Do you remember when the Braves used to be good? Truth be told, I remember the eighties when they were the worst team ever to be on a professional baseball field. Then I remember fourteen years of division domination that started in 1991. They were young. They had no business turning it around in one season, going from worst to first in that year.

It was good to be an Atlanta fan back then. Of course my family were all Cincinnati Reds fans, so I caught a lot of trash talk. It’s not so good anymore to be an Atlanta Braves fan. It’s been a couple of years now since they’ve even sniffed the playoffs. The sad thing is, I’m not employed by the organization and I can tell you what the problem is.

If you look back a few years, the downfall of the Braves began when Leo Mazzone left as pitching coach to join the Baltimore Orioles staff. Ownership went out and brought someone they thought would pick up right where Mazzone left off. They brought in Roger McDowell. Huge Mistake!! The pitching has never been quite the same in Atlanta.

You can blame that on McDowell’s inability to motivate anyone. You can blame that on Bobby Cox’s’ insistence on bringing back old and tired arms for nostalgia’s sake. You can blame it on the ownership being too stingy with the money to go out and sign top notch pitching. Either way you go, you end up at the same place.

Last season the projected starting rotation for Atlanta was Tim Hudson, John Smoltz, Tom Glavine, Mike Hampton, and Jo Jo Reyes. Hudson, Smoltz, and Glavine all went down with season ending surgeries. Jo Jo Reyes never quite developed into the kind of back of the rotation starter that Bobby Cox had hoped for. Not only did 4 of the 5 original starters not pan out, but closers Mike Gonzales and Raphael Soriano were both injured as well.

This year, so far, the starting pitching has been much improved. Of course, you have a lot of new faces on the mound too.

That being said, I am afraid that things in Atlanta are not going to be any better this year. The bullpen stinks! As I stated above the starting pitching has been great. It’s the 7th and 8th inning bullpen pitchers that have been the cause of the melt down. Make your starters go 8 and hand it over to the closer? Not going to happen. First of all, that’s not Bobby Cox’s style. Second, your starter’s arms would be worn down by the All-Star break in July.

There’s another horrible reason that Atlanta won’t be a playoff team this year if fate continues the way it has already started. This team is a completely different team when Chipper Jones is not in the lineup. They are 5 and 1 with him in the lineup and winless without him. He’s a natural leader. He’s a born hitter. And he’s the most underrated third basemen, defensively, in the league. It’s simple, keep Chipper healthy, and in his middle thirties that’s going to be difficult, and the Braves are a playoff team. But he’s already missed four games this season and I expect that will be the trend throughout. Honestly, I hope not, because other than John Smoltz, Chipper is my favorite Atlanta Brave.

So here’s my plan of action to ensure revitalization in Atlanta that leads to 14 more years of consecutive division championships.

Fire Bobby Cox. I love him, but his time has passed. He’s living in the glory days and refuses to adjust to today’s game of small ball and stolen bases.

Fire Roger McDowell. Can’t stand him, and it’s personal. He was very rude to my children in San Francisco 2 years ago and all they wanted was an autograph. Plus he can’t coach either.

Bring up Hanson. This kid can pitch and has the ability to be a real ace for the pitching staff.

Make a trade for a legitimate power hitting left fielder, or let Matt Diaz play the position every day. No way is he going to get better if he doesn’t get to face left handed pitching.

Give players the freedom to enhance the base running game. Look at history, teams that steal bases successfully typically score a lot more runs.

Bring in Greg Maddux as the new pitching coach, promote Terry Pendleton as the new manager, and bring in Tony Gwynn as the new hitting coach. All three are going to be gems in the big leagues as coaches and managers, why not take a chance on them now and reap the benefits.

Do these things and we won’t have to remember when the Braves used to be good, because they will be good again.

See Ya’ll Next Week!