AGBA 30 Game into the Season (Central League Recap)

 

The Central League consists of the Cobb Division, and the Young Division (named after Cy Young obviously). 

We will start in the more exciting division of the two, the Cobb Division in which the Cleveland Spiders (21-8-1), best record in AGBA Baseball. The Spiders opened the offseason by shocking their fans by trading away Cuban pitching star Luis Tiant to the Seattle Captains in exchange for a handful of prospects in SP Mike Hampton, 2B Fernando Vina, and veteran RP Adam Warren, plus draft picks. The Spiders were trying to cut some salary by trading away players to fit the roster salary cap, and didn't simply wanted to release Tiant for nothing in return.

The Spiders' lineup is one of the best in baseball to go with a superb rotation. The lineup consists of Kenny Lofton, Jose E. Ramirez, Albert Belle, Francisco Lindor, Michael Brantley and Edwin Encarnacion, while the pitching consists of ace Sam McDowell, Corey Kluber, Trevor Bauer, Mike Clevinger, and Sonny Siebert. The team is also stacked with prospects such as Manny Ramirez, Jim Thome, Shane Bieber, Hampton, Vina and more.

During a 15-game stretch, the Spiders had a 13-1-1 record, but have looked vulnerable of late, going only 6-5 during their last 11 games. Albert Belle has been ice cold all season, batting only .187 with 3 HR & 11 RBI. Meanwhile, the Spiders' best hitters have been Francisco Lindor (.292, 10 HR, 29 RBI with 13 SB & 26 runs), Jose Ramirez (.297, 11 HR & 24 RBI, 7 SB & 26 runs), and Carlos Baerga (.304, 4 HR, 21 RBI & 14 runs).

The Detroit Wolverines may have been one of the league's biggest enigmas entering the season. It was obvious that they had a strong lineup with great bench options as well, but no one knew what to expect from the pitchers. No one thought Detroit would start the season, 12-4. The Wolverines picked up P Ross Stripling in the waiver draft, and has since signed lefty specialist Oliver Perez as well. The Wolverines at this point appear to be a solid bet to reach this upcoming postseason, they have pieces to possibly make their team better coming up during All-Star break. Word from the inside, they are buyers, not sellers. Cleveland should still be able to win the Cobb Division.

The Kansas City Monarchs sporting the colors of the NBA's Los Angeles Lakers have stuck around despite their ups and downs. The team started the season, 6-1, and then lost 6 of their next 7 games. The Monarchs recently have won 5 of their last 6 games, with a stretch that included 3 consecutive 11-Inning games (going 2-1 in those games). The Monarchs of late, have also plugged Salvador Perez behind the plate, while moving Mike Macfarlane to the DH role, which seems to be bringing the team and pitching staff more stability. 

The Toronto Reds have a talented lineup, but lack solid starting pitching outside of Bobby Bolin (4-0, 1.75 ERA). Prior to the Reds losing their last 3 straight games, the team had its most successful stretch, going 7-2. The team has the best 1-2 combo on the base paths in Rickey Henderson (14 SB) and Roberto Alomar (20 SB), while also hitting 1-2 in the lineup as well. 

The Chicago Union had high expectations with their superb pitching staff and bullpen, thinking that they should be competing for the top-half of the division. It unfortunately has not been that way, and has been a frustrating season so far for Chicago. Their top of the rotation consists of three Grade A starting pitchers in Joe Horlen (A), Tommy John (A-Y) and Wilson Alvarez (A-YW), while the rotation is rounded out by two B-YZ's in Jack McDowell and Alex Fernandez. The team has a solid bullpen foursome, in which the Chicago faithful have quietly dubbed 'The Four Horsemen' in Wilbur Wood, Bob Locker, Roberto Hernandez and Hoyt Wilhelm.

