Menu
Franchises

Braves' Fall From Grace In Stark Contrast To Years Of On-Field Consistency

The Braves have become the "laughingstock of baseball" after serving as the "model" MLB franchise for the past quarter-century, according to Bob Nightengale of USA TODAY. The team is 7-23 after yesterday's loss to the D-backs, marking the "worst start in franchise history." They are 1-15 at home, "becoming only the third team in baseball history to lose 15 of their first 16 home games." The Braves "still believe good times are right around the corner" in '17 when they move into SunTrust Park, but they are "on pace to lose more games than any team in modern history." The team was "expected to be bad again this season, but no one anticipated their final season at Turner Field to look this ugly." Braves Vice Chair John Schuerholz: "The expectation was just so different than this. We didn’t expect to blow the doors off, but we did expect to be competitive. ... This just hasn’t worked out the way we thought it would be, and now we’re all asking questions" (USA TODAY, 5/9). The AP’s Paul Newberry noted the “only real suspense" is how long Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez "will last (probably not much longer) and how many games this dumpster of a team will lose by the time it’s done.” The Braves’ drop in the standings over the last two seasons "has been especially jarring in light of the team’s longtime place as one of baseball’s flagship franchises” (AP, 5/8). In Augusta, Scott Michaux wrote it is passed the point where fans are "wearing bags on our heads as shamed Braves fans -- certainly when the Hector Olivera’s domestic assault arrest surfaced” last month. It is “best to just close our eyes and pretend” the ’16 season “doesn’t exist.” The “consistently successful Braves we came to know and love through the glorious 1990s and early aughts are a distant memory” (AUGUSTA CHRONICLE, 5/7).

MIXED MESSAGES: In Georgia, Guerry Clegg noted Braves GM John Coppolella and President of Baseball Operations John Hart have been “very disingenuous about their intentions ever since they began this organizational overhaul" by trading RF Jason Heyward to the Cardinals following the '14 season. They claim they are "trying to remain competitive while waiting on their prize prospects to develop,” but that is "hard to believe given the patch-work makeup of the roster” (COLUMBUS LEDGER-ENQUIRER, 5/8). 

SBJ Morning Buzzcast: March 25, 2024

NFL meeting preview; MLB's opening week ad effort and remembering Peter Angelos.

Big Get Jay Wright, March Madness is upon us and ESPN locks up CFP

On this week’s pod, our Big Get is CBS Sports college basketball analyst Jay Wright. The NCAA Championship-winning coach shares his insight with SBJ’s Austin Karp on key hoops issues and why being well dressed is an important part of his success. Also on the show, Poynter Institute senior writer Tom Jones shares who he has up and who is down in sports media. Later, SBJ’s Ben Portnoy talks the latest on ESPN’s CFP extension and who CBS, TNT Sports and ESPN need to make deep runs in the men’s and women's NCAA basketball tournaments.

SBJ I Factor: Nana-Yaw Asamoah

SBJ I Factor features an interview with AMB Sports and Entertainment Chief Commercial Office Nana-Yaw Asamoah. Asamoah, who moved over to AMBSE last year after 14 years at the NFL, talks with SBJ’s Ben Fischer about how his role model parents and older sisters pushed him to shrive, how the power of lifelong learning fuels successful people, and why AMBSE was an opportunity he could not pass up. Asamoah is 2021 SBJ Forty Under 40 honoree. SBJ I Factor is a monthly podcast offering interviews with sports executives who have been recipients of one of the magazine’s awards.

Shareable URL copied to clipboard!

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Daily/Issues/2016/05/09/Franchises/Braves.aspx

Sorry, something went wrong with the copy but here is the link for you.

https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/Daily/Issues/2016/05/09/Franchises/Braves.aspx

CLOSE