33: Anticipation abounds as the journey to October begins

 

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by ssiscribe

 

ATLANTA – The flags high atop Turner Field fluttered in the breeze Sunday afternoon as I walked across Monument Plaza.

 

Through the gate to the left of the ticket window, I could see the sun glistening off the dark blue seats high in the upper deck, down the right-field line. A few other souls were present, putting down their cash in exchange for seats to a show we hope will play on past September.

 

And that’s where we stand as the 2008 season cranks up for the Atlanta Braves on Sunday night in the nation’s capital. This franchise, once known as laughable losers, then for a decade and a half as consistent winners, finds itself at the intersection of third place and the Fall Classic.

 

It’s been nine long years since Atlanta graced the World Series stage. Since then, the Braves have won exactly one postseason series, a three-game sweep of the Astros in the 2001 NL Division Series. The Braves then lost in the NLCS to Arizona. Four heart-wrenching losses in the division series would follow, followed then by two consecutive finishes in the middle of the NL East.

 

Turner Field sat empty the past two Octobers, as it was on Easter Sunday while I bought my tickets for Monday’s home opener. The laughter of two children pierced the otherwise silent scene. But you could feel something in the air, and it wasn’t just the swirl of that northwest wind.

 

It was the feeling of anticipation.

 

Maybe it’s the fact our new house includes a sports garage where all my baseball stuff is displayed. Maybe it’s the fact I’m blessed to be in a place where I can go to 30-to-40 games this season. Maybe it’s the fact my kids now are really into baseball. In the 30 years I’ve been paying attention, I don’t think I’ve ever looked forward to a Braves season as much as this one.

 

Or maybe, just maybe, it’s because this team looks like those Braves teams that danced deep into October on a consistent basis in the 1990s. The Braves, as many of us have stated, needed to stock up on pitching. That, after all, is what the Braves did in the past, the very foundation for their 14 consecutive division championships, their five pennants, their one World Series championship since 1991. Pitching, pitching and more pitching, stocked like one packs their pantry in advance of an oncoming storm.

 

If the Braves falter in 2008, lack of arms won’t be a reason why. The starting rotation is solid. The bullpen is deep. There are plenty of arms waiting in the wings. The Braves have the pitching talent to win over the long haul, to sustain the ups and downs that make up the six-month grind toward October.

 

Absence makes the heart fonder; two consecutive early winters have me longing to see the Braves return to the postseason. The journey is a delight, to be sure, but at the end of the day, you play to win the World Series. Even though many of us felt last year’s Braves were good enough to succeed in the playoffs, you can’t win in October if your season ends in September. And that’s where the Braves’ campaign the past two years has concluded.

 

But when the 10^th month of 2008 arrives, the feeling here is Turner Field won’t be quiet. The Braves finally look like the Braves again. It’s the look of a team with the calm, steady confidence that comes with knowing they stand a good chance to win 90 times this season, and that will be enough to shatter the silence that’s descended on the corner of Ralph David Abernathy Boulevard and Hank Aaron Drive the past two autumns.

 

On Easter Sunday, Turner Field stood still. But I could almost hear the crowd roaring. It starts now, and it will reach its crescendo come October, when the Braves – and the good denizens of Braves Nation – storm back into the postseason.

 

–30–

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