ATLANTA — When you think of 2021 in Atlanta Sports, the Atlanta Braves are sure to cross your mind.
The Braves won their fourth consecutive division title, then moved on to claim the National League Pennant and of course they didn’t stop there taking home their first World Series title since 1995. One year later, they erased a big deficit in the National League East and returned to the postseason.
The Atlanta Braves are this year’s Outstanding Team, presented Saturday during the Atlanta Sports Awards.
It’s incredibly difficult to go back-to-back in World Series wins, which is why no team has done it since the New York Yankees who made it an impressive three straight from 1998-2000.
“It’s definitely hard. You know what you went through the previous year to win the Championship and how hard it is and how much things have to go right. With injuries, guys getting hot at the right time, your team getting hot at the right time. It’s why you don’t see it very often because it is such a hard thing to do and things have to go so well for you to pull it off,” said Atlanta Braves Manager Brian Snitker.
Those moments after the World Series win were emotional for everyone and especially for Brian Snitker who has spent his entire career in baseball with the Atlanta Braves organization.
Just how often does the Skipper think about that World Series win?
“A lot. I’d be lying if I didn’t say I think about it a lot. It’s the pinnacle of what we try to do in our sport and it’s something that I hope never goes away. That’s what I told our players I told them they are World Champions for the rest of their lives and they should never forget this," Snitker said.
The World Series win was also a proud accomplishment for General Manager Alex Anthopoulos who captured his first World Series title as a GM.
“I’m really proud of it obviously. I’m going to be proud of it forever. There’s times where I think ‘Wow. I can’t believe we won the World Series,’ and we went to the stadium with my family to take pictures with the trophy because we weren’t there," he said.
"I will always be tied to the city of Atlanta and I’m proud of that. The fact that the (Atlanta) Braves are the only other team to bring the city a championship it’s just awesome,” Anthopoulos added.
The Atlanta Sports Awards are presented each year by the Atlanta Sports Council to recognize outstanding athletic talent at all levels across Georgia.
Others nominated in this category included the UGA football team.