Atlanta Braves history

August 30 2022

2000 Atlanta Braves: A Division Title But A Step Back

Dan Flaherty MLB History, Sports History Articles 2000 Atlanta Braves, 2000 baseball season, Atlanta Braves history, baseball history, sports history articles

The Braves were the National League’s Team of the 1990s. They won the NL East in every completed season from 1991-99, and would have at least made the playoffs in the strike-shortened year of 1994. They won five National League pennants and captured the World Series title in 1995. The 2000 Atlanta Braves continued in the winning tradition, racking up another NL East banner. But this ’00 team also marked a modest step back.

Chipper Jones was coming off an MVP year in 1999 and the future Hall of Fame third baseman had another big season in 2000. Chipper racked up a stat line of a .404 on-base percentage/.566 slugging percentage, hit 36 homers and drove in 111 runs. In centerfield, Andruw Jones (no relation, as a quick glance at a photograph will make evident) delivered a stat line of .366/.541, hit 36 homers of his own, drove in 104 runs and played outstanding defense.

Andres Galaragga was 39-years-old, but the first baseman known as “The Big Cat” could still hit, with a stat line of .369/.526, 28 homers and 100 RBIs. Key support pieces were catcher Javy Lopez and shortstop Rafael Furcal. Lopez popped 24 homers, while Furcal’s OBP was a stellar .394. These five players were enough to put the Atlanta offense on the map, but depth would be an issue in this 2000 season.

The Braves’ most significant offseason move had been a deal with the San Diego Padres. Atlanta shipped outfielder Ryan Klesko and second baseman Bret Boone to the Padres, as part of a deal which brought back another second baseman in Quilvio Veras, leftfielder Reggie Sanders and first baseman Wally Joyner.

The deal should have worked out better than it did. Veras had a .413 on-base percentage before he tore up his ACL in July. His absence hurt the lineup for the balance of the season. Sanders did not have a good year.

Atlanta still got part-time help from veteran names ranging from Bobby Bonilla, the 38-year-old Joyner and 36-year-old infielder Walt Weiss. All had OBPs on the plus side of .350. But overall, the depth issue and a general inability to take walks (11^th in the 14-team National League) kept the Braves offense at sixth in the NL in runs scored.

Of course the heart and soul of Atlanta Braves baseball in this era was starting pitching. And even though Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine were each 34-years-old, the future Hall of Famers, were still going strong. Glavine won 21 games with a 3.40 ERA and was the runner-up in the Cy Young voting. Maddux was right behind, winning 19 games with a 3.00 ERA and finishing third in the Cy balloting.

Kevin Millwood and John Burkett filled out the 3-4 spots in the rotation and had ERAs in the high 4s—although it should be noted that with 2000 still being very much the heart of the Steroid Era in baseball, an ERA in the high 4s wasn’t all that bad.

Terry Mulholland’s ERA was up over 5, but his versatility in the rotation and the bullpen gave manager Bobby Cox some flexibility. Mike Remlinger and Kerry Ligtenberg were solid setup relievers, with ERAs in the mid-3s. And the outspoken John Rocker, always good for a media quote, saved 24 games with a 2.89 ERA as the closer.

The bottom line? Atlanta’s pitching was still the best in the National League for staff ERA.

After losing five of their first nine games, the Braves started to heat up. They took two of three from a bad Milwaukee Brewers team and then ripped off a 14-game winning streak. In mid-May, Atlanta swept San Francisco, who was on their way to the NL West title. By Memorial Day, the Braves were riding high at 33-16, the best record and baseball and a 5 ½ game lead on the New York Mets.

June was marked by a World Series rematch with the New York Yankees, whom the Braves had been swept by the previous October. Atlanta lost two of three to a Yankee team headed for a third straight championship. The Braves bounced back by taking a series from the contending Boston Red Sox, but then lost three of four at shaky Philadelphia. June as a whole was mediocre and the division lead over the Mets shrunk to a game and a half on July 6.

Atlanta responded by going 8-3 on a road trip that pushed the margin over the Mets back out to five games. New York came to Turner Field on July 21 for a key weekend series.

The Jones’ delivered in the Friday night opener, with two hits apiece in the 2-3 spots of the batting order. Brian Jordan, batting right behind them, cleaned up with three RBIs. Even though Mulholland struggled early, Atlanta got control of the game and won 6-3.

Bats went quiet the rest of the weekend. The Braves mustered just four singles in Saturday’s 4-0 loss and only one run on Sunday. But the Sunday afternoon finale was saved by Andy Ashby, a starting pitcher acquired just a week and a half earlier for the stretch drive. Ashby won a 1-0 pitcher’s duel and gave Atlanta the series.

But the dog days of August were not kind to the Braves. They lost a series to contending Arizona and another one to San Francisco. Atlanta dropped two of three to eventual NL Central champ St. Louis. The Braves lost three of four to a decent Cincinnati team.

By Labor Day, the Braves were sitting on a record of 80-57. Still impressive, but they had been basically treading water sine the hot start. The Mets were back to within a half-game. The Giants had nudged ahead to the best record in the National League. The Braves were five games ahead of the Diamondbacks, who were chasing the NL East runner-up for what was then a single wild-card berth.

In short, they were still in good shape to make the playoffs, but it wasn’t guaranteed and the trend line was anything but positive.

Atlanta responded well, starting on the Tuesday after Labor Day. An 8-4 stretch was keyed by taking five of six from Arizona, a sequence that all but assured the Braves (along with the Mets) of at least making the postseason. The lead in the NL East was moved back out to three games. On September 18, New York came back to Atlanta for another big series.

Chipper, Jordan and Galaragga had two hits apiece in Monday night’s opener, a 6-3 win. On Tuesday, the Braves unloaded for seven runs in the second inning, with five hits, three walks and an error. Lopez had 3 RBIs in the 12-4 rout. Even though the Braves dropped the finale 6-3, they were plus-four games with just a week and a half to play.

The lead was still five games with six to play, but Atlanta dropped a few games down the stretch and didn’t formally clinch until the final Friday of the season. The standing tells us that they only prevailed by a single game, but the finish to this race was more comfortable than that.

Where the Braves had lost ground was in the National League standings overall. They were 95-67. San Francisco had won 97 and took the top seed in the NL playoffs. St. Louis had also won 95 and that August series win over Atlanta gave the Cardinals the season series over the Braves 4-3. That meant the Braves-Cards Division Series matchup would open in St. Louis.

Whether it was the loss of homefield advantage, the general malaise of the second half, or just the vagaries of baseball in a short series, the Division Series did not go well for Atlanta. This was a round they had historically dominated since its inception, winning the NLDS each of the previous five years. But this time, the Cardinals swept the Braves out in three straight.

It marked a turning point in the great Atlanta Braves run. Now, “turning point” needs to kept in perspective. This season started a six-year stretch (2000-05) in which the Braves won the NL East every single year. That would be the glory days for most franchises.

But in the context of coming off the 1990s, this marked Atlanta’s loss of control over the National League. They only reached the NLCS one more time, in 2001, and did not reach the World Series again during the Cox era. The franchise would wait until their 2021 championship season to again return to the Fall Classic.

June 18 2021

1993 NLCS: The Phillies Upset The Braves

Dan Flaherty MLB History, Sports History Articles 1993 Atlanta Braves, 1993 baseball, 1993 NLCS, 1993 Philadelphia Phillies, Atlanta Braves history, baseball history, League Championship Series history, Philadelphia phillies history, sports history articles

The Atlanta Braves came into the 1993 NLCS as the clear favorite. The Braves had won this round in both 1991 and 1992 and were hungry to take the final step and win a World Series. They had won one of the great pennant races of all-time to get to this point. The Philadelphia Phillies were just a plucky underdog that should have been just happy to be here. But that’s not how it worked out.

You can read more about the season-long paths the Braves and Phillies each took to win their respective division titles and about their key players, at the links below. This article will focus exclusively on the games of the 1993 National League Championship Series.

Major League Baseball used a rotation system to determine homefield advantage for postseason play. So even though the Braves, with 104 wins, had the best record in the game, they went on the road to old Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia to open up on a Wednesday night.

Curt Schilling would eventually become synonymous with big-game pitching. In 1993, he was just 26-years-old and making his first appearance on the October stage, starting Game 1 for the Phillies. Atlanta’s Steve Avery was only 23-years-old, but already an accomplished postseason performer and MVP of the ’91 NLCS.

Lenny Dykstra, unimpressed by Avery’s resume, greeted him with a double to start the home half of the first. An infield hit and a productive groundball from John Kruk put the Phils on the board. The Braves answered in the third when Avery helped his cause with a double down the left field line. Nixon followed him with another two-bagger and it was 1-1.

The teams exchanged runs in the fourth. After Schilling walked Ron Gant, Fred McGriff singled to set up runners on the corners with no outs. Dave Justice gave Atlanta the lead with a sac fly. Pete Incaviglia tied it right up back up for Philadelphia with a two-out solo blast in the bottom of the frame.

With one out in the sixth, Kruk worked a walk. Dave Hollins doubled and there were runners on second and third. An intentional walk brought Incaviglia to the plate again. But before Avery struck him out, he also threw a wild pitch that gave the Phils a 3-2 lead. Schilling worked through eight innings and handed that lead to closer Mitch Williams for the ninth.

A walk and an error immediately gave Atlanta life, and a Nixon groundball was able to tie the game. The night was shaping up to be a big missed opportunity for Philadelphia as we went to extra innings.

The Braves had a chance in the tenth, when Terry Pendelton singled and Greg Olson doubled. There were two outs and runners on second and third. Tony Tarasco came to the plate.

Tarasco would one day be a part of one of the more infamous plays in LCS history with the Baltimore Orioles in 1996. Tonight, he simply struck out and the threat was over. When Kruk and Kim Batiste hit back-to-back doubles in the bottom of the 10^th, the Phils had a 4-3 win.

Atlanta was always loaded with pitching and sent future Hall of Famer and eventual Cy Young Award winner Greg Maddux to the mound for Thursday night’s Game 2. Philadelphia answered with Tommy Greene.