The Nashville Jukes (13-16-1) might not be as bad as their record reflects, but they are unfortunately in a tough division, and tough league. Clayton Kershaw, Carlos Carrasco, and Gary Bell have all pitched really well for the Jukes. The bullpen is capable of doing better as David Robertson and Blake Treinen have been the only good choices. The batting has been the worst element for Nashville, batting .216 as a team, with only Jose Cardenal (their leadoff man) and catcher Rick Wilkins being the two best bats.

We now switch to the Young Division, where currently the Milwaukee Braves sit on top of the division with a 19-9-2 record. 

Milwaukee was playing roughly .500 ball through their first 18 games, but have caught fire by winning 11 of their last 12 games. The team is not too flashy, and may have only one true superstar per se in Christian Yelich, while Greg Vaughn is possibly the next best star. The team is gritty though, and seem to capitalize on other team's mistakes. Their leading hitter at the moment is Darryl Hamilton, leading the team with a .316 batting average. They have a lockdown bullpen and have been able to close things out with a lead from the 6th inning on, consisting of Graeme Lloyd, Mike Fetters, Jesse Orosco, Josh Hader and Jeremy Jeffress. The rotation has no true strikeout artist, while it's two starting pitchers from 1968 that have lead the charge as the team's 1-2 punch in Jim Hardin and Ray Washburn.

The Braves' closest competition are the St. Louis Saints. The Saints started the season, 5-2 before hitting a rough patch, then appeared to have found momentum in a 6-game winning streak, before once again hitting another losing skid, losing 5 of their next 8 games. The Saints in many ways are a complete opposite of the Braves, in which St. Louis does have strikeout guys like Bob Gibson, Jack Flaherty and Steve Carlton. While though three pitchers are quite nice to have in a rotation, the two starting pitchers with the lowest ERA's are Nelson Briles (2.52) and Bob Tewksbury (2.81). On the hitting side, Gregg Jefferies has been the team's best hitter, sitting among the league leaders in multiple categories, while batting .341 with 4 HR, 23 RBI, 7 doubles & 9 stolen bases. 

The next three teams all sit at 12-18...

• The Chicago Legends started off in 1st place at 9-3, and remained in first through their first 17 games. After their 9-3 start, the team lost 7 straight, and have gone 3-15, and are currently on a 5 game losing streak. The Legends problem might have more to do with not having a consistent starting lineup, while 11-12 players are fighting over 9 slots in a lineup. 

• The Cincinnati Buckeyes have never found their stride, winning no more than 2 games straight (which they only did that twice). The Buckeyes lost 7 straight, being swept by the Milwaukee Braves, 4-0, and losing their first 3 games to the lowly New Orleans Pirates, before winning the series finale. 

• The Twin Cities Giants appeared to be heading towards a long, lost season, starting the season with a 1-10 record. At the 21-game mark, the team sat with a 4-17 record, and appeared to be dead and buried. The team released 1B-Kent Hrbek, traded away SP Frank Viola, and added a few pieces in DH/1B Luke Voit and 1B/OF Jerald Clark. The team has now won 7 of their last 8 games, but had nothing to do with the moves, but more to do with moving struggling leadoff man Chuck Knoblauch to the 9th slot, and bumping up Jorge Polanco (to leadoff), Brian Harper & Chris Sabo in the lineups. During the Giants' recent 7-1 run, their starting pitching has a 7-0 record, 2.28 ERA, 1.014 WHIP & 2 complete games.

The New Orleans Pirates just coming off a 3-1 series (with a bit of an upset) victory against Cincinnati, has not had much to celebrate this season. Pitching ace Steve Avery has been on the bad luck side, sporting a 0-5 record, with his ERA being recently bumped up from 3.26 to 3.96, while leading the team with 23 strikeouts through 36.1 innings. Avery, along with possibly Miles Mikolas (2-2, 2.52 ERA) could be sought out buy teams who are buyers come trade deadline. The Pirates really don't have much pieces to sell, besides possibly OF Matt Kemp (.264, 5 HR & 21 RBI) and SS Bert Campaneris. Newly signed IF/DH Jose Vizcaino has quickly won a starting job, batting an impressive .417 (20-for-48) through 12 games, while OF Andrew McCutchen has been disappointing, batting .167 (16-for-96) with 2 HR & 7 RBI. 

