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
HurtBraves fan
September 29th, 2011
8:35 am
Can someone please take that “tipped cap” and smack Fredi as hard as possible in the face!!!! His attitude was disgusting as the Braves wheels came off the last five weeks. For those that wanted Bobby gone…….be careful what you wish for!!! We got Bobby-Lite…….oh by the way Chipper can you shut the F up about being only Team that can challenge Phillies in the playoffs!!! And quit talking about “baseball gods” as they have nothing to do with the fact that your Body is breaking down!!!
chipper's back!
September 29th, 2011
8:35 am
chipper said he’s coming back in 2012!!! With chipper back, the braves will be in the playoffs!! Chipper’s the man!!!
Kimbrel Blows Save
September 29th, 2011
8:35 am
3 SIMPLE REASONS WHY THE SEASON ENDED LIKE IT DID
1) Cards come from behind down 3-1 in the ninth…Kimbrel blows save
2) Omar Infante hits two out ninth inning homerun…Kiimbrel blows save
3) Phils walk the bases and tie the final game in 9th..Kimbrel blows save
Thats it, its easy….3 simple reasons.
You can have great stuff, but if you cant harness it at crunch time, its useless
wayne kappler
September 29th, 2011
8:36 am
Enter your comments here
bhamfornow
September 29th, 2011
8:36 am
I predicted this collapse on Sept. 1. It truly is time to clean house.
Bourn – Sign him long term
Heyward – Shape up or trade
Prado – at third
Uggla – Build the team around him
McCann – Keep, but don’t overuse in the first half of the season. Ross is a great back up.
Freeman – Good Season. Can’t expect a rookie to come through all the time.
Gonzelaz – Keep at short
Constanza – Give another shot next year.
Hudson, Medlen, Hanson, Beechy, Minor – the starters.
Lowe, Jones, Linebeck, Sherill, Moylan. Gone
There we went again
September 29th, 2011
8:36 am
A good manager knows the pulse of his team. He doesn’t just fill out the lineup card and “sit back,” hoping things work out for the best. Gonzalez seems to be a really good cheerleader, but he is not a major league caliber manager. When the thousands of Little League coaches in the stands can point out his ineptness, there is a problem. With runs at a premium this past month, with players struggling and lacking confidence, a good manager finds a way to manufacture runs. Safety squeeze? Hit-and-run? Pinch-hitting for batters who have been 1 for infinity against a particular pitcher? The essence of being a “manager” is to manage – not to sit back and spectate on a field level seat.
jptuba
September 29th, 2011
8:36 am
I am relieved now. This past month was painful to watch. While reading this article I kept hearing the voice of Darth Vader saying to Luke “Now his failure is complete.” I hope the Braves go get some consistent bats next season. You have to like how the pitching situation looks, though I hope Lowe isn’t in the rotation again. -Tuba
heyward the man
September 29th, 2011
8:37 am
heyward—not that good, but keep him anyway!!!
Kimbrel Blows Save
September 29th, 2011
8:37 am
Even the Orioles showed more SPUNK than the Braves did down the stretch
Jason Heyward's Gynecologist
September 29th, 2011
8:37 am
My patient would also could play a dual-role as TIN MAN as well.
Urked
September 29th, 2011
8:38 am
Hey Chipper, It’s time to retire. You look like an old man who fell out of his wheelchair after diving for the ball. Send them all back to the miners for a while and give them miner league pay and see if they work on their game to get back to the bigs.
Curious George
September 29th, 2011
8:38 am
Why is Matt Diaz able to catch the same pop-fly balls that Jason Heyward lets drop in front of, beside or behind him?
bhamfornow
September 29th, 2011
8:38 am
Kimbrel blows save,
He was clearly not managed properly for a young pitcher. Bring Leo back NOW.
Jeff
September 29th, 2011
8:38 am
Does it seem like we are the only team that CAN’T HIT? I don’t get it. I get so worked up and excited for this team and they turn out to be one of the most boring teams in baseball to watch. Damn, I wish we would have gotten Ozzie instead of the Miami Marlins.
Taylor Woote
September 29th, 2011
8:38 am
Well lets play General Manager. To do list next Month:
1. Renegotiate Chipper contract or make him retire. No nice-ities….this is business.
2. Cut loose Lowe, Kawakami
3. Find new General Manager
4. Begin adding new pieces to team, starting pitcher(s) and some offense
Urked
September 29th, 2011
8:38 am
it’s not a money thing because the METS spent a ton of money for “Great players” and they stunk this year.
tee time
September 29th, 2011
8:39 am
don’t bother the braves today–they all have early tee times before heading out on vacation to the caymans and Jamaica.
