Atlanta Braves All-Time Team

Rather than take a short trip to the American League Central, the All-Time Teams tour took a long flight from the Great White North allll the way down south. We're in splendid Atlanta, Georgia - home of the Braves.

Atlanta's first pro sports championship was the Braves' World Series victory at Fulton County Stadium in 1995. The 2021 champs now call Truist Park home. In between those titles, the team moved into and out of Turner Field.

Hall of Fame manager Bobby Cox will be looking to make some changes to his lineup and avoid another shocking upset in the All-Time Tournament.

One-third of these guys are playing out of position, most notably Dale Murphy in left field and Chipper Jones at shortstop. Chipper was drafted and debuted at that position, but it isn't a natural fit. Bobby Cox could play him in left field (Jones played more games there than Dale Murphy did) and move Murphy to his secondary position - right field. But that would reduce iconic right fielder Hank Aaron to designated hitter.

Just to make this even more convoluted, Cox called in some competitors for Rico Carty's starting DH spot.

	Braves stats	WAR	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	OPS+
	*Rico Carty	23.2	0.317	0.388	0.496	0.884	143
	Hugh Duffy	28.6	0.332	0.394	0.455	0.849	121
	David Justice	24.3	0.275	0.374	0.499	0.873	132
	Wally Berger	36.7	0.304	0.362	0.533	0.894	141

Wally Berger looks to have the inside track. He might even be a better option than Dale Murphy, but Atlanta fans would riot if Cox dared to bench Murph. Hugh Duffy is a toughie. He's a Hall of Famer with 2,200+ career hits and a .332 lifetime average, not to mention nearly 600 stolen bases. He looks like the lightest-hitting player here, but Duffy played in the 1890s. He's not going to have power numbers like Berger or Justice. Put a pin in this one.

Joe Adcock and Johnny Logan [seen in the previous panel] are locked into their roles as backup infield options. Javy Lopez gets a second look in an open catching competition with starter Brian McCann and reserve Del Crandall.

	Braves stats	WAR	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	OPS+
	*Brian McCann	24.5	0.275	0.348	0.469	0.817	115
	*Del Crandall	26.8	0.257	0.313	0.412	0.725	98
	Javy Lopez	23.4	0.287	0.337	0.502	0.839	114

Crandall's production doesn't look impressive next to these modern stars, but he was an 11-time All-Star and 4-time Gold Glove honoree. Javy has a higher slugging percentage as a Brave than Carty, Murphy, and Justice. Maybe he should DH!

Time to make some tough calls here. Murphy-Jones-Aaron is the outfield, period. Hall of Famer Rabbit Maranville moves back to his natural position of shortstop. Chipper Jones is taking DH duties from Rico Carty. And we've got a new second baseman:

Ozzie Albies slides into the starting lineup. McCann keeps his job as the starting catcher, and Wally Berger holds down the forth outfielder spot. That leaves Crandall to compete with Lopez and Carty fighting to hold off Justice and Duffy.

It's a tough call for Cox, but Duffy wins with his speed and consistent contact. Lopez can't unseat Crandall, who ranks sixth all-time among Braves position players in dWAR.

At least there's no uncertainty in the Braves' pitching rotation. Right?

Ah, the Greg Maddux quandary. How can I justify letting him go to the Cubs when he was so much more dominant in Atlanta? Just kick that Kid Nichols guy out of here and it's settled. Right?

Here's the problem with that:

	Braves stats	WAR	ERA	ERA+	K/BB	WHIP	CG
	*Kid Nichols	107.4	3.00	143	1.48	1.234	476

Nichols is the franchise leader in pitcher WAR. He's second to Spahn in wins and shutouts, and first in complete games by a country mile. Heck, he's second among all Braves players in WAR. If anything, he should rank higher in the rotation. Atlanta can live without Maddux, strange as that may sound.

You know what else sounds strange (especially to this Red Sox fan)? Future Hall of Famer Craig Kimbrel.

Now on his seventh MLB team, Kimbrel is the active career leader in saves with 394 as of Opening Day 2023. He's made eight All-Star teams, won three Reliever of the Year awards, along with NL Rookie of the Year honors and a World Series ring. And he hasn't even celebrated his 35th birthday yet.

Bobby Cox initially had an exclusively right-handed bullpen (is that why they lost to the all-time Marlins?)

Yes, John Rocker is allowed to compete for a spot in the Braves' bullpen. We've already revealed that Aubrey Huff, Aroldis Chapman, and Roberto Osuna are on their respective teams' All-Time rosters. If Rocker can beat out Wohlers, Camp, or Bedrosian - and fellow lefty Eric O'Flaherty - he's in.

