Official 2021 World Series Film : 2021 Atlanta Braves World Series Champions

i wasn't supposed to be here yet well we appreciate you making this part of your tour here so fully ready for you guys welcome to the world series thanks for stopping in who's got the first question what does it feel like to be in your first world series i'm assuming this has been a dream uh yeah this is what you dream about when you're a kid you know getting to the world series right up front hey freddie um how did you find yourself spending the world series say the last four or five years the last few years it's been just playing with charlie all day and getting ready to go to california so i'll take this i got charlie here but i'm not getting ready for california so this is a lot better [Music] you could say its magnitude is defined by its improbability the idea that in this sport with 30 different teams only two are left playing in the end it's special to be here once again with this group of guys you know we're here um four wins away to become more champions once again that notion that the same world series that's been around for so long and birth so many legends is living and breathing and that they can be a part [Applause] of what i just this is the moment in your life where you worked your whole entire life for and we'll see you tomorrow night it's like a dream come true nothing better than play a world series that's what we play for [Applause] [Music] to get to this you know the stage it's every kid's dream it's what you dream of as a kid i mean playing with football with my brothers and stuff like that we're always talking about bases loaded bottom of the ninth game seven world series here you go [Applause] just one day when you're playing in the postseason let alone the world series your life can truly change for the first time in 86 years the longest drought in the history of american sports is over it's just surreal to be here in this moment the biggest stage in the world i'll pull him from one goal and we're here the truth is every team that began october with a chains felt like they could be the one celebrating after the year's final out let's go baby let's go even as they knew that one by one they'd all drop out and fade away until there was just two of them in the end the match-up in this fall classic was a pairing of contrast a club that's been here before now led by a baseball lifer who's done just about everything in his baseball life but win it all as a manager i mean this is what i'm here for that's why i came back and a group that made you believe that it really does take an entire team and sometimes some of its biggest contributors are its most unlikely ones too these guys are willing to run through a brick wall for this trophy and for this season and to be champions listen to this with everything to prove that's the mentality i keep having all right it's time to go let's go and nothing to lose we weren't expected to do this this ball is gone they made it here the most magical the impossible has happened most improbable stage in baseball the stage where they would have a chance to become the next legends of october the world series [Music] [Music] i'm wired watch out [Music] on october 26 2021 they were getting set to play a world series for the 117th time the atlanta braves and the houston astros and all the great characters and incredible stories you'd expect to see in a fall classic the managerial matchup is fascinating on so many levels we've got the two oldest managers in world series history going against each other dusty how perfect would this milestone be if you guys win this series here for an amazing career that you've had i i just try to live for it today really and i don't do much reflecting because you know when you do reflecting you wait till the end to reflect and this ain't the end for me dusty baker was 72 years old as he sat on that podium the kind of guy they call a baseball lifer he first made it to the world series as a manager 19 years ago for his second go round he was hoping for a different result i was always told by my dad if you persevere and persevere that you you'll eventually reach your goal and my person's very pretty good maybe not great but pretty good and uh i'm close to you know reaching my goal this is what i'm here for that's why i came back dusty's counterpart had also spent pretty much his entire life in the game his name is brian snidger 66 years old and in his 45th season with the atlanta braves organization brian sorry for another this is your life type of question but in 2016 you're managing the miners and i'm guessing that if it had never gone beyond that you would have thought yeah i've lived a good life i've done what i wanted to do but could you possibly imagine having not experienced what's happened over these last few years you know i've been blessed to be able to be in this position and i've said many times too i think it's this happened to me at a really good time in my life it's surreal for me i walked around numb for probably a day and a half two days after we won the national league so i didn't sleep at all last night this line-up thing was driving me freaking crazy i just never envisioned myself being here dusty baker and brian snicker and the dues that they've played together in the majors the minors coaching and managing 70 combined seasons zero world series wins so one of them is going to win their first world series if you talk to anyone at the end of july the idea of the braves in the world series would have been hard to believe they were under 500 and struggling but a few bold trades and a refuse to lose attitude lifted them to a division title for the fourth straight year and then at long last for freddie freeman the world series i never thought about if i had never made it because i believed we would make it at some point i thought we'd make it the last couple of years with how good our team was it was almost like this year with all our injuries and everything that's happened i think everyone would have been okay if if it didn't happen this year because we lost so much but this team just never quit and just kept battling and battling and once the trade deadline hit we got some reinforcements and we turned into the best team in baseball no team came into the 2021 postseason with fewer wins than the braves but they beat the brewers and then the 106 win dodgers to win their club's first national league penny since 1999. we weren't expected to do this i think a lot of people had us maybe win in the division but these guys just kept fighting and approached every day with a consistency and an energy and how they played and allowed themselves to get over that hump and here we are [Music] it's a mad house of orange primarily here tonight and it's just fever pitch right now can't wait to get going i think these astros are driven to win today not to change history they can't change history that's done all they can do is move it forward with the focus on the 2021 astros i at least got to come into a situation with a fresh start dusty the same way and we're just doing our best to focus on the future and move the organization past it but there were guys here that we're gonna have to deal with the tough crowds and the uh vitriol that we dealt with over the course of the year but you can't say enough about the professionalism of our guys and their ability to battle through that and well there's nobody in baseball with more integrity than dusty baker i think that bringing him into this situation was absolutely the right move everything he brings from an integrity a personality a human being standpoint he's what we needed a few years ago i was at a an event with bill russell and hank aaron and i asked pill because i couldn't stand the celtics when i was the kids they beat the lakers all the time and then when i became a man i was trying to figure out how you want all the things i wanted to win all the time just like the celtics did and so i asked bill i said hey man you know what was the key