BASEBALL’S BOUNTY

@JJCOOP36

I know I’m lucky. I have spent nearly two decades immersed in baseball every day while working for Baseball America.

I’m convinced I wouldn’t have gotten this opportunity without spending years down on the farm.

In my first job out of college, I was a sportswriter for the Macon (Ga.) Telegraph.

One of the best assignments I had was the chance to cover the Macon Braves, Atlanta’s low Class A affiliate in the South Atlantic League from 1991 to 2002. Future Braves Andruw Jones, Rafael Furcal and Jason Marquis played for Macon during my tenure. So did a steady stream of great minor leaguers