The Top 5 From The Peach State
By: JJ Lanier
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Recently, the rural North Carolina town where I currently reside dedicated a plaque outside of its city hall to UNC head basketball coach, Roy Williams.
Now, Williams did not grow up in the town or attend the local high school. Truth be told, he has no affiliation with county at all, except for the fact he was born here.
As sports fans, you and I always take pride in seeing an athlete that attended the school we went to, or root for, be successful; now it appears that same pride extends to city/town of birth.
There has been a plethora of great athletes born in the state of Georgia, and while I’m sure I’m missing someone you believe deserves to be on this list (and you might be right) for a variety of reasons, these are my top five:
5.Terry “Hulk” Hogan (b. Augusta). Anyone who complains that wrestling is fake and therefore not a real sport, should have their fandom pass revoked.
Just because the first statement has some merit doesn’t mean the latter does, too. The athletic ability Hogan showed in the wrestling ring, particularly for his size, and the longevity he was able to sustain is enough to earn the respect of any informed sports fan.
Throw in the fact you could argue his popularity is the main cause behind wrestling’s three decades of success and that’s why he’s on this list.
I haven’t watched wrestling since the Rock asked me to smell what he was cooking, but I would start tonight if Hogan was back in the ring.
4.Wyomia Tyus (b. Griffin). I admit I had no idea who Wyomia Tyus was and to my own embarrassment, I still don’t know as much as I probably should.
What I do know is she was a three-time Olympic Gold Medalist (2- 100m. dash, 1- 4x100m relay) and was the first Olympian ever to win back-to-back gold medals in the same event. That alone is more than enough justification to have her on this list.
3.Herschel Walker (b. Wrightsville). Name me an athlete that is the definition of “Georgia Athlete” more than Walker. The man is such an icon I truly am surprised there isn’t some sort of state legislature stating every male born in Georgia is required to have “Herschel” or “Walker” somewhere in their birth name.
2.Ty Cobb (b. Narrows). If you’re going to be ahead of Herschel Walker on this list you’d better be damn good and since Cobb is considered one of the greatest baseball players ever, that fits the bill.
Obviously, I wasn’t around to watch him to play, but the man’s name appears more times in the record books than Donald Trump’s does on his own buildings.
Before I get to number one, let me say there are a number of other athletes (Bobby Jones, Walt Frazier, Fran Tarkenton) that could just have easily ended up in top five; most probably would have had they been born in other states. However, none deserve to be above this next person.
1.Jackie Robinson (b. Cairo). There probably isn’t a sports figure, outside of Muhammad Ali, that would top Jackie Robinson on any list like this, no matter where he was born. I’m not sure there’s anything else I can say that hasn’t already been said by people much more articulate, so I won’t.
If we’re celebrating birthplaces, it’ll be harder to find a better collection than in Georgia.
Help Is Here
By: TJ Hartnett
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
One of the biggest stories in baseball through the first two months of the 2019 season was that of the unemployed: Craig Kimbrel and Dallas Keuchel.
They were linked to almost every team under the sun. I, myself, wrote about the need to have Kimbrel rejoin the Braves and help shore up their bullpen just a few weeks ago.
Eventually it became clear that both pitchers would have to wait until after the MLB Draft to find gainful employment for the rest of the season. After that event, teams that sign either player neither have to give up a draft pick nor would they be required to extend qualifying offers if the free agents leave at the end of this year.
So, the draft has come and gone and Kimbrel and Keuchel were snatched up quickly. Kimbrel, a former Atlanta Brave, was desired by most fans. However, he inked a three-year deal with the Chicago Cubs (allegedly the Braves didn’t want to sign him for three years, despite that being half the time he reportedly asked for during the offseason).
But the Braves didn’t sit idly by, inking Keuchel to a one-year, $13 million deal to join their starting rotation.
It was somewhat of a surprise, as the Yankees were in on the lefty as well. He must have really not wanted to shave his beard. It’s also possible that Keuchel wanted to work with Brian McCann again after a successful run with the backstop in Houston (we’ll see if Mac is assigned a majority of Keuchel’s games). Maybe he likes muggy summers. Whatever the reasons, Keuchel has the potential to be a big boost to the Braves postseason dreams.
