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HOUSTON DAILY JOURNAL
Aflanbft offense clicks in turbulent season
By R. Travis Haney
Morris News Service
ATLANTA - At this point
any Atlanta Brave will open
ly state the obvious, that this
season has clearly not gone
as planned.
At 61-68 through Sunday,
the Braves were five games
behind Cincinnati in a wide
open chase for the National
League wild card that, frank
ly, includes a bevy of medio
cre baseball teams.
But one thing’s becoming
more and more apparent as
Atlanta’s wayward year con
tinues: You can’t blame the
team’s offense.
There has been no club
more potent with the bats
after the All-Star Break,
and the Braves litter the NL
team leaderboard in virtually
every offensive category.
Entering Monday, they
were first in slugging per
centage (.454); first in RBI
(653); second in homers
(174, 16 behind the Reds);
third in runs scored (674,
eight behind Philadelphia);
and third in batting aver
age (.272, .004 behind Los
Angeles).
“We’ve got some guys that
can swing the bats,” said
third baseman Chipper Jones,
fourth in NL batting average
at .324 despite a couple of DL
stints. “Fm pleasantly sur
prised with our offense this
year. I thought we’d be very
competitive offensively, but I
didn’t think we’d be scoring
this many runs.”
The Braves scored 10 and
13 runs in back-to-back days
this past weekend against a
woefhl Washington pitching
staff. Just after the midsea
son break, they scored 10 or
more runs in five consecutive
games, becoming the first
team to do so since the 1931
SECOND
From page 6A
Kent Jones Jr. tied McCants’
tally while Maurice McGriff,
Seanon Dinkins and Michael
Lawson followed closely.
Head coach, Jarrod
Johnson, said the team
played well on both sides of
the ball.
J.J. Thomas and Warrior
newcomer, Tavaris Horton,
added two tackles apiece.
Special recognition this
week, Hamp said, goes to
Michael Lawson and the
rest of the defensive squad
who played “a very physical
game.”
Greg Williams and Andre
Carswell also recorded one
tackle each.
Also of note: After finding
himself being the only per
son between the Falcons and
a touchdown, Warrior quar
terback, Sheddrick Risper,
who sat out a week due to
an injury, got in a “good,
hard lick” said Hamp, and
stopped the Falcons from
converting a fumble recov
ery into points on the score
board.
The defense also caused
three fumbles, recovered by
Greg Williams, McGriff and
CONTEST
From page 6A
“We didn’t play as well as I
would have liked, but that’s
part of it as long as you get
the win,” said coach Jeff Sans.
“We hit the ball sporadically
and made a few errors that
cost us some runs. We had
good pitching, though.”
Erica Smith got the win
as the starting pitcher while
Jenna Clarke finished it out.
Sans wouldn’t blame the
weather problems on the
team’s play, but did credit
Southwest as being a scrap
py, athletic team that kept on
coming at them.
“We just came out flat,”
said Sans. “It took us three
and-a-half to four innings to
get going.”
Ashton Jones had three
hits, two for doubles. Clarke
also had three hits with a
double and a triple.
The win was Perry’s first
in Region 4-AAA.
It has two more region con
tests scheduled for home this
week.
New York Yankees who had
Lou Gehrig and Babe Ruth
in the middle of the lineup.
Gehrig and Ruth, they’re
not, but Chipper Jones and
Andruw Jones have been
themselves this season.
Chipper has missed time
with knee, foot and side
issues, but he’s still got 21
homers to go along with the
high average and on-base
percentage.
Andruw has slumped ter
ribly since returning from a
knee injury, going 2-for-28
since Aug. 18, but he hit his
30th home run of the year
in his final at-bat Sunday.
It was his seventh 30-homer
season of his career.
Jones is among the NL
leaders, too, with 103 RBIs.
Edgar Renteria has
enjoyed a resurgent season
after a mediocre 2005 in
Boston. The shortstop is hit
ting .300, a figure he’s hov
ered around all season long.
Marcus Giles started slowly,
but he’s boosted his average
to .272 in the leadoff spot.
With 26 homers and 75
RBIs, Adam Laßoche has
played better since earning
the everyday role at first.
Jeff Francoeur’s .257 aver
age isn’t so impressive, but
his 24 homers and 89 RBIs
are about what the Braves
expected from the 22-year
CLEATS
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Thomas. Thomas’ recov
ery was converted into a
35-yard touchdown and got
the fireworks going for the
Warriors.