AGBA 30 Games Into the Season (Eastern League Recap)

AGBA Season I, is now 30 games through its inaugural season. It's been a fun process which will only get moving along faster by switching over to the APBA BBW (Baseball for Windows) over the last 46 games of the season. Some more teams are getting into the playoff picture mix, to go along with the four teams in the Atlanta Firebirds and Carolina Twins (both from the Eastern League), the Central League's Cleveland Spiders and the Western League's Houston Rattlers. There is also some teams that sat in cellar for the first 16-20 games or so, and are starting to turn things around such as the Twin Cities Giants.

So let's dive into it.

The Eastern League's Ruth Division is still up for grabs, no one team has took firm control, but as of late the New York Pigeons might be signaling to the division, that they intend to be the team to beat.  The Pigeons have won 6 of their last 8 games, while some of their bats in Wade Boggs and Paul O'Neill are starting to wake up. Their rotation is one of the best rotations in Mel Stottlemyre Sr, Stan Bahnsen, Jimmy Key, Fritz Peterson, while the 5th slot has been its weak point 

The Baltimore Bombers seem to love being 'Even Steven', as they sit with a 14-14-2 record, and have not won more than 4 games straight all season, nor have they lost more than 2 straight games. The starting pitching has been expected to do more, while their closer Gregg Olson (A&C-XZ) has been a complete mess, blowing plenty of saves, but hopefully his last solid save is a indication that things might turn around. Baltimore doesn't hit for average, while they are having a big season from backstop Chris Hoiles (.352, 8 HR & 18 RBI), while fan favorite Trey Mancini (.292, 5 HR & 19 RBI) has done great in limited action and is now part of the everyday starting lineup.

The Pittsburgh Arsenal despite their solid pitching, found themselves in a 2-7 season hole at the beginning of the season, but are now 12-9 since, and that has a lot to do with their lineup coming to life as of late. Roberto Clemente broke out of an ice-cold start and lifted his batting average to .267 prior to Pittsburgh's series against Montreal, in which Clemente faltered to 3-for-16 in the series. Andy Van Slyke appears to be the most consistent hitter, batting .287 with 2 HR, 5 doubles and 11 RBI.

The Boston Colonials are having solid production from their top five hitters in the starting lineup that consists of Mookie Betts, Xander Bogarts, Mo Vaughn, Carl Yastrzemski, and Reggie Smith, while their #6 hitter DH-Andrew Benintendi (possibly the only Grade 3 fielding outfielder playing DH in the entire league, because his OF mates all are 3's as well). Vaughn has really come into his own after being moved to the 3rd slot, and is now has 8 HR and 19 RBI. Their starting pitching has been another thing with Ray Culp the first 20 games looking like one of the league's best, and has now been roughed up his last two outings. David Price (Grade 11-YZ) is 3-0 with a 2.12 ERA through a light workload of 34 innings during 6 starts. One last Boston note, IF Tim Naehring (J-4) has been amazing off the bench, batting .444 (12-for-27) with 1 HR, 6 doubles & 9 RBI. 

The Florida Rockets are definitely Yin-Yang when it comes to their team statistics, the team can certainly rake, while their pitching is a launching pad for other teams to tee off on. The team is similar to Baltimore when it comes to winning and losing, they have no more than 3 straight wins (which came at the expense of the weak Montreal Voyaguers), while they only lost more than 3 straight games one other time in losing 5 straight (one which consisted of being swept by Brooklyn in a 4-game series. Jeff Conine has been among the batting leaders all season, but has had a rough patch suddenly, going 1-for-14 against Baltimore.

