Ted Turner Memoirs Part 2: Corruption

[lilbiggio]

Quote: Originally Posted by The Big Squeezy

This has been an awesome read, I love the little side stories you have, they really keep you coming back. Keep it up dude.

'Preciate the kind words bro..

Things are really flying along now, another rotation of the erm, rotation goes through and after losing a 3 game set to New York we pick things back up in South Florida where the Braves magic # has been stuck at 2 games for about 5 days now.



Make that one now. We made up for the last meeting vs. the Marlins by making a few key adjustments to Hanley Ramirez. He did not see one fast ball the entire night, and surprisngly a guy with his plate discipline and hitting ability never got going as he surprisingly chased balls all night. Once Ramirez fell off... the rest of the team was easy to navigate up and down against.

Brooks Conrad nearly hit for the cycle only needing a triple to accomplish it. I don't know about you, but it's pretty hard to coax a triple when every ball is hit directly at the outfielders. But I ain't complaining I'll take the game he had any day of the week.

Since I haven't done standings in awhile I'll just pop a picture real quick of what the final ten days of the regular season is boiling down to..



If we wanted to get technically sound in here, the American League would shock you. Baltimore is currently whooping the hell out of New York right now, and is close to securing the wild card spot. A glance at their roster shows nothing out of the ordinary. Then I remembered, the Yankees had that fool of a pitcher Tim Hudson, and I had to feel, if ever so slightly, HE... was the reason for the Yankees decline.

It's possible right?

In other news Albert Pujols is really, really, close to hitting for the Triple Crown. That is all. I'm starting to get superstitious about it, and don't want to see it jinxed in the last two simulations for this season. If he gets it though...

[lilbiggio]

Finally...


Raise the banners pimps, the Braves have won their 18th Divisonal title.


With just one single game keeping the Braves from poppin' bottles. There was a little difficulty acheiving the feat. See, Florida didn't want to lie down like the scrubs that they are and won the final two games of our series with them.

No biggie, we'll travel up to D.C. and wrap there.

Nope,

Now Washington, who I still hold a grudge against for their opening day massacre on us, also would not go down without a fight. Here it was now, Championship point #4, and we were in a team wide slump.

What impecible timing.


Then... Mr. Clutch. Mr. reliable. The Stopper, Mr. Man of the Hour, Too Sweet to be Sour. Took the ball and said STFU, we'ere going to the playoffs.



Was it a surprise that it would be Derek Lowe to pitch possibly his best game of the season and end this madness?

Sure it took a complete game from him. (No way we were getting him out of there with the way things were going.)

Sure it took absolutely a defensive effort from our ballclub since even in victory the bats were not on point. Zimmerman had a two hitter going at one point before the CPU manager decided it would be No Mas and took him out of the game for really no reason in the 7th.

But at the end of the day, the Braves live to fight another day. We have made it to the Second season.


It was not a pretty game from Lowe by any means. 10 hits through 9 should have been a L for us. However Lowe effectiveness of not giving up the big hit, the critical homerun, or the bonehead double in the corner saved our lives today, and he did just good enough to get us our of D.C. with the one win that we needed.

[lilbiggio]

Albert Pujols Wins Triple Crown

Quote:

One of baseball's most revered, and often sought after award, has finally been reached. Albert Pujols has reached the mountain top and has unseated Carl Yastrzemski as the reigning defender of the Triple Crown. A feat that hadn't been accomplished since 1967.

In 2010 Pujols nearly pulled it off, but got okie doked by Jason Bay in the final 3 games of the season and lost his slim lead in the RBI department. This year, Pujols dominated all categories.

The homerun race was over by the end of August as Pujols had 10+ over Ryan Howard of the Phillies and really never looked to relinquish that gap. The batting average race also started to lean Pujols way as the Cardinals feasted on the Astros and Reds throughout September and Pujols average correlated with a skyward trend that equally was never in doubt.

Although teammate Matt Holliday started to get ridiculously close during this same series... we all know who butters the bread on the Cardinals lineup, and it would be Pujols who would have the better numbers at the end of the day.



It would come back down to RBI's again, but Pujols sealed the deal with a 3 game set vs. Houston to end the year knocking in 4 RBI's each of his final 3 games. That's what you call finishing strong.

In conclusion, I'm happy. I love seeing 35 year old records fall on MLB the Show. If anything it shows that this game won't stop history from being made. Last year I had felt that the game slightly ruined Pujols chance to win the Crown just to keep history going. But obviously that can't be the case now..

Who will win the Triple Crown in 2012? Maybe it'll be someone reasonable... maybe it'll be Julio Borbon. We'll just have to wait and find out.

[lilbiggio]

Some people play MLB the Show to experience the thrill of a 162 game season game by game.

Some play just to replicate their real life heroes.

This is what I play for. The postseason. The handful of games where every pitch matters. Where every team is good. Where every player is playing at the highest level.

I love the regular season. I really do. But this is when my blood gets going. Hell that's in any sports game. The playoffs are just another animal.


