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7 goofiest Atlanta Braves moments from the 2023 season

The 2023 Braves were fun to watch and featured some of the goofiest moments in baseball.

By Mitchell Barbee |
Atlanta Braves v Kansas City Royals
Atlanta Braves v Kansas City Royals / Kyle Rivas/GettyImages
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With home runs for days and some of the most electric games you'll ever see ("Pour Larry a Crown!"), the 2023 Braves were one of the most fun teams in recent memory. They were also one of the funniest teams.

With Spring Training right around the corner, it's the perfect time to look back at some of the goofiest Braves moments from last season.

The top 7 goofiest moments from the Atlanta Braves 2023 season

#7: Acuña Jr. and Goldschmidt have no idea what's going on

During the second series of the season, Ronald Acuña Jr. and Paul Goldschmidt both forgot how to play baseball for about five seconds.

After Goldschmidt couldn't handle a tough throw from the SS, Acuña crossed the bag safely. However, the eventual MVP didn't realize the previous season's MVP hadn't caught the ball and began rounding the bag to go back to the dugout.

Usually, this would be a mistake instantly caught by the defense, except Goldschmidt never bothered to check on Acuña and threw the ball back to the pitcher.

Ronnie eventually realized he was safe and tried to make it back to the bag, but realized he would be out.

Goldschmidt makes a swipe tag at no one, but Acuña decides that a rundown wasn't worth the effort. This put a merciful end to the five-step play.

6. Ozzie Albies and Ron Washington get into a heated argument

During the final game of the first half, things got heated between Ozzie Albies and Ron Washington... for about two seconds.

Thanks to some calming words from Austin Riley (and maybe future Braves reliever Charlie Culberson) Ozzie got it together.

Someone needs to frame that face, though.

5. Ronald holds on for dear life

Atlanta Braves v Miami Marlins
Atlanta Braves v Miami Marlins / Megan Briggs/GettyImages

Ronald Acuña Jr. was this close to not having 73 steals last season. On his 14th steal of the season, Acuña somersaulted to hold on to the bag, taking Jon Berti with him. Somehow, he was just able to keep his sliding mitt on the bag.

I'm not sure many of us could manage this level of flexibility.

4. Brandon Gaudin's call of the year

There are no more words we can add. You'll just need to listen to this masterful call yourself. You can understand why Gaudin won a Sportscaster of the Year award recently.

3. Matt Olson's speed

The Braves had a surprising speedster in 2023. In addition to Ronald Acuña Jr., who broke the team's franchise record in steals, the team's new franchise leader in homers also had some surprisingly speedy moments.

It started in Kansas City in April, when Matt Olson's second career triple shocked everyone, including Matt Olson.

Two months later, Olson shocked Braves fans again when he hustled around the bases, helmet flying off Ozzie Albies style for his second triple of the season. This had the Braves bench going wild with Olson trying to convince his teammates that it was indeed his second triple of the season.

Then, two months later (apparently Olson hits triples in two-month intervals), Matty O used his wheels again to hit his third triple of the season. Oh, did we mention he also had a steal? Here's Olson convincingly revving the engine like he'd done it before.

2. R.I.P. Jesse Chavez

On June 14, fan favorite and beloved teammate was taken out by a liner off the bat of Miguel Cabrera.

As a memorial for their fallen teammate, the Braves bullpen constructed a Jesse Chavez mannequin so the reliever could be with the team in spirit.

But they didn't just leave the Jesse Chavez stand-in alone. They made sure to carry around the mannequin whenever celebrations arose.

Once Jesse revived himself enough to attend games, the bullpen made sure to treat the MLB veteran with the same care and respect they treated the stand-in.

1. The homer hat

Cincinnati Reds v Atlanta Braves
Cincinnati Reds v Atlanta Braves / Kevin D. Liles/Atlanta Braves/GettyImages

During the Opening Weekend in Atlanta, a small Atlanta business called More Than Sports tossed A.J. Minter and Ozzie Albies big Braves hats during their parade to the stadium.

Apparently, the Braves loved it. When Orlando Arcia hit a homer that night, a tradition was born.

For the next three weeks, whenever the Braves hit a homer (and they hit a lot), they'd come down the dugout steps and instantly don the big hat. It looked especially goofy on players like Ozzie Albies, as that hat took up nearly half the underrated 2B's height.

Even the broadcast got in on the action, with Jeff Francoeur wearing the big hat before one of the games.

But then suddenly, the hat disappeared from the dugout. Fans began to wonder what happened, and a few days later, we got our answer: the hat was banned.

Despite the outrage from Braves fans, New Era (MLB's exclusive on-field hat provider) and the league would not change their minds, and we were deprived of the joyous, goofy after-homer moment for the rest of the year.

Still, it was fun while it lasted.

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