Hope springs eternal.
Over the past few years, our heroes have smashed our high expectations like Mark McGuire smashes fastballs. But this year may be different. Granted the combined age of the pitching staff nearly equals the cost of a field-level ticket to a Braves game, and last year Chipper Jones made more errors at third base than Bill Clinton made bad pardons, but the Braves did sign New Zealand's best softball player. Dick Yarbrough more Yarbrough columns That is real progress. I spent much of the off-season talking to a number of experts about the Braves' chances for success this year.