Braves Ramblings

A little bothered this morning by the walk-off grandslam that ended the Braves' hopes of taking 2 of 3 from the Cards. Seriously. The Braves hit two solo homers off Cards' ace, Cy Young favorite , and Emily's-fantasy-team-stud Chris Carpenter, and that was enough for 8 innings.

Jorge Sosa (or, Houdini, for his ability to get out of jams) threw another gem. Then Reitsma comes in and effs it all up in the 9th. I was ready for the Braves to win the series, since apparently the Cardinals are by far the best team in the NL. But in the broadcast last night, they showed a stats comparison--the teams are eerily similar in home runs, batting average, and ERA and couple of other categories. Taking 2 of 3 would have sent a huge message to the baseball world.

By the way, Braves phenom Jeff Francoeur (whose nickname, I learned, is "Frenchy") hits a home run every 10.8 AB, a better clip than Andruw Jones. True, experts expect him to go through a cold streak soon as pitchers figure him out, but the next fanchise player? The next Chipper Jones? Anyone?

Is Andruw Jones the MVP? He makes a strong case, due to the way he has truly carried the Braves on his back, but he'll never win the MVP with a .274 average. Better get that avg up, buddy.

I had a great weekend, though. Hope you did, too.