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Saturday, April 21, 2007
Impressed by the Braves so far
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Furman Bisher
Those of us who sit in the judgmental seat, by choice or by duty, are often too swift to condemn, or on the other hand, too swift to commend, I among them. Thus, those men whose profession it is to produce winning teams are often hauled up before an unseen jury and charged with dereliction, or something to that effect.
Throughout the offseason we chewed on the Braves, at times snarling at the thought that the key to anything in baseball is the bullpen, and smouldering at the offensive loss of Adam LaRoche and Marcus Giles on the infield. Forty-three home runs and 150 runs-batted-in are not automatically come by, the combined production of the two. LaRoche, traded to the Pirates for another one of those heralded bullpen arms, relatively unknown (by us), Mike Gonzalez. Giles was surrendered without effort. Granted, Giles was a loud voice in the locker room and not always cheerily accepted by his mates, but the major factor in passing on him was his $6 million salary tag.
So John Schuerholz took the risk. All along there was no doubt in his mind that Kelly Johnson would develop into a major league second baseman. Here was a 25-year-old who had never played second base, who had been sidelined by arm surgery for a season, and had the tender look of a high school senior. He hasn’t lit up the marquee, but he has been just plain solid.
At first base, Schuerholz also gambled: That Scott Thorman, who’d had 128 at-bats in the major leagues, but could also play the outfield, would be a satisfactory replacement for LaRoche at first base. Just in case, he signed Craig Wilson, who bats right-handed and also plays the outfield, as a backup. And a free spirit of good nature but an obvious aversion to tonsorial parlors.
The other piece of the puzzle, now that he was well-stocked in the bullpen, was starting pitchers, Tim Hudson in particular. This was before Mike Hampton went down again, and into surgery for the second reconstruction job on his left arm. Hampton was being counted on like guaranteed stock dividends. Instead, he has become the Braves’ worst investment of the ages. He may or may not ever pitch again.
Schuerholz to the rescue once more. This obscure pitcher in Oklahoma had been in training in his basement, throwing to a brick wall. Mark Redman, not even invited back by the last-place Kansas City Royals, was signed. He hasn’t won yet, but he has pitched well enough, had the offense given him a few runs. Now, you had a starting crew of John Smoltz, Tim Hudson, Chuck James, Kyle Davies and Redman, and the most beautiful theme of this drama is that Hudson is pitching like the Hudson they signed two years ago. With brilliance. (And why couldn’t Bobby Cox have trusted him to finish his masterpiece Friday night, drat it?)
What has made the Braves a most appealing attraction to the natives is the hometown makeup. I doubt there is any team with a collection of glittering home-born stars, picked up off the sandlots or high schools, of the caliber of Brian McCann, Jeff Francoeur, Chuck James and Kyle Davies. There are not many purer hitters in the league than McCann, and Francoeur is beginning to establish himself in every outfield category, power with a cannon arm. Chuck James came out of nowhere, discovered on a travel team in Mableton, who hated pitching because he loved to hit, according to one of his coaches. And who has become the Braves’ latter-day Tom Glavine. He doesn’t throw hard, but he throws it where their bats ain’t.
They are a long way from home now. This is just April. But the time to savor the glory is when they’re flapping their wings. And the time to tell John Schuerholz, that for all those times we questioned him and his moves, his prosperous start brings a blush to our cheeks. With the hope that this isn’t merely a big tease.
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