Atlanta, Los Angeles Go Down to the Wire

All season long, the Atlanta Braves have been chasing the Los Angeles Dodgers. Even when they were ahead, it was like the Braves were behind, looking out for Darry1 Strawberry and the Dodgers.

Now, after a season spiced with ups and downs, baseball is down to the final days and the Braves are all even. And finally, it feels like they're ahead.

Tonight, the Braves, who trailed Los Angeles by nine games at the All-Star break, are back at home. Hotshot Steve Avery will pitch for Atlanta against Houston rookie Jeff Juden, who is still seeking his first major league victory.

The Dodgers, meanwhile, will be in Candlestick Park. That's the same place where San Francisco fans chanted, "Sweep! Sweep! Sweep!" during a three-game series in mid-August that the Giants indeed did sweep.

All week, the Giants have been looking forward to doing it again to the Dodgers. They beat them in 1951 on Bobby Thomson's home run in the playoffs, knocked them out again in a three-game playoff in 1962 and denied them an NL West title in 1982 when Joe Morgan homered on the last day--at Candlestick--to give the Braves the championship.

"I know they're going to come out and play their hardest, but that's the way you're supposed to play every game isn't it?" Strawberry said. "If they want to beat us so bad, they should have beaten us when it counted for them."

The Giants did, sort of. They hold an 8-7 edge over Los Angeles and won four of six in Francisco.

"I hate the Dodgers," Giants pitcher John Burkett said. "I've been in this organization since 1983, and there's always been a rivalry, even in A ball. We had five, six brawls against them one season."

'Like World Series Games'

It's no secret that a lot of people feel the same way. Especially when it comes down to rooting for the Braves, who are trying to join Minnesota as the only teams ever to bounce back from last place to first, or the hated Dodgers.

"I'll manage like they're World Series games," said San Francisco's Roger Craig, who pitched Brooklyn to a victory in the 1955 World Series, the first time the Dodgers won the championship.

"Maybe we'll make our season in three days.

"It'll probably go down to the last inning, the last out. If Atlanta wins, it will help baseball and all the people in the South."

One advantage for everyone: Because of ESPN, WTBS and CBS, all three games in both series will be shown, as long as they matter.

And, it might go beyond that. Because Dodgers general manager Fred Claire called "heads" in a coin flip last month, Los Angeles won the toss and the right to host a one-game playoff Monday night. That, too, will be on TV.

If it goes that far, it might not be such good news for Los Angeles. There have been five playoffs in NL history, and the Dodgers have been involved in every one. They've lost four times.

They were swept in a best-of-three by St. Louis in 1946, and lost to the New York Giants in 1951 on Thomson's ninth-inning shot in the deciding third game.

It was the same thing in 1962, when they lost to San Francisco in a best-of-three, and in 1980--the only time an NL division was tied at the end--Houston won a one-game playoff in Los Angeles.

The only time the Dodgers won was in 1959, when they stopped the two-time champion Milwaukee Braves in a two-game sweep.

"I think even LA felt it was going to come down to the last weekend or the last day," said Braves pitcher Tom Glavine, the only 20-game winner in the major leagues.

"We feel pretty good about it. Now let's see if we can get a little bit of help."

Lasorda Becomes A Believer

Perhaps the Dodgers did feel like it would go until the final days. But they probably didn't think they would be racing against Atlanta.

Early in the season, the Dodgers thought the main competition would come from the World Series champion Cincinnati Reds. It wasn't until mid-July that Dodgers manager Tom Lasorda told his team in a pregame meeting that the Braves were to be believed.

Yesterday, a day for baseball to catch its breath, both the Braves and Dodgers rested. Several of the Braves played golf.

"It's just a regular day off for us," said pitcher John Smoltz, scheduled to pitch Tomorrow. "There's 10 of us and we're having a little tournament like we always do."

Avery, Charlie Leibrandt and Alejandro Pena were among the pitchers who played.