Brian Snitker is no longer the Braves’ manager.
The team made the announcement a short while ago, just days after his ninth full season as skipper came to a close. His 49-year run with the organization will continue as he steps into an advisory role.
A little more on the breaking news momentarily, and AJC.com/braves is your spot as updates, reactions and commentary continue flowing in. (You can also send your thoughts on the decision to tyler.estep@ajc.com.)
In the meantime, we’ll start with our regularly scheduled programming.
CA-CAW! CA-CAW!
The Hawks are back at practice. The vibes are high and, as beat writer Lauren Williams reports, star Trae Young is pretty amped about the new guys.
Wanna meet ‘em?
👋 Kristaps Porzingis: Latvian unicorn. 7-foot-2. Will wear No. 8. Just got in town Sunday.
At Monday’s media day (photos here), he called Young the “best passer in the league” and said he wants to bring “even more gunpowder” to a talented young team (his combo of rim protection and 3-point prowess can certainly do that).
He woke up one July morning to the news of his trade from Boston.
“When I saw it was Atlanta, I’m not going to lie. I was very happy. Very, very happy,” he said. “Without, like, selling you anything, this is true.”
- Fun(?) fact: Porzingis missed games last postseason with post-viral syndrome, an illness of mysterious origin. But he said he feels “fantastic” after playing at EuroBasket over the summer.
👋 Luke Kennard: Originally from Ohio, played at Duke. Likes golf. And with an eight-year career of hitting nearly 44% from three, he’s your favorite new sharpshooting white guy (please use “Cool Hand Luke” references responsibly).
He’ll wear No. 3, too.
- As teammate Mouhamed Gueye put it: “Luke got a strap on him. He don’t miss.”
Chose Atlanta in free agency after a few years with the Clippers. Says the opportunity to play with Young (and in Quin Snyder’s system) was “one of the big reasons why.”
Also, his wife has friends in the area.
👋 Nickeil Alexander-Walker: Canadian, close-knit cousin of reigning NBA MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. No. 7. Stellar perimeter defender who wants to “be a leader on both sides” of the ball.
He said the Porzingis trade helped convince him to sign with the Hawks. Briefly played for Coach Snyder in Utah, too, and is looking forward to teaming up with fellow crackdown defender Dyson Daniels.
“There’s always a way to get to success,” he said.
That’s a good way to look at things, as well as a reminder of another reason you should be excited about all this: experience.
The eldest of the new Hawks trio is only 30, but that’s enough for wise old man status on the third-youngest team in the NBA. They’ve all spent time in the playoffs too, particularly Porzingis (got a ring with Boston in 2023-24) and Alexander-Walker (back-to-back Western Conference Finals with Minnesota).
“We don’t know what it’s gonna look like right now,” Young said. “But in my mind it’s gonna work pretty good.”
📅 Key upcoming dates for the Hawks:
- Oct. 6: First preseason game (at Houston, 8 p.m.)
- Oct. 13: First home preseason game (vs. Miami, 6 p.m.)
- Oct. 22: Season opener (vs. Toronto, 7:30 p.m.)
OK, BACK TO SNITKER
This space originally contained a poll about whether or not the Braves manager should return for another season. It included options ranging from “Emphatically yes, like a late ’90s Herbal Essences commercial” to “Emphatically no, like Kurt Russell screaming in that one scene from ‘Tombstone.’”
It’s all moot now.
Snitker — who wasn’t even expected to keep the job after stepping in as interim in 2016 — walks away as the third-winningest manager in franchise history, trailing only his mentor Bobby Cox and some guy from Boston in the 1890s.
His 811 wins since taking over are the second most in baseball during that time frame.
And he won a World Series title.
“I never thought I’d hoist a trophy or be around a group of guys that make this so special,” Snitker told reporters today.
More on the search for his replacement to come. For now, a thank you will suffice.
The Braves say he’ll be enshrined in the team Hall of Fame sometime next year.
🔗 Bonus link: More Braves offseason storylines
GOOD GRACIOUS, SON
How do you score eight touchdowns in a high school football game and turn it into a footnote?
Rush for a GHSA state-record 615 yards while you’re at it.