to the celtics it was a red arbok his practices this and then he just told me i have written down to this day he told me they loved each other [Applause] you know some people have gotten on me like oh yeah you're having a loving i know but hey man if it worked for bill russell and celtics and all those years you know it can certainly work for us because love hasn't changed i didn't really know how i was going to feel going into your first world series you kind of have an idea but until we ran out onto that line in houston it was a whole different feeling obviously one that i've never felt before but the emotions were running high [Applause] the astros take the field led by their energetic left-hander from and we're just about set for action valdez is ready so there is two and now for the world series and the first pitch is low because we're just underway here so lair he doesn't move his feet between pitches he just stands there looking out at valdez and says whenever you're ready i'm here two balls of no strikes on jorge the pitch on the way [Music] here's one slammed into left field how about that start to the world series solaire will take the trip and he puts atlanta up one zip with a first swing of the fall classic [Music] three pitches into game one of the world series solaire lines a rocket into the crawford boxes it was awesome i mean ever since he got here he's been huge for us what a way for the atlanta braves to announce to the city of houston hey we're here and yeah we only won 88 games but don't take us lightly you know probably relaxed everybody told them that you know what this is it's a baseball game and we can do this and atlanta would add another run to take a 2-0 lead before turning to one of their biggest weapons on the mound charlie morton on the mound and he's been given a two-nothing lead here early if there's a better hired gun in baseball these days i don't know who it would be charlie morton is a guy that you want on the mount four wins in winner take all games that's an mlb record he's won two game sevens you only got to do it it's his third world series start with three different teams jose altuve will lead it off against him the breaking ball of beauty and he strikes out altuve to start the night one down base is empty for michael brandley two-nothing atlanta brantley hits one right on past austin reilly into right field first pitch fastball at 97 and he turned around and beat the ship whistling one in between ozzy and austin [Music] morton walked the next two batters to load the bases and give houston a golden chance to get those runs right back similarly to how proper valdez's best pitch wasn't there for him at the top of the first inning i think he'd say the same thing about charlie's curveball with brantley at third alvarez the tying run at second correa at first so the table is set for kyle tucker with two outs base hit to the outfield could tie the game nothing in one pitch on the way ground ball right side ozzie tucker hit that ball i said to myself like whatever i got to do i got to keep this ball in front of me or catch it curveball grounded right side whatever i got to do if i have to go for everything even dives and make the play so no run scoring and i did i came up with it as he gets to it gloves it spins around fires to first and gets the out terrific play by ashley albies and the astros leave him loaded in the bottom of the first inning the braves added another run in the second to make the lead 3-0 and then in the third look to finish off from valdez after a lead-off single by eddie rosario that is already seven hits by the braves against valdez adam duvall adam gave one a ride to the warning track in right field back in the first inning but couldn't quite get it out of here valdez just trying to fight to stay in the game [Applause] here in the third inning what a start to game one for the braves and that ko is from valdez can you think of anything better than hitting a world series homer not a thing my gosh that ought to get adam going it was something that i'll cherish i was thinking about all the work that i put in i was thinking about my family back at home i was thinking you know just about all the childhood dreams that i had of being in that moment it's pretty awesome adam duvall and eddie rosario jorge soler and jack peterson had all felt like they were living in a dream since coming to atlanta in a flurry in late july alex anthopoulos won the trading deadline one of the best julys a gm has ever had the four horsemen as the media and fans started calling them in atlanta were brought in by the general manager who had to revamp his outfield after his superstar ronald acuna jr went down for the year when we lost ronald alex went out and got jock that was the first domino to fall and i think right there showed guys that he wasn't going to sit around and wait for something to happen and i think the guys uh you know they fed on that and the trade deadline we got three more outfielders all these guys were legit big league players i keep going back to the type of guys that that he brought in the character of those guys and then another huge testament to the players that were here that you know accepted us with open arms and brought us in and made us feel at home and that's kind of what freed us up and allowed us to contribute the way we have how about the guys that they traded for all of them had played big so far in this game in the first three innings well two leading it off with the astros here in the third charlie had the bases loaded against him in the first inning worked out of it and they had a one two three second in it 2-2 pitch breaking ball got him beautiful curveball that's the best one of the night for charlie oh now charlie seems to be i think that's suddenly going to be it for charlie oh no say it ain't so yeah he's olympic too it's noticeable heard george pulis braves trainers coming out there to the mound and he's coming out of this game and inning earlier morton had taken a hard hit ball off his leg but it hadn't seemed to be a problem in the moment when the ball hit him i didn't see anything like serious because he just ran the first base and then walked it off and he kept pitching so i thought he was fine and then the next inning after he struck out altuve as some thought his angle was like he tweaked it you know for him to come out that quickly he must have heard something as well and he was in immediate pain after delivering that pitch and sadly we heard the bad news that he actually fractures his legs so it was a i mean it was a tough time i went inside and talked to him a little bit think about managing one of these games and how you have so many things on your mind you got enough going on as it is then all of a sudden an injury takes place and you really have to dig deep and try to figure out how you're going to get 27 outs when charlie got hit in the leg me and jesse chavez we felt like we are the two guys that were going to have to bridge us to get laid in the bullpen aj minter is going to come into the ball game from tyler texas another big piece of the puzzle out of the bullpen my name was called on and it was my time to go out there and give as much as i had and cover as much inning as i possibly could struck him out as darnell hangs on big strikeout right there two down i didn't really have a lot of time to think about it process it didn't have time to get nervous the astros and their fans sensing opportunity here with morton out of the ball game here's bregman under his second wild [Applause] you feed off you know the fan's energy you feed off your family being here in texas definitely had a factor to it that's strike three minter getting big outs here for atlanta it's kind of a situation where you have to go out there and do it the best of your ability and you can't worry about failure you know these are the moments you live for 2-2 to alvarez this moment could change your him out life a nasty pitch down and away mentor would end up pitching two in two-thirds