VABravesFan
September 29th, 2011
8:39 am
Frank Wren’s to do list:
1. Spend the month of October in Mexico working on tan
2. Find a team willing to trade for Lowe
3. Try to sign a top-level starter (C.J. Wilson or Clayton Kershaw?)
4. Buy more hair spray
5. Sign a top-level veteran to work in the bullpen
6. Consider possible trades for another power bat (is Minor and Prado for Jose Bautista an option?)
7. Share a milkshake with Fredi at the local Steak n’ Shake.
8. Go into Spring Training 2012 expecting no less than a World Series ring.
RC
September 29th, 2011
8:39 am
Got to tip your cap to the Phillies. They played hard to the end though I am surprised that they didn’t use Bastardo to close. They used Herndon who has had his struggles this year but has pitched well of late. At least the Phillies used their closer in the game unlike the Yankees who blew a 7 run lead in the late innings without using Rivera.
Also, give credit to the Phillies players for keeping their victory celebration to a minimum… Did you see the Orioles victory celebration?
Curious George
September 29th, 2011
8:40 am
Mark,
Why is it taking so long this morning for the Braves to fire Fredi Gonzalez, Larry Parrish and Roger “Kids Don’t Belong at the [Expletive] Ballpark” McDowell?
wayne kappler
September 29th, 2011
8:40 am
Enter your comments here In the Card’s locker room during the celebration, an interviewer asked Mitchell Boggs what it was like being a Georgia native and pulling against the Braves after the game. He said that the Braves broke his heart so many times growing up, it was time for them to break other kid’s hearts now. Kind of sums up the ATL pro fan’s experience.
Monroe
September 29th, 2011
8:40 am
the braves need more african-american players—atl is an african-american city and the team should be mainly african-american to represent our interests. I’m tired of this racism.
A-TOWN
September 29th, 2011
8:41 am
@ JIMMY CRACK..MY BAD! THE BRAVES ONLY HAVE 2 BLACK PLAYERS ON THERE ROSTER!
GT
September 29th, 2011
8:41 am
The smirk of winners was all over Philly’s faces. Chase Utley is the best player in the National League, and maybe baseball. When he saved that poor throw to first and walks the pitcher back to the mound to clean his spikes with that look on his face like I am damn good and I have got your back so pull it together and lets play ball. That is what the Braves didn’t have this year. Maddox use to give it to us, but we don’t have it now.
Cindy
September 29th, 2011
8:41 am
Chipper Jones is a waste of a roster spot. Retire already!
tinman
September 29th, 2011
8:43 am
I am afraid we are entering another long losing drought like 1985 thru 1990. This owner doesn’t give a crap whether this team wins or loses. Next year i think it will be Wash., Miami and Phil. fighting it out for the division title. We will be fighting with the Mets to stay off the bottom. I hope owner retires Chipper, Lowe, Fredi Gonzalez, Parrish, Conrad and sends Heyward to minors for more experience.
James
September 29th, 2011
8:43 am
The Braves fans deserved better!! Disgusting!!!
RM
September 29th, 2011
8:44 am
Can’t say I didn’t see this coming. The Braves would have just stunk up the playoffs anyway. The Cards will provide much more excitement as the wild card. This Braves team was painful to watch, unlss you wanted to be lulled to sleep…
At Least The Suffering Is Over
September 29th, 2011
8:44 am
Well, I watched last night’s game and even though I did not expect anything wonderful to happen, I was at least hoping that the Braves could finish their epic collapse in St. Louis tonight. Bottom line, down the stretch the Cards were definitely the better team and wanted it more and proved it. I don’t think I’ve seen less heart and determination from any sports team ever. At any rate, it is just as well the Braves crapped the bed one final time. If they had managed to somehow make the postseason, they would have figured out a way to lose a 5-game series in 2 games.
RC
September 29th, 2011
8:44 am
As far as Gonzales goes… I’m still baffled as to why he pitched to Pence with Martinez coming up to bat. Martinez was playing the role of rally killer for the Phillies last night. I think he popped out twice in foul ground in his at bats.
Petey
September 29th, 2011
8:45 am
It could be worse. You could be a fan of the greatest team ever assembled: 2011 Boston Red Sox. Epic collapse and highest payroll. The Braves don’t have the talent to be legitimate contenders. The Red Sox flat out choked.
