"They've Got That Swag Back"

In case you missed it earlier this week, Jason Stark posted a great article over on espn.com detailing the Braves postseason aspirations and their unheralded chances. You can find the article here.

Now that we have that out of the way let's move on to a preview of tonight's game. There is a commonly held belief in the South that duct tape can fix anything. Mike Hampton will attempt to test the limits of this theory as he makes his return to the mound in tonight's contest where he will make his first start since 2005. After missing two consecutive seasons due to two separate surgeries Hampton will attempt to run the Braves' consecutive wins count to 2. I know that sounds lame but hey, it's only game 4. The aforementioned streak sounded a lot better than saying the Braves were going to attempt to raise their winning percentage to .500.

It would be great for the Braves to post a win tonight and split the 4 game set with the Bucs as they have the oft hated New York Metropolitans coming to town on Friday.

Here is the pitching matchup from MLB.com

ATL: LHP Mike Hampton (0-0, -.-- ERA) Hampton hasn't faced the Pirates since beating them on Sept. 7, 2003. He is 10-3 with a 2.71 ERA in 22 career games -- 16 starts -- against them.

PIT: LHP Zach Duke (0-0, -.-- ERA) Coming off a disappointing season, Duke impressed by going 2-1 with a 3.32 ERA in five Spring Training appearances. The 24-year-old southpaw allowed four earned runs in 5 2/3 innings during his only start against the Braves last year.

Tidbits- Hampton had some success during Spring Training with a curveball similar to the one he had early in his career. ... According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Braves manager Bobby Cox managed in his 50th different stadium during Sunday night's season opener at new Nationals Park. He is the first skipper to reach that mark since the 1800s. The Braves dropped the first two games of the season for the for the first time since the 2003 season, during which they ended up winning 101 games.

Spring Roundup

Auburn held its final practice of the spring Wednesday night and concluded with a scrimmage (60 + plays).

NOTES:

Quarterbacks

• Kodi Burns shined by starting by going 13/16 for around 200 yards; Burns' first incompletion came on his 12th pass attempt during which he was under heavy pressure from Sen'Derrick Marks.


• Kodi Burns was impressive on the ground with a number of 5+ yard runs and a handful of 10+ coming mostly from fake handoffs in the shotgun.


• Burns' struck WR James Swinton for a 11yd touchdown which was the first score of the scrimmage.


• Burns' third completion went to WR Montez Billings who subsequently turned the ball over by fumbling.


• Burns' longest pass of the day came on a 50 yard pass to WR Chris Slaughter.


• Throughout the scrimmage, Burns was on the field as a part of two touchdowns for the Tigers.

• Chris Todd finished the scrimmage with 10 completions on 18 attempts for a total of about 141 yards; Theoretically, Todd should have been 12/18 in that two well thrown balls were dropped by WR Terrell Zachery and Charles Olatunji.


• Todd's longest pass of the day came on a 10 yard strike to WR Rod Smith who went on to race 55 yards to the 6 yard line.


• Todd was at the helm for one touchdown and one fieldgoal for the Tigers.

• Neil Caudle had a less than stellar start bythrowing three straight incomplettions, one of which was intercepted by DB Zac Etheridge with a 19 yard return and another was nearly intercepted by DB Ryan Williams.


• A positive note on Caudle came with a well thrown ball to WR Terrell Zachery for a 52 yard touchdown.


• The only time during the entire scrimmage in which Auburn went under center occured with Caudle at quaterback. The formation vas very "Wing-T like" which was as surprising for me to see it as it probably is for you to hear it. The tigers proceded to run two running plays out of the formation for short gains on both.

Wide Receivers

• Chris Slaughter led receivers with the most receptions (5) and with his route running ability, it will be a necessity to get Slaughter on the field and the ball to him.


• Rod Smith had the most yards receiving (9o), one of which was a 25 yard reception with a skillfull run at the end of the play


• Chris Slaughter 5 (68yds)


• James Swinton 4 (36yds)


• Quindarius Carr 2 (41yds)


• Tommy Trott 2 (35yds)


• Rod Smith 2 (90yds)


• John Cubelic 2 (32yds)


• Terrell Zachery 2 (83yds)


• John Cubelic 2 (32yds)


• Vincent Cook 1 (9yds)


• Tristan Davis 1 (13yds)


• Brad Lester 1 (5yds)

Running Backs

• All but two of Auburns running plays came from the shotgun. With the majority of those being draw plays.


