A Brave Celebration - Part 2 of 2

So my Atlanta Braves only needed to win 2 games on the final weekend or win one and San Diego to lose 1 and they would clinch the Wild Card. The Padres needed to sweep San Francisco to force a tie and a one game playoff for the West Division Title. The loser of that game would then play the Braves in a Wild Card Playoff the next day. OK, so the Braves controlled their own destiny, can’t ask for much more then that...unless you decide to get the crap kicked out of you on Friday, get basically shut down completely on Saturday... neither of the games were started by Halladay or Oswalt either. Not a good position to be in going into a Sunday needing a victory to not only prolong the season for the team and the fans but also to do just that for the storied career of manager Bobby Cox.

As I do not have the MLB package and PeachtreeTV still being classified as a movie channel I was unable to watch the game. If I am not going to watch I don’t want to see updates during either of the two crucial ball games. 100% focus on Football where coverage is all NFL and nothing else.

While watching the game the out of town scores were up in the corner and in a glance I saw the score Braves 8 Phillies 2, it would have been around midway through the game. This was a relief and gave a sense of calm... cautious optimistic one might say. I continued with this until I felt like the game must be about done based on the elapsed time so I decided to check on the outcome of the game. The only problem with that was the game was not over and was in the top of the 9th and somehow the score had tightened up to a nerve wracking 8-7. You could almost feel it all just slipping off of the fingertips. The only "saving" grace was that old man Wagner came in to shut the door in the 9th with 3 nasty cutters that sealed the deal and but the Braves in a Wild Card position pending the outcome of the San Diego San Francisco game.
Yeah, there was more drama then that was needed, but that is what happens when you blow the two previous weekend games.

So It is off to San Fran and that game. This one I kept an eye on the score a little more closely. 2-0 for the majority of the game, but in the back of the mind I was just waiting for that Trolly to fall off the tracks. Buster Posey added a little insurance with a solo home run and Brian Wilson - not that one - came in to save the game looking like a cross between Jeff Reardon and Ricky Vaughn. He slammed the door shut on the Padres season clinching the West for San Francisco and setting up a first round match up between the Giants and the Braves.

So despite all the drama and all the critical injuries to a couple of the top Braves players (Chipper Jones & Martin Prado) everything is now set and right. The Braves are in the Playoffs and kicks things off on Thursday and Bobby Cox can continue to do what he does and lead his team.


GO BRAVES!!