COMMENTARY
It was a pleasant Friday evening and I was sitting in the café at Barnes & Noble in Ashley Park when IT happened.
For the first time in nearly forty years I found myself not watching, listening or rooting for the Atlanta Braves.
I know they lost 2-0 to the Milwaukee Brewers (same score as Saturday’s game) but I didn’t pay attention to the game and didn’t care if they won, lost, folded or moved to another city.
This move didn’t come from advice from a relative, but a belief that when something ceases to be fun it is time to stop.
At 8:00 Sunday evening, I can’t say that I care if the Braves won Sunday(they did 7-4 or not.
Before anyone who knows is wonder if I have lost my mind, my response would be how do you lose what you don’t have or something like that.
After years of watching players strikeout against people who have two games of major league experience, it becomes frustrating to a point where you hope there aren’t sharp objects.
For years, the late Ernie Johnson used to say that baseball has its own spy system since someone has seen somebody somewhere and would know what to do, but James Bond is still employed by Great Britain and not the Braves.
Now to get away from rambling and more into why I am considering getting away.
When the Braves became relevant in 1991, it was amazing to see how many people jumped onto the bandwagon buying everything from foam tomahawks to caps to furniture.
What bothered me was these same people thought the Braves became a team in 1991 when that is not the case as advertised by a sign at Turner Field that says they are the longest continuous professional sports franchise.
Most of these people don’t realize the Braves played in Boston where they were known as the Red Stockings, the Doves, Beaneaters and the Bees before going to Milwaukee where a minor league team once called the Brewers called home.
That last paragraph comes into my mind as I have a Boston Braves t-shirt and a cap which throws people off.
This isn’t the only provocation as I hear the same thing over and over and over…and over about this team.
Fire Fredi, get rid of Uggla, BJ, Heyward, Homer the Brave, Frank Wren, the manager of the Chop House and play Ernie and Bert, Elmo and Oscar the Grouch from Sesame Street.
I also hear the same contention that these guys are too concerned about making money instead of playing.
The money argument died in my mind years ago and took less tread after the news that if Charlie Sheen finished the run of Anger Management that he could net anywhere from $75-200 million.
Sheen has some baseball experience having acted in Eight Men Out and two editions of Major League but I don’t think of him as a baseball player.
In other words, lots of people in different worlds make a lot of money and I don’t begrudge anyone who can get the coin.
I think what makes it tough is I hear the same arguments from some people I consider very good friends and that is frustrating and brings me down.
I would never desire to prohibit anyone from using their first amendment rights but the same argument over the Braves is wearing thin when I hear it in person or see it in Facebook.
I offer this example of my personal moratorium.
There was a story called Man Without a Country written in 1863 and set in the early 1800s about Army Lt. Phillip Nolan who so angry during his trial for treason that he renounced his US citizenship.
The judge granted his wish and declared that no mention about the US in any shape was to made to Nolan while onboard the prison ship.
This plan worked for awhile but eventually the man without a country caved in on the day he died and showed he was a patriot.
What the renouncement of a country and a major league baseball team have in common have is no longer being loyal to an entity and the possibility of regretting that decision.
Nolan regretted disassociating himself from his country and I think I would if I no longer cheered for a team in a sport that I have watched and enjoyed for almost 40 years.
I just wish the rhetoric that goes with the passion was toned down since there are a lot of other things in life to concentrate on.
I haven’t worked in a couple of years while my family was burying my grandmother five weeks ago, a Newnan family suddenly lost their son in a traffic accident.
In my mind, a baseball game should be a release from the actually problems, etc. of the day.
However, now it has become one of the problems and that shouldn’t happen.
When the Braves play Tuesday in Kansas City against the Royals, I may catch the game or I may not.
I don’t plan on becoming a Phillip Nolan because I love sports and it is how I made my living for a number of years.
I simply want to enjoy the game and team I love and move on.
Check back with me Tuesday or Wednesday and maybe my attitude will change.