• RB Ben Tate showed that he is fast enough for the spread offense with a number of quick scampers. Tate can still pound the ball as indicated by a hard collision with DB Walter McFadden on his way to a touchdown run inside of the 10 yard line.


• The longest rush of the day came from a 69 yard touchdown scoring run from RD Tristan Davis. Davis showed signs of returning to form with some of the quickness that he diplayed in 2006 against Kentucky.


• Walk on RB Anthony Jemison may never be a big contributor for Auburn during his tenure, but the Sophomore showed alot of fight in refusing to go down on a collection of rushes.

OTHER NOTES:

• Wes Byrum connected on field goals of 53 and 39 yards, while missing one at a distance of 41 yards.


• Chris Todd was under center for the first series which went three and out with a 5 yard pass to Tommy Trott and two run plays out of the shotgun.


• The third series for Kodi Burns consisted of three straight run plays.


• Auburn lined up in the shotgun formation once inside the 10 yard line with Todd and again at the 2 yard line with Caudle. Both plays resulted in a tackle in the backfield and a loss of yards. It will be interesting to see the route that Auburn goes with in these type situations once the Fall comes around.


• LB Josh Bynes was in on a number of plays on defense and it was apparent from the few blitzes he was involved in that he will be a very special player one day.


• LB Chris Evans was involved in a number of big hits with the hardest coming against a run play from under center.


• DB Jerraud Powers and Michael McNeil were in on a few key pass breakups and continued their consistent play in pass covereage as they have for the majority of spring practice.


• The most intriguing play of the day occured with Kodi Burns in the shotgun with an empty backfield and QB DeRon Furr in the slot position. The two motioned, switched roles and Furr ran a QB draw behind a block delivered by Burns on DB Jerraud Powers.

Jurrjens shines in ATL debut as Braves drop Hammer on Bucs 10-2

Jair Jurrjens pitched 5 masterful innings before running into a bit of trouble in the 6th. You really could not have asked JJ to do more in his first start, he gave the bullpen the lead and 5 1/3 innings of quality stuff. Jeff Bennett did a nice job of inducing the double play to get Jurrjens off of the hook thus preserving the lead. Jurrjens was given a 3-0 lead following a Matt Diaz HR, his first of the year. The ball was typical Diaz as he hit a monster HR down the RF line. There are maybe 10 guys in the league who can hit the ball down the opposite field line 15 rows deep and Diaz is one of them. The Braves' offense will be improved once Matty proves he is more than a platoon player.

Kelly Johnson sat out Wednesday night while resting his injured right knee but Martin Prado filled in admirably hitting a triple in the first inning and showing some nifty footwork on a double play in the 6th.

The bullpen looked much better tonight and the order shook out exactly as most had predicted outside of the 9th as the Braves did not need Soriano. This is how they appeared Bennett (6th) / Acosta (7th) / Moylan (8th) / Ring (8th) / Resop (8th) / Ohman (9th)

If any of you play fantasy baseball and your league scores points for "holds" Moylan should have significant value in that category, at least until Mike Gonzalez returns. Though he was replaced in the 8th it had more to do with Cox wanting Ring to pitch to LaRoche than anything else. Moylan is a fantastic story as he was out of professional baseball for close to a decade before signing with the Braves after the World Baseball Classic. Look for a complete profile on Moylan in the next couple of days.

The Braves' 7 run rally in the 8th cost Soriano fantasy owners a save opportunity. The hardest part of playing FBB is rooting for your favorite team NOT TO SCORE.

Martin Prado took a nasty spill after colliding with LaRoche near the 1B bag. Luckily Prado was able to shake it off and stay in the game. The Braves really can't afford to lose another middle infielder with Kelly currently on the mend.

Random Notes

• Frenchy had a great at bat in the 2nd inning. After patiently working the count to 3-2 he sat kept his weight back on a change-up and drove the ball through the right side of the infield. Fantasy owners take note. If Frenchy can increase his walk rate (he almost doubled it from 2006 to 2007) and hit the ball the other way he could raise his avg to close to .300


• Of course just as I type the above note Frenchy jumps on the first pitch in the 6th and hits a week ground ball to the 3rd baseman. Still - it's nice to improvement.


• We say this every night at SNS but Escobar hits the ball from foul line to foul line. I see a batting title in his near future.


• Matt Diaz got contacts in the offseason to improve his depth perception. Though this was done for purposes of improving his defense one can't help but think it will also benefit his hitting.


• Brayan Pena rocks the double ear flapped batting helmet- that's a look that is tragically under utilized.


