TJ Hartnett
Prize Fish
By: TJ Hartnett
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
We are now just a week away from the end of the 2020 Major League Baseball season.
Even with a massively expanded postseason this year, or possibly because of that expansion, it’s pretty clear which teams will be present during round 1 of a playoff that will look wildly different for a lot of different reasons.
Basically, with 16 teams making the cut, all of the decent teams and a couple of middling ones will be in on the final hunt for that World Series trophy; and unless something truly wild happens three of those teams will be hailing from the NL East.
The Braves seem destined to win the division and Marlins and Phillies are both over .500.
Miami is too far behind San Diego in terms of winning percentage to take over the four seed in the playoff tournament, but they’ll likely hold on to the five spot and therefore play the Padres in a three-game set taking place entirely at Petco Park.
The Phillies, assuming they don’t usurp the Marlins in second place, can only be seeded seventh or eighth, which has the dramatic possibility of seeing them face off with Atlanta in Truist Park for the first round.
The Marlins are surely going to win the World Series.
Now that might sound that a pretty bold prediction, but history backs me up here.
Sure, Miami’s season-to-season track record has been underwhelming, to say the least (they’ve never won the division since coming into existence over two and a half decades ago). However, they’ve made it to the postseason via the wild card twice and they’ve never lost a postseason series.
That’s right, two trips to the playoffs; two World Series Championships.
It’s really as simple as that. They’re poised to make the cut at the NL East’s second-place team, and history tells us that that means they won’t lose in the postseason.
But for the sake of argument, let’s briefly look at how they’re going to win their inevitable third Commissioner’s Trophy.
It starts and ends with Miami’s starting pitching.
I’ve rambled on and on here about Atlanta’s struggles with the starting rotation and how the young pitchers they call up have struggled. Miami keeps striking gold when it adds starters to the roster.
For example, highly touted prospect Sixto Sanchez has delivered in a huge way for the fish, giving them innings and not giving up runs. He’s looked every bit of what the Marlins hoped he’d be.
He’s got help on the mound from guys like Sandy Alcantara, who’s only made 5 starts but has gone six innings in all but one, giving up three earned runs or less in those 4 games (he gave up 5 in a 4-inning affair during his second start of the season).
Pablo Lopez has looked good too.
Some of their starters haven’t been up to snuff, like Jose Urena, but looking at the more immediately future: it doesn’t matter. You only need three starters in a three-game series.
Their bullpen is led by guys like Brad Boxberger and James Hoyt.
So, while picking the Marlins to win the whole thing this year may seem like a foolish notion, it’s pitching that matters most in the playoffs, and they’ve got a good crew on the mound.
The mere fact that they’ll be there is all the backup I need.
MVP
By: TJ Hartnett
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
It seems bonkers to be thinking about and talking about end of the year awards for the Major League Baseball season when not even two months have passed since the first pitch of the season was thrown, but here we are.
The pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign will be over soon and things like Cy Young Awards, MVPs, Gold Gloves, and Silver Sluggers must be given out.
So, with that in mind, I’d like to make a case for a player who should be the National League Most Valuable Player this season: Atlanta Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman.
Freeman has long been respected as one of the most consistent players in the game, if not the top player at his position.
He’s had All Star appearances, won Gold Gloves and Silver Sluggers, but the one thing (other than a World Series ring, of course) missing from his trophy case is an MVP award.
This year, for all its flaws and weirdness, presents the best opportunity for Freddie to fill that spot on the shelf.
As with most seasons, Freeman has hit for average and power, with good RBI numbers as well as a great OPS and WAR (for you sabermetric fans out there).
But it also seems like every year he hovers just under the radar for serious award consideration.
This year seemed to be shaping up much in the same way, but Freeman has gotten incredibly hot, slugging his first two career grand slams, tons of multi-hit games, and a two-homerun game to boot.
In that stretch, his batting average skyrocketed over .330 and his OPS topped 1.000 (a whopping, and league leading, 1.075). He also is the top of the league in RBI’s, driving in runs at a torrid clip.
But the case isn’t just made because of his numbers alone. The Braves, who have been favorites to win the NL East all season, have seen their starting rotation decimated over the course of the season, and Cy Young candidate Max Fried hitting the Injured List could very well have been the straw that broke the camel’s back.
Short of taking the mound himself, Freddie’s offensive explosion has seen him do everything he can to prevent Atlanta from slipping out of first place in the division, as the Philadelphia Phillies have given chase.
