Under the Radar

For a baseball team that led its division from wire to wire and, until the next to last day of the season, had the best record in the league, the Atlanta Braves enter the 2013 postseason as a forgotten team.

A team that celebrated a lot of wins this season, you might say, they’re flying under the radar.

 

In Jayson Stark’s postseason prediction piece on ESPN.com yesterday, you had to scroll about two-thirds of the way down his column before you found any mention of the Braves. And even that notation was a reference to the 1998 Bravos rather than the current configuration.

The Braves are definitely invisible when it comes to post-season chatter on the eve of the first games of the N.L.D.S. and A.L.D.S. I think it goes something like this:

“The Cardinals have the greatest fans in the world, therefore they will win.”

Or

“The Dodgers spent the most cash. They have the best team money can buy (and ESPN loves them), therefore they will win.”

Or

“The Pirates are destiny’s darlings; a plucky small market team – baseball’s own version of ‘the Little Engine That Could.’ Therefore, they will win.”

No one seems to remember the Braves won the season series against each of those teams. That doesn’t matter to the experts. 

ESPN’s baseball pundits logged their postseason prognostications and only six out of 35 predict the Braves will best L.A. in the first round (the N.L.D.S.). In fact, only one of those 35 sages think the Braves will make it to the World Series.

Those are long odds.

It didn’t get any better over on CBS. None of their six prognosticators picked Atlanta in the N.L.D.S.  I didn’t check out any other sources; didn’t need to. I know what they would say: More of the Same.

And you know what. That’s ok.

I can’t tell you who I think will win the World Series. Really, I could make an argument for any of the remaining teams. The thing is, if I argued for Atlanta, it would be with my heart as much as my head. Call it a part of my Southern heritage. 

But going into tomorrow night’s Game One as an overwhelming underdog isn’t a bad thing for the Braves. Entering that game knowing that the baseball world is picking against them can serve as a great motivational tool. There have been many sports teams who played with chips on their shoulders and had a successful result.

When it comes to wagers, I’m not a betting man. But, if I were, I wouldn’t bet against the Braves.

JG

Originally posted 10/2/2013