Official Game Thread: Hawks at Who Cares, Really?

[lethalweapon3]

It’s ENDORSED… by FRED MCGRIFF!

 

(Had a draft thread opener for today that was all about Basketball arbiter Steve Nash and Kyme A. River and KD Twitterfights and free throws and… Bunk That. To the mothballs, you go! Hawks-Nets, 7:30 PM Eastern, Bally Sports Southeast and 92.9 FM in ATL, ESPN)

A month-and-a-half into the 2021 Major League Baseball season, the only pitcher the three-time defending NL East champions had going for it, finally, had a rough outing. Relieved of the baseball after an early exit, he marches off the field, down into the dugout, and promptly throws a punch. The final score: Padded Dugout Bench 1, Broken Pitching Hand 0.

By this time, despite his 4-1 start as a surprise starting pitcher, his Bravos had a losing record, 19-21, losing ground in the division to big spenders in New York and Philadelphia.

The would-be ace of the pitching staff, who tore his Achilles near the start of the pandemic-truncated 2020 season, tore it once more in early May, just as he was nearing the end of his rehab assignment. The end of his 2021 comeback came mere days before his effective replacement in the starting rotation broke his hand in the dugout to miss several months.

Weeks prior to the punch, the Opening Day catcher that the surprisingly good fill-in was hurling to had suffered a severe thumb sprain, putting him on the 60-day injury shelf. He would not return to the diamond until August, rushing a backstop stopgap into action.

Atlanta’s longtime Gold Glove and former All-Star center fielder couldn’t overcome injury, illness, and weak-hitting troubles, forcing the team to usher another unready top prospect into the lineup for Opening Day. The veteran would be “designated for assignment”, code for “released into the ether”, by the end of July.

It wasn’t clear, back in March, who could capably man the left fielder spot, either. But you couldn’t possibly go wrong with 2020’s National League home run and RBI leader, who relieved Atlanta by inking a guaranteed four-year, $65 million offer the month before to stick around town.

You couldn’t go wrong. That is, not until he has an unfortunate run-in at home with his significant other, and with Sandy Springs’ Finest. He’s done for at least this season, which is arguably the least of his active troubles. The one sure thing remaining for the Bravos in the outfield was on the right side.

It seemed as if no one in the lineup was hitting, not for power, not for average, not for consistency, and not even 2020’s NL Most Valuable Player could escape the mire of weeks-long hitting slumps. Hardly anyone was making contact, reaching base, or manufacturing runs. But the standout exception sat at the top of the batting lineup.

Despite the occasional clash with his old-timey manager, the young right fielder with his effervescent and hard-charging personality carried this team for the balance of the first three-and-one-half months. He was a certified All-Star, a threat to win the NL home run race, and a top-three MVP candidate, if not top-one.

Of course, right before the All-Star Game and the Break, he suffers a complete tear of his ACL after diving for a fly ball. Season over. For him. For Atlanta. Face it, this just wasn’t going to be Atlanta’s year. Just you all wait until 2022! Maybe. If everything goes, y’know, well.

Loss. Win. Loss. Win. Loss. Loss. Win. Loss. This baseball club went from July 2 to August 3, without winning two games in a row, from May 25 to August 4 without winning three-straight, alternating wins and losses for an MLB-record 17 games. The team never fell more than five games below .500, but it sure was having a hard time getting over. A funny thing happened, though, along the way, as Alex Anthopoulos started working the phones ahead of the MLB Trade Deadline.

Like one other Atlanta sports team president, one whose team was miraculously still playing in July, did back in March, Anthopoulos took an incisive assessment of his roster at the All-Star Break and decided, no, it was not too late to make a run for the division. The maneuvers he made didn’t scream, “We are going for the championship,” and if so, the betting experts in Vegas certainly weren’t hearing it. But if the positive momentum gained by scrambling to clinch another division banner carries into this postseason… heck, who knows?

