1979 Atlanta Braves season

March 2026 November 2013 Atlanta Braves 1979 National League West Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium Atlanta 66–94 (.413) 6th Ted Turner Bill Lucas, John Mullen Bobby Cox WTCG WSB(Ernie Johnson, Pete Van Wieren, Skip Caray) The 1979 Atlanta Braves season was the 109th season for the franchise and their 14th in Atlanta. Offseason January 9, 1979: Brook Jacoby was drafted by the Braves in the 7th round of the 1979 Major League Baseball draft.Brook Jacoby at Baseball-Reference February 22, 1979: Mike Davey was purchased from the Braves by the Seattle Mariners.Mike Davey at Baseball-Reference March 31, 1979: Dave Campbell was traded by the Braves to the Montreal Expos for Pepe Frías.Dave Campbell at Baseball-Reference Regular season Season standings Record vs. opponents ATL Death of GM Bill Lucas On May 5, 1979, the Braves were staggered by the sudden death, at 43, of the club's general manager, Bill Lucas. The first African-American general manager in Major League Baseball, and the highest-ranking black executive in the game at the time of his death, he had been stricken at home May 2 with a massive cerebral hemorrhage, after watching a Braves' road-game victory on television.The Associated Press, May 8, 1979 Lucas had been the Braves' top baseball operations official since September 17, 1976, and on his watch the team introduced players who would be integral parts of its early 1980s contending teams—such as Dale Murphy, Bob Horner and Glenn Hubbard. During Lucas' term, the club had also hired Bobby Cox for his first term (1978–81) as manager. Lucas had been a player and executive with the Braves since 1957; his sister, Barbara, also was the former wife of Hall of Famer and Braves' legend Henry Aaron.Bryant, Howard, The Last Hero: A Life of Henry Aaron. New York: Random House, 2010, page 446 Lucas was succeeded May 16 by John Mullen, 54, a vice president with the Houston Astros since 1967 but previously a longtime member of the Braves' management team in Boston, Milwaukee and Atlanta. Mullen would serve as the Braves' general manager until his replacement, by Cox, in October 1985.Baseball America Executive Database Notable transactions April 3, 1979: Buzz Capra was released by the Braves.Buzz Capra at Baseball-Reference June 5, 1979: 1979 Major League Baseball draft Paul Runge was drafted by the Braves in the 9th round.Paul Runge at Baseball-Reference Brett Butler was drafted by the Braves in the 23rd round. Player signed June 11, 1979.Brett Butler at Baseball-Reference Roster 1979 Atlanta Braves Roster Pitchers 50 Tommy Boggs 34 Larry Bradford 43 Tony Brizzolara 38 Adrian Devine 45 Jamie Easterly 26 Gene Garber 49 Preston Hanna 42 Frank LaCorte 24 Mickey Mahler 39 Rick Mahler 29 Rick Matula 32 Bo McLaughlin 50 Joey McLaughlin 27 Larry McWilliams 35 Phil Niekro 48 Craig Skok 37 Eddie Solomon Catchers 20 Bruce Benedict 11 Joe Nolan  4 Biff Pocoroba Infielders 25 Bob Beall 15 Darrel Chaney  9 Pepe Frías  5 Bob Horner 17 Glenn Hubbard 28 Mike Lum 31 Mike Macha  3 Dale Murphy  1 Jerry Royster 16 Jim Wessinger Outfielders 30 Brian Asselstine  2 Barry Bonnell  7 Jeff Burroughs 36 Gary Matthews 14 Eddie Miller 22 Rowland Office 46 Charlie Spikes 18 Larry Whisenton Manager  6 Bobby Cox Coaches 23 Tommie Aaron 48 Cloyd Boyer 10 Bobby Dews  8 Alex Grammas 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 Bruce Benedict 76 204 46 .225 0 15 1B Dale Murphy 104 384 106 .276 21 57 2B Glenn Hubbard Glenn Hubbard (baseball) 97 325 75 .231 3 29 3B Bob Horner 121 487 153 .314 33 98 SS Pepe Frías 140 475 123 .259 1 44 LF Jeff Burroughs 116 397 89 .224 11 47 CF Rowland Office 124 277 69 .249 2 37 RF Gary Matthews 156 631 192 .304 27 90 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 Jerry Royster 154 601 164 .273 3 51 Barry Bonnell 127 375 97 .259 12 45 Joe Nolan 89 230 57 .248 4 21 Mike Lum 111 217 54 .249 6 27 Darrel Chaney 63 117 19 .162 0 10 Eddie Miller Eddie Miller (outfielder) 27 113 35 .310 0 5 Charlie Spikes 66 93 26 .280 3 21 Biff Pocoroba 28 38 12 .316 0 4 Larry Whisenton 13 37 9 .243 0 1 Bob Beall 17 15 2 .133 0 1 Mike Macha 6 13 2 .154 0 1 Brian Asselstine 8 10 1 .100 0 0 Jim Wessinger 10 7 0 .000 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 Phil Niekro 44 342.0 21 20 3.39 208 Eddie Solomon 31 186.0 7 14 4.21 96 Rick Matula 28 171.1 8 10 4.15 67 Tony Brizzolara 20 107.1 6 9 5.28 64 Larry McWilliams 13 66.1 3 2 5.56 32 Tommy Boggs 3 12.2 0 2 6.39 1 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 Mickey Mahler 26 100.0 5 11 5.85 71 Preston Hanna 6 24.1 1 1 2.96 15 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 Gene Garber 68 6 16 25 4.33 56 Craig Skok 44 1 3 2 3.98 30 Adrian Devine 40 3 2 0 3.24 22 Joey McLaughlin 37 5 3 5 2.48 40 Bo McLaughlin 37 1 1 0 4.89 45 Larry Bradford 21 1 0 2 0.95 11 Rick Mahler 15 0 0 0 6.14 12 Frank LaCorte 6 0 0 0 7.56 6 Jamie Easterly 4 0 0 0 13.50 3 Farm system Minor League Baseball AAA Richmond Braves International League Tom Burgess AA Savannah Braves Southern League Eddie Haas A Greenwood Braves Western Carolinas League Al Gallagher Rookie Kingsport Braves Appalachian League Gene Hassell Rookie GCL Braves Gulf Coast League Pedro GonzálezLEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Greenwood Awards and honors League leaders Phil Niekro, National League leader, LossesGreat Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, 2008 Edition, p. 348, David Nemec and Scott Flatow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York, 978-0-451-22363-0 Notes 2 References Johnson Lloyd Wolff Miles The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball 2nd Durham, North Carolina Baseball America 1997 978-0-9637189-8-3 1979 Atlanta Braves season at Baseball Reference Atlanta Braves on Baseball Almanac Category:Atlanta Braves seasons Atlanta Braves season Atlanta Category:1979 in Atlanta