MLB

[GHS06 10]

Well its a brand new season, who you got?

 

I got the Bravos in the NL, with the Brewers surprising alot of people.

 

I have the "anyone but the Yankees or Bosox" in the AL. Hopefully The O's will do something.

 

Braves in the WS!

[bluefieldRocks 14]

Well im a braves fan, so yes, i'm going with the braves..

 

How bout renteria hitting 2 HR's to win the game for the ATL braves Yesterday?

[GHS06 10]

Great to see. The offseason went by and no one talked about him at all.

 

But it was better to see the bullpen perform well.

[dcecilgolf 11]

[ QUOTE ]

Great to see. The offseason went by and no one talked about him at all.

 

But it was better to see the bullpen perform well.

 

[/ QUOTE ]

 

I am so happy to see the Braves out of the hands of Ted Turner!!

Hopefully the new owners will finally spend some money.

[BigD4VT 11]

Actually the Braves haven't been in the hands of Turner for years. He sold them to AOL/Time Warner under whom they became nothing more than a advertising vehicle and tax deduction. The new owner is Liberty Media Corp. and I don't expect them to be any different than AOL.

 

Ted was a great owner. He spent the money to keep the core players around and he kept his nose out of the day to day operation of the team. The closest the Braves could have come to getting another owner like that would have been for Arthur Blank to buy the team. Unfortunately though, AOL was more interested in skirting the IRS by selling to Liberty in a stock swap. They never wanted Blank's money. They just wanted to dump the Braves in what amounted to a tax free sale.

[dcecilgolf 11]

[ QUOTE ]

Actually the Braves haven't been in the hands of Turner for years. He sold them to AOL/Time Warner under whom they became nothing more than a advertising vehicle and tax deduction. The new owner is Liberty Media Corp. and I don't expect them to be any different than AOL.

 

Ted was a great owner. He spent the money to keep the core players around and he kept his nose out of the day to day operation of the team. The closest the Braves could have come to getting another owner like that would have been for Arthur Blank to buy the team. Unfortunately though, AOL was more interested in skirting the IRS by selling to Liberty in a stock swap. They never wanted Blank's money. They just wanted to dump the Braves in what amounted to a tax free sale.

 

[/ QUOTE ]

 

ummm.....I would say Teddy had more control over that team than people think.

after all, it is named Turner Field

and I know Liberty Media is the new owner, I just don't know that much about them

and keeping their veterans? are you f'n crazy???

 

Blauser

Crime Dog

David Justice

Avery

Grissom

Sheffield

Lopez

and those are just of the top of my head

If I actually spend some time on the issue, just about every great Braves player with the exception of Hank have been released.

[BigD4VT 11]

Blauser - left as a free agent when the Braves felt he was no longer worth the money. He didn't do a thing after he left.

 

McGriff was traded to his home town Tampa Bay Devil Rays after his production had steadily declined to the point where he was a liability. Also did little after he left.

 

Justice - Pretty sure he became expendable because of a young outfielder named Andruw Jones. He didn't do much after he left either.

 

Avery - One of my favorites but he was a flash in the pan. He had three great years then nothing. Like the others, he didn't do anything after he left.

 

Grissom - I wasn't happy about this one. He was traded for Kenny Lofton who just wasn't a good fit during his one season in Atlanta. If there is a trade Schuerholz wishes he could take back this is it.

 

Sheffield - Braves tried to re-sign him but under the AOL imposed budget restraints (Turner had already sold the team at this point) they couldn't compete with the Yankees for his services.

 

Lopez - Had his best years as a Brave and I was sad to see him go like everyone else was... But they had catching talent coming up and needed the cash to pay Smoltz, Maddux and Chipper. Again, this happened under AOL.

 

Ted Turner was a great owner who was willing to open his pocketbook to field a winning team. He sold everything to Time Warner in 1995 (I guess you were about 6?) and stayed on as Vice Chairman for about 5 years. This was the single worst thing to ever happen to the Braves.

