Monday, March 31, 2008

Jason Stark of ESPN.com Picks the Bravos in '08

We take you back in time to the first week of March. The 2008 Grapefruit League was only a few days old. But a National League scout already had caught on to something that hadn't yet dawned on the rest of the hemisphere.

He'd just returned from watching the new, improved Atlanta Braves. It didn't take him long to make this important announcement:

"They're back."

And they are. Consider this a warning -- to you and the rest of the National League East. They're back.

It's been 2½ years since the Braves last played a postseason game. It's been 13 years since they won the only World Series of their 14-year rampage as division champions. It's been 17 years since the Braves of John Smoltz, Tom Glavine, Steve Avery and Charlie Leibrandt made their first foray into October in the Bobby Cox-John Schuerholz era.

Read the rest at:
sports.espn.go.com/mlb/preview08/columns/story?columnist=stark_jayson&id=3320120