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Atlanta Braves – Postseason Curse?

For the last 13 seasons there has been but one constant: that the Atlanta Braves will win their division.  There has been one other near-constant: that the Atlanta Braves will lose in the playoffs.Despite their regular season domination, October collapses have been common place for the Braves.  They have dominated the NL East since moving to the division in 1994.  Yet, they do not even have the most world championships in the division (Marlins 2, Braves 1).

What is behind this annual failure?  Is there a logical explanation?  Or have the Braves joined the ranks of those with some form of curse?  Truly, a curse is a serious matter.  In comparison to perhaps the Red Sox or the Cubs, the Braves troubles seem trivial.  However, there is a tremendous level of frustration for fans when their team has lost 6 of their last 7 postseason series.  Such frustration amongst fans naturally leads to a decline in fan interest.  Being in and around Atlanta for most of the regular season, and having been a Braves fan since Dale Murphy days, I was excited about the team’s surprising success.  I found however, no other fans who shared my optimism about the Braves and their championship chances.  ”It doesn’t matter, they’ll blow it in the playoffs,” was the most common response.  I could hardly argue.  Having been eliminated in the NLDS for 2 consecutive years and 3 of the last 4, the Braves’ streak was convincing.  I watched the first 4 games and the first 5 innings of game 5 of this year’s NLDS with great optimism.  And then I watched in all too familiar horror as the Braves entered yet another meltdown and were blown out to end the season.  

Some outside of the Atlanta area might partially attribute the Braves failure to poor attendance and poor fan support despite their regular season success.  It is true that Braves regular season attendance was down again this year.  It is also true that games 1 and 2 of this year’s NLDS did not sell out.  However, games 1 and 2 were afternoon games this year.  I and many others in the area were not able to attend for this reason.  Game 5 created the 2nd largest crowd in Turner Field history and thousands were turned away at the gates trying to get tickets for the sold-out affair.  Game 5 was also the Braves’ worst loss of the series.  So fan support isn’t the problem.

Some might say that Bobby Cox and the coaching staff is to blame.  Cox has a tendency to be at best an uninspiring coach on the bench.  He shows little emotion and his team often mirrors this business-like approach to every game.  Maddux, Glavine, Smoltz, Chipper Jones, Andruw Jones all similarly appear to play with little emotion.  There is some validity to this argument since emotion can sometimes carry a team through some big wins.  However, Bobby has the 2nd most postseason wins in history, so this is hardly the biggest problem.  

Some might say it has been the Braves postseason pitching.  Actually, I’ve never heard anyone say that and it’s pretty much absurd (Smoltz).  Pitching in the 2004 postseason is an exception.

Those with the most valid argument say that the Braves lack execution in big games.  Chipper Jones, who has driven in most of the runs for several years now, never seems to come up with the big RBI.  The Braves twice had opportunities to take the lead in game 5 this year.  They had several opportunities in games 1 and 3 as well.  Braves’ stars have a historical habit of choking in October:

                     Regular Season        Postseason

Name                  Avg    HR   RBI        Avg  HR  RBI

2004

Marcus Giles*        .311    8     48    .125    0     1

Chipper Jones        .248    30    96    .200    0     0

J.D. Drew             .305    31    93    .200    0     1

*-Played in only 102 games

2003

Gary Sheffield        .330    39     132    .143    0     1

Chipper Jones        .305    27     106    .167    2     6

Andruw Jones        .277    36     116    .059    0     1

2002

Gary Sheffield        .307    25       84    .062    1     1

Clearly, when those who are paid to drive in runs and hit HRs do not produce, it becomes much harder to score runs.  With pitching bearing down in the playoffs, it is extremely rare to get production from the supporting cast.  Players such as Nick Green, Charles Thomas, and Eli Marrero provided the Braves with a big boost in the regular season, but all 3 lack the talent to carry a team through the playoffs.  To win championships, a team needs a productive leader (i.e. David Ortiz, Albert Pujols) who will continue to produce in the postseason.  Why production drops like this is anyone’s guess, but the numbers don’t lie and this is clearly the biggest reason for the Braves’ repeated collapses.  Curse?  No.  Just jinxed.

5 replies on “Atlanta Braves – Postseason Curse?”

I like… …the comparison between regular season and post-season play between Braves players. Normally people, including myself, put statisitcs in writing, but you made your point known without using words, letting numbers talk. Good job.

Though I disagree 100% with what you are saying… …I will defend to the death getting this story posted.

Great job backing up your claims.

For the last 4 years, they were regular season overachievers who did not do well in the postseason because they were clearly not the best team. Bobby Cox rarely loses to teams his team is better than, and thus they win enough regular season games. But they just have not been playoff material the last 4 years.

Now, arguing 2000, they were not the best team, that is for sure. But they were the best team in the NL. The loss in the NLDS put Bobby Cox on the hot seat, which he has since gotten off. 1999 they reached the World Series, but the Yankees were better. You cannot blame him for that. So far, they as a team have only underachieved once.

Let us continue.

In 1998 they were better than San Diego, but they were outpitched and outhit and fell behind 3-0. They clawed back to 3-2, but then lost game 6. The Yankees were the class of baseball, they were the class of the National League.

Though I am a Marlin fan, I do believe that the Marlins were the best team come October in ML in 1997, just like they had the best record from May 20-something on last year. The Braves played tough, splitting the first 4, but fell in game 5 at the Stadium Formerly Known as Joe Robbie and then lost back home behind Livan Hernandez in game 6.