The Falcons’ passing game
was hampered by Tavaris
Horton and Donte Holmes,
the latter of which picked
up his eighth interception of
the season.
In all, Risper threw for
more than 145 yards, com
pleting 16 of 22 in the air.
When called upon, Hamp
said he “boldly took charge”
and ran the ball in for a
three-yard touchdown.
After a disappointing first
half, Hamp said Prentice
Risper found his “mojo” and
pulled down three receptions
in the fourth quarter, with
one of them being a 30-yard
touchdown.
Perry High grad, Donovan
Kendrick also beat the
Falcons’ defensive line up as
Hamp said he “hammered
Southern Football League Standings
American Division
W L T Pet. Home Road PF PFAvg. PA
South Georgia Stars 6 1 0 .857 2-1-0 4-0-0 152 21.71 56
Inti City Warriors 5 2 0 .714 2-1-0 3-1-0 106 15.14 66
Phenix City Falcons 4 3 0 .500 2-2-0 2-2-0 107 13.38 107
Gadsden Avengers 3 4 0 .429 2-2-0 1-2-0 105 15.00 117
W. Georgia Renegades 0 8 0 .000 0-5-0 0-3-0 49 6.13 89
The Original
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By Mrs. Richard Alden Knight
Release week of Aug. 27-Sept. 3. 2006
AM PM
Date Day Minor Major Minor Major
8/27 Su 8:40 2.25 9:00 2*5""
8/28 M 9:20; 3:10 9:45 3:30
8/29 T 10:05 3:55 10:35 4:20
8/30 W 10:55 4:45 11:20 5:05
8/31 Th 11:45 5:35 0 6:00
9/1 F 12:15 6:15 12:25 6:55
9/2 S 1:10 7:15 1:25 7:45
9/3 Su 2:00 8:10 2:20 8:40
C 2006 by King Feature* Syndicate. Inc.
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old.
Speaking of youngsters, no
one was looking for the .341
average Brian McCann has
put up in 100 games in his
first full major league sea
son.
McCann earned an All-
Star nod for his first-half
work, and it’s not out of the
question that he’ll vie for
the league’s batting title if
he can get his plate appear
ances up to qualify.
“This isn’t a fluke thing
that we’re up there in cer
tain offensive categories,”
Laßoche said. “We know we
can get it done.”
Want to delve into the rea
son Atlanta hasn’t sniffed
.500 since June?
Jones has a theory.
“You look right across
the page at the pitching
stats, and that’ll tell you
the story,” Jones said. “It’s
great to come to the ballpark
and watch a great offensive
ballclub, but if you don’t
pitch, you’re not going to
win ballgames.
“Colorado Rockies teams
of the past and Cleveland
Indians teams of the past,
you know, they just scored
10 runs a night and only
won half of them.”
Accusatory, perhaps, but
Jones has a point.
Entering Monday, Atlanta
(c) 2006 Bill Hmds. PisT by Universal Press Syndicate
them into submission.”
Kendrick racked up 68
rushing yards and “skillful
ly” penetrated the defense
for a 2-point conversion in
the first half.
Warrior veteran, Tamarco
Head, Hamp said, was the
“chisel that dug deep’ into
the Falcon defensive line.
He trudged his was to 47
rushing yards for the eve
ning.
The score at the half was
14-0. Fearing a replay of the
team’s last meeting with the
Falcons, Johnson regrouped
and kept the Warriors
focused.
He said the key to success
was ensuring the offense
converted the turnovers
caused by the defense.
He also said he refused
to accept the lack of con
versions that plagued the
Warriors during their game
against the Gadsden (AL)
Avengers.
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SPORTS
was 10th in NL ERA (4.64),
12th in strikeouts, and 14th
of 16th in walks-and-hits-per
innings-pitched (1.46). Only
the league’s worst teams,
Pittsburgh and Washington,
were below the Braves in
WHIP
Injuries to several start
ers and relievers, as well as
sporadic inconsistency from
guys such as Tim Hudson,
have led to the team’s main
detractor. The Braves’ bull
pen blew 20 of the team’s
first 40 games, as well.
All that puts more pressure
on Atlanta’s offense, particu
larly when sub starters such
as Oscar Villarreal or Lance
Cormier are on the mound.
The Braves are expected to
get a boost later this week,
though, when Kyle Davies
returns to the rotation for
the first time since May.
With Class AAA Richmond,
Davies and his surgical
ly repaired groin cruised
through eight shutout
innings Sunday against the
Mets’ Class AAA affiliate.
