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
Sports Town My A$$
September 29th, 2011
10:47 am
Screw the Braves, Falcons, Bulldogs, Tech and Hawks; enough is enough for this sorry sports town/region! Yes, Tech is 4 -0, but we all know it will not last.
doug
September 29th, 2011
10:47 am
This certainly does sting, the good news is time has a way of easeing all sorrows.
Don’t blame the pitching staff ( a couple should be escorted out of the Bullpen and town yes) the youngsters are a big reason the Braves made it this far. The losses off Hansen and J.J. really hurt in September and couldn’t be overcome.Getting into the 13th inning shows the staff still pitched tough.
The big culprit… crummy (being nice) hitting again, with all the extra inning and one run games it’s a wonder everyone doesn’t have ulcers now.
“IF” the Atlanta Braves Brain Trust ( Hum?) is serious about improveing this team going forward (money) go out and get a couple/few decent hitters in next seasons lineup. Happy Holidays fellow Bravo fans, see ya next time
))
Curate
September 29th, 2011
10:47 am
Same Season, Different year. Decent April and May, Great June, July, and August. Horrific September. The only good thing about this is that we did not have to endure an embarrassing October. I think someone needs to remind the Braves that the season is 162 games, not 100.
Catman
September 29th, 2011
10:48 am
Why is no one questioning Fredi’s decision to pitch to Hunter Pence in the 13th? Runners at first and third with 2 out and Martinez on deck. A young inexperienced 200 hitter. Sure, first base was occupied but second base was open. The open base doesn’t always have to be first base to intentionally walk a guy. I know managers don’t like to intentionally walk the bases loaded, but who in their right mind didn’t think Pence would get a hit in that situation with Linebrink on the mound? You walk Pence and take your chances with Martinez. If I’m going to lose I’m not going to let their hottest hitter beat me due to my own stupidity.
rugburn
September 29th, 2011
10:49 am
just like at the end of “bad news bears” where tanner yells “you gotta tip your cap to them”
James Baxter
September 29th, 2011
10:49 am
So this column is one of your finest? It takes incredible writing talent to bluntly call players losers and blame blame blame. Okay Mark, you’ve been in MLB for years at various levels, exactly which brilliant moves did you expect the manager to make? Oh, which would have saved all this? Aside from trying to sub cold hitters and yank pitchers when they were in trouble, there are actually nine players on the field, and more in the dugout. When they don’t get hits and strand runners, and when pitchers are off, again, genius, which moves did Fredi not make? So you say they tried TOO hard, and then you call them, collectively, losers. 162 games dude. One more homer, one bad call at third, any number of small things, and they win and go to the playoffs. But now with your vast knowledge and experience, all you do is scream blame.
Kasahn
September 29th, 2011
10:51 am
INJURIES didn’t stop our ANEMIC hitting all year. INJURIES had nothing to do w/Uggla’s homers and the fact that they are all Solo’s.
3rd base,catcher,CF,right field,left fielder —POWER POSITIONS NOT HITTING AT ALL.
INJURIES have NOTHING to do with THAT.
Jason Heyward's Gynecologist
September 29th, 2011
10:52 am
Matt Diaz will NEVER be a patient of mine.
I applaud your hustle, desire and passion for the game, Mr. Diaz.
Tim from Bama
September 29th, 2011
10:53 am
You’ve just got to tip your caps to the Nats, Phillies, Cards, Mets…b.s. I hope I never hear that phrase uttered again. I agree with everything PackerEd has on his Christmas wish list, except I think we should also put Larry Parrish being gone and getting some announcers with some balls (like good ole Skip and Harry had) on the list too. Those guys didn’t make excuses. Epic choke job. RTR and Go Dawgs.
Phillies Fan
September 29th, 2011
10:54 am
I watched the game on the comcast network in Philadelphia and they kept showing the emotions both in the Braves dugout and the fans in the stands. The fans seemed to want this game so much more than the players, despite what the players say. The Braves are lucky they have fans that care so much. They even showed a young boy crying into his baseball glove. Heartbreaking.
rugburn
September 29th, 2011
10:56 am
to phillies fan… i believe that was dan uggla
Tech Buzz
September 29th, 2011
10:56 am
Tech is the only good team in georgia. the bulldogs suck, the braves such, the falcons suck, the hawks suck. Tech football—ACC title on the way!!!
E
September 29th, 2011
10:57 am
I think it is time for a reload. Braves have no offense. Get rid of Prado, Gonzo, Chipper, Heyward. Dump some of those “amazing” pitching prospects and get us a freaking couple bats. I hate to say this as well, cuz usually it is not the managers fault, but get rid of Gonzalez as well. Some of the worst decisions I have ever seen.
