1987 Atlanta Braves season explained

Atlanta Braves
Season:	1987
League:	National League
Division:	West
Ballpark:	Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium
City:	Atlanta
Record:	69–92 (.429)
Divisional Place:	5th
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 1987 Atlanta Braves season was the 117th in franchise history and their 22nd in Atlanta. The team introduced new uniforms this season harkening back to the 1950s, which, with a slight change made in 2019, continue to be the team's uniforms to this day, replacing their pullover jersey/beltless pants combo worn since 1980.^{[1] [2] [3]}

Offseason

• November 17, 1986: Chuck Hensley was signed as a free agent with the Atlanta Braves.^[4]
• November 17, 1986: Trench Davis was signed as a free agent with the Atlanta Braves.^[5]
• February 2, 1987: Luis Leal was traded by the Toronto Blue Jays with Damaso Garcia to the Atlanta Braves for Craig McMurtry.^[6]

Regular season

• May 1, 1987: Houston Astros pitcher Nolan Ryan hit a home run off of Braves pitcher Charlie Puleo.^[7]
• August 17, 1987: Tom Glavine made his major league baseball debut.^[8] It was against the Houston Astros and Glavine was the starting pitcher. Glavine pitched 3.2 innings and allowed 10 hits and six earned runs. Glavine allowed 5 bases on balls and recorded one strikeout.^[9]
• September 27, 1987: 48-year old Phil Niekro is signed by the Braves for one final major league start against the San Francisco Giants. Niekro had been released by the Toronto Blue Jays almost a month earlier. He pitches three innings, giving up six hits and 5 runs in a 15-6 loss.

Notable transactions

• April 1, 1987: Graig Nettles was signed as a free agent with the Atlanta Braves.^[10]
• April 3, 1987: John Mizerock was signed as a free agent with the Atlanta Braves. ^[11]
• May 5, 1987: Doyle Alexander was signed as a free agent by the Braves.^[12]
• June 2, 1987: Mike Stanton was drafted by the Braves in the 13th round of the 1987 Major League Baseball draft. Player signed June 10, 1987.^[13]
• July 25, 1987: Joe Boever was traded by the St. Louis Cardinals to the Atlanta Braves for Randy O'Neal.^[14]
• August 12, 1987: Doyle Alexander was traded by the Braves to the Detroit Tigers for John Smoltz.^[12]

Roster

1987 Atlanta Braves
Roster
Pitchers		Catchers Infielders		Outfielders Other batters		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		123	429	106	.247	27	72
1B		142	533	144	.270	12	74
2B		141	443	117	.264	5	38
3B		135	508	142	.280	3	48
SS		82	324	75	.231	5	39
LF		122	399	114	.286	14	64
CF		134	494	154	.312	10	61
RF		159	566	167	.295	44	105

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
	92	292	83	.284	3	24
	56	179	47	.263	1	21
	112	177	37	.209	5	33
	73	177	49	.277	4	30
	51	165	40	.242	2	15
	67	151	33	.219	9	28
	37	95	14	.147	1	5
	21	83	22	.265	2	9
	27	47	10	.213	3	8
	6	8	0	.000	0	1
	6	3	0	.000	0	0
	1	1	0	.000	0	0
	1	0	0	----	0	0

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
	36	242.0	15	10	4.09	130
	39	197.0	8	13	4.98	95
	28	152.1	8	11	4.90	111
	16	117.2	5	10	4.13	64
	9	50.1	2	4	5.54	20
	6	31.2	1	2	4.83	11
	5	25.1	2	3	4.62	14
	1	3.0	0	0	15.00	0

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
	35	123.1	6	8	4.23	99
	16	61.0	4	2	5.61	33
	9	20.1	0	1	5.75	13
	7	14.2	0	1	6.14	7

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
	68	4	9	14	4.16	68
	49	8	10	10	4.41	48
	53	3	4	4	3.91	40
	52	1	1	2	5.10	39
	27	0	1	1	5.01	12
	14	1	0	0	7.36	18
	13	1	1	1	3.78	15
	2	0	1	0	7.71	0

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball.

^[15]

References

• 1987 Atlanta Braves season at Baseball Reference

Notes and References

1. Web site: Braves Uniforms . mlb.com . Atlanta Braves . May 18, 2023.
2. Web site: Atlanta Braves Make Subtle But Strong Changes To Their Uniforms . Bell . Demetrieus . January 20, 2019 . forbes.com . Forbes . May 18, 2023.
3. Web site: 1987-the Year that MLB's Uniforms Stepped Backwards . Radom . Todd . June 13, 2013 . toddradom.com . Todd Radom . May 18, 2023.
4. Web site: Chuck Hensley Stats.
5. Web site: Trench Davis Stats.
6. https://www.baseball-reference.com/l/leallu01.shtml Luis Leal Statistics
7. https://www.baseball-reference.com/pi/event_hr.cgi?n1=ryanno01&type=b Nolan Ryan Home Run Log (Batting) – Baseball-Reference PI
8. Web site: Tom Glavine Stats.
9. Web site: Box Score of Game played on Monday, August 17, 1987 at Astrodome.
10. https://www.baseball-reference.com/n/nettlgr01.shtml Graig Nettles Statistics
11. Web site: John Mizerock: Career Statistics . Baseball Reference. 25 January 2018.
12. https://www.baseball-reference.com/a/alexado01.shtml Doyle Alexander
13. https://www.baseball-reference.com/s/stantmi02.shtml Mike Stanton
14. Web site: Joe Boever Stats.
15. Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 1997