The Unlikely World Series Run in Atlanta(Feature #2)-Draft

HUSTON – After an eventful 2021 MLB season, two teams remain as the world series is finally here. The powerhouse Huston Astros come in with a 95-67 record ready to prove wrong claims that they needed to cheat to win their 2017 world series. In the other dugout, the Atlanta Braves look to continue their hot streak and enter with a 88-73 record. In a series where the Astros are heavily favored the Braves look to set the tone as they enter the batter’s box first. Up to bat first is the red-hot right-handed batter, Jorge Solar. Solar enters the box to face Framber Valdez, who opens the game with a fast sinker, which is taken for a ball. The second pitch is more of the same as Solar takes a sinker for ball two. With a 2-0 count Solar gets ready for the pitch and Valdez deals another sinker, and with the first swing of the Series, Solar connects and fires an absolute missile into the left-field stands, as he watches it fly and gives the Braves the early lead. Solar’s home run is the first time someone hit a home run in the first plate appearance of the world series. Solar set the tone for the Braves as they add another to their lead in the first inning. In the next inning, Solar would get another RBI with a single to score the runner from third. The scoring would not stop as Adam Duval would fire a two-run homer to take the lead 5-0.

The players who lead the charge for Atlanta would not be found on the roster earlier in the season. The Braves looked different earlier this year, they were led by young superstar Ronald Acuna Jr who started the season off playing like an MVP until he suffered a torn ACL back in July and the fate of the Braves season looked unclear. They were struggling and had to do something to replace the firepower they lost with Acuna, and they did so at the trade deadline. At the deadline, they made trades for Jorge Solar, Adam Duval, Joc Peterson, and Eddie Rosario. These additions didn’t cost much for the Braves and the reason they got these guys so cheap was they were not playing well. These were not superstar players, many teams chased after the big names at the deadline, but the Braves seemed to settle with these additions. With the exception of Joc Peterson, a former World Series hero for the dodgers, none of these guys were big names and what came next for Atlanta was a surprise to many. Their poor play would pick up and so would the Braves record as they managed to get a wildcard spot. The playoffs are where these additions shined. They would send ball after ball into the stans, and the standout of the group was Eddie Rosario who was on fire, especially in the NLCS where he dominated and earned the NLCS MVP honors. The addition whose impact was felt the most was clear after the first swing of the series; Jorge Solar was a monster in the series and would be the team's World Series MVP.

Everything seemed to be going great for Atlanta, but despite the score looking good, Atlanta took a major blow at the start of the third inning. In the first two innings, Braves starting pitcher, Charlie Morton seemed to be cruising but what most fans didn’t know at the time was at the start of the second inning Morton sustained a major injury. Morton faced the first batter of the inning, Yuli Gurriel, who fired a 102-mph groundball back at Morton and the ball would bounce off his shin area and roll to first base where Freddie Freeman would pick up the ball and get Gurriel out at first. This incident would the majority of people on the ground in pain but Morton seemed unfazed. Without missing a beat, he would strike out the next two batters and would return in the third. To start the third he would face Jose Altuve, who he would strike out on a check-swing strike. It looked that Morton could keep it going after throwing 16 pitches since getting hit in the leg but after Altuve struck out, Morton began to walk off the mound gingerly. He would leave the game and be relieved by A.J. Minter. It was revealed that in the second inning that groundball broke Morton’s fibula, a brutal injury that would end his season. Mortons stats on paper may have been impressive but the way he played through a broken leg is absurd. Looking back he was clearly in pain as he would limp in and out of the dugout, but he was unfazed by the pain as he pitched 11 strikes on 16 pitches and would retire multiple of the Astros best hitters. He battled through adversity incredibly, which is something that’s not foreign to the Braves.

Adversity was a theme of the Braves season, all year Atlanta had to fight through adversity to put themselves in a position to get into the postseason which they came close to missing. As mentioned earlier, Atlanta lost their best player in Acuna Jr and without him winning was coming easy. At the all-star break, the Braves sat at 44-45, an under .500 record that would not be good enough for the playoffs but they started to turn it around. The Braves made many moves before the trade deadline and after the all-star break, they started to look like they are still a dangerous team even without Acuna. They would win another 44 games but only lose 28, which would make them 88-73. The players who have been there and the new faces all seemed to gel and play well as they got into the playoffs and went on the run that has gotten them here. This whole time Acuna Jr would watch from the dugout and while he wished he could be out there with his team in the World Series, he didn’t sit there and sulk, he supported his team nonstop. No one seemed more excited for their teammates than him and in an interview, he was asked about watching from the dugout and he responded with, "It's one of the hardest moments of my career, to be honest, to be here at the stadium and not be able to be out on the field with my teammates and play with them," Acuna said. "Nothing you can do about that. For me, it's just about being here, continue to give them support as if we're playing, and continue to give 200% [in my rehab].". Acuna may have not been on the field, but he was still a key part of the team.

