Here's the thing about the Braves

There are several reasons to like them. Obviously, unconditional support of the hometown team is a big one, but here are a few others:

-Loyalty to likeable players. And vice versa. Chipper Jones and John Smoltz have stayed with the team even though they could make more money elsewhere. If only the Braves could have worked something out with Glavine...
-Continued success while managing to avoid the Yankees/Red Sox practice of paying for victories with ridiculously inflated payrolls. (A full post on this should be forthcoming--I made a chart!)
-A recent reliance on young players from Georgia, including Jeff Francoeur, Brian McCann (who, all due respect to Francoeur, may turn out to be a bigger star), Kyle Davies, and Macay McBride.
-Their tendency, which, unfortunately, seems to have waned a bit, to keep things exciting.

But this one is my favorite--no steroids. Well, maybe some steroids. When I look back at the Braves during baseball's steroid era I can think of five players whose careers seem (or indisputably are) tainted:

-Ken Caminiti, who admitted steroid use, was only with the Braves for part of one season, and died in 2004.
-Gary Sheffield, who has been linked to BALCO, is a friend of Barry Bonds, is refusing to cooperate with the ongoing steroid probe, and was only with the Braves for two years.
-John Rocker, who has been linked to the same shady pharmacy as Jose Canseco, but not until two years after he was run out of town.
-And two others who I won't name because such an uncited accusation would be unfair and irresponsible, but neither came up through the minors with Atlanta and neither was with the team for an extended time.

That's it. Only five. I'm sure there are others, but the point is the team has never been led by a Bonds, Giambi, McGwire, or Sosa. Except for Rocker, no such players have come up through the minors, and they are not pursued when they become available through free agency. It's almost like, and maybe I'm reaching here, they have some sort of internal ethical code that guides the operation of the team. Or is that just crazy?