Series win costly for the Braves

It seems silly and childish, but maybe just maybe if the rule had been in place, Chipper Jones wouldn’t be looking to only miss a couple of games. The rule I speak of is the one from Little League that says position player starters can be taken out of the game but can reenter later. The Braves were cruising to a win last night when Chipper Jones pulled up lame while running out a ground ball and had to leave the game with a left hamstring injury. The Braves were leading 5-0 in the fourth when Chipper Jones tried to leg out a slow roller, but he grabbed his leg and may be headed to the DL for the first time all season. If the Little League rule had been in place, Martin Prado would have come up instead of Chipper, who could have been on the bench, resting his “important to the division chase” body. If the Marlins HAD managed to come back against Tim Hudson, who was flinging bullets before he had to leave with elbow soreness (he is not scheduled to miss a start), Chipper could have checked back in later in the game.
How many times could a team have benefited by replacing a slow runner on second with a pinch runner, then be able to plug the starter back in one inning later? If the Yankees wanted to pinch run for Jason Giambi in the 6th inning, it would be nice for him to be able to bat again in the important ninth inning after reentering the game, instead of having an inferior batter at the dish in that situation. Another advantage to this rule would be if a game went into extreme extra innings like the recent 17 inning affair at Turner Field. It would have been nice if some of the starters could have come back in. The game MIGHT have ended in 14 instead of 17, thus allowing both teams to get out of town a little sooner.
Since MLB doesn’t have this rule however, the Braves are behind the 8-ball heading into Philly Friday for arguably the BIGGEST series of their season. The Braves sit six games back right now, and if they are able to sweep or at least take two of three, they can gain some ground on the division leader. Now though, they must try and knock off the defending NL East Champion Phillies without the Majors’ best hitter in Chipper Jones. And Hudson’s injury might push Mike Hampton’s much anticipated season debut back as well, but Chipper is the story here. Let’s hope Thursday’s day off can help Chipper get better quickly. Otherwise, Friday’s lineup which will face Cole Hamels will be featuring a major hole. One that, if the Majors were a little more like Little League, wouldn’t be there.