innings giving up just one run then luke jackson took the ball and held off the astrals for another inning in two-thirds with two out in the seventh tyler matsuk will be the fourth pitcher used by brian snicker tonight yeah the bullpen just had to step up and we've been in that situation before we just strapped it up and just said all right let's go we're gonna get after it and we can win this game astros one bottom of the seven and the lefty brings it got him looking strike three froze him with a slider and tyler matic out here doing tyler matson things the lead would be 6-2 heading into the ninth when the braves turned it over to their closer to get the final three outs will smith takes over and the astros are down to their final out one ball and one strike on bradley here it comes ground ball out to ozzy boots it picks it up throws to first base and deep in the heart of texas the braves have taken game one they are three wins away from a world series championship the bullpen they came in and did phenomenal job for us keep the astros down to only two runs that's huge [Music] 11 strikeouts by atlanta pitchers against this astros lineup this team has fought tooth and nail from day one and to get game one in houston kind of just set the tone the braves took the lead on the third pitch of the game and they never looked back that five nothing feels like one to nothing quite honestly to me just because of the club they are and they've been through these wars and they're so dangerous and they're they're so relentless um which makes it even more special and to me and and what our bullpen did it's a game the braves needed but it was a costly one as they lost their star pitcher charlie martin a fractured right fibula he could only go two in the third and he's lost for the rest of the postseason yeah it's it's tough losing charlie i mean especially at this time of the year is um it's a dagger but i believe that uh all of us are going to just stay together stay tight and just keep loving each other [Applause] [Music] [Applause] good evening everybody welcome back to minute maid park braves and the astros getting ready to battle for game two here in the world series wow what a change braves win game one six to two yeah the braves have some magic work and that's why they're hot that's why they're here [Applause] i i promise you i bet you you can't do it again i knew it one of the best starting pitchers in baseball max freed is on the mound for atlanta first world series start my main objective was to kind of just go out and eat as many innings as i could and obviously you know keep us in the game and doing the pitching for the astros right-hander jose or katie he's on eight days rest just his second appearance in 24 days he's kind of in the odd man out for the astros but he is starting game two but while pitching was a focus for the astros to get going in the series they needed a spark at the plate and there was no one better for the job than their all-star second baseman hitting coach alex cintron was blunt we need altuve as he goes we go and you can kiss it goodbye a three-run check for jose altuve that might be the exclamation point of the series he's a superstar in this game you know a big catalyst for what we do uh when he's swinging the bat you know it's something special to watch he is strong he could hit he's a baseball player he does everything on the field and he helps the team win baseball game there it goes to left altuve has tied it he knew sooner or later he was going to get his and what a time his 21st career post season home run he is on a hall of fame highway if you take his postseason career to go along with the gaudy regular season stats he's at but going into game two altuve had just two hits in his previous 26 at bats now he was going to lead off in the first looking to give his team that spark they'd been missing into the corner starts the night with a double when altuve goes the astros go everybody on the top step of the dugout without tuve already in scoring position i mean he's big time callus i mean leadoff man on every club is a catalyst you know you put the pitcher in in the stretch right away i mean he's the second base with nobody out michael brantley flied out to center next with altuve advancing to third and that put a ton of early pressure on max free who gotten just one out and had alex bregman stepping in against him freed sets this one is line to center field fairly deep going to back duval to make the catch and altuve can easily tag and come into score and the astros have their first lead in this world series one to nothing in the first freed would get out of the inning but the run gave arkiti a chance to take the mound in the top of the second with a lead and he retired the first two batters to face him in the frame a couple of quick outs for keaney in the second who's darnold but then travis darno came up and battled irkiti to a full count looking for a pitch he could drive 3-2 and a fastball hit hard to left field and this one is gone home run travis darneau his first of this postseason and it's 1-1 here in the second irkiti held the braves off from there and the astros went into the bottom of the second looking to get the lead back one down base is empty from kyle tucker in the center [Applause] would single to center with kyle tucker advancing to third just 90 feet away from scoring with only one out a chance for houston to get right back on top it's up to jose siri the rookie swinging a weak ground ball past the mall did it go out to hobbies at second throw to first not in time serie beats it out tucker in the score goriel up to second all kinds of emotion from siri give him an rbi on the infield hit in the astros have a 2-1 lead there was still just one out and it was martin maldonado's turn to keep houston's momentum going runners lead off first and second go 1-1 to maldonado here comes he'll score going with nobody there is siri he pops up comes to the plate two-run score a defensive breakdown by the braves as no one was covering third when rosario threw there brakes just handed the astros another run you know what there's so many baseball plays that don't go like you want i don't know that the guys thought there would be a play at home and then he threw the ball to third and we just kind of got caught in between a little bit by the end of the inning the astros would be up 5-1 and it all left max freed wondering how he could change his approach to the houston lineup second inning obviously kind of just got out of hand and i remember just walking into the dugout and looking at travis and just saying like we're going to do this we're just going to be myself 100 not try to worry about scouting reports or anything we're just going to try to pitch i felt like i was able to get into a lot better groove oh look at max friedgo max freed has settled down he's retired 10 in a row and maybe somewhere along the way someone reminded him who he is because the guy we saw in the first couple innings didn't look like max both starters would ultimately go five innings on the night and in the seventh with the astros up 6-2 the star who'd gotten the whole night going led off looking to deliver one last final blow [Applause] now dube goes deep for the 22nd time in his postseason history second most all time astros lead at 7-2 because of the little big man to hit 22 homers in playoff it means a lot to me you know it makes me keep going out there hitting homers to help my team as long as you're winning that's what playoff is about i don't care i went all for five last night but you know i didn't care i show up today try to get good pieces to hit and you know i'm glad that i helping my team to win tonight a few innings later the astros had the game two victory [Music] astros take the houston astros even up the world series at a game of peace winning game two over the atlanta braves you know when we came in you want to split you know obviously you want to win two but if you get out of here with a split then that's a good thing