FanNation - The Republic of Sport

    Let me start this blog by telling you a little bit about my Wednesday night. While most people were just sitting at home, trying to survive the middle of the week, I was at the Braves game with my family. Except this wasn't like any ordinary game we usually go to. My uncle works with a guy who had seats 3 rows up, and the guy needed to get rid of the tickets. Well, you see who wound up getting them. This was the second game of the year we had went to, the other being at the very beginning of the year. In that game, Japanese starter Kenshin Kawakami made his first career major league start and got his first win. Wednesday's game was sort of ironic, as Kawakami was pitching again. However, the results weren't as good as the first time.

   Everything started off great for Atlanta. The top of the first ended after a Padres threat with a 0-0 score. Then in the bottom of the first Brian McCann hit a 3 run homerun, his 17th of the year. Things got quiet for a while after that, and it seemed like Atlanta was going to sneak out with a 3-0 win. Then came the 6th inning. It seems like Kawakami always has one bad innning, and the 6th inning was it. He gave up 6 runs, and Atlanta could not recover. The final score was 12-5, and the loss put Atlanta 5 games out of the Wild Card, and a whopping 8 games out of the NL East lead. Alright, let's call it: Braves' Playoff Hopes Time of Death, about 10:30 last night.

    It's over, Braves fans. This Padres series has proven the facts. In the first game, Atlanta had 3 different innings where they could have scored a game winning run with the bases loaded, yet they failed to do so. Then they pitch their way out of a win last night. There's not enough time left for Atlanta to make a run to slide in at the last second. Are people upset? I'd say yes. I know last night all I can think about was another year of watching teams I don't give a crap about come October. This morning on 680 The Fan, Atlanta's sports radio show, fellow broadcasters tried comforting former UGA QB and Braves fan Buck Belue as he now realized this year is basically over. Needless to say, great expectations have fallen short once again. Oh well, maybe next year.

    There was a moment at the ball park I hope I can forget. It's about the 8th innning, and Atlanta's getting killed. My dad and I were talking about the Braves in the '90s, and he told me how hard it was to get a ticket to any game during that run. Then he looked around Turner Field at the 15,000 fans still around. "This", he said, "reminds me of the '80s [when the Braves were horrible]. Looks like you're going to experience what I did back then". Ouch. Thanks Dad, for something to look forward to in the future.