1993 Atlanta Braves season

The 1993 Atlanta Braves season was the Braves' 123rd in existence and their 28th since moving to Atlanta. The Braves were looking to improve on their 98–64 record from 1992 and win the National League pennant for a third consecutive year, and finally win a World Series in the 1990s.

1993 Atlanta Braves
National League West Champions
LeagueNational League
DivisionWest
BallparkFulton County Stadium
CityAtlanta
Record104–58 (.642)
Divisional place1st
OwnersTed Turner
General managersJohn Schuerholz
ManagersBobby Cox
TelevisionWTBS
TBS Superstation
(Pete Van Wieren, Skip Caray, Don Sutton, Joe Simpson)
SportSouth
(Ernie Johnson, Ernie Johnson, Jr.)
RadioWGST
(Pete Van Wieren, Skip Caray, Don Sutton, Joe Simpson)
← 1992 Seasons 1994 →

The Braves finished the season with a 104–58 record to win the National League West for the third consecutive year after trailing the San Francisco Giants, who finished in second place by one game, for most of the season in what is generally regarded as the last real pennant race before playoff expansion.[1][2] 1993 was also the last year that the team competed in the National League West, as they would shift to the National League East for 1994.

The 1993 Atlanta Braves are seen as one of the greatest Major League Baseball teams in history. Despite their excellent regular season, the Braves' streak of National League pennants ended at two as they fell to the underdog Philadelphia Phillies in six games in the NLCS. By a twist of fate, the Braves beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, the Phillies in-state rivals, in back-to-back NLCS series in 1991 and 1992, but in 1993, lost to the Pirates in-state rivals.

Offseason

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  • December 7, 1992: Billy Taylor was drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays from the Atlanta Braves in the 1992 rule 5 draft.[3]
  • December 9, 1992: Greg Maddux was signed as a free agent with the Atlanta Braves.[4]
  • December 21, 1992: Randy St. Claire was signed as a free agent with the Atlanta Braves.[5]
  • December 21, 1992: Jerry Willard was signed as a free agent with the Atlanta Braves.[6]

Regular season

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  • At the end of August, the Atlanta Braves tried to acquire Dennis Martínez from the Montreal Expos. The Expos placed Martinez's name on the waiver wire and the Braves claimed him. The Expos were not about to let Martinez go to Atlanta for the waiver fee of $20,000. After claiming Martinez, the Expos contacted the Braves to see if they were interested in talking about a trade. Martinez had the final word on any movement because his seniority gives him veto rights over a trade.[7]
  • On September 11, 1993, Chipper Jones made his major league baseball debut.[8] It was in a game against the San Diego Padres. Jones did not have any at-bats in the game.[9]

Transactions

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  • April 3, 1993: Billy Taylor was returned (earlier draft pick) by the Toronto Blue Jays to the Atlanta Braves.[3]
  • April 13, 1993: Mark Davis was traded by the Atlanta Braves to the Philadelphia Phillies for Brad Hassinger (minors).[10]
  • May 3, 1993: Randy St. Claire was released by the Atlanta Braves.[5]
  • June 3, 1993: John Rocker was drafted by the Atlanta Braves in the 18th round of the 1993 amateur draft. Player signed August 23, 1993.[11]
  • July 18, 1993: Fred McGriff was traded by the San Diego Padres to the Atlanta Braves for Melvin Nieves, Donnie Elliott, and Vince Moore (minors).

Opening Day starters

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Season standings

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NL West
Team W L Pct. GB Home Road
Atlanta Braves 104 58 .642 51‍–‍30 53‍–‍28
San Francisco Giants 103 59 .636 1 50‍–‍31 53‍–‍28
Houston Astros 85 77 .525 19 44‍–‍37 41‍–‍40
Los Angeles Dodgers 81 81 .500 23 41‍–‍40 40‍–‍41
Cincinnati Reds 73 89 .451 31 41‍–‍40 32‍–‍49
Colorado Rockies 67 95 .414 37 39‍–‍42 28‍–‍53
San Diego Padres 61 101 .377 43 34‍–‍47 27‍–‍54

