Braves Back in the Hunt

Story back dated from October 2018.
Usually around this time of year I begin to tune baseball out to focus all attention on college football and the NFL…but not this year. The Atlanta Braves have my undivided attention because the are playing October baseball again. The last time the Braves played in October was 2013, but then again the majority of the Braves late postseason appearances where a one and done deal after the first round. The Braves went 90-72 during the regular season, best in the NL East, but only take the third spot in this year’s playoffs which begins for the Braves tomorrow night out in Los Angeles versus the Dodgers. This team might be another one and done team… but again these kids do not know any better and just might surprise some people. Remember Andrew Jones for the Braves back in the 1996 playoffs? Just a 19-year old kid that was just playing baseball. He did not realize the magnitude of the playoffs or the World Series, he was just going out to play some ball, and this is exactly what I am hoping for this young team that fields 3B Johan Camargo, 2B Ozzie Albies, and LF Ronald Acuna, Jr.

It’s interesting to me how baseball media predicted that the Braves were to turn it around in 2019, not 2018. Why not 2018? Teams should be based on a year to year basis. It’s just a guess that the Braves were projected to turn it around in 2019. Really…? How should they know? Yes, Braves have a good farm system and they have developed their players well, but all this is a guess as to when a team is suppose to be good. I mean, who knows… next year the Braves or another team might take a step back. Remember the Washington Nationals were suppose to run away with the NL East division, they ended up 82-80 in 2nd place, eight games behind the Braves. Who knew this…? Leave it up to the baseball gods to know this.

Follow me on Twitter @makirkley for up-to-date tweets, and my views on what’s going on in the world of sports.

Leave a comment