Atlanta Braves Opening Day countdown: 68, Clarkson CG
As we continue the countdown to Atlanta Braves Opening Day, we look at one of the more remarkable numbers in the history of Braves pitching
The Atlanta Braves have had incredible pitching throughout the history of the franchise. In the first season of the franchise’s history, Jack Manning went 18-5 with a 2.14 ERA, tossing 197 1/3 innings over 34 tames and 20 games started in a 70-game season, meaning he appeared in nearly half of the team’s games. The team simply has had amazing pitching ever since, and our countdown to Opening Day brings us to #68 today, allowing us to look at John Clarkson.
Clarkson had established himself as an incredible workhorse before he ever came to the Atlanta Braves franchise. In 1885, Clarkson was pitching for the Chicago White Stockings in his first full professional season. He started 70 games, completed 68 of them, threw 623 innings, including 10 shutouts, as he won 53 games and posted a 1.85 ERA.
The Boston Beaneaters, as they were known at the time, purchased Clarkson for $10,000 in April of 1888. He joined a rotation that already featured Old Hoss Radbourn, though Old Hoss’ best days were behind him by that point. Clarkson went 33-20 in his first year with Boston, tossing 483 1/3 innings in 54 games started, completing 53 of them.
The big season for Clarkson was 1889, and many of the marks he had that season remain as all-time peaks in the history of the Atlanta Braves franchise. He made 73 appearances on the season, 72 of them starts, completing 68 of them, with 8 shutouts. Clarkson would hurl 620 innings in 1889, with a 2.73 ERA and 284 strikeouts, winning 49 games. He won the Triple Crown in the National League in that season, leading the league in wins, ERA, and strikeouts.
Clarkson’s marks for wins, innings, complete games, games started, and pitching bWAR (16.7) remain single-season bests in the organization.
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To give some perspective on how incredible that one season was, here are some guys who had less complete games in their career in the Atlanta Braves organization than Clarkson did:
- Greg Maddux, 61
- Tony Cloninger, 54
- John Smoltz, 53
- Tom Glavine, 52
- Steve Avery, 14
- Tim Hudson, 9
- Kevin Millwood, 6
Incredibly, you could add together John Smoltz or Tom Glavine with Steve Avery for their entire Atlanta Braves career and not get the complete games that Clarkson tossed in 1889. From the time Greg Maddux joined the Atlanta Braves until he finished his career (he pitched 5 more seasons after the Braves), he had a total of 67, so still one short of Clarkson’s career (Maddux did have 42 complete games under his belt before joining the Braves).
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With Opening Day 2019 creeping ever closer, it’s good to look back at these greats in Atlanta Braves history and the remarkable numbers they put up in an era long gone.