The fallacy of the Braves is that they've been this extraordinarily talented, multi-dimensional team for every season of their remarkable 10-year run. Same team, same guys, same method of winning ... it has been too easy for them.

That's not true. Other than having basically the same core of terrific starting pitchers and a Hall of Fame manager in Bobby Cox, the Braves have constantly adjusted their team to overcome obstacles they've faced in each of the last 10 full seasons.

This season, they have had more problems than any year of this stretch. They released their second baseman (Quilvio Veras) and first baseman (Rico Brogna, who subsequently decided to retire); how many contenders do that halfway through a season? They lost their shortstop (Rafael Furcal) for the season in early July with a dislocated left shoulder, they traded their closer (John Rocker) for another closer (Steve Karsay), then replaced that closer with a starting pitcher (John Smoltz) who is coming back from a serious arm injury. Their left fielder (B.J. Surhoff) has one more homer (8) than Mike Hampton (7), their center fielder (Andruw Jones) didn't hit for three months and their Hall of Fame left-hander (Tom Glavine) has nearly as many walks (83) as strikeouts (96).

Yet the Braves lead the Phillies by one game in the National League East.

"We don't think about those things (injuries, distractions and turnover)," says Surhoff, whose eight homers and 47 RBI through Wednesday aren't what was expected of him in his first full season with the Braves. "We've had some things go wrong this year, but we are in almost every game."

That is a tribute to the starting pitching, which has been boosted this year by the resurgence of John Burkett -- he leads the starters in ERA (2.53) and the team in strikeouts (161). And although the rotation has been as good as any team's, it hasn't been as dominant as usual: Smoltz's arm didn't respond immediately from surgery, and Kevin Millwood missed 2½ months with arm trouble.

Now Smoltz has moved ahead of Karsay, who had replaced the traded Rocker as the club's closer. Smoltz has been absolutely brilliant in relief for the last month, yet it's uncertain how much his arm can take down the stretch. It's not an ideal situation, but the Braves rarely have great, late relief work. They've, in fact, had several different closers during their reign at the top.

"We've won without (catcher) Javy (Lopez) and Cat (Andres Galarraga)," says Cox, referring to the 1999 season when they went to the World Series without two of their best hitters.

If they're going to make it back to the World Series this year, they're going to have to do it without several players who began the season as starters. Their first-base situation has been a disappointment; through Wednesday, it was among the least productive units in the major leagues. Brogna, who was released on July 17, Wes Helms and Ken Caminiti have combined to hit .235 with 14 homers and 60 RBI. They considered acquiring Fred McGriff at the trading deadline, but chose not to. Helms has been their fifth different primary first baseman in the last 10 years.

Their new second baseman, Marcus Giles, is a rookie. He replaces Veras ("he couldn't make the double play, he was poor defensively and he always got hurt," said one Brave), who was released at the end of July. Giles will be the fifth different primary second baseman that the Braves have used in the last decade. Their new shortstop is Rey Sanchez, who was acquired from Kansas City to replace the injured Furcal. Sanchez will be the fifth different primary shortstop the Braves have used in the last 10 years.

The outfield has been a little more constant; Surhoff, Andruw Jones and right fielder Brian Jordan were the primary guys last September, but they haven't been nearly as productive as the Braves would have liked.

How many great hitters have the Braves had the last 10 years? Not many. Chipper Jones has been their best, most dangerous weapon, and every year they fill around him. The Braves have won only one World Series, mostly because they haven't hit in the postseason.

This year might be their weakest offensive club. Yet they've overcome bigger hurdles than this and made it to the World Series. But this season, their biggest hurdle will be just getting to the playoffs.

Tim Kurkjian is a senior writer for ESPN The Magazine and a regular contributor to Baseball Tonight. E-mail tim.kurkjian@espnmag.com.