Postseason Thread

NYCBrave said:
It's interesting to watch these playoffs and see hitters stepping up at the plate and then realize the Braves seemingly never have this happen. In the past three playoff series the Braves have had (2010, 2012, 2013), who has had a big hit?

2010: Alex Gonzalez and Rick Ankiel in Game 2, Eric Hinske (to score Alex Gonzalez) in Game 3

2012: David Ross HR

2013: Simmons/C. Johnson (Game 2), C. Johnson/Elliot Johnson/J. Constanza (Game 4)

Why is it that our stars never seem to step up in these games?
Click to expand...

Braves are cursed
 
CyYoung31 said:
The Curse of Jim Leyritz is as legit a curse as there has ever been.
Click to expand...

Every October the 96 WS comes back to haunt me, this week I've thought about it a lot and it's been constantly running in my head. When I recall the games, I remember exactly how I felt and what I was doing at that time. I remember as a 7th grader after the game 4 debacle, all my friends were rooting for the Yankees and so did my nagging Yankee fan English teacher, and I was so confident because we had Smoltz going. What misery.

The more I reflect, the more I'm convinced that we are indeed cursed. I'm not so sure that it wasn't rigged, the Yanks and Torree losing his brother was too good of a story and after we drubbed them in the first 2 games, I think Bud made sure the umpires had a large influence in the decesion based on what transpired the next few nights. And MLB execs were smart enough to realize that if the Yanks didn't win that series, George would have blown it up and the dynasty as we know it would not have happened, cost MLB millions of dollars over the organization with the best historical sentiment.

I'm still really bitter. Without blowing that WS, the Yanks dynasty does not happen and our FO would not have tried to reshape the team for the upcoming year and we enjoy much greater success in the playoffs going forward. After that slider, the Braves would never ever be the same again, almost as if all of us....fans, players, coaches were looking behind our backs wondering what if? What next? No matter what some freak thing is going to happen and it always does.

And it's been 20 years since 95, think about that 20 freakin years since our moment of glory.

I want to get back to the brand of baseball in the early and mid 90s. I've been watching YouTube videos all week and what excitement. Those teams were good and passionate and had fight. Don't get me wrong, the late 90s and early 00s were fun as well, playoff success or lack thereof withstanding, but they were veteran centered teams that were more businesslike. Those teams from 91-96 will always be dear to my heart.

Maddux, Glavine, Smoltz, Chipper, Bobby, Ryan, Avery, Javy deserved more than one. And to think, despite all the games and all the battles, guys like Andruw and Millwood and Furcal amongst many other have NONE.

And it absolutely bugs the living piss out of me that most think Maddux and Glavine were chokers. They weren't great towards the tail end of their run here, but in the 90s those guys performed upto par and were great.

One of the great falls of the organization during that timeframe is we needed to expend more resources on the bullpen and that was a great resource. I've always said the Yanks had Mo and we didn't, and that was the ultimate trump card but the Yanks also had guys like Nelson, Stanton, Llyod, Mendoza, Wetteland while we had a bunch of no name reclamation projects that worked for the most part during the season but failed when put under the microscope of the postseason with advanced scouting. One thing overlooked about 96 was the injury of Boubon, which would have helped alleviate relying on Wohlers so much. Yes, Neagle shoulders some of the blame for not going deeper, but with a competent bullpen that's not an issue. But we never did find a viable replacement for Pedro and Bobby had to rely on Bielecki and Clontz, and I don't blame him if he didn't have the utmost confidence in them. Who? It sickens me to this day.

While Neagle was great in a braves uniform, his acquisition was redundant. I often wonder what if we would have focused and acquired someone like say Jeff Shaw or Robb Nen or Roberto Hernandez.Even with the concerns with a struggling Avery we really didn't need Neagle especially with the off days with a short series. We should have and could have rode the big 3 during their prime. And the Neagle acquisition and extension was a precursor to made head scratching moves (Justice and Grissom to the Klesko trade) that later would transpire because of budgetary restraints.
 
Millwood1Hitter said:
Every October the 96 WS comes back to haunt me, this week I've thought about it a lot and it's been constantly running in my head. When I recall the games, I remember exactly how I felt and what I was doing at that time. I remember as a 7th grader after the game 4 debacle, all my friends were rooting for the Yankees and so did my nagging Yankee fan English teacher, and I was so confident because we had Smoltz going. What misery.

The more I reflect, the more I'm convinced that we are indeed cursed. I'm not so sure that it wasn't rigged, the Yanks and Torree losing his brother was too good of a story and after we drubbed them in the first 2 games, I think Bud made sure the umpires had a large influence in the decesion based on what transpired the next few nights. And MLB execs were smart enough to realize that if the Yanks didn't win that series, George would have blown it up and the dynasty as we know it would not have happened, cost MLB millions of dollars over the organization with the best historical sentiment.