In came a slew of veteran outfielders, seen as past their primes, cast away by washed clubs who did not even desire Atlanta’s top farm prospects or draft capital in return. This was nice and all, fans thought, but did we do enough to address our shaky bullpen, and our tremor-loaded closer? And why did we have to part with our dear Panda mascot?

Well, never mind those issues. That’s because things suddenly started clicking, and in unison.

The third baseman stepped fully into the right fielder’s MVP finalist shoes. He joined last year’s MVP, and the hometown product and former #1 overall pick at shortstop, and the right fielder’s best bud, the second baseman who finished second in the NL for extra-base hits, to offensively fortify an infield that was already rock-solid with their gloves.

The starting catcher, and the punchy pitcher, made it back in time in hopes for some semblance of a playoff run. The outfield additions became glue-guys in the dugout and locker room. Once fully healthy, the newcomers emerged to become reliable gap-fillers in the batting order, often game-savers in the field.

A couple once-dreaded West Coast swings left the Bravos none the worse for wear. By then, the Mets and the Phillies started hearing footsteps. The next sensation they and their fanatical fanbases had was feeling stepped over. 8 games behind the division leaders in mid-June, a 5-1 close by Atlanta over the Mets and Phils capped a 12-2 string that left their divisional rivals, respectively 11.5 and 6.5 games behind, strung out to dry at regular season’s end.

Good job, Atlanta, in finishing at 88-73 and winning another division. Now, scram. Prevailing thought dictated this was about as far as the Bravos could go. The Giants had won a franchise record 107 games, the defending champion Dodgers 106. And, odds are, you’ll see neither of them, not with the pitchers 95-67 Milwaukee can toss at you in the divisional round. Enjoy your playoff participation trophy, and your profile in courage, and be gone.

Well, at the outset of this calendar year, Green Bay and Kansas City were the top seeds in the NFL. A wild card from Tampa Bay had to win three playoff games on the road, including two against legends named Brees and Rodgers, to reach the Super Bowl and perhaps face the defending champs. No one could tell Tom Brady to scram.

Colorado was the top seed in the NHL, yet the Avs didn’t make it out of the second round. The hockey team in Brady’s address didn’t even finish second in 2021’s reformulated eight-team division. They were, however, the defending league champ, and played like it when it ultimately mattered.

The Philadelphia 76ers and the Utah Jazz were the toast of their respective conferences this past year. Both were gone before the Conference Finals could begin. Giannis Antetokounmpo wasn’t settling for “Nice season,” any longer.

Still there was something about the magic aura of the Giants, the imposing will of the Dodgers, that screamed that destiny was in store for one of them, the winner of the Brewers-Braves divisional series bound only to play a bit part. The guy who brought the phrase, “Joctober” into being made sure it wasn’t going to be the Brew Crew.

His team would have to win as underdogs at every stage to come away victorious at the end. Stringing together pearls of wisdom from his championship time in L.A., he helped ensure Atlanta was up to the task.

Fortune, at long last, seemed to be shining on Atlanta, who had the benefit of home field advantage over the Dodgers despite the lesser record. The familiar cloud started rolling in, though, hours before the NL Championship round could begin. The leadoff hitter, one of Anthopoulos’ timely replacements, came down with a bout of You Know What, the same pandemic ailment that nearly felled 2020’s MVP before that season could begin.

With little choice, the manager juggled the lineup and moved another of The Four Replacement Horsemen in. This one would go on to shatter postseason records, including 14 hits in six games, four of those hits in two games each, along the way to stunning Los Angeles and earning NLCS MVP. Party like it’s 1999, because for the first time since then, Atlanta is World Series bound!

Awaiting them was the batting core of a Houston club that had been there, three times in the past half-decade, and done that, “winning” once. Atlanta’s manager knew he had three stud starting pitchers for his championship rotation as a counter. Whoops! Here comes the cloud, with another thunderbolt. Make that two pitchers.

The Game 1 starter had a batted ball ricochet off his lower leg early on, and he soldiered through the next inning or so until it became obvious that it had been broken. Now, facing Houston’s formidable offense in first innings would be a 23-year-old in his second season, a fellow in his third year as a solid starter who turned shaky in the NLCS, and that bullpen that once had fans swilling antacids.

