ATLANTA BRAVES--John Wagner

"John Schuerholz, you are the next contestant on, 'Who Wants To Be A World Series Champion.' "

Schuerholz quietly slipped in the spotlight chair, mumbling, "Thanks, Regis."

"As the Atlanta Braves' general manager, you've been in this position quite a few times, John. So you know the drill. Are you ready to play?"

Scheurholz squinted into the bright lights. "I guess so. What's the first question?"

"The first question is: What team is the only team in Major League Baseball to win its division in each of the past six seasons?"

Schuerholz finally broke into a smile. "Why it's my team: the Braves,"he said.

"That's right, John. You're on your way. Now here's your second question:

Last season, who was the best player in baseball only 20 years old?"

Schuerholz' smile grew bigger. "That's easy, too - Rafael Furcal," he replied. "Last year everybody wondered how we could contend with a player who had played just three games above Class A, but Rafael showed 'em. He'll take over at shortstop full-time this season, and we can't wait to see how many bases he steals."

"Right again, John! Well done. Now, here's question number three: Who has the best starting rotation in the National League."

Schuerholz thought for a moment before answering. "I know Arizona has Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling, and they're both very tough, but my answer is my Braves. We have Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine, who are just as good as those two guys. And the Diamondbacks don't have anyone who can match Kevin Millwood or John Smoltz, especially if Smoltz is healthy this season."

"That is correct, John! You are on a roll! Now the questions start getting tougher. Your question is: What was the biggest problem the Braves faced last season?"

Schuerholz scratched his chin, then brightened as an answer came to him. "Injuries," he said simply. "We've been plagued by them the past two seasons. Can you believe we led the National League in ERA last season even without Smoltz? We expected a lot from Quilvio Veras, and he played in only 81 games. And Brian Jordan was hurt, and so were Kevin McGlinchy and Odalis Perez. That's a lot of injuries. And when you remember we had to play without Andres Galarraga, Kerry Ligthenberg and Javy Lopez in 1999"

"OK, OK, John, that's the right answer," Regis says impatiently. "We get the point. Let's move on to your next question: Who is the most underrated manager in the National League?"

Schuerholz quickly answered, "That one's easy - Bobby Cox. Every season we've shuffled the deck on him, and every year he turns up aces. Everyone thinks it's easy to manage a team with guys like Chipper Jones and Andruw Jones, but it's not. Bobby's good at keeping those guys hungry and happy. And nobody gets more out of our role players like Mark Lemke and Keith Lockhart."

"Correct again, John," Regis said. "You're three questions away from the World Series! Here's your next question: Why didn't the Braves sign a big-name free agent this past off-season?"

Schuerholz' smile quickly disappeared. "We wanted to talk with guys like Alex Rodriguez and Mike Hampton, but we're the Braves. They didn't want to meet our demands for negotiations, so we didn't negotiate at all."

Regis arched an eyebrow. "Is that your final answer?" he said.

Regis arched an eyebrow. "Is that your final answer?" he said.

"Well, ah, no," Schuerholz stammered, then smiled. "I believe the return of a healthy John Smoltz would equal the signing of any free-agent pitcher we could sign," he said finally.

"That's correct! I mean, that's the right answer!" Regis said. "You're just two questions away from the title. Your next question is this: why did you replace Andres Galarraga at first with Rico Brogna?"

Schuerholz shifted uncomfortably in his chair. "Well, Andres really slowed down in the second half last season, plus he's 39 years old and got $6 million a year from Texas. We weren't going to match that money. But before last season Brogna averaged 21 homers and 96 RBI in three seasons with the Phillies, so why can't he duplicate that here?"

"The judges will accept your answer - for now," Regis said. "OK, here's your final question: With all this team's talent and all of its opportunities to win, why have the Braves only won one World Series title since you joined them?" Schuerholz squirmed in his seat, then pulled at his collar. "Gee, I guess I don't know" he finally said. "Is that your final answer?" Regis asks. "Uh, no. Is it because we've only played the Indians in the World Series once?" BUZZ! The crowd groaned. "No, sorry John, that's not correct. But thanks for playing our game and best wishes this season." "No, wait, my REAL answer is because the Yankees have been better," Schuerholz said, but his answer was drowned out by the applause from the studio audience.