1966 Atlanta Braves season

March 2026 November 2013 Atlanta Braves 1966 National League Atlanta Stadium Atlanta 85 77 y 5th William Bartholomay (chairman)https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=UNQiAAAAIBAJ&sjid=2ycEAAAAIBAJ&pg=4062%2C5572479 Milwaukee Journal Associated Press Bartholomay claims vindication as Braves pass million and half September 29, 1966 17, part 2 October 2026 InternetArchiveBot John McHale, Paul Richards Bobby Bragan   52 59 yBilly Hitchcock   33 18 y WSB-TV WSB(Larry Munson, Ernie Johnson, Milo Hamilton, Dizzy Dean) 1965 Milwaukee Braves season The 1966 Atlanta Braves season was the first for the franchise in Atlanta, and 96th overall, following their relocation from Milwaukee, where the team had played the previous 13 seasons. The Braves finished their inaugural year in Atlanta in fifth place in the National League with a record of 85–77, ten games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Braves played their first season of home games at Atlanta Stadium. The home attendance for the season was 1,539,801, sixth in the ten-team National League. Offseason November 29, 1965: Jesse Gonder was drafted from the Braves by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 1965 rule 5 draft.Jesse Gonder at Baseball Reference January 29, 1966: Tom Seaver was drafted by the Braves in the secondary phase of the 1966 Major League Baseball draft, but the pick was voided.Tom Seaver at Baseball Reference Regular season July 3, 1966: Tony Cloninger became the first National League player—and, as of 2022, the only pitcher—to hit two grand slams in one game.Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, 2008 Edition, p. 259, David Nemec and Scott Flatow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York, 978-0-451-22363-0 September 11, 1966: Rookie pitcher Pat Jarvis of the Braves became the first of 5,714 strikeout victims of Nolan Ryan's career.Baseball's Top 100: The Game's Greatest Records, p. 32, Kerry Banks, 2010, Greystone Books, Vancouver, BC, 978-1-55365-507-7 Opening day The Atlanta Braves' first-ever game was played at home, at Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium, on Tuesday, April 12, 1966, against the Pittsburgh Pirates before 50,671 fans.Retrosheet box score: 1966-4-12 Braves' starting pitcher Cloninger, a 24-game winner in Milwaukee in 1965, pitched a 13-inning complete game but absorbed a hard-luck, 3–2 loss.https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=04tRAAAAIBAJ&sjid=_hAEAAAAIBAJ&pg=7288%2C2605792 Milwaukee Sentinel Thisted Red Braves' Atlanta debut a 3-2 flop April 13, 1966 2, part 2 October 2026 InternetArchiveBot https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=DUUaAAAAIBAJ&sjid=0icEAAAAIBAJ&pg=4959%2C1257985 Milwaukee Journal Kuechele Oliver E. Stargell's home run in 13th ruins Braves' Dixie debut April 13, 1966 2, part 18 October 2026 InternetArchiveBot https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=0bszAAAAIBAJ&sjid=qPcDAAAAIBAJ&pg=7188%2C3749213 Spokane Daily Chronicle Washington Associated Press Braves defeated in Atlanta debut April 13, 1966 33 With the game tied at one in the top of the 13th, future hall of famer Willie Stargell hit a two-out, two-run home run to put Pittsburgh ahead 3–1. Atlanta catcher Joe Torre hit his second solo homer of the game to narrow the deficit to one run, but the Pirates held on to win. Earlier, in the fifth inning, Torre had hit the first homer in Atlanta's major league history. Starting lineup 29 Felipe Alou CF41 Eddie Mathews     3B44 Hank Aaron RF43 Rico Carty LF15 Joe Torre C19 Denis Menke SS  9 Lee Thomas    1B  2 Frank Bolling 2B40 Tony Cloninger P Season standings Atlanta Braves Record vs. opponents ATL Front-office and managerial turnover The Braves' first year in Atlanta featured an unusual amount of management churn in both the front office and dugout. On June 28, it was announced that Paul Richards, a veteran former MLB manager and general manager, would join the team as a roving troubleshooter in its farm system.The Associated Press, June 26, 1966 The Braves were then a disappointing 34–42 (.447) and in eighth place in the ten-team National League. Braves president and GM John McHale remarked that Richards, 57, was poised to assume greater responsibilities within the Atlanta organization if called upon, leading to speculation that he would replace embattled field manager Bobby Bragan. More than a quarter-century earlier, in 1938, Richards had begun his management career as the successful player-manager of the minor league Atlanta Crackers. On August 9, with the Braves still mired in the second division at 52 59 y, 12 1 2 games behind and in seventh place,https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=P4tRAAAAIBAJ&sjid=tRAEAAAAIBAJ&pg=1547%2C1324998 Milwaukee Sentinel Baseball in a nutshell August 9, 1966 2, part 2 October 2026 InternetArchiveBot fourth-year skipper Bragan was dismissed and replaced by bench coach Billy Hitchcock,https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=QItRAAAAIBAJ&sjid=tRAEAAAAIBAJ&pg=7338%2C1657306 Milwaukee Sentinel