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Home , Andrew Thurman, Atlanta Braves, Johan Camargo, John Schuerholz, Joseph Odom, Kris Medlen

Braves Clippings Wednesday, October 28, 2015 Braves.com

Schuerholz will always have connection to KC

Braves president spent 23 years with Royals' organization

By Mark Bowman / MLB.com | @mlbbowman | October 27th, 2015

ATLANTA -- When Braves president traveled to Kansas City last year for the , he was reintroduced to some of that same excitement he had helped create more than three decades ago, when he guided the Royals from an expansion franchise to world champions.

After waiting 29 years between postseason appearances, the Royals have earned the honor to compete in the World Series for a second consecutive season. This year's Fall Classic matchup against the Mets provides Kansas City another chance to claim its first championship since 1985, when Schuerholz was the club's general .

Schuerholz's distinguished and celebrated career blossomed during the 23 years he spent with the Royals (1968-1990). Though he certainly enriched his legacy while leading the Braves to 14 consecutive division titles, five pennants and one World Series title, he still understandably shares an emotional bond with Kansas City.

"I was there the year before the Royals [played their first season]," Schuerholz said. "Having had the opportunity to spend 23 years helping to create the organization, strengthen it and win its first world championship, those are special memories for anybody in this game."

Strengthening that Kansas City bond is the fact that the Royals are enjoying this successful era under the direction of , who worked for Schuerholz and the Braves from 1995-2006. Though they have not worked together for nearly 10 years, the two men have maintained a high level of respect and admiration for one another.

Moore's front office is filled with former Braves employees who worked for Schuerholz. Kansas City manager spent more than a decade on 's coaching staff in Atlanta. is the only former Braves player who is on Kansas City's World Series roster.

"I'm happy to see the success they are having," Schuerholz said. "It was a long struggle for the team, the organization and the community. But it looks like Royals is back to where it was in the late '70s and throughout the '80s."

While Schuerholz might have more ties to the Royals, he is happy for the opportunity that has been presented to Mets manager Terry Collins, a highly-respected baseball lifer who has spent the past few months providing a lesson in perseverance.

"I have high regard for Terry Collins and the job the Mets did turning their circumstances around," Schuerholz said. "You have to be respectful and appreciative when teams do that. This is a tough slog to get yourself in position to compete and win and then sustain that success. The sustainability factor is the separator between the organizations that are reliable for their fans and their business partners.

"Kansas City has shown that now two years in a row. Their future looks bright, and they're obviously doing things the right way. It's one of the model franchises in the business right now. The Mets have turned it around, too. So you tip your cap to both of them. It should be a very exciting World Series for baseball fans all around the world."

Braves in AFL: Sims grows following difficult season

By Jonathan Mayo / MLB.com | @JonathanMayo |

Lucas Sims was focusing on getting his career back on track, heading in the right direction. He was repeating the Advanced after a so-so 2014 season there and the former first-round pick of the Braves simply wanted to learn and hopefully earn a promotion. He had gotten off to a sluggish start, but had thrown well in his first two May starts, when perspective hit he and his teammates hard. In mid-May, the team bus crashed and overturned, causing several injuries. Sims was one of several Braves farmhands who landed on the disabled list as a result, missing more than a month of action.

"It was definitely hard, more the trauma part of it," Sims recalled. "Looking at it in the big picture, everyone's alive. That's really all you can ask for. You hate that it happened, but it could've been worse. has all sorts of adversity and this is just a little bump in the road."

Sims returned to the Mudcats and did earn that promotion to Double-A, pitching fairly well up a level. Now he's pitching for the in the , hoping to put this roller coaster season behind him.

"It was for sure an eventful year," Sims said. "[It's great] being able to come here against some of Minor League Baseball's best competition, being able to compete and show what I can do, hopefully learn and be able to take that next step in my game."

Sims threw on the of the Fall League and already feels he is benefiting from being there. The day following his first outing, he was working on things with Peoria pitching Derrin Ebert. Ebert works during the regular season with the and Sims immediately saw the benefits of getting a different instructor's insights in the AFL.

