In his recap of last night’s game, Alex acknowledged the uncomfortable truth that this team has become very difficult to watch.  He suggested that, among other things, we should pick up a 1000 page Russian novel instead.

So that’s what I did.  It was a fascinating story about three (or is it four?) brothers and their father.  The father’s name was Fyodor (but often went by the nickname Liberty).  He owned a successful enterprise, but he was not running and maintaining it in a way that the brothers appreciated.  Dad cared more about lining his own pockets than the health of the enterprise or the welfare of his children. 

Each son had a complex and strained relationship with dad.  They cared about the family enterprise, and they were all concerned to one degree or another with the value of their inheritance—and their ability to enjoy it.  The oldest son was impulsive and volatile and resented the father.  The father’s decisions brought him constant frustration, indeed even agony.  It seemed to him that his father didn’t care about anything other than making money.  Everyone involved in the enterprise was failing at their jobs, and that was  infuriating.  Didn’t they care?  He often exclaimed that they should tear it down and start the whole thing over. 

The middle son was nothing like the elder brother; he was cold and rational.  But his study of the analytics rendered the same conclusion as his brother’s.  They had once had a good thing going, but then they kept doing the same things when they no longer worked.  That was irrational.  It made sense to sell what you could and try to rebuild. 

The youngest brother had also had problems with their father and the way conducted himself, but his character and personality were unlike his older brothers.  He had a trusting and hopeful nature, and he had faith that things would work out.  The middle brother thought his youngest brother was naïve and innocent, perhaps even irrational.

Turns out that there was a fourth, unacknowledged son, who resented all of them, especially the father, for not treating him with the respect he deserved.  He would be happy to torch the whole thing and fire it into the sun.

As the family enterprise continued to underperform, conflict among the family exacerbated and their misery increased.  Something had to give.  That was the point at which I fell asleep.  What was going to happen to this enterprise?  Will they keep the course and hope things turn around?  Or will they recognize the futility of the current situation, murder the current plan, and start over?  I’m looking forward to finding out which way it goes.

  *   *   *

While I was reading the Russian novel about the brothers and their father, the Braves faced the Diamondbacks.  After a one hour rain delay,  they played much the same game they have been playing all season.  Very good starting pitching, uneven relief pitching, putrid offense, especially with RISP.  Final score: Snakes 2, Braves 1.

Chris Sale went six, striking out ten and surrendering a single run on just three hits.  His command was a little shaky, though.  He walked four batters and used 103 pitches to get through those six innings.

Merrill Kelly, starting for the Snakes, looked like Randy Johnson.  Actually, he looks nothing like the Big Unit (who does?), but he got similar results, tossing a perfect game into the fifth and a no hitter into the sixth.  Ronald broke that up with a sharp single to center. 

It remained 1-0 through seven; Dylan Lee continued his strong work with a 1-2-3 seventh. But the Braves went down quietly once again in the bottom of the frame.  Lee got one more out in the eighth before turning it over to Daysbel, who walked his usual two batters.  With two on and two out, he ran the count full to the next batter.  But he was injured and had to leave the game, setting it up for folk hero Aaron Bummer.  Never a doubt—Bummer got out of the inning with one pitch.

The bottom of the eighth was the very quintessence of the 2025 Braves offense.  Verdugo and Murphy both singled.  Luke Williams, pinch running for Murph, stole second, setting up second and third with no outs.  But pinch hitter Baldwin and MHII both struck out, and after an intentional pass to Ronald, so did Riley.  Yet another abject failure, but it’s what we’ve come to expect.

Speaking of expected outcomes, Iglesias allowed a run in the ninth on a double and a single. 

In the bottom of the ninth, Olson led off with a base on balls and one out later Ozzie also drew a walk to put the tying runs on base.  After an Eli White forceout, Luke Williams was hit by a pitch, loading the bases with two outs for the Drake.  He walked, making it 2-1.  The only thing dampening the excitement was that the next hitter was Harris, who is absolutely lost at the plate.  Sure enough, Michael struck out, swinging at two consecutive pitches in the dirt.  Did you expect anything else?

Of all the losses in 2025, this was the 2025est.

I’ll return to the novel now.  I’ve got a feeling the father may become a victim of homicide–and it just may be that he deserves it.