It is a beautiful, late autumn morning as I sip a cup of coffee and watch the lingering, golden yellow leaves of a maple tree fall gently to the ground. The smell of banana bread completing its final minutes
of baking wafts through the air.
For this, I am thankful.
This is the fifth consecutive year that I’ve been fortunate enough to publish this editorial here at Battery Power. It has been a tradition of mine for well-over two decades as an ode to the late AJC columnist Furman Bisher.
For this, too, I am grateful.
The 2025 season for the Atlanta Braves was maybe the most disappointing, based on preseason expectations, since the team moved to Atlanta in 1966. At the least, it was the most deflating regular season since 1985. Regardless, for many of you, this is the first time in your lifetime that the Braves completely – how do I put this gently – spoiled the sheets in the bed.
Yet somehow, someway, for that I am thankful as well.
This was a tough year for a lot of people. When the grandmotherly check-out lady at the grocery store was discussing buying a deeply discounted frozen turkey to make sure she had food if the government shut down again, it creates another layer of thankfulness for not being in a position where my next meal might be in question.
That’s partially why the Braves losing 86 games and failing to make the playoffs for the first time since 2017 is a reason I am thankful. Because the Braves, and baseball, are a wonderful distraction from the day-to-day struggles we all have from February through September – and periodically throughout the off-season.
A season full of injuries that started early and were unrelenting until the season’s final week; one that saw an awkward end to the tenure of manager Brian Snitker; one that truly sucked from Opening Day … well, it’s one that at least we can all say were were able to witness.
Humor me, while I dust off an old trope because, as usual, I’m going to throw in some new songs to soundtrack this article – seven to be exact – that I enjoyed this year. I could have posted a lot more, but I’ll stop at seven.
You can be thankful for that.
If you’d like, you can play them while you read, or you can ignore them and skip down to the bulk of this-here article.
Wednesday “Elderberry Wine”
Nilüfer Yanya “Just A Western (Boy Harsher Remix)”
Tame Impala “End of Summer”
Nation of Language “I’m Not Ready For The Change”
Blood Orange “Vivid Light”
SASAMI “Honeycrash”
TURNSTILE “Seein’ Stars / Birds”
Todd Snider “While We Still Have A Chance”
Okay, here we go.
Being Thankful in 2025
I’m thankful for Brian Snitker and his 49 years with the same company. That’s something that doesn’t happen for a lot of reasons in a lot of places. He’s a World Series-winning manager and didn’t get even get an MLB managerial gig until he was 60. Well done. Enjoy retirement and your family. You’ve earned it.
I’m thankful that the Braves have infused the coaching staff for new manager Walt Weiss with a lot of new faces – most of whom are younger than I am.
Eddie Perez, I’m sure glad you’ll be around next season. 1995, forever.
To the departed Rick Kranitz, thank you for elevating the pitching staff. You’re work here was much appreciated.
On the field, it was Halloween all season. And like Charlie Brown, the Braves got a rock at every stop. I’m thankful that I have the Charlie Brown specials on DVD, because they are still awesome and part of my holiday tradition.
For the Braves players who did play, there was plenty to be thankful for even if it wasn’t exactly what any of us thought we would be. It’s about finding thankfulness even with you don’t want to – kind of like eating rutabagas – not something you especially want to be grateful about and you are thankful when it’s over.
Nick Allen, dude, your defense is fantastic. Watching Allen’s range at shortstop was like watching Rafael Belliard 30 years ago (complimentary). We won’t talk about the offensive comparisons between the two, as apt as they are (not so complimentary). Good luck in Houston.
Atlanta’s iron man, Matt Olson, continued his consecutive games streak and if keep on rolling for another season, he’ll really be in rarefied air. On the field, although his home run production wasn’t what it was a few years back, he did lead the National League in doubles and won the Gold Glove at first base for his defense. It was a quality season for the team’s line-up anchor.
The Braves got its superstar back in May, and Ronald Acuña, Jr. showed why – when healthy – he is one of the top position players in the game. The 2025 National League Comeback Player of the Year hit a moon shot in his first at bat, and other than a small slump in the dog-days of summer, he reminded everyone that he is still a MVP-level player (non-Ohtani division).
