The Atlanta Braves' Season Long Injury Woes

Ever wondered how player contracts and injuries shape the fate of MLB teams? Join me, Anthony "The Ant-Man" Felli, on Beat the Clock Sports Talk as I navigate these complexities recovery scooter in tow, revealing insights that could change how you view the game. Despite my recent ankle surgery, I'm also giving my thoughts on Jamar Chase's intriguing contract situation with the Cincinnati Bengals and speculating on the future of Dak Prescott with the Dallas Cowboys. Could Trey Lance be their secret weapon? This episode unpacks the financial chess game behind player contracts and its impact on franchise growth and fan engagement.

The anticipation is palpable as we shift gears to the world of golf. Get the inside scoop on the PGA vs. LIV Golf showdown, featuring stars like Rory McIlroy, Scottie Scheffler, Bryson DeChambeau, and Brooks Koepka. What does this clash mean for the future of golf? Plus, let's talk about the significance of the Solheim Cup and the rising prominence of women's sports, drawing inspiration from the WNBA and its influence on young female athletes. You'll also hear my thoughts on a potential fan-favorite match-up: Tiger Woods and Charlie Woods vs. John Daly and Little John Daly. Someone... Anyone.... Make this Happen!!!

Boxing aficionados, brace yourselves! We're spotlighting Nico Ali Walsh, Muhammad Ali's grandson, and his promising career trajectory. But that's not all—we're also introducing a new baseball segment. As a die-hard Atlanta Braves fan, I offer an unfiltered look at the team's struggles with injuries and offensive slumps, and the surprising resurgence of Marcell Ozuna. From boxing ring to baseball diamond, this episode is packed with comprehensive sports analysis and passionate fandom. Engage with me at www.BeatTheClockSportsTalk.com and follow the show on social media for more insights and updates.

Find more from Beat the Clock by clicking the link below :
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Transcript

Sports Talk

Speaker 1 0:02

Welcome to Beat the .

Speaker 2 0:04

Clock Sports Talk and the Blue Jays have repeated as World Series champions Joe , you'll never hit a bigger home run in your life . Six yards away from Pontiac Third and three Montana Throwing in the end zone , clark caught it Dwight Clark Beat the clock .

Speaker 1 0:40

Sports talk .

Speaker 2 0:41

Martez looking , gets it to Bryant . Bryant , dribbling , has to put it up with the buzzer , banks it in Ha-ha . He banks in the three and the Lakers win the game .

Speaker 1 0:54

And now your host , anthony the Ant-Man , feli , what is up ? I am the Ant-Man and this is Beat the Clock . Wherever you are , however , you are listening . I want to thank you for choosing to spend your time with me . Remember to take a moment to subscribe and hit the notification button so that you never miss what a new episode drops . Check out the BeatTheClockSportsTalkcom website . Check out all the social media content by clicking the link in the show description . Dot com website . Check out all the social media content by clicking the link in the show description . Also , I just want to send out an invitation to engage in the content you find on social media . Your likes , comments , shares and follows go a long way to get in the podcast scene and heard by the masses . You can help this podcast grow . So thank you in advance for your support . Now we have a ton to talk about . Let's go All right .

Speaker 1 1:50

So I want to start today's episode . For those of you who will see the video , you notice the scooter back here Been recovering from an ankle surgery . I had two posterior ligaments reattached to my foot after severely rolling my ankle on a golf course , so that's been what's going on and that's what this scooter is behind me . Look . Show's been doing really well . I think we're finding a good rhythm . Now Try and again put a little bit more time , a little bit more thought into how we structure these episodes . I want to get guests back on . So stay tuned , because I'm trying to plan a bonus episode following this one . And yeah , look , the sports world is alive and well . One and yeah , look , the sports world is alive and well . And there's so much to talk about , so much to cover , lots of predictions and commentary to give , and this is the spot to get it . So , without further ado , I just want to recap the last episode , and some things happened . If you have listened to the last episode , you'll know I predicted , or stated it wasn't really a prediction , but I stated two things . Regarding the contracts of Dak Prescott and Jamar Chase . I pled with the Bengals owner to sign Jamar Chase and also pointed out that he's notoriously cheap .

Speaker 1 3:37

Look , there are lots of different types of business owners that own sports teams . In fact , the green Bay Packers , for those of you who don't know , are owned by the community or the city of green Bay , so they don't have an owner as much as they have a board , and the fans actually have a say in some of the things that are going on in that franchise . Some owners make lots of money . Some owners make a little bit of money . Some owners this is their only business . Some owners make lots of money . Some owners make a little bit of money . Some owners this is their only business . Some owners have outside businesses around the team to help support I get it , it doesn't matter are trying to keep the fans engaged . You're trying to run it as a business . You're trying to make money through the team and you're trying to provide the best fan experience and put the best product on the field that you can . Then you have to come up with a way to pay your players , pay your coaches and move the franchise forward . You cannot become stagnant , like the Bengals have shown over and over and over again .

Speaker 1 4:49

Having said that , it's been reported that the Bengals offered Jamar Chase a four-year $140 million contract . That contract there's only one contract that equals or is better than that Justin Jefferson's four-year $140 million . The difference is and I did not see this in the Jamar Chase report , so I'm going to assume that it's not there but the difference is that Justin Jefferson is also guaranteed $100 million . The difference is that Justin Jefferson is also guaranteed $100 million . $100 million of the $140 million is guaranteed in Justin Jefferson's contract and right now he stands as the highest paid receiver in the National Football League . So Jamar Chase reportedly turned this down or didn't sign it in time . Whatever the case might be , obviously , whether you say you turn it down or you just refuse to sign it , you turn it down and I would almost bet that having no guaranteed money in that contract is part of the reason why you would turn something like that down . Or you want to have more right . You want to be the top paid receiver in the game and Jamar has earned it Again , one of the very few bright spots of the Bengals team and organization currently . So no deals done . Jamar Chase is playing , I believe , on a tag or his last year of the existing contract and we'll see what happens . Will there be another contract offered ? I surely hope , for Bengals fans sake , that they get this deal done and Jamar Chase stays in Cincinnati . If they don't get the deal done , it's going to be fun looking to see who's willing to pay the contract that Jamar is seeking and how he helps that team In Dak Prescott's case .

Speaker 1 6:55

This is what I said . I said that it seemed like the Dallas Cowboys were setting Dak up to be a lame duck quarterback . The Dallas Cowboys were setting Dak up to be a lame duck quarterback . I had every belief that they weren't looking to do a deal . I had every belief that they were looking to get through the year with Dak on the existing contract and then look to move him or waive him If an opportunity came to get a more consistent or a bigger name back in free agency or through the draft , or even through trade , for that matter . And I also pointed out the Trey Lance may have been the idea or the start of that . And then they quickly realized that Trey Lance was not going to be that kind of guy . He wasn't that dude at all .

