What's with all the Braves hate? I'm an Expos man myself, but I don't mind the Braves. Watching them on TBS for the past few years has been enjoyable.
Wow they do exist I thought I'd find a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow before I found a real live Expos fan.
The hate on the Braves can be partially explained by the fact they have given the local 9 fits in the playoffs. And partially explained by the fact that I get tired of seeing the Bravos in the playoffs every year...their jaded fans don't even bother selling out home games for first round playoff series. Also, moral midgets like Bobby Cox, Chipper Jones, John Rocker etc keep parading through there.
I have Randy Johnson, Ben Sheets (18 K's) and Schmidt (one-hit the Cubs today) on my fantasy team. Whee...
Take a look back at how many different teams have won a World Series in the past decade. Then, take a look at how many different NBA teams have won a championship in the last decade. Part of the reason people think the parity is so bad is just because there are a lot fewer teams that make the playoffs. Were only 4 teams from each conference to make the playoffs in the NBA, you'd be seeing the same exact teams year in and year out. The NFL is about the only sport with real parity (and I would argue that they have entirely too much parity).
A pitcher throwing a no-no has been pinch hit for in a close game on several occasions. There was one old NL manager who was infamous for doing this because he did it several times. I'm thinking it might have been Danny Murtaugh with Pittsburgh?
Do you think they wanted to let Sheff and Javy just walk for nothing? It's called financial pressures from that damned AOL/Timewarner, which owns the Braves. Hopefully some billionare, Mark Cuban-type will ride in and save the Braves from lapsing back in the 1980's, when they were the most rotten team in all of baseball.
First of all bama, I'm from Houston and thus an Astros fan so I understand all about losing players. That also explains why I despise Atlanta. As far as Sheffield goes, I'd blame management for not even offering him arbitration, so the Braves didn't even get a pick out of that. As far as Lopez goes, with the way Estrada has hit so far, it's understandable why they let him go. But the problem is the pitching sucked last year, and now the offense isn't lights out to cover for it. That is why Atlanta probably won't make the playoffs for the first time in more than a decade. Sorry if I touched a cord, but I was just expressing joy watching the Braves struggle since all the torture and heartbreak they have caused the Astros over the years. It's nice to see a fellow journalist have a rooting interest though in a local team since they teach us you can't do that(which is a load of crap if you do it properly).
