40-18!

This is in response to the following email blurb I received just minutes ago:

"Muckus---Dont get too excited. Your Braves will finish behind the division winner Phils and the runner up Mets. Maybe even below the Marlins. Must suck to be a Braves fan without Maddux and Galvine hheh?"

As for the Maddux/Glavine/Smoltz era, they won, what, 15 consecutive division titles?

And then as they grew older and dropped by the wayside one-by-one, this created a talent vacuum into which the Phillies stumbled and temporarily filled. But now the rot has set in for that marginally talented team.

Here's a couple of numbers for you.

On April 28, the Braves were 13-18. It took them 31 games to register 18 losses.

At the all-star break, the Braves came in at 53-36. In other words, it took them 58 games (40-18) to suffer another 18 losses. That's 40 and 18, winning at a .690 clip! Over that 58-game stretch, they are the hottest team in baseball.

And over the break, they traded away the lone knucklehead from among the starters, and replaced him with a slick-fielding, hot-hitting veteran shortstop.

And the hot rumor is that Chipper Jones' impending retirement will create enormous salary cap room. Meaning, the Braves are currently looking to trade for a big, big stick.

The Phils win the division? You really think?

Good luck with that.

And please, do not bet the house on it.

Later