Back on June 8, I mocked the Chicago Cubs in my post Still the Team I Remember I mentioned how sick and tired I was of their losing ways. What I didn't mention was that I've put my support behind the Atlanta Braves. Few people know that I actually began rooting for them even before rooting for the Cubs. It was probably 1982 or 1983 when I first started watching the Atlanta Braves on TBS; Dale Murphy, Bob Horner, Rafael Ramirez, Chris Chambliss, etc.
So how is my first year as a reclaimed Braves fan? It started off quite well actually. The Braves were the popular pick in the preseason to win the National League wild-card with a few people even picking them to win the East. Through most of the year the Braves had the second-best record in the National League behind their East rivals Phillies. In fact, on the morning of September 1, although the Braves were well behind the Phillies for the East lead, they had an 8 1/2 game lead over the St. Louis Cardinals for the National League wild card! Smooth sailing with only one month to go! I mean, it's not like these are the Chicago Cubs...
Here I sit on the afternoon of September 26, after watching my Braves go 9-15 in September while those St. Louis Cardinals are 16-7 in September, just hoping against all hope that the Braves can hang on to their one-game lead with three games left to play! I'm pretty sure I jumped off the Cubs bandwagon because of situations just like these. The only difference at the moment is that I KNOW the Cubs would not be able to hang on to this one-game lead whereas I'm not really sure if the Braves will hang on. All of my Cubs training tells me it's a lost cause already but I sure hope the Braves won't let me down. I would hate to have to call them "the stupid Braves" after just one full year of fandom.
Just Joe
NEXT WEEK: LFL (... finally!)
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