, month and life means something. I've worked with athletes, movies stars, wrestlers, race car drivers, etc who understand that the majority of fans just want a bit of their heroes. Regardless of their profession, these heroes understand or need to that there will be inconvenient times associated with overzealous fans. (Not excusing bad fans).

Now..on the opposite end of the spectrum I've seen some entitled bs from athletes. One person wanted exactly 11 Vos waters...not to be drank but just to be arranged in a triangle manner..(Wtf). Another told fans not to talk to him during an autograph signing. (Wtf). Does that make all athletes bad? Of course not.

But here's a great one: LL Cool J was doing a signing at Macy's and I was at the event. My kids wanted to take a pic with him. The event coordinator said no and that fans had to keep moving. LL told her, "these are my fans. If they want a pic, I'll take it." He took 4 until it was right. He gained a loyal fan that day. As if I wasn't already. Shaq...same thing.

Long azz rant over. Athletes are people just like fans. I have all kinds of memorabilia in my mancave...I don't worship or idolize them but it looks cool.
 
PawPawMaxwell said:
You have to understand that if it were not for fans, these megamillion dollar contracts would not be available or I guess I should say the players need to understand. I see your point tho. Once upon a time I was fortunate to meet my hero team, the 1956 Tigers. Jim Bunning didnt have time to put down his newspaper, Al Kaline tho only a few years older than us seemed no to want to be bothered, I think it was Harvey Kuenn who offered all of us a cigarette, Reno Bertoia lectured us all to stay in school. But then there was Charlie Maxwell who is my hero to this day for the 30 minutes teaching me things about baseball I havent forgotten now 65 years later. Then I need to mention Davy Concepcion buying my breakfast one day, Deon Sanders playing spades with us til 2:00 AM, Gaylord Perry taking time to shake my hand. Takes all kinds to make a still imperfect world. There my rant is done.
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Sure. But players are only getting their share of the revenue. Same with actors, musicians, or anyone else that is in the entertainment business. So I don't fault for players getting their money when there are only a select few that can do what they do.
 
USMA76 said:
I was thinking the same thing. Smoltz was our best postseason pitcher because he was the only one of the three who could overpower hitters. The other two had to rely on finesse and (particularly Glavine) needed a "friendly" strike zone. Glavine would put the ball in the same place over and over again and umps would reward that placement even if the pitches weren't necessarily strikes. That said, Glavine's game six performance forever kept us out of the Buffalo Bills/Minnesota Vikings comparisons.

I liked Glavine because he was a home grown Brave and he went into the HoF with a Braves cap, even though he pitched in New York for a couple of years. OTOH I realize he was doing his job as a player rep but his work with the players union in the mid-1990s and strike year was off-putting to me. Maddux was the better pitcher of the two but his postseason record was nothing special IIRC. I was disappointed when, as a sop to the Cubs, didn't wear a Braves cap on his HoF plaque.

I can say that being at Cooperstown when both Maddux and Glavine were inducted was one the coolest things ever.
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Home grown is big for me too. It just means more.
 
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