Atlanta Most Likely To Stay On Top
There was a time when Ted Turner seemed to aspire to be George Steinbrenner. Fortunately for the Braves, it turned out to be only a phase he was going through.
Not even Steinbrenner has appointed himself manager, as Turner did in 1977 amid a 17-game losing streak. Good thing he lost 2-1 to the Pirates the one day he worked the dugout, before Bowie Kuhn put an end to Turner’s shenanigans, or who knows how the Braves might have turned out?
Certainly no one then could have predicted Ted’s team would turn out to be the model franchise of the turbulent ‘90s. The Braves were already the envy of their sport before Saturday night, but now they have their long-sought World Series victory.
They will savor it because championships are more precious than ever these days, as finances often demand that good or great teams be dismantled. It seemed the Blue Jays would be on top forever after winning their second straight championship in 1993. Two years later they were awful.
The Braves, however, seem capable of bucking the trend. To some extent they have, putting together five straight seasons as one of the best teams in baseball.
And there is no reason to believe anything is going to change soon.
They may not win it all again next year, if only because baseball’s extra tier of playoffs makes the postseason more of a crapshoot. But the Braves will be in the hunt, bet on that.
As Bobby Cox said Saturday night, “The one thing that’s going to keep us together is Ted Turner. He’s got the pockets.”
Deep pockets. Turner still spends money on his ballclub like Steinbrenner, but he has long since stopped playing GM or manager. He has put together a solid management team in Stan Kasten and John Schuerholz, together with Cox, and now Ted nuzzles with Jane in the box seats while his team collects trophies every year.
Don’t think Turner didn’t yearn to win. He was emotional as he stood in the celebration Saturday night.
“Of all the things I hadn’t accomplished,” he said, “this was the one thing I really wanted.”
Apparently nothing will change now that TimeWarner is merging with Turner Broadcasting, either. Schuerholz said it will have no effect on baseball operations. And Cox said, “It just means that Ted will have more money to spend.”
Of course, New York has been the home office in the ‘90s for teams whose payrolls have exceeded results.
The Braves have stayed on top this long because they’ve drafted as smartly as they’ve spent.
Signing Greg Maddux may have been their most significant move of the ‘90s, but their farm system has enabled the Braves to turn over much of their roster since 1991, the year they went from worst to first in the N.L. West, while shelling out big bucks to keep their powerhouse pitching staff intact.