Going into September last season the Atlanta Braves were all set to make their second consecutive trip to the postseason. The team had a comfortable 8.5 game lead on the St. Louis Cardinals for the wild card. That lead soon turned out to not be so comfortable. The Braves struggled the entire month with an 8-18 record (including losing the last five games of the season) and were passed from behind by the eventual World Series champion Cardinals on the memorable last day of the regular season. Atlanta collapsed, missing the playoffs for the fifth time in six seasons after winning their division 14 straight times from 1991-2005 (*). In 2012 the Atlanta Braves will look to turn the page from last season’s finish and focus on competing in an improved division from a year ago.  Continue reading →