Yes, Keuchel is 31 and is a few years removed from his Cy Young-winning peak, but he has plenty to offer, including being a fiery veteran in the clubhouse (perhaps a good balance to the quiet leader in Nick Markakis).
His experience also comes with four, count ‘em, four, postseason victories on his resume. That will come in handy if the Braves find themselves in the playoffs for a second year in a row.
Some of the young pitchers made appearances in the Division Series against Los Angeles, but they lacked effectiveness at the most important stage of the year. Mike Foltynewicz, a fiery competitor himself, notably melted down during Game 1 last October.
Keuchel will have the opportunity to serve as a steady hand (a hand that has a ring, mind you) on the national stage.
At the end of the day, Keuchel makes the rotation better at a fairly low cost and no cost in prospects.
He won’t need to be 2015 Dallas Keuchel to be a worthy addition to the team. Mike Soroka has essentially forced himself into the team’s number one, and Julio Teheran has looked like he might turn in a very solid season. Folty has shown signs of finally shaking his rust after a late start to the season and Max Fried is tied for the team wins with 7 (with Soroka).
Perhaps the most specific impact Keuchel might have would be to displace Kevin Gausman. Gausman just hasn’t been able to replicate the great success he had as a Brave last season after a midseason trade from the Baltimore Orioles.
Every time it looks like he’s on track, the next game (or even inning) gets away from him. I’m not sure what the Braves could do with him, contractually speaking, but all signs point to him being the odd man out once Keuchel makes a few starts in the minor leagues and gets ready to join the big club.
In any case, Keuchel, assuming health and the absence of a complete breakdown, can only help the team. We’ll be seeing him with a tomahawk on his chest soon.
Diamond Dawgs
By: Kipp Branch
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
As I sat at the campsite on beautiful Lake Oconee last Sunday evening, I got on my phone and watched UGA fall to a hot hitting FSU squad in the finals of the Athens regional and it was obvious that this UGA baseball program is on the right track. Even Captain Obvious would be in agreement with me on the subject of UGA baseball.
The 2019 Bulldogs finished the season with a 46-17 record after reaching the NCAA Athens Regional final.
The 46 wins is top 5 in school history and the 21 SEC wins is the most ever in a season for the baseball Dawgs. Georgia earned a National Seed two straight years and played host to an NCAA Regional in back-to-back seasons.
Yeah, The Dawgs lost to Duke and FSU at home over the last two seasons as a regional host, but baseball may be the greatest game on the planet. If a team gets hot at the right time and just goes on a tear, they are tough. That is what has happened to UGA over the last two baseball seasons.
I laugh at people who say this team choked without doing the research on how this baseball program has evolved.
As a fan of the program you hate to see your favorite team lose to anyone, but realize that prior to hiring of Scott Stricklin the Bulldogs had gone 42-72 the previous 4 years in SEC play and had conference records of 5-23 in 2011, and 7-20 in 2013. When Stricklin was hired the program was a dumpster fire.
It takes time to build a quality baseball program and when Strickin was hired in 2014 the rebuild was put into motion.
It took four tough years to start seeing results, and those results came in 2018 when UGA went 39-21 and 18-12 in the SEC. Anyone who follows UGA athletics can see that the program is rising to being one of the elite baseball programs in the conference.
The 21 SEC wins this season show that the program is on a solid foundation. I personally believe that a baseball rebuild is much harder than a football or basketball rebuild job.
Give credit to Greg McGarity, the UGA AD, for giving Stricklin the opportunity to put his stamp on the program. The results are starting to come in. Look at the Dawgs drafted in this week’s MLB draft.
Georgia’s draft picks were junior third baseman Aaron Schunk (2nd Round, Colorado), junior pitcher Tony Locey (3rd Round, St. Louis), junior pitcher Tim Elliott (4th Round, Seattle), senior second baseman LJ Talley (7th Round, Toronto), junior pitcher Zac Kristofak (14th Round, L.A. Angels), junior shortstop Cam Shepherd (20th Round, Tampa Bay), junior outfielder Tucker Maxwell (22nd Round, Philadelphia) and redshirt sophomore outfielder/infielder Riley King (26th Round, Atlanta).
