Padres @ Braves 4/9

Well....uh,.....yeah, so .................Anyways;

Thursday Night's 13 to 2 Loss to the Padres
Could be the best Blowout Ever Witnessed

Now hold on Padre fans, I'll be giving you all the praise a victory of such a one sided nature deserves, but that will happen on YOUR page. Parents, should you sit reading this wondering why I would say such a thing, please, read on. In coaching for the better part of fifteen years, at every level from the High School Varsity, to the 3-4 year old indoor T-ball, I've experienced both sides of similar lopsided games. There is very little fun found from being on the side the Braves found themselves on Thursday. At this age, in most cases you would see a mutiny in the dugout. The last pitcher to get rocked would be arguing with the last teammate to strike out. The dugout would be divided into a "team" click made up of 8 or so players, the "cool kid" clic, comprised normally of the superstar and a couple kids wanting to be him,and the peacemaker, the leader trying to get teammates focused on the game rather than on blaming each other for the one sided state of the team game they were playing. See any major league manager will agree, chemistry isn't something you find when winning. Everybody loves each other when they're winning, just ask a Padre. The real test is in those moments when everything has gone wrong or is going wrong. That's when a coach sees the true character of his team.
Now that character isn't always displayed in the form of a come from behind victory. In most cases you see it surface at the following practice when you put the players through an enlightening physical workout for their behavior in the dugout the previous day. However today was surprisingly different.

Other than a Brett Woods, first inning, Mickey Mantle-esque reaction to a strikeout, there was no evidence of a separation amongst the team. No one was singling out any teammates, no one was crying, hanging their head or ignoring the team. To a player I found that even as the Padres continued to pile on the runs, as Bates went through batter after batter with little resistance, no one gave up. I'm not saying they thought they could win, but no one was giving up their at bats, no player decided to go half speed after a ball in the outfield. The Braves were a united, mature and focused squad, in the face of an ugly loss, until the final out was recorded. Now don't for a second translate this into me saying the professional manner in which they accepted the loss is more important than winning the game. I am certain coach Woods would have been very pleased with an 8-5 victory, but this loss speaks volumes of the maturity and character of this years Braves squad. Both traits that will prove useful as the season progresses.
And as they look back on the game they can take these three things from their meeting with Solomon Bates. First, they managed two hits off the dominant righthander. Second, the team put together an inning in which they manufactured two runs off Bates. Evan Fatino started it with a walk. Vision Pluma put down a sacrifice bunt to move him to second. This was followed by a ground rule double to right center off the bat of Jose Martinez. An error by the Padres second baseman, on a Brett Woods grounder allowed Martinez to score the second Brave run. One hit, two runs. Just by putting the ball in play.
And the third thing you ask? The third thing is the fact that even with a 13 to 2 lead, Coach Owen would not risk a Brave comeback. 11 runs up he could have very well sat Bates down for the night. He could have chose to move in another one of the Padre pitchers, get them some work on the hill, but not against the Braves. That in itself should provide each player with confidence, confidence that no matter how big the lead is, Braves opponents are always fearful of a Tomahawk led comeback.