"Most of it is just direction to the plate, being on time, and more consistency with all three of my pitches," said Sims, who knows he needs to improve on that to cut down his walk rate (5.5 BB/9 in 2015) and have better overall command. "It's great to have the instruction we have, you hear multiple different voices, not just from your organization, all the other great organizations. It's the chance to pick and choose, and hear a different voice. Sometimes it's all you need."

Sims did throw better his second time out for Peoria, allowing one over three innings of work, while walking just one. Not only has he benefited from talking regularly with Ebert, he's been able to learn just by watching the others on the Peoria staff. Picking the brains of his peers will undoubtedly help him reach the next level.

"The amount of talent we have on this team, there's so much knowledge to be gained," Sims said. "I'm excited for the rest of this Fall League and being able to learn from everyone."

Just 21, there is still plenty of time for Sims to take everything he's learned and put it all together. That would allow the native to live out any baseball player's dream: playing for the team he grew up watching. The Braves never shy away from drafting from their own backyard and they did just that when they look Sims out of Brookwood High School in Georgia with the 21st pick of the 2012 Draft. Some might stress about becoming the "local boy done good," but Sims doesn't seem to mind.

"The dream growing up is to play at the highest level," Sims said. "It just so happens I got lucky enough to be drafted by my hometown team. It's something that I don't feel too much pressure from it. It's really kind of an honor to be able to wear Atlanta across my chest."

Braves hitters in the Fall League

• , C - The 2013 13th-rounder has yet to play above A ball, spending 2014-2015 in the Carolina League. He played in just 65 games this past season, so the AFL is giving the defensive-minded backstop a chance to get more playing time and prepare for the jump to Double-A.

• , SS - The Panamanian infielder broke into pro ball splitting time between and third, but had been almost exclusively a shortstop during the past three seasons. A switch-hitter with good defensive actions, Camargo is once again seeing time at both spots on the left side of the infield this fall.

• Connor Lien, OF - The is coming off his finest season as a pro, one that saw him set career highs in just about every offensive category. He needs to improve his approach at the plate (129 Ks, 33 BB in 2015), something he's working on with Peoria this fall, if he wants to continue to be a speedy top-of-the-order catalyst as he makes the move to Double-A next season.

Braves in the Fall League

• , RHP - Cabrera's first full season as a reliever saw him miss bats (53 in 48 1/3 Minor League innings) and reach Double-A, but he also walked 6.5 per nine along the way. He's brought his triple-digits fastball to the AFL, but obviously needs to work on his command.

• , RHP - Like Sims, Thurman missed a good chunk of the season because of the bus accident involving the Mudcats. He's making up for some of those lost innings now, with the hope that what he learns in the AFL will help him hit the ground running in Double-A next season.

• Daniel Winkler, RHP - The Braves took a shot by taking Winkler in the last December, even though Winkler had surgery in June 2014. He made it into a couple of big league games in late September and is trying to get some more mound time in Arizona.

CBS 46

Braves new world of traffic fastball

By Sally Sears

COBB COUNTY, GA (CBS46) - "If you build it, they will come." It's a line from one of the most loved baseball movies of all time, Field of Dreams.

But a field of nightmares may be what's going up in Cobb County.

They're building it and people will come. But how to get there is the billion-dollar question.

That's the price tag on traffic improvements already underway, and that may not be nearly enough.

The ' new SunTrust will add an influx of game day traffic to a quarter-of-a-million-car-a-day intersection, often during rush hour.

How bad will the traffic be?

The Braves want families like The Pierces to get to the new ballpark. Bill Pierce, and wife Jackie, live in Acworth. They said they probably wont even go.

Unfortunately for the team, Cobb County isn't exactly famous for coming up with solutions to the traffic it already has, let alone what's coming.

The most obvious answer, MARTA, isn't even under consideration.

The route from Interstate 75 and includes a wider bridge across the Chattahoochee River, along old U.S. Highway 41.

