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KTE: My Old Pals the Braves -- What Can I Tell Ya?

G-Fafif Aug 02 2010 05:03 PM Edited 3 time(s), most recently on Aug 02 2010 05:22 PM

I hate the the first-place Braves, whom we, tied for third with the Marlins, trail by 6-1/2 games even as they come off a 3-6 road trip. I can tell ya that. No surprise there, except maybe that they're sagging. I used to like them. Now that's surprising, even to me. I liked them in the early '80s, first in a vague "good to see a bad team getting it together" sense when they went 81-80 in 1980, then because it was nice to be able to listen to their games over WFLA 970 AM while I was at college in Tampa in 1981 and then, finally, when Joe Torre took over in 1982 and it gave me a piece of virtual Metsishness to hold onto from afar. I was really into them as a Second Team during their brief run of contention in '82 (successful) and '83 (less so). Loved Dale Murphy. Liked Phil Niekro. Rooted for Torre. Then Ted Turner fired Torre in 1984, and I didn't give a spit. Fast-forward to 1991, and it's bad team getting good time all over again and my fancy was recaptured. The Braves are challenging in the N.L. West and it's a breath of fresh air. All that fine young pitching taking the Dodgers to the limit -- and then surpassing them in one of the best pennant races of all time. On September 14, WFAN pre-empted the beginning of a meaningless Mets game (meaningless in the standings -- per John Mayer, no such thing as a meaningless Mets game, of course) to stay with a Dodgers @ Braves game when CBS cut out of it to go to local news. The little used Jerry Willard drew a walk from Roger McDowell in the bottom of the eleventh and the Braves would go on to win 3-2. "We" led by a half-game. The division lead changed hands seven times from late August until the Braves clinched on the second-to-last day of the season. My fiancee and I met with the Reform rabbi who was going to marry us on that Saturday. It was agreed by all concerned that we should make this a short meeting because nobody wanted to miss the Braves. Mazel tov! Rooted hard for the Braves that postseason and the next one. Was heartbroken when they lost to the Twins. Was disappointed when they fell to the Jays. Was thrilled when they flew by the Giants in 1993, an epic comeback that challenged the '91 race for drama. Then they came into the N.L. East and the Braves thing began to wear off. I was very happy when they won the 1995 World Series and I surely dug out my old blue circa 1983 vertical Superstripe cap to support them in the 1996 World Series...but that was it. They couldn't beat the MFYs, they became the Enemy. And I've despised them ever since. Martin Prado just went on the DL. Jason Heyward got a big hit late yesterday in his quest to steal Ike Davis's Rookie of the Year but they didn't cash in against the Reds; Omar Infante made the last out with Wonderboy on second...good. Sports Illustrated just did a story on how beloved Bobby Cox is by his players. Nice anecdotes, but I can't stand the guy. It starts with an anecdote from where he's been can't standed the most. [L]et me tell you about the time Bobby Cox demolished a toilet with one bare hand. It happened at Shea Stadium. Braves shortstop Darrel Chaney slid into home, and the plate umpire called him out, and Chaney raised enough Cain to get himself ejected. Cox was so furious on his player's behalf that he went to the bathroom by the dugout and visited justice upon the toilet. Chaney saw the shattered tank, the gushing water, and he loved the skipper for what he had done. Chaney decided he would do anything for Bobby Cox, even ride the bench without complaint, which he did for most of the 1979 season. He played so seldom in the dusk of his career that he basically forgot how, and by mid-September his average had fallen to .111. Cox called him into the office. They're not renewing your contract, he said. They're gonna release you. But I'll play you as much as I can these last two weeks, so other clubs can see you. Chaney was a career .217 hitter. He went out those last two weeks and hit .333 for Bobby Cox. And then he retired. Jeff Francoeur is still an ex-Brave, current Met. Manny Acosta and Henry Blanco, too. Alejandro Pena, I think, is no longer an ex-Met, current Brave, but Billy Wagner is. Wagner has stopped being invincible. Francoeur is still Francoeur. Adam LaRoche is an ex-Brave, which was bad news yesterday, great news tonight. Santana vs. Hudson tonight in a battle of titans, though Santana was more like the Titanic his last start. Or Oliver Perez. Dickey vs. Lowe tonight in a battle of pitchers better than Oliver Perez. Pelfrey vs. Medlen Wednesday in a battle of pitchers also better than Oliver Perez, though Pelf shouldn't be too full of himself. Manuel's been Medlen with the rotation and is skipping Takahashi in Philly. But wait, that's not KTE material. Say, you know who kicks ass at series previews (besides LWFS)? Adam Rubin. Read his for detailed KTE-ishness. A Brave view from Carroll Rogers of the Journal-Constitution here. Oh, and finally: WE HAVE TO WIN TONIGHT.

