DISQUS

JB: The two most-famous calls of Skip's career are ones I didn't hear at the time; fortunately for me, I was inside old Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium for both the Game 7 NLCS comeback in 1992 and the World Series-clinching Game 6 in 1995. To me, the memory of hearing Skip daily on the broadcasts as a kid, as a college student, as a young adult and, more recently, as a father, is what stands out. He was the voice of my childhood, the voice of baseball to my family and me. He will be so dearly missed. I had the pleasure of seeing him from time to time during my Braves coverage in my past life as a sports writer. He always would say hello, always ask how you were doing. Those who just listened to him take on callers on his old pre-game call-in show might be surprised by that, but Skip was a nice guy, one who was happy to be at the ballpark every single day. Baseball was his life. He was baseball to many of us. And now that he's gone, our world is a little emptier this morning. God bless you Skip. Rest in peace. Bud. <a href="http://braves.today.com " target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://braves.today.com

JB: The two most-famous calls of Skip's career are ones I didn't hear at the time; fortunately for me, I was inside old Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium for both the Game 7 NLCS comeback in 1992 and the World Series-clinching Game 6 in 1995. To me, the memory of hearing Skip daily on the broadcasts as a kid, as a college student, as a young adult and, more recently, as a father, is what stands out. He was the voice of my childhood, the voice of baseball to my family and me. He will be so dearly missed. I had the pleasure of seeing him from time to time during my Braves coverage in my past life as a sports writer. He always would say hello, always ask how you were doing. Those who just listened to him take on callers on his old pre-game call-in show might be surprised by that, but Skip was a nice guy, one who was happy to be at the ballpark every single day. Baseball was his life. He was baseball to many of us. And now that he's gone, our world is a little emptier this morning. God bless you Skip. Rest in peace. Bud. <a href="http://braves.today.com " target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://braves.today.com

JB: Hope you enjoyed the game yesterday. Of course, this horrid season took its worst turn yet last night, with news of Skip's passing. God bless the man and his family. He was the Voice of the Braves, and the voice of my youth, as I fell head-first in love with the grand ol' game. Rest in peace, Skip. We love you, and we'll miss you forever. http://braves.today.com/2008/08/04/voice-of-the-b... Bud. <a href="http://braves.today.com " target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://braves.today.com

JB: Hope you enjoyed the game yesterday. Of course, this horrid season took its worst turn yet last night, with news of Skip's passing. God bless the man and his family. He was the Voice of the Braves, and the voice of my youth, as I fell head-first in love with the grand ol' game. Rest in peace, Skip. We love you, and we'll miss you forever. http://braves.today.com/2008/08/04/voice-of-the-b... Bud. <a href="http://braves.today.com " target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://braves.today.com

Won't be going to Ring anymore. He -- and his 31.50 ERA since the break -- got DFA'ed yesterday. Morton threw it well, folks. Maybe this will give him the shot in the arm he needed confidence wise. The stuff is there. 10 games under .500 for the first time since July 2006, and 10 games out of first place. Sigh ... Bud. <a href="http://braves.today.com " target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://braves.today.com

Won't be going to Ring anymore. He -- and his 31.50 ERA since the break -- got DFA'ed yesterday. Morton threw it well, folks. Maybe this will give him the shot in the arm he needed confidence wise. The stuff is there. 10 games under .500 for the first time since July 2006, and 10 games out of first place. Sigh ... Bud. <a href="http://braves.today.com " target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://braves.today.com

There will be plenty of cash coming off the books. I say you go for the best pitcher in baseball. It's going to cost you, but you HAVE TO HAVE a top-of-the-rotation guy now that Huddy is gone for probably most if not all of 2009. Make a run at CC. Dude is durable, just turned 28, is a battler on the mound and, oh yeah, he throws strikes and can dominate every fifth day. Put him at the top with JJJ second and Campillo third, and you have the makings of a darn fine rotation. Bud. <a href="http://braves.today.com " target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://braves.today.com

There will be plenty of cash coming off the books. I say you go for the best pitcher in baseball. It's going to cost you, but you HAVE TO HAVE a top-of-the-rotation guy now that Huddy is gone for probably most if not all of 2009. Make a run at CC. Dude is durable, just turned 28, is a battler on the mound and, oh yeah, he throws strikes and can dominate every fifth day. Put him at the top with JJJ second and Campillo third, and you have the makings of a darn fine rotation. Bud. <a href="http://braves.today.com " target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://braves.today.com

