The Braves are no stranger to winning division titles. In fact, last night’s heart-racing 2-1 win over the Marlins clinched the organization’s 22nd overall—the most in MLB history—and their 5th straight NL East crown, but this one had a different feel to it.
Watching the celebration on the field as it spilled over into the visitors' locker room in Miami, Rusty Mansell had the same feeling that plenty of other Braves fans likely had, saying that the epic stretch that saw Atlanta erase the Mets 10.5 game lead in the NL East—thanks in large part to this weekend’s sweep of New York—puts this division title on a bit of a pedestal.
“You could just tell they even knew what they did was special. This team won a world series, they’ve done this, they’ve done that but they knew last night what they did was special to be able to pass the Mets and win this division,” Mansell said on 92.9 The Game’s The Steakhouse.
Rob Tribble, filling in for Steak Shapiro, mentioned that while he got a bit tired of division titles in the 90s run, this year’s club showed an incredible amount of inner fortitude to end the regular season on top despite leading the race for just eight days.
“It just takes such resilience because it's such a long season. You cannot be a victim of presentism…You just have to keep chugging along and keep playing,” he said.
As the players and coaches changed into their NL East champion attire, Brian Snitker called his club a battle-tested group that never stopped believing in themselves. With that in mind, I think we can all agree that no one wants to see the defending champions in the opposing dugout with the playoffs set to commence. The Braves will get some rest before opening the NLDS at Truist Park next Tuesday against the winner of the Phillies/Cardinals series.
