Atlanta Braves Take 3 of 4 Against the New York Mets

The Braves came out of the Yellow Sea that is the All-Star Break as something more than what they had been, taking the field against the Mets as a 450 pound jellyfish. Prior to the Break, Atlanta's offense had all but dried up on the shore, looking like a team ready for dissection, leaving fans and experts to comb over the sands, mocking a 650 million year old creature's inability to evolve, but, now, after outscoring the Mets 24 to 9 in four games, with a total of 6 home runs, this jellyfish may be proving that its lack of complexity is a calculated risk-- simplicity equals survival.

All year, the Braves have been a slow, plodding team of singles hitters, whose offensive cohesiveness and productivity mirrored the board game Mouse Trap. This analogy may no longer be applicable. The discontinuation of this Milton Bradley board game does not mean that the Braves got faster or became a power-hitting team over the break; it just means that a deeper truth emerged at Turner Field this weekend, and this truth can be found in the depths of the ocean.

Before Babe Ruth industrialized the game of baseball with the power of a combustible engine in his home run stroke, the game of baseball was played for almost 90 years as a game of singles and doubles. Before 1930, the game saw less than one home run per outing. Because the home run occurs with such frequency now, most believe the home run is a necessary part of the game. But if the home run were vital to the game's survival, then the game could not have survived a near century with less than one happening every game. In other words, the home run is not necessary for the game of baseball to survive as a living organism, just as a brain, a heart, or a skeletal system were never necessary for life either.

Jellyfish are a collection of nerve impulses and tentacles, and they are one of the oldest and deadliest hunters this planet has ever known. While creatures of more complexity, like the dinosaur, gave way to extinction, the jellyfish continued to stalk its prey in the waves of the sea. Before the shark shaped its jaw bone and grew its fins, the jellyfish ruled. If durability and consistency are the tests by which one judges a 162 game regular season, then what better lawyer is there than the jellyfish, which has lasted millions of years on nerves alone?

While the Braves did manage a home run in every game against the Mets, they clinched the series today, in the fifth inning, when eight different guys worked together like tentacles, stinging their prey into submission, before pulling said prey into their mouth, to be devoured. The killing was not done for style or as an act of intimidation, but purely for survival; it was a lesson on instinct and how instinct buys a team time.

This team, as a jellyfish, will not inspire school children to answer the question "what's your favorite animal" differently, but this team will survive by doing whatever is necessary to stay in the playoff hunt. Nate McLouth, who went hitless in the series, displayed this survival instinct when he reached base four times on walks and continued to hustle after every ball in the outfield, contributing to the win despite his struggles. Chipper showed it with a sacrifice fly, to drive in a run. Javier Vazquez characterized this attitude by coming out and pitching seven great innings despite the fact that this team rarely scores runs for him, and Yunel Escobar, the King Jellyfish, showed it all series, as he went 7 for 14 in the series, with 2 home runs, 8 RBIs, and 4 runs.

During the first half of the season, this team played games in the sun and games in the rain, and the rain was always something to fear; but, times change, and the jellyfish's tenure on this planet shows that, while everything else may change, survival can be found in being constant--know one's strengths and know one's weaknesses. Perhaps, this team does not need the sun but the rough waves, the pounding rains, and the turmoil that is the ocean. This team is made for a long fight, not a victory lap, and the real fighting starts Monday against the Giants.

I used to be a crustacean

In an underwater nation

And I surf in celebration

Of a billion adaptations

Got me a big wave, ride me a big wave, got me a big wave

Got me a big wave, ride me a big wave, got me a big wave

I feel the need planted in me

millions of years ago

Can't you see the ocean's size?

Defining time and tide arising

Arms laid upon me

Being so kind to let me ride....