Not going to get a ton for Ohman, despite the fact he's had a great season (and does a mean Harry impersonation). I really wish the Braves would try to keep him and sign him in the offseason, but they're going to need every dime of the cash coming off the books to get 1.) a top-of-the-rotation starter (I'd go after CC), and 2.) a power-hitting left fielder. Egads, it's gonna be a loooooooooong two months. Bud. <a href="http://braves.today.com " target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://braves.today.com

Good trade, guys. No way you get three or four folks for a two-month rental (though I think the Angels have a great chance to sign Tex long-term). Kotchman is a very solid player, wears out lefties, plays exceptional defense, is under contract through 2011 ... add him to the core of good, young players on this team. With Arizona not parting with Conor Jackson, Kotchman was the best first baseman available. Marek throws mid-90s with a good curve, has experience as a starter and reliever, and has a ton of strikeouts so far in the minors. Of course, gotta prove you can do it above Double-A, but his future looks promising. Good trade. More moves to come, I'm sure. Bud. <a href="http://braves.today.com " target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://braves.today.com

Good trade, guys. No way you get three or four folks for a two-month rental (though I think the Angels have a great chance to sign Tex long-term). Kotchman is a very solid player, wears out lefties, plays exceptional defense, is under contract through 2011 ... add him to the core of good, young players on this team. With Arizona not parting with Conor Jackson, Kotchman was the best first baseman available. Marek throws mid-90s with a good curve, has experience as a starter and reliever, and has a ton of strikeouts so far in the minors. Of course, gotta prove you can do it above Double-A, but his future looks promising. Good trade. More moves to come, I'm sure. Bud. <a href="http://braves.today.com " target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://braves.today.com

Good trade, guys. No way you get three or four folks for a two-month rental (though I think the Angels have a great chance to sign Tex long-term). Kotchman is a very solid player, wears out lefties, plays exceptional defense, is under contract through 2011 ... add him to the core of good, young players on this team. With Arizona not parting with Conor Jackson, Kotchman was the best first baseman available. Marek throws mid-90s with a good curve, has experience as a starter and reliever, and has a ton of strikeouts so far in the minors. Of course, gotta prove you can do it above Double-A, but his future looks promising. Good trade. More moves to come, I'm sure. Bud. <a href="http://braves.today.com " target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://braves.today.com

Good trade, guys. No way you get three or four folks for a two-month rental (though I think the Angels have a great chance to sign Tex long-term). Kotchman is a very solid player, wears out lefties, plays exceptional defense, is under contract through 2011 ... add him to the core of good, young players on this team. With Arizona not parting with Conor Jackson, Kotchman was the best first baseman available. Marek throws mid-90s with a good curve, has experience as a starter and reliever, and has a ton of strikeouts so far in the minors. Of course, gotta prove you can do it above Double-A, but his future looks promising. Good trade. More moves to come, I'm sure. Bud. <a href="http://braves.today.com " target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://braves.today.com

Good trade, guys. No way you get three or four folks for a two-month rental (though I think the Angels have a great chance to sign Tex long-term). Kotchman is a very solid player, wears out lefties, plays exceptional defense, is under contract through 2011 ... add him to the core of good, young players on this team. With Arizona not parting with Conor Jackson, Kotchman was the best first baseman available. Marek throws mid-90s with a good curve, has experience as a starter and reliever, and has a ton of strikeouts so far in the minors. Of course, gotta prove you can do it above Double-A, but his future looks promising. Good trade. More moves to come, I'm sure. Bud. <a href="http://braves.today.com " target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://braves.today.com

Good trade, guys. No way you get three or four folks for a two-month rental (though I think the Angels have a great chance to sign Tex long-term). Kotchman is a very solid player, wears out lefties, plays exceptional defense, is under contract through 2011 ... add him to the core of good, young players on this team. With Arizona not parting with Conor Jackson, Kotchman was the best first baseman available. Marek throws mid-90s with a good curve, has experience as a starter and reliever, and has a ton of strikeouts so far in the minors. Of course, gotta prove you can do it above Double-A, but his future looks promising. Good trade. More moves to come, I'm sure. Bud. <a href="http://braves.today.com " target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://braves.today.com

JB: Tough call on this one. I don't think it was dirty. Victorino plays hard, Mac plays hard, both players decided to "go low" and their coconuts met in the middle. It's very, very unfortunate Mac got hurt, but again, I didn't see anything dirty in the play. Could Victorino slid? Of course he could. But if he goes in high, Mac gets flattened without their heads slamming against each other. Yes, it could've been avoided, but at the same time, the Phils had watched the Braves score a ton of runs from Friday's ninth inning on and, in that little bandbox of a ballyard, no lead is safe. So while he could have avoided a head-to-head collision, I think it was a heat-of-the-moment decision by both guys to go low (Victorino to slide low; Mac to go low and try to block the dish). This season has spiraled completely out of control the past three days. And now Huddy's gone. Gonna be a long final two months, gang. Bud. <a href="http://braves.today.com " target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://braves.today.com

