Lets go back a little bit. Atlanta was under .500 most of the year. They didn't get back to even until they hit 44-44 on July 10th, then on July 31st, they were still under .500 at 52-53. In August they took off, going 18-8, then 16-11 in September to pull on to the lead in the NL East. Atlanta finally passed .500 mark on August 6th, which is the latest in a season that a team has gotten over .500 to win the series.
They lost there best player in Ronald Acuna JR to an ACL injury in July, which just added to the problems in Atlanta. They add Joc Pederson to the lineup to replace Acuna. Once the playoffs started, the bats got hot. They beat the Brewers in four games in the Division series, then beat the Dodgers in a hard fought series in six games.
A lot of the hitting, aside from Freddy Freeman, was led by the young guys as the playoffs went along. Dansby Swanson and Austin Riley took off. The big story was Jorge Solar, who went on to win World Series MVP. Solar hit .300 for the series with 3 homers and 6 RBI. joining Tom Glavine as the only Braves to win Series MVP, which wasn't awarded until 1955.
The true mark of a great team is being able to overcome whatever thrown there way, and the Braves did that this year. They battled injuries and had an under .500 record most of the summer. Yet here we sit in early November and the Braves are celebrating their 4th world title in franchise history. Everybody had a hand in the Braves win over the Astros in this series and it showed the heart and determination of a champion. Atlanta was so good they only lost once on home field all playoffs long, that was the loss in game five to send the series back to Houston. The Braves got hot and started clicking at the right time, and the rest, as they say, is history.
Congratulations to the Atlanta Braves, your 2021 World Series Champions!
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