Hello friends.
Our regularly schedule shenanigans commence momentarily, but we’d be remiss to ignore the late-breaking news: Ted Turner — TV pioneer, conservationist and godfather of modern Atlanta sports — is dead.
He was 87 years old.
Do spend some time with the AJC’s tribute to the man known as the “Mouth of the South.” More to come on AJC.com.
EVERYBODY SIMMER DOWN NOW, YOU HEAR?
Through their first 35 games, the 2026 Atlanta Braves won more games than any other team in franchise history — save the 1892 Boston Beaneaters.
Charles Augustus “Kid” Nichols, the star of that long ago squad, would like a word.
By Kid Nichols*
Comparing another squad to my ’92 Beaneaters, eh?
Well, that’s a house built on hubris and horse feathers. We Beanies were big time.
And what a beaut I was on the bump.
Handled the hide for 51 starts that year, finished 49 of ‘em. All fastball, all the time. Not sure what an “earned-run average” is, but they tell me it would’ve been 2.54 — and they tell me that’s pretty good.
This Christopher Sale fella, tall drink of water he is, could never do it.
I’m expected to be impressed by six wins and six “quality starts” in seven appearances … but I am not. What was he doing the rest of the time, selling papers? (You people still have papers, right?)
Unsightly beard, too. His pal Spencer Strider manages a proper gentleman’s mustache, at least, but I’ve seen more reliable arms on milkmaids back home in Missouri.
Let’s see, what else …
- In terms of skippers, our Frank Selee might rightly be considered more philosopher than a pugilist. If it came to it, though, I’ve no doubt he’d outsmart your Walter Weiss and forestall any fisticuffs.
- I refuse to acknowledge this new team’s “bench” or “bullpen,” as I do not know what those things are and do not care to know.
Moving on to the batsmen.
What a thrill it must be to see Ozzie Albies (a properly sized ballplayer, in any era) and the youthful Drake Baldwin (we’d call him “Duck”) pacing the pastime with their base hits.
Matthew Olson — a man made of iron, by your standards — may well be most valuable of them all.
And nearly six men crossing home plate each game, on average?
Just ducky.
Miles of improvement on prior campaigns, in fact … well north of one additional run per contest. And approaching the historically prolific output of 2023.
Of course, we Beaneaters plated nearly the same number of runs in ’92, while staring down the enemy hurler from a measly 50 paces. Big Herman Long, all 5 feet and 8 inches of him, lead the way with six dingers.
We dispatched that fool Cy Young and his Cleveland Spiders in a best-of-nine bout … and never lost.
Ours is a path this new crew may follow, health and happenstance permitting.
Then again: Buggies are best served behind horses, and this sporting life is a funny one (a lesson your city’s “basketball” team recently learned rather harshly). Better to appreciate the joys du jour. Save tomorrow for tomorrow.
And lest ye forget: “Best since the 1892 Beaneaters” is a fine flag to fly. But it’s still second best.
*Definitely not by Kid Nichols.
SPEAKING OF SCHTICKS GOING ON TOO LONG …
… it’s time to talk Savannah Bananas!
Kidding. Or am I?
While the Braves play in L.A. this weekend, baseball’s bizarre-o barnstormers take Truist Park for a three-night run. Every game is sold out, with standing room only tickets asking north of $100 on resale sites (more for the Mother’s Day matinee).
But there’s some hateration out there, too.
“Culture in decline,” one genius wrote on X after the Bananas’ recent exhibition drew 102,000 folks to Texas A&M’s Kyle Field. “Society in decline. Clown world more popular than actual baseball.”
Having such big feelings about the pretend baseball team strikes me as exhausting, among other things. But there are comments like that under pretty much every mention of the Bananas … so let’s do a poll.
🍌 Are you tired of the Savannah Bananas?
- A. What? No. Love them Nanners.
- B. Yes. Ugh. Time to split.
