Braves Special - Atlanta Braves: Close but not enough
The Atlanta Braves had a heartbreaking 2011 Major League Baseball regular season, as the team looked good in the Wild Card standings with a decent lead of over eight games. However, the Braves slipped in their performance and lost out to the St. Louis Cardinals
by one game from getting into the postseason. The team finished second in the National League East Division with a win-loss record of 89-73.
For the fans, the irony comes from the fact that the Braves were a shoe-in for the postseason, only to collapse and miss out to the St. Louis Cardinals. What hurt the most was the fact that the Cardinals went on to win the 2011 World Series. However, the
Braves did show the rest of the League that they are contenders and can take on some of the top tier teams. Finishing second in the NL East Division is a decent achievement for the team. With teams like the Washington Nationals, New York Mets, Philadelphia
Phillies and the Miami Marlins, the critics argue the fact that either the Braves are good or maybe just the other teams in their Division are struggling.
What cannot be denied is that the Braves were very close to getting into the playoffs and having only missed out by one game, shows their confidence and level of commitment. Losing again due to a poor performance in the month of September, after being ahead
in the Wild Card standings is something that the team will be looking to address. During the month of September, the Braves struggled to hold on to any sort of decent form and found themselves with a win-loss record of 9-18 out of the last 27 games.
In baseball, like in life, we cannot go back and change things as what is done is done. However, you can make changes to prevent the same things from happening again. To the dislike of many fans, the Braves had a relatively quite offseason. The team did
not sign on any big name player to a huge mega-contract, but rather they sent Derek Lowe to Cleveland and Alex Gonzalez made his way to the Milwaukee Brewers. It looks like the Braves’ management is under the impression that since they were so close last season,
the team is in pretty good shape and many changes are not needed.
This policy of not making drastic changes is refreshing to see in Major League Baseball. Most teams start trading players, as soon as the offseason starts for big name high priced players to help with the next season. This approach by the Braves’ management
is commendable, as it shows the extreme confidence and faith that they have in their players. There is no doubt that the Atlanta Braves are full of talent and they have shown that they are quite capable of getting into postseason play.
As Spring Training is almost upon us, the Braves will be looking to put in a good performance and build up some confidence against some of the top tier teams in the League. The club is desperate not to repeat the same mistakes from the 2011 season. It will
be interesting to see how the Braves managed to pull themselves together and battle it out during the upcoming 2012 MLB regular season. The fans will be hoping for some postseason success this year as close is just not enough for them.
The views expressed in this article are the writer's own and in no way represent Bettor.com's official editorial policy.
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