Freeman is also a team player. The Braves third hitter for almost his entire career, he responded well to being moved up to the two-hole after leadoff man Ronald Acuna, Jr. was hurt and kept out of the lineup for a few games.
He responded so well that Brian Snitker has kept him there after the young outfielder’s return.
Credit to where it’s due: Freddie always thrives when someone with some thunder hits behind him.
Last season, Freeman was awarded the Silver Slugger after a year of having Josh Donaldson batting in the cleanup spot.
This year Marcel Ozuna has been a revelation, protecting Freddie and giving opposing pitchers a veritable Sophie’s Choice of who to pitch for in any situation.
In fact, for a while there it looked like Ozuna would be the Braves’ most likely MVP candidate.
While Ozuna continued to thrive in Atlanta, Freeman has jumped into the forefront of the conversation both in Atlanta and, I hope, the minds of the MVP voters.
It’s time for Freddie to stop being the bridesmaid and get married. I now pronounce him the NL MVP.
You may win the World Series now.
Mis-Managed
By: TJ Hartnett
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Major League managers are simultaneously the most overrated and underrated members of a baseball team, depending on the team’s record.
If the team is winning, then the manager is probably being over-credited. If the team is losing, then the manager is probably getting over-blamed.
This isn’t to say that managers don’t have an important role on a team’s success beyond simply penciling in a lineup, just that sometimes the role of a guy who isn’t actually participating in the game can be overexaggerated in one way or another.
I bring this up because I want to discuss Atlanta Braves’ manager Brian Snitker. Specifically, I want to discuss whether or not he’s actually a good manager for the team of which he is currently at the helm.
I’ll go ahead and spoil the ending: I think he is – which isn’t to say there is nothing to discuss, but there are ways in which he seems to be failing the team.
Let’s talk about the obvious first:
Bullpen Usage. All managers are judged most often and often most harshly on how they implement their bullpen.
It’s the easy thing to criticize, as it’s the primary way in which a manager influences the game while it’s being played.
The inspiration for this article is, in fact, because of Snitker’s sometimes flabbergasting use of his relief corps. Specifically that he brought in Charlie Culberson, a position player, to pitch in the second game of a doubleheader when the Braves were down by just one run.
Charlie Clutch delivered, easily getting the one out he was tasked with getting, but the question is still begged…what?
Especially egregious was this move in light of the fact that A.J. Minter, arguably the Braves’ best bullpen pitcher (in a veritable overflowing pot of good ones) was wasted in Game 1 when the Braves were up 7-1.
There seems to be some kind of a disconnect between Snit and any analytics or forethought in this regard.
Taking that same example as a for instance: he knew they had a whole second game to play that day, so why burn Minter and put yourself in a position to then use a position player on the mound in a tight game? Did the Phillies offense worry him that much?
The bullpen has been overused, certainly, and that’s no fault of Snit’s; the starting rotation has got holes on holes on holes, but why use your talent unnecessarily in a blowout when you have to play another game less than an hour after the first one ends?
There’s also the constant, unending use of Luke Jackson in high-leverage situations.
Now, Jackson’s numbers at a glance aren’t awful (though they also don’t warrant how he’s often used), but he’s constantly getting himself into jams through walks or hits.
Jackson was the saving grace of the bullpen for the first two months of 2019, but it seems almost like Snit still feels indebted to the righty when there are better arms available.
Moving away from the ‘pen, there’s also the curious reliance on guys like Ender Inciarte.
Inciarte has played primarily when Acuna has been hurt. But Ender is so bad at the dish now that any start he gets is a head-scratcher.
Even if the normal starting trio of Acuna, Adam Duvall, and Nick Markakis needs a day of rest, then isn’t even Marcel Ozuna’s sub-par defense overshadowed by his bat?
Ender should be a defensive replacement and nothing else at this point. But Snit keeps running him out there nonetheless.
All that being said, I still think Snit is a good manager or maybe it’s more accurate to say that he’s a good leader, since some of his actual managing leaves a little to be desired.
Why do I say that? Well, two primary reasons: one, his players absolutely love him.
Freddie Freeman has long advocated for Snitker to remain as the team’s skipper, and wanting to play for your manager is not nothing.
Two, his record pretty much speaks for itself. He’s won two straight division titles and has a third in sight. And at the end of the day, winning is what he’s supposed to do.