• Royce Ring is likely to be a situational lefty for the pen - hey, every team needs one. To all young lefties out there; if you can throw hard enough to break a pane of glass and can keep it in the strike zone you too can pitch in the league for a dozen years.


• Texeira hit a DEEP 408 ft HR to CF that would have left virtually every park in the league


• Yunel hit a 378 ft HR to left center. If he can continue to hit for power while maintaining his average the Braves have a chance to put a dynamic offense on the field for the next 150+ games. This would give them a significant advantage in October as teams win playoff games with power hitting and power pitching.

Tremendous News

SNS is proud to announce that we are now a member of The Tomahawk. The Tomahawk is a clearing house of Braves blogs and posts. It bills itself as "an Atlanta Braves news portal to the blogosphere." The Tomahawk has been declared one of the Top 100 Baseball sites on the web and we are ecstatic to join their team.

Huddy Won't Back Down

At SNS we love the Braves and we love the AU Tigers. Tim Hudson helps us combine the best of both worlds. Mark Bowman from MLB.com has a great article on Huddy's thoughts for the 2008 season here.

Game 3 preview - Jurrjens Toes the Rubber

Back in October some Braves fans were questioning the sanity of the Braves' management when they traded Edgar Renteria to the Tigers for two "prospects." However, these fans must not have paid attention to the past because history tends to show that the Braves normally end up on the positive side of these deals. Take a quick look at what uber prospects Andy Marte and Jared Saltalamachia are doing now. For the record, Salty still has a ton of potential though he is not ready for the show right now.

In return in for Renteria, Atlanta received tonight's starting pitcher Jair Jurrjens. JJ is a 22 year old right hander from Willemstad, Netherland Antilles.

In honor of JJ's Caribbean heritage we present you with the picture on the right. Here we see Nate McClouth (aka Jack Sparrow) being picked of by Brian McCann on Monday night.

In an article from MLB.com Jurrjens is quoted as saying "I'm trying not to think about [the start], . . . I'm just waiting for the day to come and I can just do my job. Now that I know that I made the team, I can relax and have fun like I was having at the start of Spring Training,"



Pitching matchup

ATL: RHP Jair Jurrjens (3-1, 4.70 ERA in 2007)He went 3-1 with a 4.70 ERA in seven starts with the Tigers last year. Jurrjens, who has a fastball that has been clocked around 93 mph, has good control of his slider and changeup.

PIT: LHP Tom Gorzelanny (14-10, 3.88 ERA in 2007)After leading the Pirates with 14 wins last season, Gorzelanny looks to begin just his second full season in Pittsburgh. The lefty pitched past the 200-inning mark last season for the first time, and he made a staff-high 32 starts. A year ago, Gorzelanny followed a shaky spring by jumping out to start the season 3-0 with a 2.05 ERA.

Tidbits

Pirates closer Matt Capps, who is from Douglasville, Ga., played with Jeff Francoeur and Brian McCann for Team Georgia in the 2001 Sun Belt Classic in Oklahoma.

Opener special for Pena, Escobar

This is a interesting article from AtlantaBraves.com concerning shortstop Yunel Escobar and catcher Brayan Pena.

ATLANTA -- Back during those childhood days, when they dreamed of an opportunity to escape the restrictions of Cuba and find a place together in the Major Leagues, Brayan Pena and Yunel Escobar could have never imagined how special their first Opening Day together would be.

Under the Cuban rule of Fidel Castro, Pena remembers being taught about the evil United States and how much Americans disliked Cubans.

"Everybody was the enemy for us," said Pena, who has started a second consecutive season as the Braves' backup catcher. "That's exactly the way that they raised us."
Having discounted that myth many years ago, Pena and Escobar now also have had the unique experience to personally meet the monster that Castro's government introduced to them during their childhood.

When Pena and Escobar had the chance to meet President George W. Bush before the Braves opened their season at Nationals Park on Sunday night, they didn't see an evil man who had a definitive dislike for Cubans.
Instead, they found themselves exchanging simple Spanish phrases like 'Hola' and 'Como estas?' with Bush and then watching him accept their request to sign a couple of baseball hats.

"It was amazing," Pena said. "We got chills, Escobar and myself. We never expected to see him that close."

Pena and Escobar have certainly found great fortune since defecting from Cuba four years apart. Although they had dreamed of an opportunity to play together at the Major League level, it was something they knew had little chance of occurring.

