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Monday, April 3, 2006
Braves can still see blue skies ahead
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Terence Moore
Los Angeles — Way beyond the left-field bleachers at Dodger Stadium, there are letters the size of Tommy Lasorda’s old belly spread across the pretty hill on this side of the San Gabriel Mountains. The letters refer to the cherished home team, but they also could have something to do with the Braves when it comes to the epitome of dominance in the National League:
“Think Blue.� More specifically, think navy blue, as in the Braves and as in the NL’s dynasty of the present, instead of royal blue, as in the Dodgers and as in the NL’s dynasty of the past.
You also can think about a 15th consecutive division title for the Braves, and not only because the present survived the past on Monday during the soggy opener for both teams. Until somebody else wins the NL East, you have to figure that the Braves will do so forever. They also showed enough during their 11-10 victory to give the choppers and chanters hope of nice things to come.
That is, if you ignore the inability of Tim Hudson to coast with a seven-run lead as the new John Smoltz, Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine as the Braves’ pitching ace. Hudson didn’t survive the fifth inning, with two wild pitches mixed among six hits and three walks along the way. Worse, the Braves’ bullpen was as wretched as advertised. It nearly blew an 11-5 lead. Most of Hudson’s six (yes, six, and this was just opening day) successors were quite hittable and forgettable. Even so, their teammates did enough before and after those meltdowns on the mound to keep alive the Braves’ chances of going 162-0.
The Braves’ ripped three home runs, including a pair of three-run shots by Adam LaRoche and Andruw Jones. Plus, Edgar Renteria had a successful debut as the Braves’ shortstop. He was smooth in the field on challenging grounders to his left and right, and he contributed at the plate with two hits and two RBI. Good thing, because his predecessor, Rafael Furcal, was going nuts for the Dodgers (on base five times, including three hits).
Anyway, with the Braves brass somewhere praying that their team won’t have to slug their way into October this time, let’s move to the big picture of NL history, where the Dodgers are the Braves, and the Braves are the Dodgers. In addition to both teams having the same predominant color on their uniforms, they both are noted for developing their own players. They both are noted for longevity when it comes to their team executives and managers. They both are noted for having everybody throughout their organizations function in a distinctive and professional way.
There are a couple of mighty differences, though. First, the Dodgers were noted for all of those things during most of the five decades prior to 1991. Not coincidently, that’s exactly when the Braves went from brutal for much of their Atlanta existence after leaving Milwaukee to the start of 14 consecutive trips to the playoffs. Then there is that other difference, nearly as significant as the first. Braves hitting coach Terry Pendleton squinted on Monday in the visitors’ clubhouse, before saying, “How many championships did they win during those years? Do you know?�
Yeah. A bunch. We’re talking about 1955, 1959, 1963, 1965, 1981 and 1988. That’s opposed to the Braves’ managing their only world championship during their current run 11 years ago. So this game was just another brick in the foundation toward where the Braves need to be in search of becoming more than just a postseason tease.
“I like the Braves’ attitude, and that attitude comes from the mystique of Bobby Cox and what he learned when he was in the Dodger organization for a number of years,� said Don Newcombe, the former pitching great for the Dodgers, referring to Cox’s minor-league days in the early 1960s. By then, Newcombe had finished starring for the Dodgers from the late 1940s through 1950s, with the likes of Jackie Robinson, Roy Campanella and Duke Snider. “We had the attitude, and that’s the most important thing you have to have in anything in life.�
This time, the Braves had the attitude and the luck (how else can you explain surviving bad pitching?). Near the end, with the sky leaking big drops on the 56,000 gathered, the Dodger Stadium organist played the old Carpenters hit called “Rainy days and Mondays (Always Get Me Down).� Such only was true if you were wearing royal instead of navy blue.
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