I don’t know if Snitker is the manager in five years, but for now, so long as the team tries their hardest to win for him, and do, then he’s still the guy.
Midpoint
By: TJ Hartnett
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
On Wednesday, the Atlanta Braves finished up their 30th game of the 2020 season by completing a double header sweep of the New York Yankees.
Usually, the 30th game of the season is unspectacular as a marker of the passage of time within a campaign. But since this is 2020, the 30th game is the halfway point of the whole season.
It also meant that the trade deadline was five days away – tomorrow, as of this article’s publication.
Generally, we would take a look at where the Braves are and where they’re going at the All-Star break (a little past halfway, actually), but even though there isn’t as much to chew on as normal, let’s look at what the Braves have done on the field so far.
We’ve talked about pitching woes ad nauseum, so let me touch on that very briefly. With the injury to Mike Soroka, the continued absence of Cole Hamels, and the ineffectiveness of Mike Foltynewicz, Sean Newcomb, Kyle Wright, and pretty much everyone else; the pitching rotation basically has boiled down to Max Fried and everyone else.
Fried, for his part, could very well win the Cy Young award this season. Everyone else…not so much. Ian Anderson looked terrific in his debut on Wednesday, but time will tell if he can sustain it.
So, with the starting rotation woes being what they are, the team has been relying on the bullpen, the defense, and (honestly a fairly inconsistent) offense. However, the Braves have been winning and are in first place.
The bullpen was a strength on paper going into 2020, and it has delivered. Not every outing is stellar, but very few are disasters.
In fact, before Ian Anderson showed up, the Braves had 16 team wins and Fried was the only starter credited with any – a full ¼ of them, mind you (he’s since upped that number of wins to 5). The relief corps has been invaluable and unfortunately, overworked.
The defense on the team has been solid. Which is unsurprising (with Gold Glove winners like Freddie Freeman and Nick Markakis fielding the ball) and surprising (injuries to Ozzie Albies and Ronald Acuna, Jr. have taken some of the most fleet-footed players off the diamond for extended periods of time).
Marcel Ozuna hasn’t helped too much in this regard, but his value has been immense nonetheless, because of his bat, so let’s get to that.
Ozuna has essentially served perfectly as the replacement for Josh Donaldson in the cleanup spot.
He’s provided power and clutch hits in a way that almost makes it forgivable for Alex Anthopoulos to have let the Bringer of Rain walk to Minnesota. Almost.
Dansby Swanson has been a revelation at the plate, a mini-slump in between two periods of great hitting, notwithstanding.
Outside of Max Fried, I think it’d be hard to argue that Swanson has been the MVP of the season so far.
Not that perennial MVP candidates Freedman and Acuna, Jr. have been slouching.
Acuna, much like the previous two seasons, had a slow first few weeks, but just prior to his injury and since returning, he’s begun heating up.
Freeman was also struggling at first, hitting at the Mendoza line for the first 15 games, but he’s blistered the ball since, averaging out to where we’d expect him to be at this point.
But the real revelation has been Travis D’Arnaud. D’Arnaud was a free agent pickup who has killed the ball at the dish this season, as well as played well behind it.
Tyler Flowers has continued to prove an able backup (he always seems to hit better when the other catcher is having a good season), solidifying the backstop position, which was a question mark in July.
The question is this: can the Braves hold on to first place with the pitching they have?
It’s a great question, and in the NL East the answer might be yes.
However, if any of the other teams get it together and get hot, the Braves may lose that threepeat they’re after.
Early Chatter
By: TJ Hartnett
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
After defeating the Mets 5-3 in 10 innings on Saturday night, the Atlanta Braves evened the beginning of their season to 1-1 with a meager 58 more games to play.
Two games wouldn’t generally provide a lot to chat about, but this is 2020 and everything is either a little or a lot different.
So, let’s take a moment and figure out what we can glean from Atlanta’s first two contests of the season.
Starting at the end: it took only two games before the Braves experienced one of 2020s more drastic rule changes; a runner on second to start every extra inning.
In Atlanta’s case, Adam Duvall started the top of the 10th on second base and the first batter up, Dansby Swanson drove him in to take a lead that the Braves would hang onto in the bottom of the inning.
It’s easy to say that I like the rule since the team I was rooting for won the first time it was used, but I do think it adds an immediate excitement to the game (in addition to being a functional way to shorten games in the middle of a pandemic).
