Update: After 13 innings, the Braves’ epic failure is complete
Brian McCann can't bear to watch. Can't blame him. (AJC photo by Curtis Compton)
They’d been portrayed, not without cause, as choking dogs. They finished September having won two of nine series and having watched, numbly if not nimbly, an 8 1/2-game lead go poof. But even a choking dog can have his day, or night, and the 2011 Braves tried to give themselves one Wednesday.
They failed. They failed in the way this entire month had been a failure. They took an 8 1/2-game lead and threw it all away, and by the time they got done losing Game No. 162 they had made us suffer through all the failures that comprised this failed month.
They led 3-1 after three innings and 3-2 after eight, but Game No. 162, like the season itself, lapped into overtime. They hit early, then stopped hitting. They saw a key run thrown out at the plate. In sum, they suffered the kind of wobble that had gotten them into this mess in the first place.
Before Game No. 162, Chipper Jones had noted that the populace seemed ready to box these Braves’ ears. (Or words to that effect.) Attempting a tiny joke, someone suggested such civic outrage only went to show that Atlanta cares. Said Jones: “We care, too. We care more than anybody else.”
Fredi Gonzalez, lately portrayed as a do-nothing manager, cared enough to do something after Tuesday’s ugly loss. He sat his men down and told them he wouldn’t pick any other bunch over this to go out and win a game. Then, being practical, Gonzalez advised his charges to get some sleep and come back ready to play. “It wasn’t Knute Rockne,” he said Wednesday. But then, brightly: “Maybe 50 years from now it will be in a book of great speeches.”
It might not have been Henry V at Agincourt, but it — or something — did the trick. The Braves were loose and supple from the start of Game No. 162, which isn’t easy to do when your constituency stands ready to break out the rotten tomatoes. They had leadoff hits in each of the first five innings. They fell behind in the top of the first but answered in the bottom, and Dan Uggla’s crushed homer off Cole Hamels’ 0-2 fastball untied matters in the third.
And not a moment too soon. Uggla’s ball landed in the bleachers about the time the Cardinals were about to begin their game against 105-loss Houston, and sure enough St. Louis put up a huge early number. (Five first-inning runs on seven first-inning hits against Brett Myers, who like Chipper is an alum of Jacksonville’s Bolles School. Chipper had been hoping for “Bolles mojo.” No go.)
This became the game these Braves had played from April through the August: Tim Hudson gave them 6 1/3 innings textbook innings, and then the once-bulletproof bullpen took the baton. Eric O’Flaherty needed two pitches to induce Shane Victorino to hit into a double play to end the seventh. Jonny Venters walked/plunked the bases loaded in the eighth but struck out Raul Ibanez on three pitches.
Then it was the ninth and the kid closer entered to do as he’d done all season. Instead Craig Kimbrel, who’d blown two saves this month, blew another by slinging the ball around like a bad point guard. He yielded a leadoff single to Placido Polanco, walked the bases loaded, saw Chase Utley drive home the tying run with a fly ball and walked Hunter Pence to boot. The bulletproof bullpen had been hit.
Kimbrel was pulled for Kris Medlen, who in his second appearance in 14 months held the tie and got the Braves through the 10th. The Braves had a chance to win in the bottom of the inning, but Michael Martinez hauled in Chipper’s drive with Michael Bourn aboard. And neither Brooks Conrad, who struck out, nor Martin Prado, who tapped out, could drive home Jason Heyward in the 12th.
To the 13th. Scott Linebrink entered. Ahead 0-2 on Brian Schneider, Linebrink walked him. Chase Utley moved Schneider to third with a two-out single, and Pence brought him home with a broken-bat grounder in the second-base hole. (”Couldn’t have thrown it out there any better,” Gonzalez said.) Down a run, the Braves were three outs from elimination.
Jones led off against David Herndon and struck out. (The Braves’ at-bats from the ninth on had been little except hero swings, to unheroic avail.) Then Uggla induced a walk. But Freddie Freeman rapped into a 3-6-3 double play, and the season was done. There would be no trip to St. Louis, no 163rd game.
There will, alas, be only an aftertaste that will linger long. The 2011 Cardinals became the second team ever to trail by 8 1/2 games in September and reach the postseason. The 1964 Cardinals, beneficiaries of the infamous Philly Phold, were the first, and that’s the miserable company these Braves will keep.
