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Atlanta Braves vs. New York Mets
Written by: Daniel Collins
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Read Time: 5 minutes
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The Atlanta Braves and New York Mets have been rivals for a very long time, but that rivalry intensified in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Those Braves and Mets teams were routinely competing against each other for the top spot in the National League, and they had an epic clash in the 1999 National League Championship Series.
The two teams weren’t always in the same division in the National League, but that changed in 1994 when the Atlanta Braves joined the New York Mets in the National League East. Atlanta Braves closer John Rocker helped to intensify this rivalry when he made comments about the city of New York that set Mets fans off. The rivalry has cooled off a bit in the last decade, but odds are that it will heat back up when the Mets return to their winning ways.
History of Braves vs. Mets Rivalry
The Atlanta Braves and New York Mets met for the first time on April 15, 1966, and the Braves came away with a 3-2 victory. Atlanta dominated the 1966 season, winning 14 of the 18 games against the Mets. The Braves and Mets have met a total of 768 times in the regular season, and Atlanta holds a 406-361 lead in the all-time series standings.
Atlanta and New York have met up twice in the playoffs, and the Mets have won five of the nine total games against the Braves. Atlanta and New York first met in the 1969 National League Championship Series, and the Mets quickly swept the Braves en route to their first ever World Series title. Atlanta got some revenge on New York in 1999 in the NLCS, eliminating the Mets in six games. Since the 1995 season, the Braves and Mets have combined to win 15 National League East Division championships, with the Braves doing most of the heavy lifting. This rivalry peaked in 1999 and 2000, but odds are that it will once again be among baseball’s best in future seasons.
The Atlanta Braves are one of remaining charter members of the National League. The Braves were founded in 1866, joined the National League as the Boston Red Caps in 1876, and have been a member ever since. This franchise has changed locations and nicknames many times through the years, but they eventually settled on the Atlanta Braves in 1966. Fulton County Stadium was the home to the Atlanta Braves from 1966-1996 before they moved to Turner Field from 1997-2017.
The Braves were one of the most dominant and successful teams in professional sports from 1991-2005, winning the division in each of those years. Hall of Fame manager Bobby Cox had a great pitching staff of Greg Maddux, John Smoltz, and Tom Glavine that will go down as one of the best rotations of all time. The Braves returned to the playoffs in 2018 after nearly a decade of struggles.
The New York Mets came into the National League in 1962 and have been members of the National League East Division since 1969. The Mets had one of the worst starts imaginable, posting a 40-120 record in their inaugural season. It wasn’t until the “Miracle Mets” team in 1969 that New York was proud of their new team.
The Mets have played in four other World Series since that time, winning the 1986 World Series in dramatic fashion over the Boston Red Sox. New York made back to back playoff appearances in 2015 and 2016, but they have been largely irrelevant in the 21st century. The Mets play in a huge market and have plenty of money, and the odds are good that the Mets will once again return to glory in the National League.
Head to Head Comparison of Braves vs. Mets
The Atlanta Braves have won three World Series titles in franchise history, but just one of them has come since moving to Atlanta. The New York Mets have won a pair of World Series titles in franchise history, but they haven’t one won since 1986. The Braves have racked up a whopping 17 National League pennants, while the Mets have pulled off the feat just five times. Atlanta has won the National League East a total of 13 times since the 1995 season, while the Mets have racked up six NL East titles since 1969.
Glance at Last 20 Games Between Atlanta Braves and New York Mets
The Atlanta Braves have been in control of the series against the York Mets since the beginning, and much has been the same in the last 20 games. The Atlanta Braves and New York Mets played each other 19 times during the 2018 season, and their final game in 2017 took place on September 27.
Atlanta posted a 13-7 record against the New York Mets in the last 20 games and were dominant both on the road and at home. The Braves went 6-3 against the Mets in games played at home in Atlanta, and they posted a 7-4 record at the home of the New York Mets. Preseason predictions had the Mets ahead of the Braves in the standings in 2018, but that is not the way it played out at all. It is impossible to predict if the 2019 season will be dominated by the Atlanta Braves again, but they were the clear winners in this rivalry in 2018.
Looking at the head-to-head results of the last 20 games is one way to break down this rivalry, but there is plenty more to look at. To really find out what team has been the better pick in this rivalry, we need to focus on the run line and the combined number of runs scored in each game. The Braves and Mets have combined to go “over” the combined run total in eight of the last 20 games, while the “under” was the correct pick in the other 12 games. The other major way to look at this rivalry is by taking a look at the spread in each of the last 20 games.
The run spread was 1.5 runs either way, and the Mets were actually considered the favorite in 11 of the last 20 games. New York posted a 2-9 record against the spread as a betting favorite, including five straight losses in early May. In the nine games that the Braves were the betting favorites, they also struggled to cover the spread. Atlanta went just 2-7 as the betting favorites, which doesn’t reflect the overall head to head results at all. If you are looking to make predictions for this rivalry in the 2019 season, betting the “under” and picking the underdog appears to be the correct play.
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