But after Escobar made his way to Miami via a boat in 2004 and made himself available via the First-Year Player Draft, the Braves had the upper hand in acquiring him.
While other teams were searching for background information on the shortstop, the Braves simply turned to Pena, who had grown up across the street from Escobar and played with him until defecting during a 1999 international baseball tournament.
Four years later, with Escobar serving as their starting shortstop, the Braves are thankful to have had the opportunity to rely on Pena's advice.

While traveling back to Atlanta after Sunday night's loss to the Nationals, Escobar and Pena discussed what they'd just experienced. Despite playing on many Junior National teams, they'd never had the opportunity to get anywhere close to Castro.

"It was something we never imagined could happen and it happened," Escobar said with Pena serving as an interpreter. "So it was an amazing experience for us."

Throughout Spring Training, when it was in doubt whether he'd be given a spot on the 25-man roster and prevent the chance of being lost via waivers, Pena continued to consistently display his patented upbeat personality.
After being asked if there would ever be a day when Pena isn't smiling, Braves manager Bobby Cox quickly said, "Not as long as his family is here and he's got his freedom."
Pena's mother was able to escape Cuba three years ago and the two of them both live in Miami during the offseason. Last year, the Braves backup catcher completed all of the paperwork to receive his United States citizenship and now he says all he has to do is perform his oath of citizenship.

Admittedly, Pena says he doesn't know a lot of the specifics about politics and Bush. But he definitely has a great level of respect for the life he has gained since making his way to the United States.

"I don't know nothing about Republicans or the other side," Pena said. "It's just people. It's just the way they treat me and my family. Everybody is so respectful. That's something that you just can't compare. Everything I've got I owe to America.
"America gave me a better life and that dream that I was hoping to get."


Mark Bowman is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

Early exit for Johnson

Kelly Johnson left Monday night's circus early with a strain to his right knee. The injury is reported to have occurred while scoring from first base on a triple from Yunel Escobar, the braves' most consistent hitter for the evening. More can be read on this story at this link.

NOTES:

• The Braves have listed Johnson's status as day-to-day


• Johnson claims this injury to be the same one he struggled with throughout last season. He states "It just didn't bounce back today like it has been." Only time will tell if Johnson will make a quick recovery.


• Judging by this photo album from a previous exhibition game, maybe Asdrubal Cabrera is to blame for this whole situation.

Keith Evans commits to the Jags

So, this isn't exactly recruiting talk time, but the first recruit/verbal commitment in South Alabama football history deserves a blog mention.

Keith Evans, a Spanish Fort High cornerback, has said that he plans to sign with the Jaguars next February. The 5'11" 175 lbs. junior defensive back said, "South Alabama was very interesting to me because I know it's a good school and I'll get a great education, it's close to home and I've always been a Jag fan in basketball," Evans said in the telephone interview Saturday. "I was always disappointed that the school didn't have a football team. When they announced they were starting football, I was excited."

I imagine we'll be hearing that type of sentiment a lot in the coming months and in the weeks leading up to signing day next February.

I heard from a South Alabama official that shortly after Coach Jones was announced in mid-February, a recruiting questionnaire went up on usajaguars.com . Within two weeks, the athletic department had 85 responses. Imagine what that number is up to by now. Coach Jones's local ties and the Jags great group of coaches will help to keep a lot of local talent from the "I-10 Corridor" right here.

Tour of Duty - Coach Edition

Old news, but for those that misssed it, here is a link to a story about what should be an interesting trip.

Braves sign Wesley Snipes to replace Mark Kotsay

Just hours after signing the motor vehicle madman, Scott Speizio, the Atlanta Braves have signed Hollywood actor Wesley Snipes to a one year contract. Snipes is best known for his roles in the Goldie Hawn hit comedy "Wildcats," the character "Willie Mays Hayes" in the film "Major League," and as the rival gang leader in Michael Jackson's music video for the song "Bad." Snipes most recently starred in the Blade Trilogy.

While there does not currently appear to be a spot on the Atlanta roster, GM Frank Wren commented on the situation stating, "We know Mark Kotsay is going to go down with an injury sooner rather than later so we thought we had to make a move before someone else signed Wes." Puzzled journalists questioned Wren about the signing of Snipes who has never played for a professional organization. Wren quelled the journalists' fears. "As you know we recently signed Speizio so we were no longer concerned with the public fallout from signing a tax evader . . . well um . . . and alleged tax evader. "Have you ever seen him run? I mean he can really run," stated Wren.

Snipes is unexpectedly available following his acquittal in Federal Court over tax fraud charges.

