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Atlanta Braves Opening Day countdown: 43, quartet

By Benjamin Chase |
3 Mar 2002: Tim Spooneybarger #43 of the Atlanta Braves prepares to pitch during the spring training game against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays at Disney's Wide World of Sports in Kissimmee, Florida. DIGITAL IMAGE. Mandatory Credit: M. David Leeds/Getty Images
3 Mar 2002: Tim Spooneybarger #43 of the Atlanta Braves prepares to pitch during the spring training game against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays at Disney's Wide World of Sports in Kissimmee, Florida. DIGITAL IMAGE. Mandatory Credit: M. David Leeds/Getty Images
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PHILADELPHIA, PA – JULY 05: Luis Avvilan #43 of the Atlanta Braves delivers a pitch during the game against the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park on July 5, 2013 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Phillies won 5-4. (Photo by Drew Halllowell/Getty Images)
PHILADELPHIA, PA – JULY 05: Luis Avvilan #43 of the Atlanta Braves delivers a pitch during the game against the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park on July 5, 2013 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Phillies won 5-4. (Photo by Drew Halllowell/Getty Images) /

In our countdown toward Opening Day, we hit a day with four former Atlanta Braves that have such unique stories that we include them all!

When trying to decide who to include on the Atlanta Braves Opening Day countdown, sometimes a good story is left on the cutting room floor. Instead of doing that with #43, we’ll include all four of the excellent stories, all players who wore #43 for the Atlanta Braves franchise at one time.

Wes

Wes Covington came up with the Milwaukee Braves in 1956, giving him the earliest debut of anyone we’ll discuss today. He immediately joined what was becoming a very integrated Braves lineup, sharing time on World Series teams in 1957 and 1958.

In fact, Covington never played more than 103 games nor came to the plate more than 405 times as a member of the Braves. He was featured as half of a platoon through his time with the organization, but he still managed a career line with the Braves organization of .284/.336/.473 with 64 home runs over 1,579 plate appearances.

Covington topped 20 home runs in both the 1957 and 1958 seasons for the Braves. He then played full-time in the World Series, though he wasn’t able to show his power in the postseason in the same way, managing just one double in 1957 and 1958 over 57 plate appearances.

Covington finished his Braves career by beginning one of the most bizarre transactional seasons in the game’s history. Covington was placed on waivers by the Braves in May, and the White Sox claimed him on May 10th. On June 10th, Covington was traded by the White Sox as part of an eight-player deal with the Athletics. He would not even last a month with the Athletics before being traded to the Phillies on July 2nd. Somehow in all of that turmoil, Covington was able to hit .270/.329/.433 on the 1961 season across four clubs!

PHOENIX – MAY 22: Manager Cito Gaston of the Toronto Blue Jays watches from the dugout during the Major League Baseball game against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field on May 22, 2010 in Phoenix, Arizona. The Diamondbacks defeated the Blue Jays 8-5. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
PHOENIX – MAY 22: Manager Cito Gaston of the Toronto Blue Jays watches from the dugout during the Major League Baseball game against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field on May 22, 2010 in Phoenix, Arizona. The Diamondbacks defeated the Blue Jays 8-5. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images) /

Cito

Before he became a Hall of Fame caliber manager, Cito Gaston was an outfielder for many seasons that even made an All-Star team in 1970.

Originally signed by the Milwaukee Braves, Gaston got a taste of the majors in 1967 with Atlanta, but the Braves left him exposed that offseason in the expansion draft. He was selected by the San Diego Padres, and that would turn out to be a significant benefit to Gaston.

He would play six seasons with San Diego. He struggled to stay healthy in San Diego, but over 6 seasons, he had some very good seasons when he was healthy, including by far his best season in 1970, when he made the National League All-Star team. He finished the 1970 season with a .318/.364/.543 line, 29 home runs, and 93 RBI.

After a disastrous 1974 season, Gaston had fallen out of favor as a starting outfielder in San Diego, and the Atlanta Braves acquired the outfielder in trade. He would spend the majority of the next four seasons with the Braves as the team’s primary backup outfielder and pinch-hitter.

In total, Gaston’s Braves career encompassed 258 games and 550 plate appearances. Over that time, he hit .250/.300/.364 with 14 home runs.