That’s exactly what Ty Cummings — a senior from West Laurens High, a 3A school near Dublin — did Friday against Baldwin. He scored on touchdown runs of 53, 59, 59, 59, 75, 78, 86 and 91 yards to eclipse the single-game rushing record and become only the second player ever to break 600 yards
“They had no answer for him,” coach Kip Burdette told AJC Varsity’s Todd Holcomb.
Obviously!
The performance also made me wonder about the all-time leaders in this particular category, so our data pal Rahul Deshpande made a chart. Check it out above.
👀 The most interesting part to me: Not a lot of household names there. You have to go to at least No. 14 on the larger list to find one.
That’s where Dalton High grad Jahmyr Gibbs (who went on to star at Georgia Tech and now the Detroit Lions) sits with his 420-yard performance in 2019. Champ Bailey, a defensive great at Georgia and in the NFL, once ran for 417 in a game for Charlton County. That’s No. 16 on the GHSA list.
SPEAKING OF HIGH SCHOOL …
Last week I asked folks to send me the most famous athlete from their high school alma mater. The answers included:
- The NBA’s Jae Crowder and NFL punter Herman “Thunderfoot” Weaver, who went to Villa Rica High like reader David.
- Alfred Jenkins, Pro Bowl Falcons receiver of the ’70s and ’80s, play high school ball at Hogansville, reader Robbie’s alma mater.
- Former UGA and NFL stars Brandon Boykin (Fayette County) and AJ Green (Summerville, South Carolina) represent for readers Shane and Robert, respectively.
Folks who grew up way out of town claimed Charles Woodson (Fremont Ross, Ohio) and Doug Flutie (Natick, Massachusetts).
“Sure didn’t expect a Heisman out of him!” reader John said of the latter.
ASK A BEAT WRITER
I work with experts on Atlanta (and Athens) sports. Sometimes I ask them questions.
And while there were a lot of directions I could’ve gone with DawgNation’s Connor Riley this week — Cash Jones, not kicking a dang field goal, letting a massive Alabama lineman catch a forward pass — I settled on the one that bothers me most.
🤔 What’s with the slow defensive starts in big games?
Four straight touchdowns against Alabama last year. This season, three straight against Tennessee and two straight against the Tide. They’ve spotted plenty more teams points out of the gate, too.
Here’s what Connor said:
- “It’s a young Georgia defense, one that has to continue to get better. It’s done a good job against the run and forcing third downs. But it was unable to finish against Alabama and couldn’t get off the field. Georgia didn’t sack Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson. Perhaps actually getting to and bringing down the opposing quarterback would help cure some of the slow start issues.”
🤔 This is true. The transfer portal has fueled a lack of depth Georgia fans are unaccustomed to, particularly on defense. Even coach Kirby Smart seems flummoxed: “How do you do it better? Maybe we change something up. Maybe we do something different. I mean, at the end of the day, I’m very confident in who we are.”
I’d say yes, please instruct defensive coordinator Glenn Schumann to do something different. Anything different. The whole “hope you’re not down too bad by halftime and figure it out from there” thing grows tiresome.
LET’S GET GRUMPY
Some recent things that I didn’t like very much.
😒 Bobby Petrino — a man whose Wikipedia page includes sections like “motorcycle incident” and “public apologies,” plural — is the head coach at Arkansas. Again.
Atlanta’s No. 1 sports villain got the gig courtesy of the Hogs axing Sam Pittman (the former UGA O-line coach). Petrino quickly fired most of the defensive staff, alienated some players and then made a weird comment about everyone having to “take the arrow in the forehead.” What a guy.
😒 “Chad Powers,” this new show starring Glenn Powell playing college football in Georgia while hiding the fact that he’s a disgraced former star, seems dumb. You should still read Rodney Ho’s story, though.
😒 The mascots for next year’s partially-in-Atlanta men’s World Cup look like characters in an animated children’s show produced by an unauthorized streaming site.
We used to be a proper country with proper mascots for international sporting events. Like Izzy, an unholy blue comma with all-seeing eyes and a gaping black maw.
ONE MORE PHOTO
Thanks for reading to the very bottom of The Win Column. Questions, comments, ideas? Contact me at tyler.estep@ajc.com.
Until next time.
About the Author
Tyler Estep hosts the AJC Win Column, Atlanta's new weekly destination for all things sports. He also shepherds the Sports Daily and Braves Report newsletters to your inbox.
