Braves @ Nats

[Malachore]

16 minutes ago, Redjack said:

Has it always been a rule that it’s considered a Save situation if you go 3+ innings regardless of score? 

Have I gone my whole baseball watching life without knowing this?

I'm pretty sure his other save this year came the same way. 

[youngbloodz]

Mets fans right now

[tl;dr]

Good win. Let’s keep it up tomorrow! 

[Redjack]

Listening to Snit do a postgame interview is enough to make you sell all your technology and go live in the woods.

[ATL58]

16 minutes ago, CrimsonFalcon said:

Yes it has... at least for the last 12 years that I know of. 

I believe that was the initial ruling when the save became a statistic. Back in the early 70s relievers were not situational one inning guys. If a starter ran out of gas, whoever came in was expected to finish the game. The other part of the rule was that if he entered the game at any point and inherited tying runners on base and got out of the jam AND finished the game, he got the save. 

[Redjack]

17 minutes ago, Malachore said:

I'm pretty sure his other save this year came the same way. 

Huh. Welp, shows you how much I actually care about that stat I guess. 

[Jimsmusic™]

1 hour ago, Unknøwn said:

In fact the new CBA will reward Atlanta if Harris gets top 3 in ROTY. The Braves would be awarded an extra draft pick. The bad news for us, Harris would be awarded an extra year of service, essentially eliminating one of his arbitration years. I'd be shocked if AA doesn't try to jump on an early contract for Harris though. 

for a stick of gum and a lollipop.. 10 year deal.

[K26dp]

1 hour ago, Redjack said:

Huh. Welp, shows you how much I actually care about that stat I guess. 

It's OK if you don't know anything about it. It's nearly useless.

[K26dp]

2 hours ago, Malachore said:

Oh man if Harris starts hitting for power.

He will. 

[TheFalcoholic]

 

[ATL58]

6 hours ago, K26dp said:

It's OK if you don't know anything about it. It's nearly useless.

Agreed. Entering the game with no inherited runners, clean slate on the base paths, a 3-run lead and the ability to get three outs while allowing two runs to score and earning a save is a pretty worthless stat. 

Basically saying in extreme terms that it is possible to become a Hall of Famer pitcher with an 18.00 ERA

Edited June 15, 2022 by The True7

[Unknøwn]

A win today would tie the 2013 Braves at 14 straight. The Atlanta record is 15 held by the 2000 Braves. The overall record is 17 held by the 1891 Boston Beaneaters. 

[ATL58]

2 minutes ago, Unknøwn said:

A win today would tie the 2013 Braves at 14 straight. The Atlanta record is 15 held by the 2000 Braves. The overall record is 17 held by the 1891 Boston Beaneaters. 

And I believe the Braves’ 13-0 streak in 1982 is still the record for a winning streak to start a season. The Brewers tied it a few years later

[ATL58]

The 1982 13 game streak

 

[Unknøwn]

The MLB record is a long way off. The 1916 Yankees won 26 in a row. The modern record is 22 by Cleveland in 2017. 

[BamaBirdLady]

1 hour ago, The True7 said:

The 1982 13 game streak

 

I remember that season. We were all jacked and ready to have a great year!

[Malachore]

4 hours ago, Unknøwn said:

The MLB record is a long way off. The 1916 Yankees won 26 in a row. The modern record is 22 by Cleveland in 2017. 

What the NL record.

[Unknøwn]

1 hour ago, Malachore said:

What the NL record.

Cubs got 21 in 1935. If we're talking modern day or "expansion era" the Cardinals won 17 in a row last season. That would be the most since 1961. 

[Unknøwn]

DOB got the story on Snitker's now famous team meeting. 

 

And so, after his players arrived at Chase Field in Phoenix on the morning of June 1, Snitker had them assemble in the visitors clubhouse a couple of hours before their Wednesday afternoon series finale.

“Snit and I talked about it before, the day he was going to do it,” Braves bench coach Walt Weiss said. “He told me he couldn’t sleep the night before and he had some things on his mind. And I just said, ‘You know what, Snit, all of us need reminders. From time to time, we need to be reminded of what we’re supposed to be doing, or going about it the right way.’

