1977 Atlanta Braves season

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1977 Atlanta Braves
LeagueNational League
DivisionWest
BallparkAtlanta–Fulton County Stadium
CityAtlanta
Record61–101 (.377)
Divisional place6th
OwnersTed Turner
General managersBill Lucas
ManagersDave Bristol (games 1–29, 32–162)
Ted Turner (game 30)
Vern Benson (game 31)
TelevisionWTCG
(Ernie Johnson, Pete Van Wieren, Skip Caray)
RadioWSB
(Ernie Johnson, Pete Van Wieren)
← 1976 Seasons 1978 →

The 1977 Atlanta Braves season was the 107th season for the franchise and their 12th in Atlanta. The team finished in last place in the six-team National League West with a record of 61–101, 37 games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Braves hit a major league-leading seven grand slams.[1]

All Braves home and away games were broadcast on WTCG-TV which during the offseason, under its owner Ted Turner, became the pioneer superstation in the United States and thus making the Braves the first MLB team to have its games telecast to millions of television viewers around the country aside from the national broadcasts on ABC and NBC which had been the case before the team's opening series of the season.[2]

Offseason[edit]

Regular season[edit]

Turner's one-day reign as manager[edit]

Midway through the 1977 season, with the Braves mired in a 16-game losing streak, owner Ted Turner sent Dave Bristol on a 10-day "scouting trip" and took over as his own manager. This only lasted for one game (a 2–1 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates) before National League president Chub Feeney ordered Turner to give up the reins, citing major league rules which forbid managers or players from owning stock in a team. After the Braves broke the skid under third-base coach Vern Benson, Bristol—who had spent the time at his offseason home in Andrews, North Carolina—was given his old job back for the remainder of the season.[4]

Notable events[edit]

  • September 15, 1977 - Dale Murphy hits two home runs in an 8–7 win over the San Diego Padres, the first home runs of his major league career.

Season standings[edit]

NL West 		W L Pct. GB Home Road
Los Angeles Dodgers 98 64 0.605 — 51–30 47–34
Cincinnati Reds 88 74 0.543 10 48–33 40–41
Houston Astros 81 81 0.500 17 46–35 35–46
San Francisco Giants 75 87 0.463 23 38–43 37–44
San Diego Padres 69 93 0.426 29 35–46 34–47
Atlanta Braves 61 101 0.377 37 40–41 21–60

Record vs. opponents[edit]

1977 National League record

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 — 5–7 4–14 9–9 5–13 6–6 7–5 2–10 3–9 11–7 8–10 1–11
Chicago 7–5 — 7–5 6–6 6–6 10–8 9–9 6–12 7–11 7–5 9–3 7–11
Cincinnati 14–4 5–7 — 5–13 10–8 7–5 10–2 8–4 3–9 11–7 10–8 5–7
Houston 9–9 6–6 13–5 — 9–9 8–4 6–6 4–8 4–8 8–10 9–9 5–7
Los Angeles 13–5 6–6 8–10 9–9 — 7–5 8–4 6–6 9–3 12–6 14–4 6–6
Montreal 6–6 8–10 5–7 4–8 5–7 — 10–8 7–11 7–11 5–7 6–6 12–6
New York 5–7 9–9 2–10 6–6 4–8 8–10 — 5–13 4–14 6–6 7–5 8–10
Philadelphia 10-2 12–6 4–8 8–4 6–6 11–7 13–5 — 8–10 9–3 9–3 11–7
Pittsburgh 9–3 11–7 9–3 8–4 3–9 11–7 14–4 10–8 — 10–2 2–10 9–9
San Diego 7–11 5–7 7–11 10–8 6–12 7–5 6–6 3–9 2–10 — 8–10 8–4
San Francisco 10–8 3–9 8–10 9–9 4–14 6–6 5–7 3–9 10–2 10–8 — 7–5
St. Louis 11–1 11–7 7–5 7–5 6–6 6–12 10–8 7–11 9–9 4–8 5–7 —


Opening Day starters[edit]

Notable transactions[edit]

