Talkin’ Sports
By Justin Hanover
T
What a Long Strange Year It’s Been
his last year or so for the Atlanta Braves has been fairly insane, to say the least. There have been more ups and downs than a Roller Coaster ride at Six Flags.
ries since 1999. Star pitcher Charlie Morton was hit by a line drive in the opener against the Astros leading to a broken leg and some more anxiety. How can they finish this thing out against a very quality Houston team?
Where shall I even begin? We all know the ending but how did we actually get here?
Up 3-1 in games and up 4-0 in game five should have been it. But it’s never easy, is it? The Astros rallied for a 9-5 win moving the series back to Houston. The anxiety level once again reached epic proportions as many believed history was about to repeat itself, in a negative way.
The 2020 season began with Covid, pushed the season back many months and led to a 60-game schedule which ended one win away from a World Series berth after the Braves couldn’t put the Los Angeles Dodgers away, despite that 3-1 series lead. It was yet another depressing moment for a franchise and a city that has experienced a lot of pain of late. Things would go from bad to worse as two months later Braves legendary pitcher Phil Niekro passed away. As if that wasn’t bad enough, on January 18th, Hall of Fame player and Braves beloved broadcaster Don Sutton then died. With the club and city already reeling in a major way, both on and off the field, the Zeus of the Braves franchise, if not all of Major League Baseball, Hank Aaron passed away. At this point there were just no words, life flat out became unfair. But as we all know, the one constant in life is that life will always go on. So, the 2021 season began and on-time. Unfortunately, the play on the field was very mediocre and the hits off of it kept on coming. Ace Mike Soroka, who missed the majority of 2020, re-tore his Achilles Tendon just walking around Truist Park and would once again be out for the season. Then on July 10th superstar Ronald Acuna, Jr. tore his ACL. This is where things would get weird and a little creepy if you believe in this stuff. The team’s record at the time? 44-44. Yes, Hank Aaron’s number was 44. Stay tuned for more on this (as the faint Poltergeist music plays in the background).
But 2021 proved to be different. Freddie Freeman, Dansby Swanson and Soler homered and Fried and two relievers combined on a 7-0 shutout win. It was the first World Series title since David Justice’ Home Run against Cleveland led to the 1-0 victory at Fulton County Stadium back in 1995. The parade on November 5th was amazing as it started in downtown Atlanta and ended at Truist Park, right here in our beloved Cobb County. Many schools gave the day off and wonderful memories were made. Tears of joy and warm smiles were aplenty. The best part of all? Many children at that last parade, 26 years ago, were now the parents. Oh, and by the way, the Braves just won the World Series in the 44th week of 2021! What a long strange year it’s been. Justin Hanover is a sports reporter/analyst who has worked in the business since 1996. His stops have included ESPN, CNN, 790 The Zone and 680 The Fan. He has also done play-by-play analysis and color commentary ranging from the high school level all the way through the professional level. Justin lives in Smyrna with his wife and three children.
With the Bravos teetering on the brink of an underachieving season and many key cogs done for the season there were whispers about being a seller at the trade deadline and just looking toward the future. General Manager Alex Anthopolous not only did not hear said whispers, but did the complete opposite. He traded away some younger guys to bring in quality established veterans signaling he was going for it and not waiving the white flag, despite losing the immense talent the Braves lost. First it was Joc Pederson added on July 15th. Then 15 days later Atlanta became home for Eddie Rosario, Jorge Soler and Adam Duvall, three quality veterans. The second half went surprisingly great, despite losing Acuna, as Atlanta roared to the front of the pack in the National League East, winning another Division title. How many games did they win after the All-Star break? Yup, 44! Now to the postseason, the franchise’ Achilles Heel for the past quarter of a century. No Acuna, no Soroka and a bunch of new guys should have spelled trouble. For older guys like me, after seeing only one World Series Championship in the great run of the 90’s, with Hall of Famers like Maddux, Smoltz, Glavine and Chipper, 2021 should have had no chance. We had legends years ago and only won one title. Now all beat up and a bunch of new guys? Come on, silly. Do I even need to fill in the rest? The Milwaukee Brewers were the first victim in four games. Then another 3-1 lead on the Dodgers led to some anxious thoughts but this time was different and Atlanta won that series in six, advancing to its first World Se-
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