Leave it to fast food, or syrup-induced artery clogging food, to bring a team to a ten game winning streak. That’s exactly what is happening in Atlanta right now, as the Braves won their tenth straight last night versus Cliff Lee and the Philadelphia Phillies, adding to their lead in the NL East. What, do you ask, is the catalyst for this recent string of success? Waffles.
We’re not ones for conspiracies, but there might be something to this one. Ten games ago, Turner Field unveiled a Waffle House as one of their new health food options concession stands. As if piling massive amounts of nitrates and beer into your belly wasn’t enough, how about some $9 hashbrowns to go with that? Awesome to the max! This is a genius idea because many Americans love ‘breakfast for dinner’ and Ted Turner is making life easier for those people. But a funny thing happened that night – the Braves won. Then they won again. And again. And with last night’s victory, they have won ten in a row. Conspiracy? We don’t want to be the ones that call it, but here are some tidbits of information that might change your mind.
Upon building the first restaurant together and enjoying its success, Joe Rodgers, Sr. and Tom Forkner faced the idea of expansion. In 1956, Rodgers, who also had a Toddle House chain of restaurants, sold his half to Forkner. In 1957, when Forkner began expanding the franchise, the Braves won their second of three World Series championships.
In 1995, while celebrating their 40th Anniversary as a restaurant, Waffle House opened its 1,000th location. What else happened that year? Well, the Braves won their first title for the city of Atlanta and their third overall.
Another relative conspiracy: up until 1981, Indiana called their Waffle House restaurants Waffle & Steak because of another restaurant in the state named Indiana Waffle House. In ’81, however, the name changed to Waffle House. What happened next? The Indiana Hoosiers won the national title and a little movie titled Raiders of the Lost Ark premiered – starring Indiana Jones – and was the largest grossing movie of the year.
The Waffle House chain has obviously brought good luck to people, teams, and cities. However, it’s not a total conspiracy. Ask this guy. A restaurant chain has nothing to do with the Atlanta Braves and their ten-game winning streak – which is actually their second so far this season. Only four other teams in the last 50 years have won 10 consecutive games twice in a season. However, only two of those even made the playoffs. The other two failed to make the World Series.
The Braves are currently 12.5 games up on the Nationals with a 3-game set about to start tonight. If they somehow fail to make the playoffs, that would be an epic collapse. The World Series, though? That’s a different question. The Braves have scored the second-most runs (St. Louis) and own the second-best ERA (Pittsburgh) so far this season. So if I were you, I wouldn’t bet against the House.
[USA Today, YouTube, IMDB, Gawker, ESPN]
