Friday, January 9, 2009

the day the Braves died.

It's something sad and shocking enough that Don McLean could write a song about.

I cannot remember when I started watching the Braves. That is to say, I cannot remember life without watching the Braves. But as long as I have watched my beloved team, I have watched John Smoltz.

I was 4 and a half years old when Smoltzie was traded to the Braves from Detroit. I was 5 and a half when he made his Major League debut in August of 1988. I do not remember either of these events. All I have ever known, to this point, is John Smoltz is a Brave.

Today -- the day the Braves died -- I am 26. After more than two decades of wearing the Tomahawk, John Smoltz is gone.

I'm not trying to sound like John Smotlz is dead. He's not. (Though it's probably just short of that shocking for me.) He's just a Red Sock (or is it, "a Red Sox"?).

Initially, when I first heard the report yesterday, he was dead to me. But now, after the fact has rolled around in my stomach like a bad burrito, more and more the Braves are dying to me. (They're not dead to me yet...they're just on life support. Or, to mix metaphors, the way I see it is that being a fan is akin to being married. It is for better or for worse. Me and the Braves, we'll be alright. This is just part of "the worse.")

Do I blame John Smoltz for leaving the only Major League club he's ever known? No. Not one bit. Quite simply, I blame Frank Wren - a good GM in my book (see below). But he royally screwed up in this one.

In any normal situation, I say let someone else gamble (to steal Chipper's word) on a worn-out arm. But this isn't any normal situation. This is the face of your franchise. This is a man with an exceptional history in rebounding when he's down. This is an athlete known as one of the most competitive men on your team and one of the greatest leaders in your locker room. This is a pitcher who is an invaluable resource for your young pitchers (à la, Jair Jurrjens). This is a man - if there ever was one - deserving of a farewell tour. And this is a pitcher fully capable of winning 12-15 games (or saving 25-35) for your team in the process. (A team in deep need of pitching, I might add.)

But Frank Wren and the Braves passed on all this over a paltry $3 million. For a team with (reportedly) $25-$30 million left to spend in a tumultuous offseason of failed signings, this is an absolutely unacceptable and completely avoidable development.

But the Braves went in another direction, either due to botching another negotiation by assuming that Smoltz would automatically re-sign with the only team he's ever known (in which case, Wren is no longer a "good" GM in my book) or due to making a conscious decision to move on (which is a poor decision in my book and a slap in the face to one of the greatest players in your team's history - both also, potentially, demoting Wren's status in my book).

So, for this fan, the blog has been changed to black for my mourning process; Frank Wren is now in a probationary period regarding my support; I will still continue to cheer for my favorite Brave, even while he is in Boston; and I will still continue to back the Braves, even after 'the Day the Braves died.'
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3 comments:

Megan Barley said...

It's a sad time, my friend. A sad, sad time. Me thinks the Braves were trying to save a buck.

woz said...

My thought is excommunication. When one party embraces such callousness and deliberate rebellion towards its community, its mission, and its family, sometimes you have to give them the boot so that they get the message. The Braves don't seem to care anymore about winning, or about those who should matter the most to them. How can we continue to let them "practice wickedness" with no recourse? I say we hand them over to darkness and hope that one day they will be restored. In the mean time we root for the Brewers!

Michael and Amber Vestal said...

Just read the Chipper interview you linked. Here's excerpts from Smoltz's multiple interviews Last Thursday: http://www.ajc.com/sports/content/sports/braves/stories/2009/01/14/smoltz_braves.html?cxntlid=inform_artr (hope that links...)

Check the stat comparison between Smoltz and Lowe since Smoltz resumed starter-role - Smoltz has consistently and significantly better ERA and WHIP, pitched more innings, struckout more, walked the same amount, and has lower Opponent B.A. each full year and lower Opponent Sl.% 2 out of 3 full years.

Smoltz is 41, Lowe 35. I get it. But seriously. John Smoltz - the Atlanta Braves couldn't make it priority to bring back John Smoltz? And we turn around and drop 60 million on Lowe. I like Derek Lowe, hope he does well, yada, yada, yada... But that's our new modus operandus, our new priorities, I guess?

Woz might be onto something.