Speaker 1 7:45

And then , moments before the deadline , before the kickoff of the first game of the year , dak and the Cowboys agreed to a four-year $160 million deal making Dak the highest paid football player , not only quarterback but football player in the league . Four years , $160 million Wow . Two thoughts occurred to me . One , ant-man , you completely misread Jerry Jones on that one . And two , what the hell is Jerry Jones thinking ? If you were going to offer that money to Dak Prescott , why did you wait till the last moments of the negotiation before the start of the season to make that offer . Why and you've blown it this is not a tradable deal . Now you are stuck with Dak Prescott for at least two years of this contract . Two years of Dak making 40 plus million a year . You're stuck , and all the things I said about Dak Prescott before .

Speaker 1 9:16

I still stand by A really good Regular season quarterback , but has not done anything in any game that matters in the playoffs . He hasn't been past the second round , he has not made it to the Superbowl and for a while caught the injury bug . So he was unavailable . And the best ability in any sport , especially one that garners $160 million contracts , is availability . And later in the show I'm going to give you a couple other examples of where availability really matters . As far as team sports and the fan base , who has to suffer through the emotional roller coaster of team success and non-success throughout a year or the course of any uh , you know any span of time . So , uh , I will go in .

Speaker 1 10:29

Admit , you know , if Colin Calhoun does , where Colin was right , where Colin was wrong , I'm going to say it . The Ant-Man was wrong . The Ant-Man was wrong , the only way I can see this kind of deal happening is that again Jerry Jones realizes Trey Lance is not the dude , so you're stuck . There is no bridge to get from Dak to another quarterback . The projected quarterback class next year coming into the draft is not very good , year coming into the draft is not very good and there's not a whole lot of high big ticket quarterbacks in free agency now or expected to be in free agency at the start of next year . So Jerry Jones offers a non-tradable deal Dak , of course . Hey , get that money , man , you accept it . And this . Now that's it . Cowboy fans , you've got Dak Prescott for at least two to three of these next four years . So I just want to get that out of the way . Just want to get that out of the way . Just want to get that out of the way Again . Colin Calhoun has where Colin was right , where Colin is wrong .

Speaker 1 11:52

I have no problem looking back at a previous statement and saying , hey , I was wrong about that , but I shouldn't have been . I shouldn't have been wrong . I will stand that . I should not have been wrong and this was a move of pure desperation . This was a I have nowhere else to turn type of move on behalf of Jerry Jones and his management posse . So I was wrong , but I still stand by that I should not have been Moving on , moving on , moving on In the world of golf .

Speaker 1 12:33

Big things happen in the world of golf . I think we could do a whole episode on if you support live or if you side with the PGA , or there's a few out there that believe that the two sides should just merge and learn how to coexist . And I believe I talked a little bit about the NHL situation . No , I talked about Howie Gordon and that situation . But the situation is very similar to the way golf has splintered . You have a whole other faction of professional golf Live golf . It's run by the Saudis . There's a lot of controversy around that . Greg Norman is spearheading that movement .

Speaker 1 13:15

There's a lot of money over there . A lot of players jumped ship because it was all guaranteed money . Again , talking about guaranteed money . They could play less and make more than what PGA pros are . Again , talking about guaranteed money . They can play less and make more than what PGA pros are and they don't have to keep tour status because they have contracts that keep them employed and paid throughout the duration of the contract for X amount of dollars . So you show up , you get paid , you don't have to play . Pay is not based on performance in that league . Now the next contract is based on performance , but your current contract is what it is . So you can go out and stink up the joint and if you signed a $300 million contract , you're going to make $300 million and that sounds like a big number . But that what they were offering people to the likes of Tiger Woods uh , up in the 500 , $800 million range to get them to jump over , specifically tiger , to jump over and bring his brand to the new professional golf league . Live golf , live like L I V for those who aren't following any of the golf stuff . Okay , so to catch you up , real quick recap on what's going on Everybody who jumped ship was suspended from the not the Euro league , but the race to Dubai and those tournaments .

Speaker 1 14:39

They were also their tour . Pga tour cards were revoked and suspended indefinitely . But they can play in major tournaments , and the reason why is because the PGA itself does not oversee the major tournaments . You have the USGA , you have the RNA , so on and so forth . So they can still play in majors , they still get world ranking points , but they can't play in regular PGA tour events or PGA sponsored events and they cannot play in the race to Dubai events , which is pretty big for European golf . That's a big deal . Rory McIlroy plays all the time . A lot of your big names play those tournaments . All right , so that ? So that was the aftermath of the initial start .

Speaker 1 15:36

Now the PGA , along with Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy and some other PGA big big name gurus , have banded together and started negotiating talks with us , the Saudi golf officials , to try to figure out how to merge the two leagues back together and allow this thing to be , uh , to coexist , which is kind of kind of down the line where I said . Some people are against live golf and more for PGA , some people don't mind live golf and others believe that they should just be able to coexist . So they're working on that Now . To make matters interesting . Roy McIlroy has been probably one of the biggest critics over the past two years over live golf and what they should and shouldn't be allowed to do or participate in worldwide , and so it was announced that the PGA and Live Tours have agreed or maybe just the players agreed , and this is outside of those two factions , but they're well-represented

Golf Rivalries and Solheim Cup Insights

Speaker 1 16:43

.

Speaker 1 16:43

Mcelroy and Scheffler . Scotty Scheffler , the number one golfer in the world , is agreed , and this is outside of of those two factions , but they're well represented . Uh , mackleroy and scheffler , scotty scheffler , the number one golfer in the world , versus bryson dechambeau and brooks kepka in a made for tv showdown . So everybody was , uh , probably heard of or seen the match right to start , with phil and tiger for a couple rounds , and , and then you had , like Tom Brady and tiger , or Tom Brady and Phil versus Peyton Manning and tiger , and and whatever . So there's been , there's been many . So now you have a match , the match PGA versus live edition McElroy McElroy , roy McElroy and number one in the world , scotty Scheffler versus Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka .

Speaker 1 17:33

Look , I'll watch it . First of all , I can't stand Brooks Koepka or Bryson DeChambeau . I think there were two really bad choices to represent live golf , but they are the two , two of the biggest names , that that jumped from PGA to live whenever it first started . And Brooks is a major championship winner and so is Bryson . So that makes sense , but I want to see it . I don't know , I didn't see a venue listed for it yet and I hope that it brings some life back into those match , special competition or whatever , back to where it started when Tiger and Phil were doing it , because they've fallen off over the past few years .