Well, that guy that came down with You Know What? He made it back in time for the first big smack of the World Series. And the last Series-clinching dinger, too. The first MLB player ever to lead off a World Series with a home run, and later pinch-hit another one, that guy came away with a World Series MVP trophy, and a Corvette.

At each stage of these playoffs, 2020’s NL MVP, a dedicated 15-year member of this organization, also a pending free agent, wasn’t about to settle for seeing what fateful rewards might await this team he loves in 2022. Every one of his big postseason hits, including last night’s, set the tone that championship glory, in this title-starved sports town, was evolving, from possible if everything goes according to plan, to possible regardless, to likely. Everyone on the roster, and the coaching staff, followed his lead.

With the weight of all that has stood in this team’s way, I am told there are some fools on the World Whine Web who have defined the Bravos’ accomplishment as “lucky.” We are fortunate to have freedom of speech where we reside. I encourage each of you to make use of your freedom to block and ignore any bots or otherwise ignoramus yahoos who choose this manner of speech in reaction to the newest World Series champions, the team that ought to be prohibitive favorites to repeat in 2022, whether all goes well, or not.

Atlanta will always have Braves ’95, and United ’18. But bear in mind, those involved 1-0 and 2-0 white-knuckle affairs to close it out. Even as a Soler Flare soared over the railroad tracks in Houston last night, memories of the fourth Horsemen’s grand slam in Game 5, and the clinch-denying meltdown that followed, were still fresh in the minds of fans back home.

Even as the once-shaky starting pitcher bowed up to show that his stepped-on foot was not about to be just another rain-soaked cloud on Atlanta’s desire for a parade, even as the lead swelled to 5-0, and 6-0, visions of blowing a 3-1 game lead to L.A. in the NLCS last year lingered. The last Atlanta pro team sitting in Houston with a sizable late lead during a title game was not lost on suffering souls, either.

Calming everyone in A-Town down was going to take a longtime leader, one willing to defy local losing lore, to make mincemeat of the narrative, once and for all eternity. It was going to take arrivals who were too new to tales of Atlanta’s torturous sports history to care either way. Having come this far together, See Ball, Hit Ball, Throw Ball, Catch Ball was all that mattered.

Now, thanks to this baseball club, in this year of 2021, we no longer have to put up with inside voices, outside noise, that suggest Atlanta is Also-Ran City. The decades-long veneer that opponents don’t have to bother trying to rip Atlanta hearts out, that the local teams will find a way to reach right in and hand hearts to them, is gone for good.

It took some local inspiration, though, for all of this to fall into place, the right way, at the right time. This baseball team was still in a lurch over the summer, awash with uncertainties, as a basketball team down the street was flat out defying gravity.

It didn’t matter what opponents, or their showboating fans and cheerleading media, thought the Hawks were capable of achieving, so long as the Hawks believed in their own capacity for greatness. Not much was working in the Hawks’ favor, until the late surge that took the sports world by storm. From the top down, from the bottom up, word got out in Bravos Country that if you stay True To Atlanta, good things can happen. Maybe even great things.

In the front office, and down in the dugout, a lesson was well-heeded. When it gets darkest, that’s the time to prepare for the dawn.

 

Congrats Bravos on a Championship For The A! And Let’s Go Hawks!

~lw3

[JayBirdHawk]

Yes Braves, Go Hawks!!! 

[Gray Mule]

I know.  When the last out was made at first base, Freddie rushed out into the field, tucking that baseball into his back pocket!  This particular ball, if he autographed it with the information noted, would sell for big $$$ on the internet, I'll bet!

Hawks win on Monday night.  Braves win World Series on Tuesday night.  Wednesday night, time for another Atlanta Hawk victory!

[lethalweapon3]

As Chipper might suggest, you can bet there'll be a few New Yorkers taking off their blue-and-orange jerseys and caps to don Nets gear, for one night only.

