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
bill
September 29th, 2011
10:08 am
These Braves underachieve just like almost all Braves teams. The problem is they are not talented enough to phone in the game and still win the division. The Braves choked they let me down personally and the city as a whole. I was so upset last night i could not sleep when I realized these losers are not worth the sweat on my derriere and they do not appreciate the fact that their failures affect the fans. They expect to be applauded for mediocrity and next time the stands are half filled remember the sorry performance you gave us. I have no faith in the Braves as individuals or as a franchise. You will have to do something to win me back. Oh yeah theres that win thing again. Why was Heyward allowed to keep playing after he half heartedly went after that single in right field that he allowed the runner to go to third on. Bourn did you notice how he stopped on the base? We as a city and as a franchise suck. I did notice an improvement in Freeman on that last out. When he threw down his helmet it hit the ground. First thing he has hit in weeks! The Yankees will probably win it all again.____ add chosen explative
GetReal
September 29th, 2011
10:11 am
Javon, Go pick up your welfare check today and enjoy living off the tax payers. You deserve it and are entitled to it.
True Falcon Fan
September 29th, 2011
10:11 am
“Unbeleivable” — Somebody has got to go —- my opinion “The Coach” —- From day one – when he put the injury “Fear Factor” in during exibition season “You guy’s have got to be careful out there” —- Fedi, “Are you kidding me” your players are paid to make plays, injury is part of the game! You can’t scar them out of the shut!…..Fedi, doesn’t know how to communicatio with aurthority to his players…..Only guy’s like Cox, Torre, Leamen, Lou, Dusty, Anderson, etc., know the aurthority of the communication factor………
“Somebody has got to go”! “Fedi you it”!
Over for 2010
September 29th, 2011
10:11 am
New manager is a do nothing type who plays his favorites just like Cox did. It hurt them then and it hurt them now. It does not matter the players and who actually got the job done, they still put in the bums who do nothing but play golf with a bat. The team did not deserve to win and I really wish Liberty would sell the team to a real owner who cares about getting a strong manager instead of a wimp or who even cheer on his players. One that will form a lineup and leave it alone. And stop bringing players back who we let go. If there was a reason to let them go in the first place, then you dont need them back. If they didnt work out and they hit the road, then why do they think they will do anything in the return. What a class of losers.
swimdawg68
September 29th, 2011
10:12 am
I like Uggla, but last night he was loafing when he left second base and headed for home after the base hit. He did not turn on the “jets” until he rounded third. Had he hustled the entire way he would have been safe at home and as it turned out the Braves would have won in 9 innings. Sad, that personifies the Braves in Sept.
Tip your hat
September 29th, 2011
10:14 am
Do you guys think that whenever Freddi G gets fired they will say you gotta tip your hat to him?
Sid
September 29th, 2011
10:15 am
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!
**********************************************************************
Yep Ron, it would have to take a bunch of bums to win like that………I mean imagine, 14 straight division championships, 5 World Series appearances, 1 World Series Title, (don’t forget, there wasn’t a WS in 94′ but the Braves could have been in it), and I’ll just throw in there 6 Cy Young Award winners……………!! Just bums…………everyone of ‘em.
Leading Off: Three Minutes That Re-Wrote History - NYTimes.com
September 29th, 2011
10:16 am
[...] only drama came with the Braves’ demise. Labeling them choking dogs is a disservice to dogs, writes Mark Bradley in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and Joe Sheehan explains on SI.com how the seeds of this demise were sown as the season unraveled. [...]
LawDawg
September 29th, 2011
10:17 am
This is the problem with the length of the baseball season: I stopped caring about the Braves around 7:45 on a Saturday 3.5 weeks ago. Go Football!!
Phatty
September 29th, 2011
10:17 am
This is all for the best. The Cards will give Phillies a better fight than the Braves ever could, based on the last two series.
Over for 2010
September 29th, 2011
10:17 am
I got gout- look at the contracts. Ugla signed for 5 years not for 2012
BRAVES WAY
September 29th, 2011
10:17 am
I am sick of the “Braves Way” – No emotion no Fire. It is as if they are told
not to get excited they start to get pumped up and then stop. These guys
played tight the last 3 weeks of the season. Larry Jones is not a leader, nor
is McCann. Leaders take charge and refuse to lose. I have been a Braves
Fan since 1976. I am done. I am sick of the “Business Like Approach”
it doesn’t work. I am sure either you (Mark) or Jeff will sit down with Frank
Wren next week and we will hear all about No Hanson No JJ blah blah blah.