In 1996, they were the best team in baseball. That was the last time. The Yankees were emotionally charged, came back, and won the series. Period. That is only the third underachievement for this team in 9 years.

In 1995, they won the World Series.

In 1994, Montreal was the best team in baseball. I refuse to recognize two things because of the strike: 1) The Braves streak of division championships started in 1991 and 2) The Diamondbacks hold the record for quickest expansion franchise to win a world series. The Braves were in second place in the division in 1994 and the Marlins did not have a postseason in 1994. If it does not count for the Braves, it does not count for the Marlins. If it does count for the Braves as a stopper in the streak, it counts for the Marlins. Thus, the Marlins and Diamondbacks split the record in my book.

In 1993, I don’t really remember what happened, but that Toronto won. Same for 1992. In 1991 they made the World Series and lost do to home field advantage to the Minnesota Twins.

Only 3 collapses for this franchise, and only 1 of those came while they were the best team in baseball.

You were factually understating the Braves streak by saying “last 13 seasons”, as it has been 14, assuming you start with 1991.

Back to my arguing your points, I disagree that fan interest is because of postseason disappointment. Are you telling me that the owner downsizing and cuting payroll had nothing to do with the loss in attendence? I think that, more than anything else, was it. If they had the quality of players they used to have, they’d still have great regular season attendence. There is nothing to excite the fans into attending games except when the opposing team has something like the Big Unit or Barry Bonds. I bet (I don’t have numbers, but I could search for them) that those games had attendence numbers similar to those of old. Ownership is fully to blame. If they had those players they once had, even with the playoff disapointments, they would still get great attendence.

Over to your final line, “Curse?  No.  Just jinxed.”

That was a great way to finish off your thoughts. Even though I disagree, you circled back to the beginning and made a connection. The word jinxed can be implied from what you had written, but it was a little awkward since you failed to use it before. That would be my only suggestion. Use it to bring up the point at the beginning, or in the middle, or explain in a new paragraph right before the end that you think they are jinxed. It was a great final line, but it needed some backing up before it to explain it. It made me think a little too much.

Overall, great job. Just wanted you to know my take on the article.

I’m going to write an article right now explaining how I think the best team has won the world series each year since 1990, with only one or two exceptions. I’ve been meaning to write it, I just have not gotten around to it.

I’m gonna vote for it, don’t worry. I just disagree with your view.

I appreciate your comments Agreed that the Braves may not have been the best team very many times in all of their runs.  And I will concede that the Braves may not have won the division in 1994.  I will look forward to reading your article on the World Series teams.

I see where you’re coming from on the ownership not bringing in big names.  Historically, though, this hasn’t helped the Braves.  In 2003, the Braves had arguably their best offense since ’91.  They hit a ton of HRs and with Sheffield, Chipper, Andruw, and the fan favorite Javy Lopez, attendance still declined.  Ironically, attendance was considerably higher when those holes were filled with Terry Pendelton, Otis Nixon, Sid Bream, and Greg Olson, and don’t forget Francisco Cabrera.  I agree that bringing in an exciting player would temporarily boost attendance, I just don’t know who, except for perhaps Bonds, that the ownership could bring in that would work.  This is a vicious cycle as well.  Because of the annual declination of attendance, the ownership loses the ability to sign big names.  I saw an interesting attendance stat, but I can’t seem to find it now, but it said Braves attendance has declined for the last 5 seasons.   I will say that the price of going to a game has also driven attendance down in Turner Field.  I attended fewer games this year for that reason.  It seems like the prices go up several times a year.  

On a lighter note: Maybe it’s the name of the stadium?  I hated “Turner” Field.  They should have named it “Hank ‘The Hammer’ Field.”  That would do the trick.  It’ll never happen though.

Thanks for the advice and for voting.

braves post season — the braves have had some luck the past few years, but it cannot be denied that a team does not win 14 years in a row on luck. Now some problems: last place in 1990 to first place 1991-3. worlds series every year there. then the strike. then more strike to begin 1995, and a realignment. they made the world series again and won. 4 world series in a row. 1-3. not too bad. 96 was our last season in fulton county stadium – world series loss. 1-4. 1997 we begin in turner field. and guess what? no world series for the first time since 1990. thats 1991, 2, 3, 5, 6 – 5 straight world series appearances. that may be more impressive then 14 division titles – except that the yankees won that many from 1996,8,9, 2000. they didn’t reach it in 98 either. 99 they did. 2000 they didn’t. so: in Fulton county stadium 91-96 are all world series appearances. and we go 1-4. can’t accuse bobby there. in turner so far we have 1997-2000 (four seasons), and 1 world series appearance. 2001-5, no world series, no NL pennant. so in 9 seasons in turner, we have not had much sucess. (97,8,99,00,01,02,03,04,05. I am willing to call it a curse. A postseason curse on Turner field. I recently visited it, and it is one of the best ballparks around. But there is something wrong with it. It shuts down our players (offense specifically) in october. either that, or when we moved to turner field and under the 3 division format, the braves are not built for the short series… lets make it a 7 game series and see what happens. but for now, i proclaim that it is a curse on turner.
another issue: teams that have beat us in the postseason in the turner era:  marlins, padres, yankees, mets (?), diamondbacks, giants, cubs, astros, astros. now. until 2003, we always lost to the pennant winner. 2003, the cubs were robbed of a pennant. 2004, i have no clue what happened. 2005, pennant winner again. my prediction here and now: the team that the braves play in the postseason in 06 will go on to the world series. unless of course the braves break my curse and go on themselves.

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