Final Thoughts on 2010 Atlanta Braves: Long Live No. 6

There's the temptation to grumble about any one of the missed calls from umpires that didn't go the Braves' way in a number of games in their Division Series, but the ultimate truth remains that a beat-up squad got beaten down even further by their own fielding. And so it seemed that just as soon as Atlanta fans could celebrate their first post-season berth since 2005—clinched on the final day of the season—the whole thing came to an end on Monday night when the Braves lost their final game. Fittingly enough, every single game of their first-round series with the San Francisco Giants was decided by just a single run.

While the team was unable to bring Bobby Cox one last chance at a World Series title before his retirement, the 2010 season will be remembered as one in which the legendary manager once again got the absolute best out of his roster—one that was ultimately decimated by injuries.

So while indeed it was that foremost concern I had back in my Third Quarter assessment of the team that came back to haunt Atlanta in the playoffs, credit also must be given to the pitching from the Giants. Still, I can only wonder what might have been had Chipper still been there at third, Martin Prado still been over at second, and both their bats still been in the lineup. And I suppose as long as I'm wondering about that, who knows how different things would have been if Jair Jurrjens hadn't been battling an injury as well. Oh, and poor Wags. The closer also became banged up in the actual final series, and like Cox, he's called it a career.

Thus, this is how it had to end for the great Bobby Cox, who's surely going to be enshrined in Cooperstown just as soon as his name appears on the ballot. And while it's nothing short of disappointing to watch him go out in the first round of the playoffs, I can't deny that this team gave me the best year of Braves baseball memories I could've asked for in quite a great while. Looking back at how the season went, not much could have been more dramatic than the comeback that ended that First Quarter before the team began to look dominating in the Second Quarter. Brian McCann was the MVP of the All-Star Game, and perhaps best of all for me, his clutch hit came off a member of the Chicago White Sox.

It was obviously that Third Quarter when things began to sour, as Atlanta suffered its first major injury while the rival Phillies began to get healthy. And by the Fourth Quarter of this year's campaign, the Braves lost one of their top hitters in Prado that September as Philadelphia continued to roll right through that same month with their three starting pitchers going undefeated after August ended. Still, winning the Wild Card on the last day of the year was better than not getting in at all, and it allowed Bobby to at least be hoisted up on the shoulders one more time.

So while it's hard to believe that next season will begin without Bobby on the bench, it indeed appears that now Fredi Gonzalez will be our guy. Don't get me wrong: I'm happy with the move and happier that the decision wasn't an ongoing search that played out over the course of multiple months.

Still—if you haven't noticed—I can't say enough about Bobby. I consider him to be a major reason that I'm a Braves fan in the first place. I've long toyed with the idea of posting a lengthy essay explaining how and why I ended up being an Atlanta fan rather than feeling this way for either one of the two baseball teams we have here in Chicago, but Cox was the guy who looked like what I always imagined a baseball manager should be. And while Hank Aaron and Dale Murphy were the early childhood faves of mine, both were still slightly before my time. So what Cox really represents to me is more of a modern day connection to my favorite baseball team. Even more than a Maddux, Glavine, Smoltz, or Chipper, Bobby seemed to be the constant.

I think it's only fitting that in his final press conference, he not only shifted most of the focus to his team but when finally pressed to comment on his own retirement, he finally got choked up ... and then went right into how good Derek Lowe's going to be next year.

He's right, of course. There's still plenty of reasons to be optimistic about this club's chances in 2011. But we already know that no matter how good the club might be, something's going to feel pretty different right from the start. That said, I sure hope most fans give Fredi Gonzalez a fair shake, as the man most certainly knows he's got some big shoes to fill. There will be a variety of other questions to be answered this off-season (I'm looking at you, Chipper) and hopefully a couple of other moves to be made. This year's ending came a bit sooner than I would have hoped for, but at the same time, it also got a few more extra games—and great moments—than more recent seasons, so I've certainly got something to be grateful for.

And when considering the two decades Bobby Cox managed this club for in addition to the many indelible moments from this year, I've nearly got an entire lifetime of priceless memories thanks, quite often, to the decisions made by that man. An era indeed comes to an end, and while nobody will ever forget the time Cox put in as the Atlanta skipper, here's to looking forward to keeping his tradition of excellence alive and competing every single game.