Highway to Hell: Greenville Drives Away Quality Baseball
With the Braves in the doldrums (I know; last night was nice, but who knows how long it will last?), I would like to take this opportunity to shift the focus a bit(Why not? I'm not only this blog's author, I'm its only visitor) and vent over something that still eats at me about this town, and likely always will. I enjoy living here. I really do. There is a lot to like about the Greenville area and a lot to like about downtown, which is about 12 minutes away from me by car and a nice place to walk, run, eat, drink coffee, or just sit and relax if the weather is right.

But if I think too hard about it, or even if I think at all, I can find a lot to be bitter about as well. One thing that is sure to send my mind to a dark place is reflection upon the way this town lost the Braves by dragging their feet on a new ballpark, then following a year of languishing after the Braves announced their intent to leave, spent an enormous amount of effort to build a brand new park for a low-A Red Sox farm team.

For ten years my wife and I watched future major leaguers come through this town -- too many to mention here without making an entry already destined to be long that much longer. The way that Greenville let the Braves go was disgraceful -- and I do blame Greenville more than I blame the Braves. They dragged their feet for years while the Braves waited for a plan -- just a plan -- to build a new ballpark. And it certainly appears that much of the foot-dragging was deliberate on the part of the downtown business elite, perhaps because they knew that they would never be able to wrest baseball once and for all from the hands of the mill people unless they got rid of the G-Braves franchise. For baseball and the textile mills were inextricably bound together in this town for generations, and the downtown elite always looked down upon it -- that is, until they saw the opportunity to make big bucks from building a new ballpark and developing the real estate around it.

And wrest it away they did. It mattered not to them that they were driving away the AA franchise of a team 2 1/2 hours down the road, for which dozens of future major leaguers had played and many more (including John Smoltz, several times) had logged rehab time, for the low-A farm team of a club nearly 1000 miles away, in a league made up of teams located in towns like Rome, GA and Hickory, NC. They were getting a ballpark. It was going downtown, near land that they had already seized for development (and are paying millions for now after a court judgement went against them), in a place that they had been trying to make safe for gentrification for some time now.

There's only one problem -- actually, there are many, but the worst one is that they don't know how to do baseball. Not at all. But they think they do, or at least they think they know what to do to keep the unwashed masses entertained. More on that in the next post.

O.K. -- I'm Over It
Now that I'm a little calmer, allow me to attempt to state rationally why I believe that the Braves are finished this year. It won't be hard, and it won't take long. In fact, it all comes down to this:

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Put simply, the Braves do not have the financial resources to compete with the Mets, who have spent multimillions this year on building a team capable of ending the Braves' remarkable 13-season division title streak. I know what some of you are saying (or would be saying, if anyone but
I were ever to visit this blog): the Mets have tried before to purchase a title, with disastrous results; what's more, the Braves don't needs as large a payroll as other teams because of the depth of talent in their farm system; besides, money may be able to buy talent, but it can't buy clubhouse chemistry, can't buy motivation, cant't buy makeup, can't buy heart -- indeed, can't buy the very things that the Braves look for in their players, managers, coaches, and staff.

Still, after witnessing the abysmal performance of the team this week, which included a series split with the Rockies and a loss last night to a Phillies team that tried like hell to lose, I cannot help but believe that they are done. And I fear for what is going to happen next. The Braves have inadequate pitching because they had an inadequate budget with which to purchase adequate pitching in the offesason. Now they are stuck with what they have. In my opinion, the smart thing to do would be to treat this as a -- gulp -- rebuilding year, and try to develop some of the young guys for a run at another championship streak, starting next year. How much do you want to bet that that's not what John Schuerholz, Bobby Cox, or anyone else in the organization is thinking, even though to do so would be consistent with the organization's long-term vision.

No, I'm betting that instead, there will be trades. Perhaps several of them, if the Braves wind up where I think they will by the All-Star break, which is 12-15 games down and in third place. In a short period of time, the will give up a great deal of talent, perhaps mortgaging what could well be a bright future for the club for the next five to ten seasons.

Only time will tell. But right now, time does not appear to be on the side of the Atlanta Braves.

