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Tuesday, June 6, 2006
Brave run of luck, titles ebbing away
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Furman Bisher
So you thought it would go on forever. A grim forecast imbedded itself in my mind after a few days at spring training, that this might be the season the Braves’ delicious streak of division championships comes to an end. My book of notes included such a dismal thought, but the coward in me suppressed it. Only when some inquisitive person, perhaps beset by the same dastardly suspicion, asked what I saw of the season ahead did I confess any doubt, though cast in carefully couched terms.
It’s a constant theme of spring that exhibition games are not played to be won, but to prepare a team for the real thing. The Braves were not looking good, and there were excuses. Five of their employees were away playing in that thing called the World Baseball Classic, an instrument designed to spread the gospel among lesser nations. Chipper and Andruw Jones, two prime properties, were among the absentees, and so was their latest gate attraction, Jeff Francoeur.
I won’t insist that while he had only two at-bats, and missed about three weeks of Braves camp, this was the reason Francoeur started the regular season in a horrible slump. But it’s a pretty strong premise. While most major league managers and officials spoke kindly of the somewhat Classic, deep down inside most of them were only playing the company line.
That was only the original cause for concern. The other, and surely the most likely one, was how the season of ‘05 had gone. If there are two things in baseball I can get along without it’s the designated hitter and the “closer.” But since “closers” have become an essential, if you play by the book, the Braves had to have one, and they traded for Dan Kolb. Poor fellow. He had had one rather bright season in Milwaukee. John Schuerholz rarely makes a bad deal, but this was one. Remember, he gave up a good prospect, Jose Capellan, to get Kolb, who, among other things, was expected to fill in the void left by John Smoltz.
“Closers” came and “closers” went, but the Braves managed to hang on. That brings me around to what really made the season of ‘05 the season that it was. When the Braves needed help, Schuerholz picked up the phone and called Richmond or Mississippi. Mike Hampton went down, Horacio Ramirez went down. Schuerholz called Kyle Davies up from Richmond and Blaine Boyer from Mississippi. He needed an outfielder, he called Francoeur up from Mississippi. Johnny Estrada got hit by a truck at home plate, he called up Brian McCann from Mississippi, and with all due respect to the glamour of Francoeur, McCann was the most valuable of them all.
Here was a 21-year-old kid called on to handle Smoltz in his first full game, and a whole staff of pitchers of all ages, from Davies to Kyle Farnsworth, and he did it with the aplomb of an ancient mariner, all the while carrying a heavy load with the bat.
Along came Kelly Johnson, and later Macay McBride out of the farm system. The only move that didn’t work was Joey Devine, drafted from N.C. State University and rushed into a firestorm of bases-loaded home runs. It was his misfortune to throw the final pitch of another Braves October failure. Not to be overlooked, Wilson Betemit had been kept, mainly because there was nothing else to do with him, and he came forward in time to lessen the loss of Chipper Jones at one time.
But, you see, every critical move worked. They couldn’t make a mistake, and seldom do you ever see that happen at any major league address. Not so this season at the corner of Henry Aaron Avenue and Bill Lucas Street. Just when it seems everything will go wrong, it does. The bullpen is a mess. Even with Edgar Renteria on hand, defense has become a forgotten art. McCann is among the walking wounded, and catching is left in the hands of a career back-up, Todd Pratt. And there is no number Schuerholz can dial and expect instant help.
So that’s the way it is. And yet, they still manage to keep the Mets within view. It ain’t over yet, but I wouldn’t include them in my exacta.
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A Countdown that’ll make you sick
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Jeff Schultz
The Tuesday Countdown:
10: So I can honestly say that when I set out on this career, I never thought I would write (or blog) about … airsickness bags.
9: But the other day in a column about the Braves’ slide, I wrote that the next game would be souvenir puke-bag night. Everybody except Steve Silberberg of Hull, Mass., knew it was a joke. Steve sent me an e-mail asking, “If there really is a bag, may I have one?”
8: I am not making this up. Steve has no life. OK, he has a life but he also has a collection that makes my Pez collection look quite normal. He collects airsickness bags. He has over 1,800. He said some guy in Germany has close to 5,000. “There’s an elite group of us, maybe 50,” Steve said by phone, laughing. “Most are Germans. I don’t know why.” I’m guessing all former Stasi agents gone whacko.
7: Steve said he started his collection in 1991 because, “I needed attention.” In real life, he’s a 44-year-old who puts together backpacking trips for overweight people called, “Fatpacking.” He also a former computer programmer, but said, “That’s nowhere near as gratifying,” as collecting airsickness bags. Well, I mean, who didn’t know that?
6: Steve’s collection can be viewed at airsicknessbags.com. He “specializes” in non-transportation (planes, ferries, busses) bags, like a promotional one from a Florida credit union that reads, “Sick of high interest rates?” He also has one from McDonald’s. “Somebody who works at the airport got it off the corporate jet,” he said. “You can’t get them in the restaurant.” Yeah. Bad publicity.
5: He admits he bought a bag off eBay, saying, “It was the low point of my life.” And this: “I almost didn’t write you because I’m embarrassed to admit I have this collection. I try to keep it quiet.” Good plan.
4: Really, when you think about it, would the Chris Reitsma Sick Bag be such a bad idea? Or just a general “Braves Bullpen Bag” with interchangeable sticker faces?
3: It’s June and I’m already sick of hearing about Notre Dame.
2: Nice try by Michelle Wie. But after the run she gave it in qualifying Monday, the surprise would be if she DOESN’T play in the U.S. Open some day.
1: The Braves are just two games out of fourth and 4 1/2 out of last. Hang onto your stomachs.
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