Talking Chop

In exactly one month, it'll be the final day of the regular season and the final regular season game of Bobby's career. As of this minute, we're 2.0 games ahead of Philadelphia in the East. Let's take a look at the remaining schedules for each team.

Braves                Phillies

3 @ Florida          3 vs. Brewers

3 @ Pittsburgh     4 vs. Marlins

4 vs. Cardinals    3 @ New York

3 vs. Nationals    3 @ Florida

9/16 is an off day for both teams.

3 @ New York      3 vs. Nationals

9/20 thru 9/22 - Braves @ Phillies for 3 games.

9/23 is an off day for both teams.

3 @ Washington   3 vs. Mets

3 vs. Marlins        3 @ Washington

9/30 is an off day for both teams.

10/1 thru 10/3 - Braves vs. Phillies for 3 games.

First Reactions:

1. Talking Chop is going to be very busy on September 20th, 21st, 22nd and even busier on October 1st, 2nd and 3rd. Seriously though, if things continue to play out as they have the last month, those two series are easily the two biggest the Braves have played since 2005.

2. The Phillies have the advantage of more home games. Philly will play 16 of their final 28 games at home, while the Braves will play 13 of their final 28 games at home. The Phillies have a ton of post-season experience, and you know Citzens Bank Bandbox is going to be rocking in September.3. The Central will play a role in who wins the East. The Braves will face the Pirates and Cardinals in the next week, and the Phillies will host the high-scoring Brewers this weekend in Philadelphia. The Brewers and Pirates are simply playing for pride at this point, and we can only hope the Brewers do us a favor in Philly. The Braves should have no problem with Pittsburgh, but you never know with a young team like they have. The struggling Cardinals could also pose a huge problem for the Braves. The offense isn't much, but their starting pitching is ridiculous.

3. The 9-game road trip in September is very worrying to me. You know the Mets would love to spoil the Braves' post-season chances, the Phillies series is huge, and the Nationals always play us tough in D.C. At the same time, the Phillies host the Nats, Braves and Mets during that stretch. That could be a bad week for us.

4. The off-day for both teams on September 30th is huge. With the off-day, it guarantees that both teams could pitch their ace in the final series, even if it is on short-rest. You can only imagine that the Phillies will have some combination of Halladay, Oswalt, Hamels and Blanton waiting for us, and I'm sure the Braves will counter with Tim Hudson and my_Hanson" class="sbn-auto-link">Tommy Hanson, with the addition of either Jurrjens, Lowe or Minor. I'm already excited for that series, and it's a month away.

5. The Braves have the biggest advantage of all in the final month: The final series of the year is at Turner Field. I fully expect sell out crowds for each game that weekend as we honor Bobby Cox. If you can make it, there's absolutely no reason for you not to be at The Ted for the final weekend. The weather should be beautiful, and the Braves could very well clinch their first division title since 2005.