22nd
The 2010 Atlanta Braves
Originally published: April 2, 2010
Get ready to enjoy seeing exactly how elastic the time-tested “out with the old, in with the new” phrase really is. The programs sold at Turner Field last season featured a cover story about manager Bobby Cox’s 50 years in baseball, but then he announced that this 2010 campaign as the team’s manager after a half-century in the game will be his last. With his position as the all-time leader in ejections being secure, Cox is going to have at least one addition to his lineup that could help him go out on top: the long-awaited, much-anticipated major league debut of all-around phenom Jason Heyward. The right fielder’s abilities have been championed ever since he was drafted in 2007, so now the question becomes whether he turns out to be just another Johnny Estrada or something more like another long-time Brave who could in fact be the determining factor of this year’s fortunes, Chipper Jones. If the third baseman swings the bat like he did in 2008, then the team’s lineup and formidable rotation makes them a legitimate contender; but if Jones struggles in the field and at the plate like he did last year, then by his own admission he may just end up joining Cox in calling it quits.
