Released: 2023
Morgan Wallen’s ’98 Braves’ is a heart-wrenching country ballad that uses a historic baseball season as a metaphor for a failed relationship. The song juxtaposes the Atlanta Braves’ 1998 season, which ended in disappointment despite high expectations, with a love story that didn’t quite make it to the finish line.
The song starts with Wallen reminiscing about watching the ’98 Braves, a team that was expected to win it all but fell short. He compares this to his own relationship, saying they got close to success, but ‘close doesn’t cut it’. This phrase is a common saying meaning that almost achieving something isn’t the same as actually achieving it.
He talks about having a ‘good run’ but ending up with ‘nothing’. In baseball, a ‘run’ is a point scored, but here it also refers to a period of time in a relationship. ‘Nothing’ signifies the end of the relationship, leaving him with only a ‘three by five’ – a picture of her that he hides in a drawer.
‘Swung for the fences’ is a baseball term meaning to try your hardest to hit a home run. Wallen uses this phrase to describe how they gave their all in the relationship, but still ‘came up short’. This means they didn’t reach their goal, which in this case was a successful, lasting relationship.
The chorus repeats the phrase ‘you win some, you lose some’, a common saying that means sometimes you succeed and sometimes you fail. Wallen adds that ‘it ain’t always home runs’, meaning life and love aren’t always filled with big successes. He ends the chorus by comparing their love to the ’98 Braves, a team that had high hopes but ultimately didn’t win the championship.
The second verse talks about how he believed in their relationship, even having ‘that talk’ with her father. But like the ’98 Braves’ season, their relationship didn’t end with a ‘ring on a hand’, a clear reference to both a championship ring and an engagement ring.
The song ends as it began, with Wallen sitting on the couch, thinking about the ’98 Braves and his failed relationship. This cyclical structure gives the song a sense of melancholy and regret, as Wallen is left with nothing but memories of what could have been.