I'm still really bitter. Without blowing that WS, the Yanks dynasty does not happen and our FO would not have tried to reshape the team for the upcoming year and we enjoy much greater success in the playoffs going forward. After that slider, the Braves would never ever be the same again, almost as if all of us....fans, players, coaches were looking behind our backs wondering what if? What next? No matter what some freak thing is going to happen and it always does.

And it's been 20 years since 95, think about that 20 freakin years since our moment of glory.

I want to get back to the brand of baseball in the early and mid 90s. I've been watching YouTube videos all week and what excitement. Those teams were good and passionate and had fight. Don't get me wrong, the late 90s and early 00s were fun as well, playoff success or lack thereof withstanding, but they were veteran centered teams that were more businesslike. Those teams from 91-96 will always be dear to my heart.

Maddux, Glavine, Smoltz, Chipper, Bobby, Ryan, Avery, Javy deserved more than one. And to think, despite all the games and all the battles, guys like Andruw and Millwood and Furcal amongst many other have NONE.

And it absolutely bugs the living piss out of me that most think Maddux and Glavine were chokers. They weren't great towards the tail end of their run here, but in the 90s those guys performed upto par and were great.

One of the great falls of the organization during that timeframe is we needed to expend more resources on the bullpen and that was a great resource. I've always said the Yanks had Mo and we didn't, and that was the ultimate trump card but the Yanks also had guys like Nelson, Stanton, Llyod, Mendoza, Wetteland while we had a bunch of no name reclamation projects that worked for the most part during the season but failed when put under the microscope of the postseason with advanced scouting. One thing overlooked about 96 was the injury of Boubon, which would have helped alleviate relying on Wohlers so much. Yes, Neagle shoulders some of the blame for not going deeper, but with a competent bullpen that's not an issue. But we never did find a viable replacement for Pedro and Bobby had to rely on Bielecki and Clontz, and I don't blame him if he didn't have the utmost confidence in them. Who? It sickens me to this day.

While Neagle was great in a braves uniform, his acquisition was redundant. I often wonder what if we would have focused and acquired someone like say Jeff Shaw or Robb Nen or Roberto Hernandez.Even with the concerns with a struggling Avery we really didn't need Neagle especially with the off days with a short series. We should have and could have rode the big 3 during their prime. And the Neagle acquisition and extension was a precursor to made head scratching moves (Justice and Grissom to the Klesko trade) that later would transpire because of budgetary restraints.
Click to expand...

What people tend to forget about that game is that Belliard was hand-cuffed on the ground ball before Leyritz hit the HR and only got a force at 2B instead of the DP. Leyritz can hit one nine miles and it doesn't tie the game if that little tic doesn't occur.
 
Millwood1Hitter said:
Every October the 96 WS comes back to haunt me, this week I've thought about it a lot and it's been constantly running in my head. When I recall the games, I remember exactly how I felt and what I was doing at that time. I remember as a 7th grader after the game 4 debacle, all my friends were rooting for the Yankees and so did my nagging Yankee fan English teacher, and I was so confident because we had Smoltz going. What misery.

The more I reflect, the more I'm convinced that we are indeed cursed. I'm not so sure that it wasn't rigged, the Yanks and Torree losing his brother was too good of a story and after we drubbed them in the first 2 games, I think Bud made sure the umpires had a large influence in the decesion based on what transpired the next few nights. And MLB execs were smart enough to realize that if the Yanks didn't win that series, George would have blown it up and the dynasty as we know it would not have happened, cost MLB millions of dollars over the organization with the best historical sentiment.

I'm still really bitter. Without blowing that WS, the Yanks dynasty does not happen and our FO would not have tried to reshape the team for the upcoming year and we enjoy much greater success in the playoffs going forward. After that slider, the Braves would never ever be the same again, almost as if all of us....fans, players, coaches were looking behind our backs wondering what if? What next? No matter what some freak thing is going to happen and it always does.

And it's been 20 years since 95, think about that 20 freakin years since our moment of glory.

I want to get back to the brand of baseball in the early and mid 90s. I've been watching YouTube videos all week and what excitement. Those teams were good and passionate and had fight. Don't get me wrong, the late 90s and early 00s were fun as well, playoff success or lack thereof withstanding, but they were veteran centered teams that were more businesslike. Those teams from 91-96 will always be dear to my heart.

Maddux, Glavine, Smoltz, Chipper, Bobby, Ryan, Avery, Javy deserved more than one. And to think, despite all the games and all the battles, guys like Andruw and Millwood and Furcal amongst many other have NONE.

