Monday, September 12, 2011

All or Nothing...For the Playoffs!!!

The ultimate goal for every team is to win the World Series.  But first, you have to make it to the playoffs.  As you may know, only eight teams make it to the playoffs; four from the National League, and four from the American League.  Three of the four teams from each league consist of the division winners (East, Central, and West).  For the fourth team in each league, they are the Wild Card winner.

The Atlanta Braves are currently in second place in the NL East behind the Philadelphia Phillies who have a commanding lead and are more than likely not going to give it up.  Therefore, the Braves' only opportunity to make it to the playoffs is win the Wild Card.  The Braves are leading the NL Wild Card by 4.5 games.  They did have a 10 game lead at one point, but they caught cold while the St Louis Cardinals have done the opposite.  The Braves were just swept by the Cardinals in a three-game series ending a forgetful road trip going 2-6 and going 6-10 in their last 16 games overall.  The Cardinals have went 12-4 in their previous 16 games.

The Atlanta Braves have 15 and the Cardinals have 16 games remaining in the regular season.  So these next couple of weeks is going to be very interesting.  The Braves magic number (the number of games the team leading the division must win plus the number of games the trailing team must lose in order to guarantee a playoff spot) to win the Wild Card is 12.  Yes, the Braves have been playing some bad baseball the past couple of weeks, but I believe they will hold on to the Wild Card.  I want them to go deep in the playoffs so bad.  However, I know they have to get there first.  It's all or nothing right now.  Everything the Braves and Cardinals do is for the playoffs!  GO BRAVES!!!

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