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BRADSHER HAYES, his father and son are part of three generations of Braves history. His father, from Brookline, Massachusetts, had attended the Braves’ first World Series with his father for one game in 1914. Hayes and his son, Bo, attended game three of the Braves-Twins matchup in the World Series in 1991.

Bradsher Hayes is a Southern gentleman and writer who has a deep love for the game of baseball. He is a foremost authority on college and professional baseball at the turn of the twentieth century after years of study and research. His three-year journey of research- ing and writing the two books on the rich history of the Braves was an act of love for the fans in Boston, Milwaukee, and Atlanta.

His first work, King of the Southern Diamond, was published in the fall of 2019.

He knows baseball and is well paired with the game. He played on two state championship baseball teams at Westminster in Atlanta, played college ball at the University of North Carolina, and coached youth programs for ten years. The author has two children, Bo and Jenny, and has been blessed with two grandchildren, Pearl and Olive.

CL: How did the idea for “150 Years of the Braves” come about?

BH: My love affair and fascination with the Braves started over six and a half decades ago. It was passed on to me by my dad, an avid hometown fan and lover of the game of baseball. At age seven, we listened to Mel Allen’s voice crackling over an old RCA radio as he called the World Series between the Milwaukee Braves and the New York Yankees. He taught me how to cook Brunswick Stew that day and how to safely use a knife. He beamed and told me about attending the Fall Classic between the Boston Braves and Philadelphia Athletics with his father in 1914. I attended the World Series with my son in 1991. I always held in my heart the desire to tell an untold story. 150 Years of the Braves is the first comprehensive account of the Braves’ history as all of professional sport’s longest continuously running franchises.

CL: What separates this book from other pieces you’ve written? What connects it?

BH: I had firsthand knowledge of many events in the book because I was physically there for hundreds of the greatest games and moments in Braves history. Being in the stands when Gene Garber shut down Pete Rose’s forty-four game hitting streak, Hank Aaron hitting home run 715 to break Babe Ruth’s record, and Sid Bream sliding under the tag at home plate to propel the Braves into the 1992 World Series. Reading my book is like sitting in the dugout with the Braves greatest fan and him telling you story after story about the players, fans, announcers, owners and managers greatest moments.

Like the stitches that keep the cover on a baseball, what connects all three books is the genuine love of the game and the extraordinary amount of research it took to craft the stories. In the King of the Southern alone, I found 350 articles from the newspapers on the central character, Arthur Bradsher, a grandfather I never knew. You can triple the amount of research it took to write the 150 Years of the Braves and the 150 Years of Braves Trivia.

CL: What can readers expect from “150 Years of the Braves”?

BH: To be entertained, and discover some fun facts about your favorite team. In addition to the 300 fact filled biographies, the 451-page baseball lovers’ treasure contains 220 vintage photographs. Readers will learn a wealth of information about the complete history of the Braves they never knew. All nine World Series appearances are described in detail in the book.

I rate the six best-position players, starting pitchers, relievers, and managers that played in the 150 years with the franchise. See if you agree with my choices.

CL: How does inspiration strike you?

BH: I am inspired by the treasure-trove of untold stories I’ve discovered and been able to share.

I am also inspired by other accomplished writers who surround me. In my early years, sports writer and columnist Furman Bisher was my idol. I read his column every morning before the bus picked me up for school. In my thirties, I had a great talk with him about the rich history of the Braves over lunch. It’s an afternoon I will never forget. One of Atlanta’s most prolific authors is Milam Propst, author of A Flower Blooms on Charlotte Street and eleven subsequent books was one of my first mentors. She has always had a generous heart to provide time to discuss my work.

CL: Do you have any rituals/best practices for writing?

BH: I write every day and work to improve my craft. Writing in the quiet of the early morning before the busyness of the day begins, works best for me. I recommend all writers, at whatever stage of their development, to take part in a critique group. It will do wonders for your creativity and technique.

CL: What advice can you share with other local aspiring authors?

BH: You can’t become a good writer without being a devoted reader. Reading is the best way of analyzing what makes a good book. Write about what you have a passion for and put on paper what an audience wants to read. Always push yourself to get better at your craft. Edit, Edit, Edit. Join a writing circle and be open to suggestions. Don’t take critique as criticism. Have a strong conviction and never quit.

CL: How has your environment influenced your work?

BH: C.J. Heck expressed it well when she said, “We are all products of our environment; every person we meet, every new experience or adventure, every book we read, touches and changes us, making us the unique beings we are.” In my case, I would expand the quote to read, “making us the unique beings we are and what we write about.” I have baseball in my blood. When I was three years old, my father rolled a baseball to me three hundred times a day helping me become a pretty good shortstop. At age seven, I started listening to games on the radio. I made all-star teams in every league and played college ball. After college, I coached youth programs for ten years and had a well-known softball team, the Hot Dogs from the Varsity, for twenty years. The game of baseball has always stayed close to my heart.

