R.I.P. Tony Gwynn

Greg Maddux was convinced no hitter could tell the speed of a pitch with any meaningful accuracy. To demonstrate, he pointed at a road a quarter-mile away and said it was impossible to tell if a car was going 55, 65 or 75 mph unless there was another car nearby to offer a point of reference.

“You just can’t do it,” he said. Sometimes hitters can pick up differences in spin. They can identify pitches if there are different releases points or if a curveball starts with an upward hump as it leaves the pitcher’s hand. But if a pitcher can change speeds, every hitter is helpless, limited by human vision.

“Except,” Maddux said, “for that [expletive] Tony Gwynn.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/nationals/greg-maddux-a-hall-of-fame-approach-that-carried-an-average-arm-to-cooperstown/2014/01/07/fdd7ae82-77d3-11e3-af7f-13bf0e9965f6_story.html 

Rest In Peace Tony Gwynn

Bat Flip of the Century

Hunt Smith, a senior from Warner Robins, hit a grand slam in the pivotal game of the 5A state playoffs. He also won the bat-flipping championship belt. Puig, eat your heart out:




Jonah Keri didn't even vote this as his best bat flip of the week, which is just insane.

First Day Draft Review

Yesterday the Braves selected North Carolina high school OF Braxton Davidson at pick 32 and Texas high school RHP Garrett Fulenchek at pick 66.  Both of these players had been mentioned as potential targets for the Braves at pick 32, so the Braves are likely pleased to have landed both.  One interesting thing to note is that both guys are young for their class with neither turning 18 until later this month. 

Braves Current Lineup is to Blame for the Missing Offense

Braves current go to lineup:

Heyward, RF
B. Upton, CF
Freeman, 1B
J. Upton, LF
Gattis, C
Johnson, 3B
Simmons, SS
La Stella, 2B
Pitcher

From day one, I've hated this lineup. It's not balanced and it provides Freeman and J. Upton with NO support. You have the strikeout king batting in the two hole.

Happy MLB Draft Day

I am a draft nerd.  This is my favorite day of the year.  I fondly remember in high school and college watching the first streaming broadcasts of the draft on my laptop during the warm summer afternoons in Georgia.  The draft has become more mainstream with the advent of MLB Network, and now is broadcast from MLB Networks Studios in Secaucus, New Jersey.  One day hopefully the draft telecast will be more available to the public like the other professional league drafts because MLB Network Studios is just a ten-minute drive from my apartment.

Lessons in How Not to Run a Baseball Franchise (Miami Edition)

The Marlins made two moves this week.  First they traded away a compensation pick in this week's amateur draft (#39 overall, $1.4 million slot value) to the Pittsburgh Pirates for reliever Bryan Morris.  Today the Marlins signed veteran reliever Kevin Gregg to a one year, pro-rated $2.1 million deal.

La Stella Time

After five games in the big leagues, there's one thing I know for certain about Tommy La Stella: he can hit.