BOL Round Table

I vividly remember how trashy their fan base was during the 2003 NLDS vs Atlanta. Ever since then I've hated them more than any other franchise in professional sports.

Bump

I have to agree. Cubs looked pretty bush league tonight start to finish. It was almost like Carlos Zambrano left his personality with the whole 25 man roster when he departed for Miami. In any event, the Cubs will be lucky to win 75 games this season.

I'm a diehard braves fan, but I couldn't blame Marmol for being fired up due to his recent struggles and fans. Samarjia was the only player that kept stirring the pot by hitting heyward and talking trash the whole game. No surprise he went to notre dame. I really like the Lahair "crash Davis" story and love watching Castro bat. Castro reminds me of Rod Carew.

So, the Cubs hit one batter, sandwiched between two HBPs by Braves pitchers (one of which nearly hits Reed Johnson in the head), but the Cubs are bush league? I just want to make sure I understand this correctly.

As for Marmol, his display had nothing to do with the Braves. He has been struggling mightily, lost his role as the closer, and has been catching hell from the fans. He was understandably fired up. Apparently emotion should be removed from baseball? Uggla should have turned around and gotten himself ready for the bottom half of the inning. I think he as angry at himself for striking out again, this time to a guy who can barely hit the broad side of a barn right now.

I didn't notice the childish behavior of Jeff S, but I'll take your word for it. I have no idea what you are talking about in regards to Soto after the game. I think sometimes people find things to pick at after suffering defeat, especially to a poor team (as a Cubs fan, I admit they are not good right now nor will they be while they rebuild their system for the next couple of years).

You mean someone who brings facts to the discussion?

He's still kicking?

Thankfully, I've only had to suffer for 28 years (g).

The first HBP was on an 0-2 pitch. Anyone that thinks Hanson was throwing at him knows nothing about the game. The last HBP was retaliation. That's baseball. The ump warned both benches, and it will hopefully not extend into the rest of the series.

Jeff Samardzija was throwing at Heyward because of the home run he hit... plain and simple. It wasn't retaliation for the earlier HBP. Here's the thing; I have NO problem at all with him putting one in Heyward's back. Jason loves to dive out over the heart of the plate, and I have no beef with a guy planting one in his back, especially after he has crushed a ball earlier in the game.

Here's my problem... Heyward stared Samardzija down pretty hard when he was walking to first base, and Jeff wouldn't even look at him. As soon as the inning was over and Samardzija crossed the third base line, he turned and started yelling at Heyward at second base. In other words, when there was no one to protect him from getting his ass beaten by Heyward, he wouldn't even make eye contact. As soon as he was close enough to his own dugout to know that Heyward wouldn't come near him, he started jawing. That is 100% bush league. Coach Stallings would have called that chicken s**t. My guess is that the Braves will file that one away, and Samardzija might get some payback down the line for that.

I have no problem with Marmol getting excited. Relief pitchers are a rare breed as it is, and guys who have struggled need to do whatever they can to help themselves get back in the game mentally.

As for Soto, he walked to the mound after the game gesturing towards Diaz and was clearly talking about how he thought Diaz was stupid for running to first base when Soto thought that he actually caught the ball. Of course, the home plate umpire agreed with Diaz and made Soto throw the ball to first. If Soto airmails that into right field the Braves have one of baseball's hottest hitters in Michael Bourn coming to the plate. If he gets on, Martin Prado is the potential tying run. In other words, Matt Diaz was doing everything he could to try and extend the game and give his team a chance to win. I don't have a problem with Soto laughing about it with his teammates, though he would probably be better served to take note of a guy hustling his butt off at the end of a 5-1 game.

I have always had this conflict about Bama fans who liked the Braves. All my life, every barner friend I ever had was a big Braves fan. I have always associated them with barners. I lived in Atlanta for 2 years and felt like I was living in Auburn at times due to the Braves fans. And I have always felt that even the biggest, most loyal Bama fans I know act like total barners when they get to whining about the Braves.

The Braves have won far too much to be associated with anything Auburn.