Covid-19 kept me indoors writing every day 150 Years of the Braves and 150 Years of Braves Trivia without distractions.

CL: What’s your favorite part about writing? Your least favorite?

BH: Coming up with the initial concept of your book is both exhilarating and scary. It’s like jumping off the high diving board at age six for the first time. I am a research hound and love to dig deep for the facts that make a book great. My least favorite: Getting the copyrights for the 220 pictures in 150 Years of the Braves. It fits the definition of insanity at its best. My graphic designer, Tiffany Drawdy, who was one of the heroes of putting this book together, asked me if “I had been hit on the head with a baseball bat” when I gave her the extensive list of images I planned to include in the book.

Bobby Cox returned to Atlanta in 1990, replacing Russ Nixon, whose record was a dismal 130-216 in his two-year tenure. His most significant accomplishments came during his second stint with the Atlanta Braves when he led the franchise to fourteen straight division crowns and a World Series title. His tremendous success was built on a sturdy relationship with his players. He was a players’ manager, as long as you handled your job on the field with total focus.

Tom Glavine, a two-time Cy Young Award winner under Cox, spoke warmly of him, “(Bobby) was the single greatest influence on me as a player, in terms of teaching the game, respecting the game, carrying yourself the right way on and off the field. All that stuff was important. He was very much like a fatherly figure in that regard.”

John Smoltz, the only Brave to play under Cox for the fourteen-year championship run, said of his manager and friend, “A small part of Bobby Cox changes you as a baseball player. Twenty years with the man changes your life.”

The Braves skipper attributed a great deal of his success to his friendship and working relationship with General Manager John Schuerholz. “We never butted heads. We were on the same page all of the time. He could see what we needed, and I could see what we needed. Some of the decisions were tough, but I don’t remember ever where there was an argument about something. John always listened. Everybody was important in the room.”

Bobby Cox may have gotten along with his general manager, but it was often a different story with the umpires in the National League.

Cox was inducted with the 2014 class into the Hall of Fame, joined by Tom Glavine, Greg Maddux, Joe Torre, Tony La Russa, and Frank Thomas. On his Cooperstown plaque, it read, “Fatherly counsel made him a clubhouse favorite, and earned him universal respect.”

Braves superstar Chipper Jones played longer for Cox than any other ballplayer. Chipper spoke about his skipper in his Hall of Fame induction speech. “I never knew we were going to be side by side for seventeen years. Everybody wants to play for Bobby. (And) Nobody wants to leave Bobby. I certainly didn’t, and I’m glad that I saw it through with him.”

CL: Who are you currently reading?

BH: I have just finished Luckiest Man: The Life and Death of Lou Gehrig by Jonathan Eig which describes what the two years were like after Gehrig’s famous speech in Yankee Stadium as he sought direction for his life and a cure for his illness. It gave me a great understanding and compassion for those who have ALS.

CL: What/who is your favorite book/ author of all time? Why?

BH: In my early years, two books come to mind. My favorite was To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel. I was eleven and coming of age as Jem and Scout were. The civil rights movement was gaining momentum; it opened my eyes to the consequences of racial prejudice and how good and evil could appear simultaneously in a town or a neighborhood.

CL: What makes your work stand out from other authors in the same genre?

BH: There have been dozens of books written about the Braves, but 150 Years of the Braves is the first to cover the franchise’s entire history from Boston to Milwaukee to Atlanta with such detail. The book includes a vast array of vintage photographs from the National Baseball Hall of Fame, the Topps Card Company, famed photographer Leslie Jones, the UPI, and exceptional Atlanta Journal-Constitution and the Marietta Daily Journal images.

CL: What’s been fun since your book was published?

BH: I sign every book I sell out of my online store at 150yearsofthebraves. com and often call the purchaser to see how they want it personalized. And, of course, almost everyone wants to tell me their favorite story about the Braves. Interacting and trading remembrances with these loyal Braves fans has been a blast. Come by my house this year on Christmas day and I’ll sign a book for a last minute gift for someone special in your life.

In addition to our Q&A with a local author, be sure to check out these news releases written by local authors in and around Cobb.

Cobb author Samantha Hawkins has published “My Mommy Marches,” a children’s book about celebrating the power of peaceful protest and the will to change things for the better.

Powder Springs author Shannon L. Joy has published “It’s Time to Do What?” a children’s book that teaches preschoolers life skills, how to think, how to plan and how to make decisions.

Marietta author Peter Bowleg has published “THINK Before You Act,” a nonfiction book that aims to end gun violence and help people make wise decisions.