Comparing best Star Wars movies with Atlanta Braves seasons

With the release of the new Star Wars movie this weekend, we thought it a good time to compare the best Star Wars movies with the best Atlanta Braves seasons.

This is truly a geek moment for me to talk both Atlanta Braves baseball and Star Wars movies, possibly my two favorite topics in the world.

But with Star Wars — The Rise of Skywalker coming out, the last movie in the Skywalker saga, what better time to compare the movie franchise to the Braves?

This list is obviously going to be subjective and can be highly debated. But I also had to move some things around so that the title made sense with the season.

Below I’ll be listing the five best Star Wars movies (according to me) and comparing it with one of the best seasons by the Braves.

I’ll go ahead and tell you that there are several Star Wars movies that I don’t even consider when making a favorites list.

You can compare The Last Jedi, Solo, and that terrible Clone Wars move to every Braves season in the second half of the ’80s. They are all terrible in my book and not worth mentioning.

But here are a couple of comparisons that didn’t quite make my top five.

Revenge of the Sith — 1996

Phantom Menace — 1992

Attack of the Clones — 1997

And what I hope will be a great comparison after this weekend and the 2020 season…

The Rise of Skywalker — 2020

Now let’s get into the top 5 Star Wars movies with the 5 best seasons in Atlanta Braves history.

4. The Force Awakens – 2003

So 2003 had a highly disappointing ending with the Braves losing in the NLDS after winning 101 regular-season games, but no other time in the franchise has the force been quite unleashed.

That season Atlanta had three players finish with 36 home runs or more, and they led the National League with a team total of 235 home runs.

At the time it was the most home runs hit in a single season by the Braves. That was broken this past season when the 2019 team hit 249 home runs, but some juicing of the baseball may have come into play there.

Then again, you can’t say for certain there wasn’t another type of juicing going on during that 2003 season.

But for an Atlanta franchise that dominated with pitching and defense during the ’90s, the offense awakened in 2003.

Javy Lopez reminds me of a smooth Poe Dameron blasting home runs into the sky with his bat as Poe did taking out TIE fighters with his X-wing at Max Kanata’s castle. Lopez finished with 43 home runs in 2003, while Poe Dameron took out over 100 TIE fighters.

Gary Sheffield is no-doubt Kylo Wren using the force to will his bat through a baseball for 39 home runs.

Andruw Jones and Chipper Jones are the Han Solo and Chewbacca of this season with their steady performances of 36 and 27 home runs respectively.

3. A New Hope – 1991

Coming out of the 1980s as a Braves fan it seemed like there was little hope in the future of the franchise.

But just like Luke Skywalker gave the galaxy hope in A New Hope, John Smoltz and the 1991 Braves team gave an entire fanbase hope for the next decade-plus.

As we all know, that 1991 team went from worst to first and made it all the way to the World Series.

The Rebellion rose from the darkness in A New Hope and announced itself by destroying the precious Death Star of the Empire.

Terry Pendleton is the unquestioned hero of this story winning the MVP that season just like Luke Skywalker won the MVP for destroying the Death Star.

I’m sure John Smoltz will love to be compared to Princess Leia, but with the way he stood up to the pressure of the postseason just like Leia did when being interrogated by the Empire makes that an easy comparison.

Smoltz gave up just 5 earned runs in 4 postseason starts in 1991 — Princess Leia gave up nothing…

This team sparked a dynasty in Atlanta just like Star Wars: A New Hope started a franchise that recently ranked third in FanSided’s Fandom 250 rankings.

2. Empire Strikes Back – 1996

I could have gone with 1996 or 1999 here, but the connection is the same as the Evil Empire struck back against the good guys.

But with the way the 1996 World Series played out it makes more sense to go with the 1996 season.

Even though the 1999 team was probably a better team, at least the 1996 team had a chance in the World Series.

The same can be said for Luke Skywalker and his friends in the Empire Strikes Back.

After escaping danger at the beginning of the movie and hiding in an asteroid — much like the Braves ran ahead with a 2-0 lead — the good guys looked good.

But it was all a trap.

They were led astray by Boba Fett and Darth Vader, springing a trap for Luke Skywalker. And then bam, just like that Jim Leyritz home run the tide turned in the favor of the bad guys.

In the end, the Braves crawled away from the battle just like Luke did with his hand cut off.

It seemed like victory was right there but it was taken away from them and seemingly froze the Braves for the next 20-plus year like Han Solo was frozen in carbonite.

Why does anybody like this movie?

1. Rogue One – 1995

I’m sure to catch a lot of flack here for ranking Rogue One as the best Star Wars movie, but it actually is my favorite. And the title is too perfect when it comes to comparing it with the greatest season in Braves’ history.

While the World Series escaped them for most of their 14-year run, one season sticks out among them all.

Just like Jyn Erso was brought back to redemption by risking her life to get those Death Star plans that ultimately led to a huge victory for the Rebellion, David Justice redeemed his standing with Braves fans by delivering a game-winning home run.

Chipper Jones is no-doubt the up-and-coming star like Cassian Andor was for the Rebellion. Luckily Chipper’s career lasted a little longer — RIP Cassian Andor.

And Greg Maddux was most definitely the Chirrut Îmwe of the movie using his Jedi-like instincts to compile a 1.63 ERA during the regular season with 19 wins in 28 starts. Tom Glavine can be Baze Malbus with the way he sacrificed himself for the team in that Game 6 victory giving it everything he had.

While Darth Vader was a villain in the movie and Mark Wholers certainly was not, he did sweep up the final outs of that series much like Vader swept through those rebel soldiers at the end of the movie who had no chance.

This was a really fun exercise that I hope you all enjoyed as we get ready for the Rise of Skywalker and gear up for the 2020 season.