Aiding Bobby in 1978 were Pete Ward at first, Tom Burgess at third, Cloyd Boyer with the pitchers and Chris Cannizzaro in the bullpen. On the up-side, knuckleballer Phil Niekro was still racking up wins, youngsters like Dale Murphy, Bob Horner, Bruce Benedict and Glenn Hubbard had arrived, and by 1982 they would actually put it together enough to win the division again - before settling into another 8 years of stagnation.ĭown on the farm, Steve Bedrosian played for the Rookie League's Kingsport Braves, and Rafael Ramirez was at AA Savannah.īobby Cox managed the Braves from 1978 through 1981, and returned again mid-way through 1990. Biff Pocoroba, C: A promising young catcher, Biff entered 1978 as the Braves starter, but was beset by injuries all year. While they did improve their record (69-93) they still finished last, 26 games behind the Dodgers. Most prognosticators felt the Braves would be better in 1978. The lineup and the rotation were awash with youngsters, with only a few veterans to provide a core of on-field and club-house leadership. For 1978, rookie manager Bobby Cox (only 36 at the time) had a club that was committed to rebuilding through youth. Not even the home town crowd was enamored with them - a popular slogan in Atlanta at the time was "Go Braves.and take the Falcons with you!". Things were so bad that owner Ted Turner donned a uniform and managed a game himself in 1977 (they lost). They lost 90 or more games each year from 1975 through 1979 (101 in 1977), and had last place finishes from 1976 through 1979. Hank Aaron's record-breaking home run? Ancient history. Long forgotten was the fact that in 1969, they had actually won the very first National League Western Division title. 262 with 24 RBIs at the halfway point, earning him a spot in the 1978 All-Star Game. In 1978, he was the full-time starting catcher in Atlanta, hitting. He threw out 52 would-be base stealers that season and was on his way to stardom. To anyone following baseball in 1978, the Atlanta Braves were simply terrible. 290 in 1977, and took the field behind the plate in 100 games. To anyone who has followed baseball over the few decades, the Atlanta Braves are legendary - 14 consecutive division titles, 4 pennants, 1 World Series victory, hall of famers Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, Bobby Cox, John Smoltz and Chipper Jones, plenty of young stars and baseball's overall finest and most consistent organization for a quarter century - the very embodiment of excellence on the baseball diamond.
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