Smoltz

So you cannot go anywhere in Atlanta today without hearing about how the Atlanta Braves have let longtime ace pitcher John Smoltz walk away and sign with the Boston Red Sox. As a lifelong Braves fan, I cannot even put into words how mad I am with the Braves front office. They have let the team leader, the community representative, the face of the franchise, a future Hall of Famer, and one of the most beloved players in the game just walk away over an insignificant $3 million or so. This happens when at the beginning of the offseason the Braves were bragging that they had so much money to spend. Yet they cannot find a few million more for arguably the most important player this franchise has ever seen? Especially considering that have done pretty much nothing else to improve the team this offseason. They have the money, but they refused to offer just a very small portion of it to such a great ballplayer and person.

In my short life of 21 years, I've pretty much only known the Braves as winners up until recently. I have always been proud to be a Braves fan. I wonder if I would be as interested in baseball as I am if the Braves were not winning every year like they were during the majority of my childhood. I like other sports & other teams, but I am first and foremost an Atlanta Braves fan. And I must say that I am, probably for the first time ever, disappointed in the Atlanta Braves as an organization. It just makes me sick to my stomach that they could not find it in themselves to offer the great John Smoltz just a little more money. Is that too much to ask for considering all the man has done for this city the past 20+ years? John Smoltz has been a Brave as long as I have been alive. And now, he is not.

The Braves are going to most definitely see a backlash for allowing Smoltz to walk. Many college kids in my age range have grown up knowing the Braves as winners, and they expect nothing less. They know this organization as one of the classiest organizations in all of sports. They expect great things from the Atlanta Braves. And I am afraid that many of us now are going to turn our backs on the Braves because they are no longer the organization that we all once knew. It is a shame, but the Braves deserve all of the backlash that they receive. They need to know that this generation of Braves fans do not put up with the disrespect that the Braves showed towards Smoltz. This is turning into a public relations nightmare for the Braves, and I do not feel bad for them at all. They screwed up and acted unlike themselves. And now they must face the consequences, which I am positive will include much lower ticket sales this upcoming season.

As for Smoltz, I wish him the best. I hope he does well in Boston and wins another ring before he retires. It just stinks that he will not have the opportunity to do such in a Braves uniform. It's hard for many of us to accept, but it is the end of an era in Atlanta today. However, I guess it is fitting that Smoltz leaves us before the 2009 season. We will also begin the 2009 season without two other Braves legends and fan favorites, Skip Caray & Pete Van Wieren, the longtime Braves announcers. 2009 is definitely going to be a change for us Braves fans.

So with that I say goodbye and God Bless John Smoltz. Atlanta will miss you.