To: The Haley Family (fivehaleys@jetmail.ca)
From: Tom Haley (thaley120791@jetmail.ca)
September 2, 2016
Hi everybody!
Wow, it didn't take you long to email me after the game! The travel day today feels like a real luxury. We got into Denver at a decent hour, and I had time to go out for a great steak dinner with some of the guys. Huston Street pitched here for a few years, so we let him pick the restaurant. We ended up at Elway's--yes, it's really John Elway's restaurant. He wasn't there tonight, though.
We bought Daniel Tuttle's dinner--he's one of the guys we called up from AAA when the roster expanded. He had a really good year with Gwinnett, and with Anthony Ranaudo not ready to come off the DL yet, we'll need Daniel to contribute this month.
My arm still feels really good, even though I haven't had as many strikeouts lately as I did last month. I'm on pace to pitch more innings than I did last year, because I've been working more than an inning from time to time now. My control has been a little better, possibly because of the extra work. I hope I don't pay for it down the stretch.
I'm expecting to work a lot in September, because we can't seem to shake the Mets or the Nationals. It seems like whenever we win, so do they, and if we lose, one of them wins. Nine of our last 12 games are against those two teams, and it looks like that's when the division race might be settled. The team that finishes second in the East has the wild card pretty much locked up, but it's likely that the third-place team will end up with the 5th best record in the league. Someone is going to be pretty upset with the outcome, and I sure hope it isn't us.
Trish is teaching third grade at The Lovett School, and she's really enjoying getting settled in her classroom and starting her year. Some of the kids in her class noticed her Braves decorations and are talking about the team with her now. They're amazed at how much she knows! She hasn't told them that her boyfriend is one of the players, although a few of the other teachers know.
Well, I'll sign out now. Please keep emailing, ok? I know I can't always answer you as soon as you might like, but I really like hearing from you.
Love,
Tom
The Braves acquired two veteran relievers during July: Francisco Rodriguez and Huston Street. K-Rod came over from the Tigers in exchange for 3B Conor Gillaspie, but he promptly hurt his arm. Street arrived from the Rockies, with OF Michael Burgess going the other way.
Both guys had lost their closer jobs, and they've lost a little of their stuff, but they should both be solid additions to the Braves' bullpen.
It does seem strange, however, to see Papelbon, K-Rod, and Street on one team's roster...and none of them being used as the closer. Then I remember that it's 2016 in my universe now. 