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Braves desperately trying to shake comparison ATLANTA (AP) - Greg Maddux brought up the comparison, even before anyone asked him. “I can see where people say we’re like the Buffalo Bills,” the Atlanta Braves ace said. “If you look at the Bills, you think that’s a good football team. They just came up short, like we did.” Of course, that’s the problem. For all the Braves have done, for as many times as they’ve been named the best team in baseball, the only thing people remember is what’s happened in Octo ber Lost the 1991 World Series. Lost the 1992 World Series. Lost the 1993 NL playoffs. Just like the Bills, sure, they’ve won a lot of games, but never the one that counts. Four straight Super Bowls, four straight losses. ‘There’s an asterisk by us,” shortstop Jeff Blauser admitted. “People say, ‘It’s a good team, but ~~ True, the Braves have won more games in the majors (296) in the last three years than Toronto (282), Pitts burgh (269), the Chicago White Sox (267) or anyone else. Yes, they have one of most dominant rotations ever with two time Cy Young winner Maddux, one time winner Tom Glavine and playoff MVPs Steve Avery and John Smoltz. Certainly, they have All-Stars all over such as David Justice, Terry Pendleton and Blauser. Bu t It was frustrating, knowing how good we were but never having a World Se ries to show for it,’ said catcher Damon Berryhill, who left Atlanta in the offsea son and signed with the Boston Red Sox. “Anytime you get that close and not win, it’s disappointing. But it’s not like we were a bunch of losers.” In fact, that was the first thing man ager Bobby Cox told the Braves when the full squad reported to spring train ing this year. And he did not mention that the Braves were in danger of be coming the first baseball team to reach the postseason in four straight years and not win a World Series. “I just wanted to remind them that we’re winners,” Cox said. “I know some people out there consider us losers. That drives me crazy.” Joe Carter used to hear the same things. All anyone wanted to ask him about was how come the Toronto Blue Jays lost the playoffs in 1985, 1989 and 1991, and blew the AL East title in 1987 Never mind that he played on just one of those teams. “Until you win the World Series, you're going to hear it. Wherever we went, people talked about how we al ways lost,’”’ Carter said. “But once we won the World Series, that all changed.” “Now, no one ever asks us about the past,” he said. “They just want to know how it feels to have won two straight World Series.” The Braves, just like Jim Kelly, Thur man Thomas and the Bills, have had their chances. In 1991, Atlanta went from worst to first in the NL West, won a tight, seven game playoff with Pittsburgh and ad vanced to the World Series against Min nesota. But against Jack Morris and the Twins in a scoreless Game 7, the Braves lost their chance when Lonnie Smith got lost on the bases in the eighth in ning, and eventually fell 1-0 in 10 in nings. That same year, in the Bills’ first try in the Super Bowl, Scott Norwood missed a 47-yard field goal attempt with a few seconds left that would've beaten the New York Giants. In 1992, the Braves made it back to the World Series, taking on Toronto. At lanta fell behind 3-1, came back to win Game 5 and seemed in position to rally before the Blue Jays bounced back to take Game 6 and the title. That year, the Bills fell behind 24-0 to Washington in the Super Bowl early in the second half. Buffalo came back, scoring 10 quick points, but when it seemed ready to rally, the Redskins pulled away. In 1993, the Braves made one of the most remarkable rallies ever, overcom ing a 10-game deficit in late July and overtaking San Francisco to win the West. But in the playoffs, they were no match for Philadelphia. That year, the Bills made pro foot ball’s biggest comeback, overcoming a 35-3 deficit in the third quarter to beat Houston in the AFC playoffs. But in the Super Bowl, Buffalo was no match for Dallas. This year, the Bills added to their leg acy of losing by again falling to the Cow boys in the Super Bowl. Now, it is the Braves’ turn. To avoid becoming the Atlanta Bills, they need to win the reshaped NL East, win two rounds of playoffs — because of the extra wild-card team — and the World Series. From a competitive standpoint, just making it into the playoffs is the hard part,” Maddux said. “That's the real grind. Once you get in, anything can happen.” “I live in Las Vegas, and I saw what UNLV went through in the NCAA tour nament. They finally won it one year, and the next year they may have had an even better team, but they got knocked off by Duke,” he said.
Newspaper Details
Burlington Times News
Burlington, North Carolina, US
Sun, Apr 03, 1994
Page 23
Full Page
Clipped by
Mark H.
USA 19 Jun 2026
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