DC
September 29th, 2011
8:45 am
MB or DOB..I dont care…someone, anyone…figure out why Constanza was not playing much at all down the stretch…season is over and I wan the truth.
theight
September 29th, 2011
8:46 am
Well this is what you get for hiring another Bobby Cox. Terry Pendleton was still the better man for the job. Florida always seems to go out and get the better managers. No wonder they are more of a succesful team than us.
theight
September 29th, 2011
8:46 am
in such a short time span
TechMBA
September 29th, 2011
8:46 am
Why didn’t Uggla run over the catcher on the play at the plate? Professional courtesy? Pete Rose would have knocked him into the 5th row…….
steve brown
September 29th, 2011
8:46 am
Who needs to go? I would say the genius or geniuses that structured this team so that during this off season we get to wait in anticipation of next year when $30 million (or around 33% ) of our total player salaries goes to Lowe and Jones.
ATLtodolavida
September 29th, 2011
8:47 am
Wow. 11 pages of comments. I feel like I just read War and Peace.
DavidH
September 29th, 2011
8:47 am
Mercifully, the 2011 season is over for both player and fan. This was a team clearly out of gas, and out of confidence, with a manager who couldn’t inspire them. What a disappointment.
BaseballBuff
September 29th, 2011
8:49 am
@meh Bourn appeared to be easily safe at third. I was at the game and had a pretty good view of the play, although I have not seen the replay yet. Uggla responded with a homer, which is the way you should respond to crap like that. Bourn is a fine player. I hope he stays around.
Mark in ATL
September 29th, 2011
8:49 am
Got to make changes this off season…
1. D Lowe has to go.
2. RF has to be figured out….J Heyward is not the answer just like Jeff wasn’t. Go get an established bat.
3. Get Martin healthy and back to his 2010 self.
Matthew
September 29th, 2011
8:49 am
That Sept 19 walk off win by the Marlins hurt.
TechRon
September 29th, 2011
8:50 am
Please fire the manager and all the coaches. Please. Need a real manager and hitting coach and pitching coach at minimum. Keep all the pitchers except Lowe. After that, dump anyone and everyone. Heyward will never make it. I remember the beginning of the season I was hearing that he could hit left handers so well. Plus, they were saying things like “When he hits it, it makes a sound like when Henry Aaron used to make.” What a joke all that is. Heyward will NEVER be anything hot. He is like Francouer in that he has huge potential but cannot hit. Trade him now.
Braves management should sit down and have a sober look at everything. It all came apart and when we are all done crying, they will be a laughingstock. We will all remember this for the rest of
our lives. It is up to ownership to make some real changes asap. Next years tickets are going to be really hard to sell. I am sure has heck not going down there, pay $40 for a ticket, $15 to park, $25 for a bite and a drink, just to watch incompetence.
Fire Gonzalez!
BaseballBuff
September 29th, 2011
8:50 am
Tim Hudson on the radio after the game: “The guys have nothing to hang their heads about.”
Huh? You, Tim, have nothing to hang your head about. The rest of the team, less one or two, is a different story.
NickGranite
September 29th, 2011
8:50 am
I think people forget we were FIRST in the majors in ERA for half a season before Jurrjens and Tommy started going bad physically. Not to mention McCann. Two seasons in a row with the injury bug to major players at the stretch. I would not call this a major choke. If those 2 pitchers were still with us then that would have been a major choke.
Eric
September 29th, 2011
8:51 am
FYI, Brett Myers went to Englewood High – not Bolles.
Doug
September 29th, 2011
8:51 am
Congratulations to a really good Philly team. It hurt watching this. Seems all the breaks went against the Braves in this game. But, that is what happens when you don’t take care of business in the weeks leading up to this game. This game should have been a non-significant game if the Braves had taken care of business earlier. Philly made great play after great play defensively. The bad call at 3rd on Bourne really hurt because a home run followed two batters later.
Anyway, again Congrats to one of the best teams I have seen in Philly.
Matt
September 29th, 2011
8:51 am
Tlhe Marlins get a new stadiium and Ozzie Gillian. We keep Freddi. Yikes
Mark in ATL
September 29th, 2011
8:52 am
Major choke or just a choke…..either way….it’s a choke. There was a lot of talent still out there playing baseball that didn’t get it done.
NickGranite
September 29th, 2011
8:52 am
Baseballbuff, Bourn was safe at third but it wasn’t as cut and dry as it appeared or as Joe Simpson was hollering about. It was a bang bang play on replay but he got in.
Ezekiel
September 29th, 2011
8:53 am
The Braves need to clean house and get rid of the “country club” atmosphere. Do you realize that Freddi didn’t get throw out of ONE GAME down the stretch when his team was tanking to light a fire under his team?? The entire Braves accept losing too easily. There’s not 1 full scrotum bag in the entire organization.