GaryMrMets
05-29-2004, 07:48 PM
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/8790816.htm
Posted on Sat, May. 29, 2004
Bob Ford | Braves won't go quietly - and may not go at all
By Bob Ford
Inquirer Columnist
New park, new season, new spring of optimism that hasn't yet run dry when the summer grows long and parched. But something old and enduring is also at Citizens Bank Park this weekend, as familiar as a paper cut and just as welcome.
Yes, the Atlanta Braves.
For perhaps the fifth straight season, this is the year that, no question about it, the Braves have finally reached the end of the long, fraying rope that has attached them to the top of the National League East standings.
This is supposed to be the year for the Phillies to break that domination and the Braves to fade away. It said so in all the magazines. Of course, there are also magazines that say the government is planting microwave transmitters in babies at birth, so read and believe at your own risk.
"Anybody that takes them lightly is crazy," manager Larry Bowa said yesterday before the Phillies needed a late-inning comeback and then a dramatic 10th-inning home run from Tomas Perez to finally dismiss the Braves.
"The more players win, when there are tough times, whether injuries or slumps, they don't throw up their hands and say, 'Why us?' " Bowa said. "It doesn't matter. You go with what you've got."
He was talking about the Braves, but Bowa hopes those qualities are beginning to take hold with the Phillies as well. Wins like last night's - which came with slugger Jim Thome and closer Billy Wagner once again unavailable - are steps in the process.
For the Braves, all of the names have changed, but the way they built a 2-0 lead last night was reminiscent of the seasons that began the ridiculous streak of 12 straight division titles. There was good fielding, good pitching, and just enough offense to get the game into the hands of the bullpen.
The formula didn't work out this time, however. That bullpen couldn't hold the lead, and the Phillies clawed back with a game-tying double from Perez in the eighth and then hung around until he came up again.
"The little guy's got some pop," Perez said of himself, trying to explain his line drive that bored through the wind. "I don't wait for pitches. I go swing. And if something happens, it happens."
It has happened often enough for the Phillies this season, despite their injuries and various slumps, that the team is still within one game of first place. From the outside, however, there is more surprise that Atlanta has hung around.
Gary Sheffield and Javy Lopez are gone from the lineup, and the Braves have suffered from so many injuries that even the Phillies look healthy by comparison. The lessons the Braves have learned over the years, ingrained like the rings of a tree trunk, have kept the team within striking distance of first place.
"Until someone knocks us off, we think we can do it," Atlanta coach Leo Mazzone said. "That's the mind-set."
That's the thinking Bowa would like to see his team adopt, even as the Phils are forced to play an increasing number of games without Thome, second baseman Placido Polanco and Wagner. The manager himself has said the recent stretch of good play has been encouraging but will be difficult to sustain without all the pieces in the lineup.
If the Phils are fortunate to be where they are despite some injury problems, how about the Braves? When manager Bobby Cox envisioned the top five hitters in his batting order this season - a group that includes Chipper Jones, Andruw Jones, J.D. Drew, Brian Giles and Rafael Furcal - he hardly imagined that after 47 games he would have them together just four times.
"When you win every year, you don't get beaten down," Bowa said. "You know you can bounce back. It's a mental toughness."
The Phillies may be developing that same toughness, by design. Players who have won something in the past, like David Bell and Thome, were added to the mix to help speed the instruction. That's a process the Braves went through a long time ago and part of the reason they have become as perennial as crabgrass and as difficult to eliminate.
Last night, a pitch hadn't been thrown before the Braves had to scratch ancient Julio Franco from the lineup because of a bad back. Then Chipper Jones was removed after being hit just above the knee by a pitch in the first inning. One inning later, first baseman Adam LaRoche was sent to the hospital for X-rays after suffering a dislocated left shoulder in a collision at home plate.
Atlanta was left with Dewayne Wise in the outfield and Eddie Perez at first base, where he hadn't played an inning since 1999. That's not exactly echoes of a storied past, but it would have been good enough to turn out a win if Tomas Perez hadn't intervened.
The Phillies are cutting things close these days, and no one knows it better than Bowa.
"We have to start doing things on a consistent basis. We get a couple of guys swinging the bats for three days, then they disappear for the next five," he said. "You can't do that all year. Jim Thome is the kind of guy who can carry a club, but it can't be all Thome. You can't rely on home runs all the time. It's not easy to hit home runs."
Perez did a fair imitation of that, however, just as the Phillies did a fair imitation last night of the resourceful team in the other dugout, and were rewarded with a boisterous celebration.
This new spring of optimism will eventually give way to the long march of summer, but the Phillies seem intent on learning their lessons and sticking around for the whole show. Don't be surprised, however, if the Braves decide to tag along just one more time.