When you have 8 players drafted from your current program things are clicking. Georgia has great pitching coming back in 2020, young talents like Randon Jernigan, and 12-13 new players coming in the 2020 recruiting class.
This team isn’t going anywhere folks except a Super Regional or a College World Series in the near future.
Scott Stricklin deserves a raise for the job he is doing in Athens. 85-38 overall and 39-21 in the SEC over the past two seasons. The rebuild has turned into reload mode now.
Georgia baseball is firmly on the right track.
Golden Award From Golden Bear
By: Rich Styles
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Mark David Johnson Jr, lives on St. Simons Island, Ga. He decided to go to school at Western Carolina in NC.
After a couple of years, he decided that he wanted to come home and go to college. He called Coastal Georgia’s golf coach, Mike Cook, and told him he wanted to come home and play golf on the school’s team. Coach Cook said, “of course….come on.”
That was two years ago. Since then, Johnson’s golf game has exploded.
After transferring, his golf game reached new heights. He won several tournaments and earned individual honors including Player of the Year for NAIA, Coastal Georgia’s Men’s Student-Athlete of the Year and most recently, The Jack Nicklaus Award for NAIA Division. Quite a senior year.
Coastal Georgia went to a tournament in Mesa, AZ at the Las Sendas Golf Club. A course, Johnson and the other team members had not played.
They studied the course on the internet. Johnson knew the conditions of the course would be different than others he played throughout his young career.
So, he practiced on similar grass. He chipped and putted for hours. He would also play on various courses but he practiced his short game more than most. It payed off in a big way. His senior year was marked by several wins and a couple of second places until AZ.
At Las Sendas Golf Club, his team was behind by 15 strokes going into the final round. He and his team mates knew they had to have a great day to catch up.
They caught up but fell short of the team title. Johnson finished tied for first individual honors and entered into a playoff for the title.
He had birdied the 18th hole during the first three rounds, then in the final round, a bogey. The three stepped to the tee on the playoff hole and he knew that he needed to hit quality shots. He did. The others did not.
Johnson birdied the first playoff hole to win the NAIA Individual title and became the first player in the history of Coastal Georgia’s men’s golf program to do so. Coach Cook said, “he is the best player in NAIA this year and it has been sweet to coach him.”
When I interviewed both Coach Cook and Johnson, they both smiled talking about their relationship since his transfer from Western Carolina.
Johnson’s game exploded with winning title after title and then winning the Jack Nicklaus Award for NAIA. He was one of five winners of the award, one for each college division. What does that do for him? Just an opportunity to play one of the hardest golf courses, with a slope rating of 76, for an exemption into a PGA Tour event in July.
He did not win but he did get his chance to meet and talk with 18 Major winner, Jack Nicklaus in Ohio.
As I talked with Johnson on the range at Retreat, he said he didn’t play well against the other division winners, he just could not get his game going. You have to drive the ball well and the rough was…..well let’s say very rough.
On Sunday in a crowded room, he and the others were to receive the award from Jack Nicklaus. Johnson said Jack’s wife Barbara came into the room first and greeted them.
Then the room became silent waiting for the PGA Tour legend.
In he came with his gray jacket and tie, he greeted and took photos with each winner. Johnson said he stayed and talked for over an hour. What a treat and a once in a lifetime experience that will go into his memory bank forever.
One final note, the winner of the Memorial, Patrick Cantley, was a Jack Nicklaus award winner and now a PGA Tour winner. Johnson knows that and looks forward to the challenges ahead of him after graduation.
Congratulations, Mark David Johnson. Well done and well deserved.
The Tough Coastal Life
By: Kenneth Harrison Jr.
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
The summer is just getting started and I can’t wait for Fall to get here. In just a few long months football season will start.
I’m going to take a look at the Coastal division in the ACC and see how each team should finish. If you’re wondering why I didn’t pick the Atlantic it’s because we all know the final answer, Clemson wins with ease.
The Coastal is the much weaker division. By default, that makes it very competitive because they lack a dominant team. The only problem is the division champ is just waiting to be slaughtered by Clemson in the ACC Championship.
Perfect example, Pitt (7-7) won the division and was mauled by the Tigers 42–10.