 

To make a point about those players not doing much after they left Atlanta... Bobby Cox and John Schuerholz are the best in the business at knowing when a players best years are behind him. They traded, released and/or non-tendered those guys because they were no longer worth the amount of money they were making and the team had younger, less expensive guys coming up to take their place. I mean do you want Gary Sheffield or Jeff Francoeur? A washed up Javy Lopez or Brian McCann? A 41 year old Tom Glavine or a young stud like Chuck James?

[dinkman 14]

i hope that the braves win it all this year go braves

[dcecilgolf 11]

I think all McGriff did was hit about 100 homers or something like that, and he had a few great years after he left.

 

You believe what you want, but I just don't think the Braves went after it enough after they lost to the Yankees in an upset in 1996.

Sure they went back in '99, but what did they do???

um nothing

 

I am just tired of seeing them act like absolutely nothing is wrong after they win their regular season and then do jack $hit in the playoffs.

It just pisses me off that they have the talent to win 14 straight division series and then go 1 for 5 in the WS.

 

Oh yeah, and when they won in 95', I was ALMOST 7 (1 day away), and I actually remember watching that series.

[dcecilgolf 11]

Oh yeah, and they were dumb for allowing Leo to leave.

 

I have no idea how they let that happen, he developed more great pitchers than anybody in the MLB.

[bluefieldRocks 14]

Remember when..........

 

Smoltz was a closer and not our ace?

 

We had Tom Glavine, Greg Maddux, my favorite John Rocker..haha, Were trading away all the good players

[GHS06 10]

Well the braves are setting themselves up for YEARS of success. Since Turner left, payroll has slowly decreased. You all forgot that baseball is a business. The braves are lucky to have big names such as Chipper, Andruw, John Smoltz, Tim Hudson, and Mike Hampton on the same roster, much less the stellar supporting cast they have. All the credit in the world goes to J.S. who in my opinion is the best in the business. The future is bright for the Braves with McCann locked up and Francoeur soon to be locked up. The young arms are absolutely stellar in Chuck James, Kyle Davies, Matt Harrison, and so on. However, CF could be an issue. Andruw is gone next year. Nothing anybody can do about it. But like i said, the cornerstones are set down for the future.

 

Saying that, i think this is the year. I've got an excellent feeling. I know everyone always says it, but this feels like the perfect blend of youth and vets. We aren't relying on unproven rooks anywhere, but proven young players. Add Smoltz, Andruw, and healthy Hamptons and Chippers and it could be a great year.

 

So there is a homer's perspective.

[BigD4VT 11]

Oh I'm not saying nothing is wrong. Just saying it's AOL's fault and not Ted Turner's. You said they haven't been the same since 1996... well, that's a year after Ted sold them.

 

There was nothing anyone could do about Mazzone. When his best friend was named manager in Baltimore he left to become his pitching coach as he always said he would do.

[BigBlueAlum 12]

[ QUOTE ]

Oh I'm not saying nothing is wrong. Just saying it's AOL's fault and not Ted Turner's. You said they haven't been the same since 1996... well, that's a year after Ted sold them.

 

There was nothing anyone could do about Mazzone. When his best friend was named manager in Baltimore he left to become his pitching coach as he always said he would do.

 

[/ QUOTE ]

 

Thats exactly what I was going to say. Actually the Strength and Conditioning coach here at UVa-Wise, Nick Perlozzo, is the nephew of the Orioles manager, Sam Perlozzo. I had him for class and he used to talk about how good of friends Sam and Leo were, even before Leo moved to Baltimore. And about Ted, the braves are the team they are today because of what Ted Turner set up in Atlanta. All of the young talent and seasoned verterans are a product of Ted's years in Atlanta, and definetly not AOL's. I have been a Braves fan since about 1990, and this past season was pretty rough on me. I have a feeling about this year, and its a good one. I can honestly say I havent felt this excited about a team since the mid-1990's.

 

I never realized there were this many Braves fans on this board. I plan to head down to ATL a couple of times this summer, any one up for a road trip?

[dcecilgolf 11]

Road trip???

Sure, I will walk down the road and see a few games!

haha

[BigBlueAlum 12]

[ QUOTE ]

Road trip???

