RACING TO THE BOTTOM?

 ATLANTA BRAVES 2015

 By Doc Lawrence

ATLANTA--Some days I really miss reading Lewis Grizzard. His newspaper columns-loaded with wit and
targeted sarcasm-were best when local sports was the subject. Imagine giving him some fresh meat provided by the Atlanta Braves rather shocking trade of Craig Kimbrel while local fans were still reeling from the unloading of other proven players. Lewis would have been ferociously creative. What he often accomplished was like puncturing overblown egos with his typewriter assuming the function of a large hairpin.

While others, notably the San Francisco Giants concentrate on going to another World Series, our team looks to new digs: a luxury stadium surrounded by sports bars and doodleburger

outlets. Traffic? No problem. They’ll build a skyway over the Interstate-one of the country’s busiest-an engineering feat comparable to Henry Flagler’s plans long ago to connect Key West to Havana with a railroad bridge.

Kimbrel was the National League leader in saves in 2014 (47) and has topped 40 saves in each of the past four seasons. Kimbrel has a 1.43 ERA, the lowest ERA in the entire league in that span.

This feels like the 1970’s, when six months of mediocrity was the norm. A race to last place?