Atlanta Braves: The new titans of tragedy

Atlanta Braves: Titans of Tragedy

2010:  Brooks Conrad Forgets how to Baseball

OK, so this one’s on us.  It was the third game of the National League Divisional Series, and the Atlanta Braves were in control.

Despite the defensive misadventures of second baseman Brooks Conrad, the Braves took a 2-1 lead into the ninth inning, poised to take the lead in the series, and force the Giants into an elimination game situation on the road.  Craig Kimbrel surrendered the tying run but had also forced the Giants down to their final out.

Buster Posey represented the final out with a runner on second base and hit a sharp ground ball right to Conrad.  Take a deep breath, send it to extras right?

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Nope.  That’s not what happened.  Instead, the ball took a funny hop and slipped straight through the legs of Conrad into right field, allowing the go-ahead run to score on his THIRD error of the game.  The crowd at Turner Field fell sickeningly silent, watching their chances slip away.  Ugh.

2012:  Infield Fly

This one’s still hard to talk about.  It was the first year of the single-elimination Wild Card game, and the Braves were squaring off against the St. Louis Cardinals.

The Cardinals had a decisive 6-3 lead going into the eighth inning, but the Braves were threatening.  With runners on first and second with one out, Andrelton Simmons hit a fly ball to left field.  Matt Holliday and shortstop Pete Kozma seemed to miscommunicate and the ball dropped to the field, thus loading the bases for the Braves.

But wait… there’s more.

Sam Holbrook apparently had called an infield fly rule, resulting in Simmons being called out.  Shock and confusion overtook Turner Field, since the ball was CLEARLY not anywhere near the infield.

I mean SERIOUSLY not anywhere near it.

Fans would take their outrage literally and begin throwing debris on the field, delaying the game nearly 20 minutes, and Fredi Gonzalez played the game under protest.  It all around wasn’t a great moment.

But seriously… NO.WHERE.NEAR.THE.INFIELD.

2019:  The Meltdown

The first four games of the 2019 NLDS between the Braves and Cardinals were widely considered to be a pretty good series.  Neither team really blew out the other, the games were well executed for the most part, and there wasn’t a whole lot else to say.

The fifth and deciding game was shaping up to be a classic, and the game really could go either way.  On the mound for the Braves was Mike Foltynewicz, who pitched a gem in Game 2, outdueling ace-jack Flaherty to even the series and put momentum back in Atlanta’s corner.

Instead, the Cardinals recorded 10 runs, before Folty recorded the SECOND OUT OF THE GAME.  Before fans could even find their seats the game, the series, and the season were effectively over.  It was shortstop Dansby Swanson who summed it up best:

"“Pretty Much just worst nightmare coming true”"

Yes, it was, Dansby… Yes, it was.