Atlanta Braves Win Their First World Series Since 1995

For 26 years, the Atlanta Braves have struggled to catch the Major League Baseball World Series title. But, this year’s fall classic was different, the team turned themselves around and transformed into the 2021 World Series winners! With a 250-1 chance of winning halfway through the series, the Braves definitely smashed it out of the park.

So, how did they win even after their pitcher Charlie Morton fractured his fibula and the Braves general manager Alex Anthopoulos tested positive after testing positive for covid-19?

The final game took place in Houston Texas and saw the Braves defeat the Astros 7-0, taking the World Series overall score to 4-2. The Atlanta Braves won the title and made history at Houston’s Minute Maid Park with two home runs early in the final game.

In game 4 Swanson and newly acquired teammate Soler provided the lead for the Braves with back to back home runs in the seventh. Soler hit the ball an impressive 446 feet while Freeman hit a 85 mph home run from Astro pitcher Ryne Stanek to left field, putting the Braves up 7-0. Eddie Rosario, also a new addition to the team, was able to preserve this win with his glove in the eighth.

“He was almost unhittable”, said Jose Altuve about Max Fried

In the final game Freeman hit an RBI double and punctuated the romp with a solo home run that led to the 7-0 win. Fried went six innings with no runs or walks, striking out six Astros players, while allowing only four hits. This was an impressive match from the pitcher, allowing him to come out of the struggle he has been in for the last two postseasons. Houston Astros Yuli Gurriel made the last out which ended the game.

Houston Astros manager Dusty Baker admitted defeat and made the statement that “they were pitching us tough. They scouted us big time.” His team will now head into a crucial offseason, with the question in mind, with his contract set to expire soon, will Dusty Baker renew his contract or say his goodbyes?

“I’m numb,” said 66-year old manager Brian Snitker after leading the Atlanta Braves to a win. Snitker has spent the last 45 years with the Braves, but only became manager 5 years ago. Within this time he broke the 26 year curse and produced World Series champions.

However, Brian Snitkers 5 years of being manager hasn’t always been a hit. Although the all-star break looked promising before it started, they lost their final game before the break which led to them drop below the .500 mark. They also lost one of their best outfielders (Ronal Acuna Jr.) to an injury and another to domestic violence charges in May (Marcell Ozua).

Despite the extra pressure, the Atlanta Braves became the 24th team to clinch a World Series with a shutout, they were the first since the 2005 World Series where the White Sox took the title against the same team, the Houston Astros.

Just like the Braves team that won their last title as World Series champions in 1995, I expect that a lot of their players will appear in the MLB hall of fame, due to their highly impressive win this year. The team was a strong unit in this series and deserved their success. They are the first team to have two players named M.V.P in the same year with Soler being awarded M.V.P of the World Series and Rosario Most Valuable Player of the National League Series.

The Atlanta Braves have had to overcome years of frustration and struggle before winning this year's World Series, let’s reminisce over these struggles that lead to them becoming champions.

After winning the 2005 Division Championship for the 14th consecutive time, 2006 was the year that the Braves saw a change, began to grapple and not meet their expectations. With lots of injuries amongst their starting team and below average performances led to the worst month that the Braves have seen with a winning percentage of just 0.222.

Later on that year, the Braves no longer dominated the NL East, as the New York Mets defeated the Florida Marlins, meaning the Braves would not win the title after an 11 year reign. Not long after this they took a loss to the Colorado Rockies which meant they would not be able to win the NL Wild card therefore, they would not compete in the postseason for the first time since 1990.

In 2007, the team began the struggle half way through the season finishing over .500 and ended up missing the postseason once again.

In 2010, Atlanta Braves saw a 9 game losing streak in April, however, they managed to turn the season around and Braves catcher Brian McCan was awarded the all-star MVP award for his performance during their first all-star game win since 1996. The next year saw another fall for the team, their starters were only able to last six or more innings just 3 times across 23 games. The last 5 games were all losses for the Braves and they were only able to score seven runs, with Brian McCann only hitting .183 with just 2 home runs. As a whole they were only able to hit a .300 on-base percentage and a .235 batting average, making them the second worst in the national league.

Due to the unimpressive season the Atlanta Braves said goodbye to many of their key players in 2012, albeit, they did receive many key players that led them to set the MLB record for the most consecutive wins when a single pitcher starts.

In 2017 the Braves were investigated due to amateur signing infractions, meaning that the team had to forfeit 13 international prospects and were not allowed to sign any international players for more than $10,000 during the 2019-20 signing period.

In 2021, as mentioned made several new signings which then led them to becoming their strongest team in years and became 2021 champions of the MLB World Series.