- Coppy is scared Bobby will kick his ass.
- Coppy is scared Fredi will kick his ass.
- Coppy is scared Fredi’s agent will kick his ass.
- Coppy is scared Walter Banks will kick his ass.
- Maffie, Malone and Co. have instructed Coppy, Hart, et al not to fire Fredi so they won’t have to pay two managers.
- Fredi bought a passel of the new Braves stock, so Liberty is afraid he’ll dump the shares and hurt the price if he gets canned.
- MM&C are concerned a firing might hurt the monetization thesis.
- MM&C are still negotiating to have Fredi manage the movie theater at the Battery.
- Coppy and friends want to see how Fredi handles a disaster that becomes a catastrophe crossed with a cluster fuck.
Enough of that. Can the home team put together a winning streak? Blair has pitched nicely, but so has tonight’s opposing hurler. And there’s this: The Braves have averaged 2.5 runs in 19 games since sweeping the Marlins. Greg Maddux had a 2.63 ERA as a Brave, so it’s been like the Braves are facing a hall of fame pitcher every night.
The pain. We wander on through the offensive desert. Who knows, though? Perhaps Freddie comes up with a couple of men on at some point. The lineup:
Markakis, Inciarte, Freddie, KJ 2B, Pierzynski, Beckham, Aybar, Blair, Mallex.
We could ask this question every night, but can anyone recall a more torpid 4-6 in a major league lineup? The three have combined for 15 RBI, no homers and 9 doubles. Here’s an even more depressing stat: of the players on the big league roster, Aybar is third in hits. Garcia is actually third, even though he’s been in the minors for a week now. Oy. Coppy said Aybar would be a good offensive addition. So there you go.
A still more depressing fact: we have two players on the roster who have hit home runs this season, Freddie and Mallex.
ROWLAND'S OFFICE 