At Windy Hill Road, the I-75 exit will spread into diverging diamonds to handle more traffic.

Now, add the massive toll lane project, new reversible lanes from I-285 for 30 miles, past the Braves stadium and deep into Cherokee County.

There's no help there for Braves fans.

Cobb County transit buses blow past the Braves, but the stops are a long way from the stadium.

However, Tuesday night, Cobb County voted to buy six buses to shuttle people around around the Cumberland area, including the new stadium.

The cost - $3 million.

Critics accused the county of creating the shuttle service specifically to shuttle people to the Braves' stadium.

The Cumberland Circulator is a proposal for three new bus routes circling the Braves like a determined tornado. It has yet to be approved.

Tad Leithead is ahead of just about everybody in seeing the future of I-75 and I-285. He helped build the galleria and oversee the millions of dollars of road improvements now raining on the area.

"Good or bad, this country is more committed to cars more than any other place in the history of the planet because of the interstate system," said Leithead.

Even he won't use the "M" word, but rapid rail may be an inevitability.

"In the long run, we'll have transit into this area from other parts of city, region," said Leithead.

Conspiracy theorists -- and, yes, there are conspiracy theorists -- believe that's been the goal all along: a plot to bring Cobb County to it's knees, literally begging for MARTA -- even if that took allowing the Braves to leave Atlanta.

The subject did come up at a public meeting on transportation in Cobb County recently.

Brandon Beach, a Republican state senator, North Fulton County Chamber of Commerce president, and a member of the MARTA oversight committee said the big five counties of Cobb, Fulton, DeKalb, Gwinnett and Clayton need to coordinate.

MARTA stations helped Beach land big corporate re-locations that wouldn't be in Atlanta otherwise.

"Both State Farm and Mercedes Benz said both only go to places with transit. Cobb was ruled out and Gwinnett was ruled out. Weren't even in the running for Mercedes and State Farm," said Leithead. But somehow Cobb County did get the Braves -- and much, much more traffic.

The Augusta Chronicle

Braves legend Niekro greets fans at Augusta stop

By David Lee

Phil Niekro gripped a baseball with two fingertips on top to explain how he threw the that built his Hall of Fame career.

At 76 years old and after a 24-year career that included 318 wins, he still keeps the explanation short on how the pitch produces its unique wobble to the plate.

“You let it fly,” Niekro said. “Why it does what it does, I have no idea. It just does it. Bob (Ueker) said the best way to catch it is to wait until it stops rolling and pick it up.”

Niekro, a Braves legend who was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1997, greeted fans and signed autographs during a campaign stop for Joe Mullins on Tuesday at West Lake Country Club. Mullins is running for the Georgia State House of Representatives District 122 seat.

Niekro also brought his humor that is known to those who have met him.

“I’ll throw my spitball to you, but it’ll dry up before it gets to you,” Niekro joked to Mullins.

Niekro explained that all of his wore bigger mitts to help catch his knuckleball, which can be a tricky pitch to receive because of its random movement. He joked that the bigger mitt traveled with him throughout his career.

“Wherever I went, I took it with me,” Niekro said. “Like an American Express card, I didn’t leave home without it.”

Toronto Blue Jays right-hander R.A. Dickey continues to keep the knuckleball alive in the major leagues by winning a award and reaching the Championship Series. Niekro said Dickey has had a great career, but the future of the knuckleball requires coaches who know how to teach it.

“People ask me, ‘Why aren’t there more guys throwing it?’ Nobody really teaches it,” said Niekro, who helps young pitchers learn the pitch. “There are very few pitching coaches in the minor leagues or big leagues who know anything about the knuckleball.”

The right-hander played 21 seasons for the Braves and totaled a 3.20 ERA, and he finished top five in the Cy Young race three times. The Braves Hall of Famer often appears at team events, and he said the organization is on the right track for the future.

“They’re in that state right now where they know they need to get better, and I’m thinking that once they get that new stadium in 2017, they’ll have everything in place by then,” he said. “It’s not where you’ve been, it’s where you’re going.”