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5-at-10: Friday mailbag on MVP of the ’90s Braves, Best MLB season ever, LeBron’s free agency destination, tourney expansion

FILE - In this May 3, 2008, file photo, Atlanta Braves' Chipper Jones drives in a run with a double in the first inning of a baseball game against the Cincinnati Reds, in Atlanta. When Chipper Jones took stock of all of the familiar names he's on the cusp of rejoining, he wondered if it might be time to expand the Baseball Hall of Fame. "We need to see if we can erect our own room in Cooperstown," he quipped, flashing that dry sense of humor he was known for during his playing days. All signs point to Jones becoming the latest member of those great Atlanta Braves teams of the 1990s and early 2000s to enter the Hall when the next group of inductees is revealed on Wednesday, Jan. 24, 2018.(AP Photo/John Bazemore, File)
FILE - In this May 3, 2008, file photo, Atlanta Braves' Chipper Jones drives in a run with a double in the first inning of a baseball game against the Cincinnati Reds, in Atlanta. When Chipper Jones took stock of all of the familiar names he's on the cusp of rejoining, he wondered if it might be time to expand the Baseball Hall of Fame. "We need to see if we can erect our own room in Cooperstown," he quipped, flashing that dry sense of humor he was known for during his playing days. All signs point to Jones becoming the latest member of those great Atlanta Braves teams of the 1990s and early 2000s to enter the Hall when the next group of inductees is revealed on Wednesday, Jan. 24, 2018.(AP Photo/John Bazemore, File) FILE - In this May 3, 2008, file photo, Atlanta Braves' Chipper Jones drives in a run with a double in the first inning of a baseball game against the Cincinnati Reds, in Atlanta. When Chipper Jones took stock of all of the familiar names he's on the cusp of rejoining, he wondered if it might be time to expand the Baseball Hall of Fame. "We need to see if we can erect our own room in Cooperstown," he quipped, flashing that dry sense of humor he was known for during his playing days. All signs point to Jones becoming the latest member of those great Atlanta Braves teams of the 1990s and early 2000s to enter the Hall when the next group of inductees is revealed on Wednesday, Jan. 24, 2018.(AP Photo/John Bazemore, File)

By Jay Greeson 5 min read

Friends, we got a lot of moving pieces today, so we’re going to try to move quickly.

From the “Talks too much” studios, let’s go.

From Mike

Jay, I have read the 5@10 and heard you guys on the Press Row and I have a Braves question for your Friday MailBag Thing.

Which Braves player do you think during the 1990s run was the most important?

Thanks, and the reason I ask this is because this is the most fun I have had watching the Braves since then.

Mike –

Great question.

(And before we get there, we concur that this is the funnest collection of Braves since the heyday. Even more fun than the second round of “Baby Braves.”)

Any of the trio of Hall of Fame pitchers could be answer. Smoltz, Glavine and Maddux were studs. They were amazing. But in some ways that overabundance of talent also made them somewhat interchangeable.

So will go with Chipper, who was a rock and a Hall of Famer in his own right.

(This also is the time that we like to toss out that Andruw Jones is the most under-appreciated player in the past quarter century.)

photo Staff Photo by John Rawlston Babe Ruth received top billing when he spent a season as first base coach for the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1938, as evidenced by this game program.

From Brent R.

Was wonder who you thought had the best season in MLB history?

Brent –

Excellent question.

There are a slew of numbers out there, and most of them belong to Babe Ruth, who likely has three of the best and most dominant single seasons in baseball history. His numbers in 1921, ’23 and the famous 1927 Bronx Bombers are all-timers.

Barry Bonds has a couple to consider, but in this age of Shohei Ohtani-mania, it’s going to be tough for anyone to tell me Ruth’s 1921 season was not as good as any. Let’s review:

At the plate, Ruth went .378/.512/.846. He hit 59 homers. (No. 2 in the league had 24. Think about more than doubling every other player in the league.) He had 168 RBIs (29 more than second) and 145 walks (42 more than second). For good measure, he went 2-0 on the mound.

And as great as that was, the WAR numbers say 1923 was better.

Dude was a boss.

photo Virginia won the ACC men’s basketball tournament last weekend, but league runner-up North Carolina, pictured, brings the coaching skill of Roy Williams, the talent of senior point guard Joel Berry II and the experience of playing in the past two NCAA tournament finals — and winning it all last season. The NCAA tournament starts in earnest today with 16 games around the country.

From Mike

Did you see the ACC wants to expand the tournament to 72 teams? What’s your take?

Mike –

My view on this is that the tournament already includes every team in the country. Or at least every team that has a conference tournament.

Win your tournament. Get your dancing shoes.

If they do expand or better yet When they expand the tournament, that expansion should be for regular-season champs from smaller leagues and not the team that finished 10th in the ACC with a 7-9 mark and a 16-15 overall record.

But we all know that won’t happen.

photo Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James sits on the scorer’s table during a timeout in the first half in Game 2 of the team’s NBA basketball Eastern Conference finals against the Boston Celtics, Tuesday, May 15, 2018, in Boston. At left is teammate JR Smith. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

From Drew

Where does Lebron play next season?

Drew –

This is the million-dollar question.

And it may be worth more than that, depending on the destination.

It also is quite telling about the state of the NBA and the quality of the Warriors that this question may be more intriguing than who is going to win the NBA title.

We think LeBron James will play somewhere with another superstar next year. This lack of a side-kick has generated entirely too much heavy lifting. Where is that locale? That’s anyone’s guess, but the better question is which of the available studs can he align with?

Is it possible to get enough to L.A. (think Boogie Cousins and either Paul George or Kawhi Leonard)? Hard to know.

If we had to put money on somewhere, amazingly we’d start in Cleveland. Add a piece. Hope to get a Trae Young-type scorer at 8.

We think Philly is a bad fit.

Houston could be possible.

We’ll start with Cleveland, but again, this may be more interesting than the ultimate outcome.

This week’s Rushmores

Rushmore of people known for products: John Deere, George Ferris, James Salisbury (a doctor who invented the steak(, Earl of Sandwich

Rushmore of best No. 2 of celebrity sibling: Barry Sanders, Emmett Smith, LaDainian Tomlinson, Marshall Faulk

Rushmore of best running backs in the last 30 years: Venus Williams, Janet Jackson, Shirley MacLaine, Robert Kennedy

Rushmore of all-time TV series finales: M*A*S*H, Bob Newhart, Cheers, Sopranos