What Braves manager Brian Snitker said after the National League Division Series loss to the Dodgers on Monday.
Q. Can you just sum up the season, I mean now that there's kind of some finality to it?
A. Yeah. It was a great ride. It surpassed everybody's expectations. It's sad. I mean, you know, we got this far, and after winning a game last night, kind of thought, well, maybe we can pull this off. But they never quit. They never stopped fighting all year. It was an unbelievable group to be around. I'm honored to have had the privilege to manage all those guys. I mean, from the get-go, it's a great, great group of guys. It was a lot of fun being with them for the last seven months.
Q. When you pulled Mike (Foltynewicz) in the fourth inning, was that more because it was a run-scoring opportunity or because he was done?
A. No. He probably had one more inning. But mainly it was just the runs were out there, and they've been so tough to come by, and I thought maybe -- you know, I looked at that, and I thought Folty can throw great, and if we never get another chance at this in this game, I'll regret not taking a shot right there to put something on the board.
And too, I thought he was an inning away on the short rest from probably being done. So I just, you know, right there when the situation presented itself, and then as soon as I had let Ender (Inciarte) bunt that we'd probably want to hit for him.
Q. When you look at the series, I think they had eight home runs that counted for 14 of their 20 runs total. Is that something that you specifically look at?
A. Oh, yeah. I mean, I felt it when we played them in the regular season. They hit home runs. And that's, in the postseason, what carries teams because the pitching is so good that it's hard to bunch things together. That's why you can't walk people, because these guys are -- you know, it's multiple runs in when they leave. So they're a very powerful team. It's what they've done all year is hit home runs. And you know, we're not built like that yet.
Q. And you walked, I think, 27 in the series?
A. We had way too many walks, and then we scored, what, eight runs in four games? But it was good. Kurt got a big hit there, and we knew it was going to be tough to cover all the innings today with the guys that we had. But just felt like we did a good job giving ourselves a chance.
Q. Given the resiliency you talked about, what is the sense you have about the future of the Braves?
A. I have a great sense of the future. I think it's very bright. I think it's -- we took a huge step forward this year. We had some very young players get a lot of great experience, both during the regular season and the post-season. And we have some really good players coming. And I really am excited about the future of the Atlanta Braves right now, with the young nucleus that we have here.
Q. Can you look back now and think maybe this was a place that your young guys weren't quite ready for yet?
A. Yeah. I mean, I don't know that they -- this has been a great experience for them. I think probably after we won the division, they probably sat around and thought about the playoffs, but until you actually experience it, the intensity, just the electricity that's involved in that. And like I say, if a team makes the playoffs, they're pretty good.
So the consistency -- knowing we played the Dodgers this year and how strong they are, but it's just -- I think it's just been a great experience for all those young guys to have experienced the postseason at such a young age. I hope they remember how good it felt when we clinched the division. And as they head to their off season and their workouts and when they get to Spring Training, you know, they'll have an eye on the prize there.
When we talk about it, they're going to have experienced it and know how good that feeling is. They're not going to work any harder because this group works about as hard as you can, probably too much, some. But I think this whole experience is going to do nothing but benefit us going forward.
