I was reminded of something last night while watching baseball on ESPN: the Atlanta Braves are a great baseball team. Forget about statistics for a minute, forget about the scoreboard and just watch the way the Braves move around the field.
They play organized defense with all players on the same page at all times. Every hitter on the team comes to the plate with a game plan, a real strategy involving the entire team. On top of all this, they are walking around the field with a confident look, like they know they are gonna win, or better yet, they know they are the better team whether they win today or not.
The Braves won 14 straight NL East titles for a reason. They are a top notch baseball organization full of real professionals. Every once in a while in sports you can just see that a team plays well together and plays for one another, that they are comfortable and confident on the field together. I saw that tonight in the Braves players.
Throw in the fact that they have Chipper Jones, the hottest hitter in baseball, on their team, and they just might have the makings of some winning baseball that leads to another NL East title.
The great thing about them from a betting standpoint is that nobody talks about them, at least not like they talk about the Yankees or the Tigers or the Mets. The Braves are better than all those teams, yet they remain under the radar.
If I were a bettin' man, I think I would just latch on to the Braves for a while. They play today as +165 underdogs in Philadelphia. Chuck James goes for the Braves and Cole Hamels goes for the Phillies. Hamels hasn't been at his best lately, and if he makes mistakes to the hot-hitting Braves lineup, they will make him pay.
Who knows what to expect from James. He is off to a rough start to the year, but he is capable of pitching well. If they win, they will pay an underdog price; if they lose, they head home for their next eleven games. They will most likely make up the loss in their home park.
Coming soon: Log in with your Facebook account, send comments and Throwdowns to Facebook and more.
Recent Posts
- Who Would You Take: Contreras or Sabathia?
- What Is Wrong With Roy Oswalt?
- Can Kuroda Keep It Going?
- Felix Hernandez In Unfamiliar Role Tonight
- The Odds Makers Were Wrong
- What's The Deal With Joba?
More FanHouse Blogs
- Rachel Uchitel Pics
- Florida Fans Say Farewell to Tebow
- Mike Penner Dead in Apparent Suicide
- Steve Kragthorpe Fired at Louisville
- Tiger Woods Injured in Car Accident
- Thanksgiving Football Schedule 2009
- Reliving Allen Iverson Practice Rant
- Michaele Salahi Crashes White House Dinner
- Iverson Announces Intention to Retire
- NFL Picks: Week 12
Stub Hub
The 2009 schedule has been released. Search for tickets!
Truth & Rumors
MOST POPULAR
-
1
Sources: Big Ben having second thoughts
- Views
- 7702
- Comments
- 1009
-
2
Report: Halladay would welcome Yankees trade
- Views
- 30505
- Comments
- 479
-
3
Have Irish already offered Kelly job?
- Views
- 40495
- Comments
- 78
-
4
Report: Tiger's injuries inflicted by wife
- Views
- 2214
- Comments
- 72
-
5
Stoops to take Notre Dame job?
- Views
- 4309
- Comments
- 61
Most Active Users
Comments + Blog Posts + Throwdowns
Message Boards
-
NCAAF > General NCAAF
Is Bob Stoops being paid under…
- Views
- 199
- Replies
- 14
-
NCAAF > General NCAAF
tim tebow finally GONE!!!!!!!
- Views
- 177
- Replies
- 14
-
NFL > General NFL
Tiger Woods???? Wife smashes…
- Views
- 127
- Replies
- 29


Brooklyn Decker
Deanna Clover



Comments (0) Add A Comment
Comment
Remember to keep your posts clean. Profanity will get filtered, and offensive comments will be removed.