1986 Atlanta Braves season

March 2026 November 2013 Atlanta Braves 1986 National League West Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium Atlanta 72–89 (.447) 6th Ted Turner Bobby Cox Chuck Tanner WTBSSuperstation WTBS WSB(Ernie Johnson, Pete Van Wieren, Skip Caray, John Sterling) The 1986 Atlanta Braves season was the 116th in franchise history and their 21st in Atlanta. Offseason November 13, 1985: Randy Johnson was released by the Braves.Randy Johnson at Baseball-Reference December 6, 1985: Miguel Sosa (minors) was traded by the Braves to the New York Yankees for Billy Sample.Billy Sample at Baseball-Reference March 5, 1986: Rick Cerone, David Clay (minors), and Flavio Alfaro (minors) were traded by the Braves to the Milwaukee Brewers for Ted Simmons.Ted Simmons at Baseball-Reference Regular season The Braves shutout the Montreal Expos, 6–0 in their season opener, but were 7–12 at the end of April, 6 1 2 games out of first. Atlanta won 17 of their first 25 games in the month of May, improving their record to 24–20 May 27. They were tied for second and were 1 1 2 games out of first. On June 24 the Braves dropped into fourth place with a 34–36 record. They were in fourth place, 4 1 2 games out of first. Atlanta won seven of their next eight games to surge back into contention on July 3. Atlanta was 41–37 and in third place, 1 1 2 games out of first. The Braves promptly lost 20 of their next 25 games and fell into the cellar, 46–57, 12 1 2 games out of first. After a 12–5 run put them within 10 1 2 games of the lead, the Braves fizzled and faded down the stretch, losing their last five games to finish in last place with a 72–89 record, 23 1 2 games out of first. The strong play of the Braves in the first half of the season was partly attributed to "The Bomb Squad", a group of six veterans who provided clutch hitting of the bench. The members of "The Bomb Squad" were: Ted Simmons, Chris Chambliss, Omar Moreno, Billy Sample, Bruce Benedict, and Andres Thomas."Atlanta`s `Bomb Squad` No Flop." https://web.archive.org/web/20170312033633/http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/1986-06-10/sports/8602030945_1_bomb-squad-atlanta-braves-fans-andres-thomas March 12, 2017 Sun-Sentinel, June 10, 1986. Retrieved March 8, 2017. The name for the group was coined during spring training by Simmons in an effort to create unity among the bench players (Simmons, Moreno, and Sample were in their first season with the Braves). July 6, 1986: In an 11-8 loss to the Montreal Expos, Bob Horner hit four home runs in one game. Horner became the second player in the 20th century (Gil Hodges was the first in 1950) to hit four home runs in one game in his home park.Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, 2008 Edition, p.258, David Nemec and Scott latow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York, 978-0-451-22363-0 He became the first player since Ed Delahanty to hit four home runs in a losing game. Season standings Record vs. opponents ATL Notable transactions April 1, 1986: Pascual Pérez was released by the Braves.Pascual Pérez at Baseball-Reference June 2, 1986: Ben McDonald was drafted by the Braves in the 27th round of the 1986 Major League Baseball draft, but did not sign.Ben McDonald at Baseball-Reference June 30, 1986: Claudell Washington and Paul Zuvella were traded by the Braves to the New York Yankees for Ken Griffey, Sr. and Andre Robertson.Ken Griffey at Baseball-Reference July 6, 1986: Duane Ward was traded by the Braves to the Toronto Blue Jays for Doyle Alexander.Doyle Alexander at Baseball-Reference Roster 1986 Atlanta Braves Roster Pitchers 38 Jim Acker 37 Doyle Alexander 30 Paul Assenmacher 49 Jeff Dedmon 26 Gene Garber 38 Joe Johnson 42 Rick Mahler 29 Craig McMurtry 31 Ed Olwine 46 David Palmer 45 Charlie Puleo 43 Steve Shields 34 Zane Smith 39 Cliff Speck 40 Bruce Sutter 48 Duane Ward Catchers 20 Bruce Benedict  9 Ozzie Virgil Infielders 10 Chris Chambliss 11 Bob Horner 17 Glenn Hubbard 36 Brad Komminsk 24 Ken Oberkfell 16 Rafael Ramírez 12 Paul Runge 23 Ted Simmons 14 Andrés Thomas Outfielders 22 Ken Griffey  1 Albert Hall 19 Terry Harper 18 Omar Moreno  6 Darryl Motley  3 Dale Murphy 28 Gerald Perry 5,6 Billy Sample 15 Claudell Washington Manager  7 Chuck Tanner Coaches 50 Tony Bartirome 52 Alex Monchak 53 Russ Nixon 33 Johnny Sain 48 Bob Skinner  8 Willie Stargell 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 Ozzie Virgil Ozzie Virgil, Jr. 114 359 80 .223 15 48 1B Bob Horner 141 517 141 .273 27 87 2B Glenn Hubbard Glenn Hubbard (baseball) 143 408 94 .230 4 36 3B Ken Oberkfell 151 503 136 .270 5 48 SS Andrés Thomas 102 323 81 .251 6 32 LF Ken Griffey Ken Griffey, Sr. 80 292 90 .308 12 32 CF Dale Murphy 160 614 163 .265 29 83 RF Omar Moreno 118 359 84 .234 4 27 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 Rafael Ramírez 134 496 119 .240 8 33 Terry Harper 106 265 68 .257 8 30 Billy Sample 92 200 57 .285 6 14 Bruce Benedict 64 160 36 .225 0 13 Claudell Washington 40 137 37 .270 5 14 Ted Simmons 76 127 32 .252 4 25 Chris Chambliss 97 122 38 .311 2 14 Gerald Perry 29 70 19 .271 2 11 Albert Hall 16 50 12 .240 0 1 Darryl Motley 5 10 2 .200 0 0 Paul Runge Paul Runge (infielder) 7 8 2 .250 0 0 Brad Komminsk 5 5 2 .400 0 1 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 Rick Mahler 39 237.2 14 18 4.88 137 David Palmer David Palmer (baseball) 35 209.2 11 10 3.65 170 Zane Smith 38 204.2 8 16 4.05 139 Doyle Alexander 17 117.1 6 6 3.84 74 Joe Johnson 17 87.0 6 7 4.97 49 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 Jim Acker 21 95.0 3 8 3.79 37 Craig McMurtry 37 79.2 1 6 4.74 50 Charlie Puleo 5 24.1 1 2 2.96 18 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 61 5 5 24 2.54 56 Paul Assenmacher 61 7 3 7 2.50 56 Jeff Dedmon 57 6 6 3 2.98 58 Ed Olwine 37 0 0 1 3.40 37 Bruce Sutter 16 2 0 3 4.34 16 Cliff Speck 13 2 1 0 4.13 21 Duane Ward 10 0 1 0 7.31 8 Steve Shields 6 0 0 0 7.11 6 Farm system Minor League Baseball AAA Richmond Braves International League Roy Majtyka AA Greenville Braves Southern League Jim Beauchamp A Durham Bulls Carolina League Buddy Bailey A Sumter Braves South Atlantic League Brian Snitker Rookie Pulaski Braves Appalachian League Grady Little Rookie GCL Braves Gulf Coast League Pedro González Rookie Idaho Falls Braves Pioneer League Rod GilbreathLEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Richmond, PulaskiJohnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 1997 Notes 2 References 1986 Atlanta Braves season at Baseball Reference Atlanta Braves on Baseball Almanac Category:Atlanta Braves seasons Atlanta Braves season