Joctober’s Letter to Atlanta

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Atlanta??? Man, I was pretty surprised. At the time, the Braves were a game under .500. They were third in the division — 4½ back. And they’d just lost Acuña, an MVP–caliber player, for the rest of the season. In my mind, I was thinking, you know, No offense.… but shouldn’t these guys be sellers, too?? I actually remember one of the first things that somebody said to me when I got there: “Don’t get too comfortable.”

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And then it’s funny — I remember about a month after the trade, we’re a few games over .500 and on a long road trip. And I was playing cards on the plane with some of the pitchers. The plane ride ended, and then from there it’s like, the team has two buses: one for pitchers and one for position players. I wanted to keep playing cards with those guys, though — so I hopped in with them instead. And we’re on the bus, playing cards, talking trash, you know….. when at some point someone asks me, “Wait. Why are you on the pitchers bus?” And I wasn’t really even thinking about it. We were just having a good time, I guess, and I was in one of those moods.

But I said: “Because y’all are the motherf*ckers who are going to win us a World Series.”

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But when I look back on these last few months, and when I look ahead to this World Series in front of us — what stands out to me, just as much, is the little things.

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