7 Best Moments of Dansby Swanson's time with the Atlanta Braves

Dansby Swanson is returning to Truist Park for the first time since Game 2 of the 2022 NLDS today. After spending the first seven seasons of his career in an Atlanta Braves uniform, Swanson now returns as a member of the visiting team.

Swanson's Braves tenure certainly had its ups and downs, which may have contributed to Atlanta opting not to give him the large contract he got from Chicago, but this article looks back at some of Dansby's greatest moments.

7. Dansby hits an inside-the-parker for his first career homer

Coming into his 16th game in the big leagues, Swanson was struggling. After notching two hits in his first career game, he had only collected 11 hits in his next 14 games. Even worse, he only had two extra-base hits and four walks.

Brian Snitker gave him the day off when the Braves faced the Nationals on September 5 but Dansby was back in the lineup the very next day.

In his first at-bat of the night, Swanson hit a deep drive to center that CF Trea Turner (yes, Trea Turner was in the outfield) didn't play well. The ball ricocheted and by the time Bryce Harper chased it down, it was too late to throw out Dansby at the plate.

Swanson became the first Brave to hit an inside-the-parker since Wes Helms did it in 2001. Even more special, it was his first career big league homer.

He'd hit his first out-of-the-park homer the very next day and ended up having a very productive season offensively with his first cup of coffee.

4. Game-tying double against the Cardinals in Game 3 of the 2019 NLDS

After getting shut out for the first 8 innings, it looked like the Braves were going to waste a masterful start by Michael Soroka (then known as Mike Soroka).

Down 1-0 in the 9th, Josh Donaldson led off with a double (who was immediately pinch-run for), but Nick Markakis and Adeiny Hechavarria would strikeout. The Cardinals would intentionally walk Brian McCann (who was then immediately pinch-run for) to bring up Dansby.

On the very first pitch, Dansby hit this rope to the left field wall, bringing in Billy Hamilton from third and putting runners on 2B and 3B.

Adam Duvall would single four pitches later and the Braves grabbed a 2-1 lead in the best of three series.

We don't need to remember what happened next.

3. Dansby burns sage and breaks his slump by hitting a homer

Like everybody else not named Ronald Acuña Jr., Dansby was struggling to start the 2021 season. Coming into the Braves April 26 game against his future team, Swanson was hitting .173/.253/.293 (.546 OPS).

Sick of his poor performance, Swanson performed a sage burning ceremony before the game, saying, "You feel like you need to cleanse the air a little bit."

This worked. In the 3rd inning, Swanson took this 3-2 pitch the other way for a bomb to make the score 5-4 Braves. Swanson would add a single in the 6th inning and the Braves would win 8-7.

2. Game-tying homer in Game 4 of the 2021 World Series

Dansby's 2021 turned around after the sage burning, as he finished with 27 bombs and a 99 wRC+, but during the playoffs, he hadn't done much going into Game 4 of the World Series. Through the first 13 games of the postseason, Dansby only had nine hits and only one extra-base hit (a double in the NLDS).

Down by one run in the 7th inning, Swanson didn't look like he was going to do much. After all, he had taken this terrible hack on the first pitch of the AB.

On the 0-2 pitch, he was just able to stay alive by pushing this ball out of play into the stands.

Javier still had plenty of pitches to play with, especially considering he had gotten Swanson to swing so helplessly on a ball off the plate three pitches early. Instead, he grooved this fastball that Swanson took the other way to tie the game.

Four pitches later, Jorge Soler drove this just far enough over the left field wall to take the lead and it was all the runs the Braves needed to take a 3-1 series lead.

Two games later, the Braves would close things out in Houston, with Dansby throwing to 1B for the final out.

Honorable Mentions

Dansby's first hit:

Walking off the Nats in 2020:

Dansby makes a Stone Cold catch... during the World Series parade:

Dansby plays all 162 games in 2022:

1. 3 homers in 3 games against the Mets in September 2021

During the final weekend of the 2022 season, the Mets came into town with a one-game lead in the division and the series lead between the two teams. If the Braves were going to win the division, they needed to sweep.

In game one, Swanson came up to the plate with the Braves up one against Jacob deGrom. Matt Olson and Austin Riley had already gotten to the Mets ace in the 2nd, but the Braves were looking to add whatever they could. Dansby obliged on the first pitch.

The Braves would eventually take this game 5-2, leading to a tie for first.

The next day, Dansby came to the plate against the other Mets ace and future Hall-of-Famer, Max Scherzer. Down one in the 5th and with the count full, drove this pitch deep to center to give the Braves a lead they would not relinquish.

After taking sole possession of first place, the Braves still needed to sweep to almost guarantee they won the division. Swanson set the tone early with yet another bomb.

The Braves briefly fell behind in this game, but would eventually come away victorious, giving them a two-game lead with three games to play (and the tiebreaker). They would clinch just two days later.

Dansby Swanson's time in Atlanta was a rollercoaster at times but he came through when it mattered most and had several iconic moments Braves fans will remember for years to come.