going home and on to atlanta we go [Applause] [Music] you never can count on the weather and tonight it is going to be a very chilly damp wet night it has rained all day long here in atlanta game time temperature is going to be somewhere around 50 degrees maybe even into the 40s the ground's going to be wet the air is going to be real damp we'll see how it affects both teams first world series game in atlanta since 1999 series tied 1-1 and you know game three in that situation is paramount for both teams all right well welcome mr freeman freddie thank you for coming in first world series game in atlanta congratulations thank you uh we'll get started with mark freddy how did this drive to the stadium feel different than all the other accountants this is a good one i started seeing fans pretty early in my drive walking to the stadium so it's pretty cool we've been in the playoffs the last four years so everyone kind of knows what the feeling's like we've got two games under our belt but the first one at home you're going to still get those jitters a lot of us got good heads on our shoulders and we just we know what we need to accomplish to get this thing done they're doing a tribute for hank aaron before the game tonight and of course you know your history with him goes back decades and has been well documented it's hard i know it's hard to sum up but what do you think of when you think of hank aaron man i can remember back when he would call me as a young manager and the first thing he'd want is you know how's the family doing can i is there anything you need hank had such a big part of a lot of guys lives and careers and i think each and every one of us that were touched by hank could call him a friend he was a good friend i mean i think about him all the time i mean usually i would hear from every couple weeks you know you just call say hello see how it's doing you know let me know he's pulling for me ask about my mom all the time and my wife and my son and daughter and it's just sort of strange when you don't get that call it almost felt like it was meant to be the first world series since the passing of the legendary hank aaron coming to atlanta and featuring not just a ceremony to honor him but these two managers who'd had such deep relationships with him great tribute video just played on the video screen here at truest park to honor the memory of hank aaron and now billy aaron being honored right now and dusty baker waving from the houston astros dugout he and hank were very close friends and i'll tell you what from the brave side of things dusty baker brian snicker i tell you what they're just memories of hank all over this series aren't they and look dusty baker's coming out of the dugout from houston to go shake the hand of hank's son as they get ready to throw out the first pitch dusty was he couldn't control himself he had to go out and give everybody a hug and demonstrates how close he is to their the family is yours ladies and gentlemen please join major league baseball as we thank the aarons for sharing their father and husband with all of us and giving us so many great memories i thought about him especially during his journey every day now i can't say he's pulling against the braves but i know he's philip for me and once the ceremony was over the game took center stage and the matchup between the braves ian anderson and the astros louise garcia the braves take the field they are a perfect 5-0 at home in the playoffs this year and we are getting close to first pitch here in game three he is ready to get to work he's not messing around at all right now one two and it's there at the knees for strike on the mound for the astros right-hander luis garcia rocking the cradle which is the way he begins his wind-up and the 3-2 swung on and missed he got him with a 96 mile an hour fastball to win the inning both pitchers traded scoreless innings to start the night even if it didn't look like either of them had their best stuff he's got some walks he's been behind in the count but he's getting timely outside [Music] and they are loving what they're seeing out of ian anderson so far here at drewes park [Music] here at the bottom of the third no score in game three will be the top of the order coming up for atlanta here's the 3-2 now and that's a lead-off walk for eddie rosario and in steps freddie freeman what do you think is going through freddy freeman's mind a guy who's been a brave his entire career 12 years in atlanta getting to play in a world series game in his home ballpark for the first time tonight rosario will stop at second as tucker gets it back in a walk and a single two on nobody else first jam of the night riley looking for the rbi i just remember it was super loud you know i was just trying to tell myself be simple my approach was i was thinking the other way with the fastball don't try to do too much just find a barrel rosario will score freeman is digging around and they'll hold it one to nothing atlanta here in the third pitching in a game like that a close one and i was trying my best to just you know keep them off off the scoreboard 3-2 pitch ian's a kid that never stops pitching he never gives in [Applause] i thought the fourth inning he really had to work to get through that it hasn't been you know all that clean at times but he is pitching well you know he was effectively wild i mean he had a one-to-one ratio boss of strikes and and our guys never could zero in on the strikes he had a really good fifth inning he's getting out of trouble and he's making pitches and you know you look up there and you know he's one mistake away from a really good outing going awry which against this lineup is really easy to happen ian anderson five innings no hits no runs three walks hit a batter struck out four i just kind of felt that he got us to a really good point in the game you know he shook my hand told me i was done and you know i kind of held on for a little bit longer i said are you sure he was like yes i think i said it again are you sure he tried to talk me out of it because he was like are you sure are you sure you know but i was just like ian i'm just i'm going in my gut right here first time in world series history we've seen a pitcher go more than five innings to get pulled in the world series when they're throwing a no-hitter you know you you have all the trust in snitches he's been in this game you know longer than i've been alive and you have trust in the guys coming in behind you the success that they've been able to have is you know quite the story um it's you know it's even earned them their own nickname so what's the difference you guys have i've seen a couple i think the one that's catching on is the night shift astros getting a different look now with the lefty on the mount aj minter horse number one out of the pen so brian snicker had decided that he'd get the last 12 outs of the night from his tight-knit bullpen a group that had definitely earned whatever nickname they wanted over the postseason the night shift's kind of just been a thing like when it gets dark and late and then that's when the boys go to work guys sitting on a bench with night vision goggles then we just come out of the trenches the 2-2 swing and a miss nasty cutter it's awesome to see them come into the game and just get after guys you know we're obviously a part of the atlanta braves but the bullpen is kind of their own little team we're a tight little group down there that really cares for each other we're here to play we're not just the motley crew or a bag of misfit toys we're we got some heart the astros still in search of their first hit of the night [Applause] the best offense for the braves tonight a good defense when they come in the game they want it to be shut down it's been unbelievable to watch those guys throughout this post season and you know they've been a big key to where we're at today the no-hitter was still going as the 8th inning began but it was also still just a one-nothing ball game as snika handed the ball