October 5, 2006

I’m so amazed that I currently do not have any broken bones. My mom and I are getting the house ready for the arrival of my Aunt Maryanne and her son, Jules. So Jules is two and very wily, as most 2 years old are, so we are putting away anything that he can break, or could break him. My mom had the bright idea of putting everything up in the attic, but the attic light was not working. We also discovered that all of our flashlights needed new bulbs, and I thought candles in a completely wooded area would not be a smart move, so I had to put all of the breakables upstairs, praying that I wouldn’t trip over anything and break one of these precious items, or myself. Actually, I was more nervous about breaking myself than the lamps. I’m being honest here! Luckily, nothing broke, and tonight I continue this dangerous act. Pray for me. Haha

Braves Rewind:

Today, we congratulate who I believe to be the Braves non-pitching MVP:

Andruw Jones
Andruw lead the team with 41 homers and 129 RBIs while playing in 156 games this season. He also had a .995 fielding percentage, .001 off of his career high of .996 in 2000. Jones really heated up as the season wore on, ending the month of September with 9 homers and 22 RBIs. Even with trade talks swirling around in July, Andruw never took his focus off the field. He was even selected to the 2006 All-Star team with teammates Brian McCann and Edgar Renteria. While this might not have been a MVP season in the NL, he continues to carry the Braves team and proves himself to be the Braves MVP.

Honorable mention:

Jeff Francoeur
Frenchy was the Braves Iron Man this season playing in all 162 regular season games with 29 homeruns and 103 RBIs and a .260 batting average. Francoeur is becoming the man you want to be in the batters box with two out and trailing by one or two runs in the ninth inning after hitting a game winning grand slam in May. In only his first full season with the Braves, he’s making quite a name for himself.


Chipper Jones
Chipper had another injury plagued season with foot and oblique problems. CJ played in one game more than last season’s career low 109 games. When Chipper was around he let his presence be known. He tied a major league record by hitting an extra base hit in 14 consecutive games. He even picked up Player of the Week honors for June 26- July 5 when he was hitting an unheard of .500! He ended the season with 26 homers and 86 RBIs and a .324 batting average, over 20 points above his career average of .304.

Tomorrow is the final day of rewind, where I crown my Braves pitching MVP!

MLB Playoffs:

American League Divisional Series

Minnesota Twins v. Oakland Athletics
Game 2 recap
Oakland 5 11 0
Minnesota 2 9 0
W: Kiko Calero (1-0)
L: Pat Neschek (0-1)
S: Hudson Street (2)

Game 3
First Pitch: 10/6 @ McAfee Coliseum in Oakland, CA
Scheduled Pitchers
A’s: Dan Harden (14-3; 4.12 ERA in the Regular Season)
Twins: Brad Radke (12-9; 4.32 ERA in the Regular Season)

A’s lead series 2-0

New York Yankees v. Detroit Tigers
Game 2 recap
PPD
First Pitch: 1 PM/Est @ Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, NY
Scheduled Pitchers:
Tigers: Justin Verlander (17-9; 3.63 ERA in the Regular Season)
Yankees: Mike Mussina (15-7; 3.51 ERA in the Regular Season)

Next game:
10/6 @ Comerica Park (Detroit, MI)

Yankees lead series 1-0

National League Divisional Series

San Diego Padres v. St. Louis Cardinals
Game 2:
First pitch: 3 PM/Est at Petco Park in San Diego, CA
Scheduled Starters:
Cardinals: Jeff Weaver (8-14; 5.76 ERA in the Regular Season)
Padres: David Wells (3-5; 4.42 ERA in the Regular Season)

Next game:
10/7 @ Busch Stadium in St. Louis, MO

Cardinals lead series 1-0

New York Mets v. Los Angeles Dodgers
Game 1 recap:
Dodgers 5 11 1
Mets 6 9 1
W: Guillermo Mota (1-0)
L: Brad Penny (0-1)
S: Billy Wagner (1)

Game 2:
First Pitch: 8 PM/Est @ Shea Stadium in Queens, NY
Scheduled Pitchers:
Mets: Tom Glavine (15-7; 3.82 ERA in the Regular Season)
Dodgers: Hong-Chih Kuo (1-5; 4.22 ERA in the Regular Season)

Next Game:
10/7 @ Dodger Stadium (Los Angeles, CA)

Mets lead series 1-0

Playoff Notes: Oakland A’s second baseman, Mark Ellis broke his finger during a ninth inning at bat during the A’s 5-2 win over the Minnesota Twins last night. Ellis’ status will be evaluated today…Mets starting pitcher, Oliver Perez will take Orlando Hernandez’s roster spot, while the starting pitcher is out for at least the Divisional Series with a calf muscle tear.

NASCAR Update:
Jon Wood and Ken Schrader will share seat time in 2007 in the #21 car. Jon will also drive the #47 in the Busch Series full time. Wood is apart of the famous Wood Brothers clan.

Giants Update:
Gerris Wilkerson will make his first NFL start on Sunday in place of an injured Carlos Emmons who will miss at least Sunday’s game against the Redskins with an injured pectoral muscle.

Around Sports:
Baseball:
While Joe Girardi and Dusty Baker are looking for jobs for next season, Phil Garner knows his home will still be in Houston with the Astros. After a crazy season, where the Astros spent the beginning of the season hoping Roger Clemens would come back, the Astros barely missed the playoffs. Astros GM, Tim Purpura gave Garner a one year contract extension.

Football:
Former Giant, Dave Meggett was forced to resign as Robersonville, NC’s parks and recreation director after being charged for raping a former girlfriend.

Hockey:
The NHL began their 2006-2007 season last night. If the season begins and nobody watched it, did it really begin?

IRL:
The IRL continued to test its new fuel and engine package at Indianapolis. The IRL will switch over to ethanol fuel, which is made from corn, a major crop staple in the Midwest where the series is headquartered. This test included 2004 IRL Champion, Tony Kanaan as well as Jeff Simmons. The series already tested this package at Daytona and plans to do one more test before it goes into effect for the 2007 season.

Random Quote: "Carl was not the sharpest knife in the box." - A's manager Ken Macha on former player Carl Pavano via si.com

Popo in my Crib News:
Koren Robinson, the wide receiver for the Green Bay Packers was sentenced to 90 days in jail for violating probation after his DUI arrest. Robinson’s sentence was suspended until the end of the Packers season, so basically he’ll be in jail by Monday. Koren watch out, because the popo are on your tail!

Baltimore Raven kick returner, BJ Sams was charged with his second DUI in the past 14 months. This could turn into a four game suspension or some personal days spent in jail. Watch out BJ, because the popo are on your tail!

In oops I did it again news…Susan Marshall of Arkansas showed up to her DUI hearing drunk. This is her fifth DUI charge in the past year and her third in the past month. Marshall was lucid enough to claim that she did not drive to her court appearance, good move; showing up drunk to a court appearance, bad move. Watch out Susan, because the popo are on your tail!

Celebrity Tid Bits:
In how will we ever survive news…Brody Jenner and Nicole Richie have broken things off. Although, Richie stated on her myspace page that the two were never officially a couple because her “heart wasn’t in it.” Good to know.

Happy Birthday wishes go out to Giants former back up quarterback, Jesse Palmer, Kate Winslet, Guy Pearce and Michael Andretti.

It’s been fun blogging with you,

Kate