Farewell, Atlanta

[Note from Jayne: Buca has done a wonderful job helping me out with the recaps during the last several weeks. I invited him to post other thoughts from time to time, but this is the first time he's taken me up on it. You'll see why he should do so more often. And for the record, I couldn't have stayed as classy as Buca did after the stunt Atlanta pulled.]

            The Houston Astros and the Atlanta Braves first met on April 27, 1962 in Colt Stadium.  Although, at that time they were known as the Houston Colt .45's and the Milwaukee Braves.  Since that time, the teams have played 701 times.

            In a season that has seen the end of many rivalries, with the Astros' switch to the American League next year, there have already been a few "lasts."  Sunday, marked the last time the Astros and Braves would play as National League opponents.  At the beginning of the season, actually during the Astros' first homestand, Craig Biggio presented Chipper Jones, who is set to retire at the end of this season, a cowboy hat signifying the respect and rivalry the two teams have had for each other and Jones over the years.

            Considering this, it came as a shock yesterday when Zachary Levine tweeted, " Turner Field scoreboard just showed a graphic saying you can't spell DISASTROUS without ASTRO. Dead serious."  Not only was this simply a bush-league, classless thing to do at any time, it ended up marring a significant event in these two teams history.  Instead of using the opportunity to perhaps pass along a little of the respect and dignity Houston showed Chipper on his last trip to Minute Maid Park, Atlanta decided to take the low road and basically declare Houston not worthy of any value in their baseball annals.

            Houston isn't having the best year as reflected by their record, but is that any a reason for Atlanta to disrespect an honorable opponent of 50 years?  Is that what Atlanta has been doing all these years and no one noticed: picking on the little guys?  If that's the case, good riddance; losing Atlanta as an opponent is actually a bonus in light of their callous actions.  Houston is done with Atlanta anyway.  The Astros are moving on and looking to the future.

            As mentioned before, 2012 has been a season of "lasts" and hopefully it marks the last time anybody in Atlanta does anything that tasteless and juvenile.