Of course, Gaston would come back to bite his former team, as Gaston’s Toronto Blue Jays would win the first of back-to-back World Series championships in 1992 over the Atlanta Braves. Gaston finished his managerial career, all with the Blue Jays, with 894 wins in 12 seasons, despite never winning 100 games in any season.

Rico

One of the most natural hitters in Atlanta Braves history, Rico Carty made his debut with the Braves while they were still in Milwaukee in 1963. He was only able to play one full season in 1964 due to injury in 1965. He came back to play two seasons in Atlanta before he missed the entire 1968 season due to tuberculosis. Another major injury would cost him all of the 1971 season, and his fiery temper would end up being his final ticket out of town with the Braves, an example of an incredible career that might have been.

Rico had a very natural swing from the right side, one that generated easy bat control while also generating impressive raw power off the bat. Carty made his big splash with the organization in 1964 when he hit .330/.388/.554 while hitting 22 home runs as a rookie. He finished 2nd in the Rookie of the Year voting that season.

Though an injury ended his 1965 season early, he was still able to hit over .300 with 10 home runs in just 83 games. Back healthy in 1966, he hit .326/.391/.468 with 15 home runs. He separated his shoulder in 1967, and he attempted to play through the injury, seeing his hitting suffer, with his worst batting average as a Brave, hitting .255/.329/.401 with 15 home runs.

After missing the 1968 season, Carty came back in force in the 1969 season, hitting .342/.401/.549 with 16 home runs over 104 games. He was fully healthy, for the last time with the Braves, in 1970, making his only All-Star game, leading the league in hitting and on-base with a .366/.454/.584 line with 25 home runs.

Carty hit .277/.378/.402 when he returned in 1972, but his relationship with Braves brass had already grown so negative that it was his final season. The Atlanta Braves traded Carty in October 1972 to the Texas Rangers.

Over a 15-year major league career that encompassed 1,651 games and 6,318 plate appearances, Carty hit .299/.369/.464 with 204 home runs.

19 Apr 1998: Catcher Mark Wohlers of the Atlanta Braves in action during a game against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field in Denver, Colorado. The Braves defeated the Rockies 5-3. Mandatory Credit: Brian Bahr /Allsport
19 Apr 1998: Catcher Mark Wohlers of the Atlanta Braves in action during a game against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field in Denver, Colorado. The Braves defeated the Rockies 5-3. Mandatory Credit: Brian Bahr /Allsport /

Power closer

The early years of the Atlanta Braves run in the 1990s featured multiple closers holding down the spot at the back of the bullpen. From 1991-1994, the Braves had five pitchers post 10 seasons of at least 5 saves.

The 1995 season seemed to be headed the same way. Brad Clontz recorded four of the first five team saves on the season, but Pedro Borbon and Greg McMichael each pitched in to cover the 9th inning through May. On June 5th, Mark Wohlers would get his first save of the season. There would be 27 saves from June 1st until the end of the season. Wohlers would record 25 of them.

Wohlers used his intense fastball that was known to touch triple digits to dominate in the 9th inning, however, though there was plenty of velocity on the heater, it had a tendency to flatten out, and Wohlers could get hit when it did, which led to a 3.03 ERA in 1996 and 3.50 ERA in 1997, though Wohlers did record 39 and 33 saves in those two seasons.

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While he opened the 1998 season strong with 7 saves over 11 appearances through May 2nd, though he already was showing issues, with a 9/15 BB/K ratio, Wohlers saw his season derail when he ended up on the disabled list in May. He returned, but he could not find the plate at all, quickly losing his closer job as he walked 9 over 6 2/3 innings in 8 appearances after he returned before being demoted to the minors.

By the end of the 1998 season, he had tallied a 10.18 ERA with 33 walks over 20 1/3 innings. His 1999 in the majors would be even worse, as he walked 6 in just 2/3 of an inning.

Wohlers never again had a full season ERA under 4, though he pitched through 2002. Over his Atlanta Braves career, Wohlers appeared in 388 games, all in relief, saving 112 games (4th in franchise history), with 437 strikeouts in 386 1/3 innings.

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We hope you enjoyed this look back at a number of great stories that donned the #43 in Atlanta Braves franchise history!

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