And it absolutely bugs the living piss out of me that most think Maddux and Glavine were chokers. They weren't great towards the tail end of their run here, but in the 90s those guys performed upto par and were great.

One of the great falls of the organization during that timeframe is we needed to expend more resources on the bullpen and that was a great resource. I've always said the Yanks had Mo and we didn't, and that was the ultimate trump card but the Yanks also had guys like Nelson, Stanton, Llyod, Mendoza, Wetteland while we had a bunch of no name reclamation projects that worked for the most part during the season but failed when put under the microscope of the postseason with advanced scouting. One thing overlooked about 96 was the injury of Boubon, which would have helped alleviate relying on Wohlers so much. Yes, Neagle shoulders some of the blame for not going deeper, but with a competent bullpen that's not an issue. But we never did find a viable replacement for Pedro and Bobby had to rely on Bielecki and Clontz, and I don't blame him if he didn't have the utmost confidence in them. Who? It sickens me to this day.

While Neagle was great in a braves uniform, his acquisition was redundant. I often wonder what if we would have focused and acquired someone like say Jeff Shaw or Robb Nen or Roberto Hernandez.Even with the concerns with a struggling Avery we really didn't need Neagle especially with the off days with a short series. We should have and could have rode the big 3 during their prime. And the Neagle acquisition and extension was a precursor to made head scratching moves (Justice and Grissom to the Klesko trade) that later would transpire because of budgetary restraints.
Click to expand...

I was in the upper deck in CF the night Leyritz hit the homer. Amongst a bunch of Yankee fans. I've hated them ever since, but had a grudging respect for how those Yankee teams played.

That was also a big turning point for Wohlers. He was never the same and later was downright awful. I think that loss really did kill our postseason confidence. Had we won that World Series, the Yankees dynasty definitely doesn't happen because that crazy nut Steinbrenner was ready to fire Torre. And we might have won another 2-3 from '97-'99.

Maybe all those failures were a balance to the regular season dominance we had. It takes a lot to be able to do what we did for 14 years that goes beyond talent.
 
The Don said:
Heyward had a big hit in Game 2 in 2013. No love for him.
Click to expand...

Off of our boy Paco Rodriguez lol, and no I don't count it because we were winning at the time. It was big though. In 48 playoff plate appearances, Heyward has a line of .170 BA with a .443 OPS
 
bravesnumberone said:
I was in the upper deck in CF the night Leyritz hit the homer. Amongst a bunch of Yankee fans. I've hated them ever since, but had a grudging respect for how those Yankee teams played.

That was also a big turning point for Wohlers. He was never the same and later was downright awful. I think that loss really did kill our postseason confidence. Had we won that World Series, the Yankees dynasty definitely doesn't happen because that crazy nut Steinbrenner was ready to fire Torre. And we might have won another 2-3 from '97-'99.

Maybe all those failures were a balance to the regular season dominance we had. It takes a lot to be able to do what we did for 14 years that goes beyond talent.
Click to expand...

I've been harping on this and I'll continue to say it. I truly believe there is a correlation of the Braves post season failures and the culture of the organization. There has never been a sense of urgency to win, which comes from the culture the front office/management have created and our apathetic fan base. Living in NYC, I've been able to see that winning is the only option or else the fans/writers/organization are deemed a failure. With Atlanta, it's always been "Oh well, good try, maybe next year." The Mets have been made to be a laughingstock by the media in NY over the past decade. When have Bowman/DOB or any of these other Atlanta journalists ever once done anything to hold the team accountable? It's always a positive spin and that just feeds into this same culture. Don't see anything ever changing, especially with a faceless ownership who cares about the bottom line, and these old relics (who've once done amazing things but are wellllll past their prime) being kept around in our front office.
 
NYCBrave said:
I've been harping on this and I'll continue to say it. I truly believe there is a correlation of the Braves post season failures and the culture of the organization. There has never been a sense of urgency to win, which comes from the culture the front office/management have created and our apathetic fan base. Living in NYC, I've been able to see that winning is the only option or else the fans/writers/organization are deemed a failure. With Atlanta, it's always been "Oh well, good try, maybe next year." The Mets have been made to be a laughingstock by the media in NY over the past decade. When have Bowman/DOB or any of these other Atlanta journalists ever once done anything to hold the team accountable? It's always a positive spin and that just feeds into this same culture. Don't see anything ever changing, especially with a faceless ownership who cares about the bottom line, and these old relics (who've once done amazing things but are wellllll past their prime) being kept around in our front office.
Click to expand...

Nailed it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top