For my last Yelp review of 2021, I'm reviewing the 2021 World Series Champions, the Atlanta Braves. Congratulations to Braves general manager Alex Anthopoulos, manager Brian Snitker, and the rest of the Braves organization - players and staff - on a job well done. Mission accomplished, #BattleWON. The Braves are reigning world champions! Thank you for bringing a major pro sports championship to the city of Atlanta for the first time since 1995 (26 years ago).
Don't get me wrong, I realize Atlanta United won the MLS Cup in 2018, but Major League Soccer isn't part of the traditional big four: Major League Baseball (MLB), the National Basketball Association (NBA), the National Football League (NFL), and the National Hockey League (NHL).
The Braves winning the championship this year took away some of the sting from the Atlanta Falcons' 2017 Super Bowl overtime loss to the New England Patriots. The Atlanta Hawks have been on the rise, making it to the Eastern Conference Finals this year for the first time since 2015. Georgia Tech's men's basketball team won the 2021 ACC championship. It was Tech's first conference title since 1993 (28 years ago). Finally, the University of Georgia has one of the best teams in college football this season. We'll find out tonight if they'll advance to play in the College Football Playoff National Championship Game on January 10. Atlanta and Georgia sports teams have been doing relatively well recently. It's great.
I was born and raised in North Carolina where the Braves are a popular and favorite team among many, perhaps most. It's interesting to me that to this day, outside of Florida, there are no other MLB teams in the Southeast. There are NBA and NFL teams from New Orleans to Charlotte, but no MLB teams other than the Braves. That's weird. When I moved to Atlanta in 2000, it was pretty evident the city loved the Braves. Sure, the Falcons made it to the 1999 Super Bowl (Dirty Birds), but they didn't win it all. In the 90s, not only did the Braves win the World Series in '95, but they advanced to the World Series in four other years (1991, 1992, 1996, 1999).
My employer, who I started working for in 2001 and still work for today, has had company season tickets to Braves games forever. Since 2001, I've usually made it out to at least one Braves game per season. The company tickets are distributed to all employees, including playoff tickets. Yep - there were a lucky few who each received four tickets and a parking pass to World Series Games 3, 4 and 5 this year. After fees, I heard it was costing folks roughly $1,200 to get a single ticket to the World Series at Truist Park. I've always had fun at the Braves games I've attended at Turner Field and Truist Park. I still remember when the Braves moved from downtown Atlanta to Cumberland. Having worked nearby in Marietta and Cobb County with my go-to Discount Tire right there on Spring Road, I still find it interesting, all these years later, how fast Truist Park (then SunTrust Park) and The Battery came together. Truist Park and The Battery opened in 2017.
It was around that time that Brian Snitker replaced Fredi Gonzalez as manager (2016) and Alex Anthopoulos was hired as the new GM. From there, the Braves won four straight National League East Division championships, 2018-2021. The team progressed each year, making it further and further into the playoffs. While 2021 was obviously a magical season, I really started to feel that magic in 2020 when the Braves advanced to the National League Championship Series (NLCS) for the first time since 2001. Not only that, but the Braves were on the verge of winning the NL pennant, having gone up 3-1 on the Los Angeles Dodgers. We'd go on to lose the series and to me, it felt a little bit like the 2017 Super Bowl and yet another example of an Atlanta sports team coming up short on the big stage. However, 2021 made 2020 alright as the Braves got a rematch with the Dodgers in the NLCS and this time won, 4-2.
Eddie Rosario was the 2021 NLCS MVP and Jorge Soler was the 2021 World Series MVP. By the time the World Series rolled around, this Braves team was just stacked with great, memorable talent. Outside of guys like Freddie Freeman and local product Dansby Swanson, who have been with the team since 2010 and 2016, respectively, most of the late key contributors were acquired only within the last couple years. Examples include pitchers Ian Anderson and Tyler Matzek, who both joined the Braves in 2020, and other players like pearl-necklace-wearing Joc Pederson and the aforementioned postseason MVPs, Rosario and Soler, all of whom joined the organization in 2021. During Bally Sports South's championship parade coverage, they discussed the roster/lineup changes from April to November and it almost looks like a new team.
Also, shout-out to Max Fried, who pitched six shut-out innings in Game 6 of the World Series, on the road in Houston. Incredible stuff. Will Smith closed it out.
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