Update: The Braves lose another game but hold their ground
Chipper Jones got the Braves started with a homer. (AJC photo by Curtis Compton)
A lead once bulbous had been reduced to a pimple in the time it takes to say the words, “A lead once bulbous.” But, being a professional athlete, Chipper Jones broke out the usual brave bromide Monday afternoon. “We still control our own destiny,” he said, blithely ignoring the cold truth that these Braves have controlled nothing this past month.
They’d led the wild-card chase by 8 1/2 games on Sept. 1, the day they posted their 81st victory. It’s nearly October, and there’s no guarantee these Braves will ever win a 90th game. They’ve lost six of the past eight series, and one of the two exceptions wasn’t really a series but a rescheduled doubleheader in New York.
They’ve watched the Cardinals draw ever closer, and now the regular season had been reduced to three games. Win two and the Braves would assure themselves of no worse than a tie for the wild card and a Thursday play-in game; win three and the Braves would qualify for the playoffs, no strings attached. But their collapse has forced us to reassess possibilities, and a more realistic question seemed: Can they even win one?
Monday’s game offered hope — for three innings. Jones hoisted a first-inning homer that took us back to 1999, to a time when this player was capable of turning a playoff race by himself. But then, as happens in life as well as baseball, reality descended. The Phillies scored four runs and washed away a 2-0 deficit, and by game’s end Chipper was limping after appearing to hurt himself legging out a double, and in his final at-bat he hit into a double play.
On paper, this seemed the biggest mismatch of the series: Cliff Lee, who’ll probably finish second in the Cy Young voting, against Randall Delgado, who had started six big-league games. Which only goes to show that, in baseball as in Hollywood, nobody knows anything. Four of the first eight Braves to face Lee managed extra-base hits, and Delgado made it through three innings having yielded only an against-the-shift single to Ryan Howard, who surely didn’t intend to put the ball where he did.
Then the Braves stopped hitting, which they can do against pretty much any pitcher any time, and the Phillies started. Placido Polanco’s two-out single off Delgado — are two-out RBI’s even allowed? — and halved the Braves’ lead in the fourth, and Jimmy Rollins’ homer tied it in the fifth. Delgado was gone after that inning, replaced by Cristhian Martinez, who lasted two batters.
Shane Victorino’s triple into the corner forced Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez to summon Eric O’Flaherty for a lefty-against-lefty parlay at a moment when a strikeout was warranted. But Raul Ibanez, who’d failed with the bases loaded and one out two innings earlier, drove O’Flaherty’s first pitch, a slider, through the infield.
About here, the only consolation came via the scoreboard above left field. The Cardinals, who’d led 1-0, had fallen behind the Astros. The only comic amusement stemmed from the Braves’ announcement of the game’s attendance. (Autumn attendance is a sore subject with this franchise, as you know.) Monday’s gathering was assessed as 42,597, which seemed the biggest baseball inflation since Mark McGwire’s biceps.
There were moments when this crowd of uncertain number sounded loud and proud, but as the night unfolded the pride gave way to resignation. These Braves are perilously close to a failure of epic dimensions. At least some infamous September flops — the ‘69 Cubs, the ‘78 Red Sox, the ‘64 Phillies — had to win either their division or league; these Braves have only to finish first among runners-up. And with two games left, nothing is assured.
“We’ve had more than enough opportunities,” Jones had said, “to walk off the field with wins that would have put this away long ago.” But instead the Braves have been forced to race against time, and time keeps running both ways. The regular season’s end hasn’t arrived soon enough, and this time can’t retrace its steps to June or August and remember how easy winning seemed then.
And at the end Monday, the proud man who’d opened the scoring with a massive drive off the estimable Lee was reduced to looking every bit of his 39 years. The Braves are dancing on the lip of the volcano, and Chipper no longer seems capable of riding to the rescue.
Then again, the Braves mightn’t need rescuing. The Cardinals rallied to tie the Astros but flubbed a go-ahead chance in the 10th and lost in the bottom of the inning on a bloop double and two bunts. As catchable as these Braves appear, the chasing Cards still haven’t caught them. After another long day at the races, the shaky lead held. Still one game up, and now only two to play.
