The Atlanta Braves can’t seem to do anything right this season.
On the field, the Braves are the worst team in baseball. They’re 9-29 entering play Wednesday, losers of three straight. At home, they’ve been almost impossibly bad, losing 17 of their first 19 games at Turner Field.
Something had to happen, and that something happened Monday when the Braves fired manager Fredi Gonzalez after five-plus seasons. And it turns out the Braves’ bloopers extend off the field, too.
According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the Braves’ dismissal of Gonzalez was, in a word, clumsy.
“An hour or so after the Braves’ 8-5 series-opening loss to the Pirates, a person familiar with the situation said Gonzalez received an email notifying him of his scheduled flight to Atlanta on Tuesday afternoon,” David O’Brien wrote Tuesday night.
Apparently the Braves planned on handling things in a different manner, but the email threw that out of whack.
“The Braves had made the decision to fire him and booked his commercial flight home Tuesday, but didn’t plan to tell him he’d been fired until Tuesday morning, after president of baseball operations John Hart flew to Pittsburgh to join general manager John Coppolella,” O’Brien added.
It was then, according to the report, that Gonzalez got everything squared away … and received the bad news.
Atlanta’s Triple-A manager, Brian Snitker, was tabbed as Gonzalez’s interim replacement. He lost his debut Tuesday night, 12-9, dropping the Braves to 20 games below .500.
Thumbnail photo via Brett Davis/USA TODAY Sports Images
