POTENTIAL FOR 2010 WARMS THOSE COLD WINTER NIGHTS
By ssiscribe
ATLANTA — Nothing chills the heart of a baseball fan more than when the first cold front of the offseason blows through town, sending the garden blooms shivering and the good denizens scrambling for that favorite sweater.
And that’s where we stand on this night along the southern rim of the capital city. On the big TV is a big-time doing: the Yankees and Angels battling in the late innings of Game 2 of the American League Championship Series.
For Los Angeles (times two!) and New York and Philadelphia, the here and now sits squarely in focus. Here in Atlanta, and wherever the legions of Braves Nation lay their heads on this chilly October night, 2010 already has arrived, regardless of what the calendar on the wall reports to us.
Winter has arrived, even if we’re told it doesn’t get here until December. It arrived in late September, after a spirited late-season push by the Braves fell a few games short of a miracle ticket to the postseason party.
For all the hub-bub and boost Atlanta’s torrid September surge provided, I couldn’t help but wonder two things:
1.) We don’t deserve to play in October, given how we’d played in April, May and June.
2.) If we hadn’t played the first 74 games of this season six games under .500, I’d be pulling money aside for World Series tickets.
Therein rests the hope as we look ahead to a new season, one that we’re already thinking about and talking about and obsessing about, even as four teams still try to settle the final matters of 2009. What we saw out of the Braves from the moment they were 34-40 to the dying days of September provide plenty of evidence this team is plenty good enough to be plastered on our TV screens — and not just in our consciousness and discussion — come this time next year.
Certainly, there are questions to address, holes to fill. Let’s face it: after a 90-loss season in 2008, the Braves had two offseasons worth of work to do to get this thing straightened out. Give Frank Wren and Co. credit for addressing the most-glaring need first. Not too long after having to rely on Jorge Campillo, Jo-Jo Reyes, James Parr and Buddy Carlyle to fill out a starting rotation, the Braves have a staff that is the envy of the sport.
Heck, they have TOO many starters, if it’s even possible to find oneself in such a scenario.
Now that the rotation is salted away and salved, it’s time to give the lineup the pop it needs to generate enough runs to propel this squad into the playoffs. Moves made along the way, from trading for Nate McLouth to Adam LaRoche’s homecoming to Martin Prado’s ascension to everyday player status, have helped.
Re-sign LaRoche, find one more bat (preferably right-handed in nature), and this team is golden. I really believe that, and no, it’s not the fumes coming from the Hot Stove on this cold winter’s night providing such an intoxicating aroma.
Baseball 2009 is done for me, despite this ALCS contest playing on my TV. Baseball 2010 awaits. Dare I say, with the evidence at my disposal, the Braves have poured a strong foundation.
Add a few bricks to it, and next October will be a lot warmer.
–30–
~Scribe~
Braves & Stuff 