Sunday, September 06, 2009
Sports

What could’ve been

The Buzz: What's movin' and shakin' in the world of sports

Adam Wainwright
Ezra Shaw/Getty Images

John Smoltz and the Braves might again miss each other when Atlanta visits the St. Louis Cardinals this weekend. But it appears another former Braves pitcher, Brunswick native Adam Wainwright, may get his turn to face the team he grew up rooting for, spurned Georgia Tech for and was ultimately traded by before he could play for. Wainwright and Smoltz, who both used their right arms to earn their sole World Series rings (Wainwright was dominant as a late-season closer for the Cards’ 2006 world championship team), will have even more in common if Wainwright wins the Cy Young award this year. There’s no denying Braves president John Schuerholz made some great moves as the team’s general manager. But it appears his 2003 exchange of Wainwright for mercenary J.D. Drew (he of all of four postseason singles before bolting town) may have been Schuerholz’s low point.

What’s done is done

Even without Adam Wainwright, Atlanta’s pitching has been solid this year. But the same cannot be said of pinch-hitter Greg Norton (sub-.150 batting average), who has morphed into this year’s Corky Miller. Still, if the Braves can survive this week’s road trip to Houston and St. Louis, the final three weeks set up nicely for Atlanta. The Braves would then play 13 of their final 19 at home, while also playing 13 of their final 19 against the Mets and Nationals, who have the fourth-worst and worst records in the National League, respectively. For a team that’s won a lot of series in the second half of the season but has struggled to put together win streaks much longer than three games, the time has come to get on a serious run.