“We all need those reminders, I don’t care who you are. And that’s all that meeting was. And ****, I don’t think we’ve lost since, have we?”

Players say then, and now, the calm demeanor of their manager was a significant factor in the team maintaining its positive vibes, even as outsiders questioned whether they had the goods to win another division title, much less march through the postseason last fall to win their first World Series title since 1995.

“Oh, man, it’s been huge,” said veteran catcher Travis d’Arnaud, whose two-out RBI double in the third inning drove in the Braves’ third run Thursday. “It’s hard to really, truly explain it in words how beneficial (Snitker’s presence) is. Especially for this sport, especially when you’re out there nearly every single day and things don’t go your way, and you have this leader who’s the same every day, regardless of it’s good or bad, I think it’s very vital.”

Understand, the June 1 meeting was far from a peel-the-paint-off-the-walls shouting session.

“Yeah, I don’t have Snit as that kind of guy; you guys tell me if you know otherwise,” first baseman Matt Olson said, smiling.

“We definitely didn’t feel like we were playing up to the standards we hold for ourselves (before the meeting),” said Adam Duvall, who continued his recent resurgence with a two-out RBI single in the second inning Thursday. “For whatever reason, we couldn’t get on that roll. It’s good sometimes to bring everybody together and make sure we’re all on the same page, and just to kind of refocus a little bit, and make sure that the No. 1 goal at the end of the day is to win the game. Right now, everybody’s pulling on the same side of the rope. We’re playing good team baseball and fundamental baseball.”

Olson has only known him for a few months, but Snitker is a man one need not know long to feel like he’s known him forever.

Snitker is a straight shooter, one of the things players and coaches love about him. That, and he’s genuinely nice, engaging, funny and the epitome of an “even keel” ideal that so many baseball people strive for in a sport that has a 162-game schedule.

“I think it helps a lot,” Braves outfielder Guillermo Heredia said through an interpreter. “It helps the players remain calm and relaxed, and doesn’t project that tension onto the playing field. It helps players remain calm and relaxed, like I said, and to wait, knowing that the good moments will come.”

That’s one of the points Snitker likes to make to his players whenever things aren’t going well for them, individually or as a team.

“You have to weather storms,” Snitker said. “You get in streaks over the course of six months where there’s nothing you can do, you’ve just got to wear it. And if you do, there’s usually something good on the other side of it. You have to prepare and take every day as a separate entity and handle it.

“Because there’s nothing you can do about it. Hopefully, you get out of it sooner than later.”

That was part of the message to his team that morning in Arizona before the Braves won that day’s series finale 6-0, with perhaps the sharpest, most well-rounded performance of their season.

“He was the same way (at the meeting) that he is in the dugout — just more of a conversation, more of a reminder,” Heredia said. “He reminded us that we were World Series champions last year and we didn’t just get there because we wanted it, everyone worked hard and we put in the work, that’s how we got there. So he just reminded us to keep going, and now you’re kind of seeing the results of that.”

Braves shortstop Dansby Swanson made his major-league debut in August 2016 and has played for only one manager — Snitker, who replaced a fired Fredi Gonzalez as interim manager in May 2016 and had the interim label removed following the season because players responded so well to his leadership and asked that he be retained.

Swanson and Snitker have developed a close relationship, as Snitker has with many players during his decades managing in the minor leagues and since getting his first major-league managerial post at age 60.

“Every team tends to take on the personality of the leader,” Swanson said. “And there’s no skirting around that your leader is always going to be the manager. So I think that his ability to just show up and be him every day kind of gives us that same permission to do the same thing. And I think the reason why it works here is because we have a group of guys that are professional. So, him allowing us to be professionals, I think gives guys confidence to be able to go do what makes them them.

“Even just little things that people don’t ever see, like the fact that we’re allowed to have optional BP (batting practice) every day. You know, it’s like, hey, if you’re tired or banged up, or got stuff going on at the house — or you know, like for me, like if (Swanson’s fiancée Mallory Pugh) is in town, like, yeah, you can show up a little later. Just as long as you’re ready to play at 7:20, that’s what matters. And I think being able to put the emphasis on the winning and what matters is what happens at 7:20 — or whatever the game time may be — is the most important part.”

The team meeting at Phoenix was well-timed and executed, Swanson and others said.

