1966 Atlanta Braves season explained

Atlanta Braves
Season:	1966
League:	National League
Ballpark:	Atlanta Stadium
City:	Atlanta
League Place:	5th
Owners:	William Bartholomay (chairman)^[1]
General Managers:	John McHale, Paul Richards
Managers:	Bobby Bragan   Billy Hitchcock
Television:	WSB-TV
Radio:	WSB (Larry Munson, Ernie Johnson, Dizzy Dean)
Prev Season:	1965 Milwaukee Braves season

The 1966 Atlanta Braves season was the first for the franchise in Atlanta, and 96th overall, following their relocation from Milwaukee, where the team had played the previous 13 seasons. The Braves finished their inaugural year in Atlanta in fifth place in the National League with a record of 85–77, ten games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Braves played their first season of home games at Atlanta Stadium. The home attendance for the season was 1,539,801, sixth in the ten-team

Offseason

• November 29, 1965: Jesse Gonder was drafted from the Braves by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 1965 rule 5 draft.^[2]
• January 29, 1966: Tom Seaver was drafted by the Braves in the secondary phase of the 1966 Major League Baseball draft, but the pick was voided.^[3]

Regular season

• July 3, 1966: Tony Cloninger became the first National League player—and, as of 2022, the only pitcher—to hit two grand slams in one game.^[4]
• September 11, 1966: Rookie pitcher Pat Jarvis of the Braves became the first of 5,714 strikeout victims of Nolan Ryan's career.^[5]

Opening day

The Atlanta Braves' first-ever game was played at home, at Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium, on Tuesday, April 12, 1966, against the Pittsburgh Pirates before 50,671 fans.^[6] Braves' starting pitcher Cloninger, a 24-game winner in Milwaukee in 1965, pitched a 13-inning complete game but absorbed a hard-luck, With the game tied at one in the top of the 13th, future hall of famer Willie Stargell hit a two-out, two-run home run to put Pittsburgh ahead 3–1. Atlanta catcher Joe Torre hit his second solo homer of the game to narrow the deficit to one run, but the Pirates held on to win. Earlier, in the fifth inning, Torre had hit the first homer in Atlanta's major league history.^[6]

Starting lineup

29		CF
41	Eddie Mathews	3B
44		RF
43		LF
15		C
19		SS
9	Lee Thomas	1B
2		2B
40		P

Front-office and managerial turnover

The Braves' first year in Atlanta featured an unusual amount of management churn in both the front office and dugout. On June 28, it was announced that Paul Richards, a veteran former MLB manager and general manager, would join the team as a roving troubleshooter in its farm system.^[7] The Braves were then a disappointing 34–42 (.447) and in eighth place in the ten-team National League. Braves president and GM John McHale remarked that Richards, 57, was poised to assume greater responsibilities within the Atlanta organization if called upon,^[7] leading to speculation that he would replace embattled field manager Bobby Bragan. More than a quarter-century earlier, in 1938, Richards had begun his management career as the successful player-manager of the minor league Atlanta Crackers.

On August 9, with the Braves still mired in the second division at, games behind and in fourth-year skipper Bragan was dismissed and replaced by bench coach like Richards a former teammate of McHale's with the Detroit Tigers. Hitchcock's hiring would pull the Braves out of their tailspin, and they won 33 of 51 games (.647), advancing to fifth place. But Richards was indeed destined to rise within the Atlanta organization. On August 31, he was named director of player personnel at both the Major and minor-league levels, effectively becoming general manager of baseball operations without the formal title, which McHale temporarily retained.^[8] Four months later, McHale resigned from the Braves to join the office of Commissioner of Baseball William Eckert, and on January 11, 1967, Richards was formally named Braves' general manager. He would serve in the post through June 1, 1972.^[9]

National transactions

• April 4, 1966: Marty Keough was purchased by the Braves from the Cincinnati Reds.^[10]
• April 5, 1966: Frank Thomas was placed on waivers by the Braves.^[11]
• April 28, 1966: Billy Cowan was traded by the Braves to the Chicago Cubs for future Braves manager Bobby Cox and cash.^[12]
• May 29, 1966: Marty Keough was traded by the Braves to the Chicago Cubs for John Herrnstein. Arnold Earley was also purchased.^[13]
• June 7, 1966: Al Santorini was drafted by the Braves in the 1st round (11th pick) of the 1966 Major League Baseball draft.^[14]

