“Baby Braves” Two: The Encore

Hello again everyone from southeast Michigan, where we are finally getting rain again, accompanied by large doses of thunder and lightning. Keeps you on your toes!

As we enter the All-Star break, it seems a good time to me to reflect a bit on the first half of the season. While there have certainly been struggles, it feels to me like we are on the cusp of something special here. This team reminds me of the old Dodgers teams of the 1960’s, where they combined the dominant pitching of the likes of Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale with an offense that scored just enough to win and the shut-down relief of Phil Regan. To me, that’s high praise.

Those of you who have been fans for a while may remember that the 2005 Braves were widely touted as the “Baby Braves” and for good cause, as the likes of Jeff Francoeur, Brian McCann, and Kelly Johnson were thrust into starting roles. But, to me mind, even that team pales in comparison to this year’s team, “Baby Braves Two: The Encore”. In 2005, both McCann and Francoeur were 21 and Kelly Johnson was 23. That parallels the 21 years old ages of Jason Heyward and Freddie Freeman and the 23 of Craig Kimbrel. But remember, today’s “youngsters” have been on the scene for the entire season.

To have three players so young in such critical positions as is the case with the 2011 Braves seems incredible to me. Looking back over time, these players are younger than those of other memorable teams known for their youth like the 1986 Mets (Darryl Strawberry 24, Dwight Gooden 21, Lenny Dykstra 23), the 1971 Oakland Athletics (Vida Blue, 21, Reggie Jackson 25, Rollie Fingers 24), and even the 1995 Braves (Chipper Jones, 23, Ryan Klesko 24, Javy Lopez 24).

It’s not like the supporting cast of these guys are in wheelchairs either, as Tommy Hanson is only 24, Jordan Schafer is 24, Jair Jurrjens is 25, Brandon Beachy is 24, Jonny Venters and Eric O’Flaherty are only 26, while Brian McCann and Martin Prado are almost elder statesmen of the “Youth Group” at 27.

I hope everyone agrees that there are the makings of a special season here. Are there other examples of playoff teams with a very young core that you can think of that merit comparison?

[EDITOR’S NOTE: THANKS TO MY MANY FRIENDS AT THE ATLANTA BRAVES COFFEESHOP GROUP ON FACEBOOK FOR THEIR CONTRIBUTIONS TO THIS PIECE.]