Despite the injury to Morton the Braves kept rolling and took game one 6-2. Entering game two the Braves seemed to struggle for the first time in a while. They struggled to find offense and would fall to the Astros 7-2. But as they have done all season, they bounced back. In-game three pitching stepped up after a bad game two. Ian Anderson, a rookie, started the game and threw five no-hit innings. After five innings of masterful pitching the Braves, the manager decided to pull him, a questionable decision to many but it worked out. The bullpen continued the no-hitter into the eighth inning and the two runs of support from Austin Riley and Travis d’Arnaud were enough as they took game three 2-0. Game four brought it some early struggle for Atlanta as they were down 2-0 after the fifth. But as we know by now, if there is a team that can handle adversity, it’s the Braves. In the sixth Austin Riley hit a single that scored Eddie Rosario to cut the lead down to one. Entering the seventh inning the Astros looked to maintain their one-run lead, but the Braves had other ideas. Dansby Swanson got it started with a shot to the right-field stands and tied the game. The very next batter would be Jorge Solar, pinch-hitting for Tyler Matzek, and would do what he has done best, fire a missile to left field, flying over the short outfield wall, just feet out of range for the leaping outfielder. Solar made it a 3-2 ball game and his home run would be the dagger in the game.

Watching these Braves fire homer after homer over the wall was definitely not what Astro’s manager Dusty Baker wanted to see but it probably brought back some memories of his playing days and when he had the best seat in the house for one of the biggest home runs in MLB history. Dusty played for the Braves and was teammates with one of the greatest ever, Hank Aaron. Hank and Dusty were close when they were teammates and became very good friends and, in a game, where Aaron was sitting tied for the all-time home run record, Dusty was hitting one spot behind him in the lineup. As Dusty stood in the on-deck circle he would watch Hank Aaron in the betters box as he prepared for a pitch that could make history. He got that pitch, Hammering Hank Aaron blasted a ball and when everyone heard the crack of the ball coming off the bat, they all knew history was happening. The ball made it over the wall and Hank become the all-time home run champ as Dusty Baker watched from the best seat in the house as Aaron trotted the bases with the crowd roaring in celebration. Sadly, Hank would not be able to watch the Braves do what he did best as back in January at the age of 83, Hank Aaron peacefully passed away in his sleep, leaving the baseball and sports world distraught at the loss of one of the most iconic figures ever. His death was felt around the league as teams offered their condolences and tributes to the legend. Hanks’s impact was more than just hitting home runs, he persevered growing up surrounded by racism and poverty and made it to the big leagues where he as a Black man would conquer the home run record, which was held by legend Babe Ruth, a white man, making a Black man the face of baseball. It's sad that this legend couldn’t be there for the Braves world series but it's nice to think that throughout this difficult and unlikely season, Hank was looking down rooting for his old team.

After a late-game comeback, the Braves took game four and looked to close out the series in game five. A celebration would have to wait as the Braves struggled to slow down the Astros offense and lost game five 9-5. Heading into game six Atlanta did not want to allow the Astros to force a game seven. In this game, the Braves did not mess around as both the pitching and batting stepped up big as they pounced on them quickly with a Solar monstrous no-doubt blast to left, scoring the two runners on base making it a 3-0 game. They didn’t let up as in the fifth they struck again as Swanson homered and Freddie Freeman doubled to score a run. Pitching continued to dominate allowing no runs and in the seventh inning the Braves lifer and all-time great Freddie Freeman would cap off the night with a solo shot to make it a 7-0 game. The pitching continued to execute and in the ninth inning, Atlanta looked to find the final out and close out the series. With the Astros final out Yuli Gurriel, the AL batting champ hit a grounder to Swanson at short who fielded the grounder and fired it to first as the game would end in Freddie Freeman's glove. Freeman thrusts his arms in the air and rejoiced as the Atlanta Braves are world champions. While celebrating Freeman tucked the ball away in his back pocket and it's quite fitting that it all ended in his glove. The Braves lifer and leader of the team got to be the one to catch the final out of the season and he and the rest of his team would go down in history as world champions