ajc: Braves blew it with Devine (RR)

Or as Babs Johnson said..."This is where they eat, Crackers.”

Meanwhile, the big-league club was trying to make do without a real closer. (The overmatched Chris Reitsma would finish as the team’s saves leader with 15). On Aug. 19, the call was made for, ahem, Devine intervention.

“He was pitching at a high level, dominating in the minor leagues,” said general manager Frank Wren, then John Schuerholz’s aide-de-camp. “In hindsight, it would be easy to say we [rushed him], but he had the sort of stuff we thought would let him be successful. And we didn’t envision him as a closer; we envisioned him as someone who would help fortify our bullpen.”

Said Cox: “We didn’t have anything else. We were out of everything.”