Greene had enjoyed a strong year in ’93, but today didn’t go well. McGriff hit a two-run blast in the first to give Maddux some early breathing room. In the third, the game completely got away from the Phillies’ starter.

Nixon started it with a single. Even though he was cut down trying to steal, Jeff Blauser immediately homered. A double from Gant, single by McGriff and a walk to Justice loaded up the bases. Pendleton singled to drive in two runs, make the score 5-0 and chase Greene. Damon Berryhill hit a three-run jack. The score was 8-0 and the rout was on.

Maddux went seven solid innings, Pendleton homered, Gant drove in three more runs and the final ended up 14-3. Atlanta had secured a road split and was going home for the next three games.

Tom Glavine, the Hall of Fame lefty, was on the mound for Saturday afternoon’s three o’clock start. With the popular Georgia Bulldogs football team off to a woeful 1-4 start, it was up to the Braves to make an October Saturday worthwhile for local sports fans.

For the first part of the game though, it was Philadelphia’s Terry Mulholland delivering the pitching brilliance. He cruised through five shutout innings. The Phils got on the board in the fourth when Mariano Duncan and Kruk hit back-to-back triples to start the inning. But Glavine bore down and Kruk never made it home. Even though the Phillie first baseman hit a sixth-inning home run to make it 2-0, the Braves were still very much in this game.

And in the sixth, they got to Mulholland. In order, Blauser beat out an infield hit, Gant walked, McGriff and Pendleton singled, then Justice slashed an opposite-field double into the gap. In the blink of an eye, Atlanta was ahead 4-2 and Mulholland was gone.

Duncan made an error that extended the lead to 5-2. In the bottom of the seventh, the Braves kept coming. They scored four runs, the big blow being a bases-loaded double with two outs from second baseman Mark Lemke. Even though the Phils picked up a couple runs and Kruk added another RBI, Atlanta won 9-4.

There wasn’t much reason for the great sports fans of Philadelphia to be in a good mood by Sunday night. The Eagles, after a 4-0 start, lost to the Bears and started a decline that ended up with the city’s football team missing the playoffs. And on the baseball field, yet another Hall of Fame pitcher was rolling off the Atlanta assembly line. The Phillies had to face John Smoltz.

Then the Braves put immediate pressure on Philadelphia’s Danny Jackson in the second inning. McGriff and Justice each singled to right. With two outs, Lemke doubled in a run and Smoltz was staked to an early lead.

But Jackson had some experience pitching in tough postseason spots. With the Kansas City Royals in 1985, he had pitched gems in must-win Game 5s in both the ALCS and World Series. Both times, Jackson’s efforts spurred a three-game win streak that turned the series around. So it would be again. He settled in.

An error by Lemke opened the top of the fourth and then Milt Thompson doubled to put runners on second and third with one out. After a sac fly tied the game, Jackson showed he could do some clutch work with his bat—a two-out single that gave the Phils a 2-1 lead.

Jackson and Smoltz were in a classic duel. Each pitcher turned back two-on/one-out threats in the fifth and seventh innings. The 2-1 score held into the eighth. Jackson got the first two men out. When the Braves hit consecutive singles, Phils’ manager Jim Fregosi summoned Mitch Williams. The closer got Lemke to fly to left.

But the closer known as “The Wild Thing” never let his team get too comfortable and the bottom of the ninth got interesting. A pinch-hit single by Bill Pecota was followed by a bunt from Nixon. Williams booted the bunt. There were runners on first and second and still no one out.

Blauser came up and dropped down another bunt. This time Williams not only made the play, he got the out at third base. When Gant hit a ground ball to short, the Phils turned a 6-4-3 double play and evened the series at two games apiece.

Schilling and Avery were back on the mound for a late Monday afternoon Game 5. The Phils got the early lead when Duncan hit a one-out single and Kruk delivered an opposite-field RBI double down the rightfield line. Philadelphia added to the lead in the fourth when a dropped fly ball set up an unearned run. With Schilling churning his way through eight innings and Daulton adding a solo home run, Philadelphia took a 3-0 lead into the ninth.

Blauser worked a walk and then an error by Hollins prompted Fregosi to call for The Wild Thing. A base hit from McGriff brought in one run and put runners on the corners. A sac fly from Justice cut the lead to 3-2, but Wlliams had the first out and the only runner was on first base. He was poised to get out of the jam.

But Pendleton singled. Francisco Cabrera, the hero of the 1992 NLCS came to the plate and delivered again. A game-tying single left Schilling again with a no-decision after eight innings of brilliance.

Of more immediate concern was that Atlanta was now poised to win this game, with runners on the corners and still only one out. But Williams struck out Lemke and escaped.

It would be a rerun of Game 1—Philadelphia immediately scored in the 10^th, this time on a home run from Dykstra. Veteran reliever Larry Andersen came out of the bullpen and put the side down in order. The Phils had a 4-3 win for the game and a 3-2 lead for the series. They were going home needing just one win for a pennant.

The Vet was alive on Wednesday night, but there were still reasons to be nervous. The pitching matchups that hadn’t worked well for Philadelphia—Greene v Maddux tonight and Mulholland v Glavine potentially tomorrow night were what the Phils would have to navigate.

Greene got out of an early Brave threat by getting a double-play groundball off the bat of Berryhill. Then the Phillies’ starter led off the bottom of the third by working a walk of his own. Dykstra followed with a base hit that gave Philadelphia their first scoring opportunity of the night.

Maddux got a couple outs, while walking Hollins to load the bases. Daulton came to the plate. The catcher hit one into the rightfield gap, plating two runs and giving Greene a lead.

The Phillie lefty kept that 2-0 lead to the fifth when the Braves again threatened. After a one-out walk, Maddux dropped down a sac bunt. A two-out single from Blauser cut the lead in half. But the Philadelphia offense had an immediate response. Hollins made a Lemke error hurt by ripping a two-run blast to make it 4-1.

The Phillies got more in the sixth. Thompson beat out an infield single. With one out, Greene bunted him up. After the hot Dykstra was walked, second baseman Mickey Morandini lashed a two-out double. Maddux was gone. Philadelphia led 6-1 and was just nine outs from the pennant.

Atlanta nudged closer in the seventh when Nixon legged out a bunt base hit with two outs and Blauser homered. Greene handed the 6-3 lead to the bullpen. No one in Philadelphia could be blamed for being excessively nervous about the relief pitching. But not tonight. Setup man David West took care of the eighth. And Williams set down the side in order in the ninth. When The Wild Thing struck out Bill Pecota, the party could start in Philadelphia.

Schilling’s brilliant two starts might have left him winless, but he was rewarded with NLCS MVP honors. Williams, for his ups and downs, still ended up with a 1.69 ERA in his five-plus innings of work in this series. Jackson’s big-time start in Game 4 is a forgotten moment in the annals of history.

Offensively, Dykstra and Kruk led the way, combining for 13 hits. Daulton was 5-for-19, but also worked six walks. And while Hollins’ 4-for-20 performance wasn’t good, the third baseman did hit two home runs, including the Game 6 bomb that put the Phils in command.

Philadelphia came up short in the World Series against the defending champion Toronto Blue Jays. Playing with fire in the bullpen finally caught up to them with a wild 15-14 loss in Game 4. Williams then let a 6-5 lead get away in Game 6 and this Fall Classic ended in dramatic fashion—a walkoff home run and a celebration in Toronto.

May 31 2021

1993 Atlanta Braves: Winner Of Baseball’s Last Great Pennant Race

Dan Flaherty MLB History, Sports History Articles 1993 Atlanta Braves, 1993 baseball, Atlanta Braves history, baseball history, sports history articles

1993 marked the end of an era in major league baseball. It marked the end of a 25-year run where each league was split into just two divisions and only the first-place finisher qualified for the postseason. Starting next season, there would be three divisions and a wild-card playoff qualifier. That meant ’93 was the last season that offered the prospect of a true pennant race—two great teams going at it for months in a winner-take-all fight. The 1993 Atlanta Braves were the winners of baseball’s Last Great Race.

Under the tortured geography of the time, Atlanta was situated in the NL West. The Cincinnati Reds joined the Braves as geographic misfits in the West. The division included the Houston Astros (a National League team prior to 2013) along with current members in the Los Angeles Dodgers, San Francisco Giants, San Diego Padres and Colorado Rockies.

Atlanta was the NL West kingpin. They had won the division two straight years and each time went on to win the National League pennant. Two straight defeats in the World Series had the Braves looking to make the next step and they made a bold move on the free agent market. Greg Maddux was the reigning Cy Young Award winner and he jumped from the Cubs to the Braves.

Maddux did not disappoint. He built on what proved to be a Hall of Fame resume by making 36 starts in 1993, going 20-10 and posting a 2.36 ERA. It was good enough to win the second of his four consecutive Cy Youngs.

As if the Braves’ rotation needed more help. They already had two more future Hall of Famers, Tom Glavine and John Smoltz in place. Glavine went 22-6 with a 3.20 ERA. Smoltz was 15-11 and his ERA was 3.62. And though Steve Avery didn’t have the same type of career as the Big Three, in 1993, the young lefty was just as well regarded. Avery went 18-6 with a 2.94 ERA.

All told, Atlanta’s four aces combined to make 142 starts. That’s in addition to a reliable bullpen. Greg McMichael, Jay Howell, Steve Bedrosian and Kent Mercker all had sub-3.00 ERAs. The only downside was closer Mike Stanton’s ERA coming in high at 4.67, even as he saved 27 games. But all in all, Atlanta’s pitching staff still ranked first in the National League for composite ERA.

The lineup wasn’t deep and would be the focal point of a big summer trade. But the Braves had great players at the corner outfield spots. Ron Gant hit 36 home runs, drove in 117 runs and finished fifth in the NL MVP voting. Dave Justice was even better, with 40 bombs and 120 ribbies. Justice placed third in the MVP tally.