TrueATLfan
September 29th, 2011
10:58 am
ATL fans are fair weather fans. If you jump off the wagon today, do “us” a favor and never get back on. David Justice said it once about our fans and it has never been more true 16 years later. “Our” Bravos did not pull through in clutch situations or even during the September chase. But, the ATL teams will always be my team. I think of it like a family member that disappoints you from time to time. You can talk about them but you would never want someone else to degrade or disrespect them. No matter what you say, this is still “Braves Country” and I like few others will still be chopping the tomahawk and cheering for my BRAVOS.
jb
September 29th, 2011
10:58 am
Thanks Mark for telling it like it it..tired of ajc and others sugar coating everything. Braves need to fire Wrens for all the money he has wasted. Fire Fredi and get a real manager and clean house.
Clean the Bobby Cox smell out of the clubhouse and play abc baseball. Braves need major reconstruction.
But we all know they will never do crap.
Tom Brave
September 29th, 2011
10:59 am
More like Tom Heartbroken…
I know all of us y’all folk supposed to hate ‘em, but the Phillies are awesome. Halladay, Lee, Hamels, Oswalt, plus a rookie named Vance? I love the Phillies! I cleverly used a disguise name and then some real-life “authentic” Southern vernacular to disguise my northernly-oriented e-text dialect. Now that we’ve cleared the air. I wish to move forward with originally intended message. It’s dramatically surreal that our own British occupier, our own Apollo Creed, our once feared enemies, baseball’s once-darling found themselves wanting. Wanting of the heart and character necessary to close out a regular season with a win over a team just barely over an eight game losing streak.
Shouldn’t happen. Young or not, some unhealthy elements seemed to have made their way into or emerged out of the Braves’ locker room. Perhaps inept management, perhaps some chemistry issues between players. Or maybe the Braves are just terrible. Terrible and tired of all that tomahawking. Either way, at the end of day, the Braves lost because they could not play. No they could not play.
Pat McGroin
September 29th, 2011
11:00 am
To Phillies Fan: Get on your own ugly, industrial, polluted, pig-women, guido-men website and tawk awl you want about basebawl… Get a life and chat with your own Philidelphia types.
My 2 Cents
September 29th, 2011
11:00 am
1. Heyward plays every ball hit to him on a bounce. He is not good in right field. He cannot hit. Send him back down.
2. Derek Lowe needs to go. Mgmt needs to be ashamed of the money they have given him. He should retire and walk away.
3. We need more money to attract some hitters, Liberty Media! The Braves aren’t just a tax break to some of us.
4. I think the Braves Marketing Dept. spent more time thinking about the concerts they planned after the games and the Friday night firework displays than mgmt did about the team and what it takes to win.
5. We need some good, consistent offensive players. Pitching is great but you don’t win ballgames without scoring any runs.
6. Get Prado out of the outfield, look for a replacement for Chipper Jones (No offense, Chip.), get fired up Fredi, play Constanza…
7. Clean up the area around Turner Field. Walking over from some of the parking lots is like trekking through a d*mn garbage dump. I am embarrassed every time we bring family or friends down for a game.
8. I hate the Wildcard. As far as I am concerned, it doesn’t count.
9. The season is too long.
10. I hate interleague play. Get rid of it!
rugburn
September 29th, 2011
11:03 am
when i was a kid in the 70’s the braves were always my team, but i got to have a 2nd favorite team so i’d have someone to pull for in the playoffs. braves done. go rays
lol at the Lames
September 29th, 2011
11:03 am
Did anyone really think they were NOT going to choke. C’mon when the media started talking how a collapse is possible, we all knew it was going to happen.
What a joke, way to continue to represent the city.
Trade them all, trade all the Hawks, trade all the Falcons
Joe Tess Fish House
September 29th, 2011
11:06 am
I say bring back Russ Nixon
steve
September 29th, 2011
11:08 am
Some of you folks really, really need to get a life.
It's time
September 29th, 2011
11:08 am
Please please please get rid of Fredi, Parrish, Lowe and Heyward.
rugburn
September 29th, 2011
11:09 am
braves mindset, let’s win the series. phillies mindset, let’s sweep the series.
MeaneyMouse
September 29th, 2011
11:09 am
ATLANTA BRAVES2012WORLD SERIES CHAMPS!!! YYYYIIIIIIPPPPPEEEE
Pat McGroin
September 29th, 2011
11:09 am
Wren needs to go to Liberty Media and demand more money for payroll so he can afford to get a true bat in this lineup! I am tired of the mediocre bats we find… usually guys on the back end of their careers… on the CHEAP!
