06 July 2013

Oh, how I hate the #$%@ing Braves...

So there I am, about to log off of Twitter for the night after yet another marathon Mets game, and I come across a re-tweet via Metszilla from none other than one Larry "Chipper" Jones, who had this stream of consciousness happening:



Really?  REALLY?

Someone who spent his career in a Braves uniform is complaining about an umpire, specifically, said umpires inaccurate strike zone?

Well, let me be the first to welcome you to our world.  You know, the one where for about 5 years, Tom Glavine and Greg Maddux could get a strike call so long as the ball was within about 6 inches of the plate in either direction?  Glavine became so accustomed to friendly calls, that when an automated system to judge pitch locations was being implemented to keep umpires honest, his career went to crap until he figured out how to pitch honestly again.

Even if Angel Hernandez isn't the best umpire, so what?  Heaven knows other teams (ahem) have had their issues with him (hat tip to ).  It's not like he has a special strike zone dedicated to screwing over the Atlanta Braves, but that's pretty much been the standard mentality of the Bravesiverse since the team found success 20 years ago: entitled and paranoid.  By gum, the Braves winning is a birthright proclaimed from the heavens, and if it doesn't happen, it's obviously due to some meddling shenanigans on the part of someone else or some other unfairness of inexplicable cosmic origin.  I have to listen to that crap for at least 9 innings every time the Mets play the Braves and those stupid territorial broadcast rules force me to listen to a couple of chuckleheads who describe no-doubters hit by the opposition as weak fly balls aided at the last moment by a hurricane wind and lame ground balls to the other team's shortstop as screaming line drives that would surely have been a hit were it not for a Gold Glove-worthy robbery.

For criminiy's sake, get over yourselves.

BTW, it still blows my mind that an pitcher could somehow be suspended for racial insensitivity while playing on a team that encourages fans to wave their foam tommyhawks while doing an Injun war chant, but I guess I need to take that one up with Bud Selig.