The Braves are once again the cream of the crop in the NL East. They have now won five straight division titles and are off to an 8-4 start through 12 games this season.
The NL East – and sometimes the entire National League – ran through Atlanta in the 1990s to the early 2000s and the Braves are building that winning culture again in the 2020s.
Tom Glavine was a big part of those Braves teams in the 90s and has spent the last decade as a TV analyst in Atlanta. He’s seen both sides of it and the similarities are there.
Glavine was a guest on the Audacy Original Podcast “The Bret Boone Podcast” and talked about how the culture of the 90s is being recreated in Atlanta over the past several years with Brian Snitker at the helm.
“He’s served virtually every role you can ask somebody to serve within an organization so it was great to see him get that shot,” Glavine said of Braves manager Brian Snitker (6:00 in player above). “He spent a lot of time with Bobby, whether it was as a coach on Bobby’s staff in the big leagues or around Bobby in spring training. So I think a lot of the culture that Bobby brought is the same culture that Snit grew up under so to speak and I think Snit brings the same thing.”
Snitker started his managerial career as Atlanta’s interim manager in 2016 after Fredi Gonzalez was fired. He’s brought the Braves up through a rebuild and back to relevance – and the World Series in 2021.
“I see a lot of the same similarities in him as I saw in Bobby. I hear a lot of the same things from the players about Snit that we all used to say about Bobby. And I think that culture has returned,” Glavine continued. “They’ve won five division titles in a row again so they’ve built that expectation again. You look at that team now coming into this year I think they’re the odds-on favorite to win their division again and certainly a team that a lot of people look at as a team that they would pick to win the World Series.
“I think Snit’s done a great job of coming in there and taking over kind of during a rebuild and now having those pieces to the puzzle leading them to where they need to go and being a perennial contender every year.”
The Braves’ current streak of five straight NL East titles is still six shy of their run from 1995 to 2005, but some may argue that it’s harder to remain competitive in today’s day and age. Nevertheless, the winning culture is back in Atlanta and the Braves are off to a great start in 2023.
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