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Braves f In the late '80s, they were known as the team that couldn't Now, after the two V straight World Series | * known as the team I ||S? that could not win the big one. And entering the 1993 baseball sea- J A V son. thev hoDe to t . . , r . , , f , I I LLC change that label to the next possible baseball dynasty with their first World Championship. 1 Of course, I'm speaking of the sons of the South, the beloved i Atlanta Braves (no offense to 1 Florida Marlins fans), the same t team everybody is picking to t breeze through the National League e West, the National League ( Championship Series and the i World Series. And heck, who can i blame them with the transitions the Braves made over the off-season to 1 make an already championship t ui & I A Public Service of the USQA Forest Service Coinc* and your State Forester. 1 1 1 SHlfti HIL^A J What o 2 hours'til yi diiibcyu ! With Visa? y< around the world Just ir Visa. It ans hop team even better? These transitions Ik include acquiring the Jr 1992 Cy Young Award winner Greg Maddux to complete baseball's best starting it I rotation, the signing of IkJ pitchers Jay Howell and Steve Bedrosian to helo strengthen the r c ; y bullpen, and the addi' tion of Bill Pecota to back up third baseman rerry Pendleton and give the Braves an extra bat off the bench. With excellent starting pitching, >ood solid hitting, a bullpen and a jench with depth, and, most imporantly, plenty of youth and talent at he major and minor league levels, jverything points to a World Championship flag flying at \tlanta Fulton County Stadium text year. However, although I feel this is inally going to be the Braves year, here are some problems externally on ONLY YOU CAN P Hwldr ' j|pfwuip Dure accepted at more than 10 millior , nearly three times more than Amerii i case you ever come up a little short. :'s Everywhere You Want To E le third and internally. The Braves musi consider the most recent crusade for baseball's promised land. First, let us examine the interna] problems the Braves will probabl) face during the duration of the season. The bullpen, as it was last year could be a double spot. True, the Braves have an abundance of talem in this alley, maybe too much, bui thf fart nf thp mallpr ic thaf thf bullpen has been inconsistent the last couple of years and has cos the Braves the playoffs. Manage Bobby Cox needs to narrow i down to at least two pitchers it the closer' s(????) role, which, a this point, looks like Mike Stanton while making it clear who wil serve as set-up men, long relie men and mop-up men. Another problem for the bullpen that I also believe was < problem last year was inning: pitched. There were practically nc innings pitched for the bullpen because the starting pitching wa: r REVENT FOREST FIRES. EMM m?0r i places can Express. tef ? Visa US A. Inc. 1993 time is a t so good, and, when the time came : for the bullpen to try to save a game, such as in the playoffs, it 1 was a bit too rusty to be effective. ' This year, the starting pitchers (Tom Glavine, John Smoltz, Steve Avery, Pete Smith and Maddux) will be even better, and I suggest j that Cox try to cut down on the t complete games if possible. This t will lessen the chance of one of 5 Cox's big five burning his arm out and will eive the bullnen more t playing time that will, again, create r a more effective relief system, t There should be no problem with t the defense for the Braves, and the t hitting will be awfully solid, but the Braves need to keep David 1 Justice healthy and for Ron Gant f and Justice to have the years that they are capable of having. i Staying healthy will be the key i for Justice, while Gant needs to s smack Clarence Jones around a bit ) for telling him to start hitting up the middle and to the opposite field 5 more. When Gant becomes a dead Don't listen to the hois about ADS, jet ie facts! l-l-MS Dip UJL11V1W) l^lVi It's that simple. Please stop smoking. i- i .r ' \ f % ? | i;-: I "-fx .: \ V| \ V &U-\ . w t i J : \ . V jdt ' ' ' ' ' ?8fiHHMI.Ji iiiirjwiiiiiiiii aeiiiiliSMill :- 4:- |PO'fttAr" -'?eur?i?,paj^ t- .C^S2 ?. |KK<MlW?t m*mMMtmkM LJaxxxoi+J js^J FREE POSTER: tqi i charm pull hitter again, expect him to have his third 30-30 season in four years and to have over 100 RBIs. The external problems the Braves will have mainly come from two teams in the division, the Cincinnati Reds and the Houston Astros. The Colorado Rockies are new at this song and dance, and the San Diego Padres, the Los Angeles Dodgers (with their pitching) and the San Fransisco Giants (with their hitting) will be decent, but will probably fade from the pennant race in late August. I expect the Astros to fade from the race in mid-September, but to be strong contenders and to give the Reds and the Braves fits. The Astros are where the Braves were three years ago with an abundance of young talent and a good manager in Art Howe. With a three-man rotation of Doug Drabek, Greg Swindell and Pete Harnish and good, young sluggers such as Jeff Bagwell, Casey Candaele, Luis How to find a r school with 26,( It would take thousands of flie as you can in just one issue of The line you can tell nearly 29,000 reai for in a roommate. For more deta Advertise in The Game< ^ w m >,^i ^1 H^KJ^-: .^3%. ^ fl^R jo ^ gj ?uujiiaflKiiniHM S&ttiliSgdM a APRIL 1993 WERS AREA* April 15,1 in 1993 Gonzalez and Steve Finley, there is no wonder why the Astros have a legitimate shot to win their first division title since 1986. The Reds, however, are the team, like last year, that I expect to be in the race until the end. The Reds, despite losing Swindell, have strengthened their rotation by signing southpaw John Smiley to join Jose Rijo, Tim Belcher, Tom Browning and Tim Pugh in a formidable starting rotation, while Rob Dibble gives the Reds that dominant closer that the Braves lack at this point. To sum up, the Braves have a team canable of easilv winning 100 games this season, and that's probably what they'll need to hold off Cincinnati. The key for AUanta is their bullpen and for Gant and Justice to return to form. If they are successful, it could spell the World Series title AUanta fans have been thirsUng for for die past two years. Nothing less will be accepted in Dixie this year, but, hey, there's no pressure. oommate at a 300 students? rs to reach as many students ; Gamecock. For only $1.00 a ders just what you're looking ils call 777-4249. cock and get results! Wi lli 111 993 *10 am-1 pm