"you've got a big mouth... now I'm gonna show you an even bigger one."
(calling all braves fans)


i hate, hate, hate the rut that i've fallen into the last few weeks. one post a week? come...on!!! it's pitiful. pathetic. lazy. unwarranted. there's too much going on not to comment on it all. and i apologize for it. truly. i do. i will make every effort to be better. for you.

yeah. um, we don't really care.

no? cool, then. we'll just get right back after it.

nineteen games into the long, regular season. if you were to ask me to describe in one word life as a braves fan six series and one game into the season and refuse me the non-word "sucktastic", i would probably hand you "frustrating". "inconsistent" best describes it, but that's a commentator's word, not a fan's word. as a fan, i couldn't give a shit about the factors that lead one team or another to be "inconsistent". when you start listing the reasons, they just come across as excuses. so what if brian mccann can't see the ball and hasn't had a good game since opening night. so what if tom glavine can't pitch. so what if kenshin kawakami has been a complete disappointment thus far. so what if we are batting a light-hitting first basemen in the clean-up spot. so what if our leadoff man goes 1-5 every night. so what if chipper has a bruised thumb. so what if our starter tonight hasn't won a decision in his last 13 major league starts and has an era over seven during that period (sure, let him pitch again. what could go wrong?). so what if the sheen has started to fade on my rookie of the year car that is jordan schafer. can i digress for a second? seriously, i have never felt so attached to a braves player since dale murphy now that i've attached my wagon to schafer. every at bat of his that i watch, it feels like the heavens are in the balance. every time he misplays a ball off the wall in the outfield, it's like i am misplaying it with him. if i can't watch the day game due to being at work, his is the first name i look for in the box score to see how he fared. on some days i've found that i don't even care about the result of the game as much as i do that he's had a decent day at the plate or in the field. it's really quite disturbing. end digression. so what if tommy hanson still hasn't been called up. as a fan, none of it matters. on any given night, no matter who's in and who's out of the line-up, you expect your team to win. and the braves are not winning enough. period. now that the marlins have remembered that they are the marlins, the division is back up for grabs. a healthy mccann's not walking through that door anytime soon. so, how about someone other than chipper or the light-hitting first baseman getting a hit every once in a while and score some freaking runs. great stat before the game last night. only one of the braves 9 wins have come when scoring fewer than 4 runs. admittedly, most teams will have losing records when scoring fewer than 4 runs, but play 1 out of 9 over the course of the season and it's telling. the braves starters, while solid, are not the kind of staff that will shut other teams out. everyone would be happy if lowe, vazquez and jurrjens kept era's around 3.50 for the season. well, by definition then, even in games pitched by your high end guys, the team is going to have to score runs. probably more than four to give themselves a chance. so, how does this change the current machinations of the team? they have to turn themselves into a run manufacturing team, not an american league "wait on the home run" team. schafer's gotta start leading off soon. move kelly down to two. move escobar into the five hole. kotchman never batting any higher than seventh. you've got your two guys with speed at the top. only one has to get on for chipper to hit a double and score a run. bat francouer clean-up. he's going to swing for the fence anyway. might as well swing at it with a man on base. these changes are never going to happen. because bobby cox is a horrible manager. but i wish they would. soon. i do not like what i am smelling right now. the braves feel very .500-ish. mediocre. like if things don't change somehow, this is as good as it's going to get in 2009. and i hate that. i think they could legitimately be better with a little tweaking and with a little tommy hanson.

on to the point of the post. i am looking for a braves support group. the length of time that the group meets will be determined by how long the braves stay in the race for the division and/or the wildcard. each morning that i (or any of us) can, i would love to start an e-mail thread for any and all of us that care for the team in a way that eats away at our soul. we can go back and forth for as long as it takes to get it out of our system and ready ourselves for the next game. if we win, great! we can celebrate together. if we lose? well, misery does love company, right? i need people to talk braves baseball with! desperately.

if you read this and are interested in joining the "humc for a better braves" support group, shoot me a note at kevmu330@hotmail.com. tell your friends. we can start self-helping as soon as tomorrow morning after jo-jo gives up the inevitable two home run game to pujols tonight.

hope to hear from you soon!