to the next man up on the night shift well to the mound is tyler matzick fourth pitcher of the night for atlanta here's a little flare shallow left and a base hit gets down in front of rosario swanson went out rosario came in and it drops in between them and that's the first hit of the night for houston so the leadoff man is on the first hit for houston and now a pinch runner is coming into the game jose siri who's got great speed is going to run for oled miss diaz matic kept a close eye on siri as he quickly got the next two houston hitters [Applause] but then had to get the dangerous michael brantley to complete his job in the eighth michael brantley stands between matzik and another scoreless frame this postseason [Applause] runner is [Applause] that'll be a stolen base and an error on darnold tying run in third with two down in the eighth inning here in atlanta [Music] matson comes set [Applause] the no hitter is gone the lead is not there were just three more outs for the bullpen to get but first in the bottom of the eighth the braves bats had another chance to add a little insurance to the leads [Applause] [Applause] this season and what a time he picked [Applause] it'll be will smith in the top of the ninth against the three four five hitters in the astral lineup fifth pitcher of the night first four have been outstanding and the braves are an out away tucker hits one in the air to right center horadia says he's got it they get an outstanding pitching performance from their starter in anderson and then their four top relievers in the bullpen each going inning the fireworks are going on atlanta wins two to nothing and they take a 2-1 lead in the world series [Applause] to hold the houston astros scoreless in a world series game is quite the fee ian anderson five no hit innings 23 years old what was he doing so well everything i mean he had his fastball command his change up command his curveball command you know he fell behind in some counts but he never gave up and he was able to get big outs when he needed him everybody and the boys that came out of the pin in front of me everybody was on their a game tonight and uh to to keep a astro team like that to shut out it's pretty pretty incredible [Music] braves two to nothing winners over the astros last night take a 2-1 lead in the world series game four tonight [Music] carlos you warming up up there no way over here was so cool now the astros are also up against mother nature this park is unfamiliar with them they've been here three days it's rained three days they have yet hit on the field before the game that means the only time they're tracking pitches here is once the game starts zack ranking goes for the astros i don't look at his numbers in recent days and put a lot of stock in it because he's a future hall of famer he's won over 200 games he's got great stuff [Music] on march 29th dylan lee was released by the marlins and tonight he will be the first pitcher to make his first major league star in the world series it is a so-called bullpen game tonight i think brian snicker and braves would be very happy if he gave them two innings so here we go game four in atlanta on a saturday night not a whole lot for the astros offense yesterday just two hits so obviously looking for better returns this evening he loves first pitch swinging and he grounds one into the hole backhand [Applause] the margin for error for the braves felt thin but sure enough dylan lee could only get one out before he was pulled an infield single couple of walks a strikeout and dylan will depart into the first base dugout and it'll be kyle wright's turn as he inherits the bases loaded with one out in a scoreless game in the top of the first inning i thought my heartbeat was going to be a lot faster than it was but i felt pretty confident i felt like i could get out of it here's the 3-2 and a swing and a bouncer weekly hit to third charged by riley the only players to first they get correa there but the run will come in to score as the astros take a one to nothing lead stay focused on the task at hand and i feel like i could trust my stuff and just attack [Music] got him swinging strike three pace is loaded one down he gets through it giving up just one run then when he came back out for the second wright's defense helped him escape another jam [Music] so first and second one out and now back to the top of the order for altuve fine shot out to a diving austin riley makes the catch out of the air i knew he liked to pull the ball so i knew i was going to have to be you know ready ready for anything at this point in the season you do anything for an out what a catch by austin that saved at least one run maybe two [Applause] fourth inning still one to nothing high fly ball into center back at the wall is gone home run altuve career post season home run number 23. [Music] you know it seemed like we were we were a little slow um you know coming out of the gate but i think being at home rallies us to keep going in we're in the bottom of the sixth inning two down runners at first and second and this guy's got some big hits for the braves this postseason austin reilly all i was trying to do was just you know find a good pitch and put a good swing on it 2-2 pitch now there's a shot in the left facing alvarez plays it on the bounce throws to the plate too late other runners advance safe and it's a 2-1 game oh man he got clutch again houston would love to tack on one leading 2-1 it's going to be tough to do against this braves bullpen particularly that arm of tyler matic he's 30 years old he's been through so much it's all about not giving up on your dream i'm not going to be surprised if there's a movie that's coming made out about tyler matson he was the 11th pick in the 2009 draft overall 2015 i was with the rockies of starter got the yips for whatever reason he just is unable to throw the ball across the plate it's got to be a sick feeling basically got sent down in 15 and released in 16 when played some indy ball in 2018 and 2019 and the braves picked me up it's taken him five long years to get back into the major leagues from going from independent ball release 30 times i don't know tip my cap here's a 1-2 and a swing at a miss that [Music] [Applause] [Music] unbelievable three huge strikeouts life isn't supposed to be easy it's not supposed to be given to you you gotta earn everything you have and what matic has shown what he's been through i mean it's a living testament matic has just been absolutely lights out tremendous there's been a big reason again why braves been so good in the postseason another scoreless inning was just another chapter of matt's ex storybook tail and it left the brave still trailing by just one run [Music] one away in the seventh inning swanson i was not happy with myself about game three felt like i didn't play great here's the 01. another slider swinging a miss on swanson at 0-2 god made me the way he made me for a reason this team needs me to be that guy so just like go be myself swanson's hitless tonight in the air to deep right field this one's heading back towards the wall i have my little spot on the bench i was sitting there and when dansby hit that it sounded loud here's one into right back at the wall the game is tied [Applause] swanson you know major chaos fans going wild i don't even know where i was at the time because i'm you know excited it was it was crazy he went the other way with power and sent one soaring into the chop house sometimes like feelings like that can never be recreated which is why they're so special the marietta georgia native delivers we're like okay you know hell yeah here we go and then george comes up now jorge solaire comes off the bench to pinch him coming off the bench is one of the hardest things you do in our game i was still heart racing from dansview's home run and then you know right after that i didn't think the stadium could get any louder than it did 2-1 pitch [Applause] double trouble back to back dansby and jorge had