How about no FIRE no Balls. This team is made up of Robots. Your right fielders
batting averages are below .250. There are 3 guys who play hard everyday on this
team Ugla, Prado, Borne. The rest of the everyday players can go and yes Larry
will be back at third next year and lose more balls in the lights playing third base.
Good luck Braves I am done.
CJ
September 29th, 2011
10:18 am
I have a great idea, why don’t we get rid of heyward, gonzalez, jurjjens, hanson, and lowe, Find a new manager, while we’re at it find a new gm. Get chipper to retire, move prado to 3rd, resign bourne to a long term deal, find 2 new corner outfielders and a SS. Oh and btw, don’t blow out your bullpen before sept. Just a few thoughts. Nah, wouldn’t change much of anything anyway.
Mike
September 29th, 2011
10:18 am
Last night mattered little to me either way. Even had they won and went on to make the play-offs, this team has demonstrated that it is truly not a play-off caliber team and would have been quickly eliminated, prolonging the agony. Probably would not even had watched. Don’t feel sorry for them in any way. The worst thing that will happen is that they will feel bad for a couple of days, take a little heat from the fans and the always-too-quick-to-complain-media, take their millions and go to the beach for a great winter. We should all have it so good. Next spring, some of the players will whine about wanting to make 12 million, since they can’t live on 10 million, start up spring camp with great expectraions and we will see once again. Braves, you did not earn your millions this past month. You embarrased your town, your fans and your selves. Have a great winter. Now at least we can concentrate on football …
Eddie
September 29th, 2011
10:19 am
Bottom line is that Heyward should not have been in the lineup the last month and we hit the ball exactly like the Braves always have since a certain coaching staff got involved…we don’t hit! We rely on the homerun too much and never ever manufacture runs. That goes all the way back to the 1990s. How many times have you seen 2 on and 0 outs for the Braves in the last 20 years only to see them never score? Let me get my calculator. It’s ridiculous. Hats off to the Cardinals. Tony Larussa knows how to win with bad pitching and good hitting or good pitching and bad hitting. He’s a pro. We need someone more like that in Atlanta. Fredi is obviously not the guy.
Robbie
September 29th, 2011
10:19 am
After reading all these posts and having slept it off, I’m really glad the season is over.
My wife says that my blood pressure will surely improve. I kept saying since the middle of the month that I was not going to watch them any more! I am still a Brave’s fan as are all the posters and right now we are frustrated and our team choked beyond believe. Just keep this thought….there is always next year and we could be Cub’s fans!
Melky
September 29th, 2011
10:19 am
McCann looks like Leo Mazzone in that picture. Oh well, he may not be able to hit a baseball anymore, but at least he’s not a complete buffoon like Mazzone is.
Ed
September 29th, 2011
10:20 am
Better to experience the disappointment now, than to expect something from nothing during the playoffs……
LawDawg
September 29th, 2011
10:20 am
Sid: I agree that the idea that Braves are bums are ridiculous, but you do realize in 1994 we had essentially no shot of making the playoffs, right? Montreal was in the middle of a potential record-breaking season and wild card did not exist yet.
LawDawg
September 29th, 2011
10:21 am
Braves Way: “Good luck Braves I am done.”
No one cares and you will not be missed.
Over for 2010
September 29th, 2011
10:21 am
I know, I am sick of hearing about how the new players will fit in really well with the team. In other words they are saying “yes this player is in a coma most of the time” so he will fit in. No temper, no excitement, no big mouth, no getting the team excited. Just sit at your locker and be docile and dont create any friction. A team needs someone to get them excited and expect the best. We simply dont have that and have not had that fire for a long time. The braves of the 90’s had fire. Smoltz yelled, Justice ran his mouth, got fans excited and ticked off at the same time. It worked. Get rid of the dead managers and coaches and lets see someone who is going to kick a little ass once in a while.
I'm a loser
September 29th, 2011
10:21 am
Ok I follow the Dawgs Braves Falcons and Hawks !!!! that makes me 4 time loser, along with any of you that follow these teams. Think I’ll start rooting for teams from NY
Markian S
September 29th, 2011
10:22 am
Soothe your aching hearts and come on up to the City of Brotherly Love for the Series. Everyone is proud to hate the Yankees.
