Bloglanta

Though the Braves lost today, they’ve won the bigger war.  Perhaps more than any other team, they actually represent the city.  An entire generation of players has moved through since the first pennants of the early 1990s.  Yes.  John Smoltz, with his determined arm of thunderbolts is still here.  Yes.  We still see Terry Pendleton, though he’s a coach now. 
But like Atlanta, the first generation that pushed Atlanta forward has passed on the torch.  Just as Atlanta has never been the focal point of American Cities but keeps itself near the top, Atlanta has only won the world series once (10 years ago in 1995).  Still 14 years in the play-offs is a remarkable streak and the Braves will continue it this year.  So too, the city has weathered some tough years and some changes in leadership.  The new generation is making the city stronger and taking things forward. 
What Atlanta can learn from the Braves is consistency.  The Braves have been very good for a very long time.  I am sure at some point, Bobby Cox will write a management book and it will remain at number 2 on the Amazon best seller list right behind Tony La Russa.
Still, the Cox book will be worth reading.  No one has made it into Baseball’s post season as consistently as the Braves and Atlanta now needs that consistency to show the world that we are more than a flash in the pan.  We are a city that is actually developing a sense of itself and the Braves are at the unifying heart of that. 
Congratulations Gentlemen.  Thank you for 14 great years.   More please!

This entry was posted on Friday, September 23rd, 2005 at 1:13 am and is filed under Looking at the Past. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.