Braves Report

One of the few bright spots for the Braves this season has been the play of Chipper Jones. Chipper completed the year with a batting average of .364, which was good enough for him to win his first Batting Title. He beat out Albert Pujols, who hit .357.

His .364 average is the highest to win a NL batting title since Barry Bonds hit .370 in 2002. It was the highest to win a Batting Title in either league since Ichiro hit .372 in 2004 to win the AL Batting Title.

He became the first Brave to win the Batting Title since current hitting coach Terry Pendleton hit .319 in 1991. He became the 11^th Brave to win it. He joins the likes of Terry Pendleton (.319 in 1991), Ralph Garr (.353 in 1974), Rico Carty (.366 in 1970), Hank Aaron (.355 in 1959 and .328 in 1956), Ernie Lombardi (.342 in 1938), Rogers Hornsby (.387 in 1928), Hugh Duffy (.440 in 1894), Dan Bouthers (.373 in 1889), Deacon White (.387 in 1877 and .367 in 1875), and Ross Barnes (.425 in 1873 and .432 in 1872).

He is the first switch hitter to win the award since Bill Mueller won the AL Batting Title in 2003 hitting .329. He fell just short of beating Micky Mantle’s record of .365, the highest of any switch hitter in a single season. He was a single hit short of beating that record.

Chipper, as many may recall, hit .400 until June 18^th, 73 games into the season. His lowest average was .356, which came on September 6^th. He had 3 months in which he hit .400 or better; March/April (.410), May (.417), and September (.408). His worst month average wise came in July when he hit just .270.

Congratulations to Chipper Jones, for winning his first Batting Title in his Hall of Fame career.

Ironically the guy whose injury got the snowball started took the hill to close the season out. He pitched well the majority of the starts he had this season. He earned his 9^th quality start in his 13^th start. He pitched 6 innings and allowed 3 runs to cross. He allowed 5 hits and struck out 5 while walking nobody for the first time this year. Jeff Bennett came in to pitch the 7^th and allowed only a single hit in his lone inning of work. Julian Tavarez came in to pitch the 8^th and last frame of the season. He struggled and loaded the bases with no outs, but was able to get out of the jam without giving up a run.

The Braves’ lone run was Brent Lillibridge, who was driven in by Corky Miller, of all people, in the 5^th. Matt Diaz returned to the starting line-up for the first time since May 27^th. He was 0-3 for the game. Josh Anderson continued his push for a job on Opening Day 2009 with a hit. Casey also had a hit, as did Kelly Johnson, who had a pair and hit .429 for the month of September. Chipper pinch hit and was walked. Chipper won the Batting Title. He hit .364 on the year. He beat out Cardinals first baseman, Albert Pujols, who hit .357

Braves lose 1 – 3 and finish the season at 72 – 90.

Next game is on April 6^th, at the Phillies at 1:05 Est.

Braves-Report will cover the off-season. So check back early and often for your Braves fix during the off-season. 

Remember what I said about this team yesterday? Unpredictable. They win, they lose, they score a ton of runs, they score none. I don’t get it. I don’t think I’ll ever it get it. All that matters is the Braves put a beat-down on the Astros and get to close out their season tomorrow.

So, let’s start off with Parr. He kind of got beat up today. 4.1 innings, 8 hits, 5 runs (4 earned), and a pair of walks. Not the best stuff we’ve seen from him. Nunez relieved him and picked up the win, with 1.2 innings pitched, perfectly, striking out 1. Acosta, Julio, and Gonzo followed with an inning each, and all were phenomenal. The only hit that was let up came off of Julio. He had a strikeout, Gonzo had a pair, and Acosta struck out the side. Where has this bullpen been the entire season?

Combining with the very good bullpen appearances was the hit parade. 18 total hits, accounting for 11 runs. Josh Anderson, a guy who apparently wants a job next year, hit the second pitch of the game out of the park. He went 3-for-5 with a pair of homers and 3 RBIs. Next leading the offensive charge was Frenchy, who had 3 hits and doubled home 3 runs. Brandon Jones had two hits, doubling and singling in 3 runs. Lillibridge had his first career triple, which brought home another 2 runs. Every single starting player for the Braves had a hit in Saturday night’s game. With the exception of Sammons and Parr, everyone else had at least two hits. Now that’s pretty damn impressive.

Braves win big, 11 – 5.

Tomorrow’s game, the last one of the season, is at 2:05 PM EST.

One more thing, as much as this team has played horrendously this year and been incredibly frustrating to watch, it has been an absolute pleasure to write about them. I wouldn’t be doing this if I didn’t enjoy it, and I’ve come to accept that they can’t win every single game. Hell, if they only win 73 this year, I’ll be ecstatic. Call it delusional, but these are still the Braves that I know and have come to love and respect for the majority of my lifetime. I wish them all the best next year, and wait in anticipation to see how the next season will unfold.

- Ben Murphy. Out.

I think it became evident early on in the season that this team would be hard to define and understand. They can suck for a large part of the season, then, seemingly out of nowhere, take two of three against teams that have given them trouble in the past in heroic fashion, and then go back to sucking so hard again. Last night was one in the last category.

Oh, how I despise the Astros. Two ruined playoff appearances in their joke of a ballpark, and they still kick the crap out of this team whenever possible. So, here we go. Campillo started this game and only lasted three innings. He gave up 4 runs, 7 hits, and struck out 1. Not great, but stuff happens. Buddy relieved him and provided his usual strong outing. He matched Campillo’s three innings, only giving up 2 hits and striking out 3. Nice, he should’ve started the game. Bennett followed with two innings of his own, allowing 2 hits and striking out a pair. Tavarez pitched the 9th, threw 4 pitches, all for strikes, but the last one landed in the right field seats. Darin Erstad (saying his name makes my blood boil) hit the walk-off homer, no less. I could’ve thought of a better location for that pitch (Braves-Report hint: it’s between the chest and the belt).

The bats were plentiful tonight, and although they couldn’t truly be clutch when they needed to be, they at least tried. All told, they plowed out 9 hits. 3 of those came from Josh Anderson, who is a player who I don’t even feel familiar with. McCann had a pair of hits. Kotchman drove in two on a single to left field. KJ had a sacrifice fly which plated a run. Brandon Jones tied the game in the 9th on a bit of a weird play, where he was called out in a delayed double play, but let the tying run cross the plate. The Braves needed a hit from Prado in the 9th to make it a true comeback, but he struck out swinging, leaving the go-ahead run on third. That left the game tied, and the rest is history.

I hate Enron Field.

Braves lose, 5 – 4.

It took virtually the entire season, but it looks like we finally figured out how to beat the Phils, get lots of hits, score lots of run, pull Jo-Jo early.

Jo-Jo has been on a short leash as of late. As soon as he gives up a couple runs, he gets the hook. Tonight was no exception. He only was permitted 3.1 innings, giving up three runs. Carlyle went the remaining .2 inning of that inning, perfectly. Nunez went two innings, not allowing a run. Julio went a scoreless inning. Taverez gave up a run. Acosta pitched the last inning, zeroes across the board.

Lots and lots of hits, lots and lots of runs, most of the damage was done by the top and heart of the order. Anderson two hits and two runs. Prado, batting third in place of Chipper, had three hits and two RBI. McCann also had three hits, scored twice and drove one in. Also getting in on the hit parade was Brandon Jones with two hits. Chipper had his second career pinch hit home run.

Braves crush the Phils, 10 – 4.