Braves New World And All That

Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports “You know my parents nearly named me El Paso.”This Sunday’s potpourri of thoughts begins with an affirmation of why A’s fans kept saying Oakland was, in theory, capable of a deep playoff run if they could just get there. (Spoiler alert: they didn’t.) You have to be hot at the right time, but you don’t necessarily have to be great, in order to keep advancing in the post-season.

Exhibit A is your Atlanta Braves, whose most redeeming feature is Ron Washington and whose least redeeming feature is the zombie-like, grating on the ears, and even offensive for good measure, Tomahawk Chop. The Cleveland Guardians are not amused.

This is a Braves team that was, as recently…