The Montreal Voyageurs entered the season as the most likely team to be sitting in the basement of the Ruth Division, and has lived up to that. For a losing team, they seem to be a feisty bunch and will play their little hearts out. The team's most consistent hitters have been 2B/3B Robinson Cano, OF-Roy White, and Khris Davis, while they have added Utility semi-star Wil Myers and catcher Kirt Manwaring. Myers didn't join the roster until Game #13, and has struggled batting 10-for-56 through Game #26, but had a solid series against the Florida's bad pitching, going for 7-for-17 with 4 doubles -- lifting Myers' batting average to .233 and giving him 9 doubles through 18 games. Chris Bosio gave the Voyageurs their first complete game and shutout of the season (a two-hit gem), improving to 3-3 with a 2.90 ERA & 23 strikeouts through 40.2 innings.

Now we go to the Robinson Division (of the E.L.), and will start with the Atlanta Firebirds. The Firebirds have pretty much controlled the top of the division through the first 22 games, with the Carolina Twins and the Philadelphia Veterans close by in the rearview mirror. Atlanta is loaded from top to bottom -- the hitting, the pitching, and the farm is stacked with talent. 

Through 22 games, Atlanta had a 3-pt, 1.5 game lead over Carolina. Atlanta would go on and hit its first rough patch of the season, as the Firebirds were swept by the Washington Maroons in a 4-game series in Washington -- Meanwhile, the Twins would go on and sweep the Brooklyn Mets, and now had a 10-game winning streak going as well. Atlanta at the point of Carolina winning their 10th straight, lost 6 of their last 8 games. 

This all set up a showdown between the Robinson Division's best 2 teams, Carolina (19-6-1, 39 pts) and Atlanta (17-9, 34 pts, 5 PB). The series was also in Charlotte, Carolina's home, so everything entering this series was showing that Carolina had the momentum. Atlanta would win the first three games in relatively close matchups, winning 6-1, 4-3 (11 innings) & 5-3. Atlanta momentarily reclaimed the division lead, until losing the series finale, 10-5. Entering the series, Carolina was 10-2-1 at home before their 3-1 series loss. 

At the rate the season is going, there should be no reason that either Atlanta or Carolina will miss this upcoming postseason. Sure anything can happen, but very likely there will only be one team coming out of the E.L's Ruth Division -- whoever ends up being the division winner, while the Robinson division will likely have their division winner, plus the two wild card slots, in which at this point is Atlanta and Philadelphia. Washington has climbed into the division race, and is actually tied with Philadelphia at the moment, but Philadelphia has been great at the plate and on the mound, while sporting a +66 run differential. Washington has been more inconsistent and only has a +4 run differential.

The Twins have a good rotation, solid bullpen, and some good bats such as Gates Brown leading the entire AGBA in batting average, Don Buford and Tommy Pham (whose power has been a surpring plus-plus this season). Pham already has 12 HR this AGBA season (sitting among the AGBA leaders) through 30 games, while in real life he hit 21 HR through 137 MLB games during 2018.

Atlanta's Fred McGriff currently leads the E.L. (and possibly AGBA) with 15 HR, while knocking in 29 runs. McGriff's teammate Hank Aaron has 11 HR & 25 RBI this season. The only other teammates with 10+ HR at this point, are the Western League's San Francisco Seals with Barry Bonds and Willie McCovey.

Atlanta's rotation has been underperforming most of this season with Greg Maddux (4-1, 1.89 ERA) being the only one truly shining. Phil Niekro (5-1, 3.50) and John Smoltz (4.10 ERA) has had their moments, but Tom Glavine (1-4, 6.63 ERA) has been lousy, being outpitched by teammate Anibal Sanchez. Niekro's ERA has recently come down with his 1-run allowed complete game recently against Carolina.

The Philadelphia Veterans have possibly the most regular playing time hitters to be hitting over .300 at the moment in Kevin Stocker, Lenny Dykstra, John Kruk and Dick Allen. When they are all in the lineup together, they bat in the same order in the first four slots. 

