Guess who's back! That's right, I'm finally stateside after 20 hours of airplanes and airports. There was a good time had in Singapore by me, although there was a lot of work-related activities that took place as well. I'm tickled pink-bats (which the Braves didn't get to use) with the job that Matt did filling in for me while I was gone. I believe we've found another permanent addition to Talking Chop. My extreme thanks to Matt for keeping things going while I was away.
Enough about the blog, how about them Braves. An interesting scenario is brewing because of the rain-out yesterday and the impending possible double-header today. I say possible double-header because there is rain expected all day -- a 50 to 60 percent chance until 4pm, then around a 30 to 40 percent chance the rest of the evening. Odds are we'll only get one game in if we're lucky -- and there goes another future off-day.
But if we do get both games in today then we have a bit of a starting pitching problem, with either Jurrjens or Hudson only having three days of rest the next time their turn in the rotation comes up. The scuttlebutt is that the team may recall Charlie Morton to make his major league debut on Friday. He's doing amazingly well in Richmond this year, and I for one, would like to see him get his shot at the major league rotation. With Tommy Hanson moving up from Myrtle Beach to Mississippi, our prospects for replacing Smoltz and Glavine in the rotation are getting closer to the majors. Not that I want to see anyone rushed, but if they appear ready, then maybe they are. Morton looks ready.
Anyway, enough looking ahead, on to the first game against the Bucs today -- we need to win this thing. They have played us incredibly hard this year. It seems that every year some random team plays us extra hard. Last year it was Cincinnati, two years ago it was San Diego, and I guess this year it's Pittsburgh.
For the purposes of NAHWAL, assume that these two games are one game, attendance will be for the combined games, as will picks to click and AAB picks -- only one set of picks.