Trivia Thursday: Week 2

Last week in our first Trivia Thursday topic we featured a question about statistics involving pitchers. For our second trivia question, I thought we should go to a more broad question that incorporates the entire team.

1995: The 1995 season for the Atlanta Braves is one that reflects in most of our memories. At the time, I was three years old, so my memories of the event are not that fresh. However, as most kids my age do, I remember hearing my father talk about it later. The team started off mediocre at best and was in third place in the NL East. Even though they were struggling, they went on a tremendous streak winning 20 of 25 games before the All-Star break and taking control of first place. They finished the regular season with a 90-54 record and won the division by an astonishing 21 games that started the 11 consecutive season NL East title victories. Greg Maddux secured his fourth consecutive Cy Young Award and his sixth consecutive Gold Glove Award. Center fielder Marquis Grissom won a Gold Glove Award as well that season. The Braves put up a great playoff run that we all know ended in a World Series championship. Through the regular season, which was a clearly dominant season, the Braves only put up 645 runs which places the 1995 Braves dead last in today’s trivia answer.

1992: The 1992 Braves have a similar story as that of the 1995 Braves. They had a rocky start of the season as they had a record of 22-28 after May. They didn’t start consistently winning until June, just the same as the ’95 Braves. Along with the common factors, both teams won their division and the National League. The ’92 Braves didn’t have as much success in the World Series as the ’95 Brave did though. They fell to the Toronto Bluejays in a 5 game series. Third baseman Terry Pendleton won a Gold Glove Award that season and the Braves finished at 98-64. The team drove home 682 runs in 1992, making them third on our list today.

August 12, 2011; Atlanta, GA, USA;

jersey number six is painted on the field for the Atlanta Braves game against the Chicago Cubs at Turner Field. Bobby Cox led the team as manager in all 4 seasons in today’s trivia question. Mandatory Credit: John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports

1999: The Atlanta Braves of 1999 were a bit more dominant in their run to the World Series. Their lowest winning percentage was .500 which they hit only twice. Both of those times occurred in the first 6 days of the season. Those two times came when the team was 2-2 and 3-3. After the first week, the Braves never looked back. They went on a dominating run finishing the season with an impressive 103-59 record, the best on this list, and 6.5 games ahead of the New York Mets to win the NL East title yet again. Just as the teams of ’92 and ’95 did, the ’99 Braves had an impressive playoff run. They won the NL Division Series, a best of 5, in 4 games and won the NL Championship Series, a best of 7, in 6 games. However the New York Yankees of ’99 proved to be quite a matchup in the World Series as they swept the Braves in 4 games. Even though this team has the third highest wins in a season by an Atlanta Braves team, they still do not hold the record for most runs scored in a season. The ’99 Braves finished with 840 runs on the season leaving them in second place on our list.

2003: To say that the Atlanta Braves of 2003 dominated home plate would be an understatement. This team broke or tied 13 club season records that year. Some of the most prominent being most hits, most homeruns and most runs. The Braves finished that year with a record of 101-61 and their 9th consecutive NL East Division title. However, the Braves didn’t do so well in the playoff this go around. They lost in the NL Division Series to the Chicago Cubs in 5 games. The bad ending shouldn’t reflect the team of ’03 though. This team was incredible. They had 3 batters with averages over .300 and a team average of .284. The team finished with 235 homeruns and 872 runs batted in. Their final run count for the season was an impressive 907 runs. The Atlanta Braves of 2003 hold the club record for most runs in a season which makes 2003 the correct answer for today’s question.

Today’s answer: 2003.

Look for more Trivia Thursday’s coming to you every Thursday. If you have any ideas for trivia questions, feel free to send them to us on Twitter by tweeting us at @TomahawkTakeFS. Make sure to follow us as well for possible sneak peaks at upcoming Trivia Thursdays and the latest updates on all things Atlanta Braves.