World Series 2021: Talks of an Atlanta Braves collapse begin to rumble

By Martin Rogers
FOX Sports Columnist

It is not remotely in the territory of a collapse, a distinction that would be unfair to the Atlanta Braves and an inaccurate depiction of what went down in the most recent tussle of this gripping World Series.

But whether or not there are jitters in the Braves dugout, there most certainly are plenty in the city they’re about to leave behind, as the Fall Classic says farewell to Atlanta and moves to Houston for its final stand — or two.

The Astros’ comeback victory on Sunday in Game 5 sparked chatter of what is, for Atlanta sports fans, the worst narrative of all. There is no name for the concept that the region’s teams have an innate difficulty closing things out when ultimate glory beckons. Some call it a curse, but it’s really not that. It's more a collection of dramatic results that have struck painfully, right at the point when it mattered most.

It isn’t a fully-fledged thing — not yet. It's definitely not to the point where it can poison the minds and tighten the arms of Braves and Falcons and Hawks and Bulldogs teams in forthcoming years.

Not quite yet.

Yet if the fledgling revival that began at Truist Park as the weekend came to a close — the one that sprang up just after Adam Duvall launched a Grand Slam into the seats and had the home fans dreaming — begins to grip, the theme of Atlanta turning into a tortured American sports city will take some shifting.

There is a long way to go, but if you think you felt a significant momentum tilt as Game 5 wore on, you’re not the only one.

"It was tough, but before the game we talked, and we said we’re not going to give up," Astros shortstop Carlos Correa told the FOX broadcast. "We are going to go out there fighting, and we were able to battle back. Not many teams have come back from 3-1, but if there is one team that can do it, it’s us."

Just when the Braves would have loved the calm head and experienced arm of Charlie Morton on the mound, his absence was felt as the Astros mounted a resurgence, swiftly, methodically and relentlessly, turning that four-run hole on its head and striding off the winners, 9-5.

For the second straight game, Atlanta started a pitcher — Tucker Davidson this time — who was not on the roster for the National League Championship Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers, a level of creativity required because the Braves are short on options after Morton’s fibula broke in Game 1 and manager Brian Snitker didn’t want to run Max Fried out on short rest.

"The Atlanta Braves have been playing with fire," three-time World Series champion David Ortiz said after the Game 5 loss. "One game away from winning the World Series, they didn’t lock it in. I think they are in some serious trouble right now."

And so, the comeback talk begins to rumble.

As things turn to Minute Maid Park, remember that it was in the city of Houston that the Falcons got hunted down by the New England Patriots five years ago, watching a massive lead evaporate in the wildest Super Bowl turnaround of all. None of which impacts baseball, but don’t imagine for a second that it doesn’t prey on the mind of the Atlanta supporters.

"They tricked us," Mark Bradley wrote in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "On Halloween, the Braves seized a four-run lead. In grand Atlanta style, they threw it back. Before you could say 28-3, it was 4-all. A constituency that has seen letdowns by the dozen braced for another."

Other notable near-misses include Georgia’s defeat to Alabama in the 2018 national championship game, and these same Braves spurning a 3-1 lead to the Dodgers in the NLCS last year.

Before too much panic sets in, it should be remembered that the Braves did, in essence, get what they came home for, winning Games 3 and 4. Their list of trusted starting pitchers starts with Fried and ends with Ian Anderson, and there’s nothing in between.

Splitting consecutive games with inexperienced "openers" could be seen as a triumph (or an escape?), but when you led by four on a night when you could've clinched a championship, it’s difficult to feel like everything went to plan.

Houston’s part in this should be remembered. The Astros are a team that has been here before, reaching the World Series three times and the ALCS every year for the past five. Teams don’t often battle back from such a deficit in a potentially Series-ending game; it had happened only three times before. But it wasn’t, in truth, a monumental surprise, all things considered.

Even when Duvall smacked the ball to right in the first frame and the city of Atlanta got ready to party, the Braves themselves knew better.

"We celebrated it. We got excited," Duvall told reporters. "But it’s a long ballgame."

And it's a long series, in which the finish line remains that same distance away yet looks a little farther.

Martin Rogers is a columnist for FOX Sports and the author of the FOX Sports Insider Newsletter. You can subscribe to the newsletter here.