John Smoltz Turns His Back On Atlanta

This is not a Gay issue, but I love the Braves. I can not believe that Smoltz is turning his back on the Braves and going to the Red Sox.

Smoltz, 41, has reached a preliminary agreement with the Red Sox on a $5.5 million contract, according to major-league sources. The deal is pending a physical, which is slated for Monday.

The deal also will include $5 million in incentives, giving Smoltz the chance to earn a total of $10.5 million, sources said.

With Smoltz, who is coming off shoulder surgery, the Red Sox would have six veteran starters.

Smoltz has been with the Braves organization since August 12, 1987, when the team acquired him from the Tigers for pitcher Doyle Alexander. The team entered the offseason planning to reconstruct its rotation and then re-sign Smoltz and free-agent lefthander Tom Glavine if they were still available.

Glavine, unlike Smoltz, is unwilling to play for any team but the Braves.

With Smoltz coming off major surgery, the Braves were not inclined to guarantee him significant doll

"I was going to withhold comment until the announcement of my signing with a new team, but I now feel the need to clear up any misconceptions and inaccuracies about the contract negotiations between myself and the Atlanta Braves," Smoltz said in a statement released by his agency. "There were large discrepancies between the offer from the Braves and offers from other teams. I have always loved the city of Atlanta, and it will always be my home. I will cherish my 21 years with Bobby Cox and all my Braves' teammates. I continue to wish the Atlanta Braves nothing but success in the future."

I always believed that John played the game because he loved to play. Now, we all see his true color, green. It will be said to see the Braves start the season with out him, but maybe we will have a pitcher that will not be on the bench most of the season. Good luck, Red Sox, on Keeping him healthy.

Via Fox Sports

Beloved Braves Announcer Skip Caray Dies At 68

I grew up listening to you Skip. You will be missed here in my house. The games will not be the same with out you. Thank you for all the great years and memories. "YES!,YES!,YES!...."

The Braves family lost one of its most beloved members on Sunday, when Skip Caray passed away at his Atlanta-area home.
Caray, who would have celebrated his 69th birthday on Aug. 12, went to take a nap Sunday afternoon and didn't awake. He is survived by his wife, Paula, two sons, Chip and Josh, two daughters, Shayelyn and Cindy, and seven grandchildren.

"Our baseball community has lost a legend today," said Braves president John Schuerholz. "The Braves family and Braves fans everywhere will sadly miss him. Our thoughts are with his wife Paula and his children."

"I'm just in shock," Chip said. "I know he wasn't feeling good, but this was unexpected. He hung the moon for me. I got to talk to him [on Saturday], and the last thing I got to say to him was, 'I love you.'"

"I'm 68," Caray said on April 2. "If I go tonight, I've had a hell of a life."

While his presence may be gone, Caray's voice will continue forever live with the history of the Braves. His most memorable call arguably came when he exclaimed, "Yes! Yes! Yes!" after Braves center fielder Marquis Grissom caught the final out of the 1995 World Series.

Caray's arrival in Atlanta allowed him the opportunity to develop a friendship and working relationship with Ted Turner, whose innovative media initiatives allowed Caray and his close friend, Pete Van Wieren, to broadcast Braves games to a national audience on a superstation that would become TBS.

Caray and Van Wieren began broadcasting Braves games together in 1976 and were still serving as broadcast partners during radio broadcasts this season. Both of them were inducted in the Braves Hall of Fame in 2004.

Last year, when TBS ended its 30-year affiliation with the Braves, Caray was saddened to know he was saying goodbye to a number of people that had been so good to him. He was always extremely grateful for the outpouring of sympathy he received after his father died in 1998.

"In essence, you're saying goodbye to people who you've been part of their life for a long time," Caray said last August. "My access to them will now be denied."

Via MLB.com