Open Thread, May 7, Braves vs. Jeff Picos

I enjoy watching the Braves bitch slap the little bears about as much as I enjoy seeing the Braves whup any squad. Chicago’s a great town, Wrigley’s old. But little bear fans are an obnoxious lot for a group whose team hasn’t won so much as an NL pennant since waaaaay before (former little bear) Jame Moyer was born. Our home boys have done plenty of slapping lately: Braves are 40-26 against the little bears in the past 10 seasons. That’s a .606 clip, which is good for 98 wins over 162 games. The Braves in those 10 years have lost a season series to Chicago just once, strangely gooing 0-6 in 2008.

Time to slap anew.

Hanson is coming off a dreadful performance and is therefore due for a gem. At least that’s my hopeful interpretation. Hurling for the little bears, the former Notre Dame split end with the name full of consonants has pitched a couple good games in a row. He throws hard. And has long hair. So this one could be a test for the rampaging Bravos batsmen. Still, I won’t be surprised if FF deposits a ball over the right field bleachers.

A message for Jamie Moyer

Chipper’s reaction to Jamie Moyer’s sign-stealing accusation reminds me how much we’ll miss his candor.

“See, this is what happens when you get a pitcher who comes from a team that [relays signs] constantly — the Phillies,” Jones said. “And he is so paranoid that every single team does it, which is not the case. Because the only people that I ever remember doing it in this organization were [Jeff] Blauser and [Mark] Lemke. Those are the only two guys that I ever knew of that would either give location or give signs from second base. Since then, nobody’s ever done it [with the Braves].

“I’ve never asked for a location, I’ve never asked for a pitch, and I’ve never given one.”

Related articles

• Moyer to handle Chipper situation ‘on the field’ (mlb.mlb.com)
• Chipper denies Moyer’s claims of sign stealing (espn.go.com)