Atlanta, where other teams come to celebrate

ATL A NTA » The Braves are back in the A-T-L for a decisive postseason game. That’s not necessarily a good omen for the home team. Over the years, Atlanta has been the place where other teams come to celebrate in October.

St. Louis hope to continue that trend when it faces the Braves in Game 5 of the NL Division Series on Wednesday.

“I was just a little kid when that happened,” Braves shortstop Dansby Swanson said with a shrug. “History is history. We’re in the moment now. This is a completely different and new team.”

Indeed, Swanson was just 7 years old when Atlanta began a streak of nine straight postseason-round losses with a fivegame setback to Arizona in the 2001 NL Championship Series.

Still, it’s impossible to ignore that the Braves are just one series loss away from equaling an ignominious record set by the Chicago Cubs, who lost 10 series in a row between 1908 and 2003.

Chicago finally ended its playoff misery in Game 5 of the ‘03 NL Division Series — at Turner Field, of all places. In fact, it became a bit of a running gag that one of baseball’s most popular spots for celebratory pictures was the pitcher’s mound in Atlanta, with the center-field scoreboard in the background, since nine visiting teams eliminated the Braves at their previous ballpark, with the Cardinals doing it twice.

The move to SunTrust Park in 2017 didn’t change Atlanta’s fortunes. Last season, the Braves were closed out at home by the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 4 of the NLDS.