Editing Rome Emperors (section)

===2003 Inaugural season and championship===
[[Rocket Wheeler]] would be named the manager for the first season in Rome, and the start of his tenure in the Braves organization after previously serving the past three seasons as the manager for the AA then-[[Toronto Blue Jays]] affiliate [[Tennessee Smokies]]. During their inaugural season in Rome, the team started the first half of the 2003 South Atlantic League season with a 36–33 record, finishing foutth in the Southern Division and well outside the playoff spot won by Hickory. The second half featured a much better effort, with help from two future Braves fan-favorites in [[Brian McCann (baseball)|Brian McCann]] and [[Jeff Francoeur]], and Rome got to a 42–38 record to win the Southern Division in the second half of the season and advance to the Playoffs for the time ever in Rome, and the sixth time overall since the original inception of the team in Anderson in 1980. Not only was it a historic first season in Rome by just making it to the playoffs, but the Rome Braves followed this with 2–1 series win over Hickory to advance to their first-ever South Atlantic League Championship, where they met the [[Lake County Captains]]. The series went to four games, and in their inaugural season, the Rome Braves won the 2003 South Atlantic League with a 3–1 series win over Lake County.