The Braves' Fourth Quarter: Oh, so that's what that felt like

There really can't be much to complain about when a Braves team that was widely expected to finish second to the Washington Nationals this year and settle for a Wild Card berth at best instead dominates pretty much from wire to wire in winning the team's first division title since 2005. Yeah, that's nowhere near the agony that, say, Pirates fans finally overcame this year, but it was certainly a pleasant surprise to see how successful Atlanta ended up being this year.

So what does it mean? Well, it means that there won't have to be a silly one-game playoff this year for the Bravos. However, because the team sort of limped across the finish line, the St. Louis Cardinals strode in and swiped home-field advantage, now setting up a less than desirable first round date with the Los Angeles Dodgers. While it's been a few years since the Braves got into the playoffs for an actual, you know, series, it's suddenly all coming back: the doubt, the worries, and the predominant sense of skepticism.

I'll dwell on that more in my Divisional Series picks tomorrow, but for now, I should really take a moment to appreciate how well this year turned out. Putting aside the disappointing (and expensively lackluster) performances of B.J. Upton and Dan Uggla, there was plenty to be happy about this year after all. I imagine whenever the Final Thoughts for this year's team go up, there will be much more praise for the pitching and other positional players as well as manager Fredi Gonzalez once the year concludes.

This has certainly been a very encouraging campaign that has restored a lot of faith about the long-term future of this team. Whether the team will prove to be strong enough for the immediate future is something we'll begin getting a better idea of tomorrow night. I'll certainly be hoping for the best.