a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the seventh for the atlanta braves i didn't even realize how nuts i went until like someone showed me a video they're like you look pretty excited i'm like yeah like who wouldn't be excited and this place is pulsing with energy and like oh my gosh like this place is rocking it they call it the battery here outside truest park going crazy out there and then they are shaking the top scoreboard so much above us that every beer i guess that was sat up there like just poured over and it was like a waterfall coming down everyone's like dodging things i don't know the bullpen smelled like miller light for the next you know i bet you the rest of that game it was nuts well this is it this is solar powered right here that was the seventh inning at the time so we all had to lower the heartbeat back down because we knew we had jobs to do when the lights go my light will only shine brighter my light will only shine brighter all right needs six more outs braves are up three to two first lead of the night luke jackson on to work for atlanta frenchy our bullpen coach gets me locked in and we kind of talked about the abs before and came in with a plan travis put down the right fingers three two have a seat swung on missed and luke jackson in search of one more out to put away the astros here in the eighth now two bay's had a really good night here comes the first pitch and a slider hit to left field hit pretty well rosario back i knew he like reached out for it but you never know like short porch just left i saw eddie just kind of a jog to it and i was like oh can't kind of corn back at the wall then he started to look for the wall i'm like oh no this can hit off the wall i i was terrified rosario back at the warning track leaps and he has got it right at the wall wow like that was that was special boy he took his eye off the ball and somehow found it at the last second he came in he said papaya didn't even see it i don't know he's been unbelievable in the postseason too super rosario as we call him it is eddie rosario's world one run lead ninth inning here is will smith he got the save last night five for five this post season adrenaline is definitely flowing but one thing i've learned in the ninth inning is you've gotta slow your heartbeat down got him looking strike three and locked him up with a fastball you gotta slow the game down because once the ninth ending starts speeding up on you it's almost like the hitters over there can smell it one down for alex bregman and he pops one up on the infield ozzy calls off dansby and ozzy has got it two down me and travy on the same game plan and just try to execute pitches and get three outs as quick as possible round ball rolling up the line at first ready's got it takes it to the bag braves win [Applause] atlanta now 7-0 at home this postseason you came in in a tough position bases loaded put this team on your back 75 pitches four and two thirds innings what was this outing like for you uh you know i was trying to give the team a chance to win try to hold hold where we were and uh get it to the back of that bullpen we don't we all know how good they are so um if we can just keep it where it is we know our offense is good my dad texted me he texted me and just said this team needs you to be you so go be you i feel right now i am super sorry [Laughter] i don't see the ball i throw the glove on and catch the ball that's awesome everybody happy and happy uh wow what a guys how much magic do you think is inside your team there's a lot especially this time of year i've always said the team that has that little boy in them that comes out are teams that do good in the postseason [Music] [Music] [Applause] the atlanta braves have just taken game for the world series and they are one win away from their first world series title since 1995. [Applause] i was telling my wife this morning she's like you know you're one game away i said it's still one game you know you got to win every day you know i've been we've been 3-1 we've seen three ones go out the window but i was like looking at her and said this is you know just surreal to be here in this moment the biggest stage in the world i get to do it with like my best friends behind me and we're here so i'm excited good evening friends and welcome into atlanta braves baseball tonight from drewest park in atlanta georgia it's game five of the world series between the houston astros and the atlanta braves atlanta with a three games to one lead in this series one game away from winning their first world series since 1995 they'll send tucker davis into the mound and he faces from her vow it is for the atlanta braves it would be the second world championship for this city since they moved to atlanta and it's been a long wait it's been 26 years these fans are primed for it everyone says take it one day at a time but at the same time what tell us what the feeling is in there it's got to be different than any other day or previous day yeah we're just going to take it one day at a time whatever their process was things looked good for the braves in the bottom of the first when they put a man on first with two outs and then austin reilly started a rally hard hit basic and all these will turn and so they have runners on second and third and first base open letting framber valdez pitch carefully to the red-hot eddie rosario 3-1 pitch on the way inside ball four and they are loaded now for adam duvall [Applause] all season long adam duvall was able to thrive with men on base led the national league in rbis and with two down the bases are loaded for adam in a scoreless game at the bottom of the first inning you know it happened fast you know i was sixth in the lineup so not too many times you get up in the first inning in that spot looking for a pitch and i ended up getting it first pitch was pretty cool to kind of see it coming in and recognize it and then to put a good swing on it [Music] deep right that's carrying back there to the wall grand slam [Music] touch of all adam duvall it is four nothing atlanta when it happened immediately i just heard everybody go crazy and then as i'm rounding the bases i don't know if it was because i was trying to take it all in at once you know it kind of went silent it's a crazy uh set of emotions that that are going through you so it's uh it was a moment that i'll cherish forever listen to this place [Applause] it is a madhouse the braves couldn't have dreamed of a better start but the astros weren't gonna go down easy and immediately in the second they put runners on first and second with the slumping alex bregman coming up and looking to break out [Music] [Applause] tucker at third and the astros are on the board and it's bregman who delivers an rbi double it's a two-minute scoring position now with one out for martine maldonado and martine lifts it into center field duvall going back on it and makes the catch both runners will tag as tucker scores a sacrifice fly for maldonado and its four to two graves just what the doctor ordered the astros to half the lead right away from the moment that we scored those two runs we said all right it's time to go let's go let's put greater bass together let's let's fight let's battle and that's the mentality we gotta keep having we just gotta go out there and try to be better the astros would keep the momentum going in the third and error by dansby swanson and a walk to michael brantley meant the end of the night for tucker davidson which left jesse chavez coming in with two runners on and carlos correa at the plate correa hits it into left center field that ball will get down one run will score that's el touveg and this is a one-run a game ball game where the top of the third inning julie burial is the batter grounder up the middle swanson's got it goes to first base out but the run scores all of a sudden just like that it's four to four [Applause] well it was fun while it lasted now we'll start over [Music] the lead was gone and the braves needed a new spark perfect timing for