Duke: They have the most stability with the longest tenured coach in the division, David Cutcliffe. He’s led the Blue Devils to 6 bowl games in the last 7 years. That’s very good considering Duke was a perennial doormat for most of their history.
They have to replace their starting quarterback, Daniel Jones who was the 6th overall pick in the draft.
The schedule is very tough. They start the season against Alabama in a neutral site game in Atlanta. They play both Virginia schools on the road. Then in November, they play Notre Dame, Syracuse and Miami. They will struggle to win 6 games.
Georgia Tech: The Yellow Jackets are replacing Paul Johnson and his triple option scheme after 11 seasons. They will look totally different under new head coach Geoff Collins.
The Yellow Jackets will now run a spread offense, which means most of their roster does not fit that scheme. They also will have a learning curve adapting to a new scheme.
The book ends of the season are going to blow out losses to Clemson and Georgia. The games in between are somewhat manageable. I expect them to get 6 wins, mainly because there are other teams in the division with first year coaches.
Miami: The Hurricanes should be the cream of the crop. Former defensive coordinator Manny Diaz is now the head coach. They also have Ohio State transfer and former five-star quarterback Tate Martell. If he’s anywhere near as good as he thinks he is then he will be a Heisman finalist.
The season begins against Florida in Orlando. After that, the schedule is easy. The Florida State game used to be a big deal but the Seminoles aren’t good anymore. Get ready for more turnover chain celebrations in 2019. I think the Hurricanes can win 10 games. At worst, I expect 9 wins.
North Carolina: Mack Brown returned to UNC and has not coached since 2013. The Tar Heels were 2-9 last year so they are very bad.
I think Brown is rusty and he inherits a bad football team. The season begins against South Carolina and 11 of 12 games are against teams that went bowling last season. They should improve but they will still have a losing record, 4 wins at best.
Pitt: The Panthers have back-to-back games against Penn State and UCF. They should win 6 or 7 games.
Virginia: UVA improved significantly last year in Bronco Mendenhall’s 3rd season on the job. Other than Notre Dame, Miami and Pitt the other games are manageable. The Cavaliers can realistically expect to win 8 games.
Virginia Tech: The Hokies only won 6 games in 2018, which is a down year for them.
They have not lost to in-state rival UVA since 2003, so I assume that’s a win. Va Tech should finish with 7-8 victories.
The Super Mario Of The SEC
By: JJ Lanier
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
When I was a kid, I remember I wanted to attend the college that had the best overall athletic program when it came to the three major sports- football, basketball, and baseball.
This way, no matter the season I would always be rooting for a winning team, not understanding at age 7 how those things fluctuate from year to year. (I actually asked my Dad, who told me Oklahoma at the time, and so for a brief period I was a Sooners fan. Don’t worry, it didn’t last long.)
Keeping that in mind I thought I’d take a look and see which SEC school had the most successful athletic season in those three sports- men’s and women’s, when applicable.
The most objective thing to do would be to assign a point system revolving around standings, post season appearances, and championships.
But, I would end up spending 80% of this article explaining the criteria and who wants to read that. Plus, it’s a lot more fun to just randomly pick a school and then argue it’s merit, right?
After much deliberation, (the amount of time it takes to drink a cup of coffee while listening to Side A of Aerosmith’s “Get A Grip”) I decided it was between three programs: Georgia, Kentucky, and LSU.
Georgia: If you take away the men’s basketball season then Georgia wins this by a landslide. Top 2 conference finishes in both football and baseball, as well as finishing in the upper half of the conference standings in both women’s basketball and softball.
Unfortunately, much to the dismay of some SEC fans, the next to last finish the men’s basketball team suffered this season does count. It’s hard to be the outright winner when you have a year like that in a major sport, even if you have the best finish of the three in the most popular one.
Kentucky: The Wildcats finished in the Top 4 in football, men’s and women’s basketball, and softball; a claim no other program in the SEC can come close to. Come to think, maybe they would win in a landslide??
Oh, that’s right, Kentucky’s baseball team was so abysmal this year the only logical conclusion is Drake owns at least three of their baseball jerseys. If I’m going to hold Georgia’s basketball season against them, I guess I’ve got to do the same with Kentucky’s baseball.
LSU: As for the Tigers, their best and worst finishes came within the same sport- first place finish for the men’s team, ninth place for the women’s. Everything else fell in between.
