Former Atlanta Braves in the 2008 Post Season

Good picture gallery of ex-Braves playing in the post season this year by the AJC today.

The list includes eleven (11) players...

• Greg Maddux
• Jason Marquis
• Paul Byrd
• Rafael Furcal
• Mark DeRosa
• J.D. Drew
• Mark Kotsay
• Jermaine Dye
• Dewayne Wise
• Willy Aybar
• Mark Teixeira

Who would I want back? Teixeira. But it would have taken a lot more than Tex to get the Bravos in the post season this year.

Adios Spiezio

According to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the Atlanta Braves have released Scott Spiezio. Spiezio was playing for the Richmond Braves after having been signed to a minor league deal about two weeks ago.

Full article on ajc.com.

Jason Stark of ESPN.com Picks the Bravos in '08

We take you back in time to the first week of March. The 2008 Grapefruit League was only a few days old. But a National League scout already had caught on to something that hadn't yet dawned on the rest of the hemisphere.

He'd just returned from watching the new, improved Atlanta Braves. It didn't take him long to make this important announcement:

"They're back."

And they are. Consider this a warning -- to you and the rest of the National League East. They're back.

It's been 2½ years since the Braves last played a postseason game. It's been 13 years since they won the only World Series of their 14-year rampage as division champions. It's been 17 years since the Braves of John Smoltz, Tom Glavine, Steve Avery and Charlie Leibrandt made their first foray into October in the Bobby Cox-John Schuerholz era.

Read the rest at:
sports.espn.go.com/mlb/preview08/columns/story?columnist=stark_jayson&id=3320120

The Washington Braves?

This week the Washington Nationals added three former Braves to their team - Pete Orr, Ray King, and Willie Harris. These three join Ryan Langerhans on the club. King and Orr don't have guaranteed deals, but will be at spring training.

Nats Agree to Terms with Orr

The Washington Nationals signed infielder Pete Orr to a minor league deal. He is invited to Spring Training, but not on the Nationals 40-man roster.

Cool Widget

Left-Handed Hitting Speedster Left off 40-man Roster

Pete Orr was taken off the Atlanta Braves 40-man roster yesterday as the team made a bunch of moves to the roster - including adding pitchers Jairo Cuevas, Charlie Morton, and Zach Schreiber. This comes the day after the Braves signed a 41-year old lefty who still has something left in the tank.

Pete Orr Gets the Start in the Season Finale

Pete Orr is batting 8th and starting at second base for the Atlanta Braves today.

Mark Teixeira

This thing is too funny even after having watched it 100x.

Orr Back with A-Braves

Pete Orr was recalled from Richmond when the Braves sent Joey, up/down/up/down, Devine to the AAA club.

Orr hit .240 in 43 games with the Richmond Braves.

Mark Teixeira #23

So the Braves will have a solid first baseman....I mean a real, power hitting, offensive, marquee, first sacker.

Let's take a look at the recent history of the Braves 1B position:

2007: Thorman/Saltalamachia/Franco
2006: LaRoche
2005: LaRoche/Franco
2004: LaRoche/Franco
2003: Fick/Franco/Franco
2002: Franco/Franco/Helms (and even some Surhoff)
2001: Bogna/Helms/Camanitti/Franco
2000: Galarraga/Joyner

So that means it's been since 2000 that the Braves had a real threat, I mean a household name type bigleaguer manning the old man's corner.

I like it. I like Teixeira. I liked Salty and hope he turns out to be a dud.

BTW, Matt Diaz wears #23 - and so does Teixeira, so someone will be buying someone else a new car for a jersey number.

Braves Get New First Sacker

Mark Teixera is a Brave.

Braves get 1B Mark Teixeira and LHP Ron Mahay.

Rangers get C Jarrod Saltalamacchia, SS Elvis Andrus, LHP Matt Harrison, and one more not accounced.

Pete Orr is still playing for Richmond.

Would you like some Salty or Teixeira

Which would you rather?

48 Year old Everyday First Baseman?

Yes, the Braves have 22 year old Jarrod Saltalamacchia sitting while they play 48 year old Julio Franco at 1B.

