EXCLUSIVE: Tom Glavine talks about the importance of home field advantage in the postseason
Atlanta Braves legend and MLB Hall of Famer Tom Glavine sat down with Braves Today host Ben Taylor for a wide-ranging conversation about the 2023 Atlanta Braves, calling games in the same booth as John Smoltz, Chipper Jones, and Jeff Francoeur, and proper expectations for the 2023 postseason.
WATCH: Part 1 of our podcast interview with Tom Glavine
Special thanks to our friends over at Pepsi Zero Sugar and Sam's Club for connecting us with Tom - make sure you make time to visit Tom Glavine at Sam's Club in McDonough, GA on Thursday, August 31st from 4:30 to 6:00 PM for hot dogs, Pepsi, and good times!
Is it right to ever expect a series sweep?
We talked to Tom earlier this week, coming off of a series-closing loss to the San Francisco Giants on Sunday afternoon. Tom had an interesting perspective on the timing of that loss.
"Now I get that people get disappointed when you have a chance to sweep and things like that. But I can promise you, and I can't tell you why I can't necessarily explain it other than it's just the law of averages. I don't care who you're playing: It's really hard to sweep a series.
"It just is, at that level, even the worst teams still have the best players in the world on their roster, and they're still capable of doing things. On any given day, it could be that team's day and that's what makes baseball great. But it's just tough to sweep the series.
"It always has been, it always will be. It's almost as a team, you're better off losing the first game of a series and winning the next two to win two out of three versus, losing the third game when you had a chance to sweep. Cause then everybody focuses on, 'Oh, we had a chance to sweep. We didn't do it.' And there's for some reason, a negative connotation to that, you've still won a series, but I get that it's just how fans look at it."
Does home field advantage in the postseason matter?
Glavine was pretty adamant that home field advantage was something worth pushing for:
"If they go into LA and beat the Dodgers in that series, that'll go a long way towards home field advantage.
"And I think home field advantage is huge. Again, you look at that the year of the Braves won the World Series, that home field advantage got flipped and the Braves had home field advantage against the Dodgers and it made all the difference in the world.
"I think home field and baseball is probably a little less of an advantage than maybe some other sports, but don't kid yourself. It's still an advantage and not having to travel and start on the road is a big deal."
Don't miss your chance to meet Tom Glavine at Sam's Club in McDonough, GA on Thursday, August 31st from 4:30 to 6:00 PM for hot dogs, Pepsi Zero Sugar, and good times!
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