July 24- Atlanta Braves

I realize that this is a bit late, but according to my post date, July 24^th, it’s right on time. Happy birthday to my friend and fellow MLB Fan Cave Dweller Shaun Kippins!

Of all the caps the Atlanta Braves currently have in their wardrobe, this one has to be my favorite. I realize that there is a great deal of kinship that follows the classic red-billed caps the Braves have been rocking since 1987; however, very few newer Braves fans are aware of the fact that this all-navy blue cap is a throwback to the old days when the Braves were still getting their footing in Atlanta. While the Braves’ first season in Atlanta took place in 1966, the team first introduced the well-known red-billed cap through the end of the 1967 season. That season proved to be their first losing season since 1952. Like a lot of teams, even simple uniform changes can prove to be a morale booster. It sounds weird, but it has been a successful transition multiple times in the past. The best, most recent example of this came in 2008 when the Tampa Bay Devil Rays dropped the “Devil” and changed their team colors to become the Rays. They ended up making it to the World Series, losing to the Philadelphia Phillies in five games. From 1968 through the end of the 1971 season the Braves fared decent success, only having one sub-.500 season in 1970 and one incredible season in 1969 where they went 93-69 in which they lost to the New York “Miracle” Mets in the National League Championship Series under then-manager Lum Harris. The current Braves organization brought it back in 2009 to serve as the team’s road cap and it too has brought moderate success in the form of two postseason appearances, but two first round exists under both Bobby Cox and Fredi Gonzalez.

This is one of the many caps I ended up picking up at the New Era Flagship Store that sat across the street from the MLB Fan Cave, but not necessarily because I needed it for my collection. From day one when I started this blog I’ve talked about my personal experiences with these caps and the impact that the history behind them has had on me. Only once have I strayed off course to talk about two people who have had a profound impact on me, and coincidentally it came with another Braves post on June 26th. This is another one of those posts about fellow Fan Cave Dweller Shaun Kippins (@Skippins).

SK- I first found out about Shaun during the Top-50 campaign for the Fan Cave when I watched his audition video on the Fan Cave Web site. I needed to get a better understanding of who my competition was going to be so I figured, “What the hell?” The thing I liked most about Shaun’s video is that it was a lot like mine, straight to the point. He talked about himself, the history of the game and the impact it had on him, most specifically about Hank Aaron and the Braves. Shaun grew up in upstate New York and began his fellowship with the Braves organization the same way a lot of kids did back in the day, on TBS: The Superstation. Shaun could have gone with his home state heroes, the New York Yankees and Mets, but the glory years of Javy Lopez, Tom Glavine, John Smoltz, Greg Maddux, Sid Bream, Otis Nixon, David Justice and Fred “Crime Dog” McGriff were too much to resist. I didn’t hear much of Shaun during the publicity portion of the Top-50 push, but I was happy to see him in Phoenix, Arizona as we had both moved on to the Top-30.

The one thing I can say about the competition, let alone people running the show, is that it wasn’t diversely strong. Yah there were a few female competitors and employees, but only three African-Americans (one employee), two Mexican and one Asian contestant. The other black competitor was my friend Nick Hamilton, the Los Angeles Dodgers representative. Out of the entire whole of people present, I felt this to be a bit weird, but tried not to think about it too much. Shaun and I met around the pool in the mid afternoon when everyone was still getting settled. He struck me as a shy at first, but as I got to know him a bit more throughout the auditions, I was dead wrong.

Shaun attended Marist College in Poughkeepsie, New York along with 2012 Top-30 hopeful/2013 Cave Dweller Travis Miller, although the two didn’t know each other during their time there. Most of the time that I was around Shaun came at the hotel when we had breaks as we were always in separate groups during the challenges. The only time we ever competed against one another was during the “MLB IQ” challenge hosted by Matt Vasgersian and Eric Byrnes. And if you want to see how it all went down, here’s the video. Shaun was on Team Triple Threat and I was on the aptly named Uni-Lovers as Vasgersian had called me Unabomber numerous times. Due to the fact that we had three members on our teams each, our teams were the last to go against one another in the first round. While the video is cut up in kind of a weird way the one thing I can say is that it was pretty much a dog fight between Shaun and Jay Tuohey (@TheRoar_24) versus Dave Barclay (@DaveBarc) and myself. The question about how many postseason games took place in 2011 was literally the last question asked and served as the tiebreaker. We had guessed 37 while Team Triple Threat had guessed 36. Not exactly the way I wanted to win the first round, but we pulled it off and ended up winning the whole thing. The one thing I did learn from that experience is that Shaun’s knowledge was much deeper than most had originally given him credit for.

In the two days that we were in Arizona I only saw Shaun without this Braves cap once, but it wasn’t at any point when I was around. I only found out about it a few days after I had gotten back home to Eugene, Oregon. Most of you who are reading this may or may not remember who Shaun is; however, you will after you see this video. Shaun was the "unlucky" person selected to be the prank victim of Colorado Rockies shortstop Troy Tulowitzki in probably one of the most simplistic, yet clever pranks I’ve seen pulled in quite some time. Everyone played their parts to perfection, especially Shaun who was the unfortunate victim.

When the time came to head to New York I was pleased with most of the selections they made for the Top-nine, and Shaun’s name definitely came up on the good list. The only part that I was a bit confused about was why they had chosen two Braves fans in the top-nine, but after having gotten to know both Shaun and Ricky Mast (@RickyMast) in Arizona it totally made sense. Unfortunately for some of the other Top-50, Top-30 and random followers, they didn’t agree. I’m not going to call out names, but one of the biggest reasons why I disassociated myself with a lot of people before and after the Fan Cave was because of their feelings on Shaun and his skin color. A lot felt that his presence was based on the executives trying to find a cultural balance, a point that I didn’t agree with at all nor did I even want to hear coming out of the mouths of people who I called “friends.” Back on April 13^th I had written about my views on skin color during Hank Aaron’s early years in baseball, and if there’s one thing I hate seeing or hearing about it's racism... unless it's a really good joke, I'll be honest about that, but it's still wrong.

