The Braves Blog: Season Concession

WELL, THAT DIDN'T TAKE LONG

Most sensible people had probably already given up on the Braves at the All-Star Break or maybe even a month ago. It normally takes me till the very last moment to give up but even this faithful heart knows when he's wasted his money and time on de bob-tail nag. First this team had no heart and had a habit of gagging and choking. Now they just suck. I'm throwing in the towel.

In years past I could never turn off a game because I always believed that there was a chance the Braves might pull it out. This season I swear to Darwin I can tell they're going to lose within the first few innings most nights. I didn't even watch innings 5-9 of Saturday's game or innings 3-9 of Sunday's game because I knew they were over. Now you might think it's just that I don't have confidence in their ability to come from behind and that's a big part of it. But my friends, on Tuesday evening I knew they were going to lose when the score was 0-0 and the bases were full of Braves with no outs in the top of the 4th! As soon as Brian McCann walked to load the bases I said aloud "Frenchy and KJ will fan and then Kotsay will be retired and we'll lose the game." And damned if that warn't exactly how it went! I said it and if you don't believe me you can ask any of my imaginary friends.

I won't bore you with my 19 page report on how to fix the Braves. That will come later when I have extra adderal. For now I'd just like to say that the first two persons that I'd oust if I had my druthers would be the two main culprits listed in the travesty described above: Johnson and Francoeur.

POINT 1:

Get Rid of Kelly Jo: It seems to me that "Frenchy" is a more apt nickname for Kelly Johnson than anyone else on the planet. One of my major rules in any fan-athlete relationship is that if you're going to suck, you'd better be damned likable, and Mr. Johnson is not. In fact, he's quite difficult to like. He's wimpy. That's the best description I can come up with. And for some reason I feel no pity for Johnson. Normally when I see someone that looks like a wounded dog half the time I feel great sympathy for them. What I'd like to do with KJ is send him back in time to get his ass beat more in high school. Then maybe he wouldn't look like such a scolded dog when he fails to make contact with a runner at third and less than two outs or drops a pop fly that ruins the entire season.

POINT 2:

Send Francoeur Back Down Pronto: Why does everyone beat around the bush about this guy? Simpson's always yammering on about how he had "some good swings in his last at bat." He sucks! He looks just as bad now as he did before he got sent down. And the thing that bugs me is his attitude. I'm sure he's working hard. Of course he is, he knows he's sucking right now. Working hard never saved Andruw Jones from the wrath of Braves "fans." He complains about being sent down and says it soured him on the organization. It's like Dude, if you played for almost any other team in the country you would be booed out of the stadium every night. Any other manager in the game would have benched you in May! He doesn't seem to get it. In each of the last two offseasons Francoeur has refused to accept the salary which the Braves have designated to him. He's not in any position to do anything about it so there's really no reason to turn it down other than to say "Waaaahhh! I'm not happy!!!"



The Braves just unilaterally assigned it to him anyway. All his refusing to accept the deal did was create a wound. In addition, the Braves offered him a multi year contract similar to the one offered to Mac and he turned it down. Another one of my fan-athlete relationship rules is that if you're going to be the Golden Boy--who comes up with a lot of hype and is well liked and good looking and has pretty much always been the best at everything--than you'd better be good, and Francoeur isn't. He doesn't just need a wake up call. He needs to go back to the minors and work on his game. Right now he's killing the franchise.