this is all STOLEN from here:
http://www.talkingchop.com/2010/9/5/...ostseason-pace
For the rest of the season we'll keep a daily tally of the Atlanta Braves chances of making the post season, along with daily commentary. Also consider this a daily open thread for general chatting.
NL East W L PCT GB STRK Magic Num Playoff Odds
Braves 79 57 .581 - W1 26 96.2%
Phillies 78 58 .574 1 W5 28 82%
Last night's game was my first time visiting whatever-the-Marlins-stadium-is-called-these-days. I know they're building a new stadium soon, but I wanted to see this one so I could compare the two later on. To say this is the worst stadium in baseball is to admit that I'm surprised the Marlins are even allowed to play there. It's like if the Braves had to play at the Georgia Dome, and couldn't change any of the decor, all they could add was an outfield wall with advertising. The Fish can't get their new stadium soon enough.
As bad as their stadium is I was very impressed with the emotion and enthusiasm of the Florida crowd. I imagine this is what the Atlanta crowd would be if you removed all the fairweather fans -- all that would be left is a small group of devoted and loud fans. I'll take the fairweather crowd so that we can at least pretend the stadium is full sometimes.
I looked all over for a Cuban sandwich, but never found one. Mostly uninspired food choices, though they did have one of my favorite ballpark foods -- barbeque nachos. The dude that fixed them for me loaded me up with about three helpings of barbeque, so much that I couldn't even finish it all (and remember, this is my favorite ballpark food). I started to get the meat sweats.
It was a weird game from the standpoint that Josh Johnson looked so in control to about half the Braves batters, then so helpless against the other half. It made for a lot of activity on the basepaths, and a lot of frustrating LOBs. Johnson is a really fast worker, too. Made for a quick game.
I'm still in debate mode as to whether or not to go to today's game. The Marlins tickets are criminally overpriced -- a further testament to why many fans don't attend. There is only one section that will be in the shade today, and those tickets are over $50. My pasty whiteness needs shade on a day like today. Eh, I'll probably end up going, but that means the Braves better win if I'm going to shell out $50 bucks.