• SS Kevin Stocker: .302 AVG, 0 HR, 5 RBI, 3 triples & 20 runs.
• CF Lenny Dykstra: .306 AVG, 6 HR, 22 RBI, 28 runs & 11 SB.
• 1B John Kruk: .375 AVG, 3 HR, 26 RBI, 10 doubles & 24 runs.
• DH/3B Dick Allen: .333 AVG, 13 HR, 43 RBI, 5 doubles, 4 triples & 34 runs.

The Vets' rotation is one of the best in all of baseball with Chris Short, Woodie Fryman, Terry Mulholland, Aaron Nola, and Curt Schilling.

Having one of their more successful stretches, the Washington Maroons have gone 6-2 during their last 8 games, and have tied Philadelphia with a 17-13 record. The problem with the Maroons has been their underachieving bats. With a lineup that consists of Trea Turner, Anthony Rendon, Juan Soto, Larry Walker, Bryce Harper, Moises Alou, Marquis Grissom, Delino DeShields Sr, and Darrin Fletcher -- You would think that there would be more guys with at least a .700 OPS or more, than just two (Turner and Walker). Soto has been around the fence with a .697 OPS, still a very disappointing number.

The Maroons are fortunate to have starters Max Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg and Denny Martinez, keeping Washington in games. Their bullpen is also good, if they are handed a lead going into the 7th inning and later. 

The Brooklyn Mets visited the Philadelphia Veterans this past series, coming off a 1-6 stretch against Atlanta and Carolina. The Vets were the clear favorite over the Mets, so it came off as a surprise when the Mets, not the Vets, won the series, 3-1.

Coming into the season, the one concern was their hitters, and that was a legit concern. The team's lineup has been more productive of late, while their starting pitching expected to be one of the best, if not the best rotation, has for the most part lived up to its hype. The only exception is young, Nolan Ryan who has been a mess through 4 starts. Ryan has a 15.60 ERA through 4 starts & only 15 innings (that's not even 4 innings per start). The Mets have skipped him occasionally to give the young gun a break, but that has not helped. Ryan will likely for the most part finish this season coming out of the pen. The team's rotation consisted of Jacob deGrom, Tom Seaver, Jerry Koosman, Noah Syndergaard, and then Ryan. The Mets luckily have pitchers they can plug into that 5th slot, and they are Zack Wheeler, Dick Selma, Bret Saberhagen and Steven Matz.

Last is the New York Knights, who currently sit at 10-20 for the season. Their biggest offseason news was adding two Japanese superstar sluggers in Sadaharu Oh and Isao Harimoto. The addition of Oh was a success while Harimoto is still trying to find his footing in the American game. The team has a lot to improve on, but their rotation at least has starters with experienced arms in Charlie Morton, Dallas Keuchel, J.A. Happ and Rick Porcello. Porcello was recently signed and looked good in his season debut, earning a win, and allowing only 2 earned runs through 7 innings. The Knights released SP-Dwight Gooden, who struggle mightily, opening a spot for Porcello.

AGBA Update - A Brief Project Recap while Closing in on the All-Star Break

The AGBA Season is closing in on the long-awaited All-Star Break, although I am not sure how I am going to go about the All-Star Game itself, or if there will even be one. All-Stars will definitely be announced regardless. The reason is because AGBA (APBA Galaxy Baseball Association) consists of 3 leagues (compared to your usual two), with each league consisting of two divisions of 6 teams each. What I do know, is that I do know how the postseason will go about its routine, although that will be truly interesting as well.

I have played the first 26 games for each of the 36 teams, rolling with dice. That's 468 games since I started rolling in late October 2020. There was two stretches that I knocked out like 90 games in a 35-40 day stretch, and then there's a stretch where I didn't roll a single game in 6+ months. I have gone about it on my own pace, and have really grown to know the 36 teams inside-and-out.

Things have stepped up of late, in which I decided to play Game #27-through-Game #72 for each team using APBA's Baseball Windows. I am still playing each game on BBW, but as you know it's much faster than rolling and it will also help stat-keeping go by much, much quicker. I have already played Games 27-30, and before I break down who's who, let me take you back through the concept briefly.

So a quick recap of the starting point.

