This one's for you, Carlton
Some of you may not know this, but Jeff Carlton may be the biggest Bobby Cox detractor alive. Which is why it is with no small amount of glee that I link to this column by ESPN's Jayson Stark.
I'm going to withhold comment for now, assuming that I'll have to respond to the inevitable biting criticism from Carlton.
Comments (3)
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Good to see Jim has started following baseball again now that the Braves have finally clinched.
Cox is an obvious pick for NL manager of the year and is obviously a Hall of Famer. My biggest complaint with him is he's mediocre at best at managing a game, particularly as it concerns handling his bullpen in the postseason.
Perhaps this is why the Marlins have more World Series titles than Cox.
I hate to see the Starks and Youngs of the world drinking the Kool-Aid and exaggerating Cox's brilliance while overlooking the work of John Schuerholz, Chuck LaMar, Roy Clark et al in drafting and developing great talent over the years.
And, though Jim tends to forget, the competition is often complicit in their own failures to win the division. Twice in the last 5 years, the Braves have been fair to middling, and the saps in the NL East have given them a free pass ('01 and '05). Cox gets credit for getting his guys through the dog days of summer playing well while the rest of these losers fade each year. That's where the Braves got their margin for error this September.
Oh, and ask the umpires how "humble" they think Cox is. Call a strike on the corner against one of his hitters and listen to the expletives fly.
OK, was that commentary biting enough for you, Jim?
Posted on September 28, 2005 3:51 PM
Okay, so explain again how the Braves are getting a free pass when every other NL East team is above .500? Each of those teams would be NL West champs.
In fact, it's the toughest division in baseball - there aren't any Kansas City, Pittsburgh, Tampa Bay-level bums upon which to fatten your won-lost record. And I'd say a string of titles dating back to the George H.W. Bush administration is something beyond coincidence, happenstance and mediocre competition. Don't forget, when the Braves started this streak, they were in the NL West and the Marlins, Rockies and Diamondbacks didn't even exist.
As far as Roy Clark goes, I was always more of a Buck Owens fan.
Posted on September 29, 2005 4:12 PM
Won't listen to reason from former Brave great Craig McMurtry? Fine, go to Radio Free Sports instead (see post above).
Posted on September 30, 2005 11:48 AM