1986 Atlanta Braves season explained

Atlanta Braves
Season:	1986
League:	National League
Division:	West
Ballpark:	Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium
City:	Atlanta
Record:	72–89 (.447)
Divisional Place:	6th
Owners:	Ted Turner
General Managers:	Bobby Cox
Managers:	Chuck Tanner
Television:	WTBS Superstation WTBS
Radio:	WSB (Ernie Johnson, Pete Van Wieren, Skip Caray, John Sterling)

The 1986 Atlanta Braves season was the 116th in franchise history and their 21st in Atlanta.

Offseason

• November 13, 1985: Randy Johnson was released by the Braves.^[1]
• December 6, 1985: Miguel Sosa (minors) was traded by the Braves to the New York Yankees for Billy Sample.^[2]
• March 5, 1986: Rick Cerone, David Clay (minors), and Flavio Alfaro (minors) were traded by the Braves to the Milwaukee Brewers for Ted Simmons.^[3]

Regular season

The Braves shutout the Montreal Expos, 6–0 in their season opener, but were 7–12 at the end of April, games out of first. Atlanta won 17 of their first 25 games in the month of May, improving their record to 24–20 May 27. They were tied for second and were games out of first.

On June 24 the Braves dropped into fourth place with a 34–36 record. They were in fourth place, games out of first. Atlanta won seven of their next eight games to surge back into contention on July 3. Atlanta was 41–37 and in third place, games out of first. The Braves promptly lost 20 of their next 25 games and fell into the cellar, 46–57, games out of first. After a 12–5 run put them within games of the lead, the Braves fizzled and faded down the stretch, losing their last five games to finish in last place with a 72–89 record, games out of first.

The strong play of the Braves in the first half of the season was partly attributed to "The Bomb Squad", a group of six veterans who provided clutch hitting of the bench. The members of "The Bomb Squad" were: Ted Simmons, Chris Chambliss, Omar Moreno, Billy Sample, Bruce Benedict, and Andres Thomas.^[4] The name for the group was coined during spring training by Simmons in an effort to create unity among the bench players (Simmons, Moreno, and Sample were in their first season with the Braves).

• July 6, 1986: In an 11-8 loss to the Montreal Expos, Bob Horner hit four home runs in one game. Horner became the second player in the 20th century (Gil Hodges was the first in 1950) to hit four home runs in one game in his home park.^[5] He became the first player since Ed Delahanty to hit four home runs in a losing game.^[5]

Notable transactions

• April 1, 1986: Pascual Pérez was released by the Braves.^[6]
• June 2, 1986: Ben McDonald was drafted by the Braves in the 27th round of the 1986 Major League Baseball draft, but did not sign.^[7]
• June 30, 1986: Claudell Washington and Paul Zuvella were traded by the Braves to the New York Yankees for Ken Griffey, Sr. and Andre Robertson.^[8]
• July 6, 1986: Duane Ward was traded by the Braves to the Toronto Blue Jays for Doyle Alexander.^[9]

Roster

1986 Atlanta Braves
Roster
Pitchers		Catchers Infielders		Outfielders		Manager Coaches

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		114	359	80	.223	15	48
1B		141	517	141	.273	27	87
2B		143	408	94	.230	4	36
3B		151	503	136	.270	5	48
SS		102	323	81	.251	6	32
LF		80	292	90	.308	12	32
CF		160	614	163	.265	29	83
RF		118	359	84	.234	4	27

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
	134	496	119	.240	8	33
	106	265	68	.257	8	30
	92	200	57	.285	6	14
	64	160	36	.225	0	13
	40	137	37	.270	5	14
	76	127	32	.252	4	25
	97	122	38	.311	2	14
	29	70	19	.271	2	11
	16	50	12	.240	0	1
	5	10	2	.200	0	0
	7	8	2	.250	0	0
	5	5	2	.400	0	1

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	237.2	14	18	4.88	137
	35	209.2	11	10	3.65	170
	38	204.2	8	16	4.05	139
	17	117.1	6	6	3.84	74
	17	87.0	6	7	4.97	49

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
	21	95.0	3	8	3.79	37
	37	79.2	1	6	4.74	50
	5	24.1	1	2	2.96	18

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
	61	5	5	24	2.54	56
	61	7	3	7	2.50	56
	57	6	6	3	2.98	58
	37	0	0	1	3.40	37
	16	2	0	3	4.34	16
	13	2	1	0	4.13	21
	10	0	1	0	7.31	8
	6	0	0	0	7.11	6

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball.

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Richmond, Pulaski^[10]

References

• 1986 Atlanta Braves season at Baseball Reference
• Atlanta Braves on Baseball Almanac

Notes and References

1. https://www.baseball-reference.com/j/johnsra04.shtml Randy Johnson
2. https://www.baseball-reference.com/s/samplbi01.shtml Billy Sample
3. https://www.baseball-reference.com/s/simmote01.shtml Ted Simmons
4. http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/1986-06-10/sports/8602030945_1_bomb-squad-atlanta-braves-fans-andres-thomas "Atlanta`s `Bomb Squad` No Flop."
5. Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, 2008 Edition, p.258, David Nemec and Scott latow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York,
6. https://www.baseball-reference.com/p/perezpa01.shtml Pascual Pérez
7. https://www.baseball-reference.com/m/mcdonbe01.shtml Ben McDonald
8. https://www.baseball-reference.com/g/griffke01.shtml Ken Griffey
9. https://www.baseball-reference.com/a/alexado01.shtml Doyle Alexander
10. Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 1997