Otis Nixon was a reliable leadoff man and centerfielder, with his .351 OBP setting the table for Gant and Justice. Jeff Blauser provided a good bat at shortstop, a .305 average and .401 OBP. Deion Sanders was better known for his football exploits, but the two-sport star came off the bench and stole 19 bags. Even with Terry Pendleton’s down year at third base ushering in a gradual career decline, the Braves still finished third in the National League in runs scored.

Atlanta was the heavy favorite to win a third straight NL West title. But losing three of four in San Francisco in April was a harbinger. It was part of a 5-9 stretch and while the Braves recovered to get to 28-23 by Memorial Day, they were five games back of the Giants.

The early part of June saw Atlanta continue to be sluggish. A softer part of the schedule helped the Braves win seven of ten and get back on track. By the All-Star break, the record was 50-39. That’s a pace to win 91 games. A nice season and probably a playoff year by the standards of today.

But 1993 not only wasn’t the standards of today, it would require a level of excellence almost unheard of in the entire history of baseball, even pre-dating the ’69 split into divisions. Atlanta’s record still had them nine games back of sizzling San Francisco and their new free agent acquisition, MVP outfielder Barry Bonds.

Atlanta needed more depth to its lineup. Fred McGriff, a first baseman who could do it all offensively, was languishing in obscurity for woeful San Diego. The Padres shipped him to the Braves on July 18. Over the remainder of the season, McGriff’s numbers were dazzling–.392 OBP, .612 slugging and a final fourth-place finish in the MVP vote, nestling right in between new teammates Justice and Gant.

The Braves started to hum. They went 14-4 over the latter half of July. San Francisco wasn’t giving many opportunities to catch up though. The margin stayed at 7 ½ games and was still sitting there when Atlanta went west for a three-game series on August 23. It was now or never if the Braves were going to make a move.

Avery took the ball on Monday night’s opener, but he made his biggest impact with his bat—an RBI double keyed a three-run second inning. Blauser had three hits, including a home run that provided late insurance in the 5-3 win.

Justice and Gant stepped up on Tuesday, each going deep. Pendleton showed that veterans, even those on down years, are not to be trifled with in clutch situations, ripping three hits and a homer of his own. Glavine picked up his 15^th win of the year, 6-4.

A series win was in the bag, but Atlanta needed something more decisive to really change the landscape at this stage. They did just that in Wednesday afternoon’s finale. McGriff homered twice in a 9-1 rout. The Braves were within 4 ½ games and the race was on.

San Francisco came to Atlanta for a return visit the following Tuesday. The Brave bats picked up where they left off. Justice homered, drove in four runs and Maddux cruised to an 8-2 win. Smoltz was brilliant on Wednesday night, but the offense finally cooled and could only muster four hits. Atlanta lost this one 3-2. When they fell behind 3-0 in the fourth inning of Thursday night’s finale, it looked like this comeback bid might finally start to crest.

Not so fast. The big bats came through. Gant and McGriff each had big hits in a seventh inning rally that turned the tide. McMichael came on and got the final six outs in a 5-3 win. By Labor Day, Atlanta was only 2 ½ games out.

The Braves went west and stormed through Los Angeles and San Diego, winning six of seven. The Giants, having taken a blow in the head-to-head, couldn’t get off the canvass. The Braves took first place. They came home and won series over the Reds and Mets. Now it was Atlanta holding a three-game lead.

But the Giants found their footing again. Even as the Braves won series against the contending Montreal Expos (today’s Washington Nationals) and the eventual NL East champion Philadelphia Phillies, San Francisco surged and cut the margin down to 1 ½ with one week to play.

An off day on Monday gave the Giants the chance to knock a half-game off the lead and San Francisco took advantage. The lead was a single game. When Maddux lost to Houston on Tuesday night, the Giants pulled even.

There were five games to play. Atlanta and San Francisco each had 100 wins. Only once since the advent of a divisional play had a team with 100 wins failed to win its division—the 1980 Baltimore Orioles. History was being written this final week in the NL West.

On Wednesday night, Braves’ catcher Damon Berryhill delivered a three-run blast that keyed a 6-3 win over the Astros. The Giants lost. Atlanta was back on top. Just as quickly, they gave the lead back—in spite of a big night from McGriff on Thursday against Houston, Smoltz pitched poorly and the Braves lost 10-8. We were back to even going into the final weekend.

The schedule favored Atlanta—they were hosting Colorado, an expansion team in 1993. San Francisco had to go to Los Angeles. The Dodgers had a respectable, winning team and the long history of bad blood between the Giants and Dodgers meant LA would not mail it in.

On Friday night, Pendleton jacked a three-run homer, drove in five runs overall and led the way to a 7-4 win. San Francisco held serve.

Pendleton drove in three more runs on Saturday while Maddux cruised to his 20^th win, an easy 10-1 win victory. San Francisco held serve.

The fact the Braves and Giants were on opposite coasts added to the drama for the final day of the season. Atlanta would play in the early time slot, San Francisco would play late. If this race wasn’t settled, the schedule dynamic would shift against the Braves. They had lost the coin flip to determine where a one-game playoff on Monday would be held. That meant a potential cross-country flight was looming.

All Atlanta could do was take care of their own business. Glavine did that with a 5-3 win, closed out by McMichael. The Braves went to the clubhouse and watched the events out west.

There was a lot to like if you were a Braves fan. The Giants’ pitching imploded, the Dodger bats unloaded and Los Angeles cruised to a 12-1 win. It had taken 104 wins and going to the very last day of the season. But the 1993 Atlanta Braves had won baseball’s last true do-or-die pennant race between great teams.

To the surprise of most everyone in baseball, there was no more winning left. Maybe Atlanta was drained by the level of excellence it had taken to survive San Francisco. Maybe Philadelphia, with Curt Schilling at the top of their rotation, was ideally suited to win a short series. Maybe it was just baseball. Whatever it was, the Braves dropped the National League Championship Series to the Phillies in six games.

In one sense, losing in the postseason was getting old in Atlanta and the Braves fans were hungry for the World Series title that would finally come in 1995. But in another, deeper sense, this team had done something truly historic. San Francisco was, by any measure, a great team in 1993. Atlanta had survived an epic struggle to beat them over six long months. For better or for worse, it’s the kind of race we’ll never see again.

December 15 2018

1992 NLCS: The Atlanta-Pittsburgh 7-Game Sequel

Dan Flaherty MLB History, Sports History Articles 1992 Atlanta Braves, 1992 baseball, 1992 NLCS, 1992 Pittsburgh Pirates, Atlanta Braves history, baseball history, National League Championship Series history, NLCS history, Pittsburgh Pirates history, sports history articles

In 1991, the Atlanta Braves and Pittsburgh Pirates staged a great seven-game NLCS that saw the Braves come out on top. It was a difficult act to top, but when Atlanta and Pittsburgh got together again for 1992 NLCS, it was even better. They again went seven games and again it was the Braves moving on to the World Series—this time with a ninth-inning rally for the ages.

You can read more about the regular season paths the Braves and Pirates took to win their respective division titles, and about their key players, at the links below. This article will focus exclusively on the games of the 1992 NLCS.

Atlanta had homefield advantage by virtue of the rotation system that existed at the time. They sent John Smoltz to the mound to face Pittsburgh ace Doug Drabek. The Braves struck first with a two-out RBI single from second baseman Mark Lemke in the second inning. Sid Bream, a former Pittsburgh first baseman now in Atlanta, added to the lead with an RBI double in the fourth. Jeff Blauser homered off Drabek in the fifth.

Meanwhile, Smoltz was cruising. He went eight innings and the Braves closed out a comfortable 5-1 win. If Game 1 was comfortable for Atlanta fans, Game 2 was a positive breeze. A Blauser triple off Pirate lefty Danny Jackson was the big blow in a four-run second inning. In the fifth, Atlanta’s Ron Gant hit a grand slam.

Even when Pittsburgh tried to get back in the game with four runs of their own in the seventh, the Braves promptly answered with five in the bottom half of the inning. The final was 13-5, as Atlanta held serve at home.

Pittsburgh was up against it and facing 20-game winner Tom Glavine in Game 3. The Pirates were sending out a mostly unknown 25-year-old knuckleballer named Tim Wakefield. Wakefield went toe-to-toe with Glavine and the game was tied 2-2 in the bottom of the seventh.

Gary Redus got the Pittsburgh half of the seventh going with his third hit of the night. He moved to third on a double by Jay Bell and scored on a sac fly by Andy Van Slyke. Wakefield made the 3-2 lead stand up with a complete-game five-hitter.

A Smoltz-Drabek rematch was on tap for Saturday night’s Game 4. Once again, the Braves got to Drabek by the second inning. This time it was Smoltz helping his own cause with an RBI single. Leadoff hitter Otis Nixon followed with one of his own and it was quickly 2-0.

But the Pirates answered with two of their own, as Drabek worked a walk and came around to score. When Pittsburgh grabbed a run in the third, as Barry Bonds walked and scored on a double by Orlando Merced, it looked the Pirates were ready to make this a series again.

But Nixon was peppering away at Drabek and the leadoff man would finish with four hits on the night. Another one came in the top of the fifth and started a two-run rally that sent the Pirate starter to the showers. In the top of the sixth, Smoltz again produced with his bat. He singled, stole second and scored on another Nixon base hit. Blauser drove in another run. Atlanta won the game 6-4. They had a 3-1 series lead.

The season on the line, Pittsburgh turned to 35-year-old Bob Walk to try and beat young Atlanta lefty Steve Avery. The previous October, Avery had been NLCS MVP with two brilliant games, and he’d also won Game 2 this year. On this Sunday night, the Pirates finally got him. They ripped four doubles in the first inning alone. Jeff King and Lloyd McClendon, a future Pittsburgh manager, had three hits apiece. Walk went the distance and allowed three hits. The final was 7-1.

With two games still in Atlanta, the Game 5 result seemed more like a nice sendoff to the Pittsburgh fans than anything that was really going to alter the course of the series. But the Pirates kept the momentum going in the Glavine-Wakefield rematch of Game 6.

Bonds started the top of the second with a home run. Two singles, two doubles and a Braves error followed. Then Jay Bell hit a three-run blast. A stunned Atlanta crowd was staring at an 8-0 deficit. Wakefield again went the distance in a 13-4 rout. Another Game 7 between these two teams was at hand.

