It All Comes Down To This For Bobby And The Braves

Written by Jonathan on October 3, 2010 – 10:23 am

This isn’t the ideal spot where we, as Braves fans, wanted to be going into the last game of the season.  However, I’ve said all along that it was entirely possible that the result of this season could come down to the final homestand and, in fact, game number 162.

Now I’m not even going to write about the events of the last two games that have landed the Braves in this position because, for one, I was there for all of them and don’t want to think about it any more and, secondly, I’ve read about it endlessly on every website in the world.  But nevertheless, here we are in pretty much a must-win situation.  Let me break down the possibilities for the Braves based on their results today and the Padres results today.

If Atlanta Wins and San Diego Wins there is a three-team tiebreaker for the first time ever.  The Padres and Giants tie for the lead in the NL West and have the same record as the Braves do.  The Padres and Giants will play a one-game playoff to determine the winner of the NL West on Monday.  The loser travels to Atlanta to play a one-game playoff to decide the Wild Card winner on Tuesday.

If Atlanta Wins and San Diego Loses then Atlanta wins the Wild Card and San Diego is eliminated from playoff contention by the Giants.

If Atlanta Loses and San Diego Loses then the Padres come to Atlanta on Monday for a one-game playoff to determine the NL Wild Card winner.

If Atlanta Loses and San Diego Wins then San Diego wins the NL West (tiebreaker head-to-head with San Francisco) and the Giants win the NL Wild Card.  The Braves are eliminated from playoff contention.

So there are the 4 scenarios based on the outcome of two critical games today.  The Braves play first, so once the game is over, all we can do is sit and watch and hope for the best.  If the Braves win, we live to fight at least one more day, so that should be the only task at hand.  In 3 of the 4 possible scenarios, the Braves have another shot, but it’s going to require getting the offense going.

I’m glad we have Hudson on the mound today, even though the prospect of him pitching on three days rest two times in a row is a little scary.  The Phillies are getting their starters ready for the playoffs and pitching Hamels and Oswalt today…..scary, but not impossible.

This is, in fact, the last regular season game in a surely Hall of Fame career for Bobby Cox.  Come on, Braves! It all comes down to this.  Do it for yourselves, do it for the fans, and most importantly….DO IT FOR BOBBY!

We’ll have more pictures from the ceremony up in the next couple of days.  First things first, let’s get our beloved manager to the playoffs.

Tags: Bobby Cox, Bobby Cox Retire, Last Game, NL Wild Card, playoffs, Retiring, San Diego Padres, Tiebreaker
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