The Braves' Fourth Quarter: "A tremendous disappointment"

Such were the words of Chipper Jones, and really, how else are you supposed to describe what just happened? Incredibly, just a few months after what I titled one post, I'm actually thinking that right now somebody from Boston can probably relate pretty well. Actually, this Braves fan is particularly grateful that the Red Sox have received far more national attention for their failure. That's a small comfort, though.

In the end, the disbelief is still settling in. I typically do a post I refer to as "My Final Thoughts" when one of the Four B's seasons ends, and ever since I started regularly doing these posts, they always made the playoffs.

But seeing as there won't be any more games played after I post this, what would the Final Thoughts offer any additional dwelling on? Maybe somebody will get fired?

In case you couldn't tell, this particular quarterly update is easily the worst I've ever had to reflect on.

I grabbed that last sad photo for this update's graphic from this pretty terrific photo essay about Game No. 162. In a way, that final game might be an appropriate summation of the entire season. But in other ways, it seems like the year was nothing like that. Just a rough finish there.

I've already pointed out that this collapse was not an isolated incident. And while I'm sure that the way that final evening of baseball unfolded will make an excellent selling point for Commissioner Selig when he starts pushing to expand the playoffs, I need to keep in mind that in years past, the Braves were on the better end of finishes like these. Who could forget that magical 1993 season that came down to the final day? Fuck, just last year we had to wait until the very last game whether or not there would be playoffs.

But when the season's over and your favorite team isn't holding a trophy, you look at what next year might look like. And maybe that's something I can hold off on dwelling too much on right now, since about all we know is Fredi and the whole coaching staff is supposed to come back (well, except for Parrish, obviously). The Red Sox collapse cost Terry Francona his job, although from what I understand, that's more his decision. Part of me feels like the Braves need to do something similarly drastic, but then I recognize the toll the injuries took.

There just isn't much else to say when you're typing this up during opening night of the playoffs and your favorite team isn't scheduled that night, the next night or any other night because they couldn't get that 90th win. I denied how close the Cardinals were getting all the way until that last series when St. Louis had the good fortune to be finishing with three games against the league's worst team while the Braves played three against the league's best. In the end, all the Braves had to do to stay alive was win one game. And they went all the way into extra innings trying to do it, but ultimately let another one get away.

The team spent an entire month freefalling, and yet it all seemed to end so fast.