My Braves lost their 10th game in a row last night, further confounding their fans, and pushing them deeper into the cellar. When one examines this team, with the Jones Boys, Smoltz, Hudson, Francouer, and others, there is no way they should be this bad. At the very least, they should be over 500, and at least contending for the wild card, instead of going deeper into last place every day, with no hope for the season.
This being said, all baseball fans know that there have been plenty of times when a team looked good on paper, and was terrible on the field. One such team that came to mind this morning was the 1992 New York Mets. Most baseball fans probably remember them. There was a book written about them called "The Worst Team Money Could Buy". At the time, after losing Darryl Strawberry to free agency, and collapsing under 500 to end 1991, the Mets whipped out their checkbook, and spent $44 million, a huge sum in 1992, to acquire sluggers Eddie Murray and Bobby Bonilla via free agency, as well as trade for pitcher Bret Saberhagen. At the time, with the Mets in the East, and Atlanta in the West, I thought to myself, as did many baseball fans I am sure:" Good moves, Mets, Braves will probably be seeing you in the playoffs" Wrong! Just the opposite happened. Instead of winning the East, the Mets were awful all summer, even with Dwight Gooden, Bret Saberhagen, and David Cone, ( for most of the season, until he was traded to Toronto in August for Jeff Kent) on the pitching staff. As it turned out, the Mets hit only .235 as a team that year, with but 93 home runs, and finished with 90 losses, showing that $44 million got them absolutely nothing but a fifth place finish, an awful team, and very few fans to support them, as only 1.7 million came into Shea that year.
While the Braves have a tight budget, and by no means have ever whipped out the checkbook in recent years to sign anyone, except for Tim Hudson two winters ago, after his trade from Oakland, this Atlanta team reminds me of that Mets team in 1992, a team that should have been at least decent to good on paper, which has turned out to be a stinker. If they do not turn things around, and finish last, the 2006 Braves might well be one of baseball's most disappointing teams in history, considering their talent.
Anyhow, watching the Braves situation this year, just made me think of that New York Mets team in 1992. Does anyone else remember any teams or specfic years where a certain team was supposed to be good, and then was terrible? Let's talk about it.
Mitch
This being said, all baseball fans know that there have been plenty of times when a team looked good on paper, and was terrible on the field. One such team that came to mind this morning was the 1992 New York Mets. Most baseball fans probably remember them. There was a book written about them called "The Worst Team Money Could Buy". At the time, after losing Darryl Strawberry to free agency, and collapsing under 500 to end 1991, the Mets whipped out their checkbook, and spent $44 million, a huge sum in 1992, to acquire sluggers Eddie Murray and Bobby Bonilla via free agency, as well as trade for pitcher Bret Saberhagen. At the time, with the Mets in the East, and Atlanta in the West, I thought to myself, as did many baseball fans I am sure:" Good moves, Mets, Braves will probably be seeing you in the playoffs" Wrong! Just the opposite happened. Instead of winning the East, the Mets were awful all summer, even with Dwight Gooden, Bret Saberhagen, and David Cone, ( for most of the season, until he was traded to Toronto in August for Jeff Kent) on the pitching staff. As it turned out, the Mets hit only .235 as a team that year, with but 93 home runs, and finished with 90 losses, showing that $44 million got them absolutely nothing but a fifth place finish, an awful team, and very few fans to support them, as only 1.7 million came into Shea that year.
While the Braves have a tight budget, and by no means have ever whipped out the checkbook in recent years to sign anyone, except for Tim Hudson two winters ago, after his trade from Oakland, this Atlanta team reminds me of that Mets team in 1992, a team that should have been at least decent to good on paper, which has turned out to be a stinker. If they do not turn things around, and finish last, the 2006 Braves might well be one of baseball's most disappointing teams in history, considering their talent.
Anyhow, watching the Braves situation this year, just made me think of that New York Mets team in 1992. Does anyone else remember any teams or specfic years where a certain team was supposed to be good, and then was terrible? Let's talk about it.
Mitch