By Mark Bradley
Tell us what you think about the site
Customer Care »
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
AJC Services
Sections
Other Editions
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
351 comments Add your comment
Milton Maven
September 26th, 2011
10:49 pm
Maybe the opportunity was different, but ponder this Fredi: Identical 4-2 scores; Pujols on second, Holliday on first. Double steal and runners now on second and third. Berkman doubles and the score is tied. We have Bourn at second, Prado at first. With this duo we do nothing and let Chipper hit into an inning ending double play. Both teams down 4-2 late and one team makes something happen to fight back while we wait for something to happen. Disgusting!
dkmo10
September 26th, 2011
10:50 pm
ATTAY BOY TOMAHAWK CHOKE LOL
J Clay
September 26th, 2011
10:50 pm
Team has stunk since the big mouth ole Chip said the earlier series with Phillies did not matter and they would beat them in the playoffs. I don’t care how much you fools love Chippy, but that was the start of the downfall….since when does a series not matter when you are trying to get in postseason? The moron assumed 1 month ago they were in, rather than continue playing like they were not….thanks Chippy
Greg
September 26th, 2011
10:51 pm
I guess charlie manuel wants to face Pujols Berkman and Holliday. Good luck with that.
GT311
September 26th, 2011
10:51 pm
Frank Wren is looking like a moron too! Why does he care though? He sits in a lavish million dollar home..Its the fans who suffer. I even hate the announcers…yeah that means you Glavine!!
Big Wally
September 26th, 2011
10:51 pm
I second that vote for Ozzie. Need someone to kick some of these “go thru the motions” veterans (Like McFann) butts. He is not afraid to hurt the feelings of these spoiled players.
EPC
September 26th, 2011
10:52 pm
Fredi is an dumbass. We want Bobby!
IliiniBrave
September 26th, 2011
10:52 pm
Interesting how the AJC folks want to foment all kinds of emotion and animosity towards Richt before the Dawgs season has even begun, but when it comes to the Braves collosal collapse there are crickets chirping in the night.
When you have an entire team that somehow has completely forgotten how to hit, pitch, field, and play solid fundamental baseball, it seems like a leadership issue to me.
GT311
September 26th, 2011
10:53 pm
Million dollar choke artists!
Greg
September 26th, 2011
10:53 pm
Exactly Milton. Fredi is bobby and they are the dumbest managers in baseball. Gotta get the virus out before you can recover.
Chipper
September 26th, 2011
10:53 pm
I’m ready to start hunting in Texas. I’ve got my millions. Suckers.
Runnin With The Dawgs
September 26th, 2011
10:54 pm
Some of you folks are right. We dont belong in the playoffs. It would only make this whole thing a bigger embarrassment than it already is!
Najeh Davenpoop
September 26th, 2011
10:54 pm
Let’s Go Hawks!
Brave Fan
September 26th, 2011
10:54 pm
I;ve been holding out hope and being positive. If the Cardinals pull it out tonight, we are done!
Look at the bright side
September 26th, 2011
10:55 pm
We have Derrick Lowe going tomorrow!
Crash Davis
September 26th, 2011
10:55 pm
Cards are now tied with Houston in 9th… Berkman 2 run double to tie the game. Wow a clutch hit. We don’t know what those are.
Tell Me You Didn't Just Say That.
September 26th, 2011
10:56 pm
Did someone say this team misses Bobby Cox? The same Bobby Cox that couldn’t get out of the first round for a decade with this same team? The same one that couldn’t win multiple championships wih THREE HALL OF FAMERS in his rotation? LMFAO… Probably still defending Mark Richt too, I bet!
Big Wally
September 26th, 2011
10:56 pm
Uh oh, Cards threatening in the 9th.
Najeh Davenpoop
September 26th, 2011
10:56 pm
I really don’t care whether the Braves “belong” in the playoffs or not. The 83-win Cardinals didn’t “belong” in the playoffs in 2006 either. If you want them to miss the playoffs you are not a real fan. Once the playoffs start anything can happen.
But I am in favor of replacing Larry Parrish regardless of whether or not the Braves make it. They need to shake something up on the offensive end after every player declined from last year’s performance.