Posted on Sat, May. 29, 2004
Bob Ford | Braves won't go quietly - and may not go at all
By Bob Ford
Inquirer Columnist
New park, new season, new spring of optimism that hasn't yet run dry when the summer grows long and parched. But something old and enduring is also at Citizens Bank Park this weekend, as familiar as a paper cut and just as welcome.
Yes, the Atlanta Braves.
For perhaps the fifth straight season, this is the year that, no question about it, the Braves have finally reached the end of the long, fraying rope that has attached them to the top of the National League East standings.
This is supposed to be the year for the Phillies to break that domination and the Braves to fade away. It said so in all the magazines. Of course, there are also magazines that say the government is planting microwave transmitters in babies at birth, so read and believe at your own risk.
"Anybody that takes them lightly is crazy," manager Larry Bowa said yesterday before the Phillies needed a late-inning comeback and then a dramatic 10th-inning home run from Tomas Perez to finally dismiss the Braves.
"The more players win, when there are tough times, whether injuries or slumps, they don't throw up their hands and say, 'Why us?' " Bowa said. "It doesn't matter. You go with what you've got."
He was talking about the Braves, but Bowa hopes those qualities are beginning to take hold with the Phillies as well. Wins like last night's - which came with slugger Jim Thome and closer Billy Wagner once again unavailable - are steps in the process.
For the Braves, all of the names have changed, but the way they built a 2-0 lead last night was reminiscent of the seasons that began the ridiculous streak of 12 straight division titles. There was good fielding, good pitching, and just enough offense to get the game into the hands of the bullpen.
The formula didn't work out this time, however. That bullpen couldn't hold the lead, and the Phillies clawed back with a game-tying double from Perez in the eighth and then hung around until he came up again.
"The little guy's got some pop," Perez said of himself, trying to explain his line drive that bored through the wind. "I don't wait for pitches. I go swing. And if something happens, it happens."
It has happened often enough for the Phillies this season, despite their injuries and various slumps, that the team is still within one game of first place. From the outside, however, there is more surprise that Atlanta has hung around.
Gary Sheffield and Javy Lopez are gone from the lineup, and the Braves have suffered from so many injuries that even the Phillies look healthy by comparison. The lessons the Braves have learned over the years, ingrained like the rings of a tree trunk, have kept the team within striking distance of first place.
"Until someone knocks us off, we think we can do it," Atlanta coach Leo Mazzone said. "That's the mind-set."
That's the thinking Bowa would like to see his team adopt, even as the Phils are forced to play an increasing number of games without Thome, second baseman Placido Polanco and Wagner. The manager himself has said the recent stretch of good play has been encouraging but will be difficult to sustain without all the pieces in the lineup.
If the Phils are fortunate to be where they are despite some injury problems, how about the Braves? When manager Bobby Cox envisioned the top five hitters in his batting order this season - a group that includes Chipper Jones, Andruw Jones, J.D. Drew, Brian Giles and Rafael Furcal - he hardly imagined that after 47 games he would have them together just four times.
"When you win every year, you don't get beaten down," Bowa said. "You know you can bounce back. It's a mental toughness."
The Phillies may be developing that same toughness, by design. Players who have won something in the past, like David Bell and Thome, were added to the mix to help speed the instruction. That's a process the Braves went through a long time ago and part of the reason they have become as perennial as crabgrass and as difficult to eliminate.
Last night, a pitch hadn't been thrown before the Braves had to scratch ancient Julio Franco from the lineup because of a bad back. Then Chipper Jones was removed after being hit just above the knee by a pitch in the first inning. One inning later, first baseman Adam LaRoche was sent to the hospital for X-rays after suffering a dislocated left shoulder in a collision at home plate.
Atlanta was left with Dewayne Wise in the outfield and Eddie Perez at first base, where he hadn't played an inning since 1999. That's not exactly echoes of a storied past, but it would have been good enough to turn out a win if Tomas Perez hadn't intervened.
The Phillies are cutting things close these days, and no one knows it better than Bowa.
"We have to start doing things on a consistent basis. We get a couple of guys swinging the bats for three days, then they disappear for the next five," he said. "You can't do that all year. Jim Thome is the kind of guy who can carry a club, but it can't be all Thome. You can't rely on home runs all the time. It's not easy to hit home runs."
Perez did a fair imitation of that, however, just as the Phillies did a fair imitation last night of the resourceful team in the other dugout, and were rewarded with a boisterous celebration.
This new spring of optimism will eventually give way to the long march of summer, but the Phillies seem intent on learning their lessons and sticking around for the whole show. Don't be surprised, however, if the Braves decide to tag along just one more time.