The offense’s job? Just
keeping hitting.
“We’ll just try to keep it
rolling as best we can and
hope we can get good start
ing pitching in the next five
weeks,” Jones said. “If that’s
the case, we’ll make a pretty
good run at iti”
The IC Warriors’ record
is now 5-2 with the playoffs
in sight. They hit the road
again this week to take on
the 2005 SFL Champions,
the South Georgia Stars
Saturday in Americus.
Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.
The last game between
the Warriors and the Stars
was called due to inclem
ent weather, but SFL
Commissioner, Michael
Frazier awarded the game
to the Warriors due to the
fact that the Warriors were
leading 7-0 and had posses
sion of the ball at the time
of the postponement.
The Warriors are aiming
to take over the Stars’ No. 1
seat in the SFL’s American
Division West.
This week’s game closes
out the Warriors’ regular
season schedule and, added
Hamp, “promises to be hard
hitting, explosive and packed
with adrenaline.”
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Building lives, families, and communities
Braves ripe for an
offseason overhaul
By Adam Van Brimmer
Morris News Service
ATLANTA - Propped
against a dry-erase board
in the Braves’ clubhouse is
a horseshoe.
It’s old and rusty and
obviously has lost its pow
ers. Atlanta is done, out
of the playoff race for the
first time in a decade-and
a-half.
And the question echo
ing throughout Turner
Field isn’t so much Why?
as What’s next?
We know the answers to
the why question: an inju
ry-plagued pitching staff,
a brutal bullpen, inconsis
tency at the top of the bat
ting order, etc.
But what’s next? No one
in the Braves’ organization
is sure. Many teams for
get how to win, but can
one forget how to lose? The
Braves have made the play
offs and finished with a
winning record every year
since 1991.
Those failures alone will
cause angst. And once
the offseason begins, the
Braves won’t have to wait
long for the other horse
shoe to drop.
Among the issues facing
the franchise this winter
are:
* The franchise is in
the process of being sold
to a buyer that has prom
ised nothing more than to
maintain the status quo in
terms of management and
payroll.
* The team’s best play
er, centerfielder Andruw
Jones, will likely be wear
ing a different uniform by
2008 at the latest.
* The best pitcher, John
Smoltz, is 39 years old and
is not under contract for
next season, although the
Braves would be foolish not
to pick up his $8 million
option for 2007.
* The contact of former
All-Star second baseman,
Marcus Giles, expires
after this season, and at
approximately $5 million a
year year, he is unlikely to
remain in Atlanta.
* The architects of the
Braves’ dynasty, general
manager John Schuerholz
and manager Bobby Cox,
are past retirement age.
All those factors, plus
this season’s on-field short
comings, point to a pos-
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sible overhaul. The Braves’
payroll is around SBO mil
lion this season, not includ
ing the sl3 million or so
insurance is paying injured
pitcher Mike Hampton.
And with what Chipper
Jones calls “a young
core of position players”
- Brian McCann (22), Jeff
Francoeur (22) and Adam
Laßoche (26) plus promis
ing prospects Kelly Johnson
(24), Scott Thorman (24)
and Tony Pena (25) - the
time might be right for a
new approach.
“We’ll show up at spring
training next February and
play with the cards we’re
dealt,” Jones said. “I don’t
know what ownership is
going to do. I don’t know
what the payroll is going to
be. I can’t imagine it being
much more than it is now.
We’ll just have to wait and
see. New ownership could
come in and give us S2OO
million payroll. Wow! Then
everybody will be hunky
dory and people will be talk
ing about us contending for
a World Series again. We’ll
see. I can’t worry about
that.”
Jones needn’t concern
himself with Schuerholz
and Cox’s retirement
plans either. Schuerholz
has worked too hard - and
has much too large an ego
- to go out with his team
a loser.
As for Cox, he is slow
ing down. He rarely snags
throws at first base during
batting practice anymore,
as was his daily wont as
recently as two years ago.
But he said he plans to stay
as long as ownership will
have him.
“Honestly, I haven’t given
ownership one minute of
thought. It’s none of my
business,” said Cox, who
hopes to stay involved as an
instructor or a scout even
after he retires from man
aging. “I’ll be employed by
whoever. It’s fine. As long
as I can keep going on the
field.”
In the meantime, he
might want to get a new
horseshoe for the club
house.
Adam Van Brimmer is
an Atlanta-based writer
for Morris News Service.
E-mail him at adam.
vanbrimmer@morris.com
or telephone him at 404-
589-8424.
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