PHILADELPHIA — The past two years, the Braves have – much to their dismay – closed in Philadelphia. This time, they opened here, celebrating with a 9-3 comeback victory Friday.
Despite rainy conditions that postponed the game one day, Philadelphia showed out and was ecstatic to welcome the new season – at least until the fans left early as the Braves pulled away late. This is a beautiful place to begin a campaign, full of passionate, enthusiastic locals who’ve created perhaps the best home environment in MLB.
“It’s exciting here,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “This is a passionate fan base. There’s a lot of energy in the air. And rightly so. This is a really good club here. These fans are passionate about their time. It’s a fun place to come play, quite honestly, because there’s a lot of energy in here.”
The Braves and Phillies both are striving for a championship; they’re two of the betting favorites to win the 2024 World Series, boasting multiple All-Stars and accomplished veterans who’ve found success in the postseason. These are possibly two of the best five clubs across baseball.
Of course, Citizens Bank Park is a house of horrors for the Braves in October. Despite being 10-6 in Philadelphia over the past two regular seasons, including 5-1 in 2023, the Braves are 0-4 here over the past two postseasons, getting eliminated by the Phillies in four games of the National League Division Series twice.
But that’s irrelevant now. It’s a fresh start. This is one of the grandest weekends in sports, led by opening day, an unofficial national holiday for baseball fans. The new-car scent of the 2024 season will remain for a couple of weeks.
Most fan bases carry some level of optimism into the clean slate. Braves fans have an abundance of joy. Nearly every metric predicts the Braves to have the best record in MLB. They’re vying for their seventh consecutive NL East title. They’re stacked with MVP candidates, Cy Young contenders, and a team full of lovable personalities that Atlanta has embraced.
“It’s not easy to create a culture,” outfielder Adam Duvall said. “There are a lot of things that go into it: personnel, certain standards that are set by your leaders on the team, standards set by the coaching staff, the organization. There’s history that goes into it. There are a lot of different things that add up to a winning culture. We’ve been able to do that here.”
For the millennial audience that grew up loosely understanding the 1990s run, or the even younger audience that wouldn’t remember it at all, this is 2.0. The Braves are one division crown from getting halfway to their record 14 consecutive achieved from 1991-2005. Like the ‘90s Braves, this team won the World Series following its fourth division championship. But this edition hopes that won’t also be their lone title out of its era.
Whatever unfolds this spring, summer and fall, it began Friday in Philadelphia, the market that might despise these current Braves more than any other. How humorous that a team so beloved at home begins its campaign on the road surrounded by disdain.
The boos have shrouded Braves players and coaches the past two days. It’s welcome.
“No (it doesn’t bother me),” Braves opening-day starter Spencer Strider said. “It bothers me when there aren’t any fans, actually. That’s when you notice the fans, when there are too few of them. But it’s great. This is what it should be like every day.”
The Braves are off to Chicago to play the White Sox when their series in Philadelphia concludes Sunday. They’ll have their home opener Friday against the reigning National League-champion Diamondbacks.
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