After a slow start to the 2022 season, it took until Game 161 for the Atlanta Braves to clinch the NL East division title for a fifth straight year.
Every Major League Baseball season is its own journey with plenty of ups and downs and special storylines along the way. As the Atlanta Braves clinched their fifth straight NL East division title on Tuesday night, it’s hard to think of a more special journey than this one.
Coming off a World Series championship in 2021, the Atlanta Braves still weren’t considered the favorite by most to repeat as division winners after the New York Mets went out and spent a ton of money.
And then after the Mets built a 10.5 game lead through the first two months of the season, just about everyone gave up on the Braves’ making any kind of comeback and went ahead and decleared the division to the Mets.
But we should have known better. While some fans may not love Brian Snitker, one thing that is for certain since he became manager — there is no quit in this team.
He held a team after a loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks on May 31 in which they blew a 6-2 lead essentially telling them they’re better than what they’re showing on the field.
The Braves were 23-27 at that point and then won 14 in a row and have the best record in baseball since.
That doesn’t mean there weren’t any more bumps along the way — they lost several more heart-breakers.
But the one key word that describes this team, and really every Braves team under Snitker, is resilient.
Time after time this team has shown the ability to pick themselves off the mat and quickly turn things around.
Go to that four-game series in Citi Field at the beginning of August where the Mets simply embarrassed the Braves in facets of the game while winning four of five.
Atlanta proceeded to win eight in a row and 11 of their next 13 including three against the Mets and two against the Houston Astros.
And then in the biggest series of the year, where they essentially had to have a sweep to win the NL East — the Braves did just that taking down the Mets in three games at Truist park while facing two Hall of Fame starting pitchers in Jacob deGrom and Max Scherzer.
This is a special group of players who love each other and love the game of baseball. They play with so much passion and pride and it’s really a joy to be a fan of this team. Congrats on five in a row.