A great deal of Braves fans have complained from the start of the 2006 season to the end of the 2007 season regarding the fact that the Braves didn't have enough veterans on the team to carry them well into the postseason.
So when the Braves, again, find themselves struggling during this young (no pun intended) 2008 season to break even in the win column, of course, Braves fans have to find something else to complain about. It's normal. We all do it. As fans of the sport, and especially, as fans of the Braves, we want them to do well. And when they're not doing well, we complain. We fuss. We gripe. We have the remote set on another game, or show, and when the game goes downhill, we hit the "go back" button to watch whatever we have set. During yesterday's frustrating 1-run loss, my "go back" button was set on the Masters. Who would've thought that a game of golf would be more interesting than the game of baseball?
After Glavine strained his hamstring and was forced to exit the game with the bases loaded in the first, I began to ponder the idea that maybe we have too many veterans this year. During the 2006 and 2007 season, if someone were to ask me if I wanted a team full of veterans, I would've screamed "yes!" before you could blink your eye.
Of course, any manager in their right mind would want the likes of John Smoltz, Tim Hudson, and Tom Glavine in their starting rotation. And any manager would want Chipper, Teixeira, and a "give-it-all-you-got-hard-playin'" Kotsay patrolling center field. I mean, it's these guys that deliver in the post season. It's these guys who don't fold under pressure. It's these guys who have the mentality and wisdom to help develop young players like Francoeur, McCann, Escobar, and Jurrjens into the type players that will one day earn the rightful status of being considered a seasoned veteran ball player.
I know it doesn't take long in terms of time to become a veteran in the major leagues, but players like McCann and Francoeur, who both have had 2 full seasons in the majors, and have definitely put up veteran numbers, are not necessarily veterans in my book. I'm not so sure how these type of young players could handle a bases loaded, full count, 2 outs, game 7 of the World Series, type of situation. I mean, I would definitely hope they would deliver, but I'd feel much better if Chipper were in the situation. Simply because the guy (Chipper) is a true veteran who knows the game and has had the experience of both winning and losing in those situations. In my book, a veteran goes a long way.
After all of the final roster moves and acquisitions were made at the end of this year's spring training, I became increasingly excited about our team's chances of regaining the division title and entering the playoffs. I looked at the roster, read several interviews with Cox and Wren, and compared the 2008 roster to the past two seasons, and drew the conclusion that this is probably our best chance of winning a world series that the team's had in the past 4-5 years. Folks, if you look at the names on this year's roster, you'd realize I'm not an idiot for making such a statement. The Braves are deeply talented and have what it takes to do well.
I can remember thinking that we have just the right mix. We have just enough young players with the fiery energy to keep the fuel in the tank, and we have enough veterans to keep the wheels on the track. Again, many major league ball clubs would kill to have the 2008 Atlanta Braves starting rotation and would die to have the 2 all-star switch hitters, Jones and Teixiera, as their number 3 and 4 in the lineup.
After 12 games into the season though, I've become a bit cynical regarding our fortress of veterans. And after yesterday's heartbreaking 5-4 loss to the Nationals, I became even more cynical.
After yesterday's loss, my dad made the comment that "if there's something to worry about regarding this year's Braves, it would be their health."
Big Bruce has a point. And I, being a young man with not as much experience, have to consider the wisdom of such a veteran as my dad.
Tom Glavine has never been on the disabled list. Did you hear (err read) that? Tom Glavine, who is working on his 22nd year in the big leagues, has never been on the disabled list. The only time he has left the game as early as he did yesterday was back in 1989, and he left then because he twisted his ankle. So, when Tom Glavine left yesterday's game in the first inning, I became worried that our 42 year old veteran pitcher may begin his downhill fight to stay healthy in one of our best chances of entering the playoffs. Not very good timing, Tommy. You can't help it though, afterall, you're 42 years old.
Don't forget about our 40 year old veteran, future hall of famer, John Smoltz is fighting shoulder soreness. I'm confident in Smoltz though. He continuously reminds the media that he knows how to deal with his body and will give it all he's got. And don't get me started on Michelle Hampton. That dude can't pee without injuring his ear.
Chipper, well, Chipper is Chipper. He's been hurt since he made it into the big leagues. It's either a sore foot, sore thumb, sore back, sore arm, sore elbow, sore toes, etc. It's always gonna be something. He's hoping to get 150 games in this year. A little stretch, isn't it Chip? I'm banking on 125-135 games.
Our center fielder, Mark Kotsay, has his ailing back to worry about.
I'm not in any way meaning to be excessively negative here, but it should be a concern to all Braves fans that the success of this ball club soley relies on the team's health. I'm sorry, with an 80 million dollar salary limit, we can't afford young players, such as Jose Reyes, David Wright, Carlos Beltran, Johan Santana, John Maine (who has not impressed me at all), Oliver Perez, Ryan Church, Jose Castillo... do I need to go on? Okay, Cole Hammels, Kyle Kendrick, Jimmy Rollins, Ryan Howard, Chase Utley... okay, okay, I'll stop here.
With the Braves entering their last few seasons with Bobby Cox, players like Smoltz, Glavine, Chipper, Teixiera, and so on, there's reason to be anxious regarding the health of the 2008 Atlanta Braves. The Braves want to get things back on track before the "rebuilding years" begin.
We have a promising future in Escobar, Frenchie, McCann, and Jurrjens. But, we need players like Chipper, Smoltz, and Glavine to stay healthy to effectively and winningly bridge the gap from "the now" to "the future."
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