	Braves stats	SV	ERA	ERA+	K/BB	WHIP
	*Mark Wohlers	112	3.73	112	2.14	1.385
	*Rick Camp	57	3.37	115	1.21	1.386
	*Steve Bedrosian	41	3.26	119	1.80	1.302
	John Rocker	83	2.63	170	2.11	1.326
	Eric O'Flaherty	0	2.82	142	2.34	1.238

Looks like he made it, right? Not so fast. Rocker made just 210 appearances for Atlanta, while every other reliever listed here pitched in at least 350 games for the club. O'Flaherty earns the spot. Wohlers should be the odd man out, but Bedrosian has eligibility with another NL East team - one with a very shallow 'pen.

Looking ahead, there are two more young stars on the Braves who could push for a spot on this All-Time squad someday - if they weren't stuck behind the GOATs of the franchise. At least Austin Riley and Ronald Acuna Jr. could conceivably end up on the bench ten years hence; starting pitchers are going to have a near-impossible task breaking through the Braves' All-Time rotation.


TL; DR: Three changes from the original roster. Carty, Justice, and Bedrosian out. Albies, Duffy, and O'Flaherty in.

Come back tomorrow for the Miami Marlins All-Time roster. No, seriously, it'll be interesting. I swear. 😁


Thanks for reading!

 

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All-Time Teams: Braves

Major League Baseball is celebrating 150 years of professional baseball. All 30 franchises have over two decades of history and so I'm creating an All-Time Team series. Every day in September, The Collector will list the best players by position in every MLB team's history. 

Today we'll look at the All-Time Team for the Atlanta Braves.

Manager: Bobby Cox  
Home: Fulton County Stadium

  

Leading off for the Braves.. the Designated Hitter.. Rico Carty

Rico Carty has more experience as a designated hitter than anyone on the Braves All-Time team. The reason he's leading off is less obvious. His .388 career OBP is sixth in Braves history; only one player ahead of him is on this roster. Carty was a terrific hitter when healthy, batting .317 over his eight years in Milwaukee/Atlanta. Unfortunately he averaged just 103 games per year in his Braves tenure. In his lone All-Star season of 1970, Carty led the majors with a .366 BA and .454 OBP.

Batting second for Atlanta.. the First Baseman.. Freddie Freeman

Freddie Freeman is already one of the most productive hitters in Braves history - and he won't turn 30 until next Thursday. The four-time All-Star is nearly halfway to 3,000 hits and has already set career highs in home runs and RBI with four weeks left in the season. As you'll see with the next few names in this lineup, production past age 30 is what separates Hall of Famers from the "Hall of Very Good". Time will tell which side Freeman falls on, but he's sure trending in the right direction.

Batting third.. the Shortstop.. Chipper Jones

The first overall pick in the 1990 draft, Chipper Jones began his career at shortstop - where he'll play for the All-Time Braves. A lifetime .303 hitter, Jones won a batting title at age 36 with a career-high .364 average. He won the NL MVP in 1999, setting career highs with 45 home runs, 125 walks, and a 1.074 OPS+. Chipper's 1619 career runs scored and 1623 career RBI are both second all-time among third basemen.

Batting fourth.. the Right Fielder.. Hank Aaron  

Every baseball fan knows Henry Aaron as the (former) all-time home run king. Not every baseball fan knows that Aaron remains the all-time leader in total bases and runs batted in. The 25-time All-Star(!) has just one NL MVP award on his mantel, along with two batting titles and three Gold Gloves. "Hammerin' Hank" only led the league in WAR once, but his career total of 143 is fifth all-time. When Aaron was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1982 (his first year of eligibility) nine BBWAA voters did not vote for him.

Batting fifth.. the Third Baseman.. Eddie Mathews
 

Very few players could bump Chipper Jones off of third base. Eddie Mathews is one of the few. Arguably the second-greatest third baseman of all-time, Mathews slugged 40 or more home runs four times and totaled 512 over his 17-year career. As a 21 year-old, Eddie led the NL in home runs and OPS+, finishing second to Roy Campanella in NL MVP voting. Mathews retired on top in 1968, winning a World Series with the Detroit Tigers.

Batting sixth.. the Center Fielder.. Andruw Jones

Just 19 when he hit two home runs in the 1996 World Series, Andruw Jones was on a Hall of Fame track throughout his twenties. The "Curacao Kid" combined legendary defense (ten Gold Gloves in his first eleven seasons) with prodigious power (seven seasons of 30+ home runs, including 51 in 2005.) His thirties were a disaster, yet Jones still has 434 career home runs, a WAR of 62.8, and 1289 RBI to go with those Gold Gloves.

