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1987-Present
1990 The Braves created shock waves August 4 when they traded Dale
Murphy, one of the most respected athletes in Atlanta history, to
the Philadelphia Phillies for Jeff Parrett, Jim Vatcher and Victor
Rosario.
1991 The Braves made history by becoming the first team ever to
reach the World Series just one season after having baseball's worst
record.
1992 Francisco Cabrera's 9th-inning, two-out, two-run, pinch-hit
single and Sid Bream's photo finish slide at home plate gave Atlanta
a stunning 3-2 triumph over the Pirates and sent the Braves to their
second consecutive World Series.
1993 After one of the most pulsating stretch runs in baseball history,
the Braves became the first team to win the N.L. West for three
consecutive years when they captured the division over the Giants
on the season's final day.
1994 The Braves opened the campaign in the newly aligned National
League attempting to capture their fourth straight division crown
in their new home, the N.L. East. The Braves began the season in
record fashion, winning their first seven games,all on the road.
1995 The Braves validated their label as the "Team of the 90's"
by winning their first World Series in 38 years. The world championship
was the first for the city of Atlanta in a major professional sport.
1996 The Braves made their fourth trip to the World Series out of
the last five played, but were unable to defend their world title
as the Yankees took the championship in six games. In their final
season at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium
1997 The Braves won a major league high 101 games and an unprecedented
sixth straight division title, but failed to reach the World Series
for the first time since 1993.
1998 Another amazing season for the Braves. The team wins 106 games
and its seventh straight division title.
1999 The Braves overcame the loss of several key players and captured
their fifth National League pennant of the 1990's, before falling
to the Yankees in the World Series.
2000 The Braves claimed their unprecedented ninth straight division
title, but saw their streak of eight consecutive appearances in
the NLCS come to an end.
2001 The Braves advanced to the NLCS where they lost in five games
to the eventual World Champion Arizona Diamondbacks.
2002 For just the second time since 1991, the Braves didn't advance
to the National League Championship Series.
1966 - 1986
1966 The Braves and Pirates debuted Major League Baseball's first
season in Atlanta on April 12, with Pittsburgh winning, 3-2, in
13 innings. Atlanta was fifth in its initial season, but Aaron hit
44 homers and had 127 RBI to lead the league.
1969 The Braves marked the first year of division play by winning
the West. The Braves were fifth place on Aug. 19, but outplayed
San Francisco and Cincinnati down the stretch to win the division.
Phil Niekro won 23 games, while Aaron slugged 44 homers and knocked
in 97 runs. The Braves lost to the Miracle Mets in the playoffs,
three games to none.
1970 Rico Carty won the batting title with a .366 average, and Hank
Aaron recorded his 3,000th career hit.
1971 Aaron hit his 600th career homer, this one in Atlanta-Fulton
County Stadium off the Giants' Gaylord Perry. After hitting an Atlanta
rookie record 33 homers, Earl Williams is named Rookie of the Year.
1972 Manager Luman Harris was replaced during the season by future
Hall of Famer Eddie Mathews. The Braves hosted the All-Star Game.
1973 The Braves produced three hitters who belted 40 or more home
runs, Dave Johnson (43), Darrell Evans (41) and Hank Aaron (40).
Phil Niekro no-hit the Padres, winning 9-0.
1974 Hank Aaron tied Babe Ruth the first time he swung the bat,
connecting on April 4, off Cincinnati's Jack Billingham. Four days
later he broke the record with No. 715 against Dodgers' lefty Al
Downing. Ralph Garr led the league in hitting with a .353 average,
and Buzz Capra was the ERA leader with his 2.28 mark.
1975 The season was comparatively uneventful, but in January of
the off-season it became official that television magnate Ted Turner
purchased the club.
1976 The Braves shook the baseball world by signing pitcher Andy
Messersmith, who during the off-season won his free agency in court.
1977 Ted Turner decided to become team manager during a 17-game
losing streak. He lost to Pittsburgh, 2-1 at the Pirates' Three
Rivers Stadium. Turner's tenure in the dugout lasted only one game
as Commissioner Bowie Kuhn banished him upstairs.
1978 Bob Horner, the nation's No. 1 draft choice, signed with the
Braves and made the jump from the Arizona State campus to the majors
and won the Rookie-of-the-Year award.
1982 Dale Murphy, winning the first of two consecutive MVP awards,
paced the Braves to a West Division title by hitting 36 homers and
knocking in 109 runs. The Braves set a then-Major League record
by winning their first 13 games. They lost to the Cardinals in the
League Championship Series. Hank Aaron was elected to the Hall of
Fame.
1986 Bob Horner hit four homers in an 11-8 loss to Montreal, July
6.
1953 - 1965
1953 The Braves played their first season in Milwaukee, attracting
a National League-record 1,826,297 fans to the brand-new Milwaukee
County Stadium, and finished second. Eddie Mathews won the home
run title with 47, and Warren Spahn led the league in pitching victories
with 23.
