Have you ever heard of Atlanta Braves? Well, you should have by now. What do you think of this team? Consider these facts and statistics:

The story of this Atlanta Braves franchise is long and quite amazing, almost like a fairy tale. It's not just the fact that they are on the verge of winning their 13th consecutive division title, THATS RIGHT! 13TH, but the way they managed to accomplish that. Even though they only managed to win just a single World Series title in 1995, but who cares? - they are surely one of the, of not the, most successfull story in baseball, have been dominant in regular season play for the past 14 years. In fact, in 1990 they were dead last with over 100 losses, and next year went on to play in the World Series for 7 very exciting games (lost game 7). In fact, that year, in regular season, Braves trailed Los Angeles Dodgers by 9 1/2 games in their division at all-star break, and managed to overcome that! WOW!

Today, It's amazing to consider the fact that just last year, Atlanta Braves set many franchise records, mainly as the best team in franchise history in terms of production. The team hit .284, best in the league, and topped the league in most offensive categories, with Boston Red Sox being the distant second, though first in AL. However, they once again exited early, falling to the Cubbies. Yet the year before that, and during the 90s, Braves were based on solid pitching and lacked offense, but still rolled along.

At the end of last year's early exit, the mighty Braves line-up went up in smoke, and several key star players like Garry Sheffield, Javy Lopez, Greg Maddux departed, and even though they are doing well in their new places - and so are the Bravos without them! Most people, including me, a die-hard Braves fan, didn't pick them to even win a wild-card this season, and this was truly a team filled with several no-name rookies and inexperienced players.

However, Braves have an 8 1/2 game lead in NL East with just 16 or so games left to play, and their magic number is quickly decreasing! Who knows, now that this year they are gonna be the dark horse, they might turn out to be more successful in playoffs this year in that position, as compared to previous years when they often finished near the top and were the favourites. 12 Seasons (not including the 1994 cancelled season), 12 division titles, one World Series title [1995], five World Series appearances [1991, 1992, 1995, 1996, 1999], a very successful coach [Bobby Cox, with over 1800 coaching victories], successfull general manager [Schuerholtz - whatever the spelling is], and Atlanta Braves are still rolling on.


WHAT DO YOU THINK?

It's amazing to look at it this way - they have been winning division titles since the last year of Soviet Union's existence, 1991!

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After everything you said guess what dude......
THE MARLINS STILL HAVE MORE WORLD SERIES RINGS THAN THE BRAVES.In a far shorter team lifespan than the Braves,2 Championships in the 10 years of existence.Braves are sucky in the playoffs,not much of a big deal of a team IMO.

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Originally posted by Eddie N MIAMI After everything you said guess what dude...... THE MARLINS STILL HAVE MORE WORLD SERIES RINGS THAN THE BRAVES.In a far shorter team lifespan than the Braves,2 Championships in the 10 years of existence.Braves are sucky in the playoffs,not much of a big deal of a team IMO.

You have a good point there, however - ask yourself this question: what would you prefer: would you rather have

a) A team that does very well in regular season ever year for 13 years in a row, but disappoints in playoffs on few occassions, winning only 1 World Series title, and making 5 appearances in the final overall in that stretch? [Braves]

or

b) A team that makes 2 post-season appearances in 11 or so years of its existence and wins 2 world series titles, doing quite bad in other seasons? [Marlins]


I asked that question to a few baseball fans over here in Canada, comparing Braves in this case to the Blue Jays [very similar], and 3 of 4 people picked the Jays, but I disagree - I'd rather have my team do well every year, even though that might not necessarily mean that the team finished 1st all the time. I like consistency, and I like winning, but you know ...

I wouldn't want to pay for a ticket when my team sucks, you know. Like, for example, in 1997, Marlins won the title. Next year they finished in the basement. Thats more disappointing, I think. Winning over 162 game stretch in regular season is great, and losing in 16 or so game stretch is less painfull, cause the pain is shortlived until the next season starts. You pay to go see your team do well, not when its in rebuilding process most of the time; you expect it to be competitive every time.

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Whenever you go and buy something, you are affecting someone somewhere, be it environment, a person, or a community - you're making a statement with what you buy. So make it a smart choice ... Its a big picture

Last edited by Magnetonium on Sep-21-2004 at 01:00

the Braves are amazing. and it's all thanks to John Scheurholz, Bobby Cox, and Leo Mazzone. Scheurholz is a genius. Cox is the games best manager. And Mazzone is the game's best pitching coach.

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*can't imagine it feelin' much better...
i wish it would just last forever.
and so, to feel like that?
i'd pay any price just to get that back.*

quote:

Originally posted by Shamez214 the Braves are amazing. and it's all thanks to John Scheurholz, Bobby Cox, and Leo Mazzone. Scheurholz is a genius. Cox is the games best manager. And Mazzone is the game's best pitching coach.

Even if the Yankees manage to match or beat what the Braves have been doing for the past 13 years, it won't beat this because their payroll is like 270 million [to Braves' 80 or so mil), its unfair. I hate the Yankees. Go Boston Red Sox. I'd love to see Braves vs. Red Sox in the finals. That would be SWEET! Too bad the Bambino curse exists ...

