Close The Book on 2014

The Braves season ended with a whimper on Sunday.

Sure, there are still games to be played but the post season that Atlanta is so accustomed to is out of reach.  At the end of play Sunday, the Braves were eight games behind the division-winning Nationals and only a half game ahead of the Mets. Yes, only a half game ahead of the lowly Mets. The same Mets that just swept the Braves. The same Mets that the Braves always seemed to be able to beat.  Not this year.  At the beginning of September the Braves still had a shot at the wild card.  Since then they've gone 4-14.

Simply put, the Braves spent this season playing uninspired baseball. The biggest highlights of the year involved Braves players who, ironically, no longer play. Hank Aaron and the 40th anniversary of his breaking Babe Ruth's record and Tom Glavine, Greg Maddux and Bobby Cox's election to Cooperstown. I hate to be the bearer of bad news folks, but the glory days are long behind us.

The finger-pointing has begun. The axes are being sharpened. Where does the blame for this sub-par season lie? The front office can't distract fans with a shiny new ball park that's over two seasons away. What should have been done differently?  What changes are in store for the team?  Who will be back?  And more importantly, who won't?

Over the years, countless people questioned many of Bobby Cox's decisions on the field and how he ran the team. I don't have enough fingers and toes to count the number I people I personally know who blame Bobby for the Braves winning only one World Series. Yet, those same people aren't saying a word about Fredi Gonzalez. I find that interesting. Is Fredi safe?  Will his coaching staff pay the price?  It always seems to be that the hitting coaches go first.  I don't think that this season is Greg Walker and Scott Fletcher's fault.  It was a group effort.  Specifically the players.

I think that more than anyone else, Frank Wren is on the hot seat. I'll preface this with the fact that I like Frank. That said, the Braves GM has made many moves that have cost the Braves dearly.  A quick, off-the-top-of-my-head list? Derek Lowe. Kenshin Kawakami. Dan Uggla. B.J. Upton. I don't even want to know the amount of money that the team wasted on these players.

And what about the players they chose not to keep. Brian McCann. I understand that one and letting him go to free agency made sense.  However, letting Tim Hudson slip away was a HUGE mistake. I'm certain that the Braves offer (if they ever got around to it) was for one year only. The Braves were playing it cautious as Huddy would be 38 at the start of the season and coming off a horrific ankle injury. However and interestingly enough, there were multiple teams that took no issue with either. Sure Huddy is 9-12 this season, but it's what the Braves gave up off the field which is much, much worse.

Leadership.

The Braves are the second youngest team in baseball. They need a veteran leader in the clubhouse. This season there was no one to fill that role. It showed.

I don't want to seem totally negative. Frank Wren has made some good moves. Chris Johnson and Justin Upton, even though they crashed and burned in the final month, were still good pick-ups.  Aaron Harang and Ervin Santana helped rescue the decimated pitching staff.  Alex Wood proved that he's a big league starter and that the farm teams are strong  There are good players are on the horizon but the horizon doesn't get the Braves into the 2014 post season.

The Braves take on the sad role of spoiler now. And the fans? We just sit back and wait.  Thank goodness for SEC football.

The Professor

This isn't the post I intended to write today.  For the past week, I've been on an even bigger than usual baseball high.  Hall of Fame weekend in Cooperstown!  What a treat it was, soaking in every bit of Braves glory in a place that honors the saints (and sinners) of our game.  I was in absolute heaven!

But that post can wait.  In less that a week Braves Country went from the highest of highs to the deepest sense of sadness and loss.  We lost a legend.  We lost The Professor.  Our Professor.  Our Pete Van Wieren.

 

 

 

In a day where the trend is moving toward non-partisans calling the ball game, the most beloved and revered broadcasters are still those who are 'homers'.  Every true-blue fan believes their broadcasters are the best.  But in Atlanta, it was true.  We had the perfect trifecta that brought Braves games into homes from sea to shining sea.  Ernie, Skip and Pete.  They didn't need last names.  There were none better.

 

 

 

 

Three very different men with an amazing chemistry.  One a father figure, one a wise-cracking Eddie Haskel and the third, a baseball scholar.  As one would say, they covered all the bases.  They were perfection in the booth.

