The team of the 1990s: Atlanta Braves

The Atlanta Braves were a model of constancy and dominance from 1991-1999 where they won eight of their fourteen consecutive division titles, claimed the NL pennant five times, and were World Champions in 1995. Photo by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Written by Jack Butler jbutle58@lakers.mercyhurst.edu

Photos obtained by Daniel Ranallo dranallo7044@gmail.com

CLEVELAND, Ohio – Baseball in the 1990s would look vastly different without the brilliant run of the Atlanta Braves. After finishing last in the National League West in 1990, manager Bobby Cox turned things around as he led his club to the 1991 World Series. On the field, the Braves were getting it done with phenomenal young starting pitching by Tom Glavine, John Smoltz, and Steve Avery and with hitters Terry Pendleton, Ron Gant, and David Justice. Unfortunately, the Minnesota Twins, who went last to first too, rallied to win games six and seven at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome to claim its first Fall Classic since 1987. Atlanta choked as they were up 3-2 with Avery on the mound to clinch it out but lost 4-3 in the eleventh on a Kirby Puckett homer. With the series tied at 3, Cox sent Smoltz to battle Jack Morris on the pitching slab and by golly, it was a dandy of a pitcher’s duel. Morris outdueled Smoltz by going 10 shutout innings, then in the bottom half pinch hitter Gene Larkin lined a ball to right field and Dan Gladden walked home for the winning run. The Braves came back with a vengeance the following season, aiming to win the World Series this time.

Cox’s club went 98-64 in 1992 and under the two-league, four-division formats, Atlanta met the Pittsburgh Pirates in the NLCS for the second straight season. [1] During game seven, the Braves came back to score three runs in the ninth at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium where an unlikely hero sent his team to the World Series. With two outs and Sid Bream and Justice on second and third respectively, Francisco Cabrera pinch hits for Jeff Reardon. Cabrera lined a single to left plating both Justice and Bream to claim the NL Pennant (Click the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FgjIVvEQo_o to watch Cabrera’s heroics). [2] For the Braves, its magic ended when the Toronto Blue Jays won the World Series in six games, becoming the first team from north of the border to do so. In the following months, Atlanta made a splash in free agency which greatly altered the course of the franchise.

Atlanta Braves manager Bobby Cox during the 1992 World Series on October 22, 1992 at the Skydome in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Photo by the National Baseball Hall of Fame Library.

On December 9, 1992, the Braves signed reigning NL Cy Young Award winner Greg “the Professor” Maddux for an early Christmas present. Maddux provided to be the missing piece in an already loaded pitching rotation. According to the Society of American Baseball Research biography of the Professor, it states his pitching coach Leo Mazzone’s thoughts on the signing by expressing, “When we signed Maddux, I didn’t realize at the time it was going to be the greatest free-agent signing in the history of the game. But I knew I was going to get a lot smarter, really quick.” [3] He was right about both of those statements because Maddux dominated on the mound, going 20 and 10 and struck out 197 batters with a 2.36 ERA. [4] These numbers added to Maddux’s trophy collection as he was awarded the Cy Young for the second consecutive year. Even with the tremendous regular season by Atlanta, they were bested by the Philadelphia Phillies in the Championship Series in six games. So, the Braves had to wait another year…or two for a chance at a World Series because of the 1994 players strike.

In the 144-game strike-shorted season, Cox led his ballclub to a 90-54 record and another division title. The Braves battled the young Colorado Rockies franchise in the inaugural Division Series. They advanced to the NLCS after taking three games over Colorado and were ready to face the Cincinnati Reds, who were five years removed from winning it all. Atlanta made quick work of Cincinnati and was aiming to win their first Fall Classic since the club was playing in Milwaukee thirty-six-years earlier. After two of their three aces, Maddux and Glavine gave them two brilliant starts which resulted in giving them a 2-0 lead. Atlanta dropped two of the next three games in Cleveland but had an opportunity to clinch it at Fulton County Stadium with Glavine on the mound.

