Mark Bowman’s book The Franchise tells Braves best stories

This story was excerpted from Mark Bowman’s Braves Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

ATLANTA — Many folks have asked how long it took me to write The Franchise: A Curated History of the Braves, which was released earlier this week.

A little more than five months if you account for the planning, the interviews, the writing and the procrastination. If you remove the procrastination, it might be closer to four months. Or, it might be more accurate to say this book was a product of the 24 wonderful seasons I’ve spent covering the Braves for MLB.com.

This book allowed me to dig a little deeper into the stories I’ve either covered or learned about over the past quarter-century. I truly appreciate the support and time provided by Braves chairman Terry McGuirk, who was Ted Turner’s right-hand man long before he added “hired Alex Anthopoulos” to his long list of accomplishments.

Braves fans who are 30 and younger have been quite fortunate. You have only been subjected to a few lean seasons. Those fans 40 and older will have a better appreciation for the beginning of this book. You will understand why former Commissioner Fay Vincent actually laughed when McGuirk suggested the team was going to try to lure John Schuerholz from Kansas City to Atlanta.

This was a story I had not previously heard. This occurred just one summer before Schuerholz and Bobby Cox teamed to win the first of 14 consecutive division titles. They did so with the help of Chipper Jones, Andruw Jones, Tom Glavine, John Smoltz and Greg Maddux, just a few of the legends featured throughout the book.

It was great to hear Smoltz talk about the day he was traded to the Braves. He initially thought he was being pranked, but it became very real as he spent the following hours making a long drive from upstate New York to Richmond, Va. You might have heard about how Maddux became a target once Barry Bonds fell out of the picture. But within this book, Maddux tells us where he was when he learned he was going to sign with the Braves instead of the Yankees.

Chipper did an incredible job with the book’s foreword. As he details what it means to be a Brave and the franchise’s commitment to winning, you start feeling some of those goosebumps you have often heard him talk about.

It was fun to hear Chipper talk about how it took some time for he and Andruw to start liking each other. You might also enjoy hearing Sid Bream talk about why he chose to extend his lead off second base just before Francisco Cabrera hit his NLCS-ending single in 1992.

McGuirk and Stan Kasten told some great stories about the early years with Turner. Longtime clubhouse manager John Holland also shares great tales about the iconic entrepreneur, who broke his foot after the team’s first home game with him as the owner. Spoiler alert: It had more to do with lunchmeat than the loss suffered that night.

It was fascinating going through old newspaper stories. After Bill Lucas died of an aneurysm that developed hours after he feuded with Bob Horner’s agent, Turner essentially told reporters the agent had killed the beloved Braves executive.

I also enjoyed writing about Bud Selig’s memories of Hank Aaron, Eddie Mathews, Warren Spahn and other Milwaukee Braves.

But while the 1914 and ’57 World Series teams certainly get their due, I’ll admit a majority of this book focuses on the Atlanta years. You’ll find Dale Murphy’s memories of his days as a catcher and the incredible 1982 season. Some old newspaper accounts also helped me pen a chapter about Babe Ruth’s abbreviated final season with the Braves.

Ruth, Aaron, Spahn, Mathews, Phil Niekro, Chipper, Smoltz, Glavine, Maddux, Andruw and Cox are among the legends who are chronicled in this book. But I think you’ll also have fun reading about Tyler Matzek’s appearance in the 2021 NLCS and Holland’s account of the clubhouse madness that transpired at the end of the 1992 NLCS.