There's Just Something Different

Attention Braves fans: You have to let go of the past two seasons.

I read an article by Dave O'brien last night that disturbed me. If you're not familiar with this writer, you can find him at http://www.ajc.com/. For the most part, I really enjoy his stuff; however, my experience last night really got my blood pumping.

There's a time to be cynical about the Braves. Being cynical can be tolerated if we are in the midst of a blow-out June like we recently had, or even during a time in which a passionate fan has to watch his favorite veteran pitcher have a legitimate win taking right out of his hands. But, that time is not in the season's first two weeks, or even the first two months, regardless of what the stats look like. Period.

O'brien's main point of argument in his article primarily dealt with the fact that each of the Braves' 5 losses are only by 1 run. While this is definitely worth our attention, it's a bit too early to assess that this will doom them for the rest of the season. We do have the rest of the season, you know. Now don't get me wrong, I don't believe O'brien is counting them out, but as he concluded his article, I just wasn't jumping out of my skin with excitement or a warm feeling in my belly reminding me that this team of veterans can easily rebound from such a skakey start. I don't know O'brien personally, and to be honest with you, he could have totally meant otherwise, but his article just seemed to have absolutely no sense of hope, and I have a big problem with that. It was hope that turned a Braves organization around from a losing, no-fun-to-watch ball club to a group of guys who absoluetly ruled the National League Eastern Division for 14 straight years, collecting a loyal and national fan base. I'm pretty sure the inspiring and even magical, tag-team duo between former GM John Schuerholz and manager Bobby Cox relied on optimism, and primarily hope to pull such a tremendous turnaround that 14 years later would deem it to be a feat that perhaps no other organizaton will ever match. It is the power of hope that Cox and Schuerholz, and players like John Smoltz, Tom Glavine, and Chipper Jones rely on to give them the fuel they need to compete and lead a dignified ball club back to its rightful place- the playoffs. It was almost like O'brien began digging a hole with his title of the article, and from there, he dug deeper and deeper and deeper... just simply a depressing read for a Braves fan. If you want to read his article, you can find it at ajc.com, although, I wouldn't waste your time with that one-- mainly the reason I'm not posting the link here.

I think by the end of last season, Braves fans were anxious to see what the newly acquired general manager, Frank Wren, would do to get the ball club back on its feet. Braves fans felt pretty good about the guy considering the fact that for the past handful of years he has been learning from the best- Schuerholz. Though, after a few trades and acquisitions, it seemed as though there were mixed feelings regarding the team. First of all, we lost Renteria and Andruw, which made some Braves fans a bit worrysome. I'll admit that I was in that group. Soon after, Wren acquired our hometown hero Glavine back from the hated Mets, which possibly elevated some excitement with some of the 90s Braves fans. You know, the 90s fans are those that are "too cool for school." Those ignorantly out-of-date fans who sit back and say, "I'm not into the Braves anymore... they've lost their pitching and are just far too young to make a run for anything... just too inexperienced in winning." Hey, you "too cool for school" ones can kiss my butt.

Call me crazy, but I'm just not believing the idea that the Braves have lost their winning factor (pitching) and that there winning days are over. Come on, get real. The problem is many of the Braves fans have grown comfortable with the Braves winning. I mean, it's not hard to do- growing comfortable that is. Afterall, the Braves were division champs for 14 years straight. Okay, so yeah, it was definitely the pitching that carried us so comfortably to the playoffs for those 14 staight years.

Some idiot responded to O'brien's article basically saying that there are too many young players pushing the veterans out. I'm assuming this response is alluding to the departure of Andruw and Renteria.

Not so fast there buddy.

Any true Braves fan, or baseball fan, or anyone who knows anything about the game of baseball can, hopefully, sense a whole new atmosphere this year. First of all, if you look back to the "winning years," the bullpen was not always dominant. Even Wholers had his slumps. For the most part, the starting pitching really carried the team. Players such as Smoltz and Glavine (who both are still here, folks), Maddux, and Avery. While Smoltz, Glavine, and Hudson may not be as strong as the dominant trio that was in Smoltz, Glavine, and Maddux, they still make a very strong rotation. It could be argued that Smoltz, Glavine, and Hudson are perhaps the strongest trio in the league. And by the way, they sure have gotten off to a good start.

"But, Luke, it's the bullpen... they can't keep us in the game." You're right, Blaine Boyer, has given up two of those 1 run losses by dishing those batting practice fastballs that result in game-winning homers. Our bullpen's ERA is 5 something right now, and like you, it worries me as well, but not as much as the cynics that are currently ripping the organization's hope of rebounding from the past two years. *Make a mental note that this Braves bullpen has two solidified, experienced arms in Soriano and Moylan that will carry much of the weight. Don't give up so fast on Boyer and Acosta either. Acosta is beginning to pick up pace, and Boyer has only made two mistakes. The rest of his outings have been quick in and outs. Our southpaw-specialist, Royce Ring, should look to have a solid year. And Cox, and the rest of the team, are excited about the return of the fiesty and ever so dominating Mike Gonzalez. Folks, this bullpen will come together.

Now, let's get to the point here.

You would be foolish to count them out this early. Can't you sense it? There's just something different about this year. Glavine is back and is sharp as ever. Look for Glav to have at least 14-15 wins. Smoltzie, with a tight shoulder, has still managed to record 6 strikeouts in 5 innings in his season's debut. Huddy will be solid and in my opinion, I think he'll have a phenonemal year. Oh and I'm excluding the possibility of Michelle Hampton returning, which could very well happen; however, I'm not counting on it.

With these 3 (maybe 4 with Hampton) very accomplished veterans, the other two, assuming they will be Jurrjens and James, will blossom from the veteran's leadership. This will be very beneficial for the young, rising star, Jair Jurrjens. And as you saw in last night's game, he had a solid outing, only giving up 4 runs in 7 innings. And some of those runs were hardly legitimate. And if James does indeed take the place of Hampton, he will be a solid end of the rotation, providing that he'll hopefully replicate his past two seasons with 11-12 wins.

When you grow negative towards the club by the influence of the nutheads that are writing crap about this year's team, pull this article out and let it do its job in reminding you that you're talking about an organization who has done things that the baseball world has no other choice but to reminisce in what I like to call "goose-bump awe."

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Next:

-Wednesday: Braves (Chuck James, 0-0, -.--) at Rockies (Mark Redman, 0-1, 6.35), 8:35 p.m.
-Thursday: Braves (Tim Hudson, 1-0, 3.46) at Rockies (Jeff Francis, 0-1, 7.11), 3:05 p.m.
-Friday: Braves (John Smoltz, 1-0, 0.00) at Nationals (Matt Chico, 0-1, 5.56), 7:35 p.m.