- C. Don’t see the appeal, but live and let live, you know?
Please answer via our fancy form or shoot me an email.
OTHER INTERESTING STUFF TO KNOW
👀 For AJC subscribers only: Want to play World Cup and other sports-themed bar trivia? With me? As part of our inaugural Subscriber Week, we’re throwing down at Fado Midtown on Wednesday, May 13. Details and RSVP info right here.
📺 We’ve still got some time until the May 17 home opener, but the Atlanta Dream start their season this weekend (8 p.m. Saturday at Dallas, Peachtree TV).
- The addition of Angel Reese has ESPN, The Athletic and USA Today all putting the Dream third in the preseason power rankings, with only Las Vegas and New York in front.
💪 Falcons quarterback Michael Penix Jr. got married over the weekend. Judging by social media posts, all of his key offensive weapons (plus Jessie Bates, AJ Terrell and now-former general manager Terry Fontenot) showed up to party.
- Semi-related: Rookie minicamp starts Friday. This profile of draftee Anterio Thompson is worth your time.
🎯 Georgia baseball may well win the SEC for the first time in a while. But here’s the important stuff: Tre Phelps has now been hit by 28 pitches this season, tying the school record with two weeks of regular season action to go.
KEEP YOUR EYE ON THE BALL(S)
Did you know this?
The NBA draft lottery still uses ping-pong balls … but it’s a whole thing where they put 14 of them in the machine, draw four and whichever team has the correct combination (a proportionate number of all 1,000 possibilities being assigned to teams beforehand) gets the goods.
Hopefully the Hawks collect a friendly bounce or four come 3 p.m. Sunday.
🔮 Thanks to its fleecing of New Orleans during last year’s draft, Atlanta gets either the Pelicans’ or the Bucks’ first-round pick — whichever winds up higher. And both teams are in the lottery.
🔮 Tankathon.com lists New Orleans as having a 6.8% chance of (briefly) pocketing the No. 1 pick. Milwaukee sits at 3%.
🔮 New Orleans also has a 29.3% chance of landing in the top 4. Milwaukee? Nearly 14%.
This is a much more talented draft than 2024, when the Hawks stumbled into the No. 1 pick and selected Zaccharie Risacher (who earned exactly 22 minutes of playoff playing time against the Knicks, with 16 of them coming after Game 6 entered abomination mode).
- Landing any of the draft’s top 4 prospects (three forwards, one guard) would qualify as a blessing.
- A slightly later pick could garner Arkansas guard Darius Acuff Jr.
- If that Knicks series left you more in the mood for a selection from the Very Tall Guy Department, options do exist. Michigan’s Aday Mara (7-foot-3, Spain) leads the group, with other center-y types projected in the neighborhood of the Hawks’ second pick at No. 23.
🔗 Bonus linkage: Hawks face roster decisions. Who stays and who doesn’t?
WAIT, YOU CAN DO THAT?
It’s been a couple years since I first heard Atlanta being referred to as the “epicenter of soccer” in the United States. I expect to hear it … roughly 9 million more times between now and the end of the World Cup.
And as it turns out, there’s a very specific reason for the word choice.
- Evidently, the folks in charge of Kansas City went and claimed (then trademarked) the title of “Soccer Capital of America.”
- They say investments in and around the city, plus the fact that four national teams will set up HQs there during the World Cup, justify the self-crowning.
Atlanta will only host one team (Uzbekistan) … but they are, you know … opening the literal new headquarters and training facility of U.S. Soccer on Thursday. In Fayetteville.
Georgia.
We win.
⚽ And as columnist Ken Sugiura writes, it’s thanks in no small part to Arthur “Soccer Dad” Blank.
PHOTO OF THE WEEK
Yeah, it’s actually a map of the week — showing the new (temporary) open container district Atlanta approved for the World Cup. Consider it the epicenter of soccer-related drinking in the U.S.
Bottoms up from June 11 to July 19.
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.
