I’ve got very little love for the Atlanta Braves. I’ll never be able to get past the abusive relationship they had with the early-’90s Pirates. They are a team from the Deep South who didn’t have the good sense not to employ an unabashedly racist reliever (John Rocker). And, let’s face it, the face of their franchise, Chipper Jones, falls somewhere between REO Speedwagon and offal on the likability scale.
That said, if this is in fact Bobby Cox’s final season at the helm, I wouldn’t be totally disappointed if the Braves made a somewhat unexpected playoff run on his behalf, with the caveat that it must end with the opposition beating them with a walkoff single by a backup infielder in Game 7 of the NLCS.
The Braves have positioned themselves to contend, if not for the AL East title, at least for the Wild Card. It’s hard to believe, but it’s actually been four years since Atlanta finished even as higher than third place. Granted, this stretch was preceded by fourteen consecutive division titles, so I don’t feel terribly sorry for them, but it would befit Cox to go out on a high note.
Atlanta has a deep rotation, a solid retrofitted bullpen, and, assuming Jones and Troy Glaus stay healthy, just enough offense to be dangerous…
See the Prospectus @ The Sporting Hippeaux