Shaun and I shared an apartment together along with Phillies Cave Dweller Gordon Mack, but none of it came down to our choice. By this I mean that all of the apartments available were first come first serve and the three of us were the odd ones out as the other six had chosen to take the solo apartments and pair the three of us up. It was kind of a dick move, but I got over it in about 15 seconds. Every morning Shaun and I alternated on waking the other person up as we were always staying up late and needed to get up early in order to give ourselves enough time to shower and head down to the Fan Cave for filming. We had cable in the apartment so Shaun and I would occasionally watch “Mad Men” and “Shameless” as they were both shows that he enjoyed but I had never watched. We talked about the journalism industry a lot as we were both seeking work within our respective fields; him on the production, video side and me on the written side. Shaun also had a bevvy of hats with him, almost all of which were Braves, but most of the time he rocked this cap.

When we had our first day meeting at the Office of the Commissioner of Major League Baseball I did my best to make him laugh as there was a photographer trying to catch candid shots of us smiling and Shaun was having a difficult time of making it “look real,” That into itself made me crack up, but the best way I knew to make Shaun laugh was to call him a “broke ass Juan Pierre-looking motherf---er.” Everyone within in earshot of that comment had dying and Shaun was doing his best to hold his head up straight as he was about to fall over with laughter. It sounds gay, but I wish I had a copy of that photo. It was an awesome moment, especially after we hugged it out. Yah, kind of gay.

Other moments came and went, but we always did our best to make the other person laugh. One moment in particular came when we had been driven home after a late night and I was left in the front seat to sign for the voucher. Our driver had a thick mustache and Shaun, as he exited the car, made sure to say, “Thanks for the lift Mr. Belvedere,” which sent me into a fit of hysterics as I tried to sign my name. That’s still one of the funniest things anyone has ever done. Shaun, the person who I thought was extremely polite and shy was pulling a rouse on all of us, in a good way.

During the first week of the 2012 regular season I found myself at a going away party for one of the graphic artists of the Fan Cave as I was invited by her and later forced to go by one of the security guards after the first big party the Fan Cave had hosted. What I wasn’t expecting when I got there were three of the top level executives to be there as well. I think I touched on all of this is an earlier post, can’t remember which one though. Anyway, they were all a bit sauced but happy to see me and bought me a few rounds. Throughout the night they asked me questions about each of the other Cave Dwellers. When it came to Shaun they seemed to listen a bit more intently, as if I had some deep insight to him. All I said is that he is “purposefully” quiet, and by far the funniest person in the group. Nothing more really needed to be said beyond that. Shaun, as I learned, will open himself up when he needs to, something I found out in the weirdest ways a few weeks before I got eliminated.

One thing that only a select group of people were fortunate enough to witness came when Milwaukee Brewers catcher Jonathan Lucroy visited the Fan Cave. The sketch that we ended up filming was a form of speed dating in which we quickly jumped in, asked Lucroy a question and then bolted. This concept has been since used multiple times without much success. The sad part of this experience is that Shaun's an my portions ended up on the cutting room floor as they didn't air it until we had both been eliminated. I won't go into detail about my run until a later post, but what Shaun did halted production for a solid three minutes afterward. I don't remember what Shaun's question was going to be, but we he had cooked up in his head was that he was going to knock over the Lucroy bobblehead sitting in front of him and ask the question police interrogation -style. When Shaun stepped up to the table he stared Lucroy down and knocked it over. When Shaun had intended was that the bobblehead would just tip over; instead, the bobblehead took a tumble off the table and down to the floor, breaking the right hand off. Shaun then went into panic mode, picked up the bobblehead, took a step to leave, forgot that he left the hand, picked that up, placed it on the table next to the bobblehead and split. Three minutes of laughter erupted throughout the basement where we were filming. It was like watching a live action cartoon, and Shaun played it out to perfection. He didn't say a word. He didn't need to.

I didn’t sleep much while I was in New York, but every few days or so I dedicated my time to trying to get a full nights rest, even for just one night. This night in particular happened to be when a few of the others decided to go out and close a few of the bars down. At some point somebody had texted me, but I slept right through it. Some time a little after four in the morning I heard the front door open, foot steps, my light switch turn on and then I received a flying elbow drop from Shaun to really wake me up. I’m not one to get upset about these sorts of things, and in this case I was startled and laughing at the same time. Shaun kept going over and over about how I should have gone out with everyone and that they had “the best time.” I couldn’t muddle any words out, I couldn’t stop laughing. I don’t remember how we transitioned but it soon became “drunken confession” time. Nothing bad came out, but hearing Shaun tell me how good of a friend I’ve been, how I’ve always supported him and his work really clung to my heart. He then said he might barf, but I made sure to help him get into bed to prevent it. I slept pretty well the rest of the night. The next day though, Shaun was still in a bit of a haze, but at least we had a long break in between games so he good take a nap.

My version of the “drunken confession” came with the same consequences of elbow drops and late night wakeups, but the message was the same. I never forged a stronger bond with anyone in New York other than Shaun. He was and still is the only person who has been straight with me, has had my back and never judged me when things got crazy after my exile. I let him borrow my Jeff Francoeur Braves jersey when he came to the Fan Cave

and he was always the one who would crank his ITunes up when we got home, blasting some Talking Heads, Grateful Dead, Phish or The Band. It was Shaun who inspired me to get this cap. I wish I had more friends like him in my life.

#12- Most people know Dusty Baker because of his managerial stints with the San Francisco Giants, Chicago Cubs and Cincinnati Reds, but few remember how accomplished he was as a player from 1968-1986. Baker was drafted in the 26^th round of the 1967 draft by the Braves out of American River College in Sacramento, California and made his MLB debut on September 7, 1968. From then until the end of the 1971 season Baker bounced back and forth from the Majors to the minors with the AAA Richmond Braves. In 1972 he received his first full-time spot in the lineup playing centerfield where he went on to hit .321 with 17 home runs and 76 RBI, good enough for a 22^nd place finish for the NL MVP. Baker played with the Braves until the end of the 1975 season, batting .278 with 77 home runs and 324 RBI during his tenure before being traded to the Dodgers at the end of the season.

In LA Baker continued to play stellar defense and he received the name “Bakersfield” after the oil town which say 95 miles north and is also the place I spent most of my childhood. From 1976-1983 Baker made two All-Star Game appearances (1981 and 1982), won a Gold Glove in 1981, won two Silver Slugger Awards (1980 and 1981), finished in the top-seven twice for the NL MVP (1980 and 1981) and won one World Series title in 1981.