Quote

The Hawks will travel to Brooklyn for their first and only contest at the Barclays Center this season on 11/3 … The next two matches between these two teams will take place at the friendly confines of State Farm Arena (12/10/21, 4/12/22).

https://www.nba.com/gamenotes/hawks.pdf

~lw3

[NBASupes]

Congrats Braves and Go Hawks, let's win it all as well.

[Dnice]

I'll care for a couple of quarters, until I give out.  lol

[Spud2nique]

1 hour ago, lethalweapon3 said:

Alex Anthopoulos started working the phones ahead of the MLB Trade Deadline.

He did that when he was the head of the Jays as well. (close friend Jays fan since 87).

 

1 hour ago, lethalweapon3 said:

“Joctober”

@JayBirdHawk I wasn’t kidding..(pic below)

 

1 hour ago, lethalweapon3 said:

I encourage each of you to make use of your freedom to block and ignore any bots or otherwise ignoramus yahoos who choose this manner of speech in reaction to the newest World Series champions, the team that ought to be prohibitive favorites to repeat in 2022, whether all goes well, or not

Wise. We do add Acuna and Soroka back but Dodgers fav for 2022, just the way we like it, underdogs!

Shoutout to Eddie Rosario as well. Man, that guy was hitting everything and that stab grab in the outfield was just a sign that it was our year. 
 

Soler as well!

Awesome lw3!

2 hours ago, lethalweapon3 said:

Congrats Bravos on a Championship For The A!

Yes siiiiirrr!!!

GO HAWKS!!!!!!!!

ps We are BSPN tonight. So happy we wrapped it up last night. I don’t think I could have survived a game 7 and having to watch KD and Harden in the same night. Lol.

[Spud2nique]

1 hour ago, lethalweapon3 said:

for one night only.

Whoa ! That stinks for the Hawk fans in Brooklyn lol. I am ok going just once. 

[Spud2nique]

1 hour ago, NBASupes said:

Congrats Braves and Go Hawks, let's win it all as well.

I told my gf if the Hawks win it all I’m gonna just disappear! (The plan is not well thought out but we would have to party somewhere with the squawk!!!)

[Spud2nique]

The line:

 

[shakes]

All I know is I don't want to see any f-ing contested long 2s in this game!  You hear me DeAndre, Bogi, Kevin and Cam?

 

 

LETS GO HAWKS!

[lethalweapon3]

Look for JC to put his best foot forward tomorrow night.

~lw3 

[ATLHawks3]

4 minutes ago, lethalweapon3 said:

Look for JC to put his best foot forward tomorrow night.

~lw3 

Let John rest up some. Let Gallo start so he can get into a rhythm again, and stagger the backup PF minutes between JJ and Solo.

[lethalweapon3]

~lw3

[Peoriabird]

10 minutes ago, ATLHawks3 said:

Let John rest up some. Let Gallo start so he can get into a rhythm again, and stagger the backup PF minutes between JJ and Solo.

If John doesn't play, Hawks Lose!

[Spud2nique]

Just now, Peoriabird said:

If John doesn't play, Hawks Lose!

Not necessarily we can get some Gallo. We deep.

[lethalweapon3]

From the rooftop, shout it out!

https://twitter.com/ChrisKirschner/status/1456029558344388611

~jc

[ATLHawks3]

Never mind.

Edited November 3, 2021 by ATLHawks3

[Spud2nique]

5 minutes ago, lethalweapon3 said:

From the rooftop, shout it out!

https://twitter.com/ChrisKirschner/status/1456029558344388611

~jc

Don’t tempt me, after last night the neighbors are side eyeing me, one more EEEEEEEEEEEEE or 3333333333333 or JC IS OOOOOOONNNNNNN and they coming after me with torches.  

2 minutes ago, ATLHawks3 said:

Never mind.

Lw3 said FIRST!!!  

[Buzzard]

I want this win bad. It would be a great way to start this stretch of games off.

 

Congratulations Braves!

Edited November 3, 2021 by Buzzard
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