WREN AND LIBERTY MEDIA… YOU SUC*!!!
Skeezix
September 29th, 2011
11:14 am
And once again the Bradley/AJC tractor beam captured one of my posts and dropped it in their blackhole–probably located somewhere near the constellation Orion.
Mark Bradley
September 29th, 2011
11:17 am
Here’s a new little post, mostly on Fredi Gonzalez.
b
September 29th, 2011
11:19 am
JThings that bothered me;
Removing Constanza from the lineup in Sept.
Heyward not hustling on that ball that allowed Schneider to go to third.
Uggla turning his body rounding third to look at Pence before he was thrown out at plate.
Putting Martinez in to pitch Mon.after he’d pitche over two innings Sun. with three lefties coming to bat
Kimbrel Blows Save
September 29th, 2011
11:25 am
Listening to Sirius Sports, Kevin Kennedy said the biggest mistake the Braves made last night is that
Fredi Gonzalez (aka Teflon Fredi) SHOULD have gone out and calmed Kimbrel down after he started to
rush his pitches…
Spot on….. I too was waiting for him to get off his fat duff and DO SOMETHING!
Maybe he was thinking too much about his biker jacket he likes to show off…fat ,old man wearing leather…disgusting
SAL
September 29th, 2011
11:35 am
It’s the curse of the “red panties’!!!!!!!!!!!
mike
September 29th, 2011
11:37 am
Let’s just devote our energy to the Falcons, even though they are supreme underperformers and chokers themselves, we at least have a few more months of optimism. Also, if the NBA returns, this city should really support the Hawks. Yes JJ does not deserve that money, but would you turn it down? Its not his fault the Hawks overpaid him. Also, they have made the playoffs 4 years in a row, which is better than any other team we have.
Producer
September 29th, 2011
11:39 am
Are we disappointed? Yes, but this was Fredi’s first year. At least he isn’t Mark Richt who continually fails and is still propped up. I think the Braves will be back strongly next Spring.
aj
September 29th, 2011
11:50 am
This “epic collapse” should be no suprise for this town/state whether its UGA, Braves or Falcons a collapse when it counts is what they do best. I dont blame the Thrashers for leaving for Winnipeg. I say send the rest of the teams to Winnapeg and start over.
P Rose
September 29th, 2011
12:02 pm
@My2Cents @ 11:00: Dead! Bluto’s right. Psychotic… but absolutely right. We gotta take these b@st@rds. Now we could do it with conventional weapons, but that could take years and cost millions of lives. No, I think we have to go all out. I think that this situation absolutely requires a really futile and stupid gesture be done on somebody’s part!
Scott Lockett
September 29th, 2011
12:05 pm
I have been a Braves fan since 1991 and this loss hurts. Congrats to St. Louis for peaking at the right time of the year. It’s a tough loss right now, but it’s not the end of the world. Losing the game, the wild card and thoughts of this collapse will be on each player’s mind all winter long. Hopefully, the players can use this for motivation when pitchers and catchers and everybody else will report to Spring Training in February 2012. The future look bright for this team.
Sideline Dude
September 29th, 2011
12:05 pm
Thank God the baseball season is at least over in Atlanta. The Braves folded just like with a bad poker hand. And in fact, they probably could have played cards better than they did baseball. Now we don’t have to put up with them for a while.
Phillies Fan
September 29th, 2011
12:08 pm
You can hate on the Phillies and the citizens of Philadelphia all you want but it doesn’t make your team any better. To say the Braves choked like a dog is not fair to dogs. The Braves choked like a NY Met.
