Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez scans the box scores every morning and concedes the first one he checks out involves the Braves’ upcoming opponent, and the second involves the Marlins, his former team.
It got simple the past few days. On Tuesday, the Braves open a three-game series against the team Gonzalez managed for 3-1/2 years.
This series has the potential to be a little awkward for Gonzalez and Braves second baseman Dan Uggla. Gonzalez was fired by the Marlins last June, before getting hired in October to replace longtime Braves manager Bobby Cox. A few weeks later the Marlins traded Uggla to the Braves.
“It’s a situation that happens,” said Gonzalez, who was born in Cuba and raised in Miami, living in the latter for 40 years. “There are no really hard feelings. Go forward.”
If anything, he gets a twinge of nostalgia following the progress of the young Marlins players who came up while he was managing, such as Mike Stanton, Chris Coghlan, Gaby Sanchez and Chris Volstad.
“It seems like that first or second year we were throwing out balls every day, like first major league hit for so and so,” said Gonzalez, who went 276-279 as the Marlins manager. “Those are things that were special. I feel like I was always handing a lineup card out.”
Now he’s using what he knows about those players in scouting meetings.
“I think I’m going to get put under the gun with Roger to see how much I know about these guys, how to pitch to them,” Gonzalez said, referring to pitching coach Roger McDowell.
The Braves faced the Marlins twice in spring training, letting some of the air out of this matchup. Yet the stakes were low in March.
For Uggla, who spent five years as a middle-order hitter for Florida, it’ll be a chance to face former teammates Chris Volstad, Josh Johnson and Ricky Nolasco, the Marlins starters for the series.
“You definitely want to win against your old team,” Uggla said. “They’re going to want to do the same. There’s definitely going to be a little extra energy.”
Uggla’s negotiations with the Marlins for a long-term extension broke down after he turned down a four-year, $48 million offer. The Braves traded for him and signed him to a five-year, $62 million extension, giving him the highest average yearly salary for any second baseman.
Uggla said his role in the Braves clubhouse has been much different than his time with the Marlins.
“It’s a lot younger team over there,” Uggla said. “I was kind of a veteran. I’m by far not a veteran over here. I’m going to guys like (Brian) McCann and (David) Ross and Chipper (Jones) for advice, the guys that have been around here. I think that’s a cool thing.”
