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
Fire...
September 29th, 2011
9:18 am
Man up, John. Fire Wren, Gonzalez, Snitker, and Parrish. And tell them to take Kawakami, Lowe, Linebrink, Proctor (really nice job, Frank), McLouth, Jack Wilson, and Brooks Conrad with them.
Don’t get me started on Jack Wilson. Are we now a haven for Pirates castoffs?
Micky Maris
September 29th, 2011
9:18 am
2012 will be different.Parrish will be gone..Chipper will retire and be the new batting coach. He will teach his players to hit the ball where it is pitch. .
Jan…Freddi will attend the Braves Fantasy camp and sign 3 superstars at the camp that can play left field, right field and 3rd base..The Braves will trade Freddi G. and 2 players to be named later for Joe Madden of the Rays.The Braves will rehire Leo as a pitching consultate.Trade Lowe and use his salary to pay Leo.Looking forward to 2012
Abner Doubleplay
September 29th, 2011
9:19 am
For what it is worth, after you throw away all the bellyaching fans, armchair analysts/GMs, and woulda, shoulda, coulda crowd, this is all very easy to understand. Teams that begin the month 8 or 9 games up in the wildcard race, but end the season on a five game losing streak; dropping what was it; 18 of their last 25 games?, have not earned a spot in the playoffs. Kimbrel is a stud, but he blew last night’s save and he blew on on St. L (ask Brooks Conrad). Nope, sports fans, the season is 162 games long, not 135. The Braves were fun to watch and I’ll watch them in 2012, but as Bill the Tuna Parcells used to say; you’re as good as your record says you are; and in 2011; 89-73 ain’t good enough.
Ron
September 29th, 2011
9:19 am
Once Bums, always Bums! That pretty much sums up the Braves. The 14 straight years of DIVISION Champs, but only 1 WS Title, Grade AAA,USDA CHOICE BUMZZZZ! I thank you and STL thanks you too! lol!
GTJeff
September 29th, 2011
9:19 am
Thank God! Now the AJC can concentrate on real sports.
keep heyward
September 29th, 2011
9:20 am
heyward’s the only african-american on the team–the braves need to keep him.
just sayin'
September 29th, 2011
9:21 am
the ‘team’ got them into position to win..they didn’t win…when a guy throws 99mph, you don’t set the fastball up by starting with the curve ball on a disciplined hitters, and philly’s hitters proved to be disciplined..you set the curve up by getting fastballs to start the at bat and getting the batter behind with your best pitch, not your 2nd or 3rd best…still say kimbrel’s inning is more mccann’s issue, not kimbrel…
Turn Out The Lights!
September 29th, 2011
9:22 am
GLAD IT IS OVER – THESE GUYS WERE CHOKING LOSERS FROM DAY ONE!!! GET RID OF FREDI AND PARRISH AND MCDOWELL>
Casey Stinkle
September 29th, 2011
9:22 am
bhamfornow….sounds like a pretty good assessment…especially the point that McCann was over used. Only disagree on Constanza
bingbangbong
September 29th, 2011
9:22 am
Phillies fan here…not too sad that we swept you guys. But I do feel bad that you have such a horrible manager. There’s no way Charlie Manuel would have pitched to someone like Hunter Pence with a base open, Michael Martinez on deck, and the season on the line. Fredi Gonzalez’s managerial skills (or lackthereof) are mind-blowing!
JeanE
September 29th, 2011
9:22 am
I love the Braves, but choke is what they did. No way around it. Relied too much on rookies and young players who couldn’t handle the pressure. Prado and Mac disappeared. Uggla is totally streaky and inconsistent, starting pitchers can’t go past 5 or 6 innings, bullpen is wrecked, just an all around recipe for eventual disaster. Inevitable. Not psyched about next year either. Stuck with Lowe, who knows what happens with JJ and Hanson, they are injury prone for their younger age. Bye Hinske, not worth the 1 mil for what you gave this year. Heyward is a mess, in the field and at bat. Just very discouraging and disheartening.
Braves2012
September 29th, 2011
9:23 am
Seriously, is this what it has come to? Keep Heyward because he’s African American? Seriously. Good grief.
DetroitBraves
September 29th, 2011
9:23 am
@VaBravesfan, ok, I do have to ask one more thing. In your lineup, how did the Braves end up with Jose Bautista and why is he only batting 6th?
ricky
September 29th, 2011
9:23 am
what a sad ending to such a beautiful story. Midnight struck and Cinderella never made it back home. Being A Brave fan for 45 years, this one hurt bad. At one point this year the Braves and Phils were clearly the best team in Baseball. Go Braves……..NEXT YEAR
GTSteve
September 29th, 2011
9:24 am
If you didn’t watch this team during the summer when they had the 2nd best record in the National League, please don’t comment on them this morning like you know anything about this team or the Coaching Staff……Just go away
coach13
September 29th, 2011
9:24 am
It would be nice if the starters could go more than 5-6 innings but you can’t blame the pitching staff this year (other than Lowe). Beachy, Minor, and Delgado all pitched well enough to win games. THis goes on the offense and Freddi.