UPI Hitchcock plans changes August 10, 1966 2, part 2 July 2026 InternetArchiveBot https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=eNsjAAAAIBAJ&sjid=1ycEAAAAIBAJ&pg=7099%2C4543325 Milwaukee Journal Wolf Bob 'Impulsive' best describes brash Bobby; orange drink costs him $100 and job August 10, 1966 2, part 21 July 2026 InternetArchiveBot like Richards a former teammate of McHale's with the Detroit Tigers. Hitchcock's hiring would pull the Braves out of their tailspin, and they won 33 of 51 games (.647), advancing to fifth place. But Richards was indeed destined to rise within the Atlanta organization. On August 31, he was named director of player personnel at both the Major and minor-league levels, effectively becoming general manager of baseball operations without the formal title, which McHale temporarily retained.United Press International August 31, 1966 Four months later, McHale resigned from the Braves to join the office of Commissioner of Baseball William Eckert, and on January 11, 1967, Richards was formally named Braves' general manager. He would serve in the post through June 1, 1972.Baseball America Executive Database National transactions April 4, 1966: Marty Keough was purchased by the Braves from the Cincinnati Reds.Marty Keough at Baseball Reference April 5, 1966: Frank Thomas was placed on waivers by the Braves.Frank Thomas is place on waivers April 28, 1966: Billy Cowan was traded by the Braves to the Chicago Cubs for future Braves manager Bobby Cox and cash.Bobby Cox at Baseball Reference May 29, 1966: Marty Keough was traded by the Braves to the Chicago Cubs for John Herrnstein. Arnold Earley was also purchased.Cubs, Atlanta trade again June 7, 1966: Al Santorini was drafted by the Braves in the 1st round (11th pick) of the 1966 Major League Baseball draft.Al Santorini at Baseball-Reference Roster 1966 Atlanta Braves Roster Pitchers 39 Ted Abernathy 36 Wade Blasingame 20 Clay Carroll 40 Tony Cloninger 34 Hank Fischer 24 Herb Hippauf 33 Pat Jarvis 42 Joey Jay 30 Ken Johnson 22 Dick Kelley 23 Denny Lemaster 35 Phil Niekro 22 Billy O'Dell 38 Chi-Chi Olivo 22 Ron Reed 26 Jay Ritchie 25 Dan Schneider 37 Don Schwall 32 Arnold Umbach 34 Cecil Upshaw 34 Charlie Vaughan Catchers 12 Gene Oliver 45 Ed Sadowski 15 Joe Torre Infielders 16 Sandy Alomar Sr. 29 Felipe Alou 11 Lee Bales  2 Frank Bolling 11 Marty Keough  9 George Kopacz 41 Eddie Mathews 19 Denis Menke 11 Félix Millán  9 Lee Thomas 14 Woody Woodward Outfielders 44 Hank Aaron 43 Rico Carty 27 Ty Cline 18 Adrian Garrett 31 Gary Geiger 26 John Herrnstein 48 Mack Jones 24 Bill Robinson Manager 10 Bobby Bragan  8 Billy Hitchcock Coaches  8 Billy Hitchcock  6 Grover Resinger  3 Ken Silvestri  4 Jo-Jo White  5 Whit Wyatt 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 Joe Torre 148 546 172 .315 36 101 1B Felipe Alou 154 666 218 .327 31 74 2B Woody Woodward 144 455 120 .264 0 43 SS Denis Menke 138 454 114 .251 15 60 3B Eddie Mathews 134 452 113 .250 16 53 LF Rico Carty 151 521 170 .326 15 76 CF Mack Jones 118 417 110 .264 23 66 RF Hank Aaron 158 603 168 .279 44 127 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 Frank Bolling 75 227 48 .211 1 18 Gene Oliver 76 191 37 .194 8 24 Gary Geiger 78 126 33 .262 4 10 Lee Thomas Lee Thomas (baseball) 39 126 25 .198 6 15 Mike de la Hoz 71 110 24 .218 2 7 Félix Millán 37 91 25 .275 0 5 Ty Cline 42 71 18 .254 0 6 Sandy Alomar Sr. 31 44 4 .091 0 2 John Herrnstein 17 18 4 .222 0 1 Marty Keough 17 17 1 .059 0 1 Lee Bales 12 16 1 .063 0 0 Bill Robinson Bill Robinson (outfielder) 6 11 3 .273 0 3 George Kopacz 6 9 0 .000 0 0 Ed Sadowski 3 9 1 .111 0 1 Adrian Garrett 4 3 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 Tony Cloninger 39 257.2 14 11 4.12 178 Ken Johnson Ken Johnson (right-handed pitcher) 32 215.2 14 8 3.30 105 Denny Lemaster 27 171.0 11 8 3.74 139 Wade Blasingame 16 67.2 3 7 5.32 34 Pat Jarvis Pat Jarvis (baseball) 10 62.1 6 2 2.31 41 Joey Jay 9 29.2 0 4 7.89 19 Ron Reed 2 8.1 1 1 2.16 6 Charlie Vaughan Charlie Vaughan (baseball) 1 7.0 1 0 2.57 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 Dick Kelley 20 81.0 7 5 3.22 50 Hank Fischer 14 48.1 2 3 3.91 22 Don Schwall 11 45.1 3 3 4.37 27 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 Clay Carroll 73 8 7 11 2.37 67 Chi-Chi Olivo 47 5 4 7 4.23 41 Ted Abernathy 38 4 4 4 3.86 42 Phil Niekro 28 4 3 2 4.11 17 Billy O'Dell 24 2 3 6 2.40 20 Arnold Umbach 22 0 2 0 3.10 23 Jay Ritchie 22 0 1 4 4.08 33 Dan Schneider Dan Schneider (baseball) 14 0 0 0 3.42 11 Herb Hippauf 3 0 1 0 13.50 1 Cecil Upshaw 1 0 0 0 0.00 2 Farm system Minor League Baseball AAA Richmond Braves International League Bill Adair AA Austin Braves Texas League Hub Kittle A Kinston Eagles Carolina League Andy Pafko A West Palm Beach Braves Florida State League Buddy Hicks A Yakima Braves Northwest League Eddie Haas Rookie GCL Braves Gulf Coast League Tom Saffell LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Austin 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 1966 Atlanta Braves season at Baseball Reference Category:Atlanta Braves seasons Atlanta Braves season Atlanta Braves