LSU is kind of like that band with one great hit and a bunch of decent songs nobody really remembers; the “Candlebox of the SEC” if you will.
Out of all three programs though, LSU is the only one to have a team to win a regular season conference title (neither of the three programs had a conference tournament champion among them), so there’s that.
When all is said and done there is really only one thing you need to take away from this article- If my son were to ask me the same question I asked my father over 30 years ago I’m not sure I could tell him which school he should go to, but I could tell him which one not to go to; Vanderbilt. I think we’re all in agreement that outside of their baseball team, they should just go ahead and shut the rest of them down.
Young Guns
By: TJ Hartnett
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Going into Spring Training, the Atlanta Braves felt like they had two strong anchors in their starting rotation in Mike Foltynewicz and Kevin Gausman.
Both guys had a few years in the bigs under their belts and both had successful campaigns in 2018. Gausman’s success coming after he was traded to Dixie from the Baltimore Orioles, in particular.
It was the rest of the rotation that was covered in question marks. The loss of Anibal Sanchez to Sean Newcomb’s second half crash to the ever-changing consistency of Julio Teheran, the starting corps was less of a strength and more of a potential strength.
The talent was there. The Braves had built up a mountain of wealth in the arms department but there was no track record because a few flashes of brilliance from most of the prospects.
So, there was reasonable concern when both Folty and Gausman couldn’t make it to the finish line of Spring Training healthy. These were the guys Atlanta needed to lean on while the prospects and younger arms of the rotation were put to the test.
Flash forward to the June 1st, the season is two-thirds of the way done, and the Braves have two strong anchors in their rotation: but the twist is that the anchors are two of those same prospects the Braves weren’t sure they could count on in March.
Mike Soroka and Max Fried have been the stalwart performers of Atlanta’s starting rotation in 2019, leading the team in earned run average and wins, respectively, and each of them rank second in the category they aren’t leading in.
In fact, the question marks surround Folty and Gausman, who both returned from the Injured List and have been inconsistent at best (Gausman, for the most part) or just bad at worst (Folty, for the most part). They haven’t been able to secure wins for their team, going 3-8 collectively, and neither can boast an ERA under 5.50.
If there’s good news among the bad, it’s that both are talented enough to break out of these funks. In fact, both have had recent games that looked like a turnaround point only to have poor outings the following turn.
Soroka and Fried, on the other hand, have been consistently great. Fried has kept Atlanta in pretty much every game he’s started, as his 7 wins show. Finally, getting a chance to stick in the rotation (he made a total of 9 starts out of 23 appearances over the past two seasons), Fried is showing why the Braves coveted him so much when they traded Justin Upton to San Diego for him in December of 2014.
Soroka has been a revelation; picking up from where he left off last season before he got hurt and proving that he’s got the moxie to be a top starter even at the age of 21.
Soroka has been so good since joining the rotation that when he went eight innings in San Francisco against the Giants last month and only gave up one run, his ERA actually went up.
The kicker is that the last piece of the rotation puzzle, Julio Teheran, has actually been pretty good this year as well. He may have finally settled into the middle-of-the-rotation guy he was probably always destined to be anyway.
What this all amounts to is this: if (when?) Folty and Gausman figure it out, the Braves rotation will be among the most formidable quintet in the game today. And that’s thanks in large part to the teams two studs: Mike Soroka and Max Fried.
Swinging For Omaha
By: Kipp Branch
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
College Baseball National Top Sixteen Seeds came out this week and they are listed below for the NCAA Baseball Tourney.
The top 16 seeds host a regional and then the winners of the regionals go to the Super Regionals the following week with the 8 winners advancing to the College World Series in Omaha on June 15th.
Sixty-four teams are chosen for the NCAA baseball tourney. Top 16 Seeds:
- UCLA (47-8) 2. Vanderbilt (49-10) 3. Georgia Tech (41-17) 4. Georgia (44-15) 5. Arkansas (41-17) 6. Mississippi St. (46-13) 7. Louisville (43-15) 8. Texas Tech (39-17) 9. Oklahoma St. (36-18)
- East Carolina (43-15) 11. Stanford (41-11) 12. Ole Miss (37-25) 13. LSU (37-24)
- North Carolina (42-17) 15. West Virginia (37-20) 16. Oregon St. (36-18-1)
Regional Winners:
UCLA: Top ranked Bruins look very good in 2019. Baylor could pose a problem but look for UCLA to advance to the Supers.
