NewsNorton prepares for life after Braves
Retirement a possibility after season in which he hit .145
By Mark Bowman / MLB.com
10/04/09 2:52 PM EST
ATLANTA -- As he saw his wife, Jaena, begin to cry as she packed and prepared to leave the life they had shared with their children in a suburban Atlanta home during the past two years, Greg Norton further understood how much the baseball world affects the one he inhabits with his family.Ten years from now, a number of Braves fans may have forgotten that Norton spent two seasons with their club. Those who remember might share Norton's desire to forget about the struggles he endured during this past season, one that ended his days in Atlanta and pushed him closer toward retirement.
"Maybe in another month, I'll get that itch to play again," Norton said as he and the Braves prepared for their season finale at Turner Field on Sunday afternoon. "There's a lot of things up in the air. But I think more so than any other year, it feels like the end is near."
When Norton gets in his truck and begins the drive back to his family's permanent residence in Denver on Tuesday, he will attempt to distance himself from this season. His offensive struggles equated to a .145 batting average and led his 4-year-old son, Jace, to wonder why his daddy no longer hits home runs.
"You just never want to have to go through a season like that," Norton said. "I don't think people realize how it affects the entire family. That's just pretty much the nature of the beast."
The tears shed by his wife on Friday night were a product of the reality that she will now be removed from the bonds she developed with Kim Hudson and a number of the other Braves wives.
Although Jace is old enough to go to the park and announce himself as "Yunel Escobar" before he swings the bat, the youngster likely doesn't comprehend that he's not going to have any more opportunities to watch Chipper Jones and Kelly Johnson -- his other two favorite players -- on a regular basis.
But at 37 years old and a veteran of 13 Major League seasons, Norton obviously recognizes that his lifestyle may soon change. That is the primary reason he brought Jace to Turner Field early Friday afternoon and allowed him to run in the outfield grass and throw in the bullpen.
"He loves baseball," Norton said. "He knows every guy's number and every guy's name on the team. He's got the Tomahawk Chop down pat, he loves the [Chik-fil-A] cow. He just loves everything about the Braves. He's even a Georgia Bulldogs fan now. Even though this was the worst year I've had by far in my career, there were plenty of positives."
With retirement now a strong possibility, Norton has started to think about returning to school to gain the degree he didn't complete when he left the University of Oklahoma after the White Sox selected him in the second round of the 1993 First-Year Player Draft.
"It's been 16 years since I've been in school," Norton said. "I can hardly spell my name. I can do sudoku with the best of them, but I don't think that's a major right now. Seriously, in my life, the biggest regret that I have is that I didn't take advantage of the free education."
Now that he has reached a point where he realizes that his bat might not be good enough to continue his Major League career, Norton has turned his focus toward providing his kids the type of father figure that he had for the first 16 years of his life.
Norton's life changed dramatically on May 6, 1989, when he found his mother dead in her bedroom. His father was charged with her murder and is now in a California penitentiary.
Norton never used that tragic event as a crutch during his playing career, and now as he at least contemplates retirement, he's seemingly even more motivated to ensure that his children gain the parental guidance he received before one fit of rage took both parents from him.
"I think my dad was a good example for me up until I was 16 years old," Norton said. "I know I'm never going to do anything like that. I just want to be a good father now as the page turns toward the next chapter in my life. Now instead of trying to get a big hit, it's more important to be a good role model to your kids and a good husband to your wife.
"I'm not going to be a guy who just sits on the couch and lives the country club lifestyle. If I think the best way for me to set an example for my kids is to get off my couch and get a job at Home Depot, I'll do it."
Mark Bowman is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
