Watching the National Baseball Hall of Fame induction ceremony Sunday was another reminder of how great Atlanta Braves' fans had it. John Smoltz spoke of how special the streak was. Tom Glavine, Greg Maddux and Bobby Cox - each also enshrined at Cooperstown - did the same thing a year ago.
Chipper Jones will do the same thing in two years, becoming the fifth member of that incredible era to reach baseball immortality.
Fourteen consecutive division titles. A dynastic run that will never be matched.
It also was, and will remain for this writer and many Braves fans I know, still the most frustrating dynasty in American sports history.
It's almost inconceivable that a team with Smoltz, Glavine, Maddux, Steve Avery, Chipper and Andruw Jones, et all, could win one World Series title in 14 consecutive postseason tries. This isn't about blame. It's about how differently those teams would be viewed if the Braves had won three or four titles.
I had a conversation recently with a stranger in another state who noticed my Braves' hat. He mentioned how great those teams were and how frustrating it was for other teams in the division during that time to basically have to play for a wild card.
I was feeling a bit better about the subject, never having looked at it from a Phillies fan's perspective, before he asked the magic question. How did you handle all those playoff losses?
I guess it's just part of the Atlanta sports heritage. Maybe we're cursed. Just look at the Hawks this year. Remember the Falcons twice having the NFC's top seed and not reaching the Super Bowl? Their one Super Bowl was over before it ever began (thanks Eugene Robinson!).
Atlanta fans have every right to be jaded when one of their teams makes the playoffs. There's always excitement, but underneath it there always lies a monster just waiting to devour it.
I wonder, and maybe I'll ask someday, if Atlanta pro athletes feel that sense of doom?
Atlanta Braves starting pitcher Julio Teheran throws in the first inning against the Miami Marlins during their opening day baseball game in Miami on Monday, April 6, 2015.Let's make a deal
OK, we get it. Pitching is the key to a Braves turnaround. The more the merrier and all that.
But, at some point the team's brass has to start looking at that other part of baseball. You know, the ability to hit the ball and field a position.
Two more pitching prospects joined the organization this past week as vets Juan Uribe and Kelly Johnson were moved to the Mets. As we pointed out in an earlier blog, the more quality pitching an organization has the more options it will have in the trade market.
Pitching is, after all, the game's most valuable resource. It's also its most vulnerable.
So, let's assume the posse of pitching the Braves have acquired this season, upwards of 15 good to great arms, will produce at least a handful of major league pitchers. There's a nice surplus, especially considering the current rotation is still very young.
President John Hart knows he has ammo. The future is surely full of more trades.
But why not now?
A record number of teams are in contention for at least one of the wild card spots and nearly every one is looking for a starting pitcher. Guys like Cole Hamels and David Price are risky for different reasons. Hamels, despite his no-no Saturday, has a lot of miles on his arm. Price is a two-month rental that is going to cost some team a top prospect or two (remember how that worked out with Mark Teixeira?).
I know it was shot down somewhat this week, but why not dangle Julio Teheran and see who bites? He's young, obviously talented and is under a very friendly contract. At this point the Braves are not winning this year or next, so would losing Teheran make any difference in the team's playoff chances?
What it could do, however, is bring in a big bat. Go find Theo Epstein and see if a Teheran for Kyle Schwarber deal could be done.
The Cubs are loaded with big, young bats and could be a pitcher away from making the playoffs and being a really dangerous team this year. Schwarber is a masher. He may not be a true catcher, but he can find a spot in the Atlanta lineup and he can be a part of the middle of the lineup for the next decade.
It doesn't have to be Teheran or Schwarber, but you get the idea. This is the week where a team in contention will do a deal it wouldn't consider any other time of the year.
Atlanta Braves' Nick Markakis celebrates scoring against the Los Angeles Dodgers during the third inning of a baseball game Tuesday, July 21, 2015, in Atlanta.Let's make a deal, part II
More realistically, the Braves have a couple of parts that could bring in a prospect or two. One might be Nick Markakis, and if a team is interested Hart should make it happen.
Markakis, signed for three more years, can still hit and could be a solid piece for a contender. What he no longer is, however, is a good outfielder. Whether it's the year off due to neck surgery or just age, but the former Gold Glove award winner is struggling in right field.
I watched the Cardinals' TV broadcast of Sunday's win and the broadcasters, especially Al Hrabosky, kept singling out Markakis' struggles. He made three throws this weekend that were, to put it mildly, horrible, including a rainbow on the game-winning sacrifice fly to mid right field that left Shelby Miller shaking his head.
Will a full offseason of training fix some of the issues and also bring back some of his lost power? If not then moving him has to be Hart's top goal right now.
One player who apparently isn't going anywhere is Andrelton Simmons. Ken Rosenthal reported the Mets had approached the Braves about a Simmons deal and were quickly told the cost of acquiring the Gold Glover would be prohibitive.
Of course, we also heard Craig Kimbrel and Evan Gattis were going nowhere.