Speaker 1 18:23

And here's a match that I think everybody wants to see and I hope that somebody out there is advocating for this somebody who has a stronger , bigger voice than me is advocating for this but I would love to see Tiger Woods and Charlie Woods against John Daly and Little John Daly . I think that would be a phenomenal match . We saw previews of it in the PNC . They didn't specifically play together but the battle for that tournament the year that the Daly's won it , tiger and Charlie were . They were in the mix and for a while it was back and forth between the two teams .

Speaker 1 19:02

So a Woods versus Daly type showdown , I think , is more blockbuster than this PGA versus Live , just because the state of Live is in flux and hopefully diminishing , and I want to see a Woods versus Daly matchup . So somebody please put that out there . Let's make that happen while Tiger still has a leg to stand on and can get around a golf course and swing the clubs , because I think that hands that , and for daily too . I mean he's not getting any younger , although he's well taken care of . I'm sure we . Just I think that's the matchup that people want to see . I could be wrong , I don't think so . I think that's the matchup we want to see staying in the world of golf .

Speaker 1 19:51

I have it on right now on the television now , uh , so it's playing in the background . So if you see me glance up , it's probably the reason why , uh , but I the Solheim cup , solheim cup , look , we love the Ryder Cup Golf fans love the Ryder Cup Golf fans love the President's Cup . And anytime the Solheim Cup comes around , I mean I get pumped . It's competitive golf , usa versus Europe . And look , the women's game is growing . It's more exciting .

Speaker 1 20:25

Having gone and watched the ladies play , they're relatable to the everyday golfer because they're not , they're not flashy . I hit in the ball 8,000 yards . You know they're . It's a modest . You know two , two , 80 , two 50 , two 70 , on occasion 300 . And in the way the game's played , played . I say the same thing about women's basketball .

Speaker 1 20:47

People don't watch women's basketball for the flair and the theatrics and the well , maybe the theatrics in some . In some regards , especially with this year's battle between Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese , that was way blown up and and uh , cinematized , uh , to an extent . So there's a lot of theatrics this year around that . But um , the , the flashiness and the and the and the , the uh , it's almost superhuman athleticism , the things that any normal person could not do . Is why people watch the NBA and we watch the WNBA ? Because it's more technical , a lot like boxing , it's an art , there's a style to it , and in the WNBA it's the same . There's a style to it , it's an art . There's still athleticism . It's not jump out the gym athleticism , but it's still really good athleticism and there's fundamentals .

Speaker 1 21:48

And for anybody , any young person trying to learn the game of basketball , the women's game is a lot better to start with , and then watch the men's game't entertaining , entertaining , but it's . It's entertaining for different reasons and the same in women's golf . So , anyway , solheim cup , that was my rant . That was my rant on women's sports and also because I am a girl dad and uh , and I like putting stuff on um , that my daughter can relate to . She also plays golf on a competitive level and watching other women compete at the highest level is , to me , what any young female athlete needs to see . As a young boy , we all saw the Michael Jordans , the Larry Birds , the Magic Johnsons , the Kobes , the Bo Jacksons , the Bo Jackson's , the Michael Irving's , troy Aikman's , tom Brady's , all the things there's so many to name . On the men's side , the women need it too . Young women need to see women who are doing what they are interested in at the highest level . So for my daughter it's golf . We put a women's golf on and then I love the competitive nature of match play and USA versus Europe , and it's good , it says . It's a same reason why I watch women's soccer . The U S women's national team , number one in the world right now , earn that title back , or the status back after the Olympics winning Olympic gold , and I love to watch those women represent our country and battle competitively through sports , representing our country and doing it in the finest fashion . So , anyway , things to watch . Things to watch from the Solheim Cup .

Speaker 1 23:47

It is day two on the Solheim Cup and of course I'm watching Nelly Cordo . Nelly Cordo , number one in the world . She's a seven-time tour winner . She's a two-time major championship champion winner . She won the Chevron championship that my daughter and I went and watched this year . We watched her come back from a deficit on the final round and win that thing , nearly won the Open Championship at St Andrews . But kudos to Lydia Ko for holding on and doing what she needed to do handle her business . So I'm watching Nelly Korda and so far she has been the driving force in that USA team , and she should . She's the world number one , that's what you would expect , and she's out this afternoon session , but she played yesterday's two sessions and won them . I believe . Um , I believe , uh , yep , two Eagles in the last three holes uh , one , six , four and then uh , one , three , two . In the morning session she only played 30 holes . She won 16 holes again , best in the world and uh , there was some stat where she's won more consecutive . Um , yeah , 16 holes won in a day . Uh , most holes won consecutively for us in solheim cup history . So , uh , she's doing her thing and it's uh super entertaining to watch .

Speaker 1 25:24

The other thing I'm watching with the Solheim Cup is Lexi Thompson . She is one of those players that you know . This is her swan song . She's been around a long time . She's not very old . She started as a teenager , won her first event , I think , at 15 , 16 years old , and the tour wasn't what it was then , what it then what it was Hold on . The tour wasn't then what it is now . There's so much more athletic talent in the field now . So you know she's kind of brought that up . She was kind of at the forefront of that , leading that charge of talent . And Lexi did it a very young age . She's been around for a long time and she's recently announced her retirement and this will likely be her last Solheim cup . She'll probably come back and captain it , uh , if asked or nominated , but uh , this is probably her last one and uh , she's doing well she's . She's playing every bit of the Lexi uh Thompson that we uh would have come to expect those who followed her career . And um , and right now USA is getting the job done . It's eight four uh in the second half of the second day .

Speaker 1 26:48

So , um , some of the other things uh , euro team is stacked . They got Charlie hole , uh , charlie hole . Celine Boutier , who's from France and uh made a huge run at the Olympics this year before kind of falling short . Uh , maya Stark , who's another great young talent on the Europe side . I got to watch her play live at the Chevron . She's super talented and super fierce , doing very well this Solheim Cup . Carlota Seganda , who is usually in the mix on the LPGA Tour Only thing is plays extremely , extremely slow . She is definitely like sergio garcia in that regard . Plays super slow . In fact was put on the clock yesterday and she was in the second group out um , and that's . That's never a good thing . And then , uh , georgia hall . They're all leading the way for europe , they're all having good uh rounds , good rounds , just not quite getting the job done there , but I'm excited to see the talent on the Europe side . I root for the USA , but , man , these women can play all around .

Speaker 1 27:57

And then the second last thing that I'm watching in the Solheim Cup is the young talent , two in particular . The Euros have Esther Henselight , from Germany , outstanding player , outstanding player . She won the bronze medal or silver medal , I'm sorry in the Olympics this year . It was her first Solheim Cup and just watching her play handling the moment , I mean outstanding player out of Germany . And we have Sarah Schmelzel yes , I said it , sarah Schmelzel , and that sounds German in itself completely from the USA . So those are the two youngsters I'm watching . Sarah had a rough go this morning but had an excellent two uh , two rounds yesterday .

