Kentucky Sports Radio
[Moderated by Matt Jones]
[Moderated by Matt Jones]
This post is hard for me to write. You see, even though my allegiance to Kentucky sports goes way back, there is another allegiance that may even go farther….the one to the Atlanta Braves. While I, like you, hate baseball, I nevertheless grew up a HUGE fan of the Atlanta Braves. And no, I am not talking about the pretty boy Atlanta Braves, with their Ron Gants and their David Justices and their Terry Pendletons and their Sid Breams. I liked those guys too, but I cut my teeth on the old school, losing all the time Braves. Names like Dale Murphy, Bob Horner, Claudell Washington, Rick Mahler, Paul Zuvella, Glenn “Old Mother” Hubbard, Bruce Benedict, Ozzie Virgil and Doyle Alexander. Those were my guys. They loved me and I loved them. Look, I am the guy who in 1989 traded his new Upper Deck Ken Griffey Jr. Rookie Card to Wayne Hammoc for a Ken Oberkfell Topps card because I though Oberkfell had more upside. Yes the Braves were for me and Skip Carey and Pete Van Weiren were the voices of my youth.
So I had to be saddened by the news this week that WTBS….the Superstation, which existed only to show the Andy Griffith Show, Brady Bunch, Flintstones, Sanford and Son and the Atlanta Braves will no longer be covering Atlanta Braves baseball beginning in 2008. Yes you read that correctly. The new MLB contract will be putting national games on TBS and the network which brought you shows that started on the :05, has now officially turned its back on its roots. It has stared into the face of Steve Bedrosion, Pascual Perez, Zane Smith and Rafeal Ramirez and SPIT….no more Braves, more Yankees-Red Sox. It truly is sickening.
Sure, today an old school Brave, Bruce Sutter, was put into the Hall of Fame. But not every old school Brave was that great. And I ask you the suits at TBS….can you really look Andres Thomas in the face and do this? I think not….
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July 30th, 2006 at 10:08 pm
First off, the Braves have been dead to me (a la Sheray Thomas) since that fateful day when they
traded Dale Murphy to the Phillies for the antichrist, Jeff Parrett. But you can’t honestly make a
post about the golden years of the Braves (by “golden” I mean that they were the best team in the NL
at double plays and nothing else) without mentioning Rick Mahler to a higher degree. He started EVERY
game for the Braves from 1985-1988. Every single one.
How about how Rafael Ramirez would lead the team in stolen based every year with 12? And this was in the era
of Vince Coleman, who regularly stole bases in the thousands when not setting off firecrackers.
How about Paul Runge, who was NOT related to the unpire of the same name? (A la “Heshimu means “strong warrior”)
Somewhere, Gene Garber is silently crying.
July 30th, 2006 at 10:36 pm
Good mention of Paul Runge who played a platoon often with Paul Zuvella and together, I knew that the Braves’ quotient of Pauls would be take care of.
July 30th, 2006 at 10:54 pm
This may be the best post on the blog of all time. Rick Camp would be very proud (while hitting a home run in the 17th inning of a July 4th game that my dad and I stayed up and watched in its entirety, then got in the car and drove to the ATL for the July 5th and 6th game, only to have the Braves lose on the 5th and the game on the 6th to be rained out) of you.
July 31st, 2006 at 8:27 am
Rick Camp would be proud, were he not in federal prison. What in the name of Jeff Dedmon were you
thinking, bring up this dark chapter of Braves lore?
Pascual Perez would be very disappointed.
July 31st, 2006 at 8:28 am
This is actually news (surprise). I will confess that while I am
a diehard Reds fan, I also cut my teeth on Braves baseball before they
were good (by the way–pretty boy Braves and Sid Bream in the same
sentence; gold). Personally, I was a Dion James fan, he of the 5′4,
127 pound body. Also, hard to forget that Tom Glavine, Smoltz, and
Gant all got their starts with those terrible teams, although Gant
was a joke compared to the likes of Albert Hall and/or Damasco Garcia.
Where will the Braves new television home be? Fox Sports South? What
becomes of Skip Carey? Pete Van Weiren? Don Sutton’s perm? These
are questions that demand answers. Also, the Braves suck and the Reds
rule. That one was for Kal Daniels and Bo Diaz.
