Feb 14th is Valentines Day and....

The start of spring training for the Atlanta Braves pitchers and catchers. I've got to say that I am excited about the 2008 season and the expectations for this squad should be to win the East, and then see what happens in the postseason.

I'll fill many more posts throughout the spring and summer about the team, so today just a few thoughts about the man at the helm, Bobby Cox. They were discussing him and his accomplishments and failures today on sports talk radio, and I was shocked at the number of people here in ATL that think Cox is a failure and should be ousted if they don't win the division. Unlike most Atlantans, I am a born and raised second generation native. That means I was here for the 80's (all of them) and watched some of the worst baseball teams ever to step foot on a MLB field. Names like Andres Thomas, Brad Komminsk, and the like, all with high expectations and zero results. The Braves finished in last place virtually non-stop from '84 to '89, and the key to the change was Cox. He took over as GM of the Braves in '86, and began to build the Braves farm system from the ground up. He took over the managerial duties in '90, and for those of you who can remember '90, the Braves were led primarily by homegrown talent. Names like Gant, Lemke, Glavine, Smoltz (minor league trade a year earlier) were key players on the NL Champion and worst to first team.

Cox proceeded to lead the Braves to 14 straight division championships, 5 NL titles, and the World Series title in '95. Naysayers will say it is his fault they lost in so many postseason battles, but I will lay that blame on the players underperforming when it counted most. Bobby Cox didn't hang a slider to Jim Leyritz in '96 to begin the slide vs. the Yankees, and he didn't get faked out by Chuck Noblauch in the '90 series to negate what would have been the World Series winning run. (Mark Wohlers and Lonnie Smith, respectively).

Cox has won more games than all but three managers in the history of baseball, and his players stand by him through thick and thin. I have never heard a ballplayer ever say anything negative about the man, and players love getting traded to/signed by Atlanta. Bobby Cox deserves a tremendous amount of respect from this city, and he consistently gets the best from his players. Even at his ripe old age, he does his job better than most, and for that he deserves to step down when he wants to, not when the city demands it. I say this not b/c he is a legend, but because I trust that he will get out of the way when he can't do it anymore.

So here's to you Bobby, good luck on the upcoming season. And one more thing. He holds the record for most ejections ever... player or coach. Can't wait to see a few more of those this year.