On February 1, 2008, Snipes was acquitted on the felony count of conspiracy to defraud the government and on the felony count of filing a false claim with the government. He was, however, found guilty on three misdemeanor counts of failing to file Federal income tax returns (and acquitted on three other "failure to file" charges).

Braves Manager Bobby Cox spoke of the talent possessed by Snipes and his role on the team. "Did you see that guy in Major League? He can run like hell and that's something this team sorely needs. We want Wes to be our lead off man now. We know Kotsay has a glass back so we expect Snipes to be able to step in and play center field tomorrow."

While Braves fans may be concerned over the signing of an actor to take over the CF duties Cox assures that while Snipes does still "run like Mays" he no longer "hits like sh!t." Cox further stated that, "while filming 'The Fan' Wes really learned to drive the ball to the opposite field."

Snipes makes the second player the Braves have signed in as many days. Coincidentally both players have had recent run-ins with the law. When asked if this was to become a trend of the organization GM Wren stated that he did not anticipate an increase in convict signings but there is one player he still has on his radar. "There's this kid Ricky Vaughn out of the California Penal League that we're going to keep an eye on."

Snipes is expected to join Speizio in Richmond for the season opener on Thursday. When reached for comment Snipes would only state, "I'm glad the Braves gave me this opportunity. I've got a hell of a bill to pay off over at the IRS."

Following an off day on Tuesday the Braves return to action on Wednesday night for the second game of the series against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

The Jaguar Staff

On February 15th, 2008, Joey Jones was announced as the Jaguars first ever football coach in a history making press conference.

From the Mobile Press Register article on Feb. 16: "Calling it his "dream job," Jones, 45, accepted the task of building the program from the ground up, telling a crowd at the Mitchell Center, "You don't know how humbled I am to be standing here." With that, the Mobile native took charge of Jaguar football.

He said his cell phone "has been ringing off the hook" with calls from interested coaches.

"The bad part is I'm going to have to say no to some good coaches, but you can't believe how many people are interested," he said. Coach Jones wasn't kidding. He has put together quite an impressive staff that will help build the Jaguar football program.

Click the date to get further details on the coaches and to read each press release from South Alabama.

2/27/08 Former Auburn quarterback and Mobile native Dameyune Craig was announced as Coach Jones's first hire. Craig's official title will be running backs coach but he will also undoubtedly assist the O.C. with the quarterbacks. Craig's experience at every level of college football and tenure in professional football combined with his local roots and familiarity with the area should help to provide a solid early foundation for the Jags. “We are extremely excited about bringing Dameyune into the South Alabama family,” Coach Jones said. “He is a man of great character and will be an excellent addition to our staff. I was very impressed with the passion he has for coaching and recruiting, but more importantly, I am impressed with the desire he has to be a positive influence on the young men who will play here at South Alabama.”

2/29/08 Former Texas A&M offensive coordinator Les Koenning was named as the Jaguars offensive coordinator. Koenning brings 26 years of collegiate coaching experience to the table having coached at Houston, TCU, and Alabama prior to running the offense at Texas A&M. “There are two main reasons that I was immediately attracted to this position,” Koenning said. “The main reason is Joey Jones. He is well respected in Alabama and that is a great benefit. The second is that I am excited to be on the ground level of something big. Mobile is a great area, especially in football recruiting. The university has had great success in all sports and it is exciting to think of having that in football.”

3/3/08 Bill Clark of Prattville High School was named by Coach Jones as the defensive coordinator/linebackers coach and Assistant Head Coach for the Jaguars. Clark comes from a Prattville team that is the two-time Alabama Class 6A defending champion. In Clark's 9 years at Prattville, the Lions posted a 107-11 record having suffered their last regular season defeat in the second week of the 2002 season. "I have had a long relationship with Joey and we have always had a desire to work together, particularly at the collegiate level,” Clark said. “I feel like we have the chance to do something great here. From my time in the state, I know the quality of athletics at South Alabama and the quality of athletes in the Mobile area.”

3/7/08 John Turner, from the University of Tennessee - Chattanooga, was named the offensive line coach, the same position he held at UTC (also served as Asst. Head Coach in 2005 at UTC). Turner brings coaching experience from UTC, Western Carolina, Clemson, and Auburn as well as from Alabama high schools Daleville, Dothan High, and UMS Wright.

