The Atlanta Braves

This blog (article, that't what wer're calling theses posts) will give a little backgraound as to why I'm a Braves fan (I stole this from an old article I wrote on Bleacher Report).

There are many, many reasons as to why I love this organization.

From the tradition to the quality people it has produced, the Atlanta Braves have served as a great medium to build my fondness of baseball on.


The Base of my Beliefs

Where I live, near Winston-Salem, North Carolina, your options for baseball are limited; you have the Braves, Yankees, Red Sox, and no-baseball bandwagons to jump on. Those are pretty much your four choices if you want people around you who share your beliefs.

There was a time, not so long ago, that I chose the last of the four options.

I was a, uggh (I can't believe that I'm saying this outline), NASCAR fan in the heart of the sport's region and cared little about the game that I love so dearly now.

My grandfather had been an Atlanta Braves fan since the days of suckage back in the 70's and 80's, through the 14 consecutive division titles, and still is today because of the televised games on FSN South, SportSouth, and the sparatic games on ESPN and Fox.

So, from that, I had always had a mild interest in the organization.

But, that interest was never anything huge, and I would always watch the races on Sundays and only catch 20-30 games a season.

But, as time progressed, I began to look at NASCAR in Lehman's terms and had a posteriori. All NASCAR was was 40-some cars going in a circle over the course of three hours.

Yeah, real exciting when you look at it.

It was then that I fell into a love affair with the statistics and game of baseball in general. The home runs, the defense, the strategy, ahhh...the beautiful game.

(side note: I will watch NASCAR on Sunday off-days)


The Venues

In 2000, I went to my first Braves, and live baseball, game ever (I had never even been to any of the Minor League games in my area).

I was seven-years-old and was amazed by the sixe of the park and the gigantic ceramic All-Star balls (no sexual enuendo intended) outside of the Stadium.

We sat in our seats, about 15 or 20 rows up down the left field line. I was wearing my official Braves t-shirt with "C. Jones" on the back of it, sitting next to my dad. The Bravos were playing Sammy Sosa and the Cubs.

I can remember being captivated by the big metal pennants hanging in left and the big box score that used to be in center (where the massive HD screen is now).

That was an experience.


The Winning & the Organization

There has never been a time in my 16 years where the Braves, except for 2008, maybe, have truly sucked.

This has made it very easy to like them.

Even now, after three (soon to be four) post-seasonless seasons, I have an ever-growing passion for the team.

Make no mistake, I am not a fair-weather fan.

If I were a resident of Atlanta, I guarantee you that I would be saving my cash every year ti get season tickets (those $1 seats above third base aren't half-bad, you know).

Another reason for the Braves love is the way in which they carry out their business.

Development through the minors, pitching, and a few big signings.

It's very nice to root for a team that hasn't had to buy it's World Championship.

Every year, I look at the Minor League system and hope think about the brightness of the Braves' future.

The team consumes me. The system, the set-up, the, well... everything.

This is my team, and I love it.