“To me the biggest thing that you take out of it is just, like, you play so much, and you do this so much, and you’re here every day, that you can kind of get stuck in a rut,” Swanson said. “And sometimes you just need a pattern interruption. You need your guy to just kind of get everyone together and say, ‘Hey, we’re playing pretty hard, but we can play better.’ You know, ‘We can do better. We can be a little more focused, we can be better.’ I hate to say it wakes everyone up, but it’s just kind of like, yeah, you’re right. I mean, nothing else needs to be said other than, we just need to play better.”

Which they have, in every facet, including reducing the fielding and base-running mistakes that sunk the Braves in several games before the meeting.

“Just discussing things, nothing big,” is how Snitker characterized the meeting as the winning streak moved into a second week. “I just thought we were kind of unfocused there for a little bit. It wasn’t that we weren’t playing hard. Just kind of lost … the train got off the tracks a little bit. I don’t think it was one area, I think it was probably our total game wasn’t what we were capable of doing.”

D’Arnaud said, “It was a reminder of who we are, and I’m pretty sure we all took it to heart because ever since then, we’ve been playing good baseball.”

“He was calm, collected, wanted to get in front of us and, like I said, (get) a little refocus,” Olson said. “Look at the big picture and see what we can do to get back on track.”

Weiss, 58, is a former Braves All-Star shortstop and was the Colorado Rockies’ manager for four seasons through 2016. Since resigning that position and joining the Braves as Snitker’s bench coach before the 2018 season, Weiss said he’s watched how Snitker handles situations so calmly and admired his patience — similar to Snitker’s mentor and Weiss’ former Braves manager, Hall of Famer Bobby Cox.

“Yeah, and I’m sure that he took that from Bobby, being around Bobby as long as he was,” Weiss said. “I took over a (Rockies) club that was coming off the worst season in franchise history. So there were tough days. But, man, I admire Snit and how, although we’ve been very successful here, we’ve had our stretches where we struggled; I mean, it’s just the nature of the game. But I’ve always admired how he handles those tough times. It’s something I’ve definitely learned from him.

“I don’t know if I’m good at it yet. I would really grind over those losses as a manager, take it home with me, where I see Snit — he can wash it off, and he clearly turns the page. When he leaves that night, you would never know if we won or lost. It’s tough to do, but I think that’s ideal for a manager. Because a manager does wear a loss tougher than anybody else.”

Told what Swanson said about a team taking on the personality of its manager, Weiss agreed.

“I noticed as a player and when I managed, that anytime something goes wrong on the field, all the eyes in the dugout look at the manager to see how he’s going to react,” Weiss said. “It’s always been that way. And Snit’s great at remaining stoic in the dugout and not being reactionary or emotional whenever something — good or bad, really — happens on the field.

“I think you’ve got to enjoy the successes, but anytime something goes wrong on the field, every guy in the dugout looks at the manager. So the fact that he’s calm and patient, I think the players feed off that.

“That patience probably was tested last year more than anything. And his resilience. And you look at our club, I mean, our club had to get through it, and I think Snit’s demeanor helped them do that.”

[TheTrue7]

[RING OF HONOR]

It's been a great run....hope it continues...

I miss enjoying this with you guys....what can I say..... cancer sucks.....

Feeling really good today hopefully get a chance to talk during the game...

 

CHOP THE **** ON!!!

[Unknøwn]

4 minutes ago, RING OF HONOR said:

It's been a great run....hope it continues...

I miss enjoying this with you guys....what can I say..... cancer sucks.....

Feeling really good today hopefully get a chance to talk during the game...

 

CHOP THE **** ON!!!

Cancer? ****. I wondered where you had been.  Best wishes, you know where to find us. 

[RING OF HONOR]

10 minutes ago, Unknøwn said:

Cancer? ****. I wondered where you had been.  Best wishes, you know where to find us. 

Thanks Bro....

[007dawg]

21 minutes ago, RING OF HONOR said:

It's been a great run....hope it continues...

I miss enjoying this with you guys....what can I say..... cancer sucks.....

Feeling really good today hopefully get a chance to talk during the game...

 

CHOP THE **** ON!!!

Best wishes and prayers sent up!

[Unknøwn]