Dan Uggla gives the Braves the lead. (AJC photo by Hyosub Shin)
They won their 81st game on Sept. 1. They never got to 90. They led by three games with five to play and never won again. They lost their 162nd game to a team that had no real reason to care about winning. They had the lead and the best rookie closer ever on the mound, and they lost. If you want to say they choked, nobody will argue.
The kid closer all but volunteered the cursed C-word. “You have to bottle up emotions and harness them,” Kimbrel said. “I didn’t do that today. September’s the hardest month of the year, and I let my emotions get to me. Things just started to move too fast, and I couldn’t put it together.”
Kimbrel was overthrowing. The hitters were overswinging. “We’ve been swinging really hard for a while,” Jones said. “When a guy’s living two or three inches off the outside corner, that’s not a ball you’re going to hit out of the ballpark.”
To return to Chipper’s assertion of eight hours earlier, these Braves absolutely tried their hardest. They actually tried too hard. But part, maybe even most, of being a champion is the capacity to perform under pressure, and these Braves buckled. There was, contrary to popular belief, no great mismanagement in this game: Fredi G.’s team was in position to win the exact same way it had all summer, except that summer ended and September arrived and the winning ceased.
“It just got a little wild,” Chipper said, speaking of Game No. 162 but actually the whole lost month. When the Cardinals began to close, the Braves were never the same. Even without Jair Jurrjens and Tommy Hanson, this team should have had enough to play into October. It won’t. It won’t because it choked. End of story.
By Mark Bradley
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874 comments Add your comment
Jimmy Crack
September 29th, 2011
7:43 am
Face it folks, baseball is the most boring sport to watch in its entirety. There are fragments of excitement, much like panning for gold in the Amazon river, but as a whole BASEBALL IS A SNOOOOOZER! Last year I watched a Mets pitcher on one channel, between scratching his nuts, shuffling around and getting a visit from the pitching coach, take more time to make ONE PITCH than it took for the Falcons on another channel to score on a 5-play, 60 yard touchdown drive!
Bring on the rest of the football season and next year hope MLB’s homeless-looking bum of a commissioner will shorten the baseball season to 80 games. Or better yet, 40.
ugab
September 29th, 2011
7:44 am
hahaha Braves did not deserve to be in the playoffs. Cardinals are the hot team right now. Braves do not suprise anyone. Same ole sht different year. Atlanta falcons are the same way too. Let’s not forget MR and his mighty bulldogs. It doesn’t feel to good to live in ga and to be a sports fan in ga. oh well
Donald K.
September 29th, 2011
7:44 am
About 4 years ago I took my young daughter to a Braves game. Between 2 tickets, parking, food, and a lousy souvenir I spent $150.00…….to watch a baseball game. They have priced middle America out of it. I don’t care anymore and don’t even watch the Braves on TV. Give me college football.
jerry
September 29th, 2011
7:44 am
Bradley could have taken the high road and gave us some legitiment reasons for the failure, such as, Hanson and Jurrjens and the simply horrible, .225 hitting, almost totally lacking in power outfield,
that they had for months, but he chose the low road, probably in an attempt to create another chapter in the legacy of baseball’s famous “Chokes”. No, this one is on management and Lady Luck.
ugab
September 29th, 2011
7:45 am
Hudson is the only fired up player on the braves team.
Bud from WV
September 29th, 2011
7:46 am
All season long,the Braves did not hit with RISP.If they had we would be there.You can”t get rid of everybody.Don”t really know what the answer is.
Paul
September 29th, 2011
7:46 am
The Braves completing the typical swan song they are known for!Jones needs to go, I dont have confidence in his influence on his team mates, Feddi needs the boot, and get some hitters who know how to hit in the clutch. Atlanta needs pitchers who can stay healthy, and get players who have new mojo!
Bob Dumon
September 29th, 2011
7:46 am
Hey Chipper… is time to panic yet???
Who, me hit?
September 29th, 2011
7:46 am
The braves played just fine, bless their hearts!
Really?
September 29th, 2011
7:47 am
Bobby, really? How quickly we forget all the post last year saying he should quit before the end of his last year! Fire Freddi, hire Pendelton as manager. Fire Parrish and hire Chipper’s Dad or Chipper as batting coach (or he could play and be batting coach…there used to be player managers, why not). Fire McDowell and hire Greg Maddox. Move Snitker (sp) to bench coach). Hire a consultant in spring training who was a great base stealer in his time (eve Otis Nixon). Drop Lowe, trade both Boras agent pitchers, keep the young guns and Huddie. Find a hard hitting left fielder… one that hits for average not dingers. Same for short stop. Then pray that Liberty Media sells to a single owner. Really!