In 1984 he was signed by the Giants and played with them for one season before getting traded to the Oakland Athletics for his final two seasons as a player. For his career Baker hit .278, hit 242 home runs and knocked in 1013 RBI. His first year as a manager in the Majors came in 1993 after then-Giants manager Roger Craig (not the football player) stepped down. Baker has only been to the World Series once as a manager in 2002 with the Giants, losing to the Los Angeles Angels in seven games. As of now he has a career 840-715 record. 

#35- Signed by scout Bill Maughn in 1958 for a mere $250, Phil Niekro pitched for 20 seasons (1964-1983 and 1987) for the Braves (two of those seasons when the team was still in Milwaukee). He was popular in the city of Atlanta for remaining loyal to a team that often had a losing record, as well as for his contributions to Atlanta charities. On August 5, 1973, Niekro threw a no-hitter against the San Diego Padres; the no-hitter was the first for the Braves after moving to Atlanta. He was often the only star on the Braves teams. In 1979, for example, Niekro tied his brother for the league lead with 21 wins while playing for a team that only won 66. During his tenure in Atlanta, Niekro was selected for five All-Star Teams (1969, 1975, 1978, 1982 and 1984 with the Yankees), won five Gold Gloves (1978-1980 and 1982-1983), led the league in victories twice (1974 and 1979) and ERA once (1967 with a 1.87) despite being a knuckleballer.

Niekro was also a key to the only two division titles Atlanta won before 1991. In 1969, he had a 23–13 season with a 2.56 ERA and finished second in Cy Young balloting to Mets sensation Tom Seaver. In the final days of the season, Niekro started three of seven games, going 3-0 as the Braves won the division. He lost his only appearance in the NLCS, as Atlanta was swept by the Mets. In 1982, at the age of 43, Niekro led the Braves' pitching staff with a 17–4 season. On October 1st, with the Braves clinging to a one-game lead over the Dodgers, Niekro beat the Padres almost single-handedly by throwing a complete game shutout and hitting a two run home run. Niekro started Game One of the subsequent NLCS against the St. Louis Cardinals and pitched well, but the game was called on account of rain just before it became official. He pitched six innings of Game Two and left with a 3–2 lead. However, the Cardinals scored 2 late runs after Niekro left the game and would eventually sweep the series.

The Braves released Niekro after the 1983 season and he signed with the Yankees and went on to win 16 games and make the last of his five All-Star appearances. It was while pitching for the Yankees that Niekro gained entry into the 300 win club with a shutout win over the Toronto Blue Jays on October 6, 1985. At 46 years, 188 days, Niekro became the oldest pitcher to pitch a shutout in the major leagues; this record stood for nearly 25 years before Jamie Moyer (47 years, 170 days) bested the feat in May 2010; for Niekro, this complete-game shutout would be his 300th win. He did not throw his trademark knuckleball until the final hitter, former American League MVP Jeff Burroughs. Prior to facing Burroughs, Niekro's teammate and brother Joe visited the mound in the role of "substitute pitching coach" and jokingly suggested that an intentional walk was in order. Instead, Niekro struck Burroughs out to end the game.

After two seasons in New York, Niekro pitched for the Cleveland Indians and the Blue Jays in 1986 and 1987. The Blue Jays released him after he pitched ineffectively, and the Braves brought him back for one last start to wrap up his career late in the 1987 season. At the age of 48, Niekro was the oldest player in major league history to play regularly until Julio Franco, and his 24 seasons in the major leagues without a World Series appearance is a major league record. His total of 5,404⅓ innings pitched is the most by any pitcher in the post-1920 live-ball era. He only appeared in the postseason twice, making a playoff start in 1969 and again in 1982, both for Braves teams that would go on to lose the series.

In 1997 the Baseball Writers Association of America Niekro into the National Baseball Hall of Fame with a 80.34% vote on his fifth ballot. In 1984, when Niekro’s first stint with the Braves came to an end, they retired his #35, which of course was worn again when he returned during the 1987 season. Niekro is also the 1979 Lou Gehrig Memorial Award recipient as well as the 1980 Roberto Clemente Award winner, both of which were for philanthropic work on and off the baseball field.

May 20- Atlanta Braves

Speaking of storied franchises, how about the Atlanta Braves? This hat was one of the first ones I picked up in the 2012 Stars and Stripes series at Just Sports (@JustSportsPDX) when I worked there this last holiday season. In fact, when I picked it up it was part of a two for $22 deal we ran on them for a weekend. A deal like that, you know I wasn’t just going to pass it up.

The Braves franchise has been in existence since 1870 when they resided in Boston and went through a series of name changes from then until 1912 when they landed on the Braves until 1935. But, they changed the names briefly again in 1936 to the Bees before changing it back to the Braves at the start of the 1941 season. At the end of the 1952 season the Braves moved to Milwaukee until 1965 before finally setting up shop in Atlanta where they still reside today. With 144 years to work with, I found a few solid names which I’ll go into detail about below.

For the last few years the Braves have been teaming up with Emory University in Atlanta for BraveHeart: Welcome Back Veterans Southeast Initiative, which provides veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan access to mental health and counseling services. The Braves have been one of the few teams to be at the forefront of support and personal involvement with the men and women who serve in the armed forces by doing additional relief work overseas and within the community by visiting VA hospitals, hosting parties and providing tickets to active and retired members of the military.

Since 1971 I didn’t really find any patterns on Memorial Day, but I did come across a few things that I think are interesting. Over that timeframe the Braves have gone 23-18 while only missing one date in 1985 due to traveling. In 1976 the Braves lost to the San Diego Padres; however, the bit of note I found a bit peculiar is that the Braves played a doubleheader the day before… and another one the previous week… and two more the previous week… and another the week before that… and one more the week before that. That’s right; the Braves played five doubleheaders in the month of May including a final one right before Memorial Day. I can only imagine the players from that team were a bit spent. Other than that, their best streak came from 1993-2002 when they won 10 straight games on Memorial Day, four of which came against the Chicago Cubs consecutively from 1994-1998. The Braves have gone 5-1 against the Cubs on Memorial Day, followed closely by the Montreal Expos at 3-1. A little tidbit about the Expos is that they beat the Braves on their first Memorial Day meeting in 1990 and lost the next three in 2001, 2002 and 2004, but won in 2005 when they relocated and changed their name to the Washington Nationals.