Batting seventh.. the Left Fielder.. Dale Murphy

One of the most popular players in franchise history, Dale Murphy has to play left field for the Braves All-Time Team due to the presence of Andruw Jones. A Hall of Famer in the hearts of Braves fans everywhere, "Murph" was one of the biggest stars of the 1980s, winning back-to-back MVP awards, five Gold Gloves, and four Silver Sluggers. His career WAR of 46.5 is short of Cooperstown standards, but plenty of players have made it there with less production.

Batting eighth.. the Catcher.. Brian McCann

The Braves' current catcher, Brian McCann returned to Atlanta after three years with the Yankees and two with the Astros. The seven-time All-Star and six-time Silver Slugger winner compiled nine consecutive 20-homer seasons from 2008-16. McCann has more home runs than any catcher in team history and his slugging and OPS averages rank him just ahead of Joe Torre for second place among Braves backstops.

Batting ninth.. the Second Baseman.. Rabbit Maranville

The oldest continually operating franchise in baseball has surprisingly slim pick'ins at second base. Maranville is a Hall of Famer despite a meager .258/.318/.340 career slash line. His career WAR of 42.8 was 29th-best on the 1954 BBWAA ballot (four players ahead of him never made it to Cooperstown), yet he got the most votes in that year's election.

That said, he's still a better choice than Glenn Hubbard or Mark Lemke.

The Starting Pitcher for the Braves.. Warren Spahn
 

Warren Spahn is still the winningest (that's not a word?) left-hander in baseball history. He's also got more victories than any post-war pitcher and the sixth-most of any pitcher ever. Spahn led the league in complete games nine times, innings pitched four times, strikeouts four times, and WHIP four times. Surprisingly, the 17-time All-Star won just one Cy Young and one World Series, both in 1957.

Now let's look at the Braves' bench and bullpen:

Catcher -  Del Crandall
1st Base - Joe Adcock
Infielder - Johnny Logan
Outfield - Wally Berger
Outfield - David Justice

Brian McCann and Javy Lopez have nearly identical stats for the Braves. So why did I go with Del Crandall as the backup catcher? Eleven All-Star nods and four Gold Gloves, plus a 14.0 career dWAR. With Chipper Jones and Eddie Mathews on the roster I chose the shortstop Logan over another third baseman such as Darrell Evans.

 
#2 starter - Phil Niekro
#3 starter - Tom Glavine
#4 starter - John Smoltz
#5 starter - Kid Nichols

What, no Greg Maddux? The four-time Cy Young winner was allocated to Chicago because the Braves franchise has had so many more great pitchers to choose from. Maddux isn't even the only Hall of Fame pitcher the Cubs are "borrowing" from the Braves.

 
RH Reliever - Rick Camp
RH Reliever - Mark Wohlers
RH Reliever - Greg McMichael
RH Reliever - Steve Bedrosian
RH Reliever - Gene Garber
RH Reliever - Craig Kimbrel

You might notice a lack of left-handers in this bullpen. When I chose these teams the bullpens were built on stats alone - games finished, saves, ERA, WHIP, and so on. Handedness did not factor into any roster decisions. (FYI, the lefty reliever with the most saves and games finished in franchise history is.. John Rocker.)

Come back tomorrow for our next All-Time Team, the Baltimore Orioles.


Thanks for reading!


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Sports Card Tour 2018 - Atlanta

If you missed my last post, I'm doing a 'tour' of my sports card and memorabilia collection by city. Our first stop was Anaheim. Today the tour bus takes us to Atlanta.

Atlanta has three pro sports teams - the Braves, the Falcons, and the Hawks. Technically though, they only have two. The Braves' new ballpark is in Cobb county, not Fulton county. Someone familiar with the area will have to tell me if this counts, or if it's akin to the New York Giants and Jets playing in New Jersey.

Each of Atlanta's three teams have played 50 seasons in the city (or reasonably adjacent) and they have exactly one championship between them - the 1995 Braves. Key members of that World Series winning squad have recently been inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, including manager Bobby Cox, general manager John Schuerholz, and pitchers Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, and John Smoltz.

Chipper Jones will join them in Cooperstown this summer. Let's hope he doesn't say anything stupid in his speech.


Of the 500 cards I ordered from COMC in 2017, two of the cards I was most excited about featured Hank Aaron. But, as I game out each post in this Sports Card Tour series I realize that the vintage card doesn't belong here - since it was released when the Braves were still in Milwaukee. This Tier One bat relic qualifies though:

When the Black Friday sales are nigh, I like to pick out a few cards to target and add to my watch list. But COMC had just run a promotion two weeks prior, so I really didn't have anything in mind. Then I saw this card and grabbed it on sale for $15.25. The vintage Aaron cost a lot more....


I've never cheered for an Atlanta team more than I did in Super Bowl 51. The Falcons weren't just beating Tom Brady and the Patriots - they were embarrassing them. And then Matt Ryan fumbled it away. I wanted to set my Falcons cards on fire after that. I didn't, of course. But I've got very few Falcons 'hits' anyhow. Behold, my best Falcons cards!