Vanderbilt: Vandy should coast through the Nashville regional.
Georgia Tech: The Jackets have Coastal Carolina and Auburn in the Atlanta regional. This one could get interesting. Give me GT to move on the Super Regional.
Georgia: The Dawgs have a future major league rotation playing currently in college. FSU in Mike Martin’s last year could cause some issues. Mercer playing in the Athens regional has nothing to lose. What if the UGA/Mercer game comes down to a Randon Jernigan vs Will Bowdoin matchup of former Glynn Academy Red Terrors teammates? Dawgs move on to host a Super Regional.
Arkansas: Are the Hogs on a mission in 2019? They were a foul ball catch away from being National Champs in 2018. Hogs win the Fayetteville Regional.
Miami: The Canes upset Mississippi State in the Starkville regional. State will choke at home.
North Carolina State: The Wolfpack beat East Carolina on their home turf to win the regional. This is a sleeper team folks and not a huge upset in the Greenville Regional.
Stanford: The Cardinal get a scare from UC Santa Barbara but move on.
Clemson: The Tigers win the Oxford regional over Ole Miss who have no business hosting a regional with 25 regular season losses.
Arizona State: Call me crazy but I think ASU beats LSU in the Baton Rouge regional.
Tennessee: The Vols shock the Tar Heels in the Chapel Hill regional and move to the Supers.
Louisville: The Cardinals coast through the regional they host.
Oklahoma State: Solid baseball program that will win their home regional and move on.
Oregon State: The Beavers have a great baseball program and will have no problem at home.
Texas Tech: The Red Raiders are solid, but the committee sent Florida to Lubbock. Texas Tech advances.
Texas A&M: The Aggies win the Morgantown Regional and send West Virginia packing. Solid pitching for A&M
Super Regionals Best 2 of 3:
Vanderbilt hosts Texas A&M: SEC Matchup. The Commodores are thinking Omaha and National Championship. Vandy in 2
NC State at Louisville: Wolfpack wins in 3
Miami at Stanford: Canes have to travel too far and get swept in 2.
Tennessee at GT: Going to be a great Super. Give me the Jackets in 3.
Oregon State at UCLA: Pac-12 matchup. UCLA in 2.
Oklahoma State at Texas Tech: Big-12 matchup. Give me Oklahoma State in 3 in an upset.
Clemson at Arkansas: The Hogs beat Clemson in 2, and roll into Omaha.
Arizona State at Georgia: Dawgs pitching gets by the Sun Devils in 2.
College World Series Teams:
Vanderbilt
NC State
Stanford
Georgia Tech
UCLA
Oklahoma State
Arkansas
Georgia
Your 2019 National Champions: Vanderbilt. College baseball is a great game to watch.
Swing For The Fence
By: Mike Anthony
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Despite a division title defense that hasn’t quite gone as expected so far and a few glaring issues that cause fans stress on a nightly basis, the Atlanta Braves are still in a great spot to build off of last year’s surprise playoff appearance.
In fact, the Braves and their fans should buckle up right now and take their best shot at the ultimate goal of winning a World Series.
While the Braves have a lot of pieces in place at the major league level and figure to have more coming up the pipeline in the near future, it’s important for the franchise to realize that this isn’t the same game that allowed it to win division titles for the better part of two decades.
Major League Baseball is now a game of windows when it comes to competing for a world title, and although the Braves aren’t even two years removed from wallowing at the bottom of their division, right now is the right time to strike while the iron is hot.
Atlanta already has a lineup that consists of a guy on track for Cooperstown in Freddie Freeman. Ronald Acuna has gone from runaway Rookie of the Year winner to serious MVP candidate and Dansby Swanson is starting to look more and more like a former overall No. 1 draft pick with each passing day. And now the last two weeks have seen the rise of Austin Riley.
Of course, it hasn’t all been sunshine and roses for Atlanta. The Braves’ bullpen was a huge question mark entering the season and has done little to make any fan comfortable with any late lead.
