Most Unlikely

 

There's a word for anyone who says they saw The Atlanta Braves winning The World Series back in April of this year.

Liar.

That word applies who anyone who said it on July 10th when their best offensive player, Ronald Acuna, Jr., went down.  

Nobody could have seen this coming and that includes  Jeanne Dixon and Nostradamus.

2021 started bad enough for The Braves.   Their beloved pitcher of the '60s, '70s, and '80s, Phil Niekro, died the day after Christmas.  He was a pearl in the years The Braves were more than bad; they were awful.

Then came the news that Hank Aaron died. 

Mike Soroka, probably the best of the young pitchers, went out with an injury last year, heard a pop when he was attempting to come back. The pop meant surgery, and he was out for the rest of the year.

The ball The Braves played early in the season was less than inspiring. Acuna was helping Braves tread water. Then he went down.

In years past, this would have meant The Braves would have folded their tents and lollygag their way through the rest of the season like a bunch of lollygaggers.

Alex Anthoupoulos is the general manager of The Braves and, for once in the life of an Atlanta franchise, made a series of trades that made a difference for the Braves. 

Anthopoulos got Joc Pederson, Jorge Soler, Eddie Rosario, and Adam Duvall. All produced in significant and consistent ways. This is unlike Braves trades in the past when some hotshot would come in and proceed to play themselves out of the league.

The Braves became a different team. They became a team with personality, particularly with the filthy-mouthed Pederson, who decided, for some reasons only known on the planet Pederson, to wear pearls.

However, having a personality doesn't mean you'll get invited to the dance. The Braves also started to win.

For the first time in my lifetime, The Braves became the team that got hot at the right time.

Boy, did they ever.  They dispatched the Milwaukee Brewers easily and sent the Dodgers packing. But, of course, neither one was supposed to happen.

The Braves drew the hated Houston Astros for The World Series.

If memory serves, the Astros have been here before, but it was discovered that in the 2017 World Series, the Astros "cheated."  It involved garbage cans.

There was a big stink over it, and a lot of people got fired. Finally, the great Dusty Baker was brought in to air the place out. It turns out the Astros didn't need to cheat. They were good without banging on garbage cans. 

Again, nobody thought the Braves would win The World Series.  By nobody, I mean most Braves fans.

If you have been a fan of any Atlanta team, you are used to them stinking it up. The Falcons have been in two Super Bowls. The first one, a star defensive back, was arrested for soliciting a prostitute.  The second one, um, all I  have to say is "28-3".

The same way with the Braves. They were in five World Series in the '90s and won only one. Yet, they had three starting pitchers elected to the Hall of Fame.

I finally figured out the Atlanta sports problem.  It was me.  Somehow, someway, I transmitted my loser rays through the TV into the Braves players.   My solution: follow the Braves on Twitter and Google.  

I think it worked. The Braves beat the Astors with two and a half starting pitchers. The rest was all bullpen.  Think about that. The Braves won The World Series with the help of their bullpen. People were happy to see Luke Jackson come into a game.

I tried not watch Game Six.  My wife kept yelling out the scores.  I had an early morning the next day.  Then, it must have been in the bottom of the ninth, a friend of mine I've known since I was seven sent me an inbox message:  "Are you enjoying this?"

Against my better judgment, I turned on the TV.  Just in time to see the first batter stroke a single into right field.   I left the room.

"Breathe two outs to go," said the following inbox message.

"One more" was the next.

"Wahoo!"

The Braves defeated the Astros, and they taught this old Braves fan that you can't lose them all.