Braves Notes

Blaine Boyer was sent down to Richmond and Joey Devine was called up. Boyer clearly wasn't ready after his injury and Devine was great in Spring Training. There's a good chance Devine will be the closer at the end of the season.

What Strawberry could have been

"The saddest thing in the world is wasted talent." -- Robert DeNiro, "A Bronx Tale"

Darryl Strawberry was recently elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame, and I couldn't be more proud of him. Darryl was the straw that stirred the Mets for 14 years, leading the boys from Queens to four World Championships; in 1986, 1989, 1990 and 1993. He was the team's all-time home run leader, with 503, and retired fourth on the all-time list with 621.

Had you asked me back in the late-1980s, the above passage is what I would have expected to write about Strawberry five years after his retirement. Growing up a Braves fan during that time, I KNEW Strawberry would go down as one of the greats of all time and cause heartbreak for my team. I didn't think this, I was absolutely certain of it. By now, of course, we all know the real truth to be completely different. Strawberry obviously did not, and never will, make the Hall of Fame (unless it's as an example to others) Back then, I, and everyone else, knew Straw had a drug problem, but didn't give a damn. This attitude, however unhealthy, still sticks with many of us baseball fans today. We as fans are total hypocrites when it comes to athletes and their off-field activities. Nonetheless, it was only after leaving the Mets that Strawberry began to have huge problems. Take a look at these career numbers:

8 years with the Mets: .262, 252 HR, 733 RBI, 191 SB
9 years with the Dodgers, Giants and Yankees: .248, 83 HR, 267 RBI, 30 SB

The pressure of playing in New York affects all players. Most poorly, but some positively. There is zero doubt in my mind that Strawberry benefited tremendously from the pressure of playing there. It kept him focused and attentive. The moment he cashed in and went back to his laid-back boyhood home of Los Angeles, all his problems came to the forefront and affected his play. Some people think that drugs wrecked Straw's career. They certainly didn't help, but leaving New York was what really hurt him. Drug problems would have caught up to him eventually (they certainly did when he was a Yankee), but not, I suspect, before he had built up a healthy Hall of Fame resume, and maybe added some more jewelry to accompany his 1986 World Championship ring.

No athlete has wasted so much talent quite like Darryl Strawberry did. Here are some other examples ...

Len Bias - There's something about the power forward position in the NBA, and I don't know what it is. Bias, Roy Tarpley, Shawn Kemp, Derrick Coleman and Chris Webber were arguably the most gifted "fours" to be drafted over the last 20 years. Any one of them could have been the greatest power forward of all time. Coleman and Webber didn't want it bad enough, but at least they stayed clean, carved out solid careers and didn't ruin anyone's life along the way. Kemp and Tarpley blew it all with drugs, but at least they made some cash and had some fun. And at least they're still alive. Not so with Len Bias.

Dwight Gooden - Gooden's story isn't as sad as Strawberry's, for a couple reasons. His drug issues are, of course, well-documented. But what we didn't know back then was that he was pretty much washed up by 1990, his arm dead from too much work at too young an age. He threw 744 major league innings by the time he was 22. Managers today would be fired on the spot for that sort of thing. Moreover, Doc never turned his back on his team. He never quit on the Mets. If anything, the Mets failed him by abusing his arm and shortening his career.

Mike Tyson - Could have ruled the heavyweight division for 15 years. Instead, like many athletes who come from absolutely nothing, Tyson got too fat on the newfound good life. Too much money, too many women, too many suckups who told him that he was great just the way he was and didn't need to train any harder for that Douglas bum. He lost his belt, which SHOULD have been the wakeup call he needed to get back on track. But instead, he took out his anger on a young woman named Deseree Washington, and that was that.

These are my "favorite" examples; please feel free to post some of yours as a comment.

MLB is cheap and D.C. is stupid

Ok, now we know why the Washington Nationals don't have a owner yet. The reason? Well, MLB is balking at paying $6 million dollar rent for the stadium. Not like Washington's hasn't committed half a billion to bringing a baseball team to D.C., now MLB baseball thinks it can get away without paying rent?

The more I read about this mess the better MLB looks. I mean any organization that can make a city its bitch is doing something right. Washington, D.C. has bent over and took it straight up the ass and asked for more of it. Its amazing to watch public officials giving public money to a private bussiness and actually telling taxpayers that it is for a public good. Congrats MLB for finding the biggest idiots in America and milking them for all its worth.

Don't think I haven't forgotten about you Kolb!!!

Your a waste of a much needed roster spot. Please, take your millions and leave. I don't even care if you think you can still pitch ... just go.

