Race for the Prize

From ajc.com:

The early symptoms of pennant fever are being felt in Atlanta.

Suddenly, more people are watching Braves games on television – tens of thousands more, according to Nielsen Media Research – and talking baseball around the city's proverbial water coolers.

"It's a very noticeable change," said Buck Belue, a host on sports radio station 680 The Fan. "It almost had become ho-hum talking about the Braves, but now you've got a lot of people excited that this team could get into the playoffs and go to the World Series again."

The buzz began July 31, with trades for slugging first baseman Mark Teixeira and two relief pitchers, and has continued as the Braves have won three of four series since.

With the team 3-1/2 games behind the first-place New York Mets in the National League East, early-stage pennant fever could turn into a full-blown case if things go well during the six-game homestand that opens Tuesday night against San Francisco and new home-run king Barry Bonds.

"This is the most buzz around the team...in the last four years," said Derek Schiller, who monitors such things as the Braves' executive vice president of sales and marketing.

Perhaps amplifying the buzz is the contrast to the silence of last baseball season, the Braves' first since 1990 with a losing record, as well as the contrast to the subdued expectations for the approaching Falcons season with Michael Vick under federal indictment for dogfighting.

The strongest sign of pennant fever is the change in local TV viewership:

• Braves games televised on SportSouth and Fox Sports Net South have drawn an average Nielsen rating of 5.0 in metro Atlanta since July 31, up from 2.9 previously this season – an increase of 72 percent. That translates to an audience increase from an average of 64,000 per game before the Teixeira trade to 110,000 since.

• Games televised on TBS have drawn an average rating of 5.8 in metro Atlanta since July 31, up from 4.3 previously – a jump of 35 percent. That translates to an audience increase from an average of 95,000 to 128,000.

"Clearly, there is a spike in interest in the team," said Jeff Genthner, vice president and general manager of FSN South and SportSouth. "I think it's a function of the team investing in players like Teixeira to make a real run at the postseason. We've got a pennant race going."

Until the recent surge, the Braves' local television ratings were in a freefall. Last year, when the Braves' streak of 14 division titles ended, ratings dropped by about 30 percent on all networks carrying the games. In the first half of this season, they were down by another 30 percent on SportSouth and FSN South and 10 percent on TBS. Even with the recent surge, ratings remain below 2005 levels.

Attendance at Turner Field also increased after the Teixeira trade, although that could be partly coincidental – attendance often spikes just before schools reopen. The Braves have played six home games since the trade, averaging 37,329, about 4,000 more than previously.

Observers offer several reasons for the buzz about the Braves: a renewed appreciation for a pennant race after the team finished 18 games out of first place last year; a hunger for good news from a local sports team after the avalanche of bad news from the Falcons; and the "we're-going-for-it" message sent by the deadline deals for Teixeira and relief pitchers Ron Mahay and Octavio Dotel.

"I definitely think people had gotten to the point [before last season] where they would take the playoffs for granted," said Patrick Glory, 24, of Newnan, a lifelong Braves fan who co-hosts a podcast on new fan site Bravescast.com. "I think [enthusiasm about the Braves] is a combination of not making the playoffs last year, plus all the new people – Teixeira, [outfielder] Willie Harris, [infielder] Yunel Escobar."

The buzz extends beyond the fans, team president Terry McGuirk said recently.

"Not in my recent memory have I seen the general manager, the manager, the players, the national media and the fans as excited as they are," he said.