Mark WiedmerWatch the Atlanta Braves for even an inning or three these days, and your first thought is sure to be that they need to fire the manager. The Peachtree Pitifuls entered Wednesday night’s game in Boston with the worst offense, the worst defense and the worst bullpen in all of Major League Baseball.
Other than that, of course, Atlanta skipper Fredi Gonzalez is leading these guys to Cooperstown, N.Y., site of baseball’s Hall of Fame. And they might actually get there for winding up with the worst record in the modern game’s history.
Atlanta’s stunningly bad 4-16 record entering Wednesday projects to no better than a 33-129 finish, which would dwarf the dumpster fires turned in by the 1962 New York Mets (40-120) and 2003 Detroit Tigers (43-119).
So the easiest solution for a bitter Braves Nation would certainly appear to be to start a “Fire Fredi!” campaign. The sooner, the better. Especially since Atlanta’s next seven games are on the road – at Boston again tonight, at the Chicago Cubs over the weekend and at the Mets for three games early next week – and all against teams with winning records.
Of course, those few sappy souls still in Gonzalez’s corner might also argue that’s a reasonable reason to stick with Futile Fredi until the Braves return home to face the Arizona Diamondbacks on May 6. Love him or loathe him, Gonzalez would have a hard time winning at Boston, Chicago and New York if he had the 1995 world champion Braves, which he clearly does not.