Baseball's lockout came at an inopportune time for the Braves, casting a pall over the sport as the team was still celebrating a World Series championship.
The players mostly disappeared from view, their photos even removed from the Braves' website. Trades and free-agent signings were frozen, largely taking MLB teams out of the headlines. The loud cheers of the Braves' championship parade faded to a silent baseball winter.
"As a fan, I think the buzz did stop more quickly than it would have without a labor dispute," said Bernie Mullin, founder and chairman of The Aspire Group, an Atlanta-based sports and entertainment marketing firm. "Because of how strong and popular the Braves are, they are probably as protected as anybody could be to ride out the impact of the lockout, but nonetheless it has to have slowed them down."