Speaker 1 28:51

And , um , this will be fun to watch . It's going to be a lot of fun to watch , you know Anna Norquist is up on . You know , a veteran , a legend of the women's game , um , you , um . You know it's been fun to watch her back in the fold again . She don't got many left , if , if not , this being her last one as well . Um and so , uh , yeah , this has been a lot of fun to watch . I highly recommend . If you haven't watched the Solheim cup or any of the women's golf , what are you waiting for ? What are you waiting for Grow the game ? We all have daughters . We all have daughters . We all have sisters . I don't know .

Boxing and Atlanta Braves Analysis

Speaker 1 29:47

Everybody's opinion varies over what boxers they watch , what era you come from , or even if you've abandoned boxing for MMA altogether . I , for one , will never give up the sweet science of boxing . I've said it in a previous episode talking about Terrence Crawford , and I'll say it now there's nothing that that really comes close to boxing in its purest form . That's it Now . Boxing was marred in controversy , fixed fights , all the things . Let me fix this real quick , because this is a typo here on my tag here . All right , fixing the tag there , there we go .

Speaker 1 31:06

I just noticed it , okay , so , so , boxing was marred in controversy , fixed fights , corrupt judges , a lack of talent , right ? Uh , if , if , if , you weren't watching heavyweight fights , uh , you weren't interested in watching anything at all . Okay , I get it , and it's needed to be revived . And there's a few fighters out there that you could point to that are kind of pushing the sport and and keeping keeping the pulse going , whatever that means . A lot of people will say boxing's dead . I still refuse it and I and I see a lot of great things , but I did want to point out one fighter in particular that I would watch and I led with . We all have our preference , or we all could make an argument for what fighters we watch and all that .

Speaker 1 31:39

Nobody can argue that the greatest fighter of all time is Muhammad Ali , and so this just want to highlight this boxer . For that reason , nico Ali Walsh , the 24 year old grandson of said greatest of all time , muhammad Ali . Look , he's got to get more airtime . He's fought , uh , nine fights , nine professional fights , and I haven't seen one . Gotta get more airtime now . Nine professional fights , he's . He's working his way up in rank , he's trying to get the big fights , the pay-per-view spots , and he'll be undercard for a little while , but super impressive . And here's why , and I'm putting everybody on notice right now that Nico Ali Walsh is somebody that needs to be watched .

Speaker 1 32:43

Eight wins , five by knockout and one loss by decision , and that was his last fight Sona Akale , sona Akale . However , you say that Sona Akale Lost by decision Controversially by decision , I might add and it always is . If you could stop it from going to the cards , you got to stop it from going to the cards . But eight and one is not a bad start to a professional boxing career . I mean , there's only been two that have gone undefeated . Even the great Muhammad Ali lost fights Granted late in his career , mostly after the Parkinson's issues started to show up , mostly after the prison term for not agreeing to be drafted to fight in Vietnam . But he still lost nonetheless . So eight and one is not up is not bad , is that's not a bad start for any young fighter ? Um , trying to pave their way . He lost by decision .

Speaker 1 33:56

I didn't see the fight . Like I said , I didn't see the fight . I think you can go watch them on YouTube Now . I think you'll find whole fights of Niko Ali wash . I haven't done it yet . Um , I just seen clips . Follow him on Instagram , so I see clips and stuff that he puts up , but definitely interested in following him , mostly for the lens .

Speaker 1 34:16

Huge , huge shoes to follow and and hell of a bloodline right . So some tails from the tape from him . He's six feet tall with a 74-inch reach , powerful , right-handed fighter Fights , mostly orthodox and powerful right hand in his arsenal . No fights scheduled anytime soon , um , since the decision loss , uh , but I will keep everybody updated on when the next fight is scheduled because I want to help start a movement to get this guy seen , uh , to get this guy noticed . Uh , not just because of his name , but be on the lookout . This could be the the next To get this guy noticed , not just because of his name , but Be on the lookout . This could be the next Big name Rising up through the ranks Of boxing . Now that's out of the way . Look , that was just the opener and I said a lot . I said a lot . That was just the opener Topic number one I got to cover this .

Speaker 1 35:38

I have not covered baseball yet on this podcast . For those of you who have been with me since the beginning , this was an all basketball podcast and I made the decision , through a hiatus , to bring the show back covering all sports . So we've done football , we've talked boxing , we've talked golf . Of course we do NBA stuff , wnba Not done baseball yet . So I wanted to take the time to do my first baseball segment on my own team .

Speaker 1 36:18

Look , I could be a homer , just like the rest of us , to the max . I ride the emotional roller coaster for every one of my favorite sports teams , all my favorite players , just like anybody else . But I know how to draw the line and be super critical as well . Everybody knows . Okay , when you say you're a homer , your team can do no wrong . I mean Dallas Cowboys .

Speaker 1 36:51

Stephen A Smith will say all the time they're the worst fans ever because they could be absolutely horrid . They could make the absolute most ridiculous looking mistake and or management decision and the the fans will spin it and make it , uh , make it as if you know there's something great on the other end of it . When there's no , there's no real reality to that right they . If they're eight and eight , no real reality to that right they . If they're eight and eight , they're eight and eight . Right . If they're 16 and two and they lose in the first round of the playoffs , then so what ? Nobody , no , dallas Cowboys . Well , at least they're 16 and two , at least it wasn't eight and eight . No , where are the playoff wins ? Where are the wins where it matters ? So I'm not like that at all .

Speaker 1 37:43

My baseball team is the Atlanta Braves . Always have been . I've ride or die for the Atlanta Braves and there's no denying that over the last few years . Well so , when a world championship in 2020 and the last few years so disappointing to get to the playoffs , win the division I think eight straight times division winners and get to the playoffs and choking the playoffs since the world series win , let Freddie Freeman go pick the Matt Olson . He's been . He's been solid . I mean , I hated the move at the beginning , but we basically got a carbon copy of Freddie Freeman with a little bit more power , so I'm not mad at it . He earned his keep , as I think the rest of Braves Nation feels . Freddie will always have a special place in our heart . But Olsen has done the job .

Speaker 1 39:08

Dansby Swanson being allowed to walk after world series Can't happen . Can't happen . You can't lose Freddie Freeman immediately after the world series . Go to the playoffs with Dansby Swanson and then let Dansby go . You can't do it . Arce has been okay , but he's not Dansby Swanson . He is not Defensively . Arce is stellar and he's become stellar Offensively . Arce has his struggles where Dansby didn't , and granted , dansby had struggles but he was maturing . You could see the change and he's been very good . He's been very good , went to the Cubs , been very good with the Cubs .