Mitchell
September 26th, 2011
10:57 pm
Mark Bradley, you are an embarrassment.
truth23
September 26th, 2011
10:58 pm
Prado and McCann, the two supposed to be “all starts” have hurt this team badly down the stretch….. If it weren’t for Chipper and Freeman this year, we wouldnt even be close… And like always Chipper steps up in the clutch, but everyone else fails.
wes
September 26th, 2011
10:58 pm
The Phillies are too dumb to rest their players. What is the purpose of winning 100 games when you don’t win the World Series. If Philadelphia had any brains they would keep the Cards out of the playoffs. The Braves with no pitching except for Hudson and no timely hitting would be an easy playoff victory. Instead the cards will get in and beat the phillies in 4 games in round one. This is for all the Phillie fans that’s talking smack about our Braves.
Sammy
September 26th, 2011
10:59 pm
Is Lowe still pitching tomorrow? Why not play Nate McClouth. We really want to go home.
Just saying
September 26th, 2011
10:59 pm
You people are such sad losers, name calling, denigrating, sadsacks. As fans you people for the most part don’t deserve a winner. I’ve read the same ole, same ole BS all season for all of you negative people. So what? The Braves lose the wild card position, don’t go to the play offs, don’t go to the WS and lose or win? So what? The world will still turn..the sun will still rise and set and you if you’re lucky will continue to live and breathe. Get a winning, positive attitude and perhaps, you will win something and be deserving of a winning team…. Many of you have tagged Atlanta as “Losersville.” Well, I’m just saying, Atlanta is not Losersville because the teams perform and do not win it all. Atlanta is Losersville because of the fans, particularly those who post on AJC…Just saying… Of, course, this team doesn’t belong in the play offs….Deal with it. It’s not the end ofthe world!
Hayes
September 26th, 2011
10:59 pm
Wasn’t Mark Bradley posting about how the braves had 95% odds to win the wild card? Or was it Schultz. Gullible goofs.
pat
September 26th, 2011
11:00 pm
Enter your comments here
Big Wally
September 26th, 2011
11:00 pm
Way to go Stros. Still tied bottom of 9th. Come on Stros baby……………
Fed Up
September 26th, 2011
11:01 pm
Can you say gutless? Clueless? Not impressed at all with this bunch – especially some of the decision making at the top… How good would some of the young guns had been by now if we’d moved the old farts out of the starting lineup sooner? In a rush to be relevant we’ve wasted another year. Could have saved picks and $ this year, let the young guns play and take their lumps, then truly been ready to start next year primed for a serious run. now we’re saddled with a bunch of unproductive mid to late career players taking up roster spots and not producing… still haven’t let the young guns take their lumps… Just looking at another year of mediocrity in 2012.
Braves need to do the following:
- Retire Chipper => Prado to 3rd
- Retire Lowe => Pick a young gun to replace him
- get Heyward some therapy and quit messing with his approach to hitting. TP? has messed him up. the kid came up with a clue. no he’s overmatched more times than not…
- get a coach that isn’t a Bobby Cox clone.
- get a no nonsense hitting coach.
- find a pitching coach that can get our pitchers through the year without extensive stays on the disabled list… Same for position players. I don’t know if its conditioning or what, but we’ve had too many injury plagued years in a row to claim it’s “normal”.
- get a killer instinct…
- Find another corner outfielder that actually hits 300 and drives in 90+ runs a year.
This year is over. Don’t do these things, then don’t expect anyone to get excited about the product next year, or the year after.
Enough said.
pat
September 26th, 2011
11:02 pm
Um, I am glad it’s foorball season. I can’t watch this. It’s just to painful. We collapsed, it sucked. We need BIG changes next year starting with OWERSHIP. F-U Liberty, sell us to somebody who isn’t an A-hole.
Big Wally
September 26th, 2011
11:02 pm
My apologies to Terry Pendleton. I thought he was the absolute worse hitting coach in MLB. Larry Parrish makes him look great.
Fredi G
September 26th, 2011
11:03 pm
Who wants to ride up to Helen with me this weekend? I won’t have anything else to do so I”m planning a bike ride with DOB to check out the corn mazes.
aaa
September 26th, 2011
11:04 pm
Braves fan for 30+ years. They don’t deserve to go to the playoffs. St Louis is a better team and I don’t think they would embarass themselves in the playoffs. I think if the Braves make it, they will get swept. At this point, I would rather concentrate on the Falcons.
