Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, October 9, 1993 TAG: 9310090115
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Jack Bogaczyk
DATELINE: ATLANTA LENGTH: Medium
Now, even the medical community has high blood pressure over the Atlanta Braves' bandwagon. Check out the billboard on I-85 South entering Georgia's capital city.
A drawing of the Braves' red tomahawk logo is on the bottom left of the board. Above, the sign says, "Everyone's a Winner at This Chop Shop."
It's an ad for a vasectomy clinic.
No, that's not why those ballplayers always seem to be scratching themselves. And the only cut the Braves want is one from the World Series.
The National League Championship Series is tied 1-1, and Atlanta has the Philadelphia Phillies right where it wants them - in the soldout, so-called "Chop Shop" for the next three games of the best-of-seven series.
The Braves took Friday off, perhaps figuring they couldn't improve on the batting practice they got in Thursday night's 14-3 ripping of the Phils at Veterans Stadium.
The Phillies worked out at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium on the off day, but their hangover wouldn't go away. They were trying to forget the Game 2 beating while remembering that they'll be facing Tom Glavine in today's Game 3 at 3 p.m.
"The Braves can beat you in a lot of ways, and [Thursday] night, they did," said Phillies center fielder Len Dykstra. "Everyone talks about their pitching, but they showed they can hit, too."
To stay in this series, the Phillies know they'll have to beat 22-game winner Glavine today or John Smoltz, the chagrined right-hander who undoubtedly will try to show Sunday night in Game 4 that he deserved an earlier start in the Braves' rotation.
Smoltz is 5-0 in the Braves' 1991-92 postseasons, with a 2.13 earned-run average. Of course, Smoltz's past history also includes a tendency to struggle when he gets too hyper about the situation.
Philly will counter with left-handers Terry Mulholland and Danny Jackson in Games 3 and 4. Mulholland missed most of September with a left hip strain, then hurled four shutout innings the last day of the season.
Jackson is working for his third different club in the last four NLCS. Last year, for Pittsburgh, he lasted only 1 2/3 innings against the Braves in a playoff start. But he was 2-0 against Atlanta this season.
The Braves figure they sent a message to the Phillies with Thursday's battering. If so, the Phils did a great job hiding it in the tobacco stains on their chins Friday.
"We still feel like we can beat them every time we play," said Phils third baseman Dave Hollins. "We're here for the same reason they are. We won."
Still, the Phillies - despite following in the Braves' recent worst-to-first footsteps - aren't given much chance of keeping Atlanta from becoming the first NL team to play in three consecutive World Series since the 1942-44 St. Louis Cardinals.
As Phils reliever Mitch Williams said earlier this week, "The Braves were expected to win. We were expected to be in prison. So, the pressure is all on them. We finished the schedule, so we exceeded expectations."
However, the Phillies aren't quite as scraggly as John Kruk looks. If they can win today or Sunday, then Williams won't be the only "Wild Thing" you'll be reading about.
by CNB