These Braves Win the World Series—Naturally

In today’s Five-Tool Newsletter, we break down Game 6 and wrap up the Fall Classic.

The Braves, winners of 88 games in the regular season, are World Series champions for the first time in 26 years. This wasn’t supposed to happen.

They did so without their best player, one of their best young pitchers and one of the best postseason pitchers of the past two decades. They did so with a band of four outfielders, none of whom were on the team before mid-July.

Snitker celebrates :: Greg Nelson/Sports Illustated

They did so because of the leadership of a baseball lifer who waited 45 years in the organization before finally getting to manage the big league club. They did so because of a coach who lost consecutive World Series titles 10 years earlier while managing another team, and whose help implementing defensive shifts overnight made a major difference. They did so with a general manager who so believed in his team, that despite their middling record he traded for key pieces at the deadline instead of selling off his pending free agents for prospects.

Get SI’s Atlanta Braves World Series Champions commemorative issue here.

They did so in the year that began with their franchise icon’s death; his impact was felt throughout the season and in the World Series, extending to the manager in the other team’s dugout.

In the quarter century since Atlanta won its last World Series, only two teams had a better record: the Yankees and the Dodgers. The Braves won 15 division titles in that span, more than any other team. Yet for all the regular-season success they had, they always fell short in the playoffs. In many of those years, they were predicted to make a deep playoff run and have a chance at winning the World Series. Atlanta’s many collapses became something of a cruel joke. The regular season was for the Braves. The playoffs were for the Barves.

No, they weren’t expected to make it this far—not this year, not when they had a losing record at the All-Star break. Not when they didn’t have Ronald Acuña Jr., who tore his ACL in July. Not when they had to face the 106-win Dodgers in the NLCS. Not when they met the 95-win Astros in the World Series, and especially not after starter Charlie Morton left Game 1 with a season-ending injury.

And yet, here they are, World Series champions at last. For an organization that for so long has defied expectations in the most disappointing of ways, it’s fitting that this Atlanta team is the one that finally broke through and won it all.

Have any questions for our team? Send a note to mlb@si.com.

Greg Nelson/Sports Illustrated

1. THE OPENER

“Baseball is a cruel, fiendishly inequitable dues collector. The payment it requires before doling out rewards follows whim more than logic.”

That’s how Tom Verducci begins his Daily Cover story on Atlanta's World Series championship. I won’t try and paraphrase or summarize Tom’s piece, because nothing less than the real thing could do it justice. This is a must-read for everyone who reads this newsletter and baseball fans everywhere.

Dues Paid in Full, the Braves Are World Champions by Tom Verducci
This team is about the long haul. This title is a triumph of perseverance.

2. ICYMI

Want to read more about Atlanta’s World Series win? We’ve got you covered!

Max Fried Finds Another Level to Win One for the Braves and Starters Everywhere by Emma Baccellieri
The victorious Game 6 starter unleashed everything in his arsenal in ways he never had before to bring the World Series title back to Atlanta.

Three Thoughts From Atlanta’s World Series Win by Will Laws
Thanks to Jorge Soler’s power surge, Max Fried’s gem and Alex Anthopoulos’s deadline moves, the Braves are champions for the first time in 26 years.

Didn’t catch these great Braves stories from throughout the year? Here’s a roundup of our favorites:

He’s Old-School. He Doesn’t Embrace Analytics. And He’s Thriving in Today’s MLB. by Chris Ballard
Braves manager Brian Snitker waited 40 years to get his shot. There may never be anyone like him again—and that may be exactly why he’s had so much success.

Assessing Freddie Freeman’s Burgeoning Hall of Fame Case by Will Laws
The reigning National League MVP is starting to clear a path toward Cooperstown, but there’s still a lot of work to do.

Pearls Before Swing: Meet the Man Behind the Joctober Bling by Stephanie Apstein
Joc Pederson’s necklace is the new fashion statement of the postseason. His jeweler has never seen anything like it.

Tyler Matzek’s Improbable Journey to Immortality in Atlanta by Stephanie Apstein
The Braves erased 22 years of playoff ineptitude by winning the NL pennant thanks to a first-round pick who crashed out of baseball just a few years ago.

‘Hell No. We’re Doing It Tonight’: How Atlanta’s Season Shifted by Emma Baccellieri
Reminder: Dismiss 69-year-old Ron Washington as “old-school” only at your own peril.

The Greatest Twenty-One Days of Brian Snitker’s Life by Tom Verducci
Snitker has devoted his career to the Braves and will have the opportunity to grab a World Series title 45 years in the making.

Atlanta’s Warm Blanket Provides Security Amid World Series Chaos by Emma Baccellieri
The Braves’ catcher is tasked with preparing their pitching strategy, even when he has no idea who is going to pitch.

3. WORTH NOTING

“The Astros could have been the New England Patriots, who got caught cheating but became a dynasty anyway. Instead they will be the Russian Olympic team, which ... just got caught cheating.”

In her column on the Astros, Stephanie Apstein writes about how this was the one last shot for the core players from Houston’s 2017 World Series to prove they could win it all without cheating. They came up just short.

Read Stephanie’s entire story here.

Freddie Freeman :: Greg Nelson/Sports Illustated

4. WHAT TO WATCH FOR from Will Laws

On Friday, Atlanta natives will have the opportunity to enjoy the first World Series championship parade since 1995. Many of them (like myself!) are not old enough to remember the last one. The team and city have yet to announce a time and location for the celebration, but you can be sure it will be unlike anything Atlanta has seen this century.

5. THE CLOSER from Emma Baccellieri

The Braves’ final out on Tuesday was poetic. With a runner on first base, an easy ground ball was hit to shortstop Dansby Swanson, who then had the choice of going to second baseman Ozzie Albies or to the veteran face of the franchise at first base, Freddie Freeman. He paused for a second. He chose Freeman.

... or that’s how it looked. Actually? Swanson wasn’t going for poetry. He just wanted to end the game. He’d looked at Albies right before the play. He said: “I pointed at him, ‘Hey, you’re going to be at second base, right?’ ” Swanson recalled afterward, grinning. “And he wasn't. So I’ve already gotten on him about that.”

That happy accident meant the final out got to go to the longest-tenured member of the roster. But Freeman isn’t keeping the ball, he said: It’ll go to manager Brian Snitker. And it’s hard to think of anyone who could be more deserving.

That’s all from us today. We’ll be back in your inbox tomorrow and Friday before pivoting to the offseason, when we’ll be publishing every Friday. In the meantime, share this newsletter with your friends and family, and tell them to sign up at SI.com/newsletters. If you have any questions or comments, shoot us an email at mlb@si.com.