Atlanta Braves History: 5 “what if” moments that could have changed history

Throughout history there is always the question of what if? What if this happened instead of what did happen and so on. In this article, we are going to look at 5 Atlanta Braves “What if’s.”

Let’s get started with the most obvious “what if.”

1. What if the Braves actually drafted Todd Van Poppel #1 instead of Chipper Jones in 1990?

Much was made at the time at how the Atlanta Braves took a young shortstop from Florida instead of a sure-fire guarantee in Todd Van Poppel at the time of this draft.

We all know the rest of the story for Chipper Jones and all he did for the Braves and the city of Atlanta during his hall of fame career.

But again, what if the Atlanta Braves still had gone out and drafted Van Poppel against his wishes?

The whole dynasty thing of the ’90s would probably not exist. I’m not going to say that the Atlanta Braves wouldn’t have gone to a World Series or even won one with the pitching staff we had at the time, but it sure would have been a lot harder.

This was the draft that also basically earned Bobby Cox his check at being the general manager at the time.

The rest of the draft was basically for naught for the Braves as Chipper was the only long-standing piece they drafted that year.

Todd Van Poppel eventually was drafted by the Athletics with the 14th pick and bounced around for a few clubs before injuries finally completely shut off his career.

He is obviously no hall of famer, but it’s a darn good thing the Braves took a chance and drafted Chipper Jones instead.