So Much for Thoughts of a Dynasty

The Atlanta Braves, who only five days ago were wondering what kind of niche they were carving in baseball history, stood numb in front of their lockers Saturday night, fearing what has become of their image.

The Braves, poised to become only the fourth National League team to win back-to-back World Series championships, were left searching for answers for what went so wrong, so quickly.

The Braves, up two games to none, watched the New York Yankees win four consecutive games, capped Sunday night by a 3-2 victory and their first World Series championship since 1978. The Yankees became the first team in baseball history to lose their first two games at home, then win four in a row, sending 56,375 fans at Yankee Stadium into a frenzy.

“This is sort of incomprehensible,” said John Schuerholz, the Braves’ executive vice president. “We win the first two games here, go home and lose three in a row, and then lose tonight. It’s difficult to fathom.”

Now, instead of being remembered for greatness, instead of being regarded as a dynasty, the Braves are dissolving into the Buffalo Bills of major league baseball.

Four times the Braves have been to the World Series this decade. They have only one ring to show for their efforts.

“We’re the winningest team in the ‘90s, we won four National League pennants,” Brave third baseman Chipper Jones said, “but to have only one championship is tough to accept.

“This scene tonight is going to stick with a lot of people. It’s going to leave a bitter taste in our mouths all winter.”

Incredibly, since Jones’ run-scoring double in the fifth inning of Game 4, the Braves scored only two runs in the final 23 innings.

They batted only .200 with three extra-base hits in the final 23 innings.

They batted .105 [two for 19] with runners in scoring position.

“We didn’t blow it,” Brave pitcher John Smoltz said, “we didn’t choke. We just quit executing, and it cost us. We got beat by the better team.”

Mark Wohlers, the Braves’ closer who blew Game 4 by giving up a three-run homer to Jim Leyritz in the eighth inning, accepted blame for the entire Series defeat. Sure, there still were two more games to be played, but the Braves never again were the same. For the first time, they no longer felt invincible.

“That was definitely the turning point in the Series,” Wohlers said of the homer. “I’ve got pretty big shoulders, I can take the blame.”

There were plenty of other culprits besides Wohlers:

--Catcher Javier Lopez, the hero in the first two rounds of the playoffs, batted only .191 without an extra-base hit and just one run batted in.

--First baseman Fred McGriff not only failed to produce a hit after his second at-bat in Game 4, but never even hit the ball out of the infield.

--Rookie outfielder Jermaine Dye hit .118 without an extra-base hit, and outfielder Ryan Klesko batted .100.

And, then, there was Terry Pendleton.

This was the player for whom the Braves so badly wanted to win a championship before he retired. He missed out on the Braves’ championship last year, and this time, he was vying for his first ring in five World Series tries.

Again, he came away empty, and he was as responsible as anyone for their failure.

Pendleton hit the ball out of the infield only twice the entire postseason, and when he had a chance to provide Greg Maddux the lead in the fourth inning, perhaps even turn the game around, he failed miserably.

The Braves, trailing 3-0 in the fourth, scored a run on a bases-loaded walk, bringing up Pendleton. The bases were still loaded, there was one out, and Pendleton was ahead in the count, 3-and-1. Yankee starter Jimmy Key came in with a changeup, Pendleton swung, and grounded into an easy double play.

“I’m not going to go home and shoot myself,” Pendleton said, “but to me that was the turning point of the game. Basically, I screwed up, plain and simple. It was stupid on my part. I should have let the count go to 3-and-2 and put the pressure on him.”

Said Brave Manager Bobby Cox: “It’s so sadbecause it ended so abruptly. There’s nowhere to go tomorrow.

“That’s rough.”