The Braves shut out the Astros 7-0 in Game 6 on Tuesday night in Houston to win the 2021 World Series.

Atlanta Fans’ Long Awaited Championship

The Atlanta Braves’ fanbase has been through so much heartbreak over the last several years, dating back to their last world championship in 1995. There are so many things that have gone wrong for Atlanta sports in these past 20 or so years. Whether it was the Falcons 28-3 blown lead in Super Bowl LI, or even just last year when the Braves blew a 3-1 lead in the NLCS against the Dodgers. After all the suffering, Atlanta fans can finally breathe after the Braves were able to win the 2021 World Series.

Not only have Atlanta sports been through such turmoil over the years, but the first half of this season was one of the hardest that the Braves have had to endure in awhile.

The Braves had to deal with so much loss in the 2021 season. First of all, they were not able to even eclipse the .500 mark until Aug. 6. That was one of the most frustrating parts for them throughout this season. Not only that, they lost what some could say is the best player in the MLB, Ronald Acuña Jr., in the middle of the summer. At that point, a lot of MLB fans and analysts wrote the Braves off as contenders. They had a 0.3 percent chance to win the World Series on July 13.

But after a huge trade deadline, the Braves picked up a good chunk of their lineup that helped them go on their run at the end of the regular season and into the playoffs. The additions included Joc Pederson and Adam Duval, as well as NLCS MVP Eddie Rosario and and World Series MVP Jorge Soler.

World Series MVP: Jorge Soler

Soler was a huge factor for the Braves and started off with a bang in Game 1 with a leadoff homer in the first AB of the World Series.

He then hit his second home run back-to-back with Dansby Swanson in Game 4 to help give the Braves a commanding 3-1 lead in the series. Soler’s three-run absolute MOONSHOT that he delivered Tuesday night to take an early 3-0 lead made it his third go-ahead home run of the series.

The former AL home run leader with the Royals is now a two-time champion with the 2016 Chicago Cubs and the 2021 Atlanta Braves.

Freddie Freeman Stands Out for First World Series Win

Any baseball fan should be ecstatic to see Freddie Freeman win his first ring with Atlanta. He has been with the organization since 2007, and has gone through (a lot of) lows and highs in his entire career. There is not a happier man on the planet right now than him.

Freeman is not just deserving for his tenure with the team, but he was far and away the runner-up for the World Series MVP.

Freddie Freeman stats: .300/.391/.800/1.191 3 HR 6 RBI

No one was stopping him from getting his ring in Game 6 as he went 2-4 with two RBI. After the Braves early 5-0 lead, Freeman drove in the next two runs of the game, one of them being a wall-ball double in the fifth inning and the other a home run in the seventh. He showed all of his emotions rounding third base.

Freeman is entering the 2022 offseason as a free agent, but if I am the Braves, I am resigning him immediately. He may be heading into his 32-year-old season, but this is Mr. Brave we are talking about here. I can’t imagine Freddie Freeman ever putting on a different jersey in his career.

Bittersweet Ending

As I mentioned in my previous post, if you had no horse in the race it wouldn’t have been a bad idea to chose a side by rooting for Freddie Freeman or Dusty Baker. It is spectacular to see Freeman win his first ring, but it still makes me sad that Dusty has now gone another year coming so close to a World Series and falling short.

In the postgame, he took the loss very well with a ton of integrity. But I know deep down he is hurting because he wants to win a World Series more than anything. He is planning to be back with the Astros next season with unfinished business.

This had to be one of my favorite MLB seasons and postseason in the last few years. We as baseball fans needed this season after only getting 60 games last year with a lot of tedious moments and alterations.

This year’s full season made me realize how great baseball is. Despite many different opinions, the sport is growing. Don’t let anyone tell you different. We need to keep popularizing it and spreading the game to keep it growing. I mean, you can’t get a better story book ending to a postseason than the 2021 Atlanta Braves winning it all.

What’s next for the MLB? There is a stacked deck of free agents entering 2022, two of which coming from the World Series: Freddie Freeman and Carlos Correa.

As for the Braves, they are only going to get better. With Ronald Acuña Jr. and Mike Soroka returning next season, they will most definitely be contenders again.

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