Paul
September 29th, 2011
7:47 am
This team sucks!Feddi (fed up) isn’t the one we need managing the team!
ATL
September 29th, 2011
7:47 am
The reason the Braves lost is cause they only got 1 black player on the team. They is racist and deserve to loose. I wish Al or Jesse would investigate why this is.
The Curse of Atlanta Sports
September 29th, 2011
7:49 am
We are the Seatlle of the East Coast. Fairweather fans with 2nd tier teams. The braves won 14 divisions and 1 World Series ? The Falcons are still wheeling from getting there butts handed to them last year and the Hawks are just the Hawks. We lost not 1 Hockey team but 2 . Back to the Braves , they got in trouble the 1st game against St. Louis when they were up 3 to 1 in the 9th ( sound familiar ) and other than the Red Sox last night , they blew one of the biggest leads in MLB . I would not laugh at the Mets anymore. Will Frank ” I can’t sign a decent free agent” Wren please be terminated and get a real GM in there ? Chipper , you had a great run , but your over , please retire so the team can bring in a quality 3rd baseman and bring up some youth. Bobby Cox would not have had this epic break down. Fredi was talking with ESPN and was smiling , really ? this is the past, present and future of Atlanta sports. I’m going back to working on my bikes . At least I can relax. Good Luck
Boyz From N. Ave.
September 29th, 2011
7:50 am
Mark,,,,your assisgnment, should you choose to take it, is to turn up the HEAT on this medicre franchise. Without your shining the spotlight down on the thrillerdome, we might still be stuck with CPH. Freddi G. is no winner. we deserve more after languishing under Bobby Cox for twenty years. Did you see Scenter…..Freddi gave the “tip your hat” comment to them too…….sheesh.
dawg4life
September 29th, 2011
7:50 am
This doesn’t really have any bearing on me now that football has started. I only watch the Braves as a filler during the spring and summer months. So as an honest opinion, I can tell you the reason for yet another meltdown by the Bad News Braves:
1. This revolving door as a lineup. Too much emphasis is put on lefty/righty matchups. Play your best players… Every game counts, as we can see…
2. Derek Lowe- The worst pitcher in the NL, hands down.
3. Chipper Jones- I know he is a fan favorite, but he has become another Keith Brooking. His lack of agility at 3rd has cost the Braves multiple times this season, as well as last night. Not to mention that if the wind blows too hard, he strains a neck muscle.
4. And most importantly, playing the Washington Nationals. If the Braves win 3 more games against a team they should beat everytime they play, we wouldn’t be having this conversation.
Tired of Losers
September 29th, 2011
7:51 am
Thank God it’s over!
jerry
September 29th, 2011
7:53 am
Bradley could have turned up the heat on management but he chose to put it on the players. Typical AJC garbage.
George
September 29th, 2011
7:53 am
The Braves played the entire month of September trying not to lose. That is completely different from playing to win.
Peachtree John
September 29th, 2011
7:54 am
DisCUSSed yes. But anyone could see it coming. The pitching broke down. The hitting was non existant. Possibly the broken pitchers will be gone next year. Possibly, the young pitchers who are waiting in the wings will get their chance next year. Possibly Uggla will start fast and keep it going next year. The 2011 rookies will hopefully remember the collapse of 2011 and profit from it. Maybe even Haywood will make a comeback. It would be nice if The Chipper would hang around another year and be part of a winner for his last curtain call. Hey, Prado might even return to form.
THERE IS HOPE, BUT WE SAY THAT EVERY YEAR. RATS, RATS, AND RATS.
Boyz From N. Ave.
September 29th, 2011
7:54 am
Somewhere in the spirit world Howard Cosell is laughing his arsse off.
Dash RipRock
September 29th, 2011
7:54 am
Yeah let’s just blame the hitting coach..NOT..Morons
RGP
September 29th, 2011
7:56 am
Thankfully it is over for this year. A good high school team could have beaten the Braves in Sept. as bad as they played. It is good we don’t have to endure the pain of watching them in the playoffs.
stendek
September 29th, 2011
7:56 am
Long night huh Mark? Those guys in the Brave uniforms did not fool me one bit. They were the Vancouver Canucks! Seriously. As a follower of Atlanta sports teams since the 1960s disappointments have become the norm not the exception. To lose going down swinging is no disgrace. To compete without heart is the epitome of unprofessionalism. The Braves went through the motions in front of home fans who cared. This one no longer does. Have a nice day all. Early October is for football anyway.