BIG TECH
September 29th, 2011
10:22 am
This is for you Braves fans from the movie Major League character Lou Brown: It’s either a leg thing, or a spiritual thing, or a psychological thing, or a heart attack! LOL!!
Tdalmore
September 29th, 2011
10:22 am
This loss would’ve hurt worse, except that you could feel it coming at least two weeks ago. Last night was just the inevitable end of the slide. Even Heyward losing that ball in the lights that led to the Phillies’ 2nd run. It was catchable. The perfect throw it took to get Uggla at home. If that ball had been off line even slightly, we score the 4th run. Kimbrel nibbling around the corners instead of being aggressive with one of the best fastballs in the game . . . we were fated to lose.
Phils rule
September 29th, 2011
10:22 am
Did Larry seriously throw the bullpen under the bus for the 9th inning, when he and the offense couldn’t score a run in 10 innings, including 3 innings by AAA pitchers?
I think the Sox collapse is bigger/worse.
1) They were picked by experts to get to, if not wn, the series.
2) They had a bigger payroll.
3) You guys lost to the best team in baseball…Sox lost to the Orioles.
TBH I thought the Phils would mail this game in once the Cards took a 5-0 lead in the first, if for no other reason than to make the Cards burn whoever was going to start game 2 of the NLDS today in a play-in. I guess the Phils wanted to get Charlie the franchise record in career wins the team record for season wins.
Hedley Lamarr
September 29th, 2011
10:22 am
It will be interesting to see what happens next and during the winter. Despite all the optimism expressed in these pages about what the future holds, surely you cannot go into next season with this exact same group and expect the end results to be any different.
BIG TECH
September 29th, 2011
10:23 am
Hey I’m a loser, you can always root for Georgia Tech!
tennisgirl
September 29th, 2011
10:23 am
I am a 25 year+ fan who has always supported our Braves. It was not injured pitchers who brought us down. It’s the same old year after year without offensive production. What made it profound this year is that all hitters throughout the order could not (or would not?) sacrifice a fly ball to get a runner in from 3rd. It didn’t matter what inning, they all went up to bat looking for a homerun and they looked like idiots–selfish ones at that. I don’t wish any ill will to the players, but I hope that everyone of them has a bad taste in their mouth every single day between now and next April.
Robbie
September 29th, 2011
10:24 am
Suggestion….. Try to have positive thoughts about the Brave’s organization this winter and look over the rosters of the entire organization..it looks bright.
Cardinal fans
September 29th, 2011
10:25 am
I have seen both Brave fans and Cardinal fans respond to their teams’ ups and downs over the years and have concluded that the better fan base will see their team in the playoffs this year.
Melky
September 29th, 2011
10:28 am
This team may not have any heart or play with any fire, but they’re leading the league in cap tipping and butt patting. Maybe they can find a new league where nobody keeps score, and everybody gets Capri Suns and orange slices after the games.
Leo!
September 29th, 2011
10:28 am
bring back leo mazzone to straighten out the pitchers. the current pitching coach doesn’t have a clue.
Rex
September 29th, 2011
10:28 am
Blow up the Braves! Tell Chipper it is time to ride off into the sunset, tell Lowe it is time to do the same, get rid of anyone who didn’t produce, and take a long look at Fredi Gonzalez. No excuse for blowing this.
Smokey
September 29th, 2011
10:29 am
I’m in total agreement with reguarding the anger,frustration, and shame we feel for this seasons efforts.
You idiots that say we don’t care:YOU dont get it.
We care, we totally care. We want the Ring as bad as you do.
rugburn
September 29th, 2011
10:30 am
i don’t think bringing back leo will help. he still thinks the braves have a chance
Robbie
September 29th, 2011
10:30 am
It is time for Hudson to accept the roll of senior leader of this team. He was so frustrated when Jason muffed that fly ball. He has the gravitas for the job.
