Today’s column is being published on the 10th anniversary of the introduction of murraychass.com. Since the website’s first column, published on July 15, 2008, the site has hosted 920 columns. We thank you for being loyal readers.

IN ATLANTA, A.A. IS A SOBER, POSITIVE DEVELOPMENT

When the Atlanta Braves began their unprecedented run of 14 consecutive division championships in 1991, Alex Anthopoulos was barely a teenager. He was a 13-year-old boy growing up in Montreal, Quebec. Now a 41-year-old adult, Anthopoulos is the general manager who is directing the impressive but surprising rebirth of the Braves.

Hired only last November to succeed the scandalous John Coppolella, Anthopoulos has restored winning and dignity to an organization that for nearly three decades had epitomized baseball class. Under General Manager John Schuerholz and Manager Bobby Cox, now a matched set of Hall of Famers, the Braves had no equal. Now Anthopoulos has been assigned that role, and these Braves have responded with unexpected early success.

In second place in the National League East a game before the All-Star break, only a game and a half behind the first-place Philadelphia Phillies, themselves a surprise, the Braves spent most of May and June atop the division. They slipped behind the Phillies only last week.

Contrast their 51 wins this season with the number of games they won each of the last three seasons: 67, 68, 72.

Because Anthopoulos arrived in Atlanta only last November, he can’t receive all of the credit for the team’s turnaround, but the Braves get credit for giving him the general manager’s job.

“When our general manager was dismissed by the commissioner’s office and our organization, Alex’s name came up early and often,” said Schuerholz, now the Braves’ vice chairman emeritus but an active participant in major decisions. “He was a bright and successful general manager in Toronto. When he was working with the Dodgers, it was the same.”

Anthopoulos was the Dodgers’ vice president of baseball operations for two years following a six-year tenure as general manager of the Toronto Blue Jays, at the end of which they ended a 22-year post-season famine.

Although this past off-season proved otherwise (see Yankees, Red Sox and Nationals), a post-season position usually ensures continued employment. The Blue Jays’ circumstance turned out to be different. Mark Shapiro, who had been a general manager himself, joined the Jays as club president, and he and Anthopoulos were unable to agree on terms of his g.m. job.

“I honored my contract,” Anthopoulos said in a telephone interview last Friday. “But at 38 years old I thought it was the best thing for me.”

Two years later, his decision has turned out to be good for the Braves as well as for him. After their disastrous and humiliating experience with Coppolella, the Braves are thrilled to have returned to normalcy.

“He’s knowledgeable and smart, and he’s going to get smarter, just like players get better as they get older and gain experience,” said Schuerholz, who built the Braves’ 1990s dynasty that featured Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, John Smoltz and Chipper Jones, all of whom became Hall of Famers.

Anthopoulos has a dual role here. Besides building a new winner, Anthopoulos has to erase the stain that Coppolella inflicted on the organization. It won’t be easy because the Braves have suffered the severest sanctions ever imposed on an organization in baseball history.

Coppolella, who manipulated hundreds of thousands of dollars in international signing bonuses, has joined Pete Rose with a lifetime banishment. Given his illegal, long-running scheme, he has as much chance of reinstatement as Rose. Gordon Blakeley, the chief of international scouting, was suspended for a year.

In addition to those penalties, the Braves had 13 minor league prospects taken away and were severely restricted in the amount of money they could spend on international free agents.

Anthopoulos was prepared for the task ahead. “I didn’t come here to lose,” he said confidently.

His attitude impressed the Braves as much as his front-office history. “We knew of Alex and his work,” Schuerholz said. “When he left Toronto he wasn’t asked to leave. He left on his own.”

The same cannot be said about Coppolella, though something else positive can be said. Baseball America said the Braves had the best minor league system in baseball last year, although we don’t know if the publication included illegally signed players in its report.

The Atlanta players are not the best known, but no one has missed their 51-42 record.

First baseman Freddie Freeman, who was drafted in 2007, and right fielder Nick Markakis, signed as a 2014 free agent, are the best known Braves among the everyday starters. With them in the starting lineup are second baseman Ozzie Albies (free agent ’13), shortstop Dansby Swanson (trade ’15), third baseman Johan Camargo (f.a. ’10), outfielders Ronald Acuna Jr. (f.a. ’14) and Ender Inciarte (trade ’15) and catchers Kurt Suzuki (f.a. ’17) and Tyrel Flowers (f.a. ’15).

Anthopoulos’ major acquisition has been a 34-year-old starting pitcher, Anibal Sanchez, whom the Braves signed as a free agent after Minnesota released him following a history of arm injuries. He has a 4-2 record and 2.60 earned run average for the Braves.

As that find demonstrates, Anthopoulos can find valuable players, but he has a strong backup in Schuerholz, the 77-year-old former general manager. Schuerholz likened himself to the Star Wars character, Obi-Wan Kenobi.

“Obi-Wan Kenobi was 101 years old and dressed in a robe,” Schuerholz said, discussing his role. “When someone wanted or needed something, they went to Obi-Wan Kenobi. That’s what I do.

“A few years ago, they made a bobblehead doll of me as Obi-Wan Kenobi. People actually came to the game and got the dolls.”

The Braves are not expected to make an Alex Anthopoulos doll just yet. They’ll wait a few years.

THE STRIKEOUT RACE IS ON

Several weeks ago I suggested this may be a good season to track a strikeout race among major league hitters. I have seen nothing since to change my thinking. In fact, the race has become tighter. Here are the strikeout leaders with one game to go before the All-Star break:

• Joey Gallo, Rangers                  131
• Youn Macado, White Sox        130
• Aaron Judge, Yankees              129
• Giancarlo Stanton, Yankees    128
• Chris Davis, Orioles                  114

Judge is unique among those players. He has hit the most home runs (25), driven in the most runs (66), scored the most runs (60), drawn the most walks (66) and has the highest batting average (.277), the highest on-base percentage (.394) and the highest slugging percentage (.548).