freddy freeman to come up in the third this crowd desperate to seize the momentum right back 3-2 pitch is it's just such a great answer to them tying the game up freddy leading up the bottom half of the third with a homer to get the lead right back that is so huge it would stay five four braves into the fifth inning but then the astros started threatening again they put runners on second and third with two out and then atlanta and aj minter decided to face martine maldonado instead of bregman alex will be intentionally walked here and that'll load him up for martine maldonado i was a guy being tough all serious you know been pitching great and i wasn't going to swing at the straight 3-1 to maldonado and he takes it way inside for ball four and the astros tied on the basis loaded walk correa comes home it is five to five ace is still loaded he's got to get it out barwin gonzalez will be the pinch hitter and he floats one into left center that will get down score one and score two marwin gonzalez has delivered and the astros have their first lead of the night at seven to five [Applause] houston for just staying in the game just battling at bats and battling hits in the end the night would belong to the astros hitters who ended everybody's hopes of the braves winning it at home by keeping the attack going as the game went on pulls it through the left side that's a base hit tucker around third base throw in not a dive astros lead eight to five and a clutch hit with two outs for the machete we wanted to close it out at home in front of our home fans but when you're playing for a championship at this caliber it's not easy it's never going to be easy and carlos drives this in the left for a base set altuve can walk home and the astros have a 9-5 lead they're the number one offense for a reason you know they can swing it they can explode at any time it's a really good baseball team over there they're going to win games just like we are swinging and a miss solaire goes down on a high fastball and that is the ball game the astros live to play another day as they defeat the atlanta braves by a final of nine to five and if the braves are going to win the world series in 2021 it'll have to come on texas soil hey brian a world series is a world series win no matter where but how much i guess in particular did you want to win that at home it's been a while since you know a team has won great oh yeah i think you always love to do it here um i'll take it anywhere i mean i don't care where we're at i mean if we can win world series it doesn't matter to me where it is i mean i'd love to have done in front of our fans hopefully we can you know do it in the next couple days waking up that next morning i mean you're a little bit disappointed obviously but you know there's still work left to be done um and so i i feel like we were all in a pretty good headspace like well it's just going to take us one extra game than what we thought [Music] hey austin you guys can see what the astros can do what's the level of urgency to close this out here i mean i think there's always a sense of urgency to go ahead and you know get it done um you know but i think we're right where we need to be atmosphere in the clubhouse is really good we're ready to get after it after losing the first two games in atlanta our goal was to take it back to acetown and uh you know we accomplished one goal now the goal is to take it to game seven and the only way to do that is you know to win the night we got two games to go if we win two games we win the world series we have all the confidence in the world we really wanted to to finish it off in in atlanta but today i feel like there's we're we kind of got that mindset as like we need to finish the job [Music] [Applause] greetings from minute maid park where today the houston astros take on the atlanta braves in game six of the world series braves still lead this world series three games to two in atlanta looking to close it out tonight the roof is open for an absolutely beautiful night the series has shifted back to houston texas braves won one of the games here when they first came here to start the series looking for just one more to take on the trophy obviously the pressure's on the astros they got to win two the braves only have to win one doing the pitching for the astros 24 year old right-handed pitcher luis garcia second look at him here in this series again he started game three on friday and going on short rest to get the start in this ball game rosario hooks it into right and a caught diving catch by tucker and right and we're underway in game six and the three two from luis garcia struck him out on the cutter downstairs nothing in two on freddy garcia kicks and fires freddie a swing enemies for strike three very impressive top of the first for luis garcia the starting pitcher for the astros and now here's left-hander max free to the mound for the atlanta braves let's do it pitcher and tv expert i'm from l.a i texted him the day before and i was like hey bro through all the disappointment of last night i just wanted to let you know that i came to the realization that if we won last night you wouldn't have pitched until next season and there's no better person to bring a world championship back to atlanta than you max freed is excited to get back out there after his game two start five plus innings six runs seven hits i didn't want to have the same regrets that i had in game two game six was my opportunity to go out there and leave it all out on the field knowing that i wasn't going to be pitching again for the rest of the year 1-1 pitch slow chopper out there to freddie he's got it tosses to max max reaches for the bag and he can't get there breed rolled his ankle and brantley stepped on his ankle i just knew that he stepped on my leg and i thought that he didn't hit the back he never touched the bag going across and freed eventually ran his foot across the bag when he falls down with his glove he catches the bag but for whatever reason the braves did not challenge [Applause] after i realized that we weren't going to challenge it i just knew that i had to kind of move on from that moment i was just out there holding my breath pretty much i didn't even realize how serious it was i saw the replay he bounced back up and i know he didn't want to come out of that game by any stretch so um you know might ticked him off a little bit too thankfully freed's okay to continue with that right ankle getting stepped on astros don't care they have two on with nobody out a threat in the first for houston and the one-two swing and a miss boy he got him with a great slider down and in to the right side the runners end up at second and third two out i think max got a little fired up after getting stepped on it was really important for me to try to get out of that with the least amount of damage possible oh two on the way check swing he went strike three yep technically maxed out himself four outs that inning but it keeps them off the board neither team could break through in the second luis garcia and max freed both very very sharp but in the third the braves rally 02 and a fastball line between correa and altuve lady rosario able to draw a walk they put two on for their biggest hottest hitter who've been crushing the ball all through the series the big d8 jorge solaire well so i was sitting there and it's kind of like all right first and second like maybe you can put one in the gap right here and get two or uh maybe like a long single or something that that rosie can score from first garcia great at bat i mean fallon balls off just missing a couple another foul ball down the left field line turned on a fastball three balls two strikes two down huge moment in this ball game early no score for now on the top of the third inning also maybe he could get into one and hit one out because obviously we know he's got that kind of power and what do you know the guy rolled in like a little breaking ball and he did not miss it he's on the way he attacks and