Bobby cox
September 29th, 2011
10:30 am
Hey hey folks we still same was my son great as Manager i so proud of him……even Gene Mauch is happy in heaven free of being on top of blowin it……chipper what this u were sayin we can beat Phillies said we were better no comment…hey chip carey n Joe simpson what happen u said no way we blow this 10 game lead for wildcard..and u stupid remarks sayin Phillies will not bring it when come n were strugglin for wins n still tryin clinch postseason ….I laugh at that from sportsouth crew..did tom Glavine pitch in Lowes body too 9-17 5.05 at end and ..all u say is he had a great season….This time Frank Wren should be Fired and get a new GM like former cubs GM here!
bill
September 29th, 2011
10:31 am
Bulls Pride lets recap Baseball won a world series in 1957 and 1995. We are due in 2033. We were ahead in 1958 and 1996 3 games to one and lost to the YANKEES. In 1969 we gotswept in the playoffs by the METS.
Hawks perrenial losers Flames Thrashers can’t even keep those losers in the ATL. Falcons one super bowl badly played. We got in the super bowl because retarded dennis Green was coaching the Vikings. Soccer womens pro basketball What a joke we are to everyone else. I am in pain over this crap.
rebman76
September 29th, 2011
10:32 am
Mark,
What do the Braves have in the minors that can be used to trade for a power hitter like, say, Tampa’s Evan Longoria. Also, Is Bourn a free agent? If so, what will it take to keep him in the Braves lineup?
rebman76
September 29th, 2011
10:35 am
Pitching wasnt the problem. Injuries were. Hanson and Jurrjens were hurt the whole month of September. Alex Gonzalez gets hurt in Washington over the weekend. Personally, I think Gonzo should have played. This game was a one-and-done scenario. You need your best players in the game. Not a guy like Jack Wilson.
Chipper's Back!
September 29th, 2011
10:37 am
Chipper has decided to come back in 2012! With a healthy chipper, the Braves will rule the division in 2012!!! Braves to the playoffs—chipper leads the way!!!
rugburn
September 29th, 2011
10:40 am
what i don’t get is the 7th, 8th, and 9th inning guys. face it,nobody is great everyday, so doesn’t logic tell you that you will find the guy who’s off that particular day if you keep changing them up. then when you do get to your 9th inning guy and he’s the one that’s off, you got nobody left (see last night’s game for example) and you leave the closer to walk 3-4 guys and lose or you lose in extras
PonGT
September 29th, 2011
10:41 am
It’s your fault Bradley. You wrote in August that it was going to be a leisurely stroll into the playoffs …that the Braves were too far behind to win the division and too far ahead of the rest to lose the wild card. You, MB, have personally brought back the curse of September that Braves fans thought was long gone after all those years of winning. Next time, please don’t tell the team to take a leisurely stroll. Tell them to put the pedal to the metal and gain momentum for the playoffs … ala St Louis
Ryder
September 29th, 2011
10:42 am
One more thing Braves fans….this isn’t going to get any better. With the Nationals young talent coming to fruition and the Marlins having new leadership under Ozzie Guillen this WILL be the last time you see the Atlanta Braves contend for any postseason for YEARS to come.
rugburn
September 29th, 2011
10:42 am
wow! i didn’t know chipper blogged and i didn’t expect him to be up this early
kevbrad
September 29th, 2011
10:44 am
Atlanta, home of sport mediocrity.
GaDawg
September 29th, 2011
10:44 am
Atlanta Dream baby!
TigerinGA
September 29th, 2011
10:45 am
Not sure why it matters, but this team was never the same after Hurricane Irene screwed up their schedule in New York. It may be coincidence, but that was the weekend that the wheels starting coming off.
Skeezix
September 29th, 2011
10:46 am
I was literally sick when it was finally all over. The fear of losing took over and guess what? They lost. The Cards turned up the heat and the Braves lost September. Huddy was the big time gamer last night who showed up to win. Medlen, who hasn’t pitched in the bigs for a year and a half, facing the fearsome Phillies line up, showed a ton of guts. In last night’s game I kept comparing our batters approach to the Phils. The Phils were very patient and made the Braves pitchers throw strikes. They didn’t go up there swinging for the fences. Most of our guys were impatient, swung at a lot of sucker pitches and swung hard at everything. Thus when they didn’t strike out (and they did a lot of that), they popped it up or hit a dribbler to an infielder. They were tight, immature (’I want to hit the heroic homerun’), and they choked.
Kimbrel–you could see the meltdown coming in his body language, he was turning white out there. But he is very young, very talented and hopefully this experience will help season him.
The truth is this team is not playoff worthy and the Cards are. The Cards/Phillies series should be fun to watch and I’ll be rooting hard for the Red Birds.