July 31st, 2006 at 9:33 am
I think that TBS is not really at fault here. MLB thinks that the Bravos have an unfair advantage by having a national network show their games, while most other teams only have the regional FSN telecasts (along with the occasional FOX and ESPN game). FSN South and Turner South (which was bought by FOX and now will be called Fox Sports South 2) will be showing most Braves games in 08 and beyond. Our boys in the TBS booth might actually do some of the calls for the new TBS MLB games. My guess however, is that Chip Carey will be asked to stay on with someone else, while the announcers of our youth will be doing radio. Which is good for me, since I have a local Braves station on NewsRadio AM 940.
Brad Kominiski (who sold peanuts at Hawks games in the off season) and Terry Forster couldn’t be reached for their thoughs on this issue.
Also, I traded a Roger Clemens rookie card to a boy on bus 241 for a lot of 15 Dale Murphy cards in 1987.
July 31st, 2006 at 10:53 am
I hated the Braves, still do. They were on TV everyday, so you had to know
their players. You guys are just what the mass media loves, put it out
there in front of you enough, you’ll like it.
By the way, no mention of Brett Bulter? Also, I loved Glenn Hubbard’s beard.
I went to a Braves games the day after Bob Horner had hit a ball so hard
that it went through, put a hole in, that plexi-glass looking fence they used to have
at Fulton Co. Stadium. I thought that was so cool. Anybody else remember that?
Eric Davis is the greatest baseball player of all-time.
July 31st, 2006 at 11:05 am
I take issue with your assertion, Mike Jones. Now I’m off to watch
the latest “The Hills” episode that I have on my TiVo after I buy
a $1 Jr. Whopper from Burger King.
And, Eric Davis was good, but was he better than Eddie Milner or Gary
Redus?
July 31st, 2006 at 11:27 am
TBS did it half right- good idea dropping Braves baseball;
bad idea picking up more baseball. I tried to watch a single at bat
this weekend. Can anyone imagine a basketball player going through
a hitter’s ocd antics before putting up a free throw?
LeBron holds his hand up to the ref and steps off the line.
He tugs at his nuts. He tugs at his sweat band. He twitches a little bit.
He spits a big gob of Red Man on the elbow. He steps to the line, he
steps off the line. He looks to the bench. He spits again. He steps
to the line. He tugs at his shirt. He gets the ball. Decides to “take”
on this one and not shoot.
Baseball is awful and I think deep down you all know it.
July 31st, 2006 at 12:09 pm
What in the name of Gerald Perry are they thinking??! This just proves that all good things must eventually come to an end. The “jump the shark” moment for me was when TBS started doing the TBS Extra vignettes oncertain games. I knew, alas, in my heart of hearts, that the end was nigh. (sighs)
I remember as an 11 year-old in 1985 watching EVERY SINGLE GAME that TBS televised of that entire year of misery. (And before I’m accused of not having a life, which I didn’t as an 11 year-old, who on here can look back at their youth and say that the hapless Braves weren’t somewhat addictive to watch, like two trains on a collision course?)
By the way, does anybody remember the Bomb Squad? And why did the Braves always get big name players (a.k.a. Sutter) RIGHT after their best years only to watch them toil for the rest of their once-fulfilling careers?
And I close by remembering the uber-nerdiness of Craig McMurtry.
July 31st, 2006 at 12:37 pm
My boy, Chief Nokahoma, would be twirling in his grave over this news (no, bandwagon fans, he has not been staying up nights humming along with the Tomahawk Chop. If TBS could manage to survive after broadcasting the final game in the illustrious career of one Biff Pocoroba (which, incidentally, was played on April 20, 1984), could they not continue the sterling tradition of Braves baseball?! Seriously, though, I remember seeing the best outfield catch I’ve ever seen live on TBS. And not, it wasn’t Otis Nixon’s wall-climber, but was turned in by one Jerry Royster in left field of the old Fulton-County Stadium. Some great times I saw from that venue, whether it was the side-slinging save of Gene Garber ofn television or Bob Watson’s game-winning home run against the hated Dodgers (which I saw in Atlanta on August 13, 1983). Yep, I’ll miss the Braves on TBS, especially if they ever get a real bullpen. Maybe Glen Barker is still available.
July 31st, 2006 at 1:23 pm
Mike Jones, yes, who can forget the plexiglass fence? The same evil fence that Dale Murphy pinched his hand in making a catch, only to come back as a pinch hitter against Dwight Gooden in his prime and park a fastball far into the left-field bleachers, complete with stitches and tape wrapping said hand.
And what about Chris Chambliss, Atlanta’s own Big Poppi before HGH was cool…?
July 31st, 2006 at 2:08 pm
I remember the 13 game season starting winning streak. It seems to me “Poco” (Biff Pocoroba), also seperated his shoulder while waving a runner home that year. Also, that year, I think, The Braves wanted to allow more fans into Fulton County and they did away with Chief Nokahoma teepee and they went on a long losing streak.