vesaversa
September 29th, 2011
9:25 am
Yes the Braves collapse was bad but they were only working with a 80 million payroll . On the other hand the Redsox collapse is even worst they have a payroll over 100 million dollars.The ESPN analogy is ridden with bias .
jonathan
September 29th, 2011
9:25 am
i think it is fitting that scott proctor gave up the walk-off HR to give TB the wild card
Todd
September 29th, 2011
9:26 am
Congrats! The Atlanta Braves have become the 2nd biggest choke artist of all time. Thanks Boston.
big 3
September 29th, 2011
9:26 am
bring back smoltzie, glavine and mad dog! they can still pitch!!! with the big 3 back, the braves can make the playoffs!!
Chicago Bulls Fan
September 29th, 2011
9:27 am
Braves, thank you for a great season. You guys are heading in the right direction. Look things could be worst, you could be UGA. Their fans are always screaming “Next Year, Next Year”…………I’ve been living in Atlanta for 14 yrs, and they are still screaming “Next year, we’re gonna be good”
Jason Heyward's Gynecologist
September 29th, 2011
9:27 am
Jason Heyward: The Next “Hank Aaron” in Right-Field for the Braves
L O L !!!
SG10
September 29th, 2011
9:28 am
With the season like this, Prado has certainly increased his chances of being traded but I doubt that will actually happen. I just don’t see Braves giving up on Prado, McCann and Heyward after 1 season. Having Bourn for full season will help with +3 wins. Our biggest need is a number 1 starter who can carry the team when needed. I thought Hanson and JJ were ready to make that jump this year but untimely injuries have put question marks. I fear at least one of them will have a season ending surgery next year.. Hudson, at his age, is at best no. 2 starter. (although there are nights he pitches like no. 1 but then so many other pitchers do). In my mind, no.1 starter is the one who can shut the other team down and go deep. Halladay, Hamels, Lee, Verlander, Lincecum are all like that. Hanson could be that some day.
Matthew
September 29th, 2011
9:28 am
keep heyward. Did you not notice Bourn?
Joe Tess Fish House
September 29th, 2011
9:28 am
Just remeber I told U all back in March the Braves mesed up by hiring a managar with a loosing record.
P B Orr
September 29th, 2011
9:29 am
Gonzalez said “We’ll be better for it”. Uh, exactly how? Can you see General Hood looking over the smoking ruin of the city of Atlanta, with Sherman dancing his little dance among the ashes, and saying, “This was tough to see the city burn to the ground, but we’ll be better for it.” Exactly when are the Braves going to be better for collapsing this way? Every face on the bench told the same story – epic choke, and that’s all on the leadership. This is a team with many green kids looking for guidance, and getting none.
We need a hard-nosed baseball man, not a touchy-feely pudgy baldy with his “the sun’ll come up tomorrow” homilies. Fire Fredi!
jj
September 29th, 2011
9:29 am
I saw the original version of this with my home town Cubs in 1969, this one doesn’t feel any better
Curious George
September 29th, 2011
9:29 am
Is it still too soon after that OTHER epic meltdown for us to appropriate rename the ballpark to CHERNOBYL FIELD for 2012?
Phils fan
September 29th, 2011
9:29 am
..so sad it’s funny. the umps and phillies bp tried to give this game away. i’m actually mad at the braves for making us play 13inns. so blank them. the braves deserve what they got! and we’re gonna beat the cards anyway.
Braves2012
September 29th, 2011
9:29 am
Jason Heyward is a bust. Francoeur drove in 70 runs in his middle of the year call up, 105 in 2006, 102 in 207 and we ran him out of town. Plus he could PLAY THE FIELD. Heyward needs to be replaced.
ATLred
September 29th, 2011
9:30 am
I hate living in this city and watching the sports teams come up with new ways to break their fans hearts every year. ATL sports fans should just spend their money on hookers and booze, at least you will get some satisfaction of a happy ending.
mark thompson
September 29th, 2011
9:30 am
BUNT, BUNT, BUNT…..i kept screaming last night….all year just like bobby cox the new mananger refuses to advance runners when we get leadoff guy on….!!! i kept score myself…and we would have won 6-3 again last night…not to mention the other 30 games we lost by 1 run…..we shouldve won division by 3 games….i dont care if babe ruth or chipper, mccann, freeman, uggla is up to bat….lead off guy gets on base…..u bunt him to 2nd,……….i kept score pretty much all season and saw the non fundamental baseball……u cant rely on 3 run homer or clutch hit from players…u have to score runs……….
