Atlanta Braves

Dan Uggla, the big bat in the Marlins lineup, is bound to be dealt in the offseason due to his raise in salary via arbitration.  Dan Uggla is very valuable to a team as he can hit homers and drive in runs; for this reason, the Braves are in pursuit for his bat.

The Braves need a big bat in their lineup since, this year, between their three and four hitters Chipper Jones and Brian McCann, they only hit 39 HR. 

Let me preface this by saying that I'm not trying to float my own boat.

This is an attempt to thank some of the people who have helped me, as well as a look back at some of my experiences.

So, here it is.

My 100th article.

Yeap...

I'm not really sure how I'm supposed to feel about this.

Is this the revelation that I have spent way too much time tapping away on this site as I perpetually did stat checking at baseball-reference.com?

Or is this the stamp of excellence?

To think, Braves fans had it all two days ago.

The Braves were on fire, the Rox were, to an extent, scuffling, and they sat only two games back.

An unlikely series of events would still have to occur. But, hey, we were believers.

Then, Cameron Maybin, Dan Uggla, Josh Johnson, and Jorge Cantu happened.

Later that night, Chris Iannetta happened.

No biggie. Still only three games.

It'll be a little harder, but it's still possible.

We have to believe...right?

Then tonight happened.

Tommy Hanson won his 10th game yesterday, mowing down the Mets lineup. In a season full of breakout rookie starters, has he been the best?

First, to put how good this year’s class of rookie starters is in perspective, let’s look at some numbers:

I was going to wait until the season was over before writing this article, but considering that for all intents and purposes this season has been over in Atlanta for nearly two weeks now I figured it was okay to go ahead with it now.

To review, 2009 has been up and down all season long. One baseball person remarked during the season that this Braves team was "just good enough to break your heart." That turned out to be absolutely true.

I can't count the times this team has broken mine and many other Braves fans hearts this season.

Finally.

Finally, the Atlanta Braves fans can hear the words, "Now batting, Jeff Francoeur" and not feel obligated to scream and holler and clap and cheer for their hometown hero.

Finally, the young ladies in the stands can tear off their Francoeur t-shirts and replace them with the screen-printed bleached hair of Nate McLouth.

When Francoeur returns to Turner Field this weekend as a New York Met, I can't promise you that he'll strike out three times or hit into four double plays. But I can promise you one thing: There will be boos.

It’s the unofficial halfway point in the baseball season, and most teams are deciding whether or not they have what it takes to make a run at the postseason before the trade deadline at the end of the month.

The Braves are currently standing at 43-45, 6 games back of the division-leading Phillies.

To start this first half review, I will look at the performance the Braves received from the catchers on the season. All stat lines will be AVG/OBP/SLG/HR/RBI/SB

The MLB All-Star Game is one of the greatest games in sports. It is a time when both leagues put forth their best players and play to see who's better.

But most of all, it is a time to reflect on the first half of the season as well as look ahead to the second half.

In this "Great Debate", the top teams of the NL East have put forth their top writers to discuss what will happen in the second half of the season.

Mets top writer Richard Marsh and I have selected the participants.

For the Philadephia Phillies, we have Scott Eisenlohr and Cody Swartz.

Thankfully, for the Braves, the first half is over. Well technically, the first 54 percent of the season is over, but I digress.

Due to the up-and-down nature of Braves baseball in '09, I have decided to split this article up. The past will refer to the time period between April to late June. The present will cover late June to now. And, as day follows the night, the future will refer to the second half of the season.

Now that I've dedicated an entire paragraph to setting the article up, it's time to get to it!

The Past