A shot into the stands, or rather, three of them, was all it took for the Atlanta Braves to erase their city’s disappointing history in championship games.
They didn’t blow it; they didn’t fail. It seems so unreal that Atlanta has won a championship in sports, given their history in big moments and coming up short. But not this time. Not after a 7-0 win in Game 6 of the World Series over the Houston Astros.
Maybe the only way to erase the nightmare was to travel to the site of one of the city’s worst sports moments and reverse the finale. Atlanta Falcons fans can undoubtedly breathe a sigh of relief knowing that the Braves went to Houston and came home with the hardware, with Jorge Soler being named the World Series MVP.
The Atlanta Braves have won their second World Series title in franchise history.
After taking a 3-1 series lead, Atlanta looked poised to end its city’s championship drought in Game 5, leading off with a Grand Slam by Adam Duvall. However, Houston merely chuckled in the dugout and roared back with spectacular plays from Alex Bregman, who helped cut the deficit to 4-2.
An RBI double by Carlos Correa along with a game-tying RBI groundout by Yuli Gurriel tied it at 4. Though Freddie Freeman added another run for Atlanta, it was not enough to stop Houston’s comeback en route to a 9-5 victory, which forced Game 6.
Then it all changed. Having had enough of hearing about the Atlanta choke job jokes that the Braves were enduring, Soler decided to smash a three-run homer at the top of the third inning. The score was also seen as a form of redemption for pitcher Max Fried, who nearly had his ankle snapped when trying to tag out Astros’ left fielder Michael Brantley early in the game.
Fried would do his part and pitch through six innings. Atlanta enjoyed every last one of them. After a 3-0 lead, Dansby Swanson joined in on the fun with a two-run homer in the top of the 5th inning, which shocked Minute Maid Park. This time, the nuns throwing out the first pitch only foreshadowed a defeat.
Freeman wasn’t done just yet, smashing a homer himself to increase the lead to 6-0. But just when he looked done, Freeman wanted more, hitting another home run in the top of the 7th inning to make it 7-0 and effectively put the game out of reach. In the end, it was Will Smith who tossed the final pitch and Swanson, the hometown hero, to deliver the last throw to first base to crown Atlanta the world champions on the road.
In a year where the Atlanta Braves were without several of their key star players, they overcame the odds to win it all.
Atlanta lost Charlie Morton in Game 1 to a broken leg, they lost Ronald Acuña Jr. to a torn ACL, and others were gone during this stretch, yet against all those odds, they found a way to hoist the hardware. That’s a true testament to their manager Brian Snitker, who managed this team to a destination that not many people saw coming.
Also, can we give some love to Atlanta third-base coach Ron Washington? He came close to hoisting the trophy twice while managing the Texas Rangers in 2010 and 2011, and now finally, he is rewarded for his efforts and contributions to baseball with a World Series ring.
This club, remember, was not a 0.500 team until August, and they found their groove at the right time, proving that it’s not how you start but how you finish. Not only did this team win it all, but they also took out a formidable opponent in Houston with a respectable manager in Dusty Baker.
Though they could not win it in front of their home fans, the parade will be well worth it, given that the city has been longing for one for what seems like an eternity. They almost had one in 2016, but they lost it in Houston, the site where the ATL has now redeemed itself.
No more baseball for 2021, a new champion has been crowned, and a city has redeemed itself. 1995 seemed so long ago when Bobby Cox managed this organization. Now, they stand atop yet again. Somewhere, Hank Aaron has a front-row seat and is standing and applauding his troops. The Atlanta Braves, the 2021 World Series Champions, in six games. Hotlanta indeed.