I've been out for a while preparing for a marathon, which I finished yesterday. Quite frankly, I didn't see a lot in the postseason that was worth writing about. It went pretty much as I predicted, although that shouldn't take away from what was really a quite remarkable season for the Braves given their youth and the obstacles they had to overcome throughout the season.
Of course, the biggest news since then is the departure of Leo, something that didn't surprise or particularly alarm me. One can hardly blame him at this point in his career for opting to return to his hometown to play for an old friend for twice as much money (and although a $250,000 pay raise is something that most of us can only dream of, it still does not approach the realm of players' salaries, & thus is a bit more significant than the million or two that Chipper and Smoltz are offering to lop off their salaries if the Braves can resign Furcal). I've also suspected for some time that Leo was not exactly the best-loved man in the Braves' system -- suspicions confirmed in a recent "Mailbag" column from Mark Bowman. But Roger McDowell? A man with no major league coaching experience whose reputation does not seem in keeping with the stoic, businesslike philosophy of The Organization? That seems rather strange to me. Maybe he is some sort of wunderkind who has gotten great results from his pupils in the minors. Maybe he's a players' coach who will fit in well with Bobby's system and bring out the best in his pitchers. Maybe he's just the blank slate that they wanted to start the post-Leo era. But then again, maybe he's the result of an administrative misstep, the baseball equivalent of Harriet Miers. Only time will tell.
Posted by MHB
at 8:39 AM EST
Updated: Monday, 31 October 2005 8:46 AM EST