Another Dramatic Win For The Other Team

After a record-breaking 18 innings of a Game 4 NLDS, the Astros put my Braves out of their misery after a 6-hour tustle that watched the Braves bullpen, which I mentioned would be the main factor they would lose, give up a 6-1 lead. Winning this game would not have solved their problems. It might have made everyone feel better. But there was no chance in hell this team, with this bullpen, was going to advance any farther. There isn't a lights-out dependable guy down there. Kyle Farnsworth was fairly dependable, but when the pressure of a postseason game was applied, he reverted back to his old Cubs ways. I think Joey Devine might be a good pitcher one day. I think he has lots of promise. But he's not who you're depending on for your postseason success. All the other guys, like Reitsma and Foster, may be gone after this year. As I mentioned in my playoff picks, this team was the best in baseball if they had even the slightest of a bullpen.

Does this loss hurt? It mildly stings. I wish they could have done better. But better to end the hope now than against any other team that's still alive in the playoffs. No chance in hell they would have beaten the Cardinals, where the first glimpse of that bullpen weakness was exposed a month or so ago when Reitsma blew a certain win when he allowed David Eckstein to hit a grand slam.

Now, what makes the loss hurt a little more is the rubbing it in of the media. They can't seem to register that this isn't the team that went to the World Series in 1991. For many years, the Braves have started anew with different players. If you want to criticize the nineties teams that should have won more from 1991-1999, that's fair, although that dominant and unbeatable Yankees team emerged in 1996.

Since 2000, though, it's not fair. The team hasn't had the same cogs that those prior teams did. They've sort of been rebuilding, which makes it remarkable that they made the playoffs, not open to criticism when they lost. Criticism belongs totally and completely to the players, and this year (yes, similar to years past) they didn't have the guys who could get outs 22-27, when their pedigrees said that they could. Dan Kolb is front and center here. As he was unable to close games as he did for Milwaukee, a domino effect occurred in the bullpen. Reitsma was already overused and became closer, and he became ineffective. So, they had to get Farnsworth. And all the ineffective pitchers, including lots of young guys from the minors, became the sloppy bullpen that the Braves fielded. With no certainty down there, they were doomed.

So, it's the tendency of the media to blame someone, like John Schuerholtz for this. How in the world could he know that Kolb, Reitsma, and Farnsworth, not to mention a bunch of other potential studs, were going to be this bad? And blaming Bobby Cox...it's tempting, but completely wrong. If the Braves want to win, they need to find guys who can handle pressure and throw tough pitches. Not this finesse crap where it looks like the guy is afraid to throw a strike.

Starting pitchers were fine. Hitting...situational hitting needs serious work. Too many guys swinging for the fences, especially Jeff Francouer, who came up in several game-changing situations and looked like the 21-year-old he is. That will change with time. The young guys are the reason to get excited for the team in the next few years. But as long as they don't work their butts off just to see a lead evaporate, there will be even more reason to look forward to future Braves incarnations.

By the way, the media will likely play that same tune concerning the Braves, but when will they play the tune for the Yankees? I guess when you win 4 World Series, all of your postseason failures after that don't matter. But the Yankees are a perfect team to look at when you want to denounce the Braves in public. With their lineup and their pitching, you'd think they'd have won 4 more World Series. But the Yankees prove that it's hard to win when you have essential cogs missing. Their story the past 5 years since they last won the Series is plugging in too many guys who depend on role players to succeed. There are too few role players now, and you see the Yanks struggling without Paul O'Neill and Chuck Knoblauch, people who would give you 10-pitch at-bats and wear down the opposing pitcher before lacing a single to the outfield. When the Yanks lose this postseason, and they will, the media should definitely not be attacking Joe Torre and Brian Cashman, and they might not. They might still be shaking their heads at those loser Braves.