Snitker: Winning division ‘not good enough’; winning ‘whole thing’ realistic
On the day after the Braves won the National League East championship for a second consecutive season, their manager turned his eyes toward a much bigger prize.
“Our first goal was to win the East, and we did, but I think that’s not good enough,” manager Brian Snitker said Saturday at SunTrust Park before the team’s game against San Francisco. “These guys here know we’re capable of a lot more than that.
“The goal now is the big prize,” Snitker said, referring to the World Series championship. “We feel like we have a team that can do that. We’re deep enough, we’re strong enough, that I think that’s a realistic goal -- to not just want to get in (the playoffs), but to win the whole thing.”
Snitker said there is “a definite difference” between last season’s NL East championship and this season’s. The Braves were widely considered ahead of schedule when they won the division last year.
“It was a great accomplishment that we did last year. It was amazing,” Snitker said. “We came to spring training (this year) and instead of hoping to win, we expected to win.”
Friday’s win clinched home-field advantage in the NL Division Series for the Braves, who will play games 1 and 2 at SunTrust Park on Oct. 3-4.
About the Author
Tim Tucker, a long-time AJC sports reporter, often writes about the business side of the games. He also had stints as the AJC's Braves beat writer, UGA beat writer, sports notes columnist and executive sports editor. He was deputy managing editor of America's first all-sports newspaper, The National Sports Daily.
