You see, I was just about to reach my teens right when Francisco Cabrera hit that single out to Barry Bonds in left field and Sid Bream limped his way around third and then Skip Caray went crazy. I can honestly remember every single thing about that moment. I was watching the game with my dad, and right as David Justice, Ron Gant, and Deion Sanders were leaping onto Bream, my dad and I were 90 miles away jumping around like idiots in our living room. It was great.And I think it's a good thing to have Glavine coming back. He is still a serviceable pitcher. No, not like he once was, but he is still a quality #3 starter. He did win 13 games last year and pitched 200 innings.
And not only is Atlanta picking up a good (not great) pitcher, but they are giving folks another reason to go back to the ballpark and remember the magic. You see, back then when the Braves won that pennant and got to that first World Series, it really was magical. They had been so bad for so long - and out of nowhere - they tripped up and won the pennant.
This was also back when baseball was baseball. Jose Canseco hadn't yet shown half the league what he had in his workout bag, and Bud Selig wasn't too far into mismanaging the game into player strikes and the steroid era. It was just a team of a bunch of nobodies (plus one guy who was returning picks for touchdowns on weekends) that put together an improbable second half in 1991.
But unfortunately this organization became a victim of their success. After that run, Atlanta put out a run of like 100 straight division titles, but only 1 World Series victory. And that Atlanta apathy set in.
So, I'm excited that they are bringing the old man back. Now only if they could get the rest of the band together. What's Deion doing during the summer now? And how about Mark Lemke and Ron Gant? Surely Rafael Belliard is available.
