History of the Atlanta Braves
During the franchise's 13-year tenure in Milwaukee, aided by Hall of Famers Warren Spahn, Eddie Mathews, and Hank Aaron, the Braves reached the World Series in 1957 and 1958, winning in the former year.
Their success relied heavily on a legendary starting rotation which included Hall of Famers John Smoltz, Tom Glavine, and Greg Maddux.
Sluggers Eddie Mathews and Hank Aaron drove the offense (they would hit a combined 1,226 home runs as Braves, with 850 of those coming while the franchise was in Milwaukee), while Warren Spahn, Lew Burdette, and Bob Buhl anchored the rotation.
Perhaps the most memorable of his 44 round-trippers that season came on September 23, a two-run walk-off home run that gave the Braves a 4–2 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals and clinched the league championship.
The team drew over 2.2 million at home during the regular season, then went on to its first World Series win in over 40 years, defeating the New York Yankees of Yogi Berra, Mickey Mantle, and Whitey Ford in seven games.
[3][4] In 1958, the Braves again won the National League pennant and jumped out to a three games to one lead in the World Series against New York once more, thanks in part to the strength of Spahn's and Burdette's pitching.
In the meantime, fans had to be satisfied with the achievements of Hank Aaron, who actually increased his offensive production in the relatively hitter-friendly confines of Atlanta Stadium (nicknamed "The Launching Pad").
In 1976, media magnate Ted Turner, owner of superstation WTCG (later known as WTBS, now known as WPCH-TV), purchased the Braves as a means of keeping the team (and one of his main programming staples) in Atlanta.
However, pitching coach Leo Mazzone began developing young pitchers Tom Glavine, Steve Avery, and John Smoltz into future stars.
The "Worst to First" Braves, who had not won a divisional title since 1982, captivated the city of Atlanta (and, to a larger degree, the state of Georgia and the entire southeast) during their improbable run to the flag.
In the 1992 season, the Braves returned to the NLCS and once again defeated the Pirates in seven games, only to lose in the World Series to a dominating Toronto Blue Jays team.
In 1993, the Braves signed Cy Young Award winning pitcher Greg Maddux from the Chicago Cubs, leading many baseball insiders to declare the team's pitching staff the best at that time.
The Braves returned strong the following strike-shortened (teams played 144 games instead of the customary 162) year and beat the Cleveland Indians in the World Series.
This particular team would be known as the "Baby Braves", referring to the vast presence of rookies on the roster such as Wilson Betemit, Brian McCann, Pete Orr, Ryan Langerhans, and Jeff Francoeur.
The additional outfield depth allowed the Braves to trade Josh Anderson to the Detroit Tigers for minor league pitcher Rudy Darrow on March 30, 2009.
The Braves made two deals before the trade deadline to acquire Álex González, Rick Ankiel and Kyle Farnsworth from the Toronto Blue Jays and Kansas City Royals, giving up shortstop Yunel Escobar, pitchers Jo-Jo Reyes and Jesse Chavez, outfielder Gregor Blanco and three minor leaguers.
[28] On August 22, 2010, against the Chicago Cubs, Mike Minor struck out 12 batters across 6 innings, an Atlanta Braves single game rookie strikeout record.
On November 16, 2010, in an offseason trade, the Braves acquired Dan Uggla from the Florida Marlins in exchange for left-handed reliever Mike Dunn and infielder Omar Infante.
[32] On July 31, 2011, just sixteen days after registering their 10,000th win, the Florida Marlins defeated the Braves by a score of 3–1, handing the team the 10,000th loss in franchise history.
[33] Players from the Braves' farm system, such as Freddie Freeman and Brandon Beachy, played regularly with the big league club, while Julio Teherán, Randall Delgado, and Mike Minor were called up for spot starts.
Braves closer Craig Kimbrel, who had not surrendered a single earned run in July or August, carried a 4.76 ERA in September with three blown saves.
[41] The Braves also lost many key players through trades or free agency, including pitcher Derek Lowe, shortstop Alex González, and outfielder Nate McLouth.
[47][48][49][50][51][52][53] During the offseason the Braves signed few of their young talents to multi year contracts; Craig Kimbrel (4 years/$42 million), Freddie Freeman (8 years/$135M), Kris Medlen (1 year/$5.8M), Jason Heyward (2 years/$13.3M), Julio Teherán (6 years/$32.4M) and Andrelton Simmons (7 years/$58M).
[56] A day before the season began, the Braves made a final trade involving former All-Star Craig Kimbrel and outfielder Melvin Upton Jr.
They were traded to the San Diego Padres for outfielders Cameron Maybin, Carlos Quentin, pitcher Matt Wisler, and the 41st overall pick in the 2015 Major League Baseball draft.
Woody Studenmund of the Hardball Times called the park a "gem" saying that he was impressed with "the compact beauty of the stadium and its exciting approach to combining baseball, business and social activities.
[71] The Braves returned to the NLCS in 2021 after beating the Milwaukee Brewers 3–1 in the 2021 NLDS on the heels of a Freddie Freeman game-winning home run in the bottom of the 8th inning in Game 4.
Right fielder Ronald Acuña Jr. became the first player in MLB history to hit 40 home runs and steal 70 bases in a season and was unanimously named the National League MVP.
The Atlanta Braves originally wore the same uniform design from their final years in Milwaukee, save for the red-brimmed navy cap which was changed from a block "M" to a script "A".
"The A" was emblazoned on the left chest as a nod to Atlanta, and tributes to Hank Aaron's 715th home run in 1974 were placed on the collar and underbrim of the team cap.
