Should I be excited?
Please don't laugh when I say this, but the fact that the Atlanta Braves are cruising toward yet another division title is a shock to me. I really, really, really did think that this was the year when the empire at The Ted finally crumbled. Instead, somehow it has reinvented itself and chugged on.
Which leaves me with a dilemma ...
I am a lifelong Braves fan, even through the horrid eras of Chuck Tanner and Russ Nixon. I always have the 1995 World Series to remember, so I can officially die a happy man.
However, I also have a ton of postseason heartache (curse you Gene Larkin and Jim Leyritz) compiled since 1991. In the last few years I've tried to convince myself that the Braves are built for the regular season, not the playoffs, and that maybe that was enough.
Yet each year, as September rolls around, I get my hopes up - only to have them crushed by a lack of timely hitting and Bobby Cox's stubborn reliance on his starting pitchers.
So I'll ask you, dear reader. Should I dare to dream? Do the Braves have a shot? Do I owe it to them to put my heart back out on the line even if they don't have a prayer of beating the Cardinals? Or should I fall back on my healthy supply of journalistic cynicism and make snide comments as another October flameout commences?
Comments (1)
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No, you should dare not dream. The Braves have flamed out in the postseason when they were loaded with talent. You can't possibly count on a rotation of Ortiz-Hampton-Jaret Wright to succeed where Maddux-Glavine-Smoltz so often failed. Especially when you have a manager who's great over a 162-game season but terrible in a short, do-or-die series and depend so heavily on playoff novices Adam Laroche and Johnny Estrada.
Posted on September 1, 2004 3:39 PM