Speaker 1 39:53

So there's no excuse to win a World Series and then , in consecutive years , win the division series and then the in consecutive years when the division have a historic last year historic offensive explosion and lose , it just become non-existent . Uh , in the playoffs against the phillies and come into this year easily picked as as a top three contender . Right , I mean the Braves . After last year's offensive display , nobody doubted that the Braves would be right there in the mix . Probably win the division again . Only have to contend with the Phillies . Blah , blah , blah , right , okay , well , that's over with with the Phillies . Blah , blah , blah , right , okay . Well , that's over with . It's 100 and 100 , and what ? 65 games , 62 games , something like that in the season . All that's over with . We're down to just a handful of games , I mean like 12 , maybe I don't have the calendar up in front of me , but three weeks by the end of September there won't be any more regular season baseball . We'll be in the playoffs . We've gone from Now . We weren't going to catch the Phillies . We had our opportunities but we didn't capitalize .

Speaker 1 41:13

That's what I want to talk about . I want to talk about where the Braves fell , how they fell , what I've seen as a fan and just kind of as a just a fan of the sport , not a Braves fan , but just a fan of baseball . I want to be subjective in this , or objective . I want to . I want to give a real take on and a real state of play for where I see , uh , the atlanta braves who just happen to be my favorite team again only because it's a big story . It's a big story . You cannot have a historic offensive uh just outburst like he did last year and then struggled to even get into the playoffs the following year . The offense disappeared in the Philly series last year it was a divisional series and the Phillies out-slugged , out-hit , out-base base , ran everything . They just outplayed offensively the Braves and it put a lot of strain on the pitching and the pitching crumbled as well . The two are related . So you can't have that and come and be in a situation here at the end of the following season , basically your offense following the trend of that , that series , and I hope that the everything picks up and there's reasons for it , right , we'll get into that . But I just , I just want to steep , just want to kind of lay the the battle field out , that kind of just lay the grounds here for what I'm about to say .

Braves Struggle With Injuries and Offense

Speaker 1 43:03

So what has happened to the Atlanta Braves ? They're currently losing the battle with the Mets for the final wildcard spot . The Mets , the Mets they were out of it till after the All-Star break . They currently in like a 33 and 16 record over the last 49 games , or something the best in baseball . The Mets Where'd that come from ? So Atlanta's , remember , used to winning division titles and now battling for the last playoffs . But now there's three Arizona , san Francisco and then right now , the Mets . We're a game back . So they're fighting for their playoff lives .

Speaker 1 43:58

With three weeks left to go , the beginning odds for winning the World Series Hold on . Let me look this up . Atlanta Braves , world Series , just to put it in perspective now , barely making the wild card , or may not even make the playoffs . I'm in danger of it anyway . World Series , it's 2024 . Start of 2024 . Oh , they don't oh even have them in there . They have the yeah , because currently they're on the outside looking in . Alright , well , I can't give you the odds , because they've disappeared . I don't know what the odds , but let's just say they were heavy favorites to at least be contenders at the beginning of the year , whatever those odds were right . And now we are where we are .

Speaker 1 45:27

And the one thing I want to point out and I hate to do this , but it's important , because what I'm about to say is , like any other sports fan ever after a struggling or losing season , the injuries . The Atlanta Braves have been so prone to very significant injuries all year long and that , for my argument , is the main reason why they are not in contention to win a division and they are at risk of missing the playoffs entirely . I know , but , ant-man , you said you were going to be objective and that was a very subjective statement . That sounded like an excuse . All right , hold on , hold the phone . This is why I said it , and that was a very subjective statement that sounded like an excuse . All right , hold on , hold the phone . This is why I said it .

Speaker 1 46:29

The injuries matter because of the significance and because of what this team has accomplished in spite of the injuries . No , they are not in contention to win another division title that streak will end , whether it be 6 , 9 , 8 , 12 . Whatever it was Off the top of my head , I don't remember , but it comes to an end . They are a wild card team at best , if they can get in at all . But most teams who took the damage injury-wise that the Atlanta Braves have taken the Marlins would be in third place right now . The I don't know , maybe the White Sox wouldn't have the worst record , historically worst record in Major League Baseball . The Oakland Athletics would never be . The Yankees could not sustain the injuries that the Atlanta Braves have had and still find the same success that Atlanta has managed to find and the position Atlanta has managed to find and the position they've managed to put themselves in .

Speaker 1 47:43

Food for thought , let's think about injuries in the terms of payroll . Injuries bite every team and usually if you lose one of your stars it will derail your entire season . I mean , tink it . This thing has happened to the Atlanta Braves and it started with Spencer Strider . Think of it in terms of payroll Spencer Strider , former Cy Young winner , very young pitching talent , spencer Strider is on a $12.5 million deal . Okay , that's it . That's one guy . Ronald Acuna becomes the next major casualty for the Atlanta Braves Look , he was slumping . However , many analysts , commentators and baseball gurus would probably agree that it seemed as though , just before the injury , ronald Acuna was starting to find his groove again , at least offensively and on a freak play while running the bases trying to get from between second and third back to second , the ACL opposite to the leg that he previously had ACL injuries with gone ACL tear , gone for the season Again . Think of this in payroll . Spencer Strider done for the season . After two games , $12.5 million . Ronald Acuna finally starting to find his groove . Gone for the season . He has a $17 million deal . A $17 million deal . But wait , that's not all for these .

Speaker 1 50:12

Atlanta Braves , brian Sineker just quipped to the media just recently that he believes at one point even Blooper , the team mascot , went out with an injury . That's how bad this has been . Rounding out the current IL , ozzy Albies , who reportedly may be coming back toward the end of the year , there's some talk about maybe him only hitting right-handed because , for anybody who doesn't know , the injury was a fracture in his throwing hand . He got slid into at second base and so , uh , he's still feeling discomfort from the left side . He's been out a while , I mean I would say . Four to six weeks um , still discomfort swinging the bat from the left side , considering only swinging the bat from the right side . Uh , seems to be fielding and throwing the ball well , so if that happens we get him back , but we haven't had him through again . Four to six-week stretch of games . That's $7 million right there . So that's 29.5 , 36 million right there . Just those three players .

Speaker 1 51:22

Austin Riley get this Again . We're not done . Austin Riley all-star third baseman , gold glove candidate and major offensive impact type player . He gets hit by a pitch , he's out for the rest of the season . We may only see Austin Riley again if we get to the second round of the playoffs .