Just look to the bottom of the 10th. The Braves were up by 3 runs, but with only one hit the Mets had the tying run at the plate in the form of last year’s MLB homerun leader Pete Alonso.
They only got one run across the plate, but the tension was great. The very real possibility that the Mets could come back was palpable right away. In short, regardless of how it goes game-to-game, this is going to be an exciting wrinkle to the season.
Let’s turn now to the offense that the Braves have produced over the first two games of the year. The 5 runs in the second game of the series is nothing to scoff at, but up through Marcel Ozuna’s game-tying homerun at the end of the game the Atlanta offense looked downright anemic.
The heavy hitters in the lineup, Freddie Freeman and Ronald Acuna, Jr., have done very little of note so far. Of course, it’s incredibly early, but with a 60-game season Atlanta can hardly afford to take some to warm up.
The pitching, for the most part, has looked good.
Mike Soroka picked right up where he left off with a stellar 6-inning outing on Opening Day, and Max Fried, while a little less in command of the ball, also pitched well.
The bullpen, specifically Chris Martin, was responsible for the lone run that cost the Braves the game after Soroka was pulled. However only one run allowed by the ‘pen is generally an acceptable amount.
Luke Jackson displayed his two trademarks: a) being left in too long (not his fault) and b) making a game unnecessarily close (his fault), but they got the win and you can’t argue with results.
The pitching was expected to be a strength of this team, and it looks like that may hold true.
Some other, quicker points: Pace has long been an issue with baseball, but neither game has seemingly dragged (again, small sample size).
The minimum of three batters for relievers along with the extra inning rule seem like they’ll be effective in this regard.
The DH in the National League has been a long time coming. Technically it’s a “this season only” rule, but I’d bet it’s here to stay.
Chip Caray said that the Mets are expected to make the playoffs. With a whopping 16 teams qualifying this season (if it gets that far), he’s probably right. It’s going to be a wild chase for the series.
Name Change
By: TJ Hartnett
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
After far too much resistance, the Washington Redskins are finally taking a name change into consideration.
It’s crazy that it’s 2020 and the process has just now begun (it feels inevitable at this point, no?), but better late than never.
In the same vein, the Cleveland Indians have apparently begun thinking about a change as well, and in fact Indians manager Terry Francona has even come out in favor of the shift.
As you might expect, the conversation then directed its’ attention to the Atlanta Braves, who were faced with a modicum of controversy during the playoffs last year regarding the now-beloved tomahawk chop (itself a tradition adopted from Florida State University).
The Braves responded by announcing that they are not planning to change the name of the team, but that they are reconsidering the use of the Chop.
I’ve written about this very topic before, and my views haven’t changed: if the Braves name is offensive or hurtful to anyone, then it should be changed. It’s the name of the team, not the legacy or moments that fans cherish – those will remain, regardless of what the Atlanta baseball team have on the front of their home jerseys.
The chop, which I have participated in enthusiastically thousands of times, should almost certainly be no more.
It’s cultural appropriation at its core: a facsimile of a stereotyped Native American war cry done while pantomiming the swinging a tomahawk, which perpetuates the stereotype of the “savage Indian;” and 50,000 non-Native Americans shouldn’t be doing it every night, given the grotesque history our nation has with the people that were here first.
That’s the short version of my take, but instead of rehashing all that, I am going to spend my remaining space not convincing you that the Braves should change their name and drop the chop, but pitching to you what they should change their name to – and how it will help us keep the chop. Sort of.
So, here’s the thing: the tomahawk chop is, as I’ve said, a beloved tradition in Atlanta. But I’ve also said that it needs to go. So how do we keep the spirit of the thing and unity it brings alive while casting out the problematic aspects of it?
First, we change the team from the Atlanta Braves to the Atlanta Vikings. Bear with me.
The Braves become the Vikings, but almost everything else stays the same: we keep the classic uniform design and color scheme; the script “A” on the ball cap; all the things that make our look our look.
We even keep the tomahawk under the team name, only it’s not a tomahawk anymore – under the word “Vikings” is a freakin’ battle ax.
But what about the chop? We can’t keep the chant as is, but there should still be some kind of vocal cry to go along with the chopping motion that we’ve always done, especially now that we have an awesome battle ax. Don’t worry, I’ve got this covered.