What do we know?



We know that Boston has the second best team in baseball. That much is true after a move in May that sent Jose Reyes to the Cardinals turned from a bust to a golden ticket to the world series. The Cardinals have trumped everything Boston accomplished in the offseason, including the Jersey Shore style robbery of Carl Crawford. Remember guys it wasn't too long ago he was patrolling the outfields of Turner Field and the future looked bright heading into 2011. Next thing I know he's on NESN with a bad edge up, a Sox jersey and a cigar.

Anyhoo, St. Louis has done well for themselves and have pound for pound the best offense in the postseason. A lineup that features Reyes, Holliday, and Pujols just for fun is going to go a long way this October.

What do we know?


We also know that the Orioles get the nod as the cinderella team in the dance. It was a wonderful thing watching them choke the life out of New York in the AL Wildcard race and reach the promised land for the first time since the Cal Ripken, Brady Clark, and Roberto Alomar days. Derrek Lee, and Vlad have really revitalized that team.


What do we know?


We know that our hometown Braves have probably one of the worst pitching staffs in the playoffs, We also have a bullseye the size of Rhode Island on our back... hmm Rhode Island's not that big actually can I change that to Vermont?

With a bullseye the size of some new england region, as the defending champion there is a lot of pressure to not fail and get back to the World Series. The Cardinals will be tough. Arizona I'm not too worried about. Colorado will be an early test though. We start off with Lowe on the mound vs. the NL CY Young winner Ubaldo Jimenez. Unfortunately virtual Colorado knows this kid is the truth, and did not trade him.



If there's one thing anyone needs to know, in a 5 game set, Game 1 is CRITICAL. Hopefully we don't get 2 hit or something of that nature to start off this series.

[Rexis]

Goof luck in the playoffs.

[lilbiggio]

Quote: Originally Posted by rexis

Goof luck in the playoffs.

With the Braves Nation haven spoken and given us their blessing heading into the big dance, we start the playoffs off seeing a lot of luck, but none of it good.

In fact, I'd be lying, if I didn't say by the end of the two cold 40 degree nights in Denver, I couldn't wait to leave Coors field for the rest of 2011.

But unfortunately if we have any hope of going to the next round, we WILL have to play there again, and well... as of right now, it looks impossible to win there right now:



Game 1, we got the marquee matchup of Lowe and Jimenez. We get to the Cy Young winner early and made him work with 83 pitches through 5 innings. He had zero command. ZERO.

But we couldn't wrap this **** up for some reason. We get into the 8th, one out to go, Kimbrell on the mound.. Whadya know?

*Boomstick*

Carlos Gonzalez goes yard with a 2 run shot with two outs. Tie ball game. Should have left Lowe in, but hindsight is 20/20 and that'll be the last time I take a guy out just because I didn't want him to dominate the CPU for back to back CG's.


Game goes 15 additional innings with us missing opportunities to score here and there. Jason Werth ends it with a bloop single plating the guy from 3rd without a throw, and I just watched a 2 hour game, in which we made Ubaldo Jimenez look like a fool go down the drain with a L. Damn.

Quote:

Note from Editor Look at the boxscore, look at the f'n boxscore. We go up big, they demoralize us. We score 3 runs in the 15th. they score 4 in the same frame. Unbelievable loss right here. I'm still fuming...

Lowe is done for the rest of the series or atleast till game 5 and he'll be slightly worn out then. The rest of the boys will have to snuff out wins without our ace in the hole. I'm not sure I like our odds.

Double Damn...

and I gotta go to work right now too..

Triple Damn no take backs.

[lilbiggio]

Ok so back from a long day at work. And yeah there was a second game played in this update. You know when you lose, you want to get back on the field as quick as possible. Especially in the demoralizing way that we lost. Let's get our pride back right and not blow it in the 8th inning again?



@&#$@&A?!?!?!

Carlos Gonzalez 2 - Atlanta Braves - 0.


And there really isn't much else to say. We just went down two games to none that quick. Again, the game was wrapped up. The icing was on the cake. The presents were under the tree.. the butter was in the fridge. etc.. and etc...


This time, we keep Jurrjens in the game. You know, we don't want to make the same silly mistake from last night and put the bullpen in too early when the starter is dealing. Jurrjens should have left since Gonzales is a lefty threat, but rather than go to Sherrill in thsi sitaution or O'Flaherty, I stuck with Jair...


...and boy did we pay for it. With two outs, Gonzalez took a below the knees changeup yard for a two run shot, erasing a one run lead. Turning it into a one run Rockies lead, and effectively ending the game as we only had three outs left to produce a run against Huston Street.

So now what?

The bullpen can't be trusted. The starter can't be trusted. Carlos Gonzalez is getting beaned next game because he damn sure can't be trusted. Will we even make a series of this going back to Atlanta?


Panic Mode Activated.

[Matt10]

This is a great read man, just spent some time reading it all - love the commentary, hilarious. Keep up the great work.