oldbravesfan
September 29th, 2011
7:57 am
Was that Bobby Cox in the dugout? Or his clone!!!!!! Freddie cannot “manage” any team with his hands under his butt.
stendek
September 29th, 2011
7:58 am
Please restore my last comment Mark. Do not have heart to type it again. Knew I should have saved damn thing!
alex
September 29th, 2011
7:58 am
Not good enough to make the playoffs,that is all. Wrenn makes the moves and with his payroll,they must be good , they are NOT. FG will last 1 more year or 1/2 a year-he’ll be gone.Goodbye chipper and gonzo and lowe and heyward and mac and uggla(no we owe him 13 mill for a 235 hitter with ? risp)..
Michael M.
September 29th, 2011
7:59 am
All these Fans ripping the Braves…..get over it !
Hey you should be proud of them anyway for having the chance to maybe go to the playoffs, look at what the team has done over the years. That is a statement in itsself !
The Phillies have one heck of a ball team and probably and unless a sattelite falls on them will win the World Series again !
As long as that game lasted and as hard as Braves had to play and then if they had won, to fly to the Cardinals today and play them a game, they would have lost to them because of being tired anyway !
It was better to go on and lose the final game of the Series and played it hard as they did.
Quit Ripping them and being a bunch of Jerks ! ” Be Proud of the Braves! ! ! “
Mike Dennis
September 29th, 2011
7:59 am
Brave fans have just learned what Marlin fans already knew. Fredi Gonzalez is a bald, fat loser and will never win anything more than a pie eating contest. At least Brave fans are used to choking and losing, which should ease their pain….. LOL
interested observeer
September 29th, 2011
7:59 am
Good grief, so the Braves swooned, the world has not ended. They were entertaining all year and competitive. They just ran out of starting pitching, wore down a bull pen no one expected to be as good as it had been and hit an offensive slump. The were not going to be world champs anyway, and the best we could have reasonably hoped for was to go one round into the playoffs.
And they’ll be entertaining and competitive next year. Give Uggla a normal season, see Hayward play just a little better, Chipper can still hit and if the starters can stay reasonably healthy, 2012 should be fun. But again, don’t expect a World Series appearance.
Robert
September 29th, 2011
8:00 am
Wow…as a Braves fan you saw this coming from a mile away…the collapse is complete and all of the games they gave away in the last couple of months with Lowe, Proctor and Linebrink on the mound. And to make matters worse, the bullpen which saved the Braves for most of the season ends up costing them in the end!!! Hey now we can watch Proctor throw away games for the Yankees too…
J Veal
September 29th, 2011
8:00 am
Only 2 words I can think of to summarize the team: BRAVES SUCK
oldbravesfan
September 29th, 2011
8:00 am
That’s right. Don’t blame the coaches… they didn’t play! They didn’t do much when they were in the bigs either… so why are they coaching the Braves! We should have been begging Davey Johnson to manage the Braves… but NO! He will bring his new team to new heights… just watch! I can’t stand Bobby Valentine but at least he can MANAGE a team with real baseball decisions!
Arkie
September 29th, 2011
8:01 am
JS changes are needed and have been for years. FW is looking in the want ads – washed -up ball players for 2012. If you start with a proven manager that has no ties to our Braves, maybe, he won’t keep players that are just hangers. You have a complete pitching staff to rebuild. (we do have young talent but no pitching coach.) It is hard to watch this team die. New management and players are needed. By cutting the money suckers, money can be available for good younger players. JS & FW get a plan going. Washington and the Marlins have teams to be reckoned with in the near future. You can not change old players into winners. They are set in their ways. Youth, Youth. A prime example, Chipper – if he would realize most of his power is gone – could lead the league in hitting – hitting to all fields – but he is getting paid a tremendous amount of money for what he used to be.
Will
September 29th, 2011
8:02 am
And people wonder why this city had lost faith in its sports teams or to the extent of loosing teams altogether. I was at game 7 of the 95 world series when we won, that Braves team was simply amazing, will we ever see that kind of team again?
Shug
September 29th, 2011
8:02 am
If Chipper Jones is on the Braves roster next spring, put me to sleep. It’s unbelievable that people still think this guy should be in the Hall of Fame some day. Nearly 20 years of completely clutchless baseball.
Tired of Losers
September 29th, 2011
8:04 am
The most disgusting thing is that no one will be held accountable for this epic collapse. Liberty Media DOES NOT CARE! Let me ask you, if the owner doesn’t care then why should the fans? Boycott this sorry excuse for a sports team until ownership changes!!!
