To be sure: there haven’t been many world titles in the long history of the Braves franchise. But there are a lot of players that missed out despite their own greatness.
1914. 1957. 1995. Those are the three years in which the Braves have won it all… with the Atlanta Braves edition of this franchise taking the crown once.
There’s been a lot of baseball in those intervening years, and a lot of great Braves players that never got that ring. Or that trophy. Or even the toy version you see pictured above.
These are the 10 best… but first, an honorable mention:
Honorable Mention: Brian McCann
I have to get this one in quick, since it could change as early as tonight.
Brian would have ranked 12th on this list, coming in at less than 2 fWAR below Billy Nash and just over 3 behind our #10, but with his career still in progress… and the World Title on the line tonight in LA… we’ve got to mention The Heap.
But he’s certainly the best-performing pure catcher on this chart, and that’s true for all Braves throughout the history of the franchise, just besting Del Crandall – who did earn a world Series title with Milwaukee.
Now to those without…
10. Hugh Duffy*
Throughout this anthology, we’ll see a few asterisks. Though the Braves have only won 3 World Series titles, there were some really really good Boston Beaneaters teams during the last 20 years of the 1800’s. So in the interest of technicality, those players are included since they pre-date the World Series era.
Outfielder Duffy kicked around the majors with various teams until he stuck with the Beaneaters… in that 1892 season.
He stayed with the club through 1900, then had 4 more seasons afterward – finishing with the Phillies in 1906.
The 5’7″ Duffy was a career .324 hitter, and still managed 106 career homers – even in the ‘Dead Ball’ era.
His best season with Boston was 1894 – a year in which he hit .440 (not a typo) with a 1.196 OPS… mashing 18 homers and 145 RBI. Oh, and he stole 48 bases, too.
Duffy is also a Hall of Famer – voted in by the Old Timers committee in 1945.
9. Tommy Holmes
No asterisk here, as Holmes played with the Boston Braves during and after World War II from 1942 through 1951, adding a season with Brooklyn in 1952.
Holmes saw the World Series twice: both in 1948 – Cleveland’s last title – and in 1952 with the Dodgers. Both times, Holmes club made a run, but lost in 6 and 7 games, respectively.
Holmes was a left-handed outfielder who lived until age 91 – he would have been 100 this year.
He hit .302 lifetime and enjoyed his best year in 1945, hitting .352 with a .997 OPS and finishing second in that season’s MVP voting. He lead the league in home runs with 28 and hits with 224.
So who won the MVP that year? Phil Cavarretta with the Cubs…a travesty in the balloting since Holmes bested him in stats almost across the board.