Another name that comes to my mind is Tommy Gregg. I met him once after he left baseball and I told him what a fan I was of his. Later his wife came back to me and thanked me for making his day. Jeff Blauser was also one of my favorites.I have a great picture of him and Mark Lemke on the field while the press box was on fire. I also remember it was Gene Garber who stopped Pete Rose’s hitting streak. Lot of good memories and I hate that they will stop showing Braves games on TBS. I guess I am lucky I have XM and maybe have to buy The Extra Innings package on Dish.
July 31st, 2006 at 2:18 pm
If you ask me, Russ Nixon was a more intellectual manager than
Bobby Cox. Nixon was last spotted as the manager for a certain
Single-A ballclub somewhere in the Central KY area.
July 31st, 2006 at 2:24 pm
First of all its Sirius, not XM. XM is for losers and my friend DJ.
Second, Blauser and Lemke, while great, are new school. They were on teams that won….they dont count.
Third, I like the Poco reference. Good work my friend.
July 31st, 2006 at 2:26 pm
Matt, how can we get the press box on fire photo posted? I’ve got the picture and can email it somewhere if need be. It goes hand in hand with the spirit of this thread, and the board.
July 31st, 2006 at 2:57 pm
XM has MLB, not the other one.
Number two, I am sure Lemke and Blauser were there before they started winning just as Smoltz, Avery, Glavine, Justice, Gant, and others were.
Brian
July 31st, 2006 at 3:01 pm
The Braves also used to make horrible personnel decisions. They traded away Brett Butler and Brook Jacoby,
both of whom were solid in the ’80’s. They traded Claudell Washington (easily the greatest Brave named
Claudell of All Time) for Ken Griffey, Sr., and, of course, the day the music died, they swapped Saint Dale
to the opportunistic Phillies for Jeff Parrett.
David Palmer and Gary Roenicke are somewhere smiling.
July 31st, 2006 at 3:16 pm
I know XM has MLB….that is one of the reasons it is horrible. Howard is on Sirius…enough said.
And yes those Braves you mentioned were on the bad teams….but they were also on the good teams and thus they dont fit in with the spirit of horrible this thread entails
Finally, email the picture to Matt.Jones@kentuckysportsradio.com and we will get it up.
July 31st, 2006 at 3:53 pm
Matt, you didn’t use an old Braves player anywhere in your last post….
Milt Thompson is somewhere shaking his head in dissapointment…
July 31st, 2006 at 4:15 pm
Wasn’t Milt Thompson supposed to be the Braves’ version of Vince ‘the bulldog’ Coleman?
July 31st, 2006 at 5:03 pm
Obviously we are all very familiar with the early 80’s Braves, much to my
chagrin. We’ve about run out of obscure Braves, so unless I cheat and look up
the rosters, I’ve got no one left to mention.
Mosley, Milner and Redus would be on my all-cocaine team along with Steve Howe,
D. Gooden, Derek Bell, Willie Wilson, Vida Blue, Keith Hernandez, Lonnie Smith,
D. Strawberry and “The Cobra” Dave Parker(I love the Cobra) among others.
July 31st, 2006 at 6:18 pm
I am a long time braves pre WTBS. I think at is really sad wtbs and major league baseball will no longer have braves baseball after 2008. I guess Ill be getting an XM radio.
July 31st, 2006 at 7:09 pm
So my wife just asked if that was Tom Hanks in that picture…I didn’t even know how to make fun of her.
July 31st, 2006 at 10:50 pm
Sutter was later quoted as saying, “WILSOOOOOONN!” That’s for you, Ninja.
Mike Jones, you forgot that Tim “Rock (not because he was solid)” Raines would be leading off for
the all-cocaine team and would be equally adept at stealing bases and hubcaps. Raines legendarily
would only slide headfirst so as to not break the cocaine vials in his back pocket. This last
sentence is actually regarded as truth.
July 31st, 2006 at 11:59 pm
Couple of others come to mind are the “next Dale Murphy” Brad Komminsk abd Bob Walk who did pretty well for Pittsburgh later. Who was the relief pitcher who went to the Angels and committed suicide? I keep wanting to say Donnie Moore but I am not sure. He did well fr a while and then had a meltdown. He was also part of the Braves during that time.
January 13th, 2007 at 2:33 am
maybe with yahoo messenger
March 29th, 2007 at 1:08 am
austrian airline