smokes one to deep left this one's going supersonic that is out of the ballpark [Applause] you're just like kind of like oh my gosh over the train tracks and into the night and jorge solaire destroyed it that cleared the tracks by a mile they said it only went like 446 feet but i don't know how you could judge that when the roof is open and the ball disappeared so solaire with a monster blast into left in the braves lead three-nothing here in the third what a pickup he's been for this atlanta team [Applause] i feel like we kind of like learned a quick lesson right like we saw what happened in game five and throughout that whole game we just kind of kept saying like keep going freed kept the astros bats quiet as the game went to the fifth and then the kid from kennesaw georgia stepped up to the plate looking to make everybody back home proud one down that brings dansby swanson up to the plate there he goes swanson touches one off and it's five nothing atlanta on the strength of two tape measure shots one from jorge one from dansby and those are the two men who hit the big home runs the other night it's one of the better balls i've hit probably my career it was like a trampoline like i didn't even really feel it hit my back just such a cool moment like seriously i think when dansby hit the homer to put us up 5-0 we were feeling very confident that uh the way things were going that we were gonna get that done it's six nothing atlanta as freddie freeman delivers here in the fifth it's getting late early for the astros [Music] well so far max freed has taken care of business and his team has given him a six-run lead into the bottom of the fifth he has thrown only 40 pitches through four very strong innings and he begins the fifth facing kyle tucker the one-two swing and a miss got him with a slider down below the knees one down i mean they really didn't have a chance like he didn't give them a chance 3-2 pitch strike 3 got him looking fastball pain at the bottom of the zone he just went in attack mode and when he goes into that combo with his stuff it's hard it's hard to hit him freed shut down houston for six innings and suddenly 26 years since the last braves world series title freddie freeman with his fifth home run this postseason the next one was just three innings away and in the hands of that dominant atlanta bullpen tyler matching has been fantastic in the postseason for me to be able to sit there and hand the ball off to those guys in that situation there wasn't a shredded doubt in my mind that they were going to get it done got him swinging strike three down they go in the seventh i think about the seventh inning it seems like to myself i started counting outs you're brian snicker you're counting outs if you're an atlanta braves fan you're counting outs you're still kind of like locked in because you never know what can happen right like there's just i don't know your competitive instinct takes over just like finish this game like finish here's the 1-2 have a seat got him looking tyler matching in his second inning of work just struck out the side i was talking to wash on the top step and i was just pretty much saying like i i this doesn't really feel real he just looked at me said nope this is it it is 11 23 p.m eastern 10 23 central on the 2nd of november 2021 the braves bring in their closer will smith going back as rosario he's got room and two down when we had two outs in the ninth inning and i thought okay this is real and and we're going to make this happen and ground ball went to dansby and it was i don't know i'm kind of blacked out still since then [Music] a swing and a bouncer to short i knew it was going right at dansby and i didn't know if he was gonna go to second or not so then allison he kind of faked that he was going to second ozzie was late in the second base which i keep giving him a hard time about that's why i looked at second because he and then he wasn't really there and so then i just threw it to first as that ball was coming i was thinking in my head 20 21 world series champs stansberry throws to first base is this happening it is [Applause] [Music] [Applause] the atlanta braves have won the 2021 world series in six games over the houston astros this is what dreams are made of and for the 2021 atlanta braves the dream has come true what a run they got on a couple of months ago [Music] and one of the greatest stories in the history of this franchise has an ending do you remember what i told you i don't want to do this every one of those players seems like they contributed it's really a total team effort there's something unique and special about these guys i have never experienced before in a major league team they are a tough bunch of guys man we weren't expected to do this this wasn't easy for any of us which it never is major league seasons aren't easy but this one in particular i think just provided so many obstacles for these guys there were times where it seemed bleak but we knew that we kept working that this would be possible and man we really did it the atlanta braves have officially overcome all obstacles that were put in front of them and they are world champions delivering atlanta their second championship [Music] brian snicker has basically filled every single uniform every single job you can have throughout our organization over the past 40 plus years the look on his face the feeling the emotion you know it's real i'm so proud to be here with you doing this god i love you today to have someone that has dedicated their life to this game you know put blood sweat tears and to be able to play for him it's honestly been an honor and to be able to win a world series championship for him and with him it's something that i'll cherish for the rest of my life you know what boys you guys are going to be world champions for the rest of your life [Applause] there's something about big stages and unbelievable stories that go together and for the 2021 braves their manager their improbable mid-season turnaround and maybe just maybe the spirit of a departed legend all were part of an incredible tale that finished with them as world series champions the combination of all of these factors created a response out of the city the region that i've never seen before probably saw two million fans on the parade [Music] routes it's a city that was exercising the demons of those who had lived the disappointments of the last 20 years in sports in atlanta when you worked so hard for so long for something and you finally achieve the pinnacle of the sport [Applause] i almost just said we finally did it i've been an atlanta fan since i was born i've loved this city so much and i feel like that we as this team and unit were able to add another one of those memorable things which there's no price that can be put on that and it can never be taken away it's forever bravest country we did it [Music] this team endeared itself to braves country unlike any team i've seen in the last 20 years they knew that you loved them and you know now that they loved you you know how i know that right here baby there's the proof i have a question for you you die hard braves fans you know how many wins the braves had at the all-star break 44. do you know how many wins they had after the all-star break 44. going into the seventh inning of game six the total number of runs that had been scored by both teams before freddie lasted up was 44 but i think hank looked down and said you know what i think freddy needs one more anybody that thinks that hank aaron wasn't shining down on this team you're sadly mistaken and we miss him every day and now next to speak is billy aaron the spirit of hank aaron pervades the space he is here with us he loves the atlanta braves and i am so very very happy to be able to see these young men who have picked up the medals and who carry it on thank you thank you so much

Channel: SPORTS ODYSSEY

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Id: 5OHkip72ifc

Length: 89min 20sec (5360 seconds)

Published: Mon Jun 27 2022