SG10
September 29th, 2011
9:30 am
With the season like this, Prado has certainly increased his chances of being traded but I doubt that will actually happen. I just don’t see Braves giving up on Prado, McCann and Heyward after 1 season. Having Bourn for full season will help with +3 wins. Our biggest need is a number 1 starter who can carry the team when needed. I thought Hanson and JJ were ready to make that jump this year but untimely injuries have put question marks. I fear at least one of them will have a season ending surgery next year.. Hudson, at his age, is at best no. 2 starter. (although there are nights he pitches like no. 1 but then so many other pitchers do). In my mind, no.1 starter is the one who can shut the other team down and go deep. Halladay, Hamels, Lee, Verlander, Lincecum are all like that. Hanson could be that some day. Perhaps, Beachy will surprise us all and get to that next step by going deeper into the game.
sick of it
September 29th, 2011
9:30 am
They BETTER spend the $16 million that is going to be freed up with Kawakami, McLouth, and Gonzalez becoming free agents. I don’t want to see a LOWER team payroll next year accompanied by a bunch of bs excuses for it from Braves senior management.
Can we at least TRY and compete with the Phillies?
George Washington
September 29th, 2011
9:31 am
Though “it” officially began before that, for me, the first true death nail was and very real omen was the ball in the lights in Miami, followed by Omar’s blast to lose that precious game. We were one strike away from winning. Oh well. Can’t win ‘em all, and I guess .500 is too much to ask for too!
mike
September 29th, 2011
9:32 am
Disgusting. Awful. Makes you want to scream. But, at the end of the day, these Braves are OUR Braves, and I love ‘em.
Mark in ATL
September 29th, 2011
9:32 am
What is it about RF at Turner Field….is it the place great prospects go to die?
Kimbrel Blows Save
September 29th, 2011
9:33 am
Alot of Blogs here calling for Fredi Gonzalez head…
Unfortunately, it wont happen in the near future.
Spanky is Frank and Bobby’s “golden boy”.
He can do no wrong, even if he blew this big lead
Sorry folks, we have to look at his mug for the next few years at least
I would be shocked though if Larry Parrish is still around.
Somebody has to pay for this debacle.
Joe Tess Fish House
September 29th, 2011
9:33 am
OH yea I aslo told U all Justin Haywood was a bust last year and none of U bielived me. Instead U callled me names. Whose laffing now?
P B Orr
September 29th, 2011
9:34 am
Get the f out of here you racist punk
Lou Baseball Fan
September 29th, 2011
9:34 am
I guarantee the Braves will not look like this in ‘12, why, they thought this team was good enough and it’s not. Why Gonzalez didn’t pull Kimbrel for Medlin after he walked the first one is the dumbest move Gonzalez made all year. Medlin looked good after his rehab and is a fresh arm. I think the Braves will trade a top of the rotation starter for a REAL power hitter. Don’t be surprised if Heyward gets traded and don’t be surprised id Prince Fielder is our new first baseman. I have more but this is enough for now.
Kimbrel Blows Save
September 29th, 2011
9:35 am
And to Top everything off this year….
Melky Cabrera hit .305 for Kansas City!
LMFAO
Phils fan
September 29th, 2011
9:35 am
..you’re right. they’ll look more like the 2008 mets. we’re the braves gonna the cash?? fan support??
Alejandro
September 29th, 2011
9:37 am
The Braves were not going to be a factor in the post season. Fortunately, we are spared that frustration.
At the very least, we need a proven right fielder and shortstop. This year also proves there is so such thing as too much pitching.
Rickster
September 29th, 2011
9:38 am
Aug. 25th: Mark Bradley “When is a pennant race not a pennant race? Why, right about now.”
No truer words have even been written – over a month early.
Peter
September 29th, 2011
9:38 am
I blame the manager for managing the bullpen poorly, and for picking the hitting coach…….
All guys on this team had off years…..not one had a stellar year at the plate.
Then I would say the guys who should have come through, All star McCann, Chipper, and even Prado during the final month did zero to win in the end.
Yes losing the starters hurt, but when you burn the bull pen by pitching guys so often, then what do you expect by season’s end, when the tank is empty ?
The real culprit is Frank Wren…he was booted out of Baltimore to land a cushy job here, and signed terrible starters in Lowe and Kawakami…… blew up the team chemistry last year, and never got us a real outfield bat with power…….Please we have Diaz back ?
With Frank Wren and the current ownership group involved, they will never win anything.
Nice to know I got some free tickets this year but barely spent a dime on the Braves…..and until the changes are made, I will continue my personal policy.
Mark Bradley
September 29th, 2011
9:38 am
I confess: I thought this was an un-blowable lead. Wrong again.
Fredi, you're a joke
September 29th, 2011
9:38 am
Fredi Gonzalez is Bobby Cox part deux
Sit back and wait on the home run. Bunts are for sissies.
Joe Tess Fish House
September 29th, 2011
9:40 am
I new they would blow it. They R the Braves
P B Orr
September 29th, 2011
9:41 am
Mark, the issue now is the permanent stink. We have to clean house in coaching. The Braves have many kids and it’s not too late to get them organized. We have a sound team that is abysmally handled. We’ve got to get rid of the whole coaching crew before the stink becomes mold.