I first discovered baseball in my teens, and it’s a passion that has cycled from casual to ardent. I’ve never played the game, not even in a league. I think my interest stems from my fascination with numbers and my alleged ability to endlessly recall facts that elude so many others. I was indoctrinated by some very wise and witty voices that taught so many interesting tales about the game.
Fast forward to 2001, this is a year where my attention to baseball is heightened. It is midway through the baseball season. I wait in line at a Barnes and Noble with a baseball book in hand. The man behind me sees the book, turns to me, and comments, “Isn’t this season great?”
I respond to him in casual conversation about different events that are currently transpiring in baseball. My interest is in the sport is general, and I conduct myself in intelligent conversation about the sport. I decide to avoid the confrontation and assumptions that man makes about my interests and my loyalties.
Actually, this season sucks
The ‘greatness’ that this man refers to is the fact that the Seattle Mariners are on pace to set the most wins by a team in a single season. He incorrectly assumes that I should, my sheer virtue of geography, identify with the Seattle Mariners when it comes to baseball. I do not, and it’s not just the due to the use of the designated hitter.
Meanwhile, my favorite team, the Atlanta Braves are out of first place in the National League East. The same team that has won their division since 1991, so this is comparatively a disappointing year; it currently sucks. The Braves do manage to make adjustments and end up winning their division again that year, but for a while it looked grim. And that ‘historic’ Mariners team? They don’t even get past the league championship series.
The Braves are the team which I followed from the time I was thirteen, and no, I’ve never lived in Atlanta. I don’t presume to change loyalties by merely changing geography. Can you even call it ‘loyalty’ if it changes so lackadaisically?
A lifelong Atlanta Braves enthusiast
It all started with a season that almost defied the laws of probability. In 1982 an underdog team which finished nearly at the bottom of their division, started their year with thirteen wins, a record which still stands today. It’s nearly forty years later and I still remember the position players from that team, and during those years I’ve enjoyed watching them win their division nineteen times. I was able to watch the winning game on two separate World Series. First, there was the 1-0 shutout on game 6 in 1995 against the Indians. Then there was the 7-0 shutout on game 6 in 2021 against the Astros.
Over the years I’ve been an enthusiast of the game in general, but I also specifically for the Braves. It runs deeper than the simple stats that you look up in the box scores. For instance, Jeff Blauser at shortstop would occasionally psych out opposing baserunners by mimicking a double-play on a fly ball hit to the outfield. Craig McMurtry would often pick-off batters at first base, which is extremely rare for a right-handed pitcher. Bruce Benedict would contort himself into a pretzel catching Phil Niekro’s knuckleball. I remember it all very vividly.
Suffice it to say, I’ve followed this team for decades… even remember those powder blue away uniforms from the early 1980’s. Ugh.
It’s not unconditional support
That said, I don’t uniformly support the Braves in everything that they do. I certainly identify with them and even admire them, but there are elements incompatible with my moral compass. I can, and will, say it out loud.
John Rocker the talented closer at the time for the Braves, said some incredibly racist comments during an interview. This is not okay. Furthermore, it is neither okay to defend it, or gloss over it. I understood that he was an exceptional player, but this is a line we don’t cross.
Bobby Cox the longtime manager for the Braves led them to many division wins and a World Series championship. He was also arrested for domestic violence. Baseball was very hush about the whole thing. I only read about it years later, but it certainly marred that façade. Do we turn a blind eye when they’re our heroes? Or when they’re part of our team?
Georgia passed many new laws post the 2020 presidential election that effectively suppresses the minority vote. In response MLB moved the All-Star Game, originally scheduled to be played in Atlanta. While I love this team, free and fair elections are far more important. Even as a lifelong Braves enthusiast, I applauded the move to Colorado… and when even reflecting back and knowing that the Braves would end up winning the World Series this year. It’s the right thing to do.
The Braves may be the longest loyalty that I have, but it’s not unconditional. Should we have any such identity where we are willing to prostitute our principles? Do we do that with family? How about political party? Do we do it for our faith? What happens when these communities cross a line that you wouldn’t otherwise cross? Is invading the US Capitol that line?
What about the Braves?
In recent years, there have been much talk about team names and their insensitivity towards certain communities. This led to a number of teams changing their name; this includes the former Redskins and Indians. If you’re still skeptical, how would you feel about someone walking in public with this shirt? And I’m especially cognizant of that when the same month when the Braves win the World Series is Native American Heritage Month.
Where does my moral compass lie? A tradition started in 1991, long after I started to follow the Braves, called the Tomahawk Chop. You’ll see it in the stands in Truist Park among all the fans. I personally don’t care for it and have never done it. Yes, I find it disrespectful. This would be akin to greeting me with a karate chop. There are other ways that I can show support for the team that doesn’t mock (or at least mimic) a cultural gesture, especially one that renders an entire culture as a caricature. I think it should stop.
Should they rename the team?
As for the name of the team? I’ll answer that with an example. I object to the use of ‘Oriental’ when referring to Asian people. I, myself, am not offended by the term, but know enough Asian people who are, so I advise for people to stop its use. However, I also know some Asians that want the term extricated in general. I feel that this is excessive; to start referring to Oriental rugs as Asian seems to me a bit much.
I don’t believe that the term ‘tribe’ (like it is used in Survivor) to refer to a collection of people is strong enough reference to the Indigenous community that its use elicits objection. I have yet to heard a objection from that community. Other people have suggested that it is insensitive, but to my knowledge no one from that community. Are we becoming over-sensitive when the community itself doesn’t see it as a problem?
There were objections to the team names for the Redskins and to a lesser degree, the Indians. I don’t know if there has been strong opposition from the Indigenous community in the case of the Braves. If there is, I fully support the name change. It is the right thing to do.
What about the team’s history?
What about it? Baseball has had the following team names: Red Stockings, Red Caps, Beaneaters, Doves, Rustlers, and Bees. Are they any better or worse? Sure, some of them are dated, but they were all names of teams in professional baseball. In fact, these are all names that the current Braves franchise has had at some point in the past. The team’s name ‘Braves’ has been the name that they’ve had for eighty years now, far longer than any other name, but they have a long history with many different names.
That said, is the name ‘Braves’ generic enough so that a rebranding where they eliminate the Indigenous references enough? They could more easily remove the Tomahawk from the uniform and ballpark. That may be a viable compromise.