House That Hank Built
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Atlanta Braves Opening Day countdown: 54, Medlen, HOF, GG

By Benjamin Chase

ST. LOUIS, MO - AUGUST 23: Starter Kris Medlen #54 of the Atlanta Braves pitches against the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium on August 23, 2013 in St. Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images)
ST. LOUIS, MO - AUGUST 23: Starter Kris Medlen #54 of the Atlanta Braves pitches against the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium on August 23, 2013 in St. Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images) /
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Atlanta Braves
COOPERSTOWN, NY – JULY 27: Inductees, from left, Bobby Cox, Tony La Russa, Tom Glavine, Frank Thomas, Greg Maddux and Joe Torre pose with their plaques at Clark Sports Center during the Baseball Hall of Fame induction ceremony on July 27, 2014 in Cooperstown, New York. Glavine won 305 games and two National League Cy Young awards during his 22 year career. Maddux won 355 games and four consecutive National League Cy Young awards (1992-95) during his 23 year career. Thomas hit 521 home runs and won two American League Most Valuable Player awards during his 19 year career. Cox managed for 29 seasons with 2,504 victories and won five National League pennants and the 1995 World Series with the Atlanta Braves. La Russa managed for 33 seasons with 2,728 victories and led his teams to six pennants and three Worls Series titles. Torre managed for 29 seasons with 2,326 victories and led the New York Yankees to six American League pennants and four World Series titles. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images) /

Cooperstown club

There are 54 members of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum that have either played for the Atlanta Braves franchise or been associated with the franchise in some way through managing or the minor leagues.

The first Hall of Fame class in 1936 contained Babe Ruth, who was regarded as one of the best players in the history of the game. After 21 years in the game, the first 6 of them with the Boston Red Sox, Ruth returned to Boston for one final season, playing 28 games with the Boston Braves, hitting .181/.359/.431 with 6 home runs over 92 plate appearances.

In 1945, the “Old Timers Committee” selected 5 Hall members that had Braves franchise ties in Jim O’Rourke, King Kelly, Hugh Duffy, Jimmy Collins, and Dan Brouthers. That would remain the biggest group of Braves to enter the Hall of Fame at one time until the 2014 class that featured Joe Torre, Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, Tony LaRussa, and Bobby Cox.

While Torre and LaRussa both went in as managers, both played in the major leagues for the Atlanta Braves. LaRussa was a midseason acquisition of the Atlanta Braves in 1971 on a team that had four Hall of Famers on it already. He only got 8 plate appearances, hitting .286/.375/.286. He’d spend most of the 1972 season at AAA before being traded to the Cubs.

Torre’s Atlanta Braves career is a bit more well-known. He only ended up missing being a teammate of LaRussa’s by three seasons, leaving the Braves after the 1968 season. He had an impressive fun with the Braves in Milwaukee and Atlanta, hitting 142 home runs with a .292/.356/.462 line while part of the Braves. He also managed the Braves for three seasons from 1982-1984 winning the National League West title in 1982.

Chipper Jones was the most recent inductee just this past summer. Sadly, Fred McGriff fell off the ballot without induction in 2019, so he will have to wait for a Modern Game Committee to get his chance. Former Braves Freddy Garcia, Rick Ankiel, and Derek Lowe fell off the ballot on the first appearance. Billy Wagner, Gary Sheffield, and Andruw Jones will remain on the ballot for 2020.

Past Atlanta Braves appearing on the ballot for the first time over the next few years will be:

Now, last but not least today, we’ll examine the organization’s history of slick fielders.

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