More On The Schuerholz Apology

((HT: AJC/Rogers))

Braves president John Schuerholz issued a public apology to Tom Glavine ((pictured, thanks AJC/Curtis Compton)) on Friday afternoon, in the wake of Glavine’s angry comments over his release.

Schuerholz said that in the meeting that he, manager Bobby Cox and general manager Frank Wren had with Glavine on Wednesday, Schuerholz didn’t say enough to explain to Glavine how much he has meant to the organization.

“I want to offer an apology to Tommy,” Schuerholz said. “We made our decision, but the environment and the tone and the manner at the end of it didn’t feel comfortable to me. I tossed and turned pretty much all night long really, after we finished our meeting with Tommy, thinking about here’s this guy who has meant so much to our franchise, to the game of baseball, Hall of Famer, represented our city in grand fashion, and the meeting ended in a way that didn’t make me feel good. I felt like I owed Tommy an apology on behalf of our organization and from me.”

Hear the apology from the afternoon press conference from Schuerholz:

Thanks to our friends at 680theFan in Atlanta

He said he left Glavine a voicemail apologizing and said Glavine had reached out in return. Schuerholz said he hopes to speak to Glavine personally in the few days.

Schuerholz didn’t back down from the decision to release Glavine but regretted not expressing the respect the Braves have for him and the vision they have to keep him “in some sort of relationship” with the organization.

He did not want to address specific complaints from Glavine that he had been blindsided and misled by the Braves.

“I’m talking about my feelings,” Schuerholz said. “Tommy has his, and they’re all real and valid. There’s no disputing how he feels. I can understand a lot of that, or all of it, actually. This was a tough thing. I would have felt better when I thought about it afterward if I’d done a better job in portraying our respect for him in the midst of all that decision-making.”