Baseball is a lot like life.
We all have ups – and downs.
Each of us faces obstacles.
And sometimes, no matter how hard we try, winning can seem elusive.
Yet, no matter the odds, we need to keep swinging for the fences.
That’s what our Atlanta Braves have shown us.
For the first time since 1999, the Braves are playing in the World Series – a matchup between the two best teams in all of baseball.
If you’ve followed this team all season long – or, if you’re just now jumping on the bandwagon – you probably know that the Braves’ appearance in the World Series has defied logic.
Of the 10 teams entering the playoffs, the Braves were the worst (going strictly by their record).
When they faced the Los Angeles Dodgers to decide who would represent the National League in the World Series, the Braves didn’t stand a chance (at least on paper). The Dodgers, after all, had the second-best record in baseball and were nearly unbeatable in Dodgers Stadium (where the Braves outscored them twice).
In every sense of the word, it was a David-versus-Goliath matchup.
But our Braves emerged victorious.
Want to talk about the importance of resiliency?
This team has embodied it all season long.
Midway through the season, the Braves had to build an entire new outfield of players. They lost their superstar, Ronald Acuna, who was injured trying to catch a ball. Pitcher Huascar Ynoa smacked a bench and broke his hand. Another pitcher, Mike Soroka, re-tore his Achilles walking -- yes, walking -- into the clubhouse. Both the team’s catchers went on the league’s injured list the same day.
Quit?
Never.
Now, here they are, in the World Series – a stage on which the Braves haven’t appeared in 22 years.
Back then, Bill Clinton was president; Bill Campbell was the city’s mayor. Gasoline was $1.17 per gallon. Moviegoers flocked to theaters to see Fight Club and the Matrix.
The team’s general manager, Alex Anthopoulos, was running an HVAC company he’d inherited from his father. Manager Brian Snitker was managing the Myrtle Beach Pelicans. Two of the team’s stars, Ozzie Albies and Austin Riley, had just turned 2 years old.
Each were dreaming of a moment just like this.
And that’s another life lesson these Braves have taught us: Put in the hard work. Pursue your passion. Eventually, you, too, will get there.
These Braves are not only fun to watch, but they epitomize the very city they represent – a city that rose from the ashes; a city too busy to hate; a city that comes through and does its very best when the chips are down, when the odds are stacked against it.
Take Braves designated hitter Jorge Soler.
He missed the championship series against the Dodgers after testing positive for COVID-19. But as the World Series began on Tuesday night, Soler – the Braves’ very first batter that night – hit a homerun, setting the stage for a big Atlanta win.
It was the first time that had been done in the history of the World Series, a matchup that dates all the way back to 1903.
In true Atlanta fashion, the plot thickens.
Why does Braves outfielder Joc Pederson wear pearls?
What will the Braves do now that one of their star pitchers – Charlie Morton – broke his leg in Tuesday night’s game?
Can this Atlanta mojo and magic carry the Braves through the rest of the World Series?
Therein lies the beauty of sports.
Through wars, great recessions, great depressions and terroristic attacks, our sports teams are there to serve as a distraction from the difficulties of life.
“Sport,” Nelson Mandela once said, “has the power to change the world. It has the power to inspire, it has the power to unite people in a way that little else does. It speaks to youth in a language they understand. Sport can create hope, where once there was only despair.”
Over the last 18 months, we’ve been through plenty of challenges and hardships – a deadly pandemic, unrest in our streets, a hard-fought mayoral race.
But our city has found comfort in these Braves – a team that has brought this incredibly diverse place that we call home together as one.
Regardless of gender, race, color, religion, sexual orientation, political leanings, ITP or OTP, lifelong Atlantans or transplants, we’re all Braves fans now. And we’re all rooting for our home team, which is just three wins away from claiming baseball’s biggest prize.
The Braves have provided each of us with hope – and some joy.
Along the way, this team has reminded us of the little things that can help each of us thrive – the importance of never giving up, of pushing through adversity, of being your very best when it matters the most.
Win or lose, these Braves should make us all proud.
In the spirit of objective journalism and impartiality, we’re pretty certain Atlanta will win it all, despite Wednesday night’s loss in Houston.
And when the Braves become world champs – again – we’ll celebrate in true Atlanta fashion.
This year, more so than ever, this team, these players, this city, deserve it.
Go Braves!
The Editorial Board.