Dan Kolb Sucks.com

Look how damn smug he is there thinking about how he can bring down the Braves and end their NL East winning streak. I really think he was sent to destroy the team. As you all might remember, I started a Kolb Petition awhile back to build support for ousting Kolb from the Braves. This has not proved successful, but finally an alley has surfaced in the form of a website called DanKolbSucks.com. I support this site's efforts to reveal the menice that is Dan Kolb. Bellow is a post from DanKolbSucks.com. Hopefully we are not the only ones out there and eventually more Braves's fans will come to understand the destructive force of Kolb.
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"So Dan Kolb is 1 - 5 so far on the year … those 5 losses were to Washington (April 12th), Philadelphia (April 17th), Coloradio (May 11th), San Diego (May 17th), and then Washington (June 2nd). With the Braves currently being 30 - 26, make those 5 losses what they should be…and we’re 35 - 21. This would also make the Nationals 29 - 28 instead of 31 - 26. And the Phillies would be 29 - 28 instead of 30 - 27. So with those modified records, the standings would look sorta like this … Atlanta 35 - 21, NY Mets 30 - 27, Was. 29 - 28, Phil. 29 - 28, Florida 28 - 26. Fantastic. And those are just Kolb’s losses, those don’t take into account the rest of our awful bullpen."

Why Alex Rodriguez is an upgrateful idiot

I sometimes wonder how rich Hollywood actors and sports stars find it so easy to undervalue what the United States has made possible in their lives. Many of these people (not all) have lived the "American dream" of finding that path toward social mobility by earning millions of dollars in a profession that in many other countries is nonexisten. Yet, still they feel like the United States is a lesser country.

What I find strange is the failure to appreciate the opporunities the United States has made possible. It is funny that successful second, third, or even fourth generation Americans still hold a greater attachment to their "mother" country than to the United States. Except for a few countries on this earth, the United States far and away exceeds the living standard that one would have had if born in another country. The feeling of greatness of "mother" country is even more unusally for the multi-million dollar wage-earners who would have been day laborers or worse in any place. They benefit from being in the United States, but think and feel that their country is so much better.

For everyday workers who make a middle class salary, this thinking is acceptable by most Americans. However, if the person is a Hollywood actor or sports star then Americans are less forgiving. In the case of Alex Rodriguez his salary is paid by regular working Joes who go to a baseball games paying upward of 100.00 dollars for tickets, food, and drinks. They do not want to hear that, when push comes to shove, Mr. Rodriguez prefers a country HE NEVER HAS LIVED IN to the United States. Mr. Rodriguez was born in the United States and raised here by his Dominican parents. For some reason, he has dual citizenship and is allowed to choose which country's baseball team he will represent in the first "World Classic" baseball tournament. In Mr. Rodriguez's own words:

"I am going to play for the Dominican Republic, and I am going to make the Dominicans feel proud. I want to say it out loud: I am Dominican." Continuing on Mr. Rodriguez said: "I am Dominican, and that's the flag I will represent in the World Classic. We will have a great team, and we will try to win the title so that all the Dominican people will feel proud of their ballplayers and of their own nationality."

Although Mr. Rodriguez has dual citizenship, he is about as Dominican as I am. The guy only recently learned how to speak Spanish (because of his stint with the Texas Rangers and from what I understand he doesn't speak the language well) and, as I said before, has never lived in the Dominican Republic. This is a case of a ballplayer not getting it. America has given him so much and the least he can do is play for the country and fans that has made his life possible. But, if he is going to be an a-s, then let him play for the Dominican Republic and also let him live and try to earn a living there as well.

I hope New Yorkers realize he doesn't consider himself an American first. That being a citizen of a country he doesn't even know is more important than representing this wonderful country of ours and the people that have made it so great. But, I am just wasting my breath because America is of secondary importance to Mr. Rodriguez and he probably has Dominican issues to take care of before worrying out what us American's think of him.

Kolb Must Go

Although the baseball gods count Kolb's latest effort to destroy the Braves as a loss, it really was just another example of how bad of a closer this guy has become. Was last year for real? Did he save 30 plus games only to come to Atl. to piss me off? Prob. not on both accounts. I cannot profess in any meaningful way the dislike I have for this guy. He is a cancer to the team and should be let go. However, the Braves organization has seen its way to keep this guy. Well, good job team. Way to go! Let Kolb blow/loose some more games.

I now call again for people to sign the Kolb petition. Click the title.

Trade or Release Dan Kolb Petition

I would like my readers to take time out of their day to sign a petition that I created to get Mr. Kolb off the Atlanta Braves baseball team. To sign the petition click on the title. More to come on this subject.

Dan Kolb

It has been two days since Kolb's blown save, but I am still too angry to talk about my feelings fully. I will just say that how the h-ll can you throw a pitch that looks like its for a home-run derby contest?!! Kolb made Dustin Mohr look like a homerun hitter with 40 hr potential.

Its only his second blown save, but Kolb 1-3 record does give some sign of his pitching problems. The truth of the matter is the numbers don't show just how really bad he is playing.