Joe DeMaestri a one time All Star shortstop whose nicknames were Froggy and Oats and a guy who played for four teams in 11 major league seasons through 1961 before retiring with a .236 career average and .599 OPS once said Of all the teams I played on the Yankees were the team that drank the most.
This has nothing much to do with anything for our purposes today other than to draw you in and further illustrate that baseball is a glorious game full of colorful characters. Because here we are about to start another long chapter in the neverending story of our national pastime.
It s Opening Day.
Today the sky is blue literally and figuratively in Braves Country and a revamped squad that has folks around here excited is going to get things started tonight in what should feel like playoff weather. Forecast calls for 67 degrees at 7 p.m. and temps in the low 60s by 9 p.m. And no rain.
Hey even our city s usual thick yellow pollen this time of year has done us the courtesy of staying away.
Stage is set page has been turned new era for the Braves officially begins.
Jason Heyward is in Chipper s old locker with the Upton brothers in the two lockers to his right. And that feels right.
Just about very fan of every team in every town even Houston or Chicago s North Side goes into Opening Day with renewed hope and optimism whether grounded in reality or nothing more than wishful thinking.
But in places like Atlanta nothing less than a playoff berth especially in the wild card era is ever considered acceptable by most fans. And for good reason. The organization has been more consistently competitive than any other in the National League for the past 22 years and appears to have recovered from a few seasons of mediocrity that came after payroll was reduced and some promising draft picks either didn t pan out or were traded away.
This season seems particularly important for a few reasons.
The Braves are starting a new era with the Uptons joining Heyward in the outfield and with B.J. signed to the largest free agent contract in franchise history ($75.25 million over five years also making it the largest average annual salary in team history) a lot of people will be watching to see how the new sibling dynamic unfolds in Year 1.
Justin Upton and Heyward each are under contractual control through 2015 B.J. through 2017. So the hope among the Braves is they won t feel overwhelming pressure right away to win big or else.
At the same time that a new era starts the Braves have two franchise mainstays Brian McCann and Tim Hudson entering options years of their contracts both eligible for free agency after the season. Hudson s on the hill for tonight s opener and McCann s on the DL until at least the third or four week of the season.
What happens when McCann returns Does Evan Gattis go down or become a third catcher/fifth outfielder with Jordan Schafer or another sent down or unloaded to make room
Oh yes. Gattis. El Oso Blanco. Not much else needs to be said right now. I'll refrain for now as it seems to perturb a certain element of our readers who would rather not have phenoms emerge at advanced ages and via avenues by which those observers are unaccustomed i.e. through a couple of jaw dropping statistical seasons in the minors and hitting displays during batting practice and spring training games that leave even jaded veteran players and coaches describing them in terms normally reserved for established superstar sluggers.
Suffice to say there is a faction of Braves fans who seem as or even more excited about the unveiling of Gattis on the big stage than they do about all the marquee guys who ve already produced at the big league level. He s the kind of story that comes along so rarely in this age of media proliferation and exhaustive scouting and draft coverage.
But we ll leave it at that for now. Let s see how long it takes for the White Bear to start eating up here at this level.
It s Opening Day.
The Nationals are the new Phillies who for a handful of years were the new Braves before Philly got old quickly and went from first place to 17 games behind the Nats in the NL East last season.
The Nats and Phillies both look stronger this season but it could certainly be argued that neither made moves quite as significant this winter as the Braves who finished four games behind Washington and 13 ahead of the Phillies won the first wild card berth and lost a one game playoff to the winner of the second wild card berth St. Louis.
The Braves aren t aiming for another wild card. They re looking to topple the Nats and win what would be their first division title in seven years since their remarkable run of 14 consecutive division titles ended.
They have reasons to believe they can do it. Legit reasons. But they ve got to stay fairly healthy especially in their starting rotation at the back of the bullpen and at the top of the lineup.
They have the best relatively unsung position player in the league in Andrelton Simmons. They ve got a dynamic power laden outfield. A star in the making in first baseman Freddie Freeman. The game s best closer in Craig Kimbrel (despite spring results).
They ve got a lot going for them. But so do the Nats.
It ll take 100 games to win the division this year 98 to win a wild card in a league with the Dodgers now spending like the Yankees (and them some) and the Giants being the Giants until someone proves otherwise.
It s Opening Day. First of 162. And this one feels a little different doesn t it Special in a different way that has less to do with nostalgia and going out on high note than rebirth and starting fresh. Not just a new season but a new era.
Let it begin.
