Baseball can be a very frustrating sport to follow. There are so many highs and lows from game to game. A hitter can go 4-for-4 one game and go 0-for-4 the next game.
While following my favorite baseball team, the Atlanta Braves, night-in and night-out on television, I often get very frustrated. Recently they have stranded numerous runners in scoring position.
In spite of the lack of run-scoring hits, the team has continued to win thanks to great pitching and clutch power hitting. They are currently leading the National League Eastern Division.
Right-handers Ervin Santana and Aaron Harang have been particularly impressive on the mound. Both are playing on one-year contracts, but I think it would be great if the Braves signed them to long-term deals.
They have been that good. Their earned run averages are among the lowest in the baseball.
Santana and Harang have taken up the slack after aces Kris Medlen and Brandon Beachy underwent Tommy John surgery, putting them out for the season. Both players have undergone Tommy John surgery twice.
The Braves starting rotation should be even better in a few days with the return of left-hander Mike Minor, who will soon be completing his final minor league rehab assignment.
While Santana and Harang have both been pitching great baseball, the ace of the Braves starting staff has been right-hander Julio Teheran.
Any manager and general manager will tell you that you can never have too much pitching because injuries often occur at the most inopportune times. The Braves’ ownership have always been willing to spend money to improve the pitching depth when they think it is necessary. That is all a loyal fan and observer can ask.
I am old enough to remember the old Milwaukee Braves teams. At one time they had two great Hall of Fame pitchers, Warren Spahn and Johnny Sane.
There used to be a famous saying back then. Simply stated, it said all the Braves needed to win were “Spahn and Sane and two days of rain.”
Spahn, a left-hander, and Lou Burdette, a right-hander, were the Braves top starters when they moved from Milwaukee to Atlanta.
The late Eddie Matthews, who was the starting third baseman on those great Milwaukee Braves teams and later managed the Atlanta Braves, is an answer to a great sports trivia question.
He played for the Boston Braves, the Milwaukee Braves and the Atlanta Braves and is the only major league player in history to play for the same franchise in three cities.