It was Smoltz-Drabek III and Game 7 was a tension-filled classic. Van Slyke doubled in the first inning and later scored on a Merced sac fly. The 1-0 lead kept Pittsburgh’s momentum going. Drabek pitched around a leadoff double in the third. In the sixth, Bell doubled down the left field line and scored on a base hit from Van Slyke. Drabek was locked in with a 2-0 lead and a feeling of inevitability was starting to envelope this improbable Pittsburgh comeback.

Drabek continued to pitch out of trouble in the seventh. With runners on first and second and one out, he retired Lonnie Smith and Damon Berryhill on a consecutive flyballs to preserve the lead. In the top of the eighth, with Merced on first base, King doubled down the rightfield line. Merced tried to score with a big insurance run, but David Justice threw him out at the plate. Smoltz was able to keep it a 2-0 game going into the ninth.

Atlanta’s veteran third baseman Terry Pendleton opened the bottom of the ninth with a double that raised hopes. Justice hit a harmless groundball to second, but it was booted by Jose Lind. Suddenly, the Braves had the tying runs aboard with no one out. Bream worked a walk. The bases were loaded. Drabek’s courageous night was over and closer Stan Belinda came on.

Gant hit the ball hard to left, but Bonds tracked it down. The run scored from third to make it 2-1 and Berryhill drew a walk. Again, the bases were loaded. The bottom of the Atlanta order was up and it would be two pinch-hitters that would have to deliver.

The more dangerous of the two, Brian Hunter got the first chance. Belinda got him to pop up to second. Then he got ahead in the count 1-2 to Francisco Cabrera, a lightly regarded reserve catcher. Then Cabrera singled to left. The game was certainly tied and the slow-footed Bream came booking around third, looking to score the winning run.

Bonds had many extraordinary talents as a baseball player, but his arm wasn’t one of them. His throw was just off-target enough to allow Bream to slide in safely. Pittsburgh’s improbable comeback from 3-1 down in the series had been displaced by Atlanta’s improbable ninth-inning comeback of Game 7.

Smoltz was named NLCS MVP for his two wins and strong Game 7 outing that kept it close. Wakefield would likely have been the choice had Pittsburgh hung on, for his two complete game wins. What did the Pirates in overall was that none of their hitters had a signature series. Atlanta’s hitting hadn’t been great, but Nixon batted .375 for the series. Justice finished with a .419 on-base percentage/.560 slugging percentage, with Bream clocking in at .360/.545.

Atlanta wasn’t able to finish the job in the World Series against the Toronto Blue Jays. The Braves won the first game and a had two-run lead late in Game 2. But the phenomena of the unknown pinch-hitter worked against them this time, as Toronto’s Ed Sprague tied the game with a shocking home run. The Blue Jays won that game and the next two at home. The Braves ultimately lost an 11-inning classic in Game 6 that ended the Series.

READ THE COMPLETE STORY OF THE 1992 WORLD SERIES

After the great battles of 1991-92, the Braves and Pirates went in separate directions. Pittsburgh, as expected, lost the core of its team to free agency. The franchise fell off a cliff and never even broke .500 for more than twenty years. Atlanta kept on winning. They went to the postseason every year until 2006. They had three more World Series trips ahead of them and in 1995, they won it all.

December 11 2018

How The 1992 Atlanta Braves Won The NL West

Dan Flaherty MLB History, Sports History Articles 1992 Atlanta Braves, 1992 baseball, Atlanta Braves history, baseball history, sports history articles

In 1991, the Braves shocked the baseball world. They went from worst-to-first, won their first division title in nearly a decade and came within a run of winning the World Series. The 1992 Atlanta Braves carried the burden of expectations and met them, but again with a tinge of disappointment. Atlanta would again reach the World Series. But again, they would come up a bit short in the Fall Classic.

This franchise was defined by starting pitching during their great run through the 1990s and the ‘92 edition was no different. Tom Glavine was a 20-game winner at the age of 26 and a future Hall of Famer. John Smoltz, age 25, also had Cooperstown in his future and he won 15 games in 1992. Steve Avery, the 22-year-old hero of the previous October, didn’t have the same long-term future, but he was plenty good in ‘92. Avery logged over 230 innings and posted a 3.20 ERA.

These three arms alone would have made Atlanta’s rotation a handful, but there was more. Charlie Leibrandt, the veteran lefty, won 15 more games with a 3.36 ERA. Mike Bielicki made 14 starts and put up a 2.57 ERA. Pete Smith got the call 11 times and finished with a 2.05 ERA.

Collectively, the starting pitching was more than enough to cover for a mediocre bullpen and Atlanta’s staff ERA was the best in the National League.

The offense wasn’t bad either, ranking third in the NL in runs scored. Terry Pendleton, the third baseman who’d won the MVP in 1991, came back and hit .311, popped 21 home runs and drove in 105 runs. Ron Gant had 80 RBI and stole 32 bases. David Justice, a talented young rightfielder hit 21 home runs. Otis Nixon, the speedy centerfielder, swiped 41 bags.

More than that though, the Braves had depth. Jeff Blauser and Brian Hunter each hit 14 home runs off the bench. Deion Sanders, the two-sport dynamo, played 97 games of baseball, mixed in with his NFL work. Deion finished with a solid on-base percentage of .346, a slugging percentage of .495 and stole 26 bases. Atlanta didn’t have a signature great player on offense, but they had a lot of contributors and a manager, in Bobby Cox, who knew how to get the most from everyone.

Prior to 1994, MLB had only an East and West division in each league and the winners advanced directly to the League Championship Series. The Braves and Reds, in a tortured display of geographic understanding, were in the NL West, along with the Dodgers, Giants, Padres and Astros. Los Angeles had gone to the wire with Atlanta in the 1991 pennant race, while Cincy had won the World Series in 1990.

The expectation of a race with the Reds and Dodgers made losing six of seven to them in April a little more alarming. It was the most notable point of a poor start to the season. The Braves’ record sunk as low as 20-27 in late May. Then they hit the gas pedal.

Atlanta ripped off 21 wins in their next 24 games, including taking eight of ten from Cincinnati and Los Angeles. The Braves closed to within a game of the division lead and again faced the Reds for a three-game series as the All-Star break drew near. Atlanta’s momentum crested, as their reliable pitching was battered for 25 runs in a three-game sweep. But the Braves still crawled back to within two games by the break.

In early August, Atlanta got set for another visit from Cincinnati, one that would prove to be the turning point in the NL West race. The Braves trailed the Tuesday night opener 5-2 in the eighth inning, before rallying with three runs. Pendleton won it in the ninth with a two-out/two-run homer. The offensive momentum rolled right into the next game. Atlanta grabbed three runs in the first and it was all Avery needed, as he delivered a 5-1 win.

The Thursday finale was tied 2-2 in the fifth inning. Second baseman Mark Lemke homered, triggering another three-run outburst. Smoltz made it stand up in a 5-3 win. The sweep of Cincinnati was the high point of an August run where the Braves won 15 of 19 and opened up their first real margin of comfort in this season.

And it never got tighter. Atlanta coasted on home, winning a major-league best 98 games and clinching another NL West title. It got them an NLCS rematch with the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Braves took three of the first four games, two of them wins from Smoltz and were in firm command. But the offense went silent—they lost Game 5, came and home and were routed in Game 6 and then looked ready to waste another gem by Smoltz in Game 7, trailing 2-0 in the ninth inning.

All that did was set the table for one of baseball’s memorable rallies. Atlanta, with help of a big error, pushed across one run and had the bases loaded with one out. Appropriately, for this team of depth, two pinch-hitters would get their shot to win it. Hunter popped up. But previously unknown Francisco Cabrera made himself a legend. He singled to left and slow-footed first baseman Sid Bream hustled home with the winning run.

Atlanta met up with Toronto in the World Series. When the Braves grabbed the first game and held a late lead in Game 2, they looked ready to finish the job. But now the unknown pinch-hitter dynamic turned against them. Ed Sprague tied the game with a home run for the Jays. Atlanta lost that game in extra innings and lost two of three on the road. They came home for Game 6 and lost an extra-inning thriller.

Even with two straight World Series heartbreaks, the good times for baseball in Atlanta were still just beginning. This was the beginning of an era where the Braves won their division every year through 2005. They won three more National League pennants. And in 1995, they finally got over the top and won it all.

December 2 2017

1991 NLCS: The Braves-Pirates Rivalry Begins

Dan Flaherty MLB History, Sports History Articles 1991 atlanta Braves, 1991 National League Championship Series, 1991 NLCS, 1991 Pittsburgh Pirates, Atlanta Braves history, baseball history, MLB history, National League Championship Series history, NLCS history, Pittsburgh Pirates history, sports history articles

For two straight years, the Atlanta Braves and Pittsburgh Pirates battled in the National League Championship Series. Over the 1991-92 stretch, both teams enjoyed the role of favorite and both teams enjoyed homefield advantage under the rotation system that at the time. These playoff battles had two other things in common—both times they went all seven games and both times it was Atlanta pouring champagne at the end.

GREAT 1980s SPORTS MOMENTS
Start reading today.

Atlanta came into the 1991 NLCS in what most people would consider a “just happy to be here” mode. They had completed a stunning worst-to-first transformation to reach the postseason. Pittsburgh, on the other hand, was the team that had gotten playoff-tested in a 1990 NLCS loss to the Cincinnati Reds. The ‘91 Pirates came into the playoffs as the best team in baseball and nothing less than winning their first World Series since 1979 would suffice.

You can read more about the regular season paths the Braves and Pirates took to win their respective divisions and who their most important contributors were at the links below. These article will focus specifically on the games of the 1991 NLCS.

The series opened in old Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh with a pitching matchup of the last two Cy Young Award winners. The Pirates’ Doug Drabek had won the award in 1990. Tom Glavine for the Braves won it in 1991 (though this wouldn’t be officially known until November).