Record vs. opponents

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Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14]
Team ATL CHC CIN COL FLA HOU LAD MON NYM PHI PIT SD SF STL
Atlanta 7–5 10–3 13–0 7–5 8–5 8–5 7–5 9–3 6–6 7–5 9–4 7–6 6–6
Chicago 5–7 7–5 8–4 6–7 4–8 7–5 5–8–1 8–5 7–6 5–8 8–4 6–6 8–5
Cincinnati 3–10 5–7 9–4 7–5 6–7 5–8 4–8 6–6 4–8 8–4 9–4 2–11 5–7
Colorado 0–13 4–8 4–9 7–5 11–2 7–6 3–9 6–6 3–9 8–4 6–7 3–10 5–7
Florida 5–7 7–6 5–7 5–7 3–9 5–7 5–8 4–9 4–9 6–7 7–5 4–8 4–9
Houston 5–8 8–4 7–6 2–11 9–3 9–4 5–7 11–1 5–7 7–5 8–5 3–10 6–6
Los Angeles 5–8 5–7 8–5 6–7 7–5 4–9 6–6 8–4 2–10 8–4 9–4 7–6 6–6
Montreal 5–7 8–5–1 8–4 9–3 8–5 7–5 6–6 9–4 6–7 8–5 10–2 3–9 7–6
New York 3–9 5–8 6–6 6–6 9–4 1–11 4–8 4–9 3–10 4–9 5–7 4–8 5–8
Philadelphia 6-6 6–7 8–4 9–3 9–4 7–5 10–2 7–6 10–3 7–6 6–6 4–8 8–5
Pittsburgh 5–7 8–5 4–8 4–8 7–6 5–7 4–8 5–8 9–4 6–7 9–3 5–7 4–9
San Diego 4–9 4–8 4–9 7–6 5–7 5–8 4–9 2–10 7–5 6–6 3–9 3–10 7–5
San Francisco 6–7 6–6 11–2 10–3 8–4 10–3 6–7 9–3 8–4 8–4 7–5 10–3 4–8
St. Louis 6–6 5–8 7–5 7–5 9–4 6–6 6–6 6–7 8–5 5–8 9–4 5–7 8–4


Roster

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1993 Atlanta Braves
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Manager

Coaches

Notable events

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July 20, 1993: At Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium, a fire broke out in the skybox/press box area, delaying the start of the scheduled game between the Braves and the St. Louis Cardinals. Incidentally, the Braves' trade for Fred McGriff was completed a few days earlier and McGriff arrived at the stadium that night. With the delayed start, McGriff was able to suit up and start the game at first base. McGriff helped the Braves erase a 5–0 deficit by hitting a two-run homer in the sixth inning. The Braves went on to win the game 8–5.

Player stats

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= Indicates team leader

Batting

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Starters by position

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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 Damon Berryhill 115 335 82 .245 8 43
1B Sid Bream 117 277 72 .260 9 35
2B Mark Lemke 151 493 124 .252 7 49
SS Jeff Blauser 161 597 182 .305 15 73
3B Terry Pendleton 161 633 172 .272 17 84
LF Ron Gant 157 606 166 .274 36 117
CF Otis Nixon 134 461 124 .269 1 24
RF David Justice 157 585 158 .270 40 120

Other batters

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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
Deion Sanders 95 272 75 .276 6 28
Greg Olson 83 262 59 .225 4 24
Fred McGriff 68 255 79 .310 19 55
Francisco Cabrera 70 83 20 .241 4 11
Brian Hunter 37 80 11 .138 0 8
Rafael Belliard 91 79 18 .228 0 6
Bill Pecota 72 62 20 .323 0 5
Tony Tarasco 24 35 8 .229 0 2
Ryan Klesko 22 17 6 .353 2 5
Javy López 8 16 6 .375 1 2
Chipper Jones 8 3 2 .667 0 0
Ramon Caraballo 6 0 0 ---- 0 0

Starting pitchers

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Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player G IP W L ERA SO
Greg Maddux 36 267.0 20 10 2.36 197
John Smoltz 35 243.2 15 11 3.62 208
Tom Glavine 36 239.1 22 6 3.20 120
Steve Avery 35 223.1 18 6 2.94 125
Pete Smith 20 90.2 4 8 4.37 53

Other pitchers

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Note: G = Games played; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player G IP W L ERA SO
Kent Mercker 43 66.0 3 1 2.86 59
Relief pitchers
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Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player G W L SV ERA SO
Mike Stanton 63 4 6 27 4.67 43
Greg McMichael 74 2 3 19 2.06 89
Jay Howell 54 3 3 0 2.31 37
Steve Bedrosian 49 5 2 0 1.63 33
Mark Wohlers 46 6 2 0 4.50 45
Marvin Freeman 21 2 0 0 6.08 25
Pedro Borbón Jr. 3 0 0 0 21.60 2

National League Championship Series

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Game 1

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October 6: Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 R H E
Atlanta 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 3 9 0
Philadelphia 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 4 9 1
W: Mitch Williams (1–0)   L: Greg McMichael (0–1)   S: None
HR: ATL – None  PHIPete Incaviglia
Pitchers: ATL – Avery (6), Mercker (2), McMichael (113)  PHI – Schilling (8), Williams (2)
Attendance: 62,012  Time: 3:33