JB: Tough call on this one. I don't think it was dirty. Victorino plays hard, Mac plays hard, both players decided to "go low" and their coconuts met in the middle. It's very, very unfortunate Mac got hurt, but again, I didn't see anything dirty in the play. Could Victorino slid? Of course he could. But if he goes in high, Mac gets flattened without their heads slamming against each other. Yes, it could've been avoided, but at the same time, the Phils had watched the Braves score a ton of runs from Friday's ninth inning on and, in that little bandbox of a ballyard, no lead is safe. So while he could have avoided a head-to-head collision, I think it was a heat-of-the-moment decision by both guys to go low (Victorino to slide low; Mac to go low and try to block the dish). This season has spiraled completely out of control the past three days. And now Huddy's gone. Gonna be a long final two months, gang. Bud. <a href="http://braves.today.com " target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://braves.today.com

JB: This should've been the turning point, the day the Braves caught fire, hung nine on Hamels -- a pitcher that owns them -- and Hampton won his debut. Instead, it's the worst loss in a season chock full of frustrating defeats. Gotta win today, or else I really believe several parts of this team will be packing their bags by Thursday. Bud. <a href="http://braves.today.com " target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://braves.today.com

JB: This should've been the turning point, the day the Braves caught fire, hung nine on Hamels -- a pitcher that owns them -- and Hampton won his debut. Instead, it's the worst loss in a season chock full of frustrating defeats. Gotta win today, or else I really believe several parts of this team will be packing their bags by Thursday. Bud. <a href="http://braves.today.com " target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://braves.today.com

The good news is it doesn't appear Huddy's going to miss any time. Perhaps one start; if the Braves get ripped this weekend and are out of it, then they probably sit him Tuesday against the Cardinals as a precaution. Just a guess there, though. The bad news is the Bravos MUST win at least two out of three, against a team they are 1-8 against this season, and they're probably not going to have Chipper for tonight and I would suspect tomorrow, too. Ugh. Not a good time for Hoss to get hurt, certainly. We're about to see whether or not this team is going to be a buyer or a seller next week. Either way, I think Wren will be very, very active. Bud. <a href="http://braves.today.com " target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://braves.today.com

The good news is it doesn't appear Huddy's going to miss any time. Perhaps one start; if the Braves get ripped this weekend and are out of it, then they probably sit him Tuesday against the Cardinals as a precaution. Just a guess there, though. The bad news is the Bravos MUST win at least two out of three, against a team they are 1-8 against this season, and they're probably not going to have Chipper for tonight and I would suspect tomorrow, too. Ugh. Not a good time for Hoss to get hurt, certainly. We're about to see whether or not this team is going to be a buyer or a seller next week. Either way, I think Wren will be very, very active. Bud. <a href="http://braves.today.com " target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://braves.today.com

JB: I don't know what is more telling in that photo: the cow, or the empty seats. An absolute stinker last night. Unfortunately, I knew it would happen. Follow up a game that gives you hope with a performance that reminds you why this team is seven games out of first place. Gotta win the last four on this trip ... don't see it happening. Bud. <a href="http://braves.today.com " target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://braves.today.com

JB: I don't know what is more telling in that photo: the cow, or the empty seats. An absolute stinker last night. Unfortunately, I knew it would happen. Follow up a game that gives you hope with a performance that reminds you why this team is seven games out of first place. Gotta win the last four on this trip ... don't see it happening. Bud. <a href="http://braves.today.com " target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://braves.today.com

