Keeping it 100: As Braves again surpass wins milestone, Atlanta's team cohesion unmatched

WASHINGTON — Somehow, the Atlanta Braves have avoided becoming the subject of corporate white papers or fawning industry analyses on sustainability. Yet their annual, unending, relentless success certainly begs many questions.

Such as, does stability breed dominance? Or must a team establish a culture of winning before laying down roots?

Not that it matters.

Sunday, the Braves notched their 100th win for the second consecutive season, first time that’s happened since 2002-2003. They’ve won five consecutive National League East titles, a run reminiscent if not yet resembling the 14 straight East championships they captured from 1991-2005.

And in identifying, acquiring and ultimately signing nearly a dozen players to long-term contracts, they’ve assured that the end of this run is nowhere in sight – while ensuring the atmosphere that produced it lives on.

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"When things aren’t going well, you push yourself harder to try to get back to where you should be," Braves All-Star third baseman Austin Riley tells USA TODAY Sports. "Your teammates hold you accountable. These guys care so much.

"You want to be there for them, as well."

The results this year are nothing short of stunning.

Records rampage

Riley needs just four RBIs in this final week to give the Braves four 100-RBI men atop the lineup. The leadoff man, Ronald Acuña Jr., already became the fifth player in baseball history to accomplish 40 home runs and 40 steals in a season; thanks to liberal basestealing rules instituted this season, Acuña needs two stolen bases to, stunningly, create the 40-70 club.

First baseman Matt Olson leads the majors in both home runs and RBI, his 53 longballs breaking Andruw Jones’ club record, with three more RBI needed to break Eddie Mathews’ franchise record of 135.

Mathews isn’t the only Hall of Famer needing to step aside. Ace Spencer Strider’s final start of the year will likely yield the three strikeouts needed to pass John Smoltz’s club record of 275; Strider will also vie for his 20th win of the season in that pre-playoff tune-up.

It seems almost impossible that Strider is just three years removed from getting drafted out of Clemson, barely a year after Tommy John surgery. Yet he clearly landed in the right spot.

“It’s all about winning, and the organization’s commitment to being consistently competitive and doing things like calling guys up when other organizations maybe wouldn’t,” says Strider, whose 274 strikeouts lead the major leagues. "That kind of constant commitment to it is very obvious at every level of the organization. Consequently, they want to do things like make a comfortable environment for players, through amenities and everything else and that goes as far as offering guys contracts and trying to find consistency.

"When you find a product on the field capable of winning, you want to get it to stay and that’s something that means a lot to players."

They have let their pens do the talking.

Green grass and high tides

No, Braves president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos does not put anything in the food to compel his players to stay. Yet they just keep coming back.

Seven core Braves are signed to long-term deals through at least 2027, with Riley’s deal extending all the way through 2033 should the club pick up an option year. The wave of permanence began when Acuña ($110 million) and second baseman Ozzie Albies ($35 million) each signed long-term extensions in April 2019, when both barely had any service time.

While both have significantly outperformed those deals, the long-term core has only grown around them.

It doesn’t hurt that the Braves continue to draft, develop, acquire and ultimately sign players hailing from what’s known as Braves Country – a baseball-rich swath of the South. Olson, from suburban Atlanta, signed a $168 million extension hours after the Braves acquired him from the Oakland A’s.

Outfielder Michael Harris signed a $70 million extension to stay in his hometown during his rookie season. Strider attended high school in Knoxville. Riley grew up a bit further away – just south of Memphis – but his Atlanta roots are only deepening.

"The grass isn’t always greener on the other side," says Riley. "The Braves have treated me with the utmost respect. They’ve always been fair to me, honest with me, and from a workplace, there’s nothing more you could ask for.

"For me, my wife’s got family in Atlanta, my parents and her parents are only five hours away. The stars aligned. I think a lot of guys come over here and see that we have fun, we keep things light, but we also have to work hard.

"Those two combos are important for 162 (games). And guys that come over see it – and they buy in."

Read and react

Now, they’re barely more than a week away from a return playoff engagement, a strange limbo that will be part coronation, part trepidation. Olson and Strider and Acuña and others will rack up records and milestones, while manager Brian Snitker warily eyes the health of a roster not exactly peaking physically.

Left-handed starter Max Fried is on the injured list with a fingernail issue, while veteran right-hander Charlie Morton will miss the National League Division Series with a finger sprain. The maladies are annoyances, to be certain, but this group’s October odysseys let them know playoff baseball is almost fated.

They were below .500 at the 2021 All-Star break, Acuña laid up with a torn ACL, then rallied to win the World Series. They had that coveted first-round bye last year, then saw the nothing-to-lose Philadelphia Phillies steamroll them in four games of the NLDS.

The Phillies may pop up on their radar again. The Braves, while knowing any outcome is possible, will likely remain unbothered.

“We’re not very reactive as a group. We’re committed to the long-term approach," says Strider. "And playing in October, we know you can win 100 games in the regular season and it doesn’t really matter if you don’t go out and win in October.

"There’s not a great amount of panic if something doesn’t go right. Guys just show up and do what they’re good at.

"Every day."

And all those every days have turned into five consecutive years of dominance – with no end in sight.