Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 6B
BARROW NEWS-JOURNAL
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 25, 2018
O
o
Looking back at the
magical Braves’ season of 1991
Prep Calendar
With the start of a new
professional baseball sea
son, I found myself think
ing back to 1991 when the
Atlanta Braves went on a
last-to-first ride and came
within inches of winning
the World Series.
The 1990 sea
son showed no
signs that the
Braves were about
to embark on an
incredible run
which would give
fans something
truly special.
Atlanta went
into the 1991 sea
son with a new
general manager
and some key new
players, including Terry
Pendleton and Sid Bream.
With those two anchoring
the infield at third and first,
the Braves certainly had the
potential to be better than
the previous dreadful cam
paigns which became all
too common.
However, the additions to
the 1991 roster along with
a strong returning pitching
staff had many believing
Atlanta would certainly
climb out of the cellar. With
names fans still remember
such as David Justice, Jeff
Treadway, Ron Grant and
Rafael Belliard, the team
was embarking, we would
later learn, on a magical
season.
I was a sophomore in col
lege when the season began
and often sat watching the
afternoon Braves games in
between working into the
night as editor of the stu
dent newspaper.
It didn’t take long to see
that this Braves team was
going to be different. There
was a different attitude and
even the losses were com
petitive. often coming by
a run.
I won’t try to convince you
I knew Atlanta was going to
eventually finish the season
one run away from winning
it all. In reality I felt the
Braves would make that type
of run in 1992.
However,
in addition to
improving defen
sively and with
their standout
pitching staff,
Atlanta now had
legitimate speed
on the base paths
and in the out
field with Otis
Nixon and Deion
Sanders.
All the ingredi
ents were there,
and as the 1991 season pro
gressed the Braves were
no longer in last place. In
fact, they continued to hang
around the top of their divi
sion and fans and media
began to wonder if they
could actually make the post
season.
Remember, this was still
during a time when only the
four division winners made
the playoffs. A team could
win more than 100 games,
but if it didn’t win its divi
sion it would not continue
playing.
Atlanta won 94 games in
the 1991 regular season and
it was just enough to get
into the postseason. The Los
Angeles Dodgers finished
with 93 wins in what was
a tough National League
West which also included
an 84-win San Diego Padres
team.
The historic season contin
ued all the way to the World
Series against the Minnesota
Twins, the American
League’s last-to-first story.
In what is still considered
one of the best series of all
time, the Braves and Twins
went seven games with the
chris
bridges
final game going to extra
innings before Minnesota
won.
It was not without contro
versy, though, as the umpires
missed numerous calls that
hurt Atlanta. Many still recall
the infamous play where Ron
Gant was pulled off first base
and still signaled out.
While disappointed with
the final game, fans could not
be disappointed in the season
as a whole. It was something
completely unexpected and
the start of a long postseason
run.
The only thing that is
tough to comprehend now is
that it was 27 years ago.
Winder resident Chris
Bridges is a former sports
editor of the Barrow News-
Journal. He welcomes feed
back about this column at
pchrisbridges @ gmail. com.
TODAY
Baseball
Loganville Christian at Bethlehem
Christian. 4 p.m.
Golf
Dacula at Apalachee, The Chimneys,
3:30 p.m.
Softball
GICAA semifinals: Bethlehem Chris
tian at The King’s Academy. Woodstock
(DH). 4 p.m.
THURSDAY
Baseball
GHSA Class AAAAAA playoffs,
first round: Dunwoody at Winder-Bar
row (DH), 4:30 p.m.
Softball
Bethlehem Christian at The King’s
Academy, game 3 (if necessary), TBA
Track and Field
Bethlehem Christian at GISA Class
AAA state meet, Hugh Mills Stadium,
Albany
FRIDAY
Baseball
Bethlehem Christian at Trinity Chris-
tian-Sharpsburg. 6 p.m.
Dunwoody at Winder-Barrow, game 3
(if necessary ), 5:30 p.m.
Track and Field
GISA Class AAA state meet
SATURDAY
Track and Field
Apalachee and Winder-Barrow at
GHSA Class AAAAAA “A” sectionals.
Grovetown High School, 9 a.m.
GISA Class AAA state meet
MONDAY
Golf
Winder-Barrow girls/boys and
Apalachee girls in GHSA Area
2-AAAAAA tournament. Bartram Trail
Golf Course, Evans
Buy Like A Local. 4 Counties, 4 Zip Codes...
Manager Samantha Ramos f
Liberty World Beverage
Buy Local Braselton
BE LOCAL,
buy local,
3700 Village Way • Braselton
Only In Braselton.
Carolyn Carnes Team
KELLER WILLIAMS REALTY ATLANTA PARTNERS
Barnes b Moore Real Estate Services
KELLER WILLIAMS ATLANTA METRO EAST
Nathan Purvis Team
HomeBridge
FINANCIAL SERVICES
Chris Schoenthal
TOP 5 INDIVIDUAL AGENTS
Terri Tarver Lee P. Malcom Anna Mills Jeff Stephens Bonnie Cato
PROGRESSIVE REALTY MALCOM & MALCOM RE/MAX PREFERRED PROGRESSIVE REALTY RE/MAX PREFERRED
REALTY PROFESSIONALS
Walton-Barrow Board of REALTORS®
115 Bold Springs Avenue • Monroe, GA 30655 • 770.267.8671
waltonbarrow@gmail.com
www.waltonbarrowboardofrealtors.com
Janice Baldwin Robbin Boone
KELLER WILLIAMS ATLANTA PARTNERS JACKSON REALTY
Brenda Breedlove
KELLER WILLIAMS REALTY
LANIER PARTNERS
Shanna Jackson
JACKSON REALTY
Renee Briscoe-Taylor
Team
RE/MAX PREFERRED
Todd Jackson
JACKSONREALTY
Laura Beth Brown
PROGRESSIVE REALTY
Debbie Jones
HERITAGE REALTY
Andrienne Dowdy Cindy Griswell
THOMPSON-WALTON THEHOMESTORE
ASSOCIATES
Scott Lewis Tammy Mura
KELLER WILLIAMS REALTY MALCOM & MALCOM REALTY
ATLANTA PARTNERS PROFESSIONALS
Marisel Nelson Julie O'Shea Donna Pasdon Cindy Patat
RE/MAX PREFERRED THEHOMESTORE KELLER WILLIAMS REALTY MALCOM 6 MALCOM REALTY
ATLANTA PARTNERS PROFESSIONALS
The Prince Group Joy Purvis Carole Queen Charlene Smith
EXP REALTY THEHOMESTORE VIRTUAL PROPERTIES MALCOM & MALCOM
REALTY PROFESSIONALS
Anita Robertson Peters
PETERS REALTY PROFESSIONALS
Athena Pharr Deborah Pharr
PROGRESSIVE REALTY PROGRESSIVE REALTY
Angela Pierce
RE/MAX PREFERRED
Sandra Preston
RE/MAX PREFERRED
Laura Stuckey
KELLER WILLIAMS REALTY
ATLANTA PARTNERS
Vicky Taylor
KELLER WILLIAMS
ATLANTA PARTNERS
Team Rutledge &
Associates
KELLER WILLIAMS ATLANTA PARTNERS
Robbie Thomas
HONEST REALTY
Moe Watkins
RE/MAX PREFERRED