Who’s Next in Braves Immortality?

Retired Numbers, Ronald Inbound, 2011 Braves?

The return of Ronald is imminent. Will he be the spark we need to stay over .500 for longer than one game?

As of this writing, the Braves are enjoying an unexpected off day due to a weather postponement.

That just gives them more time to celebrate the 84th birthday of Bobby Cox. That is assuming he doesn’t get ejected from his own party!

The legendary skipper is in the Hall of Fame and led the Braves to 14 straight division titles between 1991 and 2005 and of course won the World Series in 1995.

Fun fact- Bobby Cox was a ballplayer himself. After bouncing around the minor leagues for a few years, he finally manned the hot corner for the New York Yankees for a couple seasons.

The Bronx Bombers are well-known for having so many iconic players and coaches in their history. So much so that they have 22 retired numbers, easily the most of any team.

Cox wore the number 6 on his Atlanta jersey, and no one else will ever don that digit as the Braves retired his number in 2011, the season after his final campaign.

His company in the Braves Hall of Fame is elite. Here are the other numbers retired by the Braves:

3- Dale Murphy

10- Chipper Jones

21- Warren Spahn

25- Andruw Jones

29- John Smoltz

31- Greg Maddux

35- Phil Niekro

41- Eddie Mathews

42- Jackie Robinson

44- Henry “Hank” Aaron

47- Tom Glavine

If you are anything more than a new Braves fan, then you have definitely heard the majority of the names on that list. Legends.

It’s easy to argue that the number 5 was well on its way to joining those numbers of esteem, but is that still the case?

What do you think- will Freddie Freeman join those legends in the Braves’ Hall of Fame and have his number retired?

Freeman made his debut in Cox’s last season, with his first full season being 2011. He quickly became a fan favorite as he finished runner up in Rookie of the Year voting

(Trivia: who beat out Freddie for the award? Hint: it was a teammate…)

That stretch between 2014 and 2017 was rough for our squad, who didn’t crack the 80-win mark in those 4 seasons. Freddie stayed. Obviously his Atlanta tenure culminated with the elusive World Series ring in 2021, as he secured the final out to defeat the Astros in game 6…. But is he a Braves Hall of Famer?

In his 12 seasons with the Braves, Freeman was voted to five All-Star games and finished top-10 in MVP voting thrice, with an MVP award earned in 2020.

He slugged 271 homeruns and was always batting around .300, all while playing stellar defense at first base.

Is that enough to retire the number 5? Would love to hear your thoughts!

If not Freddie, who has the best chance at being the next inductee to the retired number honor for the Braves? Riley? Ronald? Joc Pederson? Ok sorry getting carried away.

The answer to the trivia question is below but we couldn’t resist adding this in here ⬇️

Trivia answer: Craig Kimbrel! Yep, he bested his teammate for the ROTY honors in 2011. Will we see him on the Braves roster soon?? He’s currently sporting a 1.86 ERA for AAA Gwinnett while his fastball is sitting at 95mph to set up the knuckle curve. Especially after watching the team give up a four-run lead in the final third of the game this past weekend in Boston…. Let’s get him back on the big league roster!

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