R.I.P. 2 the Greg Norton Era: Atlanta Braves 2010

At this point, I sincerely hope SF and SD both make it in. I'm tired of this gang of toothless asthmatics. Better luck next year.

Braves kicking ass today. Basically if the Padres lose today the Braves are in.

look again

it's 7-8 but the Phillies only have three outs left

Can't believe this game ended up so close!

gonna be tough w/out Prado

btw I walked thru the ATL airport yesterday around 2:30 pm, from one end of terminal B to another, and there was nothin on bar TVs but the NFL.

Not surprised.

Hello 2 the Fredi Gonzalez era

No objection.

since Fredi was attending research talks at the SABR convention, i'd say it's a good hire.

Man, if the Braves and the Mets get talented, forward-looking managers the NL wild card'll get a lot tougher.

Ya, if only the Braves had a manager with some talent instead of being stuck with that Cox guy for the past 20 years.

but as Neyer hinted about Cox's decisions in this last series, "there's a reason they go out."

Fine, Cox's shit doesn't work in the playoffs, we already knew that. We know he can't manage his bullpen in the postseason and all that, but luck is still more of a factor in the postseason than anything most managers do or don't do.

But y'know, look out! The Braves might get a forward-thinking manager and jump right into the playoff hunt one of these years.

at least one smart enough to bench Brooks Conrad in a timely fashion?

One would hope.

That wasn't what I meant, William! I was hoping the Bravos would pick some idiot, but I didn't really expect them to.

The Mets, on the other hand - that could be a seismic shift.

Fine, Cox's shit doesn't work in the playoffs, we already knew that.

uh, how many pennants did he win, six?

Yeah, but none after 1999. You could argue that he had lesser talent to work with, or that he made more mistakes than he had in the past (and you could argue that it had something to do with age -- everyone's skills degrade with time). I don't really know. Like you said, failing to make defensive substitutions in the 9th inning of a playoff game is almost indefensible.

Anyway, luck usually trumps managing in the playoffs -- which was the main point of Neyer's post.

Like you said, failing to make defensive substitutions in the 9th inning of a playoff game is almost indefensible

See what I did there!!

(actually it was an accident)

actually 5 pennants but who's counting

Hubbard and Cadahia fired. Fredi's bringing his own guy in as bench coach; Pendleton is out as hitting coach and being moved to 1B coach. All good moves. Chipper as hitting coach is kind of a high risk/high reward thing, but it may be a little early to speculate on that one.