The 2021 Braves reminded us why we’re captivated by sports.
These Braves are, in many ways, an inspiration. They’re an example of all those oft-said empowering cliches: A lesson in not giving up. A lesson in patience, in perseverance. A lesson in making the most of what one has. A reminder that when circumstances are unfavorable, don’t be afraid to make changes to get where one wants to go. They even fall under the “expect the unexpected” umbrella.
It’s a remarkable story that the Braves are within four wins of a World Series berth. They lost their best player, Ronald Acuna, to a torn ACL. They lost their re-signed big bat, Marcell Ozuna, to injury and then a domestic-violence charge. Their perceived best starter, Mike Soroka, never pitched. Every starting pitcher landed on the injured list except Charlie Morton. Catcher Travis d’Arnaud missed months.
The Braves were eight games out of first place in June. They didn’t cross the .500 mark until August. They were the only postseason participant who didn’t reach 90 wins – they had only 88, tying them for the lowest total by a division winner in franchise history. They lost Game 1 in Milwaukee, putting them behind the eight ball to open the series. They even lost leadoff hitter Jorge Soler to a positive COVID-19 test just before Game 4.
“For a second, you’re just like, what else can happen to the Atlanta Braves this year,” first baseman Freddie Freeman said. “Seemed like everything that could go wrong had gone wrong, but we kept coming back, coming back.
Indeed, they overcame every bit of it. It’s a testament to their leadership, led by manager Brian Snitker and Freeman. It’s a credit to general manger Alex Anthopoulos, who pointed to a positive run differential and a middling division as he swung six July trades that altered the fate of his franchise.
Milwaukee had sensational pitching that was supposed to make them a World Series sleeper. Their arms lived up to the billing; the Braves were just better. Morton, Max Fried and Ian Anderson are an electric trio of starters that will give the Braves a chance against either of the 100-win behemoths they could face in the next round.
Don’t let 88 wins fool you – that’s not an accurate depiction of the Braves since August. This isn’t even the same group that frustratingly alternated wins and losses for 18 contests. The Braves hit their stride on the west coast, where they had a 7-3 road trip in September, before sweeping the Phillies to win their division.
“I think we played .600-plus winning percentage baseball in the second half,” Freeman said. “We’ve been feeling pretty good about ourselves.”
Since the Braves’ rebuilt roster was fully functional in early August, they lost only two three-game series: at Los Angeles and at San Francisco. They’ll return to the west coast in the National League Championship Series against one of those teams.
The Giants and Dodgers were set for a winner-take-all in the Bay Area on Thursday night. The Braves could sit tight and watch, waiting to see if they would fly to San Francisco on Friday or host the Dodgers on Saturday. The Dodgers, despite a sizably better record than the Braves, are a wild-card team, therefore they can’t have homefield advantage until the World Series.
“I don’t care (who we play),” Snitker said. “(Homefield advantage) would be nice. The scenarios, that would be really good if we could open here and we only have to go to the west coast once. It was rocking (at Truist Park during the NLDS). It was something else here. Amazing what I experienced the other night.”
When asked about possibly having the chance to avenge last season’s seven-game NLCS loss to the Dodgers, Snitker said: “It’d be great to play them more so for the homefield advantage. I don’t know that anybody is looking forward to playing the Dodgers because we need to be vindicated by any stretch. We’re happy to be here and playing good baseball. We’re a confident team right now.”
They should be confident. The Braves have overcome a near unfathomable number of tribulations. They’re on the doorsteps of a World Series berth. The Dodgers and Giants, no matter their records or talent or location, aren’t going to intimidate this team. They’ve beaten the odds seemingly every step. What’s one more time?
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