When Sean Murphy fractured his rib during Spring Training – which is one of the most-used phrases I have typed this year – Drake Baldwin went from roster maybe to roster certainty. From Opening Day, he looked like he belonged, with a mature batting approach and a calm demeanor, he became the National League Rookie of the Year. Grateful and thankful and hopeful that this is the first of many productive seasons.
As we head into next year, I’m preparing myself for what might be the last year that my favorite player of this era – Ozzie Albies – is with the Braves. It seems like just yesterday that the debate was ranging around which between Albies and Dansby Swanson would play shortstop and who would end up at second base.
If he starts on Opening Day 2026, Albies will break the tie for the record for most Opening Day starts at second base with Glenn Hubbard. Speaking of people I’m thankful for, Hubbard is one of those guys. A long-time Braves player and coach, who is now retired from his on-the-field duties after a long run in Kansas City.
I’m thankful for Gene Garber and Bruce Benedict. I’m thankful for watching and listening, hopefully, in an era when there wasn’t much hope outside of a the brightest star in the sky.
Speaking of … we need to talk about Dale Murphy for a minute.
As I’m sure you know, the icon of the 1980’s Braves is up for Hall of Fame election again this Eras cycle. But unlike Taylor Swift, Dale Murphy isn’t a sure thing to waltz to the top of the voting charts. He, like Andruw Jones, is a borderline candidate – which is why neither were elected in the first few ballots they were eligible. Or in Dale Murphy’s case, through the voter’s cycle and multiple veteran’s committees.
The case for Dale Murphy isn’t about the character clause, it is about the on-field production he had for almost a decade. I could lay out all of the numbers and rankings and impact he had on-and-off the field while playing for an organization that was one of the worst in the National League for all but three of his 15 years in Atlanta.
I could. But I’m not.
I’m thankful for Dale Murphy for all the reasons everyone else is but I am hoping – for him, his family, his fans – that he gets in so he can be celebrated while he is still with us. He’s only 69, but if he doesn’t get in this year – but is able to stay on the ballot – it will be another three years before he’ll be up for vote again. If he doesn’t get at least five votes, he will only have one more chance, six years from now.
It’s a flawed process that makes this year’s vote dire, for Murphy. If he is voted in, people won’t be saying that the two-time NL MVP doesn’t belong when his time comes … but if he doesn’t get elected, what a shame it would be.
Please, please, please, baseball Hall of Fame voters of all types, elect players while they are still alive. Let guys like Dave Parker get their moment in the sun – because, like the Cobra – their time might be up before they have the chance to smile on the stage and bask in the pomp and the circumstance.
And now, in what is the worst transitions that I have every written, here are things that I am thankful for this year.
What I’m Thankful For in 2025
Trees. There’s a kid’s book that has a line that goes, “Trees, trees, trees, I love trees.” I feel that in my soul. This has been a devastating year when it comes to me and the trees that I can see but can’t control. I’ll never understand why anyone would every cut down a beautiful mature tree just for aesthetics. Much less a dozen of them. I don’t understand. And I’m thankful I never will.
With prices surging for three of may favorite things to consume – beef, coffee and chocolate – it makes me grateful for them, even if I’ve had to cut-back on all of them. Moderation is something that comes easier the older you get.
I’m thankful in knowing sometimes moderation is for the birds. I’m looking at your buttermilk cornbread and homemade biscuits with sausage gravy.
I’ll say this every year: If you put sugar in your cornbread, I will judge you. And not in a good way.
But you do whatever makes you happy … even if that means putting sugar in your cornbread. We all deserve to be happy so long as it doesn’t purposely hurt other people.
There’s an exception to everything, and the statement above excludes people who think rooting for the New York Mets is the life-choice to make. Shame.
Speaking of “Shame”, I’m always thankful for Evelyn “Champagne” King. If you don’t know her work, here’s the referenced song, but pull up your favorite streaming service and check her out. She’s one my my all-time favorites.
I am listening to that song now, and let me tell you, I am grateful and thankful for that woman.
