| Atlanta Braves | |
| Season: | 2002 |
| Misc: | National League East Champions |
| League: | National League |
| Division: | East |
| Ballpark: | Turner Field |
| City: | Atlanta |
| Record: | 101–59 (.631) |
| Divisional Place: | 1st |
| Owners: | AOL Time Warner |
| General Managers: | John Schuerholz |
| Managers: | Bobby Cox |
| Television: | TBS Superstation Turner South (Pete Van Wieren, Skip Caray, Don Sutton, Joe Simpson) Fox Sports South (Tom Paciorek, Bob Rathbun) |
| Radio: | WSB (AM) (Pete Van Wieren, Skip Caray, Don Sutton, Joe Simpson) WWWE (Marcelo Godoy, Jose Manuel Flores) |
The 2002 Atlanta Braves season marked the franchise's 37th season in Atlanta and 132nd overall. The Braves won their eighth consecutive division title, finishing 19 games ahead of the second-place Montreal Expos. The Braves lost the 2002 Divisional Series to the eventual NL Champion San Francisco Giants, 3 games to 2. This would be the first of four consecutive NLDS losses in as many years, and the first of three consecutive years to do so by losing the deciding Game 5 at Turner Field.
2002 marked the final year that pitchers Tom Glavine, Greg Maddux and John Smoltz played on the same team ending the reign of what has been considered by many the greatest pitching trio of all-time. All three would be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame a decade later. Smoltz set the Braves' single season record for saves (55). Chipper Jones moved to the outfield in left field to allow for Vinny Castilla to be signed and added to the lineup at third base. Julio Franco became a regular player in the second stint of his Major League career and Gary Sheffield was acquired to the Braves in 2002, playing at right field.
| 2002 Atlanta Braves | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roster | |||||||||
| Pitchers | Catchers Infielders | Outfielders | Manager Coaches | ||||||
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 | 109 | 347 | 81 | .233 | 11 | 52 | ||
| 1B | 125 | 338 | 96 | .284 | 6 | 30 | ||
| 2B | 128 | 296 | 64 | .216 | 5 | 32 | ||
| SS | 154 | 636 | 175 | .275 | 8 | 47 | ||
| 3B | 143 | 543 | 126 | .232 | 12 | 61 | ||
| LF | 158 | 548 | 179 | .327 | 26 | 100 | ||
| CF | 154 | 560 | 148 | .264 | 35 | 94 | ||
| RF | 135 | 492 | 151 | .307 | 25 | 84 |
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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 81 | 221 | 45 | .204 | 6 | 22 | ||
| 68 | 213 | 49 | .230 | 8 | 23 | ||
| 109 | 212 | 57 | .269 | 3 | 15 | ||
| 72 | 212 | 63 | .297 | 5 | 23 | ||
| 85 | 210 | 51 | .243 | 6 | 22 | ||
| 81 | 205 | 65 | .317 | 6 | 30 | ||
| 25 | 75 | 22 | .293 | 0 | 9 | ||
| 39 | 61 | 12 | .197 | 0 | 5 | ||
| 13 | 17 | 1 | .059 | 0 | 1 | ||
| 1 | 1 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
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 | 224.2 | 18 | 11 | 2.96 | 127 | ||
| 35 | 217.0 | 18 | 8 | 3.24 | 178 | ||
| 34 | 199.1 | 16 | 6 | 2.62 | 118 | ||
| 33 | 179.0 | 12 | 6 | 3.42 | 111 | ||
| 22 | 114.1 | 8 | 9 | 5.04 | 84 | ||
| 1 | 6.0 | 0 | 1 | 7.50 | 4 | ||
| 1 | 4.0 | 0 | 0 | 4.50 | 1 |
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | W | L | SV | ERA | SO | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 75 | 3 | 2 | 55 | 3.25 | 85 | ||
| 73 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 1.99 | 69 | ||
| 63 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 0.95 | 63 | ||
| 57 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3.48 | 33 | ||
| 55 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1.81 | 47 | ||
| 52 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 2.97 | 51 | ||
| 51 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2.63 | 33 | ||
| 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 10.80 | 6 | ||
| 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5.40 | 6 | ||
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6.75 | 1 | ||
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 1 | ||
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 27.00 | 1 |
San Francisco (eventual NL Champion) wins the series, 3-2
| Game | Home | Score | Visitor | Score | Date | Stadium | Series |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Atlanta | 5 | San Francisco | 8 | October 2 | Turner Field | 1-0 (SFO) |
| 2 | Atlanta | 7 | San Francisco | 3 | October 3 | Turner Field | 1-1 |
| 3 | San Francisco | 2 | Atlanta | 10 | October 5 | Pacific Bell Park | 2-1 (ATL) |
| 4 | San Francisco | 8 | Atlanta | 3 | October 6 | Pacific Bell Park | 2-2 |
| 5 | Atlanta | 1 | San Francisco | 3 | October 7 | Turner Field | 3-2 (SFO) |
2002 Major League Baseball seasonBraves' team pitching led the league with a 3.13 ERA. John Smoltz was National League Relief Man of the Year, as he led the league with 55 saves, which was a National League record at the time (since broken by Éric Gagné in 2003). Greg Maddux and Andruw Jones were chosen for Gold Glove awards.
2002 Major League Baseball All-Star GameRepresenting the Braves on the 2002 National League All-Star team were pitchers Tom Glavine, Mike Remlinger and John Smoltz. Andruw Jones was elected to receive the final roster spot on the 2002 National League All-Star team.
See also: Minor League Baseball.