I don't understand this at all. It appears taht they are very close to a deal to get Mark Texiera from the Texas Rangers in exchange for Salty and some other prospects...but wouldn't you want to have Salty at the first sack instead of Julio?

I like Julio, but c'mon.

Pete Orr went 4-5 for Richmond last night.

8 Teams; How Many Jersey #s?

Julio Franco has worn a variety of jersey numbers on his back. I remembered that he had worn several different numbers with the Braves during 2001-05, but couldn't remember them all. So I did some searching and found his page on the Baseball Almanac web site. Man, there is some cool stuff there. They have a record of all his jersey numbers!

Franco is currently wearing #14 for the Braves. This appears to be his favorite jersey number. As a rookie in 1982 he wore #15 with the Phillies. From 1983 to 1994 Franco wore #14 for the Indians, Rangers, and White Sox. When he returned to the bigs in 1996 for the Indians he wore #23. The switch was made because the Indians planned to retire the #14 in honor of the second African American Major Leaguer, Larry Doby.

In 1997, with the Brewers, Franco wore #25. Number 14 was worn by catcher Dave Nilsson. SI.com says, however, that Franco wore #14. Not sure what the real deal is here. Could have been a midseason switch by Nilsson.

In 1999, Julio had 1 AB with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. He wore #18.

When Atlanta rescued Julio from the Mexican League in 2001, he wore #28 and #4. Bernard Gilkey wore #23 with the Braves in '01 and Quilvio Veras wore #4. Julio took #28, then switched to #4 after the Braves sent Quilvio packing. Verteran Dave Martinez wore #14 that year.

One would think that Franco would have stuck with #4 throught '02, but he didn't. He wore it for a while, then switched to #23. He gave #4 to Matt Franco - Matt was promoted from AAA Richmond pretty early that season. He and Julio more or less platooned at 1B that season. It does not appear that anyone wore #14 for the Braves in 2002. (Note: Matt Franco is currently playing professional baseball in Japan for the Chiba Lotte Marines; the same team Julio Franco played for in 1995 and 1998.)

In 2003, Franco put on #14 and kept it through 2005.

It was a good thing that Franco kept #14, because Pete Orr broke in with the Braves in 2005 and wore the #4.

In '06, with the Mets, Franco wore #23. The Mets have the #14 of Gil Hodges retired, so that was not an option for Franco.

Franco continued to wear #23 for the Mets until he was let go earlier this month. Currently Franco is wearing a #14 Atlanta Braves jersey.

So, Franco has wore 7 different numbers on the back of his Major League jerseys (15, 14, 23, 25, 18, 28, 4).

Sitting at 2.5 Back

The Bravos pounded the Redbirds last night at The Ted in the return of Julio Franco. Franco had a two-run single to show that he can still get around on the ball (he hit it to left field, a rarity for Franco).

This season will be his 6th in a Braves uniform - his first stint was 2001-05. Julio has played for 8 different MLB clubs. The Indians are the only team whom Franco has spent more time (8 seasons; 1983-88, 1996-97).

This is an interesting move. I guess Schuerholz and Cox think that Franco can help as a pinch hitter and at first base. I don't think they signed him for the "veteran leadership" as some of the media outlets have reported. I don't think the Braves, or any other big league team, would give a roster spot to a soon-to-be 49 year old to be a "father figure."

The Braves sent Jose Ascanio to Mississippi to open a roster spot for Franco. The Braves also moved Kyle Davies to Richmond and actived reliever Wil Ledezma (who had been on the "restricted" list since the end of the All Star break - his passport had been damaged in a load of laundry or something and he was stuck in Venezuela while he got a new one.

I think the Braves are concerned with left-handed hitting 1B Scott Thorman enough to make this move. Thorman is hitting .212 with 9 yayas and 33 RBI. He has Ked 57 times in 241 AB; that means he fans every 4.2 at bats. As previously mentioned, Thorman is out of minor league options.

