The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
BRAVES SEASON PREVIEW
CHAMPS RETURN TO THE FIELD
lot has happened since the Braves won the World Series — the lockout, the departure of Freddie Freeman, the arrival of several significant new players — but the team and its fan base hope to pick up where they left off last fall when a new season begins this week.
“I’m closing in on 50 years (with the team), which is a little shocking, and this is a special time,” said Braves Chairman Terry McGuirk, the organization’s top executive, who has been affiliated with the team since the mid-1970s. “I would dare say there has never been a time that I’ve seen the fan appreciation and the total euphoria about the team in this town and region greater than now.”
The Braves will begin the long road back to October without a franchise icon, Freeman, but with a new slugger at first base, reinforcements in the bullpen, a higher player payroll and a 22-year high in season ticket sales. They’ll launch the season with two more Truist Park celebrations of last year’s triumph: the unveiling of a World Series championship pennant high above right field before the opener against Cincinnati on Thursday and an on-field presentation of World Series rings Saturday.
“I think (those festivities) will set the stage for a great year that we’re going to have here,” McGuirk said. “We can celebrate together and remind each other how much fun we had and how much fun we’re going to have. Because we’re certainly not done.”
Whether measured anecdotally or by ticket sales data, baseball’s contentious 99-day lockout and Freeman’s perplexing exit as a free agent didn’t seem to significantly dampen the enthusiasm of most of Braves Country amid the World Series afterglow.
“I think it would have been pretty hard to