That's a Jeff George Pro Set 'error' I picked up for about a buck, a Vinny Sutherland E-X rookie card that's only valuable to me, a Michael Vick Victory RC, and a Jerious Norwood Chrome RC - plus two Matt Ryan parallels I bought on COMC before the Superb Owl.

Those are my best Falcons cards.

Oh wait...it just so happens that my favorite athlete of all time played for Atlanta.

Um...no. I've never liked Deion, but I love those red Falcons unis. I even bought a Sanders Starting Lineup figure from 1990, just to have that red helmet. The 2012 Score card on the right is a flashback reprint. 

No, my favorite former Falcon is of course Brett Favre. I have about 600 Favre cards in my collection (really should count them someday) including these three...

...and every Favre rookie year card (except for the Wild Card stripe parallels and the Star Pics auto) Here are a few from his season of sitting behind Chris Miller and being insulted by Jerry Glanville.

There are 26 Braves cards in my 'hits' box; I include Milwaukee Braves in this total since my cards are sorted by franchise. Probably should have filtered them out for purposes of this post - but the Aaron and Eddie Mathews are two of my favorite Braves cards.

Braxton Davidson was a prospect I collected before giving up on prospecting in favor of vintage. I held onto this blue refractor, even though his minor league stats are going south.

There are 108 Braves cards in my baseball binder. Here's a cross-section page:

Lots of semi-stars and borderline HOFers in Hot-lanta.

I haven't forgotten the Hawks..but the rest of the NBA has (ba-dum-tiss) 

My blogger buddies Jon (A Penny Sleeve for Your Thoughts) and Billy (Cardboard History) have re-ignited my interested in collecting basketball cards. I've received a lot of great cards from them, and augmented their additions with a few purchases from COMC.

The Spud Webb Hoops card is one of my all-time favorites. The Laettner Matrix card somehow scanned without the shiny; for 57 cents I added it to the COMC 500.

The 'Nique relic was also from COMC, but I bought it more than a year ago. I like these Stadium Club Full Court Press cards so much I bought another one.. which you'll see in a future tour stop. 

source

In a previous post I mentioned that I actually miss the Atlanta Thrashers. They weren't exactly a successful franchise, having been swept by the Rangers in their only playoff appearance. But they did have some great players during their 11 years in Atlanta.

A young franchise could not ask for a better pair of building blocks than Dany Heatley and Ilya Kovalchuk. Both players were fantastic from the start of their NHL careers, finishing 1-2 in rookie of the year voting. And then tragedy struck when Heatley was involved in a car accident that claimed the life of teammate Dan Snyder (pictured at the bottom left.)

As the Thrashers franchise floundered and relocation rumors swirled I started collecting more Atlanta items - Ilya Kovalchuk in particular. Kovy was traded to the Devils after he declined to re-sign with the Thrashers due to their uncertain future. 

His Devils contract was controversial (and initially illegal) and the way he weaseled out of it still leaves me bitter to this day. But I'm never going to discard his Atlanta items. Look at the breaks on that patch! I can't recall how much I paid for this card, but a replica Kovy jersey only set me back about $40 on eBay:

Final thoughts...

Why hasn’t Hollywood made a movie about Hank Aaron? There are movies about Jackie Robinson and the racist taunts he endured while breaking the color barrier. There is a movie about Roger Maris and the stressful season he endured while chasing a home run record held by Babe Ruth. Aaron's story has both - and yet it hasn't been told on the silver screen. The fact that Hammerin' Hank had to spend an entire off-season sitting on 714 and fearing for his life because of it is unimaginable to me. We have not celebrated this great man enough.

Favorite Braves player: none yet, but I'll be keeping an eye on Dansby Swanson and Ozzie Albies

Favorite Falcons player: Julio Jones

incoming from COMC. only cost $1.

Favorite Hawks player: Dennis Schroder is pretty good, but honestly I haven’t watched the Hawks since that 60-win team a while back. Let’s see who they get in the lottery.

Braves card I'd like to own: Someday I'd love to get my hands on the Hank Aaron Home Run King card from 1974 Topps. It's not cheap though, especially in top condition.

Falcons card I'd like to own: I had a copy of this Topps Favre “rookie” card but it was damaged and I never replaced it.

This card begs the question - why didn’t Topps include Favre in their 1991 flagship set? 

Hawks card I'd like to own: Another Dominique Wilkins card. Like this one, or this one.

Thrashers card I'd like to own: Perhaps this bland Chris Chelios sunset card from 2010-11 Score.

Next tour stop: Baltimore. This was quite a long one. I'll try to shorten these posts in the future.

Thanks for reading!

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