Speaker 1 51:51

$21 million , so that's 36 . That's 57 . $57 million of sitting on the bench right now on IL and AJ Minter , one of the anchors in our setup , pitching coming out of the bullpen . He can even close games for you if you need him to Out . Hip injury $6.2 million . So what is that ? Where were we ? 57 ? Throw another six on there , that's 60 . Let's just say around 64 .

Speaker 1 52:38

Rounding up a little bit $64 million worth of firepower and reliability sitting on the bench , and most of it has been for the entirety of the season . And look , austin Riley is out and he's been out . The reason why he's out for the rest of the season and hopefully you can see him again in the playoffs because it happened late . I get it , he had a down year and we'll get into that . But let's start with what matters . Well , let's start with one of the major factors , and that's $64 million worth of injuries to star players . No team I would put money on it no team would be able to survive that sort of deficit , that sort of injury deficit , and still even be in position to be a wildcard team . So for that , in my objective point of view , is an amazing feat , because this season should have been over and snicker and team have banded together and managed to keep themselves .

Speaker 1 53:50

Stop from drowning , right , just stop , drop . Stop yourself from drowning . Right now You're in a battle for your life . The water's high . The Right now you're in a battle for your life . The water's high . The Mets are pouring water into the tank . How do you survive , how do you stop yourself from drowning ? That remains to be seen over the next three weeks . But to be in that position with $64 million worth of talent and trust and reliability sitting on your bench . Kudos to the Brave staff . Kudos to the players who still continue to go out there and do their jobs .

Speaker 1 54:36

And it all has not been easy . The Braves , after explosive 2023 . Offensive campaign , have looked like a shell Of their former selves , and a lot of it has to do With losing Ronald Acuna , but that's not the main factor . There are serious Philosophy issues Within the lineup for these Braves Serious , it's nerve-wracking , it's frustrating . One of the biggest components to this season's letdown offensively is too many runners stranded in scoring position . The Braves currently sit at 623 runners stranded in scoring position . The Braves currently sit at 623 runners stranded Runners in scoring positions stranded . There is no way that MLB calculates total number of runners stranded , although there have been plenty .

Speaker 1 55:32

I've watched the games and it's infuriating that we refuse to move runners and pass the baton and we continue to swing for the fences . Strikeouts are in I mean this individually are incredibly high . Now the Braves , to their credit , are among the lowest in team strikeouts and they're among the highest in defensive strikeouts . So striking other hitters out . They are among the highest in defensive strikeouts . So striking other hitters out . They are among the highest . But the mentality that the Braves have is that they still this offense , that they were last year , even I don't know 150-something games into the season and I see it all the time when all you need is a base hit and hitters are coming up swinking to knock the ball out of the ballpark . You can't win that way . That is individual mentality and not team mentality .

Speaker 1 56:37

I've watched baseball for a long time and those of you who have as well will agree that the most effective way to score runs is to move the runners . Avoid hitting into outs , avoid double plays and move the runners . Selflessness , even sacrifice right . Selflessness , even sacrifice right . The bunt , the sacrifice fly . All should be in play . It's like the three-point line for baseball , for basketball or the or because of the three-point line . It's like the mid-range for basketball . People just don't want to do it anymore . It's not sexy , it's not , it's not flashy , it's not popular to lay down a bunt and move a runner over . Even in extra innings you get a runner on second , for Christ's sakes . So unless you got a guy hitting 340 with slug out of this world , you should be laying down a bunt and get the next guy up .

Speaker 1 57:37

The hitters that protect the , the uh , the three , four , five guys , uh , those hitters that protect that are around them . So one , two , um , in the brace case , two is pretty powerful . Got soler there now , but we didn't always throughout the season , you know , soler was a late ad and even he's had his struggles , um , but he's in the number two spot . So of course you're you're trying to hit for power . You're not laying a bunt down , although that would freak people out if he managed to lay a bunt down , granted , if I was Snitger or if I was managing that team . Why the hell not ? Why the hell not move the runner to third ? Because you're more likely to put yourself in a position to move the runner than you are to hit one out the park . So just sacrifice . You got runners in scoring position . With less than two outs , there's no reason why you can't score at least one . There's no reason for it .

Speaker 1 58:33

But that's a philosophy issue with the Atlanta Braves , remember , we don't have Ron Washington anymore and he was a philosophy guy , I believe . In a lot of ways he was the glue that held this team together . He was the catalyst that pushed this team to perform at levels that they didn't even think that they could perform at , and he got a head manager's job with the angels . It was so deserved . But such a detriment to the Atlanta Braves baseball team , and I think that this year's offensive issues are are part of that .

Defensive Drills and Offensive Slumps

Speaker 1 59:22

Now , ron Washington was a huge defensive guy as well . It's well-noted , well-stated for anybody who watches the game . Ron Washington would get all the guys in the infield together and they would do these drills every day , held them accountable every day . They had to do it . They showed up , they put in work , they did these drills and we're talking about little league type drills , but things that keep them , uh , hand-eye coordination , um , glove and ball handling , the transfers , all of those things right . Ron Washington held those guys accountable and because of that , the Braves have had one of the best defensive infields and all of baseball over the last five years .

Speaker 1 59:59

Easy , easy , but he's not there . Third base coach . Third base coach handles all the signs . He has a lot to do with the strategy of what hitters are going to do . He sends hitters , he controls the base path right , that's what the third base coach does . We don't have that , and so there's been a lot of dumb plays . I mean even the play Ronald Cunha got hurt on . There's no reason why he got stuck between second and third and had to make the move he made which caused the injury and it's a freak thing could happen in the outfield . It happened to happen in the base and the base pads , but it may be it could have been avoided . We don't have Ron Washington .

Speaker 1 1:00:41

It's been a detriment starting to show all the Braves currently having down years after having explosive years . Last year , during that , uh , offensive onslaught , Michael Harris Jr , batting 248 , 11 home runs , 37 RBIs . Last year , 293 , 18 home runs , 57 RBIs , major drop off . And look , if one guy drops off , that's okay . That's returning to the mean right . People have up years , people have down years .

Speaker 1 1:01:22

Last year , one through nine in our lineup was so potent that pitchers didn't know how to pitch to us . Our number nine hitter , michael Harris Jr , had hit just as many home runs as most people's cleanup hitters three hitters , many home runs as most people's cleanup hitters , three hitters , five hitters . He just happened to be number nine because where were you going to put him with when you had all the other power there ? This year , down here , and I think if he was the only one we could have got away with it . Then Sean Murphy , also a down year this year 286 batting average , nine home runs , 22 RBIs . Last year he didn't hit the ball on average very well , but more runs batted in 21 home runs , 68 RBIs .

