The NL East is ours!

Today is July 20. I know. Claiming the division today is like claiming a girl is in love with you because she said hello.

But let me enjoy this cheap thrill while it lasts. This is the most fun I've had watching baseball since Alejandro Pena was our closer, since Rafael Belliard was our defensive specialist at short. I haven't been this excited about the Braves since Steve Avery was a phenom, since Otis Nixon was our leadoff hitter, since Braves fans actually created a chant for Sid Bream (Sid! Sid! Sid!). Hell, since we had a lefty/right platoon of Bream and Brian Hunter at first base.

That was circa 1991. Greg Olson was our catcher.

This is the first time since I began rooting for the Braves that my expectations heading into the season didn't include the word "playoffs". As far as I could tell, we were supposed to be fighting for fourth place with that expansion team in Montreal. We were supposed to suck. The dynasty was over. Or in the defeatist words of Allen Iverson in the 2000 NBA Finals: "Man, we weren't even supposed to get this far."

Then, yesterday on Sportscenter, I see the highlights of last night's game against the Phillies (for some reason, a game between two teams tied atop their division wasn't televised): Mike Hampton's pumping his fist after striking out a batter to end the seventh, somebody named Charles Thomas is diving to make a catch in left (and batting .377), somebody named Adam Laroche is driving in runs, John Smoltz is relieving the eighth inning for the fifth time in his last six appearances, we're celebrating the victory like it's October, and suddenly the Braves are the hottest team in baseball right now.

Sixteen wins in their last 20 games.

For a baseball fan, it doesn't get any better than that. Other than, I guess, winning a championship, but, well, I'm a Braves fan. I keeps it real.

Anyways, not to go Yankee-fan on you guys and ram this news down your throat, but, what the hell -- I think the Braves success so far is one of the best stories in baseball this season. John Schuerholz is my hero. And if you don't mind, I'd like to get on my hands and knees right now and apologize to John Schuerholz.

Excuse me.

Mr. Schuerholz:
You were right.
I was wrong.
You're smart.
I'm dumb.
You're successful.
I'm a failure.
You're good.
I'm bad.
You're cool.
I'm a loser.
People like you.
Nobody likes me.

Yes, John Schuerholz is my hero.
Three big losses, three quick solutions:
1) The Braves lost Javy Lopez to free agency -- Schuerholz has Johnny Estrada fill in, and Estrada turns in an All-Star first half.
Estrada: .324/.379/.473 (275 AB), 4 HR, 48 RBI, 20 BB

2) We lost Gary Sheffield to free agency -- Schuerholz trades his top pitching prospect for J.D. Drew, who's having an MVP-caliber season. (Biggest joke of the season thus far: Drew didn't make the All-Star team. Ha!)
Drew: .316/.434/.621 (301 AB), 22 HR, 59 RBI, 63 BB

3) We lost Greg Maddux to free agency -- Schuerholz picks up Jaret Wright from the scraps and has Leo Mazzone (I assume) turn him into a solid starter.
Wright: 105 IP, 87 K, 44 BB, 6 HR, 3.34 ERA

Schuerholz also re-signed a 50-year-old walking dead man, Julio Franco, who's hitting .279/.358/.430, and picked up a utility man in the Drew-for-Wainwright/Marquis deal, Eli Marrero, who's hitting .350/.398/.592 in 120 at-bats.

Either this a freak occurrence and John Schuerholz is merely the luckiest bastard in the free world, or we're all idiots and Schuerholz is a freaking genius.

It's probably a little bit of both, which is fine by me. The Braves haven't had luck on their side since Francisco Cabrera's hit in the '92 NLCS.