Little Jimmy
September 26th, 2011
11:04 pm
This team is an embarrassment. Another decent pitching performance wasted because we can never score runs. I hope these poor young pitchers don’t start thinking that if you give up 2 runs you might as well throw in the towel.
Look at the bright side
September 26th, 2011
11:05 pm
I predict a Braves vs. Red Sox World Series with a seventh game duel between Lowe and Lackey.
jimbean
September 26th, 2011
11:06 pm
so…disappointed…
Tell Me You Didn't Just Say That.
September 26th, 2011
11:06 pm
I can’t believe what I’m reading. You people say want Bobby Cox? LOL Failing the meet expectations is all they did in the 90s!
Bissch
September 26th, 2011
11:06 pm
Chop??? CHOKE is more like it. I mean when you can’t beat the Marlins and Nats you don’t deserve to be in the playoffs. The Braves will drop the last two and watch the playoffs from their couches.
Big Wally
September 26th, 2011
11:07 pm
Well that sux.. Extra innings.
pat
September 26th, 2011
11:08 pm
Welp, this is your fathers. Braves team….. We need to end the age of complacancy. Retire Chipper. SELL libery.
No Manager
September 26th, 2011
11:10 pm
There was a picture of fredi on the first blog. The caption read:”where are we going and why am I in this handbasket. Just imagine if Lowe had not lost 16 games. But they meant nothing, right?
Little Jimmy
September 26th, 2011
11:10 pm
Ozzie traded from Sox to Marlins….. probably means we won’t contend for wild card next year either….
UpYoursJobu
September 26th, 2011
11:12 pm
Well, at least we have hockey season to look forward to. Let’s go Thrashers! Oh, wait….
Big Wally
September 26th, 2011
11:12 pm
Got to honestly evaluate our everyday players. Prado is not an everyday player, so we have a hole in LF. Love Bourn in CF. Heyward appears to be a bust, so no RF, 3b, Chippers days are numbered, SS, Gonzalez is on downside of career, 2b ok with Ugla, 1b, ok wth Freeman, C, Got to worry about McFann. So we have serious concerns/holes in 5 out of 8 position players.
Reality Dawg
September 26th, 2011
11:13 pm
Atlanta is and will always be the worst sports city in the country period! One World Championship and not a whole lot else. Braves are pathetic, Falcons have and will never put two back to back seasons together making the playoff’s, Hawks alAre as dry and tired as the west Texas desert and oh yeah, we just lost another Hockey francise to a podunk hick Candanian town. Why don’t we just call Atlanta LOSERVILLE. Facts are facts people!
Just sayin'
September 26th, 2011
11:14 pm
Absolutely no heart in this team.
Mikey in Jax
September 26th, 2011
11:15 pm
What is so frustrating is that no one will be held accountable for this monumental failure. Gonzalez and Wren will continue in their jobs just as if nothing happened. The players who must assume the majority of the blame will continue to draw their huge salaries. Well the shame will be with them forever now. If any of us had faied this miserably on our jobs heads would roll.
Mitchell
September 26th, 2011
11:18 pm
There we go.
Got him at third!
Mellon Cone, get this guy.
Big Wally
September 26th, 2011
11:18 pm
Wren should be safe, I mean, he did get us Jack Wilson.
The Bottom Line
September 26th, 2011
11:18 pm
Gutless team, gutless manager, gutless fans. This crap about “so what? the sun will still rise” is PRECISELY why it’s Losersville. You know why teams such as the Yankees win? Because Yankee fans DEMAND it and then show up. Their customers pay good money to see greatness on TV and in that massive stadium and they want a return on their investment, while Braves fans don’t even know what John Malone looks like! LOL. Soft fans who are just glad to hear the Braves or just glad to have a team at all are the reason why this team chokes year after year. Raise hell and you will see change. Don’t let anyone tell your otherwise.
Mitchell
September 26th, 2011
11:18 pm
Greg Amsinger, we get it.
You’re from St. Louis.