Atlanta Braves Morning Chop: Turning a Page in the Same Book
It’s the day after the Tomahawk Fell – and in such an awkward fashion
So you’re Fredi Gonzalez. Your team loses (again) on Monday evening. You’re finally done with the your media obligations. You allow yourself a moment to let out a deep breath to relieve yourself of another day’s stress.
Then your phone beeps.
It’s an email. From Delta. You are advised that you have an upcoming flight to Atlanta on Tuesday afternoon.
That’s interesting… we’re still on this road trip for a few more days… and we have a charter – the Braves don’t fly commerci-….
Oh.
It wasn’t supposed to happen that way, but the AJC’s David O’Brien found out the truth. John Coppolella was already in Pittsburgh, but was waiting on John Hart to get there so that they could break the news to Gonzalez together.
But instead, the ever efficient travel secretary (Chris Van Zant) for the Braves dutifully took care of his task… which is frankly more than I can say for John Coppolella.
I’ve been critical of the handling of this whole managerial situation for a while now – and this just puts a cherry on the top of this whole sordid chapter.
This was the first major personnel decision that Coppy has had to deal with – and for weeks, he failed to deal with it, preferring to stay firmly seated on the fence.
Baseball people know how this business works. They know there is no such thing as having a job for life. Hall of Famers get fired. People have to move all the time. It’s not pleasant, but it’s known… and for sure, people can read the handwriting on the wall. So it’s okay to be up front with them – to tell them what to expect. It treats them with dignity and respect for the good things they’ve done for you.
For a couple of months now, it seems that Coppolella was trying to block that wall – maybe hoping that the writing would go away.
Hopefully this episode doesn’t hurt the Braves in ultimately hiring Gonzalez’ replacement (and I don’t mean Brian Snitker). When baseball professionals want your job, they also want an organization that handles matters like this properly. That didn’t happen here.
Hopefully, too, Fredi Gonzalez was given a first class ticket. In comments to the media on Tuesday morning, that’s how he acted. But that’s not the manner in which he was shown the door.
Here’s your box score from last night’s game.
Next: Made in the Shae-d