Pittsburgh quickly jumped on Glavine. Andy Van Slyke hit a solo home run in the first inning and delivered an RBI double in the third as the Pirates took a 3-0 lead. Drabek contributed to his own cause in the sixth with an RBI double, while also shutting down the Atlanta lineup. The Braves didn’t score until the ninth when a meaningless home run from David Justice helped the avoid a shutout. Pittsburgh took the opener 5-1.

A pair of lefties matched up in Game 2, Steve Avery for Atlanta and Zane Smith for Pittsburgh. The Braves blew a second-inning opportunity when three consecutive singles loaded the bases with none out. Rafael Belliard, batting in the 8-hole grounded into a force-out at home. Avery struck out and Smith escaped the jam. Over the home half of the second and the top of the third, each team had a man get on first and then steal both second and third base—Barry Bonds for the Pirates, Ron Gant for the Braves. Again, no one scored.

It wasn’t until the sixth that Atlanta broke through. Justice led off with a single and then scored ona two-out double from Mark Lemke. Avery kept the 1-0 lead to the bottom of the ninth, when Pittsburgh got a leadoff double from Barry Bonilla. Avery was able to get Bonds and prevent him from advancing the runner. Atlanta manager Bobby Cox summoned Alejandro Pena to get the final two outs. Pena made it interesting by uncorking a wild pitch that put Bonilla on third with one out. But Steve Buechele harmlessly tapped back to Pena for the second out and Curt Wilkerson struck out to end the game.

After a day off to travel south, the series resumed for Game 3 with a late afternoon start on Saturday. Atlanta’s young John Smoltz took the mound against Pittsburgh’s 20-game winner, John Smiley. The Pirates struck with first-inning home run from Orlando Merced. Smiley got the first two batters out in the bottom of the first, but then everything started to go the Braves’ way. Gant, Justice and Brian Hunter hit consecutive doubles, Greg Olson homered and in the blink of an eye it was 4-1. It was 6-1 after three innings, Smoltz worked into the seventh and the final was 10-3.

The Braves now seemed to hold the edge, with a favorable pitching matchup for Sunday night’s Game 4, as they had veteran lefty Charlie Liebrandt set to face the Pirates’ Randy Tomlin. And Atlanta jumped on Tomlin quickly when Lonnie Smith led off the first inning with a double and scored on consecutive productive outs. Three more singles by Justice, Hunter and Olson produced another run and a 2-zip lead.

But just as Smoltz settled in during Game 3, Tomlin got under control in Game 4 and Atlanta would not score—or even seriously threaten to score—again. Pittsburgh chipped away with single runs in the second and fifth innings to tie the game. In the 10^th inning, Van Slyke drew a walk to start the inning against reliever Kent Mercker. After a steal of second and a walk, Cox went to the pen for Mark Wohlers. It didn’t work. Mike Lavalliere, a pinch-hitter delivered an RBI single that stood up for a 3-2 win.

The crucial Game 5 went down on late Monday afternoon, with Glavine going for Atlanta, while Pittsburgh used Zane Smith on short rest. Smith again was brilliant. He again got very little run support, but unlike Game 2 against he at least got a little bit. A fifth-inning walk, followed by singles from Don Slaught and Jose Lind gave the Pirates their only run.

In the meantime, Smith worked out of a couple jams early. The Braves loaded the bases with one out in the second, but Smith struck out Belliard and Glavine. In the fourth inning, Bonds threw out Justice at the plate. The 1-0 lead stood to the ninth inning when Atlanta again threatened, this time against reliever Roger Mason. There were runners on first and second with one out. Mason got Lemke to ground out. Hopes for Braves run rose when Jeff Blauser hit a line drive to right field. But it found Bonilla’s glove and this 1-0 game went Pittsburgh’s way.

The Pirates were the favored team to begin with, they had the series lead at 3-2 and they had two home games in their back pocket. They had Drabek and Smiley lined up to pitch .It seemed like a World Series trip was all but a formality. But Atlanta’s young pitching was about to make its strongest statement yet.

Avery faced Drabek in Game 6 and both pitchers were locked in. The Braves threatened in the first when Lonnie Smith reached third with one out, but Drabek got MVP third baseman Terry Pendleton to pop out. The game stayed scoreless to the seventh, with neither team threatening. In the top of the seventh, Gant reached third with one out and tried to score on a ground ball to short. Jay Bell came home with the ball and cut Gant down to keep the scoreless tie intact.

Gant was again in the midst of the action in the ninth, working a one-out walk and stealing second with two outs. Greg Olson doubled and there was finally a run on the board. With a 1-0 lead, Cox curiously opted to pinch-hit for Avery, who had allowed just three singles. Pena came on to close.

The decision might have backfired—pinch-hitter Gary Varsho immediately singled and was bunted to second for Pittsburgh’s first real scoring threat of the night. With two outs, he took third on a wild pitch. But Pena struck out Van Slyke and we were going to a Game 7.

It was Smoltz-Smiley for the decisive game, but this one proved to be somewhat anticlimatic. After so much great pitching on both sides, Smiley just didn’t have it. He allowed a two-run blast to Hunter in the first, was unable to finish the inning and Atlanta had a quick 3-0 lead. It looked like Pittsburgh would respond when their own half of the frame started with consecutive base hits. But Smoltz promptly ripped through Van Slyke, Bonillia and Bonds to kill the threat. Pittsburgh never got close again. Hunter drove in another run in the fifth. Smoltz went the distance with a six-hitter, and when he got Jose Lind to ground out to second to end the game, the party in Atlanta could begin.

In almost any other NLCS, Smoltz’s efforts might have gotten him the series MVP. But there was no denying Avery, who pitched what Pirate manager Jim Leyland called “the two games of his life”, in Games 2 & 6. Avery won 1991 NLCS MVP honors. Drabek and Zane Smith had each pitched extremely well in defeat for Pittsburgh. None of the big-name players on either side hit well, so the failure that stands out the most is the fact that in Smiley’s two starts, he pitched just 2.2 innings and gave up eight runs.

Atlanta went on to play another tense battle in the World Series against the Minnesota Twins, again going seven games. This time they ended up on the wrong end of a 1-0 pitcher’s duel, losing one of the great Game 7s ever played.

Neither franchise was going anywhere. Both would be back in this same place in 1992.

December 1 2017

The Worst-To-First Ride Of The 1991 Atlanta Braves

Dan Flaherty MLB History, Sports History Articles 1991 atlanta Braves, 1991 baseball, Atlanta Braves history, baseball history, sports history articles

The 1991 Atlanta Braves were a franchise in a major funk. They hadn’t been relevant since Joe Torre managed the club in the early 1980s, reaching the NLCS in 1982 and contending to the final weekend of 1983. The latter part of the decade was considerably different. The Braves lost 106 games in 1988 and 97 games each of the ensuing two years. Midway through the 1990 season, Bobby Cox came on as manager.

Cox’s track record of building the Toronto Blue Jays from an expansion franchise into a team that won the AL East in 1985 gave people in Atlanta good reason for hope. No one could guess that the hope would be delivered on in a bigger way than anyone thought possible, or that would happen immediately in 1991.

Atlanta would become renowned for its great starting pitching throughout the 1990s and the early 2000s. It started in ‘91. A 25-year-old lefty named Tom Glavine won 20 games with a 2.55 ERA. He also won the Cy Young Award and jumpstarted a Hall of Fame career.

Another man on his way to Cooperstown was 24-year-old John Smoltz, who made 36 starts, won 14 games and posted a 3.80 ERA. Steve Avery, another young lefty didn’t have a Hall of Fame career, but was as good as anyone in 1991–18 wins and a 3.38 ERA. Veteran Charlie Liebrandt brought some experience to the rotation, winning 15 games with a 3.43 ERA.

The bullpen doesn’t have the same kind of names that jump out at you, but Juan Berenguer, Mike Stanton and Kent Mercker all had sub-3.00 ERAs and Cox knew how to use them effectively. They rounded out a staff that finished third in the National League in ERA.

Offensively, Atlanta was even better, finishing second in the NL in runs scored. Terry Pendleton, a veteran brought over from St. Louis, won the MVP award. His final numbers of .363 OBP/.511 slugging percentage were good, although MVP was probably pushing the envelope a bit. He was given credit for providing leadership to the young players around him.

There were big-time producers in the outfield. Ron Gant hit 32 home runs, drove in 105 runs and scored 101 more. David Justice finished with a stat line of .377 OBP/.503 slugging percentage. Lonnie Smith, a veteran of championship teams in both St. Louis and Kansas City, played left field and sparked the offense with a .377 OBP. Jeff Treadway hit .320 and provided some pop at second base.

Atlanta looked better out of the gate, although nothing suggested a historic season was in the works. They were 20-19 at Memorial Day and only 2 ½ games back of the Los Angeles Dodgers in the old NL West (the division also was home to the Reds, Giants, Padres & Astros with the winner going directly to the NLCS).

They continued to putter along up the All-Star break. At 39-40, they were hanging around the .500 mark and that would be considered a monumental victory for this club if they could maintain that to the end of the season. Winning the division? Well, the Braves lost five of seven games to the Dodgers just prior to the break. Atlanta was 9 ½ back and in third place, also trailing defending World Series champion Cincinnati.

The worm turned after the break. The Braves won eight of ten in games against the Cubs and Cardinals, while the Dodgers lost nine of eleven on an East Coast trip. In the month of August, Atlanta ripped off a 19-11 record, while Los Angeles stumbled to a 13-16 mark. When Labor Day arrived, the Braves and Dodgers were in a dead heat, with the Reds having fallen by the wayside.

While Los Angeles started to play better in the early part of September, Atlanta kept rolling. On September 13 the two teams began the first of what would be two straight weekend series and the Braves were a half-game up.

Atlanta was at home for the first series and Glavine was on the mound. He pitched well and the game was tied 2-2 in the seventh, but the Braves’ ace buckled and ultimately lost 5-2. Smoltz came out on Saturday and gave up a couple early runs, but he settled in and allowed no more. The game went into extra innings, again tied 2-2. In the eleventh, Pendleton hit a bloop double and scored the winning run on a base hit from Gant.