Imagine yourself at the ballpark. The Vikings are threatening to rally with two men on and Freddie Freeman at the plate. Normally, this is when you’d chop – but not anymore. Now there’s something better.
Suddenly, roaring through Truist Park’s sound system, comes the ferocious crunch of Jimmy Page’s guitar as the walls echo with the opening riff of Led Zeppelin’s “Immigrant Song.”
The riff blasts four times (edited down from the studio version’s eight), before, along with Robert Plants legendary vocals, the whole stadium – chopping the same way they always have – erupts into the song’s opening battle cry: “AHHHH AHH AHHHHHHHHH AHH!”
The Valhalla Chop. Seriously. Do it right now, wherever you’re reading this. Chop and do the battle cry. You’re right. It’s freaking awesome. Problem solved.
A Brave Future
By: TJ Hartnett
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
There may not be any actual baseball being played right now but the march of business continues on, as the 2020 MLB Draft has come and gone.
For the Atlanta Braves, it’s a chance to restock the farm system as more and more of their highly touted prospects show up to the big-league club.
All signs were pointing to Alex Anthopoulos aiming for high school pitching as his focus – let’s see how that played out and what kind of potential gold Atlanta struck last week.
The first pick for Atlanta, and the number 25 pick overall, was Wake Forest lefty Jared Shuster.
An interesting pick, without a particularly long track record. Shuster broke out last summer during the Cape Cod League and continued to impress during (an albeit shortened) spring.
He may not end up being an ace, but the potential is there for a solid middle-of-the-rotation guy. The kind of draft pick that’s not very sexy, but one that could pay out in a big way.
Quick note: what would have been Atlanta’s second pick was given to the Cardinals after the Braves signed Marcel Ozuna.
It’s always a calculated risk when a team signs a player that costs them a draft pick, but this one will sting a little extra since at best Ozuna will play about half-a-season’s worth of games or at worst won’t play a single game for the Bravos.
So, with what should have been their third, but in reality, was their second pick, Anthopoulos and company took outfielder Jesse Franklin from Michigan.
An injury that COVID-19 never left Franklin recover from might be the only thing that kept this power and speed guy from going top 50 in the draft (a skiing accident shut him down for a month or two, and had Michigan played their whole season he would have been able to show off his recovery).
He’s shown the ability to hit for power, but he’ll need to couple that with a higher average to sniff the Majors.
Spencer Strider, a right-handed pitcher from Clemson, came off the board as the Braves’ fourth-round pick. Yet another guy who could be seen as a risk, Strider was a huge recruiting get for Clemson and played a lot as a freshman, though he struggled with his command.
Tommy John surgery took him out of the game last year, though he did make it back to show off in a short sample size this season before it was shut down.
Strider didn’t appear to be on a lot of radars since he hit the college circuit, but the Braves liked his live arm enough to pull the trigger and hope he shows more of what made him so highly-sought-after in high school.
Lastly, we have Bryce Elder right-handed pitcher from Texas. He’s been the Longhorns’ ace despite not being an overpowering-type pitcher.
However, he’s got a good mix of all of the things that made a good pitcher and could be a rotation mainstay for a lot of years if he develops right.
So, as you’ve probably noticed, there were no high school pitchers drafted.
This is a very interesting class; it’s not a flashy group, and a couple might have needed more time to prove themselves, but given the situation baseball is in, a lot of teams had to take leaps of faith in this draft.
It isn’t the greatest class Atlanta has ever seen, but there’s potential here to supply the Braves with valuable pieces in the future.
The Extra Guy
By: TJ Hartnett
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
This might just be unwarranted optimism, but it is kind of starting to feel like January again.
Not in terms of weather, but in terms of baseball. There seems to be a feeling that a truncated MLB season could start as soon as early July, with about half as many games as normal, expanded playoffs, modified divisions, and – our subject for today – a universal designated hitter.
I’m starting to get that anticipatory excitement I always feel right before spring training. We’ve all felt it once this year, only for COVID to pull the rug out from under us; but that feeling is back and baseball just might be on the horizon.
What could this mean for the Atlanta Braves?
For one thing, it could mean that neither Austin Riley nor Johan Camargo sees any time in whatever the minor leagues look like this season.
They had begun battling it out for the starting third base job before spring training was suspended, but that suspension could very well mean that neither of them needs to worry about not being on the big-league club.
