Atlanta Braves' Dan Uggla Streaks Towards History, Others Get Lost over Time

Atlanta Braves second baseman Dan Uggla is about to break the Braves consecutive game hitting streak—or is he? 

Even if Uggla passes Rico Carty's 31-game record from 1970, he will only become the Atlanta Braves team leader.  To become the Braves franchise leader, he still has a week's work ahead of him. 

Strangely enough, that fact has rarely been mentioned the past several days. 

While it's nice to see that Brett Huston at the Atlanta Journal Constitution did his homework prior to this morning, it seems the majority of writers have trouble grasping that Braves history proceeds Hank Aaron coming to town more than forty years ago.  

Since that time, Atlanta has come a long way as a city and the Braves are now a fixture within the community.  Understand that I'm not proposing the Braves move back to Boston or Milwaukee, nor asking anyone to celebrate a history they have no recollection of or interest in. 

To their credit, though, the Braves organization has done a fantastic job with the Braves Museum and Hall of Fame.

What I would like to see is a comprehensive historical perspective from the people who are entrusted with protecting the past across a more mass platform, the writers.   

It's no easy task to keep track of the past, yet their grasp of history can at times be a bit dubious.  Just because someone is lacking a highlight reel doesn't mean their accomplishments are any less impressive or meaningful. 

This especially holds true for players on teams that change cities.  Their history and stories shouldn't be neglected simply because of decisions made years ago which they had little to no control over.

Fans based in the deserted cities are lucky to be left with a few photographs, a couple of signed baseballs and some truly great stories. 

Those stories and stats are significant as they are the small pieces of proof that live on.  However, people forget with time.  Does anyone under the age of 70 remember the Braves playing in Boston, or anyone younger than 50 remember the Milwaukee Braves? 

In Atlanta, do people really remember the old NHL Flames franchise?  What will become of the Thrashers now that they've jetted off to Winnipeg? 

Does their history no longer count for anything?   

Ultimately we all want to be remembered and wish to be given such respect when the time comes. For those who live on, the past may be imperfect, yet sometimes it's worth holding on to.  To the writers and statisticians, please make the time and effort needed to check your work as there are a few people out there that really do care. 

Finally and most importantly, congratulations to Dan Uggla in being just two games away from having the Atlanta record.

I must confess though that it's been a bit hard to root for Dan during his streak.  Yet at the same time I know that if learned anything from my grandfather, it's that I would be a poor sport if I didn't. 

Best of luck Dan!