This is AGBA Season I, and in each season the season will finish with the Galaxy Series, which will be labeled like Super Bowl, so naturally the first season's final climax will happen during Galaxy Series I. Why am I doing it that way? I can't really label a year to it because I am playing with three different season sets of APBA cards.

Each set will consists of seasons that are 25 years apart. AGBA Season I -- consists of players from the 1968, 1993 and 2018 MLB Seasons. Next season it will be 1969, 1994 & 2019. Each teams consists of 30 players, but they can only have 10 players from each era, meaning there will only be 10 players from 1968, 10 players from 1993, and 10 players from 2018 on each roster. Franchises also have to deal with a salary system based on a player's production from that individual season. I use a salary system that is used on a simulation baseball site. Using that site, I can also see where that player's salaries in upcoming seasons could force decisions in AGBA franchise decision making. A breakout player could force a team's decision in which you may have to cut an older vet. Each franchise will have to make decisions each season and during the seasons because of the salary system in place. 

To get a better idea, please check out my more in-depth posts..

• The Genesis of AGBA 
• AGBA Baseball: League's Setup of Play

Braves Country

 

The N.L. East is the true beast of the east, and probably (not possibly) the best division in all of Major League Baseball (Sorry A.L. East, you have been replaced). The New York Mets just had one of the best off-seasons of all off-seasons, as far as one can look back, reuniting Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer (who are both approaching 4,000 career strikeouts), not to mention all the other additions on top of that. You got the returning National League Champions in the Philadelphia Phillies, who had an impressive off-season of their own, only improving their chances for another shot at a world title. Even the Miami Marlins might end up being baseball's best 4th place team in 2023.

And then there's Atlanta...

These Atlanta Braves are so well-ran from top to bottom, that they could be a dominating force for another decade. Alex Anthopoulos (Atlanta's President, Baseball Ops & GM) is easily one of the top three General Managers in the game of baseball. They still have a banging farm system that continues to grow talent. They also seem to know what pieces to bring in, and how to turn players that appear to be going nowhere into absolute gold. 

You actually can't guarantee the same with the Mets and the Phillies. Sure the new owner for the Mets is not afraid to spend, and Phillies fans are excited for the first time since their 2007-2011 period, where they were the force to reckon with in those days. But if you know anything about Phillies baseball like most Philly fans know, they have a history of not being a stable consistent winner -- Many more down seasons than up seasons. The Mets are New York's lovable, unlucky baseball team that continues to find any possible way to break their fans' hearts over and over, especially when there are high expectations placed upon that club.

The Braves have also been extending contracts in an impressive way, paying them early and stretch that money over the contract. If down the road some of these stars with these long contracts don't work out, they can easily trade them with these tradable contracts. Get more prospects out of each one, and continue to produce and acquire talent, and then repeat by extending those contracts. I can't even find the words to explain how genius this whole plan is and will continue to be.

Twenty years from now, we may look back at this period in Atlanta Braves history as the best period in their franchise history, and yes, even with the extended postseason. I know that sounds crazy, I know it's a bold statement considering that the Atlanta Braves from 1991-2005 won 14 straight division titles, and that they had pretty much had the best starting pitcher trio in the entire history of Major League Baseball in Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine and John Smoltz. 

I know that's a lot to take in, but consider this, they have now won 5 straight division titles and counting, and already have a matching World Series title of their own. Last year, they lose Freddie Freeman in free agency to the Los Angeles Dodgers... no big deal, the Braves brought in Matt Olson from Oakland on a trade. This off-season they let shortstop Dansby Swanson go sign with the Cubs... no big deal, they have Vaughn Grissom coming up behind him. Austin Riley has only improved the last few years, while new stars like Michael Harris II stepped in flawlessly to go along with the talent that already have in Ronald Acuna Jr, Ozzie Albies, and company -- plus they made a great trade in acquiring backstop Sean Murphy from the Athletics, and extended him. 