 

Pete broadcast Braves games from the beginning of the 1976 season until his retirement in 2008.  His decision to retire was prompted by the passing of Skip Caray.  Pete was reminded that life is short and he had spent an unimaginable amount of time away from his family due to baseball.  It was time to focus on what was most important to him.  His family.

 

It wasn't easy in the early days.  From 1976 through 1990 the Braves posted the second lowest winning percentage in baseball.  Yet, due to Channel 17 and then TBS, they were the most watched team in baseball.  America's Team.  For the Dallas Cowboys, it's a nickname.  For the Atlanta Braves, it's the truth.   

 

In those days, the Braves broadcasts couldn't have been easy.  The lean years were filled with hundreds of lost games and hundreds more empty seats.  Sure there were splashes of excitement.  Dale Murphy, the 1982 season, Gene Garber ending Pete Rose's hitting streak and Ted Turner in general.  Still, it was a tough job.  Pete Van Wieren did his homework and came to the ball park prepared.  He filled Braves games with facts and figures that were fascinating!  He did copious amounts of research before every game.  Yet, during the games it never came across as if we were being 'schooled'.  Pete used all that information to show us the magic of baseball!  Dave Baker put it best when he said "Pete was baseball reference.com before there was an internet."  So true!  There was nothing that Pete didn't know.

 

As hard as as his first 15 seasons in Atlanta were, the next 17 were spectacular!  From 1991 through 2008, the Braves posted the highest winning percentage in all of baseball.  As much as the organization and the fans deserved some winning, so did those gentlemen in the booth.  There was nothing better than hearing the excitement and pride in the beautiful tones of Pete voice, celebrating Chipper Jones' 2000th hit and John Smoltz's 200th win.  Pete voice transported us from our living rooms to Fulton County Stadium and later Turner Field.  Pete Van Wieren called 15 division winning seasons, 128 playoff games, 4 MVPs, 6 Cy Youngs, 3 Rookies of the Year (should've been 4 according to Joe Simpson!) and 6 Hall of Famers. 

 

Last night's Braves broadcast was filled with beautiful tributes.  From the current broadcast team to John Schuerholz, Tom Glavine, Terry Pendleton, Mark Lemke, Jeff Francoeur, John Smoltz, Chipper Jones, Ernie Johnson Jr. and Bobby Cox, the same words continued to be repeated.  Gentleman.  Class.  Family Man.  Professional.  Prepared.  Storyteller.

 

The common thread from the players is that they all felt as if they already knew Pete when they came up to the bigs.  After all, they had been listening to him since they were kids.  The pitchers spoke of listening to Pete in the club house as they charted pitches.  Both Joe Simpson and Ernie Johnson Jr. said that no one out prepared The Professor before a game.  Chipper said he loved sitting near Pete on the charter flights so that he could listen to his stores.  John Schuerholz said that Pete Van Weiren was a class gentleman and represented the Braves in high fashion.

 

For me, the most moving tribute came from Don Sutton, his voice cracking as he spoke of his long-time colleague and dear friend.  He spoke of how much he owed Pete.  He said that Pete Van Weiren taught him more about broadcasting than anyone else in the business.  "Pete didn't care about being famous.  He cared about being good."  He went on to say that Pete was the "most unselfish man I've ever been around."  "I wonder if I told him enough how important he was to me." 

 

The last time I saw Pete Van Weiren was on Opening Day.  He was hosting the Braves tribute to Hank Aaron.  As fans, we knew Pete would be there.  If there was a Braves ceremony, the Professor, our Braves historian, would be our host.  Pete was wonderful and he looked so well.  It's so hard to fathom that we won't see him again or hear that beautiful voice.  As they played clips of some Pete's calls last night, I caught myself smiling.  Pete had that effect on everyone.

 

On the day before the sixth anniversary of his father's passing, Chip Caray made all of Braves Country smile when he said, " I can only imagine the production meeting up in heaven tonight."

 

From everyone in Braves Country, thank you Pete Van Wieren.  We were lucky to have you and we will never, ever forget you.