Just a few weeks ago I wrote a blog about our love of baseball and how we must appreciate the game for what it is, and then as we were all waiting for Opening Day it happened, THE BRAVES TRADED CRAIG KIMBRELL!!! Just as the Braves had finally started to get us to buy into their plans during the offseason, they do this to us!! Or at least that’s what a lot of text messages from friends of mine read. After the trade was announced, my phone blew up with text messages of “I’m done with the Braves!!!”, “The 2016 season can’t get here fast enough!!” and a few other texts that were worded in a familiar fashion.
Now, I can’t say that I wasn’t shocked by the revelation that the Braves had just traded our all-time leading closer, but the second part of my ESPN notification was the one part that surprised me the most. Not only had the Braves just traded Kimbrell but we were able to get someone to take on Upton’s contract? “They must mean like 50% of the contract.” I said to myself. “Nope says they’re paying the whole thing.” “Wow”, I thought. “I guess the only bad news is for them to take Upton, we had to trade Kimbrell and we get nothing back in return. Wait, what does that say? We got their number one prospect and a Top 50 draft pick?” By this point I had almost forgot that we had traded Kimbrell but then I got a phone call. “Man why did we just trade away Kimbrell, the heck with the Braves!!! I won’t watch them all year!!” my friend on the other end of the phone said. In response I replied, “Man, I know it sucks giving up Kimbrell but Melvin or BJ or whatever his name is now was traded too and we got prospects in return, that was a pretty slick trade on our part.” The response on the other end of the phone wasn’t a lot of positive answers but in all honesty all of Braves nation was still in shock over one of our beloved players being ripped away from us one day before we were to start a new season, one in which we were having to convince ourselves to think positive about in the first place. After a night of turmoil it was finally Opening Day for the Braves. We had just lost Kimbrell the day before but the season goes on and we have to at least see what this new team looks like. Well, the first game had turned into a 2-1 nail biter through the first eight innings, but we had learned one thing so far, this was a scrappy team and they seemed like they were going to fight until the last pitch was thrown. As all good storylines go though, it figures that the main drama from the day before would be put to the test on Opening Day, as the Braves had to call on new closer Jason Grilli, the man that was forced to take the spot of Kimbrell. As he took to the mound most of Braves’ nation was unsure of who this guy was, but he had actually been a pretty good closer for the Pirates just a few years ago, and was no stranger to this situation. As he fanned through the three batters the Marlins sent up, including their star right fielder Giancarlo Stanton, all of Braves nation took a giant sigh of relief, “Maybe we’ll be okay even without Kimbrell.” Then came Tuesday as the Braves were able to win 12-2 and then Wednesday where our new star pitcher from the Cardinals Shelby Miller was able to shutout the Marlins 2-0. The Braves are now sitting at 3-0 with a two game lead on the “predicted World Series champions” Washington Nationals and going into their opening home series against the NY Mets. While the sting of the Kimbrell trade was tough, just like the Heyward one before it was, we all still tuned into the game because it’s what we do in the South during the summers, we watch and pull for the Braves. It’s that history and connection that still brought us back and will continue to bring us back every year. Well, I’m getting a text, I guess I should probably end this blog now……hey it’s my friend from earlier, and he just wanted to say “Our Braves are 3-0!!! When are we heading to Atlanta for a game?”
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JamesBoiling Springs native, lover of sports and food. 15x SC Press Association Award Winner. I do some sports writing and radio every now and then. Archives
April 2020
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