Burgerboy
September 29th, 2011
12:17 pm
Remember when (and rightfully so) Leo Mazzone was hailed as the best pitching coach in baseball ? During this offseason it’s my informed yet humble opinion the Braves ownership and Frank Wren need to take the following steps to move the Braves out of the spinning our wheels mired in the upper echelon of mediocrity where we’ve been for 7-8 seasons. Hire the absolute best hitting coach you can find. Pendleton and Parrish have been abject failures; the Braves are constantly near the bottom in batting average. Spend the money (which we have) to bring in not 1 but 2 top flight hitters. We could have had Michael Bourne AND Hunter Pence if we really cared about winning. Barring a spring training average over .500, Jason Heyward should be sent to Gwinnett where he hopefully can be broken of his looping golf-like swing. Nate McClouth should be sent to the Saskatoon Instructional League and learn to play baseball. Dan Uggla was brought here to supply power, which he did. He was NOT brought here to bat .233 for the season and .170 from April – July and single handedly cost us 8-10 games with his pathetic non- Major League worthy batting. Chipper played better with 2 bad feet and 2 bad knees than kids half his age. I think he should hang it up. Maybe he’s the batting coach we need. Put Constanza in the outfield until his average no longer warrants it. In August he tore it up, disrupted opponents with his bunting and speed and was solid in the outfield. When Fredi subbed Diaz for Constanza, Diaz didn’t hit and we lost the speed we so desperately need. As for Fredi Gonzales, he’s only had one season to replace the beloved Cox, who personally chose him. You have to consider what he has to work with but after this season I’m not overly impressed. Front office…please make some serious changes this offseason if you want my money next season.
iTiSi
September 29th, 2011
12:20 pm
I am so sick and tired of these AJC sportswriters giving FG a free pass. He is at least 80% of the problem, and his players mimic him. Any manager that would start D Lowe after the way he had lost his last few games, and any manager who would bring in LineStink with his recent showing at a critical point in the last game, needs to have his head examined. That “brain” is just not functioning! Someone asked why all the seats were not filled, at least for the last game. I think you now have your answer!!!!
Sad Braves fan
September 29th, 2011
12:24 pm
Mark I can’t believe you said don’t fire fredi! I just lost all respect for you as a pro sports writer.
iTiSi
September 29th, 2011
12:25 pm
Karma is a real “B” and I think the Phillies will discover that very soon. They got their favorite team, the Cards(Not!) in the first round, and they will show the Philthies who their “daddy” is. Just you watch! Fillies need to be taken down a notch or two, and the Cards can do it.
jb
September 29th, 2011
12:27 pm
Producer..fredi was crap in Fla…don’t compare to Richt. Anyone that wants FG back is sick in the head..all this next year crap i’ve heard since 1966.
Doug
September 29th, 2011
12:29 pm
I hope as long as Fredi and his clowns are running show everyone stays home.
Mustapha
September 29th, 2011
12:29 pm
The Braves may need a new hitting coach. It is very clear that ball contact and hitting need improvement for the next season.
i know
September 29th, 2011
1:01 pm
Enter your comments here
i know
September 29th, 2011
1:01 pm
Enter your comments here
Dennis Storz
September 29th, 2011
1:03 pm
Living in the St. Louis area and watching the Braves implode was pathetic. The Braves have nothing. If anyone from the manager to any of the 25 players are kept on the club, good luck. Oh yeah, Chipper Jones, give me a senior citizen break.
Either baseball is a fraud, or the team needs to be dismissed, or apply for Double AA.
andrew
September 29th, 2011
1:09 pm
Everyone wonders why the Fans in Atlanta are the way they are? Well, last nights Braves game and last years playoff game of the Falcons are two examples why. First, the Braves 14 great years under Bobby Cox with only one World Series championship to show for it. Then the Falcons with only one back to back winning seasons with nothing to show for it. The State of Georgia is under a Curse for all of our sporting teams! We have so much talent on so many teams here, but we have nothing to show for it. Our teams in Georgia only play good enough to keep you interested and then they let you down time and time again. I am ready to move to another state where you don’t have as many “Losers” as we do!
I think it is time to sell the Braves and the Falcons to another state and take that money and get it to the state for some mass transportation. That would be a win for everyone for the state of Georgia.
Every team in this state from college to pro’s just can not brake through to a championship team. I really do not understand why it is that way here. This is one sad day for Braves Fans, and I really can not even think about Baseball right now, after last night. This is my favorite time of year, with playoff baseball, football and cool weather. Now, it just sucks! It is going to be a long off season for the Braves and I think that they will never recover from the this year and I don’t think they will ever be the same. I look for the Braves to be a team of the past back when we really sucked in the 80’s. Mark my words it is going to go back to that again. Nothing but Doom and Gloom for the state of georgia sporting teams, sorry fans but I think this is it for our chance at a playoff team. Football and baseball and basketball…. now I can at least leave out hockey this year. At least that is one disappointment I don’t have to mention again. Fire everyone and sell everything!!!!!
BIG TECH
September 29th, 2011
1:10 pm
What a bunch of WHINING LOSERS!!! From Manager Lou Brown: IT’S EITHER A LEG THING, OR A SPIRITUAL THING, OR A PSYCHOLOGICAL THING, OR A HEART ATTACK!!! LOL!!! C-ya Next Year Losers!!