3/22/08 Coach Jones added his final two coaches for the early spring hiring process. Duwan Walker, who was a defensive backs coach and defensive coordinator under Bill Clark at Prattville, will rejoin Coach Clark at USA and will coach the defensive backs for the Jaguars. Brian Turner, brother of the Jags new offensive line coach John Turner, will serve as the Jaguars recruiting coordinator and will also work with the defensive staff. Turner handled similar responsibilities while at Troy University for the past 5 seasons.

Coach Jones plans to hire two more assistants in the fall, then one, maybe two more assistants next spring.

I really like the blend of this coaching staff, especially that the Jags not only have several local guys, but local guys who more than qualify for the positions that they have been hired for. Local roots and ties, while not terribly important for most programs, will serve to get this Jaguar program off on strong footing. Local knowledge and influence will help in recruiting (and attendance for that matter) during the early stages of this building process. And the process begins now.

White Stripes + Saban = Humor

Those of us at SNS love the work that is done over at http://www.theauburner.com/

This is their latest masterpiece. If you can combine a Jack White reference and Auburn Football then you will find yourself mentioned on this blog.

On a related note if you haven't picked up The Raconteurs (Jack White's side project) newly released album then you're missing out on the must have album of 2008.

Dueling Bullpen Implosions leads to Braves loss

Tommy Glavine posted a quality start giving up just one earned run in five innings but the bullpen once again wasted the effort of a Braves starting pitcher. This is a disturbing trend and one that hopefully will not be a season-long problem. The Braves were sloppy all around committing 3 errors. Perhaps the Doc Brown reference from this morning's post was not the best way to preview tonight's game. It appears Doc set his time machine to 1985 instead of 1995. I'm not going to get into the details of how bad the bullpen actually was because it makes my head hurt. Suffice it to say that Phil Neikro (even at age 68) would have been a welcome sight as even he could have limited the Bucs better than the ATL bullpen. Shout out to the Hall of Famer as tomorrow is his 69th birthday.

The Pirates bullpen was equally as poor as they walked four of the first 5 batters in the 9th inning and gave up five total runs. As bad as the Pirates bullpen was in the 9th it was the outfield debacle that took place between Jason Bay and Nate McClouth that allowed the Braves to tie the score. Bay has got to at least acknowledge that he has lost the ball because McClouth (as he showed with his catch to end the 9th) could have made an easy play to end the game.

Kudos to Chipper Jones for springing the 270 feet from 1B to home plate on what should have been a routine pop up.

There are a great number of players in the majors who would have trotted around the bases after seeing the weakly hit pop up. Were it not for the effort of Jones the Braves would not have tied the game.

The ATL bullpen once again squandered an opportunity as Blayne Boyer did his best Peter Moylan impersonation giving up a 3 run HR to Xavier Nady in the 12th. Despite a formidable rally by the Braves in the bottom half of the inning the Pirates closed out the win by inducing rally killing Corky Miller to fly out to center field.

Fantasy Baseball notes -
Brian McCann hit the ball hard for a second consecutive night. After just missing a HR in the season opener McCann led off the fourth inning with his first HR of the year.

Yunel Escobar is exactly what everyone thought he would be. He hits the ball well to all fields (including a two run triple on Monday night) but also turned what should have been an easy 6-3 putout into a run scoring error when he threw the ball about two feet short of Tex at 1B.

Bobby Cox shuffled the lineup tonight flipping Frenchy and McCann. McCann batted 5th and Frenchy 6th. If this is the norm it might help Mac's value a touch as he will get to the plate with runners on more often.


Also of note - Kelly Johnson left the game with what is being described as a knee strain. More on the injury as details are available. Unfortunately this might be the type of nagging injury that sticks with him all year.







By the way - This photo of Phil Neikro is the spitting image of my friend, and columnist for the Hard Ball Times, Brandon Isleib.

The Making of South Alabama Football

Wow, what a last few months it has been! It all started with a meeting of a small group of students last September. The cause for the meeting: force the administration to hear us out and reconsider the implementation of a football program at the University of South Alabama. Come to find out, there was no forcing required (as if we could've actually "forced" the administration).

In late August 2007, a student at the U. of South Alabama organized a group going by the name of "Students Who Stand". It's premise - "To Stand Together as a Student Body and Have Our Voices Heard in Support of NCAA Football at the University of South Alabama." The original idea brought forth at that first meeting of SWS was to get a group of students to "protest" at the next Board of Trustess meeting to let the board know that the students were serious about wanting football at USA. Well, the administration got wind of this and put forth an alternative to our protest. They would reopen the football investigation (our initial reaction being, "Wow, really? Just like that?) and we had to prove that the students did indeed want football, and were willing to foot a significant portion of the bill. Based on turnout for homecoming and student government elections, it was agreed that we were to obtain at least 2,000 student signatures by November 10th, the date of the first preseason basketball game which would also become the petition presentation for the implementation of football at USA. After two weeks of preparation, we began our journey.

