Walt Weiss Begins His Era with the Atlanta Braves with a Victory
ATLANTA – In his debut as Braves manager, Walt Weiss couldn’t help but reflect on those who held the position before him. “It’s a little overwhelming,” Weiss stated after the Braves’ 6-0 victory over the Royals on Friday night. “I don’t take this responsibility lightly. Sitting in this position in this uniform is really special, and there will never be a day that I take it for granted.” Weiss was hired in November as the successor to Brian Snitker, the appreciated manager who led the Braves to the World Series title in 2021. Fredi González held the position from 2010 to 2016, and Bobby Cox was manager for the previous 20 years (1990-2010). Weiss is familiar with all of them. He played under Cox’s direction during the last three seasons of a 14-year professional career. In 2017, after a four-year stint as the Rockies’ manager, Weiss returned to Atlanta as the Braves’ bench coach, where he served as Snitker’s right-hand man for eight years.The first game of the season was evidence that the Weiss era in Atlanta is welcomed by the team with open arms. Pitcher Chris Sale, who held the Royals scoreless for six innings and struck out six, said the team is ready to fight for the new manager. “Because of who he is, what he means to this organization, but especially to the guys in the clubhouse, we really like fighting for him, because we know he’s fighting for us. It was really special,” Sale said, adding that the team did “a little fun thing” in the clubhouse for him. Sale kept any details of a handover celebration close to his chest, but Weiss revealed a little more. “They have this, when the player of the match… I wasn’t the player of the match, that was Sale… but they let me make the putt,” Weiss said. “It’s probably a 30- or 40-foot putt. And, you know, there’s a lot of yelling and stuff on the line. I had to make the player of the match putt, and they gave me a little gift for my first win.” Weiss missed the putt, but overall, it was a sweet night for the new Braves manager, who secured a victory and put aside any concerns about another 0-7 start. “It’s good to leave that narrative behind.” Weiss added with a smile: “It’s good to be 1-0.”“There’s no one better than Walt,” Snitker said during an interview in the BravesVision television booth. “Every offseason, when his name came up as a manager candidate, I would call him. I would panic because he’s a great baseball guy, a good person. He’s going to do a great job here.”
Brian Snitker
