1977 Atlanta Braves season

1977 Atlanta Braves
Major League affiliations
Location
  • Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium (since 1966)
  • Atlanta, Georgia (since 1966)
Results
Record 61–101 (.377)
Divisional place 6th
Other information
Owner(s) Ted Turner
General manager(s) Bill Lucas
Manager(s) Dave Bristol (games 1-29, 32-162)
Ted Turner (game 30)
Vern Benson (game 31)
Local television WTCG
(Ernie Johnson, Pete Van Wieren, Skip Caray)
Local radio WSB
(Ernie Johnson, Pete Van Wieren)
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The 1977 Atlanta Braves season was the 107th season for the franchise and their 12th in Atlanta. The team finished in last place in the six-team National League West with a record of 61-101, 37 games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Offseason

Regular season

Turner's one-day reign as manager

Midway through the 1977 season, with the Braves mired in a 16-game losing streak, owner Ted Turner sent Dave Bristol on a 10-day "scouting trip" and took over as his own manager. This only lasted for one game (a 2-1 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates) before National League president Chub Feeney ordered Turner to give up the reins, citing major league rules which forbid managers or players from owning stock in a team. After the Braves broke the skid under third-base coach Vern Benson, Bristol—who had spent the time at his offseason home in Andrews, North Carolina—was given his old job back for the remainder of the season.[2]

Season standings

NL West W L GB Pct.
Los Angeles Dodgers 98 64 -- .605
Cincinnati Reds 88 74 10 .543
Houston Astros 81 81 17 .500
San Francisco Giants 75 87 23 .463
San Diego Padres 69 93 29 .426
Atlanta Braves 61 101 37 .377

Opening Day starters

Notable transactions

Roster

1977 Atlanta Braves
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

 Outfielders

Other batters

 Manager

Coaches

Player stats

= Indicates team leader

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; SB = Stolen bases

Pos Player G AB H Avg. HR RBI SB
C Pocoroba, BiffBiff Pocoroba 113 321 93 .290 8 44 3
1B Montañez, WillieWillie Montañez 136 544 156 .287 20 68 1
2B Gilbreath, RodRod Gilbreath 128 407 99 .243 8 43 3
3B Moore, JuniorJunior Moore 112 361 94 .260 5 34 4
SS Rockett, PatPat Rockett 93 264 67 .254 1 24 1
LF Matthews, GaryGary Matthews 148 555 157 .283 17 64 22
CF Office, RowlandRowland Office 124 428 103 .241 5 39 2
RF Burroughs, JeffJeff Burroughs154 579 157 .271 41 114 4

[6]

Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; SB = Stolen bases

Player G AB H Avg. HR RBI SB
Royster, JerryJerry Royster 140 445 96 .216 6 28 28
Bonnell, BarryBarry Bonnell 100 360 108 .300 1 45 7
Chaney, DarrelDarrel Chaney 74 209 42 .201 3 15 0
Paciorek, TomTom Paciorek 72 155 37 .239 3 15 1
Correll, VicVic Correll 54 144 30 .208 7 16 2
Asselstine, BrianBrian Asselstine 83 124 26 .210 4 17 1
Gaston, CitoCito Gaston 56 85 23 .271 3 21 1
Nolan, JoeJoe Nolan 62 82 23 .280 3 9 1
Murphy, DaleDale Murphy 18 76 24 .316 2 14 0
Robinson, CraigCraig Robinson 27 29 6 .207 0 1 0
Whisenton, LarryLarry Whisenton 4 4 1 .250 0 1 0
Belloir, RobRob Belloir 6 1 0 .000 0 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
Niekro, PhilPhil Niekro 44 330.3 16 20 4.03 262
Ruthven, DickDick Ruthven 25 151 7 13 4.23 84
Messersmith, AndyAndy Messersmith 16 102.1 5 4 4.40 69
Solomon, EddieEddie Solomon 18 88.2 6 6 4.57 54
Mahler, MickeyMickey Mahler 5 23 1 2 6.26 14

[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
Capra, BuzzBuzz Capra 45 139.1 6 11 5.36 100
León, MaxMax León 31 81.2 4 4 3.97 44
Collins, DonDon Collins 40 70.2 3 9 5.09 27
Hanna, PrestonPreston Hanna 17 60 2 6 4.95 37
Easterly, JamieJamie Easterly 22 58.2 2 4 6.14 37
LaCorte, FrankFrank LaCorte 14 37 1 8 11.68 28
Hargan, SteveSteve Hargan 16 36.2 0 3 6.87 18
McLaughlin, JoeyJoey McLaughlin 3 6 0 0 15.00 0

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
Campbell, DaveDave Campbell 65 0 6 13 3.05 42
Camp, RickRick Camp 54 6 3 10 4.00 51
Theiss, DuaneDuane Theiss 17 1 1 0 6.53 7
Kline, SteveSteve Kline 16 0 0 1 6.64 10
Davey, MikeMike Davey 16 0 0 2 5.06 7
Johnson, BobBob Johnson 15 0 1 0 7.25 16
Marshall, MikeMike Marshall 4 1 0 0 9.00 6
Beard, MikeMike Beard 4 0 0 0 9.64 1
Bradford, LarryLarry Bradford 2 0 0 0 3.38 1

Farm system

Level Team League Manager
AAA Richmond Braves International League Tommie Aaron
AA Savannah Braves Southern League Gene Hassell
A Greenwood Braves Western Carolinas League Bobby Dews
Rookie Kingsport Braves Appalachian League Bob Didier
Rookie GCL Braves Gulf Coast League Pedro González

Awards and honors

League leaders

Notes

  1. ↑ Carl Morton page at Baseball Reference
  2. ↑ Hannon, Kent. Benched from the Bench. Sports Illustrated, 1977-05-23.
  3. ↑ http://baseball-almanac.com/teamstats/roster.php?y=1977&t=ATL
  4. ↑ Mike Marshall page at Baseball Reference
  5. ↑ Larry Owen page at Baseball Reference
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/ATL/1977.shtml
  7. ↑ Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, 2008 Edition, p. 348, David Nemec and Scott Flatow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York, NY, ISBN 978-0-451-22363-0

References