As a child of the '90s, when I hearken back to iconic baseball teams from years past, I don't think about Lasorda's Dodgers, The Big Red Machine, or the "Miracle Mets." Instead, I remember the dominant Maddux/Smoltz/Glavine Braves of the late 1990s. As you probably know, these Braves parlayed the pitching of these three men, the steadying-if-eccentric guidance of manager Bobby Cox, and the hitting brilliance of 3B Chipper Jones into an astonishing 11 straight NL East titles from 1995 until 2005. Though they flamed out in the playoffs in every season after '95, the Bobby Cox Braves made an impact on my fledgling baseball-watching career, both due to their accessibility on TBS and their talent and improbable stability.
I bring this up because right now the Braves are on the verge of shedding the final vestiges of that generation. Maddux, Smoltz and Glavine are all long gone, Bobby Cox retired last year and Chipper Jones is sure to follow soon. But there is a renaissance of sorts occurring in Atlanta right now, as an influx of talented young players has already begun to flow onto the Braves' roster. SP Tommy Hanson and RF Jason Heyward led the charge, and they have been followed by 1B Freddie Freeman and now SP Julio Teheran. And these are the players who represent the core of the Atlanta Braves for years to come. Although to be fair, I feel like we were saying the same things about the D-Backs at the end of 2006, soooooo...
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