The Atlanta Journal-Constitution - Against All Odds: The Atlanta Braves Improbable Journey to the 2021 World Series

Contents

Curtis Compton/The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Introduction

By Steve Hummer

When next youre tempted to step off into the mire of pessimism and self-pity the very quaking foundation of Atlanta fandom remember the 2021 Braves.

Keep them in mind and in heart as the team that forever reversed one citys sad sports juju. Rather than being the usual Atlanta-centric team that built hope 10 meters high only to execute the perfect bellyflop from the summit think 28-3 and 2nd-and-26 and Jim Freakin Leyritz these Braves threw the narrative into reverse. They struggled up front, and then, the more things looked grim and hopeless, the more they were determined to win. For those looking on, wariness slowly gave way to wonder.

Remember the general manager who ordered up a whole new outfield on the fly, as if IKEA made ballplayers, and assembled it right there on the field in August. Who does that? These singular Braves, thats who.

There was the sometimes-right fielder, Joc Pederson, who rocked pearls better than anyone since Jacqueline Kennedy. There was Willie Mays, who returned in the body of NLCS MVP Eddie Rosario. And Jorge Soler, the blasting cap whose first swing of the World Series launched the baseball into Houstons inviting left field porch and let the Astros know what was what. And Adam Duvall, who got his encore here once it occurred to the Braves that it was a whole lot better for him to hit home runs for them than over them.

Remember the bombs. So many bombs. The 1995 Series champion Braves, playing in a slightly strike-shortened campaign, had no one on the roster hit more than 27 home runs. The infield alone on the 21 team contained four who hit 27 or more.

Remember the power of team. Those 95 Braves included four future Hall of Famers Chipper Jones and the pitching conglomerate of Maddux, Glavine and Smoltz Inc. And one borderline HOFer, Fred McGriff. These Braves have one, potentially (Freddie Freeman), and another if only third baseman Austin Riley has about 15 more seasons hitting .303 with 33-home runs and 107 RBI.

This was the archetype sum-of-their-parts outfit. Or as reliever Luke Jackson put it before Game 2 of the World Series: I think people always kind of sit there like: Oh, how are the Braves here and how is this? We pull for each other. Were a team. (Some) feel like were surprising people, but were not. Were a good baseball team. Were here to win. And thats what we do.

If you remember no one else to embody the unbending spirit of this team, remember reliever Tyler Matzek. Three years ago he was an AirHog, which is an independent baseball league player in Texas, not that guy in the middle seat on your last flight who dominated both arm rests and half your leg room.

He had gone to the lowest level of the game, that space below root cellar, to try to rescue his career. With the 2021 Braves, indispensable was all he was, the bullpen anchor who appeared each night as regularly as the moon during the postseason. He authored the single most scintillating relief outing in Braves history.

Seventh inning, with the tying runs on for the Dodgers in the clinching NLCS game and nobody out, Matzek struck out the side, blowing away the dangerous Mookie Betts for the third out. Then for a follow-up, he came back the next inning and retired the heart of the Los Angeles order on six pitches. If he ever buys a drink for himself in Atlanta, there should be an investigation.

Remember the team whose story was partially Old Testament, filled with various plagues falling upon the head of some of their most important players. Young star outfielder Ronald Acuna Jr., blew out a knee in pursuit of a fly ball. Young star pitcher Mike Soroka reinjured his Achilles just walking into the clubhouse. A pitcher busted his hand on a bench in a fit of blind anger. Two catchers went down the same day. Another prized outfielder was sent away while dealing with a domestic abuse accusation. Then in the World Series, a line drive found one of Charlie Mortons skinny legs rather than acres of perfectly good green grass, knocking out the Braves No. 1 starter with a broken bone.

And then remember, the next time you catch a splinter and act like youve nicked an artery, how none of it mattered to these Braves, how they hitched up their trousers and went back to winning rather than whining. Why, just three nights after Mortons injury, five pitchers combined for a two-hit shutout of the Stros.

Remember the team that waited until Game No. 111 to get to the sunny side of .500, that spent four months running in place (going 52-54) before hitting some magical ignition switch and going 36-19 from there. The team that won three postseason series as an underdog. A team that resisted all the low-hanging fruit of easy excuses and delivered the best kind of championship: The one that reminded Atlanta that there are happy surprises in sports, too.

How could we ever forget?

The Braves pile on closer Will Smith during the celebration following the final out of Game 6 in Houston. (Curtis Compton/The Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

World Series Game 1

October 26, 2021 Houston, Texas

Braves 6, Astros 2

Off with a Bang

Braves Open World Series with Quick Start, Ride to Comfortable Game 1 Win

By Gabriel Burns

Thats one.

The Braves stunned the Astros 6-2 in Game 1 of the World Series, the franchises first World Series victory since Oct. 21, 1996. They need three more wins to claim their first championship since 1995.

I wondered before we got here what Id feel like, manager Brian Snitker said. When the game started, I felt like it was a baseball game, and you kind of get so tunnelled into what youre doing that you forget where youre at. Its just another baseball game, a really loud baseball game. Then so much happened really quick that I didnt have a chance to do anything other than that. But it was nice. Im glad, obviously, we won the game.

The day wasnt all rosy. Starter Charlie Morton left in the third inning with a fractured right fibula sustained when he took a liner off his foot in the previous frame. Morton is out for the World Series, a brutal blow for a team that relied heavily on its veteran starter to reach this point. Its another bout of adversity for these Braves, who once again will move forward without a key contributor.

Slugger Jorge Soler, who missed part of the past series because of a positive COVID-19 test, opened the game with history. He became the first player to homer in the first plate appearance of the World Series, smacking the third pitch he saw a sinker that didnt sink from starter Framber Valdez into the Crawford Boxes in left field.