It was October 9, 2005. The Atlanta Braves were in the postseason, just as they had been for the last 13 seasons. Carrying a 6-1 lead against the Houston Astros, they were six outs away from forcing a decisive Game 5 back in Atlanta to conclude the NL Division Series. That's when it all fell apart. Lance Berkman pounded a grand-slam off Kyle Farnsworth to pull within one. Then, with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, Brad Ausmus hit a solo home run to force extra innings. The game would last 18 innings, the longest in MLB postseason history. The Braves were sent home by a Chris Burke walk-off homerun wondering what could have been. That's right, Chris Burke still haunts the Atlanta Braves to this day while the World Champion Philadelphia Phillies and hated New York Mets continue to banter back and forth about who is the best in the NL East, all but ignoring the one-time mighty Braves. Once a lock to win the division, Atlanta has not been back to the playoffs since that historic day and continues to get spurned from all sorts of directions. Thursday, John Smoltz agreed to join the Boston Red Sox, ending his 21-year run with the Braves. Chipper Jones, who like Smoltz has never donned another big league jersey, sounded bleak when discussing the failure to resign the Bearded Icon. "I am disappointed," the NL batting champion said. "Very disappointed. Deflated. Frustrated. It's been a very long offseason, not a lot of stuff to really get excited about and then to have [Smoltz leave] . . . it just is the icing on the cake for me." Smoltz's departure is the latest in a long line of setbacks for the team. Here's a list of some past events that have helped send one of the proudest franchises in sports into complete disarray. Pitching Coach Leo Mazzone ? architect of the vaunted Braves' pitching staffs of the 90s ? left the Braves after the 2005 season to go to Baltimore. The team traded Jarrod Saltalamacchia and four other top prospects for Mark Teixeira in July of 2007, only to turn around and deal him a year later when the team punted its 2008 season. How about Casey Kotchman? Barry Bonds passed Hank Aaron ? the face of the Braves' franchise ? to become baseball's home run king with number 756 in August of 2007. Top minor league prospect Jordan Schafer tested positive for HGH use and was suspended for 50 games in April of 2008. Mike Hampton missed the 2006 season because of Tommy John surgery, then the 2007 season because of more elbow troubles. He was supposed to make his return in April of 2008, but strained his left pectoral muscle in warm-ups causing him to miss even more time. Hampton has since left Atlanta, signing a one-year deal with Houston. Sports Illustrated cover boy Jeff Francouer struggled mightily in 2008, failing to follow up his two superb first seasons. He was sent down to Double-A Mississippi in July and proceeded to publicly question the organization for his eight-day demotion. He ended up batting .239 on the season and has been the subject of much trade talk in the offseason, an unthinkable scenario a year ago. One rumor would have him landing in Kansas City for pitcher Zach Greinke. Tim Hudson, slated to lead the Braves' rotation into the playoffs, had Tommy John surgery in August and will likely miss the entire 2009 season. Cox lacked the arms to deliver quality starts through the remainder of the season, sending minor league-caliber Charlie Morton, Jo-Jo Reyes, and others to the mound. Meanwhile, Kyle Davies, sent to Kansas City in exchange for two months and less than eight innings of Octavio Dotel, had a coming-out year for the Royals. Former Braves' third base coach Fredi Gonzalez was named The Sporting News Manager of the Year in 2008 for the Florida Marlins. Yeah, you heard that right, the Florida Marlins. Ozzie Guillen, a former Braves' bench coach, won a World Series title with the Chicago White Sox. Long-time play-by-play announcer and broadcasting great Skip Caray passed away on August 3. TBS ended their 35 year run of televising Braves' games. Even nostalgic fans must be having a hard time reminiscing about former favorites. Javy Lopez returned to the Braves prior to the 2008 season with a minor league contract. Hoping to serve as backup to two-time All-Star Brian McCann, Lopez retired after not making the opening day roster. Corky Miller backed up McCann instead. He batted .083. In November of 2007, Tom Glavine returned to the Braves with a one-year contract costing the Braves $8 million and a draft pick. Glavine mustered a 2-4 record with a 5.54 ERA and a 1.64 WHIP in only 63 innings pitched. David Justice, whose solo home run combined with Glavine's eight shutout innings in Game 6 of the 1995 World Series to win Atlanta's only title, was mentioned in the Mitchell Report. Andruw Jones? Yes, the Braves are actually thinking of bringing the out-of-shape strikeout machine back. Fans celebrated the return of Rafael Furcal, seemingly solving their lineup issues, only waking up the next day to find him still in Dodger blue. Braves' management vowed to never do business with his agent again. If this statement holds true, you won't see any of these players (click Management, then Baseball) on the Braves roster. Jake Peavy to the Braves? No. A.J. Burnett said his decision comes down to the Yankees and the Braves. Even after a pitch from Chipper Jones, he chose the Yankees. Can you blame Bobby Cox for setting the record with 143 ejections? It's been a devastating few years for Braves' fans. Their superstar Chipper Jones has even begun to question the direction of the organization on the heels of losing Smoltz to Boston. "People always come up to you at this time of year and say, 'How you looking?' I've always been optimistic. Right now, you find that difficult to do and this is the first time in my career that I've ever felt that way," Jones said. Thankfully for Atlanta, it seems that the Hawks and Falcons have gained respect with their resurgent play ? because there is no telling when the Braves will turn it around. - Brian Reynolds is a contributing writer from Emory University and can be reached at [email protected]