Considering the Atlanta Braves 14 straight division titles, which would you say is more accurate?

Question

A) That they were gross underacheivers, who should have more trophies in their display case.

OR

B) Their one World Series title was a fluke.

Feel free to add a "C" if you feel it is merited. I'm genuinely interested in various opinions.

Answer 1

"My (stuff) doesn't work in the play-offs. My job is to get us to the play-offs. What happens after that is (just) luck."
--Billy Beane, Oakland GM, Moneyball, p. 275

The postseason is trickier because the format is different, and only good teams are involved. One team has to win three before it loses three, then win four before it loses four, then win another four before losing four. One team WILL do this, because the format requires a victor; but that team has to play above .500 for each of three series, and every team can slump at any time.

Further, each season (or postseason) is hermetic; no matter that some, even many, players carry over from one year to the next, they're all older, or battling nagging injuries, or something -- same men but playing slightly differently. So what happened in one year has nothing to do with another year. Or maybe a team's strengths in the season don't translate well to the playoffs, with the short, elimination format (and this is what Beane understands). Within that format, luck plays a much larger role, and luck is uncontrollable (gust of wind, weird bounce,...). Sometimes a given team just never gets enough breaks.

I don't think the 1995 championship was a fluke -- the Braves beat the toughest team that year (if the season had been played in full, the Indians would have won about 112 games and be better remembered). Neither do I think them underachievers; they still won their division 14 times, and that is not merely difficult, it was unprecedented. I'd file it under "baseball is a funny game", reflect upon Beane's comment, and move on.

Answer 2

one element human beings do not comprehend about the Buffalo costs is they were between the perfect communities to ever be assembled. human beings evaluate them a foul crew because they "lost 4 immediately large Bowls," yet no different crew has even been to 4 immediately large Bowls, so attending to that factor is incredible. similar for the Braves. that is an surprising streak, and no different crew in any sport has ruled their branch contained in the way that the Braves have. Atlanta has ruled the nationwide League besides. The Braves went to 5 international series from 1991 to 1999 -- in basic terms 3 series for the time of that factor period did not comprise the Braves. it really is incredible. The argument for a weak NL East crumbles like a cookie once you look at who has represented the NL contained in the international series contained in the previous a number of years. contained in the 12 international series from 1991 to 2003 ('ninety 4 WS become cancelled with the aid of strike), the NL East has despatched a crew to the international series 9 of those 12 situations!! Atlanta has lengthy previous to 5, the Marlins 2, and the Phillies and Mets one each and every. Now how can a branch be weak at the same time as they look to save sending communities to the series each and every 365 days? that is a shame that the Braves hadn't received a pair more suitable rings, or they could be considered between the incredible activities dynasties in historic previous, yet they bumped into the Yankees in 1996 and 1998, a crew that many evaluate to be between the perfect Yankee communities ever. The Braves accomplishment isn't given sufficient credit, likely because Atlanta isn't a significant media marketplace like ny or l. a., yet I evaluate this to be between the perfect runs in baseball historic previous.

Answer 3

As both of your choices are idiotic (they wouldn't have won their division 14 times as "gross underachievers", and calling their WS win a fluke is just stupid), I'd say the best answer would be C) The Braves won 14 straight division titles due to the fact that they had very good starting pitching, situational hitting (that allowed them to get the job done during the season but fell cold in the post-season), and the luxury of playing in a fairly weak division. Back in the mid-90's, the NL East isn't the powerhouse it is now, so the Braves had little competition in winning their division.

As someone else has already stated on here, the Braves also ran into some very hot teams in the playoffs . Luck also played a part in all of it, also; three of the Braves' four losses against Minnesota in the 1991 WS were by one run.

Atlanta still won one WS, five NLCS championships, and won their division 14 times. As a long-time Braves fan, who used to suffer through the late-80's teams of Dale Murphy & not much else, I am so tired of hearing about this discussion. I'd much rather have a team play well, win their division every year, and go to the post-season than have a team that has no shot at making the post-season every year. So, if you're a Braves fan, quit whining & support your team, and if you're not a Braves fan, stop being jealous that they won 14 straight division titles.

Answer 4

During their 14 straight division title streak the Braves had both pitching and hitting, and at least some of those years they were clearly the class of both leagues. As good as they were the one world series they did win was no fluke and I believe most baseball fans would agree they had the talent to have won several more. There is no other way for me to explain why they were only able to win one championship other than they did not perform when they had to. I would have to go with (A) above.

Answer 5

In a sport like baseball where it takes months of performance to separate the good from bad, an expanded playoff system actually increases the chances that the best team will NOT win the championship. Hot streaks come and go and if you're on the wrong end of one of those you will lose, even if you're a superior team. I believe this is one reason why the Braves didn't win more championships. There were several years where they were the class of MLB, but got bumped because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Answer 6

I would say A but to add another thought is even thought they won 14 straight division titles, during most of those years that division was really weak but it showed the Braves were consistant in winning & should have won more than one World Series.

Answer 7

A lot of (A), with a touch of (C) with 3 rounds of the playoffs for 12 of those years, they ran into some hot teams.

Remember, during most of their stretch, the LDS was best of 3 and the LCS was best of 5, so they got caught in some short series that they could have pulled out if they had the current 5-7-7 format. Not using that as an excuse, especially for all the times the Cardinals eliminated them, but it was a factor.

Answer 8

I easily would have traded places between their 1 title in 14 division titles over the Jays 2 titles with 4 division titles.

I believe people think that you only have actual success if you win the world series, what a sad outlook in life huh.

Answer 9

My answer is A. I lived in Atlanta during that period and they were grossly mismanaged by Bobby Cox during those World Series except the 1991 Series against the Twins. Nothing anybody could have done about Kirby Puckett hitting that home run in game 6 or Lonnie Smith stopping between 2nd and 3rd which, if he had kept going, whould have allowed him to score the winning run and given the Braves the title.

Answer 10

A. They should have won the World Series more than once. They choked, it's as simple as that. And I'm saying this not as someone who hates the Braves. They have had a lot of talent and winning the division is not the same as the World Series.