Avery pitched the Sunday finale against Ramon Martinez (brother of Hall of Fame pitcher Pedro). Braves’ first baseman Sid Bream hit a grand slam in the first inning, Avery went the distance and Atlanta’s lead had nudged out to a game and a half.

Perhaps the young kids celebrated a bit too much, because the four days between the next head-to-head series in Los Angeles didn’t go as well .The Braves split four games with mediocre teams in San Francisco and San Diego. Los Angeles ripped off four wins over Cincinnati and Houston. The Braves were now a half-game back as the weekend at Dodger Stadium began.

Avery took the ball on Friday night and picked up right where he left off—with a complete game, this time a shutout. Gant’s 30^th home run of the season provided the margin in a 3-0 win. Leibrandt pitched on Saturday and took a 1-0 lead into the eighth. With control of the race in their grasp, Atlanta stumbled. Pendleton committed an error that led to the tying run in the eighth and Los Angeles won it in the ninth.

A series defined by good pitching continued in that vein in Sunday’s big finale. Glavine again pitched pretty well, but again wasn’t good enough. He gave up two early runs and today the Brave hitters couldn’t hit Ramon Martinez. The 3-0 loss left them 1 ½ games back with two weeks to play.

The two teams basically held serve the following week, but there was an important distinction. Atlanta played one more game than Los Angeles and took advantage to take a half-game off the lead. The Braves were within one game for the last week of the season.

Smoltz opened the closing week with a shutout of Cincinnati, while Orel Hershiser answered for Los Angeles with a win over San Diego. On Tuesday, it was Justice’s turn to be the hero—he hit a two-run shot in the ninth inning off the excellent Reds’ reliever Rob Dibble and delivered a 7-6 win. It set the stage for Wednesday when Glavine would win, while the Dodgers fell apart late in a 9-4 loss. Both teams took Thursday off and prepared for the final weekend, with this race dead even.

Friday night kept momentum going Atlanta’s way. Avery went eight strong innings in a home win over Houston, while Los Angeles lost in San Francisco. Smoltz came out Saturday and pitched a shutout that clinched at least a tie and potential playoff game on Monday. That would prove to be unnecessary—the Dodgers again lost in San Francisco and the improbable worst-to-first ride of the 1991 Atlanta Braves was complete.

Or at least the regular season version was complete. Atlanta went to the NLCS against Pittsburgh as a decided underdog and when they lost three of the first five games, with the final two in Pittsburgh, things didn’t look particularly hopeful. Avery and Smoltz responded with consecutive shutouts of a lineup that included Barry Bonds and the Braves reached the World Series.

READ MORE ABOUT THE 1991 NLCS

The Fall Classic was a celebration of worst-to-first turnarounds, because the AL champion Minnesota Twins had done the same thing. The 1991 World Series is in the discussion for the best ever played and it came down to a Game 7 in the old Metrodome. Smoltz battled the great Twins’ veteran Jack Morris, in a scoreless pitchers’ duel. Atlanta appeared poised to score in the eighth before a critical baserunning mistake by Lonnie Smith cost them the chance. After Smoltz left the game, the Twins finally got the winning run in the 10^th.

Game 7 was a crushing loss to be sure, but there was no denying just how special the 1991 Atlanta Braves season had been. And the young pitching would form the core of one MLB’s great long-running success stories. This was the first of fourteen straight division titles for franchise (with the caveat that the Braves were in second place in 1994 behind the Montreal Expos in the re-aligned NL East when a strike wiped out the season). Atlanta would win four National League pennants and get their long-sought World Series title in 1995.

February 8 2017

The 1992 World Series: The Trophy Goes North Of The Border

Dan Flaherty MLB History, Sports History Articles 1992 Atlanta Braves, 1992 baseball, 1992 Toronto Blue Jays, 1992 World Series, Atlanta Braves history, baseball history, sports history articles, Toronto Blue Jays history, World Series history

The Toronto Blue Jays were finally in the World Series after knocking on the door since 1985. The Atlanta Braves were back after losing a gut-wrenching seven-game Fall Classic the prior year. This one wouldn’t go the distance, but the 1992 World Series broke a couple historical barriers and most of its six games went to the final inning.

You can read more about the paths the Blue Jays and Braves each took to get to the World Series, and about the seasons enjoyed by their key players, at the links below. This article will focus exclusively on the games of the 1992 World Series.

Atlanta held homefield advantage by virtue of the rotation system that was in place until 2003. The previous year’s Fall Classic ended when the Braves had lost an epic Game 7 battle to Jack Morris, then pitching for Minnesota. Morris was now in Toronto and the ‘92 Series picked up where ‘91 left off—with Atlanta facing Morris.

Morris pitched shutout ball for the first five innings, making it 15 straight scoreless frames he’d tossed against the Braves in the World Series. But Atlanta’s Tom Glavine was keeping his team in the game. Only a Joe Carter home run had the Blue Jays on the board and it was 1-0 going into the bottom of the sixth.

Atlanta finally broke through against Morris. With two on and two out, Damon Berryhill launched a three-run blast. It was all Glavine needed. He made the 3-1 score stand up with a complete-game four-hitter.

The Braves kept the momentum going in the early part of Game 2. They got a soft rally going against David Cone, getting a run thanks to a walk, stolen base, error and wild pitch. Atlanta added another run in the fourth to go up 2-0.

John Smoltz got the first two batters out in the top of the fifth. Then Toronto got rolling. Pat Borders worked a walk. Three singles later, one of them by Cone, plated two runs and tied the game. But the Braves immediately answered in their half of the inning. Deion Sanders singled to start a two-run rally that chased Cone and Atlanta took the 4-2 lead into the eighth inning.

Toronto got consecutive one-out hits from Roberto Alomar, Carter and Dave Winfield. Smoltz was lifted and the bullpen—the weak part of the Atlanta team all year, had to try and hold the 4-3 lead. Mike Stanton came on with runners on the corners and got John Olerud to pop out, then K’d Kelly Gruber. The lead was intact going to the ninth.

Jeff Reardon was summoned to close it out and put Atlanta in firm control of the Series. The closer faced the 8-9 spots of the batting order. He walked the first batter, Derek Bell. Ed Sprague, a light-hitting reserve came to the plate to bat in the pitcher’s spot. And in a stunning turn of events, Sprague homered. It was the first pinch-hit home run for Toronto all year and it won Game 2 of the World Series, 5-4.

After a day off, the World Series went to Canada for the first time in history on Tuesday night. Juan Guzman, a 16-game winner, was on the mound for the Blue Jays. Atlanta countered with Steve Avery, a talented young lefty who had already had some serious postseason pedigree as the 1991 NLCS MVP.

The first three innings went by scoreless. Deion got Atlanta going in the fourth when he beat out an infield hit. Terry Pendleton followed with a base hit. David Justice then hit a rocket to centerfield that looked sure to score two runs.

Only it didn’t. Toronto’s Devon White ran the ball down and made one of the most spectacular catches in World Series history. It would draw favorable comparisons to Willie Mays’ legendary catch in the 1954 Fall Classic. And just like Mays had in ‘54, White was able to double off a runner in complete shock the ball had been caught. Pendleton was out, while Sanders was caught in a rundown. Deion barely escaped the tag and got back to second base to avoid the triple play. No matter, the inning ended without a run.

In the bottom of the inning, Carter immediately struck with another home run. In the blink of an eye, the Braves had gone from a potential big inning, to trailing 1-0.

Deion was swinging a good bat though and his sixth-inning double set up a game-tying base hit from Justice. In the top of the eighth, Atlanta took advantage of a Kelly Gruber error and scored the go-ahead run on a single by Lonnie Smith. But Gruber made amends—he homered off Avery in the bottom of the eighth and tied it back up 2-2.

Avery was still on in the bottom of the ninth. Alomar touched him for a single and promptly stole second. He was bunted over to third. A lot of managerial cat-and-mouse between Bobby Cox and Cito Gaston followed, with a couple pitching changes and pinch-hitters announced. It boiled down to a pair of intentional walks to load the bases.

Reardon came on again. Again Toronto got him, as Candy Maldanado hit a ball into the right-centerfield gap that scored Alomar and won the game 3-2.

Glavine was back on the mound for Atlanta on short rest in Game 4, going up against veteran Blue Jay lefty Jimmy Key. Both finesse pitchers were sharp and going into the seventh inning, a Borders solo home run accounted for all the scoring. In the bottom of the seventh, White capped off a three-hit game by driving in Gruber with two outs.

The insurance run proved significant. In the top of the eighth, a Ron Gant double keyed an Atlanta rally that had runners on first and third with none out. The Braves got the run in from third, but Toronto reliever Duane Ward got two big outs and preserved the 2-1 lead. Jays closer Tom Henke closed it out in the ninth. All of these World Series games might be close, but it was Toronto that had the commanding 3-1 series lead.

Morris would get the chance to win the game Toronto had brought him in for, facing off with Smoltz in Game 5. It was 2-2 in the fifth and when Morris retired the first two Braves’ hitters, nothing dramatic seemed imminent.

But Atlanta leadoff man Otis Nixon singled and stole second to get himself in scoring position. Deion delivered with an RBI single that broke the tie. Pendleton hit a ground-rule double that put runners on second and third. After an intentional pass to Justice, Lonnie Smith broke the game open with a grand slam. Just like that it was 7-2 and that’s how it ended. We were going back to Atlanta.

Saturday night’s Game 6 pitted Cone against Avery and Toronto wasted no time getting their momentum back .White started the game with a single, stole second. He scored when Justice committed an error on a line drive to right field. The Blue Jays had a chance to get a big inning early, but Avery limited the damage and kept it at 1-0.

It was Deion who got the Braves going in the third, with a double and a steal of third. He scored on a sac fly to tie the game. But Toronto answered right back in the top of the fourth. Maldonado homered to start the inning. Again the Blue Jays threatened a big inning. Again, the Braves limited the damage. This time it was Deion doing it in the field, as he threw out Borders at the plate to end the inning and keep the score 2-1.