The starting rotation has also been in flux as Sean Newcomb is nothing like his 2018 self and Mike Foltynewicz isn’t putting up anything close to the ‘ace’ numbers that had him at the top of the rotation in the spring.
A couple of decades ago, this would have been the recipe that called for the Braves to hold tight, continuing to develop all of the currently excelling talent while trusting that other proven commodities would either return to form or eventually be replaced by guys in the minors.
That’s not how things are done anymore. The Braves have a lineup that can do damage against the current MLB pitching staffs that can roll out one flamethrower after the next. And – on the right day – the squad also has enough arms to shut down the better teams in the league.
This is where the front office has to believe in itself and let loose all of its power to make the Braves a World Series contender. The should make a few deals to solidify the pitching staff. Fast-track a prospect or two in order to make sure that the end of the bench and bullpen is good enough to steal a win here and there.
Like it or not, there is no place in the current state of MLB for crafting a model that results in over a decade of division championships. In the current league setup, you’re either contending for a World Series title, or you’re bottoming out at the major league level while stocking up in the minors.
The teams that win 70-80 games are getting nothing in terms of postseason action and are put behind the 8-ball in terms of gaining new prospects by picking later in the draft.
The Braves are in danger of falling into that unproductive middle if the status quo continues. They’re far too talented and young to be a team that is undergoing a rebuild. So, it’s time to lean on the strategy that has produced so much success from Riley over the last couple of weeks.
Hit the gas pedal. Do whatever is necessary to find all of those extra wins over the next four months. The iron is hot, but you still have to strike it.
The Constant
By: JJ Lanier
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
“…And that’s why you the play game” is a phrase we’ve all heard trickle out of an announcer’s mouth on more than one occasion.
While it normally pertains to a team winning a game they weren’t supposed to win, you could argue it’s just as appropriate when referencing a certain player’s careers. To me, Jake Fromm’s time at Georgia, and his probable future in the NFL, falls under that category.
From the time Fromm stepped foot on the Athens campus it feels as though he’s been the underdog; having to prove himself time and time again.
First there was Jacob Eason, the highly touted incumbent quarterback. Granted, Fromm didn’t win the starting quarterback job his freshman season and was only given the reigns when Eason went down with an injury. But he never relinquished those reigns once he got them forcing the former #1 rated quarterback to transfer.
Then, there was Justin Fields. Again, another quarterback rated higher than Fromm, whom most expected to see as the starting quarterback by the end of the season, if not earlier.
Yet again, Fromm played well enough to make sure there wasn’t even a discussion of who the starting QB should be entering the 2019 season, and following in Eason’s footsteps, Fields was gone.
Three 5-star quarterbacks in three years, with the lowest ranked of the three being the last one left standing.
That’s not to say Fromm will be a better NFL quarterback than those two, or that he is the better of the three, but to have outlasted the other two says a lot about his play and leadership on the field, and I think quite a lot about his mindset of it.
As fans, we like to complain when someone transfers to another program, or just signs with another team to begin with, because there’s a better chance that player may get playing time with another team. I mean really, we yell “lack of heart” or “is afraid of competition” more often than roses are given out on the Bachelor/Bachelorette.
So, if we’re going to complain about someone trying to improve their chances at a professional career- as if we wouldn’t be doing the exact same thing- then we should praise Fromm for attacking his college career in the way we want our athletes to.
Instead of searching for playing time and signing elsewhere his freshman year, he decided to attend to the university he’s always wanted to go to, even though that meant likely sitting behind Eason; injuries excluded, obviously.
Then, after being recruited over with Fields, he didn’t cry about on social media or make any kind of inflammatory remarks about the situation. All he did was show up, work hard, and proved he belonged.
I have nothing against a player making a move that suits him or her best, especially since coaches change jobs like Game of Thrones changed character arcs. I have a lot of respect though for someone who decides to take the road less traveled.
I know what I’m saying is nothing new, or anything you haven’t probably thought of, but every now and again sometimes we need to be reminded of the obvious.
If you’re a Georgia fan, enjoy this upcoming season because in less than a year from now Fromm will likely hear another phrase we’re all used to- “And with the (insert number) pick of the 2020 draft…..”
