updated 10:54 a.m. ET Sept. 28, 2005

ATLANTA - The Atlanta Braves celebrated No. 14 like it was the first. For all those rookies, it was.

With a youthful, joyful exuberance that was there way back in 1991 — when it all started — the Braves wrapped up their 14th straight division title on Tuesday night.

And what a party it was, especially for Jeff Francoeur. The rookie got tackled on the field by Chipper Jones, stuck his head in an ice bin and got taken down again by Jones in the clubhouse.

“Let me at him!” Francoeur mockingly screamed.

He was held back by Marcus Giles, who is 8 inches shorter and 45 pounds lighter.

“It’s not worth it,” Giles said. “We’re going all the way to Halloween. You can get him then.”

The Braves actually clinched midway through a 12-3 victory over the Colorado Rockies, the title assured when the second-place Philadelphia Phillies lost to the New York Mets 3-2.

Manager Bobby Cox cleared his bench, finishing the game with a lineup that included eight rookies and second-year player Adam LaRoche.

That was only appropriate, considering the Braves have used 17 rookies during an amazing season in which they shrugged off injuries and breakdowns by several key players.

“This ranks right up there,” said Cox, standing outside his office in a champagne-drenched T-shirt that proclaimed another NL East championship. “This goes back 14 years.”

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Clinching in style, Giles hit a pair of homers and LaRoche also homered.

“We knew we had clinched in the sixth,” the 21-year-old Francoeur said. “But we wanted to win. We wanted to earn it.”

After Atlanta became the second team to wrap up a title, following the NL Central champion St. Louis Cardinals, everyone gave credit to the rookies. Yep, even Andruw Jones, a leading candidate for MVP with 51 homers and 128 RBIs.

“Sure, I’ve had a good season,” he said. “But without them, we wouldn’t be here.”

The celebration at Turner Field took a while to get going. The Braves had just finished off a four-run fifth inning, giving them a 7-1 lead, when the Mets finished off Philadelphia.

A smattering of fans apparently learned of the Phillies’ loss via cell phone or other means, clapping as soon as Bobby Abreu struck out. “Let’s go Mets!” one man yelled. A tomahawk-chopping woman held up a handmade “2005” sign above the left-field seats, right next to the official pennants detailing each of the Braves’ playoff seasons.

But most of the crowd was apparently in the dark. The out-of-town scoreboard merely showed the Mets leading 3-2 in the eighth. Even after the Rockies were retired in the top of the sixth, there was no mention of the division title.

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Instead, the Braves showed the “Kiss Cam” on their massive center-field scoreboard — encouraging couples to kiss when the camera turned on them.

In the bottom half, Giles hit his second homer, a two-run shot, to give the Braves a 9-3 lead. When the Rockies made a pitching change, the crowd passed the time singing “YMCA.”

Finally, as Chipper Jones stepped into the box, the public address announcer revealed the news. Mets 3, Phillies 2.

The celebration was on. The crowd of 25,306 gave the Braves a standing ovation, and several fans broke out signs marking the occasion. “In case you didn’t know — 14 in a row,” one said. Two shirtless men had painted a “1” and a “4” on their chests.

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