Both pitchers settled in and the tense game went to the ninth, still 2-1 and Henke trying to close out the championship for Toronto. Jeff Blauser kept hope alive for Atlanta with a leadoff single and he was bunted into scoring position.

Francisco Cabrera had been a ninth-inning hero in Game 7 of that year’s NLCS and he had a chance to do it again here. Cabrera made good contact, but lined out to left. Nixon was the last chance for the Braves. And he came through with a game-tying single. It was 2-2. We were going to extra innings.

A pair of lefthanded starters took over pitching duties, as Key came on for Toronto and veteran Charlie Leibrandt pitched for Atlanta. The game went to the 11th inning still tied 2-2.

White was hit by a pitch and Alomar singled, giving the Blue Jays a shot. Winfield came to the plate with two outs. He pulled a grounder down the left field line that stayed fair. Both runners scored and it turned out that, once again, Toronto would need the insurance.

Blauser capped off his three-hit night with a single in the Atlanta 11th. An error by Jays’ shortstop Mann Lee put runners on first and third. The scenario was eerily similar to the seventh game of the NLCS when Atlanta trailed by two runs in the ninth and the tying run reached on an error.

Smoltz came on to pinch-run and he was bunted up to second base. There were runners on second and third with one out. Brian Hunter, a dangerous pinch-hitter came up in the pitcher’s spot. He grounded out to first. The run scored and cut the lead to 4-3, but now there were two outs.

Mike Timlin came out of the Toronto bullpen. Once again, Otis Nixon was Atlanta’s last hope. The speedy Nixon dropped down a bunt and a pretty good one. If he beat it out, Smoltz could score the tying run. But Timlin was off the mound quickly, made the play and the celebration could begin in Toronto.

Borders was named World Series MVP, going 9-for-20. He only drove in three runs and, to be frank, didn’t seem entirely impactful. But he was as good a choice as any for a Toronto team that had mostly won with balance.

The signature individual performance of the series came from Deion Sanders, who had gone 8-for-15, scored four runs, stole five bases and thrown a runner out at the plate in Game 6. It all depends on how you feel about voting for a player from the losing team. I’d have given Deion the MVP, but Borders was certainly a reasonable selection.

Neither team was done on this stage. Toronto came back to the World Series in 1993 and repeated as champs, clinching on a memorable walkoff home run from Carter. Atlanta made it back to the Series in 1995 and won their first championship.

July 19 2016

The Hidden Gems Of The 1982 Baseball Season

Dan Flaherty MLB History, Sports History Articles 1982 baseball season, 1982 MLB, Atlanta Braves history, California Angels history, Joe Torre Atlanta Braves, Milwaukee Brewers history, MLB history, sports history articles, St. Louis Cardinals history

The 1982 baseball season has some hidden gems in MLB history. The final day of the regular season produced an epic head-to-head battle. Game 5 of the American League Championship Series—then the decisive game, in this era of best-of-five LCS play—produced a similar dramatic ending. A future Hall of Fame manager made his first appearance on the October stage. And none of the teams involved in any of the above ultimately won the World Series. Here’s the rundown…

*The Milwaukee Brewers won a memorable winner-take-all regular season finale with the Baltimore Orioles after both teams had caught the Boston Red Sox from behind after slow starts. The Brewers then won an equally memorable Game 5 of the ALCS against the California Angels. Both are games that should rank much higher in the conventional list of baseball’s great moments.

*Joe Torre was mostly known for his playing days and less for his five unsuccessful years managing the New York Mets. Torre took over the Atlanta Braves in 1982, and backed by an MVP year from centerfielder Dale Murphy, the Braves won an exciting NL West race on the last day of the season. It was Torre’s first appearance in the postseason and it certainly wouldn’t be his last.

*Atlanta’s victory in the NL West came about because of a memorable Dodgers-Giants finale, both teams that were in the race to the end. The rivals took turns ousting each other on Saturday and Sunday and added fuel to the bitterness of their longstanding rivalry.

But it was not the Braves or the Brewers that ultimately won the World Series and not the three-way races in the AL East or NL West that ultimately told the story of the 1982 baseball season.

The St. Louis Cardinals didn’t play with the same drama—of the four division winners, they were the one who clinched with a little bit of room to spare. The Cards swept the Braves in a drama-free NLCS. The drama finally came in the World Series, when St. Louis survived Milwaukee in an exciting seven-game battle.

TheSportsNotebook.com has compiled 11 articles that exist individually on the site, modestly edited them for blatant redundancy and put them all together into a compilation available for download at Amazon.

This blog compilation contains the stories of the eight most important teams of the 1982 MLB season—the four division winners, along with the Orioles/Red Sox in the AL East and Dodgers/Giants in the NL West. These are followed by game-by-game narratives of the ALCS, NLCS and World Series.

DOWNLOAD THE 1982 MLB SEASON FROM AMAZON TODAY

March 8 2016

A Near-Miss For The 1983 Atlanta Braves

Dan Flaherty MLB History, Sports History Articles 1983 Atlanta Braves, 1983 baseball, 1983 baseball season, 1983 MLB, 1983 MLB season, Atlanta Braves history, baseball history, MLB history, sports history articles

The 1983 Atlanta Braves followed up a surprise NL West title with another strong season where they contended to the final weekend. But a disappointing ending augured a premature end to the era where Joe Torre managed the team and pointed to darker days ahead.

GREAT 1980s SPORTS MOMENTS
Start reading today.

Atlanta won by crushing the baseball, leading the National League in runs scored. They were best in on-base percentage, best in batting average, fourth in home runs and fourth in walks. Dale Murphy led the way. The centerfielder finished with a .393 OBP/.540 slugging percentage. He also hit 36 home runs, drove in 121 runs and scored 131 more. Murphy won the NL MVP for the second straight season.

Bob Horner was Murphy’s support, hitting right behind him in the lineup. The slugging 25-year-old third baseman posted a stat line of .383 OBP/.528 slugging and hit 20 home runs. First baseman Chris Chambliss had a stat line of .366/.481 and also hit 20 homers.

The young left fielder Brett Butler stole 39 bases and catcher Bruce Benedict finished with an OBP of .385. Middle infielders Glenn Hubbard and Rafael Ramirez had respectable OBPs in the .330s and 37-year-old Bob Watson was a quality reserve—his stat line was .376/.490 in 170 at-bats.

While the hitting was great, the pitching was…well, not so much. The problem wasn’t that anyone was awful, but that no one was really outstanding. Craig McMurtry made 35 starts at age 23 and won 15 games with a 3.08 ERA. Pascual Perez, another young arm, won 15 with an ERA of 3.43. The old man, knuckleballer Phil Niekro was 11-10 with a 3.98 ERA, making 33 starts at the age of 44. These three pitchers combined for 101 starts.

Ken Dayley, Pete Falcone and Rick Camp pulled double duty in the bullpen and in the rotation, and finished with ERAs ranging from 3.63 to 4.30. Steve Bedrosian was the closer, saving 19 games with a 3.60 ERA. Terry Forster, a veteran let go from NL West rival Los Angeles, finished with 13 saves and a sparkling 2.16 ERA. The bullpen was filled out by a young Donnie Moore and a veteran Gene Garber. One was on the rise, the other in decline, and they met in the middle in 1983.

Atlanta took advantage of a soft early schedule and won 12 of their first 15. They took three straight from St. Louis, a rematch of the 1982 NLCS, in early May. The Braves were rolling, but so were the Dodgers. The two teams had the best records in baseball on Memorial Day and Atlanta was a game and a half out.

The Braves dropped four of six to the Dodgers in June and were 5 ½ out by June 19. Atlanta went to Cincinnati for a five-game series and won all five. The Braves returned home to go 5-2 in a homestand against the Astros & Reds, again taking advantage of the soft part of their schedule. When the All-Star break arrived on the Fourth of July, Atlanta and Los Angeles were still the top two teams in all of MLB. Only now it was Atlanta, at 49-31, which held the one-game lead.

When the Dodgers slumped, the Braves looked on the verge of taking over the race. They won the first two games of a head-to-head series in Atlanta, taking the second game on a two-run walkoff blast by Watson for an 8-7 win. This was August 13 and the lead was 6 ½ games. But it was downhill from there after Los Angeles averted a sweep in the finale.

Atlanta promptly lost 10 of 13, the Dodgers got hot and by Labor Day, the Braves were 77-60 and 2 ½ games out. Nor were they the second-best team in MLB anymore. Atlanta’s record was sixth-best and in the days when postseason play included only four division winners, that wasn’t going to be enough.

There were still six more games to play against the Dodgers and Atlanta went to LA for a three-game weekend series starting on September 9. For seven innings, they could do nothing in the opener and trailed 3-0. Murphy hit a two-run blast in the ninth to make things interesting and the Braves put runners on first and second. But the rally died when Butler bounced back to the pitcher and Atlanta was four games out.

It briefly got worse on Saturday when the Braves fell behind 3-0. They chipped away to tie the game and in the top of the 10^th, broke it open. The lead run came through on an error, Chambliss and Ramirez drove in insurance runs and Atlanta won 6-3. When Murphy hit an early three-run shot in the Sunday finale, the Braves were poised to cut the margin to two games, taking a 6-3 lead into the ninth. Then Moore and Garber completely came apart in the ninth, combining to give up three hits, three walks and four runs.

Atlanta continued to struggle, losing series to the Reds and Padres, although Los Angeles was also mostly stumbling down the stretch and the margin was still at four games. The Braves had one more head-to-head crack in a home series on the regular season’s penultimate weekend.

Len Barker had been acquired in a late August trade. Renowned for pitching a perfect game in Cleveland two years earlier, this was the kind of game he was needed for. And he had nothing, losing 11-2. Perez came back strong the next day with a six-hitter and the game was tied 2-2 in the ninth.

Murphy continued to come through, drawing a ninth-inning walk, stealing second and scoring the winning run. The Braves kept themselves alive on Sunday. Hubbard got three hits and drove in two runs, McMurtry worked into the eighth and the 7-1 win kept Atlanta within three games going into the final week.

