Sports Then and Now

It was payday....

What’s in a rivalry? Hatred? Two very good teams in the playoff hunt?

The Philadelphia Phillies are a very good team, worthy of contending year in and year out. They’re also very good at paying attention, you got something going for you Philly. They watched the Yankees buy pennants for years, and decided to follow the pattern. They are number two behind the Yankees with a payroll of just under $173 million. Their average player is paid over $5.7 million. That’s what I call buying wins. Maybe that is why you are one of nine MLB teams in debt.

Now for my favorite part, the Braves payroll comes in at just over $87 million. Now lets do some math, for you Philly fans out there, I will help you out.

Phillies payroll $172,976,381
Braves payroll $87,003,192
Difference- $85,973,189

What exactly has a nearly $86 million dollars extra gotten you? Well, only a five-game lead on the Braves, (at the time this article was written) who still maintain the second best record in the NL. Congrats, I never knew you could buy such talent. While you may chose to put the fate of your team in the good ole American dollar, the Braves chose to trust their farm system.

The Braves grow their talent from the start of their careers. Players like Chipper Jones, Brian McCann, Jason Heyward, Martin Prado, Tommy Hanson worked their way up. You know our big one two punch at the end of games, Venters and Kimbrel? Yep, came from our minor league system as well.

Enough with that reason, lets move onto another reason. The Phillies seem to think their pitching rotation is the greatest thing since slice bread. Guess what Philly fans, its not. Sliced Bread was invented in 1928. All throughout the 90’s the Braves pitching rotation of Glavine, Smoltz Maddux and Avery was better. And just this season alone, while they may be slightly better than the Braves starters, its not by much. With how much more money they are spending than us, I will gladly except their slightly better numbers.

The Phillies also are starting to consider themselves a dynasty and that they are having a better run than the Braves. Atlanta won 14 division titles in a row. The Phillies are at four. Again, just incase you struggle with numbers Philly fans, 14 is a bigger number than four. But I will give you the benefit of the doubt, if you still have this streak in ten years and can keep your core group together, I will write a retraction article. Keep spending hundreds of millions for titles Philly, the Braves will grow their talent, comeback and win the division this season, and they will do it all while staying out of debt. Maybe you should take note Philly.

So in this rivalry, even though the Braves have been on the short hand as of late, I am happy to call myself a proud member of Braves Country.

Jeremy Brundage is a regular contributor for Atlanta Sports Then and Now.