#21*363- Warren Spahn had his career interrupted by World War II. Unlike Boston Red Sox slugger Ted Williams, who was already famous when he was drafted, Spahn achieved notoriety after the war. Span had what ball players call “a cup of coffee” (a brief appearance in the majors) in 1942, pitching just four games before he was drafted. The lefty had a far rougher World War II experience than most big-leaguers, who spent the conflict out of harm’s way with gloves instead of guns, but before entering the fray he too got to play some ball. Pitching in the summer of 1944 for the Gruber Engineers, with Reimann as his catcher, Spahn won his first 10 games -- seven on shutouts -- and struck out 186 batters in just 80 innings. The winning streak was snapped when he uncharacteristically committed three throwing errors in a 7-1 loss to the semipro Atlas Electrics of Tulsa at Texas League Park on July 30, 1944. He may have had a lot on his mind, because Spahn was shipped to Europe aboard the Queen Mary on November 9, 1944. As a staff sergeant in the 276^th Engineer Combat Battalion, he arrived in France a few weeks later, and survived for about 10 days on peanut butter sandwiches provided by friendly British soldiers.

Spahn’s 9th Armored Division, which preceded much larger groups of Allied troops, was charged with repairing roads and bridges. Spahn fought in the snowy, frozen Battle of the Bulge, getting nicked by bullets on the abdomen and back of the head. Crossing France and Belgium, his division arrived at the Rhine River and the Ludendorff railroad bridge at Remagen on March 7, 1945. While retreating, the Nazis had destroyed every intact bridge but the one at Remagen. The demolitions were in place, but for some reason they had never pushed the plunger. The bridge’s defense was crucial to the Allies for delivering men, vehicles and equipment to the German heartland. On March 9, Sergeant Spahn and the 276^th were ordered to the bridge to remove the demolitions, repair the bridge, maintain it, and construct a second span for two-way traffic. Working furiously to maintain the girders, Spahn and Co. were bombarded by V-2 rockets while troops, tanks, and trucks crossed above them. A biographer, Al Silverman, later described the scene:

While the bridge vibrated and twanged like banjo strings, swaying precariously as marching infantrymen tramped across each catwalk, and tanks rumbled across the planked railbed, the units patched holes, bolstered the bridge with heavy supports, repaired damaged flooring and cratered approaches.”

Ten days after the first successful crossing, Spahn received an assignment at a meeting over the center of the bridge and walked off to explain to his platoon that they’d be taking over the bridge’s security at 4 p.m. At 3:56 a platoon member shouted, “Look at the back! The bridge is falling down!” Possibly overloaded, certainly bombarded, the span slipped into the river, leaving 28 soldiers dead, 93 injured, and Sergeant Spahn with shrapnel in his left foot. Having crossed the Rhine, however, the Americans were able to protect a second bridge and other smaller pontoon bridges they built. Surgeons removed Spahn’s shrapnel. On June 1, 1945, he was the only ballplayer given a battlefield promotion, from staff sergeant to second lieutenant. In all, he earned a Bronze Star, a Purple Heart, a battlefield promotion, and a Presidential citation. That made him the most decorated ballplayer in World War II. (Like Spahn, Hoyt Wilhelm earned a Purple Heart, but Spahn alone received the Bronze Star.)

Aged rapidly by his battle experiences into a partially bald and fully-grown veteran, Spahn also built up stamina, concentration, and discipline during this period. “After what I went through overseas, I never thought of anything I was told to do in baseball as hard work,” he insisted. “You get over feeling like that when you spend days on end sleeping in frozen tank tracks in enemy-threatened territory. The Army taught me what’s important and what isn’t.”

Typically, Spahn found humor in the grimmest of situations. Because German spies would wear American uniforms, he said, “Anybody we didn’t know, we’d ask, ‘Who plays second for the Bums?’ If he didn’t answer ‘Eddie Stanky,’ he was dead.” Spahn had no use for being labeled a hero. “The guys who died over there were heroes,” he told his son, Greg. Nor did Spahn cotton to the view of baseball historians who estimated that he lost 30 or 40 wins to service time. “I matured a lot in those [war] years,” he said. “If I had not had that maturity, I wouldn’t have pitched until I was 45.” (A statement like that says much about character. By contrast, the querulous Bob Feller says that if it weren’t for his wartime service, “I’d have won more games than Warren Spahn.”)

Unaware that the war would end just two months later after the dropping of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945, Spahn accepted the battlefield promotion, which forced him to remain in the service until the next May and miss the start of the ’46 baseball season. Instead, he became the hottest pitcher in Germany that spring; working for the 115^th Engineers Group, he allowed one run and struck out 73 batters in four games. And when he returned stateside, the Braves immediately promoted him to the majors, on June 10, 1946. “This is the first time in years I’ve reported to anybody without saluting,” he told new Boston manager Billy Southworth. - Jim Kaplan, SABR

Spahn played for 21 years in the Major Leagues, 20 of which came with the Braves while they were in Boston and Milwaukee. Following the 1964 season, after 25 years with the franchise, Spahn was sold by the Braves to the New York Mets. Braves manager Bobby Bragan predicted, "Spahnie won't win six games with the Mets." Spahn took on the dual role of pitcher and pitching coach. Spahn won four and lost 12 at which point the Mets put Spahn on waivers. He was put on waivers on July 15, 1965 and released on July 22, 1965. He immediately signed with the San Francisco Giants, with whom he finished the season. With the Mets and Giants combined, he won seven games for the season—his last in the major leagues. His number would be retired by the Braves later that year. Shame too, he was one year away from playing in all three cities the Braves had been affiliated with.

Spahn is hands down one of the Top-three greatest left-handed pitchers in the game, but for sure the winningest. His 363 wins by a lefty isn’t even close to be matched. Throughout his career he made 14 All-Star Game appearances, led the League in strikeouts four times (1949-1952), led the League in wins eight times (1949-1950, 1953 and 1957-1961), finished 23^rd or better for the National League MVP award 14 times, won the NL Cy Young award in 1957 and a World Series champion in 1957. Spahn was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1973 on the second ballot. No, it’s not what you think. Spahn’s first time on the ballot came in 1958 for reasons I have yet to figure out. At that time he received 0.4% of the votes; however, when elected in 1973 he received 83.2% of the vote. At the end of the 1965 season the Braves retired his number.

