26 October, 2017

Former Braves employee comes to defense of John Coppolella | Atlanta Braves blog

Former Braves employee comes to defense of John Coppolella | Atlanta Braves blog:

My name is (name omitted by request)…. Just something I wanted to get off my chest about Coppy that hasn’t been mentioned by anyone’s sources, as it doesn’t relate to his firing.
In all of the criticism he has received for his conduct, which I won’t try to defend or even address as I don’t know nearly enough about them to have an opinion, I thought people should know how good Coppy was to people like me. There are hundreds of people out there who have wanted to get into baseball operations and sent emails to Coppy asking for advice, and each one has a thorough reply from him, with specific suggestions tailored to that person’s background, along inspirational words of encouragement. He took the time to send me an email that was over two full pages long that addressed every little question I had. I’ve run into several other people with similar stories, and am sure there are plenty others who have had email exchanges similar to ours. When I was scouting for the Braves, we had to send an email report to (various Braves officials) after finishing our coverage of a given affiliate, with a one sentence blurb on each player from that team who we thought could play in the MLB. Without fail, within an hour of sending that email, Coppy sent an email back saying thanks, asking about your family, making the extra effort to know how appreciative he was of your hard work.
Fairly or unfairly, the coverage of the scandal has painted Coppy as this heartless cheater, but to kids like me who just loved the game and wanted more than anything to be a part of it, he was a godsend. I don’t know if this info has any utility to you whatsoever, but I just wanted someone in the media to know that as much turmoil there may have been in the front office, as much as he may have pissed off other GM’s, and as egregious as his violations may have been, there is not a doubt in my mind that he is a genuinely good person, and I am confident there are plenty of others out there who would say the same thing.


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