Now, there’s likely going to be a significantly expanded roster at the major league level this season, which might factor into the Braves hanging on to both third basemen more than the DH would. Having that extra spot in the lineup could potentially mean that both guys are essentially starting.
Camargo might get the majority of the starts at third while Riley DHs, with a switch whenever necessary.
On the other hand, a DH could mean that Camargo and Riley platoon and Nick Markakis or Adam Duvall get the DH spot instead. The righty/lefty matchup works out, in a traditional sense, and it would keep both bats from getting stale, especially with Ronald Acuna, Jr., Marcell Ozuna, and Ender Inciarte likely keeping them on the bench otherwise.
There’s also the option of not having a consistent DH (or platoon). Having the extra spot in the lineup would allow manager Brian Snitker to rotate his starting eight through the designated hitter position throughout the week. That would allow rest for the likes of Freddie Freeman every half inning and replacing them on the field with their backup.
That also serves the purpose of providing relatively consistent at bats for the backups, who normally only see pinch hits and a start once every week or two.
The last option would be for the Braves to go out and get themselves a designated designated hitter (not a typo).
There are actually some intriguing options still on the market. For example, the Braves might not have wanted to risk the money or the potential headache of signing Yasiel Puig to a whole season for a whole season’s worth of money. However, with a much shorter risk period, Atlanta could now go out and sign the outfielder to a fraction of what he’s worth and make him their DH with occasional starts in the outfield.
Mark Trumbo is another guy who can be signed for cheap. He’d likely be exclusively a DH. He has lots of strikeouts but a ton of pop, too.
The point is, maybe the Braves will want a guy to show up and mash and not be required to do anything else.
Those are the kinds of possibilities having a DH for the entire season in the National League will bring for the Braves.
Waiting to see which way they go is just a part of the pre-spring-mid-summer training excitement.
Brave Title
By: TJ Hartnett
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Fox Sports recently satiated our collective thirst for baseball, albeit briefly, by airing the Atlanta Braves’ greatest triumph: the 1995 World Series against the Cleveland Indians.
For six straight nights, Braves Country was treated to a Braves squad at the height of their powers, barely a third of the way into their 14-straight division titles. I don’t usually go for reruns – I never watch the next-day replays during the season – but this was compelling television, despite knowing the outcome.
The 90s and early 00s Braves went through little eras within those 14 years, but that 1995 team’s pitching staff and batting lineup is usually the one people could name.
Sure, the early 90s had Otis Nixon, Terry Pendleton, and Steve Avery in his prime, but no Chipper. The early 2000s had Andruw Jones and Rafael Furcal, but that scrappy Jeff Blauser/Mark Lemke tandem was gone (and then, eventually, so was Tom Glavine).
I think the 1995 team was almost perfectly constructed. Ironically, I don’t think they were the best team the Braves fielded in the 90s, but they’re the one that won it all. So, since they’re fresh on our minds, let’s look back at what made that team special.
Let’s get this out of the way first: the starting pitching was firing on all cylinders. Greg Maddux captured his 4th straight Cy Young award in 1995 (going 19-2 with a freaking 1.63 ERA), and Glavine and Smoltz were in their primes (they both had sub-3.20 ERAs, plus Glavine was World Series MVP and the next season Smoltz would be the first Cy Young winner in five years who wasn’t Mad Dog).
Avery was on the downside of his short career and Kent Mercker put up serviceable but not great numbers in the five spot. The three-headed monster at the top of the rotation made up for any deficiencies.
The bullpen gets little credit, but Mark Wohlers had a 2.09 ERA and led a stellar group of relievers with Greg McMichael, Brad Clontz, and Pedro Borbon. All of those guys had fantastic years on the bump.
The starting lineup was a classic baseball lineup. You had speed at the top of the order in Marquis Grissom, who won a Gold Glove in center field in 1995, followed by a scrapper in the two-hole in Lemke.
Then came the bashers: Bobby Cox thrust the weight of the three-hole onto rookie Chipper Jones, who rose to the occasion and was protected by sluggers Fred McGriff and David Justice hitting fourth and fifth, respectively.
Underrated slugger, Ryan Klesko was up next (he hit .310 along with his 23 homers in 1995), then catcher Javy Lopez, who hit .315 (the two highest averages on the team, for those keeping track at home).
Bringing up the end of the batting order was light-hitting (unless it was a contract year) shortstop Jeff Blauser (who I didn’t remember not playing the Series in ’95 due to an injury – Rafael Belliard took over in his place.)