Sure, I will walk down the road and see a few games!

haha

 

[/ QUOTE ]

 

HAHA. Well I dont envy you for living in Atlanta, but I do envy you for being so close to The Ted. The first time I went down there this past summer our car got broken into. One of my friends was driving a convertable mustange and when we got up the morning before the game and the roof was slashed open, we were pissed to say the least. The number of homeless is just amazing. You cant walk down Peachtree St. without being stopped six times and being asked for money. I know this is the case with any large city, but I've been to NYC and I dont remember it being that bad. But oh well, I'll keep coming back as long as my Braves are there, I just wont be staying in the Days Inn on Spring Street anymore. lol

[dcecilgolf 11]

Any Days Inn is a bad sign!!!!!!

 

Fortunately, you can get great hotels in Atlanta for a fairly cheap price for the quality compared to other areas.

 

I have been fortunate enough not to walk the streets of Atlanta in the bad parts of town, but I can remember riding home from a few Braves game that it looked pretty bad.

 

It is definitely not as bad near the Georgia Dome or the Philips Arena, but they are side by side.

I am not sure what part of town those are in, but I think Turner Field is further out, along with some of the Olympic attractions.

But I don’t do the driving, I just get told where I am going and to get in the car.

[BigBlueAlum 12]

[ QUOTE ]

Any Days Inn is a bad sign!!!!!!

 

Fortunately, you can get great hotels in Atlanta for a fairly cheap price for the quality compared to other areas.

 

I have been fortunate enough not to walk the streets of Atlanta in the bad parts of town, but I can remember riding home from a few Braves game that it looked pretty bad.

 

It is definitely not as bad near the Georgia Dome or the Philips Arena, but they are side by side.

I am not sure what part of town those are in, but I think Turner Field is further out, along with some of the Olympic attractions.

But I don’t do the driving, I just get told where I am going and to get in the car.

 

[/ QUOTE ]

 

Yeah, there are some nicer parts of town. The place we stayed at was right off of Peachtree Street, which is kinda the main street in ATL. I did all the driving for us, and it really wasn't too bad, but we didnt drive inside the city that much, mostly on the interstate around the city. Around Turner Field it didnt seem too abd of a place, but near Underground ATL (where they have a big mall and such) there were tons of homeless. Actually one showed us the way to the underground mall, he was really nice, so I gave him $5. The second time we went down there this past summer we stayed about 30 minutes outside of ATL in Calhoun (sp?). There was a very nice outlet mall there, and it wasnt a bad drive the next morning to the game. So I would reccomend that way if anyone is going to a game.

 

Are you living on campus at GT?

[dcecilgolf 11]

Yep, I don't think Freshman have a choice.

 

I have family that live in Alpharetta, which is maybe 30 minutes north of the outskirts of the city.

 

When we went down for the Peach Bowl we stayed at The Hilton, which was decent.

The best hotel I have ever stayed at in Atl. is Twelve, which was freaking unreal.

[BigBlueAlum 12]

Yeah, well I'm a poor college kid that works at Food City, so I stay at the cheapest places possible. The place we stayed at outside of Atlanta was pretty nice. I think it was a Holiday Inn Express, and it was only about $70 a night.

[goalie 10]

im a big Os fan so im really wishin that they could do something dont think they will but doesnt hurt to hope... i think th angles have th AL and th mets would be fun to see have a good year but im goin with anyone but th braves sorry just never liked them

[dcecilgolf 11]

Yeah, you got to be careful with those cheap hotels though. One of my friends got robbed at a Red Roof Inn during the US Open.

 

I think a could find some room and board in my dorm if anybody ever want to come down for a game.

[Narz_Wave 10]

Who've I got? I'll take the grass growing rather than watch baseball on TV. So bloody boring! Now I guess I'm going to have to resort to watching NBA basketball until June. Then I have to try & make it two months until football starts up again.

[BLU 10]

bloody right man!

[Hacker 82]

I personally stay north of Buckhead. You can always ride the MARTA to Turner Field or any venue. It is a good way to travel and a cultural experience as well. It sure beats trying to drive in that zoo.