I’m thankful for moms. I hope you are, too. I hope yours is still around. I feel so badly for those of you who have lost yours, especially if it was well before their time should have come.
I feel the same about dads as well.
If you have kids, always hug them, encourage them, tell them you love them. If you don’t have kids, make sure you do that, if you do. Everything everyone tells you about how quickly time goes is telling you the truth.
I’m thankful for a full head of hair. I’d be more thankful if I still had all of mine.
When the sun filters through clouds, and there’s a warm breeze on a cool day or a cool breeze on a warm day, that’s about as nice as it gets.
I’m grateful that there’s still a shared community in things that make us happy. Why being happy so hard?
I don’t recommend too much to too many people, but I do recommend walking. If you go harder than that, good on ya, but if you’re looking to do something to get yourself in a better place, give walking a chance.
I’m grateful that I’m still able to walk, especially on days where it’s cool enough that a 30 minute walk-around-the-block doesn’t cause me to perspire.
I’m thankful for pitchers that don’t walk batters and batters who take walks.
I’m thankful for the All-Star Game and Home Run Derby, it was a treat watching on TV in Atlanta.
I’m thankful for baseball players having fun.
I’m grateful that we, as Braves fans, got to see Chris Sale pitch for Atlanta. He’s been better than advertised and I hope he can stay healthy in 2026.
I hope all the guys that fought injuries last season can stay healthy.
That includes Grant Holmes, who looked like he found himself a mid-rotation spot as a starter. If healthy, I wonder if he might factor in as a high-leverage reliever.
I hope you can stay healthy, too.
I hope Spencer Strider can figure it out. I bet it would be fun to have a chat with him about music. We could talk about Albert Hammond, Jr. and what he thinks about Lord Huron suddenly being popular, again.
I’m thankful for guys who were able to hang around all season and have a nice little role, like Eli White.
I’ll miss Jesse Chavez not re-signing with the Braves. And the same is true for Charlie Morton, assuming he doesn’t play next season. Will he play next season?
I’m thankful for the few hours a week when there’s nothing to do; or maybe more accurately when enough has been accomplished that I don’t feel bad about waiting until tomorrow to do any more.
Remember when you were a kid and you had so much time but thought you didn’t? I’m glad I didn’t know then what I know now.
That sort of sounds like a country song. Because it sort of was.
I’m thankful that the Braves continue to churn out hope. Because the Atlanta Falcons sure don’t don’t.
I’m grateful for drives in the country – away from the pressure and stress and traffic of major cities … not to mention the unpleasant smells. Unpleasant smells are relative and some times also relatives.
I’m thankful for BFDI. That was quite the cliff hanger at the end of the Power of Two. Will 4 be able to escape? But hey, Winner and Loser got back together, so that was nice.
I’m grateful that I know what the heck that last paragraph was about.
I could keep going for 6 or 7 more.
SIX – SEVEN!
If you’ve made it this far, thank you for indulging me in this annual tradition. And bare with me while I am serious for a moment.
Thanksgiving means a lot to me. It always has. It is my favorite holiday. As I’ve gotten older, I have appreciated it more, and now every year I try to cherish as much as I possibly can because so much in our lives are fragile. Spending time with family and friends – trading calls or texts or notes on this day seems a little more important with each passing year.
Yes, we’re all excited for the holidays coming up next month, but for this moment – for today – look around and soak in the moments. Make memories – the positive kind – with those you love.
If you don’t have that feeling of home or place or community today, I am with you in spirit . Loneliness and heartache is a hard place to be, especially on a day like today. I’ll be thinking about you today and hoping that you can find a little happiness in your time and space.
Each year this day is an opportunity. An opportunity to enjoy something – big or small. It isn’t the size that matters, it is the purposeful intent of making something matter in a positive way and taking the time to appreciate that.
As we close out 2025, here’s to the things that brought us joy – and the things that didn’t, but could have, like the Braves.
May your day be filled with all the things you love. And I hope you have an opportunity to have an extra slice of your favorite pie. Sometimes it’s okay to indulge a little more than you should.
I wish you all the happiest of Thanksgivings.
Yes, even you, Mets fans.
Be safe out there. And remember, baseball is the best.
Selah.
-30-
