Braves Feather Week

To honor Hank Aaron and Phil Niekro, the Braves are wearing their iconic feather uniforms in the first seven home games (barring rainouts). 

Doesn’t mind me a bit that they waited until just now to spring the news. 

The starters were wearing royal blue spikes. Dansby and Pache rocked feather faux stirrups. You can look forward to photos from every game.

Anna continues to settle into her new abode, located in Morningside near Piedmont & Rock Springs.

DUKE SNIDER  [SABR Bio] was beaten out of MVP honors by the same teammate twice in three seasons in spite of having a (much) better WAR each year. In 1953 & 1955, Roy Campanella was the NL MVP, getting 297 to 157 & 226 to 221 points respectively. Campanella also was MVP in 1951—Snider got no MVP votes that year. Campy’s WAR was 6.8 & 5.2 compared to Snider’s 9.1 & 8.6 for those seasons. No National League player has hit more home runs in World Series play. Snider went deep 11 times over the 6 WS he played. He returned to the city of his birth when his franchise moved. He was born in Los Angeles.

Jeff Henderson: Growing up, I was a big Bjorn Borg fan. His #1 rival was John McEnroe. Recently I heard John answer a question about the moment he discovered he was getting older as a tennis player. “When I was younger, I would bounce right back up after falling to the ground,” he said. “When I started noticing it took me a second or two longer to bounce back up, that’s when I knew.” Bouncing back is something we’re all doing after what we went through in 2020. Ups and downs are inevitable. The quicker you can bounce back, the better. But it’s not that easy.

Last week I got a disappointing call. A potential opportunity that wasn’t going to happen. When the call ended, I said to myself: “You’ve got 24 hours.” 24 hours to grieve, mourn, whine, etc. After that, it’s time to bounce back up and get to work. Figure out the next step. Just. Keep. Moving.

John McEnroe is right. The older you get, the harder it can be to bounce back. It’s easier to count your wounds, feel sorry for yourself, and click on Netflix. It’s why the 24-hour rule is so helpful. It gives you time to grieve the loss. Grief is never fun but it is always important. Grief reminds you of what’s most valuable. However grief can linger. If you’re not careful, you look up and realize three months have passed. It’s why bouncing back, and quickly, is so important in these days. Instead, give yourself 24 hours. After that, it’s time to bounce back.