41- Unlike Spahn, Eddie Mathews did in fact play in all three of the cities the Braves resided. Born in Texarkana, Texas, on October 13, 1931, Mathews signed with the Boston Braves in 1949 on the night of his high school graduation in Santa Barbara, California, for $5,999. Turning down college football scholarships and more money from other big-league teams, Mathews chose to sign with the Braves after careful consideration (and advice from his father), knowing that he would soon have a job replacing the Braves' aging third baseman, Bob Elliot.

Mathews spent his first two seasons in the minors, perfecting a swing that even baseball great Ty Cobb described as "perfect." In 1950 the Korean War (1950-53) forced Mathews to leave the minors and enlist in the navy. He was soon released, however, because of his status as an only child and his father's battle with tuberculosis. Due to him being an only child he was listed as the “sole provider;” therefore, Mathews was allowed to go back to the Braves in order to make a living for he and his mother. Mathews returned late into the 1951 season and spent the rest of the season in the minors with the Atlanta Crackers (AA) and the Milwaukee Brewers (AAA). On April 15, 1952 Mathews made his MLB debut as the starting third baseman for the Braves. This would be the first of many starts for Mathews.

Mathews’ Major League career with the Braves lasted until the end of the 1966 season, their first year in Atlanta, before finishing out his last two seasons with the Houston Astros (1967) and Detroit Tigers (1967-1968). Mathews made nine All-Star Game appearances, finished in third place for the 1952 NL Rookie of the Year award (.242/25/48), finished in second place twice for the NL MVP award in 1953 and 1959 and won a World Series ring with Spahn in 1957. Mathews hit 512 home runs for his career, the second-most by a third baseman behind Mike Schmidt of the Philadelphia Phillies. It took five attempts, but Mathews was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1978.

#1- If there was ever player in MLB history who looked the most like his name it has to be Rabbit Maranville. Maranville had served in the Army during World War I; however, I’m having a very difficult time finding any other specific details on his military history.

From 1912-1920, 1929-1933 and 1935 he donned a Braves jersey in Boston. At 5’5’’, Maranville was a surprisingly great baseball player. He’s one of roughly 20 players have 10,000 or more plate appearances (11,256), not to mention he held the record for most consecutive seasons played (23) which was broken in 1986 by Pete Rose. He finished in 17^th or better for the NL MVP award seven times throughout his career, the best of which was a second place finish in 1914 when he batted .246 with four home runs, 78 RBI and 28 stolen bases. His teammate Johnny Evers won with only a slightly better batting average (.276).

He retired having compiled a .258 batting average, 2,605 hits, 1,255 runs, 28 home runs, 884 RBI and 291 stolen bases. As a shortstop, he finished his career with a positional record 5,139 putouts. He won his only World Series championship in 1914 as a member of the Braves, and won his only other National League Championship in 1928 as a member of the St. Louis Cardinals.
Maranville was known as one of "baseball's most famous clowns" due to his practical jokes and lack of inhibitions. When he was appointed manager of the Chicago Cubs in 1925—one of their worst seasons ever—he did not change his behavior. One night he went through a Pullman car dumping water on sleeping players' heads, saying, "No sleeping under Maranville management, especially at night." Not long after that, he was out on the street outside Ebbets Field in Brooklyn mimicking a newsboy hawking papers. He cried out, "Read all about it! Maranville fired!" And so he was—the next day.
Maranville was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1954, along with Bill Terry and Bill Dickey, in his 14th year of eligibility. His election came just months after his death at age 62.

April 11- Atlanta Braves

Interesting times we live in, especially in the baseball world. Just within the last two weeks we saw the likes of Buster Posey, Justin Verlander and Adam Wainwright all signed to massive contract extensions in an effort to keep them happy and locked up with their respective teams. It’s hard to believe that less than 40 years ago this kind of practice was unheard of. Back in the old days the players had little to no say in contract negotiations, let alone the ability to go before an arbitrator. While the 1994 players strike played a significant role in the depletion of a majority of power for the owners, the real story dates back to December 23, 1975 with the “Seitz decision.”

The Seitz decision was a ruling by arbitrator Peter Seitz on December 23, 1975 which declared that Major League Baseball players became free agents upon playing one year for their team without a contract, effectively nullifying baseball's reserve clause. Since the 1880s, baseball owners had included a paragraph described as the reserve clause in every player contract. The paragraph as written allowed teams to renew a contract for a period of one year following the end of a signed contract. Owners asserted, and players assumed, that this contract language effectively meant that a player could be "reserved," by a ballclub's unilateral contract renewal, year after year in perpetuity by the team that had signed the player. This eliminated all market competition and kept salaries relatively low. MLB appealed the decision to the United States district court for Western Missouri, but Seitz's ruling was upheld on February 3, 1976 by Judge John Watkins Oliver, and later by the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals. Kansas City Royals Baseball Corp. v. Major League Baseball Players Ass'n, 409 F. Supp. 233, 261 (W.D. Mo. 1976) aff'd, 532 F.2d 615 (8th Cir. 1976) After all appeals were exhausted, Major League Baseball and the Major League Baseball Players Association signed a new agreement in 1976 allowing players with six years experience to become free agents. – Wikipedia

I’m no fancy big city attorney, so I felt it was probably best to just cut and paste that little section as to not attempt to look like an egghead, say the wrong jargon and get trolled for the rest of my life. Fair? Cool! Former executive director of the MLB Players Association stepped into the picture back in 1966 after closely following the joint holdout of Los Angeles Dodgers Hall of Famers Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale, two of the most dominant pitchers of the era and of all-time. Miller negotiated MLBPA's first collective bargaining agreement with the team owners in 1968. That agreement increased the minimum salary from $6,000 to $10,000, the first increase in two decade. In 1970, Miller was able to get arbitration included in the collective bargaining agreement. Arbitration meant that disputes would be taken to an independent arbitrator to resolve the dispute. Previously disputes were taken to the Commissioner – hired by the owners – who generally ruled in favor of the owners. Miller considered arbitration the greatest achievement of the early years of the baseball union.