A-TOWN
September 29th, 2011
8:04 am
@P-ROSE WHY YOU BLAMING HEYWARD, IM NOT SUPRISE! GO AHEAD AND BTBM!!!
19DAWGFANS59
September 29th, 2011
8:05 am
NO BATS … NO MANAGER … SO WHAT ELSE DID YOU EXPECT ? FREDI, PLEASE GO AWAY and DON’T COME BACK ! CHIPPER, THE TIME IS NOW … YOUR BODY IS TELLING YOU … YOU’RE DONE !
curtisjones
September 29th, 2011
8:05 am
Words you will never see in the same sentence: “Fredi Gonzalez” and “post-season baseball.”
curtisjones
September 29th, 2011
8:06 am
More words you will never see in the same sentence: “Dan Uggla” and “batting average over .240″
Bilbo
September 29th, 2011
8:06 am
Kick’em while they’re down Bradley. That’s what hacks live for. No Grantland Rice’s here since Bisher left. Like sports really matters anyway.
curtisjones
September 29th, 2011
8:07 am
So sad to see Chipper Jones go out this way. Crippled, no range. Hang it up, hoss.
jc
September 29th, 2011
8:07 am
IF THE RED SOX FIRE FRANCONA (AND THEY WILL) THEN FREDI NEEDS TO BE FIRED TOO!! TERRIBLE MANAGING JOB THIS YEAR, ESPECIALLY IN SEPT. HOW COULD ANYONE EXPECT THE BRAVES TO WIN EVEN ONE GAME AGAINST THE PHILLIES IN THIS SERIES WHEN THEY COULDN’T BEAT THE HAPLESS MARLINS, METS, AND NATIONALS OVER THE PAST FEW WEEKS? FREDI NEEDS TO BE FIRED, CHIPPER NEEDS TO RETIRE AND THEY NEED TO GET SOME HITTERS WHO CAN HIT THE BALL OUTTA THE INFIELD!!! OTHERWISE IT WILL BE MORE OF THE SAME NEXT YEAR-EXCEPT THEY WON’T EVEN BE IN POSITION AT THE END TO MAKE THE PLAYOFFS..I FEEL MOST SORRY FOR THOSE POOR FANS SITTING IN TURNER FIELD LAST NIGHT..HOW MUCH CAN SHEER AGONY CAN THEY CONTINUE TO GO THROUGH?? ESPECIALLY AFTER THE PAST 20 YEARS??!
sleepy
September 29th, 2011
8:07 am
My list of who needs to go:
Fredi Gonzales
Alex Gonzales
Lowe
Linebrink
Snitker
Pendleton
Parrish
McDowell
Diaz
Conrad
Martinez
Varvaro
Probably need to give up on:
Hanson
Moylan
Chipper needs to go to AL and DH.
Wren
Fire away flamers!
Larry
September 29th, 2011
8:07 am
Mr. Bradley,
Still give Fruity Gonzalez an “A” grade on his management?
You’d better get real honest and courageous about your final assessment of this buffoon if you want any of your readers to take you seriously.
For sure, you have much more courage than Fruity’s bike buddy, DOB, so now is the time for utter, unabashed honesty…YOUR grade by your readers will depend on this!
curtisjones
September 29th, 2011
8:09 am
More words you will not see in the same sentence: “Jason Heyward” and “Gold Glove.”
meh
September 29th, 2011
8:09 am
the Braves were screwed last night. Bourne was safe at third. Uggla’s homer should’ve been for three rather than two. Braves should’ve won 4-3. the Braves were screwed.
Ares
September 29th, 2011
8:10 am
This is major league ball with major league players. A hurt team is a hurt team. The whole lineup appeared to be hurt and 2/3 of the pitching staff was right there with them. This is a good team, but Wren will tweak it.
GwinnettDad
September 29th, 2011
8:12 am
What difference did this game make? If they weren’t going to lose game 162, they’d lose the playoff in game 163. The team died in front of our eyes, and couldn’t hit it’s way out of a paper bag. 17 losses from Lowe, and he had to pitch game 161? Nah, this team was deader than a fart.
alex
September 29th, 2011
8:13 am
@a-town and atl,back in your cell or back in the unemployment line;i’m not paying my taxes to have you on a computer,hacking your garbage……It’s all good, know your just inciting,I mean that heyward is QUITE a ballplayer….