Oct. 19 marked the first day of our petition drive. We were pretty sure that we had the support to realize our goal, but that small group of us on that first day didn't know what quite to expect. After all, when you see a complete stranger on campus, on the street, downtown, or wherever you may be, and they stop you to ask for your signature on a petition, what's your initial reaction? Exactly. Thankfully though, our support expectations were more than fulfilled. On that first day, we stood outside of Humanities for the 4 hours worth of early morning classes catching every class change as students walked into and out of the building. In those 4 hours, we obtained over 400 signatures and by the end of the second day we were up to 700. By the end of the month, we reached our goal of 2,000 and ended up with a total of 2,600+.

The Nov. 10th petition presentation went fantastically terrific, which lead to the next obstacle, the Board of Trustees meeting on Dec. 6. Turns out, the BOT meeting was no obstacle at all (man we were nervous leading up to it though). The board voted unanimously on December 6, 2007 to approve the implementation of a football program at the University of South Alabama, and history was made.

Stay tuned as we keep you up to date with the development of the South Alabama football program!

Braves sign part time rocker, full time drinker, Scott Spiezio to Minor League deal

In a move that is a bit baffling the Braves have signed former St. Louis Cardinal, Scott Spiezio, to a minor league contract. He is expected to start with AAA Richmond when their season opens on Thursday. Spiezio was released by the Cards back in Feb. following a 6 count arrest which included the following charges: driving under the influence, driving under the influence with a blood alcohol level of .08 percent or higher, hit-and-run with property damage, assault with a deadly weapon other than a firearm, and assault and battery.

If you're keeping score at home (and I know you are) that's the baseball equivalent of hitting for the cycle as far as motor vehicle misdemeanors go.

Hopefully the Speiz has hired a driver for his late night runs to the Richmond Taco Bell. He can afford it as the Cards paid him $2.3 million just to go away.

Here's a description of his arrest. If this doesn't sound like a guy who was made to be a minor league ballplayer then you just haven't spent enough time around washed up ex-major leaguers.

According to a release issued by the Orange County district attorney's office, Spiezio attempted to drive home after having "several vodka drinks" at a bar in Newport Beach, Calif. The release charges that Spiezio sped, veered across several lanes and through oncoming traffic before driving over a curb and hitting a fence.

Further, the release states that Spiezio is accused of fleeing the wreck on foot, running to his condominium complex in Irvine, Calif., and visiting a friend's home. From there, per the statement, Spiezio vomited in his friend's room, grew angry when confronted about doing so and attacked the friend.

Here is Speizio rocking out with his band SandFrog.

One Reason Why Those of Us At SNS Love Baseball

This is a great story about one of the many reasons why America loves baseball so much. The story can also be found here.

March 31, 2008
Fathers, Sons, and BaseballBy Rich Galen
September 6, 1995 I flew to Austin, Texas to watch a baseball game on TV with The Lad who was then an undergrad at the University of Texas. The occasion was Cal Ripken's 2,131st consecutive Major League baseball game, breaking Lou Gehrig's record.
Baseball has been a bond between us.
When the Lad played Little League I rarely missed a game. In McLean, Virginia it was not at all noteworthy to see national leaders - Administration and Congressional, Democrat and Republican - working in the snack bar or helping prepare one of the fields.

