AJC > Sports > Braves > Blog > Archives > 2005 > October > 25
Tuesday, October 25, 2005
The perspective outside Atlanta
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Sitting here in my Houston hotel room, preparing to go over the Minute Maid Park for Game 3 of the World Series. And thinking about the certain Southern team that ain’t here….
Sometimes you have to get a little distance from a subject to get a better perspective. And while I realize that’s difficult for a fan of a team to do, let me offer this — my quick perspective on the Braves’ season, and what I’m hearing from others around the country, both within the baseball industry and chroniclers of it.
First, we are jaded and spoiled. Period.
Say what you will about how much heartache Atlantans have endured with 13 of 14 postseason runs during this division-title stretch ending in something other than the ultimate prize. That can’t change the fact that the Braves are in it every year, and that’s remarkable. Now don’t start rolling your eyes and saying I’ve drank the Schuerholz/Cox Kool-Aid. I’m just as stunned as many of you are that a team could lose so many times in the postseason without at least once more winning the World Series. The bad luck and bad draws can only explain away so much.
But the simple fact is, fans of the Astros and White Sox, fans I see in hotel lobbies and concierge lounges, on the subways and at the Starbucks line, all say the same thing: They don’t say the Braves are chokers. They say the Braves are incredibly fortunate to be in the playoffs every year. And when I think about it, I have to agree. But that’s a tired subject, I know. So I’m not going to go down that road.
Instead, I’m going to offer a quick thought just on this season. People, we lost track along the way, because of the concerns/fears/premonitions that this postseason would end like most others for the Braves (which it did). We lost focus of the fact that what this team did was simply, and unquestionably, remarkable. It defied all skeptics and all logic. That’s what every baseball writer I talk to says, what every player from these two teams in the World Series says.
And it’s tough to argue when you look at the facts: 18 rookies — EIGHTEEN! Eight rookies on the 25-man postseason roster. Three veteran starting pitchers on the DL for at least one month, two for at least three. A closer that was an absolute bust. Players manning right field and catching and two bullpen spots with no previous experience above DOUBLE A! One of the two key power hitters (Chipper) missing six weeks with injuries. And the leadoff man struggling until late June while playing with an injured shoulder.
I know, you’ve heard all that before. But just think about it. And look at the two World Series teams. How many rookies do they have? How many injuries to key players — basically one on each team, Frank Thomas and Jeff Bagwell, with Lance Berkman also missing the early part of the season for Houston, akin to Furcal in that they both started contributing big at about the same time.
Bobby Jenks is a huge story for the Sox in part because he began the season at Double A. OK, well, that’s hardly unusual for the Braves this season. Willy Taveras is a big story for Houston because he’s a rookie contributing big. Well, the Braves had Francoeur in right, McCann behind the plate, Davies in the rotation for a while, Boyer and McBride in the bullpen much of the season, Langerhans and Johnson splitting left-field duties, Betemit handling third base for long stretches….
Anyway, the point is, if you focus simply on this season, on the job that Bobby Cox did with this team, most unbiased observers would have to admit it was exceptional. Nevermind what’s happened before, if that’s possible. Just look at this season.
And for those who seriously, genuinely believe Cox should be pushed aside, given the gold watch, dismissed for falling short of the World Series again… let me just say, if you suggested that to serious baseball people involved at all levels in this World Series, be they hardcore fans, writers, players or team executives, you would be laughed at or simply given a look of utter amazement.
And by the way, would you fire him before or after he gets his second consecutive NL Manager of the Year award later this month? Just wondering.
OK, I’ve got that off my chest. Go ahead and attack if you want.