Golden Child Jarrod Saltalamacchia has been spending a good amount of time at 1B, but that leaves the Bravos without a catcher on the bench. The Braves seem to have no interest in adding another catcher, and with Pete Orr now down on the farm Matt Diaz is the only "emergency catcher."

Salty has made 2 errors in 103 innings at the first sack - not all that bad for it being a new position. His batting average has dropped quite a bit. He was hitting .330 on July 1. After yesterday's 0-4, his average was .278.

We'll see how this whole thing plays out.

Kyle Davies as Pinch Hitter

Kyle Davies pinch hit today in the 15th inning for Jose Ascanio. I have to wonder about this move for a couple reasons - the first being that I'm thinkin' that Davies would have been a potential relief pitcher in the game...possibly the next pitcher if the game had gotten tied and the second being that Davies is not, by the numbers at least, the best hitting pitcher who was still on the bench.

There were X pitchers still on the bench - Buddy Carlyle, Tim Hudson, Chuck James, Pete Moylan, and Jo-Jo Reyes. Moylan being the only reliever. Cox had used Jo-Jo as a pinch hitter before and had been successful.

Both Hudson (.200, 8 H, 2 2B, 3 RBI) and James (.194, 6 H, 1 2B, 2 RBI) have better batting averages than Davies (.192, 5 H, 1 2B, 1 HR, 4 RBI).

If it were me, I would have gone with Jo-Jo, who is 2-3 as a big league hitter.

Braves Bring Back Some Bench Help

No, Pete Orr is still in Richmond hitting .238 in his first 21 AB since being kicked to the curb by the big club.

Julio Franco, who will turn 49 on August 23, will join the Braves tomorrow. He'll be a right handed hitter off the bench - and will probably get some limited playing time at first base. At first one might think that 1B Scott Thorman will be headed to Richmond, but he's out of options and would have to be put on waivers if the Braves want to do that. I'm thinking the Bravos will send down one of their 13 pitchers to open the spot for Julio - either Jo-Jo Reyes or Jose Ascanio.

The move will be announced tomorrow before the 7:35 tip-off with the St. Louis Redbirds.

The Reality of Baseball Strikes

Pete Orr was sent to AAA Richmond yesterday and the call me up, send me down, call me up again, then send me down again, Joey Devine was recalled from AA Mississippi.

This will mark the first time since the beginning of the 2005 season that Pete Orr will not be on the Atlanta Braves 25-man roster.

Braves skipper Bobby Cox said, "We need another pitcher for the next couple of days bad. I hate to do it, because Pete is one of my favorite guys and one of the best teammates our guys have ever had."

Orr was hitting well below the mendoza line at .179 this season and has been overshadowed by the rise of Yunel Escobar during the recent weeks.

Orr said, "I'd love to play for the Braves and Bobby Cox again."

The Braves cannot recall Orr for 10 days - Major League rules, not mine.

...And Your National League All Star Shortstop is...

not Pete Orr since he's only played 1 inning during his MLB career at SS. Your NL All Star SS is Jose Reyes. The fans made a great choice. Reyes can play. He's a stud. He's got 40 SB at the half way mark and is hitting ~.315. A very worthy starting shortshop.

The members of the Major League Baseball Players Association chose the backup shortstop. They picked J.J. Hardy. Hardy is having a great year for the Brewcrew (18 HR, 52 RBI, .283 Avg, yada yada yada).

Who should the players have picked? Edgard Renteria. The Braves SS is having another great year (.326 Avg, 10 HR, 43 RBI, 21 2B, 7 SB, 53 R). Renteria has a .980 FPCT. Reyes has a .987 and Hardy has a .972.

The only NL SS with a higher batting average than Renteria is Christian Guzman, but Guzman has only played in 43 game (Renteria has played in 79).

Renteria has 101 hits. Hardy has 87. I could go on, but I won't.

Renteria is an All Star. The players dropped the ball -- and you can't blame the "every team needs a representative rule" because the Braves have 2 on the team (John Smoltz and Brian McCann) and the Brewers hav 3 others on the club (Prince Fielder, Francisco Corder, & Ben Sheets).