To be fair to the 90's bunch, I would say although today's players might be in better physical shape and have all the sabermetrics to help them with techniques on the mound and at the plate -- I believe the sport was loaded with more talented players then today's game. Back in the 90's, just think of the pitchers on the mound: Roger Clemens, Randy Johnson, Pedro Martinez, Mike Mussina, Curt Schilling, Kevin Brown, David Cone, while the Braves had the big three. There has not been many teams since the Braves to be blessed with 3 close-to-great pitchers even... The Phillies put together Roy Halladay, Roy Oswalt & Cole Hamels briefly, and that never lived up to what they thought it would be. If you look at today's game, there's Justin Verlander, Max Scherzer, Shohei Ohtani, Gerrit Cole, Jacob deGrom (if healthy), Walker Buehler (if he comes back healthy) and fading Clayton Kershaw, with Corbin Burnes and Sandy Alcantra joining the party. In the 90's I left out a bunch of other names that were solid pitchers, you could throw a dart and hit any team, and most likely they had a solid starter.

Given that, the 90's hitters were no different.

Those 90's Braves had to contend against possibly the best dynasty in MLB history (or at least late Modern history) in the New York Yankees from 1996-2003 (although the last title was actually 2001 with that bunch, the 2009 team was a different Yanks team altogether). Plus the Cleveland Indians were a strong franchise in the 90's, the Seattle Mariners had their moments, plus competitive bunches in the mid-90's Chicago White Sox, Baltimore Orioles, Houston Astros, and Montreal Expos, then the later-90's Texas Rangers, San Diego Padres, Boston Red Sox and Arizona Diamondbacks -- but let's face it the 90's Braves were just in the wrong period with those Yankees being around, who affected everyone.

Although you can't compare eras, it's probably the toughest to even try to launch a dynasty in today's game with the expanded playoffs and the endless possibilities of falling short, even if you are spectacular. The Houston Astros may be the closest to have the possibility of being called a dynasty, but it's hard to declare what is now considered a dynasty in today's game. So it depends who you ask, which would highly be debated. The San Francisco Giants won World Series in 2010, 2012 & 2014, but missed the playoffs altogether in the in-between years, 2011 and 2013. A dynasty has to be postseason consistent don't you think? It can't be -- On, Off, On, Off, On! Offffffff...

But that's another post and debate to have some other time. 

But let's do look back at the Braves recent stretch...

The Braves hired Brian Snitker as their manager in 2016, after firing Fredi Gonzalez midway throught the season. The team doesn't do much better in 2017, and many were thinking the Braves may still be a year or two away from making noise entering Spring Training 2018. The Braves would go on to win the N.L. East with a 90-72 record.

So with that --

• 2018 - Division Champs (90-72), Lost NLDS to the Dodgers (3-1).

• 2019 - Division Champs (97-65), Lost NLDS to the Cardinals (3-2).

• 2020 - Division Champs (35-25) (Pandemic Season), and lost the NLCS to the Dodgers, coming up short, 4-3. The Dodgers were of course shaking at the time, after being upset by the Washington Nationals the season before. Dodgers would hang on, and then go on to win the World Series.

• 2021 - Division Champs, N.L. Champs & World Series Champions (88-73). The Atlanta Braves wouldn't break the .500 mark until August 6th (at 56-55), the latest for any World Series Champion to do so in Major League history. The Braves got revenge on the Dodgers in the NLCS by defeating them 4-2 in the series. If you noticed, the Braves and Dodgers have a bit of a rivalry in recent years, and you even go back to 2013 when the Braves lost in the NLDS under Gonzalez, 3-1. One last note the Braves would go 44-23 (counting the postseason) from August 6th, on their way to defeating the Houston Astros.

• 2022 - The Atlanta Braves won one of the two top seeds, by winning their division and having the 2nd best record in the National League by winning 101 games. The Braves would be knocked out by the eventual N.L. Champion Philadelphia Phillies, 3-1.

What's in store for 2023? We'll have to see, but the N.L. East needs to go through Atlanta first if they truly want to take the division.