On the morning of November 11, 2013, the baseball world found out that the Atlanta Braves had purchased a plot of land in Cobb County and intended to build a new stadium for the 2017 season. It was a surprise to everyone. There wasn’t a soul — outside of a tight circle of Atlanta Braves executives and a few Cobb County government leaders — that knew anything about it.
It was the talk of the Atlanta sports world and I remember thinking to myself that Turner Field was barely 16-years old. I also remember wondering why they decided to move the team out of downtown.
The Atlanta Braves have been doing work since John Hart took over as GM a little over a year ago. They have traded away practically every semblance of the team they were under the Frank Wren years. The old Braves Way is gone and the new Braves Rebuild is here.
That’s why it is so peculiar that they have chosen Freddie Freeman to be the lone survivor of the old system.
It’s been all the hub bub this past week. Keith Law of ESPN released his rankings of MLB’s farm systems and not only did he say that the Anaheim (I know what they are called) Angels were the worst farm system in 2016, but the worst he had ever seen in his eight years of ranking farm systems.
Wow. That’s rough, especially in an era of teams like the New York Mets, Chicago Cubs, Houston Astros and Kansas City Royals rising to prominence via their Minor League stashes.
Of course almost immediately the internet and bloggers went bananas with the options that he Angels have for the future and the most glaring option may be just the most ridiculous:
Tonight in Toronto at the House that Vince Carter Built (trademark pending) the annual NBA All Star Game Eve is set to take place. It was a time — when as a youngster all the way through college — for which every NBA fan could not wait. Legends were set to take on each other in two laid back, fun contests: the Slam Dunk Contest and the Three Point Contest.
They still take place, except there aren’t very many legends hanging around anymore.
What’s going on in the NBA? A new coach is seemingly getting fired on a weekly basis. At the end of the day, it seems like there is so much more going on here than simply bad coaching.
The year is 1996. It’s Game 1 of the World Series. A 19-year-old outfielder steps up to the plate in his first at bat and hits a 2-run home run. A little later, he stands back in the batters box and delivers another homer, this time of the 3-run variety. Atlanta Braves fans and the rest of the baseball world would be introduced to Andruw Jones.
Now, after 19 baseball seasons, Andruw has decided to hang it up, call it a career and move on with his life. An interesting question was posed and it was going to require some thought. Does Andruw Jones deserve to have his number retired with the Atlanta Braves?
Get ready Tampa. The New York Yankees are en route. At least the team equipment is. And a few short days later, pitchers and catchers will be at The Boss prepping for another postseason run.
As usual, let’s take a look at some news and nuggets from around the Yankees Universe.
The Super Bowl is all done. That means the vans are packed and that pitchers and catchers are heading towards Spring Training. I for one am very excited.
There are quite a few players in the MLB getting long in the tooth. We know that this year will be highlighted by the David Ortiz Farewell Tour. Many will argue that Big Papi is Hall of Fame bound, while others will tell you that if Edgar Martinez isn’t in the Hall of Fame, than neither should Ortiz.
Well, what about some of those other possible retirees? What about Carlos Beltran?
I’m going to go ahead and say it. It was a boring game. While yes, we can rack it up to a defensive battle behind one of the best defenses ever to take the field, there were also a ton of mental errors by both quarterbacks.
A defensive battle is a lot like a no-hitter. You’re into it, but until it gets right up till the very end, you just want to speed through it and see if the pitcher — or in this case defense — can pull it off. The main difference is that the pitcher usually gets more run support from their offenses than that pitiful display last night.
Peyton Manning won’t be the only one likely appearing in the final game of a long and lustrous career. The Caribbean Series championship game is today, Sunday, February 7th, and Freddy Garcia will toe the rubber for the Venezuela Tigres de Aragua when they take on Mexico’s Venados de Mazatlan for supremacy of the Caribbean.
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