In 1974 Miller negotiated successfully with an arbitrator that then Oakland Athletics pitcher Catfish Hunter did not receive annuity payments from owner Charlie O. Finley, thus ensuring that Finley had broken his contract which then allowed Hunter to become a free agent. At the time this was a huge deal. Free agency was still not a real concept at the time due to the reserve clause, but this was a special case. Hunter signed a five-year, $3.5 million contract with the New York Yankees. Players throughout the league couldn’t believe how much money Hunter would be receiving, which ultimately led to a unanimous decision that free agency would be a great idea… on the players’ end that is. Miller needed a test case for free agency and found it with two players on one-year reserve clause contracts: Montreal Expos pitcher Dave McNally and Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Andy Messersmith. The deal was that if both players didn’t renegotiate with their respective teams they could file for arbitration and go where they please if they won. Technically; McNally's ’75 season ended early due to injuries and he returned home, intending to retire, but agreeing to players' union director Miller's request that he sign onto the Messersmith grievance in case Messersmith ended up signing a new deal with the Dodgers before the season ended.

"It was less of an economic issue at the time than a fight for the right to have control over your own destiny," Messersmith told The Sporting News, looking back on his decision a decade later. "It was a matter of being tired of going in to negotiate a contract and hearing the owners say, 'OK, here's what you're getting. Tough luck'."

Messersmith and McNally won their case before arbitrator Peter Seitz, who was fired by the owners the day afterward. McNally followed through on his intention to retire but Messersmith signed a three-year, $1 million deal with the Atlanta Braves. Among other things, then-Braves owner Ted Turner suggested the nickname "Channel" for Messersmith and jersey number 17, in order to promote the television station (TBS) that aired Braves games. Major League Baseball quickly nixed the idea.

The Braves cap I decided to write about today bears a lot of historical value. It was used from 1972-1980 as both their home and road cap. By far the most famous moment under this cap actually came three days ago on April 8, 1974 when Hall of Famer Hank Aaron broke Babe Ruth’s career home run record of 714.

To be honest, for years I never really put two-and-two together on how close in proximity that date and the one I’m writing about actually are; especially when adding on the fact that the same team is involved. I could argue that Aaron did change history in a batting helmet, but I won't. I guess before I leave you in the dark too much I should just tell you what it is…

4/10/76- I probably should have written about this moment on the actual date it took place; however, I felt that my post of Houston Astros pitcher J.R. Richard was too good and underappreciated of a story to pass up. Besides, I make my own rules. On April 10, 1976 the first “official” free agent signing took place between the Braves and Messersmith. One could argue that the contract Hunter signed in ’75 was the first, but I could easily argue that the parameters for why that went down really don’t apply based on the original contract being terminated due Finley’s violation. Messersmith on the other hand went about things in a proper, legal manner.

Some things that should be pointed out in regard to Messersmith are his accomplishments from 1974-1075 which proved even more that he was getting hosed by the Dodgers before opting for free agency. In ’74 Messersmith won a league-high 20 wins and only lost six games while carrying a 2.59 ERA under his belt. He even hit career-high in strikeouts with 221 and a league-best 1.098 WHIP which gave him a second place finish in the National League Cy Young vote (teammate Mike Marshall won) and a 16^th place finish in the NL MVP vote. Messersmith made his second All-Star Game appearance that year and even won a Gold Glove. In 1975 Messersmith nearly duplicated his results with 19 wins, but 14 losses; however, he led the league in complete games with 19, shutout with seven and 321 2/3 innings pitched. That year he finished in fifth place for the NL Cy Young, 24^th for the NL MVP, made his third All-Star Game appearance and won yet another Gold Glove… all without a contract.

When Messersmith signed on the dotted line the owners felt that this landmark deal would open up the floodgates and possibly bankrupt the teams or end baseball by allowing the players so much power to take of their money. This was obviously not the case. Miller, an economist by trade, knew better than to let one side have more power than the other. He understood that too many free agents could actually drive down player salaries. Miller agreed to limit free agency to players with more than six years of service, knowing that restricting the supply of labor would drive up salaries as owners bid for an annual, finite pool of free agents.

The rest of Messersmith’s career was a bit of a wash. He made his fourth and final All-Star Game appearance in 1976 with the Braves, but struggle living up to the agreements of his contract due to a serious of injuries that started back when he was with the Dodgers. He was sold to the Yankees after the 1977 season, having gone 16-15 in two seasons with the Braves, the second marred by injuries. The Yankees released him after an injury plagued 1978 season and he signed with the Dodgers. Ironically again, when the Dodgers signed him for that final go-round, they gave him the very thing their first refusal drove him toward testing and defeating the old reserve system in the first place: a no-trade clause. But the injuries and stress as the reserve clause's conqueror had taken too much toll; Messersmith pitched in only 11 games for the 1979 Dodgers, going 2-4 with a 4.90 ERA, and retired after the Dodgers released him.

While it may not seem that Messersmith faired well on a personal level due to his ordeal with the origin of free agency, the players who have followed in his footsteps have. Miller and Messersmith were pioneers within the sport, thus proving that the professional game certainly is a business. Today the players hold a little bit more clout than the owners, but as I mentioned above, most of that has to do with the rulings after the players’ strike of ’94 which left the game virtually crippled as far as attendance was concerned. With the new CBA in place, which allowed the 1995 season to get underway, it is highly unlikely that baseball will ever see a strike in my foreseeable lifetime. Thank God for that!

March 5- Milwaukee/Atlanta Braves

CHOP!!!

 

Back when I worked for Just Sports (@JustSportspdx) (the second time around) I was hired back as a store manager in Woodburn, Oregon at the outlet mall. It was a pretty sweet gig. We didn’t do as much business as the larger stores in the Portland metro area, but we made some significant strides with the product that we had; mostly stuff from the other stores that couldn’t be sold. No worries. When I took over the store in January of 2005 our yearly goal hovered around $300,000. It should also be pointed out that my salary coincided with that total. In summation, the more money I made the store, the more money I would get. The first few months went by rather slow as our business at the time was dependent on tourism season. Oregon does generate a lot during the winter via tourism; however, people tend to flock toward the mountains and outdoorsy areas as opposed to doing outlet shopping. As the seasons changed, so did the clientele. Most of what I sold were hooded sweatshirts, Oregon and Oregon State gear and New Era Caps. Being the huge baseball fan that I am, I was always excited when customers would come in looking for MLB gear. It gave me a chance to talk some smack, but also get a feel for what people were coming in for so I could make requests for newer product. After the first year I increased the store’s volume by $100,000. The following year I increased it another $100,000 with the help of my good friend and assistant manager Matt Bressler (@mbressler13). Matt’s affinity for the game was equal to mine. He had played high school ball for Wilsonville High School and even pitched against Jacoby Ellsbury when Jacoby went to high school in Madras, Oregon. Nonetheless, it was always great to have someone to hang out with, do some work and talk sports with. It was also during this time that the Portland-based Just Sports locations were going to town on making custom New Era Caps. Since we were a smaller store we only got a few styles; mostly the all black and all white New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox, Los Angeles Dodgers and other popular teams that would sell. We did; however, finally start getting every style of MLB game style caps and jerseys in the store as I started taking team orders to help boost profits. Not getting any of the cooler custom styles ever really bothered me until the one day I went out to the Clackamas Town Center location to drop off a product transfer.