Roster[edit]

1977 Atlanta Braves
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Other batters

Manager

Coaches

Player stats[edit]

= Indicates team leader

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; SB = Stolen bases

Pos Player G AB H Avg. HR RBI SB
C Biff Pocoroba 113 321 93 .290 8 44 3
1B Willie Montañez 136 544 156 .287 20 68 1
2B Rod Gilbreath 128 407 99 .243 8 43 3
3B Junior Moore 112 361 94 .260 5 34 4
SS Pat Rockett 93 264 67 .254 1 24 1
LF Gary Matthews 148 555 157 .283 17 64 22
CF Rowland Office 124 428 103 .241 5 39 2
RF Jeff Burroughs 154 579 157 .271 41 114 4

[8]

Other batters[edit]

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

Player G AB H Avg. HR RBI SB
Jerry Royster 140 445 96 .216 6 28 28
Barry Bonnell 100 360 108 .300 1 45 7
Darrel Chaney 74 209 42 .201 3 15 0
Tom Paciorek 72 155 37 .239 3 15 1
Vic Correll 54 144 30 .208 7 16 2
Brian Asselstine 83 124 26 .210 4 17 1
Cito Gaston 56 85 23 .271 3 21 1
Joe Nolan 62 82 23 .280 3 9 1
Dale Murphy 18 76 24 .316 2 14 0
Craig Robinson 27 29 6 .207 0 1 0
Larry Whisenton 4 4 1 .250 0 1 0
Rob Belloir 6 1 0 .000 0 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 44 330.1 16 20 4.03 262
Dick Ruthven 25 151.0 7 13 4.23 84
Andy Messersmith 16 102.1 5 4 4.40 69
Eddie Solomon 18 88.2 6 6 4.57 54
Mickey Mahler 5 23.0 1 2 6.26 14

[8]

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
Buzz Capra 45 139.1 6 11 5.36 100
Max León 31 81.2 4 4 3.97 44
Don Collins 40 70.2 3 9 5.09 27
Preston Hanna 17 60.0 2 6 4.95 37
Jamie Easterly 22 58.2 2 4 6.14 37
Frank LaCorte 14 37.0 1 8 11.68 28
Steve Hargan 16 36.2 0 3 6.87 18
Joey McLaughlin 3 6.0 0 0 15.00 0

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
Dave Campbell 65 0 6 13 3.05 42
Rick Camp 54 6 3 10 4.00 51
Duane Theiss 17 1 1 0 6.53 7
Steve Kline 16 0 0 1 6.64 10
Mike Davey 16 0 0 2 5.06 7
Bob Johnson 15 0 1 0 7.25 16
Mike Marshall 4 1 0 0 9.00 6
Mike Beard 4 0 0 0 9.64 1
Larry Bradford 2 0 0 0 3.38 1

Farm system[edit]

See also: Minor League Baseball
Level Team League Manager
AAA Richmond Braves International League Tommie Aaron
AA Savannah Braves Southern League Gene Hassell
A Greenwood Braves Western Carolinas League Bobby Dews
Rookie Kingsport Braves Appalachian League Bob Didier
Rookie GCL Braves Gulf Coast League Pedro González

Awards and honors[edit]

League leaders[edit]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ "Team Batting Event Finder: 1977, All Teams, Home Runs, With Runners on 123". Baseball Reference. Retrieved July 3, 2018.
  2. ^ "Atlanta TV goes national via satellite" (PDF). Broadcasting. Broadcasting Publications, Inc. December 20, 1976. p. 24. Retrieved September 20, 2018 – via American Radio History.
  3. ^ Carl Morton page at Baseball Reference
  4. ^ Hannon, Kent. Benched from the Bench. Sports Illustrated, 1977-05-23.
  5. ^ "1977 Atlanta Braves Roster by Baseball Almanac".
  6. ^ Mike Marshall page at Baseball Reference
  7. ^ Larry Owen page at Baseball Reference
  8. ^ a b "1977 Atlanta Braves Statistics".
  9. ^ 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]

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