JB, good blog. I actually picked an all-time franchise team for a freelance assignment I did a while back, and you are right ... the second basemen for this franchise have pretty much been either decent players (Lemmer, Hubby) or one-year studs (Hornsby played one year in 1928, I believe; Davey Johnson's 43-homer season in 1973). For what it's worth, I went with Hubbard at second. Here's who I had (note: this is for Boston, Milwaukee and Atlanta): C, Javy Lopez A .287 hitter in 11 seasons as a Brave, Lopez hit 214 homers (eighth in franchise history), slugged .502 (sixth in franchise history) and drove in 694 runs. 1B, Fred Tenney A .300 hitter with the Braves from 1894-1911, Tenney struck out just 43 times in 6,637 at-bats. Topped 150 hits seven times, scored 100-plus runs three times and stole 260 career bases. 2B, Glenn Hubbard A position weak on longevity in franchise history, Hubbard played 1,180 games. Finished with a .983 fielding percentage, third in franchise history in double plays (881) and fifth in assists (4,045). SS, Rabbit Maranville Hall of Famer spent 11 seasons at short for the Braves. Franchise leader in double plays turned (983) and triples (103), eighth in stolen bases (194) and ninth in doubles (244). 3B, Chipper Jones One of the greatest switch-hitters in history. A career .310 average, 404 career home runs and 2,229 career hits (stats updated through first half of season). The 1999 NL MVP, Jones earns the nod over Hall of Famer Eddie Mathews. LF, Dale Murphy The face of the franchise in the ’80s, “Murph” won back-to-back NL MVP awards in 1982-83. Hit 20-plus homers 10 times and topped 100 RBIs five times. A seven-time All-Star who won five Gold Gloves and finished in the top 10 in hitting twice. CF, Andruw Jones A 10-time Gold Glove winner and five-time All-Star who topped 30 homers six times. Jones drove in more than 100 runs five different seasons, stole 20-plus bases four consecutive seasons and was MVP runner-up in 2005. RF, Hank Aaron Second all-time with 755 homers, 733 in a Braves’ uniform. A .310 hitter in his 21 seasons with the franchise, Aaron is the all-time Braves’ leader in homers, hits (3,600), RBIs (2,202) and total bases (6,591). Also won three Gold Gloves and stole 240 bases as a Brave. Named an All-Star 25 times. P, Warren Spahn The 1957 Cy Young winner, Spahn won 356 games with the Braves, topped 20 wins 13 times (leading the NL eight times), finished with 2,583 career strikeouts (leading the NL four years in a row from 1949-52) and was a 17-time All-Star. Bud. <a href="http://braves.today.com " target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://braves.today.com

JB, good blog. I actually picked an all-time franchise team for a freelance assignment I did a while back, and you are right ... the second basemen for this franchise have pretty much been either decent players (Lemmer, Hubby) or one-year studs (Hornsby played one year in 1928, I believe; Davey Johnson's 43-homer season in 1973). For what it's worth, I went with Hubbard at second. Here's who I had (note: this is for Boston, Milwaukee and Atlanta): C, Javy Lopez A .287 hitter in 11 seasons as a Brave, Lopez hit 214 homers (eighth in franchise history), slugged .502 (sixth in franchise history) and drove in 694 runs. 1B, Fred Tenney A .300 hitter with the Braves from 1894-1911, Tenney struck out just 43 times in 6,637 at-bats. Topped 150 hits seven times, scored 100-plus runs three times and stole 260 career bases. 2B, Glenn Hubbard A position weak on longevity in franchise history, Hubbard played 1,180 games. Finished with a .983 fielding percentage, third in franchise history in double plays (881) and fifth in assists (4,045). SS, Rabbit Maranville Hall of Famer spent 11 seasons at short for the Braves. Franchise leader in double plays turned (983) and triples (103), eighth in stolen bases (194) and ninth in doubles (244). 3B, Chipper Jones One of the greatest switch-hitters in history. A career .310 average, 404 career home runs and 2,229 career hits (stats updated through first half of season). The 1999 NL MVP, Jones earns the nod over Hall of Famer Eddie Mathews. LF, Dale Murphy The face of the franchise in the ’80s, “Murph” won back-to-back NL MVP awards in 1982-83. Hit 20-plus homers 10 times and topped 100 RBIs five times. A seven-time All-Star who won five Gold Gloves and finished in the top 10 in hitting twice. CF, Andruw Jones A 10-time Gold Glove winner and five-time All-Star who topped 30 homers six times. Jones drove in more than 100 runs five different seasons, stole 20-plus bases four consecutive seasons and was MVP runner-up in 2005. RF, Hank Aaron Second all-time with 755 homers, 733 in a Braves’ uniform. A .310 hitter in his 21 seasons with the franchise, Aaron is the all-time Braves’ leader in homers, hits (3,600), RBIs (2,202) and total bases (6,591). Also won three Gold Gloves and stole 240 bases as a Brave. Named an All-Star 25 times. P, Warren Spahn The 1957 Cy Young winner, Spahn won 356 games with the Braves, topped 20 wins 13 times (leading the NL eight times), finished with 2,583 career strikeouts (leading the NL four years in a row from 1949-52) and was a 17-time All-Star. Bud. <a href="http://braves.today.com " target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://braves.today.com