Roster

1966 Atlanta Braves
Roster
Pitchers		CatchersInfielders		Outfielders		ManagerCoaches

Player stats

Batting

Starters by position

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		148	546	172	.315	36	101
1B		154	666	218	.327	31	74
2B		144	455	120	.264	0	43
SS		138	454	114	.251	15	60
3B		134	452	113	.250	16	53
LF		151	521	170	.326	15	76
CF		118	417	110	.264	23	66
RF		158	603	168	.279	44	127

Other batters

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
	75	227	48	.211	1	18
	76	191	37	.194	8	24
	78	126	33	.262	4	10
	39	126	25	.198	6	15
	71	110	24	.218	2	7
	37	91	25	.275	0	5
	42	71	18	.254	0	6
	31	44	4	.091	0	2
	17	18	4	.222	0	1
	17	17	1	.059	0	1
	12	16	1	.063	0	0
	6	11	3	.273	0	3
	6	9	0	.000	0	0
	3	9	1	.111	0	1
	4	3	0	.000	0	0

Pitching

Starting pitchers

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

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
	39	257.2	14	11	4.12	178
	32	215.2	14	8	3.30	105
	27	171.0	11	8	3.74	139
	16	67.2	3	7	5.32	34
	10	62.1	6	2	2.31	41
	9	29.2	0	4	7.89	19
	2	8.1	1	1	2.16	6
	1	7.0	1	0	2.57	6

Other pitchers

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

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
	20	81.0	7	5	3.22	50
	14	48.1	2	3	3.91	22
	11	45.1	3	3	4.37	27

Relief pitchers

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

Player	G	W	L	SV	ERA	SO
	73	8	7	11	2.37	67
	47	5	4	7	4.23	41
	38	4	4	4	3.86	42
	28	4	3	2	4.11	17
	24	2	3	6	2.40	20
	22	0	2	0	3.10	23
	22	0	1	4	4.08	33
	14	0	0	0	3.42	11
	3	0	1	0	13.50	1
	1	0	0	0	0.00	2

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball.

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Austin

References

• Book: Johnson. Lloyd. Wolff. Miles. The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball. 2nd. Durham, North Carolina. Baseball America. 1997. 978-0-9637189-8-3.
• 1966 Atlanta Braves season at Baseball Reference

Notes and References

1. News: Bartholomay claims vindication as Braves pass million and half . Milwaukee Journal . Associated Press . September 29, 1966 . 17, part 2 .
2. https://www.baseball-reference.com/g/gondeje01.shtml Jesse Gonder
3. https://www.baseball-reference.com/s/seaveto01.shtml Tom Seaver
4. Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, 2008 Edition, p. 259, David Nemec and Scott Flatow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York,
5. Baseball's Top 100: The Game's Greatest Records, p. 32, Kerry Banks, 2010, Greystone Books, Vancouver, BC,
6. http://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1966/B04120ATL1966.htm
7. https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1876&dat=19660626&id=JIEsAAAAIBAJ&sjid=Ss0EAAAAIBAJ&pg=1679,4187776
8. https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=348&dat=19660831&id=27JMAAAAIBAJ&sjid=tDEDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6992,7095102
9. http://www.baseballamerica.com/execdb/?show=franchise&fid=atl
10. https://www.baseball-reference.com/k/keougma01.shtml Marty Keough
11. https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1876&dat=19660402&id=bnssAAAAIBAJ&sjid=vswEAAAAIBAJ&pg=3107,203924&hl=en Frank Thomas is place on waivers
12. https://www.baseball-reference.com/c/coxbo01.shtml Bobby Cox
13. https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1314&dat=19660530&id=V3szAAAAIBAJ&sjid=p-gDAAAAIBAJ&pg=1593,4653378&hl=en Cubs, Atlanta trade again
14. https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/s/santoal01.shtml Al Santorini