Enough
I don't know about the rest of you (who am I kidding: no one ever visits this blog), but I've had about all I can fucking take of this goddamn pathetic excuse for a team. After watching this game, I don't know what's worse: the fact that the Braves can't afford a decent pitching staff, the fact that their much-heralded bats could only deliver two runs in such an important game, or that Major League Baseball is apparently incapable of fielding a crew of four competent umpires. This whole sorry spectacle makes me SICK. I have wasted far too many potentially productive nights for this crap.

Yet it was my decision to start this blog, and it is out there for the record regardless of whether anyone actually visits it, so I might as well close this rant with a prediction:

Third in the NL East. Back home golfing, hunting, fishing, and impregnating their wives by the first week in October.

How's that? Can I go now? Good.

P.S. -- TODD PRATT??!! TODD PRATT??!! The bases are loaded with two out in the ninth with a solid hitter coming to the plate in Brian McCann, and you decide to play percentages by sending out TODD PRATT to strike out on three pitches? Has Bobby lost his fucking mind? Pratt didn't even smell that last one.

Torborg comes away from this game thinking that the Braves looked much improved, and it's going to be a "nice pennant race." Torborg's a fucking idiot.

I think by now, there is no denying that the Braves might be in serious trouble. A week ago, that looked like a certainty; but since then, the starting rotation has turned in three CGs, and the two out of three in the first Mets series wasn't half bad either -- especially after the New York press prematurely declared the season over and the Mets winners of the NL East.

That's the last thing any team with designs on winning that division needs: their hometown newspaper calling out the Braves in a particularly brazen manner, after you just defeated them at home, in the first series of the season, with your ace on the mound. The results were predictable, and immediate; for the next night's pitcher (I forget his name) tries to pitch like Pedro, but is -- regrettably for him -- not Pedro. Then Glavine turned in a fine performance yesterday, but Hudson, who came into the game with an ERA equal to the gross national products of some third-world nations, turned in a finer one. What's more, these two victories were achieved without the benefit of half their infield and their hottest hitter, Andruw notwithstanding.

So did the New York press speak two soon? Hell, yes; they are morons, and that is a condition that will remain constant as long as our civilization survives. Will the Barves manage once again to prevant the Mets from purchasing a division title? That one is still debatable.

Eddie Update 2
This is the second time I have tried to post this entry, and I am growing extremely weary of Tripod's blog service. I am growing equally weary of watching Hudson get pounded this afternoon, so I thought I would take this opportunity to pass along some news about a fan favorite, Eddie Perez.

At the beginning of the season, the Braves announcers were reporting that Eddie was on his way to Mississippi to serve as a player-coach under Jeff Blauser; yet I found no trace of him on the M-Braves roster. I finally located him on the roster for the Richmond Braves, with no number. I don't know whether he is supposed to be a player-coach there, os is just doing a "rehab assignment." If I find any additional info, I'll pass it along.

Sorry I missed last night's raucous victory, and even sorrier that I missed Bobby's first ejection of 2006. My wife and I were speculating just the other day about how long it would take him to get run for the first time this season.

Roster Moves. We Got Roster Moves.
OK, I'm a little behind the curve here. I went to bed early again last night, despite the fact that the Braves had come back to tie after three, because of this annoying little matter called a day job that I just can't seem to resolve. When I turned on this afternoon's game, I found out that the Braves had called up Joey Devine and Ken Ray -- apparently at the last minute, as there was some question as to whether they would get to Balco Field or whatever the Giants' ballpark is called this year. It didn't take me long to get the news of Horacio's injury, but I still don't know why two pitchers were called up. I saw no indication that anyone else was injured last night, and know of no other issues that would warrant such a move.

Holy shit -- McCann and Sosa go back-to-back! Sosa crushed it, and that's no. 2 of the young season for McCann. Two-zip, and Sosa's looking good on the mound, too. So far, so good.

Oof. That was ugly. Real ugly. Yet it was worth watching just to see a 31-year-old rookie strike out Bonds. I don't know who this guy Ray is, but he could be this year's Charles Thomas.

