The Atlanta Braves are Champions Again

For the first time in 26 years, the Atlanta Braves took home the World Series trophy as the newly 4-time world champions. After a season of ups and downs, the Braves were the underdog throughout the NL and managed to prove every doubter wrong, including myself.

Back at the All-Star Break, the Braves lost their star player OF Ronald Acuña Jr., sat under .500, and were third in the NL East. However, management worked overtime, bringing in stars from all across the majors like OF Joc Peterson, LF Eddie Rosario, and OF Adam Duvall. The Braves became a completely new team almost overnight, wreaking havoc on the NL East, much to my dismay.

How Did We Get Here?

After a tough fought NLCS against the Dodgers, the Braves took on the Houston Astros for Game 1 on the road in Houston. Of course, the starter had to be SP Charlie Morton — arguably one of the better pitchers in the postseason. In the second inning, Morton took a 102 mph line drive to the fibula. What is crazier is that he threw 16 more pitches and retired three batters but was ruled out for the rest of the series. Game 1 quickly turned around for the Braves, drawing in 6 runs to secure the win easily. 

Game 2, however, did not go as planned for the Braves. Ace SP Max Fried started a rough five innings, striking out six and giving up five earned runs. C Travis D’Arnaud put up a solo home run in the second and a 1B Freddie Freeman RBI-single in the 5th that featured the Braves only runs for the night. The Astros ended up demolishing the Braves 7-2. I pretty much guessed the Astros would take at least one of the games at home in the series due to their massive win rate at home. As if that isn’t suspicious at all…

Finally, Game 3 featured a trip back to Truist Park in Atlanta with the series tied 1-1, and almost immediately 3B Austin Riley was able to put the Braves on the board, and it would be the only action we would see for eight innings. Controversially, I am not that crazy about 1-0 games in the postseason. Maybe I thrive on drama and controversy but sitting through a 1-0 game is never my favorite. Luckily for me, it became 2-0 in the eighth with the help of D’Arnaud blasting his second solo home run of the postseason. 

At this point in the series, it became evident that the Braves were going to take home the trophy for one main reason: effective pitching. The Astros struggled in the postseason with pitching, with many of their starters posting 4.00 ERAs and above. That was no different with SP Zack Greinke starting for game 4, who at the time had pitched 2.1 innings in the postseason, racking up a 7.71 ERA. 

For me, it’s hard to dislike Greinke, and so when he kicked off the game with a base hit, I couldn’t even be mad about the Astros doing well. Speaking of doing well, 2B Jose Altuve, who had a rocky postseason at the plate, hit a long solo home run, bringing the total score to 2-0. Of course, two runs is never enough to lock down a win securely. Riley again came up driving in the Braves’ first run of the game on an RBI single, and SS Dansby Swanson also fired one into the crowd with a solo home run. The nail in the coffin came from newbie OF Jorge Soler, hitting the go-ahead home run and the win, 3-2.

Game 5, by far, was the best game of the postseason because I finally got my wish of back-to-back hitting from both teams. Starting off, Duvall hit a grand slam home run, the first of the World Series. Thank goodness someone finally hit something more than an RBI single or a solo home run because that is all we were seeing up to this point. Thrillingly, the second inning featured a clapback by Houston, with two runs being driven in by 3B Alex Bregman and C Martín Maldonado. Pitching on both sides regressed in this game, with both starting pitchers giving up hits left and right.

SS Carlos Correa and 1B Yuli Gurriel drove in two more RBI singles to tie up the game in the third. But that did not last at all. Everyone’s favorite Braves player, Freeman, responded with a solo home run, one of the longest home runs in the postseason since tracking began in 2015. 

The Astros finally had a good hitting game outside of Houston and continued to pile it on for the Braves. Maldonado had a multi-hit game along with Correa helping them secure the win in Atlanta before the ever-important game six back in Houston.

The Game 6 Bet

Once game 6 arrived, Twitter blew up with betting tweets all about the series, which somehow everyone predicted. In honor of sports betting, which I still don’t understand, I want to unpack two of the biggest.

Former Minnesota Twins 3B Trevor Plouffle predicted back in March that the Braves would be taking the series in 6. Unfortunately, Plouffle did not make a real bet. Otherwise, he would have made more money than he ever got while playing baseball.

Famous sports better ‘Mattress Mack‘ from Houston also struggled this year as he lost 3.25 million dollars on the World Series after betting on his hometown Astros. Houston was the clear underdog for this series cheering wise, and if you don’t believe me, look at this graph made before the World Series of who the country was rooting for. A whopping three states were actively cheering for Houston. Ouch.

The Braves Win It All

Game 6 was a pure victory lap for the Braves as they embarrassed Houston at home with the help of Fried to shut out the Astros. Soler struck first with a three-run home run, and Swanson followed him with a two-run home run. It couldn’t be a final World Series without a hit from Freeman, and he delivered with an RBI single AND a solo home run.

With that being said, the Braves took home this year’s trophy to everyone’s joy (except mine because I’m still having to watch the Mets compete against them in the NL East). Soler took home World Series MVP after barely playing in the NLDS due to COVID and only two games of the NLCS. 

The Atlanta Braves were certainly on nobody’s radar back in July for making the postseason, let alone the World Series. If there’s certainly one thing about baseball, you have got to expect the unexpected.

Cover image by Bob Levey/Getty Images