But the Braves are a different beast than, say, the Blackhawks are when it comes to my Four Bs. Where I entered the most recent NHL Playoffs with enormous confidence and felt like a Stanley Cup was a very realistic goal, I remember full well that crazy shit happens in the baseball postseason. And while Atlanta has been playing out of their mind in so many respects, it just takes a couple guys going into a sudden slump to watch the whole dream vanish in a matter of three or four games.
Still, there is no denying that what the Braves have accomplished thus far this season has been remarkable. The East has not just been the complete disappointment of the Washington Nationals that many people expected to end up in the Fall Classic, but this Atlanta team has also been better than most anybody expected. If they can indeed maintain this level of play, then the team has as good an argument as anybody. While the use of the Tim Hudson season-ending injury in this third quarter graphic is very reminiscent of the Chipper Jones third quarter injury three years ago, the Braves have just continued to reach into the farm system and plug in another pitcher every time it seems that they have suffered a devastating loss. The depth club's depth has been nothing short of remarkable, and now with it seeming that a division title can be wrapped up much earlier in September than anybody could have possibly hoped for, there won't have to be any worry about overextending key players before the playoffs begin.
All things considered, everything looks quite golden for Atlanta ... for now.
With only 41 games left and the Braves holding a nearly 15-game lead in the division, we're not quite to magic number counting territory yet, but there's every reason to believe this division will be the first one settled this year. Washington will have to get on one helluva hot streak to grab a Wild Card berth, but most of the uncertainty right now seems to be more in the American League. However many games Atlanta ends up winning this division by, whether it's double digits or a scary single one, there's still going be some stiff challenges in the National League. Nobody hates the Dodgers more than me, but that's the team nobody will want to be playing and they'll be bolstered by a starting rotation that's arguably the best in the postseason. The resurgence in Pittsburgh—which I predicted, by the way (along with a Padres pennant, of course)—will be an enormously compelling storyline, and the Central looks to be a division that could actually end up sending three teams to the playoffs—all of whom could be contenders, although I'm still skeptical about the Reds.
Indeed, I fully anticipate looking forward to a playoff series, not just a single postseason game this year when the fourth quarter of this season ends. Seeing as this post is subtitled "Memories of 2011," I should not deny the possibility of yet another collapse. But realistically, nobody remembers that sort of failure (again, I still prefer to think of it as the Cardinals "caught" the Braves just as much as Atlanta choked the berth away—St. Louis did win the World Series, after all) more than Fredi Gonzalez and the players left from that team. Maybe it's the homer in me, but I'm pretty convinced that the pain of 2011 and the frustration of being ousted after only one game in 2012 are both motivating factors for this team to flat-out win this division and avoid either of those messes. For Fredi, here's to hoping that when it comes to coaching the Braves, the third time is indeed a charm.
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