BRAVES OPENING DAY LINEUP
Simmons SSHeyward RFJ. Upton LFFreeman 1BB.J. Upton CFUggla 2BC. Johnson 3BLaird CHudson PA couple of notes
Cursed locker eliminated Perhaps it was the horror of seeing top pitching prospect J.R. Graham using the locker during the early pitching camp in February. Or maybe it was a decision made after even the indefatigable Livan Hernandez who had overcome everything else during a career spanning 17 years and 3 100 plus innings proved no match for this particular force greater than nature.
Whatever the official reason The Locker is no more. The infamous cursed locker in the Braves clubhouse at Turner Field has finally been eliminated. Not boarded up as GM Frank Wren half jokingly suggested couple of years ago but turned into a cubicle with a small desktop for the computer that players use to reserve their comp game tickets.
For those who don t believe in curses consider that Hernandez lasted only 18 relief appearances with the Braves last season before getting released. He finished the season with Milwaukee and is not on any roster today.
He was the latest in a long line of Braves whose careers took unwanted turns during or after their year in The Locker after the team moved to Turner Field in 1997.
For years anyone assigned that locker next to Greg Maddux's locker was gone before the following year sometimes much sooner. Beginning with Jeff Blauser who had it the first year the ballpark was open for baseball in 1997.
Blauser hit .308 with an .886 OPS that year (both career highs) then went to the Cubs as a free agent and hit .219 with a .639 OPS in '98. He was out of baseball a year later.
In 2011 these four players spent time in the locker Joe Mather (releaseased) Jordan Schafer (traded to Houston in July) Cristhian Martinez (demoted to the minors midseason).
One exception in recent years a player to last more than a season in the locker was pitcher Kenshin Kawakami. But his career went so far off the tracks he might ve been better off if he d not begun a second year in The Locker. He spent the entire third year of his three year contract at Double A Mississippi accompanied by his Maserati and his interpreter.
Among the previous players assigned to the locker Bret Boone Robert Fick Wally Joyner Ken Caminiti Albie Lopez Damian Moss Chris Seelbach and Joe Nelson.
Now it's gone. A locker no more. Neither Graham should he make it to the majors this year nor anyone else will be doomed to that locker at any point this season or presumably in the future.
But let's see how long before the computer in the locker turned cubicle gets a virus.
Opening at home This is only the second opening day at home in nine years for the Braves who beat the Cubs 16 5 in 2010. Before that they hadn t opened at home since losing back to back openers against the Montreal Expos (yes it was long ago) in 2003 and Mets in 2004. Maddux got the decision in 03 Russ Ortiz in 04.
Left field carousel Atlanta will have a different opening day left fielder for the fifth consecutive season tonight as Justin Upton makes his official Braves debut. And get this He ll be the eighth different Brave to start in left field in the past 10 opening days.
The only Braves to start two openers in left field in that span were Matt Diaz (2008 2012) and Ryan Lanherhans (2006 2007). The others Chipper (2004) Brian Jordan (2005) Garret Anderson (2009) Melky Cabrera (2010) and Martin Prado (2011).
For those wondering why Prado wasn t in left in last season s opener he was at third base filling in for Chipper who missing the opening series at New York while recovering from knee surgery late in spring training.
The last Brave to start three consecutive opening days in left field That d be Chipper (2002 2004).
By the way B.J. Upton is the Braves sixth different opening day center fielder in seven years. The only player to start two openers in center during that period was Nate McLouth (2010 2011).
The Braves also have a different opening day shortstop for the fourth consecutive season in Andrelton Simmons after Tyler Pastornicky (2012) Alex Gonzalez (2011) and Yunel Escobar (2010). But something tells me this will be the first in a long run of opening day starts for Simmons at the position.
Meanwhile the Braves run of seven consecutive opening day starts by McCann ends tonight when Gerald Laird makes his Braves debut. As mentioned earlier McCann opens the season on the DL recovering from shoulder surgery.
OK let s do this. Here s the mighty Clash in Complete Control. Watch it here. Feel the energy.
COMPLETE CONTROL by The ClashThey said release 'Remote Control' But we didn't want it on the label They said Fly to Amsterdam The people laughed but the press went mad
Ooh ooh ooh someone's really smart Ooh ooh ooh complete control that's a laugh
On the last tour my mates couldn't get in I'd open up the back door but they'd get run out again At every hotel we was met by the Law Come for the party come to make sure
Ooh ooh ooh have we done something wrong Ooh ooh ooh complete control even over this song
They said we'd be artistically free When we signed that bit of paper They meant let's make a lotsa mon ee An' worry about it later
Ooh ooh ooh I'll never understand Ooh ooh ooh complete control lemme see your other hand
All over the news spread fast They're dirty they're filthy They ain't gonna last
This is Joe Public speaking I'm controlled in the body controlled in the mind
Total C o n control that means you
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