My friend, store manager of the Clackamas location, Jason Cobb (@JasonMCobb) had been doing some work coming up with pretty original styles of custom New Era caps and selling them at an alarming rate. One hat in particular caught my fancy, but I never bought it. The hat was a lighter shade of royal blue, but it featured the Atlanta Braves Chief Noc-a-homa logo in white and red on the front. Now, I had mentioned in my post from January 3 that I wasn’t a huge custom New Era guy; however, this one, for some reason tickled my fancy. I mean, it was the Billiest of badasses. But… as I mentioned a second ago, I didn’t buy it. When they stopped making it and selling it the pain really started to settle in.

Years passed by and I didn’t give much thought to it. For some strange reason in January of 2011 the hat popped into my head, so I texted Jason to ask if he was ever going to make them again, or at least be willing to sell me his. Even through his text I could hear his laughter. I was hanging out with my best friend Samuel Spencer at the time and mentioned it to him as he was the assistant manager of the Lloyd Center location at the time when they came out. Now, he’s one of the top graphic designers for Nike (jealous). He said he remembered it and suggested that I check out a Web site called CraniumFitteds.com to see if they have it. I hadn’t even heard of the sight before, but I logged on immediately. Much to my chagrin, I didn’t find it in the color scheme that I wanted; however, I did find this one.

I completely understand all of the racial implications this logo exudes, but at the same time I also understand, from an artistic perspective, that it’s a friggin’ sweet graphic. The logo was first introduced in 1954 when the Braves resided in the fine city of Milwaukee. What’s most interesting is that of all the things the Braves held onto during the move, besides Hank Aaron and Eddie Mathews, is the Chief Noc-a-homa logo. From 1954 through the end of the 1989 season Chief Noc-a-homa appeared on jersey sleeves, patches and even in the main logo; however, it never once appeared on a hat… until now.

When New Era redesigned all the batting practice caps for this season the one that received the most amount of attention was the Braves, mainly for the sake of being too racist. To be honest, it’s my favorite of all 30 teams, including my beloved Oakland Athletics.

It’s really hard to put into words why I enjoy this logo so much, but then again there are some things which are better left unsaid. As a kid I always liked the Mohawk, but it’s all the other details: the earring, the intricacy of the feather and the war cry that make it so pleasing to the eyes. Most important, it’s a part of the team’s history. I know that sounds like a total cop-out of a response, but having not really found anything personally offensive with it, I don’t know how else to respond. At the same time I haven’t been given a solid response other than, “it’s racist” to make me feel any different.

It’s also with this same admiration that I designed my Braves tattoo around it. To be honest, I did a lot more research with other teams than I did with the Braves and Cleveland Indians when it came to my tattoos. In my mind I felt that some things need to be preserved and talked about, rather than just cast aside; a common theme in my life. People generally don’t take the time to really sit down and discuss what issues they take. So now, like my hat, it’ll always be with me.

The numbers I chose are pretty obvious, and I will go into much deeper detail in the future.

#3- Dale Murphy

#44- Hank Aaron

They have been, and will always be my two favorite Braves. I figure if I’m going to be totally politically incorrect by wearing the hat, I might as well mark it with two guys who were the biggest sparks of controversy in the franchise’s history. Aaron for being black during a time of hate and Murphy for being Mormon, but more importantly getting hosed every year on the Hall of Fame vote. Oh Braves! You so crazy!!!

February 3- Myrtle Beach Pelicans

Almost every Minor League cap that I’ve purchased has been as a result of either 1. Going to a game of the team and digging their hat. 2. Coming across a press release for a team’s new hat. Or 3. Doing some independent snooping. In the case of this, the 2006-present Myrtle Beach Pelicans batting practice hat, I have to admit that I saw an employee of Lids in Eugene, Oregon wearing it one day when I rolled in. I’m not ashamed to admit that I went into Lids, as that’s a pretty standard base of operations for my hat purchases. No, in this case I’m ashamed that I wasn’t at the forefront to purchase said cap before he got his hands on it. In a fit of rage that day I ended up buying five On Field caps, while on the inside I wept like a little kid who fell off their bike and skinned their knee. After I made my purchase I retreated back to my car while the crying crept upward and outward from my mouth and tear ducts as I drove home listening to “The Reason” by Hoobastank.

Ok, I’m going to level with you. The last 73% of that paragraph didn’t happen, but it certainly could have. I was a bit jealous that I didn’t have this hat, and I did buy five new hats, but I easily remedied my lack of a Pelicans hat within about 15 minutes of arriving back at my house before class. I was merely trying to add a little more drama to tale. My apologies.

The Pelicans are kind of interesting team. They were originally founded in 1980 in a little town in North Carolina called Durham. There was a movie that was loosely based on the team which came out in 1988 staring Kevin Costner, Tim Robbins and Susan Sarandon. You know the movie, “Spaceballs”… I mean “Bull Durham.” The team lasted until 1997 when they relocated to Danville, Virginia and became the Danville 97s for the 1998 season before moving on to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina in 1999. A new AAA team was established in Durham and took the Bulls as their own, while the original Bulls became the Pelicans and remained as an advanced-A club. From 1999-2010 the Pelicans were an affiliate of the Atlanta Braves organization, but then switched to the Texas Rangers for the start of the 2011 season on into the present. So, since the hat is still in use, I had quite the pick of talent to choose from.