It was not unusual to be watching a game, leaning on the centerfield fence with the head of the President's Domestic Policy Council on one side and a US Senator on the other, discussing the most important issue of the day: Shouldn't the shortstop (who was about 11-years-old) be playing a couple of steps toward second base with a left-handed batter up?
Over the years the Lad and I had gone to many baseball games in Baltimore; Washington, DC having been shut out of Major League Baseball since before he had been born. One night we saw Ripken make not one error, but two errors. The Lad was - literally - concerned that we were witnessing early evidence of the end of the world.
We had wanted to be together the night that Ripken broke Gehrig's record. We had dinner in Austin, went to my hotel room, ordered every dessert on the menu from room service, and sobbed in concert as, at the end of the fifth inning - making it a regulation game - Cal took a lap around the stadium in acknowledgment of the fact that the fans would not let the game re-start until he had done so.
Some 13 years have gone by. The Lad has gone from being a college student, to being a member of the President's staff, to making his own, highly successful way, in business and politics.
In 2005, after 34 years, baseball came home to Washington. Two different clubs which had been called the Senators had deserted the city, so the current team is called the Nationals which is a double entendre in that they are a National League team, and they represent the Nation's Capital.
According to the Washington Post, in the years since the departure of Major League baseball to last night the population of the region doubled from less than three million to around six million; ticket prices went from top price of $6 to a top of $300 and gasoline has gone from 36¢ per gallon to well over three dollars.
At 6:52 AM, the morning of the Nationals' first game - exactly 12 hours before President Bush was scheduled to throw out the first pitch - The Lad came through the arrival doors at Dulles airport, returning the favor of my flight to Austin for a baseball game a decade earlier.
At 7:05 PM the first pitch from a Major Leaguer was thrown to a Major Leaguer in a real game.
Fathers and sons - parents and kids - have been going to baseball games for over a hundred years. This father and this son have been blessed to have shared unique opportunities over the course of our 30+ years together. That Opening Day was one of them.
Baseball has been a continuing thread in our relationship, The Lad and I.
That year, we sat along the first base line and watched a ballgame together. Ate hotdogs. Worried over defensive alignments. Ducked foul balls. And went home happy.
This year The Lad is in California so I sat in the press box. The game ended on a walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth inning by Nats third baseman Ryan Zimmerman who is the face of this franchise.
While I was in the interview room waiting for the post-game press conference with manager Manny Acta The Lad sent me an instant message which read: "Walk off! Go Zim!"
Zimmerman, who in a little over two years in the majors has had four walk-off homers, came to the interview room after his manager had finished. He was asked if this was the most thrilling walk-off home run.
"No," he said. "The first one was. It was on Father's Day and my dad was in the stands."
See what I mean?
Fathers and sons and baseball. Life might get better than that, but it doesn't have to get much better.
Rich Galen has been a press secretary to Dan Quayle and Newt Gingrich. He was a senior adviser to Fred Thompson's presidential campaign and writes at Mullings.com.

Back to the Future

It's been 5 long years since Tommy Glavine toed the bump in a Braves uniform but he will seek to recapture the magic of the 90's in tonight's home opener. Just one day shy of his 42 birthday Tommy will try and harness all 1.21 gigawatts of steam left in his Delorean. If anyone spots Doc Brown at Turner Field tonight point him towards the bullpen and see if he can undue last night's Moylan meatball. If the Braves are going to win the East then Tommy is going to have to be a major factor every 5 days. The good news is the Braves get to face the Bucs in the home opener.

Glavine has posted a 22-12 mark with a 3.12 ERA in 43 starts against the Pirates.

Opening Day 08 - Zimmerman blasts Nats past Braves

“Every team knows they’re going to win 60 games and lose 60 games. They’re all fighting to decide the other 42.” –George Will

Opening Day for the Braves began with a trip to D.C. and the opening of the Nats new ballpark. Uber-prospect Ryan Zimmerman sent the home fans home happy with a walk off Homerun with 2 outs in the bottom of the 9th inning. Of note on the homerun is the fact that the ball would have likely gone for a double in RFK stadium where the left center field wall was 10 feet deeper.

Unfortunately for the Braves last night’s game was likely one of the 42 that could go either way. We’re now 0-1 in that department.

Of interest from last night’s game

*AU alum Tim Hudson pitched a masterful game after getting out of a troublesome first inning. He allowed only 3 hits and struck out 3. Of the three hits only one was hit hard and the other two were balls clearly out of the strike zone. All in all a great start for opening day.

*Fantasy owners of Mark Teixeira were shorted a run scored when Martin Prado pinch ran for MT in the top of the 9th. He would score on a past ball. Good call by Bobby Cox because it is not clear that Tex would have scored on the play.

*Brian McCann getting thrown out at second base following a long single to right field was also likely an effect of the new ballpark. The laser hit by BM ricocheted off the top of the wall like it was shot out of a cannon. It is apparent that BM was unaware of how the ball would play off of the right field wall as he was thrown out by a solid 6 feet.

Getting Started

Welcome to Spot and Stripe! Here at SNS we will primarily be discussing Auburn University Athletics and Atlanta Braves Baseball. We will also be covering the formation and development of the University of South Alabama Football program. It’s the goal of SNS to be the FIRST USA Football blog on the web. It is appropriate that we are launching on MLB Opening Day as we will attempt to bring you daily coverage of the 2008 season and the Braves’ quest for a World Title.