By Mike Kahn
CBS SportsLine Executive Editor
Oct. 11, 1998
As difficult as it is to believe, it's time to break up the Atlanta Braves.
The "Tomahawk Chop" really has worked. The best team in the National League this decade has cut its own throat with regular-season dominance that breeds postseason pratfalls.
There
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Bobby Cox is as much a cause of Atlanta's struggles as he is their success.
(AP)
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Simple. They have the best starting pitching staff in baseball -- including Cy Young Award winners Greg Maddux, John Smoltz and Tom Glavine. Denny Neagle is just a cut behind. And that's why they win 95-100 games every year. The formula is superb for the regular season. When you've got four starters capable of a complete game every start -- and a near guarantee of 15-20 wins from four starters -- then the confidence is extreme.
THERE ISN'T MUCH PRESSURE ON anybody. The consistency is striking, if not awesome, and the offense just has to be decent. The same goes for the bullpen, if only because there's such little relief pitching required.
Then comes the playoffs, and everything changes. It isn't that Maddux, Smoltz, Glavine and Neagle suddenly go south. They don't. What happens is every game is low scoring. It requires clutch hitting, consistent relief pitching and exceptional defense to win games. And when compared to its starting pitching, the rest of the Braves pale.
In each of the past three seasons, even veteran manager Bobby Cox has fallen prey to the pressure and has begun making dubious decisions on a regular basis. There's no other explanation for having no players left for extra innings and pinch-hitting Glavine because everybody else has been used.
So the Braves lose. Then they lose again. They're down 2-0 going to San Diego. More important, they don't sell out either of the first two games in Turner Field. Game 1, OK, it's cold and rainy. It's on television and there will be another game in better weather if you don't go. Fine, except they don't fill the place in Game 2, either. The fans are disconsolate with seeming inevitability of another Braves crash.
Why does this keep happening?
SO LET'S CONSIDER WHAT TO DO:
Enough said.
THAT LEAVES US WITH a few alternatives. The most obvious is leave everything alone. Generally speaking, what's wrong with winning the division every year? This is tantamount to what goes on in Columbus every college football season when Ohio State lingers in the top 10, then loses to Michigan and more often than not, its bowl opponent. They don't win a national championship, but they still have a great program. Same goes for the Braves.
The rumbling always surrounds Buckeyes coach John Cooper and the tiny steps he takes during Michigan week because he's so tight. Those are the same steps being taken by Cox and the Braves.
Only this is different. This is professional sports. The Braves front office brought in Andres Gallaraga this year to bolster the offense. He, too, is failing in the postseason.
Something is wrong and there is no other explanation. We will give Cox credit for helping build this organization from the front office. His eye for talent is unquestionable. But after almost a decade, his handling of players and game preparation now is very much in question. It now appears the only reason the Braves do have a World Series title this decade is the law of averages -- they were just too good not to win at least one.
But the point is, with one of the great starting pitching staffs of all time, they should be back again. They should have won more than once and they haven't. It's time to say so long to Bobby Cox. He's been there long enough and they can bring back a former Brave.
In the on-deck circle, Davey Johnson.
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