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Atlanta Braves Opening Day countdown: 93 and 92, fall heroics

By Benjamin Chase

TORONTO - OCTOBER 20: Deion Sanders #24 of the Atlanta Braves receives congratulations from teammates after scoring during Game three of the 1992 World Series against the Toronto Blue Jays at Skydome on October 20, 1992 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Blue Jays defeated the Braves 3-2. (Photo by Rick Stewart/Getty Images)
TORONTO - OCTOBER 20: Deion Sanders #24 of the Atlanta Braves receives congratulations from teammates after scoring during Game three of the 1992 World Series against the Toronto Blue Jays at Skydome on October 20, 1992 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Blue Jays defeated the Braves 3-2. (Photo by Rick Stewart/Getty Images) /
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Atlanta Braves
24 Oct 1995: Fred McGriff #27 of the Atlanta Braves hits a home run during a game against the Cleveland Indians at the Fulton County Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia. The Braves defeated the Indians 3-2. /

The 1993 pennant race

After losing the 1992 World Series to the Toronto Blue Jays, the Atlanta Braves made a big splash in free agency in the 1992-1993 offseason. While the team pursued Barry Bonds, they ended up signing Greg Maddux, and his presence at the top of the rotation made the Braves incredibly formidable.

Maddux lived up to all of his big money billing, going 20-10 in his first year with the Braves, with a 2.36 ERA over 267 innings, with a 52/197 BB/K ratio, winning the NL Cy Young. Incredibly, the 1993 Atlanta Braves used just 13 pitchers the entire season, something nearly unheard of just 25 years later.

The team got amazing performances all around, with Jeff Blauser taking over the starting shortstop job and hitting .305/.401/.436 with 29 doubles, 15 home runs, and 16 stolen bases. Ron Gant hit .274/.345/.510 with 27 doubles, 4 triples, 36 home runs, and 26 steals. The power man throughout the season was rightfielder David Justice, who hit .270/.357/.515 with 40 home runs on the season, driving in 120.

All of that excellence still had the Braves struggling to pull away in the National League West in 1993, however, so the Braves made one of the most impressive mid-season deals of franchise history, acquiring Fred McGriff. McGriff would go on to hit .310/.392/.612 over 68 games as a Brave, with 19 home runs and 55 RBI in that time, driving the team toward the pennant.

That would be no cakewalk, however.

McGriff was acquired on July 18th as the Atlanta Braves were in the midst of a stretch of games that would end with them 10 games back of first place on July 22nd. They were trailing the San Francisco Giants, the team who had signed the venerable Bonds and were enjoying a league-leading power performance from their new slugger, as he hit .336/.458/.677 with 46 home runs and 29 stolen bases.

The Giants had a tremendous offense, led by Bonds, but he had a very good supporting cast as well. Matt Williams had an .886 OPS and hit 38 home runs. Robby Thompson had a big year, with a .312 batting average, .870 OPS, 19 home runs, and 10 steals.

The Giants weren’t just about the bats, though. Their rotation was led by two 20-game winners, with Bill Swift winning 21 and John Burkett winning 22. In their bullpen, Rod Beck was arguably the most dominant closer in the National League, saving 48 games and striking out 86 over 79 1/3 innings, with a 2.16 ERA.

The Atlanta Braves needed one of the best second-half records in recent history as they won 19 games in each of July, August, and September, going 60-24 for a winning percentage of .714 and a run differential of 453 runs scored to 285 runs allowed.

In spite of that great performance, the Braves didn’t even hold first place until September 11th, and they’d never completely give it back. The final week of the season was incredible, however.

On Tuesday, September 28, Maddux was outdueled by the Astros, while the Giants defeated the expansion Colorado Rockies. That brought the two teams tied with less than a week left.

The Braves hosted the Colorado Rockies to close out the season, while the Giants traveled to their fiercest rival, the Los Angeles Dodgers. On Friday, October 1st, 1993, Steve Avery won his 18th game for the Braves as they defeated the Rockies. The Giants followed by defeated the Dodgers as Burkett picked up his 22nd win.

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Greg Maddux shut down the Rockies on Saturday to pick up his 20th win of the season. The Giants responded by defeating Dodgers ace Orel Hershiser to keep pace with the Braves, both at identical 103-58 records.

On the final day, the Atlante Braves tossed first pitch at 12:10 PM Eastern. Just a hair after 3 PM Eastern, Greg McMichael struck out Daryl Boston to ice the Atlanta Braves 104th win. The Braves would now have to wait.

The Giants and Dodgers threw first pitch roughly an hour after the Braves game ended. Little did we know that less than an hour into the game, Eric Karros would drive in what would be the game-winning run with a double that just missed going out, scoring the game’s second run. That’s all Kevin Gross would need on the day. Gross tossed a complete game, allowing just 1 run and striking out 5 as he shut down the Giants, making the Braves division winners!

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While some may discount the excitement of that year’s race because the team fell short in the NLCS against the Phillies, the 1993 Atlanta Braves had one of the most memorable pennant races in team history!

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