Oh, by the way: that shelling that Boyer took the other night got him sent back to Richmond, which is why two pitchers came up today.

Some Positives from Last Night:
1) The first five hitters in the lineup each got one hit, two of them homers, and as a group drove in three of the team's four runs.

2) The bullpen didn't allow a single run in three innings.

3) Wilson Betemit. He'd be starting on any other team in the NL.

4) Matt Diaz. Soft contacts are one of the greatest inventions of the late 20th century.

5) Brain McCann. Need I say more?

I would list more, but I didn't watch the whole game. In fact, I went to bed after the grounds crew covered the tarp. They don't get to do that very often in L.A., so I was kind of expecting some impromptu slapstick entertainment. Where's Vince Coleman when you need him?

The Lowdown on Eddie
I spent a good bit of time this morning trying to find information on the status of Eddie Perez, to no avail. But according to Skip Caray, Eddie will be joining the Mississippi Braves as a player-coach. There is not info up yet on either the Braves site or the Miss. Braves site (which is woefully outdated), so for now my dinky little blog has a web-scoop.

A Lot of Ifs
and I mean a lot. Here's a few that I've come up with while watching this game.

Will Brian Jordan make the team?

I thought that one would be easy, until I saw how good Matt Diaz and James Jurries really are. Still, I think his chances are good, as there are two positions open and Bobby likes to have a reliable, personable veteran on the bench -- and Julio Franco, his mainstay of the past few years in that role, is now gone.

Who's Going to be the closer?

For now, it's Reitsma. But how long is that batch gonna have to sit out before it smells? I mean, Rietsma is not as bad as his numbers seem to indicate. In fact, his changeup is so filthy that hitters sometimes squib balls through the infield like pool shots and cost him runs -- and games. What's more, he has been good in the past. Bobby likes him, and Bobby is going to give him a shot; but if he doesn't do the job, then Johnny is going to step in -- and when Johnny steps in ... well, that may not even make a difference, because there are no, repeat NO, closers on the market. In other words, it's Rietsma now by default, and out of desperation.

More questions later. I promise.

Too Little, Too Late
I have no excuses for my tardiness in reviving this blog for the 2006 season, other than my usual busy schedule, a lot of laziness, and a diminution of my interest in the Braves after Greenville lost their AA farm team. The general atmosphere of disappointment in the loss of the Braves and apathy over the continuation of baseball in Greenville in their absence is palpable, and has been exacerbated by the ham-handed manner in which the new team has been introduced to the city.

The crowing moment of ineptitude was the assignment of a new name to the Greeenville team. One might think, given the extensive baseball history that this town has, that there would have been a serious effort to choose a name that would do justice to that history; yet the only serious effort to do so was a "grassroots" campaign (as if anything that happens in Greenville is grassroots) to name the team the Greenville Joes, a name that was supposed to honor the late, unfairly maligned Greenvillian Shoeless Joe Jackson but was so silly-sounding that it would not have passed muster even if Major League Baseball accepted it -- which, of course, it did not.

So what name did they come up with? Get this: The Greenville Drive. That's right, Greenville Drive. What the hell is that supposed to mean, you might ask. It is supposed to be a reflection of the city's growing ties with the auto industry, given the presence of BMW, Michelin, etc. According to Wikipedia, the name is also supposed to reflect "the strong entrpreneurial spirit in [sic] the business community. Lovely. With that in mind, I could have suggested another name: perhaps the Greenville Greed would be more appropriate.

As construction workers struggle furiously to complete the stadium before opening day, the club is winding up a contest to choose a new mascot. I can't wait to see the result of that one. I think that they should make it a Bavarian auto executive. I mean, wouldn't that be fun for the kiddies? "Enjoy Zee Competition."

Now, after they've lost the best ballclub they could possibly have had in this town, they are pulling out all the stops to promote this joke of a team, in a joke of a stadium, in a location that can only hope to draw a few curiosity-seekers and party hounds looking for free beer and a new place to park their butts for a couple of hours.

I predict total failure for the "Drive" and its promoters, who deserve no less. For ultimately, Greenville's new ballclub, like this blog entry, is simply too little, too late.