January 31. That means tomorrow welcomes in February – a month with actual baseball games being played. I for one can’t wait.
The Atlanta Braves are about to embark on a whole new chapter in their storied history – which stretches back to 1876 and over 21,000 games. Only the Cubs have played more.
This history includes 3 World Series titles – one in each city the franchise has called home – 23 playoff appearances, 4 stadiums, 51 Hall of Famers (with at least one more on the way) and one thousand nine hundred forty-two major leaguers in those 141 seasons of baseball.
Yet with all that history, this season feels different. Like the beginning of something fresh and new.
Some of this comes from a new stadium. But while this will be the third such facility in the 50+ years that the Braves have resided in Atlanta, this one also feels different. It’s purpose-built with a plan for engaging the fans and hopefully keeping them engaged in the happenings of a destination spot that’s more than just a baseball ticket – which soon promises to be special in and of itself.
Ah promises… A lot of this renewed vigor comes from promises that are being made for a brighter future – one that will require stepped-up performances to fulfill.
But it isn’t like we will need a single player to suddenly become a hall-of-fame performer to make this team something special again. There are opportunities all around us. It’s truly a team effort as the Braves have assembled something that even Jim Callis had to grudgingly admit is the best in baseball:
Also, a lot of @Braves prospects were just starting to heat up at Rome. @Braves look better to me now, other orgs lost prospects. (2/2) https://t.co/3T5nZIjuBA
— Jim Callis (@jimcallisMLB) January 30, 2017
Part of this is the fact that we are emerging from a particularly difficult political season that has occupied the headlines without a break since the last bats were silenced, the cleats were removed, and the balls put away.
We follow baseball because of the competition, because of the beautiful nuances of the game, and because it represents a separation from some of the other necessary and more rigorous aspects of life. Regardless of your particular political bent, the return of baseball will be welcomed with open arms as we allow the functions of government to march forward while we turn our attentions elsewhere.
In these pages, we will instead look forward to a number of topics this Spring that will be of particular interest:
- How will some of these NRI do?
- Can the offense pick up where it left off in October?
- What will the World Baseball tournament do for – or against – some teams as their players ‘ramp it up early’
- Is SunTrust Park going to be completely ready to go for it first game at the end of March?
- How will all of these young pitchers react to being supplanted by an (almost) entirely new rotation?
- Just how good are these guys gonna be?
- Can Sarasota County and the Braves get together on a new Spring deal to get construction started in time for a 2019 opening?
- What’s Coppy up to today?
Today is thus the last day of our Baseball Winter. Tomorrow brings us a month with teams traveling to Florida and Arizona, with lines being drawn, gloves being popped, and the smiles of players welcoming one another back for a new season.
We don’t need a groundhog in Pennsylvania to tell us when Spring starts.
It’s almost time to play ball again.