pull us through. Hopefully we can get a Cards loss and a Braves win tonight and clinch homefield through the divisional.I will be in attendance tonight.
[/URL]“There’s no such thing as a real superteam in baseball,” veteran Braves reliever Jerry Blevins said. “It’s fun to write about. You want to see this dynasty. You have the Patriots, you have the Warriors, so everybody’s like, ‘Who’s the baseball one?’ But baseball’s just a different animal.”
The first reason to start believing in the Braves is a simple one: They are a ridiculously good baseball team. Maybe not quite as good as the Big 3, but it’s close.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-team-poised-to-play-spoiler-in-the-postseason-11568722333
The Braves are on pace to rack up about 100 wins, which would make 2019 the first season in MLB history with four teams reaching the century mark. They rank second in the National League in runs (behind the Dodgers) and fifth in ERA. They’ve won more games than anybody in the majors against opponents with a .500 record or better, giving them a massive lead in what is perhaps the toughest division in the majors.
I love any jab at the Phillies and Bryce HarperThe Braves expected to be in this position. After missing the postseason in four consecutive seasons, they exceeded expectations in 2018 by storming to the NL East title, led by young stars like Acuña and second baseman Ozzie Albies, now 22. Though they lost in four games to the Dodgers in the division series, they accomplished enough for Anthopoulos to declare, “The rebuilding is over, and now it’s all about winning.”
Yet while the Braves believed in themselves, the cold, hard data didn’t believe in the Braves. Pecota, Baseball Prospectus’ sophisticated computer model for forecasting on-field performance, predicted the Braves would land in fourth place in their division with a record 10 games below .500.
Asked about that, Freeman smiled and said, “We didn’t spend $400 million in an off-season,” a jab at the Philadelphia Phillies, who will almost certainly fall short of the postseason despite giving Bryce Harper a $330 million free-agent contract last winter
It’s resulted in the Braves compiling, through Monday, the best record in all of baseball since Memorial Day at 63-34, better than the Astros (62-34), Yankees (63-35) and Dodgers (61-36).
“All it’s about is who’s hot in the playoffs,” Freeman said. “You can play well for 162 games, but once October hits it’s a whole new ballgam
In the 24 seasons since the creation of the wild card in 1995, the team with the best overall record has failed to win the World Series in 18 of them, or 75% of the time. That includes the 2001 Seattle Mariners (116 regular-season wins), the 2004 St. Louis Cardinals (105) and the 2017 Dodgers (104), all of whom ultimately lost in October. Just making the World Series is far from a guarantee: Since ’95, the team with the top seed in its league has won the pennant just 35% of the time.
I would have stayed and partied with the rest of the fans, but I am injured and in some pain and had to leave.Man, I bet it was fun being there tonight.
Now it’s time for Acuna to get 3 more steals!
I want them to reach 100 wins, but for a different reason. There has never been a MLB season with four 100 game winning teams.Now I want 100 regular season wins and Acuna to get 40 steals.
There's a slim chance there are six 100 game winning teams. A's have to win out to get to 100 games. Twins and Braves are each 4 away.I want them to reach 100 wins, but for a different reason. There has never been a MLB season with four 100 game winning teams.
Acuna is not even trying to steal lately.