Speaker 1 1:02:18

Austin Riley , even though he was injured in August at the time of his injury 256 batting average , 19 home runs , 56 RBIs , 118 strikeouts . Now I didn't I didn't give strikeouts on the other two because it wasn't significant . This is significant . Austin Riley , early in his career , had trouble striking out and it was when he became more plate , disciplined that he started excelling and becoming an offensive weapon . Last year he hit 281 , 37 home runs , which , whether he was still there , he would not even be close to 37 , having been hurt at 19 . He was at 19 when he was hurt Last year . He hit for a total of 37 . He had 97 RBIs . He had 172 strikeouts last year . Now he had 118 this year in August , trending in the right direction . Trending in the right direction , but too late , too late . Uh , the home runs definitely down .

Speaker 1 1:03:44

Not driving in runs , right , I'd said at the beginning of this . Uh , this segment that , uh , stranding runners and scoring position has been a huge issue for the Braves . That is a key example for Sean Murphy and for Austin Riley Not hitting for average or hitting for better average than last year , but not driving in runs , and not just by home runs , but just not driving in runs when the opportunities are there . Matt Olson is another one 237 . He's batting 237 . 25 home runs , 81 RBIs and 156 strikeouts .

Speaker 1 1:04:28

Again , strikeouts are significant here . He is not one who strikes out a lot . Last year he finished the year 283 , 54 home runs and 139 RBIs . He's not even close . He's not close . This is I mean , it's like night and day . It's like watching two completely different players . He's not even close . This is not a drop-off . This is not returning to the mean . This is a slump almost in every sense of the word . It's a season-long slump . Now , last year he finished with 172 strikeouts . This year , I'm sorry , 167 strikeouts . This year , 156 strikeouts . So far , there's still three weeks of baseball . He may very well end up around the 160 , 165 mark . It can't happen . If you're not driving in runs , you cannot strike out that much .

Speaker 1 1:05:29

Adnou Val is an interesting story and I included him here because he was part of the World Series team and he was a major contributing factor . Now let me remind everybody the significance of this year compared to the World Series . Year is in the World Series year . We also lost Ronald Acuna . We also lost him for the whole year and the GM and Anthopolis put together a , an outfield by platoon around Michael Harris and they got the job done Eddie Rosario , adam Duvall , jorge Soler . Eddie Rosario , adam Duvall , jorge Soler . Had that team lost Acuna , spencer Strider , ozzy Albies , austin Riley , aj Minter . That team could not have survived it the way this team has . Okay , I'll say that they barely survived Ronald Acuna and it was just through good fortune that Corey Solaire and Rosario in the playoffs really stepped up and became a great

Braves Offensive Struggles, Pitching Bright Spots

Speaker 1 1:06:53

platoon .

Speaker 1 1:06:53

Adam Duvall , another huge factor in that right , that kind of like the third head of that three headed dragon . So we brought him back this year hoping to kind of rekindle that . And it hasn't been great . It hasn't been great . Adam Duvall is currently out of the platoon rotation in favor of , I believe , laureano and Jorge Soler and Kelsenik . We even picked up Rosario and he didn't even cut it . We waived him . So we've kept Adam Duvall , I guess , hoping that you know , there will be a right time in the right place kind of moment for him . I hope so too .

Speaker 1 1:07:53

I really like the guy and this is uncharacteristic . I mean this is one 84 this year , 11 home runs , 30 RBIs , 99 strikeouts though you know driving 30 runs but you strike out 99 times . That's that . That is a slump . Last year with Boston he hit for 247 , with 21 home runs , 58 RBIs and 110 strikeouts . So again , strikeouts kind of high , but drove in a lot of runs for Boston , for Boston . And last on my down year list , and again I'm moving through this fact , but the numbers matter . The numbers matter .

Speaker 1 1:08:49

Jorge Soler spent half the year with San Francisco , so I'm going to give you his Braves totals and then I will give you his season totals . Okay , but since joining the Braves around August , jorge Soler is batting 204 , with now six home runs and 17 RBIs . Because he hit a two-run home run last night against the Dodgers , he struck out 33 times . Last year with Miami , he hit for 250 . 36 home runs , 75 RBIs . Okay , well , anthony , you gave us part of this year and all of last year . I'm getting there . So the split is this for Jorge Soler , currently on the season , he's batting 232 , with 17 home runs and 55 RBIs . He has 130 total strikeouts , though he's already 11 less than what his complete last year total was .

Speaker 1 1:10:00

Again , we got three weeks left . So his Braves reunion has not been great and we took on two years of his deal to get him from San Francisco , just hoping that he becomes the Jorge Soler of that 2020 World Series . So far it has not happened . Again . A lot of good signs . Three weeks left in the season . All of this matters . All of this matters . What are they going to do ? Three weeks left in the season ? Battling for their season Battling for their playoff lives ? Can even just three of these guys turn it around ? Just find something could make all the difference . There's been one offensive bright spot all year and this guy almost wasn't even part of the team at the end of last year . Headed into this year , he was almost cut . There was a lot of talks about Marcel Azuna . I don't know if anybody remembers , but I think it was the 2019-2020 season . It had to be the year before the the world series season .

Speaker 1 1:11:23

Marcelo Zuna Zuna came out on fire . He came from Miami . He was hitting the ball Well , a lot like what we saw this year . He was running the bases . I mean phenomenally . I have never seen Marcelo Zuna run the bases like that since , and he suffered an injury sliding into third base . I mean fingers pointed in all different directions . Okay , it's injury , put them on the IL , come back and we get . We get some version of him moving on .

Speaker 1 1:11:53

And then the domestic violence thing happened , and then the drunk driving thing happened , and then he became a pariah within the organization and the locker room , not so much a bad teammate , but just by conduct alone and the Braves culture since Brian Snitger no nonsense . These guys are in line and so if they would have had a deal for Marcelo Zuna or they could have waived him if he had a waivable contract , a DFA , he would have been gone . Thank goodness things work out the way they work out . He has turned everything around off the field and outside the locker room , though , it seems , and he has been a model teammate in the locker room . And not only that , he's producing , he is solely a DH . Now he's in triple crown talks .

Speaker 1 1:12:56

At one time people were saying how he should be considered for NL MVP . He has been the single bright spot in the Braves offense the entire year , the most consistent player that they have had and a lot of reason why they've been able to make it as far as they have until people could catch up and contribute . I mean again , this could have went south so quickly , so fast , and it didn't . And Marcelo Zuna is a huge reason why 37 home runs , 303 batting average , second in the NL both of those 98 runs batted in , that's third in the NL . He's second in OPS in the NL as well and he's only behind Shohei Itani in total hits . He just reached a career milestone 15,000 hits for his career . I mean , the guy has been stellar all year and he's DH Now . Shohei Otani will go on and probably become the first DH to ever win an MVP . But man , marcelo Zuna , this season should be talked about in Braves lore forever , forever , because what he's doing is unprecedented and and it is , it has been . I call him the Phoenix rising . This is his Phoenix year and he has shown out . Defensively , the Braves haven't been too bad Phoenix year . And he has shown out Defensively , the Braves haven't been too bad Again , considering the pressure the lack of offense has put on them .