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Whenever you go and buy something, you are affecting someone somewhere, be it environment, a person, or a community - you're making a statement with what you buy. So make it a smart choice ... Its a big picture

quote:

Originally posted by Magnetonium Even if the Yankees manage to match or beat what the Braves have been doing for the past 13 years, it won't beat this because their payroll is like 270 million [to Braves' 80 or so mil), its unfair. I hate the Yankees. Go Boston Red Sox. I'd love to see Braves vs. Red Sox in the finals. That would be SWEET! Too bad the Bambino curse exists ...

you shoudnt say you hate the yankees cause of their payroll, they arent breaking any rules.You should hate MLB for not installing a salary cap.Anyways other owners in other teams shoudnt be so stingy and get a couple more million in the payroll to show they care about winning and keeping the fans happy like steinbrenner.Considering that Ted Turner is filthy rich you d think he d increase his payroll quite a bit .But yeah money dosnt buy championships the yankees havnt won in this millemnium.One of the cheapest teams my marlins won last year.And I wont even get started on those stupid curses,thats just something losers say when they lose instead of admitting that they just plain sucked and choked. Boston and Cubs players have their brain fucked with all that curse talk thats why they choke at the end.

I agree. Salary cap is a solution. Hehe, did you say salary cup? [hint: NHL].

It's unfair that Yankees are the "all-star" team compared to the rest of the league. I mean, for crying out loud, All-star game is only once a season, not 163 games a year . I hope Yankees would choke in the playoffs, but I don't think that would deter Steinbrenner from rolling out more, he is a one rich motherpeaker ...

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Whenever you go and buy something, you are affecting someone somewhere, be it environment, a person, or a community - you're making a statement with what you buy. So make it a smart choice ... Its a big picture

quote:

You have a good point there, however - ask yourself this question: what would you prefer: would you rather have a) A team that does very well in regular season ever year for 13 years in a row, but disappoints in playoffs on few occassions, winning only 1 World Series title, and making 5 appearances in the final overall in that stretch? [Braves] or b) A team that makes 2 post-season appearances in 11 or so years of its existence and wins 2 world series titles, doing quite bad in other seasons? [Marlins]

Ill bet if you ask any player, they would rather have 2 world series rings, then 1 ring and 13 division titles.

and a few years from now, people will remember who won the world series of the past, but not who lost.

second place is the first loser.

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quote:

Originally posted by Swamper If you want to bitch and whine about your sig being edited then PM me with what it was and I'll look into it. Posting a thread about this wastes everyone's time

quote:

Originally posted by jrbuddha Ill bet if you ask any player, they would rather have 2 world series rings, then 1 ring and 13 division titles. and a few years from now, people will remember who won the world series of the past, but not who lost. second place is the first loser.

Harsh, but a true answer. I am forced to agree. I love my Braves though - too bad their playoff record in the past 12 years have been so dismal. Would've been worse if they didnt win a single title. Too bad they won't win it this year. I guess its their legacy and regular season success that is the primary object of pride. So many great stats ...

___________________
Whenever you go and buy something, you are affecting someone somewhere, be it environment, a person, or a community - you're making a statement with what you buy. So make it a smart choice ... Its a big picture

However... 80% of National League fans can name a ton of players fromt he Braves in the past 14 years. I can name you like two players from the Blue Jays. Joe Carter... and... I dunno. Hahaha. But everyone knows Chipper Jones, Andruw Jones, Sheffield, Maddux, Smoltz, Avery, Glavine, Javy Lopez, etc...

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*can't imagine it feelin' much better...
i wish it would just last forever.
and so, to feel like that?
i'd pay any price just to get that back.*

quote:

Originally posted by Shamez214 However... 80% of National League fans can name a ton of players fromt he Braves in the past 14 years. I can name you like two players from the Blue Jays. Joe Carter... and... I dunno. Hahaha. But everyone knows Chipper Jones, Andruw Jones, Sheffield, Maddux, Smoltz, Avery, Glavine, Javy Lopez, etc...

wasnt paul molitor on the blue jays when they won it?

quote:

Originally posted by Shamez214 However... 80% of National League fans can name a ton of players fromt he Braves in the past 14 years. I can name you like two players from the Blue Jays. Joe Carter... and... I dunno. Hahaha. But everyone knows Chipper Jones, Andruw Jones, Sheffield, Maddux, Smoltz, Avery, Glavine, Javy Lopez, etc...

dude wtf you have no sence of history do you lol

I started watching baseball in 1989 so I can name basicly everybody from that time.Some Bluejays I can name on the top of my head from their championship years Pat borders , Roberto Alomar ,Paul Molitor,Kelly Gruber,Joe Carter,Devon White,Tony Fernandez,Dave Steib,Jack Morris,Tom Henke,Pat Hentgen.
I can also name all the rosters from pre 89 as well and not only in baseball but football,soccer,basketball.If only I had this great of memory in school as well