The interesting thing about this lineup was that it was well-constructed enough that no one really needed to rise above the rest – note that McGriff led the team with 27 home runs and 93 RBIs that year.
McGriff and Klesko were the only members of the team that slugged over .500 (in just 107 games, mind you). But the offense worked and coupled with the pitching, they won 90 games.
More impressive is how that offense got the job done when stacked up against a Cleveland Indians team that was for the ages. A young Manny Ramirez was hitting 7th. And I’m not talking about a green, unproven Manny Ramirez; this guy hit .308 with 31 home runs and 107 RBIs. From the 7-spot.
But they couldn’t get it done. The 1995 Braves were a team of destiny but they were also a team of immense talent.
The Bravest
By: TJ Hartnett
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
As this long stretch of time without any baseball games continues stretching out even longer, we’ve got time to look back on games, players, and teams of the past, and reflect.
The Atlanta Braves are one of the most celebrated franchises in baseball, with three World Series championships across three cities (a record), a run of 14-straight division titles (a record), and some of the greatest players the game has ever seen donning an Atlanta uniform.
It’s those players I want to look back on today and try to figure out the best ever player at each position for the Braves.
That is, I’m going to make up an all-time Braves roster – the greatest to ever suit up at each position, with one starter and one reliever.
Some of these will be easy. You’ve already thought them up after reading these first few sentences; some of them will be tough to single out just one player; and some of them will seem like I’m bending the rules, which I will be, because there are no rules. I’m making this up with impunity.
Let’s do the position players first.
Catcher: there are actually a few good options here, beyond what you may think of off the top of your head: Brian McCann, Javy Lopez, Joe Torre, even Dale Murphy, if you felt like it.
I, however, don’t feel like it, and therefore I’m going with Javy Lopez.
Lopez caught the best pitching trio of all time in Atlanta (ironically the only no-hitter he caught was thrown by Kent Mercker), and won the division every year he was on the team, compared to 3 out of 10 for Mac. Javy also had some of the biggest seasons at the plate when he was behind it.
First Base: Fred McGriff should be in the Hall of Fame, but Freddie Freeman is the guy here. He’s in the top 10 all-time for the franchise in WAR and he’s 30.
Second Base: There are a lot fewer options here than most other positions: Marcus Giles and Glenn Hubbard are the only two with long and memorable stints in the past few decades, and while both were notable, I’m going to jump the gun a little and go with Ozzie Albies.
Albies is locked up to a long-term deal, so I’m looking ahead here and assuming that if his production at least stays consistent to what it has been, he’ll be the obvious choice.
Shortstop: here’s one where the Braves keep almost having a franchise player, but then don’t: Andrelton Simmons being the most recent example (jury’s out on Dansby). I’m going to go with Rafael Furcal. He was an above-average defender and a better hitter than he has ever been given credit for.
Third Base: Eddie Mathews. The only guy to play for the Braves in all three cities. Hall of Famer. 512 home runs. He gets overshadowed in the Braves lore a lot by another Hall of Fame third baseman, but Matthews was the real deal.
And before you riot…
Left Field: Before you accuse me of riding a crazy train, keep in mind that Chipper Jones was the full-time left fielder for two and a half seasons. Yes, he’s a third basemen by trade, but the years he spent patrolling the outfield were enough to allow me to squeeze both him and Mathews onto this roster (if I weren’t allowed to put Chipper in left? He’d be the third baseman. Sorry, Eddie).
Center Field: Andrew Jones. Duh.
Right Field: Hank Aaron. Duh.
Starting Pitcher: Okay so originally I was going to provide a full starting five, but I decided to make myself pick one guy from the wealth of starting pitching legends the Braves have employed dating back to Hall of Famer Kid Nichols (who played 11 season with the Boston freakin’ Beaneaters and was apparently never replaced by a relief pitching in his entire career).
So, given the limitation I placed upon myself, I narrowed it down to Nichols, Warren Spahn, Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, John Smoltz, and Mike Hampton (just kidding).
Maddux is the guy. Spahn is close, but Maddux gets the edge because I got to watch him play and I could rarely believe what I was seeing.
Closer: I could go Smoltz here and include two of the three greats of the 90s, but in truth the best closer the Braves have ever had is Craig Kimbrel. The stats back it up.
There you have it! Disagree? I’m sure you might.
