As summer refuses to release it’s hold in the Rocky Mountain west, I am left to wonder how it all came to this.  So beautiful outside.  Crystal clear blue sky framing yellow, gold, and orange leaves.  And yet, my heart is sad.  The team I love and have watched hold on to, overtake, and stay near the top all season long has come down to 6 games and the number 0.5.  The sound you hear is the one silent tear slowly falling from my broken heart.

All season I watched with joy as the Braves despite their obvious bipolar existence keep hold or stay near the top of the NL East.  The Phillies were banged up much of the year and the Braves were working on all cylinders most games.  As September approached, I thought that the Braves had the East wrapped up.  So wrong, oh so very wrong.

The Phillies got healthy.  The Braves lost Chipper.  The Braves started being ever more bipolar.  Losing to teams that were sub .500.  Making little league errors on the field.  Leaving 15 RISP in a game was not unheard of.  It all started to unravel.  I saw my dream season slip sliding away.  Held on to hope they could right the ship or at least salvage a wild card spot.  And worse and worse it got.

The Rockies got hot and then got ice cold.  The Giants and Padres flip flopped atop the NL West again and again.  The Phillies kept winning and the Braves kept being insanely bipolar.  Winning big and losing worse.  It reached the point I didn’t want to see highlights, didn’t want to look at stats, didn’t want another game day to come.  But come they did.  it is now 6 games until the end of the 2010 regular season and the Braves are now 0.5 games out of the Wild Card race behind the Padres.

The Braves have the Marlins at home.  Their ONE saving grace if there is one.  At home is where they have played best.  The Marlins have shut down some players already for the season.  The Braves MUST win all these games.  The Phillies are 1 game away from wrapping up the division.  They have the Nationals.  The Padres have the Cubs at home.  I want to watch but it’s like a car wreck you drive by, you don’t want to see anything bad but you just can’t help but look.  The Braves must win and the Padres must lose – it’s that simple and that difficult.  After these series, the Brave get the Phillies at home and the Padres get the Giants.

As I watch the season slip away as the sun slips beyond the horizon and darkness fills the sky, my silent tears may turn into real ones.