All-time Atlanta Braves Team as picked by Topps and Beckett

This season, Topps and Beckett have teamed up for “30 Teams in 30 Weeks,” a ranking of current MLB franchises and the top players – by position – for each.

As the latest team in the collaborative countdown, the Atlanta Braves came in at No. 13 out of 30 current big league franchises, it was announced this week.

Beckett Media is a leading voice in the sports collectible industry, while The Topps Company is the exclusive trading card licensee of Major League Baseball and has been producing baseball cards since 1952. The two companies collaborated prior to the 2018 season for “30 Teams in 30 Weeks,” which is essentially all-time trading card line-ups for each MLB club.

“It’s been great,” said Beckett Baseball Editor Mike Payne of the reception the project has gotten throughout the weeks of unveiling. “It’s going to create some discussion, which we think is healthy.” 

The Braves list, just like with many other multi-city franchises, had to be chosen with some ground rules. The players had to have a significant amount of career played in Atlanta, which is why names like Eddie Mathews, Warren Spahn and others don’t appear.

“We had to cut it at some point,” Payne said of making the list Atlanta specific. Another significant stipulation to the list – though it didn’t really affect the Braves – was that each player selected must have had a Topps baseball card circulated at some point in the past. This kept players like Shoeless Joe Jackson off Chicago’s list, for example.

Here’s the Atlanta Braves all-time list by position along with the card selected to represent them:

As with any all-time list, discussions and disagreements are bound to ensue over players included and players left out. These particular lists were chosen by and handful of Beckett writers and folks at Topps.

Payne said the idea for the 30 team countdown came when a group of Beckett writers were discussing all-time MLB teams.

“Before spring training in our Dallas office, someone asked if you had to pick a team with one guy per position, could you do it with your own [favorite] team?” 

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“Some players were fairly cut and dry,” Payne said of choosing to include guys like Hank Aaron and Chipper Jones. Others had to be fought for, like Rico Carty, who could be considered a forgotten Braves player of sorts. 

“The only other name that got real consideration was Ralph Garr,” Payne said of ultimately choosing Carty for Atlanta’s third outfield slot. “[Carty] was a professional hitter.  One of the elite hitters of the National League.”

On leaving off pitchers like Tom Glavine and Phil Neikro, Payne simply said that though they are great players “they’re not Greg Maddux.” Fan favorite Dale Murphy was selected as the team’s utility man, due to his versatility starting off as a catcher then also player in the outfield and first base. 

“Back-to-back MVP seasons don’t happen by accident,” Payne said of Murphy, also saying that No. 3 is regarded in the baseball community as just a really good guy. 

Besides Glavine and Neikro, other notable Braves players not on the list are Fred McGriff, former Rookie of the Year closer Craig Kimbrel and former N.L. MVP Terry Pendleton. McGriff seems to have been bumped by the longevity of Freddie Freeman’s tenure in Atlanta and Kimbrel fell victim to the legacy of John Smoltz and his bullpen years.

“When you get to where maybe a couple of guys are worthy of discussion, ultimately you’ve got to go with your top pick,” Payne said. “Smoltz was one of the most underappreciated pitchers of his era.” 

The list is actually meant to start a conversation among fans. Payne says he has to prepare before going into the various team markets and talking to fans. He says he enjoys the feedback and inevitably finds himself in friendly defense of various all-time teams. The most common question, according to Payne is “how could you leave this guy off?”

Payne said list makers attempted to avoid short timers or one season wonders, even if they had big impacts or memorable moments.

Look for the discussion to continue among fans of baseball and baseball cards to continue as the top 12 teams are released in the weeks to come, especially with teams like the Yankees and Red Sox yet to be unveiled.