ATLANTA — Chipper Jones knows he's been very fortunate to be a part of Atlanta's record 10 consecutive postseason appearances. He also knows it can't last forever.
"Obviously this roll at some point is going to end," said Jones before Game 5 of the NL championship series. The Braves trail the Arizona Diamondbacks in the best-of-seven series 3-1.
"The window may be starting to close," he said. "We've ridden Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine and John Smoltz for much of this run and these guys are getting up there."
Jones has been a part of the streak since 1995 and is taking part in his seventh postseason. Maddux had been in the playoffs with the Braves since 1993 — eight times. Both Glavine and Smoltz have been in all 10.
In winning the NL East by two games over the Philadelphia Phillies, the Braves were 88-74 — their lowest win total since the streak began in 1991 — and began showing signs of wear. Sixteen of the players on the 25-man NLCS roster are 30 or older, 13 are at least 33.
So far, the Big Three of Glavine, Maddux and Smoltz haven't shown any signs of slowing down.
Glavine, 16-7 during the regular season, is 35, the same age as Maddux, who was 17-11. Smoltz, 34, was 1-1 with a 1.59 ERA and 10 saves in 31 games after coming back from elbow surgery and moving to the bullpen.
"They're in their mid 30s and you just don't know how many more opportunities we're going to have with them," said Jones, who is 29.
Jones is coming off a season in which he hit .330 with 38 homers and 102 RBIs. He set a major league record for third basemen by knocking in 100 or more runs in six straight seasons.
UNHAPPY ODALIS: Atlanta Braves left-hander Odalis Perez is not happy. He was left off the roster for the postseason and wants to be traded.
"If they can't give me the opportunity to pitch every five days, there are lots of teams that could use me. If they can't use me, they should trade me," said the 23-year-old player from the Dominican Republic, who will pitch winter ball there when the playoffs end.
Perez was 7-8 with a 4.91 ERA during the regular season, starting 16 games as Atlanta's fifth starter before missing more than five weeks when he cut his left hand when hit by a line drive on July 22. When he returned, he was used out of the bullpen.
"I feel like if given the opportunity to pitch every five days, I could win 15-20 games. It's tough when you pitch once every 12 days, or you don't get in for two weeks at times," said Perez, who missed all of the 2000 season after undergoing shoulder surgery.
SOGGY GROUNDS: Manager Bobby Cox will go to any lengths to defend his players. After the Braves made four errors in Game 4, he blamed the wet grass.
Cox said the dew was heavier than usual at Turner Field, causing pitcher Greg Maddux to toss a ball away, and shortstop Rey Sanchez to make two errant throws.
"It has everything to do with the temperature being hot during the day and the sudden drop as soon as the sun goes down," Cox said. "We didn't realize it was that big a problem."
Said Maddux, "The ball was wet. I threw a spitball. It squirted."
FRIENDLY FURCAL: SS Rafael Furcal, the Atlanta Braves rookie of the year in 2000, who dislocated his shoulder and missed much of the 2001 season, got to meet Arizona Diamondbacks veteran infielder Jay Bell before Sunday night's game.
"He just came up to me and introduced himself," said Bell, who shook hands with Furcal and placed his hand on the youngster's left shoulder, giving it a friendly pat as they spoke.
"I asked him how he was doing and told him I hoped he would be healthy for next season," he said during the brief meeting in which both smiled throughout.
GM'S MUM ON WINTER PLANS: Arizona GM Joe Garagiola Jr. and his counterpart with the Atlanta Braves, John Schuerholz, both said their plans for next season were on hold, pending the end of the playoffs.
"Obviously, you think about it, but we've had no substantive discussions," Garagiola said of his plans for re-signing free agents or other players.
"That'll be the first order of business when we're done playing baseball, which hopefully won't be for a while," he added.
Schuerholz mirrored Garagiola's comments.
"It's way too premature for that. I haven't even thought about it," he said. "We have a lot to do. We have a lot of free agents and we have a lot of decisions to make.
"We have to determine first what our budget is going to be, then determine which of our free agents we feel we want to try to keep, then get involved in what it's going to cost to do that," said Schuerholz.
"But right now we're fully focused on the playoffs," he said.
A SOLEMN VISIT: Several hours before Game 4 on Sunday night, Mariners pitching coach Bryan Price discussed a visit he made to ground zero with about 30 players, family members and staff.
"What we saw today," Price said quietly, "is what the people in this city have been living with since Sept. 11. There's no way you can block it out. There's no way you'd want to."
Price said there is no way to be prepared for the scale of the destruction, even for people who have followed the events closely through the news. Even the impulse to help, he said, was overwhelmed by the enormity of the job facing emergency crews recovering bodies from the rubble and beginning the cleanup.
But Price expected the Mariners would be ready to play by game time.
"Yankee Stadium is such a big loud place, you can't help but feed off the energy," he said.
OCTOBER DREAMS: After nine seasons in the major leagues, Seattle Mariners starter Aaron Sele will be looking for his first career postseason victory when he takes the mound in Game 5 on Monday night.
"The starting pitcher's job is to go out there and to pitch ballgames and give your team a chance to win," Sele said. "I've pitched good in some games and I have not pitched good in some games, whether it's postseason or regular season. My biggest concern is getting my team a win."
Sele is 107-68 in his regular-season career, but 0-5 in the playoffs with four of the losses coming against the Yankees.
"They have got great pitching and great defense," Sele said. "When you have the starters that they do, that puts pressure on the other team because you cannot afford to make mistakes. One or two mistakes, and their starter is going to hold you down. And their hitters are balanced, 1-through-9."
Andy Pettitte, who shut down Seattle with eight innings of three-hit ball for a 4-2 victory in Game 1, will start for New York. He is 9-5 career in the postseason, but feels it's difficult for a pitcher to face the same team twice in one series.
AROUND THE HORN: Roger Clemens fanned Ichiro Suzuki to start Game 4 for his 47th career strikeout in the AL championship series. He passed Baltimore Orioles great Jim Palmer for the ALCS record.
Clemens, third on the regular-season strikeout list behind only Nolan Ryan and Steve Carlton, set the mark in his ninth ALCS start. Palmer pitched in eight games. Clemens entered 2-3 with a 4.10 ERA in the ALCS. ... Hall of Fame catcher Yogi Berra, joined by former Yankees shortstop and broadcaster Phil Rizzuto, threw out the first pitch. ... Teams that have won Game 4 have gone on to win the ALCS 18 of 24 times.