The Dodgers opened the door by splitting four games from Monday thru Thursday, but the Braves could only tread water. The margin was still at three games going into the final weekend. Atlanta was in San Diego, while Los Angeles was in San Francisco. It would take the equivalent of an inside straight—a Braves sweep, three Dodger losses and then winning a one-game playoff.

But at least Atlanta fans got put out of their misery early. In spite of an early home run from Murphy, they lost 3-2 on Friday. And it proved not to matter, because a half-hour after the game was over, Los Angeles won.

The season was still a success by any reasonable measure. What makes it seem disappointing in the bigger picture is that this proved to be the end of the good times. Atlanta went 80-82 in 1984 and Torre was fired. Of course he would revive himself in New York after a brief stint in St. Louis. The Braves disappeared from relevance until Bobby Cox arrived in 1991.

October 31 2014

The 1982 Atlanta Braves Bring Joe Torre To His First October

Dan Flaherty MLB History, Sports History Articles 1982 Atlanta Braves, 1982 baseball season, 1982 MLB, Atlanta Braves history, MLB history, sports history articles

The Braves had known only brief moments of success since moving to Atlanta for the 1966 season. They won the old NL West in 1969, but then fell off the radar. 1974 was a bright spot—the team won 88 games and Henry Aaron broke Babe Ruth’s all-time home run record. But that was the exception, rather than the rule, as losing season followed losing season. The 1982 Atlanta Braves got back to October—and they did with a then-unproven manager named Joe Torre.

GREAT 1980s SPORTS MOMENTS
Start reading today.

Torre had managed the New York Mets from 1977-81, mostly without success. At the same time, Atlanta was being managed by someone else who had a bright future ahead of him, and in Atlanta no less—Bobby Cox. But Cox was young, the Braves weren’t very good and he would have to first prove himself in Toronto before returning south. In fairness to Cox, his last Atlanta team in 1981 was modestly respectable in a strike-shortened year, as he handed the reins to Torre.

Atlanta would produce a potent offense in 1982, the best in the National League. Dale Murphy, the 26-year-old centerfielder had a .378 on-base percentage, hit 36 home runs and produced 109 RBI, on his way to the first of back-to-back NL MVP awards. Bob Horner hit behind Murphy in the lineup, and Horner finished with a .350 OBP, 32 home runs and 97 RBI.

Chris Chambliss, a hero of the New York Yankees’ pennant teams in the late 1970s, played first base and hit 20 home runs. It was a top-heavy lineup—Claudell Washington, the rightfielder who finished with a modest .330 OBP—was the only other notable contributor, but it was enough to score runs.

And runs were needed, because the pitching wasn’t very good. In a 12-team National League, the Braves were 10^th in ERA. Phil Niekro, the 43-year-old knuckleballer was solid, going 17-4 with a 3.61 ERA and working 234 innings. But no one else in the season-opening rotation finished with an ERA under 4.

Rick Mahler and Bob Walk were mediocre, and Ken Dayley was the same in spot starts. The Braves made a good move to pick up Pascual Perez in June, and his 11 starts with a 3.06 ERA provided a needed lift. Torre also made good use of the bullpen—Gene Garber saved 30 games and worked 119 innings, while Steve Bedrosian posted a 2.42 ERA.

Atlanta captured the attention of the nation to start the season. All their home games were broadcast on the TBS network and in a time when cable was first developing, the Braves were a rare “national” team. And they started the year by winning the first 13 games. Then they lost five in a row, setting the tone for a streaky year. Their lead in the NL West was still five games on May 21, when a 1-6 stretch cut it to a game and a half by the end of May.

June started well, with 12 wins in 15 games, including a sweep of the defending World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers on the road. The Braves got their division lead back to 4 ½ games by the Fourth of July, when they lost of four of six to end the first half. Atlanta went into the All-Star break at 51-33, up two games on the San Diego Padres and plus seven on Los Angeles.

The Braves came flying out of the break, went 10-4 and built their lead up to nine games. On July 29, they were flying high, completing a four-game sweep of the Padres where they scored 31 runs in the four games. Then Los Angeles came to town next and it all fell apart with breathtaking speed.

The Dodgers swept a doubleheader to start the series, and then took two more. The Braves went west for a return trip, and suffered another four-game sweep. The nine-game lead of July 29 had stunningly turned into a half-game deficit to LA by August 10. In total, the Braves lost 15 of 16 and by August 18, they were four games out and sinking fast.

In this year of streaks, Torre’s Braves had an answer. A 13-2 run got them back into first place and on September 8 they hosted the Dodgers for a two-game set. And the Atlanta bats were ready. Washington and Rafael Ramirez, the 1-2 hitters in the order combined for nine hits in the opener. The game was tied 11-11 in the 10^th, when Washington, Ramirez and Murphy all singled in succession off Dodger closer Steve Howe to win the game.

Atlanta tore apart LA’s Fernando Valenzuela, the 1981 NL Cy Young winner the next day. Horner, Glenn Hubbard and Bruce Benedict all homered in a 10-3 win. The Braves concluded the series with a game and a half lead.

Both Atlanta and Los Angeles had another problem though—the San Francisco Giants were coming. After being left for dead, nine games out in early September, they were now lurking in the rearview mirror. Between September 13-22, when Atlanta managed to go 0-5 in two series against the last-place Houston Astros, the Giants snuck in and made it a three-way race. Atlanta would have to play both rivals in the season’s final week.

San Francisco and Atlanta met on the last Monday of the season and the Giants were within a game of first place. Niekro took the ball for the opener and delivered a two-hit shutout in a 7-0 win. In the finale, Washington and Royster combined for seven hits in an 8-3 win. The Giants weren’t dead, but the Braves had gotten a bit of breathing room. They went to Los Angeles leading the Dodgers by a game.

Wednesday’s game went 12 innings and Garber pitched four innings, as the Braves survived 4-3 and pulled even. But they lost on Thursday, as a game they trailed 5-3 in the seventh got away from Bedrosian and ended in a 10-3 loss. The lead was still one game. The Giants still had a shot, and they and the Dodgers would go head-to-head to end the year, while Atlanta was at San Diego.

Niekro continued to put the team on his 43-year-old back. He threw another complete-game gem, this one a three-hitter. And to underscore his stretch drive brilliance, he also hit a home run in a 4-0 win. The Dodgers beat the Giants by the same score. San Francisco was done, but Los Angeles was still breathing down Atlanta’s neck.

Bedrosian pitched three shutout innings out of the pen on Saturday, Chambliss homered and 4-2 win kept Atlanta in first. But the champagne had to wait, as Los Angeles crushed San Francisco 15-2. When Atlanta lost the finale 5-1, the door was open for the Dodgers to force a one-game playoff.

The Dodger-Giant finale became a part of baseball lore generally and that rivalry in particular. The game was tied 2-2 in the seventh, when Joe Morgan—a hero of Cincinnati’s Big Red Machine and then with Houston’s 1980 NL West champs—hit a three-run shot with two outs. San Francisco won 5-2 and Atlanta was the division champ.

Atlanta faced the St. Louis Cardinals in the NLCS and the season came to an end, as a superior Cardinal team won three straight in what was then a best-of-five round.

Even with the loss, the 1982 Atlanta Braves kept everyone interested all the way, in a crazy up-and-down year that went to the final day. And they brought Joe Torre to the October stage for the first time.

July 1 2014

The 1999 World Series: A Showdown That Turns Into A Sweep

Dan Flaherty MLB History, Sports History Articles 1999 World Series, Atlanta Braves history, baseball history, MLB history, New York Yankees history, sports history articles, World Series history

It’s not often, at least since the MLB playoff expansion of 1995, that the teams with the two best records in baseball survive to meet in the World Series. The 1999 World Series not only gave baseball fans such a showdown, but the New York Yankees and Atlanta Braves were angling to become the team of the 1990s.

GREAT 1980s SPORTS MOMENTS
Start reading today.

The Yankees had won two of the previous three Fall Classics. The Braves were in their fifth Series of the decade and aiming for their second title. It was all set up to a great World Series Showdown…only it didn’t turn out quite that way.

New York won 98 games and was led by Derek Jeter and Bernie Williams, each driving in and scoring 100 runs. A balanced pitching staff was the second-best in the American League and had Mariano Rivera at the back end, with 45 saves and 1.83 ERA. New York rolled through the American League playoffs, going 7-1 in dispatching the Texas Rangers and Boston Red Sox.

Atlanta went 103-59 with their now-traditional dominant pitching. The Braves had their usual Big Three of Tom Glavine, Greg Maddux and John Smoltz and supplemented that with the emergence of 18-game winner Kevin Millwood. Offensively, third baseman Chipper Jones batted .319, hit 45 home runs and won the National League MVP award. Atlanta took out the Houston Astros and the New York Mets to make the World Series.

Game 1 was in Atlanta and the Braves led 1-0 after seven on the strength of a Jones home run. In the eighth a walk, single and an error led to RBI singles from Jeter and Paul O’Neill and New York slipped by Maddux 4-1.

One night later the small-ball Yankee attack continued. They peppered Millwood with five singles in a three-run first and coasted to a 7-2 win. The Showdown Series was slipping away from Atlanta as the series shifted north.

Atlanta appeared ready to revive their hopes behind Glavine in Game 3. They led 4-1 early, and in spite of solo home runs from New York’s Chad Curtis and Tino Martinez, had a 5-3 lead in the eighth. Then Chuck Knoblauch hit a tying two-run homer in the eighth. Curtis went deep for the second time to lead off the tenth and the 6-5 win made the Series all over but the shouting.

New York got three early runs in Game 4 and Roger Clemens turned in a strong outing. Atlanta got Jones to the plate as the tying run in the eighth, but Rivera was summoned and he nailed down the championship in a 4-1 win.

It was Rivera’s second save, to go with his Game 3 win and he was named Series MVP. The Yankees were a dynasty, with three crowns in four years, as they turned a highly anticipated 1999 World Series Showdown into a sweep.

New York’s championship was the second leg of a three-peat they would complete one year later. Atlanta has not been back to the World Series since.