As another historic MLB season comes to a close, the Atlanta Braves have defeated the Houston Astros in 6 games to take home the 2021 World Series Championship. The Braves dominated Game 6 behind 6 dominant innings by ace Max Fried, and another Jorge Soler moonshot that put Atlanta out in front. 

This title is historic for the Braves, as it is only their second since they moved to Atlanta from Milwaukee in 1967. It was not an easy path to the title either, as they first went through a grueling series with the Brewers that pitted them against Milwaukee’s talented pitching staff, but they came through and went to the NLCS in 4 games in the best of 5 series. Then, it was onto a Dodgers team that was fresh off a series win against the MLB’s best regular season team, the San Francisco Giants. Yet again, they pulled through behind their electric offense in 6 games. And even after dropping the first game in Houston, the team never caved in and proceeded to take 4 of the next 5 games to earn the title. 

This Braves title run was shaped by many key players and people. First, there’s Freddie Freeman, the cornerstone of the franchise and arguably one of the franchise’s most recognizable icons. Fresh off an MVP season in the shortened 2020 campaign, he did not disappoint as usual. He belted 31 homers and hit .300. Then, there’s the rest of the infield, Ozzie Albies, Dansby Swanson, and Austin Riley. All three blossomed into talented superstars, each having career years highlighted by Riley’s stellar performances throughout the year. Also, the Braves’ outfield, all three of which were trade acquisitions, came through for the team. After losing Ronald Acuna Jr. and Marcell Ozuna, the trio of Joc Pederson, Jorge Soler, and Adam Duvall were left to handle outfield duties. All three of them exceeded expectations. Finally, the pitching. Max Fried and Charlie Morton lead an underrated rotation that was the backbone of the team for the entire year, and both continued to excel in the playoffs, even until Morton broke his fibula in the middle of game 4. The bullpen, led by Will Smith as the closer, has been lockdown all playoffs as well. It was really a team effort for the Braves, and even though they were not at the top during much of the regular season, they played like they deserved every bit of the results they got.