Fresh Loaf

Matthew, 10: It’s cheating, and it’s just not right. It’s not good for your body, either. Just not smart. I’d be very disappointed if any of the Braves used them. I’m a big fan and I’d hate to lose any of them, but if they’re caught they should be suspended for a little while — but then be able to come back and play. I would have liked Manny Ramirez a lot more if he hadn’t used steroids. He was one of my favorite players. I’m very aware of what’s going on [with steroids], but not many of my friends talk about it.

Rachel, 16: More players than David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez used steroids. A lot of players did, and that should be taken into account — that it wasn’t just them. They should say everybody or nobody. They shouldn’t just pick and choose. But the suspension for Manny should have been longer. Most of my friends [in Los Angeles] don’t agree with me. I’m less of a Manny fan now. Baseball has lost some of its magic — because looking back, not everything is what it seemed.

Denham, 11: They should be suspended for 80 games. It really affects the game and how I watch it. I wonder if Albert Pujols does them, with all the records he has. But I don’t think the list should be released, because a lot of people won’t come. They’ll think they’re all juiced and no one wants to watch them. My friends and I talk about players who we think may have done steroids. When you see players that are juiced up, it takes away from the game because it’s not how the game was supposed to be played. Players like David Ortiz really disappoint me. I really liked him and Alex Rodriguez.

(Photos by Jeff Slate)

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As it turns out, just the AJC does.

Like the vast majority of the Braves’ highly touted prospects over the last decade — we’re looking at you, Wilson Betemit, Macay McBride and Brent Lillibridge — Jeff Francoeur didn’t quite pan out at the Major League level. After knocking 29 homers with 102 RBIs in his first full season in the majors, the fan favorite declined rapidly, first losing his power — 29 homeruns became 19, which became 11, which became 5 before last week’s trade — and then everything else. So the Braves did the logical thing and cut bait, trading Francoeur to the Mets before MLB’s arbitration process forced them to shell out even more money for a player whose on-base percentage is in regular danger of being lapped by his batting average.

Letting go of Frenchy, however, proved easier for the fans than it did for the scribes who’ve been tracking Francoeur’s every move since he was a local high school football star.

(more…)

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Orlando: Never. I’m from Havana. Everybody plays baseball In Cuba. I was a catcher. And we all grow up loving the Yankees. The Yankees have been a winning team for years. They’ll spend the money. The Braves won’t. They let [Rafael] Furcal go and [John] Smoltz go. He had plenty of gas in the tank. If you let them go, you don’t know much about baseball. The Yankees are all about winning. It’s not about money. The Braves are about money — keeping a limit on it. You can only go so far.

Jeannine: You would have to pry the hat from my cold, dead hands. Everything that is good about America is represented by the New York Yankees. Yankee fans are true fans, in good times and bad — unlike Red Sox fans and Braves fans who don’t understand you root for your team even when they’re bad. Many aspire but few can achieve the greatness of being a Yankee fan. Braves fans need to learn not to Yankee-hate, but to congratulate and appreciate. Bobby Cox learned to win by playing for the Yankees. Braves fans should be grateful for us.

Steve: Never. Born and raised in the Bronx. Everybody has the same sense about Yankee fans: that we’re abrasive, conceited and cocky. But Yankee fans are people, too. We have a lot of pride because of the history of success. Yankee fans are lovers of baseball and the history of baseball and the American tradition of it. Yankees fans embrace all the same things that Braves fans embrace. Baseball brings everybody together. We should all be proud of what baseball is and how the rest of the world has embraced it. But the Red Sox suck.

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An usher for the Braves since 1966, Banks is a well-known personality at Turner Field. He’s legendary among fellow attendants for his extensive knowledge of numbers and baseball, as well as for his humble personality.

What is a typical day like for you?

I try to give the fans a real Braves experience — making them feel welcome, talking to them, and just making them feel at home. [Depending on] the way they’re treated, there’s a chance they’ll bring somebody back with them, and then that person will bring somebody back. A real Braves experience is just rolling the red carpet out and making them feel at home.

Can you describe what happened when Hank Aaron set the record?

Of all the big events I’ve witnessed, that was one of the biggest. That was a centerpiece of the Braves franchise. On every aisle seat, there’s a logo of Hank Aaron.

(more…)

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HOMELESSNESS: New study quantifies homelessness in Georgia, finding that 20,000 people were homeless statewide one night in January and 75,000 went without a home at some point during the year.

NICHOLS TRIAL MOVED: To Atlanta City Court.

NOT THE LAST STRAW: The Athens Banner-Herald sees the silver lining in Gwinnett voters’ straw-poll rejection of MARTA.

IN TRANSIT: CNN reports on Americans weaning off driving and the rise of public transit; as usual, Atlanta is used as the example of the city lagging behind.

IN-THE-RED STATE: Gov. Perdue announces that the state budget is $600 million short. Maybe Atlanta and Georgia aren’t so different after all.

GOING AGAINST THE GROIN: Mike Hampton comes out of another minor league game after “tweaking” something, this time his groin, after just 29 pitches.

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RUNSOFF: Jim Martin and Vernon Jones will face off in a runoff Aug. 5 to determine who faces Saxby Chambliss in November; Burrell Ellis and Stan Watson will also have a runoff in the DeKalb CEO race; the Fulton County sheriff’s race will be running off to decide whether incumbent Myron Freeman or retired FBI agent Ted Jackson will face Republican Michael Rary in November.

INCUMBENTS: U.S Reps. John Lewis, John Barrow and Paul Broun all fended off their challengers to retain their seats in Congress.

CITI TREND: Dunwoody becomes the latest north Atlanta community to catch city fever.

GWINNETTIANS: Less opposed to MARTA than they used to be.

ALL-STAR GAME: American League wins its 12th straight in the longest All-Star Game in major-league history.

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When is a new home-run record not a new home-run record?

Perhaps when the new home-run king is indicted for lying to the feds about steroid use, and there’s a drug test that backs them up. In short, an unprecedented mess awaits Barry Bonds and, especially, baseball commissioner Bud Selig. The big question Selig is going to face is simple: Does he erase the new (allegedly steroid-enhanced) home-run “record” that Bonds set last year from the record books?

Baseball has never seen anything like this before. When “Shoeless” Joe Jackson was given a lifetime ban from baseball for the Black Sox scandal after the 1920 season, his batting records were left intact. When Pete Rose was given a lifetime ban for gambling, it didn’t affect his batting records. In neither case was there a cause and effect.

But with Bonds, it’s very different. His alleged crime directly affected the records he set. Take Marion Jones, the Olympic gold medalist who confessed in October that she took steroids provided by BALCO, the same outfit that allegedly provided them to Bonds.

Like Bonds, she said she initially thought she was taking flaxseed oil. After Jones’ confession (she pleaded guilty in October to lying to federal investigators), she gave up the five medals she received at the 2000 Games in Sydney. The International Olympic Committee is expected to formally strip her of the medals prior to her sentencing in January.

Selig may have no other alternative than to “strip” Bonds of the records he’s set with the apparent use of illegal substances. How can anyone honor a home-run record set by a guy who was demonstrably bulked up on steroids?

The baseball commissioner has never been one to take bold measures. But in this case, he may have no other alternative. The home-run record Bonds set last year is now tainted. And Selig must take the lead of the Olympic committee and wipe Bonds’ stained stats from the record books.

Hank Aaron, home-run king. It has a nice ring to it. It has an honest ring to it. And to get out of this mess, baseball has got to rediscover its integrity.

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