Bob Nightengale

USA TODAY Sports

ATLANTA — John Schuerholz, the architect of one of the greatest runs in baseball history, looked down from his suite Sunday afternoon and grimaced in anguish.

It’s as if the Atlanta Braves have landed back in 1990, before they reeled off 14 consecutive division crowns, capturing five National League pennants and a World Series title over a nine-year span.The stadium wasn’t even one-third full, with 17,106 in attendance. The famed and controversial tomahawk chop chant that roared in the 1990s, was subdued. And the team on the field stunk.

These days, they’re again the laughingstock of baseball, losing Sunday for the 23rd time in 30 games, the worst start in franchise history. They’re 1-15 at home, becoming only the third team in baseball history to lose 15 of their first 16 home games, last accomplished by the New York Yankees in 1913.

The Braves, once baseball’s model, have become the brunt of jokes, veteran baseball scouts aghast at the club’s composition, while manager Fredi Gonzalez’s shelf life is close to expiration.

Bryce Harper saw 27 pitches against the Cubs and didn't swing at a single one

“We’ve had a pretty good life around here for 25 years,” said Schuerholz, Braves vice chairman. “But now we’re taking the slings and arrows of criticism. It’s like the great line in The Godfather: ‘This is the life we have chosen.’

“You take the good and the glory with the bad and the inglorious.”

And these days it couldn’t be any worse on the field.

The Braves, who still believe good times are right around the corner in 2017, are on pace to lose more games than any team in modern history. If they continue at this clip, they’ll finish the season 38-124.

The Braves, in the middle of their full-scale remodel before moving into a new suburban Cobb County ballpark in 2017, were expected to be bad again this season, but no one anticipated their final season at Turner Field to look this ugly.

“I’d be disingenuous if I didn’t say it’s tough to go through what we’re going through now, to be brutally honest with you,” Schuerholz told USA TODAY Sports. “It’s disappointing for all of us and for those who are Braves fans and have never had to see us endure this.

“The expectation was just so different than this. We didn’t expect to blow the doors off, but we did expect to be competitive. We did expect to have an influx of young players that were exciting and showed a glimpse of the future.

“We are celebrating the last year at Turner Field, and we wanted to give a thank you to our fans for their support. Now, there’s a wonderment, ‘What’s wrong with our beloved Braves? We cry for them. We hurt for them. What’s going on?’

“This just hasn’t worked out the way we thought it would be, and now we’re all asking questions.”

They have been outscored by 63 runs. They have the lowest batting average in the league. Scored the fewest runs. Produced the fewest hits. And rank last in on-base and slugging percentage.The Braves, after losing 5-3 in 11 innings Sunday and being swept by the Arizona Diamondbacks, have had a nine-game losing streak and an eight-game losing streak and currently are mired in a four-game losing streak. They have hit seven home runs, the fewest by a Braves team after 30 games since 1931. There are 16 players who have more home runs than the Braves have as a team.

Defensively, they have the worst fielding percentage, the fewest putouts, assists and total chances. Well, at least when it comes to pitching, there are four teams with worse ERAs.

If the Braves really want to make sure they have the No. 1 pick in next year’s draft, they’re in the pole position.

What makes the losses so painful, the Braves say, is that they insist tanking is not on their mind.

“I don’t like that,” Schuerholz said. “People in the game know what this organization stands for. We’re not doing that. We never would do that.”

They wanted to be more like this year’s version of the Philadelphia Phillies, who also are rebuilding but winning.

No, the Phillies are not terrible, tank you very much

“I didn’t expect us to go to the World Series,” general manager John Coppolella said. “Nobody picked us to be a big winner. But I didn’t expect us to be (7-23) either. It’s my first year as a GM. I didn’t want to have the worst record ever.”

Still, as painful at is these days at 755 Hank Aaron Drive, the Braves insist they wouldn’t change a thing strategically.

They were much more fearful of being mired in mediocrity than swallowed alive on the baseball field.

They traded away the heart of their team over the last two years, dealing outfielders Jason Heyward and Justin Upton, closer Craig Kimbrel, shortstop Andrelton Simmons and starter Shelby Miller. But they converted the next-to-worst farm system into one of the finest in the game.

Sure, the moves can be awfully painful for the fan base and chastised in the media, but Coppolella pulled out his cellphone for a subtle reminder to keep believing. He pulled up Twitter messages dated January and April 2014. They were calling for Chicago Cubs President Theo Epstein’s firing, saying he ruined the franchise.

The Cubs are 24-6, off to their greatest start since 1907.

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“We feel for our fans, but the reason we’ve been so aggressive doing this is for our fans,” Coppolella said. “We didn’t want this to be a seven- or-eight year rebuild. Had we done nothing, it would have been a long time before we could ever be competitive.

“We want to get this right, and quickly.”

Coppolella vows that All-Star first baseman Freddie Freeman, who signed an eight-year, $135 million contract two years ago, will not be traded, calling Freeman the team’s rock. Freeman, too, is convinced that life will soon change.

“I want to say here,” Freeman said. “I owe everything to this organization. Sure, I know it’s tough. When you win the first few years in the big leagues and this happens, it’s tough. It’s tough for the fans to be patient. But I know what’s coming. I know what the future holds for this organization. I’m fully on board.

“I want to be here until they rip the uniform off me.”

Gonzalez, who has managed the Braves since 2011, would also love to stick around when the cavalry comes marching in from the minors. Yet, his fate appears sealed. The Braves don’t want to fire Gonzalez, who’s widely admired in the organization and like a son to former manager Bobby Cox, but the Braves might have no choice but to dismiss a manager for the first time since they fired Russ Nixon in 1990.

“When things go sideways or downward, that’s where people look, either administratively or in uniform,” Schuerholz said. “It’s just the nature of our business.”

Said Gonzalez, “I want to be part of this when we get good. But the fans are into the winning and losing business. They want to win. What’s the old saying, ‘Don’t tell me about the pain, show me the baby?’

“Well, we can’t show you the baby right now, but we sure are feeling the pain.”

Schuerholz looked out to the 19 pennants on the left-field façade, symbolizing the Braves’ greatness with their division titles, wild-card berths, pennants and World Series title. He reminds you that since 1991, only the New York Yankees have won more games than the Braves but that they spent $2 billion more doing so.

He remains convinced the future is gorgeous.

“We understand the concern,” Schuerholz said. “But you have to look at this over 25 years. We lived it. We know how to do it. And we will do it again.

“I’ll be honest as I’m sitting here, I feel now very much like I felt in the spring of ’91 when we started winning. That’s how enthused and energized I am about the future of the organization.

“I tell people, ‘Just relax. Have a glass of tea. Have a glass of wine. We haven’t forgotten how to build teams.’

“Really, we’ll be all right.”