MLB Showdown Obsession

 Narrowing down the name of a team in the old days of baseball can get a bit tricky. Nicknames were often interchangeable, and sometimes even replaced if the media took to calling a team a certain name, like how the White Stockings became the White Sox because newspapers were trying to save a little space in the headlines and everyone just took to the name. The entire early history of the Indians can be a complete mess to distinguish when it comes to when they were what name before finally settling on the Indians. But eventually as baseball went on through the years, things were defined and proper...except the Senators, or Nationals, or whatever. Washington was officially the Senators at the dawn of the modern era, but changed to Nationals in 1905 though people kept referring to them at times as the Senators, to the point that they officially changed back to that name in 1956...only to leave and be replaced by a new expansion team calling themselves the Senators. And then of course...

 In 1991 the Hall of Fame voted to not include in any balloting the names of anyone on baseballs banned list, and this was done solely because Pete Rose was freshly banned and his name was due to be listed on the HoF ballots starting in '92. That didn't prevent some voters from giving their endorsement to Charlie Hustle in the form of a write in vote. The Hall cared not for those votes and ignored them. In total, Rose received 41 write in votes, which if counted would have given him over 9% and qualified him for the next years voting... Meanwhile, for the names that were allowed on the ballot, Tom Seaver got himself 425 votes of the 430 total, setting a new all time record for percentage at 98.8%. Of the 5 votes that didn't name him, 3 of them were completely blank in protest over Pete Rose's exclusion. Had they not been protesting, Seaver would have had the potential for over 99%. Also inducted: Bill McGowan - American League Umpire from 1925 to 1954. Called 8 World Se...

 Some teams are defined by an era of domination they had. The Reds have the Big Red Machine era, the Athletics have the Swingin' A's of the 70s, or the Giants have their era of 3 titles in 5 years. For the Atlanta Braves, they have their 1990s run where they had a run of 14 straight NL West/East division titles. That era eventually had to end, and all the associated stars retired and moved on, so like the before mentioned teams, the Braves had to seek a way to return to the top. The Braves in 2018 had won the NL East for only the 2nd time since their record streak had ended, but it was as a good a time as any to try to start a new streak as they entered play in 2019. The win the division, they had to contend with a hungry Washington Nationals team on their way to a title and New York Mets team that always felt they have a chance, especially when facing the Braves. Brian Snitker had taken over as Manager in 2016 and year by year had guided the Braves to better and better records...