Atlanta Braves Morning Chop for THR 9/18

So What Happens to the Summerhill Neighborhood After the Braves Leave?

TERRY SHROPSHIRE, NATL CORRESPONDENT / ATLANTA DAILY WORLD

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The announcement that the Atlanta Braves baseball team would be moving from its longtime home at Turner Field, just south of downtown Atlanta sent seismic quakes reverberating throughout the political, financial and cultural infrastructure in the city and the state — not to mention the Summerhill community that housed the franchise and withstood decades of  crowd inconveniences, detours and clogged roadways.

Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed and the Summerhill neighborhood that surrounds Turner Field are still reeling from the aftershocks of the announcement nearly one year after it was made. Now that  they’ve settled into the realization that the Braves will pack up the franchise and move to suburban Cobb County that straddles the outer northwestern edge of the city, man have to wonder what’s next.

Dec 31, 2012; Atlanta, GA, USA; Chick-Fil-A cow mascots perform during the 2012 Chick-Fil-A bowl parade in downtown Atlanta before the game between the Louisiana State Tigers and the Clemson Tigers. Mandatory Credit: Joshua S. Kelly-USA TODAY Sports

In an almost defiant stance taken during a press conference at Atlanta City Hall this past week, Reed assured the city that the Summerhill neighborhood surrounding Turner Field will be okay with the absence of the Braves.

“We’re not walking around here moping. I hate losing. But there are times when other people make plays,” he said, later adding: “We’re not losing anything. The Braves are still in the region, so I don’t feel like this is a loss.”

In the months since the Braves brain trust announced the team’s imminent move in November 2013, the mayor has worked to secure a future for the land south of downtown. Plans include a proposed $300 million development by Georgia State University, which is devouring downtown real estate square inch by square inch. GSU officials are negotiating to build a university sports complex and mixed-use development.

Reed leveraged the platform of the press conference on Tuesday, Sept. 16 to also allay fears of the Hawks leaving town, and he rightly seized the opportunity surrounding the controversy to pressure the Braves to make their plans known about exactly when they are moving out.

Reed said he called the press conference — the same day as the Braves groundbreaking — because he was traveling in China last week during much of the Hawks’ controversy. The inner dysfunction of the Hawks franchise made national headlines in the past week and a half, after a part-owner’s racially-charged email and a separate executive’s remarks were made public.

[Editor’s Note:  this article – and there’s much more of it at the link above – is frankly bogus.  Atlanta had the opportunity to keep the Braves.  They chose the Falcons and opted to let the Braves take a better offer… in fact, there was no offer from Atlanta.  The notion that the Braves haven’t made their plans known (underlined part above) is laughable – they have a 20 year lease at Turner Field.  They have plans to move into a new stadium the year after that lease expires.  What’s the mystery?  In terms of that neighborhood being “okay” after they leave, the better question is this:  why didn’t Atlanta work with the team’s desire to improve the neighborhood while they were present?

Cry me a river, mayor.  You blew it by ignoring an asset.  Now it’s leaving.  Call a loss a loss – that’s what we’ve been doing this September.]

Can the Atlanta Braves fix their lousy offense for 2015?

BARRY SVRLUGA / WASHINGTON POST

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ATLANTA — As soon as the most miserable weekend in a pretty miserable season for the Atlanta Braves ended Sunday – this in the form of a 10-3 loss that completed a sweep at the hands of the Texas Rangers, who are downright ghastly –

thought not of his team’s plight in the standings, where its hopes are fading. He thought, and thought hard, about the next day’s lineup.

Not terribly long ago, Turner Field was home to baseball’s most consistent show, producing postseason appearances with such regularity that it became blasé, money rolling off the printing press. But the 2014 Braves have potentially rattled that if-we-don’t-make-it-this-year-we-will-next thinking. It is mid-September, and the Braves have played middling baseball for the better part of four months. They have been so inconsistent offensively that their manager, trying to find any way to make the last two weeks relevant, is willing to try anyone in nearly any spot in the lineup.

“I even had ‘CJ’ hitting second in one of the ones I threw away, picked back out of the trash,” Gonzalez said Monday night, referencing his third baseman, Chris Johnson.

The problem with that: Johnson’s on-base percentage is .290. The problem with that: There are two players, to whom the Braves have given nearly 1,100 plate appearances, who get on base less frequently. And Gonzalez’s solution in a must-win game against the Washington Nationals: bat one of those guys, shortstop Andrelton Simmons, second.

“We didn’t think offense was going to be our problem,” General Manager Frank Wren said. “That’s for sure.”

Hey!  We Won Last Night!

But what did it cost?  Jason Heyward (HBP, thumb) and Andrelton Simmons (lingering ankle) both went down last night.  Even with the win, there were only 7 hits – three of them from Philip Gosselin.  The key blow was a 2 out, bases-loaded single… but then every hit was a single… by Christian Bethancourt. It was also nice that we got the third run on that same play via an error on Danny Espinosa.

Meanwhile, Alex Wood is awesome.  His ERA is down to 2.78 (2.59 as a starter – 6th in the league, if he qualified) as he struck out 8 and scattered 5 hits over six innings.  Sure feels like he should be about 16-4 instead of the mediocre-looking 11-10.  Oh, that’s right:  “Wins” are meaningless as a pitching stat.

Well, WINS sure matter to the team, and this team needed one in the worst way, though it comes far too late this month to do a lot of good.  The Braves are now 5.5 games behind Pittsburgh for the last playoff spot with 10 to play.

So here’s the numbers: