By Joe Joe Wright

joejoe.wright@cordeledispatch.com

With the Atlanta/Marietta /Rome Braves you just don’t ever know. They are from Atlanta, they are going to Marietta and they play like the Single A Braves up in Rome. My heart and many other die-hard Braves fans young and old are sinking like the Titanic.

I don’t want to say it is the Coaches fault because the owners (who are CHEAP) gave him this team. It is almost like they enjoy getting trashed and setting new losing records. I did some research the once great farm system, wellllll it ain’t so great anymore. Every farm team has a losing record except the Gwinnett AAA Braves. There is a reason they are winning are you ready for it 11 of the 14 position players have played in the majors and 14 of the 19 pitchers have been up to the big show as well. Average age for position players is 28.8 years and pitching is 25.7. I am sitting here thinking of Kevin Costner and Bull Durham. As of Thursday afternoon the Gwinnett Braves were 11-9. The Braves are bad on so many levels I really don’t know where to start. The team batting average is pitiful .224. The homerun total my goodness, 19 players in the major leagues have more than the whole team who has 5 now. The Team ERA is 5.09 The Braves are just about last in every major category that Major League Baseball keeps up with. On a positive note the Braves are 4th in hits on Fridays following a Braves loss that occurs after a Full Moon playing at home.

So there is room for hope.

Now down in the farm system Tyrell Jenkins has a 1.60 ERA and Mike Foltynewicz has 1.43 ERA man that’s a mouth full whew! Emilio Bonifacio age 31 is batting .327 and Rio Ruiz is batting .343 so they might want to bring them up to help out. One day someone is going to write a book called “The late Great Atlanta Braves”, they sure are falling fast, personally I blame ownership. Corporations are all about profits more so than individuals and they have cut the heart out of the Braves. I guess I will have to listen to all my Facebook friends cry all year, but I feel their pain.