Glavine tossed arguably the greatest World Series-clinching performance ever by throwing 8 scoreless frames, allowing only 1 hit and walking 3 while also getting 8 Indians to strikeout. The only offensive was provided by Justice with a go-ahead solo shot to right off Jim Poole in the sixth (tap the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47loqnkg8A8 to watch Justice give his team the lead in Game 6). [5] To close out the ninth, Cox summoned closer Mark Wohlers in for Glavine. After retiring Lofton and pinch hitter Paul Sorrento on 8 pitches, the only man standing in the Braves way of a Championship was Carlos Baerga. Wohlers needed one pitch to retire Baerga, then the celebration began in front of the pitcher's’ mound for the first and only World Championship for an Atlanta sports franchise (click the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=etf9rcbhfTM to see the Braves win the World Series). [6] Following the days, weeks, and months of celebrating a World Series title, the Braves were preparing to came back in 1996 to do it all over again.

Atlanta came oh so close that year after winning 96 and losing 66 in the regular season where Smoltz was named Cy Young for his dominant pitching. Also, it resulted in a fifth straight division title and fourth NL Pennant in six years once they took care of the St. Louis Cardinals in the NLCS. Unfortunately, a chance to become the first repeat champions since Toronto in 1992-1993 went down the drain as Atlanta lost four in a row after leading 2-0. Smoltz and the Professor kept the New York Yankees in check at Yankees Stadium, but could not get a win at home. New York took full advantage of the Braves blunders and came back to the “House that Ruth Built” for a must-win game six for Atlanta. Maddux faced Yankee lefty Jimmy Key where the latter pitched better which resulted in New York’s 23rd World Championship. That series was tough to swallow but the Braves still had Smoltz, Glavine, Maddux, and Chipper Jones ready for another run.

Well just like 1993, Cox’s ballclub was so dominating in 1997 but fell to the heavy underdog Florida Marlins in six games in the NLCS. Florida eventually won the World Series over Cleveland 12 days later. Atlanta was even better in ’98 by winning 106 games and yet again fell in NLCS, this time to Bruce Bochy’s San Diego Padres. 1999 became the last year of baseball dominance for the Braves which ended in a fifth World Series appearance. However, they ran into the Yankees dynasty that would sweep them in four game and win four titles in five years.

In 1999, Atlanta Braves third baseman Chipper Jones won NL MVP after hitting 45 homers and driving in 110 runs while batting at a .319 clip. Photo by SBNation Talking Chop.

Despite the lack of Championships for Atlanta, you can’t deny the dominance the Braves displayed from 1991-1999. During that stretch, they won their division eighth consecutive times, reached the NLCS eight straight times, five trips to the World Series, and one title in 1995. Also, Glavine, Maddux, and Smoltz combined to win 7 of the 10 Cy Youngs during the decade which is a feat baseball probably won’t see again. More importantly, the club won 925 regular-season games, the most in that stretch, according to mcubed.net. [7] To top things off, members of that 90s Braves run started getting inducted in the National Baseball Hall of Fame with Bobby Cox, Greg Maddux, and Tom Glavine in 2014, John Smoltz in 2015, and Chipper Jones in 2018. These Atlanta Braves teams from the 1990s should always be remembered for having the greatest 10 year stretch in baseball history.

The Atlanta Braves legendary pitching trio, Tom Glavine, John Smoltz, and Greg Maddux put fear into opposing batters for close to a decade. These three accounted for seven NL Cy Youngs as Maddux won 3, Glavine 2, and Smoltz 1. Photo by Doug Mills/AP Images.

[1] Baseball Nostalgia. 1992 Atlanta Braves Statistics [Data file]. Retrieved April 30, 2020, from https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/ATL/1992.shtml [2] [MLB]. (2013, August 16). ’92 NLCS, Gm 7 PIT@ATL: Bream beats Bonds’ throw. [Video file]. Retrieved May 1, 2020, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FgjIVvEQo_o [3] Bob Nightengale. (2001, August 15-21). “Inside the Mind of Maddux,” USA Today Baseball Weekly: 14. Retrieved May 1, 2020, from https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/d13d4022#_edn13 [4] Baseball Reference. (2020). Greg Maddux Statistics [Data file]. Retrieved May 1, 2020, from https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/m/maddugr01.shtml [5] [MLB]. (2013, November 28). 1995 WS Gm6: Justice leads off the sixth with a homer. [Video file]. Retrieved May 1, 2020, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47loqnkg8A8 [6] [MLB]. (2013, November 28). 1995 WS Gm6: Braves clinch the 1995 World Series. [Video file]. Retrieved May 1, 2020, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=etf9rcbhfTM [7] mcubed.net. (2020, January 9). MLB: Regular season wins in the 1990’s [Data file]. Retrieved May 1, 2020, from http://mcubed.net/mlb/fw1990.shtml