bmfc1 Aug 02 2010 05:06 PM Re: My Old Pals the Braves -- What Can I Tell Ya?

Great KTE!

Zvon Aug 02 2010 05:39 PM Re: KTE: My Old Pals the Braves -- What Can I Tell Ya?

Interesting tale of your brave days. Very enjoyable, ty 4 sharing that. Great KTE.

themetfairy Aug 02 2010 06:00 PM Re: KTE: My Old Pals the Braves -- What Can I Tell Ya?

Excellent knowledge - thanks!

G-Fafif Aug 02 2010 10:05 PM Re: KTE: My Old Pals the Braves -- What Can I Tell Ya?

[quote="themetfairy":2nx4elo1]Excellent knowledge - thanks![/quote:2nx4elo1] I dispute the notion that there's any knowledge contained within, but thank you.

MFS62 Aug 03 2010 09:39 AM Re: KTE: My Old Pals the Braves -- What Can I Tell Ya?

Very good KTE. But, how can any KTE, especially one with such an historical perspective, about the Braves be complete without at least one shot across Chipper's bow? A line such as "that motha' Chipper Jones is still there" would have been sufficient. Later

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr Aug 03 2010 09:44 AM Re: KTE: My Old Pals the Braves -- What Can I Tell Ya?

In my head, there are popular songs from the era-- often geographically appropriate, too, no less-- playing at low volume when I read your anecdotes*. It gives 'em a sort of "Cold Case" feel to 'em. (No Bruckheimer hypercolor/dramatic cuts or lighting, though.) *In case you're wondering: Torre era got the Oak Ridge Boys' "Elvira;" The underdog early-'90s Braves storylet got the "Lithium"/"Heart-Shaped Box" Nirvana double-play.

G-Fafif Aug 03 2010 03:49 PM Re: KTE: My Old Pals the Braves -- What Can I Tell Ya?

[quote="MFS62":86xnred2]Very good KTE. But, how can any KTE, especially one with such an historical perspective, about the Braves be complete without at least one shot across Chipper's bow? A line such as "that motha' Chipper Jones is still there" would have been sufficient.[/quote:86xnred2] Fucker announced his presence with authority last night, didn't he?

G-Fafif Aug 03 2010 03:55 PM Re: KTE: My Old Pals the Braves -- What Can I Tell Ya?

[quote="LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr"]In my head, there are popular songs from the era-- often geographically appropriate, too, no less-- playing at low volume when I read your anecdotes*. It gives 'em a sort of "Cold Case" feel to 'em. (No Bruckheimer hypercolor/dramatic cuts or lighting, though.) *In case you're wondering: Torre era got the Oak Ridge Boys' "Elvira;" The underdog early-'90s Braves storylet got the "Lithium"/"Heart-Shaped Box" Nirvana double-play.

Good aural choices. Mostly, in terms of the Torre years, I hear repeated radio ads for Goody's Headache Powder, read by one of the great all-time giver of headaches, then-Bravescaster John Sterling.

The Mets have usurped it, for better or worse, but the Braves used "Takin' Care of Business" in 1991 as their win song. There was a moment at the end of the division clincher that year, as broadcast on CBS, wherein Atlanta won at home and the whole stadium watched the Dodgers lose live no more than a minute later on Fulton CountyVision or whatever it was called. Madness ensued, natch, and that catchy (if obnoxious) war chant and drumbeat bit went on for a while, and then segued into "TCB," bringing on a full-throated 50,000-person cheer.

I have to admit the thought of it gave me chills for the next five or so years.