Originally I was going to throw down #19, Jeff Francoeur, but had a change of heart on account of him not being around when the team adopted this hat. I then scoured through the rosters and came upon a decent tandem from the 2009 season who have both made a significant splash in the Majors.

#12- A fresh faced second round draft pick (2007) from Orange, California, Freddie Freeman made an immediate impact with the Pelicans at first base. Freeman only played 70 games with the Pelicans as he was promoted after the All-Star break to the AA Mississippi Braves. During his time in Myrtle Beach; however, Freeman proved he was a potent offensive threat. He batted .302 with 6 home runs and 34 runs batted in. Ok, so maybe he wasn’t a towering threat, but Freeman still got the job done. Nowadays Freeman has bulked up a bit and hits for power. His average has dipped a little bit, but hey, that’s how things go in the Majors.

#34- This other cat played behind Freeman. Not necessarily in the batting order, but about 150 or so feet behind him in the field. Like Freeman, Jason Heyward didn’t stick around Myrtle Beach for too long. Heyward lasted 49 games in Myrtle Beach before moving on to Mississippi as well as the AAA affiliate in Gwinnett for the last three games for the season. During his time with the Pelicans Heyward went .296/10/31, about on par with Freeman, but that is kind of the way things go in single A. For their time there, both 19-year-olds finished their run going one-two in batting average. Only a prospect named Cody Johnson outshined them in home runs and RBI, but Johnson was dealt to the New York Yankees after the 2010 season, where he has not risen past AA. It goes to show, you don’t need a lot of power to move up the ladder, just consistency.

January 15- Atlanta Braves

I was a bit surprised that the Atlanta Braves didn’t point this out before the season started, but then again, how often does one celebrate the lifetime of a style of hat. Back in 1987 the Braves made a uniform and color switch; donning the old red and navy which dates back to their earlier days in both Boston and Milwaukee. The hat, on the other hand, hasn’t really gone through much of a change, logo wise, since 1981, but the current game/home style celebrated it’s 25^th birthday this last year and has been a constant best-seller during that stretch.

A few days ago I had posted about the Toronto Blue Jays and how they had altered their uniforms and colors numerous times over a 17-year period and was met with minimal success on the field despite a higher win probability in correlation to a team changing its look. Oddly enough, the Braves fell into a similar hole for the first four years after making the switch. From 1987-1990 the Braves were on of the worst teams in baseball. Seriously! Look it up. The Chuck Tanner/Russ Nixon-managed Braves couldn’t buy a win if they tried, even in spite of Dale Murphy’s dominance at the plate in ’87 when he blasted 44 home runs and batted an impressive .295. However, the “Power Ally” era came to an end after the 1990 season, which coincidentally is the same time the Braves established their dominance in the National League Eastern (then Western) Division. So with that, I had to roll the dice with a few guys that wore this cap and personified the Atlanta Braves over the last quarter century. And who better than Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine and John Smoltz?

#31- Greg Maddux: Unless you’re a dedicated Braves fan, or baseball fan, Maddux didn’t start his career with the Braves until the 1993 season. The Braves had all ready flirted with greatness in 1991 when they matched up against the Minnesota Twins in the World Series, but fell to them in a grueling (in a good way) series which lasted all seven games. The Braves, needing another solid starter, picked up a solid started from the Chicago Cubs before the start of the ’93 season. Maddux had flirted with a Cy Young in 1989, but finished third in the voting after going 19-12 with a 2.95 ERA. He lost to San Diego Padres closer Mark Davis and Houston Astros ace Mike Scott in case you were wondering. In 1992 though, he took home the prize after going 20-11 with a 2.18 ERA and 268.0 innings under his belt. Baller!!! So, with a new team and a fresh season in front of him, Maddux took the mound for the Braves and had a pretty decent showing. And by decent I’m totally kidding. Dude pal won three more consecutive Cy Young Awards; winning 55 games and losing 18 in those three years. Glavine also won a ridiculous (in a good way) amount of Gold Glove Awards during his tenure in the South; a record 18 for his career, but an impressive 10 straight for the Braves. He only missed out in one time in his final year as a Brave in 2003. His punk of a teammate, Mike Hampton, robbed him late year. Aaaaaaaaand he also won a World Series ring in 1995, but that’s really not that big of a deal.

#47- To talk about Tommy Glavine, one can’t help but start with the 1984 NHL Entry Draft. That’s right; TG was a solid hockey player in his youth and was selected in the 4^th round, 69^th overall by the Los Angeles Kings. Even more impressive, Glavine was selected two rounds ahead of Brett Hull and Luc Robitaille (both of whom were inducted into the NHL Hall of Fame in 2009). So, needing a real challenge, Glavine opted to play baseball instead, and made his debut during the 1987 season. In 1988 Glavine lost a MLB-high 17 games for the Braves, but quickly turned things around toward the end of the 1990 season when Bobby Cox took over as manager. From 1991-1993 Glavine won at least 20 games and took home his first Cy Young Award for his effort during the ’91 season. Unfortunately, some computer nerd-looking guy (Maddux) kept him from getting his second Cy Young until 1998 where he went 20-6 with a 2.47 ERA. Oh yah! He also won a World Series ring in 1995. No big deal.

#29- The youngest of the three, John Smoltz had the unfortunate luck of playing alongside Maddux and Glavine, therefore didn’t have much of an opportunity to win much hardware. But, he scored big in 1996; going 24-8 with a 2.94 ERA and a League high 276 strikeouts. Smoltz was extremely dominant during his 21-year career, and was the only one of the three who dealt with possible career-ending injuries. After sitting out the 2000 season, Smoltz faced the harsh reality that he may not be able to be used as a starter again. Wanting to play, Smoltz took on the role as closer during the 2001 season and did a fair job. In 2002; however, he played out of his mind. Smoltz saved a MLB season high 55 games. Did I say season high? Sorry, I meant NL single season record. Smoltz defied the odds and continued to play through 2009. He also rotated back to a starting spot in 2006 where he went 16-9 with a 3.49 ERA. I think he also won a World Series ring in ’95 as well, but that’s not important.

As a youngling I only recall seeing the Braves play in this hat with the aid of TBS: The Superstation. So, I had to go with I know. And one thing I know is that Maddux, Glavine and Smoltz truly personified the Atlanta Braves organization for a generation of baseball fans. Well, except for Glavine. He really should have stuck with hockey. Kidding. :D