Game 2

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October 7: Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Atlanta 2 0 6 0 1 0 0 4 1 14 16 0
Philadelphia 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 1 3 7 2
W: Greg Maddux (1–0)   L: Tommy Greene (0–1)   S: None
HR: ATLFred McGriff, Jeff Blauser, Damon Berryhill, Terry Pendleton  PHIDave Hollins, Lenny Dykstra
Pitchers: ATL – Maddux (7), Stanton (1), Wohlers (1)  PHI – Greene (213), Thigpen (2/3), Rivera (2), Mason (2), West (1), Andersen (1)
Attendance: 62,346  Time: 3:14

Game 3

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October 9: Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium in Atlanta

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Philadelphia 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 1 4 10 1
Atlanta 0 0 0 0 0 5 4 0 X 9 12 0
W: Tom Glavine (1–0)  L: Terry Mulholland (0–1)   S: None
HR: PHIJohn Kruk  ATL – None
Pitchers: PHI – Mulholland (5), Mason (1), Andersen (1/3), West (2/3), Thigpen (1)  ATL – Glavine (7), Mercker (1), McMichael (1)
Attendance: 52,032  Time: 2:44

Game 4

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October 10: Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium in Atlanta

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Philadelphia 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 2 8 1
Atlanta 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 10 1
W: Danny Jackson (1–0)  L: John Smoltz (0–1)   S: Mitch Williams (1)
HR: PHI – None  ATL – None
Pitchers: PHI – Jackson (723)), Williams (113)  ATL – Smoltz (613), Mercker (2/3), Wohlers (2)
Attendance: 52,032  Time: 3:33

Game 5

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October 11: Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium in Atlanta

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 R H E
Philadelphia 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 4 6 1
Atlanta 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 3 7 1
W: Mitch Williams (2–0)   L: Mark Wohlers (0–1)   S: Larry Andersen (1)
HR: PHIDarren Daulton, Lenny Dykstra  ATL – None
Pitchers: PHI – Schilling (8), Williams (1), Andersen (1)  ATL – Avery (7), Mercker (1), McMichael (1), Wohlers (1)
Attendance: 52,032  Time: 3:21

Game 6

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October 13: Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Atlanta 0 0 0 0 1 0 2 0 0 3 5 3
Philadelphia 0 0 2 0 2 2 0 0 0 6 7 1
W: Tommy Greene (1–1)   L: Greg Maddux (1–1)
S: Mitch Williams (2)
HR: ATLJeff Blauser  PHIDave Hollins
Pitchers: ATL – Maddux (523), Mercker (1/3), McMichael (2/3), Wohlers (113)  PHI – Greene (7), West (1), Williams (1)
Attendance: 62,502  Time: 3:04

Award winners

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1993 Major League Baseball All-Star Game

Farm system

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Level Team League Manager
AAA Richmond Braves International League Grady Little
AA Greenville Braves Southern League Bruce Kimm
A Durham Bulls Carolina League Leon Roberts
A Macon Braves South Atlantic League Randy Ingle
Rookie Danville Braves Appalachian League Bruce Benedict
Rookie GCL Braves Gulf Coast League Jim Saul
Rookie Idaho Falls Braves Pioneer League Paul Runge

[13][page needed]

References

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  1. ^ Weintraub, Robert. "E-ticket: The Last Real Race". ESPN Internet Ventures. Retrieved December 6, 2008.
  2. ^ Neyer, Rob (October 1, 2001). "What makes a great Pennant Race?". ESPN Classic. ESPN Internet Ventures. Retrieved September 25, 2007.
  3. ^ a b "Billy Taylor Stats - Baseball-Reference.com". Baseball-Reference.com.
  4. ^ "Greg Maddux Stats - Baseball-Reference.com". Baseball-Reference.com.
  5. ^ a b "Randy St. Claire Stats - Baseball-Reference.com". Baseball-Reference.com.
  6. ^ "Jerry Willard Stats - Baseball-Reference.com". Baseball-Reference.com.
  7. ^ Chass, Murray (August 29, 1993). "NOTEBOOK; Baseball Confidential: Piercing Waiver Wire's Code of Silence". The New York Times. Retrieved April 20, 2010.
  8. ^ "Chipper Jones". baseball-reference.com. Archived from the original on February 10, 2009. Retrieved 2009-03-25.
  9. ^ "Box Score of Game played on Saturday, September 11, 1993 at Jack Murphy Stadium". Baseball Almanac, Inc. Retrieved November 26, 2019.
  10. ^ "Mark Davis Stats - Baseball-Reference.com". Baseball-Reference.com.
  11. ^ John Rocker Statistics Baseball-Reference.com
  12. ^ "1993 Atlanta Braves Roster". Baseball Almanac, Inc. Retrieved November 26, 2019.
  13. ^ Johnson, Lloyd; Wolff, Miles (1997). The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball : the official record of minor league baseball (2nd ed.). Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, Inc. ISBN 9780963718983.