This Day in Braves History: Derek Lowe flirts with no-hitter against Phillies

While spring may not be in the air in terms of the weather, spring training does appear to be officially in the air for baseball fans, as it is right around the corner. Pitchers and catchers will report in a couple of weeks with Grapefruit League games set to begin at the end of the month.

1934 - The St. Louis Cardinals and St. Louis Browns opt to stop broadcasting home games in hopes of raising attendance. 1975 - Billy Herman, Earl Averill and Bucky Harris are elected to the Hall of Fame by the Special Veterans Committee. 1977 - The Special Committee on the Negro...

1925 - The Boston Braves trade Cotton Tierney to the Brooklyn Robins in exchange for Bernie Neis. 1976 - A federal judge upholds a recent decision by arbitrator Peter Seitz who had granted free agency to pitchers Andy Messersmith and Dave McNally. Both players had challenged the league’s reserve clause. Messersmith will sign a free agent contract with the Atlanta Braves.

The Atlanta Braves hired Dean Decillis on Thursday, to serve as a special assistant to the General Manager. His primary role will be in scouting. The move was first reported by Robert Murray of FanSided. 55-year-old Decillis formerly served as a special assignment scout for the Toronto Blue Jays. He...

Apparently today was the coldest morning in Boston since 1957 — like -10 F (which is -23 C for most of the world). I spent part of it napping with a cat on me. Good times. In baseball news, the Dodgers signed (among others), old friend Robbie Erlin. He will always stick out in my memory as a baseball example of the gods laughing at the best-laid plans of mice and men. At least he made it back to the majors last year, but it’s been a really rough go for him since 2020.

Prospect season is in full gear in the lead up to the start of Spring Training. The Atlanta Braves were the only team without a prospect in Keith Law’s Top 100 list that was released earlier this week at The Athletic. Today that came in at No. 29 in his farm system rankings.

As if Atlanta Braves fans needed another reason to be excited for the start of Spring Training. Eno Sarris released annual list of bounce back candidates for the upcoming season and Braves outfielder Ronald Acuña Jr. topped the list. As Sarris points out, tabbing Acuña for a bounce back...

The lead up to the start of spring training is always filled with preseason prospect lists and various system rankings. That continued Friday with the release of Kiley McDaniel’s farm system rankings over at ESPN. The Braves were shutout of his Top 100 list earlier this week and unsurprisingly their farm system ranks dead last in his updated rankings.

As 2023 projections and predications continue to grow with Spring Training right around the corner, one perspective that is coming into focus for the Braves is several players looking to return to form this season. Ronald Acuna Jr., Mike Soroka, Ian Anderson, Ozzie Albies, and others at the major league and minor league level are hoping to have a successful Spring Training before the regular season begins. And with that in mind, before any more moves could potentially be made, Atlanta wants to have a better idea of where several of these players stand.

Hope you’re all staying warm on this Thursday afternoon/evening. Apparently Luiz Arraez won his arbitration case with the Marlins. I didn’t even know they had started hearing the cases yet. Well, certainly better than doing them in-season because of the lockout!. In honor of today’s date, I’ll ask...

The Atlanta Braves have a long history of excellent seasons from all-time great players. Because of this extensive history, sometimes some all-time great single seasons get forgotten. It is easy to remember the great seasons of Hank Aaron, Dale Murphy, Andruw Jones, Chipper Jones, etc. Let’s take some time and...

The Braves are hiring Dean Decillis as special assistant to the general manager, according to a report from Robert Murray of FanSided. Decillis, 55, is a long-time baseball scout and talent evaluator after playing a handful of minor league seasons with the Tigers in the late 70s and early 80s. He has bounced around a couple of front offices, most recently the Toronto Blue Jays, where he discovered Alejandro Kirk, among others. Here’s an excerpt from a great Sportsnet article on Decillis’ scouting acumen: