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1979 Atlanta Braves season

Summary

The 1979 Atlanta Braves season was the 109th season for the franchise and their 14th in Atlanta.

1979 Atlanta Braves
LeagueNational League
DivisionWest
BallparkAtlanta–Fulton County Stadium
CityAtlanta
Record66–94 (.413)
Divisional place6th
OwnersTed Turner
General managersBill Lucas, John Mullen
ManagersBobby Cox
TelevisionWTCG
RadioWSB
(Ernie Johnson, Pete Van Wieren, Skip Caray)
← 1978 Seasons 1980 →

Offseason edit

Regular season edit

Season standings edit

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NL West 		W L Pct. GB Home Road
Cincinnati Reds 90 71 0.559 — 48–32 42–39
Houston Astros 89 73 0.549 1½ 52–29 37–44
Los Angeles Dodgers 79 83 0.488 11½ 46–35 33–48
San Francisco Giants 71 91 0.438 19½ 38–43 33–48
San Diego Padres 68 93 0.422 22 39–42 29–51
Atlanta Braves 66 94 0.412 23½ 34–45 32–49 Record vs. opponents edit
1979 National League record
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Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12]
Team ATL CHC CIN HOU LAD MON NYM PHI PIT SD SF STL
Atlanta — 4–8 6–12 7–11 12–6 1–9 4–8 7–5 4–8 6–12 11–7 4–8
Chicago 8–4 — 7–5 6–6 5–7 6–12 8–10 9–9 6–12 9–3 8–4 8–10
Cincinnati 12–6 5–7 — 8–10 11–7 6–6 8–4 8–4 8–4 10–7 6–12 8–4
Houston 11–7 6–6 10–8 — 10–8 7–5 9–3 5–7 4–8 14–4 7–11 6–6
Los Angeles 6–12 7–5 7–11 8–10 — 6–6 9–3 3–9 4–8 9–9 14–4 6–6
Montreal 9–1 12–6 6–6 5–7 6–6 — 15–3 11–7 7–11 7–5 7–5 10–8
New York 8–4 10–8 4–8 3–9 3–9 3–15 — 5–13 8–10–1 4–8 8–4 7–11
Philadelphia 5-7 9–9 4–8 7–5 9–3 7–11 13–5 — 8–10 9–3 6–6 7–11–1
Pittsburgh 8–4 12–6 4–8 8–4 8–4 11–7 10–8–1 10–8 — 7–5 9–3 11–7
San Diego 12–6 3–9 7–10 4–14 9–9 5–7 8–4 3–9 5–7 — 8–10 4–8
San Francisco 7–11 4–8 12–6 11–7 4–14 5–7 4–8 6–6 3–9 10–8 — 5–7
St. Louis 8–4 10–8 4–8 6–6 6–6 8–10 11–7 11–7–1 7–11 8–4 7–5 —


Death of GM Bill Lucas edit

On May 5, 1979, the Braves were staggered by the sudden death, at 43, of the club's general manager, Bill Lucas. The first African-American general manager in Major League Baseball, and the highest-ranking black executive in the game at the time of his death, he had been stricken at home May 2 with a massive cerebral hemorrhage, after watching a Braves' road-game victory on television.[4]

Lucas had been the Braves' top baseball operations official since September 17, 1976, and on his watch the team introduced players who would be integral parts of its early 1980s contending teams—such as Dale Murphy, Bob Horner and Glenn Hubbard. During Lucas' term, the club had also hired Bobby Cox for his first term (1978–81) as manager. Lucas had been a player and executive with the Braves since 1957; his sister, Barbara, also was the former wife of Hall of Famer and Braves' legend Henry Aaron.[5]

Lucas was succeeded May 16 by John Mullen, 54, a vice president with the Houston Astros since 1967 but previously a longtime member of the Braves' management team in Boston, Milwaukee and Atlanta. Mullen would serve as the Braves' general manager until his replacement, by Cox, in October 1985.[6]

Notable transactions edit

Roster edit

1979 Atlanta Braves
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders Manager

Coaches

Player stats edit

Batting edit

Starters by position edit

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Pos Player G AB H Avg. HR RBI
C Bruce Benedict 76 204 46 .225 0 15
1B Dale Murphy 104 384 106 .276 21 57
2B Glenn Hubbard 97 325 75 .231 3 29
3B Bob Horner 121 487 153 .314 33 98
SS Pepe Frías 140 475 123 .259 1 44
LF Jeff Burroughs 116 397 89 .224 11 47
CF Rowland Office 124 277 69 .249 2 37
RF Gary Matthews 156 631 192 .304 27 90

Other batters edit

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Player G AB H Avg. HR RBI
Jerry Royster 154 601 164 .273 3 51
Barry Bonnell 127 375 97 .259 12 45
Joe Nolan 89 230 57 .248 4 21
Mike Lum 111 217 54 .249 6 27
Darrel Chaney 63 117 19 .162 0 10
Eddie Miller 27 113 35 .310 0 5
Charlie Spikes 66 93 26 .280 3 21
Biff Pocoroba 28 38 12 .316 0 4
Larry Whisenton 13 37 9 .243 0 1
Bob Beall 17 15 2 .133 0 1
Mike Macha 6 13 2 .154 0 1
Brian Asselstine 8 10 1 .100 0 0
Jim Wessinger 10 7 0 .000 0 0

Pitching edit

Starting pitchers edit

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player G IP W L ERA SO
Phil Niekro 44 342.0 21 20 3.39 208
Eddie Solomon 31 186.0 7 14 4.21 96
Rick Matula 28 171.1 8 10 4.15 67
Tony Brizzolara 20 107.1 6 9 5.28 64
Larry McWilliams 13 66.1 3 2 5.56 32
Tommy Boggs 3 12.2 0 2 6.39 1

Other pitchers edit

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player G IP W L ERA SO
Mickey Mahler 26 100.0 5 11 5.85 71
Preston Hanna 6 24.1 1 1 2.96 15

Relief pitchers edit

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player G W L SV ERA SO
Gene Garber 68 6 16 25 4.33 56
Craig Skok 44 1 3 2 3.98 30
Adrian Devine 40 3 2 0 3.24 22
Joey McLaughlin 37 5 3 5 2.48 40
Bo McLaughlin 37 1 1 0 4.89 45
Larry Bradford 21 1 0 2 0.95 11
Rick Mahler 15 0 0 0 6.14 12
Frank LaCorte 6 0 0 0 7.56 6
Jamie Easterly 4 0 0 0 13.50 3

Farm system edit

Level Team League Manager
AAA Richmond Braves International League Tom Burgess
AA Savannah Braves Southern League Eddie Haas
A Greenwood Braves Western Carolinas League Al Gallagher
Rookie Kingsport Braves Appalachian League Gene Hassell
Rookie GCL Braves Gulf Coast League Pedro González

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Greenwood

Awards and honors edit

League leaders edit

Notes edit

  1. ^ Brook Jacoby at Baseball-Reference
  2. ^ Mike Davey at Baseball-Reference
  3. ^ Dave Campbell at Baseball-Reference
  4. ^ The Associated Press, May 8, 1979
  5. ^ Bryant, Howard, The Last Hero: A Life of Henry Aaron. New York: Random House, 2010, page 446
  6. ^ Baseball America Executive Database
  7. ^ Buzz Capra at Baseball-Reference
  8. ^ Paul Runge at Baseball-Reference
  9. ^ Brett Butler at Baseball-Reference
  10. ^ Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, 2008 Edition, p. 348, David Nemec and Scott Flatow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York, ISBN 978-0-451-22363-0

References edit

  • Johnson, Lloyd; Wolff, Miles, eds. (1997). The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (2nd ed.). Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America. ISBN 978-0-9637189-8-3.
  • 1979 Atlanta Braves season at Baseball Reference
  • Atlanta Braves on Baseball Almanac

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