So is there any hope on the horizon? Is this a scattered shower or the dark before the storm. 
I would love to give you some kind of answer, but as it stands it is too soon to preach the end 
or assure you the worst is over. The team is in the mist of being sold to another faceless corporate,
 Liberty Media, that is more worried about  bottom line than winning, the players, or the fans.

The main owner of the company not a Braves fan, nor a baseball fan in general (but he’s really good
 at pretending otherwise on television). We have dropped from first in payroll in baseball the year 
we won the world series to thirteenth at the beginning of the 2006 season. The question for Braves 
fans is where will the free fall end? If this keeps up, how long before we become the laughing 
stock of baseball?

How long before we become the Atlanta Hawks of the Nation’s pastime? On the bright side, there
are good signs for the state of the franchise. Brian McCann, our 22-year old catcher is looking like 
one of the rising young stars in the league. He is not only near the league leaders with a plus .350
batting average, but has also stepped up as a top defensive catcher on a bad defensive team.

We have Jeff Francoeur, another young blossoming star with an uncanny ability for clutch hits in big 
games. We have a team  with signed veteran talent that will not be leaving anytime soon like
Andruw Jones, Chipper Jones, John Smoltz, Tim Hudson, and Mike Hampton returning next spring.

We also have young talent in the minors unlike most teams. Players like Chuck James, Jarrod
Saltalamacchia, Brandon Jones, JoJo Reyes, Matt Harrison, Elvis Andrus, and Kala Kaaihue
 that will become households names in Georgia sooner rather than later.

If we trade unneeded pieces of the team now, we may have money to start competing again next
 year and maybe have a chance to be world champs in a few more years. We could return to
greatness like the phoenix rising from the ashes. But, for a die hard Braves fan this is no comfort.
All the hope in the world can’t fix the sick feeling eating away at the pit of their stomachs,
as they see America’s team sitting below the lowly Florida Marlins in last place.

No pat on the back from a non-baseball fan with the half-hearted  sentiment “Hey, it’s only a game”
 can help console a beleaguered Brave’s fan.

It is more than a game, it’s in our blood, our breath, and our thoughts all the time. But hey, we knew
this day would come. We just never knew that the mighty Braves with not go down with a fight, but
instead a soft whimper drowned out by the cries for help from their  faithful fans in just as much dismay
as the fading franchise.

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