Atlanta Braves Opening Day countdown: 91, Wally Berger
The regular season for the Atlanta Braves opens with a game in Philadelphia on the afternoon of March 28, 2019. We count down the days until the season opens!
We at Tomahawk Take are very excited for the Atlanta Braves season opener on March 28 in Philadelphia! We will be counting down to the day with Braves related numbers all the way until Opening Day 2019!
While the easy route with 91 would be to recount the 1991 team, this one is something that really is good for Atlanta Braves fans to dip back to remember. In 1930 a 24-year-old rookie broke through into the starting lineup for the Boston Braves. He would go on to have a dominant half-decade for the team before being traded away.
Wally Berger was originally from San Francisco, where he was seen as a giant of a man at the time he played, standing 6’2″ and nearly 200 pounds. Berger took an atypical route to the major leagues after dropping out of high school, working to support his family while he also played semipro baseball.
After being picked up by the Los Angeles Angels, who were technically under contract with the Chicago Cubs (though not in the same way minor leaguers are set up today), Berger crushed 87 home runs over 3 years before the Braves acquired his rights for 2 players and cash.
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Because of his unusual path to the majors, Berger was 24 when he debuted in 1930 with the Braves. He hit .310/.375/.614 with 27 doubles, 14 triples, and 38 home runs in his rookie year. His 38 home runs in incredibly spacious Braves Field in Boston were amazing, and it would stand as a rookie record for National League rookies until just last season when Cody Bellinger passed his record.
Berger played 7+ seasons with the Braves organization, hitting 199 home runs with a .304/.362/.533 line. Berger made the first 4 All-Star teams. His 199 home runs as a Brave are still in the top 10 all-time in team history, though Freddie Freeman and Brian McCann are right behind him with 189 and 176, respectively, which could bump him out of the top 10 as soon as this year.
His final full year with the Braves, he drove in 91 runs before being traded early on in the 1937 season to the New York Giants.
That’s why it’s vital for Atlanta Braves fans to remember players like Wally Berger. Berger was considered a tremendous defender in center field as well as one of the premium power hitters in all of baseball at the time. It was simply because the team lost nearly 600 games in his 7 full seasons on the roster that he’s seemingly slipped under notice among the team’s greatest players.
Braves opening day countdown: 93, 92. dark. Next
Countdowns like this are great for bringing out some of the players that we have forgotten about or really don’t acknowledge enough. For Atlanta Braves fans, Wally Berger is one of those guys for the Braves organization that should be remembered.