Speaker 1 1:14:46

Starting pitching , with a few exceptions , has been pretty solid . Here's a couple down spots . Charlie Morton he's having a rough year , eight and eight , with a 4.1 ERA in 149 in his pitched . Look , charlie's old , he's old , he's no longer able to get the curve ball consistently working , or at least not this year , the way it has the fastball that working , or at least not this year , the way it has the fastball that he has works off of that and if he's not throwing the curveball , well , he has no fastball . Guys are just chewing him up . So Charlie Morton has had a rough year . He's , you know . And Max Freed has been solid most of the year but his ERA is entirely way too high at 3.46 . It is way too high . It is . It is , I would say , on the higher side in major league baseball for a number one or number two pitcher in the rotation .

Speaker 1 1:15:52

But there have been some bright spots in the starting rotation . Ronaldo Lopez has been surprisingly great . He's gone eight and five and he currently has the lowest ERA of all brave starting pitching at 2.03 . And let's not forget about the ability to strike batters out , to get out on his own . Renato Lopez has 137 strikeouts . He's the number four guy . Well , I think he's the number three guy now with with Morton struggling . But he came into the season as a number four guy , probably the number five guy . He worked his way up and he's been huge on the back end of the rotation or middle of the rotation .

Speaker 1 1:16:44

And then we have to talk about Chris Sale and I'm only going to say this Cy Young , nl , cy Young , chris Sale has been phenomenal . His ERA let me pull this up If I could type Chris Sale's ERA is 2.3 . Again , ronaldo Lopez surprisingly great . But Chris Sale , in 166 innings pitched 2.38 ERA , 16-3 record . I mean , that's Cy Young . There is nobody touching that in Major League Baseball right now , much less in the National League .

Speaker 1 1:17:49

That's starting pitching . I think we get by on that . That's been really good . Again , the offense would just score some runs . Probably take a lot of pressure off these guys , especially Max Freed , who tends to give up a few runs here and there because of his aggressive nature . But the bullpen also has been pretty decent . There's only a few guys that I could point out that really are a detriment . Get this the Atlanta Braves bullpen is currently second in the National League in ERA and they're third in all of baseball and they're fighting for their playoff lives . That's how bad the offense has been this year for the Atlanta Braves , coming off a historically great offensive season . It's been that bad that you could have one of the top starting pitching rotations and one of the top bullpens in all of baseball and still just barely barely being content in contention to to have a playoff spot , to be a wild card team or worse .

Speaker 1 1:19:09

Joe Jimenez , jesse Chavez mostly Pierce Johnson , lee and Russell Iglesias all have been solid , not one thing I can say about . Again , they have their ups and downs . They have their moments , usually whenever they're overworked , but they have been so solid all year . The trouble has been Luke Jackson , grant Holmes and Aaron Bummer . That's the problem If we can keep the ball out of their hands , which I think we have a rotation built around them , and remember we only take so many into the playoffs anyway . So should we make the playoffs , I would imagine those three guys probably not in the rotation . I think Jesse Chavez , pierce Johnson , dylan Lee , rosario Iglesias , joe Jimenez definitely in . I think Jesse Chavez , pierce Johnson , dylan Lee , rosario Iglesias , joe Jimenez definitely in . I think you get one more , two more . There are guys out there that are more reliable than the three I just named Luke Jackson , grant Holmes and Aaron Bummer . They're probably out Again . In spite of that , the Braves are doing just enough just enough to still be playoff viable .

Speaker 1 1:20:30

So , in summary , the primary deficit for the Atlanta Braves has been their cataclysmic offensive fall from last year . Injuries or not , those that are healthy , with the exception of Marcelo Zuna huge asterisks there have not gotten the job done , have not gotten the job done . Just recently , atlanta Braves great Chipper Jones had this to say about the offensive struggles . Quote Working with the Braves the last couple of years has been very frustrating . I can't stand giving away outs . I can't stand strikeouts . Can't deal with a guy on third less than two outs not hitting a ground ball to shortstop or second base to get a run in . I can't stand every once in a while not laying down a bunt for your best hitters . All these things help you accumulate numbers , but they don't care .

Speaker 1 1:21:37

100 RBIs , so what ? I want to hit 40 dingers . This is truly a chick dig the long ball . Sorry , misquote Chicks dig the long ball kind of era . That's powerful , that's powerful . That's powerful . Chipper Jones , whose career number is 19 seasons with the Braves solely 2,726 hits , 1,623 RBIs , 468 home runs , a 303 career batting average , one World Series , one MVP , and he walked more times than he ever struck out , hired on as a hitting consultant for his Atlanta Braves , and he had that to say . This is a chicks dig the long ball era . They don't care , I want to hit 40 dingers . And , by the way , reference to chicks hit the long ball Slane from 1999 . It was used in an ad to suggest that the year's best that year's best pitching performance , mostly by Greg Maddox and Tom Glavin , was being overshadowed by the home run race involving Mark McGuire and Sammy Sosa . So the whole thing chicks dig the long ball you can look it up on Google .

Speaker 1 1:23:11

Where the phrase came from , what the ad was and all that stuff . That's where it comes from and that's kind of what Chipper is saying is that none of the little things that win you ball games right now matter to not a guy , not any specific guy , but in general as a whole . To some guys , it is more important for them to have individual success than do what's necessary to win . That is a philosophy problem . That is a philosophy problem . So the Atlanta Braves are fighting for their playoff lives and as a fan now this is subjective my worst fear is coming true the Atlanta Braves not only will lose their consecutive division , uh title streak , but they're becoming the New York , the New York Mets , right in front of my eyes . I can't believe it . I can't believe it .

Speaker 1 1:24:25

Anyway , quick shout out off the baseball subject as we wrap this thing up , a quick shout out to Asia Wilson for breaking the all-time points total for a single season . So currently Asia Wilson is a two-time MVP , a two-time WNBA champion , a two-time defensive player of the year and now holds a single season scoring record in all of the WNBA . So congrats to Asia Wilson . She's great , she is great place on a great team . Um , but I will say the Liberty . I think , uh , I think the Liberty got it this year . Uh , it's going to be great . Uh , it's going to be a great battle if they see each other in the finals again . Um , but I think the Liberty got their number , uh , anyway

Sports Talk Engagement and Interaction

Speaker 1 1:25:14

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Speaker 1 1:25:14

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