ATLANTA — This city remembers 28-3.
Atlanta remembers Lonnie Smith, and 2nd-and-26, and Jim Leyritz, and the 1988 Slam Dunk contest, and giving up 10 runs in the top of the first, and Eugene Robinson, and an “infield” fly that landed out past the airport, and Kirby Puckett, and blowing a 3-1 NLCS lead in the bubble. Atlanta remembers all these grievous wounds and so many more, and that’s why — even leading three games to one in the 2021 World Series, one game from a title — Atlanta isn’t comfortable now, not even close.