1954 Bobby Thomson suffered a broken ankle in spring training and
forced the Braves to try a young infielder by the name of Hank Aaron
in the outfield. Aaron batted .280 with 13 homers as the Braves
finished third.
1956 Hank Aaron won the batting title with a .328 average, but the
Braves lost the pennant to the Dodgers on the final day of the season.
1957 The Braves won the pennant and World Series. Hank Aaron was
the league MVP, leading the N.L. in homers and RBI, but it was late-season
call-ups Wes Covington and Bob "Hurricane" Hazle who sparked the
Braves. Replacing injured players, Covington hit 21 homers, and
Hazle batted .403 down the stretch. Aaron batted .393 and Lou Burdette
won three games as the Braves beat the Yankees in the Series. Spahn
won the Cy Young Award.
1958 In the year the Dodgers and Giants went West, the pennant stayed
in Milwaukee. Mathews and Aaron combined for 61 homers, Spahn and
Burdette for 42 pitching victories to lead the way. However, the
Yankees won the World Series, four games to three.
1959 It required a postseason playoff for the Los Angeles Dodgers
to supplant the Braves as N.L. champs. Mathews led the league in
homers with 46, Aaron in hitting with a .355 average. Burdette and
Spahn won 21 games each.
1963 Aaron just missed the triple crown, leading the league in homers
with 44 and RBI with 130. Warren Spahn wins 23 games at age 42.
1965 The Braves' move to Atlanta was halted by a court order, forcing
a lame duck season in Milwaukee. The Braves led the league with
196 homers.
1876 - 1952
1876 When the National Association folded, the Red Stockings joined
the National League. On April 22, 1876, they played in the very
first National League game, scoring two runs in the ninth inning
to beat the homestanding Philadelphia Athletics, 6-5, before a crowd
of 3,000.
1878 The Red Stockings win a second consecutive NL pennant with
a 41-19 record, despite hitting just .241 as a team. Tommy Bond
started 59 of the team's 60 games and won 40 for the second year
in a row.
1883 The Braves become known as the Beaneaters to tie their identity
to Boston and avoid confusion with the Cincinnati Reds of the American
Association. The teams wins the NL once again.
1887 After several years of lackluster performances, the Beaneaters
acquire Mike "King" Kelly, the Babe Ruth of the 19th century and
unquestionably the most popular player of his day. Kelly's salary
of $10,000 stunned the world.
1891 The Beaneaters win 18 in a row and 23 of their last 30 to go
87-51 and win the NL pennant. Chicago, which came in second, protested
that the Eastern teams helped Boston win, but on Nov. 11, the league
ruled that the pennant belonged to the Beaneaters, the first of
several in the decade.
1903-1912 A long pennant drought for the Beaneaters, the team finishes
no better than sixth for ten seasons. The 1906 team lost a franchise-record
19 in a row. In 1907, the team changed names; the Beaneaters become
known as the Doves, after the new owners, the Dovey brothers. In
1912, the team acquires the nickname Braves for the first time at
the suggestion of Johnny Montgomery Ward.
1914 The Braves completed their miracle finish by coming from last
on July 18 to win the N.L. pennant. The cold start (4-18) was matched
by the blazing finish, (51-16). The Braves then swept four from
heavily favored Philadelphia to win the World Series. Johnny Evers,
who won the MVP award, Rabbit Maranville and Bill James led the
team.
1916 The Braves are sold by James Gaffney to a Boston syndicate
for $500,000. The team finishes third.
1919 Jim Thorpe, the world's greatest athlete, joins the Braves,
but the team finishes a distant sixth. George Washington Grant buys
the team.
1928 Rogers Hornsby, playing for his third team in three years,
hit .387 for the Braves and easily won the N.L. batting title. Hall
of Famer George Sisler also contributed, hitting .340, but the Braves
struggled to a 50-103 record and a seventh place finish.
1935 Babe Ruth finished his career in a Braves uniform. Ruth homered
in his first N.L. at-bat, off Carl Hubbell, but batted only .181
and, after seven more homers for a career total of 714, removed
himself from the lineup in June and officially retired as a player.
The team finished 38-115.
1936 The Braves' name was changed to the Bees as a result of a fan
poll. Braves Field was renamed National League Park and was also
called the Beehive. Five years later the club readopted the nickname
Braves.
1948 This is the year that produced the phrase "Spahn and Sain and
two days of rain" as Warren Spahn and Johnny Sain combined for 39
wins. Sain had a league-high 24 as the Braves won the pennant but
lost to Cleveland in the World Series. Al Dark batted .322 to lead
the Braves in the regular season while winning the Rookie-of-the-Year
award.
1952 Eddie Mathews became the first rookie in major league history
to hit three home runs in a game, accomplishing it on September
27, during the Braves' final win in Boston.
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