Atlanta Braves History

The Cincinnati Red Stockings were established in 1869, as the first professional baseball team, voted to dissolve after the 1870 season. Player/manager Harry Wright then went to Boston, Massachusetts, with two other Cincinnati players, and formed the Boston Red Stockings, a charter member of the National Association of Baseball Players. Two young players hired to play for the Boston Red Stockings were pitcher Al Spalding and second baseman Ross Barnes.

Led by Wright, Spalding, and Barnes, the Red Stockings dominated the National Association, winning four of the leagues five championships. In 1876, the team became one of the National Leagues charter teams. The team name was changed to Boston Beaneaters in 1883. The Beaneaters were one of the most dominate teams during the 19th century winning a total of eight pennants. For most of those years, their manager was Frank Selee. The 1898 team’s record was 102-47, a record for wins that would stand for almost a century.

The team became the Braves in 1912. Their owner, James Gaffney, was nicknamed “the Brave of Tammany Hall”. Tammany Hall’s symbol was an Indian chief named Tammany.

Two years later, the Braves, put together one of the most memorable seasons in baseball history. After a dismal 4-18 start, the Braves were in last place in June, but by the end of the season, they were in first place.

Despite there amazing comeback, the Braves entered the World Series as the heavy underdog against Connie Mack’s Philadelphia A’s. The Braves swept the A’s and became known as the Miracle Braves, because it was a miracle how they got to the World Series, and it was a miracle that they beat the powerful Philadelphia A’s. Johnny Evers won the Chambers Award.

After contending for most of 1915 and 1916, the Braves only twice posted winning records from 1917 to 1932. Judge Emil Fuchs bought the club in 1923. Fuchs was committed to rebuilding his team, and under manager Bill McKenchnie, the Braves finally managed to compete in 1933 and 1934, but Fuchs revenue was severely depleted because of the Great Depression.

Fuchs lost control of the team in 1935, and the new owners tried to change the teams name to the Boston Bees. Five years later, construction magnate Lou Perini, became the new owner and changed the name back to the Braves.

He immediately began rebuilding the team. The Braves had impressive seasons in 1946 and 1947. In 1948, the team won the pennant behind the pitching of Johnny Sain and Warren Spahn. The 1948 World Series, which the Braves lost in 6 games to the Indians, turned out to be the last great season in Boston. After 4 mediocre seasons, attendance dropped, and on March 15, 1953, Perini announced he was moving his team to Milwaukee.

Milwaukee went wild over the Braves coming to their city. The Braves finished 92-62 in their first year in Milwaukee and drew an estimated NL record of 1.8 million fans.

As the 1950s progressed, the Braves became more competitive. Sluggers Hank Aaron and Eddie Mathews drove the offense while Spahn, Lew Burdette and Bob Buhl anchored the pitching rotation. In 1957, the Braves won their first pennant in nine years, led by Hank Aaron, who won the MVP award, as he led the National League in home runs and RBI’s. The team then went on to beat the powerful Yankees in the World Series in seven games. Burdette was the series MVP.

In 1958, the Braves won the National League pennant and jumped out to a three games to one lead over the New York Yankees, but New York stormed back by winning three games in a row, behind World Series MVP, Bob Turly.

In 1962, Perini sold the Braves to a Chicago-based group led by William Bartholomay. The fast growing city of Atlanta was an interest of Bartholomay when he first bought the Braves. In 1965, Bartholomay moved his team to Atlanta to start play in the 1966 season.

In 1969, the Braves won the first ever National League West pennant before being swept by the “Miracle Mets” in the NLCS. They would not be a factor in the next decade, posting only two winning seasons between 1970 and 1981.

In 1973, Aaron hit his 713 home run, one shy of Ruth’s record. Throughout the winter, Aaron received racially motivated death threats, but he stood up well under pressure. On April 4, 1974, he hit number 714 against Cincinnati, and on April 8, he finally hit number 715 in front of his home fans in Atlanta, breaking Babe Ruth’s record for most home runs in a lifetime.

In 1976, the Braves were bought by media magnate Ted Turner, owner of Superstation WTBS. It was then that Atlanta Stadium was renamed Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium.

After three straight losing seasons, Bobby Cox was hired as the manager of the Braves in 1978. He inserted Dale Murphy in the starting lineup and the 22-year old would hit 77 home runs over the next three seasons. Cox was fired after the 1981 season and was replaced by Joe Torre, whose leadership helped the Braves win their first division title since 1969. Strong performances from Bob Horner, Chris Chambliss, and pitcher Phil Niekro helped the Braves, but no Braves player stood out the most than Dale Murphy, who won the National League MVP and Gold Glove Awards.

Cox returned to the dugout in the middle of the 1990 season, replacing Russ Nixon. Pitching coach Leo Mazzone began developing young pitchers Tom Glavine, Steve Avery, and John Smoltz into future stars. That same year, the Braves used the number one pick overall to draft Chipper Jones, who would become one of the Braves greatest hitters in team history.

In 1991, Glavine, Avery and Smoltz were recognized as the best young pitchers in the league. Behind great hitters David Justice, Ron Gant, and Terry Pendleton, who was the MVP and batting champion, the Braves won there first division title since 1982. They defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates in a very tightly contested NLCS, in which the Braves won in 7 games. In the World Series, the Braves faced off against the Minnesota Twins who just like the Braves finished in last place the year before last. The Twins won the series in seven games, in which the series was one of the best in World Series history.

During the 90s, the Braves were under scrutiny because of their long lasting ethnic nickname. The team was criticized for handing out plastic tomahawks and encouraging the tomahawk chop and the war cry that would echo throughout the stadium.

In the 1992 season, the Braves once again faced off against the Pittsburgh Pirates in the NLCS and defeated them in seven games. The Toronto Blue Jays were the Braves opponent in the World Series. The Braves would go on to lose the series. In 1993, the Braves signed Cy Young Award winning pitcher Gregg Madux.

In 1995, the Braves would finally win the World Series against the Cleveland Indians. With this World Series victory, the Braves became the first team in major league to win world championships in three different cities. With their strong pitching, the Braves appeared in the World Series again in 1996 and 1999, losing both series to the New York Yankees.

A 95-67 record in 2000 produced a ninth consecutive division title. The Braves were swept by the St. Louis Cardinals and failed to reach the NLCS for the first time 1990. In 2003, 2003 and 2004, the Braves won their division again, but lost in the NLDS all three years to the San Francisco Giants, Chicago Cubs, and the Houston Astros.

In 2005, the Braves won their division for the eleventh consecutive time from 1995 to 2005. The 2005 title marked the first time a team made the postseason with four rookies with 100 at bats. (Wilson Betemit, Brian McCann, Pete Orr, Ryan Langerhans, Jeff Francoeure) The large number of rookies who debuted in 2005 was dubbed as the “Baby Braves”.

On May 16, 2007, Time Warner sold the Braves to Liberty Media Group. The Braves came into the 2007 season with hopes of making it back to the postseason, but injuries to Chipper Jones and Edgar Renteria certainly played a part in the downfall the Braves endured. Chipper Jones still had an MVP like season, leading the team in home runs with 29 and a team leading batting average of .337. Jeff Francouer led the team in RBIs with 105. The pitching staff was led by Tim Hudson with 16 wins. The Braves finished the season with an 84-78 record, third in the NL East.